Jan 01 2011
Beer Church
Inspires Sinners and Saints Alike
The Ten Commandments
10 Commandments
A stronger version of our Lost and Found Abbey Ale brewed to a more contemplative alcohol content. Massive in every stretch of the brewing way possible this is the sort of beer that will remind a beer drinker who considers themselves a saint that even saints stray as sinners from time to time.
Not for the faint of heart, this beer weighs in at a heavenly 9% ABV and is available in 750 ml bottles and on draft at select locations.
ABV: 9%
View from the Pew at Beer Church:
Brother Steve: Taste: Full around the mouth taste, of mincemeat. Savory, with a slightly sharp after taste. Malt flavor and a warming honey finish.
Rating: 5 Stars
Brother Brad: Taste: Thick chocolate taste. A long lingering sweet malt finish.
Rating: 5 Stars
Brother Joe Aroma: A fruit and nut with a hint of alcohol in the air.
Taste: Thick presence on tongue, full taste of mincemeat or honey and raisin.
Mouth: Carbonation, lingering taste after swallowing.
Appearance: Dark chocolate with a dark full head leaving a slight lacey
pattern after settling down.
Rating: 5 Stars
I was a bit shocked when the beer foamed upon opening. A full ¼ to 1/3 of the beer was spewed onto the table. It may have been the handling from the West Coast to the East Coast that caused this or maybe something else I am not aware of.
High Tide
Fresh Hop IPA
High Tide
Each and every fall, we experience a coastal experience in San Diego known as the “Super High Tide.” This happens later in the Fall Season when the tidal swings reach a range of about 8 feet in difference between low and high tides. When this happens, there are days when the tide just gets too high and flattens out the surf. The lineups shut down and surfers are left to wait until the High Tide recedes.
While waiting for the tides to shift in your favor, might we suggest a High Tide IPA?
Brewed only once each year to coincide with the Hop Harvest in Yakima Washington, High Tide IPA is made with 180 lbs of Fresh Hops per batch that are plucked from the vines and sent straight to our brewery. We skip the whole drying and processing stage which means the hops are ultra fresh and full of flavors we can’t normally get. Like grapes, Hops are only harvested one time each year and as such, we make what we can when we get them.
The recipe is very simple and basic with an emphasis on the variety of hops we select each year. Lately, we have selected Centennial and Chinook hops for our High Tide IPA. We used Centennial at the end of the boil and Chinook for the Dry Hopping. Now that we have brewed High Tide, we will sit and wait for the ultra High Tides of Fall to arrive knowing full well that we have sufficient stocks of great beer to get us through the flattest of sessions. We hope you’ll stock up too.
Malts – Two Row
Kettle Hops – Amarillo Pellets
Whirlpool – Centennial Fresh Hops
Dry Hop – Chinook Fresh Hops
Yeast – White Labs- Port Brewing Proprietary Yeast Strains
Original Gravity – 1.062
Terminal Gravity – 1.012
ABV – 6.50%
Availability – Early Fall Release
Views from the Pews at Beer Church
Brother Brad: Aroma: Apricot
Taste: Very bitter, but mellowing upon 2nd and 3rd tastes
Finish: Hops just as the names implies.
No star rating
(It should be noted that Brother Brad has stated in the Confessional that he is not a fan of bitter hops. Although as he willingly admits, “There is not a beer that I would pass up.”)
Brother Steve: Aroma: Apricot/Peach
Taste: very hoppy
Finish: sour after taste, bitter yet smooth
Rating: 4 Stars
Brother Joe: Aroma: Peach fruit
Mouth: bitter front and rear of mouth full hop up front taste
Finish: Dry and cutting hop taste. Beer grew less bitter and smoother on 2nd and 3rd taste.
Rating: 5 Stars, excellent hoppy IPA
Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
Our Finest Regards
From Pretty Things to you this winter season: "Our Finest Regards". Two years into our project and we're grateful and amazed that so many people love and support great beer these days. The fact that we're still here is a credit to you all.
But for the question of primary importance: What is the beer?
Well, it's our Pretty Things barleywine. Inspired by malted barley, a tribute to the barleycorn. Yes, it's simple, but that's what barleywines are all about. Ever since brewing in England, Dann has dreamed of making a barley-focused beer using the malts of Yorkshire (and never hesitates to plug his favorite: Thomas Fawcett & Sons).
Give barley a chance and this mysterious little grain can do grand things!
To get the density of sugars needed for this sort of beer, we employed "double mashing". The brewhouse that we work on can only get to maybe 18 plato for a single running of wort: but we wanted 27 plato! So we combined two brews by running wort into the kettle and then using it to mash in the second batch. We don't take credit for this idea. We're certain it has been done many, many times before. But it wasn't until Will Meyers (the great Cantabridgian Cervecero) brought this method to our attention that we realized we could brew a barleywine of proper gravity... (he never told us that he hadn't actually performed this sort of brewing before!). Anyway, it works!!
We fermented with a blend of English and Belgian yeast strains that seemed to work quite well together fermenting down to 4 plato in short order (that's 13.5% abv if you're counting). Expect an aroma of juicy sultanas, malted milk balls, and alcohol deliciousness. It's got a medium body and is a little more spritsy than we're sure the Brits would like. Serve over 50 degrees fahrenheit in a stemmed glass.
Very suitable to drink this year or next, or even the winter after that!
View from the Pew at Beer Church
Brother Joe: Aroma: I was not able to detect any specific aroma.
Taste: Fruit, honey,
Mouth: Thin syrupy feel, alcohol feel an cheeks, warm presence
Finish: Full and quick ending, no lingering after taste.
Rating: 3 Stars
Brother Steve: Mouth: full flavor
Aroma: Caramel
Finish: slight sharp after taste
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
Comment: Less going on than with the 10 Commandments
Brother Brad: Aroma: Licorice
Taste: Molasses. Full mouth feel.
Rating: 5 Stars
The people in the pew think the Pretty Things will be quite different with aging.
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