Justin Beiber Appearing Live!!!
In our next edition of things we want to blow up with nail filled pipe-bombs….
Really, though, does anyone like this kid… aside from pre-pubescent girls (and members of NAMBLA)? I honestly want to kick a big bag full of puppies when I so much as glimpse his visage on a magazine cover.
But enough about that. I know I have been remiss in my blogging and updates and brew-fiasco writings here for a while. I have a couple posts that I am working on. Life just gets in the way sometimes, you know?
Stay tuned. As soon as I have the proper clearance from the ATF, I will be able to make good on the promise of this post title. 
(**note: the views of the administrators of this site may in no way resemble the views of this obviously delusional and inebriated writer… good grief, it’s a beer website!!! and you would take us seriously?***)
I have decided I need more hits to this blog
So I am going to stop my prefunctory spelling checks:
eny thoughts on this owt their?
I’m going to be a tease for a moment….
Competition results were handed out to Tony, Joel and Jeremy this past Wednesday at the local club meeting. I will be either updating my prior post Competition Time or putting a completely new post up… Whichever strikes my fancy, because that is how I roll.
In slightly other news, and in honor of Monty Python… “And now for something completely different”…. Oak Aged and spirit aged beers…. I have had a very select few of these. I know I have had a couple that were completely forgettable, because, well… I have forgotten what they were. Of note, however, are Goose Island Brewing Co’s Bourbon County Stout , and Cold Spring Brewing Co’s 3 Lick Spiker….
There are a number of things going on with these beers. They are Oak aged, they are strong ales, and they are also infused with bourbon from the barrels or oak chips used in the fermentation process. This being said, I offer some notes on the two aforementioned beers:
Goose Island seems to have a slightly better handle on this particular “style”. The beer overall is smoother while in a “young” state. This means that I had this year’s bottling, and not a sample that had been aged in my super top secret beer cellar. When I forst pour the glass, the bourbon is very to the front. It invades the nose, rather than act as an accent to the otherwise roasty and chocolatey aromas of the Imperial Stout style. Not being a fan of liquor, I steel myself for an alcoholic onslaught that never quite comes. The taste is…. smooth, roasty and stout-like, with just a hint of bourbon on the back of the taste when I swallow. Nice, I think, and prepare to take another sip when the alcoholic warmth of base style envelopes me, starting at the very pit of my stomach and working its way to my mouth. This is not an a “kick your teeth out” manner, though. It is very subtle, yet intended. I very much dig as a “new” beer, though this would be a mouthgasm if given a year or more in the cellar.
Cold Spring Brewing Co. just arrived on the Rochester scene last week. I grabbed a couple of their offerings, thinking they would be fairly pedestrian (which apparently they were, or I would be writing about them). I also grabbed a bottle of this beer that sounded kind of dirty… 3 Lick Spiker. I am all about salaciousness, so i grabbed the bottle based on name alone… without looking at the label or style tag at the bottle shop. Apparently, this is from their John Henry series, or John Henry is their base Imperial Stout. I have not quote puzzled this one out. I perused the label at home and see it is a Bourbon oak aged imperial stout. Remembering my experience with Goose Island, I am both intrigued and scared. See, Oak aging can be a tricky beast. Too short on the wood chips (or in the barrel), and the oaky character does not come through. Aging too long on the oak can be like drinking a tree. Interesting, I think. I pop the cap, and pour into my Sam Adams glass to see a not quite pitch black stout emanate forth. Decent 1/2″ off white head. Aroma is decidedly of bourbon and chocolate malts. The taste is…. again smooth with a heavy chocolate character (soft chocolate, as from Carafa malts, though, and not the bitter character from chocolate malts). I perceive alcohol throughout the taste as I await the bourbon punch of an underdone budget beer. As with Goose Island, the Bourbon character is left for the remainder of the taste, though not the kick to the senses that I was expecting. While not entirely jolting as a new release beer, this definitely needs a bit of age on it to smooth out the alcohol flavors and to subdue the bourbon character a bit.
Final call: Overall drinkability goes to Goose Island. For economy’s sake, though I would go to Cold Spring. For an easy $3 less per bottle, I get very much the same beer, though a bit more rough around the edges. The bottom line is that for a “right now” bourbon oak aged beer, go to Cold Spring. I have a bottle of each (soon to be more) that I will keep around for at least 6 more months if not a full year to do another comparison. Something tells me that after a full year, this will be more-or-less a dead heat horizontal tasting.
Quick updates
I’m just about recovered from the newly reinstated Sudsfest Birthday Bash in honor of our great brewing sage, John (is Suds), that got us all into this brewing nonsense in the first place. Many a good beer was consumed, and I was able to walk away from the weekend with a good bit of new or re-acquainted brewing knowledge. We brewed a British Bitter on Suds’ three tier system, hit all the numbers and suffered no burns or other major brewing related injuries…. and we were mostly still sober when all was said and done. Thank you to John and Ann for opening their house to the special brand of madness and chaos that the Radfords and Belairs bring to the party.
Also coming up in the next week is the local homebrew club’s annual homebrew competition. This year marks the 32nd annual UNYHA (Upstate NY Homebrewer’s Association) competition. Look for a new posting with updates after judging for how our three brewers fared. Also, the most difficult part of the competition is that yours truly will be judging Thursday in a pre-competition session as well as both the morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday. It is a tough, arduous job, but someone has to buck up and take one for the team. Luckily, I was smart enough to enter beers in all of the high alcohol categories, which disqualifies me from judging them for a full 8 hours… last year was an exercise in restraint and liver control.
Peace, brew and drink well
Jeremy
It’s aliiive!!!
The inaugural post on the RYWBC website! Soon to follow (probably this weekend) will be a write up on the Irish Red brewday from a week ago… ‘cuz I’m a slacker.
