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I know I haven't finished all the thanksgiving beers yet, but I want to write a bit about some more recent beers I had before I forget about them. I am up here in Massachusetts for Christmas, and having a blast. I was able to go to a Celtics game with Aaron, where I enjoyed a Sam Adams winter brew. It was pretty good actually. The game was great (even tho it was a bit of a blow out), and overall just a fun time. Then we got to go back and Aaron showed me some of the beers he had on hand, and some of his beer making equipment. It sure did make me want to get into brewing!
After the tour we had a tasting of some Dogfish Head Immort Ale. This ale had a lot of good character, and definitely tasted like I would expect an ale to taste. Some "ales" I have had are so hopped that they taste more like an IPA, with the hops being the overwhelming component of the brew. The immort ale, however, tasted nice and complex. Actually, according to the label it tasted "luscious, complex, this smooth, full-bodied ale reveals interwoven notes of maple, vanilla & oak." I would agree that it was complex and smooth. I didn't really think it was all that full bodied, but it was an 11% beer. I guess it just TASTED lighter to me. I also couldn't pick out any of those specific flavors described, but it did have a nice bouquet of different tastes.
The finish on this beer was very sweet to me. I think this was less noticeable after we started eating pizza, but I still would have liked to have a light hoppy finish instead of the sweet finish. However, I would not have wanted the hops to be very noticeable till the finish. Overall this was a very nice beer. I had not seen this anywhere before, so I was very glad to get a chance to try this. Thanks Aaron!
After the late dinner with Laura's great pizza and the immortal ale, we watched some TV and
had a chance to try a Beal's home brew! This was an older batch that Aaron still had some of left, however he warned me ahead of time that it didn't really come out as nice as they had hoped. This tasted like a light ale to me. The flavor was decent, tho a little bit light. I thought the finish had a bit of an apply flavor to it. Overall not bad, but I agree that it wasn't the best. If I were buying this at a store next to some dogfish head, etc, I would probably not rebuy. However, I have been promised a taste of the next batch, which is a different brew and should be much better. I am certainly looking forward to that!
Was this your first home brew? Are you going to give it a try?
ReplyDeleteThis was not my first home brew. I actually had some pumkin ale from aaron before I was really in to beer. I seem to remember thinking it was.... weird? Anyway, I believe Aaron (who keeps good records of all his brews) saying that this was also not among his better brews, although I would not have known the difference at the time. I also, more recently, had some homebrew from a classmate at Dental school. He is just getting into brewing a little bit, and basically just followed the instructions for making a basic ale. It was actually very good. Nice and hoppy, so I guess that covers over other potential bad flavors.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to get into home brewing, but it is a fair amount of work and initial investment. Also, you really kinda need a cool place to let it ferment/age, which I don't have. However, I do plan on EVENTUALLY getting into this. Apparently one of the keys to good home brew is thorough cleaning! After all, you are essentially cultivating microbs to grow, so you better be sure they are the right ones or you can get some nasty beer.