New Republic Brewing

I plan on doing a post soon about my recent experience with New Republic Brewing. Located in College Station, they are a small brewery, but have quite a following. I suggest checking them out

http://www.newrepublicbrewing.com/

Gig Em!

Widmer Pitch Black IPA. Possibly one of the Best beers EVER!!!

I will not lie. I am biased. I absolutely love black IPA's or Cascadian Dark Ales. A black IPA would be the offspring from an IPA & porter baby. The great coffee & chocolate flavor ending with a great bitter and citrus finish. They are amazing and Pitch Black IPA is one of the best. If you like porters and IPAs, try this wonderful concoction. This seriously may cause you to cream your pants. If you are lucky enough to have Widmer in your area of the country and have this beautiful brew, or any of Widmers beautiful brews, try them. Can't say you'd be disappointed. Only if you had that chance and passed would you be. I know I haven't said much about this beer, but read on it on the pictures and seriously enjoy it.

 Has a nice chocolate flavor and Bam hops. Love it.
5 of 5. Wish it was a year round beer. I am debating on brewing one myself.






























http://widmerbrothers.com/beer/#pitch-black-ipa

Hop Rod Rye

Hop Rod Rye form Bear Republic Brewery is a great ale. This is a seriously excellent brew. Upon opening, there is an immediate smell of citrus and candylike hops. Very fragrant. It has a very nice citrus candy taste and a late bittering finish of rye that is easy to distinguish. It is super smooth and has a nice ruby red color. I thought it was like Hop Stoopid from Lagunitas, but say 3x as less intense. Have fun with the great beer.

EPIC Failures

I was going through some beer photos I have & realized I must mention 3 brews that make me disgusted. All are IPA's.

1. Detour Double IPA: Part of Uinta's crooked series line, they make the beer drinker wonder if the CROOKED part means crooked as in no hops. As a West Coast guy, this is an insult to Double or Imperial IPA's. The lack of hops is unreal. No bitterness. Just pre-hopped wort. Imagine fermenting warm grape nuts cereal. I was told by the brewery, they do NOT do quality control and it shows. Granted this is a UTAH beer, but don't produce something you do not drink . DUH

Flying Fish, New Jersey. Fuck this. They failed at life. HOPS??? Ever heard of them??? They happen to be the key ingredient in making an India Pale Ale. Wake the hell up New Jerksey. Your beer stinks, and that show you produce deserves to be nuked. The beer tastes like the show. SHITTY. lol. An insult to the IPA & beer drinker. Avoid this at all costs.

Lastly, Squatters IPA, Salt Lake City, UT, again, no hops. NO bitterness whatsoever. SO sad. Again, I am going to say AVOID.

Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Ale

Real Ale in San Antonio, has this full moon pale rye ale and talk about AWESOME. Here we have some major flavor. Folks, if you haven't had a rye ale, you have no idea what you are missing. If you ever see a rye beer, I highly recommend you try it. Seriously. This one had a nice rye smell and has the taste of a brown, except there is a punch of rye, which brings a nice fruitiness to the ale.

Do it. Do it for yourself

Lets get organic

Fish Tale Brewing Organic IPA from Olympia, Washington is obviously an organic ale that has been approved by the USDA. I cannot find my notes about this beer, but I do recall some things. I remember it had a nice candy like citrus flavor. There was a citrus flavor with some candy like flavors. All in all, it was a good IPA. Great for an organic IPA.The logo is pretty sick 

Here we have Fish Tale Organic IPA

 Hey guess what????? Beer and geology?? No way

Session Black

Session Premier Black Lager!!!!!!This is a brew by Full Sail Brewing in Oregon. This is a porter without the heaviness commonly associated with porters (depends on the porter, and can be total BS. Some are heavy. Some aren't. Do no assume ever. This will lead up one day to the dark vs light beer post). So this beer has a nice chocolate finish. it is light enough to drink a few of these and not feel full. Plus they can be made into a drinking game or simply put the loser buys the next round. What the hell is he talking about? Well, under the cap, is paper, ROCK, scissors. You do the math. The session black lager is a 5 of 5 for me.  Enjoy

 Here we have a session black. They come in 12 packs. Usually pretty cheap. ~ $13. pretty nice.

They come in these midget bottles.

Why does geology and beer = the best thing ever????

Joke: Whats the difference between an engineer and a geologist? An engineer drinks anything distilled. A geologist drinks anything fermented. Was a joke, but it is not all that much of a joke.

Check this out: Seriously
http://historyofgeology.fieldofscience.com/2011/07/geology-of-beer.html

A prost to my Univ. of Wash Geo's : We rock. Literally

Coming Up...

Here are some brews you might see soon. Boulevard Brewing wheat, Pikes Tandem, Real Ale Full Moon Rye Pale Ale, Maui's Specialty Falconners Flight IPA, O'Dells 90 Schilling Scotch, Perhaps vintage 2009 Old Bawdy from Pikes. Oh yeah likely put up some photos from brewery tours including Pikes, Redhook, Diamond Knot, Maritime, Stone, Ballast Point, Hess, and maybe more or less??? Maybe include a whiskey from Woodinville. Oh yeah and some GEOLOGY, Why ? why must I include geology because of my next post. thats why. deal with it.

Redhook Long Hammer IPA

Redhook. Sigh. I do miss you. I miss the $1 tours, the glasses, the have you been here before question. haha. ill post some tour pictures later, but for now, let us continue here with the long hammer ipa. Sitting at 6.5% Long hammer got a face lift and a new look (below).  It still has the nice citrus flavorings and is mighty crisp. I would never pass this up. You shouldn't either if you're a hop head.


Ahh dry hopping. Dirty term? Not quite. In fact, not dirty at all. Simply adding hops to 2ndary to give it a kick is dry hopping. I must say I love to dry hop.









If you are in the Seattle area, make sure you go to Woodinville. You won't be disappointed.


If you like IPA's, make sure to try the Big Ballard IPA. It is a citrus hop bomb in your mouth!

                          

last years redhook ad that will definitely be applied to this year

I was going through some photos on my phone and came across this one ad by redhook and realized though a year later, it is pretty much the same story. To all you Mariner fans out there, it is time to rise up and get an owner who cares, and a manager who knows how to coach.

Chatoe Rogue First Growth OREgasmic Ale

Here we have the Chatoe Rogue 1st Growth OREgasmic Ale. This ale pours a nice orangish amberish hue and smelled like grape nuts, and malts. There is a strong malt flavor and it is almost like BAM!! Malt in you mouth biatch. There is this spicy and fruity taste to it as well. It also has a medium body. Truthfully had no idea what this was, other than it said to have with fish. It worked well with salmon.

What is interesting, is that this is a beer that has all malts, hops, yeast, and water that is 100% Oregon ingredients.

that is pretty cool.

Albita Purple Haze

Scuse me while I kiss the sky....

Purple Haze, besides a great song, is a raspberry wheat beer. At 4.2%, this beer is crisp and so very refreshing, especially on a hot summer day. This brew has real raspberries added to it and this makes the appearance have a nice reddish or should i say purplish haze. For those skeptical about fruit wheat beers, and how legit they are. Trust me, this one is a winner. You do not get a overly fruity or that gross fruity fakeness, that you get in some beers. This is a well balanced fruit and malt mixture. I have not met one person, who has disliked this beer. This is a great beer to introduce non-beer drinkers to.

Only one man would dare give me the raspberry

Purple Haze (beer) + Purple Haze (song) =
One firkin awesome time

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Xtra IPA

This Extra IPA, can be summed up with one word:
GRAPEFRUIT. Grapefruit you say? Yes, yes indeed. Upon opening your bottle and taking a whiff, you pick up an incredible grapefruit aroma. Naturally, the flavor you will taste again is grapefruit, with a little amount of bitterness after swallowed. This beer is rather refreshing for those who like IPA's and bitter citrusy beers.  For those wanting to know more, well this beer sits at a nice 7.2%. Excellent.





So why the emphasis on the grapefruit? Well, the citra hop variety is known for its' grapefruit character and influence on the beer it is in. Not only that, but when we brewed our own pale ale with this citra hop, one can basically make a simple clone of this torpedo extra ipa.

Inversion IPA by Deschutes

Sitting at a very nice 6.8%, this IPA offers us hopheads a nice citrusy grapefruity taste, following with a bitter aftertaste. Good stuff.


Deschutes brewery is pretty awesome. They literally have a beer for everyone. Seriously. If given the chance to go to Bend or Portland, check out their public houses. You will NOT be disappointed.

Ska Modus Hoperandi IPA

So if felt so good posting my first beer, that I had to do one more: Ska Modus Hoperandi IPA

Sitting at a GNEISS 6.8% per can, this IPA has a very nice hoppy floral smell. Has an excellent citrus & bitter finish. My notes say YUM. a great citrus beer with excellent bittering finish. Not for you lovers of non hoppy beers nor of those who think IPA's have no firkin hops to it.  Cough cough twisted series uinta brewing detour ipa. or that brewery in new jersey which why i tried it is beyond me, but they didn't get the memo either. Oh yeah that 6 pack thing in cans is gr8 here. So get to skankin y'all.

Oh yeah did I mention HOPS????

Highway 78 Scotch Ale

For my first beer. Stones collaboration ale with Green Flash, Pizza Port Carlsbad, will start us off. Let us examine some stats here: It is a gneiss 8% and yes it smells like a scottish ale. Thank goodness. I think if it smelled like a wheat beer we'd be in trouble. But for all you who do not know any of the 3 breweries listed, one i suggest stop living under a rock. Two, this blog is likely to feature Stone, so get used to it.
Anywho, it has got a rich mahogany color and is strong yet sooo smooth. It is a malty strong, but again, soo smooth. It is a great robust scotch ale. Drink up me hearties!!!