Moa Beer Review
July 8th, 2010
A recent Friday Question post promised some beer from the country that scored the fastest goal in a particular week’s play in the World Cup. Scott won that prize and the country in question turned out to be New Zealand! There aren’t a huge number of beers from New Zealand on the shelves locally but one that stood out during some internet research (at least in my opinion) was Moa (www.moabeer.co.nz). I came away from Wells Discount Liquors (www.wellswine.com) with 3 different bottles, Moa Original, Moa Blanc and Moa Noir. Here are Scott’s thoughts ….
“Moa Original: Poured a cloudy orangish yellow with a huge bubbly, airy head, even with a careful pour. The bottle seemed a bit over-carbonated, as it bubbled over the top when opened. The aroma was unimpressive, reminiscent of an industrial lager. The mouthfeel was light, very crisp, and bubbly, initially tasting slightly sweet followed by a fairly strong citrusy orange flavor. It was quite drinkable and refreshing.
Moa Blanc: Poured a pale straw color with a frothy white head. The aroma was mildly citrusy. The beer was light bodied and crisp with a sharp bite. The beer initially offered flavors of grapefruit and lemon, finishing fruity, similar to a white wine. Nice summer sipping beer.
Moa Noir: Poured very dark amber, slightly cloudy, with a good size tan, bubbly head. The aroma was roasty with hits of roasted grains and coffee. The beer had a medium body but a crisp bite when sipped. Huge chocolate flavors, tasting almost like a Tootsie Roll, but still fairly crisp and very refreshing for being a “dark” beer.
All three beers were bottle fermented, with yeast visible in the bottom of the bottle. Each had a similar aroma and flavor that seemed to be imparted by the yeast. The most unique feature was how “bubbly” the beers were, almost like champagne. ”
Hello world
July 6th, 2010
Ha, the irony of it all! My son was born at 5.35pm on a day celebrating independence from the British! I can see that I’m going to have my hands full with this one. As previously reported, to celebrate his arrival I will be brewing a new beer. It will be brewed next week and then each year thereafter released on his birthday, as is the case with William’s Winter Warmer. The vital statistics for the brew are linked to Jacob’s. Both the abv and hop addition are dictated by his birth weight. Jacob entered the world weighing 8 lb 13.8 oz so Jacob’s Summer Celebration will be 8.8%abv and will use 8lb and 13 oz of hops. As a nod to his American parentage (and I guess the day on which he was born) the hop grist will be divided equally between American hops (Cascade, Chinook & Mount Hood) and English hops (First Gold, Kent Goldings & Challenger) and will be amber in color (chocolate & crytal malts). Expect to see numerous casks dry hopped with single hop varieties … there will be an English hop series and an American hop series. Can’t wait to brew the beer and get it on tap to officially “wet the babies head”! I’ll post details of the official release party when the date is decided.
"Hello World!"
The Friday Question
July 2nd, 2010
Argh … Ghana …. what’s with the penalty kicks? What a horrible way to exit the World Cup, especially after the disgraceful goal line hand-ball clearance from Uruguay! Oh well, that’s the game of football I suppose. Last week Scott won some beer from New Zealand for his guess of the fastest goal scored … not a whole lot of choices out there but I got him a Moa Blanc, Moa Original and Moa Noir. No idea what they’re like but he’ll likely send me some tasting notes which I’ll post in a future blog. Moa looks like a pretty cool brewery, check ‘em out on the web @ http://www.moabeer.co.nz/. A previous Friday Question asked how many goals would be scored between June 25th and July 1st. I didn’t count the penalty shoot out so I believe the goal tally was 31 goals which makes Dominic the winner with his guess of 33. Dominic wins a $30 tab at the Ale House for the World Cup final on July 11th and will be entered into the draw for the team jersey., congratulations Dom. The other outstanding Question asked for the final score betweeen England and Germany … that’s a bit of a sore point now of course, especially considering that the goal that would have drawn England equal was astonishingly denied and Germany went on to thrash us 4-1. Nobody came close so no prize awarded for that one. On to this week, staying with a footie theme, the question is this … how many team jerseys do I own, both club (Coventry City) and country (England, of course … I won’t include my team USA shirt)? The prize will be a growler of Bulldog Bitter and a couple of bottles from the World Cup’s winning team’s country and entry into the draw for the team jersey. Have at it.
Homebrew Competition Details (revisited)
July 1st, 2010
Those of you with elephantine memories may recall our previous homebrew competition. O.K., it was only last year but a lot of beer has flowed since then, it seems like an age ago! For those of you new to the blog follow this link http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/2009/09/home-brewing-but-not-at-home/ . We’re doing the same this year, inviting all you homebrewer’s to brew something that would fit in with our tap line-up at The Pratt Street Ale House. You can brew as an individual or group, doesn’t matter to us. What is important is that the beer is commercially viable. We’ll brew 7 barrels of it and it will be launched at the start of Baltimore Beer Week at the Ale House on cask and on draft. It will feature at the B.A.M. Oktoberfest and no doubt at a few bars/events around town. Think about the types of hops/grain/special ingredients in terms of availability and cost with regards to a 7 barrel brew length. Obviously we do English style ales here although we have used Belgian Ale Yeast a couple of times recently so that isn’t out of the question, as long as we can get the yeast at the right price (ie free!) I’d like to have all of the entries in by mid August. Judging will be held the following week with a view to brewing mid September. We won’t be judging to any set style parameters, what we’re looking for is a great product that will compliment our existing range of brews on tap. Ideally I’d like to have at least a dozen samples to judge, you’re not restricted to one brew, if you want to brew a couple of different options, that’s fine. We ask that you provide a recipe with your entry and while I would prefer all grain brews, extract brews will be accepted provided that the brewer provide both the original recipe and a recipe conversion to all grain. You may use our yeast if you wish, contact me to arrange to pick up samples. If you have any further questions please e-mail me @ steve.oliverale@gmail.com.
What’s In The Fridge? (updated)
June 30th, 2010
Might be a little confusion over how this works so here’s an updated version …. hope it makes it clear
O.K. folks, I’m going to start a new feature on the blog called “What’s In The Fridge?”. It’ll run every couple of weeks or so depending on the response I get and the premise is simple … you’re invited to write in with a description (and photo if you’d like) of what craft beers are in your fridge … why have you selected those particular beers … anything rare/special … feel free to wax lyrical/add tasting notes for a particular favorite. I will select one or two entries to post at a time. Not every one will be posted of course, especially if I get a lot of reponses, so the more interesting your fridge selections are, the more chance that I’ll post it and you’ll be invited to trade a bottle from your fridge to ours. If you donate a bottle then you get to choose a bottle from the brewery fridge. Obviously if you donate something spectacular then you can take one of our more interesting beers (ie the ones you can’t normally get in Maryland) otherwise you get to choose from the others. Alternatively if your review is selected, if you’d rather, you’re welcome to come along to the Ale House with a “donation”, choose one from the fridge and we’ll crack ‘em open then & there and do an impromptu tasting. Or, if you don’t want to participate in the trade option, that’s fine, it won’t effect the chances of your review being posted. If anybody wants to be extra generous and donate to the fridge anytime that’d be great … promise we won’t drink it, it’ll stay in the fridge for someone to choose. Here’s what’s in our fridge at the moment, hoping to add some more soon ….
yummy!
Thanks to Nick for picking up thr Three Floyds, Founder’s and Bells on his travels and to Brad for donating the Stone Double Bastard (2008). E-mail me your words of wisdom steve.oliverale@gmail.com
Cheers
Steve
We have a winner
June 27th, 2010
By my reckoning, the fastest goal to be scored in the matches played between the 18th and 24th was by Shane Smeltz of New Zealand against Italy (chuckle) in 6 minutes and 18 seconds, which makes Scott B. the winner with his guess of 6 minutes 27 seconds. Congratulations sir, as soon as I have the prize ready I will e-mail you.
The Friday Question
June 25th, 2010
Oh crap, I’ve only just realised it’s Friday …. see, I wasn’t kidding when I said in the last post that the conventional week has fallen by the wayside … starting the brewing week on Sunday threw me out of sync! I’m just finishing brew # 6 this week so I’m feeling a little tired to say the least. I’m hoping that my soon to be born son, Jacob, doesn’t put in an appearance for at least a few more days as I need to get a 3 Lions brewed tomorrow and an Amber Ale on Sunday. I must confess that I haven’t had a chance to check the World Cup statistics to find out who has scored the quickest goal in the last week of play which was the Friday Question to be awarded today (http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/2010/06/the-friday-question-41/). I’ll try and figure it out sometime over the weekend and announce the winner (or someone can do my homework for me and let me know!)
On to this week’s question and you’ve got to be quick off the mark this time, entries are accepted only until 10am on Sunday (ie kick off of the England match.) The question is, of course, this What is the final score of the England v. Germany game AND which player scores first? O.K. all of you couch sports pundits, have at it! The winner gets a few brews from the winning country and will be entered into the grand draw to win a replica jersey!
Here’s something that you don’t see everyday … an England World Cup supporting ice cream van! What I’d give to drive to work in one of these on Sunday!! I’ve already proposed importing one to use as the brewery truck for beer festivals and promotions but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears! Can you imagine, Oliver Ales and ice-cream cones at all future beer festivals, Brew @ The Zoo would be awesome!
a sweet ride (excuse the pun!)
They make ‘em with 3 different chimes … check out the videos @ http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Whitby-Morrison/151564315831?ref=ts. How awesome is that?
Mid-Week (ish) round-up
June 24th, 2010
I say mid-week-ish as the term “week” has been largely abandoned here in the brewery … we’re on day 5 of a straight 8 day brewing stretch so I’ve resorted to “the World Cup” calendar where time is dictated by the forthcoming match schedule. This troglodyte style existence can take its toll, so if you see a twitching figure crouched in a darkened corner of the brewery, Apocalypse Now-style, maniacally stripping and re-assembling a centrifugal pump, please call the appropriate authorities! All is not doom and gloom of course … we managed to get top-side for the England and USA matches yesterday morning although they were 2 of the most stressful matches I’ve seen for a while … definitely not good for the blood pressure …. but hugely entertaining games. We had a packed house here at The Pratt Street Ale House. It’s great to see so many people getting behind their team, the weekend matches should be fantastic. Team USA take on Ghana on Saturday @ 2.30pm while England meet up with arch footballing enemies Germany (please God, no penalties) on Sunday @ 10am. As usual the Ale House will be featuring the matches on our plethora of flat screens and our Bulldog Bitter will be flowing @ the special price of $3/pint during the games. Come and get your game on!
Now on the beer engine @ The Ale House is the last cask of the last batch of Cherry Blossom Ale … a blissfully refreshing pint in this weather! Following that we’ll have a cask of Dark Horse and then Three Spires Ale.
The Strongman Pale Ale is on tap right now folks! It’s an 8.6% abv, hoppy (in an English way) pale ale and looks like being a permanent fixture in our beer line-up now. The Hot Monkey Love (batch#1) has run out now. Batch#2 is conditioning at the moment and will do so for another 2 months but is quite a different beast to batch #1 …. watch this space for details. We also have some aging in oak barrels for the eventual release party. nothing new in process right now as we’re brewing like crazy just to keep up with demand of our regular brews but we’ve got a couple of things in the planning stage. First off will be a brew to celebrate the impending birth of my son, Jacob. I’ve got a rough draft of a recipe prepared but the final details will be dependent upon his birth weight. Both the abv and the weight of hops used in the brew will be a direct correlation to birth weight ie if he weighs 8lbs and 4oz , I’ll be aiming for 8.4% abv, using 8lb 4oz of hops in the brew. Now, as you know, I don’t use a lot of American hops in my brews but as a nod to his American parentage this time the hops will be equally split between American (Chinook and Mounthood and maybe some Cascade) and English (Challenger,First Gold and Kent Goldings). Also in the planning stage is Channel Crossing Series 2, which will be a Belgian take on an English Nut Brown Ale and hopefully will be scheduled for sometime in July.
Fly the flag for your team this weekend. Watch the World Cup Action @ The Pratt Street Ale House
World Cup Wednesday @ The Pratt St. Ale House
June 21st, 2010
In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a little something called the World Cup happening at the moment. Naturally I’m rooting for England (despite their dreadful performance thus far) and, of course, I’d like to see team USA progress to the next round. Wednesday is therefore a very important day …. both the USA and England play their next matches @ 10am on Wednesday and these games will decide whether they progress or go home. Come along to the Pratt Street Ale House and catch both games live! We’ll have both games on in the bar and lounge with sound for the US game in the bar and sound for the England game in the lounge. We’ll have our special World Cup brew, Bulldog Bitter, on special ($3/pints) as well as $3 Bloody Mary. The kitchen will be open @ 10am so skip work (you weren’t going to get anything productive done anyway) and join us @ The Ale House …. this is one day of the World Cup that you don’t want to miss!
The Friday Question
June 18th, 2010
USA score, but they don't!
We had a nice crowd for the USA game this morning and what a game it was! After being totally outclassed by Slovenia in early play, team USA showed real grit and determination and came from behind to level the score …. and then the unthinkable happened, USA score a third only to have it disallowed by the referee! In all my years of watching football I have seen many mind-boggling decisions called by officials and this one is right up there with the craziest of them … what the referee saw to disallow Edu’s strike is a mystery … daylight robbery, no less!
The winner of last week’s Friday Question won’t be known until next week of course, as I asked what will be the fastest goal scored in this week’s play. This week’s question will of course stay with the World Cup theme and is this …. what will be the total number of goals scored in all matches between June 25th and July 1st? The winner gets a $30 tab @ The Pratt Street Ale House during the Final on July 11th (2.30pm kick-off) and will be entered into the winner’s draw to win a team jersey. Good luck.