Brett Trois IPA

A while ago I brewed a Brett Trois IPA and was too lazy to post the recipe and such.  Being doubly lazy, I also forgot to post the tasting of it!  The Brett Trois IPA follows a general IPA recipe, but in a bought of naming creativity, uses Brett Trois as the choice of yeast.  Although brettanomyces is often associated with given funky/barnyard tastes, that does not accurately reflect its capabilities.  Luckily, there are individuals to explain its complexities for those of us who lack the ability to communicate effectively.  Long story short, Brett Trois can give off some pretty great fruity characteristics that work perfectly with the hops in an IPA.

Brett Trois IPA

Appearance- A very murky orange brown with a small bubbly white head.  Noticeable lacing on the side of the glass.

Smell- A lot of grassy hops with noticeable resin.  Some sweet pineapple behind the hops along with caramel and a rich malt.

Taste- Grassy hops hit firs but meld into a well balanced pineapple and slight mango flavor.  Ass the beer slides into the finish, there is a slight candy quality before inching back into the grassy hops and a slight alcohol taste.

Mouthfeel- Full bodied with moderate but prickly carbonation.  Slightly sweet finish.

Overall and Notes- Probably my best beer to date.  However, next time I will beer on dry hops for less time in order to avoid the large grassy character.

Chicago Craft Beer Week: The Bruery

Second stop for craft beer week here in Chicago was a Bruery tap takeover at the Lion Head Pub.  I was a little surprised about the location, but unsurprisingly I didn't care too much about where I had to go to find the Bruery on tap.  Even better was that they brought some great sours.  The beers on tap were: 6-Geese-A-Laying, Autumn Maple, Rueuze, Sour in the Rye, and Mischief.  Even better was that it was only $6 for a glass.

Having tried all of them before, I decided to revisit a couple that I figured you aren't as likely to see on tap again.  First, I went with the 6-Geese-A-Laying because being an idiot, I forgot to pick up a bottle of it to age (you can exhale, I ended up finding a local store with a couple left over bottles.  You were worried, I know).  Strangely enough, they pulled a pitcher out of fridge and poured me the beer instead of grabbed it from the tap.  Even more surprising was they were using a pitcher when I seemed to be one of the few partaking in the Bruery event.  Something seemed a little off about the beer, but I think i likely just convinced myself of that.  More than likely there was probably just something wrong with the tap.  And as someone told me, that just means they had more of it!

For #2 I went with Rueze.  Although I was stuck between Rueze and Sour in the Rye, I wanted something a little bit lighter but that still packed the sour punch.  Good news is I have a couple bottles of each stashed away.  The Rueze was luckily on tap so I did not have to worry about psyching myself out, and it delivered.  I would love to have written a proper review, but I figured it smart not to be that guy in Lincoln Park writing in a notebook at the bar while everyone else is watching the Blackhawks game.  I am a big enough asshole as it is.

Chicago Craft Beer Week: Jolly Pumpkin

After finishing lawyer school, I was lucky enough to have the City of Chicago celebrate Chicago Craft Beer Week.  Even better, there seems to be multiple events involving sours.  Luckily, I checked the site earlier enough in order to grab some Jolly Pumpkin.

On Monday, Jake Melnicks had a "Sour Love" event that include a tape takeover from Jolly Pumpkin and Upland Brewing.  Among the Jolly Pumpkin beers were Ale Absurd, IO, Biere de Mars, Saison Y, and Fuego.  I went with the Biere de Mars and Saison Y (I would have liked to have more, but surprise surprise, the 10 oz pours of sour beers were fairly expensive.  The Saison Y was my favorite, as it had the light peppery taste finish of a saison along with a citrus middle, but a wonderful barnyard finished.  It also helped that we had some barbecue nachos to go along with it.

Hopefully this will not be the last event and I will update throughout the rest of the week.