Alley Kat Cask Ale - Apple Wit

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.

Foot in Mouth Syndrome - Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

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!

Alley Kat Cask Ale Night = Huge Success

Wow, what a night!

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.

Photo borrowed from onbeer.org