Category: Beer
Troegs Brewing Co. Scratch Beer #25 – Mustache Rye
Rye IPAs combine two of my favorite flavor elements in beer: rye and hops. Much as with rye whiskey, rye brings a spicy, resinous quality to beer that lends a real step up to your typical malt profile. So take a rye ale and pile hops into it, and you have the potential for a beautiful marriage of two fabulous flavors.
Today, you’re seeing rye IPAs crop up with increasing frequency, although I don’t know of too many that are part of a brewery’s regular lineup. Instead, most of the ones that I’ve had the chance to try have been either seasonals or one-offs from breweries. Perhaps this is because as opposed to your typical IPA, a rye-based IPA is an altogether different beer. The malt profile of the beer is more forward, more challenging, vying with hops for your palate, demanding attention in its own right. Whereas most IPAs are essentially vehicles for the hops, even if balanced with a notable maltiness, the bottom line is that hops reign supreme. In the case of rye IPAs, this isn’t so much the case.
This beer from Troegs Brewing Company is a great example, of both how awesome rye IPAs can be, and of rye IPAs being one-offs as opposed to regular features of a brewery’s lineup. Troegs makes a couple of very good, hoppy beers, including their Hopback Amber (which is part of their year-round lineup) and the highly rated Nugget Nectar, a seasonal that is a veritable showcase for malt and hops, and more hops. Both are great beers. But then there’s the Scratch Series of one-off beers that they’ve been brewing since 2007. The Series is up to number 27 now, and this beer, the Magical Mustache Rye, was number #25 in the series.
The Magical Mustache Rye was brewed in November 2009 in honor of both the Month of the Mustache (November, more info here) and the Troegs Mustache Growing Contest. It was brewed to an original gravity of 16 degrees Plato (1.065 original gravity), and 115 IBUs, for an astounding BU:GU ratio of 1.77 (bitterness units to gravity units). The malts included a base pilsner malt, with additions of munich and crystal. Hops used in the boil included Bravo and Cluster, along with Cluster and Liberty for dry-hopping.
The beer pours crystal clear and coppery, dark amber, with a fluffy white head that drops to a thin lacing. The nose has wonderful floral hoppy aromas of lavender, citrus, and a hint of pine, with a breath of malt lurking underneath. The palate is crisp with a great balance of malt and hops, with hops just barely taking the upper hand. Flavors arrive with a foundation of bready maltiness, then the hops come swooping in, with flavors of resin, pine, and herbal spiciness. Not overwhelmingly bitter, although there is more definitely more hop bitterness than flavor. The finish opens up with caramel maltiness that gives way to buckets of lingering hop bitterness.
What a fun, great tasting, and very drinkable beer. The hops brought plenty of bitterness, but it was pretty well-integrated into the overall flavor profile. If the BU:GU was 1.77, I’d have to guess that a substantial portion of the hops were used pretty late in the boil, otherwise – in a 1.065 beer – the bitterness may be overwhelming. Instead, this is a great rye IPA, and as much as I enjoy both Hopback Amber and Nugget Nectar, this is a beer that I’d really enjoy seeing as part of Troegs yearly or seasonal lineup. It’s just so good!
Related Posts:
Deschutes Brewing Co. Mirror Mirror 2009 Reserve Series
When we came back from this summer’s trip out west, I brought back a few gems from our various brewery stops. Since then, I’ve been covetously holding onto these beers, knowing that someday I’d be opening the only bottle of that beer that I had, and in some cases may ever have. Who knows when or if we’ll be out that way again?
As the months have passed, we’ve opened up one or two of these treasures, but there have been a few that I’ve been loath to crack open – I’ve just been too excited to try them. Among these was a bottle of Deschutes Mirror Mirror, the oak aged barleywine that they released last spring. It was one of the beers I was keenly looking for during our trip, was super excited to find, and possibly more excited to try.
I was finally inspired to open it as a result of the work we’ve been doing to plan a series of tastings at Amherst Coffee that will take place over the next few months. One of the tastings we’re going to do is a whiskey and beer theme, where we’ll taste a whiskey alongside a beer that was aged in that distillery’s barrels. So, as I brainstormed the various barrel-aged beers that are available today, my mind turned to the few special beers that I’ve been holding onto, and Mirror Mirror in particular.
Deschutes first released Mirror Mirror in 2006, but then didn’t release it again until April 2009. In 2006 it was the first beer in their Reserve Series, a series that now includes The Abyss, The Dissident, and Black Butte XXI. Mirror Mirror, The Abyss, and Black Butte XXI all have some portion of the finished brew aged in bourbon barrels, while The Dissident is brewed using a couple of strains of Brettanomyces, producing an oud bruin style beer.
35% of Mirror Mirror was aged in bourbon barrels, the other 65% in stainless steel. The beer was brewed to a strength of 11%, with 30 IBUs thrown in for good measure. From start to finish, Mirror Mirror took Deschutes 10 months to produce, with much of this time spent in bourbon barrels.
The beer pours a crimson-orange red with a creamy off-white heads that surges up and then drops just as quickly, leaving a thin lacing in its wake. The nose has rich aromas of toffee, malt, and caramel, accompanied by a trace of mint. The palate is soft and velvety with loads of creamy, viscous texture supported by medium carbonation. Once the flavors kick in you can tell it’s not 100% barrel aged. Instead of being overly sweet, the barrel aging element is well-balanced and mixes well with the big malt body. The flavors are a blend of caramel, toffee, vanilla and spiciness and tannins from the barrel aging, alongside a deeply malty body, bready, rye flavors, and an edge of bitter, piney hop flavors. The finish is soft and mellow, with flavors of caramel, crystal malt, and hop bitterness.
This is a totally amazing beer. I kick myself for not picking up two bottles during our trip (why did I buy just one bottle? what was I thinking?!), but am very, very glad that I had the chance to try it. Excellent flavors all in great balance. If you ever come across this in a shop, pick it up fast. Two bottles. Yet again, Deschutes has knocked the ball out of the park. I’ve really been impressed by all of the beers of theirs that I’ve tried, and once again can only wish we were somewhere that their beers were distributed to.
So this leaves The Abyss, their bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout, as the last of their Reserve Series beers that I have not tried. Given my love of this style of beer, it does give me a bit of a pang to figure I’ll probably not have the chance to try it, simply given the crazy demand for it, and my living on the east coast. But who knows, maybe someday I’ll be out in Bend or Portland on The Abyss release day. That would be amazing.
Related Posts:
People’s Pint Imperial Stout 2009
I have a soft spot in my heart for the People’s Pint, the little brewpub located in Greenfield, Mass. that I first discovered many (many) years ago when I was an undergrad out in the Pioneer Valley. The local beer scene was really just taking shape then, and I loved the People’s Pint’s combination of good food, relaxing atmosphere, and reliably good beer.
I moved out of the area a while back, and my last couple of visits haven’t been as fulfilling as my previous ones, even owing to the vagaries of memory. I still thought the food was good, and the atmosphere nice, but the beer was a bit of a let-down. On each occasion I’ve been there in the last couple of years, the beer was really just ok. Some pints seemed a bit low on carbonation, even for English styles, and others just lacked a real zip of flavor and personality. But hey, I’m happy to give them a pass, since I’ve only been able to go on a couple of occasions in a long time, and have many more happy memories than disappointing ones.
The People’s Pint brews all English-style beers, including a bitter, oatmeal stout, and IPA. They offer a couple of winter seasonals as well. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen their imperial stout in a shop before, and I’ve never had it on draft either, and so it seemed like a great time to give it a go. Like I said, that soft spot in my heart really spoke up and insisted on giving this beer a try.
Information on this beer is tough to track down. It’s brewed to an original gravity of 1.110, finishes at 9.2% and has 100 IBUs. The label looks like it was printed on a laser printer (nothing wrong with that from a small, local brewery) and has the year the beer was made (2009), and the bottle number hand-written on it (#233 – no indication how many bottles in total).
It pours jet black, lightening to a hint of rusty brown at the edges. A thin wispy tan head rose to the top but didn’t last long, leaving just a trace behind. The nose has notes of cocoa, coffee, chocolate covered raisins, and a whiff of smoke. Subtle overall, but pleasant and inviting. The palate has a warming, soft texture with delicate carbonation. Flavors of chewy black licorice, roasted malt, and milk chocolate are most prominent, with just a faint note of bitterness. On the whole, the palate’s not as sweet as the nose, a bit more earthy and restrained. The finish opens up with a surprising amount hop bitterness that takes a bit to fade, giving way to lingering notes of coffee and cocoa.
A good, well put-together imperial stout. Nice combination of flavors, good texture. A bit bitter on the finish, but I liked how it then segued to the coffee and cocoa flavors. I’d love to try this on draft sometime, and it goes without saying that tasting this made me look forward to my next visit to the People’s Pint. It’s been a long time since I was last there, maybe a year and a half, and I hope to be able to go again before too much more time has passed. If you’re nearby be sure to stop, and try the turkey burger with cheddar cheese, always my favorite sandwich there. The desserts are always very good too.
Related Posts:
Founders Brewing Co. Old Curmudgeon
Lately, I’ve been been mulling over the phenomena that Founders Brewing Company’s beers have become. Myself, I only really discovered their wares last year, in the fall of 2008. That was when I first tried their Breakfast Stout, and I never really looked back. Since then I’ve tried most any beer from them that I’ve found, worked hard to get my hands on a 4-pack of the Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and am already looking forward to trying some of their newer beers at the upcoming Extreme Beer Fest.
But what’s really caught my attention has been the overwhelming response to their newest beer, Nemesis, a wheat wine aged in bourbon barrels for 9 months. I first saw this announced a couple of weeks ago, although rumors about it have been bouncing about for a while now. Since the announcement of its imminent release, the hype-driven beer culture has gone into full-swing, and more forum posts, news items, etc. have been posted about this beer than I would have imagined, despite it not even being released yet.
I don’t mean to sound curmudgeonly (an awful joke, I know). I’d love the chance to try Nemesis once it’s been released. Whether I’ll be able to, given the high-demand it’s sure to be in, is anyone’s guess.
But here’s the thing, I’m not sure that I’m really so amped to take part in the running around to try and find some of this beer in a shop. I’m sure the beer will be great, perhaps even mind-blowingly incredible. But I think there are three reasons my hesitance:
- My fridge is full of so many good beers right now, some that we still haven’t gotten to from our trip out West, and I’m finding it hard to get super-excited about chasing down something else new.
- Even when I do go to the shop nowadays, there is such a plethora of exciting beers I haven’t tried, and none involve me running around and calling shops like a nut-case.
- Founders themselves are to blame! Their beers are all so good, and some are outright incredible, and while they may not all be barrel-aged wheat wines, they’re super tasty, and much easier to find.
Focusing on reason #3, we can take this bottle of Old Curmudgeon as perfect evidence. Here is a beer that hasn’t been too hard to find hereabouts, and comes in fair-priced 4-packs, as with most of Founders beers. I picked up a 4-pack of it while looking for American-brewed examples of Old Ales, and was surprised to find out when I got it home that it’s also aged in bourbon barrels. Given my unending appreciation for beers aged in bourbon barrels, this was a real coup.
Old Curmudgeon is one of Founders’ seasonal beers, released in late fall/early winter each year. It’s brewed to a final ABV of 9.8% with 50 IBUs alongside. Interestingly, it’s brewed using molasses, in addition to a pretty big malt bill.
A vigorous pour yields a thin head that quickly dissipates, leaving little trace on top of the beer. The color is amber-orange, hazy and nearly opaque. It’s mesmerizing to watch just how slowly the bubbles rise to the surface, like they have to force their way up through the beer. The nose is rich and heady, with notes of caramel, mesquite honey, bourbon, and deep malty flavors. The flavors on the palate are similar, bringing caramel, viscous, syrupy, bready malt, vanilla, bourbon, and smoky honey, with the addition of a subtle hop flavor and bitterness. Very thick and velvety texture, with just a prickling carbonation. The finish has flavors of bready malt, caramel, and bourbon, with no hop flavor but a lingering hop bitterness. Very long, finish punctuated with flavors of bourbon-soaked raisins.
Wow, this is a rich, decadent, dessert-in-a-glass kind of beer. Very enjoyable, but one glass really did it for me. All in all, the flavors just avoided being cloying, instead really leaving your palate coated with layers of rich, warm, sugars. Definitely give it a try, as long as you’re a big fan of bourbon barrel-aged beers.
*Note: despite my detailed explanation of why I won’t be running around trying to find a 4-pack of Nemesis when it comes out, I wouldn’t even be remotely surprised to find myself doing that. In fact, I most likely am guaranteed to do just that, simply because I wrote this post explaining why I won’t…
Related Posts:
Hair Of The Dog Brewing Co. Blue Dot Double IPA
Hair Of The Dog, my favorite little brewing company in the brewing nirvana that is Portland, Oregon, is one of the couple of breweries whose beers I always have on my radar. Whether it’s during a trip to New York where you can occasionally find some of their offerings, or a rare trip out west, I always look to come back with a couple of their beers to try, and maybe to hold onto to for a while and see how they develop. This past trip out to Portland I was on the lookout for their Blue Dot IPA, a beer I’d tried on draft during our previous trip.
I still remember the evening that I first tried it during that previous trip. It was also my first visit to the Horse Brass pub. We were with some friends, and after dinner, knowing that we were interested in beer, they took us to the Horse Brass. I still remember being floored by the scope of their draft menu, especially the number of incredible IPAs. Of the beers we tried that evening, the Blue Dot IPA left an indelible impression on me.
Fast forward a year or so, and during our next trip to Portland we stopped at another beer institution, Belmont Station. We only had a brief afternoon in town, and were pretty tired at the mid-point of our trip, and so Belmont Station was the perfect stop. After perusing their selection for a while and selecting a few bottles to take home, we ordered some beers and sat on their patio for about an hour, catching our breath and relaxing in the sun. We picked up the Blue Dot IPA here, along with a bottle of 2008 Alaskan Smoked Porter, and a couple of other things. The hard part was not choosing what to get, but reconciling our selves to the fact that we couldn’t take home everything we wanted to. I suppose you have to leave something for a future visit!
While all of HotD’s beers are pretty hop-forwards, the Blue Dot is their real hop monster. It’s brewed to a strength of 7% (1.074 original gravity), using a combination of barley and rye malts. 80 IBUs are packed in there (I haven’t found any info on which hop varieties they use).
Blue Dot pours crystal clear, with a rich golden color, a fluffy white head, and medium lacing. The nose is a barrage of evergreen, piney hops. In fact, it reminds me of Christmas trees and the pitch left on your hands after you bring one into your house. In much the same way, the hop aroma quickly fills the room I’m drinking this in. The palate is medium textured and slightly velvety at the end. There’s just enough carbonation to liven up the flavors without being overwhelming. Flavors of citrus, resin, and piney hops dominate, supported by caramel, grain, and honey. As the beer warms the layer of caramel and grain thickens, sweetening the beer. In the finish, more hops, medicinal and piney, along with a touch of creme caramel.
This is really a vehicle for hops, plain and simple. As with the other HotD beers that I’ve tried, there is a layer of creamy sweetness supporting all of the flavors. I found it to be a big beer though, so see if you can split a bottle with someone, or find it on draft close to home.