Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale

I recorded this before I got sick, but just got around to uploading it. It's my review of Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale. The short review: it's unbalanced and could probably use some aging.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 7.0/10

(I plan on re-reviewing in a year or so to see how these bottles age.)

Vlog 2010-09-03 (Or: Why I Haven't Posted in a Week)

So, I went and got sick. Serious nausea and dizziness caused by fluid in my right ear, which led to an infection that required antibiotics. Not fun at all.



I've got one review already recorded and ready to upload from before I got sick, and I was most of the way through filming a series that will be posted in the next couple of weeks. Expect new content from me starting as soon as I get to feeling well enough to drink beer again, which should be sometime next week.

Great Divide Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Is this the longest beer name in the world? Probably not, but it feels that way.

Great Divide makes a Russian Imperial Stout that they call Yeti. They also make a version that they age on oak chips and call it, fittingly, Oak-Aged Yeti. Now they're making different versions of the Oak-Aged version, including this one that includes coffee beans in the mix. A lot of coffee beans, apparently, because it's significantly lighter than the original beer in color, and the coffee aromas and flavors dominate.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 8.0/10

Saugatuck ESB Amber

Saugatuck ESB Amber
Douglas, MI
5.5% ABV

A quick review of an ESB from a very new Michigan brewery. They've only been bottling for a year or so, and the 12-oz bottles are even newer than that, so this is a bit of a coup I suppose. It's a really decent ESB; try it if you get the chance.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 7.0/10

Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen

Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen
Aying, Germany
5.8% ABV

Gotta love the first Oktoberfest of the season, right? It's not my favorite style, but I do have an appreciation for a good one. Ayinger makes a fantastic hefeweizen, so I was expecting this to be a good one, and was not disappointed. Perfectly smooth and overall just a very nice example of the style.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 8.5/10

Prague Supplementary Video

I had some leftover footage from my trip to the Czech Republic last month, so I shot a bit of intro footage and edited together here.

In Part One I show off footage of my trip to the Plzensky Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell) brewery, including a very short beer review of the traditionally-made Pilsner Urquell served only on the brewery tour.



In Part Two I show off some video that I shot in my dorm on the last night before flying back to the States. There's a bit of footage of the beer bottles I drank while in Prague, and then I show you around the dorm room and talk a bit about the relative living styles of Americans versus Czechs.



My original blog post talking about the trip to Plzen is here: http://danielharper.blogspot.com/2010/07/disneyland-of-beer.html

Reviews of the beers you see bottles of can be found in my channel's history.

You can see "A Day in Prague" Part One here and Part Two here.

Mikkeller Big Worse

Mikkeller Big Worse
Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij
Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium
12.0% ABV

This is my first Mikkeller beer. Mikkeller's an interesting brewer, because he does all his brewing at pre-existing breweries, which makes him perhaps the most acclaimed contract brewer in history. This beer is marked on BA as an American Barleywine, but it had strong notes of Belgian character, much like a Quadrupel, and I was pretty much blown away by the overall quality. This was my first Mikkeller, but it certainly won't be my last.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 9.0/10

Video: Tasting the Homebrewed Andrews Wedding Amber

This was a beer I made up for my sister's wedding last May. It was loosely based on an India Red Ale that I had made last year, but with less hops, and this one was made all-grain as opposed to the India Red in which I was still using extract. I'm pretty happy with how this beer turned out, so I figured I'd shoot a short video talking about it.

You can view the recipe here.



Sorry about the quality of the vid as this was a spur-of-the-moment decision and I was in the midst of cooking dinner when I shot the review.

There's also a bit of bonus cat footage at the end for those interested in that sort of thing.

Video: Abita Purple Haze

Abita Purple Haze
Abita Springs, LA
4.9% ABV


The last of my uploads from Kentucky. I decided to shoot while standing outdoors with the camera pointing towards the picturesque country road. There was also a giant anthill on the stump on which I placed the bottle and the glass with giant ants crawling all over it, but I didn't even notice that problem until after I was through shooting.



My numerical rating: 5.5/10

Video: Tasting the Homebrewed Abbey Dubbel

I taste my homebrewed Belgian Dubbel for the first time, which has a rather... storied history. Unfortunately it didn't turn out to well -- perhaps I should call this Dale's Dead-Bug Dubbel?

You can view my original post about this beer here.