Southern Oregon Brewing Update

I've had the chance to get back into Southern Oregon Brewing's tap room and tasted some great beers! The two that I want to point out are Woodshed Red and the Imperial Oak aged Red.

Woodshed Red has been around for awhile, but SOB has changed the yeast used to ferment this been and I have to say, its a whole new game. The previous version was "just ok" as far as reds go. But, this new version is great. It comes off as much more of a bold, hoppy, malty beer. Its something that you will remember.

The oak aged Imperial (only available in a very limited amount and only in the tap room) is unbelievable! Aged in oak barrels for multiple months, this beer imparts a subtle oak/vanilla flavor that melds in nicely with the big malty and hoppy flavors present. I don't know how much is left at the tap room so get out there and buy a pint or two today!

One last note is that SOB is having a beer tasting dinner at the Prospect Hotel Dinner House on Saturday March 20th at 5pm.

Rogue Valley Homebrewers March Meeting [Update]

This month's meeting is almost here.

We'll be meeting at Dennis Dye's house (contact me for specfic address) this Thursday, March 19th at 7:00 to judge our first quarter brew, STOUTS (BJCP category 13).

I am currently looking for 3 to 5 people to judge and score the entries based on the 2008 BJCP guidelines (attached). If you are interested in being a judge (no experience necessary) please let me know.

Those of you wishing to enter your stout are asked to provide at least 2 - 12oz bottles for judging along with any additional beer for others to sample.

The winner of the taste off will take home a pint glass signed by Charlie Papazian courtesy of Bob and Grains, Beans and Things.

Those of us not judging will take the opportunity to sample the entries and discuss what makes a good stout.

We will also be voting on next quarter’s ‘taste off’ beer. In January we decided the second quarter beer would be an American Ale (BJCP Category 10). This month we will narrow it to a single sub category. The choices are 10A American Pale Ale, 10B American Amber Ale, or 10C American Brown Ale

Mark your calendars for the following meetings…

March 19th – Stout ‘taste off’

April 16th – everything hops. From how to grow them to hop characteristics and the sampling of our single hopped beers

May 21st – off flavor workshop. This will be a members only event as dues will be used to offset the cost of the off flavor kit

June 18th – Quarter brew taste off.

CHEERS!

Brian.

60 min/90 min/120 min Dogfish Head Ale

For Christmas my brother-in-law bought me a mixed 6 pack of beer from a specialty beer store in Seattle Wa. One of those beers was Dogfish Heads 120 min IPA. This beer has always been one that I've been morbidly curious about. Morbidly because it is a 20% ABV beer. I had visions of sticky sweetness with raw hop juices mixed in...basically I wasn't planning on enjoying drinking this but was curious.

So to scratch that itch, I and a friend each got one of the 60 minute IPA, the 90 min. IPA and the 120 min. IPA. These beers and named this way because Dogfish Head has developed a unique way of hopping that is termed "continual hopping". This is essentually a device that drops in hops though out the boil. The longer the boil the more hops added, the bigger the beer becomes.

The 60 minute IPA was nicely crafted, pretty good tasting, not over board in any fashion. It wasn't anything like Pliny the Elder or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but a pretty good beer none the less. This is a beer that I would (and likely will) buy again.

The 90 minute IPA was quite a bit stronger. Instead of the 6% ABV of the 60 min. this one was 9% ABV. It was noticably more hoppy but not any more sweet (which is a nice surprise compaired to many of the bigger double IPAs). The fuller body and additional hoppyness of this beer was nicely balanced. I likely won't buy this one again outside of the occasional one or two bottles a year mainly due to cost, not taste.

The true point of this post: the 120 minute IPA. This beer states quite plainly "Ages Well", and I can see why. The hop level is out of this world, and alcohol is very present. One friend described this beer as a "hopped brandy". I can't say he is too far off. Definatly desgined for small tasting glasses, at over 10$ per 12 fl. oz. bottle I would have to say one or two oz is plently.

We served this beer at standard in the fridge for a few hours temps, just below 40 degrees F. As the beer warmed up, so did the evidence of the alcohol level. After a few mintes of tasting and swirling and tasting again it was almost too much for me.

I can't say I would ever buy another one. I think this beer is just too expensive and not really what I would call a great beer...but I can't say this isn't for everyone. I applaud DFH for brewing this and NOT having an overly sweet beer. I commend DFH for putting this to market. Obviously, someone out there likes this beer. Maybe I will too in a year or two when I open the second bottle that I have now stored away in the beer cellar.

A little more on Flying Dog Ales

I just finished drinking three more Flying Dog beers. First up is Old Scratch amber lager. I like a few amber ales, but most of the time I find that they are too roasty for my liking. Sadly, this was the case. I would like to say that while my personal preference is that I didn't like this beer too much, when I was opening it a friend of mine saw it and said "Oh hey, thats a good beer." We got to talking about Old Scratch and he told me that he buys a 6 pack of it quite regularly, so I can be confident that saying its worth a try, after all this is a very award winning beer.

Next is Doggie Style classic pale ale. This is a good pale ale for summer time drinking. Not too hoppy like many west coast pale ales, but still very flavorful. On the website they say its dry hopped during fermentation with "shit loads" of hops. Coming in at 35 IBUs, this 5.5% abv pale ale is hopped with Northern Brewer and Cascade, and then dry hopped with cascades.

I followed the pale ale with Flying Dog's Double Dog, a double pale ale. Wow this was an awesome beer! It weighs in at 10.5% abv and 82 IBUs. It really tasted like a barley wine with a great balance of malt and hops. I have to admit that by the time I got through this palette wrecker my tasting notes were pretty skewed, but isn't that the purpose of drinking good beer?

Overall impressions: Amber Lager was ok but its not really my style. Pale ale was pretty good, went down nicely in the heat of the day. Double pale ale is running neck and neck as my favorite Flying Dog beer (Tied with Kerberos).

Flying Dog's Kerberos Tripel

WOW! I love tripels and all too often I am disappointed. Usually they are WAY over done, but not this time. Flying Dog's Kerberos is a great example of what a tripel is all about. Strong malt backbone with a perfect balance of hops. This ale measures in at 8.5% abv and 27 I.B.U.s. Kerberos starts off with a slight sweetness that quickly moves into a well balanced hop profile with a slight spicy and dry finish. Flying Dog uses Pilsner and Aromatic malts with Goldings and Saaz hops in this bottle conditioned Belgian tripel.

Also worth mentioning is the bottle art. All of Flying Dog's brews have pretty unique bottle art. Here is a quote taken from Wikipedia "Cerberus or Kerberos was the hound of Hades, a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and snakes down his back like a mane, whose analogs in other cultures are hellhounds. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades and ensured that spirits of the dead could enter, but none could exit. " I'm going to leave the debate of whether or not Flying Dog intended any inference (is that the right term to use here?) to how great the beer is to a later date.

Closing thoughts: Great beer, even as it warmed up while drinking. Hops weren't too much to cover the malty backbone but enough to keep the beer from being cloyingly sweet.