Something old and something new - Abita Turbodog and Spring IPA

Before my taste for beer evolved, I consumed it primarily for the relaxing affects, not much for the taste. This meant that I was more than happy to have only one kind of beer, that being of the domestic light variety. Thankfully for me, my tastes have grown up and long gone are the days of Bud Lights. Don't get me wrong, having one or two while watching a game is ok, just not if the object is to appreciate beer for the taste.

Even though my beer tastes were wanting years ago, I always had an interest in good food. The bookshelves at our house were and are filled with volumes of great cookbooks. It was from one of these that I came upon what would become one of my favorite beers. One night several years ago (before kids) Margaret and I found a fried chicken recipe from a cookbook we had written by Emeril Lagasse. You know, that bam guy who made his name at Commander's Palace, which is still my favorite New Orleans restaurant. The recipe called for the use of Abita Turbodog beer. As you could imagine, I had never had this beer before and much to my surprise, it was black as night. Back then, I just assumed that every dark beer tasted the same, and that flavor was that of Guinness.

We used the beer for the recipe, but I don't recall just drinking what was not used. I was still not interested in trying new beers. It was not until a few years later that I had Turbodog and realized how much it was not like Guinness and how much I liked it. It is now my favorite Abita beer. For those who are unfamiliar, here is a review.

Appearance: Beer poured a dark brown to black color with a thin tan head. That must have been a pour error on my part. The last one I had last week had a much better head. Some carbonation could be detected and the thin head did provide some nice lacing.

Smell: A malty and toffee aroma was noted with this beer.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Chocolatey malt flavor with some nuttiness was what I picked up. The beer has a heavy side of medium mouthfeel, but nothing like a stout.

Overall: As I mentioned above, this is my favorite Abita beer. The combination of malt and nuttiness combined with a real mildness makes this one easy to drink. It also makes a good session beer as it is not too heavy and the ABV is reasonable at 5.6%. I only regret that I did not give this one a shot all those years ago. It is much better by itself than in a fried chicken recipe.

My title does mention something new. While I was in New Orleans this weekend for a race, Margaret and I had dinner with her cousin Philip. You may remember him from such blogs as this one http://thebishopscollar.blogspot.com/2012/06/it-is-not-always-about-beer.html.

At dinner, the beer menu featured Abita's seasonal, which this season is a Spring IPA. You are likely aware that I am not usually a fan of IPAs due to the excessive (in my opinion) hoppiness. However this one was not the hop-bomb that some tend to be. It had the citrus flavor and spiciness that one would expect, but it did not give me cottonmouth.

Apologies for the picture quality. I also was not provided with a glass, which takes away one of the most important qualities to critique in a beer, that being appearance. 

Sometimes I forget about Abita Brewing Company. They are the oldest craft brewery in Louisiana and have been putting out good beers for a long time. It is nice to see they are still putting out quality product, even an IPA that I can tolerate. For more info on their beers, please see Abita

Cheers!

Homebrew update

Those of you who are regular readers have likely noticed that my volume of beer reviews has decreased significantly as of late. This is not because I have given up beer for lent or some other ridiculous notion. It is because of my new found fascination with home brewing.  I was surprised how much of an amateur beer dork I became so quickly. In my circle of swim team dad friends, there are now 3 home brewers. Our conversations now start and end with pictures of the beers we have made and debates of the merits of extract versus grain only brewing.

My first batch was way better than I expected and it has encouraged me to increase the volume and up my game. One of the biggest drawbacks to only making one gallon batches is that the 10 bottles of beer that result are gone so fast. After I allocated some singles for the people who encouraged me to give it a shot, I only had about 5 bottles to myself. Now I find myself without beers waiting on two batches in different stages of completion.

This is a Maple Porter that I got from the Brooklyn Brewshop. As it sounds, it is brewed with Maple syrup. Unfortunately some of the beer was spilled in the bottling process (hazards of having an 8 year old help) and I still have about a week to wait until these babies are ready.

In order to alleviate the problem of my beer running out too fast, I procured some additional equipment from a friend and have doubled my production for the next batch.

Above is a picture of my two gallon Mardi Gras stout courtesy of Brewstock in New Orleans. The beer gets its name from the fact that I brewed it on Fat Tuesday. I know, you don't have to tell me how clever I am. After making the larger batch I realized I need to upgrade some equipment. My one 3-gallon pot is not going to cut it. It will be another few weeks until these will be ready.

The latest from my brew closet. Ten bottles of Maple Porter, 2 gallons of Mardi Gras stout and 1 Belgian Blonde from the first batch. I had figured patience would be one of my biggest obstacles to brewing success. Looks like I have some time to try some professional beers.


Cheers!

A brief note about customer service - Brewstock New Orleans

Margaret, the girls and I went to New Orleans for the weekend to celebrate Mardi Gras. Saturday was spent uptown watching two day time parades with the girls, but more importantly, Sunday I rode in the Krewe of Thoth.

I am the good looking Elvis on the right side of the picture. This was my second year riding and it reminded me why I signed up for another year after my first ride. While watching the parades on Saturday, it occurred to me that riding in a parade is much more fun than watching one. This may not be a revelation to any of you, but as one of my former Arthur Andersen colleagues used to tell me, "I'm not a smart man."

With the festivities ended Sunday night, we planned to head back home today. However, before traveling home I had a mission to perform for a home brewing friend of mine. This friend brews on a much larger scale than the one gallon batches I have made so far. Instead of using a ready made one pound grain kit, he need a 50 lb. bag of malt and some yeast. In order to accomplish this mission I went to a store called Brewstock in uptown New Orleans.

I had heard of the store but had only looked at their website. I had planned to get my friend's requirements and see what kinds of small batch (one gallon) kits they had. Unfortunately they did not have the yeast my friend needed, but they did have something even better for me, great service. I mentioned wanting to get some small kits and the store employee (I think he may be the owner) explained that he could custom make one based on any style. He put together a two gallon stout kit. He also did not make me feel like I was a novice, although I am.

Sometimes I find that people who are experts on a certain subject have a tendency to look down upon or talk condescendingly to those who do not possess their knowledge. This was certainly not the case at Brewstock. He answered my questions and made me feel like I belonged there. Even better, my custom 2 gallon kit cost less than the 1 gallon kits I have been making. This place will be my brewing supply store from now on.

For more info on Brewstock, please see Brewstock

Cheers!

Happy Mardi Gras - LA-31 Courir de Mardi Gras

Those who do not live in south Louisiana or the Gulf Coast region may not know the significance of the two week period that ends next Tuesday. Those in this area know this is Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras translates from French to Fat Tuesday. Although it is more than just one day, the name is fairly self explanatory. The point of the season is to party and gorge oneself prior to the lenten season of fasting and sacrifice that starts the day after Fat Tuesday on Ash Wednesday.

There are many ways to celebrate the season and they vary from city to small towns in south Louisiana. Obviously the most famous of these celebrations takes place in New Orleans. It comes complete with dozens of parades, some with celebrity grand marshals.  It also includes scenes of drunken louts bartering to get a look at some female flesh in exchange for some beads in the French Quarter. Unfortunately for some, this is the first image that is conjured up upon hearing the words Mardi Gras.

Obviously there are more tame spots to celebrate the season. Folks in southwestern Louisiana, near where I reside spend Mardi Gras day chasing live chickens on horseback. I kid you not. No matter the tradition, the point is having a good time. For me this usually means having a cold beer. Luckily for me, the good folks at the Bayou Teche Brewing company have created a seasonal beer perfect for the season, the Courir de Mardi Gras.

Appearance: Beer pours a clear, dark side of golden color with lots of carbonation. A thin white head dissipates quickly but leaves some nice lacing on the glass. You will also see on the label the aforementioned masked reveler on horseback who has caught the illusive chicken.

Smell: A bready yeasty aroma was the only scent that I picked up on.

Taste/Mouthfeel: The beer had a medium plus mouthfeel with that carbonation notable. I picked up the bready flavors as well as some banana sweetness. The finish was dry and had the slightest bit of hops noted as well.

Overall: This one was a solid beer. The more I try from Bayou Teche, the more I like. I prefer their seasonals, Acadie and this one better than their regular ones. This is a highly drinkable one and not overpowering in any way, but still good flavor present. For more information on Bayou Teche Brewing Company, please see Bayou Teche

So you may be wondering, how am I going to celebrate the season. Besides drinking good beers like this one, I am riding in a parade in New Orleans on Sunday morning, the Krewe of Thoth. For those in the New Orleans area this weekend for the festivities, I will be on Float 7, the Elvis float. I will be on the sidewalk (passenger) side on the lower level near the front. Feel free to give me a shout. "Throw me something mister." Feel free to say Matt since we know each other so well.

Hail Thoth!, errr...

Cheers!

Matt's beer... Take one

As you likely saw in my last post, I have taken a shot at brewing at home. It was with much debate and study of the beer making book that I got for Christmas. With the beer making kit I got, there was just enough ingredients, grains, hops, yeast and sanitizer to make one batch. Due to this, I felt the pressure of not having a margin for error. If I only had one initial chance, I wanted to make it good.

After much anticipation, I cracked open my first bottle on Wednesday evening. Much to my surprise, opening it provided the typical beer hiss and puff of cold beer cloud up through the bottle. So far so good. Upon pouring it, it looked like beer. Smelling it, it smelled like beer. Tasting it, it tasted like beer. That provided enough evidence that I actually made a drinkable beer.

Appearance: The beer poured a highly carbonated golden color with some haze. I was most concerned about the carbonation or lack there of. When I bottled the beer, I could tell the color and smell were beer like, but the carbonation developed in the bottles and I had some doubts. Unfortunately I did make a mistake with the bottling and too much of the yeasty sediment ended up in the pot and ultimately in the bottles, hence the haze. The beer did provide some nice head, but not a tremendous amount of lacing on the glass. All in all, it looked like a beer.

Smell: Not much here except a yeasty smell. The hops are not aggressive and did not provide much of a scent. It smelled like a beer.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel was light side of medium with the carbonation noted. The taste again was primarily a bready one due to too much yeast. I did get some floral and grassy hop flavor, but it was faint. It tasted like a beer.

Overall: As much as I am proud of making something that is drinkable, I am disappointed in letting too much of the sediment in and affecting the flavor. I used to wonder why my home brewer friend would be so critical of the batches he made that were excellent to me. I now understand being my own toughest critic.

Much like most things in life, there is always room for improvement. For a first time out, I will give myself a B-. Luckily I think I have an A+ batch fermenting as I type. Now if I can only get it into the bottle correctly. I will keep on trying.

Cheers!