A word about Mid-Atlantic Brewing: those guys are painfully old. Forget the fact that beer nerds tend to be a naturally occlusive bunch--even yours truly, Beer Populist and Ogden Street Die-hard, will gently turn his nose up to the n00b who wanders into the middle of a beer conversation and talks about how Magic Hat #9 blew his mind--but on the real, those dudes think it's still 1980, when Anchor Steam was cutting edge, and new beer either sank or swam based on the self-gratifying bulls**t opining of a small cabal of carbuncular brew-geeks. Well, those guys are now about thirty years older, fifty pounds heavier, and just as obstinate.
These are the guys who show up in droves to tastings at RFD or Rustico and hijack the proceedings. These are the guys who won't talk to you unless your name ends with "Oliver" or "Calagione," despite the fact that they think Sierra Torpedo is "cutting-edge." (Citra Hops = Biggest. Letdown. Ever.) These are the guys who spend half their lives in bars and don't know how to tip. These are the guys who think they've "earned" the right to tell you what to drink, even though half of them probably don't even homebrew. You want REAL beer knowledge? It's out there, buddy; and it's not in the hands of those old farts.
Come to us. H.H. will drop serious brew knowledge whenever, wherever. And we promise to never, ever, ever, condescend.
Time Lapse Hoptimology
Ogden Street Brewery Hops, aged 4 weeks
...And again, aged 8 weeks (late-May)Look at the little guys go!
We've had a fairly wet spring here in the District, and no doubt all that water has helped our hops skyward. The second plant from the left, in particular, has become more intrepid than the others; notice the offshoots right around deck-level. Sampson explains: when the plant can no longer grow upward as rapidly due to space constraints, it knows to splice itself, so it can grow horizontally. Smart plants, no?
So far, the only pests I've personally encountered were a couple of daring ladybugs making their rounds on a mid-level leaf. (I say 'pests' because ladybugs do eat leaves, but not hop leaves. They must have gotten lost on the way to the mulberry tree.) Some of the plants have the characteristic tripartite leaf shape (think the Canadian Maple leaf, but with more scooped edges and less pronounced tips), but one of the vines has leaves with a more classic, almost chevron-like shape to them. These rounded, arrow-tip-shaped leaves are cupped near the base, and on a recent inspection, I found the two buggers holed up there. Snug as bugs in a rug, er, leaf.
One last note: OSB's next project is a mulberry-wheat ale, with all-organic mulberries plucked right in the Brouwerij's backyard (shot out to Reese.) Possible live-blogging of the brewing process, plus specs, coming your way soon enough.
What the OS Brewers are doing right now:
MLB '09 The Show for PS3.
Sampson can't wait for the Matt Wieters Show to hit Camden Yards
Bob can't thank Yovani Gallardo enough
Tim can't believe David Ortiz has one home run all year
Review: Founder's Double Trouble
Everyone basically jumped on the Founder's bandwagon when they hit the District this year. This sort of thing seems to happen about once every six months: some hotshot microbrewery from Michigan or Colorado or Louisiana finally makes it to the East Coast and everyone blows their load (except the Mid-Atlantic Brewing people, who automatically disdain the new beer because it wasn't aroun
d during the Carter Administration.) Last year it was Green Flash/Mad River etc. This year so far, it's Blue Point/Kona/Duck-Rabbit, and Founder's is the latest in this line.
Let Heights Hops be the first to say that, unlike some of these other arrivistes, Founders is the real deal. Their porter is the creamiest, caramel-est, nuttiest, chocotastic-est delight this side of the Harpoon Leviathan series. Their Cerise is a Belgian-style dream in the vein of a sweeter Oude Beersel Kriek. And their big, progressive scotch-style brew, quite frankly, mops the floor with a more traditional submission like Skullsplitter.
Therefore, I had relatively high hopes for their Double Trouble, a Double IPA supposedly in the mold of the Great Divide Hercules or the Steelhead 2xPale.
Review:
Nose: Many West-Coast style IPAs tend to be robust, floral and citrusy, while their Midwestern and East-Coast contemporaries are more restrained. Double Trouble, which comes from Michigan, splits the difference. Mild, fragrant, and malty, with tantalizing notes of grapefruit, lime and kiwi.
Body: Deeper and richer in color than your typical Pale. I wanted to call it burnt orange, but really, it's almost beige.
Palate: The bottle advertises, shamelessly, 86 Bittering Units. They were not kidding. Bitter at the front, but in that indefinably appealing way that Hop Head Red or Hercules manages to overwhelm with hoppiness while not giving away too much of its hand. Juicy, wet hoppiness remains midway. Accompanied by ascorbic notes, lemon, spice and pine.
Finish: The mouth feels wet from the hoppiness at the end. It is not an entirely pleasant feeling, however. One wishes the slickness of the conclusion could be tempered.
Overall: I had higher hopes for this beer. Still, if you're an IPA person, it's worth a buy. At 9.4% ABV, anyway, you'll feel exponentially better about your purchase with each brew quaffed.
Final Rating: **1/2
We've had a fairly wet spring here in the District, and no doubt all that water has helped our hops skyward. The second plant from the left, in particular, has become more intrepid than the others; notice the offshoots right around deck-level. Sampson explains: when the plant can no longer grow upward as rapidly due to space constraints, it knows to splice itself, so it can grow horizontally. Smart plants, no?
So far, the only pests I've personally encountered were a couple of daring ladybugs making their rounds on a mid-level leaf. (I say 'pests' because ladybugs do eat leaves, but not hop leaves. They must have gotten lost on the way to the mulberry tree.) Some of the plants have the characteristic tripartite leaf shape (think the Canadian Maple leaf, but with more scooped edges and less pronounced tips), but one of the vines has leaves with a more classic, almost chevron-like shape to them. These rounded, arrow-tip-shaped leaves are cupped near the base, and on a recent inspection, I found the two buggers holed up there. Snug as bugs in a rug, er, leaf.
One last note: OSB's next project is a mulberry-wheat ale, with all-organic mulberries plucked right in the Brouwerij's backyard (shot out to Reese.) Possible live-blogging of the brewing process, plus specs, coming your way soon enough.
What the OS Brewers are doing right now:
MLB '09 The Show for PS3.
Sampson can't wait for the Matt Wieters Show to hit Camden Yards
Bob can't thank Yovani Gallardo enough
Tim can't believe David Ortiz has one home run all year
Review: Founder's Double Trouble
Everyone basically jumped on the Founder's bandwagon when they hit the District this year. This sort of thing seems to happen about once every six months: some hotshot microbrewery from Michigan or Colorado or Louisiana finally makes it to the East Coast and everyone blows their load (except the Mid-Atlantic Brewing people, who automatically disdain the new beer because it wasn't aroun
d during the Carter Administration.) Last year it was Green Flash/Mad River etc. This year so far, it's Blue Point/Kona/Duck-Rabbit, and Founder's is the latest in this line.Let Heights Hops be the first to say that, unlike some of these other arrivistes, Founders is the real deal. Their porter is the creamiest, caramel-est, nuttiest, chocotastic-est delight this side of the Harpoon Leviathan series. Their Cerise is a Belgian-style dream in the vein of a sweeter Oude Beersel Kriek. And their big, progressive scotch-style brew, quite frankly, mops the floor with a more traditional submission like Skullsplitter.
Therefore, I had relatively high hopes for their Double Trouble, a Double IPA supposedly in the mold of the Great Divide Hercules or the Steelhead 2xPale.
Review:
Nose: Many West-Coast style IPAs tend to be robust, floral and citrusy, while their Midwestern and East-Coast contemporaries are more restrained. Double Trouble, which comes from Michigan, splits the difference. Mild, fragrant, and malty, with tantalizing notes of grapefruit, lime and kiwi.
Body: Deeper and richer in color than your typical Pale. I wanted to call it burnt orange, but really, it's almost beige.
Palate: The bottle advertises, shamelessly, 86 Bittering Units. They were not kidding. Bitter at the front, but in that indefinably appealing way that Hop Head Red or Hercules manages to overwhelm with hoppiness while not giving away too much of its hand. Juicy, wet hoppiness remains midway. Accompanied by ascorbic notes, lemon, spice and pine.
Finish: The mouth feels wet from the hoppiness at the end. It is not an entirely pleasant feeling, however. One wishes the slickness of the conclusion could be tempered.
Overall: I had higher hopes for this beer. Still, if you're an IPA person, it's worth a buy. At 9.4% ABV, anyway, you'll feel exponentially better about your purchase with each brew quaffed.
Final Rating: **1/2
3 comments:
Founders' Centennial IPA gets a **** from me, but their Red's Rye just a *1/2.
The Centennial IPA is substantially similar to Bell's Two Hearted (also ****). And that is very high praise. Perfectly balanced. American IPAs don't get much better than these two.
The Red's Rye was disappointing. It needed more of a backbone. There was no bite to it - I'd even call it maudlin. And it didn't help that my main point of comparison was Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye (****1/2).
Word. Hop Rod Rye is pretty much the gold standard for Rye Brews.
Does the Centennial IPA use centennial hops?
I believe that it is continually hopped with nothing but centennial hops just like the Two Hearted.
Post a Comment