A Place to Gather and Talk
A special cross post here at Professor Good Ale’s page by the author from the LTS columnist section due to content.
I just quit writing.
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How do they get this much grain into one bottle? This ale, weighing in at 9%, is thick, chewy: a champagne-sized Grolsch-style bottle filled with liquid luxury. Normally I would type that it’s extract-y, but the complex malt mix of pale, many darker malts and a lot of dextrinous malts are so velvet upon the palette it is irresistible for those of us who desire a 2 by 4 malt weight upon the tongue.
The hops, though present, get a bit lost in all this malt, but the beverage doesn’t suffer. And it’s not malt-bitter in the way that such multi-grain concoctions can be. Debittered dark malts?
The advertising on the bottle, and some reviews, push the hops a bit too much, in my opinion. Not that they’re absent by any means, just not quite the “explosive finish” as some claim; especially for those of us who are also fans of over 100 IBU Imperial IPAs. Just enough to balance off the darker, sweeter, malt notes. So what exactly do would I call this style? Even the brewery claims it’s a Russian Imperial, but I don’t get any sense of roasted, unmalted, barley. The usual, at least slight, astringent notes are absent and, to be honest, it’s just too complex even for Imperial Stout. I think they went so far with this in the “smooth” category they went beyond Imperial Stout. Perhaps a bit more of a spin off of Baltic Porter, sans lager yeast?
Whatever it really is, it’s delicious.
Pensacola, FL/Emerald Coast area
Ralph was admitted to the West Florida hospital on Friday. His Hemoglobin was extremely low. He has been given several units of blood and is feeling much better. He thinks he will be released sometime Monday. He is in room 403 at West Florida hospital. Ralph is historically one of the most important members of our club and as had some impact on every member and a direct impact on most. Let’s all pray for his speedy recover. Yes I said the “P” word (pray). Hopefully the ACLU won’t be having me arrested in the next couple days!
See you this afternoon at Hopjacks.
Pat Johnson
850-261-9218
| Event: | Beer Club Meeting |
| Date: | Sunday, September 20, 2009 |
| Start Time: | 4:00 pm |
| End Time: | 7:00 pm |
| Location: | Hopjacks Pub on Palafox Place |
| Details: | Starts at 4:00pm. Bring Beer!!! |
From Pat…
Beerfest – First off want to thank everyone that helped make the beer fest one of the best we’ve ever had (I already thanked God for the weather). It will be some time before we know how many folks attended and all the details but it was good. Everyone I spoke to said it was great and had NO complaints. The Beach event also went well and even the Sunday morning breakfast went off without a hitch.
The Professor would have pictures, but his camera was dead. One participant promised to send him pictures, so they will be posted when they arrive on the Professor’s digital doorstep.
Friday was a jam packed affair at the Seville Quarter, a French Quarter like restaurant in downtown Pensacola. There had to be thousands there sampling beer from the likes of Yazoo, Left Hand, McGuires, Abita, Dogfish, Oskar’s Blues: just to mention a few, and nine homebrew clubs from the Southeast and all across the Emerald Coast: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Days Inn had two buses running every 15 minutes back and forth between Pensacola Beach and Pensacola… taking revelers safely; often noisily, across two bridges.
Saturday started early with beach Olympics and plenty of beer… of course. It was overcast and rained occasionally: but that dampened no spirits; not even the corny keg kind. The beer was still marvelous. Then Saturday night there were at least 60 barleywine fanatics drooling over at least 50 high octane entries brought by one and all to Big Bob’s Barleywine Bash. To be honest there’s was enough that some will be brought back next year. For many it was a late night and a groggy morning.
More pictures may follow.
Wow! What a difference a year makes. The large, German beer hall-size, room that Brian showed us last time we were here is now an impressive, americanized, beer tasting space. It’s filled with brewania. I suggested they screw everything down: if I were less than honest I’d be tempted myself. This was confirmed by the fact that 30 of their unique beer steins: glass milk pints, had just been stolen a few days before I got there. Damn shame. I wanted to buy one.
The new tasting digs opened up about two and a half weeks from when we visited mid-August. The attention to detail is incredible if you’re looking for “unique,” which I usually do; like beer coasters made out of shale. Local? I forgot to ask, but I suspect so.
Continue reading “Sprague Farm: Update”
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