Beer tasting clean up and new brews

It appears that I have been slacking in my posting. I have been taking notes but not getting them on the blog. These notes will be short and sweet. Most tastings are from Beer Revolution quickly becoming the East Bay destination of choice for beer snobs.

• Iron Springs Rye 5%-Golden Pale w/ very little aroma. Tastes almost like lager. Very dry w/ spice of rye. I like the rye flavor but not the lager. 

• Drake's Robust Porter-another great beer from a great brewery. Great dark roast flavor w/ a dry finish.

• Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Oak Imperial Stout 11%-Very nice. Hints of coffee, oak, and chardonnay. A little too sweet in the middle but still finishes fairly dry. 

• Craftsman Brewing Smoked Beer 8.2%- I know. Nice name. Wish I had more info. It was really good. A pleasant amber ale base beer with an excellent smoke flavor. 

• Port Brewing Wipeout IPA 7.0%-Very smooth IPA. Excellent bitterness w/ balance. BIG hop nose, with several identifiable hop qualities - Resin/pine, herbal, floral and leafy.Bright and lively on the tongue with the resin/pine hop qualities forward. Hop forward for sure, but with a strong enough malt presence to provide some balance
• Dogfish Head  Midas Touch Golden Elixir 9%-I think this is an excellent honey ale. Great honey aroma and flavor. Well balanced for such a strong ale.
• Green Flash Trippel Complex spicy fruit and yeasty aroma. Medium to heavy body with a smooth sticky texture. Medium citrus balanced flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate to moderate duration with a small alcohol bite. This is a refreshing standout beer.

I also stopped in at the Steelhead Brewing Company in Burlingame and was pleasantly surprised.

• Hairy Weasel Hefe- Nice Crisp American Hefe
• Golden Blonde- Crisp. Effervescent. Creamy. 
• Raging Rhino Red-Excellent hoppy red. Good hop balance to caramely malt flavor. 
• Bombay Bomber IPA-Nice subtle hop aroma. Balanced malt w/ intense bitter finish. 
• White Dog Pale-Average. Balanced. Drinkable. 
• Finnegan's Wake Stout-Nice dry Irish stout. Great roast flavor. 
• Double Play IPA-A very good imperial IPA. The smell of the beer is inviting even before the first sip. I would recommend food with this beer as it is powerful(8.8%) on an empty stomach. The color is outstanding and the beer is very drinkable.

And lastly from the bottle at home.

• Abita Jockamo IPA-Malty aroma. Very little hop aroma. Good bitterness in middle but finishes too sweet. (Could have been in bottle too long.)
• Sierra Nevada Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale -Aroma is deep resiny hops. Lots of piney aromas here, touches of sweet citrus, balanced as it warms with hints of rich biscuit like touches that lie just below the surface. Each sip is clean, crisp, and very well recieved with a sessionability that is simply outstanding. Long drawn out finish is wet, then dry, clean and nearly perfect, making you return over and over again.
• Grand Teton Black Cauldron Imperial Stout- Great coffee aroma.On the lighter side for an imperial stout, in both body and taste. There's a good base of chocolate malts to balance out the hops, which gives it a little juice.
• Mikkeler's Beer Breakfast 7%- So named for it's oatmeal and coffee content not its alcohol content. Imperial stout w/ great coffee flavor but not enough body to support it.
• Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale 9.7%- I dig it. Good big beer w/ lots of malt and nice hop flavor. Some citris hops and grapefruit with a slight grassy character along with heavy caramel and slight roasted malts.
  There's a huge amount of sweet caramel on the taste. Lost of brown sugar, beet, and dark fruit character that is quickly blended out by the tart hops and citris hop notes. Finishes dry and grassy from the hop balance at the end.

And I would be sadly lacking in my duties if I did not report on the many brewing activities. Last month I brewed a "Lawnmower ale"and an American Pale Ale. Both turned out well and both a little strong. Working out the kinks in a new system. 1 keg of the Lawnmower was killed at a fundraiser. The other one will at a party next weekend. One of the American Pale Ale kegs will go tomorrow at cook out. This month I brewed an IPA and a Honey Stout.  Both look intriguing. We will see how they turn out.