1001 Beers

Beer No: 47/1001
Page No: 614
Category: Dark

Ahh, beer #47.  A special number.  A unique number.  A random number.  My number.

If you saw yesterday's beer, you'll notice this is on the same counter top because I actually had this last night with the dinner we cooked for my mother.  And it paired perfectly with the steak and crab legs I thoroughly enjoyed.  There's not much more to say about the pairing that wasn't talked about yesterday, so I'll just go on with another fun topic...

Home brew!  Yup, today Arkh Brewing (e.g. me (Scott had to work late)) bottled the American Stout.  It is DARK...not too thick, a very good stout consistency I think.  I just can't wait for it to carbonate.  And it'll be ready just in time...  For what?  Why the Inaugural Hanger 24 Home Brew Competition of course - and we also plan on entering it in the OC Fair Home Brew Competition.  We hope to enter all four of our current beers in both competitions - the English Pale, American Pale, American Stout, and Cream Stout.  They are all sufficiently different to enter in different categories, so I'm really looking forward to get some unbiased feedback on our brews.

Back to the beer, the 10 Commandments is a Belgian Strong Ale that says it is brewed with raisins, honey, and rosemary.  The raisins stand above the rest of the ingredients though and almost overpower the flavors.  The spices are there, but I couldn't quite pick out the rosemary on its own.  The sweetness mostly comes from the malt, but I could taste just a hint of honey in there (though if you didn't tell me it was there, I might have missed it).  It's a very good beer, but could be great with a few years of aging.  A solid anniversary ale from the folks down in San Diego.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Lost Abbey 10 Commandments from Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.6 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle from Total Wine. Pours very dark brown, not too hazy, a ton of carbonation, very good head and lacing. Aroma very sweet, raisins very pronounced in nose. Some plum, spices, and malts round it out. Taste is very malty sweet with nice fruity finish. Alcohol is somewhat hidden, still apparent, but not too strong. Mouthfeel is standard with lots of bubbles. Good, but probably would be great after a few years of aging.

Beer No: 46/1001
Page No: 347
Category: Blond

Happy Mother's Day all.

For Mother's Day, I of course headed over to my parents house where my brother, my dad, and I cooked up crab legs and steak and enjoyed them with a nice salad, some bread, and some good beer.  And before someone says something, yes, I know you shouldn't serve Chimay in a PINT glass.  But, my parents are wine drinkers and don't have any Belgian beer glasses.  I probably should have used a wine glass like I did for tomorrow's beer, but for the Chimay, it tasted just fine out of a Stone pint glass.

The Chimay was not paired with my dinner, but instead had with the appetizers that I provided - one was cream cheese with an apricot chili pepper jam which was sinfully good and the other was a hunk of Chimay cheese.  I didn't know Chimay had their hands in cheese making, but I saw two bricks at Whole Foods last week when prepping for my Spotted Pig burger, so I picked up the cheese that had beer added and it was very good too.  We ate most of it on Cinco de Mayo and I was going to break out the Chimay then, but stuck to the Mexican beers and wisely saved the Chimay for me to drink all by myself today.

Paired with the steak and crab legs, I figured a darker beer would work well and the 10 Commandments from Lost Abbey worked wonders.  The raisins and spice paired perfectly with the lighter crab legs and blended with the steak as well.  Just like red wine goes with red meats, this darker 10 Commandments really complemented the steak well.  We finished the night with a brownie-crusted cheesecake I made last night which would have paired perfectly with the Bourbon County stout I gave to my mom in her Mother's Day basket, but she wanted to save it for another time, so I settled for some water while everyone else enjoyed coffee with the cheesecake (I don't drink coffee or caffeine).

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Chimay Triple / Blanche (White) from Chimay

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours orange-yellow with slight haze, good carbonation, and small to medium head. Aromas of citrus, spice, malts, banana, and caramel. Taste is complex mixing the caramel malts with a good hop citrus and nice spiciness to balance it all out. Very well done, easy to drink triple. Those monks know what they’re doing.