TnDC Field Trip #22 NashVegas Brewery Crawl

So what was to be a brew day at BlackStone Brewpub turned into a magnificent Brew Crawl. Junk graciously put us up at his pad for a couple of bags of homemade pretzels and a pancake recipe. So without further adieu we started with Yazoo Brewing Company (early).

Dos Perros pours a medium brown bland "Mexican" lager tasting beer. The nose is of nothing yet that's how many Mexican beers hit me, having said that, there's also nothing better some days after hours of southern yardwork. A personal fav of The Enabler, it's gotta be the maize. Hefeweizen has a flat head, nose of light clove and bananas. Cloudy thin mouthfeel with a yeasty finish that's sure to take on any citrus wedge well if you're looking to convert a BMC drinker. Gerst Amber ale is a clear bright beer with bitter twang on the sides of the palate. It's bready, that's all I've got, not sure I would seek this brew out in a 6-pack. Sly Rye Porter. I've had it and the bottles aren't as good as draft. Trying draft again with flashbacks of Junk and I being the only souls in his dorm during the Texas/USC national championship. It's a nice dark brown with subtle hints of light smoke. I had forgotten about the good rye pepperiness with sweet porter spine. Pale Ale is more bitter than I'd expect or remember. There's a good white head to it, color is as expected, but again not the best beer. Hop Project #73 IPA. Holy cow, I remember having the first 10 or so, jeeze take your pick with regards to hop profiles and adjectives to describe the nose and flavor profile. This one's very piney. My bonus beer is the Ten Year White IPA. I liked this brew enough to pick up a bomber or 2 because the uses of Mosaic and Citra hops was a great combo for me. I noticed the grassy dull forward to be the mosaic.
Jackalope Leghorn Rye IPA. Fairly well balanced IPA. Not as much rye pick up on the palate initially and is more of an after thought though they used 3 different types. Light brown orange in color. Haven't had it before and would certainly knock down a few tumblers of it. Light head retention. 6%abv 65 ibus.

TN Brew Works. Opening Act Session pours a good white head. But the overall taste is a bland almost skunky golden ale. Made with Glacier hops you can pick up slight mint. Southern Wit pours darker than Opening Act with relatively the same light froth. Good light balanced orange citrus Belgian wit at 5.14%. Cutaway IPA pours up brown with red highlights with a good hop nose (used Warrior, Summit, Apollo, Calypso & TBW hop #3?). Balanced but nothing to write home about.
Basil Ryeman is a TN farmhouse ale. Bland bacterial medium mouthfeel after swishing. Sweet up front with tart as an after thought. Country Roots was black as southern soil. Nose is great of sweet potatoes balanced with toffee coffee. Light body for such a dark beer. Taste though seems over roasted coffee and bitter. It seems they use a good bit of rye in quite a few of their brews at TNBW, which is fine but I was not overly impressed with the beers at this brewery. The tasting area was huge and nice but beers need to catch up to the atmosphere.
The Black Abbey Brewing Company was the final stop in our crawl.
The Rose is a Belgian style blonde ale. Clear wheat fresh made with 6%wheat malt and no head. 5.8% 22 ibus. The Special was their Belgian style mild. Garnet hues paired with a malty backbone. Burps of banana after pouring up a light clear brown. It's ok. Or mild at best. 5.9% 23 ibus. The Champion oddly enough is an American Stock ale. Uh yeah. It's beer. Other than that I'm not pulling anything. 5.5% 40 ibus. Chapter House Belgian style red ale. Red and clear. Nose of heavier cloves but not impressive. 5.1% 25ibus. Potus 44 is a robust coffee infused brown porter that's a great conundrum. Read the description and initially it was labeled a brown ale. So I'm not sure if this is a dedication or degradation. Either way both my eyes drew up upon first sip. I don't pull the differentiation of the coffees. They're there but that's it. 5.54% 25 ibus. Wicket Gate next up is a London stout. Heavy bitter black beer I downed to get rid of. Fortress is they're American black ale at 5.9% 29ibus, but I don't pull very much citrus hop that it's supposed to belie. Fortress through a pineapple was much better.
Special thanks to Junk, Red and Andy Mc for making homemade pretzels, my liver wouldn't have made it without them. Don't stack glasses...ever. Overall, 3 out of 4 pints.

HODO Day

I "Yard Dog Brewing" have been in the game for about two and a half years now, and the joy and exuberance of brewing has been smacked around with it's fair share of bad batches and missteps. The lofty and confident expectations two years ago of Batch #4 (English Pale Ale), were brought back down to earth, in a fiery inferno reminiscent of the Hindenburg, by the judges and other competitors in the local homebrew competition, with a last place finish. I traipsed back to my brew kitchen, tail between my legs, and drowned my losses, in my overly cloying, imbalanced beer. With lots of beer induced self reflection, I learned some valuable tips that day. I vowed to take their words as a helping hand, rather than a smack down of critique. With the experience of many batches since then, and the help and knowledge from good brew friends, the wounds of that day have healed. Needless to say, when Good People Brewery announced the "Heart of Dixie Open" (HODO), I was more than apprehensive to enter a brew. The scar of Batch #4 was still visible every time I opened up the brewing log. With some encouragement from family and friends, who always seem to rave about the latest batch of homebrew, I gave in, and decided to enter. Oh what the hell, "Damn, the torpedoes", why not enter two. Yard Dog Brewing was all in. I decided to sail into harm's way with, "Not Your Mother's Milk Stout" a sweet stout (Batch #13), and "Wee Hefty, Christmas Kilt" a spiced Wee Heavy (Batch #14). With the dye cast, the date of HODO came up quickly. Beat 12, decided to ease the gameday jitters that afternoon, by stopping at The J Clyde, an off the main street pub, at least to this non-Birminghamian or Brummie. Had HODO not been the reason for the trip, I could have easily bellied-up to the 50-60 taps that hung longingly behind the bar, along the fieldstone wall, wrapped around the corner to the biergarten in the back, and enjoyed beer after beer, but I'll save that for another post. Once nerves were calmed with a couple of pints and a "Gus Burger" (The over easy fried egg poured out over the perfectly cooked burger like a creamy condiment from Canaan), we were off to Good People to enjoy their offerings, and await the results. The brewery's tasting area was packed with patrons, and other eager homebrewers. So after we received our first round, Beat 12 (Mumbai Rye) and I (Snake Handler), we decided to separate ourselves from the "Madding Crowd", and gave ourselves the self guided tour. As we perused the towering stainless steel vats of fermenting and conditioning concoctions, we talked like idealistic undergrads finishing off the keg on the back porch after a late night party. We dreamed about how cool it would be to brew beer for a living, before being shooed out of the area by a brewery staff member. We made our way back to the bar and ordered a "Fatso". This brew left no doubt of it's imperial status, as it shoved around it's full bodied weight on your palate. A good beer to stay warm with as we nuzzled into it's folds and awaited the results of the competition. Then finally, judgement hour was upon us. The crowd hushed as the PA system mumbled the emcee's words of thanks to the judges and 140 entrants. Beat 12's plan of nerve relaxation had seemed to have paid off, as I only gave a half-hearted ear to the struggling acoustics. At this point, I was happy that it had been a fine Saturday afternoon. The first winner announced was an entrant for the Session IPA, and I clapped in support for the gentleman, as he received hugs and congratulations from his group of friends. He walked up to claim his prize, and immediately the emcee went on to announce the finalists of the open competition. Then, next out of the chute, "In fifth place, with a sweet stout," was all I needed to hear. At that moment, like an epiphany of divine clarity, I knew. Beat 12's knew as well. His eyes widened, as my feelings went numb. I almost couldn't believe it, a finalist. A finalist in one of the first legal homebrew contests in the state. I felt like a rock star surfing on the crowd, as I walked up to the stage to graciously claim my prize, a wood branded official HODO mash paddle. The prize was quite cool, and after I mimicked a few homerun swings, in an area free and clear of anyone, I realized what the other items was that I was handed. A folder of the judge's notes. Oh, I was ready to read the comments from the experts. I tore through the manila envelope as if I just pulled the big envelope from my college of choice out of the mailbox, and dove right in. I went straight to the overall impression section to bask in the glowing reviews, "Good beer, but falls a little short of the competitors in the finals", "Needs more sugary/sweetness, to much roast for me...I want more of that lactose taste, too bitter", "Good effort...". Beat 12 read alongside of me. He gave me a pat on the back, and reiterated, "I can't believe it! You were a finalist!" I was confused. I was a finalist, but? As Beat 12 returned back from the bar with a celebratory round, I took a gulp. It took me a minute, and a few more swigs, but then my mind was redirected back to Batch #4.  All failures, with the right perspective, can bear great optimism. I finished off the round with one more mouthful. Now that I think about it, even better. I was sandwiched in the middle of the all too scary critique, and a prize of honest praise of a finalist for a job well done. It was a beer nirvana sweet spot. Brew on!

Our Tastes-- BlackStone Muffin Man

As an added bonus for the BlackStone "hard" 10K series, Red has blessed us with some Muffin Man. A nice light mahogany brown with light white froth and touch of ruby highlights. A nose of fresh gingerbread. Subtle tones of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove over the majority. A vanilla hint steps in with a slight touch of bitterness on the sides of the palate. The overall impression is great! For me a pint or two is max, but as a holiday spice beer, I wouldn't change a thing. However, Andy Mc would go more ginger forward and less cinnamon. This would be a sneaky little conversion beer that's not over the top and as it warmed brought forth other spices that weren't as apparent at let's say 44F.

Heart of Dixie Open Homebrew Competition

I entered HODO (the 1st legal homebrew competition in this state) with Reinke's Revenge 2013 and Andy Mc (Yard Dog Brewing Co.) his Not Your Mother's Milk Stout. Look who came in 5th out of 140. At least I got a koozy and t-shirt.

Now on Tap Wee Hefty

(Per Andy Mc): As excited as my four year-old on Christmas morn, I (Yard Dog Brewing Co) was ecstatic to see a huge present next to the tree, with my name on it. I ripped open the green and red wrapping paper, with total disregard for the time, effort, and craftsmanship it took to make the present look perfectly festive, and soon discovered the fruits of a secret collaboration between my wife (Troop Mom) and Frankie M. (Beat-12), a single tap kegerator. So what better way to toast the foresight of these two, than with the tapping of “Wee Hefty”. After I procrastinated with the decoration clean-up, and tree disposal, (Chipped, and mulched for all us green types), and with the help of Beat-12, fittings and hoses were secured into place. Serving pressure was set to approximately 5 Psi. then like liquid manna from heaven, out flowed my first pint of “On Tap” homebrew. The deep chestnut color emitted dark cherry hues as the light passed through. Like a thick fog rolling in over the Loch, a creamy tan head settled about a finger's width from the top of the pint glass. An aroma of mulled spices filled the nose. Upon first taste, the malty expectations did not play as forward as I would have expected. As Beat-12 so kindly suggested, “Mark the volume levels of your glass carboy to make sure the proper amount of H2O is added to have 5 gallons.” Good advice, ...check. A few more sips were taken, and a nice tartan lace formed down the glass. As the brew warmed in my hand, the spices became more present, to the point they tinged the sides of my tongue, and the 7.8% ABV was noticeable enough to give even Nessie a slight fire to her breath. Bombers will be sent to sister, and Mr. Mo (collaborative brewer), to get their beta tasting notes, and as belated Christmas gifts. But regardless, if it was giddiness from my first taste of tap beer at home, (Thanks again Troop Mom and Beat-12) this beer remained drinkable to the end of the pint, and most assuredly to the end of the keg. With more attention to detail of brewing practices and techniques, and spice additions, whether quantity or makeup, I would try this recipe again.

Our Tastes-- Against the Grain 35K

So on my latest trip, I circumnavigated the central part of the U.S.A. by rounding through Louisville, KY on my way to Pasadena, CA. I stopped in at the local Liquor Barn and low and behold 35K was on tap. This milk stout pours a smooth velvety darkness with a nose wrapped in the best raisiny coffee 7.7%abv profile I can imagine. The roastedness of the coffee is balanced well with the Nugget and Crystal hops used and the lactose gives just enough body and dark brown head to make this one dangerously quaffable! The tightness on the sides of the tongue is relaxed by the awesome dark plum alcohol warmth. Now wrap your brain around this, 70K.

Brew Batch #54 REINKE'S REVENGE 2013

Racked/kegged Reinke's 2013 tonight to a gravity of 1.010+0.001 @67F to yield a wonderful solid 10%abv brew. My only concern is that volume was low due to blueberry additions/racking trub at only 4.3Cong and initial tastes have it low on the berry profile. But next stop HODO, wish me luck. Andy Mc dropped in some Not Your Mother's Milk Stout as well.