San Diego Beer Week: Day Two

Tags

achouffe n'ice, aurora borealis, automatic light whitening, blind lady light whitening, bourbon barrel aged 1903 lager, cabernet, craftsman aurora borealis, edgar's ale, fireworks saison, light whitening, mark jilg, mayor jerry sanders beer, mayor jerry sanders cask, poppy fields pale ale, sour lavender, triple white sage

Mark Jilg of Craftsman Brewing Co.

I’ve finally accepted that San Diego Beer Week is about going with the flow. With so many events going on, so many beers to drink, and so many people all trying to do the same sacrifices have to be made. I had plans to go to the San Diego Brewer’s Guild Festival yesterday, I even had tickets waiting for me, but I never made it down there. From those I’ve talked to that were there a great time was had by all. Mayor Jerry Sanders tapped a cask to kick things off and the party just kept going from there.

So what was I doing that meant missing the Guild Fest? I was at Blind Lady Ale House’s Brewmaster Series with Mark Jilg of Craftsman Brewing Co. Owner and Brewer Mark Jilg made the trip down from Pasadena to talk about his beers and share some stories about the brewing process. Craftsman Brewing Co.’s beers are unique and fairly unconventional, when asked about the use of corn (which many people look down upon when used in beer) in their 1903 Lager Jilg responded, “Rules are for people that want to be ruled.” I think that quote could accurately describe their outlook on brewing.

Jilg explained that he sees their beers fit into three different catagories: those that are approachable and easy drink, basically liquid refreshment. The second catagory is beers in which they want to make a statement to the beer community. And last are beers in which they are trying to figure out and focus on an interesting part of the beer palate.

Craftsman Brewing Co.’s beers are currently only available on draft, mostly in the Southern California area. They have had an operational bottling line for years, but do no currently bottle their beers. If things go according to plan they should start bottling next year. So, on to the beers.

The Craftsman Brewing Co. flight at Blind Lady Ale House included Poppy Fields Pale Ale, Fireworks Saison, Triple White Sage, Cabernale, Edgar’s Ale, and Sour Lavender. In addition to those beers Jilg brought two additional growlers down for the tasting, Bourbon Barrel Aged 1903 Lager and Aurora Borealis.

Poppy Fields Pale, Fireworks Saison, Triple White Sage, Cabernet, Edgar's Ale and Sour Lavender

• Poppy Fields Pale Ale is an English pale ale. It’s not overly hoppy and is pretty dry. This was the most approachable beer of the tasting. I’d like to try a full pint of it though to really get a feel for it.
• Bourbon Barrel Aged 1903 Lager. 1903 Lager is an excellent beer, a pre-prohibition lager which uses 2-row malt and corn and has a distinct cereal taste to it. This barrel aged version had a strong but not overly sweet coconut smell and taste. The finish was very reminiscent of the cereal taste of the non-bourbon barrel aged version. They decided to bourbon barrel age this light lager (it’s about 5.7% ABV) because there are very few beers like this aged in barrels.
• Fireworks Saison is barrel fermented with brettanomyces yeast, but it’s not as funky as one might expect. Many saisons add herbs or spices but not Fireworks, it is solely water, grains, hops and yeast. It uses a high amount of American hops and when fresh is much hoppier than what we tasted yesterday. As it ages it mellows out and becomes a bit funkier, but is still a pretty approachable beer. As Craftsman continues making Fireworks and using the same barrels to ferment it the beer should evolve with the aging of the barrel.
• Triple White Sage was the first beer I had from Craftsman. It’s 9% Belgian-style tripel with white sage. It has a strong sage smell and just enough sage in the taste to make it pleasant but it’s not overpowering. Jilg harvests all of the sage himself which seems to make this a more personal beer to him. This beer is dependent on his local climate, he must be careful not to over harvest sage or else there won’t be enough for the next year.
• Cabernale uses Central Coast Cabernet grapes in addition to all the usual beer ingredients. The grapes are crushed and added to the fermenter and then the wort is cooled and added as well so they ferment simultaneously. It has a strong grape juice smell and definitely has hints of red wine.
• Edgar’s Ale is a dark beer inspired by Edgar Alan Poe. It’s black and strong, but Jilg says it isn’t an Imperial Stout, nor a porter. Purposefully vague this beer is meant to inspire mystery and intrigue. It has hints of wood and whiskey. I believe Jilg said there was no roasted barley used, but myself and many others picked up distinct roasted flavors reminiscent of coffee.
• Sour Lavender was the beer many people singled out as their favorite. I personally don’t like lavender much, but really enjoyed this beer. The lavender is mostly in the aroma, and it has a very strong smell of lavender, but the beer itself is very tart. The first sip can almost be overwhelming, but as your taste buds get used to it this is an amazing beer.
• Aurora Borealis was the last beer we tried, inspired by the aurora Borealis in the night sky this is another beer that is hard to classify. At 13% ABV it’s the strongest beer they have made. It’s aged in their oak fermenter for 11 months and is pretty dry but the standout smell and flavor is mint. It’s a fairly light colored beer and looks nothing like it tastes. There seemed to be so much going on in the beer it was hard to taste it all with a small 5oz sample.

BLAH's Lee Chase holding a tray of Aurora Borealis Tasters

In addition to the Craftsman beers I also tried Automatic Brewing Co.’s new Belgian-style white beer, Light Whitening, I didn’t see the exact ABV but it seemed fairly low, probably around 5% and was very easy to drink and refreshing. Automatic brews in such small quantities this one will be gone soon if it isn’t already, but I’m hoping to try it again with a cleaner palate. I also had an Achouffe N’ice, a strong dark winter beer. It was very malty with a lot of caramel, little hop presence and some fruitness, maybe even the taste of raisins.

For coverage of the San Diego Brewer’s Guild Festival at Liberty Station yesterday checkout West Coaster. And click below to see a video of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders tapping a cask at the festival.

Stone Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Festival Mini Reviews

Tags

Belgo Imperial Russian Stout, Black Raspberry Nectar, Colette Farmhouse Ale, Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, fireworks saison, great divide san diego, great divide socal, great divide southern california, Hop Diego, hop-it, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Blend, La Granja Coffee Stout, lost abbey tea, mike's beer cheese, Modus Hoperandi ipa, nogne o saison, norrebro, Red Stone Meadery, Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers, stone brewing co. 14th anniversary, traditional experimental ale, triple white sage

The Stone Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Celebration and Invitational Beer Festival came and went this weekend, and plenty of great beer was consumed. The festival itself seemed fairly well organized, I heard many people complaining about long lines and the lack of shade, but we never waited more than two or three minutes for a beer, nor did we have any problem finding a place to sit or stand under the large tents. It was warm but not nearly as warm as it could have been in San Marcos in August.

We opted for Session A, arriving at exactly 11am, we got our glasses and wristbands without a wait and were drinking our first beers just a few minutes later. As far as I could tell everyone in attendance was having a great time. Mike’s Beer Cheese was a crowd pleaser for sure. We tried all four varieties offered with Napalm Bastard being the favorite.

Below are short notes about each beer tasted, not so much reviews but quick and mostly distracted thoughts on the four ounce tasters offered, a few at the end were shared among us and I didn’t get a full taster.

• Stone Brewing Co. Belgo Imperial Russian Stout. Stone’s IRS with a Belgian yeast strain. I quickly looked over the beer list the day before the festival and this was the beer I was most excited about, so it makes sense that it was also the beer I was most disappointed with. It wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t live up the high expectations I had for it. I’m not sure how fresh it was, but it tasted more mellow than the fresh IRS I’ve had lately. But I thought it was sorely lacking many Belgian characteristics.
• Stone Brewing Co. Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers. This is a beer I had been wanting to try for a while since I love spicy foods and Stone Smoked Porter. The chipotle flavor was fairly mellow, but prominent. It gave the already smoky beer a nice smoky/spicy kick. Not at all like other chili beers I’ve had, but this was my first chipotle beer.
• Nøgne Ø Saison. A good saison, but fairly unremarkable. Crisp and refreshing in the San Marcos heat. It seemed to lack the fruity esters and spicy phenols and all around funky farmhouse flavors I enjoy in a saison. It could also be that my palate hadn’t quite recovered from those two previous beers, I’ll be giving this one another shot.
• Great Divide Brewing Co. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Great Divide is one of my favorite Colorado breweries that doesn’t get distributed out here, but according to the sign at their booth that will be changing soon as they’re coming to Southern California. I love Yeti, and have had Oak Aged Yeti but never Espresso Oak Aged Yeti. The oak was pretty prominent up front with a great coffee flavor on the finish.
• Lost Abbey TEA (Traditional Experimental Ale). I had no idea what this was going in. The lemon citrus flavors were overwhelming. I once had a Belgian Wit where the brewers accidentally substituted the same amount of the much stronger dried lemongrass for fresh lemongrass. This tasted similar. This would have been my first and only pour of the day but I ate some of the wonderfully spicy Mike’s Beer Cheese Napalm Bastard and this did a good job of putting that fire out.
• San Diego Brewing Co. Hop Diego. Not my favorite Belgian style IPA but not bad. Will drink this again to get a better feel for it.
• Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Blend. If you can’t tell by now I love Imperial Russian Stouts. And Stone’s is one of my favorites. I thought this was just delicious. I’m not sure the exact make up of this blend but it was smoother and sweeter with the hop and alcohol flavors of fresh IRS much subdued. Stone’s IRS with a few years on it is just great.
• Urthel Hop-It. Very carbonated. Good and hoppy with some nice earthy yeast flavors.
• Craftsman Brewing Co. Triple White Sage. This was the standout beer of the festival for me. I had seen Craftsman’s name around but never had any of their beers. I’ve spent a decent amount of time hiking around the foothills of Southern California and that’s exactly what this beer tasted like. A good but not overpowering white sage flavor. Refreshing enough to drinking on a hot day, but complex enough to keep it interesting.
• Craftsman Brewing Co. Fireworks Saison. Another great beer from Craftsman. Slightly spicy phenol flavors and some good yeast flavors made this very enjoyable.
• Red Stone Meadery Black Raspberry Nectar. Amazing honey flavor but almost overpoweringly sweet.
• Julian Hard Cider. A very nice cider. Was refreshing on such a warm day. Looking forward to trying this again sometime.
• Norrebro La Granja Coffee Stout. I wasn’t too impressed by this one. One of my least favorite coffee stouts I’ve had.
• Great Divide Brewing Co. Colette Farmhouse Ale. A good saison. Nice and yeasty good farmhouse flavors as the name implies.
• Ska Brewing Co. Modus Hoperandi IPA. I had to finish out the day with something from my friends in Durango. I was hoping for some Saison Du’Rango but they had temporarily run out. So Modus it was (the other choice would have been Merlot Stout, a great beer but I couldn’t do another Imperial Stout). Nice and piney with a great hop aroma, Modus is one of my favorite IPAs.

Click below for a few photos from the day.