Success from Albany, NY.

So I returned home from a week in Albany, NY this last Friday night having some moderate success finding good beer in between conference meetings. Difficult to do when you have no transportation and are staying at a hotel out by the airport. However, that being said, no trip to the Northeast would be complete without sampling beer from the oldest brewery in the U.S. - of course I am talking about Yuengling. The Traditional Lager to be exact. A nice rich-amber colored classic watered down American lager made for the masses. Still, it was beer and the atmosphere of Maxie's - the local bar along the airport strip - made up for any shortfalls (karaoke was an added bonus too).

Beyond Yuengling, the choices were few - typical domestics and even the International brews weren't too promising. Although when so close to Canada, how can you turn down a Labatt Blue or Molson's Gold? I was able to salvage the trip by paying a nice taxi driver obscene amounts of money to drive me to downtown Albany so that I could sample the fine beers made by C.H. Evan's Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station.

And fine beers they were I might add. From the copper colored and light bodied Scottish Light, a 70-shilling Scottish ale, to the very good traditional hoppy Pump Station Pale, and a nice fruity Bavarian Hefewiezen. But their best beer hands down is their Kick Ass Brown. Now I know what you are thinking, "Seriously Ben? A brown ale? You know...you are starting to sound a lot like Higgason. What are you going to start drinking next? A Raspberry Wheat at McCoy's?!" But in all truthfulness, this is a really, really, really good beer. Think a Brown with an IPA twist. So good in fact, this beer won Gold at the Great American Beer Festival not only in 2002, but also in 2003 AND 2008. Throw in a Gold medal for Brown in the World Beer Cup in 2008 and I think you start seeing this is not your typical Higgason Brown. A nice dark amber color with strong hoppy nose, with Crystal and Amarillo hops dominate but enough maltiness of a Brown. The only regret I have is the beers were so good, I stayed later than I should have and the local liquor stores had closed by the time I went off in search of Dogfish Head IPA. I quickly overcame my depression however when I opened the latest batch of M&B beers when I got home. More on those later.

Summit Beer Review…and BREW DAY!

There's a special feeling in the air…the wife and kids are getting out of the house…it all adds up to one thing: BREW DAY! Like the proverbial ant, toiling away to prepare for a long winter, we're brewing 10 gallons of our flagship Bearded Man APA today, and 5 gallons of Christmas Milk Stout (a first for us). Cross your fingers.

And Ben is back from the land of cheese (congratulations, Sean and Holly Kitchell) and brought the family over last night, bearing gifts from New Glarus and Summit Brewery. Here's my takedown:

• Summit Octoberfest: Good. A little hoppy, bouncy with a fruit flavor I couldn't quite identify (citrusy, I guess). Good for a fall session beer.
• Summit Kolsh: Nice, but not crazy good–the Guild's kolsh is better, in my humble opinion. But not bad, light with a slightly spicy finish. Reminds me a lot of Schlafly's Kolsh.
• New Glarus Pils: Very good Pilsner, smooth and full-bodied enough that you know you're not drinking light beer. Superior to Boulevard's Pils in terms of flavor and body, and that's saying something.

Follow-up to last weekend: The Scottish Ale is much improved, keeps a head and has a very nice smoky taste, though I still think it could be a bit more substantial. The Stout is as good as it's going to get, which isn't to say it's not good, but it came out more like a porter than a stout, IMO (but drinkable, certainly). And the Hefe–you'll recall it was split into two batches–drew mixed reactions. Batch 1 is perfect, exactly what a hefeweizen should be, and Batch 2 is potentially contaminated, so if you hear the sounds of a man crying when you pass my house, it's me pouring a case of bad hefeweizen down the drain.

All told, it's nice to have Ben back, nice to be brewing again, and nice that I still have a six-pack of New Glarus offerings in my fridge. Next review will discuss NG Spotted Cow and Alt Bier.

M&B Brew Review—Late Summer Brewing Session

Once again, I've jumped the gun. After bottling on the 24th and 25th, I pulled out one each from our batches of Stout, Scottish Ale, Hefeweizen (carboy 1) and super-Hefeweizen (carboy 2)*. The results are as follows:

1. Stout: Not ready
2. Scottish Ale: Shows promise, but not ready
3. Hefe: Ready enough, but I think it will improve
4. Super-Hefe: Not ready.

I told wifey I'd had enough—I was just going to forget all about this beer for about three months. She took that to mean I wouldn't be drinking ANY beer for three months. We had a good laugh sorting all THAT out (by which I mean, I laughed and she did not). Patience is critical to good brewing, and that's always been a challenge for me. So I'm finding comfort in the knowledge that in several weeks, I'll have a lot of REALLY good beer to enjoy.

* We split the hefeweizen between two carboys, and carboy 2 had more yeast in it, so it carbonated a lot faster, seems to have some subtle flavor differences, etc. Hence "hefe" and "super-hefe."

Four Peaks Brewery

While Ben is enjoying his liquor store tour in the land of cheese—possibly attending a wedding, if there's time—I've just returned from a two-day trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, where I was doubly-delighted: first, because I had a fantastic meal at Oregano's (N. Scottsdale Road and Shea location)—salad, flatbread & artichoke dip, scampi with HUGE shrimp, excellent rigatoni, deep-dish pizza and pizookie for dessert*; and second, because I was able to enjoy beer from Tempe's Four Peaks Brewery. I still maintain that you can't fairly judge beer on tap outside the brewery—too many variables—but the Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale (their flagship) was very good. Subtly smoky, very drinkable, and better at colder temperatures than fuller-bodied Scottish Ales, so for me it was refreshing (and allowed me to enjoy a couple of them). The Hefeweizen was good as well, if unremarkable—a solid hefe. So, nice to know I'll have something to look forward to when next I visit the Phoenix area.

* I was with two other people, so no, I didn't eat all this food myself.