A Night of Good Beer

I got together with my brewing buddies Kevin and James the other night and we had a nice little spread of beers to try. We sipped on a Scotty Karate which is a Scotch Ale from Dark Horse. It is a pretty amazing beer with rich malt character and a nice smoke presence. We also drank a very limited edition beer from Flossmoor Station called "Evil" which was a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. That was a tastey beer. It had hints of Belgian candi sugar, honey, and a there was an underlying spiciness that was just right. After we drank one of my 12th anniversary beers from Flossmoor we had a Cantillon "Rose de Gambrinus" which is a Lambic made with raspberries. What an incredible beer that is. It is like nothing else.

2008 GABF Winners Announced

Well the GABF has come and gone and the results are in. My Belgian Golden Strong Ale that was entered in the Pro/Am category didn't win but Flossmoor Stations Baltic Porter, "Killer Kowalski" took a Silver. Congrats to the guys at Flossmoor. I thought it was great that you could watch the awards ceremony live via the Brewing Network's live stream on justintv.com. Those guys did a great job bringing the GABF to those like myself who could not attend. Thanks guys.

RESULTS ARE IN!

I'm sipping on this beer from Flossmoor Station Brewery that Matt Van Wyk gave me to try. He calls it "Sarge". It is a Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and espresso. At first sip it was like the "Sarge" hazed me for not being ready.

This beer pours jet black with a head so dark it almost has a purple tint to it. Definitely intriguing. The head doesn't last too long as it settled to a ring around my glass.
The nose is big with bourbon but the espresso and chocolate notes make themselves present as well.

The flavor is amazing. Upfront is the huge bourbon and deep roastiness. I get a great chocolate flavor on the sides of my palate and that leads right into the espresso. Everything about this beer is intense but not overwhelming. There is some alcohol heat that is nice--enhances all of the other flavor like salt would to food.

The mouthfeel is full bodied--coats the mouth nicely leaving a long and enjoyable finish but not cloying at all. Medium carbonation.

I don't think you would want to sit and try to drink more than one of these nor do I think that was the intention for this beer. This is clearly a beer to drink on a frigid snowy day or a cold and rainy day like today is in the U.P. I'd say go and pick this up and try it but I don't think there is any more in existence unless you can shake some out of Matt Van Wyk--head brewer at Flossmoor Station Brewery.


----------------
Now playing: DJ Shadow - Strike 1
via FoxyTunes

Flossmoor Station Brew Day

Here are some pics of my brew day at Flossmoor Station Brewery. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Matt and brewing my Biere Bella recipe. Matt is a cool guy who knows how to brew awesome beer. Everybeer that I tried down there was great! I also got a chance to meet Michael Pelter, president of the B.O.S.S. Homebrew Club as well as a few other members. Everyone was great and it made the experience that much better having people to talk beer with.