BetterBeerBlog

The “Wet” in Wet Hop Festival has more to do with the moisture content of the hops than the weather but you wouldn’t have known judging by our drive up to Hayward. The clouds were out and it rained some but by the time we arrived, the sun had strong armed its way through and the weather was picturesque the rest of the afternoon.

Despite being free to attend, it cost $17 dollars for a tasting glass and 6 drink tickets. Unlike other festivals, you can return the tasting glass to get your $5 back, which I found to be really cool. I survey the room and I see a couple of familiar faces: Jessica from The Thirsty Hopster and Gail from Beer by Bart. After picking up my first beer, I make a bee-line right for them. Despite being a relatively new home brewer, Jessica has a good palette and is knowledgeable about beer. She can put most men to shame. Jessica has some exciting things in the near future but I don’t think I can mention them yet until she breaks the news on her own website. I met Gail at my BJCP study group in Los Altos. Initially, we both were taking the class just for the sake of tasting and learning about beer but in the end we both took and passed the BJCP test. She also has a good palette, is down to earth and easy to talk with. I always have a good time talking to Gail.

When compared to some of their other marquee events (IPA Festival and Double IPA Festival) this was a very low-key event. For their other events, The Bistro will fence off and tent the side of their building for more room. This time, the festival was contained to their interior area and the patio area. As a result, there was a more intimate feeling about the festival, kind of like a big get together with friends versus the shoulder-to-shoulder, canned sardine feeling other, more popular festivals have. I expected more people but maybe the weather played a part for the small-ish turnout. In any event, I felt it was a great change of pace.

While at the festival, Sammy and I ran into BetterBeerBlog friend Brandon. It was good to catch up with him and get his take on what his favorites were at the festival. One of the beers I enjoyed was the 21st Amendment offering but that was a beer that Brandon didn’t like and actually ended up tossing out. While we had a pretty good laugh at our differences, I believe that was a great example of how we should let our differences open up a dialogue about beer. All to often I’ll see one person put down another person’s choice in beer and I don’t agree with that at all. Everyone is entitled to their choice and to their opinion. To put someone down because they don’t agree them is wrong to me. That’s the very definition of snobbery and that’s why I don’t particularly like being referred to as a “beer snob”.

I am not sure when it happened but I decided that for this particular festival, I would enjoy myself. This meant I would take minimal tasting notes and photos. I keep this blog to keep track of the beers I’ve had and the places beer has taken me. It’s fun but a lot of work. This time, I decided to focus more on fun and less on work.

Here are my quick tasting notes:

• Moonlight Brewing Company, Just Go Shopping, 5.1% ABV (Centennial & Cascade) - Whenever I tasted Moonlight’s beers at Flavor Bistro, I noticed they had a distinct flavor profile consistent throughout all their beers. I initially describe it as a “funk”, a yeasty sort of “funk”. After talking to Mario from Brewed for Thought, I think the better descriptor would be “bready”. I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a huge fan of bready/yeasty flavors in beer. The thing is, it’s not a cooked bready/yeasty flavor but more of a raw one, doughy, chewy even. Other beer styles have bready character in their malt profile but it’s more of a cooked/baked bread character. That being said, “Just Go Shopping” has that doughy, bready character to it as well. What I found interesting about this beer was that the balance tipped more on the side of malty than hoppy. According to Gail, this beer was made from the hops Jessica and her helped pick from the hop yard Moonlight shares with Russian River. Also according to Gail, Moonlight brewer Brian Hunt used the fresh hops in all stages of the brewing process; they’re in the mash, the boil and dry hopped. As interesting as the flavors were, this wasn’t my favorite beer by any means.
• Ballast Point, Schooner Summer Ale, 4.6% ABV (Cascade) - Grapefruit-like citrus aroma with sweet malt undertones. This beer started off malty sweet and finished with great hop flavor and medium-high/high bitterness. This was my favorite beer of the day. Even though the flavor profile of the beer leaned heavily towards the hop side, this beer showed great balance and complexity as the beer changed from one flavor to another seamlessly. If we had stayed to order a full pint, this is the beer I would’ve picked.
• Pizza Port Carlsbad, Plant 2 Pint, 6.5% ABV (Cascade & Centennial) - We missed visiting these guys when we were in San Diego so I wanted to try their beer to make up. Sure, one, little tasting isn’t going to make up for an entire visit but I gotta start someplace. This beer has great citrus hop aromas. The hop flavor is robust and the hop bitterness assertive. Despite all the hoppy goodness, the slightly grainy and toasty malt flavors still shine through. Great tasting beer.
• Black Diamond, Wet Rye IPA, 6% ABV (Chinook & Liberty) - For whatever reason, this seemed to be the surprise of the festival. I don’t know too much about this brewery. A grainy, slightly toasty malt character is up front followed by a high level of hop bitterness. Unlike the Plant 2 Pint, the malt character is more earth and grainy in character, most likely attributed to the rye. I haven’t tasted many rye beers so I can’t be 100% sure.
• 21st Amendment, Harvest Moon, 6.5% ABV (Chinook & Cascade) - Aggressive hop flavor and bitterness. Great aroma with an overall sweet profile, with pineapple and apricot notes in the aroma. Good beer but heavily balanced towards the hop side.
• Butte Creek Organic, Initial Attack Fresh Hop IPA, 6.5% ABV (Centennial) - This is a hop bomb. Almost all hop bitterness in flavor. Poorly balanced, I can barely taste any malt whatsoever. As much as I enjoy my bitter beers I enjoy a bitter beer that is well balanced. No matter what anyone says, a great beer is one that has great balance. This is my least favorite beer of the day, not so much because it was too hoppy (is there such a thing, really?) but because it was poorly balanced. I’ve talked to some people regarding organic beers and so far, the negatives have outweighed the positives. This worries me somewhat as I’m judging an organic homebrew competition later on this month. Still, I plan on going in with an open mind as I’ve had many non-organic beers that were pretty bad. In the end, I think it all comes down to the skill of the brewer to coax the most out of what he/she has at their disposal.

We didn’t stay long enough to find out who won the “People’s Choice” Award. A quick Google search will give you the answer but I’ve already saved you the trouble. According to William Brand’s website, the winner was Lagunitas’ Maximus. I didn’t try this one but Sammy did and she liked it. It looks like her and William Brand have that much in common. I did take a sip of hers taster and I found Maxiumus to be similar to Ballast Point’s Schooner Summer Ale, only sweeter. The one beer William Brand tried that I now regret not having sampled was Triple Rock’s Harvest. I heard good things about that beer from many people. Still, after consulting Mr. Wallet for additional drink tickets, it was not meant to be. Maybe I should’ve consulted the Mrs. Estaniel instead. I did find it interesting that William gave Butte Creek 3+ stars. While I do agree with his description of the beer, I would not have rated it so highly simply because I found it unbalanced.

After my last drink ticket, Sammy and I just chilled in the patio area to people watch and talk. It has been a fabulous day so far and I didn’t feel like getting drunk. I turned in my tasting glass and got my $5 back. I already knew I would be getting it back but I still thought it was pretty cool. I think it’s a great way to conserve resources so you’re not constantly printing up new glasses as well as covering yourself for loosing a glass to theft or breakage. This is a very nice event showcasing hops in another light. If you didn’t make it this year, give it a shot next time around.

Chef Paton, aka The Beer Chef, is holding another one of his beer and food pairing events. Usually Chef Paton will organize one of these dinners with a single brewery but, similar to his 5 Guys and a Barrel dinner, his latest event will feature beers from multiple breweries. Here are the details:

Who: Bruce “Beer Chef” Paton & Sheana Davis of The Epicurian Connection
What: Dinner with the San Francisco Brewers Guild–A Beer and Cheese Pairing Education
Where: Cathedral Hill Hotel
When: Monday, October 20, 2008
Cost: $75 per person, Inclusive of tax and gratuity

Menu:

Reception - 6:30pm
Food: Hors D’Oeuvres and Cheese Tasting
Beer: ?

First Course - 7:30pm
Food: Puree of Sugar Pie Pumpkin with Gratin of Beehive Full Moon Raw Milk Cheese
Beer: Thirsty Bear Ocktobearfest

Second Course
Food: Napoleon of Oven Roasted Pears and Delice de la Vallee Cheese with Peppercress
Beer: Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen

Third Course
Food: Olive Oil Poached Duck Breast with Carbonera of Duck Confit, Hobbs Bacon and Aged Gouda
Beer: 21st Amendment Diesel (Imperial Smoked Porter)

Fourth Course
Food: Mac and Cheese Custard with Franklin Teleme Cheese and Fig Compote
Beer: Magnolia Deep Ellum Dubbel

Doesn’t that menu sound good? Interesting to say the least. Since that is the first weekend after GABF, I doubt we’ll be able to afford going to this dinner as we’ll have blown our wad in Denver. One of these days, we’ll have to go to one of his dinners. If any of you make it up, I’d be happy to hear about it.

To date, I have only brewed 3 pale ales. The first pale ale was brewed so long ago that I don’t even remember what it tasted like or if it even tasted good. The other two pale ales were the same basic recipe but I used Centennial hops to finish one and Simcoe to finish the other. I don’t think I even got a chance to taste those beers as I brewed them as giveaways for my wedding last year.

Since then, I have had the pleasure of tasting some really extraordinary pale ales such as Firestone Walker’s 31, 21st Amendment’s Bitter American and Speakeasy Pale Ale. The common thread on just about all these beers were an almost intoxicating hop aroma with a smooth, moderately hop bitterness with just enough malt to support. It was then I thought that I’d give the style another chance.

In determining a recipe for this beer, I wanted my pale ale to be very aromatic, bursting with citrus and floral hop aromas to the point of being perfumey. I wanted the hop bitterness to be smooth. I also wanted a lower alcohol beer that I could session. At this point of my life, I am done with brewing high gravity beers for the sake of brewing a high gravity beer. If I wanted to get drunk, it’d be cheaper for me to pick up some cheap vodka, cheap orange juice to be mixed in a cheap, red plastic cup. It was important for me to brew something sessionable but high in flavor.

Here is my ingredient list:

Malt:

• 5 lbs - Cooper DME

Grain:

• 1 lbs - Briess Crystal Malt (10L)

Hops:

• 2 oz - Amarillo (8.9)
• 2 oz - Simcoe (12.0)

Yeast:

• White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP0001)

Extras:

• 1 tablet - Servomyces (Yeast nutrient. I can’t really tell if the stuff works or not but since I bought a pack, I’ll just use it)
• 1/4 teaspoon “Super” Irish moss (Actually a type of seaweed, it is used by brewers as a clarifying agent)

Original Gravity: 1.046 (right at the low end for what is acceptable for the style)

Final Gravity: TBD

Tasting Notes (wort): Pale gold in color with white bubbles. Sweet, cereal-like malt aroma with a grassy hop aroma. The wort has a sweet, cereal flavor with moderately strong hop flavors and a hop bitterness that lingers well into the finish.

As the beer progresses, I will be updating this post with more current information regarding the taste of the beer during it’s various stages of development.

Post Primary Tasting Notes: Gold in color with white bubbles, hazy. Citrus notes, slight floral, slightly grassy? Sweet smelling. Grainy malt, bready flavors. Good hop flavor, moderate hop bitterness, doesn’t last too long in the finish.

Brewing Notes: The hop schedule for this beer was different than the brews I’ve done in the past. I used 1/2 oz Amarillo for the full 60 minute boil. I added another 1/3 Amarillo and 1/3 Simcoe at the 30 minute mark. Then I dumped the rest of it at in the final minute.

This wasn’t the original plan though. I accidentally dumped in more Amarillo than I should have (grabbed the wrong bag) and I used the remaining hops in a late kettle addition when I was supposed to have dry-hopped them. I am not too comfortable with dry hopping just yet.

Another thing I’m doing with this beer is I am attempting to control the fermentation temperature. I have had an extra refrigerator in my garage for some months now and I have finally gotten around to using it as my fermentation control box. I have to remember to be patient with this beer. I have set the temperature control box to about 68° - 70°F so it will be fermenting at about the optimal temperature, maybe a bit on the cool side.

February is typically a bad month for beer. It’s a month that is in a brewing limbo, so to speak. While winter is a season for stronger, maltier beers, most breweries have already brewed their winter seasons and have started their spring seasonals. So with the strong winter beers dying out and the spring beers not quite ready, what’s a beer enthusiast to do?

Well, if you’re lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, February is Strong Beer Month. A celebration of strong beers between 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub and Brewery in San Franciso that showcases 12 different beers, 6 from each venue. If you’re lucky enough to have drank all 12 (they give you the entire month of February to do so, so don’t worry), you’ll have earned yourself a commemorative glass.

Toronado is having their Barley Wine Festival this month as well. This is another hugely popular event and I have been advised to arrive early as the popular beer will sell out quickly. For those of you who don’t know what a Barley Wine is, it’s basically a beer (don’t let the name fool you!). A big beer. It’s high in alcohol (8% - 12%), intense malt flavor with matching hop flavor. Check out the BJCP style guideline for more information.

Also up in San Francisco, the Beer Chef Bruce Paton will be hosting Beer and Chocolate Beer Dinner Event on Friday, February 15, 2008. It is easily one of his most popular dinner events. Unfortunately for us, BetterBeerBlog is having a Beer and Food Pairing Event that night inspired by Chef Paton’s event and can’t make it. We definitely plan on attending one of Chef Paton’s dinners this year though.

This Saturday, February 9, 2008, the Bistro located in Hayward will be holding their 8th Annual Double IPA festival. I was able to make it to last year’s IPA festival and I had a blast. Because the IPA is hugely flavorful and hoppy beer, my palette was pretty much shot after the 4th tasting of the day. I think I had 7-8 tastings at that time. I look forward to having my palette blown away by the 3rd tasting this time around.

The Bay Area Mashers Homebrew Club is currently soliciting entries for their 2008 World Cup of Beer Homebrew Competition. Entries should be received by March 8th. Judging will be on March 22nd and 29th at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley.

Finally, Celebrator beer magazine is celebrating their 20th year Anniversary with Beerapalooza 2008! Wow. 20 years is an awful long time to be around and it’s definitely worth celebrating. Visit their website to get more information.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on in February in the Bay Area to celebrate beer. I suggest you go out and try something different. You never know what you may end up liking. Just remember to drink responsibly, drink in moderation, and to drink better beer.