Saturday, June 5, 2010

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:

BreweryBeerPersona
Sierra NevadaCharlie, Fred & Ken 30th Ann. Imperial HellesKen Grossman
StoneOaked Arrogant BastardGreg Koch
New BelgiumLe Fleur MisseurKim Jordan
Dogfish HeadNamasteSam Calagione
AllagashBourbon Barrel Belgian style StoutRob Tod
Mad FoxVintage 50 Wee Heavy 2008Bill Madden
Sierra Nevada & Dogfish HeadLife and Limb (cask)Ken & Sam
New BelgiumEric's AleKim Jordan
Sierra NevadaFritz and Ken 30th Ann. Imperial StoutKen Grossman
Dogfish HeadOld School Barleywine 2008Sam Calagione
StoneVertical Epic 2009Greg Koch
AllagashConfluenceRob 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.

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