Month: November 2020

Attendants: 

Chuck, Evan, Jim S., Chris, Cody, Nate, Ryan, Jeff A., Jeff O., Colter, Aaron, Gordon, Charles 

Meeting Recap:

'Twas a showdown of amazing beers at a great venue with a raging fire pit to set the mood. 

Beers:

• *All notes were taken in the dark with a headlamp dimming by the hour; thanks Jeff for the headlamp, as without it we likely wouldn't have notes from this meeting and would have never seen the color of any of the beers.  
• Chris – Weiss Bier – “Weis, Weis, Baby” – 70% what beer brewed after covid. A nice 5.2% brew that was drinkable, bubble, accompanied by a pleasant yeast profile. “Noted as “Snappy and sweet” Brewed with Hallertau and German yeast from Wyeast. 
• Charles – Kolsch – A wet hopped beer that came across dank on the palate, brewed with Chinook and featured a slightly tart profile. 
• Colter – A Kviek/Pils – 100% Lutra Pils, brewed with Liberty & Mt. Hood hops. It came across as a bitter brew. Yeast was pitched at 81° and was finished fermenting in 2 days. 
• Jeff A. – Belgian Wit – At 4.7% and brewed with EKG, coriander and orange peel brewed on Wyeast 3944. This was his 5th attempt at this beer. This beer featured a balanced spice profile that was well perceived by the club. 
• Charles – Berliner Weisse – This brew featured a pale yellow color on a crisp and dry notes as well as slightly tart finish; brewed on a Philly Sour pitch pack for a one and done type brew. 
• Charles – Marzen – This bright copper colored beer came across as extra clean in the palate and the finish. Brewed on Diamond 308.
• Chuck – California Common I – This beer featured Northern brewer hops and brewed on California Lager yeast 2112. It showcased a pleasant subtle sweetness to it. This beer was different from the next one sampled as it was force carbonated in the keg. 
• Chuck – California Common II – This beer was part of the same batch as above as it was a split batch. This beer was krausened for the carbonation. This proved to be a nice taste comparison experiment for Chuck as well as the club to perceive the differences in approach to this beer. Some of the noted differences were noted as, “A little more raw.”, “A less jagged profile and a much more rounded palate profile.”. 
• Ryan Clark – American Brown Ale –  This beer was dropped off with Evan from a newer guy looking to join up with our club in the future. At 5.2%, 29 IBU's and a 20 SRM; brewed with EKG, Mt. Hood, and Willamette hops. This beer was clean and made others compare it to “Ellie's Brown” from Avery or “Face Down Brown” from Telluride Brewing; some commented that it has a good profile but could use a little more backbone from the malt, which led to questions about mash temperature and other processes. We would love to talk shop with you in the future Ryan, thanks for sending us a sample.  
• Cody – Biere de garde – Also dubbed as the competition beer that never happened. Sorry Cody, I have no notes on this beer as this was my pee in the bushes break, but it served me well as I watered Jim's backyard.
• Evan – Irish Red – This brew sat in the fermented at cold crash temperatures for 6 months during the 'rona. It was really clear and provided a crisp clean big malty experience. 
• Jeff A. – Imperial Cherry Saison – This slight sweet, light and crisp brew was hard to tell that it rang in at 9.3%.  Brewed with EKG, Caramuinich, Vienna, Wheat, and 2-row malts and pushed into flavor town with 3lbs of dark sweet cherries and 1 1/4 lbs. of montmorency cherries. 
• Jeff A. – Rauchbier – Brewed with Carafa III,  C60° and Liberty hops. Brewed with 4lbs of smoked pils that Jeff smoked at home for 11 hours on alder wood at his house. This large profile beer really knocked the socks of the lovers of smoked beers featuring a huge home run of smoke flavor. Noted by the peanut gallery as “Where is the bacon?”
• Jeff O. – Golden Old Ale – This whisky aged brew made with Dean, Jeff, Gordon, and Voss as a joint adventure brew. This nice and dry was a “Best in Show”; with perceptions of a nice and dry profile, as well as a creamy body that had hints of dark fruit, nuts, and a touch of a whisky barrel with a wine like nose. 
• Charles – Session IPA – 4.6% -Dubbed as “Trump Hands IPA”. This small handed IPA featured a mango nose infused with tropical fruit and pineapple; it was noted as “A clean, fresh and delicious brew.”
• Jeff A. – Mosaic IPA, 7.2% This beer featured Mosaic, Cascade and Citra Hops as well as some homegrown Neo hops. Out the gun the comment was made “This is fucking delicious Jeff!” This dark copper beer was clean and on point! 
• Aaron – Hazy IPA – As stated this beer was made with a fuckload of chloride and brewed on a low attenuating yeast and dry hopped at high krausen. Brewed with 25% oats and 75% pils malts. A real showcase of flavor and of brewing technique in his quest to master this style. 
• Chris – West Coast IPA – Dubbed as “6 Hops Away” Brewed with Cascade and Centennial for the dry addition This insanely dry beer was quite mouthfuckering. 
• Aaron – Uncarbonated Stout – This underattinuated beer brewed on charred oak gave way for subtle sweetness and a coconut nose. 
• Ryan + Nate – Vanilla Rye Barrel Aged Stout – This beer was met with rave reviews and comments like, “How many marshmallows did you use?”, and “Am I getting some hints of Swiss Miss?”; This insanely sweet brew had hints of coconut layered on a complex bed of flavors that left the tasters yearning for more of its rich and heavy mouthfeel. Excellent brew, one to be remembered. 
• Ryan + Nate – Barrel Aged Quad – This was 2 batched blended one of them from a 1st use bourbon barrel.
• Charles – Belgian Strong Pils with a Pino Wine Kit – 9.5% – This classic Golden Strong Beer for the base was altered with notes of fruit for a complex and pleasant blend.  
• Ryan + Nate – Syrah – Made with buckets of grapes from Altitude vineyard in California. Made in Fall of '18 this featured notes of toffee, a rich ruby red color and a syrupy end spotted with complex carmel notes. It was noted that it lacks the typical tannin experience that one would expect.
• Nate + Ryan – Raspberry Chocolate Port – 18% – This boozy, chocolate drink went down smooth for a frankenkit experiment. A real treat when this is brought somewhat annually to club meetings. 
• Really – 24 beers sampled? Holy shit this was a big night, all before 9:00pm.