Ragbrai, collaborative beer, plus some whiskey

RAGBRAI was this week in Iowa. Tens of thousands of cyclists rode at least a portion of the route across the state, and most drank a beer or two. I was lucky enough to get out and do 3 whole days. Not entirely sure how I pulled that off, but I did. It was fun as hell, like it always is riding bikes with friends and drinking a few beers along the way. Sure there's thousands of other folks doing the same, many of whom don't know what they're doing, but it's okay, fun is still fun. As a "bike shop guy" from a busy shop in the area, I felt like a celebrity, tons of people knew me and said "hi Mark" as I rode by or they saw me in town. It was kinda weird, but pretty cool at the same time. This year on Ragbrai we passed through the small town of Templeton, Iowa, where (of course) Templeton Rye Whiskey is made. The company did a big beer/whiskey garden and had tours and such, it was a good time.

The whole place is like two huge machine sheds stuck together, very small for as awesome of whiskey as comes out. A room full of these barrels smelled amazing. I've gassed on about how good this whiskey is, and it being a big part of Al Capone's empire is extra cool, plus it being semi-local to me is a big plus, but I'd love the hell out of the stuff if it were from anywhere else, but being Iowa made is sure a bonus. Not quite Iowa, but Missouri made, is Boulevard's newest Smokestack: Collaboration No. 2, White IPA.
Boulevard partnered with Deschutes to bring the world this kick ass beer. Roughly half IPA and half Belgian White, it hits a ton of notes on the palette, not unlike Neil Pert on drums. There are some yeasty esters happening, some fruity hop notes, just tons of things going on with an incredibly smooth finish. Plus, it's only $8 for a 750ml, I almost can't believe how good this beer is for the money. It is crazy good period, and when it's only $8, it is extra awesome. If you see it, get it. If you don't like it, I'll come over and punch you in the junk.

long time in between updates, ragbrai is to blame

For those of you who don't know, in Iowa we have this thing called "RAGBRAI" it is effectively a 20,000 person rolling party that has become much more family friendly in the past few years. Regardless, tons of people need bikes, gear, tune ups, all manner of bike gear, and they need it right-fucking-now. We've been super busy all day every day for at least the past two weeks, if not longer. The ride finally starts Sunday, so the end is in sight, but I've not had a chance to write much nor to ride much. I have been drinking plenty though. This Wednesday the insane heat was still around, the weather had been dry long enough to try mountain biking again, and I felt like attempting an off road ride. Sycamore was in generally great shape, dry, firm, well worn in, if a tad overgrown in places. There were of course a few mud spots, but those never seem to dry, and there are dry lines on the edge of all of them. The beaver dam creek/inlet/whatever the hell we're calling it, was as bad as ever. Check it out:

As wide and flooded as ever. The log pile in passable but it is quite tricky.

Not all the logs are solid. Many are just floating there, making shuffling across this a vexing and time consuming task. I'm glad CITA reportedly has a plan to build a bridge of some sort in the relatively near future.
That's why it's still super wide/deep. The thing at the end of the little creek is the river. It has been so high all summer that this little stream is ultra high and making riding bikes a pain.
Aside from the dodgy creek crossing, the ride was awesome. The insane heat and humidity were sort of balanced by the constant shade and slight breeze of riding. Stopping was cripplingly hot, and the ride to and from the trail on paved MUPs was also incredibly hot, actual temps in the upper 90s and heat index around 110. Oh course I refreshed myself afterwards with a beer.

Odell Brewing's Myrcenary, their Double IPA. It is packed with floral and citrus hops and has a smooth, clean finish, and a well balanced body with a noticeable malt support. Very fruity with dirty floral scents, and a nice but not really apparent 9.3% abv.
If you get the chance, try it.Sadly a friend brought me this from Nebraska, and as far as I know, it isn't available in Iowa.

Sam Adams Deconstructed Latitued 48

This July fourth, as many of you did, I consumed a fair amount of beer on a deck while cooking/eating grilled meat. One of the things my friends and I drank was the Latitude 48 Deconstructed mixed 12 pack. Sam Adams makes an average IPA that involves 5 hop varieties and is named after the latitude containing the "hop belt" when most hops are commercially grown. The deconstruction is a great idea for both beer geeks and craft beer neophytes. In the 12 pack, you'll find 2 regular Latitude 48 bottles, plus 2 bottles each of a beer made with just a single hop from the 5 that make up the full hop list in the regular version. Supposedly, and I can't find confirmation online anywhere, each of the single hopped beers have the same IBUs as the regular, so the difference is exclusively which hop is used. Here are my photos and notes.

Regular Latitude 48, nothing amazing but an okay IPA. Somewhat bitter, slight earthy and fruity notes, nothing that sets it apart from a sea of average IPAs. We drank this first as to get the whole thing in our minds before breaking it down. We tried to go from mildest/cleanest to biggest/burliest in our tasting progression.

Hallertau Mittelfrueh, mild, earthy, clean and crisp. Not a hop that can support a beer like this, but not bad.

East Kent Goldings, the classic English hop. medium bitterness, smooth, slightly fruity, very familiar.

Ahtanum, piney, medium bitterness, not terribly fruity or earthy, great addition to a more complex beer.

Zeus, bigger taste, fairly earth, much more bitter than the previous three.


Simcoe, sharper/more bitterness, more fruit and citrus with piney notes, we thought this one was the most prevalent/noticeable in the complete/regular version.

Overall a great experiment and something I'd like to see more of in the future. Maybe not this exact set up, but a similar thing, maybe with the same base beer and then more creative additions as has been popular at various homebrew clubs.

This is definitely not a 12 pack to buy and drink by yourself, this is meant to be a group experience and I sure enjoyed it. So get some friends, get a few bucks from each of them and sit around grousing about each variety and enhance your understanding of hops.

long time no blogging and two crus from New Belgium, plus gin news

Ah July in Iowa, heat and humidity are ramping up, the rainy damp trails of June are fading, and a little ride called RAGBRAI looms large on the horizon. This means that I've been even busier than normal at the shop, attempting to mountain bike more, and drinking more. Of course I've been twitterizing many of my drink choices, but a couple I wanted to go more into here. New Belgium's awesome Lips of Faith series is their more experimental line up, which 99% of the time knocks it out of the park. The two beers I'm about to talk about are no exception. First up: Grand Cru.

A pretty good example of the style, fruity, estery, kinda sweet but with a bite to balance it out as to not be cloying on the palette. I quite enjoyed it. Maybe not quite as awesome as some actual Belgian Cru style abbey ales but still a nice entry in that style. Next up: Super Cru

This beer really knocked my socks off. Reportedly it starts as a Fat Tire but with 2x the malt and 2x the hops, then they add Asian pear juice, and a Saison yeast. It's vaguely familiar but entirely new at the same time. The pear notes are subtle and present throughout, but most prominent in the finish and aftertaste, but it totally works. I'd like to try this without the pear, to see what a super fat tire might taste like with that estery saison yeast and a ton of extra malt and hops. I think it could work great.

As any astute reader of this blog will note(and I'm sure you're one), I love gin. Martinis and gin and tonics are some of my favorite non-beer beverages. Sadly, one of my favorite, if not my favorite, gins is not going to be imported any long: Quintessential has reportedly been purchased and the new owners don't want to jump through the hoops to import to the USA any longer. I'd link to an article but 30 seconds of googling has failed me. Anyway, I've been searching for a replacement. So far, Plymouth is the leader. There is talk of a blind taste test with Q vs Plymouth, but as of yet, my friends and I haven't put it together, but expect much tweeting and blogging about such an event.

Until next time, keep it rubber side down, and don't drink and drink, you might spill your beverage.