It has been quite some time since we wrote an actual blog post. And even longer since we last participated in The Session. This month’s session is all about Wheat Beers. This should be a good subject since I’ve just put a homebrewed wheat beer on tap recently and have been reading about wheat beers, too.

The latest homebrew — Hump’s Five Grain Ale — is vaguely in the style of an “American Wheat” which is a rather broad style. It features the use of not just Barley and Wheat but also Rye, Oats, and Corn (hence the name). It is cloudy like so many wheat beers, but is a little deeper in color, grainier but rich in flavor, full-bodied, and surprisingly citrusy (from a decent-sized punch of Tettnanger hops). Despite the exotic sound of all that, it isn’t particularly adventurous. I think a lot of fizzy-yellow-beer drinkers get their feet wet in the craft beer world with wheat beers. That would certainly explain why Blue Moon is so popular, wouldn’t it?

The Obligatory Anecdote

On a recent team-building outing with my co-workers, I was tasked with refreshments. In addition to water, sodas, pretzels, and chips, I also brought along beer. I nabbed a fairly random selection of singles from the basement and then also got a few six-packs at the store. I had a request for something approachable (so I ended up taking along Miller Lite). But I also grabbed some Sierra Nevada Kellerweis. Several of us drank the interesting brew (Oskar Blues Gordon and the random assortment of picks from the cellar). Those not so keen on bold craft beer knocked out the fizzy yellow stuff. When no more Miller Lite remained, I suggested the Kellerweis, and both of my co-workers that ventured into craft beer with it said they really liked it.

So its approachability and ability to refresh (particularly on hot days) combined with all malt flavor and a wide range of interesting and bold flavors (whether it be a punch of hops like in some American versions, the phenol notes of clove and banana in traditional southern German brews, or the fragrant bitter orange and coriander of Witbier) make it a wonderful niche in the world of beer.

No, I wasn’t asked to promote this book…

Coincidentally, I just finished reading a book on the subject: Brewing With Wheat by Stan Hieronymus. The topic didn’t seem particularly interesting at first glance (at least not enough so to warrant an entire book on the subject), but I really liked one of his other books, Brew Like a Monk. So I bought this one, expecting it would be a good read solely on the author’s reputation. I was not disappointed.

The histories of wheat beer in Belgium and Germany make for very interesting chapters as do the discussions of newer takes on wheat beer, like wheat wine and a few uniquely American wheat beers. There isn’t really any discussion of Lambic — one of the most unique (and perhaps most famous?) styles from Belgium that happens to be made with generous portions of wheat — but there is a lot of great info on Belgian Wits (particularly their history and how and why they’ve changed since a century ago) and German Weizen, and a lot of facts on now-extinct and nearly-extinct styles of wheat beer from Germany, like Berliner Weisse, Gose, and Grätzer. I have yet to try authentic (i.e. from Germany) examples of any of these. In fact, aside from Berliner Weisse, I have yet to try anything even resembling these ales of yore. Gose — sour and salty? Grätzer — sour and smokey? They sound intriguing. I’m not sure if they’d be to my liking, but I would most certainly be willing to try.

Like in Brew Like a Monk, the blend of history, stories, technical brewing details, and interviews with brewers keeps it a quick pace and fascinating all the while. I consider both books valuable tools for recipe formulation, too – lots of eye-opening details behind how the famous commercial brews are made.

A Departure

I find myself brewing wheat beers frequently. I know the topic for this session is wheat, but I often use rye instead of wheat in classic wheat beer styles and have found this angle much to my liking. My current batch, Five Grain Ale, to which rye imparts its distinct character, is a fine brew, but it still contains a good bit of wheat. But I’m now thinking more about beers that use rye instead of wheat – not unlike German Roggenbier: basically a Weizenbier but made with rye instead of wheat.

For example, another brew I have on tap right now is Hump’s Roggendoppelbock. The intent behind this was not a regular Doppelbock lager made with rye, but an über-strong Weizenbock made with rye instead of wheat. A doppelbock-strength Roggenbier, if you will. It turned out very tasty. Another similar experiment this year was a Belgian Witbier, but made with rye (including generous amounts of unmalted flaked rye) instead of wheat. I called it Wry Wit because I have a lame sense of humor. I was rather generous with both coriander and orange peel, and the result was very pleasant: the citrus and strong spice character melded well with the almost-spicy grainy rye character.

If I try this experiment again, it may be with a sour brew – like Berliner Weisse. Sour + rye sound to me like they would work quite nicely together. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Any time I brew a beer that seems like it could age well, I save at a minimum two bombers. I open one when it’s one year old, the other when it’s two years old. In fact, I have a bottle of Hump’s Fiftieth Brew that is just over two years old, waiting for the right moment to be opened and consumed. I have a wine fridge that used to hold wine but recently holds only aging home brew. The bottles to its right are the overflow – too many aging bottles to fit in this thing.

The Stash

I’m also an acquisitive sort when it comes to shopping for commercial brews. I frequently stop by the local fan-frickin-tastic bottle shop (Hop City in midtown Atlanta) to see what’s new. They are the only place in town that I know of that will break up six-packs. Other places do something similar, but to a lesser degree – letting you buy singles from a limited selection or making you buy in increments of six. Hop City is much more lenient and enabling for the “I wanna try a little bit of everything” kind of shopper. The commercial selection is generally kept at serving temperature (vs. cellar temperature) and is tucked away in the same fridge that dispenses the home-made stuff.

The bottom shelves of this stash feature the older bottles – a few vintages of various beers. Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale and Bigfoot are most prominent since they are the most recent additions from the 2009/2010 winter season and thus on top. The Weyerbacher Heresy is actually from last year (I haven’t bought any of the currently available vintage yet). Buried beneath are various offerings from Clipper City, Dogfish Head, Victory, J.W.Lee, Thomas Hardy, and others.

If you were to look closely in this fridge, you’d see that the single oldest bottle contains 750ml of Chimay Grande Réserve from 2001. This was a gift from my brother-in-law. He suggested I hang on to it for awhile. So I did. Next time he and my sister are both out this way, we will open it. I’ll have to nab a new bottle, too, and do a vertical tasting. It will be interesting to see how this beer had changed after 10 years of aging (most at cellar to room temperatures, but the last few years at lagering temperatures).

Another interesting option tucked away in here is the jeroboam of Double Bastard. This one is big enough that the “right time” will be when plenty of good friends are around. Perhaps that will be on our next Brew Day — we try to do three batches or so a year where we invite friends over to help brew and to partake of the ever-growing selection. I guess you could call it our “inventory management” function – it’s how we keep the selection from growing too big.

I actually have another stash of refrigerated brews, too – “on deck” if you will. It usually features up to four 750ml or 22oz bomber bottles and up to a dozen 12oz/33cl bottles (okay, sometimes more than a dozen). For these beers, the right occasion is “tonight”. This particular night for example, the wife and I split a bottle each of Founder’s Breakfast Stout and Founder’s Imperial Stout – both quite excellent.

The final area where we stash brews is our unfinished storage area. It’s in the basement, so it stays at a decent temperature for aging/cellaring (though a little on the warm side during the summer). Only home-brewed beers live in this part of the house. Currently, we have some Hump’s La Brabançonne Grand Cru waiting to be sent off to the Peach State Brew Off (or maybe the NHC – don’t have enough for both, so I still have some decision to make there). Those bottles are nearly a year old, but the rest of the bottles in this picture are much more recent. Despite the labels you see, there are no Samuel Adams or Sierra Nevada brews among them.

Decisions, Decisions…

Deciding when to open these brews is always a tough decision. We’ve got enough of a selection, that there is always something interesting to nab almost no matter what we feel like. And yet, typically we just reach for home brew.

For tonight, we celebrate with something newer: a bright, super-hoppy, home-brewed Imperial India Brown Ale that we’ve dubbed Hump’s Back-Breaking Brown. I like to break into the old stuff every once in a while, but when you’ve got beer that is so good when it’s fresh, that’s where the hand tends to reach (at least mine do).

So the display shelf gets more and more trophies. And then we invite friends over to beat back the horde before it takes over. Lather. Rinse. Repeat…

When I was in college, it was Guinness that brought me to the world of flavorful beer. I drank mostly Miller Genuine Draft and Bud Dry because of their middle-of-the-road price points. They were cheaper than the brand standards like Budweiser and Coors Gold but seemed equally palatable. How naive I was (I even enjoyed Zima every now and then)!

A friend and roommate of mine had enjoyed Guinness on draft in the past and brought home a six-pack of their Extra Stout in bottles. I was intrigued by its color and subsequently blown away by its flavor. My roommate didn’t care for it. He preferred the “smoother” draft variety, which wasn’t available in bottles at the time (only on tap or in “widget” cans). I later tried the draft version and thoroughly enjoyed its coffee overtones and sublime drinkability. Around this time I also tried Pete’s brews – initially their Wicked Red – and was similarly impressed. Before too long I was a certified beer snob, unable to revert to flavorless yellow lager unless I was at a keg party where it was available for free (after all, I was still in college and usually broke).

I was even fortunate enough to live in Home Park – a neighborhood of shabby houses filled mostly with students and adjacent to campus (Georgia Tech in Atlanta). This turned out to be fortunate because this was back in Sweetwater’s early days, and they used to sort of (perhaps they still do…) “sponsor” the Home Park Festival by bringing a truckload of Sweetwater kegs of all flavors. Great live music + great local draft beer = tons of fun.

So, what does all this backstory have to do with beer cocktails? Sorry. I can be a bit long-winded sometimes. It wasn’t long after I discovered Guinness that I discovered this bizarre cocktail that was the black and tan. I read (and was probably told) that it is traditionally Bass and Guinness. I read that locals in Ireland preferred Harp and Guinness. I was fascinated (still a little naive, too, eh?).

I used to make my own “big daddy” black and tan using a 24 ounce stein/mug (emblazoned with Buzz the yellow jacket of course), a wickedly bent spoon (for the perfect pour), one 12 ounce bottle of Sierra Nevada Stout, and one 12 ounce bottle of Samuel Adams Bohemian Pilsner (no longer available). I have since outgrown this cocktail, but can still attest to the wonderful beer that it produced: stout with big roasted barley and coffee notes, a touch of grainy pilsner malt sweetness, and a mesmerizing hop complexity from the blend of citrusy American stout and brightly hopped Czech-style lager.

So in memory of this “big daddy” cocktail, I decided to make something even more memorable. Something immense. Something that is hopped to absolutely irresponsible levels. Something with enough alcohol to serve as a pleasing after dinner drink – or to stir crazy college students to perilous uproar (if they could afford it). I mixed up a delicious Imperial Black and Tan – enticing and intoxicating (is that redundant?):

As can be seen in the photo, this beer consists of two big beers: Sweetwater Happy Ending (the current vintage from this past winter) and Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner (from 2007). Despite the fact that the glass looks more dark than light, it is mixed to about 50/50. I think that the ratio of final gravities in the two beers is different enough to prevent the perfect pour (i.e. the stout’s specific gravity is too close to that of the lager to let it easily float atop the other without some blending).

I will now close this novella with tasting notes of this blended beast:

• Appearance: Surprisingly cloudy. Very dark brown with red and caramel-colored highlights when held to the light (after the two beers completely mixed). Head pours medium-thin and splotched with tan and white from the two beers. It subsides into a crescent of light tan, fine bubbles. A few spots and streaks of lace are left on the glass.
• Aroma: Resiny and vinous with hops. There are also some notes of dried fruit and chocolate-covered toffees. And some alcohol, too.
• Flavor: Starts sweet and hoppy with a mix of grainy sweetness, caramel, and crazy spicy nobles hops (thanks, Sammy!). There are some notes of toasted bread and coffee-like roasted grains, too. As the beer finds its way to mid-palate, there is an explosion of hop bitterness that is surprisingly docile compared to its individual constituents. Spicy hops with a touch of evergreen blend with toast, semi-sweet chocolate, and dark strong coffee. There are also notes of dark fruit esters (prunes, raisins) that fit wonderfully well amidst all these flavors. The finish is surprisingly dry and surprisingly familiar from other black and tans: a nice mix of hoppy, roasty stout and grainy, hoppy lager – but elevated by an order of magnitude.
• Texture: The mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth and slippery – very full-bodied and creamy with a slight zip of carbonation.
• Overall: Wow. This met my expectations exactly. It tasted exactly like what it is: a great big, irreponsibly-hopped “imperial” black and tan. ‘Nuff said.

I am now feeling a little bit dreary thanks to this experiment. Many thanks to Beer at Joe’s for coming up with this original (and evidently nostalgic – at least for me) topic.

Fireside

The first brew in the basement fridge I’ll share with you is Weyerbacher Fireside. The label is charming and rustic. It promises to be a delightful glass of smokey, malty goodness.

The aroma is malty. There is a subtle hint of smoke, but it is minor next to the waves of tangy malts and caramel. The flavor is similar: rich in malt character with some graininess, some subtle pepper and fruit, and even more subtle smoke.

It’s tasty, but it’s not smokey enough. I recall one of my favorite smoked beers – Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock – and decide that Fireside is too timid. I want more in-your-face campfire from my smoked beers.

It is a good beer. It is slightly warming with alcohol, and has a nice malt profile that is rich and flavorful. But it is a disappointing smoked beer.

Next up… homebrew!

Hump’s Smoked Maple Stout

Now this is more like it! Admittedly, this too is a bit weak in the smoke department. Neither of these beers are the smoke bombs that you’d find from a beer whose label reads “Aecht Schlenkerla.” The Schlenkerla brews are the only commercial German Rauchbiers I’ve had, and the only ones I know are available in these parts (though I’ve recently read about Spezial and wonder if they’re available in Atlanta). I wonder if all authentic Bamberg rauchbrews are as smokey as these prodigal exports…

So the homebrew, which is on draft in the fridge at the moment, pours a deep black with a very thick, light tan head. The aroma is grainy with light notes of chocolate and smoke. The smoke flavor comes from some applewood-smoked British Pale Ale malt (6 ounces in a 5-gallon batch). The smokey quality to the beer was rich and full of life at first. It has smoothed out – almost too much.

The flavor is chocolatey and sweet (the base style is Sweet Stout, made with a fair portion of Grade B maple syrup). It is missing a roastiness and richness that I like in the style – back to the drawing board!

The smoke qualities are stronger than in Weyerbacher’s Fireside. Both beers get a thumbs up. Both beers need more. Fireside needs more smoke. Smoked Maple Stout is about right, but the underlying base beer could use some tweaking.

I was at the store today shopping for a get-together we’re having tomorrow. I had rough ideas on a cocktail, so I was picking up ingredients. I also snagged some beer and some wine (Smuttynote Robust Porter [new to Georgia!], Magic Hat Hi.P.A, and Sweetwater Hummer). We have a habit of having too much of everything at these things (food, soft drinks, adult beverages… all in plentiful – perhaps sometimes ridiculous – quantities).

While there, I spent some time drooling in the Scotch aisle. The drool was brought on by a single bottle. And not a cheap one. At least not cheap to me (I’m sort of a Scotch newbie – but a very enthusiastic newbie). The store was asking $86 for a bottle of 16-year-old Lagavulin. That is about mid-range for good single malts – at least at the Georgia World of Beverage (priciest bottle of Scotch there was a 21-year-old Macallan for ~$130).

I very seriously considered throwing it in the cart. My wife would not have been happy. “You have an expensive bottle of Scotch already. You were supposed to get stuff for tomorrow – not for yourself.” She doesn’t actually complain much. She’s wonderful and understanding. But my spending $86 for one bottle of Scotch would not please her.

Come to think of it, I drooled over another bottle of Scotch that was similar in price (a hair less expensive): 10-year-old Ardbeg.

I think I am, at this moment, doubting my decision to forego. I think lustily of those Scotches. My current expensive bottle of Scotch is a cask-strength Laphroaig. From what I’ve read, many place the standard 10-year-old Laphroaig in similar rankings as the Ardbeg and Lagavulin. So maybe I would have been disappointed by them after thoroughly enjoying this cask-strength whiskey. But probably not. If I were to base it just on price I would think that both these whiskeys were nicer since they are both a little pricier. No matter, I lust for them. Perhaps next time I’m at a bar, I’ll try one or both of them. They may be very pricey at a bar ($15 for one drink), but it’s still cheaper than forking over 160+ bucks to try them from my own bar.

By the way, today is also The Session. I’m afraid I’m just not that interested in participating. I have no fizzy, yellow lager in the house (except for Samuel Adams Boston Lager? Probably not what was in mind when the topic was decided). You can read all about the topic here.

Interestingly enough, my last contribution to the session was during a month that happened to be about a German style of beer: Doppelbock. This month it isn’t about any particular style but about the contributions that the great nation of Deutschland has made to the world of beer. Instead of focusing on any particular contribution or beer style from this land, I’ve decided to author a history lesson of sorts – which has a myriad of tidbits about the most well-known and prominent styles (prominent according to the Beer Judge Certification Program Style Committee anyway).

Much of this content is probably common knowledge to most of the readers that follow the session. But it was good practice for my prose, and it was fun to do a little bit of research (I can’t claim that 100% of this post was all from the top of my head).

The Land of Lager

The origin of beer began with what today is commonly known as ale. But the cool climate in central Europe, where now stands the nation of Germany, led to the evolution of cold-tolerant strains of yeast. There are still ales produced in Germany, but they are vastly overwhelmed by the production of lager. These beers, Altbier and Kölsch, are found primarily in the north, particularly in Düsseldorf (Altbier) and in Cologne (Kölsch).

The cold climate in Germany led to the organisms known as lager yeast. The production of lager, with its crisp and clean flavors, was for a time unique to Germany and its surrounding neighbors. Further north in Europe, particularly in Belgium and the British Isles, ales continued (and still continue) to be the norm.

In Bavaria, brewing these lagers was not allowed during the summer months. The warm weather was not a suitable climate for production of these beers. As a result, brewers would often brew a special, stronger recipe in March, before the weather was too warm for brewing. The strength of the brew was so that it would better survive the summer months in storage. The beer would age, typically stored in cold caves (”lager” means “store” in German), during the summer months and then be consumed in the fall after the weather began to cool. This special lager, known as Märzen, is also commonly called Oktoberfestbier thanks to its being enjoyed in early fall during the Oktoberfest – a sixteen-day festival held in late September. This evening, I cracked open an Oktoberfestbier to accompany me as I write this: Victory Festbier. Yes, I know – this one is actually an American concoction. But I like to try new things, and this was the only Oktoberfest/Märzen beer I could find this evening that I had never tried before.

In the mid-19^th century, advances in malting technology led to the production of light lagers – or helles biers – in Germany, and the popularity of these light lagers and their light, refreshing flavors grew quickly. Bohemia is the home of the first Pilsener beer: the most popular beer style in the world today (though the vast majority of “Pilsener” beers today are but watery shadows of authentic Pilseners). Bohemia is a region of central Europe that now constitutes the northwest of the Czech Republic – the southeastern neighbor of modern-day Germany. The northern-most strip of Bohemia even tried to unify with Germany after World War I. Egerland, the majority of whose citizens were German, declared itself independent on October 27^th, 1918, to avoid becoming part of the newly-formed Czechoslovakia, which declared its independence the very next day. A few weeks later, on November 12^th, the Republic of German Austria came into being – the day after Emperor Karl I relinquished control in his Abdication Proclamation. German Bohemia, which included Egerland, was a province of this new republic. But in late November, the Czechoslovak army invaded, and by December 27^th, all major cities of German Bohemia had fallen to the occupying army. In 1919, the treaty of Versailles drew German Bohemia as definitively belonging to Czechoslovakia, and it remains a part of the Czech Republic today.

Before War World I and this dizzying sequence of events, brewers in Germany tried to copy this new and interesting Pilsener beer that came from Prague. Their subtly different brewing conditions (like different varieties of native hops and more sulfates present in drinking water) created a subtly different beer style. Current day German Pilseners are a little drier, a little lighter in body and color, and a little more bitter than their Bohemian counterparts. They also typically lack the distinctive floral aroma and flavor of Czech Saaz hops, instead favoring spicy German hop varieties like Hallertauer, Tettnanger, and Spalter.

Dunkles and Bock

Before the days of Pilsener and its light lager ilk were the days of dunkles – or dark – beers. These beers are still produced in Bavaria, represented by two major styles: Munich Dunkles and Schwarzbier. The former originated in – you guessed it – Munich, the latter in northern Bavaria (Franconia) and its adjacent neighbor-state to the north, Thüringen.

Another great dark lager that Germany gave to the world is Bock. Hailing from Einbeck in Lower Saxony (central/northern Germany), this beer was later adopted by monks in Munich who would later spew forth Bock’s bigger sibling: Doppelbock.

Let us all take a moment to give thanks and gratitude, for Bock is truly a treasure.

Weizenbier

In southern Germany, where brewing lager beer during the summer was not allowed, the thirsty folk were made refreshed by flagons of a delicious and unique summertime brew: weizenbier – also known as weissbier.

These brews are unique because the yeast responsible for their dazzling array of spicy and fruity flavors are like no others. They are suited to warmer temperatures, like ale yeast, but are generally hungrier (i.e. more attenuative) than other ale yeasts and produce a profile of esters and phenols that are eccentrically “weizen” in nature. In addition to special yeast strains, these beers also feature malted wheat as a main ingredient – between 50 and 70 percent of the grain bill, with malted barley filling in the remaining 30 to 50 percent.

The refreshing character of these wheat beers complements brews both light in color (Crystalweizen and Hefeweizen) and dark (Dunkelweizen). This year I’ve brewed one of each.

Brewed late winter, kegged early spring, my Dunkles Hefeweissbier is one of the best wheat beers I’ve ever made.

A summer treat for my wife, my German Hefeweizen was refreshing and tasty, but fermented a bit too warm to be perfect. The resulting beer is balanced a little more towards the banana-side than perfection, but it is still a nice, drinkable summer brew.

The weizen yeast character also complements brews that, unlike the refreshing beers mentioned so far, are quite heavy in gravity: Weizenbocks. Weizenbocks are essentially Dunkelweizens that are brewed to the strength of Doppelbocks. The increase in grain gives the beer bigger and richer flavors. The weizen yeast provide beautiful complexity.

The weizen yeast character is also a major contributor to the flavors of an all-barley beer style: Dampfbier. This style is not currently recognized by the BJCP, and examples of the style would have to be submitted to competitions as Specialty Beer. No authentic commerical example of this beer is available in the US currently (though there are some US brewers that have tried their hand at the style). I’m strongly tempted to brew a “pilot” batch (a mere 3 gallons) just to see how the lack of wheat distinguishes these beers from weizenbiers.

Rauchbier

Though this post is far from comprehensive when it comes to the many beer styles that originated in Germany, I can consider it complete only upon bringing up the marvels of Rauchbier.

I have had numerous smoked beers and thoroughly enjoy the flavors that smoke can add to a good beer. But none were as at once intense and delicious as Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock. The wonderfully rich, malty flavors of a Bock, laden with comforting smells of a smoldering campfire, were a sincere treat. This sweet and savory combination is reminiscent of other palate-pleasing inventions like smoked ham and bacon. Who doesn’t love that?!?

I have since designed my own Rauchbier recipe, in the vein of Aecht’s Urbock. But I chose to take it to the next level of extreme – a smoked Doppelbock. Doppelbocks are often named with an “ator” suffix. The origin of this practise isn’t entirely certain: was it to pay tribute to Paulaner Salvator (the original doppelbock), or was it to copy Paulaner and perhaps steal some market share with this dubious mimicry? In any event, given this traditional practise, what better name could be given to a smoked Doppelbock than Hump’s Baconator? (Unfortunately, no commercial beer could be so named without a legal agreement with Wendy’s, which has registered the word Baconator as a trademark with the USPTO)

A bottle label for Hump’s Baconator is still in the works. Stay tuned here to keep an eye out for it.

It isn’t that I had nothing to say on these topics (though I may have had less to say than in past topics), but that I simply missed them. Things get so busy around here sometimes with lots of things going on at work that things like this tend to slip my mind (though it’s much worse when the thing that slips my mind is paying a bill on time…)

The links above feature the things that the rest of the beer-blagoblag wrote about these topics. Read and enjoy.

To make this post slightly more substantive, I’ll also mention that I have had several Barleywines in the past couple of months: Three Floyds Behemoth, Bell’s Third Coast Ale, and Clipper City Below Decks. Generally, I greatly prefer American Barleywines over English ones. English ones can be so rich in caramel that they become cloyingly sweet. American examples are more likely to be cranked up on hops and thus, at least to my palate, much more balanced. My favorite two examples have been Stone Old Guardian and Avery Hog Heaven. Another nice, local example of American Barleywine that I’ve found quite enjoyable is Sweetwater Donkey Punch.

I did not drink a Barleywine this past Friday, so I have no recent experience to recite. But I did try Clipper City Winter Storm this weekend. The label describes it as an Imperial ESB, but it could also pass as an American Barleywine – albeit a small one (7.3% abv).

What would a post be without mention of homebrew? I’ve recently reformulated the recipes I have sitting around so they involve a mini-mash with 5 to 5.5 pounds of grain (some of the recipes I have are old, before I was doing mini-mashes). One of them was a recipe for an American Barleywine: Hump’s Old Humperdink Barley Wine. Once brewed, this beast should weigh in around 9.9% abv and 95 IBUs (calculated). I’m not sure when I will get a chance to actually cook this one up though. I’m leaning towards smaller beers for my near future batches. When I do make a stronger beer, I’m currently leaning towards other recipes in my repertoire – like a Strong Scotch Ale or an Imperial IPA…

I’m hoping they’ll still include my post in the round-up despite the fact that I’m a day late. I meant to write this last night, but my wife and I had company over, and they didn’t leave until close to midnight. After that, I was too tired to post and instead went straight to bed.

Like my post for last month’s session, I’ll be talking about more than one beer.

Doppelbock Deathmatch

A little over a year ago I tried a horizontal tasting of German doppelbocks. In the line-up that night were Paulaner Salvator, Spaten Optimator, and Ayinger Celebrator. I enjoyed this style and these three beers so much that I sought other traditional doppelbocks over the next few weeks and found Weihenstephaner Korbinian and Tucher Bajuvator.

In the original tasting – which happened to include the three most famous examples of the style – I discovered a delightful breadth to the style. All three of these beers are very different from one another. Their similarities – governed by the style – were a darkish brown color (though Celebrator was distinctly darker than the other two), strength (though Celebrator is notably lower in alcohol than the other two), and a chewy, malt-oriented flavor.

The hands-down winner was Ayinger Celebrator. It remains one of my all-time favorite beers. Paulaner’s Salvator is also a decidedly delicious product, and took home silver that evening. Optimator is a very tasty brew, but it simply couldn’t muscle its way into the company of the other two, taking a distant third place.

The follow-up tastings of Tucher’s and Weihenstephaner’s doppelbocks resulted in a new third and fourth place (respectively), with Spaten’s Optimator still rounding out the set in last place. The Tucher Bajuvator was very characteristic of the style and was very close to a tie with Salvator. Weihenstephaner Korbinian was a very interesting brew with some flavors that are familiar from other Doppelbocks. But, at the same time, it had the greatest variance in flavors – almost cloyingly sweet aroma, but a more bitter finish. A good beer, but no match for Celebrator.

To remind myself of some of the brews, I bought a bottle of Optimator and a bottle of Bajuvator last night. But the company we had over last night were more interested in my homebrew, so we drank that instead of doppelbock. I did get a chance to have the Optimator before everyone arrived. Admittedly, it was better than I remembered. In fact, I updated my rating on RateBeer.com with my latest impression of the beer. It is now tied for fourth place with Weihenstephaner Korbinian.

Perhaps I’ll get around to trying the Bajuvator this afternoon/evening…

Hump’s Emancipator Doppelbock

What would a post be without mention of homebrew?

I have made one doppelbock during my years of home brewing. I formulated the recipe pretty early on – and prior to reading Ray Daniels’ Designing Great Beers and, admittedly, prior to actually trying any authentic doppelbocks (at the time, Georgia law prohibited the sale of beers stronger than 6.5%, so these brews were unavailable here). Further major impediments included the fact that I was still doing a partial boil (cook 2 gallons of super-strong beer and then dilute with 3 gallons of cold water to make a 5 gallon batch). I was also getting 100% of the fermentables from extract – specialty grains were steeped, no mash was ever performed. Finally, I had no temperature-controlled environment in which to lager the beer. What I did have was an uninsulated storage room that – because I brewed in winter – got very cold and maintained temperatures that were cool enough for lager brewing (although with a temperature swing of about 10 degrees between day and night).

Despite these major obstacles, the beer I designed and made was actually an awesome brew and a good example of the style. Because I was doing a partial boil, I had to use 8 ounces of hops! That would usually make a beer quite hoppy, but partial-boil brewing is very inefficient when it comes to extracting bitterness and flavor from hops.

I was sad to see this batch go. I had saved a pop-top 1-liter bottle of the brew for a special occasion. I opened it on the following New Year’s Eve and was quite disappointed to see that the gasket of the pop-top had not sealed properly: the last bottle of precious Emancipator was flat…

Oh, well. I still have very fond memories of it. I should probably design a new recipe – that includes a full-volume boil and mashing of grains – to see if I can make an even better one.

To that end, I’ve sampled several seasonal brews and even brewed some. In addition to those that I’ve tasted and brewed this year, I feel like talking about some of my favorites from years past. There’s just nothing like fond recollection…

New Year’s Beers

My friend, Gustaaf DeRidder, and I share the hobby of home brewing. He entered into it earlier than I and has made some phenomenal beers – several in which I have participated in the brewing activities. Before Malin (my wife) got pregnant with our son, we spent the holidays with Gustaaf and his wife at the time, Audra (alas, these two very good friends of ours have divorced). Audra’s older brother, Jason, is in fact a long time friend of mine from my high school era. And Gustaaf and Jason used to brew together when they shared an apartment near USC (the one in Columbia, SC – not southern California).

So, for several subsequent years, Malin and I traveled to visit Gustaaf and Audra for the week between Christmas and New Year’s – a couple of times when they lived in Baltimore, MD and a couple of times in Durham, NC. Gustaaf and I would always brew a beer on New Year’s Day (what better way to nurse the hang-over from the previous night?).

Two of those New Year’s collaborations turned out especially delicious:

• New Year’s Wee Heavy, from 2002. This beer didn’t really resemble a Wee Heavy despite the fact that the recipe was adapted from the Clone Brews recipe for Traquair House Ale. Gustaaf (whose father is Belgian and who is a big fan of Belgian styles of beer) influenced the beer’s overall character with a good bit of Belgian specialty grains – Cara-Munich, Biscuit, and Aromatic malts. We also used way more flavor and aroma hops than one would normally find in a Wee Heavy. We even dry-hopped it!
• New Year’s Grand Cru, from 2003. This beer was one of my favorite home brewed beers – definitely my favorite home brew which was not an original recipe (I say not original because I had a co-conspirator [Gustaaf] who helped concoct it – that’s why you won’t find this one listed as a Hump’s brew in the Brews section of this site). This was a strong Belgian ale (about 7.4% abv) that was spiced with Coriander seed, Curaçao orange peel, and Seeds of Paradise. Delicious!

Hump’s Holiday Ales

I have crafted several of my own winter seasonal beers, which I affectionately call my holiday ales. Sometimes the affection is not 100% deserved – but I dole it out nevertheless, like the mother of an ugly child.

My favorite recipe for Hump’s Holiday Ale was from 2005. This was a strong, sweet ale that was flavored generously with Vanilla bean. Last year’s recipe (2006) was supposed to be a winter-spiced robust porter, but the cloves and allspice stole the show. I’ve referred to it many times as a clove monster. I just kegged this year’s holiday beer tonight, and I think it will turn out pretty good. An initial taste of it last week demonstrated some strong notes of hot cinnamon that were quite peculiar in a beer. But these quirks have toned down. The beer tasted pretty good tonight… Hopefully Monday (when it should be carbonated) it will taste even better…

Commercial Brews

My all-time favorite holiday brew was from the Highland Brewery in Asheville, NC. They release Cold Mountain every year, and they vary the recipe from year-to-year. I can’t remember the year exactly (probably 2001?), but I remember drinking a pint of this winter warmer at Barley’s Tap Room and Pizzeria several years ago. It tasted like liquid ginger bread cookie. It was the first winter warmer I can remember that was heavily spiced, and I loved it.

After that experience, I actively sought out winter warmers. I found a reliable companion in Harpoon’s Winter Warmer. It is a light ale that is pleasantly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. For years this was my wife’s favorite winter beer. The only reason it no longer holds that title is because it is no longer easy to find in these parts (Harpoon beers are still commonplace, but they send much less winter brew our way).

This year, I’ve tried several new winter seasonal beers that are a bit of a departure from the two just mentioned above:

• Allagash Grand Cru: This beer is a very strongly flavored Belgian specialty ale. For the most part, I really like it. But some of the fruit and spice notes clash somewhat. I’ve tossed one bottle into my cellar to see how well it rounds out after a year or two. Overall, despite these bold, contrasting flavors, I think it is an excellent winter beer, and I highly recommend it. I was really stoked to find it in the store as Allagash brews are only very recently available here in Georgia.
• JosephsBrau Winterfest: This beer is a doppelbock that is sold only at Trader Joe’s stores. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t particularly authentic. It is malty, but it has a character (perhaps from the yeast?) that is definitely more reminiscent of a strong American lager than a strong German one. I haven’t yet tried any of the other Trader Joe exclusives, but this one was only mediocre. I picked it up recently during my very first trip to a Trader Joe’s here in Atlanta. I’ve been to these stores in California before, but they’re a recent addition to Atlanta’s repertoire.
• Victory Hop Wallop: Whoah! This beer was a very interesting brew. It is amazingly light in color considering its style and strength (Imperial India Pale Ale, 8.5% abv). It is also intensely sweet. And at the same time it is incredibly hoppy and bitter. The hops are distinctly American, and they contribute a “shampoo” flavor (a term coined by a friend of my sister’s upon tasting Sierra Nevada Bigfoot). In other words, loads of pine and some citrus. Its great punches of flavor combined with its alcoholic strength definitely make it a sipping beer. I stashed one of them in my cellar, next to bottles of Golden Monkey and Storm King that I bought in the Spring. It will be interesting in a few years to see if/how the hops mellow over time.

That about sums up my thoughts on winter beers… I chose to write a little about a lot of different brews instead of going into detail about any one brew. I guess I haven’t yet had a winter seasonal this year that could really inspire me to write a post wholly dedicated to a single beer.

Stay warm, everyone!