Author Archives: Bishop

Apology

I wanted to brew my Golden Wheat Red IPA this week  but work got in the way. It’s terrible when that happens. So, I apologize and will “gittr” done as soon as practical.

Problem is – work is in the way for most of October too. The month will be salvaged because I will spend 7 days in Colorado with lots of free time to sample and explore some small breweries!

So, October has another work week in North Dakota and next week is followed by a mini work week in Colorado, two out of seven days……I will share some tastings!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

A Bedtime Elixir

It was a busy day. I had a few things to take care of with my beehive, some invoicing of clients to submit and general “Harry Homeowner” stuff that never goes away. I am at the end of the evening and doing the right thing …..  Watching “Dancing With The Stars” with my bride…. it’s a small price to pay!

So, I  kicked back and enjoyed a partial bottle of my Russian Imperial Stout…..it is  getting better every time I crack one open. Nice tan head, a bit of lace on the sides of the glass and the bourbon notes from the whiskey soaked oak that had sat in the secondary fermenter for three months are mellowing nicely. A hint of coffee, vanilla and a nice warmth as it slides down….Can’t wait to see how it ages … a couple of years from now I will sip on the final few bottles. This is a “one and done” type of beer… a nice finish to the evening and some sweet dreams. Brewed at the end of May this year and we will enjoy it even more in December/January – if it ever cools off!

Mmmmmmm - smooth, dark and oh, so warm.

Mmmmmmm – smooth, dark and oh so warm.

 

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

 

 

Goose Island Rambler IPA

Yum…. This seasonal offering by Goose Island is pretty durn good. I was In Chicago this August and was just a month too early! I would have called the color – Copper but the brewery’s website calls it – Auburn – that color is so yummy especially when it comes with a nice body mouth feel. Careful there big boy, someone may get the wrong impression. Those really are good descriptions of a beer!

Not real bitter but the aroma of the Magnum and Amarillo hopes comes through nicely, nose and in the mouth. It is a nice IPA and the spicy notes making it a good Fall offering. I am in Williston ND sampling the beer and they have already had a freeze. This week in Williston is experiencing very pleasant Fall like weather( for Houston) Low 50’s F in the morning and high 70’s for the high.

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Isn’t she a nice Auburn color?

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly
Bishop

Wonderful Team Member Readership Award

A great reader is someone  truly fascinated by others, other’s points of view, other’s perspectives and willing to GROW.

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Jana Mlynar of http://headoverbeers.wordpress.com/about/ nominated me for this award and in the rules of acceptances noted below she provided the” Get Out of Jail Free” card. You see, Rule 3. Says;” The Nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day (1 week) period. I did not meet that deadline as I was nominated August 28th . I was covered up in excuses so I needed the card or just fade away. Not likely so – Rule number 4 gives me the latitude to change or amend the rules…..I will amend rule 3 to include; “If for any reason that you deem valid and while pondering the question over a craft beer, you shall be allotted the necessary time to comply with the spirit of the award.”

I just want to say thanks to those of you who will read a post or two of mine and more so when you take the time to share your thoughts. I am irregular, maybe a Prune Ale would help…..I don’t post as often as I would like and don’t read nor comment as often as I should…I shall improve on both counts. Thanks to the recognition by Jana… I do hereby commit to doing better!

I have plenty of excuses, not many very valid but I have spent many hours pondering while quaffing craft beers post August 28th, that I grant myself, and the new recipients,  that latitude to extend the acceptance period. I hope all y’all get a chance to spend time browsing “Head Over Beers”….wonderful writing, amazing recipes that feature beers, and quite witty! Go visit the 14 below and share a thought or two.

And The Envelope Please – for the 14 blogs that appeal to me!

  1. Mike’s Craft Beer – http://mikescraftbeer.com/
  2. The Jax Beer Guy – http://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/
  3. Brewing Beer the Hard Way – http://brewingbeerthehardway.wordpress.com/
  4. We Make Homebrew – https://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/53674843/
  5. alcohol by volume – https://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/36676889/
  6. sparklinglover – https://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/32376135/
  7. This is Why I’m Drunk – https://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/29077198/
  8. WorkoutDrinkbeMerry – http://workoutdrinkbemerry.com/
  9. Beer Nerds – http://beernerds.wordpress.com/
  10. The Apartment Homebrewer – http://theapthomebrewer.com/
  11. Ales From the Hood – http://alesfromethehood.wordpress.com/
  12. BeerCat Brewing and Babies – http://beercatbrewing.com/
  13. The Budget Brewery – http://budgetbrewery.wordpress.com/
  14. Experiments in Homebrewing – http://buntingbrewhouse.wordpress.com/

The Rules of accepting this award are as follows:

  1. The Nominee of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar.
  2. The Nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days (1 week) – this can be done at any rate during the week. It can be ALL on one day or a few on one day and a few on another day, etc.
  3. The Nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day (1 week) period. (“If for any reason that you deem valid, while also pondering the question over a craft beer, you shall be allotted the necessary time to comply with the spirit of the award.”)
  4. The Nominee shall make these rules, or amended rules keeping to the spirit of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, known to each reader s/he nominates.
  5. The Nominee must finish this sentence and post: “A great reader is…”

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Paso Robles – Barrelhouse Brewing Co.

Just a solo visit, my bride couldn’t make the trip. Nice warm day in Paso, about 100 degrees but dry and a nice breeze. Besides having some very nice beers they have a “lovely” grounds area. When I say lovely, I mean it in the Australian sense! The British application of the word fits! Using “British” may irritate some of my Australian friends, but, they have accused me of being an Anglophile! The first time I heard the Australian us of “lovely” was from a well dressed bloke in Sydney describing a nearby Steakhouse!

“Cute is certainly one of the possible subsets of meanings of lovely in Britain, from my time there. But it’s sometimes used to mean “acceptable”, (f.ex. lovely weather) “friendly” or “considerate”, (f.ex. she’s a lovely girl) and “appealing”, (f.ex. he looks lovely today) too.”

So let’s say the grounds are appealing and more than just acceptable, though my wife might say “cute”.
I really like the garden chairs, the picnic tables, the fountain and today- the old flat bed truck converted to a stage. Yes, live music, live music California style, i.e., the rhythm guitar player in a tank top, shorts and barefoot!

I drank light today, I had the Templeton Session Ale and the Brass Monkey. The Brass Monkey is a great hot wester summer beer. Great refreshing flavors. A smooth, honey, citrus ale! It is just a seasonal offering. Below are some iPhone scene captures,
The Session Ale looking in though the outside counter top

http://www.barrelhousebrewing.com

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A look across the grounds.

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The waterfall and little pond

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Drink Local and Drink Responsibly
Bishop

Goose Island Beers

I am off to a higher caliber social setting than I am accustomed too here in Chicago. Last nights’s rehearsal dinner was at the Chicago Yacht Club serving cold but simply fizzy yellow water bees. I had an MGD and decided that I had lowered my standard enough.

The reception tonight is promised to have a suite of Goose a Island offerings. I will be wearing a black tie early in the evening….My enthusiasm is a bit tempered as Anheuser-Busch owns 58% of the Goose Island brand. I do like some of their beers but ….. they no longer fit my vision of “Craft Brewers”. Some of their beers are brewed under contract arrangements. That said – I do like their Goose Island IPA, the Matilda Belgian Style is pleasant, I hear that the Bourbon County Stout Imperial Stout is amazing, second only to the Firestone Walker Parabola barrel aged imperial stout. United Airlines is now serving the 312 Urban Wheat Ale- nice easy drinking beer and the Green Line Pale Ale is available everywhere here in Chicago and is not too bad!

Post wedding I will grade the host’s selection. I will be nice as the price is perfect, i.e., open bar, free beer, por nada amigos, kostet nichts- just free, Willy or was that “Free Willy”, what ever.

Drink Responsibly and Drink as Local as Possible!

Bishop

Mopping the Floor

I bottled my Russian Imperial Stout last night. I looks inky black but, the drips on the light colored tile look like coffee! Yes, I made a small mess! I did have help, my wife cleaned up the drips as I cleaned and put away the equipment. Thanks Hun, I owe you!

I bottled most of the beer in 22 ounce bombers and the rest in the flip top bottles with the porcelain stoppers, except for one stray 12 ouncer. One of the bombers was giving me fits trying to get the crown cap to seat properly. I tried a 12 ounce bottle to see if it was the capper of the bottle? Turns out the bottle was bad so off to the recycle bin the offender went.

Initial tasting impressions; the bourbon soaked oak comes through with a hint of vanilla. Additionally there is hint of coffee in the background. A nice smooth and velvety feel on the tongue, Now, to be patient and let it sit a couple of months to mellow and mature….. like me!!!! Oh, I forgot to mention, I primed with 4.5 ounces of dark brown sugar….and the bottles are now sitting at a controlled 65 degrees as the condition.

Siphoning from the secondary into the priming tank with a glass of two year old stout from a previous batch. It was very good!

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Toasted oak spirals in the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Having done their job they are off to an afterlife in the chiminea.

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Thermocouple nestled amongst the bottles. Working to keep things at 65.

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Some of the flip top bottles filled with the dark, thick and tasty stout.

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Now, just wait and plan for the IPA I will brew next,

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly
Bishop

All Grain – Golden Wheat Red IPA

I am out on the patio after a brief rain here in Kingwood, 88 degrees F, 65% humidity and feels like 95! Sweat is dripping and the only effort I am making is flipping the Beef Ribs! I am softening the blow with the last “Golden Wheat Red IPA” in a frosty inverted mug.

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These mugs are awesome, or should I say, it is awesome. I received a pair of them a couple of Christmas’ ago and one abruptly departed the cabinet. It is insulated and it is pretty cool to observe the inverted bottle shape.

I have just finished creating the recipe for the replacement batch, albeit in an all grain format! I use BeerSmith software and it does a good job of providing an expected product. It calculates, ABV %, IBU – bitterness, color and expected starting and final specific gravity, among all if the other important steps like water volumes, mashing times, sparge volumes and so on.

I must say adios to the last last beer of the batch. I hated to see it go but, who better to drink it than me! I hope I can replicate the final product in this all-grain recipe. Time will tell, (has anyone counted the number of cliches used?) Last photo, a creamy , thick and close to a perfect head……. on the beer! Loved it!

Drink Responsibly and Drink Local
Bishop

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Le Freak – Belgian Style American IPA

I encountered this interesting San Diego beer by Green Flash, in of all places, Williston North Dakota!

“Le Freak™ is the first-ever hybrid ale of its kind: the convergence of a Belgian-Style Trippel with an American Imperial IPA. Spawned over barstool pontifications between Publican and Brewmaster, this zesty Amarillo dry-hopped, bottle-conditioned marvel entices with fruity Belgian yeast aromatics and a firm, dry finish. Experience a legendary beer phenomenon.” From the Green Flash web page- not my words but pretty durned accurate.

I have to give this beer a thumbs up for an interesting mix of flavors. Actually a bit of an odd marriage, but it works ( kinda like if I had married Elaine Lewis). Erin, at the Williston Brewing Company, suggested that I try this new addition to the draft beer collection. This beer was preceded by a Beaver Creek Redheaded IPA, I have always thought redheads were interesting and this beer did not disappoint! Now, it was a blind recommendation as she had not sampled it. The beer nerd came out in me and a I had to explain what a “freaky” combination this beer represented. The citrusy Amarillo hops link nicely with the fruit flavors of the Belgian Tripple. I would stop at one as I am more of an IPA kind of guy. This is a nice beer to sip in a languorous fashion. Huh? Take your time, “Dammit” and enjoy it! Is that clear enough?

Williston Brewing Company, they don’t brew anything but they do have a good variety of beers and pretty darned good food!

An Imperial Pint of the Green Flash offering.

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Drink Local and Drink Responsibly
Bishop

Savoring the Final Few

It was Tres Amigos until I poured this beer. Now it is down to Los Dos Amigos. My “Golden Wheat Red Ale” is nearly gone and I have been selectively sharing the remaining few! The hopping of this beer was near perfect, great aroma and not overly bitter. Kind of baby bear perfect – no I am not Goldilocks, but it is nice when it comes out just right! Good head retention and nice lace.

The big question is- can I recreate this beer as an all grain batch? Will need to start soon, like a month ago! I need to bottle my Russian Imperial Stout. It has been sitting for more than 3 months in the secondary fermenter on toasted oak that was soaked in Bourbon. Yumm!

Just returned from Calgary and sampled a few local beers but need to get a longer period of time to explore the downtown beer scene.

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Drink Local and Drink Responsibly!
Bishop