Well the IPA that was brewed in December is carbed and ready. It is not bad but lesson learned about dry hopping with pellets, resist the urge unless you like floties. Tastes a bit green now, will report back after a bit of the green wears off.
Epic Brewing Barley Wine
A= Pours a deep brown color. The haziness was odd in this style but turned out OK. The head is a finger and a half high with some sticky spotty lacing and the retention is pretty nice.
S= The smell is pretty typical barleywine was well. A touch of hops and a lot of toffee malt. A schoge of booze and a hint of caramel. A little quiet for a barley wine.
T= The taste is about what I expected. A touch of malty sweetness and a nice hop bitterness. The toffee malt character plays a little tango with the hops leaving a sort of overripe tropical fruit taste. Again however I notice that the flavors are a bit muted for a barleywine.
M= The mouth is very good for a barleywine. Just enough carbonation. The flavors still don’t last though.
O= This is a good intro to barleywines. It has all the components of a good barleywine but it just seems a little quiet. Worth checking out and maybe it will develop nicely into a sweeter treat with time but for now this is just an average barleywine that is a nice intro to the style.
Downtown Salt Lake
Downtown Salt Lake, originally uploaded by adambarhan.
Overlooking the Little America from the Grand America.
Tram at Snowbird
Note the rocks in the background
Aspens in the Snow
As we are leaving its dumping, figures.
This getting on the Tram is never a good sign
Calm before the storm
Well the skiing at Snowbird was not any better than in Summit CO. I’m just glad I had a demo board and not my own for the gravel skiing.
Crooked Stave
The Wild West Brett Series by Crooked Stave in CO. I very good beer would strongly recommended trying there beers if you come across one.
Green. As with all CS beers, time will change this beer, they are too new to judge age.
A medium dark golden pour with medium white fluffy head. Lacing is slim
Fantastic aroma of fresh Galaxy hops; some passion fruit, tropicals and flowers. Very juicy smelling. A tinge of sour Jolly Rancher lingers.
The taste isn’t as robust or definitive as the aroma, as far as hops go. The passion fruit is gone, and more subtle tropical characteristic emerges. The dryness is apparent but not biting. Some notes of grass and taffy come about. I would like to see how this one ages….good thing I bought two
Russian River Consecration
A: Opaque, dark brown with a very noticeable reddish tint.
S: The nose is sour in general, but specifically sour cherries. The oak barrel also really comes through.
T: Again, lots of sour cherries. Quite tart. Maybe also some grapes and you definitely get the currants. The combination of the Brett, barrel, and fruit give the beer a very dry and tannic character..
M: The body is rather full with a high level of carbonation and a very dry finish.
D: Incredible. You would never know the ABV strength of this beer as the alcohol is completely covered by the wonderful taste.
Quick Photo op
The best part of the tour
The Road Worth Traveling 