Beer Blotter

Beer & Billiards!

***Seattle Beer Week is a pretty big deal.  It runs from May 19th to the 29th.  This is our guide to its majesty.  These are the events that we feel cannot be missed. At the conclusion of this preview, we will publish the SBW Bible.***

This event at the Seattle Taphouse Grill should rank high for anyone interested in being thrust into an opportunity to meet and greet and conversate at length with local professional brewers.  It’s free to participate (though there are a limited number of spots available), there’s a lot of great beer on tap, there’s friendly competition, and best of all, the winning team takes home a $800 kitty.  Worst case scenario – you drank good beer, meet rad people, and played several free games of pool.

I attended this event last year as a brewer for Lazy Boy.  Admittedly, I wasn’t very excited about it at first.  I’m the world’s worst pool player (is it called a player?) and I was fairly new at being a professional brewer so I was a little nervous about sounding like an idiot.  Once it all got rolling though I ended up having a blast.  I was able to meet a lot of super cool people and I actually never made a fool of myself, even when I had to ask how to play 9 ball!

Yes, there were a few “sharks” there that took it super seriously, but for the most part it was a relaxed good time for all.  A word to the wise, watch out for those Ninkasi guys.  They are the curators of this event for a reason.  Cross your fingers that you get paired with one of them.

The concept is pretty simple.  Of all of the non-brewer participants are put on teams, I believe of 3, and then matched with a brewery rep.  All of the teams are then entered into a bracket and the tournament begins.  I also believe that it’s double elimination but don’t quote me on that.  This years brewery participants are Ninkasi, Pike, Flyers, Skagit River, Iron Horse, Naked City, Fremont, and Fish.

No matter what happens, you’ll get to play more than one game and if you ask the right questions, maybe learn a thing or two about the men and women behind the beers we know and love in the NW.  You might even be able to get some hints on how to improve that home-brewed IPA of yours.  I think I’ll be asking what I can do to get chosen for next years Puget Sound Pro-Am.

This event is at the Seattle Taphouse Grill on 5/22/2011 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm.  The SBW event page can be found here.  Call to reserve a spot on the brewery team of your choice.

Taphouse Grill:

Phone – 206-816-3314
Address – 1506 Sixth Avenue Seattle Washington 98101

One of several beer fests in Seattle throughout the year, Belgium Fest is the first in 2011. On January 22, 2011 this festival, run by the Washington Beer Commission will begin. Due to the high demand of this event, the venue has been moved to Magnuson Park (it will be heated, do not worry).

Word on the street is that tickets are already being sold at an alarming rate, so go online NOW and secure your spot. This is a festival that requires some advance commitment. Waiting until the day of might not be the best idea. $30.00 advance and $35.00 at the door, if available. As always, the designated driver ticket is $5.00 and only available at the door- includes free water and soda.

You pick one of two sessions on Saturday, January 22, 2011-

Session 1: 12:00-4:00 p.m.
Session 2: 5:30-9:30 p.m.

The Workshop at Magnuson Park
6310 NE 74th St., Seattle, WA

Now for the important stuff. The beers. For now all I have are the breweries, but hope to have a list of all the beers in the next week or so.

Breweries expected to participate:
Anacortes Brewery
Baron Brewing
Big Al Brewing
Big Time Brewery
Black Raven Brewing
Boundary Bay Brewery
Der Blokken Brewing Co.
Elliott Bay Brewing
Elysian Brewing
Fremont Brewing
Georgetown Brewing
Hale’s Ales Brewery
Issaquah Brewhouse
Lazy Boy Brewing
Naked City Brewery
Odin Brewing
Paradise Creek Brewery
Pike Brewing
Ram Brewery
Redhook Ale Brewery
Scuttlebutt Brewing
Snipes Mountain Brewery
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing
Silver City Brewery
Two Beers Brewing

Its going to be a doozy!

I can't wait till the next SBW!

Enjoyed on 12/21/2010

Brewery: Hale’s Ales LTD.

Location: Seattle, WA

Beer: Seattle Beer Week 2010 Double India Pale Ale

Web: http://www.averybrewing.com/

Presentation: 22 oz. – Brown Glass Bottle – Capped

Vintage: 2010

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 8.3%

IBU: 100

Hops: Columbus and Magnum in the bittering, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial in the late hop additions, and Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, Chinook and Simcoe in the dry hop.

Malt: Belgian Aromatic and Munich, oats, likely NW pale or 2 row or Maris Otter…possibly others.

Commercial Description:

Seattle Beer Week II Double IPA We do a couple different IPA’s here at Hale’s Ales, Mongoose, Supergoose, Aftermath, and so we were aiming for an IPA that was outside of these flavors. The big feature of this beer is the hops, so naturally we argued first and last about the malt bill. Our target was a rich orange color based around a couple of light color malts, Belgian Aromatic and Munich. We also were looking for a strong malt backbone to support a pretty aggressive hop bill, so we incorporated oats to allow for a rich body and mouthfeel. On to hops. Our goal was a blend of Northwest Hops emphasizing floral, citrus and pine characteristics. We did a couple of trial batches attempting to dial in the right hop character. We went a little heavy on Columbus in the first batch and ended up with a weird pineapple character. The second batch was dynamite on the flavor, but didn’t quite hit the perfect aroma. Our final batch incorporated Columbus and Magnum in the bittering, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial in the late hop additions, and Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, Chinook and Simcoe in the dry hop. Late hop additions were 1.6 lbs/bbl. Dry hops were at 1.0 lb/ bbl.

Beer Advocate: A- (4.1)

Rate Beer: 97 (3.68)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

Remember Seattle Beer Week 2010?  I do and I don’t, if you know what I mean.  It’s nearly impossible to exercise moderation during said week, and I partied like a rock star.  Err…a beer nerd.  That notion, non-existent moderation that is, seems to hold true when creating the week’s beer as well.  The inaugural brew in 2009 was crafted by Pike Brewing and was also a Double IPA.  When the Seattle Beer Collective gets down, they get down.  They destroy palettes with booze and IBUs.  The dates have already been set for SBW 2011, May 19 – 28, but the official beer’s brewer has yet to be announced.  Who will it be?  I can’t wait to find out, but for now, lets just enjoy my last bottle of the 2010 before the massive hop character becomes…well, less massive.

Appearance.

I’d say, based on looks, that Hale’s was right on with what they were aiming for.  This brew has a rich orange hue that is very inviting.  When the light isn’t quite so direct, the fluid takes on a more amber color, but when held directly to the light, SBW2010DIPA glows a gold flaked orange.  Though the beer is hazy from the dry-hopping, there is barely any sediment to speak of.  The carbonation is visible, but not so strong as to build an out of control head on the pour.  The lacing is worthy of a double thumbs up, and the head sticks around throughout.  Very impressive.

Odor.

There is little doubt that this beer has a solid malt backbone.  It’s possibly odd that I started this section with that statement.  Yes, hops dominate.  Was I supposed to mention that?  I thought it goes without saying.  I’ll get to the lupulin in a moment.

The first thought I had when evaluating the malt essence was Victory malt.  There may or may not be Victory in the grain bill, possibly it’s the Munich, but I got a whiff of peanuts and a dash of popcorn.  Those notes came right after the pour when the effervescence was at its peak.  Now that the beer has calmed a bit, I can’t seem to discern anything other than a faint caramel stickiness draped upon the overpowering hoppy fruitiness.

I smell and smell again, and each time I seem to get a slight nuance from the hops.  At times, it’s all fruit, mostly passion fruit or some soft tropical pleasure.  Other times, it’s completely floral.  Unfortunately, I’m no botanist, and therefore am unable to provide genus,  but I can tell you that the potency is immense.  I think of Elysian Jasmine IPA and its overwhelming ability to transport me to a Japanese tea garden.  A garden, we surely are in.

As the beer warms, some more of the malt is uncovered, and it easily coalesces with the flora to place me directly within the leavened pores of a fruit cake.  If you could take that scene in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids where they stumble upon the Oreo in the front yard and snack time ensues and replace the cookie with a fruit cake…yeah I’m doing a swan dive right into the fluffy cakey goodness right now.

As it warms even more, the booze enters the jaunt, and some slight uninvited vegetal scents pop in.  Try to drink this one cold(er).

Mouthfeel.

The body of this guy is truly lovely.  I can’t say that I would have guessed there were oats in this, but since I do know, I’ll strap on my monocle, clutch my jolly old belly (lavishly draped in a vest of the Queen’s finest textiles) and bellow deeply in an English accent that this beer’s “silky smooth mouthfeel is made possible by the almighty oat”.  The oats effect may also be responsible for the killer head retention, or maybe Cara-Pils could hold a minor percentage in the bill.

The carbonation is rocking well after the pour but never overbearing.  All in all, a great success.

Flavor.

Much like the nose, this element seems to fluctuate, oscillate, ebb and flow.  When the experience is averaged, balance is reached so astutely.  Doubtless, the malts are mighty strong here, standing tall amidst the triple digit bitterness units.  Bitterness… what a challenging topic right now.  With the fear of skipping ahead and spoiling the aftertaste section below, I must reference the moments after the swallow to make any attempt to wrap my mind around the role of bitterness here.

If you’ve read my Hop Briefs in the past, you know that, ultimately, my enjoyment of IPAs rest in the bitter vs. sweet, hop candy battle.  When this beer hits the tongue, the tongue recoils in fear.  On a sensory level, one must then pay close attention to the aftershocks, not the heavy hitting initial blow, to fully appreciate this beer’s nuance and complexity.  The aftershocks, or the aftertaste in this case, is so, so pleasurable.  It’s sweet and hoppy and not at all dry.  The malts are twinkling in the background and everything is right in the world.  How this contradiction holds together in the rolling centrifuge across my tongue, I can’t explain, but allow me to again bellow, “Roll on my intrepid friend, be free!”

When it comes to the actual hop flavor, it still holds a lot of fruitiness, but not so much floraliness (new word discovery, chalk it up!).  I’m actually getting a large dose of spice just at the moment that I swallow.  If beer is liquid bread, this beer is a culinary joy ride.  I’d feed on this one for days and days.  It’s all too hop-laden to realize any specific, legitimate malt characteristic, but the balance is undeniable.

Aftertaste.

It’s glorious.  See above.

Summary.

The absolute best part about this beer is the fact that it seems to be a living organism.  It’s like the sea breaching the shore – it attacks over and over again, but never twice in the same manner.  By this right, this is the most complex IPA I’ve had in recent memory.  Oddly enough though, complexity only goes so far with IPAs as far as I’m concerned.  This one beer may have the aspects of 4 different IPAs, possibly more, but maybe only one of those would be a perfect 10 in my book.  Though I deeply enjoyed the ride, the moments where SBW2010DIPA tasted like something slightly less desirable left a blemish with enough weight to set in scar.  If for nothing other than to deepen my confliction, may it be that this scar lends an endearing quality and in time I regret not distributing the highest of marks.  May time tell the tale.

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.99

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.94

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.98

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 2.70

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.88

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.99

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 9.48

Support American goods. Support American Brewing.

On Thursday night I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with the two men behind one of the latest and greatest breweries to open in Western Washington, American Brewing Co. One of these men you will probably not be familiar with, the other…if you don’t know by name you should be ashamed.

The Players

Neil Fallon is a housing developer from Tacoma.  Quite obviously, there’s better industries to be in these days, and he’s no dumby, so the time was nigh to invest in an industry with a little bit more stability.  The craft beer industry is not only seeing steady growth in a down economy, but it’s full of kind, supportive people that hold strong values in community.  People that work together as a team, even though, technically, they are competing against each other.  This is a cornerstone of the craft beer world that Beer Blotter loves and embraces, and Neil feels the same way.

Neil knows all about building a classy space to house a taproom and brewery, but when it come to actually making beer, his knowledge is limited.  That’s where the next player comes in.

Skip Madsen is a household name in the brewing community of Western Washington, and he is Neil’s number 1.  When asked about the (seemingly) over density of breweries in the Seattle market, Neil responded, and I’m paraphrasing, “Yeah, that was a concern.  I thought about opening my brewery in another part of the country, but once I joined up with Skip, I knew we could be successful anywhere”.  We completely agree.

Skip has brewed for Pike Brewing, Big Time Brewing, Boundary Bay Brewing, and was an original founder of our beloved Water Street Brewing.  He’s the man behind many stellar beers that you may still be drinking from those breweries.  He has won many awards for his beers.  He has mild celebrity status in this area, and it’s completely warranted.

Most recently, Skip produced Breakaway IPA under Baron Brewing’s license.  Due to some personal circumstances and the fact that American Brewing seemed to be on the verge of becoming a reality, Skip stopped producing the hoppy concoction that pleased the palates of many Satellites, myself included.  I remember the first time that I tasted the grog at The Pub at Piper’s Creek.  I knew if Skip was behind it that it would be good, and it was.  Still to this day I think that that beer might have the coolest tap handle of all time.  It’s a severed hockey stick and blade.  It stands out like none other.

The Brews

I’m very excited to announce that Breakaway IPA, as we know it, will be transitioned to American Brewing and act as it’s flagship brew, and that the tap handles will come along with it!

ABC plans to break out the gate with 4 brews, but they may only have 3 done by the time the taproom opens.  Neil is shooting for a January launch.  The first beer that Skip will brew on the brand new 15 bbl brewhouse will be a blonde.  The IPA makes two, then there will be a red ale and a stout.  The fact that December is already half over is just one of several reasons why I’d be surprised if they opened by even late January, but I’m hoping they can pull it off.  The brewery and taproom are still very much under construction.  There seems to be a lot left to build and fasten.  I, personally, would be a little fearful about that very first batch on a brand new system, but if anyone can do it, it’s Skip.  Another worry is that ABC only has three fermentors, one 15 bbl and two 30 bbl.  Though that’s enough to produce a pretty good amount of product, beer takes a while to ferment, and three fermentors means only three beers at a time.  But I’m not complaining, just give me some of that Breakaway and I’ll be happy.

Though there are plans to eventually bottle, all of ABC’s offerings will initially be draft only.  This is pretty common for a brewery upstart,  just saying.

The Venue

ABC is housed in an industrial complex right across from Arnie’s Restaurant on the Edmonds waterfront.  It’s a pretty big space.  Oddly, or maybe not, the room that the brewing equipment is in seems smaller than the area that the tasting room is in.  One thing that I really like about Neil’s vision is that the tasting room will be a big component of what they do and who they are right from the onset.  Because the tasting room is still under construction, it was very hard for me to envision what it might be like when it’s done.  I asked Neil if he could think of any local tasting rooms that he may have had in mind when he designed it, or that he thinks might be slightly reminiscent of what it will look like.  He struggled a little at first to come up with one, but eventually revealed that he thinks it would be a happy medium between the very industrial (think Trade Route) and the very glossy (think Black Raven).  Sounds pretty good to me.

One aspect of the tasting room that was fully realized when I visited was the huge bay windows that separate the brewhouse from the tasting room.  Though you can really only see the top of the tanks from the bar area, it’s a pleasant reminder that you are drinking beer that was created just a matter of feet from your seat.  Another extremely bad-ass element of the tasting room will be the popcorn and hot dog machines.  Way to kick it up a notch fellas!

I think it goes without saying that everyone that knows these two guys knows that they will be successful.  This taproom is, without a doubt, going to be a serious beer geek destination on the Northside.  Keep your eyes and ears open for details about the grand opening, hopefully in January of 2011.

Sour!

Written by our in-house cellar dweller, Timperial Stout.

When it comes to big, specialty releases that make waves on a national level, the Northwest is painfully lacking.  Washington state, more specifically, pretty much has none.  We don’t have a Dark Lord or a Black Tuesday or a Kate the Great or a Sexual Chocolate…

I can’t think of a single time that I rushed out to the bottle shop for a WA release.  I have rushed out to bars to catch WA beers while they were on draft, but that is such a fleeting pursuit.  I want to be able to add a bottle to the cellar and age it and show it off and pretend that I’m cool that I have a crazy barrel-aged imperial stout that’s 4 years old and nearly impossible to get.  I have low self-esteem so if I don’t have an impressive cellar I have nothing.

But seriously, why can’t Washington brewers do this for me.  I guess I do have that Black Raven wheat wine that they made for Malt and Vine‘s anniversary.  Oh yeah, and those Pike Entires.  Both are wax-dipped and shit, totally impressive.  Well, whatever…I want more.

Our neighbors to the south are doing a little bit better than us on this front, but it’s by no means a landslide.  Hair of the Dog and Cascade bottles are pretty sweet trophies to show off.  I’ve got a New Old Lompoc Oak Aged Dopplebock down in my cellar.  Pretty cool huh?  I know.

The ultimate bottled prizes in the PNW come from Deschutes in Bend, OR.  I know you know what they are.  I know you are jealous of my ’07 Abyss.  Your best bet to rival me in supremacy is to camp outside of your local bottle shop tonight, and every subsequent night until more bottle of The Dissident hit Western Washington (if we are so lucky).  Then do the same thing in mid-December for The Abyss.  Buy as many as they will allow, drink one of each on New Years and hide the rest in the deepest recesses of your cellar.  In 15 years when your first-born turns twentyfun, make his/her first ‘legal’ beer be one of paramount class.

The following information is from the Deschutes Brewery website via Beernews.org:

The Dissident
Friday, November 19th
We are super excited to officially announce the release of The Dissident, our sour brown ale brewed with Washington cherries, that takes 18 plus months to reach near perfection. A limited amount of bottles will go on sale at both Brew Pubs and our Tasting Room on Friday, November 19th at 11 am. Fans will be able to pick up six bottles of this beloved brew at a time.

The Abyss
Wednesday, December 1st
The wait is finally over for the fifth release of The Abyss, our imperial stout brewed with molasses and licorice aged in bourbon and oak wine barrels. Join us at our Brew Pubs on December 1st as we tap the first kegs and make the 2010 bottles available for you to add to your collection.

…Also of note, here is information on those two beers and other upcoming releases as it was received this morning from a brewery representative…

The Dissident

When: End of November

What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

Finally…. perfection. After nearly two years aging in isolation, the 2010 Dissident has reached its pinnacle. Deschutes Brewery’s only wild yeast beer, brettanomyces and lactobacillus “critters” (a technical brewing term) create a distinctive Oud Bruin, Flanders-style sour brown ale, with a fruity aroma and flavor. To make things even more interesting, whole Central Washington cherries – pits, stems and all were also added to the mix. The result? A beer that’s anything but conventional.

Where: Very limited available in most states where Deschutes is sold

Beer Geek Information:

10.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

The Abyss

When: Mid-December

What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

The Abyss has immeasurable depth inviting you to explore and discover its rich, complex profile. Hints of molasses, licorice and other alluring flavors draw you in further and further with each sip. And at 11% alcohol by volume, you will want to slowly savor each and every ounce.

2010 marks the fifth release of this dark and mysterious imperial stout rated the 4th best beer on planet earth by BeerAdvocate.com.

Where: Available in most states where Deschutes is sold

Beer Geek Information:

~11% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

65 IBUs

Oh you got the Abyss down there? Impressive!