Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Caramel Coffee Doppelbock

 Sunday, it was finally time to keg the doppelbock.  This is a recipe I created and brewed last year, and was a favorite of mine,  and friends and family alike, so I decided to brew it again.  To add a little something extra to this 7.25% doppelbock, I added some fresh roasted Starbuck's Caramel Coffee to top off the keg.
 This brew won't be ready to drink in time for the Super Bowl, but will be ready for samples at the next Beers to You, on March 3rd.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beers-to-You-Gourmet-Too/174830469206871
 Went to Single Speed Brewing in Cedar Falls on Saturday with my brother in-law Jared, and his wife Johanna.  She dropped us off at the bar for awhile before joining us for a beer cocktail.  I had to put this picture on here, because, I found out this was her first ever drink at a bar!

I tried a Snowshoe ale and an Imperial Red.  Both beers were extremely tasty.  You could really taste the chocolate overtones in the Snowshoe ale.  The Imperial Red was excellent and very smooth for a 7.5% brew.
This is a picture of my beer cocktail.  A mixture of an Imperial Stout from Peace Tree Brewing, some bourbon from Cedar Ridge Distillery, and some cherry flavoring.  The bourbon really came through after the drink warmed and opened up.  I would absolutely have another one of these.

Iowa is quickly becoming a great place to enjoy craft brewed beers and liquors.  Here's a few links from my sampling this past weekend.

http://www.singlespeedbrewing.com/

http://www.peacetreebrewing.com

http://crwine.com/eat-drink/cedar-ridge-distilled-spirits/

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Quick reviews

 Laguntis Maxius IPA is a great IPA.  It has a ton of citrus flavor and aroma, and is extremely hoppy.  It is still a well balanced beer with a lot of sweetness from the malts. This beer is good with food or on it's own.  I highly recommend this if you are an IPA fan.
Recently, I've had a craving for scotch.  Not wanting to spend the big bucks on Glenfiddich, I decided to try Dewar's 12 year old, double barrel aged scotch.  Upon opening the bottle I noticed it smelled more like a bourbon than a scotch.  Mixing it with water, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was.  Again, it did have similarities to a bourbon, but still had some of the classic peat, almost smokey flavors of a good scotch.  I also tried a little "neat."  It was still very smooth, and picked up a ton of flavor from the barrels it was aged in.  The was great vanilla flavor with some interesting caramel flavor.  Why this is still not in the same level as a Glenfiddich, it is still a very tasty, respectable scotch, and a nice way to bring in the new year.