I’m not sure how old this gasket is…at least 10 years, but considering this was a used brew kettle, I’m presuming longer. The photo shows the old, cracked, discolored gasket sitting on top of the (upside-down) kettle lid and the new light-grey gasket. Funny how we forget to enjoy the little things…I’ll drink to that!
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For those with Celiac Disease, I don’t need to explain what “GF” stands for…but for everyone else—”Gluten Free.” People with this disease are not able to properly digest gliadin, which is a type of protein found in many common cereal grains like barley, wheat, and rye. Pure buckwheat is fine, but is rarely pure so most stay away from this. Rice, potatoes, flax, corn and sorghum are fine.
This GF Apple Ale is remarkable close to a cider in look and flavor, but I don’t have a license to produce cider so this has to be a beer. What makes it a beer is 49.5% apple cider, 50.5% Sorghum 
and a 1/4 of a hop pellet…there, now I can call it a beer. For those who like cider, this beer will be for you. A strong hard cider character with a finish that is an earthly cereal grain. I can’t pick out what this farm-like grain reminds me of, but if you were to tell me rye or buckwheat, I’d probably believe you. Guess you’ll have to taste for yourself.
Now just to get that darn Bat-signal working, we’ll get the word out to those on a GF diet!
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Looks like we were featured in last weeks Arvada Press on Page 2. It was a glowing review of our beers and of our brewmaster. Grab a copy before it’s too late.
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Winter doesn’t only bring snow and colder weather…it also brings darker and roastier beers. The color is deep brown with dark amber hues. The aroma is mostly chocolate with hints of sweetness like raisins and molasses (neither has been added). The mouthfeel is creamy at first and dries up in the finish due to the roast and hop bitterness (all English Fuggles). The body comes mostly from generous use of Munich and Crystal malts. The flavor profile is mostly cocoa and roast but as the beer warms you get dark fruits like dried plums and raisins.
34 IBU’s and 4.9% ABV (yes, still in style for a Robust Porter)
This robust porter will also serve as a flavor platform to provide a weekly release of interesting beers including Vanilla Porter, Cherry Porter, Toasted Coconut Porter, Coffee Porter, and Peppermint Porter. Stay tuned to more blogs about these releases.
Sherpa Porter….on tap this Wednesday, Nov 23rd at 4PM.
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he same time!
Despite one person claiming my Tripel was infected or something, it was consumed fast. So instead of waiting until December 1st to release the next beer in the Haunted Beer Series, I have decided to release the Grand Cru mid-month on Wednesday Nov. 16th.
For those that already know and love Belgians this blog won’t impress you, but I think there needs to be a clarification so those that aren’t used to drinking Belgian-style beers know what they are getting into (certain flavors are expected). In general Belgian yeast will put out more esters (fruit and floral) and some people describe it as a nice dirty flavor (similar to the desirable characteristics of stinky cheeses) Since most Belgian beers are not filtered many will still have a yeasty aroma or flavor and this is acceptable.
Belgian brewers generally despise beer categories or styles so when you talk to these people they only refer to BRANDS and what characteristics come from each. We Americans need to put every beer in a little box and call it something. In my opinion the Belgian-style beer box is very big and anything that uses a yeast that from Belgian is classified as a Belgian. Simple. The complication lies that beer geeks have sub-classified these into more boxes.
Light Belgians: witbier, Belgian pale ale, saison, biere de garde
Strong or Trappist: blonde ale, dubbel, tripel. quadrupel, golden strong, golden dark (it is technically only a Trappist beer when it has been brewed by one of 7 breweries)
Sours: Flanders Red, Flanders Brown, Lambic, Gueze, and Fruit Lambic, wild fermentations (brett, pedio, lacto, etc
So this isn’t an all-inclusive list, for instance Belgian IPA’s are very becoming popular right now in beer circles. Where does “Grand Cru” fall in terms of style. Well, it is more of a special title than a style, similar to the word “reserve”. What style of beer is “brewers reserve?” You probably don’t care, but your interest has been sparked, because it sounds like something special. Grand Cru is the Belgian equivalent to this concept.
Our Grand Cru is based on a Golden Strong and has been aged with toasted oak spirals to simulate being aged in a barrel. I pick up very strong fruit notes of apricot and pear that come solely from the yeast. The oak flavor is very subtle and is hidden by most of the other flavors including the alcohol which is just under 9% ABV. Served responsibly in 10oz “Belgian-style” glasses. Come check it out at 4PM on Wednesday.
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Today Phil Rohrs, Dana Johnson and I brewed a beer. 11-11-11 Pumpkin Ale. At exactly 11:11AM, we started vorlaufing our mash. I was so proud that I caught my wrist-watch EXACTLY at 11:11AM that it didn’t dawn on me that it would have been even cooler to catch it at on 11-11-11 at 11:11AM and 11 seconds. I guess I’ll have wait another 1000 years to catch that one. Bummer. Anyways, we are tentatively planning on a release party for this beer on Friday, Dec 9th at the Yak and Yeti Brewpub. Stay tuned for more details to come later.
No, there isn’t any cocoa puffs in this beer, but rather real unsweetened cocoa. Give it a roll. On tap today (Friday 11-11-11) at 4PM. Maybe you’ll be kookoo for our Cocoa Wheat! And don’t forget that our Jalapeño Lena is also on tap today as well.
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I was expecting a keg of the spicy Jalapeño lager to last for weeks, maybe a month, so I was shocked when I found out Monday morning that our keg only lasted 4 days! So back by popular demand, the next keg will be ready this Friday! And in case you missed it the first time…here is the song again.
WOW, we were just featured on the Drinking Made Easy blog (you know that drinking TV show with some guy named Zane?). It was a nice write-up, check it out here: http://drinkingmadeeasy.com/the-daily-drink/bar-geek/haunted-beer-series/
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