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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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

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

Not too long ago we met some new friends, the members of the band Pictures of Then. As is typical with Shawn and myself, the conversations held revolved around beer, technology, and music. As our podcast grows, we are looking for new ways to uniquely identify ourselves. Our podcast introduction music has evolved with us on this journey. After listening to Pictures of Then, of Minneapolis, through and through, the decision was made to partner with our friends as they graciously allow us to utilize some of their music for our podcast. Episode 28 was the first episode to feature music from Pictures of Then – their “When It Stings” leads us in. Stay tuned, as Casey and other band members will likely record with us in future episodes. Cheers to Pictures of Then for lending their talent to our project.

• http://www.picturesofthen.com
• http://www.myspace.com/picturesofthen
• http://twitter.com/picturesofthen

In recent months, Shawn and I have been trying to learn about homebrewing with our friends and via the web. I must say that Twitter has been awesome to do some quick crowd-sourcing to get some different perspectives on a question I had. One source of help has been homebrewer and gent Stephen Freshnock, a.k.a. @slovakbrewer on Twitter.

Shawn was able to meet up with Stephen when he made his trip to Chicago earlier this year. Then, sometime this fall, Shawn was also able to score a few bottles of Stephen’s homebrew. This week we’re releasing a Happy Hour episode in which Shawn and I were able to get together and share one of those homebrews: an Imperial Brown Ale. I asked Stephen to share a little back story on his beer to offer context for myself, Shawn and you (the reader/listener). Feel free to read his commentary now, but definitely make sure to come back after you hear the show. Thanks Stephen for letting us try your homebrew and discuss it here on our show; I look forward to future tastings and learning more as both Shawn and I begin our foray into homebrewing.

From Stephen:

Like many recipes this one came to me while in a drinking session. I was at a local pub enjoying the Imperial version of the Brown Ale. It was much drier and had cascade as the featured hop. I often think about what I would change not to improve the beer but to make it my own. In the winter I enjoy the thick tongue depressor beers like “Expedition”, “Darkness” etc.. I wanted to bring out those flavors without breaching the session-ability of the brown ale style. Being a home brewer gives me license to batter styles, so I hopped it like an IPA with Columbus. This gives it a resiny piney aroma that is so inviting and then you get his with a mouth full of malt to sits hand and hand with the hop flavor. It think the bitterness helps push the maltiness through and guide you to your next sip. The deep dark color is due to my process. Before I rinsing the grain bed, I do an extended recirculation of wort to improve clarity and set the grain bed. This means I am running wort through wort which darkens the color. I am willing to sacrifice color in order to improve the quality/stability of my beer. I also reduce the first gallon wort to 1/2 a gallon. This creates a super sweet unfermentable base to the beer. This also deepens the color further. This wort reduction also impacts flavor tremendously. The rich caramel and toffee flavors are a result of this. I layered a two different types of chocolate malt and 3 different low lovibond caramel malts to add complexity. There is a small bitterness charge at 90 minutes, a small flavor charge at 30. Then I pack in 3 ounces of Columbus in the last 15 minutes. There are 2 ounces at 1 minute, this results in the big hoppy aroma. This beer is meant to have more malt flavor and more hop aroma.

The Beer Genome Project Happy Hour #9 Show Notes

0:00-1:49 - Introduction 1:49-16:05 – American Brown Ale from @SlovakBrewer 16:05-17:46 – Conclusion

I am by no means an expert of beer, but I do enjoy the occasional brew and talking about it. For a few months now I have been appearing as a guest on the podcast Everyday Drinkers, which focuses not only on beer but also cocktails and other liquors. I have really enjoyed joining their show for the beer episodes, and the spirit of the season got me to join in on the latest Hard Cider episode as well. It’s always great to hear the perspective of other beer enthusiasts, as well as the opinions of those who maybe don’t consider beer their beverage of choice. Feel free to fire up iTunes and give a listen to a few of the episodes – they are highly entertaining…at least to us hosts.

Link: Everyday Drinkers Podcast 32: Hard Cider

Russian River Brewing Company – Pliny the Elder Style: Double/Imperial IPA ABV: 8.0%

The Beer Genome Project Happy Hour #6 Show Notes

0:00-3:21 - Introduction 3:21-10:56 – Review of Pliny the Elder 10:56-16:49 – Recap of St. Paul Summer Beer Fest 16:49-17:22 – Conclusion

In celebration of #ipamonday, Shawn and I were able to record a 4-way IPA blind taste test episode in St. Paul. Truly this showdown was inspired by the ability to review multiple beers in person with each other, and since the list grew long, we decided to review all the brews in a blind tasting. The beers we review, in no particular order, are the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (not available in Minnesota), Two Hearted Ale by Bell’s Brewery (not available in Iowa), Northwest Passage of Flat Earth Brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an “IPA” from Barley John’s – a brewpub in New Brighton, Minnesota. Of course, leading the discussion is the history behind the IPA (India Pale Ale), it’s current status in the craft beer culture, and how these different styles stack up to the common notions of an IPA. If you’ve had any or all of these beers, we would love to hear your thoughts. Of course, we are still open for discussion on different brewery’s interpretations of the modern IPA. Thanks for listening this week everyone, cheers!

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – 60 Minute IPA Style: India Pale Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6.0% IBU: 60

Bell’s Brewery – Two Hearted Ale Style: American IPA ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 7.1% IBU: Approximately 50

Flat Earth Brewing Company – Northwest Passage IPA Style: India Pale Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6.5% IBU: 115

Barley John’s Brew Pub – Stockyard IPA (?) Style: India Pale Ale ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6.8% IBU: n/a

The Beer Genome Project #21 Show Notes

0:00-2:23 – Introduction 2:23-8:05 – Synopsis of IPAs 8:05-11:26 - Beer #1 11:26-14:23 – Beer #2 14:23-17:31 – Beer #3 17:31-19:48 – Beer #4 19:48-25:44 – The Reveal 25:44-33:10 – IPA Discussion 33:10-35:50 – Conclusion

Oh, Saison, am I not an admirer of you, and one deserving of perfection? It’s a world of new beer out there, and Shawn and I are here to learn as much about it as possible. Lift Bridge Brewery of Stillwater, Minnesota is still fairly new to the craft brew scene, but with their flagship Farm Girl Saison being distributed on a larger scale, it won’t be long before many take notice. This week’s show focuses on the Farm Girl saison from Lift Bridge, and placing it with a Saison Dupont in side by side reviews. The Saison Dupont, a typecast of the saison style of beer, is brewed by Brasserie Dupont of Belgium.

Lift Bridge Brewery – Farm Girl Saison Style: Belgian Saison ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6.0% IBU: 30

Brasserie Dupont – Saison Dupont Style: Belgian Saison ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 6.50% IBU: n/a

The Beer Genome Project #18 Show Notes

0:00-1:08 – Introduction 1:08-17:08 – Farm Girl Saison by Lift Bridge Brewery 17:08-39:40 - Saison Dupont by Brasserie Dupont 39:40-53:43 – Weekly Discussion 53:43-55:16 – Conclusion