Dorky about Belgian Ale

Over the last week or so I've alternated my evening drinking routine to include beer. For those that know me, I'm not a big drinker. Yes, I know, I have a ridiculous amount of bourbon but the reality is, I have a drink 3-4 times a week (and at times I go on a purge and have nothing for a couple weeks). In my younger days I was not a beer drinker and really stuck to mixed drinks along the lines of bourbon and coke, bourbon and ginger, rum and coke, etc. About mid career I was doing quite a bit of travel overseas and one of my first trips was to the beautiful city of Vienna Austria. Out for dinner my first week there a co-worker asked why I didn't drink beer and I stated "don't like it". Through some coercion, I agreed to have a beer. The veil of beer bigotry was lifted that evening and I started drinking import beers which eventually morphed into micro and craft selections. So here I am today talking about beer; specifically, Belgian Ale's. I've gone on a small buying binge and picked up a number of various import and domestic Belgians.

First up this week was an Ommegang Abbey Ale. This particular ale is a domestic Belgian made in Coopertown, NY. I'll just say this one really hit my sweet spot. Tons of dried fruit, dark chocolate, malt, mild hops and for lack of a better word, chewy. A must try for those that like dark, rich ales. This one was the lightweight of the three coming in at 8.5% ABV

Next, a Gulden Draak which I found to be less sweet than the Ommegang, contain a little more spice and a little smoother. A very good dark ale with 10.5% ABV; not a lightweight but certainly drinks like one as it went down way too easy.

Last this week was a Chimay Blue at 9% ABV was a real pleasure to drink. I think this may have been my favorite of the three which is hard to say since the Ommegang was terrific. This beer was pretty much hopless with dried fruit, molassas, malt and caramel. This is one I'll keep in the beer bunker for sure.

I feel sad that I've ignored my bourbon this week (well, not completely) but I thoroughly enjoyed these three Belgian Ales. I have more in the bunker and plan on continuing the tasting.

Project Re-barrel - Finished

Well, I finally dumped my Very Old Barton that had been sitting in a 5 liter barrel since November of 2009. On July 30^th I poured what was left in the barrel into two 750ml bottles. If you look back at the original post, I pumped a little over 4.5L into that barrel and managed to pull out 1.5L. Now, some of the loss was sampling over those 8 months, sharing with family and friends as it matured and then lost distillate in the barrel itself during the hot summer. The remaining loss was in fact due to evaporation. Even so, that's a whole lot of loss over 8 months.

To say the end product changed over the original bourbon would be an understatement. Because of the size of the barrel, there was a lot of contact with new charred oak and that really had a heavy influence on the bourbon early on. In fact, I thought maybe it was ruined because it was so overly woody but alas, my patience and warmer weather balanced out the oak (which is still there but not overly dominant), reduced sweetness, added a smokiness and char influence and because of the evaporation, the proof definitely increased.

The color is moderately dark; almost like weak coffee. Nosing the bourbon produces some wood notes, slight smoke and has a finish that is reminiscent of a bold barrel proof bourbon taken down in proof that lingers with a slight tannic oak aftertaste. I'm pleased with the outcome and have enjoyed a number of pours from this bottle. I've got family and friends asking for samples but I'm having to beat them off with a stick since what's left over is pretty minimal.

The day after I emptied the barrel, I refilled it with Evan Williams Bottled in Bond which is a pretty decent bourbon all by itself.

The diminution of George T. Stagg

This was one of the first days in a long while that it wasn't near 100 degrees with high humidity which made it all the more perfect for a scheduled bourbon tasting. In the past I've hosted tastings that focus on mashbill, bonded and distillery but today's theme was something a little different.
On the table, a 2007 George T. Stagg topping out at a hefty 144.8 proof which I cut to 4 distinct proofs of 114, 107, 101 and 121. As many of you know, cutting bourbon can change the profile of a bourbon by taming the proof and bringing out subtle flavor components, etc with the goal of today's tasting to do just that. Taking a big heavy weight like GTS down from barrel strength is not hard and a dilution calculator can be found here at www.Straightbourbon.com which is what I used to determine the water to bourbon ratio. One of the attendee's was late so there were four of us tasting the GTS. Taking the bourbon down to a number of proofs provided insight into how the profile changes with diminished proof. The problem with GTS is that it's still very drinkable at its bottled proof but that's not something I would recommend you do on a regular basis. The high alcohol content can have adverse affects. In any case, the bourbon really opened up and at around 114 which are what two of us picked for being the most well rounded. One picked the 121 and one picked the 107. As you can see, our opinions varied which is what makes an exercise like this interesting and fun to do.
After the tasting we feasted on a eye of round roast that I slow cooked in my Cookshack smoker for around 3 hrs coming out at a rare 125 degrees. The roast was thinly sliced and folded onto Kaiser Rolls with provolone cheese and a horseradish and sour cream spread. On the side, some homemade Austrian sauerkraut which is slow simmered in a chicken stock for about 3 hours. After this bout of gluttony, we settled down to an impromptu tasting of a couple various bourbons. First, we lined up 4 different Four Roses Single Barrel selections which I list as follows (The recipe details can be found here):
Four Roses 100^th Anniversary (OBSV recipe)
Bourbon Society Four Roses Single Barrel (OBSK recipe)
Ledgers Four Roses Single Barrel (OESK recipe)
Private bottling from attending member (OBSK recipe)
The consensus was that the 100^th anniversary was mediocre which is surprising because at 17 years old, I would expect something with a little more depth and character to it. To me and others, it fell flat. The Bourbon Society bottle was good to very good. This was done back in July 2007 and was picked from 12 different barrels. The Ledgers Four Roses was just recently bottled and was very good; this is one of two barrels that were bottled. The last one was a bottling done by a friend so I'm not going to give out the personal details but I will say this one was big and robust with plenty of spice and heat and came in at 123 proof. This bourbon, while fun to drink is one that I would take down with water or an ice cube. He generously gave each of us a bottle of his Four Roses which is very much appreciated.
Last, and just for grins and giggles, we tasted two batches of Jefferson's Presidential 17 year which is a Stitzel Weller bourbon distilled in 1991. These were bottled 94 proof which is why we reduced the proof of the Pappy Van Winkle 15 year to 94 proof so we could do a comparison. The reason we did this is that there was some discussion about when given a choice, would you choose the Pappy or the Jefferson's? I had stated on a bourbon forum that I would take the Pappy's which a number of board members agreed with. Well, I have to admit that with the Pappy reduced to 94 proof, it was hard to choose between them at the same proof. Head to head, I would take the Jefferson's batch 4 over batch 1 as it had a little more body and mouthfeel, plus the finish was more in line with classic Stitzel Weller. Still, if having to choose between bottlings, I would still take the Pappy 15 over the Jefferson's 17; but that's just me.

Heat, humidity and bourbon

Here in Virginia, the days have been hot and humid; today going north of 100 degrees. I find I slow down the bourbon consumption when it gets too hot and I'm not sure why that is. I visited a friend earlier in the week and enjoyed a couple of excellent bourbons but then went 4 days without anything. Tonight, I did enjoy a pour of a 1986 JTS Brown 86 proof on my front porch even though it's still about 90 (thankfully the front porch is covered and has ceiling fans). I tend to drink more often from fall through the winter but when summer hits, especially when it gets this hot and steamy, whiskey intake diminishes. I know that various factors can curtail ones appetite for whiskey and I wonder if weather is one of them. It appears it is for me.

Exam-o-dram – Makers 46

I purposely set my expectations low because I really didn't have any prior experience with Makers Mark other than the normal red wax offering. Normal Makers Mark is a fairly uneventful bourbon. I'm not saying it's bad but for me, I like a little more pop to my bourbon. Enter Makers 46.

I had checked the Virginia ABC website and they listed it but the stores were a little slow in getting it on the shelves. About 2 weeks ago I walked into an ABC store and thankfully, they had just put it on display that morning priced at $34 a 750ml. Because this bourbon is finished with French oak staves as a flavoring component, it cannot be called Straight Bourbon Whiskey, just Bourbon Whiskey. Like all Makers Mark bourbon, this one is a wheated bourbon also.

The packaging is very attractive with a new shaped bottle for this release but of course, the red wax dripping down the side is still present. Overall, a good choice of bottle

The color is of moderate amber with shades of orange when held up to the light

The nose is quite a bit better than normal MM with loads of caramel and wood notes. There's a sweetness that comes through on the nose that's reminiscent of candy apple.

The entry was surprising with a pop of spice on the tongue. The spice isn't a rye type spice but more like a baking spice; cloves and cinnamon which I suspect comes from the oak staves but I can't say with any degree of certainty. Mid palate the bourbon takes on a nice candied sweetness and then begins to diminish a little too soon and finishes up slightly dry.

For a new product from Makers Mark, this is really great start. I'm not sure I'll keep this as a regular open bar item but that's only because of the price which I think is a little steep. I really hope this product sells well so it encourages Makers Mark to continue experimentation on different bourbon offerings. If you like a regular Makers or wheated bourbons in general, you should like this one as well.

BBQ & Bourbon – Sweet!

For Father's Day (a week early), my lovely bride purchased me a Cookshack smoker and I had the opportunity to set it up and use it today to smoke two Chuck Roasts. I've always been a grill guy; steaks, chicken, pork chops, etc. but then a friend introduced me to smoked meat and I was hooked. I've had brisket out of a smoker that should be illegal in most states….tasty beyond description. Of course, most BBQ is complemented quite nicely with a good bourbon or rye whiskey and today was no exception. I mean, what could go wrong with smoked meat and bourbon?

I used two rubs for the meat; an apple wood on one and rib rub on the other just to try both and see which one does a better job of adding and enhancing the flavor of the meat. I used a single 2 oz piece of apple wood in the smoker to keep the amount of smoke on the light side. I put the roasts in the smoker at 9:30 a.m. and pulled it out at around 2:45 p.m. I wrapped the meat in foil and then wrapped them in a beach towel so it could sit for about 30 minutes. When it was time to eat, unwrapped and unfoiled the meat and sliced away. I will admit the meat was a little on the dry side and I know the reason why so I'll make adjustments on the next round. We added a nice brown sugar BBQ sauce on the meat to moisten it up a little. All in all, a nice inaugural start to the smoking season.

I paired the BBQ with a nice low proof rye bourbon. Julio's Liquor offers a number of single barrel bourbon's and ryes each year and they did a single barrel Jefferson's that was quite nice. It's got a nice rye pop up front and then about mid palate moves to creamy moderate finish. The sweet BBQ and the rye bourbon was a very nice duo. I think a Baby Saz or Thomas H. Handy cut to a sensible proof would also make nice selections with a pork shoulder or a brisket.

For those of you that like to BBQ and drink bourbon or rye with your meal, give us your best or favorite pairings.

Whiskey throw down – better late than never

Back late last year and then in the New Year I mentioned that I was going to attend a whiskey throw down. Well after snow storms, illness and conflicting schedules, we finally came together and completed the task of going head to head between bourbon and Irish whiskey. It all started when my wife's Aunt started talking smack about bourbon and how it was for mullet heads with wife beater shirts. She said Scotch and Irish whiskey were a more "dignified" drink. Of course, I stepped up nose to nose and accepted the challenge.

About 10 family members got together and I began the process of explaining the origins of bourbon and the different recipes one can encounter when purchasing bourbons. I started off the sampling with an '88 Weller Special Reserve. This particular bourbon comes from the famed Stitzel Weller distillery and is of course a wheated bourbon at 90 proof. A wonderful example of a soft yet flavorful bourbon. My second sample was Sazerac Rye (Baby Saz) in order to provide an example of the opposite end of the whiskey spectrum. Third offering was Old Charter 12 year "Classic 90" which is a high corn bourbon (86%) so they could experience this type of bourbon. The last was a Wild Turkey 101 8 year so they could taste a high rye bourbon. Going through this type of progression gave everyone a new understanding and appreciation for bourbon as their thinking was somewhat one dimensional (think mullet). Now, I know the Saz is not bourbon but my intention was to go from one extreme (wheat) to the other (rye) so they could understand the unique and diverse nature of American whiskey. After the first round, I brought out the big guns; 2007 George T. Stagg at a whopping 144.8 proof and a Thomas H. Handy a slightly less 134.8 proof. My wife's Aunt took a sip of the GTS and I think her eye's spun around inside her skull and I watched with muted satisfaction at her discomfort.

At the end of the evening, my wife's Aunt and others expressed surprise at the uniqueness of bourbon and declared undying allegiance to bourbon to the end of their days (ok, I made that last part up). So, in the spirit of fairness, we broke open the two Irish whiskey my wife's Aunt brought and I'll have to say, she too brought a big gun. The first was Paddy's Old Irish Whiskey which is triple distilled and aged in oak for up to 7 years. It's blended to ensure its softness yet deliver enough flavors to make it appealing. This it does in an engaging fashion as I instantly liked this particular whiskey. Unfortunately, Paddy's is not sold in the U.S. The second Irish presented was a Bushmills Millennium. Curse Auntie for bringing such a stellar example of an Irish whiskey. My thoughts of whiskey domination were now in serious jeopardy. The Bushmills Millennium is a 24 year old whiskey, distilled in 1975 and bottled for the Millennium in late 1999. This whiskey was unlike any Irish I had ever tried delivering heaps of honey and malt. It was never overpowering but well balanced and perfect. At the end of the evening Auntie generously gifted both the Paddy's and Bushmills to me and I in return, gifted her a Pappy Van Winkle 15 year. I've found my new favorite Irish whiskey; unfortunately, it can't be found anymore so I'll have to nurse this bottle over a long period of time.

I can easily declare victory over the Irish but only because that's how it is in my world, plus Auntie will never know that I did so.