Poor planning is the key to flexibility!

April 5, 2016April 5, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 33 Comments

Week 14 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously! Shochu. …And its a fail!

If y’all (I swear I’m catching this accent from my Southern friends) remember, I got pretty sick last week. From Wednesday through the weekend, I was out of commission with the flu. I canceled all my appointments, I barely did any writing – thank goodness I had some stuff prepared ahead of time for the A to Z challenge. And needless to say, I didn’t get out of the house to buy “booze of the week” Shochu. If I’d just bought the stuff the week before when I got the saké… Like I said, poor planning. I’m going to have to send you to Lula for her take on the “yellow liquor” –another Japanese offering this week.

So since I can’t report on shochu, I thought we could talk about Godzilla… Just kidding! I’m going to update you on the home brewing operation at Radioactive Monsters Brewing Company —aka my kitchen. But that’s what we’re going to call it now that the first two brews: The Belgian Blonde and the English Ale are kicked.

First up: King Kong Kolsche. A Kolsche is a classic style of ale that originated in Cologne, Germany. It has a clean, pure malt flavor with mild bitterness, subtle fruit notes and a crisp finish. It isn’t a high ABV (alcohol by volume) brew so it’s perfect for summer drinking by the pool. This is what we would refer to as a “session” beer!

Next: The long anticipated —wait for it— RODAN RED! (Here’s your beer, Rob!) The Rodan Red is an Irish Ale. Look at the beautiful color:

Oh, it turned out so nice… Full of flavor, slightly bitter finish… Put both of these brews in the win column. And speaking of win, how about those Villanova Wildcats?!? More about them in another post!

So sorry about the shochu fail, guys! Next week, I promise to do better!

酒 Saké

March 29, 2016March 29, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 30 Comments

Week 13 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously. Saké.

Saké, the traditional potent potable of Japan, is not a spirit, not a wine -like many believe (the term rice wine is a misnomer) and not exactly a beer either. It is made from rice in a brewing process better described by Jeff’s book (which I hope you have all purchased by now!):

I will try to synopsize: Rice is polished to remove the bran, the rice is used to make the fermentable mash from which the saké is distilled. The amount of polishing of the rice determines the type of saké that results. This is a ridiculous oversimplification.

The finished product is a clear beverage weighing in at about 15% alcohol. So here’s my saké story… I invested in a premium bottle, a Japanese import. Drank a glass with a lovely Asian dish prepared at home, on Saturday evening. I was not impressed. I didn’t think it tasted… well, like anything, actually. It was very mild -so much so that I couldn’t even pick up any of the subtleties one might taste in a wine or beer, for example. Just to make sure I wasn’t missing something, I actually contacted Jeff about it. He told me the flavors are often delicate. But, he also informed me the brand I bought sucks! Ha! My bad! Should’ve asked before I spent $45. C’est la vie…

I went back to the liquor store for another go, this time, armed with a recommendation from the author. Turns out about $15 will buy a nice domestic sakè: Momokawa Organic Sakè made in Oregon. Man, what a difference! It actually tasted like stuff! I’m still having a hard time describing it. It’s more like wine (maybe sherry, but lighter) than anything else, but not quite. I drank it slightly cooler than room temperature, not cold. Because I literally came home, unscrewed the cap and drank it straight from the bottle. Yeah, I know…. But in my defense, I was pressed for time. It warms on the way down! Sakè may be served heated, too. That did not appeal. I am pleasantly surprised. I am so glad I went back and tried again. Or else I would have been left with the wrong impression. And since it might be easy to forget you’re drinking a potent potable because of the light and delicate flavor, I’ve included some Japanese wisdom – don’t be the nail that sticks out! 😀

Oh, and Godzilla’s excited for you to try it. (You really didn’t think I could go to Japan and not include Godzilla, now did you?) Go visit Lula to see how she drank her sakè!

Loose Cannon

March 22, 2016April 2, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 21 Comments

Week 12 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously! Cask conditioned Ales.

For my adventure this week, I drank Heavy Seas Brewing Company’s Loose Cannon on cask. This is not a beer you find at the supermarket or the beer distributor. A cask conditioned ale is only found on tap at a pub or restaurant. This is a very cool thing, people! Imagine having fresh beer, full of flavor, not force carbonated, poured from a wooden cask via gravity, the way a pub owner would have served you in the days before mass-produced beer. Oh, and it’s not ice cold, either. Say what, now?

First of all, the casks:

Remember the post about bourbon barrel aged beer? How brewers are using discarded bourbon barrels to age a Belgian Tripel, for example? The barrel actually adds flavor to the brew. Heavy Seas uses not just one type of barrel to condition the ale. From their website: “In our collection of casks, we possess 11 wooden barrels. These barrels vary in age and make: American or European oak, toasted or untoasted wood, converted from wine or whiskey barrels. Wooden casks like these bring history and flavor nuances to the beer.”

The way it’s conditioned:

Before the ale has been filtered, carbonated, or kegged, it gets siphoned into a cask. The casks are stored in a ‘cellar’ for a time, allowing the yeast to settle to the bottom.

The way it’s served:

At cellar temperature, which is maybe in the 50-degree range, cool but not cold. But serving at that temperature doesn’t numb your taste buds and all the flavors can come through. Speaking of flavors, the Loose Cannon is an IPA (India Pale Ale). It isn’t really bitter like some IPAs but has a little hint of grapefruit and pine that ease up the hoppy-ness.

I would love to tell you that I sat at a several hundred-year-old public house having an Imperial Pint with a crowd of rowdy patrons, cheering for the local football club (and by football, I mean soccer my American friends…) but alas I sat in an anonymous sports bar that just happens to have an incredible beer selection. So I sipped my Loose Cannon while watching multiple athletic competitions on 60 TVs. And it wasn’t even basketball. Sigh…

Oh, and in case you were wondering? Of my five brackets, two of them are still ranked in the top half of all brackets in the challenges I entered! Not too shabby! Go Villanova!!!

Make sure to visit Lula and see what she drank this week!