Craft Beers That Make You Go Hmm: My Evolution As A Craft Beer Drinker

Throughout one's life, there are many memorable journeys.  Whether it is a job, a relationship, or in this case, the evolution of a beer palate, the destination is immaterial.  However, there is an enormity of importance in the steps along the way of that journey that stick in one's memory.  As people look back at how their tastes in beer have changed over the years, it can be pleasant and nostalgic to take stock of where they started and how far they have come.

Everyone starts somewhere when it comes to beer.  I remember, with a moderate level of fondness, my first encounter with the sudsy siren Busch Light.  It was in a dingy basement of a college house over by the University of St. Thomas.  It was Halloween and some friends and I were intrepidly going to see if we could get into a house party that we had caught wind of.  Dressed to the nines as a woman of the night, complete with hollowed-coconuts to add to my hourglass figure, I was skeptical about getting into this party.  I don't know if it was my plunging neckline or their pity for my appearance, but we were let in, paid our five dollars for a cup, and headed downstairs to the keg.  The warm and foamy liquid erupted boisterously from the tap thanks to the stooge who was vigorously over-pumping the keg.  As soon as the beer hit my lips, I began thinking that I didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  I guess that back in those days, the main reason to drink a light domestic beer wasn't to measure it pointedly for taste and aroma, but a necessary first step in a beer journey that has lead me to where I am today.  I pondered why so many people raved about beer, and as I choked down the skunky, room-temperature libation, I realized that beer was meant to make one think.  As many of the other Halloween revelers that evening, I drank my fair share of Busch Light and there were even some Zimas thrown in at the end of the night for good measure.  What I wanted to know after that was where was the good beer?  Why did I just pay five dollars for a cup of slightly flavored watery disappointment?

Fast forward to several years later.  I was done with college and had a stable job and wanted to get more into beer.  Since the Busch Light debacle, I had tried several other beers, mostly domestic, but had really not found a beer that I liked.  They say that everything happens for a reason and that good things come to those who wait.  I was out in South Dakota for a surprise birthday party for my in-laws and we were hanging around drinking.  Someone brought out a 12-pack of beer from a brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I had never even heard of this brewery before and was immediately curious.  This beer was only available in Colorado and its bordering states: New Belgium Fat Tire.  Now, up until this point, the only craft beers I had tried were from Schell's and Summit.  I had also tried other beers and found that I tended to prefer malty over hoppy as a flavor profile.  I was offered a bottle of this special beer and I immediately took a swig.  Remember that scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High when Phoebe Cates emerges slowly from the swimming pool in an aura of scintillation and desire while poured perfectly into a red bikini?  Well, that was exactly the energy that had captivated my taste buds, olfactory senses and overall mainframe.  This beer had flavor, depth, and had aroused my palate.  I mentally teleported back to that house party in college and the Busch Light and thought that the flavor present in this bottle of Fat Tire is the reason people drink beer!  This amazing example of how beer can be something that can totally blow the doors off your senses ignited a passion for finding more beer like this.  I was feverish, my eyes were bugging out of my head, and then a sobering reality hit me, like a bocce ball to the crotch in an America's Funniest Home Videos first prize submission; this beer was not available anywhere close to where I lived.  I only got to try one bottle and I did my best to savor it, desperately trying to commit every taste, smell, sight and feeling to memory.  Fat Tire was a revelation and was my gateway beer.  It opened a floodgate of yearning to try more craft beers with unique flavors that represented different styles.  I felt like Navin R. Johnson in The Jerk, if this is out there, think of how much other great beer was out there.  And just like that, I was hooked.

In the summer of 2006, I visited by sister and her boyfriend in Cleveland, Ohio.  My first night there we were heading out to get some dinner and my sister's better half suggested that we try a great local brewery called Great Lakes Brewing Company.  I was excited because I had never before been to a brewery.  I had consumed a fair amount of beer, but still considered myself a craft beer novice.  My beers of choice at that time were Blue Moon, Schell's, Summit and any random thing that a friend brought over.  I thought that it was pretty interesting that a brewery would also have its own restaurant.  What I noticed immediately was that there were many things on the menu that paired well with beer.  I thought this curious because up until that point, I thought beer was only used to boil brats before throwing them on the grill.  Then I began looking at the menu and I became intrigued; there were eight different beers on tap all brewed on site!  I felt like I had to try them all so I ordered the entire list that came in the form of five ounce samples of each beer.  It ran the gamut from things I was familiar with, to styles I had never even heard of before.  If the New Belgium Fat Tire was my gateway beer, this was my craft beer enlightenment!  As I worked my way down the list, it was like sensory whack-a-mole, hoppy, earthy, malty, citrusy, and many more flavors and textures.  However, there was one that stood out to me above all the rest and cemented itself as one of my forever favorites; the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.  This beer had everything I had been looking for in a malt-forward beer.  It was dark, smooth, roasty and malty.  I felt like I had died and gone to palate heaven.  I remember thinking that it was the perfect level of heaviness for me.  As we walked out of the brewpub, I remember thinking to myself that it would be so incredible if they could ever get something like this in MN.  It was maybe 2 years later when I was strolling down the aisle at Big Top Liquors on University and Snelling that I saw an endcap display with that recognizable ship in the fog, the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter had finally made its way to MN along with several other of the Great Lakes flagship beers.  I grabbed two six packs of Edmund Fitzgerald and one sixer of Elliot Ness and headed home with a smile on my face and drool running down the side of my face,

We have all had a situation where we happen to be at the right place at the right time.  I was browsing the local liquor store on a Friday night in the fall and it was shortly after I had tried, Harvest Moon, a pumpkin ale from Blue Moon Brewing Company.  I was looking for another pumpkin beer to try and asked the gentleman who was working if he had anything similar to or better than the Harvest Moon.  His face suddenly transformed from jovial and relaxed to paranoid and tense. He leaned in very suspiciously and asked, "Would you pay 8 dollars for the best pumpkin beer in the world?"  I told him that would be great and he disappeared into the back room.  At this point, I was thinking that perhaps that beer that he was about to bring out was either stolen from the same Libyans that sold Doc Brown Plutonium in Back to the Future, or the bottle came with a complementary human head and that is why the salesman was being so weird.  To my relief, he brought out a 22 ounce bomber of a beer called Pumking from Southern Tier Brewing Company.  I had never heard of the brewery of the beer.  The next part of the transaction got very strange and he gave me some very explicit instructions for drinking the beer.  He told me that I need to let the beer warm up a bit first or I might as well have flushed my money down the toilet.  I should drink it out of a goblet and not just a pint glass.  As he kept rambling on in a manner that bordered on hysterical, I started to wonder if this bottle would turn into a Gremlin if I didn't take proper care of it.  I paid for my beer, drove home and began the ritual of preparing to imbibe the Pumking.  I found a wine glass in the cupboard that I felt would suffice for a true goblet and set it out on the counter while I watched television for a while.  After about a half hour, I came back and felt like it was time.  I dimmed the lights, put on some Barry White and wrote my safe-word on the back of my hand just in case I forgot it in the heat of passion.  The first thing that I remember about this beer was how absolutely strong the aroma of graham cracker was as I brought it up to my nose.  It was like I was about to drink a pie crust or a gingerbread man cookie.  Then I took my first sip; my mind began doing somersaults and my palate sang as a myriad of flavors paraded on my tongue.  I could not understand how a beer could so effectively mimic the sensation of eating pumpkin pie.  This beer was so complex and unlike anything I had ever before consumed.  Had I known how hard to find this beer would be, I would have bought more than one.  I did not encounter this beer again for another three  years.  However, that flavor and memory of how much my palate was challenged by Pumking was another highlight in my journey as a beer drinker.

Every year around the holidays, one of my favorite liquor stores does an event called "Beer Geek Christmas," which is an amazing all-day event and beer sale.  They have amazing products that get released for that day and incredible beers to sample in the store.  Because of my day job, I wasn't able to get there until the tail end of things and I got there and headed downstairs to where they had a keg of Surly Five, an anniversary beer that was a wine barrel-aged sour beer.  I thought that sour really didn't seem to be an appealing flavor profile in a beer.  I had never had a sour beer before and thought that I would try it and see how it went.  Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick, was it ever good!  I really liked the tartness and funky flavors that were having a party in my mouth.  The more I kept sipping it, the more I liked it.  I mentioned earlier in the article that a good beer should really make you think about what you are drinking.  A good beer should have your dendrites working overtime as your brain processes what you are drinking.  Good beer should not just be something you drink to get drunk because far too much effort and thought went into brewing it to make it just a way to make reruns of Cagney and Lacey more tolerable.  The first time I had a sour beer, I didn't have the beer knowledge to process what I was drinking and yet I enjoyed it because it was a knee to my flavor circuit board.  Now, anytime I get a chance to drink a sour beer, I jump at the opportunity and I am almost mentally transported back to my first Beer Geek Christmas, when I hopped aboard the sour beer train.

At Beerploma, we do our best to bring you the news and reviews of what is happening on the local Minnesota beer scene.  However, whenever I get the chance, I like to take a beercation to a place with a thriving craft beer scene.  Last spring, I spent 10 days tasting my way through 26 different breweries in Colorado.  I drank stellar examples of every beer style under the sun out there and was able to check many craft beers off of my bucket list.  When most people think Fort Collins, Colorado, they think of the bigger breweries there like Odell and New Belgium, but there was are many up and comers that are etching out their own territory out in the land of craft beer immortality.  Funkwerks Inc., is a smaller brewery in Fort Collins, CO that brews mainly Saisons and Belgian-style beers.  The beer I had at Funkwerks Inc. that forever changed how I thought about beer was their Belgian Stout.  It was a drinking experience that I will never forget because, in one beer, they were able to include everything I love from two completely different beer styles.  It smelled like peanut brittle and had a tremendous roasted malt character.  Then, in the next split second I was enjoying the distinct yeast properties that are associated with Belgian beers.  Maybe you are thinking, "Wait, I have never heard of that style!" and you are hitting on why I love craft beer in this country.  There are style guidelines, and in a lot of other places in the world like Germany or Belgium, these style guidelines are ironclad and never deviated from for fear of violating hundreds of years of tradi
tion.  Funkwerks Inc. is a great brewery because they brew mostly one style that has been around for hundreds of years and their representations of that style or spot-on.  However, it is also their ability to play in the beer recipe sandbox and use creativity to create things that are not commonplace.  The Funkwerks Belgian Stout rounds out my list of five beers that have helped me evolve as a beer drinker.


In the US, brewers are not just brewing, they are innovating and trailblazing.  They are constantly forging new paths and stepping outside of the style guide boundaries to see what amazing mouth-feels and flavors they can wow our palates with.  We are seeing the golden age of craft beer evolve before our very eyes.  What will the national craft beer scene be like in five years?  What new styles will be created and what old styles will be brought back?  Only time will tell.  One thing is certain, craft beer will continue to make us think and push the boundaries of taste and style.

Brews and Reviews: James Page Brewing Company's Yabba Dhaba Chai Tea Porter

Any "beer snob" worth his or her weight in hops is always on a never ending quest to seek out new beers they haven't tried before. A combination of curiosity of that of a feline and the Untappd app, has me on a constant mission to discover new brews, like some sort of barley pop obsessed Indiana Jones.

This particular brew struck me for a couple of reasons. First, I found it interesting that the pairing of a catchphrase from The Flintstones and a typical 20's safari explorer were used to denote the Chai Tea flavoring. The second reason was that this was from James Page Brewery (now owned and operated by Stevens Point Brewery), a former staple of NorthEast Minneapolis' Warehouse area.  Anyone who has journeyed over to Uppercut Gym, probably for one of the beer expos hosted over there, may find themselves passing the brewery's former location, their entrance still adorned with vines of hops.

Photo courtesy of javaprop.com

The Chai Tea Porter is a delightful explosion of taste for the right person. It is packed full of the Chai Tea aroma and taste you'd expect if you were to order one of these trendy beverages from your local coffee establishment.  The mouth-feel of this beer even tricks your senses into believing the consistency of this brew is much thicker than it actually is, due to the flavor.  Heck, even the smell of this beer gives an illusion of sitting in a coffee house, rather than on my couch.

However, as wonderful as this beer tastes, it may not be a brew for everyone. For one, it struggles to truly taste of feel like a Porter. It's body is a bit thin to be considered a Porter, instead being more consistent with a lager. When drinking this beer, without prior knowledge, you'd never associate this brew with having any hint of the typical british style of beer, instead mistaking it for something more of a typical Adjunct. 

The full line of James Page branded beers

This beverage also has a powerful taste with flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as other spices synonymous with infamous teas of India. This taste may be overwhelming to some folks, especially those who may appreciate more subtle tastes found in other flavored craft beers. It's not quite a "punch you in the mouth with flavor" found in most soft drinks, but it is certainly more than the average beer geek will more than likely enjoy.

Yabba Dhaba isn't a bad beer at all; it's quite enjoyable in fact.  But this is a beer best suited for a stormy spring day, and not likely something the regular beer consumer will want to drink more than one or two of.  If nothing else, Yabba Dhaba is an interesting experimental brew great for giving a try, but not something that will become a staple in any aficionado's beer cellar. Point Brewery has presented us with a good beer for tasting, but not necessarily a good beer for drinking.

Cabin Craft Beer Review: Clown Shoes Genghis Pecan Porter (2013)

For a long time Minnesota was behind the times when it came to Craft Beers.  We had Schell’s, Summit, and a few other rebels, but for the most part we were hunkered down in macro-beer-land.  As such few craft brewers from other states didn't send their wares here.  Sure you had your brave ones like Pyramid, Boulevard, Leinenkugels, and semi-macro/semi-craft Sam Adams, but at the end of the day the most adventurous of that lot was Pyramids Apricot Wheat.  Our craft beer scene was stagnant.  But then in the early 2000s that began to change.  We wanted more, nay we demanded more from our craft beer and if brewery greats like Stone and Yuengling wouldn’t come here, then by golly we’ll brew out own.  Surly introduced us to hopped up IPAs that can match Stone any day, and might even have a bigger cult following!  Schell’s produced Grainbelt Nordeast, a beer very similar in style to Yuengling Original!  If they wouldn’t come to us, dang it someone stepped up to brew it!  Recently I have been seeing a trend on the beer shelves around the Twin Cities.  More and more well-known breweries are starting to penetrate our shelves.  I take this as a sign that we are becoming a well-known Craft Beer Loving State!  In the last year we have added Oskar Blues, Green Flash, and Clown Shoes to our available lines of beer!  It’s exciting to see these brewing legends start to take us craft beer drinkers seriously. 

Recently I got the opportunity to pick up one of the last bottles of 2013 Genghis Pecan from Clown Shoes, out of Ipswich, MA.  I was saving this one for a special occasion, and it ended up at the Cabin with me.  So welcome to Minnesota!  Here’s a review and toast to making a GREAT decision to come here!

 First off the beer poured thick, and had a quick forming foamy brown head.  The head cascaded upwards as it poured into the shaker pint.  The first smell gave off the aroma of light coffee, and almost no hop presence.  I noticed it was dark, I shined a light through it, only a hint of red came out on the other side.  As the head settled down I took the first sip.  It had a medium to thick mouth-feel.  It was smooth with strong roasted coffee notes, and it lingered with a fresh pecan flavor and mellow bitterness.   It was kind of a chilly night, so it was a perfect after dinner beer.  I honestly expected more sweetness out of a beer labeled as "pecan pie porter", but that fact that is was more roasty was not a let down by any stretch of the imagination.  Over all a very tasty beer, and great for after dinner whether you are a fan of coffee or toasted pecans.  If pairing a meal to match with this beer I would pick a slow roasted pork loin, or pan fried mushrooms.

Overall I give this beer **1/2 stars (Excellent)

That's all for this review.  Time to go out and enjoy the lake!  Prost!

Beerploma Craft Beer Tour: Cigar City, Miami Brewing, and more from Florida

I love getting to travel to work.  Well let me clarify.  I miss my family and friends...but I get a hotel room all to myself, get to meet new people, get to see new things and try new foods, and most of all I get a free trip to try new beers.

My recent trip to Miami, FL was no exception.  I got to go with a great crew, who were very adventurous about craft beers.  And of course I went on the hunt for the Legendary Brewery:  Cigar City!

Our first beer on the list was from the Florida Beer Co. Florida Lage:

The thick white foamy head topped the light reddish color of this beer.  It had a piney aroma.  The taste was low on malt flavors and high on the piney saaz hops.  It was a very solid beer that reminded me of many German pilsners, especially Jever.  Over all it was a good solid beer.  On my scale of 1-3 stars I gave this * (Good). 

Next up on our list is OPB's Orange Blossom Pils:

I have heard a lot of good things about this beer, even reading it in many of my Beer Suggestion books.  I had to give the beer a try.  Like the Florida Lager it had a very clean piney aroma.  It was almost identical in color to it as well.  The taste is what sets these two beers apart.  This one had low hops in the in the flavor, slight sweetness.  I picked up a little bit of the honey, but I kind of would have liked more.  Overall another solid brew earning a rating of *(Good)

Next on our list are two beers from Miami Brewing:  Vice IPA and Gator Tail Brown Ale

Vice IPA:  This dark reddish IPA started with a thick foamy white head.  It had a really thick caramel aroma.  It had a medium mouthfeel and left a piney/citrus after taste.  The malty caramel came on strong through out the tasting.  This is very much done in the British Styles of IPAs.  It was a solid hit and perfect for sitting pool side on a hot spring day.  It scored a *1/2 (Very Good) rating.

Gator Tail Brown Ale:  This was the sleeper hit of all the beers I tasted on this trip.  It pours thick and foamy with a tan head.  It had a medium mouth feel.  It was light on carbonation.  It had a really robust sweet coffee aroma.  It was the heaviest beer I drank, but still light enough for the Florida weather!  Great coffee flavor, and a very well rounded beer.  Fans of porters would enjoy this!  It scored **1/2 (Excellent).

And last but not least we have two beers from the legendary Cigar City:  Florida Cracker Belgian, and Hotter then Helles Lager.

Hotter then Helles Lager:  This brewery lives up to the hype!  This hazy gold elixir had a soft fruity apple aroma.  It carried over into the flavor.  Light biscuit notes from the malts.  I have been to Germany many times, and this would go right up their with the best of the German Helles, easily.  Rating is **1/2 (Excellent)

Florida Cracker:  This hazy straw gold brew poured light with a thick foamy head.  It had a great spicy aroma., most notably a coriander scent.  Very well carbonated, light mouth feel.  It had a spicy taste with a hint of cloves.  This beer is enough to make you forget that Blue Moon even exists.  Quite possibly the best Belgian Wheat beer I have ever had.  Rating:  ***(Awesome)

I am looking forward to getting down there again to partake in even more of these really awesome beers!  Until next time keep those beer mugs full!  PROST!

Adventures of a Beginning Home Brewer

My First Original

 

In the past I have always brewed with recipe kits. You just buy the box of goodies. Everything you need is in there and in the correct quantities; grains, hops, malt, yeast, etc… I have manipulated these kits, like adding cherries to a stout or vanilla beans to a porter, but have always started with a kit. But, for this round it was time to go it alone! I decided I would invent my own recipe and make my first original beer.  

 

I wanted something different. I didn’t just want to make a stout or a red or something boring like that. I wanted something a bit more complex. So, I decided to make a Caramel Mocha Porter.

 

I have made a couple porters before, so I get the gist of it on a basic level. I really wanted the sweet caramel, espresso, and chocolate flavors to jump up front. Too many beers have that flavor you just barely notice as a hint during the aftertaste. I wanted more out of my beer.

 

I started the beer by steeping 1 pound of grains. I used ½ pound of Caramel 120L and ½ pound of roasted Chocolate Malt. I hope that with using caramel and chocolate grains the beer will take on… well, the taste of caramel and chocolate!

 

(Caramel on the left Chocolate on the right)

 

After about a half hour I tossed in 6 pounds of dark unhopped liquid malt extract. I brought that to a boil and tossed in an ounce of Willamette hop pellets. Then the fun began!

 

Like I said, I wanted the flavors of a caramel mocha to really pop in this beer. So, I asked my friend, Mark, to bring over his espresso machine. He cranked out 2 cups of espresso while I got started making a caramel by cooking some sugar with a little water. With just a few minutes left in the boil I chucked in the espresso, the caramel sugar, and some fuggle hop pellets.

 

After cooling the wort I tossed it in the primary fermenter, aerated it a bit, and added yeast. I have only used dry yeast before, but since this was my first recipe I made I splurged and got an Irish Ale Activator pack from Wyeast. I figured I kind of went all out on this recipe, why blow it on budget yeast.

 

(Irish Ale Yeast)

 

As we speak the airlock is bubbling and things are on their way! The verdict will come in a little over a month… Stay tuned!