Photochallenge 2016 Week 8: Depth of Field Blur

The end of last year I discovered Photochallenge.org.  This is a small group of photographers who set forth a weekly challenge to other professional and amateur photographers.  What I was drawn to with this weekly assignment is that is pushes you to try new techniques and get out and take pictures on a weekly basis.  I plan on taking part again this year and will also do a quick blog post about each of them.  The rules of the challenge do require that these are new pictures, not from your back catalogue.  With my busy work schedule, I may not be able to get out each week and do this, so I will likely add a few of my older photos on the blog--taking the opportunity to look at the plethora of pictures I've taken and actually do some processing and weeding.

2016 Photochallenge #8: Depth of Field Blur

I love macro photography which tends to take advantage of this method, focusing in on the star of the show and usually leaving much of the background as a blur.  However, this week I didn't have my macro lens with me and had to make due with a versatile lens.  On a rare 50 degree day in Minnesota, while visiting St. Paul for Winterfest (a crazy 2 day Minnesota beer festival) we set out to explore.  Most of the shots I took were architectural since St. Paul has a lot of unique old buildings and the riverfront.  Remembering this challenge I took a close up shot of large sandstone blocks that made up a stepped seating area by a small band shell on Raspberry island.  I focused in on a cracked section of the stone, leaving the surrounding stone a bit blurry.  Not quite as blurred out as I wanted, but it does the job of bringing attention to the sharper cracks in the shot.

I went through my back catalog and found another couple of shots that make use of this technique as well.

This close up of the fuzzy leaf texture uses the technique to draw attention.

This flower shot (about the size of a nickle in real life) also uses the blur effect.  Some would say that the blurry flower behind the central focus is distracting, but I kind of like it since it gives a sense of this being a cluster of flowers and not just a disembodied bloom.

And this is probably my favorite!  The sharper focus on the bee hard at work harvesting nectar from this large sunflower with the blurry edges make for a fun shot.  It also makes me look forward to summer!

A Whale A Week: Russian River Sanctification Batch 006

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

This week we try a rare (at least in Minnesota!) sour beer from the famed Russian River Brewing Co.  in California.  The brewery started as an offshoot of Korbel vineyards.  In 2003 Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo and his wife Natalie took over the business. In 2004 they built/opened a new brewpub in Santa Rosa, and then expanded with a production brewery nearby in 2008.  Since then they continue to put out some amazing beers, but in small enough quantity that all of them are much sought-after.  The brewery is probably most well known for putting out what was possibly the first Double IPA Pliny the Elder, as well as it's incredibly rare tap-only cousin Pliny the Younger.  They were one of the first American breweries to start working with brettanomyces yeast and other wild/sour organisms in their beers as well.  This place is on my bucket list for breweries to visit.

I've tasted both Plinys as well as several of the sours over the years, thanks mostly to my mom muling some back for me from her trips out to Oregon.  I also received a few vintage bottles in a large cellar buy a few years back.

Sanctification is a fairly low gravity (6.75% ABV) golden beer that is fermented with 100% brettanomyces yeast.  The beer is bottle conditioned (initially with standard yeast, but now using brett for that as well).  The beer was first brewed in 2004 and was one of the first commercially available all-brett beers.  The brewery's website actually has some of the brew logs from the first several batches of their beers which is fascinating to see.  The first few years of this beer they added lactobacillus, then the third year they added some mixed wild culture to it.  In 2009 and 2010 they moved to pure brett fermentation for this beer.  I believe that it is fermented in stainless steel and has no oak contact.  I'm pretty sure that batch 006 came out in 2012, but batch 005 is the last one on the brew logs so I'm not sure of this.

This week's tasting panel was made up of: Me (Eric Wentling)--Homebrewer for over 20 years, BJCP National ranked judge, lover of sour and brett beers.  Beau Hammel--Homebrewer of tasty Belgian ales.  Sarajo Wentling--My other half.  We served this beer into tulip glasses.  We did do this tasting at the tail end of a couple others, so our write-up was a little shorter than usual... By this point Beau and I were perfectly calibrated in our judging.

Russian River Sanctification Batch 006

Aroma: 
Eric: Pineapple.  Tart apple.  Sweet honey and malt.  Light barnyard funkiness.  Some lemon-orange citrus character.
Beau: Acid.  Rotten hay.  Lemons.  Tropical fruit--guava.

Appearance: 
Eric: Very light straw to golden color.  Fine tight white head.  Excellent clarity.
Beau: Light golden.  Clear.  Medium head.

Flavor:
Eric: Very tart and dry apples.  Sour mango rind.  Slight sweetness, but that fades fast--like the first bite of an orange slice.  Body is light, but not thin.  No hop flavors.  Not incredibly complex.
Beau: Pleasantly sour with lemon flavors.  Slight funk of decomposed grass or hay.

Overall:
Eric: Very fruity. Dry and tart but not really puckering.  This is infinitely drinkable and refreshing.  Complexity is not crazy, but for what this beer is, it's near perfect.  I wouldn't mind a little more funk. 4.5
Beau: Very well balanced.  Nicely sour without being too dry or puckering.  Nice lemon and fruity flavors.  Nice complimentary funk.  4.5
Sj: (Too distracted to come up with a pithy comment this week...) 4

Overall Score: 4.33


Photo info:  I simply used a shot of the bottle label and did an overlay layer with another shot of Val Dieu Abbey (a brewery in Belgium but not actually run by monks).  The abbey picture was very underexposed and was almost a silhouette, so I just accentuated that before blending the two photos.

Off The Edge of the World: Flat Earth Brewing Company

Flat Earth Brewing has been around for a while.  They were originally established in 2007 (open by 2008) by former Town Hall Brewing alum Jeff Williamson.  The name was based on the Flat Earth Society--a group that to this day believe that the world is not a sphere.  Most of Jeff's original names focused on science fiction or geeky subjects--he was nerdy before it was cool!  The old brewery was literally spitting distance from their much larger neighbor Summit Brewing, and was a pretty small affair nestled into a warehouse building.  Several of our homebrew club (Jack Of All Brews) members made a trip out there for a Saturday tour shortly after they opened.  It wasn't much to look at, and this was prior to legal taprooms in Minnesota, so we just had a few free samples and hung out with Jeff a bit.  The first time I ever tried Flat Earth beer was at a tasting they held at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival--again shortly after they opened.  I was impressed--especially with the Belgian Tripel and was excited for what they would do over time.  They were really in the forefront of the the craft beer renaissance here in Minnesota.

Sometime around 2010 Flat Earth had financial troubles which necessitated bringing in outside investors to avoid foreclosure.  In May of 2012 Jeff either left the company or was fired (there was a bit of confusion about that matter at the time and I've never heard what really happened).  The then assistant brewer Friday Bob Roepke continued on as the head brewer at that time, and continues in that position today. Fairly recently Flat Earth moved into the old Hamm's Brewery building in St. Paul and added a taproom for on-site pints and growler sales.

Frankly, Flat Earth is one of the few older breweries I've not reviewed for this blog. In part, it was probably still out of loyalty to Jeff, but he seems to be doing fine these days.  This year my wife and I each bought a PubPass -- a passport-like book giving you a free pint at each of the locations involved in the program.  We did this because it included several places we already like (Freehouse, Indeed, Bryant Lake Bowl) but also some we've been meaning to try.  As a last minute replacement (when Glockenspiel went out of business) Flat Earth became a new spot in the program.  Then, in a feat of beer trivia madness at The Happy Gnome we won some Flat Earth shirts, glasses, and a free growler fill.  OK, the world was clearly trying to tell us something here...time to get out to the brewery and check it out!

On an overcast day we set out from distant Waconia on our trek to the very Edge of the World--St. Paul!  In usual fashion, shortly after crossing the river, my car's GPS decided to have a seizure and try to send us in circles on roads that no longer exist.  Luckily, Sarajo was able to get Google Maps on her phone functioning and we eventually found our way to the huge old brick monstrosity of the Hamm's Brewery.  Much of the complex is decrepit, with holes in windows, crumbling brick walls, graffiti tags, etc.  The entrance to the taproom is actually down a fairly tight alley between two of the looming red brick buildings with a small sign claiming "Brewery" that is somewhat easy to miss.  Into the darkened recess you go but once inside, there's a wide central area providing plenty of parking.  The taproom is up a short flight of stairs and through a large wooden door with just a tiny chalkboard sign indicating that you are at the right place for Flat Earth Brewery.

I'd love to go spelunking in this old derelict pile...

Entering via the old fashioned heavy oaken door, we found ourselves in a dark (that day anyway) large open space with high ceilings and minimal lighting.  Thick brick walls fairly radiated the cold of a meat-locker, requiring us to keep our coats on for much of our stay. A few windows at the back of the taproom provide a bit of a view and some much needed light.  Strange old antique furniture including a throne-like chair, a mini pipe organ, and some large industrial scales are scattered about the space without much rhyme or reason.  For a room this size there was surprisingly little actual seating--one large table and a few more mismatched garage sale reject tables.  A small bar in the corner provides growlers and swag for sale.  On arriving we actually discovered someone we knew--Pio (the super friendly brewer for Minneapolis' Freehouse) and his friend Ryan.  Small world!

Continuing past our friends, we wound through some dark labyrinthine hallways and alcoves, passing odd murals, curling photographs, crumbling brickwork, groups of quietly conversing people, and outdoor patio furniture.  The dark, the cold, the twisted byways, bring to mind the dank subterranean vibe of a sepulcher or the Poe story The Cask Amontillado.  Eventually we made our way to the taproom bar (fairly high and without seating).  Our winter-coat-wrapped server was happy to serve me up two sampler boards so I could try through most of the line-up.  No worries about the beer getting warm here! We carted our beers back to the front room since there was no space to sit in the back room.  When we first arrived the place wasn't especially crowded, but by the time we left (4:30ish) the joint was jumping and the whole back bar was crowded with people standing by for beers.

Here's the part where I go through all the beers and give a quick thumbnail sketch of my impressions.  I'd go into more detail, but everyone would be bored (and my wife would probably be upset that I was ignoring her even more at the taproom!)  I rate on a 0-5 scale with 3 being my average beer, 4 is stellar, and 5 is one I'd take to a desert island with me.

Starting with the Flagships

1) Angry Planet Pale Ale: Citrus/orange aroma with some caramel. Flavor very orangey up front and a hint of sweetness. Not much body to it and the finish is bitter and dusty tasting.  3

2) Northwest Passage IPA: Hopping present in aroma and flavor, but not extreme.  Flavor sweet and biscuity with a dry and bitter citrus finish. Much better than I remember this one. Decent balance. 3.75

3) Belgian Style Pale Ale: (Up front, I don't tend to like super hoppy Belgian beers.)  Lots of ester, clove, fruity Belgian yeast character in aroma and flavor. Sweet balance to this one.  Citrus hops strong.  3

4) Cygnus X-1:  Classic porter.  A very pleasant mix of roast malt, coffee, and chocolote.  Balanced with some initial sweetness and finish is fairly dry.  A well done American style robust porter. The best beer they had by far. 4

Moving on to the Seasonals

5) Red Cape Ale: Brewed for the Winter Carnival.  Not much aroma here.  Flavor is subtle with a hint of roasted barley and caramel.  Off dry finish.  A decent Irish Red if that is what they were aiming for.  3.75

6) Spoon Thief: Oatmeal stout.  The body is thin, but there is still a slickness to it.  I get a meaty or brothy flavor that can come from yeast autolysis (breakdown).  Slightly astringent burnt finish.  Did not like this one at all.  2.5

7) Bermuda Triangle: Belgian Tripel with honey.  Aroma is fairly quiet--not much Belgian yeast character at all.  Flavor is very sweet and seems under-attenuated.  Bitter on the end.  Yeasty tasting.  Some green grape ester flavors as well.  A bit hot. 2.75

8) Winter Warlock: Single malt English barleywine based (if I remember correctly off Bass Number 1).  Very light in color with excellent clarity.  Smells and tastes like a strong but dry apple wine.  More cidery than many actual hard ciders I've tried.  Hot alcohol.  I couldn't finish this sample. 2.75

At this point I had tried most of the beers and we still had our free pints coming!  So Sarajo got the Cygnus X-1 (also her favorite of the bunch) and I got Black Helicopter.

9) Black Helicopter: Coffee stout.  This was one of the first good coffee beers I tried back in the day and was my favorite Flat Earth beer--that's why I saved it for last!  This version was served on nitro and had a thick tight off-white head on it.  Mild coffee notes and sweetness in aroma.  Much stronger cold press coffee in the flavor for sure.  The body is really thin--accentuated by the nitro I think--which makes this taste like a good slightly sweet cold press coffee on nitro.  Not as good as I remember, making me unsure if the beer has changed, my tastebuds, or if the nitro has altered it that much.  3.5

Overall the beers were a mixed bag.  My two favorites of old (Black Helicopter and Bermuda Triangle) were kind of disappointing to me this trip out.  The Cygnus X-1 was our favorite and I got my free growler filled with this.  One thing I'll point out here is that other than the Red Cape and Spoon Thief, the brewery hasn't exactly been changing up their line-up or trying many new things since 2012.  I'm curious to see how much they expand production or try out new recipes now that they have plenty of space in their new building. (Addendum: I did get to try a stout aged in Waconia's own J. Carver Distillery Gin barrels at Winterfest that was pretty interesting...)

Our experience at Flat Earth was (like the beers) a bit mixed.  The place is big, has parking, and had pleasant staff.  However, the place comes off as dank, somewhat somber, and a bit tomb-like.  Scattered oddities and mismatched furniture give it a thrown-together-from-grandma's-musty-storage-unit kind of feel.  Just to see the old brewery building (in all its derelict glory) it was worth the trip.  I'd love to get a chance to explore the rest of the grounds and building complex with my camera...  Here's to hoping that Flat Earth takes full advantage of the space, and starts experimenting more!

A Whale A Week: Goose Island Backyard Rye

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

Goose Island Backyard Rye 2013

This week we try another special Goose Island beer from the Bourbon County line-up.  I've been drinking BCS since before it was cool (I was in Chicago prior to 2000 and had it at the brewpub) and have been excited to see all the new things the company is doing with the base beer.  Again--perhaps Goose Island is now owned by the evil overlords of beer, but they're still putting out some amazing beers.  This particular version is a Russian Imperial stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with mulberries, marionberries, and boysenberries.  I had to bone up on my fruit knowledge in order to do this write-up. Mulberries look a lot like raspberries, but grow on trees, and come in a variety of colors including white.  Boysenberries apparently are a cross between raspberry, blackberry, American dewberry, and the loganberry (I'm imagining a bramble bush key-party is to blame for this).  This cultivar was first documented in the 1920's and later grew to fame for its soft, tart-sweet maroon colored fruits. The last berry in question is the marionberry: turns out this is a fancy name for a cultivar of the indigenous blackberry from Oregon.  Now that we've refreshed our knowledge of bramble fruits it is time to taste!

This week's tasting panel was made up of: Me (Eric Wentling)--Homebrewer for over 20 years, BJCP National ranked judge, and grower of an out-ofcontrol raspberry bramble patch.  Beau Hammel--Homebrewer of tasty stouts.  Katy Hammel--Excellent wife who was willing to come out late on a work night!  Sarajo Wentling--My other half.  We served this beer into snifter glasses after warming up a bit.  The ladies didn't want to write stuff up--just taste the beers.  Because they are lazy!

Aroma:

Eric: Initially I get an almost artificial sweet-tart candy aroma.  As this blows off I get more real berry mixed with tartness--I pick up raspberry, blueberry mostly.  Some alcohol zip to the beer.  Vanilla and some tannic bite from the barrel (or seeds).  Dark cherry as it warms up.  Not as much roast malt as expected. Hint of chocolate. No hops. 

Beau: Moderate bourbon barrel.  Vanilla, coconut, fruit--generic berries.  Almost get strawberry whipped cream.  Sweet malt.  Cherry candy. 

Appearance:

Eric: Deep brown to an almost black color.  Very fine dark tan head--but it fades almost instantly to the edge of the glass. Opaque.

Beau: Very dark brown.  Opaque.  Very small dark tan head.  Poor head retention.

Flavor:

Eric: Burst of mixed berries and tartness up front.  Black raspberry sweetness.  Tart cherry.  Dark chocolate roast malt.  Sweet but the tart fruit balances the sweetness with some acid.  Warming but not hot.  There is so much going on here!  I keep picking up new flavors--raspberry, blackberry, strawberry.  Some vanilla from barrel and some tannin.  Almost no carbonation present.  Mouthfeel is medium to almost thick.  Finish is semi-sweet with a lingering fruit and tannic bitterness. No hops noted.

Beau: Very well balanced.  Alcohol.  Sweet but not cloying.  Strawberry, cherry candy, deep raspberry flavor.  Booze soaked dried fruit.  Alcohol balances perfectly.

Overall:

Eric: So balanced!  Sweet and slightly tart without being sour or funky.  The berry flavors come through amazingly well.  So good.  5

Beau: This beer is incredible.  Great balance between booze, roast, fruit, and sweet.  5

Katy: Good enough that I won't share my pour with Beau.  4.5

Sarajo: Its berry-riffic!  4.5

Overall Score: 4.75


Photo info:  I took a shot of the label, then superimposed it with a shot of the ripening raspberries in my own backyard bramble from last fall.  

Girl Scout Cookie Beer Pairing...Minnesota Style!

For this past chilly February Jack Of All Brews homebrew club meeting, we tried something new as a special tasting event.  Last year I saw some tweets and facebook posts about pairing craft beer with the highly anticipated yearly release of Girl Scout cookies and was intrigued.  This year we decided to try this as a club event, and here are our results!

Looking at a few articles and blog posts on the subject from last year, I realized that many of these beers were not available in Minnesota (or were so rare that they might as well be.)  Why not stick with Minnesota craft beers only?  Challenge accepted!  Our treasurer Steven--who's daughter is a Girl Scout--supplied us with the necessary sugary discs for this tasting.  I took my Tuesday afternoon to visit a couple of local liquor stores for the perfect beers.

By the time we got to the cookie pairing our group had dropped from about 25 to around 15--more manageable, but still a lot of people to enlist in an organized write-up.  And hey, this was after tasting a lot of homebrews earlier!  I ended up just taking (spotty) notes as people exclaimed or commented on their thoughts.  I've attributed a few of the quotes.

Do Si Do's/Peanut Butter Sandwich and Waconiator Dopplebock

I had planned on using Schells Firebrick--thinking that a malty lager would be a good pairing with this fairly dry peanut butter cookie, but discovered a rare bottle of this even maltier seasonal from my own city's local brewery.

* Nice. Good.

* Maltiness matches well with peanut butter.

* The dopplebock seems less sweet with the cookie.

* The cookie makes it taste better (Bryan).

Shortbread and Steel Toe Wee Heavy

What to pair with a buttery sugar cookie famously from Scotland?  Why not a strong caramel-like Scottish beer like a Wee Heavy/Scotch Ale?  Steel Toe is one of my favorite breweries and I was happy to find a bottle of this locally.  Other potential options for this pairing would be other malty UK beers like English barleywine or old ale.

* Warm alcohol clears the sweet buttery mouthfeel of the cookie.

* Not sure they mix well--the cookie is in one side of the mouth and the beer in the other.

* (Sarajo discovers dunking the cookie in the beer and the whole thing turns for the better!)

* All out dunkage!

* The beer and cookie have similar flavor notes, but this might be better with another beer.  Helles?  Pils?  Bitter?

Caramel DeLights/Samoas and Brau Brothers Moo Joos

Ideally I wished for a coconut stout but Town Hall's Three Hour Tour is long gone for the season.  I opted for the thick and milky Brau Brothers milk stout contrast a bit with the coconut and caramel of this cookie.

* Works with the caramel and chocolate!

* Cookie overpowers the beer.

* The beer overpowers the cookie.

* Flavors seem muddled together.

* Smoke shows up in the flavor of the beer with the cookie involved.

* Too much Yin, not enough Yang.

* Somewhere in between complementary and contrasting.

Lemonades and Surly Furious

Lemon icing topped shortbread cookies?  Lets get away from malty and roasty beers for once and try something citrusy like a strong IPA.  Surly Furious is a MN classic and has a bit of English malt and yeast character as well as a strong hopping.

* This was actually my favorite of the pairings--the lemon glaze on the shortbread really accentuated the citrus hop bitterness in the beer and made it taste even more Furious! (Eric)

* Sour of lemon rind!

* Yin and Yang!

* Thins the beer, but makes it better.

* (This beer was very polarizing--we were divided "emotionally" on this one about 50/50.  Some loved it, some hated it.  Certainly the most interesting of the pairings we tried.)

Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties and Fulton Worthy Adversary Russian Imperial Stout

This is my favorite cookie--laden with thick peanut butter, crisp cookie, and a somewhat waxy chocolate coating.  The strong flavors in this need something strong to stand up to it so a Russian Imperial stout is a good choice.  There are not a lot of RIS beers in Minnesota that are available in the bottle (other than Surly Darkness) but Fulton's Worthy Adversary is now year round!

* The beer is too bitter for the cookie.

* Not a good mix at all.

* Each are good on their own, but not together.

* (Several people did not like the beer.)

* This is my favorite pairing--smooth.  (Mike)

* The beer is thin, could be more chocolaty.

Thin Mints and Mankato Brewery Mint Stout

Thin Mints are probably the most popular cookie, and as a result we went with two pairings!  the first was a bold move when I discovered Mankato's Mint Stout sitting on the shelf right next to the other beer I had planned for this.  The pairing of like with like can be amazing, but other times can fall a little flat so this one was a bit questionable.  But hey, how could we pass up the opportunity to try?

* (A collective groan goes through the room as I pull out this beer.)

* Eric, what have you done?  What have you done??? (Chris)

* These wash each other out.

* Pairs well.

* These are a different type of mint and just don't quite go together.

* The cookie makes this beer taste better than on it's own.  But it still isn't good.

* Pepto-Bismol mixed with an after dinner mint.

* Like brushing your teeth, then drinking a beer before you go to work.

Thin Mints and Fulton War & Peace 

Fulton's War & Peace is a Peace Coffee infused version of the Worthy Adversary Russian Imperial stout.  Several other folks have suggested a coffee infused RIS (such as Alesmith Speedway Stout) to pair with this cookie, and this was the only local one I could find!

* The best pairing for Thin Mints is a glass of milk.

* I get chili or chipotle pepper from this pairing.

* Tannic notes from the coffee beans?

* Beer seems thin with the cookies.

Overall Experience

This was a fun event for our brewclub to try out and everyone had a good time.  What we discovered overall is that cookies and beer just aren't incredibly great together.  Most of the beers ended up tasting thin or more bitter after tasting the sweeter cookies.  In the end though, we got to eat cookies and drink beers, so everyone won!

A Whale A Week: Alesmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

Alesmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout 2013

This is my second review of an Alesmith beer for A Whale A Week.  The first was last year for the Vietnamese coffee version of Speedway Stout and you can check it out HERE if you like!  This past summer my wife and I were able to get out to the brewery itself during the American Homebrewer's Conference in San Diego.  The space was in a suburban office park and was actually pretty nondescript overall.  We were both a little disappointed that they had no special release options on tap at all--just the stuff we can get in the bottle in Minnesota now.  Still a fun stop, but not the angelic choir experience I was hoping for.

The barrel aged version of the Speedway Stout is a strong 12% ABV Russian Imperial made with coffee and aged for up to one year in premium bourbon barrels.  The most recent special bottle release sold the bottles for $27 each at the brewery and this one is very tough to find!  There isn't much information on type of coffee or barrels used available.  The version we tried was from a big beer trade I did a few years back and is from 2013.  The beer has a score of 99 on Beer Advocate and 100 on RateBeer.

This week's tasting panel was made up of: Me (Eric Wentling)--Homebrewer for over 20 years, BJCP National ranked judge, home coffee roaster.  Beau Hammel--Homebrewer of tasty stouts.  Katy Hammel--Excellent wife who was willing to come out late on a work night!  Sarajo Wentling--My other half.  We served this beer into snifter glasses after warming up a bit.  The ladies didn't want to write stuff up--just taste the beers.

Aroma:
Eric: Sweet malt.  Toasted coconut.  Light roast coffee.  Vanilla notes (barrel?) Roasted dark malt leading to impression of very dark chocolate.  Aromas are all smooth and meld well together without being out of balance. Some alcohol zip.  No hops.
Beau: Prominent bourbon, vanilla, roasted malt.  Strong burnt coffee.  Brown sugar.  Dried cherries.  Oak really comes out as the beer warms.  Booze is somewhat solvent-like.

Appearance:
Eric: Dark brown in color to nearly black.  Fairly large dark tan head with fine texture that really sticks around.  More than I usually see in such a big ABV beer.
Beau: Caramel colored head (low to medium) with poor retention.  Opaque, very dark.

Flavor:
Eric: Powerful bitter dark chocolate with hints of vanilla right off the bat.  Seems very sweet at first, but ends dry, accentuating the bitter chocolate character.  Strong alcohol warming borders on too hot.  Body medium and somewhat creamy but that dry end makes it feel a little lighter--not as thick as expected.  Mild dark roast coffee notes, but subtle.  Some black cherry as it warms.
Beau: Medium mouthfeel, somewhat hot with a drying finish.  Strong bourbon flavor.  Alcohol comes out.  Tannins.  Roasted malt and chocolate are hiding behind the booze.  Very little hop bitterness.

Overall:
Eric: Pleasant.  The dark chocolate is a winner (especially considering there isn't any chocolate in this beer.)  The coffee is pretty subtle, perhaps faded since 2013, but at least doesn't have that vegetal note that old coffee beers often have.  More complex as it warms up.  I still like the Vietnamese better.  4.25
Beau: Really nice booze/bourbon flavors and complimentary coffee/chocolate/fruit.  Could use a little bit more body.  Dry/tannin finish brings up booze and dominates the other flavors.  4.25
Katy: Mmm, I like it!  4.25
Sarajo: Ohhhh, this is good...  4.25

Overall Score: 4.25
Well this was the most standard score I think we've ever had in this series!  A solid beer.



Photo details: Taking a picture of this shiny bottle with tons of gold reflections was mind-bogglingly hard.  Eventually I got a mediocre shot of it.  Not having the ability or time to go out and shoot some Formula One racing, I got creative instead.  I took a small chalkboard of Sj's and made some white lines, adding the car from our set of Monopoly on this impromptu speedway.

Get Bent! Bent Brewstillery

While in Roseville for the Minnesota Mashout homebrew competition this past January, I got a chance to visit Bent Brewstillery.  After two straight days clustered around a bunch of beer geeks judging beers in the basement of Grumpy's, where could I find a change of pace?  Yep, just a short walk through melting snow to a nondescript office park to hang out with even more beer geeks!

Bent has a bit of a storied past.  The building originally housed the Pour Decisions Brewery headed by brewer and scientist Kristen England.  The beers tended to focus on obscure/extinct/unusual styles that really appealed to the beer geek in me, but maybe made for a tougher sell on the average drinker.  They did some contract brewing for Bent Brewstillery at that time, using the owner of that company's homebrew recipes.  A couple of years into the endeavor, there were apparently some money troubles (I think mainly because one of the partners no longer wanted to have a part in things).  With the need for an infusion of money to keep things going, Pour Decisions merged with Bent Brewstillery in 2013.  England stayed on as head brewer, but the latter name was chosen and the running of the business side went to Bartley and Brenda Blume.  They kept this name because they wanted to create something new in Minnesota--the first brewery/distillery combination facility.  They have a sizeable 20 barrel brew system with 40 barrel fermentors, as well as a 5 barrel "experimental" system that England uses mainly for his continued passion of sour beers!  With the large brew system they also create the wash for distilling in their 500 gallon still.

The building has changed a bit since the early days, but still hides out in a quiet and seemingly deserted office park.  I used to laugh at the tiny little sign in the window of Pour Decisions, but the new brewery isn't marked much better--just a small vinyl banner over the door.  A food truck was parked outside next to the small patio area on the day I visited, providing vittles for hungry drinkers.  Inside the place is fairly dark, with a scattering of high tables and some up-ended barrels around the main floor space.  Thick and imposing spiky metal fencing bars one entry to the brewery and the distillery but you can see the stainless steel in the darkened space beyond.  Frankly I find this feature to distract from the otherwise warm and comfortable feel of the place.  The bathrooms deserve mention--fancy sinks in both, and a European style bidet in the women's room--much swankier than most taprooms!  And no, I did not infiltrate the ladies room...

A fairly small bar sits in the far corner, manned by two servers on this day.  There was often a long line to get beers but these two were quick and friendly, even when having to fill tons of sampler trays.
In the past I've had mixed feelings on the beers at Bent.  One would be amazing (sours for instance) and another would be flawed in some fundamental recipe formulation way.  I've been to the brewery twice previously and decided to hold off on my review until I could give it one last shot.  That time was now, and I was happy to discover that things are much improved from my previous visits.  I ended up getting a sampler of the entire line-up and tasting through them as we played dice games on the larger high-top table in the taproom.  I rate beers on a 0-5 scale, 3 is average for me, 4 I'll search out, and 5 I'll hoard.  I was already being anti social with my friends by taking notes, so these are pretty quick impressions not BJCP scoresheets!

1) Hil Yis!  ExperimentALE #7:  Made with New Zealand hops, this has a light gold color and strong tropical fruit notes of apricot and mango.  A somewhat bitter finish but a good and flavorful beer.  3.75

2) Nordic Blonde:  I still don't get this beer.  Amber blonde?  Oxy-moronic as a jumbo shrimp, this is one of the flagship beers from Bent and is in cans all over the place.  I have actively despised this beer in the past, but this time it wasn't as bad.  Amber in color with some hoppiness in aroma and flavor.  Somewhat bready and crisp which reminds me more of a Vienna lager than a blonde.  Still not a blonde. 3

3) Moar: A light Scottish ale but with American hopping.  Hoppier than any Scottish ale has a right to be, but the malty body of this is pleasant. Citrus hops are bright in aroma and flavor.  Very easy to drink. 3.5

4) Brother Vesper: A Belgian quad.  Complex, woody, dark fruit, caramel.  Dark cherry as it warms.  Warming and boozy.  Very nice beer.  4

5) Fest Hop ExperimentALE #8: Strong tea-like tannins.  Hoppy and fruity.  Mellow but well balanced and different.  3.75

Tyrone hams it up while testing out the hop infuser! 

6) Maroon & Bold: This is a hold-over from Pour Decisions and features all Minnesota grown ingredients including the hops.  Slightly sweet with mellow hopping.  More of a pale ale in flavor than an IPA.  3.75

7) Funked Up Series #6 Berried Gose: A German style gose (light, tart wheat beer with salt and coriander usually added).  Mixed berry aromas and flavors--blueberry, raspberry seem dominant to me.  Pretty pink color with some haziness.  Light saltiness adds complexity and balances the acid bite.  4

8) Malvasia Pyment: This is a honey wine with Malvasia grape juice added before fermentation.  Served in a wine glass.  Excellent clarity, light golden color.  Tons of tangerine, pear and honey flavors.  I like this a lot!  4.25

9) White IPA with fruit:  This is a batch that they were experimenting with--each day this week had a different fruit addition to the base beer.  Today's version was spruce.  I've had lots of sahti beers, as well as other spruce beers, but this was outrageously like drinking Pine Sol cleanser.  No thank you.  Would be interested to try the base beer or other versions. 1

This brewery still seems to have a little multiple personality disorder to me.  I get some beers that seem out of style just to make a point (Dark Fatha, Nordic Blonde) while others are aiming to be true to classic and rare styles like gose, Belgian quad, and pyment.  I love the fact that the place usually has a mead of some type on tap since they are so hard to find anywhere.  They also have cold press coffee available on tap if you need a pick-me-up after a hard day's drinking.

While I was wrapping up my tasting, a small group of brewers and distillers was getting a short tour of the distilling side of things with Bartley Blume himself and I was invited along for the ride. Bartley is a somewhat intense guy that really seems to be passionate about his distillery projects.  He pointed out the large still and a tiny little experimental one they use for small batch trials.  We got to sample the Gunner Ghost navy strength (114 proof!) gin--fairly bursting with flowery botanical aromas like lavender, rose, and coriander.  They actually use Cascade hops in the mixture which is a nice nod to the fact they are also a brewery.  This was a strong one, but very flavorful!  We also tried the Bent Anchor Poitin--an Irish style moonshine made mainly from the cast-off potato peels from Minneapolis hipster haven Anchor Fish & Chips.  This was surprisingly smooth and reminded me a lot of vodka but with a bit more character and body to it.  I was sporting my J. Carver Distillery shirt this particular day and mentioned their experiments with grappa, and within seconds Bartley had given me a taste of their test batch--not bad for a first effort!

I would say that based on this recent visit, I would recommend Bent as a taproom to visit, especially if you live on the St. Paul side of things.  I respect Kristen England's beer and brewing knowledge to the utmost, and now having met Bartley Blume I feel that he has a lot of passion for the distilling side of things.  I think that with these two each focusing on their areas of expertise Bent Brewstillery is finally becoming what what it was destined to be.

Since I've recently widened my boozy pursuits to include cocktails, I went ahead and bought a 375 ML bottle of the Gunner Ghost to try out at home.  I made a fairly classic martini with it to showcase the gin.

2 oz Gunner Ghost Navy Strength Gin
1 oz Ransom Dry Vermouth
3 dashes Dashfire Number 1 Orange Bitters
Shake with ice
Garnish with lemon twist

This turned out pretty tasty, but very strong and very dry!  The vermouth I used actually had botanicals in it already and in retrospect I'd choose something more mellow to pair with this beast of a gin.  The Dashfire bourbon barrel bitters (another local company by the way) adds a bit of fruity complexity and accentuates the citrus hops in the gin.  It took me a while to drink all of this due to it's powerful flavors and alcohol.