The Sugarbowl has had the opportunity to host Alley Kat's monthly cask ale night with great success for the past few months now. So far they've brought us cask versions of their Full Moon Pale Ale, Amber Ale, A Steam Beer, and a Chocolate Porter (My favorite so far).
Yesterday we sampled a cask version of their new 15th anniversary release, an Apple Wit. It poured hazy light orange in color with a light frothy head. Brewed with huge amounts of Granny Smith Apples, the unfiltered wit was full of sediment, and exploding with dreamy apple pie aromas. Drinking brought a rush of other flavors with a fresh sour apple cider base, with mild spicy notes, the yeast almost giving it the apple pie crust flavor. The lack of artificial carbonation in these cask ales really give the flavors a chance to shine and adding a heaviness, filling you up faster than usual. This was a great beer, and a delightful addition to their short list of anniversary releases. I'm looking forward to trying it again from the bottle. I hope the rich flavors of this cask are brought along in the bottled version.
Aside from Alley Kat we've had another brewery Host a cask night with smashing success. Half Pints Brewery from Winnipeg, Manitoba came to the Sugarbowl along with Brewmaster/Owner, Dave Rudge. Dave brought along with him an Oktoberfest Lager. The cask sprayed the entire kitchen with beer when it was tapped, but the brew was delicious as was the other three Half Pint beers we featured that evening: Phil's Pils, Weizenheimer, and Pot Hole Porter. Currently on the feature list we are carrying their Stir Stick Stout, which I have yet to try.
Here's a short video of our kitchen being hosed with fresh cask beer. I was standing a little to close when she went off so the end of the video is mostly floor, but you get the idea.
This bottle has been sitting in my fridge for a good month now waiting patiently for me to drink it. My brother in law gave it to me in hopes I would write about it and I didn't want to disappoint him. In the few months of my blogs short life I have purchased/received many different varieties of beer with the intention of writing about them, but I've developed a terrible habit of drinking and not taking the time to write about it while the flavors and nuances are still within reach of my very short, short memory. Meanwhile I've made a point to drink as much beer as I could, and so far I've managed to drink a ton of beer. A real achievement, my Mother will be so proud. The writing.....not so good. Fortunately for you, I will not give up. But anyways, the beer.
Brewed by Alley Kat for Sherbrooke Liquor store, this stout is a take on the ice cream flavor neapolitan. Sherbrooke and Alley Kat have produced a number of beers with a wide range of unusual flavors created by local Edmonton home brewers. The only other one that I've tried other than this was a red curry flavored beer, unfortunately that one didn't really do it for me or anyone else at the bar that got a sample. I suppose they can't all be hits. The Neapolean is a rich stout with the added flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. It pours black and viscous with a thick mocha brown head. The foam fades fairly quickly leaving small dimples of lacing behind. From what I've read about flavored beers, adding oils to the brew virtually destroys any chance of achieving a decent head. I was pleasantly surprised to see this beer developed a substantial head despite being artificially flavored. It smells sweet and heavy with fruity notes of vanilla and coffee. You can definitely taste the chocolate and vanilla with a bitter coffee like aftertaste, unfortunately the strawberry doesn't really come through at all. The carbonation is extremely low and the hops are barely present, adding only a mild bitter touch at the end. Overall an interesting beer, a little to sweet for my taste, but tasty nonetheless. It didn't conjure up any old memories of devouring bowls of ice cream as a child, and for that I am disappointed, but it wouldn't deter me from recommending it to someone willing to try it out.
In my last post I talked about the Dogfish Head 60-Minute, 90-Minute, and 120-Minute IPA's. The 60 Minute IPA is readily available and extremely delicious. Unfortunately the 90 Minute and 120 Minute IPA's are not as accessible. Their 120 Minute IPA is an occasional release, probably only making appearances in pubs and beer stores in close proximity to the brewery.
Despite being one of their regular year round brews, the 90 minute has been a tough one to find around these parts. I've asked some local beer geeks and beer store employees about the availability of this product, and everyone seems to carry the same opinion "Probably not going to see it any time soon." Bummer. Well what do you know, barely 24 hours after I blog about the near zero chance of ever seeing this product in our fridges, I walk into the staff room at work, kick off my shoes, look down and see this:
Well, needless to say I had a good laugh. And let me tell you, it's a good way to start the day knowing that you will be enjoying this legendary beer at the end of your shift.
The restaurant was crazy busy, and the kitchen was hot as hell. My mouth started watering before I even hit the bar, and after watching probably an entire case of these bad boys leave the bar into eager patron hands, it was now my turn to drink. It poured a clear golden amber with a think frothy head. The nose was incredible, rich with floral hops and citrusy notes. It has a very strong, but pleasant hoppy bitterness to it, balanced with a ton of sweet malty goodness. Texturally I found it surprisingly dramatic, rich and buttery. Creamy like an oatmeal stout, smooth with lively bubbles. A fantastic package all around. At 9% ABV I was feeling warm around the edges after just one (those of you who have worked in kitchens know that cooks rarely eat while working, so more often than not you end up drinking with an empty stomach). It's a potent brew, if not approached responsibly. The drinkability makes it a dangerous, but delicious combination. Lets hope it stays around for a while.
With that I think it's safe to remove my foot from my mouth. Come down to The Sugarbowl and get it whiles it's hot.
Also, if you can make it, tonight is the Alley Kat Cask Ale night at The Sugarbowl. The keg will be tapped at 5pm, so be there early. Hope to see you there!
Last night was the first Cask Conditioned Ale Night held at The Sugarbowl brought to us by the talented folks at Alley Kat Brewing. We sampled a cask conditioned version of their staple brew, Full Moon Pale Ale, only instead the beer was dry hopped using Centennial Hops and the second fermentation took place inside the keg.
The keg was tapped at 5 o'clock and served to an army of eager patrons including Alley Kat staff, Edmonton Homebrew Guild members, local beer geeks, and a handful of lucky regulars that happened to be at the right place at the right time. It was a terrific experience for everyone, who waited patently for the ale to come their way. Alley Kat brought over their English pump tap for the occasion, which really seemed to slow things down as each foamy pint hand to be carefully pumped from the keg by hand. But despite the slow pour, the cask was dry in little over an hour. Unfortunately because of the overwhelming turnout, not everyone got the chance to sample this delightful treat, and the ones who did were only allowed one.
The task of the first pour was given to local beer aficionado Jason Foster of onbeer.org. That's me with the big shit eating grin just over his shoulder. I was excited, to say the least.
How'd it taste you ask....well, delicious. My boss slyly snuck a pint into the kitchen for me and another chef to share in the basement, so we savored our splash of beer happily knowing we were lucky to even be tasting it. Firstly the dry hopping added a huge fresh citrusy floral nose, with nice fruity notes. The flavor was full and sweet, with a rich malty base and mild bitterness. Because it was conditioned in the cask and not artificially carbonated the bubbles were extremely muted and barely present. You could see them rising in the glass but they quickly disappeared once it hit your tongue. It was a heavy beer, without the carbonation. I saw it as a glimpse into the past of what beer was, before highly carbonated lighter beers took over the earth.
With this night being such a huge success, it's been decided that Alley Kat Cask Ale night will be a monthly event to take place at The Sugarbowl (joy!). The next event planed for the evening of June 24th. Stay tuned.
So what if out of eight posts, three of them are Alley Kat beers.
Alley Kat has just released its second in the 15th anniversary series, a Belgian Style Tripel. A Belgian Tripel is basically a a strong brewed pale ale (this one being 8.2%), associated mostly with the Trappist Brewery, Westmalle. Despite being around since the early 30's the Westmalle brewery perfected the recipe in 1956, and more or less established the Tripel style and name which has basically remained the same since. Alley Kat has decided to show us their version of this marvelous pale ale in a limited addition, bottle conditioned, 650mL bomber. This also being the first bottle conditioned beer Alley Kat has ever released.
It pours a hazy light amber, with a gorgeous head of thick foamy white bubbles. The nose packs a wallop! Rich fruity wheat & malt notes, spicy banana, coriander, with a hint of yeast. Is this beer or are we baking dessert bread? Very impressive.
The sweet fruity malt flavor is fantastic, lots of apricots and Christmasy spice. Well balanced hops with a pleasant peppery finish. A well rounded medium body with a perky effervescence. The 8.2% alcohol content is masked well behind a yeasty base.
Overall I'd have to say thumbs up to the talented folks at Alley Kat for providing us with yet another tasty treat. I should buy and age these limited addition releases and try them again in six months to see how they stand up.
To be honest in a world of craft brewers who building some extreme brews, I had always thought of Alley Kat as a "play it safe" kind of brewery. But in light of recent releases, I am learning that they are capable of brewing some extremely magnificent beer. Unfortunately in a market such as Alberta you must have to hold yourself back and produce more easily approachable beer to appeal to the masses, and of course make enough money to stay alive. But having a large and loyal group of fans will enable them to really experiment and create some fantastic extreme beer.
Tomorrow evening Alley Kat will be doing a cask conditioned ale night at our restaurant, The Sugarbowl, providing two cask conditioned versions of their popular Full Moon Pale Ale. This I am excited for. As for food specials we will be doing delicious scotch eggs, and beer battered fish and chips using Alley Kat's Amber Ale. I hope to pick the brains of any brew savvy people that might be attending including Jason Foster who writes an amazing beer 101 blog through Sherbrooke Liquor and also manages his own website called onbeer.org. Incredible what this man knows about beer.
And in other news, I am now the proud owner of a brand new home brew kit!!
I recently celebrated a birthday and my wonderful wife and daughter bought dad exactly what he wanted. I also recieved a Barons Premium Dutch Lager Beer Kit along with the brewing equipment. This particular beer kit is a good start for beginners like myself because no boiling is required. It's fairly idiot proof as long as you are capable of following directions. It's not the direction I plan to take with brewing my own beer, but it will allow me to get to know how to use all the equipment needed for brewing before buying the raw ingredients and attempting to make beer from scratch. For a mere $30 you will be be blessed with a good 20L of fresh beer! A pretty good deal I'd say. But the goal here is hand crafted beer. So let the home brewing begin!
Tonight is an exciting night. I happened to get out of the restaurant early and rushed home in the mood to drink and write. I've been stocking my fridge with frosty delights to keep the writings interesting and tonight I had one picked out before I even opened the door. In my last post I had mentioned how I love hops, and had asked for some hoppy IPA suggestions. Unfortunately I couldn't track down any of the beer I was told would most likely tickle my fancy, but I did pick up something that I thought might do the trick. I grabbed myself a bottle of Tree Brewing Company's "Hop Head Double IPA." A limited addition Unfiltered Double IPA. I was stoked to drink this giant bottle of bitter strong beer. So tonight I get home, pull this bad boy out of the fridge to warm up a bit and browse the beer ramblings on the interweb before cracking the bottle when I came across some info on Alley Kat's new 15th Anniversary Smoked Porter. And the sleepy hamster in my head began to run.....
You see I love the flavor of smoke. I have a borderline obsession with smoked things. And recently acquiring my father's Bradley Smoker on loan, I've been eagerly smoking my dinners hoping to refine my pit master skills. It wasn't long ago that I caught wind of the fantastic conception of smoking your malts, and brewing god damn beer out of it! Genius concept! But up until tonight I hadn't really had the chance to experience this clearly brilliant brew.
Now, having read about Alley Kat's limited one time offering (only 250 cases available) I had to get some, and I had to get it right NOW! So I got on the horn to my local, and truly fantastic beer store Sherbrooke Liquor (running I believe 681 beers from around the world), and inquired about the availability of said brew. I was so amped to hear they had it in stock, and rushed down to buy some before they were all gone. Because in my mind, they were flying off the shelf and I'd have to be a retard not to buy it at this very moment. I was relieved to see probably twenty or so bottles sitting on the shelf and convinced myself to buy only one so that I could also pick up a bottle of Chatoe Rogue's First Growth Single Malt Ale.
For this beer Alley Kat smokes the malts in house using applewood, a mild and sweet smoke compared to other heavy hard wood like mesquite or hickory. At first glance it looks reasonable, with a very cold coffee like color and consistency. I'm going to have to drink a lot more porters to compare and it's probably just inexperience talking, but I've come to expect a heavier body from most porters. But what do I know. The head is of larger bubbles that fade quickly, but will arise very nicely with some agitation.
It smells nice and sweet, very malty with a full nose of coffee and a hint of bittersweet chocolate. I'm getting some fruit....something but I can't narrow it down. I was hoping for more smoke to come through, but sadly it's extremely muted in the background. I get more wet charred wood than smoke. Like a dead campfire in the morning. If anyone has ever experienced Lapsang Souchong tea, you'll have a good idea of what I was expecting...or what I was looking for in a smoked beer. Mabey one day it will happen. Mabey that is my destiny in beer brewing.
On the tongue its mild, and on the thin side of medium. It has a pleasant roasted malt sweetness that lingers on the very tip of your tongue and a very subdued bitter. The smoke shows its face more here, but for me not until the very end once the flavor of the malts dissipate. It's kinda neat how it shows up actually, almost when you've given up you'll feel it crawl from the back of your throat and slowly make it's way up. Suddenly the flavor of the smoke really shines through, and your left with a dry campfire taste enveloping your tongue. Towards the end of the bottle its very evident that you are drinking a smoked beer as a strange tacky sensation lingers, a finish very similar to that of the Lapsang Souchong.
In the end I'd have to say this particular brew was enjoyable, and an experience. Alley Kat has produced a smoked beer which is both gratifying and drinkable. I will definitely pick up another bottle of this to share with guests, or drink while I am tending the smoker or BBQ. Overall I was expecting more from this smokey affair, but I was not left disappointed. I will continue to explore the world of smoked beers, and mabey one day brew something that I can be proud of as I'm sure Alley Kat is proud of this. Happy Anniversary Alley Kat, and many more to come! Cheers!
I saw a very inspiring promo video that I wanted to share for the upcoming first ever Vancouver Craft Beer Week being held in various venues around the beautiful city of Vancouver showcasing over 25 of BC's talented craft breweries. I pray to the beer gods that Edmonton, or even Calgary will hold an event as important to the industry as this one. It damn near brings a tear to the eye. Enjoy!
"Pride is more payment than any money you can make"
This afternoon I thought I would talk about a local beer, crafted by a small brewery in Edmonton called Alley Kat Brewing Company. Started in 1994, Alley Kat has grown from a small home brew operation to become Edmonton's oldest running, as well as Alberta's most successful microbrewery. This Amber is one of two original brews Alley Kat started off with.
It pours a deep amber color, with a fluffy foamy head that begins to retire fairly quickly. I get the feeling I've chosen the perfect beer for my early afternoon relax. Some old school Foo Fighters playing in the back ground and clear sunny spring afternoon, so far so good.
It smells sweet and lovely. A tinge of hops and a rich malt aroma, fruity caramel notes. It coats the mouth briefly, with a pleasantly sweet malt base. The caramel really comes through, staying on your tongue so you can enjoy the flavor until you take your next sip. Its has a very delicate bitterness, and a laid back effervescence that barely lets you know its there. Better seen than heard in this situation. I think having any more carbonation would distract from the round caramel sweet this ale lends.
I think this beer would be a suitable match for a home cooked meal like roast chicken, beef, or any BBQ. I'd say it's a decent brew, something I'd visit from time to time. I look forward to writing about it's brothers and sisters to taste what they have to offer. Alley Kat has a loyal following here in Edmonton, offers tours of the brewery twice a week, and is the monthly meeting place for the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild. If I'm planning to brew beer on my own, I think these guys are good people to get to know.
