Making the Rounds

Typically on a Friday afternoon, I will liberate myself from work a little early and hit a few of the local breweries, brewpubs and bars known for their tap selection. The point is to find beers that I don’t recognize and so, logically, need to try. My endeavors and exploits on this Friday afternoon missions will be documented here.

This week’s edition, Whole Foods, Bier:Thirty, Boise Brewing and Woodland Empire.

Whole Foods has a nice little café upstairs they call the “River Room”, and I am often impressed if not surprised by the tap selection they have. Not very many, by today’s standards, but someone is looking out for and buying good beer there. Today they had Backwoods’ Brewing “Blueberry Wheat“. A very mild and faintly blueberry American wheat. Pleasant though not particularly interesting, and Ballast Point’s “Sextant Oatmeal Stout” A lovely smooth roasty beer with nice chocolatey flavors. This one was on Nitro which only added to its pillowy palate. Although I think there was something wrong with the tap today as if foamed like mad and there was not much carbonation left in my snifter. One of the other thngs I like abut this place is the option of getting a “half-pour” since as I stated before, the goal is to try multiple offerings before moving on.

Bier:Thirty had several taps occupied by Boise’s own Payette Brewing, when I stopped by, but they were all ones that I had tried a week or two ago at the Payette tap takeover at Bittercreek. Sadly I had to move on as there was nothing new to conquer here today.

Boise (don’t call me Bogus) Brewing was my next stop and they had a couple of their own beers on tap that I did not recognize. The brand new “The Big LeBoise Lager” turned out to be a classic, clean, Pale Lager but a bit more hopped and bittered up and the “Syringa Pale Ale“, a great beer with a lot of fresh up front hop flavors and a smooth easy feel. I like Boise Brewing with its cozy but open, and somewhat industrial atmosphere.

Next time will be some different locations and some new beers.

Cheers

@boisebrewblog

 

 

Too Many Taps ?

Too many choices?

The Boise craft beer scene has been exploding for the last few years and I and many others have been riding the wave of new interesting, and frequently good beer all along the way.

This proliferation of new craft beer options been showing up in 2 basic forms.  Either a new brewery opens up and offers a line-up of 6-10 of their wares on tap, or alternately, a place that while doesn’t brew on premises, offers a lot (40-50 sometimes) of taps pouring beers from around the region or across the country

Recently, it seems, I’ve seen a few posts, tweets and Facebook updates disparaging these high-count tap beer bars.  Mainly bringing to bear the “lots of taps is nice but stale beer is still stale” shtick.

Not only do I not have a problem with this problem but I take particular umbrage with the snobbery or “beer elitism” this sort of smells like.  These are the same people that send back a beer telling their server that the carbonation is not within .5 volumes of being correct for the style. I suppose these nay-sayers would prefer to have Dagger Falls, Rustler/Outlaw IPA, Black Butte Porter or for that matter Widmer Hefewiezen on every other tap in town.  Because since it moves so fast, you are always guaranteed to get a pour from a keg taped only hours ago.

Keep in mind, distributers or rather the brewers themselves, often have what’s called 1/6 barrel kegs that are deployed to tap-houses and beer bars. For those not in the know, that means these vessels are only slightly more than 5 Gallons. As the historical and rather anachronistic moniker “Barrel” is 31 gallons.  That means about 80 pints.  And unless the establishment you are at really does pour a full pint…that’s probably more like 100 or so servings.

How long does it really take to pour 100 glasses of a particular beer?   Breweries know better than to package their Cognac Barrel aged Brett Basil Grapefruit Fig Berliner-Weisse in 15.5 Gallon kegs and drop them off at PreFunk or Starvin’ Sam’s minimart Growler fill station.  I’m not sure even I would try more than a 4oz taster of something that weird.  A year later if I wanted to try it again….it would probably still be there….right where I (and everyone else) left it.  Mother earth, Lagunitas, Melvin, Fremont, Terminal Gravity, all have offerings that all but the most casual beer enthusiast would spot and go for.  If you cant move 100 glasses of Pelican’s Tsunami Stout in a reasonable time, well then maybe you should turn over your lease to the nail salon.

There are plenty of nerdy beer samplers or “tickers” out there that will try something just because its new.  Having 40 taps pouring interesting, rare, or one-offs is just fine and the Boise Beer nerd collective (yours truly included) will take care of it. ThankYouVeryMuch.

Little Bitch Otter

Thursday May 29th was the official release date for Crooked Fence’s latest brew, “Little Bitch Otter” The Garden City brewer has a bit of a tradition of snappy quirky beer names, not that this necessarily distinguishes them from most other craft breweries, but this particular title was certainly not out of the ordinary for them.

I am not privy to the story behind the name…there must be one… but Im sure it would not be difficult to manufacture something reasonably entertaining Ex Post Facto. I’m pretty sure we can throw out the possibility that it is in reference to the 1977 “feel-good” story of Emmet and his friends and their “jug band”. Seeing as how it is not likely that the late Jim Henson’s estate would have allowed the use of that name anyhow. Maybe it is just that this otter is female, and it is simply accurately named in that way.

Crooked Fence calls this an “India Brown Ale”, yet another BJCP category bastardization, this time a combination (or compromise) of India Pale Ale and Brown Ale. The Beer Judge Certification Program puts a beer like this in Category 23. “Specialty Beer” Basically a catch-all. It’s the organizations category for “we don’t think these are important enough to warrant their own official category in our little classification system, but we can’t deny their existence either” In this case, the IBA is hoppier and more bitter than a standard Brown, and not as roasty and dark as the CDA or Black IPA (itself also not an officially recognized style).

I felt that the pint I had did in fact fit into this category with its nice fresh hoppy bitterness and a healthy component of toasted malts. I suppose it is hard to NOT be true to style when your “style” is so broad, that it includes such diverse elements as Great Divide’s “Bee Sting Honey Ale”, Bear Republic’s “Red Rocket Ale” and Stone’s “Arrogant Bastard”. As a brewer, shooting for Category 23 and nailing it would be about as hard as hitting a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle. I had mine at Woodland Empire Ale Craft, the brew place just down the block from the release party, held at Boise’s first growler fill station, “Pre Funk Beer Bar”. I guess you could say I was pre-pre-funking.

…Or…, maybe it is just another installment of their animal theme. OK, it’s not much of a theme, only 3, but they have put out “Black Unicorn” and “Crash Monkey”, as well as last fall’s “Donkey Show”. (I’m not touching what that one might mean) So, so far only mammals. If Platypus Stout is next, I’m not sure if that would continue the run for that class or not. Lactating egg-layers that they are. Perhaps if we knew weather this was an African Otter or a European Otter…that would be a good clue.

Judging by the massive turnout, Id say that this was an eagerly anticipated beer. Woodland Empire is a relative newcomer to the valley and Crooked Fence was in the first wave of early arrivals in the Boise Area craft beer awakening that started about 3 years ago. Both places were packed and had lines out the door and literally down the street. Woodland ran out of their allotment of the Otter by about 630 and I can only hope that PreFunk had a few more kegs. Still, a good beer, cheers to CF on this latest one, and a great crowd, showing their support for another Boise Beer.

Cheers

 

Highlands Hollow Visit

Highlands Hollow is one of the 4 “old school” brewpubs in Boise. The others being Sockeye, TableRock and The Ram.  In the last few years, though, nearly a dozen more have popped up around town but “the Hollow” is of the old guard.

I’m not sure what the deal is with the Scottish theme that seems prevalent in the craft beerniverse.  All the Kilt referenced beer names, many involving the “man-dress” being tilted, lifted or drafty, are all over the place.    Just in Boise, we’ve got “Kilted Dragon” as well, with their exclusively Scottish naming convention for their beers.  Just make sure you don’t confuse a “Scotch Ale” with a Scottish Ale”

Located at the bottom of the hill from Bogus Basin, it is a well frequented stop for tired and cold skiers coming down the mountain after a long day of chair lifts, moguls, yard sales and face plants.

I had not been in a long time so decided it was time for a visit.  I tried a couple that I didn’t recognize, and the Brass Lamp Brown Ale that they brewed for the recent “Ale Fort” festival seemed big and robust, but at a modest 4.9% it was pretty easy going down. The Scotch (don’t call me Scottish) Ale had a lot of the “Scotch” character, earthy, peaty and smokey with a little extra malty sweetness.

Inside, exposed rough cut timbers are used liberally, and brick walls and beer paraphernalia are the theme.  It has a pretty strong ski lodge feel with a chair circled gas fire pit and it was pretty casual and a bit noisy environment but comfortable.

It is at an end of town that I don’t get to very often, but it must be pretty popular with the Boise “North-Enders” judging by the number of SUV’s and Subarus parked out front.  They have a niche I think and this recent infiltration of Micro and Nano brewpubs in the area shouldn’t give them much trouble.

Boise’s North-End has a “Nano-Pub” Cloud 9 opens it’s doors

Boise’s latest brewpub has opened in the Downtown/North end area and it was immediately evident that I waited far too long to make my inaugural visit. Over the last few months, Woodland Empire, and Edge Brewing have thrown their hat into the ring of the Treasure Valley craft beer scene,…and now Cloud 9 Brewery is right on their heels.
Evidently they had about a dozen of their creations lined up on opening day, but after “3 weeks of standing room only” according to Ian, C9’s Beer Bar Czar, they were down to only 5 when I finally stopped by.

Cloud 9 BreweryA quite small space, tucked away in a strip mall between a nail salon and a fitness center, seating about 30 and the brewery “tour” took all of 3 minutes.  All 5 of their 4BBL fermenters were busy doing that voodoo that they do, trying to supply reinforcements. They have a Barrel count on their chalkboard that, as of this writing, shows 49 Barrels brewed.   At the moment, the second batch of the “Salted Caramel Stout” was in primary, going nuts and foaming out of the blow-off tube all over the brewery area floor.  I tried the entire available line-up and they were all good.  Across the board, I thought they were not very hoppy. The Pale Ale for instance was listed at only 26 IBUs and my server pronounced the DIPA at over 120. The latter sure didn’t taste like it but there was nothing wrong with any of them and they were all very tasty. The Porter and the stout particularly are going to be easy entries for the style for folks that think they don’t like “dark beers” Salted Caramel Stout…..seriously. They pull it off though and there is just a touch of salty-sweetness that betrays its namesake.
Chatted with the owners Jake and Maggie, they were kind enough to set aside some time for me.  We agreed that their very busy first few weeks, was a good problem to have.  There have been negotiations with other local breweries with larger brew-house, to contract out a couple batches of their most popular offerings.  I’m guessing the IPA and maybe the Honey Basil.  Guest kegs have kept the taps flowing, with regional selections from Hopworks Urban Brewery, Grand Teton, and a rather uncommon IPA from Deschutes, but I’m sure Cloud 9 would like their customers to see as many Cloud 9 beers on tap at any given moment.   I know I would.

The food menu is a simple but upscale local and organic selection that I have already heard quite a bit of positive, anecdotal compliments about.   The grilled cheese w/ brie and provolone sounds great and I am betting their Burnt Creme (Creme Brule’) pairs well with the Salted Caramel stout.  Either way, I’m trying that duo.

Here’s to Cloud 9 Brewing, Boise’s most recent in the growing craft beer landscape.  From here, it looks like it is off to a great start.

Edge Brewing – First Visit

The latest entry into the fray of Treasure Valley breweries is Edge Brewing.  Backed by multiple partners/investors, local home-brew supply shop, HomeBrewStuff’s owner Marcus Bezuhly is behind it and Kerry Caldwell, formerly of TableRock BrewPub is brewing it.  Edge is located in West Boise, whereas the last few openings have been in downtown or Garden city.

Edge has the interesting distinction of it’s arrangement with their investors/partners.  Many of them are certified beer judges and avid home-brewers themselves, and they are encouraged to brew unusual and interesting one-offs on Edge’s 15G pilot system.  These will go on a couple of “guest taps” at the Brew-pub. Free to experiment on something significantly smaller than their 15 Barrel system, who knows what concoctions will show up from time to time.  A Chipotle’ porter perhaps or maybe a Butter-finger Stout..it’s anyone’s guess. With several regular offerings and some seasonal rotations that will surely make appearances, these loose cannon test batches promise to be an interesting addition and will help Edge to stand out a bit in the Treasure Valley blossoming Craft Beer scene.

Edge Sample "Flight"

I visited Edge the other day and tried the sampler of their current line up.  It was no surprise to see a Pale, an IPA, an Amber and a Wheat.   The IPA was even appropriately named “Obligatory”.  A nod to the assumption that if you are a brewpub you better have an IPA on tap at any given moment.  There was also a Belgian Tripel that was nice and so was the rather hoppy and fairly dry Imperial Stout.  As a matter of fact, save for the Belgian, I thought that most of the line up reflected a slightly hopped up quality.  Possibly a tendency that Edge will be known for going forward… and perhaps that characterization would not displease them.   One of the two beers they had from their experimental “pilot” system was a Cinnamon Cider which I loved, and Marcus himself had the honor of kicking off it’s maiden batch.

Throwing caution to the wind and picking out an appetizer I had never heard of, I stumbled upon an epicurean delight called a “Scotch Egg”.  A hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, breaded and deep fried. Delicious, and the Obligatory IPA washed it down nicely. Although now that I think of it, a Scottish Ale would have somehow seemed perfect. I  even came back to Edge again several hours later, partly so I could bring a friend to try their beers…but really it was mostly so I could have another one of those little gems…and another beer…or two.

The wide tap list that Edge promises to maintain and the frequent rotation of new and potentially bizarre test batches, will keep me coming back as part of my regular rounds.  Congrats and good luck to Boise’s newest brew-pub.

 

 

 

 

Oskar Blues returns to Boise

Its been a couple years since Lyons Colorado’s Oskar Blues’ distinctive cans have been seen on the shelves of craft beer sellers here in the Treasure Valley.

Back in the Summer of 2010, citing production and capacity limits, the decision was made to pull out of the Idaho market after 4 or 5 years, much to the dismay and depression of craft beer lovers in the area.  Apparently they felt they couldn’t adequately supply their larger markets while being stretched all the way to Idaho. What made it seem even worse was that OB was currently leading a really cool movement of canning good beer.  I recently wrote about that HERE.

Now, they are coming back.  Evidently production and capacity are no longer such a limit (aprox 120,000 barrels last year) they they can (re)expand to our market.   Their recently opened 2nd brewery in North Carolina was undoubtedly behind this.  That’s good for us.  Regulars like Dale’s Pale Ale, Mama’s LIttle Yellow Pils, Old Chub, and Deviant Dale’s IPA has already started showing up around here. Other states being added to their turf are Minnesota, Delaware, Kansas and Nevada

As a gauge of how important this is, there were no less than 3 separate occasions/celebrations in town this past week.  Local bottle-shops and gastro-pubs hosting events were Brewforia’s “Welcan Back” party, as well as “Welcome Back Oskar Blues”, a three day launching event at Whole Foods, and yet another at BierThirty

It was nearly to the point of people lining the streets waiving hops and barley sheaves shouting ‘Hail, Hail the return of the King”.  Well maybe not that far….but it’s big.    It’s great to see another quality brewer represented (again) here in the Boise area.

Craft Beer – Not just for Bottles

It is generally accepted that the best freshest beer is when it is right out of the keg.  On draft or on tap.  After that, the packaging that is used can affect the condition of the beer after a little time.  Bottles and cans are mainly what breweries use for portable, “single serving” vessels.

For a long time, there was a stigma about cans in that it was somehow considered cheep, lower class or somehow less desirable.  I suppose mainly because of most of the beer that was in them was of the American Macro Swill variety.

Over the last ten years or so, this has changed as craft brewers have started adopting cans as their choice for packaging and distribution.  One of the first to do this was Oskar Blues Brewing as far back as 2002.  “They said we was daft to put good beer in cans, but we did it all the same…” Their Dale’s Pale Ale and Old Chub were pioneers in the canned craft beer shift.   You can even get their beer in 32oz “Crowlers” now.  Other brewers have since picked this up and now more and more good beer is showing up in supermarkets and “bottle” shops in cans.

Cans are a better container for beer for a few important reasons. One is that they do not transmit light and light can damage beer and sometimes give it that skunky flavor,  which is why most bottles are dark brown.  Keep that in mind when you see those sixers of Heineken and Corona in the cooler.

Another is that they are more environmentally friendly and are recyclable.  Emptys are light weight and compact-able.  Taking a few cans with you in your back pack is a lot easier than bottles.   Especially when you consider packing the empties out.  Which you always do..right?

While glass is a good insulator and the thin aluminum can is not, the latter can be cooled down quickly plus you can use one of those cool little foam can “cozies” if you want.  www.craftcans.com  is a site dedicated to craft beer in cans with beer reviews, a canned beer database and an interactive map showing craft brewers that can.

There will probably always be bottles but seeing good bee…in a can is no longer remarkable.

 

 

Woodland Empire opens it’s doors

Another landmark event in the Treasure Valley’s craft beer explosion.  Woodland Empire Ale Craft opened it’s doors yesterday afternoon and began pouring the first four of what promises to be an interesting and eclectic gamut of craft beer for Boise area folks. I was there an hour after they opened their doors for the first time, officially and got to try everything they had.

An open, relaxed and somewhat spartan tasting room, with nice picnic table style seating and high small tables.  A few cushy chairs at one end and the whole space still slightly smelling of fresh paint.  It was already half full at 4pm with people continuing to trickle in as the after work crowd started to show up.  By 5 o’clock it was pretty much packed.  Rusty, one of the owners spotted my computer and made sure I had the wifi password as I staked out a corner table.

Their 4 “regulars” were on tap.  “City of Trees IPA”, “In the Morning Mild”, “Gold Days Tripel”, and “Rabbit Fighter ESB” (there’s got to be a story behind that name).  All of them were good, particularly the Mild.  Kind of a light brown ale made with coffee from Doma Coffee of Post Falls, ID.  All of them were very sessionable, though the Tripel was approximately %9.  No “in your face” obnoxious experimental triple IPA bitter bombs or 17% Imperial Stouts, but more a line up of beers that are great for having (a few of) over relaxing conversations.

There are some more “risky” seasonal recipes coming down the pike for WEAC but these are likely to be the main line up for a while at least.  The 4 sampler “flight” was even served in an old muffin tin and the self-serve water cart was stocked with 1 liter flip-tops.  A nice touch.

It was a bit of a who’s who there with brewers from multiple local breweries and representatives from several local publications.  It’s fair to say that Rob, Rusty, Keely and the rest of the crew were making it happen.  It was a big turnout, a great start to an exciting and welcome addition to the Boise Beer scene.