FuzzyBrew

The past year was a great year for beer lovers in the U.S. as craft beer continued to gain in popularity. Here are some of the best beers brewed and other hoppy highlights from 2010, according to the experts of the Interwebs:

• The Beer Nut recaps his top 10 craft beers for 2010, from the East Coast to the West Coast. He also picks the 10 best breweries, topped by Sierra Nevada, which celebrated its 30 anniversary and released four special beers to commemorate the occasion.

• Wine Enthusiast Magazine named the Top 25 Beers of 2010 in a list that goes “beyond simple evaluation of numeric scores and pricing and also considered availability, buzz and balance.” Wine Enthusiast’s top-rated beer was Allagash Brewing Company’s Allagash Black, a Belgian-style stout described as “rich, roasty and immensely satisfying; also surprisingly easy to drink.” Sounds yummy.

• Last, but certainly not least, Evan Benn, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch beer columnist and Hip Hops blogger, named his 10 favorite beers for 2010. His list is definitely right in line with my tastes. Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale and Ska Brewing Company’s Modus Hoperandi, which came in at No. 8 and No. 6 respectively, were definitely some of the best beers I tried in 2010. Schlalfy’s Coffee Stout (No. 7 on the list) was also quite tasty, and I plan to brew a similar beer this weekend! And I’ll definitely have to try the Schlalfly American IPA when it comes out again in May, which is Numero Uno on his list.

What are the best beers you tried in 2010? Leave a comment below.

I’m clearly behind in my brew blogging so file this under “trying to catch up.”

The last Saturday in September the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs and friends gathered down on the docks at Mud Island for a delicious Oktoberfest celebration. There was quite a bit of excellent food, big ole sausages on the grill and such, and much homebrew to be had.

It was a beautiful day, too, and Mike Lee, proprietor of Mid-South Malts and treasurer of the Bluff City Brewers, took us out on the Mississippi in his big ole boat. The Modus Hoperandi clone was a hit too, which was a bonus.

It was a fun event — props to all for putting it on!

The gang

I entered my clone of Ska Brewing’s Modus Hoperandi in Nashville’s Music City Brewers‘ 15th Annual Music City Brew Off.

I wasn’t able to attend the fest as Carrie and I were up in Wisconsin (post coming soon!), but everyone from our club, Bluff City Brewers & Connissieurs, assures me that it’s a good time. Quick aside: The Cooper-Young Regional Beer Fest was the same weekend. I hope that’s not the case next year.

I think my clone is pretty good. It’s gotten a lot of compliments, but it definitely could be better. I scored a 28/50, which plants it firmly in the “Good” category. A 30 would have gotten me a “Very Good.” Two judges scored my beer indpendently — one gave me a 30 and the other a 27. The overall impression of the judge who liked it the most:

A very good IPA. A fairly dark and malty interpretation of the style but fairly well balanced. More hop flavor and aroma would really make this a great beer.

I thought it definitely could have used some more hop aroma, though I thought it was pretty hoppy.

From judge No. 2:

The nice pour led into that bittery metallic taste. More hop flavor is need to meet style.

I dunno what metallic taste he’s talking about, but the theme here is “more hop flavor.”

So the 5 gallons of beer fermenting in my garage fridge is a modified Modus — same malts (two-row pale, caramel 120°L, wheat), same hops (Cascade, Columbus and Centennial) plus a healthy dose of Chinook. The hop schedule has been switched up and spread out a good bit to have more hops going in on a continuous basis and more added toward the end for flavor and aroma.

Bout time to dry hop.

Mike told you a few weeks ago about brewing and bottling our Modus Hoperandi clone, an American IPA by Ska Brewing out of Durango, Colorado.

I sampled a few of the brew while on a post-conference vacation in Frisco. It was a fairly fancy restaurant where everyone was drinking wine but I held strong and ordered an Odell IPA. The good man offered that I might like Modus Hoperandi instead.

“It’s very hoppy,” he said, “it comes in a can.”

Why sure, I’m game. Good choice.

Well, we only bottled about 20 days ago, but I could not help myself Sunday. Popped one in the fridge early in the day and waited as long as I could, which was after a couple Abita Purple Haze (left in my fridge by a sucker who shall remain nameless), so I suppose my palate could have been jacked.

It was decently carbed, an improvement over our Evil Twin red ale, which still hasn’t carbonated, though it tastes better each time I try one. Must learn to wait …

Popping the top produced a satisfying “tsspah” and a nice cloud of fog in the neck. I tried to play it cool and pour it correctly and got about a quarter-inch head. As I neared the end of the bottle it didn’t look like I was getting any yeast residue, so I got ambitious and poured the whole bottle into my glass. This was probably a mistake — the clarity wasn’t so great, but it eventually settled down to nearly clear. It actually did look exactly like the pint of the real deal up top.

The aroma was strongly hoppy enough that I just inhaled off the bottle, then the pint, for a good 30 seconds before I took a taste.

I think it’s gonna be a winner. No, it doesn’t really taste like the Modus Hoperandi I remember. It’s hoppy, sure, but it’s not as smooth and also somewhat hot, which is to say a bit of the alcohol came through. My original gravity was 1.064 and my final gravity was 1.012, so I should be hitting about 6.93 ABV. Modus is supposed to be 6.80. First similar brew that came to mind was Dogfish Head 90 Minute, because I thought that one was a bit hot, too. It’s 9.0 ABV. Hitting anywhere close to that fine brew seems pretty ambitious though. I’m willing to bet our clone will improve with time, if I can keep from drinking it all straightaway.

A close friend is coming into town tomorrow, so I’m going to toss a couple more in the fridge tonight and get her take on it. Good beer should be shared.