Stone 14th Anniversary Ale

Stone's 14th Anniversary Ale is called Emperial IPA. It was released on the 21st from their northern San Diego brewery and I'm drinking it on the 30th on the east coast. Not bad distribution.

I found some Bruery Coton too which I've been slowly introducing to my boss and client late Friday afternoons.

hippy counter surveillance

The cops set up this camera in the parking lot of the concert I was at over the weekend. It is a large outdoor venue and it is known for the cops being strict. Some of the hippies in attendance were throwing a football at the camera trying to knock it down. Makes me wonder how much fun you could have if you brought your own tech trailer to something like this and did counter surveillance for the concert goers. You could charge a small fee to all the illegal vendors by providing them with intel and security. You could send out twitter or text alerts. You could do map analysis of where the hot spots are to avoid or the cold spots with low probability of arrest. You could set up a sniffer to capture all the wireless data the cops are transmitting back and forth. You could cause interference and block the cops data transmissions. The possibilities are endless.

pic of camera and cop trailer

Phish @ Merriweather II

I rode with Brent this time and we got right in the lot. Lee, Teri, and everyone were all in the main lot as well. We made the rounds and hung out with everyone and their various groups. Brent was giving away FLAC and SHN CDs next to his car. It was dripping hot out. I had a few beers but there was a crappy selection in the lot due to the cops. The cops were everywhere as usual; some on bikes. One undercover woman in tie-dyes was being identified by hippies in the lot who must have witnessed a previous bust. They even had temporary cameras set up on the electrical posts.

Inside I got a Northern Lights again. My seats turned out to be very good. Similar to the previous night. They opened with Walfredo where they all traded instruments (first time since 2000). Another good show. I had too much alcohol and not enough food.

setlist:

Set 1: Walfredo, Mellow Mood, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > The Divided Sky, Tela, My Soul, Ginseng Sullivan, Sample in a Jar, Bathtub Gin, Brian and Robert, Run Like an Antelope

Set 2: Wilson > Meatstick -> Saw It Again -> Piper > Ghost -> Jumpin' Jack Flash -> Saw It Again > Contact, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Fire

Notes: This show featured the first Walfredo since September 30, 2000 (131 shows). Antelope contained Brian and Robert teases, an It Was a Very Good year tease from Trey, and an alternate "Michael Esquandolas" lyric. Meatstick contained Japanese lyrics. Jumpin' Jack Flash was a Phish debut. Piper, Ghost, Contact, YEM and Fire all contained Saw it Again quotes. YEM also contained Jumpin' Jack Flash teases and, in the vocal jam, a Meatstick tease from Trey, quotes of Saw It Again and Surfin' Bird (The Trashmen), and a Daniel Saw the Stone quote from Mike. The lyrics to Fire were changed to "Let Jon Fishman take over."

Pics and video

Phish @ Merriweather I

Before the show Teri, Ashley, and I watched the World Cup at Union Jack's across the street from the venue. The place was packed and it was standing room only. We ran to the hotel for the second half and overtime. Bummer about losing in the Round of 16 against Ghana. Off to the lot.

We thought we were smart and going to go in the back entrance to avoid the huge line of cars getting in the main entrance but we were denied and forced to go to the main entrance. We couldn't just turn left into the venue but rather had to join at the end of the long line after making a U turn. And then once we got up to the lot after waiting in line for awhile we got denied again. The lot was full and we were the first car told to move on to the mall. So back to where we just came from near the back entrance to park across the street. We had a cooler of beer and other lot essentials. We threw down one beer and started walking to the lot.

Once at the lot we met up with Matt and some of Teri's friends. Just like the previous show shakedown was pretty lame. There wasn't much to eat and almost no beer. The cops were hassling vendors. We eventually met up with Scott and Brent. Tickets were plentiful and the best offer I got for mine was $10 but Brent sold it for a day high of $12.

Inside the venue I found the usual Starr Hill offerings and got a Northern Lights IPA. Met Scott and Brent on the lawn. Teri was having a good time and got me down to her 30th row seat. I got Matt, Scott, and Brent down and they hung up in the back of the pavilion. It was a rockin' show. There was a light traffic jam but not too bad.

setlist:

Set 1: Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, AC/DC Bag, Sugar Shack, Tube, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Stash, Backwards Down the Number Line, NICU > 46 Days, Suzy Greenberg

Set 2: Rock and Roll > Free, Fast Enough for You, Sparkle > Tweezer, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Wolfman's Brother > Slave to the Traffic Light > Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Show of Life, Good Times Bad Times

Notes: Prior to the start of the first set, Mike teased Do You Feel Like We Do. This show featured the Phish debut of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel). Suzy contained a Leigh Fordham reference from Fish. Tweezer featured a Watcher of the Skies tease from Mike. Wolfman's contained a vocal jam.

Pics

bald eagle on Mt Vernon trail

I did the Mt Vernon Trail yesterday and saw a bald eagle hanging out next to its next. Those things are HUGE. As I was riding up I was checking out the tree knowing it was a bald eagle nest but I could only see a small white bird. As I got closer I realized that was actually the tail feathers of this eagle. It was bent over scratching itself or something. I've seen this nest before on a previous bike trip and I saw a bald eagle hunting the Potomac River as I was near in a canoe. They are starting to be a common site around the Potomac.

My ride went OK. It was a hot day and I tried to go early. My wheel was rather bent. I did better with food before the ride but need to have more than just my first meal in me before I go.

Stats:

Distance: 37.97 mi

Moving Time: 02:33:45

Elapsed Time: 02:47:19

Avg Speed: 14.8 mph

Max Speed: 25.3 mph

GPS data

Bruery/Allagash Beer Brunch

The finale of the SAVOR events was the Bruery and Allagash Brunch at Pizzeria Paradiso. I met Sarah there at noon. Unfortunately I told her to meet me at the Georgetown location and we had to scatter to the Dupont Circle location. It was hot out and up hill but we made it before they started. The menu:

In house made Granola

Fresh Fruit

Sliced Honeydew, Grapefruit Sections, Diced Kiwi & Blueberries

served w/ Greek Yogurt and a Biscuit

Bruery Hotenroth

Toad In A Hole

Coddle Egg Baked in house made Toasted Bread

served w/ Tomato Pancetta Cream Soup w/ Garlic & Herbs

Allagash Black

Spring Vegetable Pie

Asparagus, Peas, Zucchini, Artichokes, Corn, Landuff Cheese w/ Cilantro & Thai Basil after cooking

Allagash White & Bruery Tradewinds

Sweet Potato goat Cheesecake

w/ Walnut Crust Served w/ Bourbon Sauce, Bananas & Almonds

Allagash Curieux & Bruery Coton

It was my first beer brunch and it was quite yummy. It felt odd drinking such high alcohol beer at that time on a Sunday but it all went together well.

The Toad in a Hole was basically a poached egg baked in toast served in tomato soup. It was as good as it sounds. The Allagash Black that went with it was bourbon barrel aged for a year. I've had the Black but that was my first time having it bourbon barrel aged.

I thought the vege pie was great. The veges were cooked just right. The cheese held it together perfectly without being too much. And with this course they served not one but two fine beers.

I'm not a sweet potato fan but the sweet potato goat cheesecake with the bourbon sauce went well with the bourbon barrel aged beers. It came with the Allagash Curieux and Bruery Coton. The Coton is 14.5%. This was getting nutty. Somehow both Sarah and I made it home on our bikes.

SAVOR: an american craft beer and food experience

The week's events all lead up to SAVOR. Beth, Matt, Mark, and Michelle came in town for the fun. The five of us hit up the inaugural event in 2008 and Beth and Matt came back in 2009.

We were in the doors before most people unlike the previous years. The food was different than last year. There were more types of dishes and they were all tasty. Beth, Matt, and I had tickets to one of the salons. They usually sell out within minutes during the presale but I was able to get tickets to the one by Greg Engert of ChurchKey called Tasting Menu: A Food and Beer Experience with Greg Engert.

Join Greg Engert, Beer Director of Neighborhood Restaurant Group, as he discusses the exciting craft of pairing real food and real beer. Engert will draw upon his experience presiding over the tasting menus of Rustico Restaurant & Bar, and—more recently—Birch & Barley/ChurchKey, (where he is also a Managing Partner) to pair four rare American Artisanal brews with a four course-tasting menu designed by Birch & Barley’s Executive Chef, Kyle Bailey. This is your opportunity to see how the appreciation of craft beer has been elevated to the next level in our nation’s capital, and has found itself perfectly placed at the tables of this white-hot restaurant.

Here is an audio recording of the salon. It was informative and came with some good beer and food. Afterwards we went to ChurchKey to continue the night of fine ale and food.

Pics

Lupulin Reunuless

The finale of the week before SAVOR on Saturday is the Lupulin Reunuless. This isn't so much the highlight of the week (before SAVOR) as it is the highlight of the year. The Brickskeller is lucky enough to get the founders of the top craft breweries in the world all at the same tasting event. Dave of the Brickskeller does this each year (see 2008 and 2009). It is always great to listen to these guys swap stories; the beer is usually an afterthought for me when one of these guys are speaking.

Mandy was in town for work so I took her out to her first beer tasting. Other than the 99 degree temperature and 90% humidity it was a great night. The special line-up for the evening:

Brewery	Beer	Persona
Sierra Nevada	Charlie, Fred & Ken 30th Ann. Imperial Helles	Ken Grossman
Stone	Oaked Arrogant Bastard	Greg Koch
New Belgium	Le Fleur Misseur	Kim Jordan
Dogfish Head	Namaste	Sam Calagione
Allagash	Bourbon Barrel Belgian style Stout	Rob Tod
Mad Fox	Vintage 50 Wee Heavy 2008	Bill Madden
Sierra Nevada & Dogfish Head	Life and Limb (cask)	Ken & Sam
New Belgium	Eric's Ale	Kim Jordan
Sierra Nevada	Fritz and Ken 30th Ann. Imperial Stout	Ken Grossman
Dogfish Head	Old School Barleywine 2008	Sam Calagione
Stone	Vertical Epic 2009	Greg Koch
Allagash	Confluence	Rob Tod

The Imperial Helles is the 2nd of four in the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Series (they have a cool website). Half the yeast is from Sierra Nevada and half the yeast is from Fred Eckhardt the beer author. Ken said he conceded to a higher alcohol content due to market and beer geek pressure. He said that people expect that in an expensive special 750ml beer. This one came in over 10% ABV.

Greg gave a little history lesson in his opening. Stone opened in 1996, Arrogant Bastard was first brewed in 1997, and Oaked Arrogant Bastard has been around since 1998. Arrogant Bastard is the #1 single selling beer in the US. I assume that is accumulative. I prefer the original over the oaked version.

Kim Jordan of New Belgium is a pioneer of pioneers like Ken Grossman. New Belgium Brewery is up to 360 employees (compared to Three Floyds' 8 employees). The website says:

Deep burnished gold with a slight haze, Le Fleur Misseur opens with pineapple, clove and honey notes. Dry-hopping produces a flower leaf aroma supported by tones of fresh bread and honey. Bottle conditioned with our special house strain of Brettanomyces (wild ale) yeast, Le Fleur finishes dry and slightly herbal.

Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff.

It is bottle conditioned in bombers or served in kegs and comes in at 6.2%.

The Dogfish Head Namaste is a "Belgian White made with dried organic orange slices, fresh cut lemongrass and a bit of coriander". This is the first time it has been outside the brewery. Sam said it is a session beer.

The Bourbon Barrel Belgian style Stout from Allagash was aged in Jim Beam barrels. They used Belgian yeast. It comes in somewhere around 7%.

Bill has been working on his new Mad Fox Brewpub. He said this Wee Heavy from 2008 is the very last keg of beer he has saved since stopped brewing at Vintage 50. He had some special kegs stashed away in trusted locations, some of which I have had in previous tastings. This Wee Heavy seems to mellow with age. I didn't taste the alcohol. The story behind Wee Heavy is that it is a time consuming strong beer to make with a six hour boil. He needs permission from his wife to take the whole day (and more). It comes in near 9%.

The Sierra Nevada - Dogfish Head collaboration called Life and Limb was served from a cask. Apparently this cask almost was thrown out by accident. Half the yeast is from Sierra Nevada and half the yeast from Dogfish Head. Either Ken or Sam said the birch syrup cost more than the brewery first cost. I think they said they had five casks total of this beer.

New Belgium's Eric's Ale is a slightly sour beer. So says the website...

Eric's Ale, named for long time New Belgium brewer Eric Salazar, combines a dry, sour beer aged up to three years in oak foeders with a semi sweet, higher alcohol base beer. The resulting blend is re-fermented with peach juice, creating a smooth ale with subtle peach tones and a warm, spicy finish. The aroma has pleasant hints of vanilla and tropical fruit, the wood characteristics are present but nicely muted.

Kim mentioned a few other interesting items. She said DC is one of their next markets. Employees get a bike on their 1st year anniversary and a trip to Belgium on their 5th anniversary. Not a bad place to work.

The first of the four in the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Series is an Imperial Stout with a smoke taste. Ken said they came up with it and Fritz approved.

Not many notes on the Old School Barleywine from 2008. It is a hefty one I know that. Sam did say that the Brickskeller was the first tasting they had outside of Delaware.

Greg said there is tangerine peel in the Vertical Epic 2009. It is a Belgian porter with spices says the website. The notes always get thin this time of night.

The last beer was Confluence from Allagash. Rob said there was a wild yeast in this beer by accident. This beer uses "spontaneous fermentation" which is another way of saying a lambic. The website has some nice detail although they don't mention any accidents.

It was damn hot and as usual a marathon session but always an interesting time learning about the early days in craft brewing and drinking some fine special beers. One key stat they throw out from the Brewer's Association is although the US is only at 4.5% craft beer the DC market is at 9%. We like our find brew. On to SAVOR tomorrow.

Three Floyds dinner

Event number two in the week leading up to SAVOR was a Three Floyds beer dinner at Pizzera Paradiso. I talked about Three Floyds and Dark Lord day in my last post after yesterday's tasting at the Brickskeller.

The menu:

Cold Cucumber Soup with

Diced Red Pepper

Gumball Head

Beet Salad with Old Chatham Ewe's Blue

Cheese and Rhubarb Balsamic Reduction

Dreadnaught

Lemon Goat Cheese Tart

with Pickled Asparagus

Drunk Monk

The Atomic Floyds

Salami, Pepperoni, Cherry Peppers, Black Olives, Red Onion,

Pride & Joy Tomato Sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella

Pride & Joy

Duck Season Pie

Duck, Sunchokes, Spring Peas, Corn, Ginger, Dutch Gouda

Blackheart

Susan's Birthday Cake

Red Velvet Cake with

Espresso Grapefruit Ganache

Alpha King

I don't have much notes from this dinner. I convinced Sonny to join me at the last minute. It wasn't my favorite dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso. They usually create some excellent dishes that pair with the selected beer very well. They put time in to each course and often use the beer as an ingredient in the dish as they did with the Atomic Floyds pizza above. I'm not a fan of beets though and when I asked Greg, the beer manager, why they were a common ingredient he said they were a favorite of his. I wasn't a fan of the cold cucumber soup either. The cake was the best part. I think Susan works at Pizzeria Paradiso and it was her birthday.

The Dark Monk is a brewery and special account only beer. At the end of the night Barnaby broke out the beer everyone was waiting for. But talk about the best scenario. It wasn't the "normal" Dark Lord. It wasn't the super special whiskey barrel aged Dark Lord I had the night before. This was the other super special Dark Lord aged with vanilla beans. It was pretty good but I'm not a fan of vanilla in my drinks. It was great to be able to taste both of these beers being that there was only about 3 kegs of each.

Three Floyds tasting

This was the first event leading up to SAVOR. I missed a big party at ChurchKey the previous night due to work but this will be the first of five days of beer events. And very special events they are.

I didn't know much about Three Floyds but I was starting to notice and hear about their big beers and tattoo-like labels. Being a small brewery in Indiana, nine employees to be exact, they don't distribute here in the DC area. A few dedicated local beer bars have sought out their beer and most beer geeks have heard of Dark Lord Day.

Dark Lord Day is their annual release of their famous Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. It is a special small batch beer bottled in 22oz bombers with the top capped and waxed dipped. They sell it one day a year at their brewery. Barnaby, who is one of the nine employees, was representing the brewery at the Brickskeller and said that the second year 50 people showed up and a few years later thousands were showing up. They have a lottery for tickets to actually get a bottle of Dark Lord after people got upset standing in line for five hours and coming up short. It is a very sought after and hyped up beer. I was hoping it would be at this tasting or the Three Floyds beer dinner I am going to tomorrow.

The Brickskeller actually got the beer order correct on the tasting menu which is probably the only time in their decades of existence that has happened. And some good beer it was:

Beer	Style	Percentage
Gumball Head '09	American wheat ale	5.6%
Robert the Bruce '09	Scottish ale	7.2-7.5%
Topless Wytch	Baltic porter	~14-15%
Alpha King	Pale ale	6.5%
Blackheart	English Double IPA	9%
Dreadnaught	Imperial IPA	9.5%
Behemoth	Barleywine	12.5%
Whiskey Barrel Aged Dark Lord '09	Russian imperial stout	13?%

Gumball Head is named after some violent cat somewhere in Three Floyds history. It looks like a filtered beer but Three Floyds does not use any filters or pumps. They believe both take away from the beer. It is a pretty clear beer for no filters. It has a very aromic hop taste. I didn't taste any wheat in this american wheat. Barnaby said they wanted to do their own wheat beer as they do with all styles. The Gumball I tasted was from a 2009 bottle.

Robert the Bruce is their scottish ale. This is a malt bomb. It has a "whole bunch of different malts". 17.5 gravity to 4.2 degrees. This was also a year old bottle.

Topless Wytch comes from the naked Conan the Barbarian character. It is a baltic porter that is only served at the brewery and given to special local accounts. It was a little dry but well balanced beer. I liked it because there wasn't too much chocolate or coffee character. This was from a 2010 keg.

Alpha King is the flagship beer. This was pretty good and a balanced pale ale. It had a citrus aroma as well as a full malt body. Barnaby said the body came from having more residual sugar. It was about 60 IBUs and was another 2009 bottle.

The original name of Blackheart was a Conan the Barbarian character by the name of

Thulsa Doom I think. The Feds didn't like the label so they redesigned it as Blackheart. It is their English Double IPA. It has a big floral nose with some oak flavor. They made a vinaigrette with it at the Craft Brewers Conference.

Their Imperial IPA is the Dreadnaught. This is a step up on hop flavor and has a big floral nose. It is not as dry; has some residual sugar. You can't taste the alcohol at 9%. It is not as malty as the Blackheart or the hops take over more. The malt balance makes it very drinkable. This is supposed to be a fresh beer but this was from a year old bottle.

The Behemoth is of course their Barleywine. They brew it every January. Either I had a nice buzz or I didn't taste the alcohol in this 12.5% beer. Most likely the former. It won gold at the World Cup Beer Awards for Imperial Red.

Next up was what everyone has been waiting for... the legendary Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. Sold by lottery to a few lucky people once a year. But this was not just the "normal" Dark Lord. This is one of two special batches of the very special beer. They put away one oak whiskey barrel and another micro batch of vanilla bean aged Dark Lord from the 2009 vintage. I was drinking from that one oak barrel. One barrel is about three kegs. Three kegs of this beer is all that exists (existed) and it was mighty fine. It had that aged syrup aroma but tasted more mellow than I expected (its not aged that long). The whiskey taste was well balanced and might of helped in cutting through the robust stout and aged flavors. We were all happy to get such a sample. It was one of the best whiskey barrel aged beers I've had.

I'm going to a Three Floyds tasting tomorrow (in collaboration with The Bruery) so we'll see what additional (or same) surprises await.