Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale

I have come to realize that I am not nearly as good at reviewing or evaluating beers as I would like to be. I sometimes look at websites like www.ratebeer.come or www.beeradvocate.com or even www.beeruniverse.com and I see these fantastic descriptions and realize that there are entire flavor palates that I apparently cannot or do not taste. But I will continue on with this quest to describe good beers. And also to educate about beers which is why I am going to start putting a brief description of the type of beers (or at least the commercial description) and maybe what flavors should be expected. I just think it would be informative.

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale 2010,



"Created in 1996, Harvest Ale features Cascade and Centennial hops from the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. These hops are harvested and shipped as “wet” un-dried hops—the same day they are picked—to our brewery in Chico where our brewers eagerly wait to get them into the brew kettle while their oils and resins are still at their peak"


Poured from a bottle to a snifter at home. The Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale is, in my humble opinion, one of the best beers that Sierra Nevada makes. I have not tried the Southern Hemisphere version (brewed from hops that are grown in New Zealand and then rushed here) but I would assume it would be very similar. Being an American IPA, I expect it to be very hoppy and bitter. American IPAs are very similar to their English cousins but Americans have increased the amount of hops exponentially making the American version much hoppier/more bitter than most other IPAs.

Appearance - Clear amber red with a nice thick head that is really clinging to the side of the glass. Head stayed with the beer for the entire time I was drinking it.
Aroma - Kinda fruity/hoppy
Taste/Mouthfeel - A dry bitter flavor, pretty hoppy grapefruit flavor that starts bitter and ends really mellow. A really completely mouth filling flavor. The flavor intensified as the beer warmed and was quite nice.
Drinkability - It is fantastic, I could drink more than one but with this being an imperial pint, I think I will be full when I finish the bottle. Either way, I always look forward to the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale and it has never disappointed.

My beer making quest, week one

I have started my first brew using an actual brewing rig. I have made a couple of beers before using the 'Mr Beer' brewing system and the first one turned out pretty good, the second one not so much (honey is not always a good addition let’s just say). I have high hopes for my creation this time.

I made it on November 30th. For my birthday (yes, all the way back in May) Jamie and I bought the bucket and glass carboy and all the extra bits necessary. I had just finished a round of beer thru the Mr Beer and I was very gung ho. Somehow, all that energy dissipated. Not sure why but I never got around to it.

Either way, after sitting in the garage for a summer, I had to buy a few new bits (who knew that yeast would not survive a 115̊F summer garage?) which added on to the cost. Hopefully my Nut Brown Ale will be worth it tho. I have to admit, having a very limited amount of knowledge about what I was doing kinda made it a very laborious process. I am just glad Jared (cousin and very experienced brewer) was on call for support. Hopefully next time will be easier and I will remember all the steps (we had a bit of a moment when I realized I had forgotton to add the dried malt extract. It sure is fun, freaking out and all).

Well, I still need to collect a few more big bottles to fill and wait another couple weeks and we will see how it goes!! I hope to have it bottled and conditioned before Christmas.

I will update next week when I transfer the beer from the bucket to the carboy.
Jess

Avery Reverend, Harpoon Winter Warmer, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard

The first one is somewhat brief. These were drank at the Saucer with friends and I kinda spaced on writing about the first one as I was drinking it.

Avery Reverend - a Quadrupel

Appearance - amber.
Aroma - Malty.
Taste/Mouthfeel - sweet, brown sugar with a slight alcohol bite, creamy feel, super smooth going down.
Drinkability - One is enough. It seems very strong (just looked it up, it is 10%). Not sure I would be able to drink more than one. It is typically sold in a 22 oz bottle and I bet that is more than I would want.


Harpoon Winter Warmer

Appearance - Dark amber.
Aroma - Nutmeg and cinnamon.
Taste/Mouthfeel - lightish with a sour malty taste. Lot of nutmeg.
Drinkability - at first the flavor is over powering but after a drink or two, it is very enjoyable. I think 3-4 of these would be quite good in an evening. It is the beer I plan on buying for me and my buddy's annual "Winter Beer" tastings.


Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard - an American Strong Ale



Appearance - dark cloudy amber.
Aroma - Hoppy and bitter.
Taste/Mouthfeel - smooth and super hoppy/bitter. Bitterness lasts for a long time.
Drinkability - my favorite beer at the moment. I could drink it by the gallon. It is very very very hoppy, almost the hoppiest beer I know of although I believe Avery Maharaja could give it a run for the money. It would be perfect with a very bloody steak.

Harpoon Triticus and Oskar Blues Gordon Ale

Again all were drank from the Saucer. The first beer was the whole reason I went.

Harpoon Triticus - a Wheat Wine drank on tap from a snifter
Appearance - black as ink with a tan head
Aroma - malty maltiness with a hint of malt
Taste/mouthfeel - super stout with a spicy maltiness, very smooth and smoky aftertaste with a hint of bitter chocolate. It is somewhat bitter and even with the strength of flavor, it is not too heavy. Slight alcohol burn, I believe it is 11.5 % alcohol after all.
Drinkability - a good beer! Not one I would drink frequently by any means (a six of this would be five beers too many) but a very tasty beer and my first "Wheat Wine" ever.

Oskar Blues Gordon Ale - Imperial or Double IPA poured from a can to a pint glass
Appearance - dark cloudy caramel small white head
Aroma - hoppy
Taste/Mouthfeel - strangely sweet, not nearly as bitter as expected. Don’t get me wrong, it is bitter, just not super bitter. Pretty moderate mouthfeel, not really heavy but not light. slightly malty.
Drinkability - I think the sweetness would get to me if I drank more than a couple of these. I bet it would be a good beer to introduce IPAs to people tho. The sweetness somewhat masks the bitterness.

As a final note, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat just is not as good as I remember. Tastes like crappy cherry flavored cough syrup. Used to be a favorite. Either my taste has changed or this beer has.

Car insurance

So I saw a commercial for "General" car insurance. You have probably see it before as well, it had a cartoon General in a green army uniform. He was super short and had a massive white mustache and a round helmet that was so low over his eyes that it didn't seem like he could see (ala Beetle Bailey style). They advertised car insurance that anyone could get, it took just a minute to apply for online and instant proof of insurance was printed out for whatever you needed.

My thought is, could you not just plan ahead a bit and use that to your advantage? I think that if I could create proof of insurance when I needed, why would I need it all the time? I imagine that I could set up a laptop or IPad or something and a printer in my car and if I got pulled over or got in an accident, run a batch file or something that would log me in, get car insurance and print out the proof? Seems like it would save a bit of money! :)

Of course I guess a police officer may not see it as humorous if you have a bad connection or have trouble with the printer (would sitting in a 150 degree car dry the ink up in a printer the same way it does all the pens I currently have floating around my console/glove box area?) so maybe this is not feasible. And the set up may cost more to maintain in annoyance and time than normal daily insurance. It would take up space too, I bet this would take up at least one of the seats in the car. Just a thought I had.

Honey Brown, SA Oktoberfest, and THE BEAST

I had all of these at the Flying Saucer in Addison. I had to go to try THE BEAST since I have never had the opportunity to try it before. I had a couple others worth mentioning and I will list them first.

JW Dundee's Original Honey Brown

Poured it from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance - clear golden amber
Aroma - very light, it was very cold so I let it warm up a bit and still had almost no smell at all.
Taste/mouthfeel - super light feel, lot of carbonation. Very light honey flavor, tastes more like an amber than a brown. Almost no aftertaste, very light and sweet.
Drinkability - an old favorite that I have not drank in years. It is still a super easy to drink beer that I would recommend to any new beer drinker. A very refreshing beer.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest

On tap, drank it from a pint glass
Appearance - red and clear with a decent head.
Aroma - slight sour smell. Not a strong odor
Taste/mouthfeel - sweet and malty with a lingering nuttiness. It is right in the middle of a light and a moderate heaviness for the feel. Aftertaste is a nice nutty warmness
Drinkability - it gets a bit sour which I could see being an annoying quality after a few of these but I could also imagine finishing a six of these quite easily over the course of an afternoon. Not the best Oktoberfest beer this year but a decent beer.

Avery Beast

On tap, drank it from a snifter type glass
Appearance - red and dark with a slight cloudiness. Very decent tan head on it.
Aroma - smells good!! Smells like fruit and warm brown sugar.
Taste/mouthfeel - I will have a hard time describing this one, it has a very complex flavor. Very malty with an alcohol burn. Strong sugar and a fruity flavor, dates perhaps? The maltiness is almost over powering. Very strong alcohol burn followed by super malty sweetness. Lingering alcohol burn with a slight hoppy aftertaste.
Drinkability - it is a decent beer but I do not see me ever getting it again. It is just too much flavor and too strong. I could see having a small glass of it for dessert, maybe with vanilla ice cream but it is too much to have more than one of these. Having a hard time finishing this one.

New blog and new to blogging

Hello,

I have been told many times that I need to start a blog about beer (mainly by people that I send text messages to describing a new beer or telling about wonderfulness I have found). This blog will not be just about beer however. I think it would be boring if I spent page upon page, day upon day talking about nothing but beers. I do plan to list out new beers I have tried or old ones that I think deserve to be mentioned but since time has a way of clouding memory, I will only comment on beers as I am drinking them or shortly after. Anything else I think is important or funny will just be bonus.

I also plan to try to brew my first real batch of beer this winter and I hope to be able to update anyone who cares about the progress.

This is my first real "blogging" attempt and it is entirely possible that I will become bored with this and stop it in a few months/weeks/days but who knows.

That is all for now,
Jess