Kasteel Rouge My gateway beer for those who don't like "Dark Beers"

As I have made about a million calls today, and I think I need a break, I thought I would blog. But I was not sure what to blog about. So I thought I would blog about a conversation I had with a coworker. She told me that she did not like dark beer, but that she would try beer that is darker, but not darker than her hair. I told her about Kasteel Rouge (that is my gateway beer for people who say that don’t like dark beer to get them hooked) and how tastes like black cherry soda, and she said it sounded good. She then proceeded to tell me she would not try it if it was darker than her hair. She liked the idea of the flavor but not the color. I think that says a lot about her.

Gnomegang Ommegang

I still have not tried the Gnomegang by Ommegang. I have had a hard day at work today and can’t wait to try this. Does anyone know if they sell it in MA yet? Or if it is even available? If someone could let me know I would love to get my hands on some.
On another note, we plan on picking up our Kate the Great this weekend. I know that technically we have until mid April, but I have this fear that they are going to run out.

People who don't really know about beer!

Ok, I have not blogged in about a year, but as this day has been a bit of a loss (58 calls and only 1 connect) I have to rant for a minute about people who think that they know something about beer.
This weekend I went to a restaurant in NH and met this guy who was a beer rep for one of the big guys. We were grabbing a drink at the bar while we waited for the table. The rep was nice, but his beer knowledge and facts were a bit off. He started talking about history of beer and breweries, and well his stories were a bit suspect. It just so happens that my hubby has recently been on a beer reality TV show about history of brewing and I happen to know a bit more than the average person.
He said his favorite beer was a wheat beer called Hoegarden – which he thought I had never heard of, and it is a great beer don’t get me wrong, but it is considered a White beer not simply a wheat beer. But I was nice, enjoyed my Tuckerman’s Headwall Alt (which was awesome) and could not have been happier when my table pager went off.

Brewery location – not so easy to find

So finding a location for the brewery has not been as easy as I had thought. I thought we would look at places, and find one that met our needs in a few weeks. I was so wrong. What I found was that although there are spaces available, not so many of them are a good fit for a brewery. Some of the places that our realtor brought us to were so wacky. He also kept asking us if we would look at New Hampshire. IDK how many times we had to explain that NH beer laws are so wacky that it is not an option for us.

However, we think we may have one that with a some tweaking may work for us. It is here in our town which we really really wanted. It is within walking distance to the house, and it is down town but in the back so we don’t have to pay for the retail space. I just remembered we need to check to make sure the zoning is what we need. We were told that it should be, but have not checked ourselves. Yikes, I am so glad I remembered this. Let’s keep our fingers crossed


As you can see the potential location does need some serious work, but the landlord wants us in there as much as we hope to be in there, and with that combination I think we can make it work. It is going to be hard, and I don’t believe he has ever been a landlord/properly manager before, so he has some things to learn.

We met with the contractor last week who has helped another small brewery before so he understands what our needs are, and should have a proposal to us any day. It was actually due tomorrow, but we were already told he was not going to make that date. LOL got to love contractors. But if his numbers are reasonable we will be really psyched.

It is kind of nerve wracking to think that we still don’t have a place, but that is not stopping me from moving forward with the rest of things. My thought is that all things will work out, hopefully in this location, but if not it will be somewhere else.

Tomorrow we meet with the lawyer to get us “officially” on the beer books. That too was a bit of a project, but more in the sense that I wanted to find a lawyer who spoke English as well as Legalise. Some lawyers are just too smart for their own good. But that is a story for another day.

Anticipated Beer Lineup

Gnomad - Belgian

This beer is a pale golden ale which is high in carbonation and relatively dry in finish. It features a complex malt presence due to the use of several varieties of barley as well as oats and sugar. A special blend of yeast strains provides a mix of earthy, spicy and fruit aromas and flavors. Amarillo hops are used to balance out the beer and provide a nice citrus finish. This beer is refreshing, complex and well-balanced.

Munich Mild

The Munich Mild features a strong malt presence courtesy of a Munich Malt base. It is deep brown, toasty, bready and extremely malty. Malts from England and Germany combine with English hops and yeast to form a unique hybrid style. This is a low-alcohol session beer perfect for a fall afternoon.

Uncle Bob Bitter

The bitter is floral and smooth on the palette with a toasty malt to balance it out. The bitter uses floor malted English barley and a variety of British hops. Inspired by the rich, flavorful ales of British pubs this beer maintains a perfect balance of flavor and drinkability. It is below 5% ABV and lightly carbonated.

Funk (need a name)

This beer is definitely earthy and funky. It utilizes several strains of yeast, including brettanomyces. This tart beer finishes dry and effervescent with earthy hop tones. Over time this beer will change and the character of the wild yeast will begin to add more complex and funky flavors. We will allow nature to take its course with this beer and it may take longer to ferment, end up more or less sour depending on season, or be barrel aged. This will be our most adventurous and wild brew.

We don’t really have a name for this one – Originally we called it Hoptimus Pryme, but we know we can’t get the rights to that. So we will have to update you when we have a name.

Our hoppiest beer features an aromatic nose followed by a spicy finish courtesy of rye malt. This rye pale ale uses hops throughout the brewing process for a great balance of bitterness, flavor and aroma. A complex malt base helps to support the hop character and provide balance. This beer is dangerously drinkable!



Overall, I believe these beers should finish fairly dry with little residual sugar. I’m also very interested in preserving the malt flavor, which I think gets lost in a lot of beers, especially IPAs. The balance between all ingredients is really what it’s all about.

Brewery Insurance

It amazes me how some people are (or at least seem) callous. I called a company today to get a basic quote for brewery insurance, and I swear it was like I asked for her first born. IDK what is wrong with people, but I am trying to find out how much money I am going to have to give you. When the operator asked how she could help me, and I told her that I was looking for an insurance quote, I was sent to this lady. So I am pretty sure that that was her job.

I get it, I am sure that there are probably tons of people who want to open a brewery, and may not be serious. But I was, or really I am. Opening a brewery is not just a dream for us, it is a reality. Maybe others don’t take it seriously, but we do.


Oh – and they want resumes from us before they will give us insurance. What is that about??? Anyone have a clue why they want/need that? I guess we will find out soon.

Starting our own Brewery - Riverwalk Brewing

Ok, so I haven’t blogged in a while. I will admit it. BUT I had good reason. A few weeks ago my husband decided that we were going to open a brewery. Yes your heard me right. He somehow convinced me to spend my savings on beer. We have started the process, but have a long way to go. I am planning on blogging about the process.

So far I can tell you that finding a location for the brewery has been much harder than expected. We have certain ceiling height requirements, drainage requirements, water, and power requirements that are not that easy to come by. We are working towards our goal and will be looking at another few places next week.

I have been talking with distributors, building a solid marketing plan, looking into suppliers, and working with the legal and $$ related stuff. Steve (AKA Hubby) has been working on perfecting the recipes and finding the right equipment. We are getting closer on all accounts, but have so much more to do.

We have a name, but no logo. I have a friend of mine who also happens to be a world class artist working on the logo right now. I hope to have that soon. As per the name it is called Riverwalk Brewing. So be on the lookout for more details. I hope you will become a fan on FB.

I hope you will continue to read my blog, and tell others about this blog, because it is about to get a little more exciting. The trials and tribulations on fulfilling our dreams – Riverwalk Brewing LLC.

The 51 Beers for 33rd Birthday

In honor of my hubby’s 33rd birthday celebration we decided to have a beer tasting party. We brewed some, we bought some, and tons were brought. Our final count was 51 (many thanks to Amadis and the Orf’s) I created a check list so people could initial the beers they tired to see who could try the most.

The “official” winner was our friend Doug - he clocked in at trying 22 beers. However there is just no real way of knowing who may have been the rightful winner of the title – because if they were like me that night …….. they may not have been coherent enough to remember to initial a beer after they tasted.

The final count for the night was 51 beers, 1 stray cat, 3 dogs, one 5lb cake, and about 40 guests.

I would go in to the details of the party, but I think that if you check out the pictures and the beer list for the party you will get the feel of the night.

1. Allagash – Four Ale
2. Avery & Russian River – Collaboration not Litigation
3. Bear Republic – Race
4. Brewery De Hemel – Nieuw Ligt Barleywine
5. Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck - Kasteel Rouge
6. Brrouwerji De Troch – Chapeau Mirabelle
7. Budweiser (I thought someone brought this as a joke, but she did not – no worries I made her drink some real stuff too)
8. Caracole – Saxo
9. Cascade Brewing - Kriek Ale
10. Chouffe – Houblon Chouffe



11. Cisco Bay - Gery Lady
12. Cisco Bay - Baileys Blonde
13. Dieu De Ciel – Peche Mortel
14. Dogfish Head – Chateau Jihu
15. Fort Collins – Dopple Boc
16. Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout
17. Goose Island – Honkers Ale
18. Goose Island – Matilda
19. Haand Bryggeriet – Odin’s Tripple
20. Harpoon - Oyster Stout
21. Heavy Seas - Lose Cannon
22. Hook Norton Brewery – Hooky bitter
23. Ipswich/Mercury Brewing – Clown Shoes Black IPA (I totally thought this was a Coney Island beer until I read the lable)
24. Jolly Pumpkin – Bam Biere
25. La Devine St Landelin
26. Lagunitas – Hop Stupid



27. Midnight Sun – Acrtic Devil
28. Mikkeller – It’s Alright
29. Orval – Orval
30. Pere Jacques
31. Portsmouth Brewery – Kate The Great
32. Pretty Things – Baby Tree
33. Pretty Things – Jack D’Or
34. Rogue - Imperial Stout
35. Sam Smith – Nut Brown
36. Sanderson Home Brew – Aged (3 years) Belgium
37. Sanderson Home Brew – Centennial
38. Sanderson Home Brew – English Bitter
39. Sanderson Home Brew – Pilsner
40. Sanderson Home Brew – Porter
41. Sanderson Home Brew – Summer Ale

42. Schneider Weiss – Elder Weisse
43. Schneider Weiss – Hopfen Weisse
44. Seadog – Blueberry
45. Shmaltz He’Brew – Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah
46. Smuttynose – Farmhouse Ale
47. Trappistes Rochefort – Rochefort 10
48. Victory – Helios Ale
49. Victory – Wild Devil
50. Waylan
51. Zhiguljovsoje

Our Kate The Great Adventure

If you know anything about beer, you know that Kate The Great (Portsmouth Brewery’s Imperial Stout) is the most sought after beer in the US. It is only released a few times a year, and in very limited quantities. This year only 900 bottles were released People come from across the country, and sometimes outside the country to get a bottle of this beer.

This is my story/adventure of how I got 2 out of the 900 this year.

The Sunday afternoon before Kate The Great day, we were on our way home from Maine – where we had visited Sunday River, my in-laws, and Ebenezer’s Pub, to meet up with our friends Chris, Bridget and their 2.5 month old Finnegan. We had decided a few weeks before that, that we wanted to try and go for Kate The Great, and as our house is only 25 minutes to Portland, they decided to crash at our house the night before.

Sunday afternoon we checked out the Portsmouth Brewery web site to find information about release times for calendar pages (their form or lottery). The website said something along the lines of “the official time we will be giving out calendar days is 7:00AM, however we may release some earlier than that”. We also saw on Beer Advocate that at least 238 people had said that they were going to Kate The Great day.

So when Chris, Bridget and Finn arrived we talked about what time to get up. Originally we were thinking of leaving the house at 5:00 AM, but after our research we knew we had to head out earlier. I called my good friends Carolyn and Chris – who also wanted to join us Kate The Great 2010 and who happen to live a few blocks away from the brewery – and suggested an earlier start. We decided to leave at 4:15 AM.

So on Monday 3/1/10 Steve (my hubby), myself, Chris, Bridget, and our little trooper Finnegan headed out of the house to stand in line in the freezing cold/rain. We all had to gear up for the cold weather, so some of us (not Bridget – she managed to look super cute – darn her ;) ) looked a little silly, but we were going to stay warm. When we drove by at 4:55 AM we saw that there was a small group of people and that they were already handing out tickets. We parked in the nearest parking space and got our calendar dates. We had December - so that means at least 250-300 people had already been there before 5:00 AM. We decided to find a coffee shop and wait for my friends Carolyn and Chris. They arrived at 5:15 and stood in line behind about 75 people, and barley made the cut off for a calendar day. By 5:25 all the guaranteed dates were gone.

We all then headed back to their house, changed, as the rain had died down a bit, had some coffee, and took off at 7:00 AM to get breakfast at a local place downtown. When we walked in at 7:10 there were many happy, but also many sad faces in the packed restaurant. You could tell who got calendar days and who did not.

So we ordered and ate breakfast, and paid our check around 8:45. Kate The Great was being released for sale at 9: 00 so we had to be back at the brewery by 9:00. As we were walking towards the brewery we saw a huge line of a few hundred people for people who missed the bottles, but wanted to try it on tap. They were tapping a few kegs at 11:30 AM. We got there in the perfect time, waited until our month was called (about 9:30ish) and got our 2 bottles each.

SBG's Top 10 Beers

I have been asked many times, “What are your favorite beers?” so I have decided to answer this question in a public forum.


1. Triple Karmeliet - I like this one because it is flavorful and crisp. It has just the right hint of spices to appeal to your pallet, but does not overwhelm you will sweetness.


2. Peche Mortel - I love this complex but well balanced rich and creamy mocha flavored brew. It has a great “mouthfeel”. I hate that term, but it really holds true for why I love the Peche Mortel. If you have ever had a milk shake you know what I am talking about. When you drink a milk shake the flavors (like the vanilla syrup) coat and linger in your mouth – leaving you with a really pleasant experience. The Peche Mortel coffee and chocolate (and I don’t know why I taste it – but banana) linger in your mouth for a while.

3. Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus - Sour and pink how could you go wrong? LOL – the Gambrinus has an intense fruity sourness with a clean finish. You can not only taste the raspberries, but the farm they came from – what some people may call “earth tones”. To me it tastes like a farm – in a good way. ;)


4. Rochefort 10 – To me, this is the quintessential example of a traditional Trappist beer. Rochefort 10 pours out of the bottle this rich dark color, and immediately fills your glass/nose with sweet raisins and dates, bready yeast, malty goodness, and just the right hint of spices. This beer has been brewed for generations with love – and you can taste it. Yummy!!


5. Anything Ommegang – I love them, I love them I love them.
a. Rouge – for funkyness
b. Hennepin – for a farmhouse Saison
c. Ommegang – Toasted malt and big sweet taste


6. Lost Abby – Bourbon-Barrel Angle’s Share – “oh my this is good” is what I thought the first time I had this beer. Served and looks like a bourbon, but tastes like a finely-crafted beer. It has a unique oak, caramel, and vanilla topped off with a bit of heat from the alcohol. On a cold winter night, when you want something to sip – this is a super pick.


7. Czechvar – Even though this beer is now owned by InBev I still love it. It is clean, crisp, and refreshing. It can quench your thirst like no sports drink could ever do. It is an all-rounder beer. Watch out, because of the green bottle it can be skunked from time to time. However I would say 85% of the time it is fine.



8. La Chouffe – I know I am bias when it comes to Chouffe as I spent my honeymoon in A’Chouffe – but that is only because I love the beer so much. La Chouffe is a light-bodied, easy to drink, Belgium Pale Ale that has an amazing finish because it leaves you wanting more. Be careful though, it is deceptively strong and can knock off your socks if you are not careful because it leaves you wanting more. This beer is so good I named my cat Chouffe.


9. St. Peters English Ale - I know this has a bad wrap on Beer Advocate, however this golden ale to me has wonderful fruity and floral hops with a true taste of caramel malt. I love caramel malt. I eat it raw sometimes. It is hard to find a beer that promotes Vs. hides this base malt – and I love it.

10. Russian River's Pliny the Elder – HOPS – what else can I say. JK. This big hopped IPA will not disappoint. It is dry with a crisp hoppy bite. It is rated as the top IPA in the US, and deserves the recognition.








Alternate - Fullers ESB – on Cask – I put this on the list, because to me Fullers ESB in bottles is OK, on cask – it is amazing. Fullers ESB makes me feel like I am experiencing England. Not only modern England, but the England of the last few hundred years. When I sample Fullers ESB (on cask) I remember my past trips and reminisce vicariously through the beer itself. It moved me so much that it prompted me to take a trip to the UK. I am not going to describe the flavors but simply say – you have to try it.