Destroyed in June

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

There has been a lot of undocumented carnage this month. Here are some beers that stuck around long enough to get there picture taken… I missed taking some pictures of some good ones this month though; Stone RuinTen and Avery 20th anniversary IIPA. If you can find either one of those you better drink them or give them to me. Yeah, you should definitely give me the beer. Cheers.

: Avery Maharaja IIPA – One of the best beers Avery Makes. It’s a big mofo of an IIPA!

: 21st Amendment Lower De Boom – A big ass Barley Wine in a little can. This is a nice malty barley wine with a good hoppy kick. The packaging format couldn’t be anymore perfect. Just the right amount of beer.

: 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon – The pool beer for the summer. It comes in a can. It is light, crisp, and refreshing. Watermelon flavor adds just the right amount of character. Low abv so you can pace your self in hot sun. If you are near a body of water on a hot day give this brew a try.

: Widmer Brothers Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout – So BeerGeekATL and I cracked this bad boy open during a power outage drinking party… It was dark when we tried to drink it; the room lit by colored LED lights and candles. The beer was poured. It smelled a little tart. We all tried it. It had some Funk to It. We decided to shine a light on the brew and it was nasty! Chunks of unidentifiable gunk and goo were floating everywhere. Was it a bottle of dregs? Who knows. This little bastard had to go down the drain 🙁 it sounded so tasty too. Hopefully i’ll find another one of these one day.

: Terrapin Monks Revenge Belgian IPA – The fruity esters from the Belgian yeast hide the bitterness in this full bodied IPA.

: SweetWater Brewing Some Strange – This is a velvety smooth double black IPA. This is some strange that you’ll want to brag about.

: Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine – Finely crafted American style barley wine.

: Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog – It is a big brown beer.

: Sixpoint Resin IIPA – This is a big and hoppy west coast style IPA that is brewed in the northeast. It freakn’ tasty so you better damn well try it!

: Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA – I tried this at Taco Mac the other day and had to pick up a 4 pack because I liked it so much. Piney and malty through and through. Still leaning towards the west coast style even with the pronounced malt flavor.

: Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey Quad with Plums – Rich, slightly viscous, and super fucking tasty. This thing was brewed using actual Monks in the wort or something. Deep dark plum flavors with hints of fruit and banana give this quad a wonderful complexity.

: New Holland Imperial Hatter IIPA – This is definitely an east coast style IIPA. It is malty, spicy, and earthy.

: New Belgium Rampant IIPA – This is a very light bodied west coast style IIPA. Nice and hoppy with no real malt flavor to speak of.

: Mother Earth Sisters of the Moon IPA – I think this was an east coast style IPA but don’t totally recall.

: Green Flash Imperial IPA – This thing is a West Coast Hop Monster! Big in your face hoppyness and bitterness! I love it!

: Founders Devil Dancer IIIPA 2013 – An explosion of hops and malt in your mouth.

: Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon “American Imperial Stout” – I guess it’s American cause it is aged in whiskey barrels? I dunno but it was an oaky beast.

: The Bruery White Oak – This beer is full of bourbon flavors. Tons of caramel, vanilla, and oak going on. It was a nice golden color and had the mouth feel of a good stout.

: Dogfish Head 61 Min IPA with Syrah Grape Must – This is a tasty treat. The Syrah adds a hit of pink to this IPA and cloaks the bitterness. You are left with a hoppy IPA with interesting hits of fruit.

Wrecking Bar Brew Pub 2nd Anniversary

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Flight of Five Russian Imperial Stouts at the Wrecking Bar.

So I went to down to Little 5 Points the other night in search of some good food and drinks before heading to an improv comedy show at Dad’s Garage and ended up at the Wrecking Bar Brew Pub. Man, did I get lucky and head down there on the right night. It turned out to be Wrecking Bar’s 2nd anniversary and this meant that they pulled out the big guns. I started browsing the beer list for the night and was about to order a house brewed Russian Imperial Stout(RIS) that was aged in a Prichard’s Rye Whiskey Barrel. But there were 3 other barrel aged varieties of the Siberius Maximus RIS and the bartender must have seen the concerned look on my face when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to drink four 12% abv stouts without getting to shitty to make it to the improv show. So she offered me a flight of the RIS beers including the non-barrel aged version. This made me happy as I didn’t even think it was a possibility. Thank you bar tender lady; you are a genius! These stouts were each splendid and unique. The original un-aged stout was a malty, sweet, full-bodied monster. Big roasty dark chocolate and honey flavors lead the way in this tasty stout. It is hard to say which one of the “regular” barrel aged versions I liked the most but I think the rum barrel was the winner. The sweetness of the rum played nicely with the chocolate and honey flavors present in this RIS. The Woodford Reserve and Prichard’s version were uniquely different from each other with the Woodford being the smoother and less peppery of the two. But my favorite RIS of the night would be the Mexican RIS aged in a Prichard’s Rye Whiskey barrel. DAMN, it was good. They turned up the heat on the standard RIS recipe and added hot peppers, cinnamon, and other good things that I can not remember. This thing was full flavored through and through. It had complementary but contrasting flavors that would take you from sweet vanilla and cinnamon and then rocket you to caramel and chocolate notes with a big spicy finish that left some residual heat and my mouth begging for another sip. This was by far my favorite but the entire RIS line up, it was excellent. If your in 5 Points swing on down to the Wrecking Bar and check out what’s on tap.

Destroyed in May

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Here are some beers that were destroyed in may. They were enjoyed to quickly to do a real review on each.

: The Bruery White Oak – The Bruery consistently produces some knock-out beers and this one doesn’t disappoint. It is a bourbon filled monster of a wheat beer. Tons of vanilla and caramel flavors going on here.

: Dogfish Head 90 Minute – A classic malty IIPA

: Ale Asylum Bedlam – Just drink one.

: Dogfish Head Positive Contact – This was an interesting spicey, cidery, herbal treat. Different then any other beverage I have ever tried.

: Magic Hat Pistil – An ale made with Dandelions was the best of the Magic Hat beers I tried lately. This one seemed to have a little more going on flavor wise but it was still very similar to the other Magic Hat beers I tried that evening.

: Magic Hat Saint Saltan – A little coriander showed through but mostly tasted like the Ticket to Rye. I think the beers are so mild in flavor that the yeast is at the forefront of what I taste. I don’t know how else to explain the Magic Hat beers tasting so similarly. Then again maybe it is just me.

: Boulevard Single Wide IPA – What is this? A DFH 60 Min Clone? Tasty none the less. I should find out which came out 1st… Same goes for Double Wide IPA, I mean 90 Min, er no Double Wide is right.

: Rouge XS IIPA

: Sierra Nevada Celebration – One of my all time favorites.

: Boulevard Coffee Ale – A highly quaff-able coffee ale. I need to run down another one of these bad boys.

: Founders Devil Dancer – A gnarly, malty, hopped-up, son of a bitch! Try it. Oh, it is 12abv too!

: Clown Shoes Supa Hero – Unfortunately something was wrong with this beer and it smelled like ketchup. Tasted kinda wacky too. Maybe next time I’ll get a good one!

: Westbrook Weisse Weisse Baby – Light and Tart

: Magic Hat Ticket to Rye – Meh. I tried three different styles of Magic Hat the night that I had this and they were all very similar in taste. I’m not sure what it is, maybe the yeast they use? Maybe similar ingredients in their recipes? They were all kind of boring.

: Founders Doom – A Bourbon Barrel Aged IIPA. Think Double Trouble blended with your favorite bourbon.

: Lagunitas Sucks – A wonderfully west coast style IPA. This was my last one 🙁 Hopefully we will be seeing them on store shelves sooner than later.

: Southern Tier 2XIPA – I really don’t think this thing is dry hopped. If it is an IPA it should be dry hopped. IMO anyway.

: Three Floyds Dreadnaught – Badass IIPA

: Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout – A Damn Fine Stout. May I have another?

: Pipeworks Ninja vs Unicorn – Awesome name, decent beer. Not much in the way of hops when you gave it a whiff.

These Things Grow Fast!

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Columbus Hops that were panted about a month ago

Less then a month ago these hops were just barely breaking the surface of the soil now they are over a foot long! It is kind of amazing how fast these things take off. I have noticed over 2 inches in growth on some days alone. They are looking good and growing fast, it is about time to get a trellis in place for these to climb on.

Cascade Hops

The cascade hops are the biggest of the bunch so far with the Chinook coming in a close second. The Chinook started off slow but has been showing some speedy growth lately.

Chinook Hops

I can’t wait till these things turn into monsters this summer and take over my patio with a wall of hops. You can check out the previous pictures of the hops from about a month ago here: http://www.beerdestroyer.com/?p=118

Re-Constitution Time! Yay! Fun!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

wine barrel sealed in plastic getting filled with water

An attempt to recondition a wine barrel so that it holds water again.

We(beer geeks hanging out at BHB) took a wine barrel swimming yesterday in hopes that it would once again hold a liquid. It was exciting! You know, the kind of excitement that you get from watching water boil! I could hardly contain myself! So we had this Chateau St. Michelle barrel that just looked perfect for barrel aging a beer. There was only one problem with said barrel; it leaked like a sieve. The barrel over time had lost all the moisture from the wooden staves that it is constructed with so we had to figure out how to re-hydrate the wood so that it would expand again and be water tight. We first tried to put the barrel in a pool while filling the barrel with water. The idea was that the barrel would have a chance to hydrate from both inside and out. This kinda worked, the barrel would fill about half way up and maintain that volume but it was proving to be a bit slow going. We used clean waste water from cooling down freshly brewed beer to aid in our barrel filling as to not be wasteful. The situation was re-assessed and we decided to wrap the whole barrel with shipping grade plastic wrap prior to filling it up. This new plan worked pretty well but we still couldn’t get the barrel to fill up all the way. The barrel was emptied again and wrapped extra tight with more plastic, laid down, and starting to get filled with more water. Before we new it water was coming out the bung hole! The plastic forced the water to stay inside the barrel and barely leak so that the barrel actually held its full volume of water. It is going to have to soak like this for an unknown amount of time before it will actually hold a liquid sans plastic wrap. When the barrel finally holds water on its own it will be cleaned and conditioned and eventually filled up with some tasty brew! And it was actually kinda fun and exciting being a bit of an experiment and all. If you know a better method to bring old barrels back to life please let me know!

A Hopgasm in my mouth

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

5 Seasons Hopgasm IPA

I hit up 5 Seasons Brewing Prado location for dinner the other night and got to sip on a great IPA. Their house brewed IPA is called Hopgasm. It is a big IPA that is mellow on the bitterness and it can easily be sipped or slammed depending on your mood. It was Memorial Day weekend and the pigs were rolling deep in my neck of the woods so I chose the former drinking method. The brew pub has a good selection of beers brewed in-house as well as a couple of other craft brews on tap from time to time; but I am usually stuck on the Hopgasm because it is so tasty. For dinner I had the Ropa Vieja which is a marinated skirt steak with vegetables and avocado/lime mashed potatoes. The whole meal was great (probably the 3rd time I’ve had it) and I love the mashed potatoes so much that I have made them at home (I added some fresh jalapenos to mine). If you are looking for some good brews and a solid meal head on down to 5 Seasons Brewing. Oh and try the beer cheese soup too!

Burnt Hickory – Inaugural Wednesday Tasting

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Burnt Hickory Wednesday Draft List

BHB kicked my ass and I liked it. What a great way to start off Wednesday brewery tours and tastings. Burnt Hickory has been rocking very successful Saturday tastings for a while now and this past Wednesday was the first weekday tasting event. Many good people showed up to support the brewery and to drink heady beverages. The line up was great, not a beer on there that I wouldn’t want to drown my pallet with. A few beer highlights where, well, all of them. SERIOUSLY. You gotta make it to a tasting and try them all. They are all Big Beers but don’t be scared cause they are tasty. I’m a huge IPA fan and I post about them a lot so let me tell you about something different for a change. Fighting Bishop is a beast of a Belgian style tripel; brewed with green peppercorns this beer has a wonderful complexity of spice, citrus, and fruit flavors. It is a big ass tripel that goes down way to easy. Think a high-gravity summer time poolside slam it down in the heat goodness kinda beer (that all makes sense in my head).

A selection of BHB beers bottled up to make you jealous that you can’t take them home with you yet.

If you happened past the bar you may have noticed the line up of Burnt Hickory beers all bottled up. This was just a nice “teaser” line up of beers that you can not take home with you unless you find a growler store selling BHB beers on draft. Hopefully one day in the not so distant future we will all be able to have a line up of BHB beers like this in our fridges. One of the best parts of the day was the brewery tour hosted by head brewer Will. He was an entertaining and informative tour guide that at the end of the tour was kind enough to share one of my favorites with all the tour patrons… Noggin Knocker! Fuck yeah! This is currently my favorite beer. It is DAMN good. Here is a picture from my point of view.

A little Noggin Knocker in my glass. Careful, it’ll get ya!

So that glass right there made my day. Maybe it’ll make yours too, you’ll have to head to the brewery to find out! Burnt Hickory does tours and tasting Wednesdays and Saturdays. To be sure they are doing a tour on the day you want to go check out the breweries Facebook page.

Surfs Up

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Port Board Meeting

A perfect beer for a rainy day. Port Brewing‘ s Board Meeting Brown Ale is a medium bodied dark brown ale full of chocolaty goodness. It looks more like a stout than a brown ale but doesn’t have a stouts full body. With one whiff it is very apparent that this beer is brewed with coffee and cocoa nibs. The coffee lends a nice roast to the beer but the chocolate is really the star of the show here. The more the beer warmed the more it tasted like a glass of rich and dark melted chocolate. I enjoyed this brew on a cool, dark and stormy day yesterday and it was quite fitting for the occasion. I will be hunting down another bottle of this beer very soon.

The Last Minute

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Stone Enjoy By: 5.17.13

I couldn’t let this beer sit in my fridge any longer. Yesterday I came home from work, opened my fridge and was accosted by this beer that refused to let me walk away until I consumed it! I have been thoroughly enjoying the “Enjoy By” series from Stone Brewing Company. These big bad double IPA’s are meant to be consumed fresh and have a recommended drinking date that is about a month after the beer has been bottled. These beers do not make it to every market that Stone serves so if you see one sitting on your local retailers shelf feel lucky and pick one up. Here in Georgia we have had the benefit of receiving a couple of the beers from this series. This particular version of Enjoy By had a great combination of pine and citrus going on in the nose and palate. Man it was tasty. I wish they would release one of these beers for every single day of the year. I would love the obligation of having to drink one every day.

Grow your own!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Cascade Hops

The hops are all finally sprouting. I have been growing two of these plants for three seasons now and they luckily keep coming back each year. My hops are grown in containers since I currently have no yard; before winter they are cut down and brought inside to hibernate with out freezing. It still surprises me when they actually show back up each spring. My two older plants are Chinook and Cascade and they grow completely differently. The Chinook is a thicker vined plant with large broad leaves that get as big as my hand and it grows relentlessly. The Cascade plant grows thin delicate vines with small leaves that don’t get much bigger than a couple of inches across. I am interested to see how the new plant Columbus does. In addition to the hops at my place I’ve got a few rhizomes growing up at friends houses in the area. Hopefully I’ll be brewing a fresh hop beer with locally grown hops come fall. I’ll post more pictures as they grow. BTW, you can still find hop rhizomes online for purchase so it is not to late to grow them this year.

Chinook Hops

Columbus Hops

Beer Destroyer

They fill 'em I Kill 'em

Author Archives: Beer Destroyer

Destroyed in June

Wrecking Bar Brew Pub 2nd Anniversary

Destroyed in May

These Things Grow Fast!

Re-Constitution Time! Yay! Fun!

A Hopgasm in my mouth

Burnt Hickory – Inaugural Wednesday Tasting

Surfs Up

The Last Minute

Grow your own!