Bellingham Weekend

My daughter thought we were going to see her for a belated birthday visit. My real motive was to check out Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. Voted 2009 Small Brew Pub of the Year by The Great American Beer Festival. And with good reason. They only had one of their award winning brews on tap today but there were five others I sampled. The Pilsner Lager is a silver medal winner. Weighing in at 5%ABV I found it to be dry, sharply bitter, somewhat flowery and effervescent. A very nice brew.

The other's I sampled were:

Kolsch German Ale, 4%ABV it was slightly fruity with undertones of malt.
Helles Lager, 4.5%ABV it had a medium body, bready (as a Helles should be), malty with
restrained bitterness.
Marzen Lager, 5.8%ABV, this amber brew was malty, caramelized and medium bodied.
Bock Lager, 6%ABV, this is a dark, strong, malty beer that is full bodied with restrained
bitterness.
Alt German Ale, 5%ABV, with zesty hop snappiness, full malt flavor and assertive brown color.
This was my favorite.

But that's not all. I finally got to visit Archer Ale House in Fairhaven (really part of Bellingham). A quick note, apparently they don't have their own web page but I've linked the name to a review that will give you an idea of what the place is like. This is comfy pub with charachter. They don't brew their own beer but they have a nice selection to choose from. We couldn't stay long and since it was early afternoon I decided to try the Lambic they had on tap. So it was Lindeman's Framboise (French for raspberry) Lambic. I've never had a Lambic, I've only read about them and I knew to expect a fruity taste. I also knew that Lambic's are fermented using wild yeast that falls in the wort (think of fruit that has fallen from a tree in the summer time and then ferments on the ground). That alone intrigued me. Anyway, it was incredibly fruity and somewhat sweet. Not what I'd really expected but very good. I wouldn't want more than a glass of it at a time though.

If the Good Rats ever get to Bellingham both of these places deserve our attention.

What A Day To Brew

Ahhh, what a fine day. I was waiting for a sunny winter day to head out to the deck to brew up some Red Rat Pale Ale. This morning the sun started to peak out from the clouds and I couldn't resist. Right now the grain is steeping and in a few minutes I will be straining them out and putting in the hops.

The best part of the process is the toasting of the new brew with some of the old. Matt, Marie and I all helped in that part of the process. Matt with the spice, Marie with the hefy and me with both, of course. I wonder if you mixed the two would it be spify? Huh... maybe I better try that next. Spify beer. Now that's funny.

While I'm Waiting

Having the capacity for 15 gallons of beer who'd have thought I'd run out. I've never had that much available at one time but I have the potential to. So turning lemons into lemonade (no, not the hard stuff) GR Matt and I took the opportunity this week to pick out seven brews we could share and sample from Olympic Drug. Dave Look happened to be stocking beer and gave us some insight into some of his stock. Dave said he's been brewing for about 15 years now although lately it's been mostly cider. If you're looking for something a little different go check out Olympic Drug and if Dave's there I'll bet he'd be happy to share his thoughts on what's in stock. Oh yes, although I didn't buy any there was some Smithwicks on hand too.

Yesterday we tried the "Gonzo Imperial Porter" brewed by Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, CO. This award winning brew is dark with a rich and malty body, intense roasted flavor with a kick of hops (7.8% ABV)

We also tried the "Celebrator Doppelbock" brewed by Ayinger Brewery, Aying, Germany. I'd read an interesting article about the brew in the November/December 2009 issue of DRAFT magazine. It seems it's a 100 year old recipe called Fortunator. The importer, Merchant du Vin, insisted on a name and label change. A few years after the beer was brought to the states Ayinger asked permission to change the name of their Fortunator to Celebrator. The little plastic goat ("bock" is German for goat) that hangs on every bottle can be saved and hung on your next Christmas tree as an ornament. This slightly carbonated dark beer had a nice malt and slight fruit smell with a nice malty flavor and a slight bitterness. (6.7% ABV)

Brews yet to be shared:

"La Chouffe" a Belgian Golden Ale brewed with spice brewed in Belgium. (8% ABV)

"Yeti Imperial Stout" brewed by Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO. (9.5% ABV)

"Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout" brewed by North Coast Brewing Co, Fort Bragg, CA. (9% ABV)

"Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat" brewed by Jacob Lewinenkugel Brewing Co, Milwaukee, WI. (4.9% ABV)

"India Pale Ale" brewed by Avery Brewing Co, Boulder, CO. (6.3% ABV)