The Brewers Speak - Caldera and Raccoon Lodge
Here are the last two missives from brewers about the beers they've sent to the Holiday Ale Fest--which starts today. I was able to sample ten (!) of the 41 taps last night, and will post a review later today (tonight, actually--I left my notes at home). One of the beers we tried, however, is the Raccoon Lodge's Baltic Porter, which brewer Ron Gansberg describes below. I am now officially psyched. Based on the samples I had last night--and there were two sublime, absolutely-can't-miss-these-beers in the bunch--this has the makings of one king-hell of an event.
Raccoon Lodge (aka Cascade Brewing) Baltic Porter
Caldera Cauldron Brew 2007
Caldera was the first place I contacted, and I focused more on the stats in my question. Perhaps that's why I got stats from President Jim Mills in the reply. Still, there's enough info here to make a pretty informed judgment:
Raccoon Lodge (aka Cascade Brewing) Baltic Porter
"Thanx for the interest in the Baltic Porter. This beer is a blend of select stocks of Baltics and a 10% Belgian Quad. We based the selections around some '06 Baltic that had aged 8 months in a "Jack Daniels" whiskey barrel on Goldings and Centennial whole hops. We added a barrel of '07 Baltic from a French oak Pinot Noir barrel. This barrel was wine-neutral but with only one run of wine through it, the beer picked up some fresh oak flavor and vanillin aromas. We also selected some '07 Baltic from a first beer run Pinot Noir barrel which had a crisp angular hop presence from the barrel whole hops. We fleshed this blend out with some Belgian Style Blond Quad (SG 25º P) [editor's note--he means here that the recipe was for a gigantic beer] to add some body, sweetness and a little twist.I will show my hand to a small extent here by saying that 1) this beer was nothing like a traditional Baltic Porter (more Bruges that Baltic), and 2) it was one of the sublime, absolutely-can't-miss-these-beers."Cheers! Ron"PS We are releasing our "Belgian Flanders Style" Kriek and Blackberry Ales in 750ml champagne bottles for sales and tasting 12:00 to 4:00 pm on Dec. 8th and Dec. 15th. Come on by and check them out!"
Caldera Cauldron Brew 2007
Caldera was the first place I contacted, and I focused more on the stats in my question. Perhaps that's why I got stats from President Jim Mills in the reply. Still, there's enough info here to make a pretty informed judgment:
"1.064 original gravityIncidentally, we didn't try the Caldera last night, so these are all the facts I'll be able to impart. More tonight on the other beers I tried. In the meantime, if you plan to head down to the Fest, these are the details you'll need:
6.5% alcohol by volume
Deep garnet in color
Hops: Galena, Cascade, Simcoe
Dry hopped in the brite tank with Simcoe and Cascade hops
Malts: Rahr 2 row, Crisp crystal 60 and 120, Special B, Great Western Munich, Gambrinus Dark Munich, Crisp Chocolate"
Pioneer Courthouse SquareAlso, today only they'll be pouring a series of super rare beers at specified times. I'm slow in getting this posted, so you've already missed the first flight. Not to worry, there are seven more:
Thurs-Sat: 11a to 10:00p
Sunday: 11a to 6p
The traditional plastic fest mug is $5; a taster is $1 and a full pour $4.
- Anchor Brewing, Anchor Christmas (11am)
- Dupont, Avec les Bon Voeux (11am)
- Sierra Nevada Brewing, Wood aged Scotch beer (Thursday)
- Sierra Nevada Brewing, 20th Street Ale (Thursday)
- Brasserie St. Feuillien, St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel (Thursday)
- Eggenberg Brauerei, 2005 Samichlaus Bier (5 pm)
- Deschutes Brewing, 2005 Mirror Mirror (5 pm)
- BridgePort Brewing, 2005 Old Knucklehead, Batch #11 (after 5 pm)
- Hitachino Nest beer, 2006 Celebration Ale (after 5 pm)