World's Strongest Beer: Brew Dog Tactical Nuclear Penguin

It appears the boys from Brew Dog Brewery have done it! A beer with 32% ABV. There seems to be some debate as to whether or not this is still a beer since the technique they describe sounds like distillation instead of allowing the yeast to do all the work. Either way I'd love to try it! Here is a video from their website:

Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Beer and Food Recipe: Krispy Kreme-Style Doughnuts with Terrapin Imperial Pilsner Glaze

I love food. Hence, why I am fat. But then give me food made with beer? Hello? McFly? How could you not love it!! I'm always on the search for recipes using beer in the ingredients and recently found this one in my issue of Draft Magazine. Here is some background from the magazine on this recipe:

Sometimes referred to as the "Capital of the South," Atlanta hosts the headquarters of Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS and, the folks at South City Kitchen might argue, Southern cuisine. If you're wandering the streets of ATL hankering for authentic stone-ground grits, fried green tomatoes or collard greens, the Kitchen's executive chef Chip Ulbrich is the man to find. Ulbrich, who has guest-chefed a dinner at the James Beard House, not only dishes authentic Southern and low-country food, but works to push these traditional styles into the modern age: grilled mahi mahi sits alongside andouille sausage and dirty rice, while traditional dumplings come stuffed with herbed cheddar. Here, Ulbrich fries up a breakfast treat that matches two quintessentially Southern favorites: doughnuts and Terrapin Beer.

Krispy Kreme-Style Doughnuts with Terrapin Imperial Pilsner Glaze


Servings: Makes 12 to 14

Ingredients:

Doughnuts:
1⁄4 cup flat Terrapin All-American Imperial Pilsner
5 cups all-purpose flour
11⁄2 cups lukewarm milk, scalded, then cooled
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup shortening
2 1⁄4-ounce packages yeast
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
canola oil for frying
...
Imperial Pilsner Glaze:
4 to 6 tablespoons warm Terrapin All-
American Imperial Pilsner
2 cups powdered sugar
1⁄3 cup butter
11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:


Doughnuts:

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a 21⁄2-quart bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups flour. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled, 50 to 60 minutes. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when dough is touched.
Turn dough onto a floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour. With a floured rolling pin, gently roll dough 1⁄2-inch thick. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and place doughnuts on a large tray; cover and let rise until doubled, 30 to 40 minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove carefully from oil, being careful not to prick the doughnuts, and drain.
Dip doughnuts into creamy glaze and let set on a rack until cool.

Imperial Pilsner Glaze:

Heat butter until melted, then remove from heat.
Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in beer, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.


YUM!!! If anyone actually makes this one tell me how it is!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Beer Review: Old Speckled Hen

So I was reviewing some of old posts and thinking about ways I could make The Beer Buddha a more interesting site. Still not sure how to do that but one thing I noticed was I've been reviewing mostly American beers. I'm sure you've heard me say before that American beers are the best and I truly believe they are but I do enjoy beers from other countries. I don't discriminate when it comes to brew. I'll try them all!

There has been one beer here at work that just keeps staring at me saying, "Drink me, drink me." Actually it's saying, "Hey you f#$%ing tosser, come get sloshed off me you f$*$ing donkey!" and for some reason it sounded like Gordon Ramsay. That beer with the dirty mouth is Old Speckled Hen.

Old Speckled Hen has a less than interesting history which I copied and pasted below for you to read:

The story of "Old Speckled Hen"

"Old Speckled Hen" was first brewed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Named after an old MG car which was used as the factory run around, they would park the old MG Featherweight Fabric Saloon outside the paint shop where it would normally get spattered in paint and so it became known as the ‘Owld Speckl’d Un’. This turned into "Old Speckled Hen" when the beer was unveiled.

Since then the finely balanced beer with a distinctive rich malty taste and fruity aroma has attracted many fans, including the fox, who is always on the hunt for his Hen.

Yeah, ok then. Hopefully the beer is more interesting than it's history. Here goes nothing.



Brewery: Greene King PLC

Beer: Old Speckled Hen

Style: English Pale Ale

Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass

Appearance: This beer poured a clear, deep amber color. The head was a creamy, off white. I like the way the the widget makes the beer pour into the glass. It creates an interesting "beer falling down the sides of the glass" effect. Lacing was present throughout as was the head. Honestly a beautiful looking beer.

Smell: There was a very sweet maltiness present right up front. Hints of toasted toffee with an interesting caramel aroma. Not much in the way of hops that I can tell though.

Taste: An immediate metallic(penny)taste followed by a sweet maltiness. Lots of toffee and breadiness present. As I let the beer warm up closer to room temp the coin taste goes away. Has a nice hop bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium, creamy body with medium carbonation.

Overall: Not a great beer but also not too bad. I'd be very interested in trying this on draft or maybe even cask. The metallic taste was a bit of a turn off but I didn't take off points because it did go away when the beer hit proper serving temp. I'll consider that my fault for now serving at the right temperature but also a perfect example as to why beer should be served at the proper temp.

Score: 3 Out of 5 Buddhas

CNN: Pints for Prostates Article

Here is a great article from CNN talking about Rick Lyke and Pints for Prostates. This is a fantastic organization educating people about prostate cancer and getting screened.

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Cask Beer Article in the Washington Post

I absolutely love cask beer(thanks NOLA Brewing!) and if you haven't had a chance to try it you must! Here is a great article from Blake Gopnik in the Washington Post about cask beer.


Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

November Beer Video Of The Month: The Perfect Pour

I really love this video from Stella Artois showing people the perfect pour.



Cheers!

Beer Buddha

Beer Review: Terrapin Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout

Every once in a while a beer comes along that truly blows my mind. Let's be honest though, when it comes to beer blowing my mind really isn't all that hard. Recently though I was lucky enough to pick up a bottle of the Terrapin/Left Hand Brewing collaboration brew called Depth Charge. It is an espresso milk stout using Jittering Joe's espresso.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I hate coffee. I have this weird quirk that makes me not like hot liquids. I'm talking coffee, soup, hot chocolate, etc. I'm not sure when I developed this quirk but it's there. I hate hot liquids. So the taste of coffee doesn't really bother me but the temperature does. And no I don't drink iced coffee either. That's just..well, we'll just leave it at that.

I've reviewed a coffee beer once before with the Peche Mortel from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel in Montreal, Quebec and it got 4.5 Buddhas but this Depth Charge seriously made me rethink the whole coffee thing. Just for a second though. Actually I think I found my "instead of coffee" beverage of choice for after dinner!! Too bad it's a limited release. Anyways, on to the review:

Brewery: Terrapin Brewing Company

Beer: Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout

Style: Milk Stout/Sweet Stout

Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass

Appearance: This beer poured a dark brown, blackish color with a tan head. Lacing present throughout.

Smell: Espresso. Espresso. Espresso. And chocolate.

Taste: WOW. Amazing. Tastes like espresso and chocolate but not in an offensive way like many coffee beers can be. Perhaps the lactose helps balance it out properly.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth beer. Not as heavy as one would imagine. Carbonation is minimal.

Overall: I hate coffee but this beer blew my mind. THIS is the perfect after dinner beer. I only wish I had purchased more. Oh well.

Score: 5 out of 5 Buddhas

Beer Review: Sweet Water Dank Tank Wet Dream

Working at a store as the beer manager really has it's perks sometimes. Ok, not sometimes, most of the time. One of the really cool ones is the "free sample" perk. Brewery reps and sales reps from distributors will sometimes leave me some hoppy goodies in the hopes that I'll bring their beer into the store. Sometimes they do it because they just want to be nice and because I'm awesome. Ok, their just being nice.

Recently my Sweet Water sales rep, Jackie, came in and brought me an awesome surprise: a bottle of Sweet Water Dank Tank Wet Dream. I was so pumped! I've heard great things about the Dank Tank series and couldn't wait. I was going to write a little background info about the Dank Tank series but Sweet Waters website is like navigating a website for Smurfs. The words were way too small and I couldn't find what I was looking for. Oh well on to the review:

Brewery: Sweet Water

Beer: Sweet Water Dank Tank Wet Dream

Style: American Amber/Red Ale

Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass

Appearance: This beer poured a nice amber/reddish color with a huge, fluffy off white head. Nice lacing present throughout.

Smell: Not too overpowering. A nice hint of hoppiness. A nice citrus and grassy aroma.

Taste: Fantastic brew. Not too hoppy. Has a nice mild hoppiness which is balanced well with the sweetness. Very sessionable brew in my opinion.

Mouthfeel: Mid range carbonation and medium body.

Overall: This beer was fantastic! I think many people are confused by what style of beer this is. On Beeradvocate this beer has a score of B+ and for a while was listed as a DIPA which this beer clearly is not. Someone has gone and changed it now but I think unfortunately many people reviewed this beer as a DIPA instead of it's proper style.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 Buddhas

Hop Harvest

Here is a link to the NY Times Slide Show of hops being harvested at Sodbuster Farms in Salem, Oregon.

Cheers!

Beer Buddha

The Beer Snob: Missing the Point

In my job as "beer guy", "beer manager" or whatever you want to call it at Chans Wine World I get to deal with a lot of beer. And I mean A LOT. And I love it. I see so many different styles, brands and some items I can't even classify.

I also get to deal with many different people with many different palates. Sometimes I get to deal with people who are "newbies" to the "better beer" movement, sometimes I get to deal with people who are extremely knowledgable and sometimes I get to deal with people who just want their Bud, Miller or Coors. But with all that I also see the dreaded Beer Snob.

Now I'm sure many people think I probably fall into this beer snob category but I assure you it's not true. Beer Geek? Yes. Beer Snob? No. I may do my best to avoid BudMillerCoors but I have personal reasons for that. Those guys selling out to non-American companies is bull shit and my reason. It has nothing to do with taste or price. But if I go to a party and all they have is BMC you're damn right I'm drinking BMC. It's beer and that's what matters. Now I will always push a local craft beer over the larger breweries beers of course but does that make me a snob? No, it means I like to support local and keep my money(and your money) local.

Most of the beer people I know(and I know a lot)have no problem buying and drinking PBR, Schlitz or some other cheap, macro lager. I personally have no problem buying a $10 bottle of beer and a $8 12 pack of PBR. Makes sense right? Quality and quantity for $20. You'll never see a beer snob do this. They are always on the hunt for the most rare and most expensive beer they can find and they'll do whatever they have to in order to get it. Drinking cheap beer to them is frowned upon and they'll make sure you know it. I admit spending some serious cash on beer but there is a point where I'll draw the line.

The beer snob truly is the worst because they are missing out on the greatest part of drinking beer: the experience itself. Beer is the greatest social lubricant there is. Hence President Obama and his "beer summit" to calm the racial tensions of a cop and professor. Unfortunately people focused on what style beer they were drinking rather than the fact that they were just a couple of guys solving a dispute over some beer. I'm sure most of the world problems could be solved this way. Over a beer. Unfortunately there would be that someone that would say, "I don't drink that swill! Gimme my fancy schmancy beer now or else I'll launch my nukes". Drinking beer and hanging out with friends and family is such a great experience why ruin it with snobbery. If you want to promote better beer that's great but don't do it by telling someone their beer sucks or looking down at them because of their choice of brew. If anything that just makes it worse. Why would they want to try different beers if they view people that drink them as snobs? Beer is fun. Promote it that way!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha