This Week in Beer 6: Sick Edition

Unfortunately, this week's TWIB is, like last week, going to be very short. This is due to the fact that I'm pretty sick. Figures, right? I go home and spend a week at home for the holidays and come back with a decent cold. I blame my cousin-in-law, although not seriously. It was a very nice holiday and a chance to reconnect with a lot of members of my family that I haven't seen in a very long time. That being said, I tried to get a decent amount of good beer so I could recommend some different varieties to some people that were even on the fence about beer. However, I was a bit selfish and ended up picking up a couple things I didn't think anyone would really like (if they couldn't do good beer) such as Southern Tier's Backburner Barleywine... oh, yeah, and I was pretty reluctant to share any of my St. Bernardus with anyone. I was, however, very willing to spread the wealth on two of my favorite beers (Founders Breakfast and Founders Red's Rye.)

Beer Art Project

At the end of last year, I had saved most of the six-pack caddies from all the beer either my friends or I had bought and drank throughout the course of the whole year in the hope of possibly doing something... "artsy" with them. I explained what I'd like to do to Mere, and she had a bunch of great ideas about things we could do with them. We decided upon making a Chimay chalice, a Hefeweizen glass, and a bottle (one for my love of trappist/belgian beers, one for her like of wheat beers, and one for both) - all constructed out of beer paraphernalia. The picture at the top of this post is our Chimay chalice. As of yet, the only one that has been completed. Later tonight, we might begin construction on a "mosaic" style Hefeweizen glass on a background of Magic Hat Lucky Kat caddies.

Jack D'Or - Pretty Things "Brewing Experiment"

Being in Boston, I hear a lot about beer news and stuff. As such, one of the things I heard was when my parents were in town and looking to have a night at the Publick House. I read on the BeerAdvocate beer calendar that people from Pretty Things (which apparently is a husband and wife that run a small homebrew operation in Cambridge) were celebrating the release of their first beer, Jack D'Or, at the Monk's Cell. I didn't think anything of this, as I had yet to learn of their story and what exactly this beer was. Weeks later, I would discover not only that their whole homebrew operation has been very successful, but also that their beer was being served at some of the best beer bars in town (PH, Deep Ellum.) Furthermore, their flagship brew, Jack D'Or (and, as far as I can tell, the only thing they've distributed) has been received extremely well. It is apparently bit of a different perspective on a Belgian farmhouse ale, or Saison. They fashion this brew as a "Saison Americain." That being said, I'm really excited to give this beer a try, and wish I would have known the story behind it before, as I would have written about it at least a couple weeks earlier. As per usual, I'll post a review when I finally have one. (Note: I'm headed over to Deep Ellum this afternoon to catch an early dinner with Mere after meeting her new housemates, and will post something if they still have it on draft seeing as how their website isn't exactly great at staying up to date.)

Pretty Things Project 

Reviews

As said above, I really anticipated Pretty Things Brew Project's Jack D'Or. It came to me in a Westmalle chalice with about two fingers of off-white fluffy head. The smell was very light and airy with a hint of saison-esque semi-sweet belgian ale scent. The taste is very much like Saison Dupont except for less of a hop bite and more of a malty complexity. I'm glad this beer is served in a very wide mouth glass to allow the malt to take on its own characteristic. The aftertaste is very minimal, malty and creamy with a slight hint of hops. That's what this beer is about through and through. I'm glad that I got a chance to sample it as I think that it's an outstanding example of homebrewing and should inspire others to attempt the same endeavor. See above for more notes on the release and the nature of the beer itself, but all in all, a very solid beer that carries the "saison" banner into a new generation of beer!

My rating: 8.5/10

Poured: Westmalle chalice (On Draught - Deep Ellum, Allston, MA)

BeerAdvocate: Link

While I wasn't planning on doing any reviews, I'll point readers to my review of the Brooklyn rare offering of Black Ops posted previously. Also, I'd like to note that I'm attempting to start a "respect beer" club of some sort, and plan on having the "best beer ever" on hand for that occasion according to the latest issue of BeerAdvocate magazine... a Rochefort 10. Psssst. Don't tell anyone, but I have one in my fridge right now... it was $1o a bottle at Blanchard's in Allston. I'll keep everyone posted as to the status of this blog if it will be taken over by hooligans (i.e. other members of my beer group.) As for now, so long, and see you next week!