The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, California
The Angel’s Share, American Strong Ale
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 12.50%

Show Notes – Recorded March 5, 2011
00:00 – 03:09: Introduction
03:09 – 34:46: The Angel’s Share by The Lost Abbey
34:46 – 38:21: Homebrew California Common Ale
38:21 – 39:22: Conclusion

Show Links

• Northern Brewer – California Common Extract Kit
• Lake Superior Kayak Kölsch
• City Beer Store – San Francisco; @citybeerstore on Twitter
• 2010 The Angel’s Share by The Lost Abbey
• Northern Brewer Homebrew Video How-To’s and Classes
• Cockney Rhyming Slang Translator
• Tastes Like Rare

Music — When It Stings by Pictures of Then

One morning while reading The Heavy Table, Shawn learned about one of Minnesota’s newest breweries, Boom Island Brewing Company. The biggest difference between Boom Island and many other breweries that have hit the news recently, is that Boom Island was already putting its beer up for sale. I attended a quick tasting at The Four Firkins in Saint Louis Park, where I grabbed two of the first bottles released. Boom Island Brewing is Belgian-inspired brewery, based in Minneapolis. The story of Kevin Welch, brewer, is one of a homebrewer’s dream. What could turn out to be Boom Island’s “ace in the hole” is the fact that Kevin is cultivating his own yeast strains, gathered during a trip across Belgium. We review the some of first releases available from Boom Island Brewing: Silvius Pale Ale and Thoprock IPA. On its website, Boom Island also teases the eventual release of a Dubbel and Tripel in bottles.

Boom Island Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Silvius Pale Ale, American Pale Ale
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 5.5%

Boom Island Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thoprock IPA, American IPA
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 8%

Show Notes
Recorded January 11, 2012
00:00 – 06:05: Introduction
06:05 – 22:12: Silvius Pale Ale by Boom Island Brewing
22:12 – 38:25: Thoprock IPA by Boom Island Brewing
38:25 – 44:17: Boom Island Brewing Wrap-Up

Show Links

• Boom Island Brewing Company; @boomislandbeer on Twitter
• Heavy Table: Kevin Welch of Boom Island Brewing

Runtime: 44 minutes
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Music — When It Stings by Pictures of Then

We’ve reached into the archives to release a “lost” episode of The Happy Hour. Back in 2010, Jason and Mike were lucky enough to receive a bottle of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This annually released beer shouldn’t be considered a simple oaked version of Founders Breakfast Stout, but is a wholly different beer. Kentucky Breakfast Stout is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with coffee and chocolate. It’s tempting to draw parallels between KBS and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, or more specifically, the Bourbon County Coffee Stout. The beer leads coffee and is bourbon second.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout is good. But it fits the bill better as an after dinner desert, rather than a breakfast starter.

KBS should be hitting the shelves in March of 2012.

Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kentucky Breakfast Stout, American Imperial Stout
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 11.2%
IBU: 70

Music — When It Stings by Pictures of Then

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I have to admit that I have missed our conversations through the microphone but we are at it again. Our scheduled programming returns this week with an exploration of some delicious sour beers. We delve into a comparison of a homebrew sour versus a commercial sour beer.

Long overdue, Shawn and I share a bottle of homebrew blonde ale from project friend Peter Kennedy. The beer was aged on New Jersey sour cherries. Peter has written a post or two about this beer on his blog Simply Beer.

Our second beer up for discussion is from Avery Brewing Company. Quinquepartite is No. 5 in Avery’s Barrel-Aged series. It is an an American Wild ale with an ABV of 9.91%. The beer was split into five parts and aged in several different types of wine barrels. The breakdown is such: 37% Ale aged in Cabernet Savignon barrels, 25% Ale aged in Chardonnay barrels, 21% Ale aged in Port barrels and 17% Ale aged in Zinfandel barrels.

The Beer Genome Project #32 Show Notes Runtime: 59:41

Update: We received a message back from Peter Kennedy regarding his blonde ale

@MikeBGP @ShawnBGP enjoyed the podcast.It was my 1st sour, no barrel, used carbtabs (mistake) glad you enjoyed it.

— Peter Kennedy (@SimplyBeer) December 13, 2011

Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City, Missouri has a wonderful series of beers that they call the Smokestack Series. The “Smokestacks” are typically limited release beers that come in 750ml bottles. For me, they represent some of the most innovative beers available in the Midwest. Last year I fell in love with the Bourbon Barrel Quad (BBQ for short) release – a heavy, cherry-like, boozy, close to 12% delicious beer. Boulevard changed-up their recipe, and how they blend their beers together for this year’s release. Jason and I decided it was time to revisit the BBQ because of this heard change. Additionally, to create a good side-by-side conversation, Jason and I brought out a Rye on Rye from last year – Boulevard’s rye wine aged on Templeton Rye barrels. If you like barrel-aged beers, jump in to the conversation. Cheers!

Boulevard Brewing Co. – Rye-on-Rye Style: Rye Beer ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 11.0%

Boulevard Brewing Co. – Bourbon Barrel Quad (BBQ) Style: Quadrupel ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 11.8%

It’s the second of our recordings from the weekend that belonged to Darkness Day. Again, this meet-up presented an opportunity for Jason, Mike and Shawn to record together. On this occasion, the three hosts and guests discuss Darkness Day as well as review three different beers.

Our first review is of the beer Rosé De Gambrinus, a Fruit Lambic from Brasserie Cantillon of Anderlecht, Belgium. While these beers can be aged for up to 10 years, they were chosen by the brewmaster as ready to drink now. This style beer is a Gueuze with fruit added during fermentation, and in this case raspberries are used.

Our second beer is the Fifteen Anniversary Ale from Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado. The Anniversary Ales from Avery are typically “wild and weird”. These are one-off beers that are meant to be aged.

Our third beer is 2010 iteration of the infamous Darkness from Surly Brewing Company of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. For the past few years, this beer has been primarily for sale on the brewery premises during Darkness Day. Spoiler Alert. This is a tremendous beer that’s ready to drink now.

Brasserie Cantillon – Rosé De Gambrinus Style: Fruit Lambic ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 5.0%

Avery Brewing Company – Avery Anniversary Ale – Fifteen Style: American Wild Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 7.68%

Surly Brewing Company – Darkness 2010 Style: Russian Imperial Stout ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 10%

The Beer Genome Project #31 Show Notes

0:00-1:23- Introduction 1:23-28:16 – Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus 28:16-49:26 - Avery Anniversary Ale – Fifteen 49:26-1:29:05 - Surly Darkness 2010 1:29:05-1:32:05 - Conclusion

This past weekend, many Midwestern craft beer fans descended upon Minnesota. Their destination: Brooklyn Center, where Surly Brewing hosted Darkness Day 2010. This episode was recorded on Darkness Eve, so stay tuned for next week’s episode to hear our discussion about Darkness Day and Surly Darkness 2010. However, the meet-up for Darkness Day weekend provided an opportunity for Jason and Mike to finally record face-to-face with Shawn and guests in St. Paul.

A number of our most recent episodes have focused on Belgian-style beers with much discussion about funky, sour, tart ,wild, spontaneously-fermented beers. This week is no exception as we breakdown no less than three “wild” beers.

Our first beer comes from Upright Brewing Company of Portland, OR – a company that draws much of its inspiration from the creative spirit of upright bass playing jazz legend, Charles Mingus. Known for its farmhouse style ales, Upright created Four, a  wheat beer made from a sour mash.

Our second beer hails from the renowned Russian River Brewing Company, in Santa Rosa, CA. Temptation, a blonde ale that has been aged for 15 months in French oak Chardonnay barrels with Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces yeasts, as well as Pediococcus and Lactobaccillus bacteria.

Our third beer is again of Portland, OR origin – Apricot Ale of Cascade Brewing Company. Apricot Ale is an 8.5% ABV Belgian Tripel-style beer which underwent lactic fermentation for 16 months, aged on French oak wine barrels, and rested on apricots for an additional four months.

Upright Brewing Company – Four Style: Saison ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 4.5%

Russian River Brewing Company – Temptation (004×4) Style: Sour Ale / Wild Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 7.25%

Cascade Brewing Company – Apricot Ale 2009 Style: Sour Ale / Wild Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 8.5%

The Beer Genome Project #30 Show Notes

0:00-1:18- Introduction 1:18-21:02 – Four by Upright Brewing 21:02-44:42 - Temptation by Russian River Brewing 44:42-1:03:44 - Apricot Ale by Cascade Brewing 1:03:44-1:05:43 - Conclusion

Replete with tangents about bottle dates and general beer geekery, we present another episode of our Happy Hour series with Mike, Jason, and special guest Brandon. Clocking in at just under one hour, this week’s Happy Hour circles around the reviews of two beers: Schlafly’s (St. Louis Brewery) Bière de Garde, and Oskar Blues’ Gordon. The Bière de Garde is a timely summer seasonal farmhouse-style ale, and we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try out a second beer from Oskar Blues. Hear our plea, Oskar Blues: we would love to have your beer distributed in Iowa. Thanks for listening everyone, cheers! Saint Louis Brewery – Schlafly Bière de Garde Style: Bière de Garde ABV: 7%

Oskar Blues – Gordon Style: Imperial/Double IPA ABV: 8.7% IBU: 60

Happy Hour #13 Show Notes

0:00-1:13- Introduction 1:13-18:06 – Schlafly Bière de Garde 18:06-54:29 - Oskar Blues Gordon 54:29-57:02 - Conclusion

Brew days can certainly be one of the more social beer events. When visiting Minneapolis, Shawn and I joined up with our friends at Ryan’s house for a day of beer creation and discussion. The crew at New Brew Thursday arranged a trade with Shawn, where he scored a bottle of Cuvée de Tomme from The Lost Abbey (a division of Pizza Port Brewing Company).

Similar to the beer we explored in our previous episode, Cuvée de Tomme is an example of the American Wild Ale style of beer – meaning sour or tart. I’m loving the diversity this style of beer brings. It seems the age of each one of these beers can change its flavor profile. So, a beer might have a flavor you may or may not love – yet you have to revisit it at a later point in time just to see how the beer has changed with age.

The Lost Abbey – Cuvée de Tomme Style: American Wild Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 11.0%

The Beer Genome Project #29 Show Notes

0:00-2:16- Introduction 02:16-16:12 – Cuvée De Tomme by The Lost Abbey 16:12-18:09 - Conclusion

Brought kicking and screaming into the world of sours? No way – we dive right in! I feel a bit ashamed that it had taken me this long to hear about Captain Lawrence Brewing, but I have been properly introduced thanks to Shawn and our friend Tyler. In this episode, Shawn and I take a crack at 375mL bottle of Cuvee De Castleton from Captain Lawrence. Any sort of reading before the tasting revealed the rarity of this beer, as well as how highly regarded it remains in the craft beer community. This was a shorter episode, focusing on the one beer, but it is all based around the idea of sour ales. Thanks for listening everyone, cheers!

This is a beer that will make you rethink your definition of beer. It doesn’t taste like any beer you’ve ever had, yet it doesn’t taste like anything else either. Pushing the limits of brewing is what makes this job so much fun. Malted barley, wild yeast, hand picked Muscat Grapes, and French oak wine barrels are just a few of the things that went into crafting this beer. Breathe deep, take a long sip, and enjoy the creation in your hand.

Captain Lawrence Brewing Company – Cuvée de Castleton Style: American Wild Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 8.0%

The Beer Genome Project #28 Show Notes

0:00-3:43- Introduction 03:43-19:54 – Cuvée de Castleton by Captain Lawrence Brewing Company 19:54-20:55 - Conclusion