Make Way for Makeweight.

Right now I'm about to crack Furthermore's newest small batch beer - Makeweight.  The website describes it as a triple pale that is a bastardization of three distinct regional recipies.  It uses Belgian, American and English yeast strains as well as hops from Kent and Oregon and malts from England and Belgium.  All in all this is a complex and confusing way to make a beer but the end result is pretty delicious.

The Belgian side to this beer has a strong arm.  The sweetness comes through in the nose and the Belgian yeasts combine with the sugar and malts to give a real syrupy flavor.  This is when the Oregon hops and American yeasts come in handy as, unlike other maltier, sweeter brews such as barlywines or dubbels, the sweetness does not stay in your mouth long.  Actually, as the sweet taste fades a good bitterness takes over and gets your mouth ready for another sip.

At 8.5% this is a strong beer from a strong effort.  Makeweight pulls in at my #3 favorite beer that Furthermore offers behind Knot Stock and the champion, Fatty Boombalatty.  I recommend picking up a six pack and mixing it in to your routine a few nights this month. 

American Craft Beer Week

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American Craft Beer Week

Beer-n-Crafts

Last time I did the Leine's Tour I was browsing the gift shop trying to decide between the various key chain bottle openers, when I saw the bottlecap magnets. There isn't any real description beyond that. Simply a Leinenkugel's bottlecap with a magnet glued to the back. No more no less. As I'm sure dozens have said before me, I exclaimed to Tim, "I could make that!" Many have said that, then paid for something that cost Leine's ten cents to make, but I was going to actually make some (I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Leine's selling these, they gotta make money. But it struck me that paying for them would be like going to a restaurant and paying for food that is of equal quality to what I could make at home).

So here I am. I've saved up a couple of bottlecaps (A couple of Leine ones, but a bunch of New Belgium for consistency), I bought eight magnets for $0.25 a piece at the Ax-Man around the corner, and I borrowed a glue gun from a friend. After a little trial and error I discovered that there is a little trick; you don't want the magnet to be glued too deeply into the bottlecap, otherwise the bottlecap edges will scrape your fridge door. So, start by putting a large blob of glue covering the inside of the bottlecap. Let it sit for a moment and dry a little. Put another blob on the magnet, connect the two, and let it dry. Enjoy, and wow your friends with your macho Martha Stewart skills.

Summit's Red Ale

I was out with some friends celebrating a birthday and Andy mentioned that today was the release date of Summit's new Red Ale. So afterwards, Andy, Hank and I headed over to Four Firkins for a sample. I don't think I have ever seen Four Firkins as packed as it was, which is great. The only thing I don't like about the Four Firkins is that it's not closer to me. I picked up a six pack of the Red Ale and splurged on a bottle of The Reverend (I haven't tried this one yet, but I would always drink Mephistopheles at Nate's old establishment).

According to Andy and the Summit website, the big deal with Red Ale is it's usage of a variety of hops. Four different hops to be exact: Horizon, Amarillo, Cascades and Summit. Plus a bunch of different malts too. Normally I have mixed feelings about super-hoppy beers. Sometimes I am just craving an IPA, sometimes I can't stand them. But I am really liking the Red Ale. Whereas with a lot of hop heavy beers the hop flavor is there start to finish, with the Red Ale it is much more of a hoppy aftertaste. Combined with a nice coler, smell and a regular price range, I'd give it a B+.