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One thing that I love is when people of like minds from across the Internet get together and purposefully explode out content targeted at a central topic or theme. I love the sense of virtual community. I love tracking people who think they’re being original, when they’re just regurgitating Bob Jones’ point of view. I love learning about new points of reference for a given topic.

The only thing is, when it does happen, it is usually a topic that I could give a rat’s ass about. Something along the lines of how so-and-so on American Idol so shouldn’t have been voted off. Her version of I Feel Like A Woman was sooooo much better than than who’s-his-ass’s version of Dancing On The Ceiling.

But when that topic happens to be beer … fugettaboutit … that’s when I’m surfing the web like back in ‘95. Page to page to page to page … for hours.

And so it is with The Session - a concept floated at the end of January by Stan over at Appellation Beer. It goes like this:

• Someone is chosen to host for the upcoming month
• The host picks the theme and lets everyone know via a post
• On the first Friday of the month, everyone who wants to participate posts based on the chosen theme
• Each participant lets the host know where their post is
• The host aggregates the posts

Simple, and damn if it doesn’t shine the light on beers I haven’t tried. Time to get my beer trade on! There has been only one Session (the inaugural Not Your Father’s Irish Stout), and it took place during my time off from posting on Brewerman. I promise not to miss next month’s Session … Dubbels.

The site has been neglected, content-wise, for a couple of weeks. I’ve been focusing on plugging in the new Recipes section of the site, finishing the Cloud Cover post-winter ale, and shouldering an unusually heavy work load at the office. Having those items behind me, the drought ends today with a record 3 posts! OK … admitedly two significant new posts and this extra post to make it look like a posting extraveganza. Plus, 3 is so much better than 2 … specifically one better. Enjoy!

Now I know that this isn’t the most-popular thing to say, but I’ve never been impressed with Zymurgy, the official publication of the American Homebrewers Association. If I had a choice of a homebrew magazine I’d want on a deserted island, it would be Brew Your Own (I’m assuming this island would not be deserted of homebrewing equipment!).

This past year was my first as a member of the AHA, and it was shaping up to be my last. I thought I’d join and get all kinds of useful homebrew-related stuff, including Zymurgy. I was a fan of Brew Your Own, and had been a subscriber to that magazine for three years. I thought that the “official” homebrewers magazine had to be better. I thought that it would be chock full of useful articles that would propel me to new heights of homebrewing success.

I thought wrong. All issues of the magazine I received since joining were OK at best. I really didn’t find anything that I was interested in. Yes, it’s great to have jokes about beer, food recipes, and discussions about beer culture including the movers and shakers of the AHA. What I wanted, however, was articles that would improve my brewing.

Since I didn’t get what I wanted, I was all prepared to let my membership lapse … until the latest issue. When I opened my mailbox, I got really excited. It was all over the cover … multiple articles about yeast, including one on storage and the best article I’ve read to date on making a starter (and that’s one thing that I’ve searched high and low for). This is a great issue, people!

I’m not super stoked on the fact that my membership has bought me only one solid issue of the magazine, but I guess that combined with the email forum makes it somewhat worth the price of admission.

It’s time to brew the Cloud Cover winter ale for the first time since 2004. This winter ale was last brewed two winters ago before the new year with my buddy, Chris Mack (miss ya Chris). Chris taught me how to brew in Seattle with a version of this beer based upon an attempt at cloning Deschutes Jubelale with some tweaks. Ours was to be a little less sweet, a bit more roasty, a bit more hop. A hoppy, roasty, winter warmer. It tasted amazing. That was the beer that got me hooked on home brewing.

Chris and I brewed together up until I moved to Bend, OR. about two and a half years ago. Since he had the all-grain equipment, and the recipe calls for a significant amount of must-mash grains, I didn’t brew the Cloud Cover last year. I still don’t have the all-grain setup I’m gunning for, but I’ve done enough preparation to do a partial mash extract version. Plus, I’m not willing to go another year with no Cloud Cover. This year’s version will be made with Rogue’s Pac Man yeast. One smack pack has been hiding in the back of my refrigerator, and it puffed up nicely despite the age. I’ve dumped it into a starter made with 1.25 cups of light DME yesterday, and it’s been pretty active.

I’m going to do a partial mash method specified in Brew Your Own. I will be posting the recipe in BeerXML format as soon as it is ready, and will add to this posting after each step.

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I usually steer clear of the rumor mill thing, but I found the story interesting enough to fuel that gossip fire by passing it along to anyone who finds their way to this corner of the brewniverse. It would seem that over the past week or so, several internet sites had been talking about a rumor, apparently started by a Brazilian news story, was in preliminary merger talks with Anheuser Busch. The story was attributed to a source close to current InBev directors. Now I remember last week reading up about the moves that Anheuser Busch has been making trying to funnel more and more import brands into its distributor network over the past year. This is a whole new move that pumped up the stock and would ultimately result in one big mammajamma of a brewing company

InBev is the world€™s largest brewer by volume. Anheuser Busch is the largest by sales. That’s a whole lot of beer under one world-wide roof.

Reuters has a good overview of the rumored Anheuser Busch - InBev merger.

The Pike Brewing Company is a well-established micro out of Seattle, WA. Located by the Pike Market, this brewery has recently been sold back to its original founders, Charles and Roseanne Finkel, and I’m glad to hear it. These guys know the beer business. Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the early days of the craft brew industry. He started both Pike Brewing Company and Merchant Du Vin, a specialty beer importer back in the days before the American beer palate was what it is today.

Because Pike Pale Ale has always been a staple in our house, I’m glad it is in capable hands. It is among my wife’s favorites, and we both liked it enough to serve it at our wedding. A straight-forward ale, it has a slightly assertive hop presence (but not too much), with a balanced aroma. Just a good tasting beer. Not much to say, except that it’s hard to find in central Oregon.

Appearance: A nice amber, with a just a bit of haze. Smell: Both malt and hop hit at the same time. A very balanced aroma. Although there is some citrus, it’s not the in-your-face grapefruit that many NW pale and IPA’s exhibit. A slight hint of cotton-candy? Taste: Caramelized malt, distinct hop bitterness, slight pear or apple in the background. Clean flavor with a nice lingering bitterness at the end. Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied. Drinkability: A highly drinkable beer. This isn’t a sit-down-for-an-hour-as-the-beer-opens-up kind of brew. It is a great work-horse beer that both my wife and I like to keep well-stocked.

Last year’s version of Hop Henge was a stop on the way to developing a new American IPA replacement for its now-discontinued Quail Springs IPA. It was good … one of those “drop your jaw and hold the glass to the light at arms length to get a better look at this marvel” kind of beers. Thank God Deschutes released it in 22 oz bombers. They went quickly, and everyone I knew hoped it would become the new IPA recipe. The brewers kept tweaking, however, and Inversion (now a workhorse favorite among American IPA lovers), was born.

So when a friend came into work raving, “Hop Henge is back … and it’s an Imperial! I had it last night at the pub,” I had no choice but to go try it for myself. On tap it was excellent. I got a fresh case from the brewery, and this tasting is from one of those bottles.

ABV: 8.1%
IBUs: 95

Appearance: A beautiful deep, clear orange. Nice head that slowly collapses leaving sticky burst bubbles on the glass. Smell: Excellent citrus and spice hop aroma hits first, followed by a whiff of caramelized malt. Taste: As the Stonehenge replica made of hop bales on the label would suggest, hops, both bitter and flavor, are the showcase here. Citrus and spice sitting on top of a very supportive malt backbone. The sweetness you’d expect from a high-alcohol beer is there, but is supportive … not overpowering. Could be just a touch more balanced? Mouthfeel: Good full-bodied beer with decent carbonation. Could have used just a small bit more carbonation (not a major problem … still plenty of carbonation to be had). Drinkability: I bought a case. This beer is easy to spend time with, and I’m glad that I have more in the cellar to enjoy over time.

Deschutes comes out swingin’! My Lord this is good! I drank a bottle … and bought a case. The Bond Street series is knocking them out of the park lately. First came Hop Trip, then came this beer, and there’s also Hop Henge. All very drinkable beers, but this one is exceptional. Weighing in at 11% ABV, this is a big, roasty, stout that is so smoooooooooth! Be sure to buy several for cellaring.

Onto the tasting.

Appearance: Opaque, mahogony, beautiful light toffee head that lasts and finally settles leaving plenty of bubbles drying on the glass as it settles onto the surface of the beer. Smell: Plenty of deep caramelized malt. Burnt sugar, slight initial smell of bourbon and hint of raisin under all of that. Taste: Wow! Despite the big alcohol, I was surprised how easily this beer went down. Plenty of what you’d expect given the dark, oily look of it: flavors from malts like highly-kilned crystal, chocolate, and black patent are all over the place. But balanced … incredible depth of flavor and balance. Plenty of those complexities come from, as the label says, 33% of the beer being aged in bourbon barrels and French oak. Can’t pick out the bourbon flavor nor an obvious use of licorice. It is just a creamy, roasty deep balanced flavor from start to finish. Mouthfeel: Great mouthfeel. Excellent coating of the tongue imparts flavor all over. Drinkability: This thing went down quickly. Be careful, but buy several so you can explore The Abyss more than once. You’ll most definitely want to.

Sierra Nevada’s winter seasonal was one of the first winter ales I fell in love with after I moved to Washington State. Winter is my favorite season on the beer calendar. There are always so many good beers to choose from that have a bit more “oomph” than most offerings released during the rest of the year.

The winter seasonals tend to offer a bit more hop … a bit more malt … a bit more alcohol … a bit more flavor! “Winter Warmers” as they are sometimes called are among my favorite beers because of the depth and complexities they offer. No need for subtlety here, although there’s plenty to be had.

Appearance: A slightly red-hued amber with a decent off-white head that clings to the side of the glass. Smell: Roasty up front. Solid hop aroma. Some bubblegum? Taste: A good roasty, toasty malt presence with some caramel is butted up against a solid hop bitterness and flavor. Substantial alcohol. Some spice at the end. Not as balanced as I remember previous years. Third and fourth sips appear more balanced than the first (result of hops for sure). Finishes with roasty/hop flavors. Mouthfeel: Great mouthfeel. Good coating of the tongue imparts flavor all over with a lingering finish in the back of the mouth. Drinkability: I seem to remember this as better in previous years. Still very high up among my favorite winter ales. I will gladly finish the 6 pack I bought.

I just received the inaugural issue of BeerAdvocate Magazine. I bought my subscription at the end of April, and I have been patiently waiting ever since for it to show up. All I can say is, finally!

I wanted the appropriate setting to see if the web site’s focus on “beer style, culture, and respect” would translate to a print medium … so I put it by the crapper. I’ll skip the details of my analysis.

I’m very happy to say that, despite the massive amounts of advertising apparently necessary to float this venture, the magazine has some good writing. Stories on canning in craft beer, Belgium, a nice profile on Tomme Arthur, pairing food with beer, and beer reviews (this is a BeerAdvocate venture after all) make for an enjoyable read. It is distinct enough from the other beer-iodicals (I know … boo) I subscribe to that are more focused on brewing than a generalist entry such as this.

We’ll have to wait and see if the guys can keep this good head of steam up on putting out quality content. I raise a glass to what looks promising.

Thanks Alstroms & company for another great offering that supports the beer culture we all love!