Doctor Duvel

I'm like a sommelier, but for beer.

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Location: Upstate New York, United States

Favorite Beers: Orval, Samuel Smith, Duvel, Hennepin, Oude Gueze, Chimay, Dogfish Head, Anchor Steam, and anything made by Trappist monks.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Smutty IPA plus vague plans

Well, this blog is near death. Thought I'd give it a whirl though.

My brewing career is in a difficult spot since I didn't make enough beer this summer and school is starting. Where will I find time?

I'm sipping, incidentally, a Smuttynose IPA. What a stunning hop character this has... Last time I had one was on draft in Syracuse. It was delicious too, but a shock to the system as I was just returning from 3 weeks of English ale drinking. This hits you with grapefruit and a deep earthiness. Piney, but not pitchy. Little twinge of something that reminds me of a great loaf of S.F. sourdough bread. Just enough body to carry the hops. Paradoxically session-y tasting. I could put away a lot of these if I weren't careful.

My beer stock in the basement is all fucked up. I have lots of Belgian style beers, some OK, some good, some excellent. I have a few odd specialties, a six-pack of spruce beer, a mead, a smoked beer, an imperial stout that won't be drinkable for years--that kind of thing. I've somehow got into the habit of kegging all pale ales, IPA, browns, porters, and stouts. So if I want a mixed six-pack to bring somewhere, I'm screwed; if I want to offer someone who visits a beer, I'm limited to what's on tap a lot of the time, unless they're worthy of / capable of comprehending, say, a Flanders red.

I've got to brew some normal beers and bottle the damn things to restore order, because this is just ridiculous...