St. Patrick's Day

Personally, I do not think there are many better events that one can experience than when sharing time with people you care about.  During my youth, I always enjoyed the family holiday celebrations, dinners and BBQs with friends and family, those after church pitch-in dinners, and times when people got together just to hang out and spend time with each other.  St. Patrick’s Day is a time when we try to do something every year.  This year, Tibor and Nicole had Lori and me, and Dennis over for a traditional Irish dinner.  The menu was an appetizer of oysters on the half shell; the main course was corned beef with steamed baby red potatoes, carrots, and cabbage and deserts were Bailey’s cream pie and Irish whiskey coffee cake.  Pair this dinner with some Irish Stouts and you are in seventh heaven.  


The great thing about Irish Stouts is they are typically lower in alcohol because these are meant to be consumed through an evening or afternoon at the pub and the drinker is not inebriated. Stouts are not “heavy” as I hear people describe them, and in fact, they are typically lower in alcohol.  The primary difference between a stout and light beers is the use of dark malts (and not a large percentage of dark malt) to provide color and the roasty stout flavor. 

Guinness Extra Stout (5% ABV) was first on the list and how could it not?  Guinness is known for it’s Irish Dry Stout and it is very good.

Next up, with the Hama Hama Oysters (from Tony’s Meats) was O’Hara’s Irish Stout (4.3% ABV).  Oysters and stouts are a perfect pairing and I want to provide a shout-out to “Dr. Bill” Sysak for suggesting this pairing on the latest pod cast from New Brew Thursday. 

Nicole made some of the best corned beef I have tasted and see made steamed carrots, baby red potatoes and cabbage to accompany the beef.  Tibor had made fresh mustard that was a perfect match for the corned beef.  We also had Murphy’s Irish Stout (4% ABV), another fine Irish Dry Stout and a favorite of Nicole’s. Tibor also made some black and tans with a base of Harp (5% ABV) a pale lager and Guinness Draught (4% ABV).  I also brought over a couple of cans of Upslope’s Foreign Style Stout (6.9% ABV and 64 IBU).  The desserts were Bailey’s cream pie and Irish whiskey coffee cake.  It was the first time that I had made either of these deserts and they came out great.  Follow the directions and obtain good ingredients and it is hard to go wrong.

It was a fun evening and if you do not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I suggest you make a plan to invite some friends and / or family over next year and celebrate the day.  By the way, don’t wait until next year, there are plenty of opportunities to get with friends and family pick something or make something up and just do it.  

URL – http://www.tonysmarket.com

URL – http://www.newbrewthursday.com/

URL – http://www.guinness.com/en-us/

URL - http://www.murphys.com/

URL - http://www.europeancuisines.com/Ireland-Authentic-Traditional-Irish-Desserts-Dessert-Recipes

Upslope – Foreign Style Stout

Upslope is a relatively new brewer based in Boulder and I have sampled a few of their beers.  They only have a few available in cans and offer more selections at the brewery.  Foreign Style Stout (6.9% ABV and 64 IBU) is an export stout and it is available in limited release. 

Foreign / Export Stout – description - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/95 – BeerAdvocate

Appearance – This one pours black and no light penetrates through when held up to a light, with a small head that quickly receded.

Aroma – Very nice smell of roast malt and chocolate and I could detect no contribution from hops.

Taste – Very nicely balanced stout and one detects the chocolate through the roast malts.  Very smooth and just a hint of bitterness on the end which is somewhat surprising to me at 64 IBUs. 

Overall – B+ - A very nice stout and my favorite from Upslope to date. 

Website description – “We’ve always wanted to can one of the specialty beers that we brew as a limited release, and finally have built the capacity to do so. Our Foreign Style Stout has been a tap room favorite since it was originally brewed as our first anniversary beer two years ago. With only 200 barrels of this beer being brewed in January and February, it truly deserves its ‘limited release’ status”.

URL – http://upslopebrewing.wordpress.com/

Upslope – Craft Lager

Upslope is a new brewer here in Colorado and they are based in Boulder.  They currently are canning four styles and the latest in the line-up is Craft Lager (4.8% ABV).  On the can, the labels are “Bright – Fresh – Easy” and the ingredients description is “Made with snowmelt, Czech Saaz hops and lager yeast” and I made the assumption that this would be an American Lager with ties to a Bohemian Pilsener.  The color is yellow gold with a nice head that quickly recedes.  Craft Lager has a classic lager clean taste with note of bread, and a clean dry hop finish.  This is a session beer that would be great to have after yard work or to take to a BBQ or a picnic.  Nicely done and I think Upslope is a brewery to watch – they took a Gold Medal at the 2011 GABF for their Pumpkin Ale.

Anchor Steam, Spaten Dunkel and Upslope Brown Ale

I had a steak last night and wanted to pair Anchor Steam (4.88%ABV and ?? IBU) with it.  Anchor Steam is considered the oldest craft brewer in American and I am glad Fritz Maytag purchased the brewery in 1965 to keep brewing the beer he enjoyed.  Anchor Steam pours gold / amber / orange with a nice frothy head.  Take your time pouring it.  It is called steam beer because of a nickname for the beer and some say it is attributed to the old days with steam rose from the beer during cooling using cool ships.  Steam is a trademarked by Anchor and it is a tasty beer that went very well with my steak dinner.

After dinner I decided to taste a Spaten Dunkel from the Fatherland.  Spaten Dunkel is Munich Dunkel Lager (5.5% ABV) and pours tan / brown with a nice two-finger head.  Very nice taste that reminds me of pilsener – biscuity / bready malt, nice sweetness, just enough hops to balance it out, and a crisp finish.  I have had a few from Spaten and Dunkel is not bad at all.  One complaint – use amber bottles, not green.  The use of any other container other than amber bottles or cans just baffles me. 

On Sunday, time for a Colorado brewer.  Upslope is a new brewer based in Boulder and they currently offer three styles that I am aware of – Pale Ale, IPA and Brown Ale.  The Brown Ale (6.7% ABV and ?? IBU) pours brown with hints of amber and has a two-finger head that quickly recedes.  Upslope has “tweaked” the recipe a few times on this and added more specialty malts and American hops.  It is a Brown Ale, but it is probably outside of the style guidelines (not sure, but I am guessing).  This is tasty beverage and I will have it again.

Upslope - Pale Ale and Twisted Pine - Hoppy Boy

Upslope – Pale Ale

Upslope is a start-up brewery based in Boulder and I have tried their IPA and brown ale.  Currently, one more is available in cans and that is the Pale Ale (5.8% ABV).  Upslope’s Pale Ale pours orange / gold with a lacey head that quickly recedes.  I am not sure of the IBUs on this pale ale, but I do not think they are very high.  Upslope has brewed a well-balanced pale ale and the upstart can compete with some of the seasoned veterans.  I still want to do some side-by-sides with Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues.  I look forward to more offerings from Upslope as they grow.

Twisted Pine – Hoppy Boy

Twisted Pine is another Boulder-based brewer and Hoppy Boy (6.2% ABV and 65 IBU) is their IPA offering.  Hoppy Boy is the “flagship” beer for Twisted Pine and it is very good.  Hoppy Boy pours almost the same exact color as Upslope’s Pale ale – orangey gold with a lacey two-finger head.  This IPA is very well balanced and I really liked it.  Twisted Pine describes Hoppy Boy as “It pours a hazy pale orange and has a dry, tart taste with an earthy bitterness.   Pleasant grapefruit and citrus notes are provided by the addition of Cascade hops.  This classic American IPA is brewed with medium caramel malts that play.”  I have tried, and liked, their Big Shot Espresso Stout.  I will try more from Twisted Pine and they may be the next Colorado brewer that I focus on sampling. 

2 Pale Ales and 4 IPAs

Deschutes – Red Chair - NWPA

Red Chair (6.2% ABV and 60 IBU) is a seasonal offering from Deschutes and is described as a NW Pale Ale.  Red Chair is available January through April and it almost crossed the border into IPA territory.  Red Chair pours golden amber with a two-finger head.  Deschutes uses seven different malts with a citrus focus on the hops.  Red Chair is very well balanced and is another very good beer from Deschutes.   

Alaskan - IPA

Alaskan Brewing Co.’s IPA (6.2% ABV and 55 IBU) pours gold with a small head that quickly recedes.  If you compare the ABV and bitterness with the beer above, you can become confused in the difference between an IPA and a Pale Ale.  IPAs are typically higher in ABV and IBU than Pale Ales and I think Deschutes used the NW Pale Ale designation to categorize the beer between the Deschutes Pale Ale and the IPA.  Alaskan IPA is another well-balanced beer between malt sweetness and hop bitterness with a citrus focus.

Boulder – Mojo and Hazed & Infused

Boulder Beer Co. produces a number of styles and Mojo (7.2% ABV) is their IPA.  Mojo pours golden amber with a vigorous head – I had to pour it a few times to allow the head to recede.  Mojo leans towards bitterness over malt sweetness and Amarillo hops are used in the brewing of this beer.  I could not find information on the actually IBU of this beer. 

Hazed & Infused (4.85% ABV) is a dry-hopped ale that is very popular and is an award winner.  Hazed & Infused pours cloudy amber tan with a small head.  This is cloudy because it is an unfiltered beer.  There are 4 different hop varieties used in the brewing process and 2 are used in the dry-hopping (fermentation addition) phase.  I was expecting more bitterness and was somewhat surprised with the malt forward taste that had a well-balanced finish.  Hazed & Infused is very drinkable and I can see why it is so popular.

Upslope – IPA

Upslope is a new Colorado brewer based in Boulder and they currently offer 3 different styles in cans.  I had sample two at the Winter Brewfest and picked up a can of their IPA (7.2% ABV) last week.  One complaint is their website – there is very little information about the beer or the brewery.  Upslope’s IPA pours amber with a tan two-finger head that quickly recedes.  This IPA is not bad; however, there are others that are much better.  Upslope also brews a pale ale and a brown ale.  The pale ale has received positive notes and it will be interesting to compare it with Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale.  

Anderson Valley – Hop Ottin’

Anderson Valley is a California brewer and they brew a number of different styles.  Hop Ottin’ (7% ABV and  80 IBU)  is an IPA that pours golden amber with a nice head – it took a few pour / recedes before I could empty the glass – just look at the picture.  Very good use of aroma hops for a citrus bouquet.  This is a nice IPA with a focus on citrus hops and a lot of them.  If you are a hop-head, I think you will like it.  I look forward to sampling more from Anderson Valley.

It does amaze me at the variety of color, aroma, and tastes of beers of similar style.  The varieties of malt and hops and the varieties of way they are combined make an almost infinite number of possibilities.  Some you will like better than others.  I tasted these over the course of a week and it is great to be able to purchase mixed 6 packs to sample a number of different beers from different brewers.