Skip to main content

Where Have I Been?

Wow, its been awhile since I've posted anything here.  Some ideas have been bouncing around in my noggin, so hopefully Mould's Beer Blog won't join the sea of dead and forgotten beer blogs.  A drastic redesign may occur!

So what have I been up to?  My main goal in the last month or so has been to drink down the oversupply of beer I have at home.  Once I clear that out, I'm going to start some more homebrewing.  I've got several kits (smoked porter, warrior double IPA, bourbon dubbel) from the Brooklyn Brew Shop waiting to be brewed!

Thoughts on some hot button issues in beer recently:

American Craft Beer Week:  These days you can blindly flip through the pages of a calendar, point to a week, and it will be the craft beer week of a city in the United States.  From May 12-18, the Brewers Association (the trade group for American brewers) wants everyone to celebrate American Craft Beer Week.  They even have a website with ideas on how you can celebrate.

My thoughts?  All these craft beer weeks are a little silly, especially in areas where "boutique" beers are already popular and selling well (e.g. San Diego, Philadelphia).  These beer weeks are often pinnacled with rare (often one-off) tappings, tap takeovers and beer celebrity appearances.  HOWEVER, the public seems to soak it up and love it, and may increase business in areas where microbrewed beer is still in its infancy.

The Variety of Craft Beer:  Beer drinkers have more options now than ever.  Thousands of different IPAs, a plethora of porters and a barrage of Belgians.  Thanks to 18-wheelers, boats and planes we can have beers that were brewed in California, Alaska, Sweden, Japan and Australia.  And if you don't get the beers you want near you, just log onto The Beer Exchange or Talk Beer and you'll be able to find someone to trade with who is ISO something you may have.

My thoughts?  The insane variety of craft beer is all well and good, but I'm getting to the point where I don't need to try every IPA or bourbon barrel aged ale out there.  Plus, why would I want to buy an IPA or tripel that's been trucked across Rockies and the Mississippi River when there are plenty of superb beers that are brewed within 100 miles of me?  In the future, I plan on trying to drink local or homebrew as much as possible!  

Here's what I've been drinking, via my Instagram feed!


Comments

  1. Cheers! I'm trying to revive mine as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome! Did you sit for the tasting part of the BJCP exam yet?

      Delete
    2. I did! On the 17th. Details to come! I kind of messed up one beer lol

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dogfish Head Positive Contact

Frankenstorm is on it's way.  Bread: Check.  Candles: Check.  Ice: Check.  Beer: Check!  The big storm is supposed to strike land here in NJ late Sunday night into early Monday morning, and last until late Tuesday.  Kerry and I live in the western part of NJ, so we should be safe from most of it, except for local river flooding.  Tonight I'll be reviewing Positive Contact from Dogfish Head.  This is their collaboration with Dan the Automator (who I honestly had never heard of before this collaboration). I poured Positive Contact into my Yards Brewing tulip glass.  It poured a pale orange, golden color with a two and a half finger width head.  Apples, bananas and peppers hit my nose right away.  The smell is incredible and strong.  The Positive Contact is full of flavor, and reminds me of a smooth drinking Belgian tripel.  It tastes immediately of fruity esters, mainly banana.  The finish is peppery.  I'm ...

BJCP: Strong Scotch Ale (9E)

This is the first article in a new series of posts, where I will periodically choose a section from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines , write about the style, and then drink and publish my tasting notes from some of the commercial examples given by the BJCP.  Now, I'm not sure if I will ever actually take the exam to become a beer judge, but I think this will be a fun exercise to learn more about beer! Fair warning, I will not be doing the sections of the BJCP style guidelines in any sort of order.  Whichever kinds of beer I am craving is what I will be writing about! Strong Scotch Ales (also known as Wee Heavy) comprise sub-category 9E in the BJCP style guidelines.  They range between 6.5% and 10.0% ABV, and have a light copper to dark brown appearance.  Obviously, strong scotch ales are all about showcasing the malt.  While studying this style, I found it quite interesting that the brewers ferment out the wort at cooler temp...

Beer Digest: Mission St., Hitachino, Weyerbacher

I've had some really great and interesting beers over the last week.  In this new post series, I'm going to highlight my favorite beers from the last week or so.  Hope you enjoy reading!  Suggestions and comments are always welcome! Mission St 2013 Anniversary Ale (Trader Joe's) Steinhaus Brewing Co. (brewed at Firestone Walker in Cali) 8.5% ABV I wasn't really sure what to expect from this beer, but it took me by surprise.  They say it is is blend of three different brews, and when it all comes together the final product is an imperial brown ale.  There was lots of malt, a little roast, and a full, creamy body.  I was surprised how fast I made it through the whole bottle.  There wasn't the slightest hint of the 8.5% ABV.  If more brown ales tasted like this, I would probably drink them more often. Mission St. 2013 Anniversary Ale from Trader Joe's Hitachino Nest XH Kiuchi Brewery 7% ABV Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nes...