Back to the Brew

There was something familiar about one of the photos Shawn took at our December 1st beer tasting but I couldn't put my finger on it until a moment ago.  Here's the picture:

and here's what it reminded me of;

Maye it's the subdued lighting, in our case provided by Shawn's killer fire pit and patio heater, or the way Chris F. is studying the tasting sheet to see what's on tap (so to speak).  I'm guessing that Paul McCartney would not have minded if I was handing out beers at the album cover shoot for his LP, Back to the Egg, but his loss is our gain.

The evening was a complete success, drawing 50% more people than the last one.  Twelve people in all showed up for drinks and dinner and more drinks and by all reports everyone had a splendid time.  The weather was running warm (50ish degrees) all morning but overcast.  The skies did finally did clear up in mid afternoon, just in time for the tasting which started at 4:00. There was some concern that if the weather took a turn for the worse, moving the party inside would have been a tight squeeze but mother nature must love beer drinkers.

Shawn has a  second story deck that runs the length of his house so this setting was ideal for our event. The night did get progressively cooler as time went by but planning ahead, Shawn bought one patio heater and borrowed a second.  The main centerpiece was the propane fueled fire pit that accommodated most participants and served as wonderful table to hold snacks, water and of course, beer.

My plan was to maybe serve fewer beers that the dozen and a half that made their way to out table for the first beer tasting, but good judgment prevailed and we ended up with over 2 dozen different beers, many on the dark side ('tis the season) and more that a few with considerable ABVs.  Here's the batting order:

			Tasting List 2012
	Brewery	Name	Style	IBUs	ABV		Location
1	Leinenkugel	Lemon Berry Shandy	Shandy	13.18	4.20%		Chippewa Falls, WI
2	Leinenkugel	Honey Weiss	Wheat Beer	13.5	4.92%		Chippewa Falls, WI
3	Leinenkugel	Creamy Dark	American Dark Lager	13-20	4.94%		Chippewa Falls, WI
4	Unibroue	Terrible	Dark Ale	13-20	10.00%		Québec, CANADA
5	Baying Hound Aleworks	Rockville	Kolsch	20-30	5.50%		Rockville MD
6	Saranac	Irish Red	Red Ale	N/A	4.50%		Uitca, NY
7	Harpoon	UFO White	American White Ale	N/A	4.80%		Windsor, Vermont.
8	Harpoon	Winter Warmer	American Spiced Ale	N/A	5.50%		Windsor, Vermont.
9	Star Hill Brewery	Amber Ale	Amber Ale	N/A	4.80%		Charrlottsvill VA
10	Shawn	Winter Warmer	Winter Warmer	N/A	7.50%		Severna Park, MD
11	Leinenkugel	Snow Drift	Vanilla Porter	20-60	6%		Chippewa Falls, WI
12	Star Hill Brewery	The Gift	Bock Lager	25-30	6.50%		Charrlottsvill VA
13	Rogues	Voodoo Maple Bacon	Amoked Ale	30	5.60%		Newport, OR
14	Dogfish Head	Bitches Brew	Imperial Stout	38	9.00%		Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
15	Harpoon	Harpoon Dark	Dunkel	N/A	5.20%		Windsor, Vermont.
16	Stift	Schlagl	Dopple Bock	N/A	8.30%		Muhlviertel, Austria
17	Elysian Brewery	Avatar Jasmine	IPA	40	6.30%		Seattle, Washington
18	Star Hill Brewery	Cryptijca	Imperial Stout	50-80	7.00%		Charrlottsvill VA
19	The Pike	Pikes Stout	Extra Stout	65	7%		Seattle, WA
20	Clown Shoes	Chocolate Sombrero	Chocolate Stout	N/A	9.00%		Ipswich, MA
21	Laughing Dog	Anubus	Imperial Coffee Stout	50-80	9.20%		Sandpoint, ID
22	Harpoon	Rich & Dan's Rye IPA	Rye IPA	N/A	6.90%		Windsor, Vermont.
23	Rogues	Yellow Snow IPA	IPA	70	6.50%		Newport, OR
24	Oscar Blues	Deviant Dale's	IPA	80	8.00%		Lyons, Colorado
25	Huyghe Brewery	Delirium Nocturnum	Strong Dark  Ale	N/A	8.50%		Melle, Belgium

 The biggest surprise of the night for me was the locally brewed Rockville. I see another bike trip in my future.  The biggest disappointment has to be the poor reception of Rogues Voodoo Maple Bacon smoked ale which was almost universally panned. This past weekend Chris F confided in me that he actually liked it but was afraid to say so at the tasting in fear that he would be burned as a heretic.

Two other breweries that deserve closer investigation are Clown Shoes (I believe that my neighbor Paul observed: " I could take a shower in this shit"), and The Pike Brewery which Shawn has actually been to and who's extra stout was also a big favorite.

Barring any unforeseen uprising from the local women folk, this is an event that will be repeated over and over until all beer has been tasted by everybody.  We're just going to try to arrange it so everyone is involved in bringing their own favorite to share along with a dish to pass.  That will take some of the cash strain off of us and hopefully enable us to do it more often.