Confessions of a craft beer drinker

For some time now I have known that I like craft beer. I don't remember the exact day it happened, but I do remember the very first truly craft beer I had was, back when I had just turned 21. The beer that lead me to join this revolutios was Arrogant Bastard. I remember being intrigued by the name of this beer, so I had to give it a try. I know, some of you are saying to yourself, "Why did he choose Arrogant Bastard as his first craft beer? Is he nuts?!?" Well, the answer seems to be yes.

That arrogant bastard made me realize what a "real" beer should taste like. For once, I felt like I wasn't drinking something light and fizzy. This beer actually had taste! I don't recall how I reacted to the first taste of the beer (as those who have tried the bastard know, it is on the bitter side) but I know it must have been enjoyable! 

Since that day, I have been searching out and finding craft beers, from the local brew pubs, to brand new breweries in other states, and everything in between. I recently decided that I want to try all the beers I can get my hands on. Sure, this could be an easy task, just go to my local store, pick up what's available and call it a day, but I don't feel that this in the true spirit of enjoying craft beer. I have my staples that I truly do enjoy, but if I stopped trying new beers, then I would never had a chance to enjoy some really great beers from some really great people!

I know every craft beer drinker is different and I know not everyone will want to travel around searching for beers they can't get locally, but I would say to anyone who is a "craft beer enthusiast" to go out and try new beers. Make sure to support your localy brewers along the way, but go exploring to new areas. Who knows what might happen; you may end up discovering something you love!

Beer Review - Heavy Sea's Winter Storm

I decided to keep going with the winter ale tastings today. Today, I decided to try the Heavy Sea's Winter Storm. The bottle says it is a Category 5 ale, so let's try this out.

The beer pours amber in color with a small, slightly brown head. Smell is a bit of caramel, with a little bit of spice on the background. I believe there may also be some orange peel smell here as well. Taste is also of caramel, with a decent malty taste. It's got a nice hoppy background as well.

This one's enjoyable, but I don't think I'd be able to drink more than one in a night...

Have you tried this beer? What do you think?

Beer Review - Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

Where did the year go? I mean, Winter Ale's are already coming out?!? Last I noticed, it was still 90 degrees and sunny past 8pm, but now it's 30 over night and the sun sets at 6pm.... Before long, Christmas will be here and Old Man winter will be upon us.

With that said, I decided it was time to start drinking some seasonal beers! To start the Winter Season off right I have decided to try the Souther Tier's Old Man Winter. I tend to be a fan of Souther Tier, so I am hoping my assumption of this being enjoyable will hold true.

The beer pours dark brown in color with a slight tan head. Smell is pretty mild, but I do notice some caramel and a bit of hops. The taste, however, is very tasty. I taste a bit of a coffee flavor, with a bit of hops to top it off. Caramel is there as well. The more I drink, the more the caramel and hop flavor comes out.

This one is decent. I wouldn't mind drinking this one again.

What do you think?

Beer Review - O'Fallon 5 Day IPA

Tonight I have decided to try O'Fallon's 5 Day IPA. The beer pours an amber hazy color with a sizable white head. Smell is of a nice floral aroma, with a touch of citrus. Smell is nice, but mild.Taste does not seem to match the smell of this beer. I taste just a touch of the hop aroma that I smelled. There's a touch of what seems to be lemon in the background and maybe a bit of bread flavor. 

My honest opinion, this beer is only alright, definitely not something I would drink to often.

Have you tried this beer? What do you think?

Homebrew - Smoked Porter

In a previous post, I mentioned I loved to homebrew. I am still a "rookie" when it comes to brewing and I am only able to brew on occasion. That being said, my buddy and I like to try and brew as often as we can, which usually equates to about once a month. When we brew, we use kits, for now, but we hope to move up to all-grain brewing in the near future.

The most recent brewing excursion came a couple of weeks ago when we decided it was time to start thinking about a nice beer to help warm the blood in the cold winter months. After travelling to our local homebrew shop, we decided that a nice smoked porter would do the trick. So, we grabbed some supplies, headed home, and began to brew.

The brewing process itself is a little tedious for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I know the importance of the process and I have surely tasted it's results, but there is a lot of work to be done just so you can sit and wait and wait and wait for a finished product. In the case of the smoked porter, we had to be even more diligent in watching the pot as it boiled since it was very likely to boil over (which it almost did several times, even in oversized brewing pot). However, the smell was delicious as we waited for the hour to be over so we can put the beer into a fermenter. This was going to be an awesome beer.

Once brewing was complete, we quickly dropped the temperature of the wort and pitched the yeast and moved the smoked porter into a primary fermenter. There the beer sat not even a full 24 hours before it fermented so much that it had seeped through the air lock and onto the fermentation bucket. Thankfully, none of it seemed to have ruined and we were able to save the beer.

After a few weeks, we moved the beer into secondary to let it mellow out a bit more. After a few more weeks, we were finally ready to bottle. We prepared the bottles and the beer and boy did it smell great! Just knowing that in a few weeks I will be able to try another home made beer made me smile.

I will keep you posted on the results of my smoked porter. In the meantime, if you have any advice for someone trying to do an all grain batch, please share. I love the process of brewing and would love to be able to fully create a truly unique beer for myself and for my friends.