Filed under: Brewing, Cellar, Misc | Tags: beer, bells, Brewing, coffee, Lagunitas, leftover epa, mikkeller, peace coffee, speed racer, surly, Thomas Hardy's old ale
Quite a bit has happened in the last few days, expect more through updates on events in the near future…
On Friday, I ventured over to Northern Brewer and picked up some supplies. I bought a new auto-siphon and appropriate hosing, a copper wort chiller, and a faucet adapter. I can’t believe I 
waited this long to get a wort chiller. Even with basically room temp water, the chiller dropped the beer to within five degrees of 70F within ten minutes.
More importantly, I also purchased the necessary ingredients to make a five gallon batch of my Leftover EPA recipe. Which I brewed that night. It is currently chugging away in the primary fermentor. I made a couple modifications out of necessity and some of discretion. I also picked up a kit for “Peace Coffee Stout Porter,” made with local roaster, Peace Coffee’s beans. Their site describes the beer as such:
OG: 1046 / Ready: 4 weeks
Peace Coffee and Northern Brewer have teamed up to bring you an amazingly simple yet complex stout porter. Peace coffee works with local cooperatives to bring in 100% fair trade coffee from the farmers that grow it and delivers the coffee, through all seasons, by bicycle messenger. We love Peace Coffee for all these things, but just as importantly the coffee is freaking amazing! The stout porter has notes of black currants, black cherries, and cocoa with mouthfilling bready malt flavors. The specially formulated coffee blend was created to lend a rich, muscular coffee backbone and provides a fruity and spicy nose. Usually 1 + 1 = 2, but in this case 1 + 1 = 1000x times more awesomer than 2.
If I haven’t mentioned this already, my two favorite beer styles (by far and large, a million-trillion miles above anything else) are Old/Stock Ales, and Coffee beers. Specific favorites you might ask? Thomas Hardy’s Old Ale, Bell’s Java Stout (which I recently learned is no longer in production), and Surly’s Coffee Bender (which I recently learned will be in cans in the near future).
On Saturday, I ventured back to Haskell’s to submit a request for holiday hours, and picked up a couple beers to cellar for a while. I picked up two bottles of FullSail 21st anniversary Dopplebock, A bottle of Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, and a bottle of Mikellor Black Hole Coffee Russian imperial Stout. In combination with a bottle of Rogue Double Dead Guy from my mother, think I’ve started a pretty good collection for a cellar. Now I just need somewhere to cellar these beers… Is there another project in my future? Maybe a nice bottle rack?
I also had a tulip of Surly smoke and it tasted like ribs. Delicious, delicious, ribs. Delicious enough for fragment sentences, even.
Lastly, my lovely girlfriend bought me a speed racer slot car track for x-mas (we couldn’t hold out given each other our gifts any longer). I will be playing with it later tonight.
I picked up a Sam Adams winter mixed 12 pack. I bought it mostly for the Winter Lager, but also enjoyed the Cranberry Lambic, Boston Lager, and Old Fezziwig Ale. I fell short of reviewing each of the six beers, but I do have one last Fezziwig. So, here we go:
Appearance
Pours an extremely deep mahogany red, with a tan 3/4 inch head that settles quickly and leaves no lacing. Sparkling clear, and visible bubbling ceased after about 8 minutes.
Smell
An almost musky smell comes off first, must be a spice I’m not used to. It might just be the cinnamon and orange mixing. No noticable hop aroma. I can also pick up a maltiness underneath the funk.
Taste
That funk is still present here, but it is more obviously a combo of the orange and the cinnamon. I can also pick up on the ginger now. This is the weirdest combination of spices I’ve ever tasted, a mix of sweetness and sour and tangy, but in combination with the malty-ness and slight bitterness. Just plain… odd.
Mouthfeel
This beer is thin and smooth. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it flat, soft is a better word, almost creamy.
Drinkability
Nothing about this beer is except for the flavor, which really is just more weird than anything else. I drank this beer quite easily, but the flavor still stuck out like a sore thumb. After a few more, I might get used to the tast. Then again, maybe it would continue to stick out and I would have trouble finishing beer two or three.
Overall, nothing bad here, nothing impressive–just weird. I probably wouldn’t drink this again, but the flavors could go well when paired approriately, or if used in the rigth recipe.
Filed under: Misc | Tags: arduino, big wheel, bottle cap table, chrome, kegerator, turn signal
Life the past few months has been like a stereo with the pause button on the tape deck being held down. There has been things goin on, electricity running through the stereo, the speakers, but no music. Well, I guess the metaphor doesn’t completely fit, because music is about the only thing I have been making since mid-August. But, the football and thus the band season is nearly over. With only a bowl game standing between me and the 2009 season (TCF Bank Stadium, fuck yeah!) it’s time to start crossing some goals of the old “TO DO:” list. As a point of motivating myself, here are the goals I hope to accomplish within some reasonable time frame–sometime between next week and next season:
Bottle cap table- I’ve yet to buy the epoxy because I calculated the price to be upwards of 100 bucks, and I still need to determine a way to keep dust off the table while the epoxy hardens. This is my most pressing goal and I will accomplish during the upcoming break.
The Ultimate Kegorator- I’ve been planning the single besst kegorator ever for quite some time. I hoped to complete it over this upcoming break, but have now settled upon making a kegorator over break, then slowly but surely upgrading it to the ultimate status. A friend has a large coke display cooler he is willing to part with, and I already have the keg kit. What will make it ultimate will be the microcontrolled temperature settings, pressure readings, with the possiblity of a BAC controlled locking mechanism and an ethernet line to send data out over the web (twitter, webcam, etc)
Bicycle Turn Signals- I have recently had a very intense desire to buy and tinker with an arduino micro-controller. These are basic micro controllers, that are cheap, open source, widely available, and well documented. I have seen projects creating wearable turn signals on the back of a jacket, activated by buttons sewn into the cuffs of each sleeve. Since I don’t usually wear one jacket while riding, and since I usually have my Chrome bag covering the jacket anyway, I decided to integrate turn signals into the cover flap of the bag, and to mount controls on the front shoulder strap. I plan to have left turn, right turn, and full blinking (night) functions. I have also pondered integrating an accelerometer controlled brake light. I’ve also thought up some lighted gloves for more visible hand signals at night, but those don’t need a micro-controller, just conductive thread.
Adult Big Wheel- This one is a little trickier. I want to build a fully ridable, adult sized big wheel. I realize they make tricycles for adults, and also big wheels that adults can fit on. What I’m talking about is a beefed up, metal framed big wheel. 
I’ve already invisioned an elaborate mechanism for making the front wheel from a regular 26″ bike wheel and allowing the driver to coast. What I need are metal working skills and equipment. As is such I have registered for and introductory art class and an introductory sculpture class for next semester. After completing the two courses, I will be able to take “Intermediate Sculpture: Metalcasting.” I figure this is a better use of my spare time than going for a biology minor I will hate and never use.
Filed under: Tasting | Tags: beer, dopplebock, Full Sail, Samuel Smith, Tasting, Winter Ale
My last Saturday included watching the men’s gopher basketball team extend their record to 6-0 by besting NDSU, a nice meal at Brit’s with the gf, the possibility of getting some holiday hours at the old liquor store, and 
a couple nice additions to my beer repertoire. I stopped by Haskell’s downtown store, where I have worked for years, and left with a bottle of Norman Vineyards “The Monster” (a zinfandel, not a beer), A 750mL of Delirium Nöel, a 550mL of Samuel Smith’s 07-08 (last year’s) Winter Welcome Ale, and a 22oz bomber of Full Sail’s 21st anniversary Dopplebock (at $3.99 a bottle, I couldn’t resist, and will probably by more to cellar).
I Drank the delirium and the Sam Smith’s that night, and thought both were delicious. I’ve had Sam Smith’s before– this particular vintage also– and thought it was delectable. The year smoothed out the edges quite a bit, and left a very palatable brew. I remember that I did not let the Delirium sit long enough to settle the sediment, and ended up with a very cloudy brew. It still tasted good, but it was a long night and I write this several days later. I saved the dopplebock until now for the purpose of writing my third official beer review– well, second if you don’t count my homebrew.
Appearance
Poured from a chilled 22oz bottle into a large (~750mL) mug. Put a good bit of distance between the bottle and the mug, didn’t see much head forming at first, then wham! overflow– novice mistake, and an oz or to lost to the carpet. I hope the grey shag enjoyed it. Head is an off-white foam, dissipated slowly, leaving lots of lacing and small clumps of head at the end. A deep amber color– very clear after a successful decanting.
Smell
Being sick greatly reduces my ability to smell this beer. What I can pick out is a sugary sweetness– I suppose it is still a young brew, so some residual sugar is expected to remain until bottle conditioning extends further. Also a hint of… well I can’t actually decide what it is. It reminds me of the smell of freshly
poured champagne– maybe it’s just the carbonation cutting through the mucus… If I were smelling this blind I would expect to drink a much liker beer, definitely not an 8% dopplebock.
Taste
Immediate sweetness on the tongue, almost like raw sugar– again, may be the scent preventing me from tasting the more complex flavors. The sweetness is followed immediately by a subtle bitter note, nothing harsh or overbearing– the floral equivalent of taste. A long draw leaves a mellow yet obvious alcohol aftertaste, almost metallic– are these fusel alcohols or just the illness?
Mouthfeel
Lively on the tongue: Light, carbonated, not as viscous or thick as others I’ve had of the style. Probably due more to age than anything else.
Drinkability
The kick after the swallow, slows the pace a little, but the lightness and sweetness balance that out. Could easily drink a few too many of these is a few too many minutes; the drinkability surpasses the alcohol. I would imagine that with a little more time the sweetness would mellow out a bit and a more caramelized character would develop. But for now, this is an drinker, not a sipper.
All-in-all a good brew. Would like the sugar to be toned down a notch and replaced by more syrupy character, but I’m a fan of old ale and real maple syrup, so I’m a little bias. I would expect this beer to impress me a bit more with some age and me in better health. When I stop by Haskell’s next I be sure to grab a couple more bottles and stow them away for a while. Wow, I drank that bottle over the course of a half hour and am feeling it– and typing uncharacteristically inaccurately– and using a lot of dashes (parenthetical statements aren’t really better, and be a bit demeaning– it’s like I’m whispering something in your ear– but creating complete sentences is a bit more difficult whilst tipsy). Double you-tee-eff? I’m not a light weight, but I can definitely feel the alcohol early. Why the fuck am I using the word “bit” so much? Should I post this review on BA or am is it uncharacteristic? I guess I can always re-post if a second bottle differs greatly (demeaning whisper: and I need to get some more reviews under the belt).
