Garden State Beer Festival

The state where I grew up, Jersey, may get a bad rep, but you've got to give it up to them for having a beer festival on a battleship. The 14th Annual Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Beer Festival was held this past Saturday on the Battleship New Jersey. Don't get the wrong idea; it's not like the entire battleship is a playground for half-drunk guys who want to get a picture of themselves straddling a cannon. They only section off the rear (poop deck?) for the beer drinking. This was my 3rd time at this festival and once again, I had a great time drinking various beer from the wonderful state of New Jersey. The only bad part about it was that USA lost to Ghana during it...but hey, there's always 2014.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a pen and paper to keep track of what I tried and my impressions, but it's a good thing that my mind is a steel trap...a steel trap that sometimes gets dissolved by alcohol, happens to malfunction, open up and let a bunch of stuff out, but a steel trap nonetheless.

I gathered nearly all of the beers that I tried at the festival, though I can't seem to remember what I had from Pizzeria Uno's brewpub or Tun Tavern from A.C. Here's the list I mustered up:

Flying Fish: Exit 6

Basil T's: Chocolate IPA, Apricot Wheat, Maxwell's Dry Stout

Cricket Hill: Breakfast Ale, Reserve Barleywine

Harvest Moon: Rye Bock, Belgian Saison

Ship Inn: XXX IPA

High Point (Ramstein): Blonde Wheat

Iron Hill: Belgian Witbier, Raspberry Wheat

NJ Beer Co.: Garden State Stout, 1787 Abbey Single

River Horse: Hop-a-lot-amus

Triumph: Dortmunder Export, Imperial Stout

Prior to sampling, I was most excited to try Flying Fish's Exit 6, their newest in the exit series, as well as the recently opened NJ Beer Company's beers and, based on my prior attendance, the beers from Basil T's. My excitement was met very well.

Normally, I would applaud a brewery for bringing cask beer, but considering how hot it was, I kind of wish Ship Inn hadn't. I think their XXX IPA could have been much better on CO2. The most unique style I had would have to be Basil T's Chocolate IPA, though it was heavier on the chocolate than the IPA. I wouldn't say that any beer really stood out over another, but a lot of them were very good; for stouts, the Triumph Imperial Stout and Garden State Stout, and for the hopheads, the Hop-a-lot-amus from River Horse was fantastic. Cricket Hill had a special pouring of their Reserve Barleywine, which we managed to get the bottom lickings of and it was a really smooth barleywine in comparison to some of the overly hoppy ones from other breweries.

Overall, NJ may only have a couple breweries with extended distribution, but that's definitely not because of the quality from the various brewpubs across the Garden State. Keep on brewing NJ!

Beer Review: Left Hand Good Juju Ginger

It was about 17 years ago when Indian Peaks Brewing got underway, only to find out that "Indian Peaks" was used by another brewery for one of their styles (rough start). Therefore, they changed their name to Left Hand, after Chief Niwot, a chief of a local tribe from their area, in Longmont, Colorado ("Niwot" translates to left hand). I've had a good handful of styles from this brewery, including their first brew, Sawtooth Ale, as well as their Milk Stout, Black Jack Porter, Jackman's APA, Haystack Wheat and Fade to Black Stout (Ok, so I've tried pretty much all of their beer except for a few...and none have disappointed).

I just recently picked up one of their seasonals, Good Juju Ginger, which I've surprisingly never seen although it's apparently been brewed by Left Hand for quite some time. I say surprisingly because not only is this a unique beer style, but the label kicks ass.

As a celebration of the beginning of spring, this beer is made similar to a pale ale but with a ginger-malt-spice touch to make a refreshing light beer. Although a spring seasonal, I think this beer is great, if not better, for summer. It's great to have a quality beer under 5% ABV, considering so many beers are made so strong these days. Don't expect an in-your-face ginger taste on this beer though; it's subtle, which I enjoy. This is great as either a "been doin' yard work all day and I'm thirsty" beer or a "sit on your ass, barbecue and drink" beer - your choice. Either way, a great session beer and a versatile beer for pairing with food.

Also, "juju" refers to a supernatural power, but I wouldn't go jumping off your roof thinking you're superman after drinking this.

Momokawa Organic Junmai Ginjo Saké

Saké...a must when I'm eating out and having sushi, but I've only had it at home maybe three or four times. I suppose a relative lack of selection is to blame, but there is a selection nonetheless and I intend to select. And so I did...and I bring you one that I recently tried, called Momokawa Organic Junmai Ginjo.

First off, this is the first organic saké I've ever had, which makes sense because it's the only American made USDA organic made right now, hailing from Oregon. Second, what's junmai ginjo?

"Junmai" means that no distilled alcohol was added in the process, which is how saké was originally made. Some types add alcohol, not to increase the strength, but it's said it brings out aroma. Ginjo saké refers to a labor intensive saké without machinery, using highly polished rice, fermented at colder temperatures, all of which creates a light and fruity product.

Now on to this particular saké, the Momokawa. This brewery is definitely on the green side because in addition to creating an organic saké, they print the label on tree free paper and use recyclable materials for the cap among other things. This cold saké had some nice, subtle pear, cucumber flavor but overall, it didn't really finish as nice and smooth as I'd like. I've had flavored saké from this brewery that I've enjoyed more, but it was nice to have some saké at home (with sushi) for the first time in a while.

Beer Review: Weyerbacher India & Juliet

Here's a two-for...2 beers from the brewery closest to where I live, Weyerbacher. This big and bold brewery has a brewers select series, which uses the NATO alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, etc.), and though I have not had any of the first 8 in the series, I did recently have their 9th and 10th addition, India and Juliet.

Starting with India, which appropriately is an American IPA, there's no shortage of bitter hoppiness in this beer. Amidst the big hop character, however, this beer is smooth with nice carbonation and mouthfeel. It smells bold too, of citrus-pine like you may expect. Overall, I could have done with a slight decrease in the hop presence, but definitely a solid IPA at just over 7% ABV.

Second, the Juliet. A bit stronger than India, this altbier measures in at 8.5%. Though I have not had much of this type of beer that comes from Germany, I'm fairly certain that Weyerbacher added a twist to the traditional style, making it a bit bolder and stronger, as they often do with many of their beers. It was an intriguing beer though - a nice deep dark red appearance gave way to a sweet, nutty smell. The taste was complex, with a lot of sweet malt, caramel and a hoppy finish with just a little bit of a syrup consistency.

Beer Review: Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock

In the past year or so, Bell's Brewery from Michigan has become one of my favorite US breweries. Though I've only had less than half of the styles they offer, I have had a good variance from their Oberon Wheat to their crazy dark Expedition Stout. Since they've been on my radar, I've been eager to buy any of their offerings that I've yet to try, such as, recently, their Consecrator Doppelbock.

The most striking thing about this beer is its color: a deep dark, burgundy. Other than the beauty of Guinness, I'm usually not blown away by the appearance of beers but this one was up there. The smell was not as strong but as to be expected: sweet malt. The taste matched the smell with some strength along with a caramel, raisin-y (that's not a word) taste with a smooth finish at 8% ABV.

Keep doing what you're doing Bell's.

Peanut-Infused Vodka

I've gone through yet another laborious process of infusing vodka. If you're a first time reader of this site with no knowledge of this process, then you should know that statement is 100% serious...ly sarcastic. I'm fairly certain that apes could infuse vodka. All you need to do is pick whatever it is you want to infuse your vodka with and stick a bunch of it in a water tight container of vodka.

For this infusion, I used peanuts (unsalted). Keep in mind that if you do this and you want a strong peanut flavor, you'll need to add a good 2 or more cups of peanuts to your vodka. Also, in doing so, the peanuts seem to absorb a lot of the vodka so use a large container and overcompensate with the vodka if you want a sizable batch (and I didn't try it, but I definitely don't suggest you eat the peanuts afterward). I kept mine in the vodka for a few days, strained it and that's all it took. That said, peanuts are fantastic for infusing because the vodka really takes on a strong peanut odor and taste. I'm surprised big manufacturers have not distributed peanut vodka yet, especially considering the possibilities it has in cocktails.

After taking many sniffs and a small sip of the peanut-infused vodka alone, I decided I wanted to try a PB&J flavored concoction. You could go a number of ways with this, using other raspberry/strawberry/grape flavored vodkas or other liqueuers but I decided to use a non-alcoholic (sugar-free) Torani Raspberry flavored syrup. The peanut flavor was actually a bit dominant but I definitely achieved that great PB&J taste that we all remember as kids, except with a kick of booze to it. With the dark red color of the raspberry syrup, the cocktail takes on a bit of a pink color so I wouldn't suggest dishing out a batch of these at your next poker night with the guys, but if you did, I wouldn't judge you.

I made a small batch of this peanut vodka so with only enough for another drink, I think I'll make a chocolate peanut butter mixture with some Godiva liqueur. I'm thinking I may have to make some more and whip up a tribute cocktail to Elvis with some banana and bacon.

Drinking Made Easy Comedy Show

Zane Lamprey has been drinking for a living for the past few years. As he put it, rather than wondering how he got that job, how has he kept it? Well he has...in a sense. His show, Three Sheets, has gone through a few networks now and he's currently holding out for The Travel Channel to pick him up for new episodes. There's no doubt, however, that he's developed a very loyal cult fan base. In the meantime, however, Zane and a couple of his buddies have been traveling the country in a bus on a comedy tour, while at the same time shooting episodes in each city they visit for a show that will premiere this fall.

My brother (remember the guy who posted about bacon-infused bourbon almost a year ago and was supposed to continue posting?) and I attended this "Drinking Made Easy" show in Philly last week. As we waited for Zane to come out, a screen was playing various videos of drunk people doing dumb things, always fun to watch. Clips of the Three Sheets show and some other clips from along their tour were also shown until Zane Lamprey came out to a cheering crowd.

I liked the format of the show. Zane made his introduction, Pleepleus made an appearance, then Zane's old college roommate, a man whose name has become synonomous with 'drunk', Steve McKenna, came out and proceeded to get Steve McKenna'd (see shirtless man in picture). Steve's not much of a comedian (Zane dubbed him the unfunny Zach Galifianakis due to his large beard at the time) but he's quite the drinker. He chugged a beer within a few minutes of getting on stage, told a few lame jokes, then poured 4 beers into a bucket and proceeded to chug that as well. Throughout the show, he also took some sizable chugs out of a wine bottle and whiskey bottle too. I feel for his liver during this tour.

After watching Steve's antics, the 3rd guy of the bunch came out and did a traditional stand up routine, based around drinking experiences and other topics that I'll refrain from on this post. Zane came back out and did a comedic little presentation on liquor, beer and wine, complete with a slideshow and videos. Zane also brought his sabre along and opened up about 8 bottles using the Napoleon method, shooting the corks to a Steve McKenna geared up in catcher equipment (even though he caught none).

Closing out the show, Zane and another guy playing guitar sang some drinking songs which were surprisingly pretty catchy, probably because of Steve McKenna's stellar bongo additions.

As Zane put it, he's not normally funny but when you edit him down in a half-hour TV show, he can be hilarious. I'm happy I got to see Zane, Steve and the others, I pray that Steve makes it out of this tour alive and I look forward to the Drinking Made Easy Show which I understand premieres this fall on HDNet.

Also, to Travel Channel...you're nuts if you don't pick up Three Sheets. That is all.

Beer Review: Green Flash Trippel

Having just brewed my own Belgian Tripel, I was eager to pick up an American version of the same beer and see how mine compared. And wouldn't you know it, the first beer I saw when entering a local store was a Trippel (2 P's) by Green Flash Brewing Co.

The label jogged my memory and I thought I had a hefeweizen from this brewery, but don't see it on their website. Nonetheless, it's safe to say I'm pretty unfamiliar with this brewing company out of San Diego, California, which translates to the whale's...you know...anyway...

I'll preface this by saying that it's quite possible that this beer was sitting on the shelf for a while and it was near the window so it could have been affected by the sunlight. Furthermore, I'm understandably biased when comparing against a beer I make but I consider myself to be a pretty fair guy. Can you see where I'm heading with this?

I was not a fan. There are very few beers that I can't find something good about, macro nonsense aside. There was just a bad aftertaste with this beer. It had a funky sweetness to it that I just did not enjoy and it didn't change throughout the 22 oz. of it that I drank. You can't win them all though. That said, this beer stated it was 8.5% and the Green Flash website clocks it at 9.7% (along with 3 awards) so perhaps they changed the recipe? Either way, I'm definitely open to, and probably will be, trying other offerings from Green Flash Brewing.

Beer Review: BrewDog Rip Tide

BrewDog, out of Scotland, has been discussed a lot lately due to their battle for the title of the highest ABV beer in the world. It started with Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which clocked in at 32% ABV. They achieved this high ABV by repeating a freezing process; see the video below for more on this beer.

Then, to the dismay of BrewDog, a German brewery reclaimed the title with a 40% beer. BrewDog pulled out their big guns, made a quadruple IPA that was frozen 4 times for an unbelievable 41% ABV beer called "Sink the Bismarck." Video for this beer is also below.

As you can imagine, these beers are somewhat hard to come by and pretty pricey too. I could have a Sink the Bismarck shipped from the brewery for about $100 US; I'm not that curious...unless anyone wants to donate money to me.

Anyway, as I said, BrewDog has been in the beer news a lot lately for their reclaimed title and yet I had never tried any of their beer. Well, I just got my hands on some of their more subdued offerings (atleast in comparison), one of which I just tried over the weekend: Rip Tide, an imperial stout, or as named on the bottle, a "twisted merciless stout." Speaking of the bottle, the label includes a poem about the ominous nature of the beer and instructs you to enjoy it "with an air of aristocratic nonchalance." With such a fun-loving hardcore image (which I'm sure you can pick up on from the videos below), I was expecting something intense at 8% ABV.

I wasn't blown away by this beer, but that's definitely not to say it wasn't good. What I mean by that is I didn't detect anything out of the norm from this beer as an imperial stout. It had that dark color, roasty smell and strong taste reminiscent of chocolate and coffee. The good thing about this beer is it didn't have a strong alcohol taste like a lot of imperial beers do. It was smooth for an 8% beer and I could probably drink a few of these in a night.

Stay tuned for a couple more reviews for the other BrewDog beers I picked up. Enjoy the videos...

Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog on Vimeo.