I work for a healthcare consulting company based in Orange County, California and while I mostly work from home, once a month I must travel down to the head offices. Although I dislike traveling that often, the situation does have some advantages; seeing my immediate family more often being chief among them. Another plus is the fact that Selma’s Tap Room is only a short walking distance away from either the office or my sister’s house.
Selma’s itself is a Chicago-style pizzeria, but the owners decided to open up a bar that focuses on craft beers next door just a few months ago and for that, I raise my glass and give thanks. With rustic brick work and tasteful décor, The Tap Room has a great ambiance and to top that, the owners have trained their staff to be knowledgeable and fun. The tap selection is quite fantastic as well, featuring California based beers with some imports and other favorites thrown in for good measure.
My friend from the office and I decided to meet up on Saturday night for a pint or two. Arriving around 7, we saddled up to the bar and were faced with a difficult decision: what to drink? As I tend to go for beers I have not tried before (and always looking to try local favorites), I decided on Orange County’s own The Bruery’s Rugbrød Brown Rye Ale which is loosely based on the traditional Scandinavian “Julebryg” holiday beers.
Pouring dark brown with a tan head that dissipated to a collar, the nose was filled with complex nutty and earthy scents accompanied by a hint of spices. The taste was definitely akin to a traditional brown ale, but with extra nuanced tones imparted by the grains and what I would describe as a subtle “salty sharpness” that I would associate with rye bread (highly scientific, I know). Nutty and bready with a hint of roasty goodness, Rugbrød goes down incredibly smooth and does not even hint at its high alcohol content. The hops only briefly make their presence known at the back end of the palate, but add another layer of character. The most impressive aspect of the beer was the mouthfeel; slippery and well rounded without lacking body. I know that Rugbrød will not necessarily appeal to all craft beer drinkers, but The Bruery should be proud of this offering.
Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 44/50 (8% ABV / 30 IBUs)
Can’t figure out how to pronounce Rugbrød? Neither can anyone else. Check out The Bruery’s video on the subject. http://www.vimeo.com/7504797
Being a huge hockey fan, this is my favorite time of year. The first round of the playoffs is always exciting because there are multiple games being played everyday for almost two weeks. This year has provided an exceptionally high level of competition and leaves me wondering how anyone could battle like all the teams have been for another month and a half to hoist the Stanley Cup. I will admit my bias, but I do believe that the Cup is the hardest trophy to earn in all of sports.
I digress, and I could easily continue doing so. Where I am trying to steer this post is to expound my belief that nothing goes better with a game of hockey than a tasty craft beer. Although the Molson drinkers out there would disagree, the fine complexities of a craft beer reflect the intricacies of hockey far better than any boring macro could ever hope to (not to mention that craft beer tastes better).
Perusing my stock before tuning in to the game, I decided I was in the mood for something substantially malty so I reached for the Prior 8. St. Bernardus has a well-earned reputation for the quality of their beers and I have long been a fan of their Tripel and Abt 12 so I was excited to try another from their line.
Pouring a dark brown with a substantial head, the nose is filled with chocolate and nutty tones accompanied by a whiff of clove and brandy. The flavor is dominated by the intriguing malt profile; sweet, bready and filling but not without many complexities including raisins, banana, various spices and dry red wine. The earthy hop presence becomes apparent at the back of the palate and it finishes dry on the tongue despite the residual sweetness. I definitely enjoyed my Prior 8 but was not as thoroughly impressed as I have been with previous St. Bernardus brews.
Outside of documenting my adventures with beer as I train to become a Master Brewer, I would hope that this blog could serve as a way to foster a community surrounding local breweries and ale houses in Eastern Washington and anywhere else my travels might take me. That is why it hung in my conscience that I spoke poorly of a local Spokane establishment. When the opportunity arose to return to the Post Street Ale House, I eagerly took it as my duty to give them a second try.
My friend and I came in on a Monday night, but the place was well attended. We got situated near a television where we could keep an eye on the hockey game and the service was courteous and prompt. Within just a few minutes, we had ales in hand; delivered in exceptionally clean glasses. I knew it would be to my detriment to dismiss the Post Street Ale House due to one dirty glass on a previous experience and as we ordered our second round, I was feeling the potential of the place and was glad that I had made a return visit. There will be more to come.
As for my ale, I chose the Deschutes Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale. Bright copper in color with a sturdy head, Red Chair has a significant and complex body due to the use of seven different malt varieties. Make no mistake, Red Chair is very hop-forward; but with a focus on citrus tones while the bitterness is balanced by the nuanced malt profile. With the alcohol content being just slightly higher than average, Deschutes seasonal goes down smooth and it is easy to find ones glass empty.
After exchanging emails with Bernie at Golden Hills, I was well informed of the local bars that would have the World Beer Cup Bronze Medal winning Ben’s Brown Lager on draught. When one on that list was a recently opened public house on the south hill with a title no less than “The Hop Shop,” I decided to combine experiences and try them both at the same time.
The Hop Shop recently opened just two weeks ago and by its small size and comfortable ambiance appears to aim at being a neighborhood establishment. On a Saturday night we found it over-full and were forced to stand at a window ledge for the first two-thirds of our pints. Not that I mind: I was quite pleased to see the place hopping, pardon the pun. I was even more pleased to see that the tap selection was dominated by local breweries. Once a spot opened up at the bar, the staff gave my girlfriend and I preferential treatment over a guy who had walked in just seconds before while remaining courteous to all parties and, although quite busy, took the time to chat with all of their patrons. Excellent selection, excellent staff, and overall excellent craic: I most definitely wish that I still lived just a mile away, although I am not convinced that it would be a good thing. Regardless, I foresee multiple trips to The Hop Shop in my future.
As for the Golden Hills Ben’s Brown, my anticipation was not in vain. A pint poured properly with patience, the lager was true to a reddish brown hue and had a small but dense head that retained well down the glass. Caramel and smoked wood combined with mildly salty tones and bready sweetness smoothly transition into a subtle but defined hop profile; earthy, green and succulent. The malted grain lingered on the tongue for just long enough and the overall experience was quite delightful. While it is true that there were only a limited amount of entries into the American Dark Lager category at the World Beer Cup this year, Ben’s Brown deservedly found a place on the podium.
While returning from a beer tasting on Schweitzer in north Idaho late last summer, my girlfriend and I stopped in Sandpoint to grab a pint of MickDuffs Gnarly Nine because the keg at the tasting had blown before we got a chance to try it. We saddled up to the bar to find that the head brewer Mickey was the one slinging pints. As beer geeks tend to do, we got talking and by the end of the night Mickey had graciously offered to let me come in and help him brew from time to time, as my schedule allowed. Mickey learned how to brew while working at Scuttlebutt in Everett and he seeks to pass on the favor by imparting his knowledge onto numerous eager homebrewers and curious friends from around the region.
On Thursday of last week, I drove up to MickDuffs to help Mickey brew a batch of their Tipsy Toe Head Blonde Ale. We began the brew day at 8 am, and as the boiler was heating up, we got to work milling the grains. Mickey is quite handy (a trait that is quite useful in this industry) and had modified the mill himself, and while it produces uniformly crushed grain it is also quite messy. Due to space restrictions, the milling portion of the MickDuffs operation is a little less than ideal, but Mickey has developed a system that maximizes their ability to produce wonderful ales despite any limitations.
We lowered the boom on the grain auger and with respiratory masks in place, I began putting the milled grain into the hopper while Mickey stirred the mixing contents of the mash tun. I would never consider brewing to be “hard” work, but there are some physical elements that can be demanding and after picking up that many pounds of grain, I am now convinced that being a scrawny guy is no longer going to cut it for me. The buckets that we used to transfer the milled grain into the auger produce a nice dust cloud when you drop one into the other, so I did that outside.
With all of the grains into the mash tun, I returned the auger boom back to a resting position and got to work sweeping up the grain dust that (unfortunately) did not make it into the brew while Mickey worked the levers on his brewing system to get the consistency he wanted in the mash tun. Everything was running happily, so we began cleaning and sanitizing the fermentation tank we were going to put our brew into at the end of the day. Fully steeped, Mickey began the process of transferring the wort to the brew kettle and once that was finished, I got to work on cleaning the spent grain from out of the mash tun. The man-way into the mash tun is just a little taller than I would like, but with outstretched arms, I was able to get the job done. The spent grain went into large plastic trash cans that were pushed outside to be picked up by a local farmer.
The heavy labor done for the day, Mickey put in our lunch orders as the brew kettle was heating up and we ate while watching the clock to make hop additions at the proper times. We finished our food and checked the carbonation level of the Strom Hammer IPA in one of the other fermentation tanks just before the brew was finished so Mickey showed me how to flush the wort chiller and then we transferred the finished brew to the fermentation tank and cleaned out the brew kettle. After spending some time with the final clean up, we were finished for the day and headed to the bar to enjoy a pint of Mickey’s previous labors, which in this case was his seasonal brown ale.
Just as with our previous session, I enjoyed my experience brewing with Mickey. His brewing knowledge is quite formidable but his personality is anything but so I was able to learn from him comfortably and easily. Both of us being beer geeks made it so we got along well and both of us knowing the value of labor made it so we could work well together. Any questions I had were thoroughly answered in a friendly manner and although I had to do most of the heavy lifting, I was never treated as anything but an equal. And as for the heavy lifting, I know what it means to pay ones dues.
After Mickey left for the day, I stuck around to watch my Buffalo Sabres in the NHL playoffs and was glad I did. I got the chance to overhear some random conversations amongst the customers as they contemplated the beer they were imbibing. Mickey produces a fine line of ales that are greatly appreciated by those that try them and the local following is strong. When I couldn’t help myself, I did chat with a couple of the customers about their beers and they were quick to sing its praises.
That’s what craft beer is all about. Mickey puts a lot of hard, honest labor into creating his ales and the people from around the region gather at MickDuffs to enjoy them, shedding their worries and cares for a few minutes while sharing a laugh and ultimately strengthening the bonds of community. MickDuffs works hard to be a part of their community and that level of commitment is reciprocated by the many customers in and around Sandpoint. Local ales for local people; it’s a beautiful thing.
