El Baitshop

For anybody who really knows me, and knows about "El Bait Shop" in Des Moines, it's hard to believe that Thursday night was the first time I've ever stepped foot in their door. I've heard about it, I've seen pictures, I've even scanned their beer menu on-line. It 1sn't so much that it is a long drive to downtown Des Moines, it is more that long drive BACK that worries me. Thursday night I had reason, a plan and Dave.

Some time ago Empyrean had posted an event in Des Moines, at El Bait Shop, hosting a cask night with their Burning Skye Scottish Ale. That is the kind of unique beer experience that I couldn't pass up. Of course once we were in the door and actually saw the wall of beer taps we knew we were going to be there a while. The place was packed (it was also "Jimmy Carter Happy Hour" night) but there was plenty of available patio seating.

Both start with the casked Scottish Ale. This is their regular Scottish Ale, but finished in a cask, which allows the ale to develop a light smooth natural carbonation. It's a departure from most commercial beers you would find in bars today. With the beers in hand, and my wallet lighter by $8 (for both beers and tip!), we sit outside on the patio and enjoy. It's smooth and velvety, without the heavy carbonation to add texture all we taste is the beer. The natural carbonation leaves tiny tiny bubbles that give it that velvety feel as we finish our pints. The flavor is a bit flat compared to their standard Burning Skye, but that is what I expect from cask ales. Definitely worth the trip, and there 100 more beers to choose from before we leave!

We head in for a second round. I order up a Rogue "Brutal IPA" that they have listed as "Brutal Bitter" (which is how Rogue labels it on their bottles). Dave orders a Peace Tree "Hop Wrangler 3 IPA" (must be nice being the passenger). Having had the Peace Tree IPA I can tell you it is an above average IPA, but if you crave the BIG HOP HIT you will be let down. I know now that the Brutal IPA is an imperial bitter, which to me seems like an odd style. Bitters are considered session beers, low in ABV so you can drink them all night. Making an imperial bitter conjures up thoughts of Ford Escort GTs and Chevy Cobalt RSs. Nothing wrong with it, but not really deserving of the "Imperial" tag. Maybe this is why Rogue left it at "Brutal." It is a fine beer, along the lines of a good west coast pale ale. Balanced, if not a bit hop heavy, and full flavored. It does pack a bit of a kick, definitely not something I could drink all night. If you like "Sierra Nevada Pale Ale" give it a try. As we finish up our 2nd round Dave is starting to ride a nice buzz.

Round three! Dave and I share much the same taste in beer. I think for this reason Dave decides to have a Brutal Bitter. I decide to have a Coke (I said I had a plan, not a DD). I have no desire to tell you how my Coke tastes, so you are spared more of my ramblings. All Dave had to say was that the Brutal Bitter was "...a bit weak after the Peace Tree IPA." I need to work on his beer descriptor vocabulary.

Peace Tree - Rye Porter (review)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: http://www.peacetreebrewing.com/our-beer/

Rye Porter: High quality pale, caramel, chocolate and Munich malts get a boost with roasted and chocolate rye. Dark and Light Belgian Candy Sugar is added to the kettle during the boil for smoothness and flavor. Belgian yeast gives off some fruity esters and the brew is delicately hopped so as to not overpower the malt flavors.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The set-up:

When I bought this beer I was told simply, "They use Belgian yeast in everything." This made me wonder just how much the yeast could throw a malt heavy beer like a porter. The label finishes with "delicately hopped" hinting the finish might not be typically porter with its subtle earthy hops. Still I wondered if the yeast might somehow corrupt my beloved porter. Then my eyes wandered back to the big three letter word on the label "RYE." Again, I love my rye beers, but rye in a porter: were they serious? Rye generally lends a nice spice to golden blonde beer, not a dark malty porter. Let's not forget the candy sugar, very Belgian, and not porter-like at all. This would be interesting, if not confusing to my pallet!

The tasting:

I poured the dark rich porter into my standard shaker pint. It took a minute for the light caramel head to reduce itself to a thin layer on top of the coffee-dark porter. It looked like a porter, smelled like a porter... even tasted like a porter. Maybe I had dug my heels in too deep with all my thoughts about yeast and rye and candy sugar. This is a very well balanced porter on the front side. Where it goes from there is definitely different and definitely not bad. Instead of a nice subtle hop finish, I got just a lingering of the fruity esters of a yeasty hefeweizen.

The Conclusion:

It has been a while since I last had a porter, they are one of my favorites (especially in the winter). Generally I lean towards the Baltic style porters which can be completely different beasts. So there was only one thing I could do, I hit O.C. to have a "Taddy Porter" with lunch. It's one of those classic representations of a style: a great baseline to judge others. Sadly for Taddy it fell short. Compared to the Rye Porter it was watery and just lacked that flavor pop. I'm sure its trip across the Atlantic and time on the shelf did some damage to the flavor. The one thing it did have was just a slightly hopped aroma from the bottle.

If you are a porter fan in Iowa this is a "Must Buy." It is a full, rich, truthful porter. Its limited distribution is the only negative I can find. This is a case of fresh beer being the best option. I have two more beers from Peace Tree in my beer vault and I can't wait to taste how they came out. The bar has been set high and I hope it stays there. We need as many great breweries in Iowa as we can get.

Drinking with 1/2 Germans

I was planning on going to the Leinie's tasting at O.C. in Ankeny this evening but decided to hit happy hour at O.C. in Ames instead. I don't know what made that decision for me, maybe that I knew Dave had enough on his plate without me asking him to join me, but it turned out to be a great evening.

This was not the first time (even this week) that I met an honest to God German-American. That being a person who has dual citizenship in both countries. Earlier this week I sat at the bar next to a young man that was shipping off to basic training (Army) and his uncle. The conversation was great, as was the beer. It's funny how the two go hand in hand.

Tonight I was sitting at the bar when an attractive lady sat down next to me. We struck up a conversation about hockey and beer. I was a couple in and felt quite nice about having a beautiful lady next to me that could hold her own in the beer/hockey forum. As all the gusto in the beer was getting to my head her husband sat down next to her...

Most guys would end the story here, but really it's just begun. The three of us carried on for a few hours about German Beers, life in Iowa, life in Germany, Octoberfest, and a lot of complete nonsense. Both had fantastic stories to tell about the other, and we all enjoyed some good beer.

I'm always a bit disappointed when my regular drinking buddies don't make it to the bar with me. I always picture myself sitting there staring at ESPN and wondering what the talking head are actually saying. It's like those weird dreams you have about showing up at school in your underwear. They make you wonder, but in the end they never really happen. There always seems to be somebody that will sit next to me and spend an evening spinning yarns about good times had. I guess I'm lucky that way.

I guess what I'm saying is "Go out and have a beer." Even if you have nobody to have one with that evening, there will always be somebody there to share one with you. It's a brotherhood, all for one and one for all.

"May you always get what you need, sometimes get what you want, but God help you if you get what you deserve!"

Let's kick this off!

I guess this is my little corner of the ether. As you may have guessed by the name of the blog this is going to be very beer-centric, because I am very beer-centric. Everybody has to have a hobby, and mine is beer. Not in the "Let's go down a case of beer" kind of way. More an appreciation of the art, science and dedication applied by brewers to bring to us, "The Beer Masses", great beer.

What this won't be is a forum slamming all the light lagers out there on the market; there is a time and place for them. I just rarely find myself in those places at those times. I tend to find myself in bars, basements, backyards and festivals that by design or luck have what I call "Better Beer". When I do find myself in those places at those times... ...When in Rome!

So sit back and enjoy, with a beer in your hand, my skewed insight, humor, opinions, ramblings, arguments, and whatever else spills over on the keyboard.