Brewgie Howser

It’s been a while since I’ve thought about blogging. When I left in 2016 I was not at my best. My dad had recently passed away, I recently left my girlfriend after struggling to make things work, my job was wearing on me, and school was challenging. And with increasing pressures to monetize my blog, something I always found comfort and escape in, it was easy to walk away.

January 12, 2018

Dear Joshua Collins:

Congratulations!  I am happy to inform you that you have been accepted to participate in the UC Davis Extension 2019 Master Brewers Program.  The program dates are Monday, January 28 through Thursday, June 6, 2019. Please note, these program dates are tentative, as we are currently awaiting confirmation of the dates for the 2019 Diploma in Brewing Exam from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.  At most, the entire program may shift forward one week.  I will be in touch once the 2019 dates are confirmed.

Because the 2019 Master Brewers Program is full and has a waitlist, please notify me immediately if you no longer intend to participate in the 2019 program.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please be sure to notify me of any change in your mailing address, email address or telephone number.

Congratulations again, and I look forward to meeting you in January 2019!

Sincerely,

Melissa Marbach

Stone Brewing “Xocoveza Charred” Bourbon Barrel-Aged Mocha Stout (Bottled 2015-07; Cellared 2015-08-06): Got this one as part of a trade last year and was told to let it do some down time to mellow out. One of my Insta friends recommended I drink it sooner rather than later.

Poured into my Speakeasy tulip, the beer presents black with low-plus head that fades quickly to a watery finish.

The aroma is decadent with notes of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon. Sweet bourbon character lingers beneath the surface. The spice profile is aggressive and reminiscent of Mexican hot chocolate. Imagine a mocha blended with horchata with undertones of bourbon.

The flavor profile is even more so. Chocolate, cinnamon, and coffee fall front and center. Sweet bourbon follows closely behind. Complex, yet well executed.

Low-plus, thin body with medium-minus carbonation and bitterness. Spice profile lingers on the palate with a dry lingering finish.

Stone Brewing “Imperial Russian Stout” (Bottled 2014-02-23; Cellared 2014-03): So this is the 2014 vintage of Stone’s IRS. I remember buying a small handful of these hearing they aged very well, and slowly over the course of two years I’ve been drinking them down to make room for other beers I’d rather be aging.

Poured into my Speakeasy tulip, the beer presents black and creamy with an off-white head that fades to a bubbly finish.

The aroma is pleasant with mild notes of roasted malt, cocoa, espresso and dark fruit. Earthy. Licorice.

The flavor profile offers more of the same. Roasted malt falls front and center followed by chocolate and just a hint of dark fruit. Espresso lingers beneath the surface resolving to an earthy finish. The licorice is slightly subdued compared to the aroma.

Creamy body with medium-minus carbonation, good balance between residual sugar sweetness and bitterness, and a dry lingering finish.

Honestly, I remember very clearly not liking this beer as I was aging it, thinking it was getting oxidized. It was not shaping up very well. Now that I’m down to my last bottle at 2 years old, this is actually turning out to be a pretty good little beer that I underestimated.

I’m definitely going to have to start over again and get 1 or 2 bottles this year to tuck away. Initially my plan was to get to 5 years, but being my previous experiences with this beer as it was aging have been less than favorable I decided to just make room for other beers waiting for their turn in the wine fridge.

New additions to the ever-growing designer toy collection.

I picked up a few more of Medicom’s Be@rbricks. These two are also from series 19 like my other one. I bought them in blind boxes (as opposed to open blind boxes) and received a “Jellybean” and an “Animal,” designed by Taiwanese illustrator and picture book artist Jimmy Laio. Admittedly, the weird donkey thing wouldn’t have been my first pick, but it’s not entirely ugly either. I’m trying to build a mini Be@rbrick army to isolate in acrylic and make a little side table, so it’ll blend right in with the others.

Stone Brewing “IPA”: I hated this beer when I first had it back in 2012. I was a novice beer drinker and the aggressive hops were just too much for me. Flash forward four years and this iconic IPA has a new, sexy outfit on.

I’ve already given my impressions of this beer a little over a year ago, so I’m going to forgo tasting notes. This is more of a showcase of the rebrand. And about damn time, too. I swear Stone has been dragging their feet on this one. While every other beer in their portfolio got a refresh sometime last year when the brewery decided to overhaul their core lineup, their most important beer still sported vintage graphics.

I love the new look and I feel it’s more in line with the rest of their brand now, though every person I’ve talk to about this refresh has beef with the typeface used for “IPA.” I’m feeling indifferent about it. It’s not my favorite, but I certainly don’t hate it either and it sure as shit can be a whole lot worse. It’s actually growing on me the more I look at it and compare it to their previous label.

I’ll also say I’m surprised, yet simultaneously not surprised, that the recipe didn’t change to a newer 2.0 version. This is still a fantastic IPA as well as a classic and drinks just like I remember it from last year, but I was kind of hoping they’d ramp the hop character up juuuuuuust a little bit while still using those spicy hop varietals this beer is known for or even introduce a newer varietal that exhibits similar character.

I pulled some samples of Brouwerij Van Hosenbrouck St Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition yesterday morning for my microbiology project. I found a recipe for UBA (Universal Beer Agar) media that called for beer and decided to go with a Belgian lambic. I’m sure I could have used any beer, but I decided to stick with the theme of sour beer and go with this classic.

I talked to my lab tech yesterday about some of the media I requested and she said that the microbe I’m working with, Pediococcus damnosus, is actually a new one for the project this year and they didn’t have most of the ingredients for the recipes I found in both the Difco Manual, the Handbook of Microbiological Media, or my copy of Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation.

Instead, she’ll be giving me some stock plates and broths of a lactic acid media she suspects will work really well with my bacteria as well as stock broths of a V-8 media, mostly because those resembled the media I submitted. As a bonus, she said she’ll whip up a special blend of plates and broths of the lactic acid media substituted with 25% of the gueuze I brought.

Got some new designer toys! I’m increasing my collection rapidly and my desk looks like a child’s room. I’m gonna need to get some shelves before too long.

I picked up a Gama-Go Lederhosen Deathbot wooden toy designed by one of my favorite artists, Tim Biskup. I’m such a goober over beer, I couldn’t pass this guy up.

I also wanted to start a collection of Medicom Be@rbricks so I also grabbed a series 19 blind box and wound up with this weird cat toy, “Cute,” designed by Japanese tarento (media personality) Shokotan. I could have wound up with worse from the series, but it’s definitely not my first (or even fourth) pick if I had my choice. I’m wanting to collect them by buying both opened blind boxes featuring artists / designs I like as well as unopened blind boxes so there’s at least an element of surprise.

I had also purchased some more Sonny Angel “Heart Chocolate” artist series kewpie dolls for my girlfriend I was holding on to for our anniversary, but we broke up this weekend so I guess they’re mine now. I probably won’t collect any more, what we affectionately called, “weenie babies,” but they’ll serve as a little memento of our time spent together.

And I don’t know if I ever posted pictures of these droids I made at Disneyland earlier this year. In Tomorrowland, after you exit Star Tours, you can assemble droids in the Droid Factory and these are the two I came up with; J-10 (January 10th, the day I attended) and D-60 (for Disney’s 60th anniversary).

High Water Brewing “Old & In The Way” Bourbon Barrel-Aged English-Style Barleywine (2011 Vintage): We had a few of these laying around at work that were leftover from the 5th anniversary High Water party and decided to buy a properly-aged barleywine from their first year.

Poured into my Stone Old Guardian glass, the beer presents deep amber to molasses-like in color with little clarity. Minimal old lace to eggshell colored head that fades into a watery finish, leaving a pleasant ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.

The nose is pleasant with notes of sweet bourbon and vanilla bean. Caramel malt and black treacle. Hops have fully decayed from the aroma and have melded well with the malt bill. Concise and not overly complex.

The flavor profile offers additional oak character to the notes of sweet bourbon and vanilla. Caramel malt and treacle are prominent with just a suggestion of citrus and pine. Toffee-like. Baker’s cocoa and dark chocolate.

The body is full, expressing medium-minus sweetness only to be reeled back in from moderate to ample hop bitterness. Dry finish. Fusel alcohol is minimal at best.

Just a wonderful barleywine that’s aged very well in my opinion and I think it could even stand to use a little more downtime. This old geezer hasn’t even begun to shine yet. I’ve had 2011-2013 vintages (all concurrently) and I have to say the 2012 has been my favorite year, with notes of what I can only liken to pu’erh tea- this sort of damp forest floor, mushroom-like character with undertones of ocean flora and umami. It’s not at all what others have experienced at my work, but that’s just what I immediately thought of when I tried it. The 2013 I feel is too young with lots of hops that get in the way. Perhaps it’s just how the batch of beer turned out that year, but I don’t care for it much.

Started playing disc golf last week and I love it. I had my coworker and her husband, Tara and Charles, take me out and show me some basics.

I played a few rounds last week and took a growler full of Sierra Nevada Otra Vez to the course. Gotta stay hydrated. Today I went to the park with one of my other coworkers, Brian, to throw some discs and practice my throwing technique.

I’ve been throwing a first run Legacy Icon Mongoose 167g fairway driver that I love, as well as a Legacy Gravity Prowler putter and an Innova 175g midrange I’m enjoying.

I did some snooping around online and found some Axiom discs by MVP I’m gonna give a shot. I ordered an Insanity Proton 163g distance driver, an Alias Proton 164g midrange and an Icon Mini Proton marker. I saw the Insanity driver has a lot of similarities to the Mongoose fairway I’ve been throwing, but should hopefully get a little more distance out of it.

Tioga Sequoia “Midnight Lightning” Russian Imperial Stout (2015 Vintage; Cellared 2016-02-19): I was going to age this, but I’m thirsty and cared the least about this one. Let’s get into it…

Poured into my new brandy snifter, the beer presents super-mega-ultra black with a beige / khaki colored, effervescent head that slowly recedes to a watery resolve.

The aroma is ample with dark fruit and black licorice character. Undertones of coffee and roasted malt. Subtle cocoa. Fusel alcohol is present, but not hot.

The flavor profile offers more of the same- dark fruit, black licorice, coffee, cocoa and roasted malt. Concise.

Medium-plus to full bodied with moderate carbonation and bitterness. Fusel alcohol warmth not totally unwelcome. Slight acidity, perhaps from the roasted malt.

Wow, I powered through those impressions. Maybe it’s because I’ve had this beer plenty of times (and it’s still a tasty beverage). Every year I tell myself I’m going to age one and I never do. Maybe I’m just not big on aging RIS (now that I think of it I have plenty aging- several years of Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin, Stone IRS, Narwhal, Parabola and Parabajava, and a few years of Beachwood’s Touvarish). I dunno, I’ve also tried aging Dust Bowl’s Black Blizzard RIS and I never can make it past a few months. I think maybe I’m just not serious about aging small local stuff, but then realize I also have TS Smoke Chaser and Barrel-Aged Smoke Chaser I’m sitting on as well as Tahoe Mountain Barrel-Aged Auld Bitch.

Made a trip out to Berkeley the other day. I’ve been in contact with Jay Goodwin over at The Rare Barrel about my microbiology project I’m working on and he was kind enough to give me some samples of beer I can run tests on.

Next week I’ll be trying to culture Pediococcus damnosus out of these beers. The first sample Jay gave me is a year-old golden sour that, during initial propagation, expressed ropiness which I suspect is a likely sign of exopolysaccharide production through β-glucan synthesis brought on by P. damnosus. The second sample is also a month-old golden sour brewed with a mixed culture including a White Labs strain of P. damnosus that does not expresses ropiness.

While I was in the area I also popped by The Torpedo Room to do some tasting. I got a flight of the new Ovila Brown with Mandarin and Cacao and Ovila Quad with Cherries. I also got tasters of Hit Me With Your Best Hop Schwarzbier / Black Lager, Audition Double IPA, Old Chico Pale Bock as well as a half pour of Audition Stout. On my way out I grabbed a bottle of Trip In The Woods Barrel-Aged Stout aged in red wine and bourbon barrels, Trip In The Woods Barrel-Aged Old Ale aged n bourbon barrels, and growlers of Audition Double IPA and Otra Vez.

My little designer vinyl collection is growing. I started collecting toys again with my girlfriend a few months ago and it’s been a lot of fun.

She’s been collecting Sonny Angel kewpie dolls, both blind box and artist collection, as well as Funko Pop! figures. I made her a little Easter basket with a new Sonny Angel kewpie, a Disney Tsum Tsum, some Fluffy Fuwa Time Angora Bunny plushie, and started her new collection of Thimblestump Hollow blind boxes.

As for myself, I’m a little over the place right now. I now have (what I believe to be) the complete set of Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi Yeti Marshall toys by 64colors. I also have a Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi Tear Drip blind box figure by Travis Lampe and my Creamy P.P. Puppy vinyl figure by Gary Baseman, my favorite artist.

Dogfish Head “Immort Ale” American Strong Ale (Bottled 2016-01-22): Came across this when I picked up my Tusk & Grain bottle and recall hearing good things about it. This is an American strong ale brewed with maple, vanilla, peat-smoked barley and aged on oak.

Poured into my Device 8oz snifter, the beer pours murky with deep ruby and amber shades. Minimal off-white head that resolves into a watery finish.

The aroma is pleasant with strong vanilla character. Maple is subdued. Not getting much oak from the nose. Caramelized brown sugar with some biscuity undertones. Dark fruit, like candied cherries and plum / raisin. A bit musty. Hints of alcohol.

The maple shines much brighter on the palate, falling front and center with ample dark-fruit character. The vanilla follows through to the finish. Brown sugar is prominent, reminiscent of turbinado. Fusel alcohol is present, and not entirely uninviting.

Full bodied with moderate carbonation, minimal bitterness and a fair amount of residual sugar; definitely leaning towards sweet. Dry, lingering finish. 

Honestly, I don’t see it. It’s tasty and almost quad-like, but I was hoping for a little bit more. I think perhaps the alcohol, though not intrusive, may have inhibited certain flavors and aromas from being expressed.

I think a few years will do this beer some good. I anticipate the alcohol to taper off and, more importantly, any hop bitterness to mellow out and really push this beer towards being (dare I say) cloyingly sweet. Normally I’m not a fan of overly-sweet beers, but I think with the addition of maple syrup it would be appropriate. I really do enjoy this beer, but not enough to feel bad about condemning the other three bottles to my cellar.

Lagunitas “Olde Gnarlywine” American Barleywine-Style Ale (Bottled 2015-02-20; Cellared 2015-03-11): I swooped on a few of these last year while I was picking up some High-Westified. At something like $3.99 a bomber I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab a handful of these barleywines to cellar, being as it’s my favorite style beer to age.

Poured into my Stone Old Guardian specialty glass, but beer pours amber and ruby red. Ample carbonation with a khaki and eggshell-white head expressing great head retention. Exhibits crystal clarity.

The aroma is pleasant with lots of caramel and biscuit notes. Slightly toffee-like. Undertones of orange zest, perhaps even some pine. Dark fruit, almost cherry-like with notes of plum / raisin. Do i wanna say candied pineapple? The aroma of decayed hops is low-plus.

The flavor profile is very similar to the nose with caramel, biscuit, toffee, citrus and dark fruit. The hop character is definitely more pronounced on the palate than in the aroma. The citrus and pine-yness really come through. Definitely getting more biscuit / toast character. Fusel alcohol is well hidden for being 10.6%- deceptively easy to drink. Extremely well-balanced.

Full bodied and very smooth with moderate carbonation and medium-plus bitterness. Moderate residual-sugar sweetness. Semi-dry finish. Again, fusel alcohol extremely well hidden.

I’m really impressed with this barleywine and it’s a shame they release beers like Bitter Oats and Equinox instead of releasing this annually because this is honestly one of the best Lagunitas bottled beers I’ve ever had (along with High-Westified, I’m always a fan of Lil Sumpin’ Wild, Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale, and Brown Shugga’).

Tusk & Grain “Barrel-Aged Blend No. 01″: You know those people who write off breweries because they don’t fit into a narrowly-drawn category described as ‘craft beer?’ Yeah, I’m not one of those people. I’m an equal-opportunity drinker of good beer. That said, let’s begin. This beer is Saint Archer’s first attempt at a barrel-aged release and is comprised of barleywine, imperial porter and imperial stout matured in Kentucky bourbon barrels.

Poured into my Stone Brewing Double Bastard specialty glass (note the irony), the beer pours with the viscosity and consistency of motor oil, without carbonation and without effervescence. Blacker than black, this is the black hole of beers.

The smell is decadent with ample bourbon character, maple, toffee and black treacle. Maybe just a suggestion of espresso. Notes of dark fruit and chocolate linger beneath the surface with subtle oakiness. Fusel alcohol is present in moderation.

The flavor profile is surprisingly well balanced for how aggressive the aroma is. The barrel character really shines through on the palate with oak, vanilla and sweet bourbon notes. The followthrough is somewhat cacophonous, muddled with notes of of maple, toffee, chocolate and dark fruit in more of a homologous mixture rather than presented in layers. Dark-roasted malt lingers in the finish. Fusel alcohol considerably more mellow than the aroma. Complex, though not terribly difficult to get through.

The mouthfeel is full bodied with medium-plus bitterness and moderate residual-sugar sweetness. Slight carbonic bite followed by a dry, sticky finish.

I’m actually pretty impressed by this, coming from a group of people who generally make basic crowd-pleasing beers and without frills. It’s a decent first attempt and frankly better than some barrel-aged blends from breweries who’ve been at it a lot longer than these guys. I would say this would benefit from less barrel-aged components that would help to further express the nuances of oak and bourbon.

Dogfish Head “Romantic Chemistry” IPA: So this is DFH’s new seasonal IPA that replaced their Aprihop (*there was much rejoicing*). Actually, I remember Aprihop being pretty decent and this Romantic Chemistry is just another step in that beer’s evolution. In addition to the apricots the recipe called for, mangos and ginger were added to further develop the essential oils present in apricots and hops.

Poured into my Brooklyn Brewery pint glass (hey, I haven’t used this one in a long time!) the beer pours a pleasant golden straw / light amber color with flawless clarity. Medium-minus head formation, old lace in color, resolving to a watery finish.

The aroma is great with a really interesting resinous character falling front and center. Lots of aromatic hops. Mango is definitely prominent. Subtle apricot. I’m not sure how much ginger I’m getting out of the nose. Malt bill is really subdued, which is surprising given the color of the beer. I would have expected some caramel maltiness, or even some light toastiness / breadiness, not that I’m complaining. It really allows for the fruit additions to shine through.

The flavor profile follows closely to the nose with ample mango character with moderate apricot. The ginger, however, plays a much bigger role on the palate and gives just a suggestion of its spiciness which really helps to cut down on any residual sugar sweetness. Definitely a bit of citrus hoppiness. Light caramel malt and breadiness on the backend, merely playing a supporting role to help carry the fruit.

Medium bodied with low perceived bitterness, a hint of sweetness and moderate carbonation resolving into a dry finish. Refreshing.

What a wonderful beer- the word ‘whimsy’ comes to mind. I wouldn’t go as far to say this is a new favorite, but a definite improvement to the old Aprihop recipe. It’s really a night and day difference. I didn’t even know these were supposed to be related, but kind of pieced it together when I saw this was also an apricot IPA. Honestly, 2013 was the last time I had Aprihop and after crushing a 4-pack of Romantic Chemistry in a few days I’m already wanting to get another. A+ work, Sam!