May 23, 2025 • 50 mins
What happens when brothers reunite to taste forgotten beers? That's exactly what unfolds as Mike welcomes his brother Brian—known affectionately as "the mad scientist"—to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast for a unique tasting experience. Together, they crack open a time capsule in the form of unopened Beer of the Month Club boxes that have been sitting in Brian's basement, containing craft offerings from breweries across America that most drinkers will never encounter.
From a historic pilsner once insured for a million dollars to a questionable oatmeal stout that leaves them reaching for a palate cleanser, the brothers evaluate six distinctly different beers while sharing stories of brewing adventures and misadventures. As Brian reveals details about his brewing process at Five Alarm Brewing, listeners are treated to an insider's perspective on everything from managing fermentation to the science behind hop bitterness measurements. His tale of encountering a band called "Sweet and Juicy" (featuring musicians dressed as a banana and strawberry) while beer-touring in Oregon proves that the craft beer journey is filled with unexpected delights.
The conversation flows naturally between technical brewing insights and casual brotherly banter, creating an atmosphere that makes you feel like you're sitting at the table with them, tasting glass in hand. When Brian explains why some IPAs rated at 99 IBUs can taste less bitter than those rated at 20, and shares his experimental approach to brewing a forthcoming pickled jalapeño beer for a wedding, you understand why he's earned his "mad scientist" moniker.
Whether you're curious about the mysterious ways beer changes during aging, wondering what makes a brewery worth joining their barrel society, or simply enjoy authentic conversations about craft beer without pretension, this episode delivers with warmth and humor. Pour yourself something special and join these brothers as they toast to exploration, creativity, and the joy of discovering both gems and disappointments in the world of craft beer.
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen, andwelcome back to the Northwoods
Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and today I am
actually joined in studio by mybrother, the mad scientist Brian
.
How's it going?
Pretty good, you survived ourtrip to Missouri.
(00:46):
Yes, it was a cool trip thatcheckers that we were in.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It was a little loud it was a neat place, though it
was small, but it was fun.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, if you listened to
last week's podcast, you'llunderstand.
I did the best I could to tryand cut the background out and
it was pretty loud at times, sowe do apologize for that.
But so today we are actually inthe studio and, brian, you
brought over some beers thatwere in a Beer of the Month Club
(01:17):
that you were a member of.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yep, there's the Craft Beer of the Month Club.
What they did was they, Ibelieve, were out of california,
but they picked two differentbreweries each month.
You got I did the 12 pack soyou got four different beers,
two by each brewery, twodifferent styles from each one.
You never knew what you weregetting each month.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's just a variety of different styles yep, well,
and you remember, that's kind ofhow I actually started trying
craft beer was that friend of ofours, bob.
His sister would get him athree-month membership for
Christmas and he would keep oneof each of the different beers
that he got and then he'd bringthem up to the camper and then
Ron and Bob and myself would trythem.
So that's kind of how we gotkick-started in this and it just
(01:57):
went downhill from there.
So, yeah, so we're going to trysome of these.
Like I said, I've never heardof most of these breweries.
Even so, it'll be interestingto see you know how they are.
And, like I said, it's kind ofa mixed bag here.
We've got anything from what dowe have?
A Pilsner all the way up to anOatmeal Stout in this group of
six, and it should beinteresting.
(02:18):
I mean, some of the labels arepretty cool.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, and these ones here.
I have not tried any of these.
I went down to my basement,found two boxes that were
unopened and opened them up andgrabbed beers from each one.
There you go, that'll work.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So, yeah, I guess we might as well get kicked off
here a little bit.
So the first one that we haveis actually from Upland Brewing
Company and it's ChampagneVelvet or, as the fancy people,
champagny Velvet, something likethat.
They're out of Bloomington,indiana.
The brewery is, I looked on,untapped because we don't have
notes or anything for them.
So I wanted to let you kind ofknow what these ones were.
(02:56):
This one's got a big long thinghere.
It says in 1902, walter Braun,the son of German immigrants,
created a recipe for a newPilsner beer named Champagne
Velvet.
Over the next 50 years it grewto become one of Indiana's most
popular beers, a go-to for manyof our grandparents and
great-grandparents.
It was, in quotation marks thebeer with the million-dollar
(03:18):
flavor.
Yeah boy, they're building thisup, which wasn't just marketing
fluff.
It was actually insured with a$1 million policy.
Industrial Consolidation tookdown this regional favorite and
the recipe went missing for manyyears until a fan rescued the
handwritten recipe from deep ina trademark portfolio.
(03:40):
Upland reformulated oh see,they reformulated it.
So now it's probably only750,000 instead of a million.
Uh see, they reformulated therecipe using that scrap of paper
and proudly brings thismidwestern legend back to life.
Champagne velvet has arefreshingly light pilsner body
with some sweet complexitiesgiven off by the corn malt used
(04:02):
in this recipe, making this theperfect lager.
It's smooth, smooth and light,but still full of flavor.
The perfect everyday beer forcraft beer drinkers and a step
up for domestic drinkers.
Oh, so they're taking a shot atthe domestic people.
Uh-huh, and you know something?
I forgot to grab a bottleopener.
(04:23):
Oh, you happen to have onePerfect.
I should have known Always.
You happen to have one Perfect.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I should have known.
Always have one on yourkeychain.
Yeah, you never know when youmight need one.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Exactly Okay.
So there's your keys for now.
Cap was just plain old red, sowe are going to try this, see if
it's a million dollars or not.
Extremely light color, I think,for a lager, wouldn't you say.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it's very light .
It doesn't have like the realgold, no, it looks more like
what you'd think of as a pilsner.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I would think.
Aroma-wise it smells kind oflike a lager.
Definitely get the corn.
So that's what we're.
The flavor is the corn thatwe're picking up more.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it's probably a flake corn.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
See, it's got a little bit of a kind of a I
don't want to say a harshness,but like on the finish After you
swallow, it's got kind of that.
Aftertaste is a little tougher.
Yes, I don't know exactly howto describe it, but it's not
terrible and, like they said, ifit's somebody that's never had
craft beer before, this would bea decent introduction yes, yeah
, the normal american lagerdrinkers could drink this one.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, there's no hot bite at all.
No, it's.
You know, it's a clean beer.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh, I should say it's 5.2 percent abv and 29 ibus as
well.
So, yeah, I don't't get any IBU.
No hot bite at all, no 5.2,.
I mean it drinks smooth for a5.2, but there's just not a huge
amount of flavor.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
No, there's not a lot there, but I can see where
people would like them on a hotday.
Right, you have them.
Ice cold.
On a hot day, people can drinka lot of them.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, exactly, good lawnmower beer, yeah there you
go, say out of a cooler, youknow, when it's cold, the beer
it would be good, yep.
So yeah, I don't, it's okay, Iguess, score-wise, what do you
think you know?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
our scoring system 0 to 5, tenth of a point, 2.5
point two and a half is average.
What would you say for thechampagne velvet by upland
brewing?
Well, for what it is for, thatstyle of beer is pretty good.
Um, I would say I'm conflictedhere because if I rate it on the
beer style or just in mygeneral opinion of it, well yeah
, I guess that's a good questionyou know, j Jim asked that
before too.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Are we rating us against other loggers or are we
just?
You know how do you do it?
I guess, just whatever youthink, whatever your score is,
you know, there's no set thing,Just whatever you think it is.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I'm just going to go in general, since they're all
different that we have right nowand I'll say I'm going to give
it a 2.4.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, and what gave you that?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's not a bad beer.
There's just nothing there forflavor.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And, like I said, we have a variety of different ones
that are going to get moreflavor in them as we go.
But if it was just rating aPilsner, I probably would give
it like a 2.8.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So is a Pilsner, is a type of log, yes, okay, yeah.
So, yeah, I, I'm gonna go.
I was gonna say two and a half,like it's average, but I think
I might go a two, four as well,just because the same thing.
There's not a huge amount offlavor, and I was, I guess, when
they built it up a lot, sayingit's's a million-dollar beer and
all that and it's decent, don'tget me wrong.
(07:46):
But again, it's not like Iwould be like, oh my gosh, I got
to get that.
You know what I mean.
Yep, so yeah, I'll go a 2.4 aswell and, like I said, good
lawnmower beer.
You know, hot day, ice cold, itwould be good.
So, other than that, I meanit's okay, you know.
(08:06):
So let's see, the last time wewere talking, you were brewing
boy.
What was it?
a double chocolate and doublechocolate oatmeal stout okay, so
that's in the works and you hadthe, your breakfast of
champions, yep, okay yep, I gotboth of them caged up now, so
they're aging in the cooler okayright now I don't have anything
going.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I get when I, when we get back from our trip here, I
gotta go make a pickled jalapenobeer for a wedding.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Wow have you done one of those before?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
nope it's gonna be an experiment.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Oh, there you go living up to the name so crazy.
So everything else is goinggood and all that kind of good
stuff.
Yep, so as so those people mayor I think they've.
If you've listened before, youknow he does the brewing at Five
Alarm Brewing in Lake Mills.
You've been basically whateverstyles you want to make, right.
I mean, it's kind of.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, that's a nice thing, for down there the owners
don't care what I make, as longas the taps are filled, right.
So I've been brewing there forthe last three years now, and so
I've kind of gotten to knowwhat the community likes.
So I have three beers I keep ontry to keep on all the time my
Delmatian Ale, a Cream Ale andthen a Mosaic IPA Okay, and then
(09:18):
the other taps.
I'm able to just rotatewhatever I want to have on, you
know, from sours to stouts Nice.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So yeah, as we get into this more, we'll kind of go
back into a little more of thebackstory as well, because you
were a home brewer for a longtime, for quite a while, yep,
and it kind of sprouted fromthere.
But we'll save that for afterthe next few beers and kind of
go into.
It Sounds good.
So the next beer that we haveis by double mountain brewery.
(09:48):
They are out of hood riveroregon.
When you were out in oregon,you weren't there, were you?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
no, not that I know of.
That's a story we'll have totell during this one so hang on.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Uh, this is their kolsch.
And let me see and like I said,I'm on tap just reading the
description.
Oh, this one's a lot smallerdescription.
It has, in Cologne many abrewery, produced a light-bodied
ale with a delicate fruitinessand rounded maltiness attributed
to the unique yeast straincommonly used.
Our Kolsch is unfiltered andmore generously hopped than its
(10:22):
German cousin 5.2% ABV and 40IBUs.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So this one has pretty much the exact same color
as the first one did.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
It's a little bit more, a little cloudier.
You know what I mean.
The other one was pretty clear.
This one is a little bit cloudy, a little haze to it.
Smells like a Kolsch, yep, or,as Jim says, klosh, but it
smells like a Kolsch, I meanit's what you'd expect Not bad.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It has more of a hot bite to it than some of the
other Kolschs that I've had.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I was going to say it's not over the top or
anything, but you definitely getthat little bit of a hint.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
A little bitterness on the end, yeah there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Definitely get the bitterness Interesting.
I mean it's smooth, but you doget that bitter aftertaste.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Well, I kind of like that one myself, this one.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yep.
What has drawn you to it?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I think just that bitterness.
I love IPAs, but it kind ofreminds you of a weak IPA, you
know Right.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, you get that Kolsch taste,
but then the finish isdefinitely a little bit
different than most of themwe've had Yep, so I give them
credit for that.
You know, it's unique, I likethat.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
It reminds me of I've made a couple of Kolsch beers
and it kind of reminds me ofthose ones.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Does it?
Yeah, because you put a littlemore hops in it, or you mean
just the.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Just the flavor, I mean the one I did.
Mine wasn't 40 IBUs, I think itwas 30 that we did, but you
know, we used Hallertau and Saashops in it, which I'm guessing
is what they used in this one.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
But yeah, I kind of like that one.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well, you know, and I know you and I I had asked you
about the IBU rating scale.
I had asked you about the IBUrating scale and Jim and I talk
about it all the time too whereit's like we'll have beers
that'll say 70 IBUs and youcan't even taste anything.
Then you have ones that are oh20, and you're like whoa, that's
.
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah so.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I don't necessarily know if the IBU scale is an
exact science.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
yet Right it only when they figured it out,
figured out the bitterness forthe IBU scale.
It's just going by the hopinformation, right, your alpha
acids and your beta acids.
So it doesn't take into accountthe formula, doesn't your grain
bill?
Because, oh yeah, depending onwhat your grain bill is, you may
(12:39):
not taste any hops in some ofthem.
Because didn't?
Speaker 1 (12:41):
you say too, that part of it also is like the
aroma besides the flavor, or isit more just the flavor For the
IBU.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's just the bitterness, just the bitterness.
Okay, so just the tiny scale isbasically Yep, okay.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, I don't know.
It's like we always joke.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I made one that I was trying to make one called Hop
Head.
It was a 99 IBU IPA.
I we wanted to make one calledHop Head.
It was a 99 IBU IPA.
I was so excited for it and Imade it up.
I mean I used a ton of hops init.
I mean probably five pounds ofhops in this batch, which big
breweries that's not going tosound like much Right, but for
my barrel size that I do.
But anyways, it's supposed tobe 99 IBUs according to the
(13:21):
scale.
And we got it out and youcouldn't taste any hops at all
to begin with.
But I had a big grain bill.
We had one keg.
After the first keg blew, Iunhooked it, I put the other keg
off in the corner and just letit sit there for about eight
months and then we hooked it up.
Then you got more hops in itagain.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You got more hops, yeah, okay interesting.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It still didn't seem like it was 99, but you
definitely got more hops thelonger it aged.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That's interesting because you know like a lot of
times you think more aboutletting it age, like that it's
more barrel-aged, or even somestout stuff.
The longer they sit, the moreflavor, so you don't really
think about it, though with hopsthat it does the same kind of
thing Yep Interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
So yeah, I guess, what do you think on the?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
double mountain colesh, I think you think you
need to have another.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think I need another taste to make up my mind
now when we were talking aboutuh.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Well, here, we'll get into that after you I mean it's
still.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I'm still gonna give it a two.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Six okay, and what, uh?
What's driving you to that?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I like.
I think it's a little betterthan average.
It's definitely better than thefirst one, I think, but it's
not to my opinion.
It's not worth a three, youknow?
Oh right, so I'm going to gowith that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Okay, so you want a 2.6.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm going to go with 2.5, just one step down.
I do enjoy it.
I think that aftertaste alittle bit kind of throws me at
first.
It's definitely not your normalKolsch aftertaste but it's not
offensive.
But it's different and, like Isaid, I do give them credit for
trying something a little moreunique.
(14:57):
I have no problem with that.
I guess I shouldn't knock itdown that much because of it.
But, like I said, it's just alittle different flavor on the
end.
But yeah, it was good.
Same thing.
I think it would be a decentlawnmower on a hot day.
If it was cold, I think youcould drink a number of them.
So, getting back to when Iasked him if you were in
(15:19):
whatever town in In Oregon or inHood Hood River, because you
had went out there for work afew different times and you were
in uh eugene yep, and it wasfunny because he he'd call me or
text me or send me.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Stayed in eugene, yeah, and then I where I was
working, they had a plant injunction city which was only 20,
25 miles.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, but then you'd go.
Then you went to Black.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Butte Yep, I went out to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Bend.
He'd send me pictures and I'llsend oh, check this place out in
there.
Whichever place it was, it hadlike the elk mounts.
Yeah, Elkhorn Brewing was thename of that place, you know,
and I'm just like, oh my gosh,but my favorite story now was it
a brewery or was it just like acraft beer bar where that band
was?
It was a brewery or was it justlike a craft beer bar where
that band was?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
It was a brewery.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And I'm trying to remember the name of it.
I'm thinking it was like it wasIronworks, I think it was.
I think that was the name of it.
It was all.
Their taps were like old forgedtools.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Oh, okay, so you send me a text.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well, you tell the story because you can.
I went to.
I was trying to hit all thebreweries that were in Eugene
when they would send us outthere.
They sent us out for two weeksat a time and it was on a
rotating schedule.
Every other week we were outthere.
So I went to this brewery.
I got there, there was onlythree people in there.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And what time was this?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
This was at like 5.30 , 6 o'clock.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh, it's 5.30, 6 o'clock, oh, so it was after
work time.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, okay, and there's a band, they're setting
up their instruments and that,so I wasn't paying too much
attention, I just wanted to.
I had got my flight and wastrying the beers and they
started playing at 7.
The band did and they hadreally good pizzas, homemade
wood-fired pizzas, so I hadordered one of them.
I the band, came out and it wasa two-piece band, a drummer and
(17:06):
a guitar player.
One was dressed as a banana andthe other one was dressed as a
strawberry, and Sweet and Juicywas the name of the band, and
they were really good.
They played like Van Halen and80s rock music, but, yes, sweet
(17:26):
and juicy.
But the funniest part was whenthey got started.
They made all of us stand upand say our name and where we
were from and I'm just goingwhat the heck is going on.
And so I stood up and I toldthem my name and where I was
from Minnesota and they werelike really, what brings you out
here?
I said I just came to see youguys.
Stood up and I told him my nameand where I was from minnesota
and they were like really, whatbrings you out here?
I said I just came to see youguys they go okay, so I got a
(17:52):
free uh sticker out of it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Oh did you there, you go that's funny because he I
remember you sent me the pictureand you said, yes, that's a
strawberry and a banana.
I thought that was just crazy.
I give them credit.
You remembered them, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
If they'd have been just two dudes in blue jeans.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
You probably would have never even remembered it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yep, they made an impression, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I tell you what Now, because you had went to a number
of different breweries outthere.
What do you think was thecoolest?
I'm sure Black Butte wasprobably pretty cool.
I'm sure, uh, black butte wouldis probably pretty cool.
I'm sure that was the biggestone that you went to when you
were out there yeah, that was inbend.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Okay, I had over the for one of the weekends.
I decided I was gonna, I wasgonna go to bend and because
they had like 25 breweries orsomething in bend so I said I'll
go see how many I can hit andand I ended up just going to one
.
That, uh, there were so manyone-way streets in Bend, oregon.
I just got really mad when Iwas trying to drive because the
(18:50):
uh Deschutes did not have theirparking lot labeled very well so
I kept driving past thedriveway for the parking lot,
then you have to go around theblock, yeah
so I finally got in there andI'm like I'm staying here.
So, yeah, then I did the tourand I think I was there for five
hours and uh, they had 30thanniversary black butte porter
(19:12):
on tap, um 13 abv, and so I washaving that and yeah, so I was
there talking to anybody fromfrom new york to california, you
know, and uh, all of a suddenit dawned on me.
I'm like, just like a lightbulb turned on, I'm like I'm in
band and I grabbed my phone andmy phone was dead and I'm like,
(19:33):
oh no, I'm in band.
I finished up, went and got inthe rental car and went to look
for a Walmart and couldn't finda Walmart at first, but I found
another brewery, so I stoppedthere and then went from there
to and somehow they didn't havea phone charger, did they no?
but they had fish and chips.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Oh, there you go.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
So I had fish and chips and a flight, of course,
then ended up finding a Walmart,and then that's when I called
you on the way back.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh yeah, uh, all of a sudden I get a text message.
First you up and I'm like, yeah, and I can't remember what time
it was, it was 10 o'clock, 11o'clock or somewhere in there.
So then you called me.
Like I'm on my way back frombend, you need to make sure to
help me stay away, because itwas like a two-hour drive, yeah,
so we just talked the wholetime and well, and I took the
mountain route on the way thereand it was, it was nothing but
curves the whole way zigzaggingthrough the mountains yeah, and
(20:29):
I'm going oh lord, what am I infor?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
and I just used the gps and it was the straightest
road I've ever been on everyturn, didn't?
Have one turn on it.
I'm like, yes, someone waslooking out for me?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
no doubt, so, no doubt.
So the brewery itself Deschats.
I'm sure that was a pretty big,pretty cool place.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Oh yes, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, because we've had their Black Butte Porter.
We've had some of thevariations and such.
We've had some others, but Ithink that's really what they're
known for is their Black ButtePorter.
Yep, you know, and it'sdefinitely a good one, so you,
big bottling lines.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
They could bottle like 500 and some bottles a
minute.
Wow, they look like they are 10, 12 foot in diameter, these
bottling machines.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I suppose they just load them, like some of them.
We've seen where they just loadthem like bottles by the pallet
.
Yep, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
and it's just like wow, yeah, and they had the
conveyors that fed the bottlesinto there and it was just
spinning you bottles into thereand it was just spinning, you
know, filling them Interesting.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
So the next beer we got Brian, we're going to try is
Irresistible Amber Ale, andthis is by Madison River Brewing
Company.
And it's of course amber or redale, american amber, 5.5%, 28
IBUs, and Madison River Brewingis out of Belgrade, montana.
Let's see what they have to sayhere.
(21:53):
Oh, it's got a style guide thatsays this amber is created with
the use of choice hops and aunique blend of specialty malts
to produce a rich and tasty brew.
It is especially unique due toits original flavor, influenced
by biscuit and earthycharacteristics.
Then it gives beginning gravity14.5, ending 14.5, ending
Gravity 3.5, hops Magnum,willamette and Mount Hood Malts,
(22:19):
montana, two Row Barley,special B, crystal Caramel 80,
and Carapils Carapils, yeah.
So that's kind of interestingthat they give that?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Which hops did you say they used?
They have?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Magnum, willamette and Mount Hood.
Okay, so they got threedifferent ones.
In this one it looks like anamber.
I mean, they got the colorright, boy, that's got a little
different aroma to it.
Yeah, I'm trying to figure outwhat that is, boy.
What is that?
I'm trying to figure out whatthat aroma is, because I've
smelled beers like that before,but I'm trying to remember what
style they are.
Normally your ambers don'tsmell like that.
(22:52):
It's definitely a maltier amberthe flavor is better than the
aroma.
Yes, it definitely it.
The malt shines on it.
It's definitely a multicharacteristic.
Trying to see if I get like abiscuit.
It'll be interesting to see,once it warms up a little more,
if the flavor changes at allright boy, because usually you
know, we've had some ambers thathave really had a good flavor
(23:13):
and flavor-wise this isn't bad.
No, you know, I don't mind it.
Off of the aroma.
I was a little bit worried, I'mnot going to lie.
I was kind of like I don't knowif it's, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
But it's not bad.
Well, I say we can.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
There's still some in the bottle, we can come back
once we get done and try it.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yeah, we'll let the rest of that warm up and we'll
see what it's like, Because yeah, it's either going to get a
little smoother or we'll see ifit's one of them.
That's better cold Right, right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Usually you think if it's warmer, sometimes it's
better.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Better.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
yeah, but we've had some that the colder the better,
because when it warmed up oof.
Some of them have up a littlebit here because we've got
taster glasses, of course, andtrying to see what we can do
here.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I can't figure which.
Well, this is a magnum.
I haven't used a whole lot ofmagnum, hops, okay, but I've
used a lot of Mount Hood and theWillamette, so that aroma or
that little bit of a bite isn'tfrom those.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, Interesting.
So you wonder if it's themagnum, then, or if it's
something with you know,whatever they're doing.
So when they talked about likebeginning gravity and ending
gravity, what does thatdetermine in a beer?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
That tells you what the ABV is going to be.
Oh, so the so you're measuringhow much sugar is in the wort,
okay.
So yeah, after you get donebrewing it and adding your hops
in, when you put it in thefermenter, you take a reading
and that'll tell you how muchsugars are in the word.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That would be the beginning.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Gravity, yes, okay and anyone doesn't know wort is
your basically your sugar waterthat you make.
When you're making the beer,yep and uh, then when you put it
in the fermenter, the yeastyeast turns it into beer.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yep, so then at the end then you take another
reading and then that's how youfigure.
Okay, interesting.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That'll tell you, because there's times where your
yeast will stall out, so yourABV you planned on isn't
anywhere close to that.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And if it's dependent on the beer stall, you may have
to try and kickstart it againto get it going.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Okay, and how would you do that?
Because?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
and kickstart it again to get it going.
Okay, and how would you do that?
Because you don't just dumpsugar in it or anything, do you?
No, I've actually been workingon that with one of my beers.
I'm trying to do an ImperialStout and my yeast keeps dying
off at 8%.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I tried just adding more yeast, but it just stayed
stalled out, didn't do nothing.
But I believe I need to getsome oxygen, pump oxygen into
the wort again, okay, and thatshould get the yeast activated.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Because now, based on the yeast, is there certain
like strains of yeast that willproduce higher alcohol,
naturally or not?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
really Is that there are strains of yeast, like your
London ales, your Trappist ales,abbey ales, that can live in
higher ABV environments where itdoesn't die off from the
alcohol, but like your normalmild yeast, like your American
(26:11):
ale yeast, and, yeah, they won'tstand up to anything over 8%.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
So another silly question.
But like brewer's yeast,whatever yeast you use for beer,
is that different than whatthey would use for, like, making
bread, or is it the same typeof?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
thing.
It is different.
It is different.
Okay, yeah, you can use it.
You know, if you're trying tomake some homebrew in a hurry,
you could use it, but you couldget some funky aftertaste.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Okay, I just wondered about that because you always
hear, you know, when you'retalking about yeast, you know,
and you always see the storiesabout oh you know, this was
bread, that or you know yeastthat wasn't made into beer, it
was made into bread, or whatever.
So I didn't know if it was thesame thing.
You know what I mean, but I'msure there's different.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Each yeast strain will give you different flavors
to the beer.
So I've never tried using abread yeast, but I've seen some
homebrew recipes where they sayto use it.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Oh, sure, and I'm sure some of the Belgian yeast
and stuff.
That's where you get almost abanana-type flavor.
Yes, right, yep, okay,interesting.
Well, I see you.
Still, I might as well go firston this.
This amber, I like it.
Like I said, the only part ofit that was a little
questionable to me was the aroma.
The initial aroma was a littlebit eh yeah, the flavor I
(27:26):
thought was decent.
I'm going to go.
I'm going to go a 2.6 on thisone myself.
I do like it and I think it's adecent amber.
You know, I wish that thatlittle bit of a funk on the
aroma wasn't there, because I'dhave probably went to like a 2.7
, maybe a 2.8.
But I could see where that mayturn somebody off.
(27:48):
Right, you know when you smellit and you're like eww, you know
, yep, that's my opinion anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
And that's what I was going to do.
I was going to give it a 2.7 iswhat I was going to give it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Same kind of reasons?
Yep.
Well, let's see, we talked abunch in there so I'm kind of
thirsty, so we might as well getthis next one going.
So this is by is this BentRiver?
Yep, bent River.
Let me see if we can get adescription All right here.
I'll give you that, brian.
So this is QC Haze by BentRiver Brewing Company, and
(28:19):
they're out of Moline, illinois.
Of course.
I've actually been to thatbrewery a couple times.
Oh nice, yep.
And they gave absolutely nodescription.
On untapped, it's a 7% ABV, 70,7-0, 70, 70 ibus.
You can get the hops right so Iwas hoping that they had at
least a little bit of adescription, and when we laid
(28:42):
these out, they, they kind offoamed a little.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, it's, it's a little, a little.
Uh, a little charged, yeah, alittle little carbonated, a
little bit more than normal,probably just because of how
long I've had it.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I mean you can definitely smell the hops, but
it smells good.
I mean it's not like a ooh.
I think it's got really a nicethat's interesting, like a
smooth aroma.
For sure.
It's got a little differentflavor, and not different in a
bad way, just different Like youcan get the hops.
You definitely can taste thehops, yes, but it's like almost
a crispness you know what I meanLike a bright kind of flavor,
(29:14):
almost Yep.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Interesting.
I'm kind of wondering if theyused fresh hops in it instead of
pellets, if they used freshleaf hops.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Of course you know it doesn't say I was going to say.
The writing that's on there isreally small so it's hard to
read it.
They didn't give a description.
So if you use the pelletizedhops, that has a different
flavor than if you use actual no, the pellet hops usually are a
little stronger.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Oh, okay, you need a lot more of the leaf hops.
Okay, Fresh leaf cones.
You need a lot more of them toequal the same amount of pellets
Of pellets.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Okay, so now what you grow?
A hop plant, what variety is?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
that Nugget Nugget, okay, nugget hops, which are
basically just a bittering hop,okay.
But yeah, we started out.
Our uncle's dentist I believeit was the receptionist there
had hops at her house and hewent to them for years.
So they always chit-chattedwhile they were waiting and he
had said that well, that Ibrewed beer.
So she brought in four rhizomesfrom her plants and gave to
(30:20):
them to give to me and, uh,that's went from four little
little flowers to, uh, takingover half the yard in the
backyard, oh yeah, and have youused them?
Speaker 1 (30:26):
have you brewed with them?
Okay, now I tell you you knowone of the beers that you make
that is really good, I think isyour, your spruce tip IPA.
Of course I'm a little bitbiased because the spruce tips
you got from my spruce trees.
I'd go out and pick them.
And then we sold that place andthe trees are still there.
But my brother-in-law got theextra trees we had left over and
(30:48):
they're growing by his drivewayand he's told me I could go and
pick them anytime I want.
So we didn't get out there.
I'm sure right now they'reprobably a little bit too big
now, right, uh, this time youhave to be out there earlier,
but maybe next year I can gopick some more.
But yeah, I mean that wasalways a cool when you, when you
try it, like I said, when, when, uh, I always thought it was
neat because it was my sprucetips and and stuff, but it had a
(31:10):
real mellow flavor.
But you definitely got thatspruce.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Oh, yeah, it was very tiny, yeah, you know, and it
was like really good.
And it's crazy because when itwhen it first made it, we put it
on after, and once I had cagedit, it was in there for probably
six weeks and we put it on andit was super piney oh yeah, like
almost too piney, you know, andreally, and uh, but there was
people that loved it, I meanjust loved it, and other people
you know Really, but there waspeople that loved it, I mean
just loved it, and other peopleyou know hated it.
(31:35):
Of course, that's the thingwith craft beer you either love
them or hate them.
Well, and that's especiallywith IPAs.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
I think hops are extremely polarizing.
You know, you get the peoplethat and a lot of people that,
especially when they're justeither just getting into it or
their, their main beer is likeyour big beer brand.
You know that they don't have alot of flavor.
So then when you get hops, they, they don't.
Oh, I don't like that, that'sbitter, you know, and it's like
you know.
But then there's people thatare the other way too.
(32:02):
And well, and I've told thisstory before, I mean one year I,
I drank almost nothing but IPAso I could get to where I could
stand them.
I did the same thing with sours, I'm not sure why, but I did,
but you know.
And now it's like you know andI give Jim credit, because when
we first started doing this hecouldn't stand IPAs, and now
he's actually coming around.
He's like you know, there'sactually some good ones, you
(32:22):
know, and I almost startedcrying, you know but yes,
exactly.
But you know, we're the sameway.
When we first started, I mean,ipas were like oh, you know, and
you just get used to it.
Yes, you know, but so anyway.
So you were saying that.
So some people loved it becauseit was really piney.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Yep, and after the first keg, that one, I only put
in like five gallon kegs, okay,so I stuck the rest of them
months.
We put one on again and, oh myGod, the flavors completely
changed.
It wasn't, it was.
It was.
When we first put it on, it wasalmost like you were licking on
(33:01):
a pine cone.
It was so piney, wow, and, andthen.
But now, after like sevenmonths of aging, oh man, it just
got to be a complex beer.
You got more of the maltflavors.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
And to be a complex beer.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Uh, you got more of the malt flavors and uh, yeah,
because when I tried it it wasreally good.
Yep, you know and that's justwild, how that and then changed
it, and once we put it on thesecond time, you know the same
batch then just oh yeah, itmoved really fast, right, right
people are like I shouldn't likethis, but it is.
So this is awesome, but I can'thelp myself.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh yeah, that's funny .
All right.
Well, let's see the QC Haze.
I'm kind of torn on it a littlebit.
I'm going to try a little bitmore.
The aroma to me was really good.
Flavor-wise it almost has asweetness.
Does it almost have like asweetness on the taste?
The initial?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
taste yes.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, on the taste, the initial taste, yes, it's it,
uh, and it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, yeah that's probably not helping, I mean,
right, so I don't know I'm gonna.
What do I do?
I'm gonna go.
I'm trying to decide.
Do I go?
Because you know we try not tohave ties, we try to yep.
Do I do a 2.3?
Or do I go a 2.7?
Because I do like the aroma,the flavor is decent'm going to
go a 2.3, partly because of howfizzy it is and then, like I
(34:16):
said, I do get a little bit of asweetness on it, which is not
bad.
But then when you get thatsweetness and then the hops kick
in, it almost makes it morebitter on the taste buds a
little bit.
So I think that maybe turnedsome people off.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
But it could, be like you said, if it was more fresh.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Uh, maybe it would have been a different flavor.
So just my opinion.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
I was gonna go a two, four I don't think I've done a,
two, four, um, so I was gonnado that.
You actually did it.
Oh, did I on the first one?
Speaker 1 (34:42):
okay two, five.
Okay, you have not done thatyet it's.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
I think it would have been better if it wasn't a
little charged in the bottle.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, I think that's, that's definitely, I
think, messing with the flavorsa little bit, and like I said,
it's still not bad, but we maywant to rinse out our glasses
because it definitely was foamy,all right.
So the next one we have isBatch 202 IPA, and this is by
Dick's Brewing Company andthey're out of Centralia,
(35:09):
washington.
So apparently this box was outof out of, uh, the west coast.
Apparently it started to foamup a little bit so we were like
so let's see, they're out ofcentralia, washington.
It says 202 ipa is a tropicalfruit and citrus hop blend of
goodness.
This beer is all about hop,flavor and aroma, brewed and dry
(35:31):
hopped with equinot, equinot,columbus, cascade and simcoe, so
it's got four different.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Should be pretty, no, oh 60, 6 abv and 60 ibus.
Smells good.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Got a little different flavor to it yeah, not
getting much of the hops, I'mjust getting a lot of the malt.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Well, I get some of the hop, but it's almost a.
It's definitely a bitter kindof a flavor.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, because usually when I've used the Econoc hops
it's been real and a realcitrusy beer yeah, I don't get
citrus at all, do you in thisone?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Because when it said about tropical, I was like Right
, you know tropical.
I was like right, you know, andthat's always one of those
that's I'm sure it's from.
Like you said before, you'retrying to get the
characteristics of the hop, butbecause some of the hops
definitely taste like grapefruit, you know, you get that kind of
a lemon zest type of a flavor,melon, melon and then you hear
the ones that are tropical andI've really have yet to have a
beer that really has really atropical hop flavor.
(36:30):
Right, you know what I mean.
You get it if they add mango orstuff like that, but you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
They always talk about these tropical hop flavors
and I don't necessarily know ifI've ever really had one that
tastes like a tropical yeah, youknow right, a lot of times, a
lot of them that they say aretropical, you mainly get like a
grapefruit flavor from it.
Okay, because I've definitelyhad the grapefruit.
(36:59):
When you taste it, man, thisone, I don't get citrus at all.
I'm getting more of just abitter yeah, kind of a note to
it, a maltier ipa.
They talked it up big.
Yeah, it sounded, yes, amazing,but it's not a bad beer, but
it's just this one.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
I wouldn't recommend this one to a new person going
into an ipa.
No, and not that it's superstrong uh hop flavor, but it's
got just that.
It's just it lingers, yeah, youknow, I mean I still got that
kind of that bitter hop on theon the back of my throat kind of
yeah flavor, I don't know dude,and this one's not really my no
(37:28):
favorite boy score wise, I'mdoing like a 2.2 on this one.
Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna do a2.3 yeah, I just I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
It's uh, it's disappointing.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I was looking forward to them too, and there you go,
they were both kind of just offa little bit, you know and, like
you said, it could be thatyou've had them for a while, but
but I I'm pretty sure they'repretty close to right what they
were before you know that onefoamed up a little bit when I
opened it, it's when we pouredit it didn't, it wasn't fizzed
up at all.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
So it wasn't.
No, not like the first one.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
First one, you know really foamed up, and then this
one really didn't have much of ahead at all on it when you
poured it, yep, but yeah, Idon't know.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I guess I'm just a little bummed by those, those
two but I'm glad I got thembecause because there's probably
a good chance I'll never getout to that brewery.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Well, you know that is the one thing that is kind of
cool with, like this Beer ofthe Month Club when you were
doing it, because these arebeers that we probably never
would have ever tasted before,right, you know, if they
wouldn't have been in it.
You know the one thing withthose clubs they are a little
expensive, you know, and I knowthere's shipping and such, and
sometimes you wondered with thebreweries that were in there and
that you're like, is it?
They're just kind of providingthe ones that don't sell real
(38:39):
well or what?
Right, you know, becauseremember the one time one of our
local breweries were in it andwe were like all excited because
we thought, oh, we're going tohave Oscars, you know, and it
was two other ones that were twoof their lighter ones.
Yeah, you know, and you're like, okay, you know.
So I don't know how they pickthem, you know, but I'm sure if
it's a huge seller, the brewerydoesn't have time to provide all
(38:59):
these bottles right to, like aclub like that and who knows,
maybe they, maybe the breweriesare sitting on some cases and
weren't able to get them get ridof them at the time, so they
sold them to that place.
Here you go you, you divvy themout you know.
So who knows?
But but still, like I said, Ido enjoy it and uh such, because
there's a lot of these beers wenever would have even known
about, you know and I liked itbecause it's like christmas
(39:22):
every month.
See you never knew what you'regonna get.
See santa showed up every month?
Speaker 2 (39:26):
awesome.
I just had to make suresomebody was at the house
because you had to sign for them.
Since it was alcohol, they wereshipping right.
The original uh delivery guywho was must, he must have
retired.
He must not have cared.
Towards the end he knew what itwas and who it was for, so he
just left it on the steps.
But the new ones won't do that.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Yeah, and then you got to go to the, so be to the
post office before they closeand, yep, no, all right.
Well, hey, we got one beer left, and this one I'm actually
really excited to try.
Uh, it could be bad, but younever know.
So this is also by the madisonriver brewing company, but this
one is their black ghost oatmealstout, seven and a half percent
(40:05):
abv.
And once again, madison riveris out of belgrade montana and
they have absolutely nodescription.
So I was just scrolling throughhere and a person on Untapped
had wrote a little thing and itsaid Montana, micro black with
tan head, mild nose, creamy andsmooth, with a little sweet, a
lot of malt and a nice dryfinish.
(40:27):
Chewy and good is what theysaid.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Like I I said it's always one of those.
It's nice when the brewery hasa description on there so you
just at least have a little bitof an idea, even though it's
their.
You know most of the time it'stheir marketing spin, but you
know, it's uh always interesting.
I do like the label.
It's got a bear with a salmonin his mouth on it looks like a
stout dark.
Has that, that tan head.
Well, I don't know an aroma.
(40:51):
I do get a little bit of amalty aroma, but not a whole lot
, I don't know that that onedoesn't just hmm, that one's got
almost a almost a funk to it.
A sour yeah, taste to it.
It's got a little bit of a funkto her.
That's interesting.
You wonder again like you saidyou've had this for a while if
(41:12):
could it have went bad.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
I doubt it, though, with a stout right and it's been
always been in the dark coolplace so down in the corner of
the basement boy I'm.
I'm almost thinking that mighthave been from the process, that
something went.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
You know, right it almost reminds me of remember
some of the times when you tasteand it's almost.
It's almost like it's too young.
You know what I mean when youhave a young beer.
It has almost like that kind ofa soury taste to it.
Now, this isn't young, but it'sgot that like they put some
sour in it, like sour cherry orsome kind of a weird.
Yeah, yep, you know, boy, Ihate to say it, but that's kind
(41:49):
of a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yes, I had high hopes for that one.
I do like the label.
I may have to try and peel thatlabel off, but boy I just kind
of I don't know if I want asecond taster of that one.
I was going to say it's wow.
I don't know.
Typically, if I had one thatgot that flavor, I'd dump it
down the drain, which sucks.
I hate dumping batches down,but I said if I don't like it
(42:12):
I'm not going to serve it, right.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, I'm sure, when you've listened to the podcast,
when Jim and I have been talkingand we have had beers, that
you're just like that's bad.
And Jim he's like does thebrewmaster sit there, taste it
and go, that's what I waslooking for, or does he go, oh,
get it out of here.
Right, you know, you justwonder, yep.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Well, especially some of these where they distribute,
when they're doing 10 barrelsat a time or more, when they're
doing a big batch, it'sexpensive to dump it.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
you know, yep, but boy, I don't know.
It doesn't taste like salmon,but it definitely doesn't taste
like 99.9% of the stouts thatwe've had.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
It does kind of remind me, like you said, almost
like when they put like a tartcherry in it but it didn't say
anything about cherry.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Yeah, there was no description on untapped.
I don't know.
If on the bottle there'sanything, what's the?
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Nope, just the Surgeon General Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Yeah, so they didn't give any kind of description, so
I mean 7.5% give any kind ofdescription.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
So I mean seven and a half percent.
It drinks pretty smooth forseven and a half percent.
I give them that yep, butflavor wise it uh needs a little
, a little something.
Yeah, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm gonnahave to go with two for a
rating on that one.
Yeah, I'm gonna join you thereand hopefully it's just this
bottle, maybe something,something happened.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Right, yeah, because we've had that before, where you
have one bottle of a beer andit's amazing, get it out of the
same six-pack or whatever, andit's just really bad.
You know Right, but I don'tknow.
Yeah, this one is just notsuper.
No.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Super good.
That's disappointing, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
So I guess, looking at our scores, I guess we're in
agreement that I guess thewinner of this group was the
Irresistible Amber.
It was basically the best one,and then we had the Double
Mountain.
Kolsch was two.
So yeah, it was definitelyinteresting to see what these
are.
Like you know, and like I said,we never would have tried any
(44:11):
of these.
Well, I take that back becauseI was at Benton River, so you
know I could have had this onebefore, but when I looked I
don't think I had, but the restof them, I'd never even heard of
them.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Yeah, I was part of that group, I think, for three
years.
I think I got it and that wasjust reason why, because you
know, there's so many breweriesacross the country and, like I
said, we maybe had one or two inthat whole time of the
breweries that we had been to,yeah, so it was fun just seeing
what the other places were doing.
Like I said, they were hit ormiss.
Some were really bad, some werereally just amazing, right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
You know and it's kind of interesting because like
this one, a lot more of themwere you didn't get a whole lot
of stouts.
You got some, but not hugenumbers.
It was more kind of your lagerspilsners.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
IPAs, stuff like that .
It depended on the time of theyear too, because come fall
you'd get a lot of Oktoberfest.
Yeah, spring, you'd get a lotof box.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
No, I did.
I had looked online one timeand I saw they had kind of a
club like that, but it was forbarrel-aged beers.
Aged beers, but holy cow,there's no way you could afford
to be in that very long, becauseit was expensive, you know.
So I was like, nah, never mind,we can find those.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
So yeah, I'd even seen some breweries that do that
.
They offer, uh, their barrelclubs they call them and uh, you
got like I think it was likeone I don't know if it's one
bottle a month or something theyhave they have barrel-aged
beers going, so each month you'dget a different barrel-aged
beer.
You got a free pour orsomething at the brewery, yeah,
(45:41):
and maybe I can't remember if itwas a free crawler, fill or
growler or something.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Well, I know Jim and I are members of the Barrel
Society.
At Three Sheeps we went intogether and joined.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Where is Three sheeps out?
There over, like in sheboyganit's over towards uh milwaukee
kind of over in that area, uh,but uh, we haven't.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Every so often we're getting email because we we're
guaranteed, when they have abarrel society release, we
automatically get two bit, twobottles.
It's covered by our membership,yep, and then they, of course,
then they introduce all theseother barrel age beers and
they'll send you an email.
Hey, this one's going to bereleased and if you know, being
in the barrel society, you canorder one.
You know, however, up tohowever many bottles you know,
(46:25):
and, and they have a selleringprogram, they call it.
So, like our beers are allsitting together and we can
drive over, we have to do.
We just have to pick them allup by january, something of next
year oh, okay, and they'll.
They'll store them for a yearyep and uh, so that we've
already bought.
I don't know how many extraones we've bought, but it's,
it's going to be interesting totry some of these because, uh,
(46:47):
they sound really interesting,you know, and you know, so we'll
buy an extra bottle of this,bottle of that, whatever it is,
you know, but, uh, yeah, soit'll be neat and, like I said
when we joined it, it'sexpensive, you know, and we're
just like, oh geez, you know,but same thing, we can go.
They have the barrel society.
Nice, well, it's.
You know, that's a number ofhours from here and they usually
(47:08):
have them on it's like sundayyou know, and it's like well, we
aren't going to be able, but wedo have to plan a trip sometime
this summer to go over thereand maybe pick up the first
batch and all that good stuff.
But it'll be interesting to seehow that goes and, like for
next year, we'll see how it goes.
I don't know if we'll join thatone again or if we'll do a
different one, I don't know.
We have to wait and see.
(47:29):
Yep, you know how it goes, butit's definitely interesting, so
Cool.
So yeah, I guess, like I said,we're pretty much in agreement,
I think, with our scores.
I think the Ember was one, theKolsch was two, and then they
kind of just went from there.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
So yeah, then I poured us each a taster of
Buffalo Sweat and Oatmeal Stout.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Oatmeal stout, yeah, I said because it tastes a
little bit, a little bit betterthan that I say we can't end the
show with that stout yeah, that, that uh black ghost one was.
This one doesn't taste like uh,no, doesn't taste sour like
that one no, you guys want agood oatmeal cream stout at tall
grass brewing.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
Uh, their buffalo sweat is amazing um, yeah, they
they're actually teamed up withwichita brewing.
Wichita brewing is brewing thethe buffalo sweat for tall grass
, because tall grass got rid oftheir production facility and
went back to just a tap roomyeah, because they and they had.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
It was just kind of crazy because they had tall
grass was known for buffalosweat, and they had other beers
that they did, but they didn'tsell as much.
You know, they weren't aspopular by far.
And then they and they hadother beers that they did, but
they didn't sell as much, theyweren't as popular by far.
And then they had put a $7.5million expansion on their
facility and all that.
And then shortly after thatthey were gone, they were shut
down and it really just was abummer, because Buffalo Sweat
(48:46):
was like my favorite just go-tooatmeal stout.
I mean you could drink it andit's just glorious, you know.
And then they were shut downfor a while and then they did
come back, but then you couldonly get it in Kansas and a
friend of ours well, bk, hestill has family in Kansas, so
he went down there and hebrought back, I think like a
case of it for us or something,yep.
And well, now you said you'refinding it in Iowa.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
Yeah, I can get it in Lake Mills at the grocery store
, so they're starting to slowlyget back into a little more
distribution.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
So that's good, because it's still a very good
beer.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Yes, it was definitely better than the last
tote.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
If this would have been grouped with these, this
would have been the winner ofthis group by far.
Yep, well, awesome, well, brian, thank you so much for bringing
these uh beer of the month clubbeers because, like I said, we
didn't know what we're gonna try.
And, uh, it was cool.
I'm glad we tried them, eventhough a couple of them were
kind of but yep, but still, theywere really good.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
Yeah, well, thanks for inviting us over.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, we gotta gotta do it moreoften, oh, yeah get away from
the brewery for a weekend.
Speaker 1 (49:50):
There you go, that is for sure.
So I know we've got some plansto.
We're going to be up in theNorthwoods together here in a
few weeks and do some run around.
We're not going to probably doany recording on that.
That's more.
They have like some t-shirtruns that we go on and you have
to stop at different resorts andhave a drink and then you get a
(50:13):
t-shirt after the you knowthese different ones they have.
So that's more going to be justan enjoyable weekend.
So anyway, uh, yeah, I'm surewe will uh probably record some
more yet and, uh, try some otherbeers.
See what we come up with.
So, hey, like we always say,ladies and gentlemen, I hope
your campfire is always warm andyour beer is always cold see
you.
Thank you for listening to thenorthwoods beer guy podcast.
If you you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
(50:35):
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
your beer is cold.
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen, andwelcome back to the Northwoods
Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and today I am
actually joined in studio by mybrother, the mad scientist Brian
.
How's it going?
Pretty good, you survived ourtrip to Missouri.
(00:46):
Yes, it was a cool trip thatcheckers that we were in.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It was a little loud it was a neat place, though it
was small, but it was fun.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, if you listened to
last week's podcast, you'llunderstand.
I did the best I could to tryand cut the background out and
it was pretty loud at times, sowe do apologize for that.
But so today we are actually inthe studio and, brian, you
brought over some beers thatwere in a Beer of the Month Club
(01:17):
that you were a member of.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yep, there's the Craft Beer of the Month Club.
What they did was they, Ibelieve, were out of california,
but they picked two differentbreweries each month.
You got I did the 12 pack soyou got four different beers,
two by each brewery, twodifferent styles from each one.
You never knew what you weregetting each month.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's just a variety of different styles yep, well,
and you remember, that's kind ofhow I actually started trying
craft beer was that friend of ofours, bob.
His sister would get him athree-month membership for
Christmas and he would keep oneof each of the different beers
that he got and then he'd bringthem up to the camper and then
Ron and Bob and myself would trythem.
So that's kind of how we gotkick-started in this and it just
(01:57):
went downhill from there.
So, yeah, so we're going to trysome of these.
Like I said, I've never heardof most of these breweries.
Even so, it'll be interestingto see you know how they are.
And, like I said, it's kind ofa mixed bag here.
We've got anything from what dowe have?
A Pilsner all the way up to anOatmeal Stout in this group of
six, and it should beinteresting.
(02:18):
I mean, some of the labels arepretty cool.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, and these ones here.
I have not tried any of these.
I went down to my basement,found two boxes that were
unopened and opened them up andgrabbed beers from each one.
There you go, that'll work.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So, yeah, I guess we might as well get kicked off
here a little bit.
So the first one that we haveis actually from Upland Brewing
Company and it's ChampagneVelvet or, as the fancy people,
champagny Velvet, something likethat.
They're out of Bloomington,indiana.
The brewery is, I looked on,untapped because we don't have
notes or anything for them.
So I wanted to let you kind ofknow what these ones were.
(02:56):
This one's got a big long thinghere.
It says in 1902, walter Braun,the son of German immigrants,
created a recipe for a newPilsner beer named Champagne
Velvet.
Over the next 50 years it grewto become one of Indiana's most
popular beers, a go-to for manyof our grandparents and
great-grandparents.
It was, in quotation marks thebeer with the million-dollar
(03:18):
flavor.
Yeah boy, they're building thisup, which wasn't just marketing
fluff.
It was actually insured with a$1 million policy.
Industrial Consolidation tookdown this regional favorite and
the recipe went missing for manyyears until a fan rescued the
handwritten recipe from deep ina trademark portfolio.
(03:40):
Upland reformulated oh see,they reformulated it.
So now it's probably only750,000 instead of a million.
Uh see, they reformulated therecipe using that scrap of paper
and proudly brings thismidwestern legend back to life.
Champagne velvet has arefreshingly light pilsner body
with some sweet complexitiesgiven off by the corn malt used
(04:02):
in this recipe, making this theperfect lager.
It's smooth, smooth and light,but still full of flavor.
The perfect everyday beer forcraft beer drinkers and a step
up for domestic drinkers.
Oh, so they're taking a shot atthe domestic people.
Uh-huh, and you know something?
I forgot to grab a bottleopener.
(04:23):
Oh, you happen to have onePerfect.
I should have known Always.
You happen to have one Perfect.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I should have known.
Always have one on yourkeychain.
Yeah, you never know when youmight need one.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Exactly Okay.
So there's your keys for now.
Cap was just plain old red, sowe are going to try this, see if
it's a million dollars or not.
Extremely light color, I think,for a lager, wouldn't you say.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it's very light .
It doesn't have like the realgold, no, it looks more like
what you'd think of as a pilsner.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I would think.
Aroma-wise it smells kind oflike a lager.
Definitely get the corn.
So that's what we're.
The flavor is the corn thatwe're picking up more.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it's probably a flake corn.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
See, it's got a little bit of a kind of a I
don't want to say a harshness,but like on the finish After you
swallow, it's got kind of that.
Aftertaste is a little tougher.
Yes, I don't know exactly howto describe it, but it's not
terrible and, like they said, ifit's somebody that's never had
craft beer before, this would bea decent introduction yes, yeah
, the normal american lagerdrinkers could drink this one.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, there's no hot bite at all.
No, it's.
You know, it's a clean beer.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh, I should say it's 5.2 percent abv and 29 ibus as
well.
So, yeah, I don't't get any IBU.
No hot bite at all, no 5.2,.
I mean it drinks smooth for a5.2, but there's just not a huge
amount of flavor.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
No, there's not a lot there, but I can see where
people would like them on a hotday.
Right, you have them.
Ice cold.
On a hot day, people can drinka lot of them.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, exactly, good lawnmower beer, yeah there you
go, say out of a cooler, youknow, when it's cold, the beer
it would be good, yep.
So yeah, I don't, it's okay, Iguess, score-wise, what do you
think you know?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
our scoring system 0 to 5, tenth of a point, 2.5
point two and a half is average.
What would you say for thechampagne velvet by upland
brewing?
Well, for what it is for, thatstyle of beer is pretty good.
Um, I would say I'm conflictedhere because if I rate it on the
beer style or just in mygeneral opinion of it, well yeah
, I guess that's a good questionyou know, j Jim asked that
before too.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Are we rating us against other loggers or are we
just?
You know how do you do it?
I guess, just whatever youthink, whatever your score is,
you know, there's no set thing,Just whatever you think it is.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I'm just going to go in general, since they're all
different that we have right nowand I'll say I'm going to give
it a 2.4.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, and what gave you that?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's not a bad beer.
There's just nothing there forflavor.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And, like I said, we have a variety of different ones
that are going to get moreflavor in them as we go.
But if it was just rating aPilsner, I probably would give
it like a 2.8.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So is a Pilsner, is a type of log, yes, okay, yeah.
So, yeah, I, I'm gonna go.
I was gonna say two and a half,like it's average, but I think
I might go a two, four as well,just because the same thing.
There's not a huge amount offlavor, and I was, I guess, when
they built it up a lot, sayingit's's a million-dollar beer and
all that and it's decent, don'tget me wrong.
(07:46):
But again, it's not like Iwould be like, oh my gosh, I got
to get that.
You know what I mean.
Yep, so yeah, I'll go a 2.4 aswell and, like I said, good
lawnmower beer.
You know, hot day, ice cold, itwould be good.
So, other than that, I meanit's okay, you know.
(08:06):
So let's see, the last time wewere talking, you were brewing
boy.
What was it?
a double chocolate and doublechocolate oatmeal stout okay, so
that's in the works and you hadthe, your breakfast of
champions, yep, okay yep, I gotboth of them caged up now, so
they're aging in the cooler okayright now I don't have anything
going.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I get when I, when we get back from our trip here, I
gotta go make a pickled jalapenobeer for a wedding.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Wow have you done one of those before?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
nope it's gonna be an experiment.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Oh, there you go living up to the name so crazy.
So everything else is goinggood and all that kind of good
stuff.
Yep, so as so those people mayor I think they've.
If you've listened before, youknow he does the brewing at Five
Alarm Brewing in Lake Mills.
You've been basically whateverstyles you want to make, right.
I mean, it's kind of.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, that's a nice thing, for down there the owners
don't care what I make, as longas the taps are filled, right.
So I've been brewing there forthe last three years now, and so
I've kind of gotten to knowwhat the community likes.
So I have three beers I keep ontry to keep on all the time my
Delmatian Ale, a Cream Ale andthen a Mosaic IPA Okay, and then
(09:18):
the other taps.
I'm able to just rotatewhatever I want to have on, you
know, from sours to stouts Nice.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So yeah, as we get into this more, we'll kind of go
back into a little more of thebackstory as well, because you
were a home brewer for a longtime, for quite a while, yep,
and it kind of sprouted fromthere.
But we'll save that for afterthe next few beers and kind of
go into.
It Sounds good.
So the next beer that we haveis by double mountain brewery.
(09:48):
They are out of hood riveroregon.
When you were out in oregon,you weren't there, were you?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
no, not that I know of.
That's a story we'll have totell during this one so hang on.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Uh, this is their kolsch.
And let me see and like I said,I'm on tap just reading the
description.
Oh, this one's a lot smallerdescription.
It has, in Cologne many abrewery, produced a light-bodied
ale with a delicate fruitinessand rounded maltiness attributed
to the unique yeast straincommonly used.
Our Kolsch is unfiltered andmore generously hopped than its
(10:22):
German cousin 5.2% ABV and 40IBUs.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So this one has pretty much the exact same color
as the first one did.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
It's a little bit more, a little cloudier.
You know what I mean.
The other one was pretty clear.
This one is a little bit cloudy, a little haze to it.
Smells like a Kolsch, yep, or,as Jim says, klosh, but it
smells like a Kolsch, I meanit's what you'd expect Not bad.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It has more of a hot bite to it than some of the
other Kolschs that I've had.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I was going to say it's not over the top or
anything, but you definitely getthat little bit of a hint.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
A little bitterness on the end, yeah there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Definitely get the bitterness Interesting.
I mean it's smooth, but you doget that bitter aftertaste.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Well, I kind of like that one myself, this one.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yep.
What has drawn you to it?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I think just that bitterness.
I love IPAs, but it kind ofreminds you of a weak IPA, you
know Right.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, you get that Kolsch taste,
but then the finish isdefinitely a little bit
different than most of themwe've had Yep, so I give them
credit for that.
You know, it's unique, I likethat.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
It reminds me of I've made a couple of Kolsch beers
and it kind of reminds me ofthose ones.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Does it?
Yeah, because you put a littlemore hops in it, or you mean
just the.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Just the flavor, I mean the one I did.
Mine wasn't 40 IBUs, I think itwas 30 that we did, but you
know, we used Hallertau and Saashops in it, which I'm guessing
is what they used in this one.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
But yeah, I kind of like that one.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well, you know, and I know you and I I had asked you
about the IBU rating scale.
I had asked you about the IBUrating scale and Jim and I talk
about it all the time too whereit's like we'll have beers
that'll say 70 IBUs and youcan't even taste anything.
Then you have ones that are oh20, and you're like whoa, that's
.
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah so.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I don't necessarily know if the IBU scale is an
exact science.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
yet Right it only when they figured it out,
figured out the bitterness forthe IBU scale.
It's just going by the hopinformation, right, your alpha
acids and your beta acids.
So it doesn't take into accountthe formula, doesn't your grain
bill?
Because, oh yeah, depending onwhat your grain bill is, you may
(12:39):
not taste any hops in some ofthem.
Because didn't?
Speaker 1 (12:41):
you say too, that part of it also is like the
aroma besides the flavor, or isit more just the flavor For the
IBU.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's just the bitterness, just the bitterness.
Okay, so just the tiny scale isbasically Yep, okay.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, I don't know.
It's like we always joke.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I made one that I was trying to make one called Hop
Head.
It was a 99 IBU IPA.
I we wanted to make one calledHop Head.
It was a 99 IBU IPA.
I was so excited for it and Imade it up.
I mean I used a ton of hops init.
I mean probably five pounds ofhops in this batch, which big
breweries that's not going tosound like much Right, but for
my barrel size that I do.
But anyways, it's supposed tobe 99 IBUs according to the
(13:21):
scale.
And we got it out and youcouldn't taste any hops at all
to begin with.
But I had a big grain bill.
We had one keg.
After the first keg blew, Iunhooked it, I put the other keg
off in the corner and just letit sit there for about eight
months and then we hooked it up.
Then you got more hops in itagain.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You got more hops, yeah, okay interesting.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It still didn't seem like it was 99, but you
definitely got more hops thelonger it aged.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That's interesting because you know like a lot of
times you think more aboutletting it age, like that it's
more barrel-aged, or even somestout stuff.
The longer they sit, the moreflavor, so you don't really
think about it, though with hopsthat it does the same kind of
thing Yep Interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
So yeah, I guess, what do you think on the?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
double mountain colesh, I think you think you
need to have another.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think I need another taste to make up my mind
now when we were talking aboutuh.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Well, here, we'll get into that after you I mean it's
still.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I'm still gonna give it a two.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Six okay, and what, uh?
What's driving you to that?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I like.
I think it's a little betterthan average.
It's definitely better than thefirst one, I think, but it's
not to my opinion.
It's not worth a three, youknow?
Oh right, so I'm going to gowith that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Okay, so you want a 2.6.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm going to go with 2.5, just one step down.
I do enjoy it.
I think that aftertaste alittle bit kind of throws me at
first.
It's definitely not your normalKolsch aftertaste but it's not
offensive.
But it's different and, like Isaid, I do give them credit for
trying something a little moreunique.
(14:57):
I have no problem with that.
I guess I shouldn't knock itdown that much because of it.
But, like I said, it's just alittle different flavor on the
end.
But yeah, it was good.
Same thing.
I think it would be a decentlawnmower on a hot day.
If it was cold, I think youcould drink a number of them.
So, getting back to when Iasked him if you were in
(15:19):
whatever town in In Oregon or inHood Hood River, because you
had went out there for work afew different times and you were
in uh eugene yep, and it wasfunny because he he'd call me or
text me or send me.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Stayed in eugene, yeah, and then I where I was
working, they had a plant injunction city which was only 20,
25 miles.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, but then you'd go.
Then you went to Black.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Butte Yep, I went out to.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Bend.
He'd send me pictures and I'llsend oh, check this place out in
there.
Whichever place it was, it hadlike the elk mounts.
Yeah, Elkhorn Brewing was thename of that place, you know,
and I'm just like, oh my gosh,but my favorite story now was it
a brewery or was it just like acraft beer bar where that band
was?
It was a brewery or was it justlike a craft beer bar where
that band was?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
It was a brewery.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And I'm trying to remember the name of it.
I'm thinking it was like it wasIronworks, I think it was.
I think that was the name of it.
It was all.
Their taps were like old forgedtools.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Oh, okay, so you send me a text.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well, you tell the story because you can.
I went to.
I was trying to hit all thebreweries that were in Eugene
when they would send us outthere.
They sent us out for two weeksat a time and it was on a
rotating schedule.
Every other week we were outthere.
So I went to this brewery.
I got there, there was onlythree people in there.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And what time was this?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
This was at like 5.30 , 6 o'clock.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh, it's 5.30, 6 o'clock, oh, so it was after
work time.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, okay, and there's a band, they're setting
up their instruments and that,so I wasn't paying too much
attention, I just wanted to.
I had got my flight and wastrying the beers and they
started playing at 7.
The band did and they hadreally good pizzas, homemade
wood-fired pizzas, so I hadordered one of them.
I the band, came out and it wasa two-piece band, a drummer and
(17:06):
a guitar player.
One was dressed as a banana andthe other one was dressed as a
strawberry, and Sweet and Juicywas the name of the band, and
they were really good.
They played like Van Halen and80s rock music, but, yes, sweet
(17:26):
and juicy.
But the funniest part was whenthey got started.
They made all of us stand upand say our name and where we
were from and I'm just goingwhat the heck is going on.
And so I stood up and I toldthem my name and where I was
from Minnesota and they werelike really, what brings you out
here?
I said I just came to see youguys.
Stood up and I told him my nameand where I was from minnesota
and they were like really, whatbrings you out here?
I said I just came to see youguys they go okay, so I got a
(17:52):
free uh sticker out of it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Oh did you there, you go that's funny because he I
remember you sent me the pictureand you said, yes, that's a
strawberry and a banana.
I thought that was just crazy.
I give them credit.
You remembered them, yep.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
If they'd have been just two dudes in blue jeans.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
You probably would have never even remembered it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yep, they made an impression, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I tell you what Now, because you had went to a number
of different breweries outthere.
What do you think was thecoolest?
I'm sure Black Butte wasprobably pretty cool.
I'm sure, uh, black butte wouldis probably pretty cool.
I'm sure that was the biggestone that you went to when you
were out there yeah, that was inbend.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Okay, I had over the for one of the weekends.
I decided I was gonna, I wasgonna go to bend and because
they had like 25 breweries orsomething in bend so I said I'll
go see how many I can hit andand I ended up just going to one
.
That, uh, there were so manyone-way streets in Bend, oregon.
I just got really mad when Iwas trying to drive because the
(18:50):
uh Deschutes did not have theirparking lot labeled very well so
I kept driving past thedriveway for the parking lot,
then you have to go around theblock, yeah
so I finally got in there andI'm like I'm staying here.
So, yeah, then I did the tourand I think I was there for five
hours and uh, they had 30thanniversary black butte porter
(19:12):
on tap, um 13 abv, and so I washaving that and yeah, so I was
there talking to anybody fromfrom new york to california, you
know, and uh, all of a suddenit dawned on me.
I'm like, just like a lightbulb turned on, I'm like I'm in
band and I grabbed my phone andmy phone was dead and I'm like,
(19:33):
oh no, I'm in band.
I finished up, went and got inthe rental car and went to look
for a Walmart and couldn't finda Walmart at first, but I found
another brewery, so I stoppedthere and then went from there
to and somehow they didn't havea phone charger, did they no?
but they had fish and chips.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Oh, there you go.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
So I had fish and chips and a flight, of course,
then ended up finding a Walmart,and then that's when I called
you on the way back.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh yeah, uh, all of a sudden I get a text message.
First you up and I'm like, yeah, and I can't remember what time
it was, it was 10 o'clock, 11o'clock or somewhere in there.
So then you called me.
Like I'm on my way back frombend, you need to make sure to
help me stay away, because itwas like a two-hour drive, yeah,
so we just talked the wholetime and well, and I took the
mountain route on the way thereand it was, it was nothing but
curves the whole way zigzaggingthrough the mountains yeah, and
(20:29):
I'm going oh lord, what am I infor?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
and I just used the gps and it was the straightest
road I've ever been on everyturn, didn't?
Have one turn on it.
I'm like, yes, someone waslooking out for me?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
no doubt, so, no doubt.
So the brewery itself Deschats.
I'm sure that was a pretty big,pretty cool place.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Oh yes, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, because we've had their Black Butte Porter.
We've had some of thevariations and such.
We've had some others, but Ithink that's really what they're
known for is their Black ButtePorter.
Yep, you know, and it'sdefinitely a good one, so you,
big bottling lines.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
They could bottle like 500 and some bottles a
minute.
Wow, they look like they are 10, 12 foot in diameter, these
bottling machines.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I suppose they just load them, like some of them.
We've seen where they just loadthem like bottles by the pallet
.
Yep, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
and it's just like wow, yeah, and they had the
conveyors that fed the bottlesinto there and it was just
spinning you bottles into thereand it was just spinning, you
know, filling them Interesting.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
So the next beer we got Brian, we're going to try is
Irresistible Amber Ale, andthis is by Madison River Brewing
Company.
And it's of course amber or redale, american amber, 5.5%, 28
IBUs, and Madison River Brewingis out of Belgrade, montana.
Let's see what they have to sayhere.
(21:53):
Oh, it's got a style guide thatsays this amber is created with
the use of choice hops and aunique blend of specialty malts
to produce a rich and tasty brew.
It is especially unique due toits original flavor, influenced
by biscuit and earthycharacteristics.
Then it gives beginning gravity14.5, ending 14.5, ending
Gravity 3.5, hops Magnum,willamette and Mount Hood Malts,
(22:19):
montana, two Row Barley,special B, crystal Caramel 80,
and Carapils Carapils, yeah.
So that's kind of interestingthat they give that?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Which hops did you say they used?
They have?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Magnum, willamette and Mount Hood.
Okay, so they got threedifferent ones.
In this one it looks like anamber.
I mean, they got the colorright, boy, that's got a little
different aroma to it.
Yeah, I'm trying to figure outwhat that is, boy.
What is that?
I'm trying to figure out whatthat aroma is, because I've
smelled beers like that before,but I'm trying to remember what
style they are.
Normally your ambers don'tsmell like that.
(22:52):
It's definitely a maltier amberthe flavor is better than the
aroma.
Yes, it definitely it.
The malt shines on it.
It's definitely a multicharacteristic.
Trying to see if I get like abiscuit.
It'll be interesting to see,once it warms up a little more,
if the flavor changes at allright boy, because usually you
know, we've had some ambers thathave really had a good flavor
(23:13):
and flavor-wise this isn't bad.
No, you know, I don't mind it.
Off of the aroma.
I was a little bit worried, I'mnot going to lie.
I was kind of like I don't knowif it's, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
But it's not bad.
Well, I say we can.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
There's still some in the bottle, we can come back
once we get done and try it.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yeah, we'll let the rest of that warm up and we'll
see what it's like, Because yeah, it's either going to get a
little smoother or we'll see ifit's one of them.
That's better cold Right, right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Usually you think if it's warmer, sometimes it's
better.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Better.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
yeah, but we've had some that the colder the better,
because when it warmed up oof.
Some of them have up a littlebit here because we've got
taster glasses, of course, andtrying to see what we can do
here.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I can't figure which.
Well, this is a magnum.
I haven't used a whole lot ofmagnum, hops, okay, but I've
used a lot of Mount Hood and theWillamette, so that aroma or
that little bit of a bite isn'tfrom those.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, Interesting.
So you wonder if it's themagnum, then, or if it's
something with you know,whatever they're doing.
So when they talked about likebeginning gravity and ending
gravity, what does thatdetermine in a beer?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
That tells you what the ABV is going to be.
Oh, so the so you're measuringhow much sugar is in the wort,
okay.
So yeah, after you get donebrewing it and adding your hops
in, when you put it in thefermenter, you take a reading
and that'll tell you how muchsugars are in the word.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That would be the beginning.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Gravity, yes, okay and anyone doesn't know wort is
your basically your sugar waterthat you make.
When you're making the beer,yep and uh, then when you put it
in the fermenter, the yeastyeast turns it into beer.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yep, so then at the end then you take another
reading and then that's how youfigure.
Okay, interesting.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That'll tell you, because there's times where your
yeast will stall out, so yourABV you planned on isn't
anywhere close to that.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
And if it's dependent on the beer stall, you may have
to try and kickstart it againto get it going.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Okay, and how would you do that?
Because?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
and kickstart it again to get it going.
Okay, and how would you do that?
Because you don't just dumpsugar in it or anything, do you?
No, I've actually been workingon that with one of my beers.
I'm trying to do an ImperialStout and my yeast keeps dying
off at 8%.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I tried just adding more yeast, but it just stayed
stalled out, didn't do nothing.
But I believe I need to getsome oxygen, pump oxygen into
the wort again, okay, and thatshould get the yeast activated.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Because now, based on the yeast, is there certain
like strains of yeast that willproduce higher alcohol,
naturally or not?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
really Is that there are strains of yeast, like your
London ales, your Trappist ales,abbey ales, that can live in
higher ABV environments where itdoesn't die off from the
alcohol, but like your normalmild yeast, like your American
(26:11):
ale yeast, and, yeah, they won'tstand up to anything over 8%.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
So another silly question.
But like brewer's yeast,whatever yeast you use for beer,
is that different than whatthey would use for, like, making
bread, or is it the same typeof?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
thing.
It is different.
It is different.
Okay, yeah, you can use it.
You know, if you're trying tomake some homebrew in a hurry,
you could use it, but you couldget some funky aftertaste.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Okay, I just wondered about that because you always
hear, you know, when you'retalking about yeast, you know,
and you always see the storiesabout oh you know, this was
bread, that or you know yeastthat wasn't made into beer, it
was made into bread, or whatever.
So I didn't know if it was thesame thing.
You know what I mean, but I'msure there's different.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Each yeast strain will give you different flavors
to the beer.
So I've never tried using abread yeast, but I've seen some
homebrew recipes where they sayto use it.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Oh, sure, and I'm sure some of the Belgian yeast
and stuff.
That's where you get almost abanana-type flavor.
Yes, right, yep, okay,interesting.
Well, I see you.
Still, I might as well go firston this.
This amber, I like it.
Like I said, the only part ofit that was a little
questionable to me was the aroma.
The initial aroma was a littlebit eh yeah, the flavor I
(27:26):
thought was decent.
I'm going to go.
I'm going to go a 2.6 on thisone myself.
I do like it and I think it's adecent amber.
You know, I wish that thatlittle bit of a funk on the
aroma wasn't there, because I'dhave probably went to like a 2.7
, maybe a 2.8.
But I could see where that mayturn somebody off.
(27:48):
Right, you know when you smellit and you're like eww, you know
, yep, that's my opinion anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
And that's what I was going to do.
I was going to give it a 2.7 iswhat I was going to give it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Same kind of reasons?
Yep.
Well, let's see, we talked abunch in there so I'm kind of
thirsty, so we might as well getthis next one going.
So this is by is this BentRiver?
Yep, bent River.
Let me see if we can get adescription All right here.
I'll give you that, brian.
So this is QC Haze by BentRiver Brewing Company, and
(28:19):
they're out of Moline, illinois.
Of course.
I've actually been to thatbrewery a couple times.
Oh nice, yep.
And they gave absolutely nodescription.
On untapped, it's a 7% ABV, 70,7-0, 70, 70 ibus.
You can get the hops right so Iwas hoping that they had at
least a little bit of adescription, and when we laid
(28:42):
these out, they, they kind offoamed a little.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, it's, it's a little, a little.
Uh, a little charged, yeah, alittle little carbonated, a
little bit more than normal,probably just because of how
long I've had it.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I mean you can definitely smell the hops, but
it smells good.
I mean it's not like a ooh.
I think it's got really a nicethat's interesting, like a
smooth aroma.
For sure.
It's got a little differentflavor, and not different in a
bad way, just different Like youcan get the hops.
You definitely can taste thehops, yes, but it's like almost
a crispness you know what I meanLike a bright kind of flavor,
(29:14):
almost Yep.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Interesting.
I'm kind of wondering if theyused fresh hops in it instead of
pellets, if they used freshleaf hops.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Of course you know it doesn't say I was going to say.
The writing that's on there isreally small so it's hard to
read it.
They didn't give a description.
So if you use the pelletizedhops, that has a different
flavor than if you use actual no, the pellet hops usually are a
little stronger.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Oh, okay, you need a lot more of the leaf hops.
Okay, Fresh leaf cones.
You need a lot more of them toequal the same amount of pellets
Of pellets.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Okay, so now what you grow?
A hop plant, what variety is?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
that Nugget Nugget, okay, nugget hops, which are
basically just a bittering hop,okay.
But yeah, we started out.
Our uncle's dentist I believeit was the receptionist there
had hops at her house and hewent to them for years.
So they always chit-chattedwhile they were waiting and he
had said that well, that Ibrewed beer.
So she brought in four rhizomesfrom her plants and gave to
(30:20):
them to give to me and, uh,that's went from four little
little flowers to, uh, takingover half the yard in the
backyard, oh yeah, and have youused them?
Speaker 1 (30:26):
have you brewed with them?
Okay, now I tell you you knowone of the beers that you make
that is really good, I think isyour, your spruce tip IPA.
Of course I'm a little bitbiased because the spruce tips
you got from my spruce trees.
I'd go out and pick them.
And then we sold that place andthe trees are still there.
But my brother-in-law got theextra trees we had left over and
(30:48):
they're growing by his drivewayand he's told me I could go and
pick them anytime I want.
So we didn't get out there.
I'm sure right now they'reprobably a little bit too big
now, right, uh, this time youhave to be out there earlier,
but maybe next year I can gopick some more.
But yeah, I mean that wasalways a cool when you, when you
try it, like I said, when, when, uh, I always thought it was
neat because it was my sprucetips and and stuff, but it had a
(31:10):
real mellow flavor.
But you definitely got thatspruce.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Oh, yeah, it was very tiny, yeah, you know, and it
was like really good.
And it's crazy because when itwhen it first made it, we put it
on after, and once I had cagedit, it was in there for probably
six weeks and we put it on andit was super piney oh yeah, like
almost too piney, you know, andreally, and uh, but there was
people that loved it, I meanjust loved it, and other people
you know Really, but there waspeople that loved it, I mean
just loved it, and other peopleyou know hated it.
(31:35):
Of course, that's the thingwith craft beer you either love
them or hate them.
Well, and that's especiallywith IPAs.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
I think hops are extremely polarizing.
You know, you get the peoplethat and a lot of people that,
especially when they're justeither just getting into it or
their, their main beer is likeyour big beer brand.
You know that they don't have alot of flavor.
So then when you get hops, they, they don't.
Oh, I don't like that, that'sbitter, you know, and it's like
you know.
But then there's people thatare the other way too.
(32:02):
And well, and I've told thisstory before, I mean one year I,
I drank almost nothing but IPAso I could get to where I could
stand them.
I did the same thing with sours, I'm not sure why, but I did,
but you know.
And now it's like you know andI give Jim credit, because when
we first started doing this hecouldn't stand IPAs, and now
he's actually coming around.
He's like you know, there'sactually some good ones, you
(32:22):
know, and I almost startedcrying, you know but yes,
exactly.
But you know, we're the sameway.
When we first started, I mean,ipas were like oh, you know, and
you just get used to it.
Yes, you know, but so anyway.
So you were saying that.
So some people loved it becauseit was really piney.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Yep, and after the first keg, that one, I only put
in like five gallon kegs, okay,so I stuck the rest of them
months.
We put one on again and, oh myGod, the flavors completely
changed.
It wasn't, it was.
It was.
When we first put it on, it wasalmost like you were licking on
(33:01):
a pine cone.
It was so piney, wow, and, andthen.
But now, after like sevenmonths of aging, oh man, it just
got to be a complex beer.
You got more of the maltflavors.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
And to be a complex beer.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Uh, you got more of the malt flavors and uh, yeah,
because when I tried it it wasreally good.
Yep, you know and that's justwild, how that and then changed
it, and once we put it on thesecond time, you know the same
batch then just oh yeah, itmoved really fast, right, right
people are like I shouldn't likethis, but it is.
So this is awesome, but I can'thelp myself.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh yeah, that's funny .
All right.
Well, let's see the QC Haze.
I'm kind of torn on it a littlebit.
I'm going to try a little bitmore.
The aroma to me was really good.
Flavor-wise it almost has asweetness.
Does it almost have like asweetness on the taste?
The initial?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
taste yes.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, on the taste, the initial taste, yes, it's it,
uh, and it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, yeah that's probably not helping, I mean,
right, so I don't know I'm gonna.
What do I do?
I'm gonna go.
I'm trying to decide.
Do I go?
Because you know we try not tohave ties, we try to yep.
Do I do a 2.3?
Or do I go a 2.7?
Because I do like the aroma,the flavor is decent'm going to
go a 2.3, partly because of howfizzy it is and then, like I
(34:16):
said, I do get a little bit of asweetness on it, which is not
bad.
But then when you get thatsweetness and then the hops kick
in, it almost makes it morebitter on the taste buds a
little bit.
So I think that maybe turnedsome people off.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
But it could, be like you said, if it was more fresh.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Uh, maybe it would have been a different flavor.
So just my opinion.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
I was gonna go a two, four I don't think I've done a,
two, four, um, so I was gonnado that.
You actually did it.
Oh, did I on the first one?
Speaker 1 (34:42):
okay two, five.
Okay, you have not done thatyet it's.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
I think it would have been better if it wasn't a
little charged in the bottle.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, I think that's, that's definitely, I
think, messing with the flavorsa little bit, and like I said,
it's still not bad, but we maywant to rinse out our glasses
because it definitely was foamy,all right.
So the next one we have isBatch 202 IPA, and this is by
Dick's Brewing Company andthey're out of Centralia,
(35:09):
washington.
So apparently this box was outof out of, uh, the west coast.
Apparently it started to foamup a little bit so we were like
so let's see, they're out ofcentralia, washington.
It says 202 ipa is a tropicalfruit and citrus hop blend of
goodness.
This beer is all about hop,flavor and aroma, brewed and dry
(35:31):
hopped with equinot, equinot,columbus, cascade and simcoe, so
it's got four different.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Should be pretty, no, oh 60, 6 abv and 60 ibus.
Smells good.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Got a little different flavor to it yeah, not
getting much of the hops, I'mjust getting a lot of the malt.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Well, I get some of the hop, but it's almost a.
It's definitely a bitter kindof a flavor.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, because usually when I've used the Econoc hops
it's been real and a realcitrusy beer yeah, I don't get
citrus at all, do you in thisone?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Because when it said about tropical, I was like Right
, you know tropical.
I was like right, you know, andthat's always one of those
that's I'm sure it's from.
Like you said before, you'retrying to get the
characteristics of the hop, butbecause some of the hops
definitely taste like grapefruit, you know, you get that kind of
a lemon zest type of a flavor,melon, melon and then you hear
the ones that are tropical andI've really have yet to have a
beer that really has really atropical hop flavor.
(36:30):
Right, you know what I mean.
You get it if they add mango orstuff like that, but you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
They always talk about these tropical hop flavors
and I don't necessarily know ifI've ever really had one that
tastes like a tropical yeah, youknow right, a lot of times, a
lot of them that they say aretropical, you mainly get like a
grapefruit flavor from it.
Okay, because I've definitelyhad the grapefruit.
(36:59):
When you taste it, man, thisone, I don't get citrus at all.
I'm getting more of just abitter yeah, kind of a note to
it, a maltier ipa.
They talked it up big.
Yeah, it sounded, yes, amazing,but it's not a bad beer, but
it's just this one.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
I wouldn't recommend this one to a new person going
into an ipa.
No, and not that it's superstrong uh hop flavor, but it's
got just that.
It's just it lingers, yeah, youknow, I mean I still got that
kind of that bitter hop on theon the back of my throat kind of
yeah flavor, I don't know dude,and this one's not really my no
(37:28):
favorite boy score wise, I'mdoing like a 2.2 on this one.
Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna do a2.3 yeah, I just I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
It's uh, it's disappointing.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I was looking forward to them too, and there you go,
they were both kind of just offa little bit, you know and, like
you said, it could be thatyou've had them for a while, but
but I I'm pretty sure they'repretty close to right what they
were before you know that onefoamed up a little bit when I
opened it, it's when we pouredit it didn't, it wasn't fizzed
up at all.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
So it wasn't.
No, not like the first one.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
First one, you know really foamed up, and then this
one really didn't have much of ahead at all on it when you
poured it, yep, but yeah, Idon't know.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I guess I'm just a little bummed by those, those
two but I'm glad I got thembecause because there's probably
a good chance I'll never getout to that brewery.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Well, you know that is the one thing that is kind of
cool with, like this Beer ofthe Month Club when you were
doing it, because these arebeers that we probably never
would have ever tasted before,right, you know, if they
wouldn't have been in it.
You know the one thing withthose clubs they are a little
expensive, you know, and I knowthere's shipping and such, and
sometimes you wondered with thebreweries that were in there and
that you're like, is it?
They're just kind of providingthe ones that don't sell real
(38:39):
well or what?
Right, you know, becauseremember the one time one of our
local breweries were in it andwe were like all excited because
we thought, oh, we're going tohave Oscars, you know, and it
was two other ones that were twoof their lighter ones.
Yeah, you know, and you're like, okay, you know.
So I don't know how they pickthem, you know, but I'm sure if
it's a huge seller, the brewerydoesn't have time to provide all
(38:59):
these bottles right to, like aclub like that and who knows,
maybe they, maybe the breweriesare sitting on some cases and
weren't able to get them get ridof them at the time, so they
sold them to that place.
Here you go you, you divvy themout you know.
So who knows?
But but still, like I said, Ido enjoy it and uh such, because
there's a lot of these beers wenever would have even known
about, you know and I liked itbecause it's like christmas
(39:22):
every month.
See you never knew what you'regonna get.
See santa showed up every month?
Speaker 2 (39:26):
awesome.
I just had to make suresomebody was at the house
because you had to sign for them.
Since it was alcohol, they wereshipping right.
The original uh delivery guywho was must, he must have
retired.
He must not have cared.
Towards the end he knew what itwas and who it was for, so he
just left it on the steps.
But the new ones won't do that.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Yeah, and then you got to go to the, so be to the
post office before they closeand, yep, no, all right.
Well, hey, we got one beer left, and this one I'm actually
really excited to try.
Uh, it could be bad, but younever know.
So this is also by the madisonriver brewing company, but this
one is their black ghost oatmealstout, seven and a half percent
(40:05):
abv.
And once again, madison riveris out of belgrade montana and
they have absolutely nodescription.
So I was just scrolling throughhere and a person on Untapped
had wrote a little thing and itsaid Montana, micro black with
tan head, mild nose, creamy andsmooth, with a little sweet, a
lot of malt and a nice dryfinish.
(40:27):
Chewy and good is what theysaid.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Like I I said it's always one of those.
It's nice when the brewery hasa description on there so you
just at least have a little bitof an idea, even though it's
their.
You know most of the time it'stheir marketing spin, but you
know, it's uh always interesting.
I do like the label.
It's got a bear with a salmonin his mouth on it looks like a
stout dark.
Has that, that tan head.
Well, I don't know an aroma.
(40:51):
I do get a little bit of amalty aroma, but not a whole lot
, I don't know that that onedoesn't just hmm, that one's got
almost a almost a funk to it.
A sour yeah, taste to it.
It's got a little bit of a funkto her.
That's interesting.
You wonder again like you saidyou've had this for a while if
(41:12):
could it have went bad.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
I doubt it, though, with a stout right and it's been
always been in the dark coolplace so down in the corner of
the basement boy I'm.
I'm almost thinking that mighthave been from the process, that
something went.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
You know, right it almost reminds me of remember
some of the times when you tasteand it's almost.
It's almost like it's too young.
You know what I mean when youhave a young beer.
It has almost like that kind ofa soury taste to it.
Now, this isn't young, but it'sgot that like they put some
sour in it, like sour cherry orsome kind of a weird.
Yeah, yep, you know, boy, Ihate to say it, but that's kind
(41:49):
of a disappointment.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yes, I had high hopes for that one.
I do like the label.
I may have to try and peel thatlabel off, but boy I just kind
of I don't know if I want asecond taster of that one.
I was going to say it's wow.
I don't know.
Typically, if I had one thatgot that flavor, I'd dump it
down the drain, which sucks.
I hate dumping batches down,but I said if I don't like it
(42:12):
I'm not going to serve it, right.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, I'm sure, when you've listened to the podcast,
when Jim and I have been talkingand we have had beers, that
you're just like that's bad.
And Jim he's like does thebrewmaster sit there, taste it
and go, that's what I waslooking for, or does he go, oh,
get it out of here.
Right, you know, you justwonder, yep.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Well, especially some of these where they distribute,
when they're doing 10 barrelsat a time or more, when they're
doing a big batch, it'sexpensive to dump it.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
you know, yep, but boy, I don't know.
It doesn't taste like salmon,but it definitely doesn't taste
like 99.9% of the stouts thatwe've had.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
It does kind of remind me, like you said, almost
like when they put like a tartcherry in it but it didn't say
anything about cherry.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Yeah, there was no description on untapped.
I don't know.
If on the bottle there'sanything, what's the?
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Nope, just the Surgeon General Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Yeah, so they didn't give any kind of description, so
I mean 7.5% give any kind ofdescription.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
So I mean seven and a half percent.
It drinks pretty smooth forseven and a half percent.
I give them that yep, butflavor wise it uh needs a little
, a little something.
Yeah, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm gonnahave to go with two for a
rating on that one.
Yeah, I'm gonna join you thereand hopefully it's just this
bottle, maybe something,something happened.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Right, yeah, because we've had that before, where you
have one bottle of a beer andit's amazing, get it out of the
same six-pack or whatever, andit's just really bad.
You know Right, but I don'tknow.
Yeah, this one is just notsuper.
No.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Super good.
That's disappointing, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
So I guess, looking at our scores, I guess we're in
agreement that I guess thewinner of this group was the
Irresistible Amber.
It was basically the best one,and then we had the Double
Mountain.
Kolsch was two.
So yeah, it was definitelyinteresting to see what these
are.
Like you know, and like I said,we never would have tried any
(44:11):
of these.
Well, I take that back becauseI was at Benton River, so you
know I could have had this onebefore, but when I looked I
don't think I had, but the restof them, I'd never even heard of
them.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Yeah, I was part of that group, I think, for three
years.
I think I got it and that wasjust reason why, because you
know, there's so many breweriesacross the country and, like I
said, we maybe had one or two inthat whole time of the
breweries that we had been to,yeah, so it was fun just seeing
what the other places were doing.
Like I said, they were hit ormiss.
Some were really bad, some werereally just amazing, right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
You know and it's kind of interesting because like
this one, a lot more of themwere you didn't get a whole lot
of stouts.
You got some, but not hugenumbers.
It was more kind of your lagerspilsners.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
IPAs, stuff like that .
It depended on the time of theyear too, because come fall
you'd get a lot of Oktoberfest.
Yeah, spring, you'd get a lotof box.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
No, I did.
I had looked online one timeand I saw they had kind of a
club like that, but it was forbarrel-aged beers.
Aged beers, but holy cow,there's no way you could afford
to be in that very long, becauseit was expensive, you know.
So I was like, nah, never mind,we can find those.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
So yeah, I'd even seen some breweries that do that
.
They offer, uh, their barrelclubs they call them and uh, you
got like I think it was likeone I don't know if it's one
bottle a month or something theyhave they have barrel-aged
beers going, so each month you'dget a different barrel-aged
beer.
You got a free pour orsomething at the brewery, yeah,
(45:41):
and maybe I can't remember if itwas a free crawler, fill or
growler or something.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Well, I know Jim and I are members of the Barrel
Society.
At Three Sheeps we went intogether and joined.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Where is Three sheeps out?
There over, like in sheboyganit's over towards uh milwaukee
kind of over in that area, uh,but uh, we haven't.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Every so often we're getting email because we we're
guaranteed, when they have abarrel society release, we
automatically get two bit, twobottles.
It's covered by our membership,yep, and then they, of course,
then they introduce all theseother barrel age beers and
they'll send you an email.
Hey, this one's going to bereleased and if you know, being
in the barrel society, you canorder one.
You know, however, up tohowever many bottles you know,
(46:25):
and, and they have a selleringprogram, they call it.
So, like our beers are allsitting together and we can
drive over, we have to do.
We just have to pick them allup by january, something of next
year oh, okay, and they'll.
They'll store them for a yearyep and uh, so that we've
already bought.
I don't know how many extraones we've bought, but it's,
it's going to be interesting totry some of these because, uh,
(46:47):
they sound really interesting,you know, and you know, so we'll
buy an extra bottle of this,bottle of that, whatever it is,
you know, but, uh, yeah, soit'll be neat and, like I said
when we joined it, it'sexpensive, you know, and we're
just like, oh geez, you know,but same thing, we can go.
They have the barrel society.
Nice, well, it's.
You know, that's a number ofhours from here and they usually
(47:08):
have them on it's like sundayyou know, and it's like well, we
aren't going to be able, but wedo have to plan a trip sometime
this summer to go over thereand maybe pick up the first
batch and all that good stuff.
But it'll be interesting to seehow that goes and, like for
next year, we'll see how it goes.
I don't know if we'll join thatone again or if we'll do a
different one, I don't know.
We have to wait and see.
(47:29):
Yep, you know how it goes, butit's definitely interesting, so
Cool.
So yeah, I guess, like I said,we're pretty much in agreement,
I think, with our scores.
I think the Ember was one, theKolsch was two, and then they
kind of just went from there.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
So yeah, then I poured us each a taster of
Buffalo Sweat and Oatmeal Stout.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Oatmeal stout, yeah, I said because it tastes a
little bit, a little bit betterthan that I say we can't end the
show with that stout yeah, that, that uh black ghost one was.
This one doesn't taste like uh,no, doesn't taste sour like
that one no, you guys want agood oatmeal cream stout at tall
grass brewing.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
Uh, their buffalo sweat is amazing um, yeah, they
they're actually teamed up withwichita brewing.
Wichita brewing is brewing thethe buffalo sweat for tall grass
, because tall grass got rid oftheir production facility and
went back to just a tap roomyeah, because they and they had.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
It was just kind of crazy because they had tall
grass was known for buffalosweat, and they had other beers
that they did, but they didn'tsell as much.
You know, they weren't aspopular by far.
And then they and they hadother beers that they did, but
they didn't sell as much, theyweren't as popular by far.
And then they had put a $7.5million expansion on their
facility and all that.
And then shortly after thatthey were gone, they were shut
down and it really just was abummer, because Buffalo Sweat
(48:46):
was like my favorite just go-tooatmeal stout.
I mean you could drink it andit's just glorious, you know.
And then they were shut downfor a while and then they did
come back, but then you couldonly get it in Kansas and a
friend of ours well, bk, hestill has family in Kansas, so
he went down there and hebrought back, I think like a
case of it for us or something,yep.
And well, now you said you'refinding it in Iowa.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
Yeah, I can get it in Lake Mills at the grocery store
, so they're starting to slowlyget back into a little more
distribution.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
So that's good, because it's still a very good
beer.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Yes, it was definitely better than the last
tote.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
If this would have been grouped with these, this
would have been the winner ofthis group by far.
Yep, well, awesome, well, brian, thank you so much for bringing
these uh beer of the month clubbeers because, like I said, we
didn't know what we're gonna try.
And, uh, it was cool.
I'm glad we tried them, eventhough a couple of them were
kind of but yep, but still, theywere really good.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
Yeah, well, thanks for inviting us over.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, we gotta gotta do it moreoften, oh, yeah get away from
the brewery for a weekend.
Speaker 1 (49:50):
There you go, that is for sure.
So I know we've got some plansto.
We're going to be up in theNorthwoods together here in a
few weeks and do some run around.
We're not going to probably doany recording on that.
That's more.
They have like some t-shirtruns that we go on and you have
to stop at different resorts andhave a drink and then you get a
(50:13):
t-shirt after the you knowthese different ones they have.
So that's more going to be justan enjoyable weekend.
So anyway, uh, yeah, I'm surewe will uh probably record some
more yet and, uh, try some otherbeers.
See what we come up with.
So, hey, like we always say,ladies and gentlemen, I hope
your campfire is always warm andyour beer is always cold see
you.
Thank you for listening to thenorthwoods beer guy podcast.
If you you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
(50:35):
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
your beer is cold.
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