Barley Wine

Barley Wine
(5 gallons)
2/3/2008

15.0 lbs British 2 row
7.5 lbs wheat malt
0.75 lbs crystal malt 60L
0.5 lbs black patent malt
0.5 lbs chocolcate malt
1.5 cups molasses
39.0 SRM

1 oz Cluster (120 min)
1 oz Cluster (60 min)
0.5 oz Willamette (15 min)
1 oz Liberty (2 min)
2 oz Amarillo
51.8 IBU

Yeast: WLP001 California with starter Infusion mash
155 degrees for 60 minutes

1.115 OG on 2/3

Ommegeddon

Rating: 3

Brewery Ommegang
Cooperstown, NY
Style: Wild ale
ABV: 8.0%
750 ml


Ommegeddon is one of the great beer names, designed to capture the idea of explosively wild flavors. It's not an exaggeration: this is a really excellent American take on a wild Belgian ale. Due to my own failure to follow the bottle instructions, this poured with almost no head, a straw color, with a saison/yeasty nose. The flavour is where the wildness really emerges, with a real sense that it was brewed right on the farm. It's got a delicious rawness and goes perfectly with good strong cheese!

Grisette

Grisette
(10 gallons)
1/27/2008

13.5 lbs German pilsner
4.5 lbs wheat malt
3.2 SRM

3 oz Liberty (60 min)
1 oz Willamette (15 min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (2 min)
34.6 IBU

Yeast: WLP565 Saison with starter

Infusion mash 150 degrees for 90 minutes

1.050 OG on 1/27

Somewhere between a wit and saison style. I'm using the saison yeast so I'm anticipating this will taste more like a saison.

Southampton Bière de garde

Rating: 3

Southampton Ales and Lagers
Southampton, NY
Style: Bière de garde
ABV: 7.2%
750 ml

One of the Southampton "750 Series" beers, this bière de garde pours with a very impressive head, retaining the head for ten minutes or more, with a dense froth of tiny bubbles. It's a deep amber colour, a little cloudy. The nose is a crisp, burnt caramel, quite bright but not overpowering. The taste at first seems to belong to a stronger, more alcoholic beer. Again, the taste is reminiscent of caramel, but without any of the sweetness of caramel. There are hints of maltiness, and there's a slightly bitter tang; it's a little reminiscent of a young, rough-around-the-edges wine, and that's exactly what's appealing it. A very drinkable, complex beer; we weren't able to identify all of the flavors swirling around.

Dubbel

Dubbel
(5 gallons)
1/6/2008

7.5 lbs Belgian pilsner
1 lb wheat
.75 lbs munich
.5 lbs caramunich
.5 lbs crystal 40
.5 lbs special B
.5 lbs aromatic
1.0 lbs light candy sugar (store was out of dark)

.75 oz Fuggles (90 min)
.25 oz Liberty (60 min)

Yeast: WLP500 Trappist Ale

Infusion mash 150 degrees for 90 minutes

1.070 OG on 1/6
1.013 keg on 1/26

I had planned to add raisins at the end of the boil, oops.

Dogfish Head Red and White

Rating: 2

Dogfish Head Brewery
Milton, Delaware
Style: Belgian Wit
ABV: 10.0%
750 ml

Pours a lovely strawberry amber color; the head isn't huge, and dissipates quickly (it was quite lightly carbonated, with tiny bubbles). Given what we read on the label about the production process, there was a surprisingly faint nose (the beer is fermented with pinot noir juice, coriander, and orange peel, and is part-aged in pinot noir barrels). The taste, however, is more assertive, with plenty of fruitiness, and hints of raisin and sherry. There's a very light spiciness, but the fruit notes are very much at the forefront, even in a beer of this complexity. One drinker also found it to have a surprising malty quality. It doesn't have the heavy alcohol taste of many 10% beers: they've done a good job of achieving a balanced, drinkable final product. The label is a piece of art in itself, a departure from the usual simple style of Dogfish Head packaging.

De Ranke Père Noël

Rating: 2

Brouwerij De Ranke
Wevelgem, Belgium
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale/Seasonal
ABV: 7.0%
750 ml

Pours a rich amber color with solid, not spectacular head; the head dissipated quickly. A lightly hoppy nose, and quite a hop wallop with the first mouthful - an intense flavor that showcased the best of hops with little astringent bitterness. Even with this being a De Ranke production, we weren't quite prepared for the hoppiness: we had paired it with food better-suited to a more traditional winter beer. Once we realized that the food pairing wasn't ideal, we focused on the beer itself, and concluded that it is an exceptionally drinkable brew.