Boilermakers with Bulleit

We've been cheating a bit on beer lately, exploring the wide varieties of whisky/whiskey. For the most part we haven't had them together but we recently played around to see if we could find some pleasant pairings, better known as boilermakers. Armed with boilermaker suggestions from Ninkasi Brewing Company using Bulleit Frontier Whiskey and supplied with a couple of fifths, we were eager to try our own hands at it.

Bulleit Bourbon
Ninkasi selected their flagship Total Domination IPA to pair with this "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey" and we agree that an IPA (even a hazy IPA) is the way to go with this one. We didn't happen to have any Total Domination on hand however we did have cans of their new-ish Prismatic Juicy IPA that created a far more complex pairing than we anticipated. Another local IPA, this time from Culmination in the form of their Phaedrus, made for a pairing that we'd be happy to enjoy for a significant session. Going further afield, the result of recent beer mail, we appreciated the fruity/juicy hops in Track 7 Brewing's Sukahop New England-style IPA as a compliment to this whiskey. Going even more intensely hoppy we also found Pelican's Beak Breaker DIPA to be a pleasant pairing with its combination of Mosaic, Citra and Centennial hops.

Diverting from hoppy beers were two others that to our surprise were also great pairs with the Bourbon. First up was a very interesting collaboration between Rogue and Brew Dr. Kombucha called Kulture Clash. Labeled as an "imperial blonde ale blended with kombucha tea" the 6.9% beer was a bit sweet on its own with a fruitiness that may have come from the beer or may have come from the kombucha. Either way the fruitiness was enhanced quite pleasantly by the Bourbon.

Going to a truly big beer, we cracked open a bottle of Brewery Ommegang Game of Thrones - Hand of the Queen. Billed as a barleywine with a hefty 11% ABV it drank far lighter and fruitier than any barleywine that has ever passed our lips. Putting the surprise on the beer aside, one half of our tasting panel loved the way it created a smooth, boozy pairing that might be further enhanced with a cigar, a lovely evening and plenty of time to enjoy the trio.

Bulleit 95 Rye
A fan of the aroma of the rye whiskey, the flavor takes a backseat to the Bourbon for us and made us more skeptical about being able to select beers that would make suitable boilermakers. Ninkasi chose their Yours Truly Easy-Drinking Ale, a beer with "a sweetly-toasted malt profile and delicate hop bouquet" to pair and we were happily surprised to find Stickmen's lightly flavored The Bee's Knees a winner. Using Pilsner malt, a sweetly flavored,  lightly colored malt, and floral Tettnanger hops this beer likely works due to similarities to Yours Truly. 

In thinking about other beer styles that might work, we reflected on rye-containing beers we've had in the past. Often the lighter based varieties allowed more of the spiciness of the rye to come out more than we would prefer whereas those with a darker base have tended to taste more balanced and "right" to our palate, even some that leaned malty. While overtly malty beers, like Pelican Sea 'N Red Irish Red Ale don't generally make our hop-loving taste buds sing we happened to have some on hand we figured we should at least give it a try. Indeed, when paired with 95 Rye the beer found redemption in our eyes. Here the maltiness of the beer made a fine companion to the rye of the whiskey.  

Many thanks to the hearty souls who went on this adventure with us. Many thanks to the faithful readers who didn't pass over this post because there was something besides beer in it. We're always open to experiences that expand our minds and palates and hope you enjoy learning along with us.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Tap Takeover

If you've been beer shopping lately you may have noticed Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp mixed 12-pack (10 bottles + 2 cans). The beers contained within come from 12 breweries across the U.S. that Sierra Nevada partnered with, all of which are probably familiar names even if they aren't generally available in your market.

The Beer Camp Across America tour starts this Saturday in Chico, Calif. with tour stops in seven cities. Portland wasn't chosen to be one of those cities (or anywhere in Oregon actually) but that didn't stop my favorite watering hole from getting in on the action. Last night The BeerMongers had a tap takeover in which they had all 12 of the beers available - and not just pouring from those 12-pks, oh, no, they were All. On. Tap.

I won't bore you with a blow by blow account of each beer but two of my favorites were Ninkasi Brewing Double Latte Coffee Milk Stout and Bell's Brewery Maillard's Odyssey Imperial Dark Ale. Ninkasi doesn't get a lot of love from me these days but they really hit it out of the park with this coffee beer. And Bell's, well I'm happy whenever I can get my hands on a beer from this upper Midwest mainstay and their Dark Ale was right up there with some of the best they make.

Two others I feel compelled to mention are Victory Brewing Alt Route Altbier and Asheville Brewers Alliance Tater Ridge Scottish Ale (made with sweet potatoes). Neither are styles I gravitate towards mostly because they tend to be too malty for me but both of these were nice beers that I'd happily order again.

If you get a chance to try these beers on tap, do it. Even if not, grab one of the 12-pks, a couple of friends and sample your way through all the offerings. I bet you find at least a couple you'll want more of.

Fresh Hop-a-Palooza

It was a whole new take on fresh hop beers Concordia Ale House offered last week. Instead of choosing your selection of fresh hop beers off a list, for $12 a tray of 10 unmarked beers was presented. In this way there was no opportunity to be influenced by the name of the brewery or whatever you may have heard about a specific beer. It was just your taste buds and the beer.

Of the 10 beers provided the clear favorite in my book was #5 with #8 coming in second. Mag preferred #7 with #1 being his runner up. Although I couldn't be for certain I was pretty sure that none of the 10 tasted familiar. Going on the last day of the Palooza meant that I only had to wait about 12 hours to find the results waiting in my inbox, a timeframe when the beers were still quite fresh in my mind.

F->A->S->T-> F->O->R->W->A->R->D->

My favorite also turned out to be the crowd favorite, Ninkasi Total Crystalation, a fresh hop version of Total Domination. New Belgium Hop Trip X took 2nd, Rogue Oregasmic took 3rd and Mag's favorite, Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere came in 4th. Reviewing the full list I think my initial impression that I hadn't had any of them previously was correct. With any luck, even though fresh hop season is winding down, I do hope to get a few more pints of Ninkasi's deliciousness!

If you attended Fresh Hop-a-Palooza how did your favorite stack up? Was is something you'd had before?

Note: Concordia included a couple of corrections along with the results visual. #10 was actually New Belgium Trip X, not VII and Ninkasi's beer name is correctly spelled Crystalation.

Fresh Hop Summit

Roscoe's Fresh Hop Summit, starting Friday afternoon and presumably running until the kegs have been drained, provided a nice follow up to last week's Fresh Hop Fest at Oaks Park. Smaller in scale but with the added bonus of beers being delivered to my waiting hands by the friendly, efficient servers Roscoe's offered up 14 fresh hop beers plus more in reserve once the first kegs up had blown.

Not surprisingly there were some beers that had made an appearance at Oaks Park. However a couple of those I didn't have last week and took the opportunity to at Roscoe's. One was a hit - Ninkasi's Smells Like Purple - and one was a miss - Logsdon's Fresh Hop Saison. I purposely didn't get the Saison at Oaks Park as they were asking for three tickets ($3) for the sample. Whatever fresh hop flavor may have been in there was overpowered by the Saison characteristics and even Roscoe's more reasonable $2.50/5 oz was expensive for a beer I found to be a disappointment.

Smells Like Purple, a beer that intrigued me with its name but one I didn't get to before the lines at Oaks Park got long, was a surprisingly good brew. Slightly sweet in both aroma and flavor from the Meridian hops I can't disagree that this might be what purple, or at least violet, might smell like. It competed with Amnesia's Mother Plucker, one I had enjoyed last year, as one of the two that tied for my second favorite of the Summit.

 

The one that stole my heart though was a repeat from last week. After being enamored with it at Oaks Park I had to order it just to see if it was as good as I remembered. I was thrilled to find it just as delicious as I had remembered and so The Commons' Fresh Hop Farmhouse retains the honor of "favorite fresh hop" in my book this year. The season isn't over quite yet, however and with Concordia Ale House doing their own version of a fresh hop tap takeover there's still a chance (slim as it may be) I'll find another that tops it.