Pullin' One Out of the Cellar

A long time ago, in a kitchen not too far from where I'm sitting now. . .

Justin wanted to make an IIPA, and so was born the Show your Hoppeeness Double IPA. Brewed back in September of '07, this hop bomb boasted 13 oz. of hops in the five gallon batch. Well, Justin still had a few bombers of this layin' around, and dropped on off at the ol' homestead. I had a chance to crack it the other night, and wow, this thing's still tasty. It's very similar to an aged Stone Double Bastard Ale. There still tons of bitter, but the hop flavor and nose has diminished to almost nothing, allowing the malt profile to shine through. The alcohol heat has settled down, and there's no extract "twang" present. This guy was tasty, and I'm hoping that Justin comes across a few more of them and is willing to share. Oh, and we need to make it again.

Here are the tasting notes:

Pours a hazy orange with a huge, foamy white head, three fingers thick, dissipating to a finger of lacing foam. Sugary, resiny nose with toffee and caramel. Mild vaporous alcohol and a touch of residual hops, but not much present.
Taste is mouth coating, sugary, resiny caramel with mild floral and citrus notes and a huge bitter. Mild chocolate notes also present.

Cheers,

Dave

Homebrew Review: Ode to the Halper Bitter

So we've had some issues with the Ode to the Halper Bitter (MB0026), but alas it's bottled and carbed up, so now's the time for a review of this Ordinary Bitter. The ABV ended up just under 4%, and it's cleared well after having bulk-aged in secondary for about a month. So let's get down to to it:

Pours a clear orange with honey hues and a foamy, 3/4 finger white head. Nose is sweet caramel with mild floral hop notes, also a touch of apple. Moderate watery mouth feel with good carbonation. Nice lacing. Taste begins with a huge caramel flavor accented with fruity notes of bright apple and mild cherry, which quickly bleeds to a solid hop bitter and mild floral and piny hop flavor.

This thing is too damn drinkable. Now, we've had some issues with Pale Ale's in the past (Leaky Faucet anyone?), but this one's on point. Well, it's at least a jumping off point. There's a bit too much caramel malt causing it to be slightly on the sweet side, but other than that, it's rather well balanced. I've been partaking in a lot of these, and it's slated to be made again soon. Could we be onto a "House Beer" with this one? Potentially, but it still needs a bit of work. I'm thinking a little less caramel malt to start. We'll see how it goes.

Cheers,

Dave