Brewnotes

Troegs Java Head Stout

Ben Brouse — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:46:26 +0000

Last evening at Metropolitan, Firkin Thursday featured Troegs Java Head Stout.

”JavaHead’s recipe is based off of our original oatmeal stout. After the boil, the hot wort passes through our hopback vessel on it’s way to fermentation. Packed full of whole leaf hops and a bed of ground coffee beans, the hopback vessel is similar to using a huge French press, intensifying the coffee nose and releasing subtle hints of coffee flavor. The result is a lush oatmeal mouthfeel balanced with cocoa, roast and subtle coffee flavors.”

Nice to see a brewery delivering a well executed brew without resorting to the trendy hop bomb. I was amazed at how easy drinking this beer was for a hot summer day. Well Done.

Current Beeradvocate Rating: B+

German Porter

Ben Brouse — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:06:48 +0000

I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned a local German homebrew competition taking place. In that conversation we talked about a style that was knew to me – German porter. Check out the article that was dug up on this style. I don’t think this style is currently covered in the BJCP style guidelines but it is pretty cool nonetheless.

McGillin’s Old Ale House (Philly)

Ben Brouse — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:05:30 +0000

Being in town for the Furthur show, a group of us were looking for a good place to have lunch and some good beers. Obviously Yards and Victory were both represented, but was also happy to find some brews from Stoudt’s and Troegs.

Very cool décor and old atmosphere. The food was decent pub grub but nothing I would seek out either. My only complaint – the music. Some of the worst 80’s tunes I’ve heard in a while.

More reviews here.

Do Wine Critics Really Help You Select a Bottle?

Ben Brouse — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:15:48 +0000

I’ve posted about this before but I think Tom Wark over at the Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog is more adept at describing the situation.

"There are many trustworthy palates; you should seek out as many as you can. You should find out their favorites and if you can afford them, you should try them to see if your palate roughly aligns. If they offer no great reviews of affordable wines, you should look elsewhere; great wine is all around, just like good reviewers."

I look forward to the day that the 100 point scale is gone. Have you ever seen a bottle labeled with a 38 in a liquor store? I assure you – there are probably some that should be.

Portalli’s Revisited

Ben Brouse — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:52:00 +0000

It’s not too often that I give a restaurant a thumbs down review, but that is what happened during my first visit to Portalli’s. So after waiting a while, the crew and I headed back down for a another visit. I am excited to say that every single complaint I had during my previous visit was rectified. Frankly, just forget what I said before.

Like the last time, our service started off with a bang! But this time it was a whole different story. The wait staff was not only professional but guided us through our meal and made this experience 100% pleasurable. All of the service issues I complained about last time were resolved. Wow!

What would a revisit be without trying some of the same dishes? The Carbonara was excellent, the Cheese Tortellini and Grilled Chicken was very moist and flavorful. The Crispy Polenta was very good also. One of the nicest things was to see entrees no longer on the menu where the quality wasn’t up to standards. My sister-in-law had the Swordfish special and it was easily the most moist well-cooked swordfish I’ve ever tasted - Incredible. The food in one word was Fantastic!

It is simply amazing the turnaround that this restaurant made from one trip to another. I WILL be heading back and hopefully this place remains as good as it was this trip. Can Portalli’s keep this up? I sure hope so. Other reviews here.

Channel Crossing

Ben Brouse — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:14:33 +0000

Last night, I attended the unveiling of the new collaboration between Oliver Breweries and Stillwater Artisanal Ales @ the Pratt St Alehouse. Hopefully, this won’t be the last of the cross-pollination between these two breweries.

Open fermentation, Belgian yeast, interesting hop choices make for a very drinkable beer with fruity esters and firm bitterness. The variations of this beer presented last evening included a plain old draft, a french oak firkin, and 3 dry-hopped pins (czech saaz, kent goldings & bramling cross).

Personally, I preferred the draft version.

Eulogy Belgian Tavern

Ben Brouse — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:49:28 +0000

On a recent trip to Philly, we decided to stop in at Eulogy around lunchtime on a nice Saturday afternoon. Perfect weather coupled with fantastic beers. Say no more!

Dave the bartender was easily one of the most knowledgeable barkeeps that I’ve ever met. I told him some of my favorite beers and before you know it he had me trying things I’ve never heard of or had before including: Boskeun Speciaal Paasbier, Val-Dieu Triple, De Ranke XX Bitter, and Valeir Blonde.

We had a serving of the meatballs which I thought were delicious. Highly recommended. Easily in my top 10 list of best places to get a beer. More reviews here.

Grateful Red Ale

Ben Brouse — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:45:42 +0000

If you know me, I was bound to have a GD inspired brew at some point. This was brewed back on 3/6/2010.

This recipe is originally taken from Jamil. To quote him, “This is how red ales are done on the West Coast. Just about every brewery out here needs a beer on their menu that has a lot of hop flavor, and many of them turn to this style of beer. They are big, bold statements balancing lots of citrusy hops and specialty malt.”

Ingredients (Single Infusion Mash – 152F):

12.25#	2-row Maris Pale Malt
1#	Munich
1#	Crystal 40L
8 oz	Crystal 120L
8 oz	Victory
3 oz	Pale Chocolate

Hops:

1.1 oz	Horizon	13.0% AA	60 Min
0.5 oz	Cascade	6.0% AA	10 Min
1 oz	Centennial	9.0% AA	10 Min
1 oz	Cascade	6.0% AA	0 Min
1 oz	Centennial	9.0% AA	0 Min

Yeast:

(2) US-05 – ~@67F

Yield:

5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.076

IBU: 66

SRM: 16

ABV: 7.8%

Irish Uprising – Lessons

Ben Brouse — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:24:08 +0000

While the beer itself has great malt flavor and an appropriate amount of hops, this beer turned out way too dark. Turns out I missed the fact that Jamil was calling for 350L roasted barley and I used 500L. Figured this out over here.

Next batch, I will pull back both the Crystal 120L and the roasted barley. Lesson learned.

Special Firkins at DuClaw

Ben Brouse — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:12:29 +0000

A friend invited me out to DuClaw @ Arundel Mills yesterday. I got a special treat to try two different firkins! A wit spiced with cinnamon and vanilla and a imperial porter with peppermint. While I would say these beers weren’t my thing, it was an impressive thirsty crowd that had gathered.

Best part of the night for me – trying the Double IPA – Serum. Amazing how balanced it was.