Monthly Archives: March 2011

#28: Wynkoop Brewery (#33)

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Yep, on my recent trip to Denver I obviously made it to the Wynkoop Brewery.  This place is #33 on the All About Beer List “125 Places to Drink Beer.”

My friend Mike met me for the 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year dinner (more on that later).  Afterward, we sat at the bar and sampled a nice Belgian trappist-style ale they are serving right now … called Orville.  It was excellent (you can tell we were enjoying it!)

We had the pleasure of chatting with the Head Brewmaster (Andy Brown).  He and his crew are making some very nice beers.  He’s very personable–if you get a chance when you stop through say hey!

Of course, on one of our many trips to the restroom (downstairs) — we noticed they had several barrels from Stranahan’s distillery (all airlocked up and bubbling!)

They have two or three casked-conditioned beers rotating (those are worth a try too!)  Overall I was definitely impressed with the atmosphere and beers from Wynkoops–definitely deserved to be on the list.

Beer Mentor

The Tap Room (San Marcos)

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Last summer as I was visiting both my daughters at Texas State University in San Marcos, my older daughter introduced me to “The Tap Room.”  This pub is right off campus (well within walking distance).  Here’s a shot of the exterior and my wife and daughter inside.

This place has been open since 1993 — it has an excellent selection of brews on tap … and it has all the character you need.  If you are passing through, I recommend a stop in!

Oh yeah, it has a great collection of tap handles as well.

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

 

Belgian-Style Witbier: KEGGED!

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I had the time on Wednesday (2 Mar 2011) to keg my Witbier, so I hustled up the equipment, sanitized it, and kegged that baby … Here are a couple of pictures of the “transfer process.”  You can see some suds in the 3rd picture — that’s my sanitizer residue …

It really cleared up well … of course, it’s been in secondary fermentation since early February (February 10th).  So, from 23 Jan until 2 Mar in the fermentor — 38 days in the fermentor … at a temp of approx 68 degrees.  You can see the final gravity in this picture:

With correction … I read a F.G. of 1.010 at 68 degrees … that corrects to 1.010.  So, with the O.G. of 1.051, I ended up with about 5.3% ABV.  My mash efficiency was around 72% … I may have mashed too quickly.  The attenuation was about 63% … may have had something to do with my yeast age.

You can see my CO2 cartridge here — it is a 20 oz paintball tank — works great!  I’ve got two that I swap out, but they both last a long time.  You can see in the 3rd picture that I’ve got the pressure kicked up and am force carbonating it in the fridge.  I just had a sample today–it is carbonated nicely … I’ll probably leave it at that pressure for another day or so and then move it down.  I’ll post a couple of final beer photos.  And, as usual, there’s always some clean up to do!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

#27: Falling Rock Tap House (#54)

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Yes, it is official.  I’ve hit number 27 on All About Beer’s 125 places to drink beer.  The “Falling Rock Tap House.”  This place rocks!  I was in Denver this past weekend and had the opportunity to stop in here for a couple of special beers.

Just in case you were wondering, it was cold in Denver in February.  Here are the beers we sampled (on Friday AND Saturday):

We were able to sample four Russian River Brews: 1) Blind Pig, 2) Pliny the Elder, 3) Pliny the Younger, and 4) Consecration.  Wow!  What a line-up!  Both Pliny the Younger AND Consecration were limited release kegs that we sampled on Saturday.  Once again, wow!

If you love hoppy beers, these are for you (except for Consecration, a sour beer).  In order they were 6%, 8%, and 11% ABV.  The Pliny the Younger was absolutely the most well balanced hop/alcohol west-coast IPA I’ve ever had.  Amazing.  Here are a couple of pictures of it:

We actually showed up on Friday night, had Pliny the Elder, and then were told that we should come back at 1100 the next day for the Younger … so we did!  Here are some random shots of the bar … this place was full of character …

Oh, you’ll notice the last image says “Dain Bramage.”  The weekend we were there, they were having a Barley Wine on tap series … LOL!  This place was excellent.  Two other beers I had there on Saturday night … the Bull & Bush Man Beer and Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA.  Both nice beers.

You may ask yourself, “How did they drink all these beers?”  We had this excellent “Man Breakfast on our stomachs” on Saturday (see pics).

My recommendation to you — if you are in Denver, you should stop by this place and a have a few beers–well worth the trip! (oh, the food is excellent too …)

Enjoy! Beer Mentor