Holiday Cheer!

Hope everyone had an excellent Holiday.  Over the break, I spent my days snowboarding at Kirkwood, and my nights trying several different beers.  Here they are in order from good to not so good:

• Mammoth Epic IPA
• Victory Hop Devil
• Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale
• Speakeasy Old Godfather BarleyWine
• Alaskan Winter Ale
• Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve

What can I say, I’m a sucker for hops.  I was completely surprised by the Epic IPA, since I had never heard of the brewery.  The Victory and Green Flash were excellent as well, and the Old Godfather was tasty, but probably would be better aged.  I was looking forward to trying this year’s Alaskan Winter Ale, because I heard it was a really good year for it, but after sampling, I’m not too down with the spruce tips, and the Santa’s Private Reserve was eh–basically undrinkable to me.

I also stopped by Stateline Brewery & Restaurant and tried their Strong Ale, Wheat, and Pale Ale.  It’s a sign their heart really isn’t into the brewing side of the business when their website has a wine list, but no beer list.  Out of the three, I liked the Pale Ale the best, but they all had a basic profile that didn’t stand out from the crowd.  The food was good though.

On Sunday, I brewed an India Black Ale and had my highest brewhouse efficiency to date, 78%.  wahoo!  It really is all about knowing your equipment.  My OG ended up a bit higher than I expected, but other than that, I had no issues.  I have a feeling my yeast pitch was low, and I’ll be curious to see how that will effect the overall result.  I’ve heard that if you pitch low, you’ll stress the yeast, and this can cause off flavors (adds more esters?).  I’m debating going to the brewery supply to get another vial to pitch after work.