Our Tastes-- Mosaic dry-hopped Fort Point

Another Trillium pale ale that only a pic can truly convey. Not a juicy NEIPA, but a über brew on it's own. Mosaic in other beers hasn't had this kind of impact on me, but I get a great honeysuckle, tangerine peel grass from the nose. As you can see the beer would be otherwise clear has the hop particulate not been poured over, but I wanted the full experience. Enjoyed from a 16oz can and poured a fabulous white froth with a green beaded trail down the middle from the unfiltered hops. So far both of the PAs I've had from them like Columbus "son of Nugget" in their recipes (part of the CTZ grouping), coincidence?

Siebel Studies

Going into week 9 we'll start Beer Sensory. I'm looking for to that to be able to identify flaws better in my brew. I've also looked at an AHA offered sensory tutorial that only $20 just to reinforce. If I can identify a certain flaw accurately at least I'll know where in the process I need to start looking for a remedy. Yeast management was informative, high grav brewing is something done more by the big boys and I actually got a lot out of the kegging module. Seems like a good task to give someone who has OCD:) I wish recipe formulation had been more in depth, but perhaps I can use the last few weeks to delve deeper into this with the instructors as my plan is to finish early and use the remaining time to re-read and probe them on other aspects.

Our Tastes-- Beer for Breakfast

A fine pre-sellout brew! Beer for Breakfast is a great DFH 7.4% heavily lactose laden stout. Color is good and dark with a slight powdered sugar nose. Full mouthfeel and the smoked coffee taste that comes through is by far the best part to this brew for me! The layers of ingredients in this beer are truly phenomenal. "2-row Applewood Smoked Barley, Kiln Coffee, Flaked Oats, Roasted Barley, Caramel Malt ... Molasses, Milk Sugars (lactose), Brown Sugar, Roasted Chicory" are all listed as active players in the brewing bill. Then there's scrapple, I could have gone the rest of my life without having this knowledge. It's as though my palate walked through a scene from Seven with curtains around it, only to have them snatched down at the last sip as I endeavored to understand this "scrapple" term. My mind drifts to a pint of high abv stout with pancakes and bacon dipped within it only to irreversibly remember how hot dogs are made. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. 

Our Tastes-- Static Chipmunk

A very fine "Junker" that label alone would have caused me to purchase. Static Chipmunk is a Double IPA offering from Evil Czech Brewery out of Mishawaka, IN. Clocking in at 8% and 70 IBUs this marmalade orange beauty brightened a gloomy weather day for me. Topped with a robustly thick white head in which a nose laced with tropical tones heavy on pineapple erupted from to start my Pavlovian response. This brew is an amazingly quaffable DIPA that showcases Amarillo, Simcoe and Mosaic hops like a masterful artist! I Untappd this beer at 4.5 and wanted to know where I could get the t-shirt. Problem solved. Now, where can I get another sample without driving to Indiana?

Our Tastes-- 3 Sheets Barley Wine Ale

I have become a huge fan of Ballast Point Brewing Co since their arrival to my area. Sculpin (and it's kinfolk minus Habañero) led me into a great new line of beers. So when Three Sheets Barley Wine Ale came available at my local Hop City, I committed to a growler and it did not disappoint! (actually bought in March and just now tapping in to) A big ole brown colored ale with an initially frothy whitish head that quickly dissipated let me know this was to be a beauty.

Our Tastes-- BOMB!

Prairie Artisan Ales (and Junk) made this BOMB! taster possible. With a 100 on ratebeer and 99 on beeradvocate, I was more than happy to bend my light streak with this "Junker". Obviously if you've heard of BOMB! you know it's an imperial stout at 13%abv with an ability to bend light it's so dark. What I wasn't aware of was the creamy tan head and complex aroma that would pour into my tulip. I got an initial taste of chocolatey peanut butter followed by coffee, but not a bitter overly roasted bean but a smooth light roast that was intertwined in a full body of heavily laden alcohol. The cacao nibs were there as was a touch of vanilla, but whatever heat the ancho peppers were trying to contribute was drown out by the EtOH. I love beers like this that cause a memory to imprint while drinking them. Bravo Tulsa, OK.

Our Tastes-- Moody Tongue Peeled Grapefruit Pilsner

PGP is my first venture into Moody Tongue. Check that, Caramelized Chocolate Churro Baltic Porter was truly a wonder on a taster I recently had. But no mention of this brew on their direct site. (I do however like their "French-esque" themed t-shirts that say "Let your tongue decide"). PGP pours a clear light straw with flattening head. Aroma has a touch of fruity sourness to it but only as an afterthought. Oddly, the sour tartness that rides across the palate is refreshing and makes the desire for another 4.5% cleansing only more profound. I will say this, as a soon-to-be Siebel grad, I like the company I'm in with regards to the brewmaster. Then again, I've brewed with Red.

Our Tastes-- Cool Breeze

A Sweetwater offering in the summer seasonal that will gateway me into next month's challenge of as many saisons as possible. I find my palate and senses do best when I fully immerse myself in one particular style to learn most about what it actually is and what I hope to one day brew. Cool Breeze, (not related to the lanky guy I went to junior high school with) is a cucumber saison that pours a bright two-finger thick white head and slightly off haze straw. The nose to me is bland at best but the taste is so convincing that I broke out the fresh "cukes" from my mom's garden just picked this past Tuesday and paired the beer with it to absolute amazement. It's as though it was aged on a sh'ton of fresh cucumbers. This is SW's first venture into canned saisons and cukes, so a 2 in 1. I would buy a 6er of this but "just like Jim" it's only available in a seasonal pack awaiting it's full public approval for a full wave ride into the regular rotation. 4.9%, get one.

Our Tastes-- Gateway Köslch

Keepin' it light. I think I had this on my 3rd year anniversary trip to Savannah, or was it 2011 St. Paddy's in Asheville? Either way, this is a refresher. As I look more and more into this particular style I've noticed there aren't a lot of examples. Which encourages me even more with my perfection of Jake's Juice. Pouring a wonderful white froth over an über clear straw 5.3% liquid makes this a keeper. Not sure I would take it over Boulevard's kölsch but I'll put them head-to-head soon enough.

Our Tastes-- A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' ale

A Lagunitas lovely hoppy pale wheat coming in at 7.5%, so good I had to have it again. Pours a slightly hazed, thickly white headed, softly citrus nosed fully quaffable imbibement! I've had this one several times and admittedly this 6 pack flew through my pint glass. Could this be the first attempt at a hazy IPA from 2009?

Our Tastes-- Very Hazy

A DIPA from Treehouse, and currently unlisted on their website. I can only assume it's a kicked up version of Haze. The photo says it all. This style of beer is why I am currently attending Seibel. A new style of IPA that's gaining ground quickly. I haven't been this fond of a beer style since 2010 when Dark IPAs debuted in the BJCP categories as Deschutes Cascadian IPA was the first of it's kind I had. This falls into the 2015 version of Specialty IPA and in common circles has the denotation of NEIPA (New England-style IPA). The tropical aroma is only matched by the pineapple, orange, papaya that grabs a handful of the tongue. I can only imagine wheat and Citra play a big role in this beer, and the smoothness of the 8.6%abv rivals that of Pliny, but on the diaphanous spectrum we're all used to. Thank you Andy, thank you Treehouse for the non-retail distribution of "Tropical earthquake"

Our Tastes-- Flying Coffin IPA

Flying Coffin is an unfiltered IPA offering from a buddy at my local PnPs via Props Brewery in Ft. Walton, FL. Color is a fantastic brown copper, the head as you can see below pours that of a marshmallow froth, out of the CAN no less! Nose is somewhat absent. And though it states brewed with Chinook and I get a hint of the pine, the rest of the taste seems a little off. Not sure what they're dry-hopping with but the taste is more floral than anything else. I wish there was a packaging date but alas none. I truly dig the B-24 Liberator bomber, it was the B-25 predecessor. Many of the links don't work on their website, but it looks as though they have a hand in the Wahoos (Go Biscuits) baseball team which is always good, with their Blue Wahoos blonde. I like it, but don't' yet love it. Will pick up more to compare soon.

Light Beer Commitment

I have rarely had the inclement to try nothing but "lighter" beers but I feel like I should broaden the ole palate a but more than it is since attending Siebel. So I've committed to having as many kolsch, wits, wheats and blondes as I can for the remainder of my Siebel time through July 30th. I'm not saying I won't dip into the darker brews every now and then, but I definitely want to make it a point to try more since I'm looking to perfect JJs and better develop Smokin' Session and any NEIPA I attempt.