One of my favorite beer styles for the summer is Belgian White beer, or Belgian Witbier, or "vit" if you want to be a dick about it. While I really enjoy hefeweizens, I find American wheats to be pretty bland most of the time, and there's something about Belgian white beers that are perfect for summer. When done right they are a great balance of refreshment and taste. It's become an extremely popular style in recent years, and it seems like practically every brewery has a version. While I think the true giants of the style, most notably Hoegaarden, Witterkerke, and even Ommegang Witte and Allagash White, aren't worth my time to review...because they are just perfect examples, I picked up several others to try. Like a lot of styles of beer, while a perfect white beer is great, I think its a style that is very easy to make bland, I've had quite a few commerical examples that fall short.
I picked up three different ones that all had their high points, and they are: Summit's Scandia, Avery's White Rascal, and Unibroue's Blanch De Chambly.

Summit Scandia: Along with their excellent Hefeweizen, this is Summit's summer beer. This was interesting for Summit because it's the only Belgian style ale I can remember them making. Anyway, onto the beer. This beer pours a cloudy golden-lemony color with a foamy three finger, bright white head. Wonderful citrus aroma and cardamom. Instead of the traditional coriander in the wit, Summit went for a twist with cardamom and I think it gives it a nice subtle flavor, almost softer spiciness. A nice carbonation and smooth mouthfeel, there's a great lingering sweetness. Overall, I think it's a solid white beer, the cardamom really gives it a nice twist and there's a refreshing quality balanced with the sweetness.

Avery White Rascal: Avery is a brewery that I haven't tried much of, but what I have has been very good. I've had the Old World Porter and IPA, which were very good with some nice aggressiveness in both beers to make them interesting for the style. I expected the same from the White Rascal. In no way a let down, it was a solid, easily drinkable white beer. It pours a clear, very pale-straw yellow with a thin white head. A nice aroma right away of coriander and orange peel. Great light, refreshing body that is well balanced between sweetness and citrus. Fizzy carbonation, and a nice lingering sweetness in the finish with just a little bit of sour yeastiness. A very solid example of an "American" Belgian Ale.


Unibroue Blanche de Chambly: This brewery from Montreal is one I've come close to buying beers from in the past, and based on this beer I will definintley pick up their other offerings. Supposedly the brewers at Unibroue were trained in Belgium and apply traditional techniques to their brewing. This verison of a white is up there with the ones I mentioned before and similar to Ommegang in the approximating of a tradtional style. It pours a straw yellow, extremely pale, with a thick white head. Lemon and corriander aromas hit you first with some yeasty "funk" hidden in there as well. Very fizzy carbonation, yet it has a very soft nouthfeel. Slightly tart but balanced perfectly with sweetness and a slight presence of citrus. I wrote down " Excellent" about three times when I made my notes. Just a perfect example of a Belgian Witbier.

So, those are my thoughts on this particular round of witbiers. Like I mentioned, it seems like everyone makes one for the summer. They are very accessible to a lot of people, yet I think they can be a complex and wonderfully balanced beer when done right. One I didn't mention because I've reviewed it before was John's White Ale. In the midst of buying the beers above, Jeff came back from a visit to Iowa with the now requisite pack of Millstream beer for me. In the sampler pack was some John's for me. My wife and I both thought that, (she didn't try the Blanche), it was the best of the bunch. I think I need to start a petition to get Millstream distributed to Minnesota (it's currently in Wisconsin and Illinois)!
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Today I brewed a beer I've been waiting to brew for awhile. The Burning Beard Belgian Ale. The name of one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, Clutch, The label and the beer the name is attached to have gone through several variations, but I think in both cases, this could be the beer/label/name to stick.
Fronted by an awesome bearded brethren, Clutch is a mix of metal, rock, and blues that always brings it! Aptly named, the Burning Beard is a bit of a hodge-podge of some ingredients I had laying around and a basic idea of what I want it to end up like.
Inspired by Three Philosophers and the wonderful subtle cherry flavor that comes through, I plan on adding a pound or two of frozen cherries to the secondary to give it a nice presence without being overly cherry. In addition, the beer is made up of organic light dme, organic pilsner, organic wheat, and a small amount of caramel malt I had extra from another beer. I also added a pound of organic cane sugar and used up a little under a pound of amber belgian candi sugar I had left from a previous dubbel. I hopped it with some hops I received in an organic hop sampler from Seven Bridges (great deal btw, 8 oz for $13). I used Perle for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavor and aroma and added 2 table spoons of organic corriadner (again using up some leftovers). I am fermenting it around 80-85 degrees with the Wyeast Belgian Abbey 2 yeast, which I hope will give it some nice fruitness.
I'm excited to see how it turns out, and I'm vowing to have patience with it. It should end up around 7-7.5%, and I think it could be very good.



Later this week, some reviews and an update on my Cali-Common/SOC Draft Ale
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

This weekend's birthday party went great and the UNO was a big hit. In fact the 2.5 gallon keg was drained and I had to go to some back up bottles of Summit. The response was very good, and it seemed like most people enjoyed the subtle orange flavor that came through. This was also the first time I used the portable kegerator, and it went pretty well. I think I need to get the CO2 charger thing down before I use the kegerator again in August at my fantasy football draft. The problem seemed to be with the amount of CO2; I had to shoot some CO2 in a couple times to keep it flowing, I'm thinking tha the 12 gram canisters I'm using don't work as well as the 16 grams it came with. It seems like some CO2 escapes out the side of the charger right after it punctures, where the same thing didn't happen with the bigger canisters. More on this to come...I'm going to switch back to 16g canisters (of course I just bought a box of the 12 gram) and see if it makes a difference. Of course eventually I need to just buy a 5lb CO2 tank and regulator, but cash flow is light right now.

Hopshot IPA: I bottled this today with some help from my brother-in-law. It tasted great and I'm glad I dry hopped with some cascade hops at the end, because the aroma blended nicely with the citrusy hop flavor in the beer, much more balanced than when I transferred it. But that brings up a question I pose to those out there who dry hop. I'll take some suggestions on what's the best way to do it. The first time I dry hopped I used whole hops, which seemed to work fine, but pieces gunked up the siphon and seemed kind of cumbersome. Every other time I've used pellet hops and they've worked fairly well. However a couple times I've had problems with pieces of the hops making their way into the beer. Often if I've had to move the carboy, and the hops float around in there, they can become suspended and I have a couple of vegetated bottles. I've heard bad things about using a hop bag, mostly that once the hops expand, the bag become impossible to get out of the neck. I've seen people rig up a string to the bung, etc. Thoughts for those of you who dry hop? What do you do and what has worked?

Yinzer: I made my Yinzer Lager in February and was fairly happy with the results. I saved a big 32 oz bottle to share with my brother-in-law, since I made it for him. I cracked it open tonight, and its great! Of course the lesson as always, patience is a virtue I have not learned in five years of brewing. The months of sitting in the fridge have mellowed out the hops that came through before, and its a smooth sweet lager with some nice maltiness and crispness. My wife's comments were "ridiculously better than before" and "when are you going to learn patience?" She's right on both accounts, and of course, I wish I had more of the Yinzer for the summer months.

More to come this week.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

PS: Close circuit to Bob's Woodshed: Where you at man? I have some beers to send your way, and more importantly miss your great beer reviews.

I'm a big fan of Belgian Triples, most notably Triple Karmaliet. When done right, triples are a hazy golden goodness that subtlety blend fruit and sweetness. The 8-10% alcohol is dangerously hidden, and the carbonation gives the beer a nice fizziness that makes it that much easier to drink, even refreshing.
While I really enjoy two Triples from Belgium, Chimay Cinq Cent and the fore mentioned Karmaliet, I bought three American examples to see how they compare. The three I picked up were: Victory's Golden Monkey, Two Brothers Oh! Brother, and Boulevard's Long Strange Triple.
Here are my thoughts:
Boulevard's Long Strange Triple: Part of the Smokestack series, I have to admit I was surprised to see these beers on my liquor store shelf. Boulevard Wheat is on tap all over Iowa and so I've drank it quite a bit, it's a fairly run of the mill wheat. I've also tried a couple of their other beers, most notably their Zon Witbier and Lunar Dark Wheat. I always think of Boulevard beers as being decent, but not special. The Smokestack series includes a Triple, Quadruple, Double IPA, and a Saison. I was quite curious about the triple and it got decent reviews in BA. Onto the review: It pours a golden orange with a big 3 finger head of white. An aroma of fruit, mostly apricot and pineapple. Sweet, sticky body with a nice fizziness and finish. In keeping with my impression of Boulevard beers I would characterize this beer as good, but not great. Not a bad triple, but not necessarily anything that would make me want to buy this over some other offerings.

Two Brothers Oh! Brother: Two Brothers is a new brewery to distribute to the Twin Cities and their beers have been getting good feedback. Oh! Brother is described on the label as being a triple hopped with less conventional hops, interesting. This beer pours a hazy gold with a spicy, fruity aroma of plum and apricot. Very interesting taste at first, sweet and fruity with quite a bit of alcohol presence in the finish. There's a strange bitterness to it I wasn't expecting. Not sure if its the hops or something else. Almost like a too ripe fruit, a little bit of puckering bitterness, very faint, but present. There's a unique taste that I have to admit is less enjoyable as I drink the beer. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this triple. I'm very curious about their other beers, but I wouldn't buy this one again.

Victory Golden Monkey: I've passed by this beer and other Victory offerings before and never bought any, but after this experience I am going to have to in the future. Clearly the best of the three, this beer pours a beautiful, bright canary yellow with a thin white head. A nice aroma of fruit and spices; apricot, pineapple, and some citrus. The body is sticky sweet with a nice amount of fizzy carbonation, but also a wonderful, smooth mouthfeel. Great flavors of fruit, especially candy apricot, with a very subtle alcohol presence that is nicely hidden by the sweet body. This is up there with some of the best triples I've had, a great balance of flavors and drinkability.

Of the three, Victory was clearly the best and one I would buy again. While most of the time I would buy the Belgian counterparts, American versions often times are cheaper and fresher. I think there are a number of American breweries who make great Belgian style ales, often adding a nice creative touch. I know there are plenty of triples I have yet to try, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

A couple months ago, Dave from Muckney Brewing and I exchanged some beers, both commericial and homebrew. I really enjoyed their homebrews, and with such great samples, was curious about their thoughts on the Bearded brews I sent. I was right in the middle of fermenting or aging the onslaught of beers I have ready now, so my supply was a bit thin. I sent out the Mayabock and Irie Stout. I have been contemplating submitting the Irie Stout into the National Organic Homebrew Challenge this fall, and Dave's feedback has encouraged me to go through with it. I'm glad they liked the Mayabock even though it wasn't my favorite Bearded brew and didn't recieve too high of marks from two of my most honest critics, Jeff (of El Jefe fame) and my wife.
Here's the link to their reviews. It's always great to get feedback on your beers, especially good ones! We plan on doing another exchange at some point soon. I have some Bangy Tangy for them, as well as a couple other offerings, and I'm excited about what great concoctions they've got brewing.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

My daughter's first birthday is this week, and next weekend we are having her birthday party for quite a few friends and family. I wanted to brew a beer for the event, and I wanted to brew something that would be accessible to both my friends who drink a lot of my beer, and to those who might not have as adventurous of tastes. Since it's the middle of July, I thought a nice light wheat beer would be good, but wanted to add something to make it a bit more interesting. I had toyed with idea of using orange blossom honey for sometime because I'm curious about how much of the subtle orange blossom would come out if it was put into the secondary. I posted the recipe in an earlier post.

I tapped the keg to give the beer a try, along with a few friends and the result has been good. It pours a nice hazy medium orange color with a thin white head. There's a nice floral aroma with some orange hints. Its got a real sweet taste with a slight yeasty tartness, but a faint honey sweetness in the finish. Overall I'm really pleased with this beer. The honey is really subtle, but adding it to the secondary really made its presence known. The orange blossom is really nice, not overly orangey, with more of a floral quality. I've used orange peels (both store bought and just scraping from the orange), and orange marmalade before in beers and the result was very strongly orange. The orange blossom honey is a much softer aroma. I'm curious to see how the people at the party react, but I think it should be well received. I think it achieved the desired result of being interesting enough for those who drink my beer on a regular occasion and accessible enough to those who might not drink a lot of beer.

I've drank two of the triples I bought, and am still waiting to crack open Two Brothers Oh Brother Triple. I'm curious about it, since its a new brewery to distribute to the Twin Cities, and I've heard good things about their beers. In addition to the TwoBrothers, I had Boulevard's Triple and Victory's Golden Monkey. I'll break down those next week.

Also, I transfered the Hopshot IPA to the secondary and it tasted nice. The Amarillo hops gave it a really strong grapefruit flavor, and it has some nice bitterness (bodes well for the Hopshot concoction). I decided to dry hop with an ounce of cascade instead of bottling it because I wanted more aroma, it didn't have as much as I was expecting, so this should really make it have a great citrusy/west coast IPA nose.

Finally, I'm also going to tap my keg of Nokomis Summer Ale. This year's version is a kolsch-ish light ale brewed with rye and wheat. I used the Kolsch Ale 2 yeast. It was a light yellow with a nice rye spiciness when I transfered it. I'm curious about it since I've never brewed with rye before. More on that to come.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

I bought two more beers I came across from Peak Organic. I've reviewed their Nut Brown Ale and Amber Ale and really enjoyed both of those beers a lot. This time around I bought a bottle of their Pale Ale and a bottle of their Maple Oat Ale.

The first of the Peak I opened was the Maple Oat Ale, I was really intrigued by the sound of this beer. I have a feeling this is intended for fall, but I found a single bottle in a pick your own six pack section. It pours a red/dark copper color with a lacy off white head. There's an oaty/granola aroma with a hint of maple syrup. It's very smooth with a real sweet maple finish. No real hop presence, but a nice caramel and malty body. Nothing to blow you away about this beer, but just a really nice drinking session beer. Its unique enough and very well balanced that it could be a beer I could drink several of in a setting.

The Pale Ale pours a beautiful dark golden color with a thick foamy white head that sticks around throughout the beer. Aroma of caramel and slight piney hops. Its sweet with some caramel and maltiness with some bitterness. Well balanced, not overly hoppy or overly sweet. While not a great pale ale, its definitely a nice drinking beer.

Out of the four beers I've had from Peak, I prefer their Nut Brown and Amber over these two. However, their beers are very well balanced and while nothing stands out remarkably about these two beers, nothing turns you off either. If you're looking for an all organic beer, you can't go wrong with the offerings I've had from Peak.

I recently picked up several Belgian triples from various American breweries, and plan on reviewing a trio (I'm clever like that) of triples sometime this week or next.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer