dclayton

Party Source Burgers and Beers (Schlafly)

Last Thursday I and a friend decided to go down to Party Source in Belvue after work to check out a weekly event Party Source has been putting on. Thursday nights are Burgers and Brews. They cook up hamburgers with a special sauce and pare them with a brewer. I had heard from many that Party Source puts on some awesome cooking class, Schlafly was the brewer (friends rave about them) and they do have one of the best selections of beer in the area – so for $15 it was off to have some fun.

Brown Ale Cask (special delivery for the event)
Kolsch – 4.8%
Biere de Garde – 7.0%
American Pale Ale (APA) – 5.9%
Export IPA – 8%

The Brown Ale was very interesting, but needed to age another six months. The Kolsch and APA were both good, but nothing special. To be honest, the more of these varieties I try, the more none of them stand out. The Export IPA was also good, but nothing to write home about. The Biere de Garde was very good indeed, but not the best of it’s class.

Now, please don’t take my words as too harsh towards Schlafly – five brews from a very deep line-up is not a good sampling. Not to mention three of the five were entry level beers. I did buy a sampler pack before leaving to give Schlafly’s line-up a deeper interrogation.

Before you begin thinking that a five beers and a burger for $15 is a great deal – the brews were served in plastic solo cups (2-3 oz.) – not in a glass (a big beer no-no).

The burger? We were served one mediumish burger (served with chips) that was slightly overcooked and on the cool side. Not bad, not good. The BBQ sauce they concocted was very interesting. It took an hour from the time the first burger was served (to the group of thirty or so) till we received ours (we were in the back).

How about the location – outside on their patio in great weather! But alas their patio is right next to a major road. The fair aroma of beer was replaced with car, truck and bus exhaust.

Not all was bust, a great two-piece acoustic band played background music at a perfect volume (I hate it when the music is overly loud making talk with your table mates impossible) – at least when not overpowered by the trucks and buses. The Party Source hosts were friendly and the experts from Schlafly were friendly, knowledgeable and talkative. Party Source also provided a 5% discount on anything we purchased that night.

Please don’t completely write off Party Source because of this review, as I said I have heard great things about their cooking classes and the beer selection is great – including many brews you can’t get in Ohio.

Stone Rare and Vintage Beer Tasting

Last Friday I had the pleasure of joining my fellow beer lovers for an extraordinary event at Jungle Jim’s. Stone Brewery from San Diego, California was nice enough to literally bring from their cellar the last cases of some vintage brews they had been allowing to age. On the table were twelve great beers to sample.

Russian Imperial Stout 2006 – 10.8%
Russian Imperial Stout 2007 – 10.8%
Russian Imperial Stout 2008 – 10.5%
12th Anniversary – 9.8%
11th Anniversary – 8.7%
Sublimely Self Righteous – 8.7%
Cali Belgique – 6.9%
Double Bastard Ale 2006 – 10.0%
Double Bastard Ale 2007 – 10.0%
Old Guardian 2007 (barley wine) – 11.26%
Old Guardian 2008 (barley wine) – 11.26%
Old Guardian 2009 (barley wine) – 11.3%

I could keep this really short by just saying every single one was fantastic, but I assume you want a few more details. First, you will notice that they are all high in alcohol – although we each only had a sample (as opposed to a complete pint) the tasting group were all a little tipsy by the end of the night.

Not all beers will age well, but this tasting proves that Stone beers do. Beers that would normally be hoppy mellow (in a good way) through the years with a wonderful melding of flavors. The first beer we tasted was a the 2006 Russian Imperial Stout turned out to be one of the best beers I have ever had – mellow, sweet, rich and awesome. Go buy a bottle of this years and stuff it in your basement for a few years – you will not be disappointed. The 2007 was a little more hoppy (but still excellent), with the 2009 noticably hoppier – the extra year made all the difference.

The anniversary offerings, as well as the self Rightious were some of my least favorite, as they were all very hoppy – with the 12th having a bitter coffee taste. Keep in mind these are the least favorite from an excellent collection – these just had too much competition.

The Cali Belgique was the most interesting – a Belgian IPA would be the easiest way to describe it. Although I am not so much for the hops, the combination of Belgian yeast within an IPA was genius. My kind of IPA.

We finished with a double of the Double Bastard and then a trio of Old Guardian barley wines. The Double Bastard is a darn good ale to start with, but let it age a few years and you have a perfect blending yielding one of the best ale’s anywhere. But… they were topped by the barley wine. I have never been a big fan of Old Guardian (although barley wines are a personal favorite) – as it was always far to bitter for a barley. But the 2007 really surprised me. What a difference a few years aging can make, taking the Old Guardian from a decent brew to a nearly perfect barley wine. If you like barley wine, go out and grab some of this years and let it age three to five years.

Thanks to Jungle Jims for arranging and hosting, and to Stone for bringing out some rare beers.

PS, see you all next month at Jungle Jim’s Spring Beerfest – over 50 brewers have already committed – get your tickets now.

Troegs Beer Tasting at Jungle Jims

Jungle Jim’s (Fairfield, OH) had a Troegs Brewery (Harrisburg, PA) beer tasting last Friday. What can I say? All around good brewery with some innovative tastes.

For those who love wheat beer (Blue Moon a popular example) Troegs makes Dreamweaver Wheat. With an Abbey undertones I highly recommend this one. Although their ale was good, I would recommend the Hop Back Amber instead – a great ale with a nice hop to it with no hoppy aftertaste. For those who love a good lager, Troegs makes one of the better ones, Troegenator. If you are into hoppy beers their Nugget Nector fits the bill – if you don’t like hoppy you should definitely skip this one.

They brought along a couple of their small batch trials, all of which are named and numbered Scratch XX, and rarely available outside the brewery. Both were extremely well done and interesting, but too hoppy for my tastes. If you are into hoppy Rye beer you may want to hunt down a bottle of Scratch 18.

The best of the night, with an almost unanimous agreement, was the Mad Elf. Similar to the wonderful Bells Holiday Ale, but with a spice taste created without the use of any spices – all natural from the hops and malts. It’s going to be next to impossible to find, but if you can you will not be disappointed.