Portable Kegerator & An Awesome Summer

This Memorial Day weekend I'm heading to Ocean City, NJ (where the only oil in the water is from the cast of the Jersey Shore) to kick-off what's sure to prove a pretty awesome summer. I'll be renting a house with a few friends, relaxing, and of course, drinking lots of beer! In fact, I'll be debuting my portable kegerator (nicknamed "R2Beer2") to bring some homebrew with me. Once you have a kegerator in your home, it's really hard to go anywhere and not have fresh homebrew on tap. So, I decided I needed a kegerator for the road!

R2Beer2 is a converted IGLOO Ice Cube Maxcold 70-qt. Roller Cooler that I bought at Target. It can hold a 3 gallon corny keg and have room for a few bottles/cans as well. The cooler keeps ice for 5 days at an ambient temperature of 90F, which is perfect for the summer. I drilled a hole through the front for the shank and attached a faucet to one end and an elbowed tailpiece to the other (just to save a little room in the cooler) where the beer-out line is attached to. I got a 4" long MFL bulkhead from Austin Homebrew and drilled through the side of the cooler to install it. I'll hookup a small CO2 injector to the bulkhead on the outside of the cooler for serving and the gas-in line is connected on the inside. The whole project took about 45 minutes to assemble; I think I spent more time determining which parts I wanted/needed and ordering them online! I'll be serving the last of my Imperial Brown Ale in R2Beer2 this weekend, and when I return, I'll be filling the keg with some Irish Red Ale that I brewed last weekend for a camping trip at the end of June, where R2Beer2 will really be put to the test.

After my return from Ocean City, I'll be gearing up for the unofficial DC beer week leading up to SAVOR next Saturday. Tuesday night is ChurhKey's East Coast Craft Beer Cask Party. Wednesday night (if it rains and I skip playing tennis) is a Three Floyds tasting at the Brickskeller. Thursday night is an Odell's tasting, again at the Brickskeller. Friday night, at the Brickskeller once more, is their sold out Lupulin Reunuless featuring an all-star beer cast (Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, Kim Jordan of New Belgium, Rob Tod of Allagash, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Greg Koch of Stone, Nick Matt of Saranac, Bob Pease of the Brewers Association, Bill Madden of Mad Fox, and possibly the great Charlie Papazian). Finally, Saturday night is the main event, SAVOR at the National Building Museum, featuring 70 breweries and food pairings. And on Sunday, I shall take a break, relax, and have a beer. Following SAVOR week, I'll be heading to Minneapolis in mid-June for the National Homebrewers Conference, which will be legendary if last year was any indication--more on that later!

Enjoy your holiday weekends! Cheers!

Scandinavian Beer & Award-Winning Homebrew

Last weekend, I entered three of my beers in the Spirit of Free Beer homebrew competition hosted by BURP (Brewers United for Real Potables), a local homebrew club that I recently joined. Although my Helles and Lambic didn't do that well, my IPA took second place in its category out of 29 entries! The beer was given a score of 42 (out of 50), which I was really excited about. In my judging experience, I rarely give scores in the 40s (I judged the American Amber/American Brown and Oatmeal Stout/Foreign Export Stout flights at the competition, and I think I only gave one beer above a 39), so this was really an honor for me. I'll pick up my medal/prize at BURP's next meeting in June. On the homebrew competition note, I just shipped my Sam Adams LongShot entries (Cinnabon Porter) at the beginning of this week, and thankfully the package arrived safely. I've mentioned it before, but I brewed a robust porter bottled with cinnamon & vanilla infused bourbon. It came out quite well and has been met with good reception from my friends; the judging starts at the beginning of June, and I have my fingers crossed!

Following a day of beer judging at the Spirit of Free Beer, I had a bunch of people over that night for a little homebrew tasting event. I served my Helles, IPA, Brown Ale, Lambic, and the Cinnabon Porter. Each beer was paired with a different cheese (Laura Chenel Chevre, Keen's Cheddar, Abbaye de Belloc, Mascarpone, and Pleasant Ridge Reserve respectively) recommended by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and beer author. I emailed Garrett on a whim, and he was nice enough to get back to me pretty quickly...and from Copenhagen at that. His suggestions were excellent and the pairings went over really well. I'm planning on another tasting event sometime in the fall, and I think I'm going to do a British ale series for that again with some sort of food pairing (maybe chocolate this time!).

After my tasting this past weekend, I actually had the chance to meet Garrett Oliver in person on Tuesday night at the National Geographic Society in DC where he hosted a talk/tasting entitled, "New Beers of Scandinavia." All the beers served were from Denmark, Finland, Norway, or Sweden, and there was really some winners on the list. My favorite was definitely the Nils Oscar Barleywine from Nils Oscar in Nykobing, Sweden. It had rich malty flavors (caramel, toffee, and some biscuit) with a light floral hop character. For a barleywine, it was incredibly smooth and very well-balanced. Runners-up would be the Huvila-X Porter from Malmgardin Panimo in Malmgard, Findland and the always tasty Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast from Denmark (though Mikkeller actually contract brews all their beer). In addition to the beers, some small plate appetizers were served including Alaskan Smoked Salmon, Swedish Meatballs, and Venison Sausage. The event was a lot of fun and proved to be a unique opportunity to try what are otherwise relatively rare brews. The event was co-sponsored by the Brickskeller and BURP members actually volunteered with serving the beers and running the event.

I'll be brewing an Irish Red Ale this weekend in anticipation of a camping trip at the end of June, and I'll also be putting together a little portable kegerator using a rolling Igloo cooler that can hold a 3 gallon corny keg (and keep ice for 5 days at 90F). Pictures of that to follow in the next few days. Also, SAVOR is coming up in DC in 2 weeks with all sorts of special pre-SAVOR events going on in the city. I'll be attending quite a few and reporting back! Cheers!

Sam Adams Utopias

Yup, that's right, Sam Adams Utopias. And I tasted not one, but two different bottles of this rare and exquisite beer. Last Thursday, RFD in DC hosted a last minute Sam Adams tasting led by Mike Sheehan, the DC, MD, and WV District Manager for Boston Beer Company. It was a small group (maybe 20 people), which was really a perfect size for this type of tasting.

Mike served 6 different beers before opening the Utopias. First up were the three Sam Adams Imperial Series brews, which are pretty widely available: Imperial White, Double Bock, and Imperial Stout. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm personally not a huge fan of the Imperial Series, with the exception of the Stout. I find the hot alcohols in the White to be a little harsh, and I don't think it's particularly well-balanced. The Double Bock is better, but the malty sweetness can be a bit cloying at times. I do enjoy the Stout though, which is rich and complex with some smoky notes (my friend I was with blurted out, "Bacon!" as soon as she tasted it) that I believe are actually yeast derived as opposed to coming from the addition of smoked malt (though I could be wrong).

Next up after the Imperial Series were three beers from the Sam Adams Barrel Room Collection that are only available in Boston and Denver: American Kriek, Stony Brook Red, and New World Tripel. Despite not being a fan of the Lindemans version(way too sweet), I really enjoyed the American Kriek; the flavor was more reminiscent of fresh, tart cherries rather than an artificial fruit sweetness (the bottle reads, "AGED ON SWEET YET TART BALATON CHERRIES"). It wasn't cloying, but rather crisp and refreshing. The Stony Brook Red is supposed to be a Flanders Red Ale style, but I found it to have a significant barnyard character as compared to Rodenback Grand Cru for example. It's a definitely a tasty beer though--dry with the impression of sweetness from the yeast and a background oak note. The bottle reads, "BELGIAN STYLE WITH A HINT OF TART FRUIT AND TOASTED OAK CHARACTER." Lastly, the New World Tripel is described as, "GOLDEN IN COLOR WITH NOTES OF SPICE AND TROPICAL FRUIT." There was nothing particularly outstanding about the Tripel in my opinion (don't get me wrong, it was a very good beer; there's just nothing I can recall that stands out); it was your typical Abbey-style ale, but it was definitely well-balanced and extremely drinkable.

Finally, we come to the Utopias (and yes, it's actually "Utopias," not "Utopia"), the strongest real beer on earth clocking in at about 27% ABV. While other breweries produce stronger beers (Schorschbräu makes a 40% Eisbock, and BrewDog has their 32% Tactical Nuclear Penguin as well as their 41% Sink the Bismarck!), they are all basically distilled--the beers are brewed and then frozen to remove water, concentrating the alcohol content. Utopias are actually naturally fermented to 27% ABV without any freeze-distillation occurring. Served at room temperature, the beer is uncarbonated and is reminiscent of a fine liquor. Rich and warming, the beer has an inredibly complex flavor profile with notes of toffee, caramel, vanilla, oak, plum, smoke, and maple. It's very full bodied and almost slick on the tongue. The beer is far from harsh, and it's actually very quaffable, though it's certainly a sipper. I can think of nothing better than sitting by the fireplace on a cold winter day with a snifter of Utopias. And as if one bottle wasn't enough, Mike graciously opened a second bottle for a few of us after the tasting ended (and he even let me take the empty bottle home, which makes an excellent addition to my living room!). A bottle of Utopias is definitely pricey at about at least $150, but it is without a doubt a wonderful and unique brew. I can definitely see myself buying a bottle one day when I can bring myself to spend that much.

Before I sign-off for today, I want to take a moment and climb up on to my soapbox. Sam Adams sometimes gets badmouthed among the beer geek community for not being a craft brewery any longer or being no different than the big breweries. I can't tell you how many threads I've seen on various beer forums putting down Boston Beer Company, their products, and their values. To be honest, I really don't understand where this animosity comes from, and, pardon the French, but it's a steaming pile of bullshit. Yes, it's a public company, and yes, Boston Lager is available in just about every bar, supermarket, grocery store, and airport across the country, but in my opinion, that mainstream, widely-distributed beer has more flavor and complexity than some of the extreme beers being produced by smaller craft breweries. This tasting only confirmed my belief that Sam Adams was, is, and always will be a craft brewery at heart. Their Barrel Room Collection and Utopias speak for themselves in this regard, and they still support their roots via homebrewing events like the Patriot Homebrew Contest and the Longshot Competition. I think people forget sometimes that operating a brewery is still a business at its core. There's only so far you can get with a great, hand-crafted product; you still need to make smart business decisions and run a tight shift. Jim Koch has proven that good business and good beer can coincide, so cheers to Sam Adams for 25 years of excellence! Stepping off of soapbox now...