Our Tastes-- Ghost River Golden Ale

As Junk brings'em, I taste'em. Ghost River Golden Ale pours a slightly cloudy golden straw with light white head. Golden ales for me have the same nose of slight bready yeast, almost lager-esque, this one is no different. The taste has a forward taste of the "German" variety hop, generally speaking these tend to be readily identifiable in beers with light malt profiles. Malts for this one are Munich and two-row. This is a really good golden. Reminds me a bit of SA Noble Pils on the hop profile, must be some Saaz or Tettnanger hiding in it. Ghost River has an interesting soft (low mineral content) water source in the Memphis Sands Aquifer. I'd knock a 6er of these out while cutting grass and smoking stogies.

Brew Batch #50 REINKE'S REVENGE 2012

And on the same night Reinke's 2012 kegs it up. FG 1.016+0.00@ 66F lays down a 9.7%abv dry-hopped behemoth! When this one gets cold I'm hoping more malt comes forward because the Target hops are there almost overwhelming the EtOH. Hay Man, stay tuned.

Brew Batch #51 ESB (a.k.a Evie's English)

Evie's English into the keg. FG 1.002+ 0.00@ 66F knocked out a 5.7%abv bitter. The uncarbonated flat tester has a good more yeast up front than I would like but the Glacier hops give it a nice even slightly minty bitter across the palate. I'm sure as it gets colder and the yeast drops our this one will be a good'en.

Ah Yes, THAT day is Nearly Upon Us Again.

There aren't many days that consistently raise my spirits, but Christmas and this one run together just ahead of opening day for hunting season. If you'd like to learn about the lingo, start here.

Against the Grain- Shartpants

Bonus beer is Shartpants. Apparently ATG Brewery has the story of Old Slohdzhak that they model some of their beers after depending on the type. Shartpants is an oaked Belgian  IPA at9.1%abv and 78.5 IBUs. The head in the sampler glass even has a nice thick froth to it, in part I'm sure to the uber combination of the hop profile of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade and Belgian Abbey ale yeast used in this grapefruit, piney, yeasty bready libation. I loved it so much that currently I have a voluminous growler my beer fridge that my mom-in-law felt like I needed in life. Yeah, she's a keeper. This was an awesome beer to shut the flight down on.

Against the Grain- Wakatube IPA

Wakatube New Zealand IPA, their hop beer of course. This 7.6%abv IPA is hoppy with more floral than citrus nose and palate tones. Not as hop explosive as I would have thought with a mouthfeel not as full as I'd think but bitterness is definitely there with 68 ibus. Not sure of the exact NZ hops used, I was too busy gulping..

Against the Grain- Pepperation H

And the flight just got wilder ad wilder. Pepperation H was the smoke beer and boy was the smoke up front. An amber ale at 7.2%abv made with peppers and cherry wood smoked malts aged over hickory wood. Poured a very clear medium brown with a very deceiving nose. The caramel and Vienna malts lended a sweetness balanced out by the Magnum hops. Then the puree of Guajillo, Morita, Pasilla and Chipolte peppers adds flavor and the post fermentation addition of Habanero slides in some heat. I could swill down a full pint but for the time being 4oz or so was just right.