Westbrook Gose

Ok, first, I'm sorry. Blogging takes a discipline that I sometimes lack, and my work schedule has really gotten in the way lately. It's been a month since my last post, and I certainly hope that doesn't happen again. Thanks for sticking with me. If anyone's interested, I tried a case in Milledgeville over three days in May, and then got handed a defense verdict, and my ass. Asking the judge for a new trial, but that hearing is not until the end of August.

On to beer. It's turned hot out, and most of us drift a bit afield of porters and stouts in the summertime, kind of like we skip the stew and opt for a chicken caesar. That means light, crisp, refreshing farmhouse ales, saisons and kolschs. Add to that list Gose, which I have only recently discovered. What is Gose, you ask?

Beeradvocate.com describes it thusly:

An old German beer style from Leipzig, Gose is an unfiltered wheat beer made with 50-60% malted wheat, which creates a cloudy yellow color and provides a refreshing crispness and twang. A Gose will have a low hop bitterness and a complimentary dryness and spice from the use of ground coriander seeds and a sharpness from the addition of salt. Like Berliner Weisse beers, a Gose will sometimes be laced with various flavored and colored syrups. This is to balance out the addition of lactic acid that is added to the boil.

Untappd lists about 20 non-home brewed Goses in its database. A great one made right in Charleston is Westbrook's (@westbrookbeer), which is 4% ABV, and is an excellent combination of sour, funk, citrus and salt.

I shared a growler of this with a few friends, none of whom had ever tried a Gose (pronounced GO-suh, by the way - it's German, doesn't rhyme with 'hose'), and all were taken aback and unsure at first. Before the first pints were half gone, however, everyone was digging it. Get some while you can, and carry it to the beach with you. Westbrook's Gose also comes in 22 oz. bottles. Prost!

Big Boss Hell's Belle

I was very pleased to discover, on a recent trip to Tryon, NC, that the local IGA carries Big Boss (@bigbossbeer), among several other great craft brews. Big Boss only distributes from Raleigh west, and only in North Carolina, so it is good to know that the distribution area includes at least one city that's an easy drive from upstate South Carolina. Keep it coming, Big Boss.

Now, about some beer- I picked up a sixer of Hell's Belle, an easy-drankin' Belgian-style ale. It's light on carbonation, but has a great body, and features both Belgian yeast and malt. I'm not up on my Belgian malts, but I will check on it. Hell's Belle is 7% ABV, and to be so light, it still has punch. A great inclusion in any ice chest as you head to the lake this spring and summer.

New Belgium La Folie

Since New Belgium is opening a facility in Asheville, we can now consider NB a southern brewer, and hence La Folie a southern beer. I know the new plant won't be open for a couple of years, and that there are no plans to produce La Folie in North Carolina at all, but you still need to know about this beer, so I'm giving it a pass.

La Folie can be described as a Flemish Red, a Flanders ale, a wild ale or a sour brown ale. Whatever you call it, La Folie is one of just a few North American-produced sours. It's aged in French oak barrels, and NB has a separate area in its current brewhouse for La Folie production and aging, to ensure that the beer does not become inoculated with yeasts used to make NB's other beers.

La Folie pours a translucent red-brown, with just a few bubbles at the top of the pour. Mouthfeel is exceptional, with carbonation throughout. Flavors of Granny Smith apple, a bit of barnyard funk and tart berries are evident. The body is thin, and the finish is dry, in keeping with the style. If you've never tried a sour, La Folie is an excellent introduction, comparing very favorably with 'real' Belgian sours, like Vichtenaar.

One comment on price: at The Community Tap (@communitytap), I was surprised to find a 22oz. bottle of La Folie priced at $13. However, a growler of La Folie is only $16. When I asked about this, I was told that NB sets the pricing this way, and that an NB rep said that the company didn't think that customers buying 22s would really notice the price differential. When 22oz. only costs $3 less than 64oz., I tend to notice. NB needs to fix this. For the time being, if you can find kegged La Folie, buy it that way. If there are no tap shops in your area, I would still drop the $13 for a bottle, just to be able to try it.

Mini-Review: Westbrook Covert Hops

Sorry about the crappy lighting on this photo - it's the label of @westbrookbrewing's new black IPA, called Covert Hops. There is some debate about whether the 'black IPA' is really a separate style, or is just a hopped stout. Covert Hops is a point for the 'separate style' crowd. This beer pours an impenetrable dark black/brown and is certainly full of roasted malt aromas, but it is a dark ale, through and through. Though it pours without a great deal of head, lacing is excellent (even on Day 2 of an unsealed growler).

According to Westbrook, four pounds of hops are used in every batch, and it's easy to confirm this by taste. Covert Hops has a crisp hoppy finish that is decidedly un-stoutlike, in that it leaves you with a resiny bite at the end, rather than a creamy note. It's available in March and April only, so jump on it.

... and a Tale of Two Porters

Last post we dove into Foothills' (@foothillsbrew) old and new IPA offerings. Now, let's talk porter, one a souped-up version of the other. First, Foothills People's Porter. This English-style porter gives you just about everything you could want in the style - beautiful dark brown color with reddish highlights; and a great mix of chocolate and coffee flavors with just a hint of toffee.

 

As you can see, People's Porter offers a decent head and great lacing, too. I had mine in a Duvel tulip, which allowed my ample proboscis plenty of room to get right in on the beer and take in all the yum aromas. What to do to improve such a libational gem, you ask? How about giving People's Porter a long nap in bourbon barrels? That's right - meet Bourbon Barrel-Aged People's Porter, the Kentucky cousin of the original:

 

Different kind of glass, but same head and perhaps a mellower shade of brown. Speaking of mellower, the bourbon wood does just what it's supposed to do here - take the original flavor combination and add a bit of bourbon nose and smooth new element to the finish. Kegs only on this one, so get thee to your neighborhood beer bar (and in Greenville, that means Barley's), and hie thee hence, ere this very successful twist on an already excellent porter is gone.

 

 

 

A Tale of Two IPAs

Winston-Salem's Foothills (@foothillsbrew) has had, for a good while now, a perennial winner in Hoppyum.

A red-gold beaut made with Columbus, Simcoe, Cascade and Centennial, Hoppyum packs 70 IBUs and comes in at 6.2% ABV. Not quite a session beer, but that depends on what kind of session you're looking for, doesn't it? I had a chance to try a new and different Foothills IPA the other day at Barley's (@barleysgville), called Jade. As you can see, it's a shade or so more orange than Hoppyum:

Dr. Dan (@drelwell) had the reaction many of you may have had - "why two IPAs?" The answer is in the hop profile. Jade uses Citra and Cascade, but adds dry-hopped New Zealand Jade to the mix. The result is a nose full of citrus and almost-spruce. Jade has more bitterness than Hoppyum (85 IBUs), and will definitely satisfy any hopheads who can find some to quaff. That last bit may be tricky, though. The batch Foothills brewed was allegedly just 14 kegs, so Jade is hard to come by and disappearing fast.

Mini review - Skull Coast Scallywag

Tried this ESP on a Carolina Pint Sunday at the Saucer. It's easy-drinking, and has a good combination of malt flavors. This beer won the Gastonia Beer Festival, too. May be less appealing to true hop heads, but remember, it's not trying to be an IPA. It's 5.4% ABV, so it won't make you want a nap after lunch. Skull Coast Brewing (@skullcoast) is in Ft. Mill, SC, so stop by if you're around Charlotte.

Also saw this tap handle, which is just funny:

 

 

 

Mini review - Westbrook Lichtenhainer

 

Got a 22 of Westbrook Lichtenhainer to try. I love Westbrook's IPA and the farmhouse ale. The Lichtenhainer is described as a take on the German Weissbeer style - wheaty and light.

This beer is also smoked, and the combination of smoke, sourness and wheat rendered a taste like rancid bacon. There, I said it. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the style, and maybe my palate doesn't appreciate weissbeers, but I couldn't power through this one. Westbrook (@westbrookbeer) makes a lot of great beers, but this one wasn't for me. Now pass me an IPA.

 

Glynn Brewing Co.

When I'm not drinking beer or making the world safe for democracy, I like to brew. I'm new at it, but my friend Jeff and I have done five extract batches, and all but the first were pretty good. We're calling it Glynn Brewing Co., with the idea that we might do some tastings at a local joint or two at some point (wink, wink, nudge, nudge Tipsy McSway). Anyway, here's what's cooking (or conditioning, as it were):

 

Here is our vanilla stout being racked into the filler bucket the other night. You can't smell the photo, but this shit is like ice cream. Can't wait until it gets a little carbonation in it. Our mistake with this beer was brewing it in January, so it could ferment until late March, and bottle-condition until ... summer. Just when no one's thinking of drinking a stout.

We also have a DIPA that was made with two pounds of honey in a five-gallon batch. This one was brewed with six kinds of hops, and should be a doozy. Taste research has indicated that this one may be drinkable in about two weeks.

Also spending time getting fizzy is GBC's version of Founder's Centennial IPA. This one is coming in at around 5%, so should be very drinkable for the spring weather that is now upon the Georgia coast.

Next up - a 10-gallon batch of saison. Gonna divide it and jazz it up. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

 

Mini review - Big Boss Big Operator

Big Boss (@bigbossbeer) is a Raleigh brewery that produces very well-reviewed beers. Unfortunately, Big Boss is not yet available in South Carolina (that I'm aware of, anyway). I recently found myself in Charlotte, and paid a visit to the Flying Saucer location near UNCC. I was pleased to find Big Boss Big Operator on tap, and I took full advantage.

 

Big Operator is a Belgian black ale, brewed with cacao and aged with raspberries. It comes in at 8% ABV. This ain't no Purple Haze, though - it would be an excellent black without the raspberries. I found the fruit to more impart a pleasing aroma than any sweetness to the taste of the beer. All in all, a fantastic find. It's only available seasonally ( Big Boss' website says kegs only, January and February only), so move fast.

 

Mini review - Westbrook Vanilla Tree Dubbel

Purchased at The Community Tap (@communitytap) in Greenville, transported to Brunswick on ice. Pours a lovely dark brown. The vanilla nose is obvious, and not overpowering.

As you can see from the photo, it's medium-carbonated, and leaves some bubbles in the glass after a few minutes. This is a great example of a dubbel, and the vanilla comes out even more after the beer warms and opens up for a few minutes. Definitely one to try.

 

Flying Saucer - Columbia

I mentioned that, since World of Beer didn't really blow my skirt up, I would give Flying Saucer a go. The location in Columbia is located on Senate Street, and is convenient to 126 if you want to get in and out of downtown quickly. It's a great looking beer bar:

 

There are dozens of taps, and many, many bottled beers. Also, every Sunday is Carolina Day, and every pint of North Carolina and South Carolina brewed beer is just $3. Warms my heart.

On my recent Sunday visit, I went for the Highland Oatmeal Porter (@highlandbrews), always an excellent choice.

Though this is BeerSouth, I still like to try new things. Green Flash Brewing (@greenflashbrew) just recently entered South Carolina, bringing all manner of yum stuff along. At Flying Saucer, I tried the Double Stout, which came in this nifty Green Flash glass. The food is nothing to sneeze at, either:

 

I give you the Bratzel - a homemade pretzel, covered with Swiss cheese and sliced bratwurst. It's in the appetizer section, but it's a meal in itself, and I commend it to you.

More posts from Flying Saucer are coming, and it is fast becoming my regular pit stop on my weekly Greenville-to-Brunswick run.

 

Consistency is key

For those who do not know, in addition to being a fledgling beer writer, I'm also a practicing trial lawyer. Right now, I have three jury trials scheduled before June 1, so to say I'm busy at the office is understating things drastically. My goal is to post every Tuesday and Saturday, and I have a few posts almost ready to go, so please keep checking here.

I'm also now using Blogsy to post, which should make things easier, since I can blog just about anywhere from the iPad. Tomorrow's post : my recent visits to Flying Saucer in Columbia. I'll also have a mini review or two of some beers tasted lately.

World of Beer - Columbia

I was in Columbia the other day for work and took the opportunity to visit the recently-opened World of Beer. The pub is located in The Vista, a sort of shopping arcade located on Gervais Street, just a few blocks from the Supreme Court of South Carolina. It features an outdoor seating area, and plenty of TVs inside. WOB is said to carry more than 500 beers, and I'm sure this is true.

There are several coolers like this one in the pub. Hard to tell from the photo, but underneath the shelves, there are labels that say "Ireland," or "Germany," or whatever country's name the beer above comes from. Not particularly helpful when one's focus is on southern beer. WOB also has about 40 taps, and these change regularly.

I went for lunch, but soon learned that WOB doesn't have a kitchen. The deal is that you can order food from any of several restaurants that are also located in The Vista, and WOB lets those restaurants deliver to its patrons. I ordered a burrito from Salsarita's, and it showed up about 10 minutes later. The only real bad part is trying to eat out of a styrofoam takeout container while sitting at the bar.

The verdict? Well, there certainly is plenty of beer at WOB. I suppose they've figured out how to get decent food in there, too, in a roundabout way. All in all, WOB felt a bit .... corporate. Ultimately, it's about what you can get to drink, but I would prefer to do that at someplace that felt less touristy. Next time I'm in Columbia, I think I'll try the Flying Saucer. If you've visisted WOB in Columbia, let us know what your experience was like.

Strong Beer Fest 2012 - Green Man Brewing

Strong Beer Fest 2012 was held at Green Man Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina on February 18. The weather held off, and everyone was able to alternate between going inside and outside, which was great. HRH and I have not visited the brewery before, and we were a little surprised to find that the operation as it is currently laid out is so compact:

Green Man will soon open a 25,000 square foot facility south of downtown Asheville, where the company will brew its three 'regular' beers - Green Man IPA, ESB and Porter. The downtown Buxton Avenue location will remain, but will be dedicated to 'specialty' beers, like the strong beers that were available during the fest. Without further ado, here's a rundown of those beers:

The Imperial Brown Stout (10.1% ABV) represents a style that was popular in the 19th century, but has over the years been replaced by other similar styles, such as Russian imperial stouts. Green Man's Mike K. found the recipe on Shut Up About Barclay Perkins (barclayperkins.blogspot.com), which collects many old brewery ledgers and recipes and publishes them for those who would like to try an 'old style' beer. The Imperial Brown Stout was lightly carbonated (due to a small cask leak during fermentation, I was told) and has a strong malt nose. It also includes a pound of Fuggles hops in the recipe, which gives it a balanced flavor.

East India Porter is a style that also derives from 19th century recipes; from an 1856 recipe in this particular case. Everyone is familiar with the derivation of IPA, which was hopped to facilitate shipping to troops serving in the Raj in India in the 1800s. The East India Porter is a hopped porter that was also formulated to allow for shipping over long distances without losing freshness. Green Man's version has a mild malt nose, and generated a 1/2" frothy head on pouring. It comes in at 7.2% ABV, which makes it easy-drinking.

Green Man's own description of its K.K. Downing St. Old Ale was full of good facts, so I'll borrow from it here: "Beers used to be sold marked as X, XX, or XXX depending on strength. Breweries also made a special version[s] with extra hops for aging (or "keeping"). These were marked K, KK, or KKK. This cask would be a KK and is colored with a house-made caramel syrup." This ale comes in at 8.5% ABV, and includes the addition of Brettanomyces, which imparts a farmhouse flavor.

The last of the four cask ales at Strong Beer Fest was Killdevil Special, a version of Green Man's Imperial Stout, aged in rum barrels and then casked with cocoa nibs. This was reminiscent of Foothills' Sexual Chocolate, which is renowned and much sought-after. Killdevil Special is 10% ABV, but is mild and not boozy. It pours a beautiful black/red, and the addition of chocolate is a perfect compliment to the maltiness of the stout.

HRH and I moved outside to begin sampling the kegged beers, due to the perfect weather. The first of the 11 taps that we sampled was the 8.7% ABV Baltic Porter with Norweigan Spruce Tips, and it was amazing.

It pours a dark brown with a light frothy head that clears quickly. The nose is (as you might expect) heavy spruce, and very pleasant. This porter tastes like drinking a Christmas tree (and I mean that in a good way). If you like hoppy beers, the addition of spruce is clever, and welcome. The use of spruce also imparts a quasi-acidity to the beer, which leaves a feeling of tiny bubbles on the back of the tongue as one swallows. For all of of these reasons - color, aroma, mouthfeel, taste - this was my favorite beer of the fest. One I would definitely buy to take home if it were put into production (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, Green Man ...)

Next up was Gabe's Green Giant American Barley Wine. The name is a mouthful, and at 10.5% ABV, so was the beer. One of the cool things about Strong Beer Fest was that Green Man invited some of its non-brewer employees to try their hand at making a featured beer, and Gabe's barleywine is one example of this. As the picture above indicates, the color is a lovely amber/red/brown. It has a raisiny nose, and produced minimal head on pouring. The beer was triple dry hopped (!) with Chinook, Cascade and Centennial, so citrusy flavors and aromas really hit hard. The aftertaste is near-earthy, but complimentary to the other flavors. An excellent effort, and a complex grab bag of aromas and tastes.

Tap #3 featured the St. Hubbins Trippel, named (I presume) in homage to the patron saint of quality footwear mentioned in This Is Spinal Tap. This brew was HRH's favorite, she tending to enjoy saisons and lightly-hopped beers more than the super-hoppy sorts. As the photo indicates, St. Hubbins pours a light golden color, with light carbonation and a head comprised of tiny bubbles that quickly dissipate. It has a mild Belgian yeast nose (and is in fact made with three different strains of yeast), but is not boozy-smelling, despite its 8.8% ABV. This is definitely one that could sneak up on you on a hot day. I will defer the joke about this beer "going to 11."

The Strong Coffee Porter (8% ABV) was just as it is named - strong roasted coffee nose, and assertive coffee flavor, imparted by the addition of Asheville-local Pitbull on Crack coffee from Asheville Coffee Roasters. Definitely an eye-opener. I also like the idea of these local-local collaborations on ingredients to produce unique beers.

Molly, a Green Man bartender, submitted her Strong Ale to the fest, which at 10.3% ABV certainly lives up to its name. It poured with a light, frothy head and a pretty golden/amber color. This one was hopped with Centennial, which is obvious in the nose. A good winter warmer, indeed.

Tap #6 featured Mike K.'s Hopzilla DIPA. It pours a light amber, a change from a lot of DIPAs, which tend towards dark. Don't let the color fool you, though - at 8.9% ABV, this DIPA is described as "dangerously drinkable," and I would agree with that. The nose is a citrus hop explosion, and one picks up all of the Simcoe, Citra, Columbus and Amarillo used to dry hop this beer twice. Another one I would like to see in regular production, or at least on tap at the brewery or at Jack of the Wood.

The Westashevilleteren (10.7% ABV) is difficult to say, but easy to drink. It's a Belgian "quad," or strong dark ale, and has a caramel syrup nose. It has a light, thin head on pouring. According to the description provided by Green Man, the beer is made using local candy syrup that includes beets and dates. A lot of different flavors at work here; very complex taste, with a dry finish.

The Trepanator Dopple Bock is a dark amber, traditional German strong bock (8.7% ABV), which utilizes Munich and caramel malts for smoothness. Just a bit more than lightly carbonated, it was very drinkable, with very nice malt highlights. Unassuming, clean and easy-drinking.

The Uber Sticke Imperial Alt is a Dusseldorf-style altbier, a style that I don't believe I have sampled before. This version is altbier+, with tweaks to the usual recipe including 60% Munich malt, and a nice balance of bitterness. At 7.8% ABV, it's strong, but not too much. This one was brewed by assistant brewer Kyle, and is a great example of how properly to balance malt and bitter flavors.

The Weizen Bock poured with a big, frothy head, and was dark amber in color. At 8.3% ABV, it certainly fits the bill for Strong Beer Fest. As the name implies, this beer uses wheat beer yeast. There was a noticeable banana nose and taste to the beer, which the description provided by Green Man indicates is distinctive of wheat beer yeast.

Last, but certainly not least, was Barley Legal Imperial Barley Wine. At 15% ABV, this is as strong a beer that can be produced within legal limits. Green Man's Mike K. repitched with the brewery's own house yeast four times to stop this barleywine from ever becoming too sweet. It's also hopped with a full pound of Simcoe, which balances both the nose and the taste. A half pint of this one was plenty, but it 's a terrific example of the craft of brewing - producing a beer with a high alcohol content, but retaining drinkability. A great way to end Strong Beer Fest 2012.

If you made it all the way to the end ot this post, thanks for sticking with me. HRH and I look forward to bringing you more reports from southern beer festivals, schedule permitting. Looking ahead to the next post, I visited the recently-opened World of Beer in Columbia, South Carolina, and in the coming days will report on what I found there. Thanks again for your interest. Please follow us on Twitter at @beersouth, and like BeerSouth's Facebook page.