Day 529: A Few Things Including Breckenridge Brewing's Agave Wheat

On Monday, May 20, The Doors' founding keyboardist Ray Manzarek passed away after a battle with cancer. One would have thought after surviving The Doors, you become immortal; however, it doesn't seem to work that way.

I found myself listening to a lot of music by The Doors during the days since. I'm not seeking it out--it just seems to be everywhere right now. Don't get me wrong, I listened to that band quite a bit in high school and college. And then I stopped. Why? I have no idea. But hearing it, especially L.A. Woman, has brought back some ridiculous memories. Perhaps the most ridiculous among them is a recollection of sitting in my room, blaring The Doors and writing trippy, rambling poetry, burning incense, donning flowing skirts and flannel shirts, reeking of patchouli.

If they say I never loved you

You know they are a liar

                                                 --Jim Morrison

What I would give for that journal of poetry right now...

In other news Breckenridge Brewing is creating a mixed case of canned beer and it includes Agave Wheat, which is one of my favorite beers. And since it's one of my favorite beers, I thought it was about time that I review it.

It pours a hazy yellow-orange color with a medium white head. It smells of wheat with a mild sweetness and just a bit of tanginess. It has a tart wheat-y flavor. Some lemon. And a very light bitter hop at the finish. It's very sessionable. In fact it's been the beer of choice at our tailgate for the warm weather games.

I'm truly bummed that we're not heading to Colorado this summer. It will be the first time in three years that I won't get to experience fresh mountain air--it really does smell better there--and how awesome the lack of humidity is for my hair. Seriously. You should see my hair in Colorado. Amazing.

Beer stats
Style: American unfiltered wheat ale
ABV: 4.2%
IBUs: 9
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from Breckenridge
My 2nd post of this adventure with a review of the vanilla porter
Mr. Blog Named Brew's review of agave wheat
His and hers reviews of 471 Small Batch and my review of Christmas ale

Day 416: Success and Breckenridge Brewery

There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.

                                                  - author unknown

For the past few weeks, I've seen this quote pop up on a number of blogs that I read. It resonated at first because it was a new year and I was trying to make healthy changes. For me that meant parking on the lowest level of our garage and walking up the four levels of stairs to get into our building. 

Then there were the moments where I was feeling a bit more of a leader and said it to myself as I pushed myself out of my career comfort zone and took on new projects. Then there was this week, where it translates directly into this photo in my mind's eye.

Around and around I go. (Source)

Stairs ---> Height ---> Altitude ---> Mountains ---> Colorado ---> Breckenridge

Breckinridge Brewery 471 Small Batch is a double IPA brewed in Colorado. The Small Batch series allows for some experiments and this one is definitely a success in my book.  

From the Breckenridge website, it's described as a small batch, limited edition ale. It's brewed with Pale, Munich, Caramel-30, Carapils and Torrified Wheat malts, with Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe and Fuggles hops. It has a big sweet mouthfeel, followed by more hoppiness than you've ever had at one time. 

I thought this was a particularly good DIPA. It poured an opaque apricot color with a minimal white head. The smell was peachy, fruity hops. And lots of them. The flavor was lots of fruit forward hops. I noted a medley of tastes but peach was dominant and there were undertones of citrus. It rounded out nicely with some caramel hoppiness and biscuit. It's bold but very smooth to drink.  

Beer stats

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 9.2%

IBUs: 70

Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Breckenridge

Christmas Ale and fond memories of getting the biggest television ever

Gary's thoughts on 471 Small Batch

Gary's review of Agave Wheat, which is one of my favorites!

My 2nd post ever--Vanilla Porter

Day 380: Breckenridge Christmas Ale and Christmas Came Early

I sent Gary out for groceries yesterday and he brought back groceries and a little surprise.

Oh those boys and their toys. Salinger approves.

It's actually not a small surprise at all. I'm the surprised dismayed proud owner of a 46" Samsung blah, blah, numbers, ACRONYMS television.  If I were less three dimensional, I would easily fit into this box.

Chinese-takeout-movie-marathon Christmas Day festivities have definitely been upgraded this year.  Merry Christmas to us!  Whoo-hoo!

There's a reindeer and balls joke
in here somewhere.

What better way to celebrate the holidays than with a Christmas ale. This one comes courtesy of Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado. It's a winter warmer and perfect for today. It pours a crisp, clear shade of deep chestnut with a white head that leaves just a little lacing. It smells of caramel malt and general beer aroma.

The flavor matches the smell nicely. Lots of malt, some light caramel. I'm not getting much in the way of spices. At a 7.4% ABV, it is also a bit boozy.

From the description of a winter warmer on the BeerAdvocate site, it's hitting all the right marks. Winter warmers tend to be malty sweet--big malt presence, both in flavor and body. The color ranges from brownish reds to nearly pitch black.  Hop bitterness is generally low, leveled and balanced, but hop character can be pronounced. Alcohol warmth is not uncommon.

Upon further research, not all winter warmers include spices. Per Breckenridge's description of their Christmas Ale, they went for the caramel and chocolate characteristics. So my assessment of no spice is accurate but I'm also not getting chocolate. Bummer. As my glass warms up a bit, more of the hop profile is coming out. It's just enough bite to balance the sweeter malt flavor.

Beer stats

Style: Winter warmer

ABV: 7.4%

IBUs: 22

Rating: Good

Previously reviewed beers from Breckenridge Brewery 

My assessment of the Vanilla Porter with notes of it being a great complement to cheesy eggs way back on Day 2
Gary's review of one of my favorite tailgate beers, Agave Wheat

Hit and Some Misses

Day #379 471 Small Batch / Breckenridge Brewing Company
Previously from this brewery: Vanilla Porter, Agave Wheat

I'm officially all set and ready to go for tomorrow.  Gifts are purchased, wrapped, and in bags ready to take on our travels, and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, with hopes that someone puts beer in there.

In the spirit of giving, I'm giving out another award tonight - the Biggest Miss of the Year.  Very early in the adventure someone asked me if 366 different breweries even existed in the world.  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he's delivered over 1,700 (and rapidly climbing) craft breweries in the U.S. alone.  While we had to do some work and pay attention, finding 366 different breweries wasn't that big of a hurdle.  Sometimes, the hurdle was knowing there are beers out there you want, and figuring out how you could get your hands on them.  Two great examples of wonderful breweries that don't ship to Pennsylvania?  New Glarus and Three Floyds.  While we managed to broker deals to get those coveted beers in hand, there were other great breweries we just couldn't get to along the way.  In the spirit of recognizing we have more work to do as the blog lives on, here the ones that got away:

Odell Brewing- from Fort Collins, CO, this brewery doesn't ship out of the midwest, and I neglected to get my hands on one during our brief trip to the Rockies this past summer.
Wynkoop Brewing - I've been to this Denver, CO brewery previously, just not during the 366 challenge.  Another brewery that doesn't ship anywhere near me. Looking forward to having another St. Charles ESB in the future.
Choc Beer Company - do you know how hard it is to find beer brewed in Oklahoma?  So imagine my disappointment when I was actually in Oklahoma for two days last spring, and couldn't find any Choc on draft, after having it when I was there in the fall of 2011.  Shame on you, Buffalo Wild Wings in Bartlesville, OK.  This is your fault!
Gin and Tonics - my favorite summer drink; I severely reduced my consumption to keep the beers moving. Next summer, I come back with a fury on this refreshing beverage.

And the winner is.... Choc Beer Company!  I'll be in Colorado or Idaho again soon enough.  I could make a gin and tonic tomorrow.  But another trip back to Oklahoma just isn't happening anytime soon.  Sorry, Choc.... can you mail me some?  Please?

Moving right along (and speaking of Colorado), tonight's beer is the 471 Small Batch from Breckenridge Brewing Company.  This double IPA has a dull amber color with a thin wispy head.  There are aromas of citrus with some pine, and the taste has notes of orange and lemon, with plenty of earthy pine, some malt to balance things out, and a good bit of hop bitterness on the finish.  A potent beer at 9.2% ABV, this one was a great choice with the pizza I made for dinner tonight.

For your viewing pleasure, here's a shot I took from a visit to Breckenridge in 2010, from their deck upstairs looking out at the clouds rolling in over the mountains:

Ah, vacation.

Thing to Think About Today:
With Christmas Eve tomorrow night, I'm going to let the Yeah Yeah Yeahs close things out here with their wonderful All I Want for Christmas.  It doesn't appear there's a real video for this song, but at least this will give you quick access to a song that brings me joy and puts a smile on my face.  Good night people... and remember, there's still time for Santa to check his list.  Be nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYKde13LLR8

"My only Christmas wish / is for you to be near..."

High Altitude, High Jumps

Beer #242 Agave Wheat / Breckenridge Brewery, Breckenridge, CO

Hooray for today - officially past the 2/3 mark on this blog.  We're off to a concert and picnic at Valley Forge Park tonight, so let's get down to business and cross another one off the list.

The beer for today is the Agave Wheat from Breckenridge Brewery.  While we didn't get to visit their brewpub in person on our most recent trip to Colorado, we have been there previously - the upstairs deck is an awesome spot to soak in the ski town scene and drink fantastic beers.  This one was consumed at a hotel bar (shout out to Marriott!), but it was delicious just the same.  I drank it out of the bottle, so no comment on appearance or aroma, but the taste is a little earthy, a little sweet, and overall has a nice dry feel with notes of wheat and a hint of pepper.  It's a great beer for summer, and one that I highly recommend you try.  At 4.2% ABV, you can certainly enjoy more than one.

This bottle just screams "party!"

Breckenridge Brewing has been open for business since 1990, and they were the third microbrewery to open in the state.  They've started putting more of their brews in cans, which is awesome, as I find cans far more convenient than glass bottles.  I have a six-pack of Summerbright Ale cans from Breckenridge waiting for me in the fridge.

Thing to Think About Today:
Sure, you can be the best person in your area of expertise.  But what about being the person who completely reinvents the field altogether?

Today, we stop to think about Dick Fosbury, who didn't just earn a gold medal in the high jump at the 1968 Olympics, he invented and popularized a brand new way to execute the jump.  Previously, jumpers scissor kicked over the bar, or dove over the bar face first.  Fosbury realized the advantages of running parallel to the bar, then leaping over it backwards, swinging the legs up and over to clear.

While some doubted his approach, it paid dividends when he cleared 7 feet, 4 and 1/4 inches to wrap up the gold medal and beat the Olympic record in the process.  After that?  No one questioned his new method, and in fact the style was christened 'the Fosbury Flop.'  Okay, so not the most glamorous name, but when you've got that shiny gold medal around your neck, you probably don't worry too much about those things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKpBKvc0H7w 

Day 2: Breckenridge Brewery

On the second day she drank porter. Vanilla porter from Breckenridge Brewery to be exact. It's effervescent, chocolatey and surprisingly light given its dark complex color. I love being surprised by the scent of my beer. This one smells of rich vanilla. Not cloying but organic...exactly what I want to relax with after working for 12 hours today.

I took an ok shot of my beer but I don't know how to use my iPad yet so no photo for you!

Check out what Breckenridge Brewery has to say about it.

Also if you ever find yourself near Breckenridge, do yourself a favor and visit this brewery. Their beer sampler is not for the faint of heart. It's only outdone by Tommyknocker Brewery. Another go to if you're traveling in that part of the country. Because why wouldn't you want to tour around and see one of the most beautiful places on earth while sampling some very awesome beer?

On an odd note, I'm surprised it goes so well with my dinner of cheesy eggs.

Until tomorrow...cheers!