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… (read more)
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Barrington Coffee Roasters Mexican Chiapas Grower’s Cooperative
I like drinking coffee. I enjoy the ritual of grinding the beans, boiling water, and filling the french press in the morning. Sitting at work with a cup of coffee on my desk, filling the office with its aroma, makes everything feel just a bit less stressful, deadlines less imminent. All in all, I love the role that coffee plays in my day.
And so my recent excursion into drinking tea in the morning has proven to be somewhat less than satisfying. I like tea, but it doesn’t give me the same level of enjoyment and satisfaction that coffee does. I feel more prepared for my day after having a cup of coffee in the morning, more full of life. After I drink tea in the morning, I may feel more calmly aware that my day is beginning. It’s a nice feeling, but not really what I’m looking for. Plus, I miss the smell of coffee when it’s not… (read more)
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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… (read more)
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Laphroaig 10-Year Cask Strength
For me, Laphroaig will always represent the most elemental aspects of whisky that first blew my mind several years back when I was just getting to know scotch. It was the first crazily smoky, peaty whisky that I drank, and the first cask strength too. On both accounts, my palate was altered for good, and to this day I’m still not sure if it was for the better!
It’s with good reason that each bottle of Laphroaig carries the seal of the Prince of Wales himself, as this is no ordinary whisky:
By appointment to HRH [His Royal Highness] the Prince of Wales, distiller and supplier of single malt Scotch whisky, D. Johnston & Co., (Laphroaig) Isle of Islay.
I still remember giving my mother a taste of Laphroaig 10, and hearing her horrified remark that it tasted like someone had filled her mouth with charcoal. Definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, or whisky for that matter. Laphroaig is… (read more)
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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… (read more)
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