Day 579: Troegs Flying Mouflan

I'm sad to write these words, but this is the final installment in my Troegs Beer Week. But on the upside, I guess it also means another trek out to Hershey to see what's new in their tasting room!

This is Troegs's barleywine--the Flying Mouflan. It pours a hazy brown colored ale with a pale tan head. I swear it smells slightly of Parmesan. The flavor is sharp and quite good. It's very much wine-like and there is a lot of fig in the flavor. There's hints of chocolate. It's spicy and not just peppery spice. As it warmed up a bit, I thought I tasted golden raisins. In my notes, I underlined golden raisins quite emphatically. So be warned, it doesn't just taste like any old raisins. It's the golden raisins.

The fine folks at Troegs suggest cellaring the Flying Mouflan in a cool dark place at 50 degrees for a minimum of four months. That will mellow out the hops and wash away the heat--noting that if one can resist the temptation to drink it all immediately, one would be rewarded with two memorable beers in a single bottle.

Sadly I didn't think to buy a bottle when they were around. Maybe next year I'll succeed.

And in case you're also wondering what a "Flying Mouflan" is, I have no idea. I know I like saying it aloud. Try it. Flying Mouflan! Fun, right? Since I had this one on draft at Troegs' tasting room, I don't have a photo of the bottle. The label depicts a winged, furry bottle cap with a devil's tail. OK. Sure. I suppose after drinking more than one of these--noting they weigh in at 9.3% ABV--that will make sense. I stopped at one. Maybe next year I'll try a second and see if it gives me any clarity.

Until then...FLYING MOUFLAN!

Beer stats
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 9.3%
IBUs: 100-ish (that's from Troegs website)
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from TroegsPreviously reviewed from Troegs
His review of Scratch 95 (kolsch), pale ale, Nugget Nectar and Scratch 57 (weizenbock)
My review of Sunshine Pils. Also check out posts from this week on a number of Troegs beers. Why? Because it's Troegs Beer Week on Blog Named Brew!

Day 410: Real Ale, Brewery Tours and God's Country, Y'all

The final installment of Texas Beer Week takes us to Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, Texas. I went to Texas Hill Country! It is an amazing thing to see so much open space--it looks like it just goes on forever. There were cowboys. Unironic boot wearing, hat wearing cowboys. I even saw a car with cattle horns on the front end! Amazing. 

We hit the road from Austin and headed west to Blanco to experience Real Ale Brewing for ourselves. Normally I'm the person who says if you've seen one brewery, you don't need to see them all. Boy was I  mistaken. The tour at Real Ale was awesome. It was not one of those OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) approved tours. It was a true behind-scenes, stand in puddles, don't poke your eye out on that nozzle, avoid getting a concussion tour. I'm pretty sure that if I lingered too long, someone would have given me a keg to fill or hops to haul around. 

The guys at Real Ale are cranking out some great beer. I noticed their Firemans 4 blonde ale all over Austin. Thanks to some bizarre Texas laws, breweries cannot sell directly to consumers. Instead some give away samples.  There was a point during our visit to Real Ale when I wondered how long we could hang out before we got cut off. 

What did I sample? Two beers. Repeatedly. The first was a Belgian-style tripel, Devil's Backbone. It was a nice golden color with great flavor. Good candy sugar, a little hoppy. Very interesting. The booze was apparent but surprisingly easy to drink. 

My other taste went to the barleywine. Another bruiser of a beer (11% ABV) but so tasty and warming.  Lots of toffee and malt with enough hop to keep it from being too rich. 

Beer stats 
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 11%
IBUs: 77
Rating: Good

Style: Tripel
ABV:  8.1%
IBUs: 36
Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Real Ale Brewing
First review!

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of my beer.  Instead here are some shots from the tour...

Yes, Real Ale is doing barrel aging!

And like I said when I started Texas Beer Week...Texas forever, y'all.

Day 386: Avery Hog Heaven

If you're one of my three loyal blog readers or a Twitter follower, you may have noticed we took our tomfoolery on the road to Texas this past week. It was fantastic and fun and we got to cross another state off the list in our quest to visit every state in the Union. We're at about the midway point in that quest and are looking two knock down another two states in 2013 if all goes according to plan.

All I have to say about Texas--and Austin specifically--is that there is some amazing beer there. We did a lot of bar hopping and brewery visiting during the past four days and I'll regale you with reviews and photos in the coming weeks.  Yes, weeks. We packed a lot into four days.

Funny story from the trip home. Both our outbound and inbound flights were plagued by a series of delays--perhaps that's why I tend to do most of my traveling during more agreeable weather. But as I stood in the security line at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, all that waiting paid off. I could have sworn something kept brushing up against my backside. A quick glance over my shoulder revealed the usual families and random people who make up a security line. Odd. But there it was again. This time I noticed a slightly embarrassed mother pulling her child away. A young girl, maybe four years old. Awkward glances were exchanged and I shuffled forward. But then there was giggling and what was decidedly a small nose in the crack of my ass. Yes, that adorable kiddo had her face in my rump.

More awkward looks and some rather entertaining discipline between mother and child ensued. As did several more instances of inappropriate touching in public between my ass and a child's face. At one point I looked at the woman and before I could even say anything, she admits it is an extremely awkward phase her daughter is going through and apologized profusely. Honestly I was so entertained that I had some wonderfully bizarre material for my next post that the kid could have goosed me and I would have hugged her. And seriously? Who goes through a phase where they like to be extremely close to strangers' backsides?

I can't even begin to find a segue between having my butt face-groped by a toddler and Avery Brewing Company's Hog Heaven. So let's just get to it.

Hog Heaven is a dry-hopped barleywine style ale. The color is dark reddish-apricot and hazy with a medium cream color head. As I drank my way to an empty glass, the lacing was significant. The smell is decidedly hoppy with lots of of pine. Every so often I would get some fruit undertones, but I had to work to get there. The flavor...it's like a barleywine and a west coast IPA had a baby! There were lots of bitter hops from start to finish. Beneath that is caramel malt goodness and rich, dark fruit. Hog Heaven had a very interesting and unexpected flavor.

Beer stats 
Style: Barleywine (dry hopped)
ABV: 9.2%
IBUs: 102 (crazy high IBUs)
Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Avery
My thoughts on the White Rascal 
Gary's musings on the Maharaja and Hog Heaven.