Holy Crap, it's Snowdown!

'Round these parts, it was Christmas yesterday. Then I woke up to find that it is already February and time for more celebration and revelry in the streets of Durango for the annual Snowdown Winter Carnival! As in years past, there are several local beer releases for the event. 

Carver's has a "Fairy Tale Pale Ale" on tap. It's a nicely hopped American Pale not unlike the mainline Jack Rabbit Pale Ale.  Though not related to Snowdown, they also had an Imperial Stout on tap that was thoroughly quaffable for being a relatively big beer. In fact, two of these and a burger totally changed my outlook on the day last Wednesday.

Steamwork's will be tapping a "Black Fairy Firkin" on Friday prior to the parade on Main Street. We are told that this is based on their award wining Backside Stout that has be re-fermented in the firkin with maple syrup and anise. This is a continuation of their first Friday firkin releases of experimental brews that have been fun to sample this winter.

Ska Brewing Co. has been tweaking a spiced Brown Ale recipe for a few months now, and the effort pays off in this year's Snowdown special release. Faeries Wear Boots is a spiced Brown Ale that would fit well in a Winter Ale/ Winter Warmer category (for those of you that heed such things). Brewed with all of the holiday spices, this one packs a punch of bold flavorings on top of a mid-bodied Brown Ale base backed with plenty of warmth from all of the delicious alcohol it contains. The brew available on tap, and in 22oz bombers at your favorite local package store. I believe this is part of their "local series" set of releases, so distribution outside of Durango may be limited.

I enjoyed last year's Black IPA, but I have to say that I really dig this year's brew. I was a fan of the Brown Ale release at Christmas as well, which seems to have been an earlier version of this beer.

Ska will also be hosting a "Punk Rock Breakfast Party" at the Lost Dog Saloon on Sunday morning. For those of you still needing to kick some ass on Sunday morning, or for those of you looking to get a start on the celebrations for the "Big Game" later in the day, this might be the place to go. Beer specials and punk music to get your day started.

Snowdown!

Snowdown!

That is all for now.

Ska Brewing releases Snowdown beer

Ska Brewing Co. tonight releases this year's Snowdown beer, The One Eyed Monster Black IPA. The tapping party begins at 5 p.m. at Ska, with bottles for sale.

Ska is the first of Durango's breweries to make a black IPA, a style popular in the Northwest. Last year, Ska's Snowdown beer was Hyper Fierce Gnar Gnar Hefe, an unfiltered hefeweizen brewed with toasted coconut and pineapple.

The One Eyed Monster has no such adjuncts, just water, malt, yeast and hops. It should be interesting.  Black IPAs are an acquired taste — some drinkers like them and some just don't care for the style. I'll probably swing by Ska for a bottle tonight and write up a review when I can.

Empty fermenters beckon experiments

Label art for Ska Brewing's 2011 Snowdown's beer.

People don't drink as much beer in the winter as they do in summer. This is because they're ignorant and misguided.

The sorts of knowledgeable folks who read Durango's first, best and only beer blog (I'm liking that line lately) know brewers break out great beers in winter, while summer releases tend to be thinner and slightly less wonderful.

The fact that fair-weather beer drinkers take a break in the winter means there's more space in the fermenters for brewers to geek around. Our local brewers are currently indulging themselves with some huge beers that we'll see over the next couple of months.

Above is Ska Brewing Co.'s label art for their 2011 Snowdown beer, brazenly stolen by me from Facebook (I doubt they mind the publicity). It tells us that Ska is planning to brew a so-called "black IPA" for Durango's annual winter embarassment in February.

Black IPAs are big in the Northwest. They're essentially IPAs brewed with dark malt. They can be quite good.

There has been much discussion about what to call these beers. "Black IPA" is contradictory because you're saying Black India Pale Ale, and a beer can't be both black and pale. The voguish term in the Northwest is "Cascadian Dark Ale," which I find a bit stuffy and provincial.

I'm just bummed Ska missed a chance to call their release "Call of Duty: Black Hops." (Maybe it's not too late!)

The brew geeks at Steamworks, meanwhile, are brewing a ridiculous IPA that aims for 125 IBUs. (I think at that point, you graduate from IPA to Imperial IPA to Ridiculous IPA).

Of course, I will taste this beer, because I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'm not looking forward to it. At some point, this attempt to brew the hoppiest beer possible just becomes painful. If you've ever tried to drink Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, you know what I'm talking about. It's not pleasant.

Steamworks is having a naming competition for the beer. I initially suggested "Second Avenue Hop Flood," after their location on Durango's most in-between of streets. However, I've decided I prefer "Shooting an Elephant Imperial IPA" in homage to George Orwell's writing on India.

At Carver's, the brewers are working on a Baltic porter, a burly style that is cold-fermented and brewed with lager yeast, according to the 2010 Brewers Association Style Guidelines.

I ran into brewer Erik Maxson at the Main Avenue joint. He said the inspiration came from his newest assistant brewer. Pulling out a slide rule (and reminding me of my great uncle, a retired Boeing engineer), Maxson announced the big boy should land at just over 7 percent ABV, right on target for the style.

I had a little taste of the Baltic porter. It shaping up quite well: big, dark and malty.

Carver's has its annual imperial stout and Big Grizz Barleywine on tap, as well as a new Belgian-style dubbel. Flavor: bananas. A trippel and perhaps even a quadrupel may be coming.

Update: I should have mentioned that Insider Apple Ale is on tap at all four Durango breweries. It's a project of the breweries' combined consortium, the Durango Bootlegger's Society. The ale uses locally harvested apples.

It's definitely a beer and quite different from cider. I haven't tried this year's version yet, but last year's had a strong apple taste. I liked the flavor but found the texture a little mealy. We'll see if this year's version is any different.

In any case, Insider Apple Ale is interesting as both a brewing project and a local effort using local ingredients. Give it a try, and let me know what you think. It's also available in 22-ounce bottles.

Review: Clancy's Black Beer (Ska Brewing)

The latest release from Ska Brewing Co. will not likely inspire jealous envy in beer geeks across the nation. Clancy's Black Beer was not brewed with a truckload of hops. It was not aged in oak barrels. It does not boast a double-digit percentage of alcohol.

No, Clancy's Black Beer is simply a very well-executed Schwarzbier.

This release is the result of the 2nd annual Snowdown Homebrewing Competition, won back in February by an Aztec, N.M., oil worker named Clancy Calhoun. His winning entry was a Schwarzbier, a German-style dark lager.

For his victory, Ska brewed his recipe for release as the 16th beer in the brewery's hallowed Local Series. The beer will also be entered in the Great American Beer Festival's Pro-Am Competition.

So what is a Schwarzbier like? I'll defer to the Brewers Association's style guidelines, written by homebrewing god Charlie Papazian:

"These very dark brown to black beers have a mild roasted malt character without the associated bitterness. This is not a full-bodied beer, but rather a moderate body gently enhances malt flavor and aroma with low to moderate levels of sweetness. Hop bitterness is low to medium in character. Noble-type hop flavor and aroma should be low but perceptible. There should be no fruity esters. Diacetyl should not be perceived."

And this closely describes Clancy's Black Beer (5.4 percent ABV, 19 IBUs). Ska Head Brewer Thomas Larsen says it was brewed with 100 percent Tettnang hops, a noble variety. The malt bill is heavy on two-row and dark Munich malts, enhanced with Caramel 120, chocolate and DehuskCarafa III malts, finished with a pinch of Carapils malt.

It pours black, with a substantial light tan head of foam that lingers long. Malt dominates the smell and taste, with a bit of chocolate and perhaps some nuttiness. It is medium-bodied, with little discernible hop taste. The effect is rich, heavy, dark and a little sweet.

This is a welcome entry in Ska's Local Series, available for less than $5 per 22-ounce bottle at Durango-area stores. While it's not the rarest style, it's uncommon enough that you can't simply pick up a sixer of Schwarzbier at the ol' beer store. It expanded my beer horizons.

Clancy, and Ska, have done well. A-

Review: Hyper Fierce Gnar Gnar Hefe (Ska Brewing)

Snowdown is Durango’s winterized, but not at all sanitized, version of Mardi Gras. It fills the town with a parade and packs the bars with young folks eager to break out of the winter doldrums.

Despite the civilized veneer, it’s an unmitigated drunkfest. One of my favorite Snowdown memories is encountering a lonely Visa gift card sitting on the bar at Lady Falconburgh’s a few years back. A waitress asked, is that yours? No, I replied. A second waitress asked, is that yours? No, I replied. A third waitress asked, is that yours? Yes, I replied, and that’ll be two shots of Don Julio 1492, the most expensive drink in the bar.

That kind of thing just happens during Snowdown.

Ska Brewing Co. in Durango has been associated with Snowdown for many years, brewing a special release each time the winter fest rolls around.

This year, it’s Hyper Fierce Gnar Gnar Hefe, an unfiltered wheat beer brewed with toasted coconut and pineapple. Hyper Fierce is available in bomber bottles for about $4.99 each (featuring label art from local cartoonist Shan Wells), and on tap at Ska HQ. Expect it to show up in downtown bars around Snowdown.

The release brings Beer at 6512 full circle. A year ago, my first local review was of Ska’s 2009 Snowdown release, Royal Embalming Fluid (appetizing name, right?).

Ska makes an effort to tie its Snowdown releases to the fest’s theme, which changes every year. This year: “Life’s a Beach.” Thus the pineapple-coconut wheat.

Hyper Fierce (right around 5 percent ABV) is a medium-bodied wheat ale, thicker than Durango Wheat, for example, but lighter than Ska’s summer Wheelsucker Wheat release.

Ska Head Brewer Thomas Larsen seems to have a thorough understanding of what makes a good wheat beer. Wheelsucker was Beer at 6512’s Beer of the Year, and Hyper Fierce is only slightly less impressive. It goes down easy.

"Thomas earns high marks on this, " Ska President Dave Thibodeau said via e-mail. "I thought it sounded ridiculous when he first mentioned the idea, but Snowdown is a beach theme this year and it’s one of those great occasions where ridiculousness shines!"

"Thomas wrangled this original Bavarian Hefeweizen strain masterfully, letting the banana esters shine and keeping the phenols and clove flavors at bay. Both banana and pineapple really come through in the nose. The flavor is predominately pineapple, but the toasted coconut really comes through in the end," Thibodeau said.

I firmly believe every professional brewer needs a chance to play. It’s relatively easy for brewpubs, which can throw a few gallons of whatever on tap and hope to sell it. It’s a little more difficult for packaging breweries like Ska, which have more obligations. Ska seems to understand this, and the brewery has evolved its Local Series and Snowdown releases that give the brewers a lengthy leash to try off-beat recipes.

You also have to give Ska some props for releasing a pineapple and coconut flavored wheat in the dead of winter. It’s not exactly a traditional winter seasonal.

There’s also a bit of banana flavor in there. I had a sip from it in the tanks a few weeks ago, and the pineapple seems to have asserted itself a wee bit more since then vis-a-vis the coconut (for the sake of disclosure, the brewery comped me a pint and a bomber to sample).

It's an interesting beer and unlike any other you can buy in Durango. The emptier the glass gets, the more I like it. B+

Photo: Ska Head Brewer Thomas Larsen with a Hyper Fierce in the brewery's tap room.

Osiris's Homebrew Competition Crowns Winner

Chris Vest took home "Best of Show" at Osiris's Homebrewing Competition last weekend.

Vest's Merlot Stout will be brewed with Ska Brewing Co. for release in the Durango brewery's Local Series.

Orion Kingman came in second with "Soaring Saison," while Patrick Schneider took third with "Quest for Utopia Rauchbier."

The event was a preliminary battle for the Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition.

Homebrewers often toil in obscurity, so it's awesome that the Snowdown event brought the brewers out of their caves.

Soggy Coaster didn't have the chance to try any of the winning beers, but he loves the sound of "merlot stout." Yummy.

Full results here.

New Snowdown event a tasty experience

"He said beer, she said wine," a competitive beer, wine and cheese pairing hosted by Ska Brewing Co. on Saturday, sold out easily.

Guidos Fine Foods co-owner Susan Devereaux chose five cheeses for the tasting. President Thibodeau of Ska picked a beer to pair with each cheese, while wine specialist Leah Deane of Republic National Distributing Company selected the wine pairings.

“I wanted to get some accessible beers,” President Thibodeau told the group. “But I got some crazy beers.”

Thirty attendees paid $15 each to sit upstairs at Ska HQ. The organizers could easily have charged more given the offerings.

Soggy Coaster started with a small-batch Belgian amber from the rotating tap downstairs. Ska has laudably encouraged its brewers to experiment with a low-yield pilot system. These brews end up on the tap – it’s the only one without a logo – on the far right side of the bar.

The Belgian amber is the latest of these. As President Thibodeau explained to me, it uses a recipe similar to Ska’s ESB with the addition of Belgian yeast. Yummy.

Now, on to the competition:

Round 1
The cheese: Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog
The wine: Comte LaFond Sancerre, Loire Valley, France 2005
The beer: Boulevard Smokestack Series Saison

The cheese was the best of the night, a rich, creamy, goat cheese with a ribbon of edible vegetable ash at the center.

Soggy Coaster enjoys wine but is not an oenophile. He can confidently report that the wine was red and tasted much like wine.

President Thibodeau made a fine choice with the saison (6.2 percent ABV, 30 IBUs), a difficult-to-find pick from the Kansas City, Missouri, brewery. A light Belgian style, saison is one of Soggy Coaster’s favorites. It’s a subtle style and the taste takes more time to develop than a small glass can allow. Nevertheless, it was my choice for sheer originality.

Soggy Coaster’s vote: beer. The winner: wine.

Round 2
The cheese: La Tournette “Fleur des Alpes” French Alps.
The wine: Campo Viejo Reserva Rioja, Spain 2004
The beer: La Fin du Monde

Soggy Coaster barely remembers the cheese or the wine from round 2 because La Fin du Monde is so freaking good. A triple-fermented golden ale, La Fin du Monde (“the end of the world”) is a full-bodied ale from Unibroue in Quebec, Canada. It’s smooth, rich and malty. This fine ale also carries a 9 percent alcohol punch.

La Fin du Monde was popular among Soggy Coaster’s tablemates and seemed to generate considerable excitement in the room.

Soggy Coaster’s vote: beer.

Round 3
The cheese: Old Amsterdam two-year aged Gouda Holland
The wine: Markus Molitor Spatlese Riesling Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany 2004
The beer: Ska Brewing Buster Nut Brown

This one was tougher. The gouda, a hard cheese, had a less overwhelming flavor than many of the others, which had the effect of pitting the beer head-to-head with the wine.

Soggy Coaster enjoyed the Riesling, a sweet wine with “high acid and good texture.” Tasty.

President Thibodeau chose his sole Ska selection here. Buster Nut Brown has a pleasant nutty sweetness and is as drinkable as any brown ale, which is itself an enjoyable and welcoming style.

The room gave this one to Thibodeau, partly because it was indeed a good pairing, and partly, probably, to honor the host. Fair ‘nuf.

Soggy Coaster’s vote: beer.

Round 4
The cheese: Locatelli Pecorino Romano, Sardinia, Italy
The wine: Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Sparkling Shiraz, Australia
The beer: Victory Hop Devil

Locatelli was easily the saltiest offering of the evening, and probably the saltiest food anywhere, ever. Basically, it was really salty.

The wine was a delight. This sparkling shiraz fought back against the cheese’s salt taste, leaving the diner with a sweet taste and bubbly sensation on the tongue.

President Thibodeau praised this beer, calling Victory Brewing Co., of Downington, Pa., one of the best craft breweries in the country. Surely, the man knows of which he speaks. Hop Devil, an IPA, was indeed “powerful and aromatic” as promised by the event’s cheat sheet. Soggy Coaster
found this IPA (6.7 percent ABV), to be impressively hoppy but within the bounds of reason.

Soggy Coaster had to give this one to Leah. The shiraz was really something special, sweetly scrubbing one’s tongue of the cheese taste, while the IPA, like most IPAs, more or less hit you over the head like a two-by-four.

An imperial stout might have also worked well here.

Round 5
The cheese: Amber Valley, Stilton, England
The wine: Sandeman Vau Vintage Port, Douro Valley, Portugal, 2000
The beer: Left Hand Oak-Aged Widdershins Barley Wine, 2007

Leah and President Thibodeau both made thoughtful selections to finish the evening. The sweetness of their choices nicely complemented the creamy cow’s milk cheese.

The barley wine by Left Hand Brewing, of Longmont, Colo., provided a pleasant ending.

Narrowly, Soggy Coaster cast his vote for the beer.

Conclusions

A very fine event. It certainly took significant planning to put all this together, and Soggy Coaster extends his thanks to President Thibodeau, Ms. Deane and Mrs. Devereaux. Hopefully, they’ll put it on again next year.

“He said beer, she said wine” reflected a dilemma couples repeatedly face: beer or wine? Some dishes (pasta, fish) lend themselves to wine, but given the astonishing breadth of modern brewing, a beer can be found to pair with just about anything.

The room gave President Thibodeau and his beers the 3-2 victory, so you can always tell your significant other to drink beer with cheese 60 percent of the time.

Another salient fact: all five beer selections came from North America, while exactly zero of the wine selections did.

Certainly, America produces wines equal to anything in France or Italy. And certainly, it has prominent wine-growing regions such as California’s Napa Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Yet the United States has quite probably become the best place anywhere to drink beer. Belgium and Germany have more brewing history and tradition, but nowhere else combines the sheer number and variety of craft breweries with an unquenchable desire to innovate.

He said beer, she said wine (Snowdown)

Ska Brewing will host a beer, wine and cheese tasting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, at Ska HQ, 225 Girard St. in Bodo.

Wine expert Leah Deane and Dave Thibodeau, president of Ska nation, will pair five fine cheeses from Guido's Italian Market with five beers of Dave's choosing (not necessarily Ska beers) and five wines of Leah's choosing. Attendees will vote on which pairing was best.

Both Leah and Dave will speak about pairing wines and beers with food. Only 30 tickets will be sold and all proceeds will go back to Snowdown. Tickets are $15 each. For reservations, call Holly at (970) 247-5792, or email President Thibodeau at dave@skabrewing.com.

Semi-related quotes:

"I saw a wino sitting around eating grapes. I was like, dude, you have to wait." - Mitch Hedberg, comedian.

"Let a bunch of fruit sit around and rot, then drink the juice? Never saw the sense in that." - Soggy Coaster's grandfather

The tasting will be held alongside the Osiris Homebrew Competition, a preliminary competition for the Great American Beer Festival Pro/Am event. The winner of the local competition will have their recipe brewed in a local series batch.