• Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    August 7, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Tuesday is Editor’s Choice award day on http://hashtagbeerporn.com.  We are giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.  Remember, anyone can join and post pictures of beer to http://hashtagbeerporn.com.

    I’m a big fan of the sampler when I find a new brewery, so I’m happy to see I’m not the only one.  Husar found a good one with the Eddyline sampler in Colorado.

    Sampler in progress posted by user Husar

  • IPA Day Celebrations at Dogfish Head

    August 3, 2012 Author: Scott
    4 Comments
    The Randall used for infusing hops at the time of the pour.

    In case you didn’t know, yesterday was the second annual IPA day .  The website http://ipaday.org/announcing-ipa-day/ has lots of information about the day.

    Founded in 2011 by beer evangelists and social media personalities Ashley Routson and Ryan Ross, IPA Day is a universal movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation together.

     

    IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.

    So what did I do for IPA day?  I went to the homeland.  I bellied up to the bar at Dogfish Head in Rehoboth Beach, DE (ground zero for the IPA movement) and ordered a Randalled 120 Minute IPA.  What is a Randalled IPA?  At the time of the pour the 120 is pushed through hops.  In this case it was pushed through cascade hops and grapefruit zest (to bring out the citrus in the beer).  Wow was it good.

    The bar was pretty well packed for a Thursday night, and it didn’t seem like too many people were aware of the significance of the day.  That, of course, didn’t keep me from enjoying it.  The Randall on the bar was also a great conversation starter among bar patrons.  I’m not sure how often Dogfish Head will be pulling out the Randall, but if you get a chance to try it, you should, it’s worth the effort.

    So did anyone else enjoy an IPA for IPA day?

  • Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    July 31, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Tuesday is Editor’s Choice award day on http://hashtagbeerporn.com.  We are giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.  Remember, anyone can join and post pictures of beer to http://hashtagbeerporn.com.

    What I loved about this picture was it included the bottle, beer, and six pack holder.  A clever setup where you can just make out the karnival woman though the glass.

    Karnival Kolsch posted by user PeterW

    View the post here: http://hashtagbeerporn.com/2012/07/23/karnival-kolsch/

  • Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    July 24, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Tuesday is Editor’s Choice award day on http://hashtagbeerporn.com.  We are giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.  Remember, anyone can join and post pictures of beer to http://hashtagbeerporn.com.

    I loved a lot about this picture for the colors and placement of bottle in the stream.  Also the follow-up comment was cool to know:

    I took this photo 5 feet from our tent.

    Buffalo Gold Golden Ale posted by user Husar

     

  • Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    July 17, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Tuesday is Editor’s Choice award day on http://hashtagbeerporn.com .  We are giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.  Remember, anyone can join and post pictures of beer to http://hashtagbeerporn.com.

    What I liked about this week’s winning post was the follow-up comment.  While I love the pictures posted to the site, I very happy that Skylar took the extra time to do a micro review of the beer in the comments section.

    This was actually very good. I’d read a ton of reviews, and they all cited that the beer lost a little something as it warmed up, so I stored mine in the freezer overnight. It poured thick, but clean. The flavor was similar to the 60 minute IPA, albeit, sweeter. For ~120 ibu, this beer was surprisingly sweet, actually. I finished it by the time it was room temp(~30min) and followed with a beer I will post tomorrow. All in all, a good beer I will be buying more of.

    Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA (~18% ABV) posted by user http://hashtagbeerporn.com/2012/07/15/dogfish-head-120-minute-ipa-18-abv/

  • Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    July 11, 2012 Author: Scott
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    We have a new site just for beerporn called http://hashtagbeerporn.com, as in #Beerporn.  We’ve been working on the site for over a month now, and the cool thing is that anyone can join and post pictures of beer to the site.  We have also been giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.

    This week, we have a backlog to get through as we have been doing this for a few weeks now.  So here are the winners for the past three weeks, in the order in which they won.

    Fuller’s ESB posted by user Husar
    http://hashtagbeerporn.com/2012/06/23/fullers-esb/

     

    Konig Bavarian Hefeweizen posted by user Michael
    http://hashtagbeerporn.com/2012/06/28/konig-bavarian-hefeweizen/

     

    Missile Command Pint posted by user Husar
    http://hashtagbeerporn.com/2012/07/04/missile-command-pint/
     

     

  • Brew at the Zoo in Baltimore MD

    May 30, 2012 Author: Scott
    3 Comments
    I love how the animals and beer glasses have been incorporated together into the logo.

    Kelli and I headed out to the Brew at the Zoo over Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore.  The entire event was a lot of fun and I would recommend to anyone who loves craft beer and is in the Baltimore area.  I didn’t get to try all the beers, but I had my fair share.  I’ll be trying to make this event next year, too, as it is too much fun to pass up.

  • Review Hop Heads Alehouse – Middle River, MD

    May 18, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Kelli and I recently went out for food and drinks at a new bar in the Baltimore area called Hop Heads Alehouse.  We had a great time as the bar is quintessential Baltimore at its roots.  There was very much a home town feel and a general comradery among patrons.  There are nightly specials listed on their website, so check it out before you go and see which night is the night for you.

    If you go:
    http://hopheadsalehouse.com
    9611 Pulaski Highway
    Baltimore, MD.
    443-969-2477
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hop-Heads-Alehouse/185854428124932

    Arriving at Hop Heads in Middle River, MD.

     

    Kelli had a Bear Republic Racer 5, I had a Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale.

    The menu was mainly comprised of your standard bar items of easy to make and easy to consume food.  Nothing really stood out to me on the menu, but keep in mind I don’t eat meat.

    For food I ordered the blackened tuna bites.

     

    Good, but highly seasoned.

    Their beer selection was really good if you are into craft beers.  I was blown away by the amount of beers they have available, over 200!!  While they are a lot of the standard craft beers you will find in the craft beer scene, that fact that the vast majority of the beers are from independent breweries is a welcome change in any bar.

    Plenty of great craft beers from which to choose.

     

    Craft beers were on tap, too.

    Make no mistake, this is not some stuck up, hoity-toity bar full of beer snobs.  This is a place where people come to have fun, meet new friends, and drink!!!

    Being a bar, and energy drinks on special at $4 each, we did a round of shots with the bartender.

     

    Not being full yet I went for a pizza.

     

    My pizza with half olives.

    There was a lot of room in the bar, and I could see the empty floor quickly becoming a dance floor when the music and crowd were just right.  Our early arrival found us in a mostly empty bar, but in the hour or two we were there the bar quickly began to fill.  I could easily see this bar being shoulder to shoulder by the end of the night.

    It was early on Friday, but you can see the potential.

    The event calendar on the website always lists any entertainment, and the DJ’s that were there the night we went were fantastic.  These guys had a nice grove going that made me want to stay longer.

    DJ’s Tony Stylez and Supreme were setting the mood.

     

    Some old school Baltimore action.

    The owner Mike Roser was a really down to earth guy that was enjoyable to talk with during my time in the bar.  He had some big ideas on what he wanted to do in the future, and I’m glad to see that his vision is off to a great start.  More bars like his would be a welcome addition to any city.

    Owner, Mike Roser.

     

    Beer selection 4/5
    Food: 3.5/5
    Atmosphere: 3.5/5
    Overall: 3.5/5

    http://hopheadsalehouse.com/

  • Review – Heavy Seas Sea Nymph

    May 11, 2012 Author: Scott
    3 Comments

    Today Chris and I are reviewing Heavy Seas Sea Nymph.  This particular review comes after a trip I made to The Perfect Pour to meet Hugh Sisson of Heavy Seas from this short article (note the signed six pack above).  In our ongoing review series we’ll be covering the following 5 items:

    • Appearance
    • Aroma
    • Mouthfeel
    • Flavor
    • Aftertaste

    Here is a quick guide for the beginner http://indybeers.com/beer-tasting-guide/. At the bottom of that page is an HTML template that can be used in our comments if you would like to post your own reviews along with us.

    From the Heavy Seas website:

    Brewed by Baltimore’s Clipper City Brewing Co., Heavy Seas is produced by Baltimore craft beer pioneer Hugh Sisson – the brewery’s founder and managing partner – and Brewmaster Ernesto Igot, formerly brewmaster at San Miguel Brewery in the Philippines.  After successfully lobbying the Maryland Legislature to legalize brewpubs, Hugh began brewing professionally in 1989 at his family’s Baltimore pub – Sisson’s – which was coincidentally Maryland’s first brewpub.  In 1994 he left Sisson’s to found Clipper City and has been involved in all aspects of the business – brewing, finance, marketing, and sales.

    Heavy Seas, as a brand, was an extension of Clipper City to handle  higher gravity beers.  The company is now called Heavy Seas with the beers segmented in one of three categories based on style/season: Clipper Fleet (lighter beers), Pyrate Fleet (high gravity beers), and Mutiny Fleet (seasonal beers).  Sea Nymph is a member of the Clipper Fleet.

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/heavyseasbeer

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeavySeasBeer

    From hsbeer.com:

    Light gold in color, yet crisp and refreshing. This summer ale will pair well with grilled seafood and salads. Available May – August.

    Appearance

    Scott:  Light gold in color is spot on.  Mild carbonation showing up.  Could easily be mistaken in looks for a light beer.

    Chris: Yep, light gold. Can I just copy off you Scott?

    Aroma

    Scott:  A slight sour smell with a hint of earthy.

    Chris: I catch just a hint of malts, but just barely.

    Mouthfeel

    Scott: Smooth and easy.  Very similar to the light beers previously mentioned.

    Chris: Clean.

    Flavor

    Scott: Smell and flavor are going hand in hand on this one.

    Chris: Very difficult to pickup. Lightly sweet.

    Aftertaste

    Scott: Not much there.  The flavor dissipates quickly.

    Chris: Nada. Uggh.

    Final Thoughts

    Scott:  Not a beer I would go after for flavor, but I could easily see myself throwing a few of these back on a nice hot day. 3/5.

    Chris: Exactly what I was expecting based on the Heavy Seas description. 3/5

     

  • The Greenest Wort Chilling Process I Found.

    April 20, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Based my previous post about going green with the wort chilling process I have decided to go as green as I can by letting the wort chill overnight.  Robert stated in the comments of the post:

    I just put the boiling wort in the fermenter and let it sit till the next morning.

    On Reddit, skandalouslsu echoed the thought when stating:

    …let it chill over night on its own. That’s what I do. No water. No ice. No pumps. Great tasting beer.

    With that in mind, here is how I did the process when I brewed the other night.

     

    After the brewing was done, I added 2 gallons of filtered tap water at the coldest temperature it would come out of the tap. (about 58 degrees)

     

    I put in the cold water first to prevent any issues with adding water that was too hot to the plastic bucket.

     

    For those of you that are curious, this is how I got that last shot. I used a Canon 7D with a wireless flash setup.

     

    I then added the wort, and some more water to get the desired original gravity, put a lid on it, and went to bed.

     

    The next day, I took the yeast out of the refrigerator before I want to work, and then came home at lunch to check on things. The temperature was about right at 68 degrees.

     

    I then pitched the yeast and resealed everything. There was no need to clean or sanitize because nothing new was being touched.

     

    So there it is, the greenest method I came across, and it worked just fine.  There was the issue of having to come back to the beer 18 hours later to pitch the yeast, but overall, not bad enough to keep from using this method moving forward.  I can tell you that I didn’t miss holding the drill and cleaning the wort chiller!!!