Summer #beersaturday s are extra special as adventure and relaxation in the hot months is thirsty work. You are invited to leave a huge upvote and join our friend @detlev to create your own post with the gang! So glad to have found a home with beer drinkers across the world on my favourite blockchain.
For week 419, I am enjoying the hot weather with a little beer sampling along the way.
The Shorty of the Week is something I have strayed from in recent months as I don't visit the beer store as often because we brew our own beer. I did get there on the way to racing sailboats the other day and found this one. Mad Tom West Coast IPA is one of the old school IPAs responsible for my slide into IPA obsession. Here enjoyed with a book on the deck in the evening. Perfect!
The reason I picked this one up is I am a sucker for a venture pack and it had everything from light lager to cream ale, session ale to west coast IPA. Perfect to share with the sailing crew.
Brewing!
Did I mention brewing? Followers and repeat visitors might recall I am part of a brewing group who brews approximately 60 litres /week of our own assorted styles of beer. Our core rotation is Amber, Golden or Cream Ale, stout on nitro and my favourite IPA. This particular batch is a cream ale for a lighter, slightly sweet tasting plain beer with a little taste. Great staple and mainly for sharing with people who are not fans of too much malt or hops. Lawnmower beer drinkers! I am giving it a stir here to loosen up the flaked corn that tends to turn into cement during mashing.
I may have forgotten to introduce you to our new mash paddle! We used to use a long spoon but the batches were getting too big for that to work well. So, we commissioned a local woodworker to custom make a paddle out of local hardwood! It cost a pretty penny with all the sanding work that had to go into the holes in the paddle but well worth it for how long it will last. Plus, is can double as a substantial club if we have to fight off coyotes or other intruders while brewing.
Tasting!
While brewing, we often enjoy beer because it is thirsty and social work. Often our own beer but as often it is a guest beer we have collected in our travels. This one was procured during a recent trip through Kentucky where Blue Stallion Brewing Company lives.
A Dunkel is a darker beer with a nice malt, subtle sweetness and smooth finish with very little hop taste/bitterness and those Germans sure do know their beer. Almost like our amber and it is good to research interesting tastes we can malt or hop into our beers.
Another one sampled during this brewing session was this beauty from Blood Brothers Brewing from the big city. Seeing as a nitro Irish stout is on our tap rotation, we had to sample this one for both enjoyment and research!
Beers pushed/carbonated with nitrogen beer gas are a little less common than C02 and are always a treat for the smooth and creamy texture. It is even more rare when a nitro beer makes it into a can like this Iron Eye Dry Irish Nitro Stout The label says to shake before opening, open quickly and pour aggressively like we did. Takes a minute to settle down but so worth it for the full malty taste and smooth creamy head that stuck around the whole glass.
#BEERSaturday!
After a session like that, I bet there are a few hungover skeeters in these parts this morning!
Join me, @detlev , and these other beerologists because there is always room for more beer bloggers at this week's Beer Saturday gathering... @detlev/beersaturday-419 Lets drink to the summer!
