Dogfish Head Brewing Namaste - Beer Review

Found: Bottles (Bottle Shop)
Brewery: Dogfish Head (Milton, DE)
Beer Name: Namaste
Beer Style: White Ale

ABV%:   4.8%

Price:  $2.99 for a 12 oz

Poured a nice golden straw color not clear but not very cloudy either. Started with a good finger of a pillowy white head. Smells slightly Belgian with a whisp  of citrus. Medium light mouthfeel with a deliciously light flavor of citrus and spices with a touch of straw. So very good... I could drink it all day.

NW Bearded Brewer's Grade:

Oh Yeah....

NWBB got a new part time job at the local Home Brew store! Win!

The Out-Of-Towners

The Missus made a trip out to Chicago last weekend to visit some friends.

Fortunately, I was able to make some connections with the people she was staying with and she brought back a six pack of delicious Midwest Brews. I'm super excited to try them and tell you all about them.

Cheers

NWBB

Evolution of NWBB

I appreciate everyone's patience with the serious lack of posting over the last few years.  I'm currently working on improving the blog and building up some content for everyone to enjoy.  Again ,thank you for your patience!

Slainte

NWBB

BTW  Happy belated Veteran's Day!!

BEARD OF THE WEEK

Now don't get upset... but we will actually by highlighting a Mustache this week.

This excellent Stache belongs to Evan.  Evan is a true outdoors-man, and mustache reels in the fish like the ladies flocking to Magnum PI.

The fish finally gave out to the power of the stache....

These pictures of years past show is fantastic powers of facial hair growth.  I think it has something to do with all the fresh air he gets while reeling in the big ones.  I don't have a close up picture of this years work, but I'm sure it's Stache-tastic as he's been growing it out for a facial hair calender that will be sold for charity in his hometown of Port Angeles, WA.

The fish grow in size equal to mustache length.

Not only does Evan fish, but he started a custom fishing rod company with his friend Adam who also has some excellent facial hair and catches some pretty big fish.

Is his face cold?  Hell No!

 You should check out their wares via their facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/barnescreek

Thanks for reading...

NWBB

PS... Evan saw the post and sent me his latest Stache growth photo.  You know what would look good on that stache?  Beer!

Epicness will ensue!

The Ballad of the Okto Saison

I brewed a 10 gallon batch of Oktoberfest extract kit using my half finished keggle back in June. Timing seemed right, but the weather wasn't going to cooperate.

We had a pretty big heat wave for our area. Last summer it only lasted a few days. This year it stretched out into a week or two. I was Johnny on the spot with the window AC unit upstairs in the living room. However the basement got well above its usual 55-60 degrees. 

After two weeks in primary, I transferred to secondary carboys, but I noticed my auto siphon line was a little cloudy. I figured it was just residue from having so much StarSan put thru it. 

Anyway after several weeks if "lagering" in the fridge. I kegged the first 5 gallons, but the flavor was sour-ish mixed with sickly sweet. It hadn't fully fermented in primary which because the heat probably killed most of the yeast, and I didn't do it any favors by throwing into the fridge, thereby delivering the deathblow.

I re-pitched on the 5 that was still in the carboy with Windsor and waited. I had already struggled with the Hefe this summer, so I was bound and determined not to let this beat me. 

The first 5 finished around 1.014 with dark stone fruit flavors, a good sourness balanced with some residual sweetness. It was not the nasty cough syrup I had previously sampled. I took it around to different events around town, gathering thoughts and critiques. 

Some couldn't taste the sour. Others thought it was definitely an Oktoberfest, but just to sweet for the style. Fruit roll-up and Red Vines were comments I heard. Everyone agreed that while not perfect, it was still very tasty and I never had any leftover to take home. 

I just kegged up the second 5 gallons. I had poured this batch directly on top of the yeast cake from the first five gallons, and threw in another packet of Windsor for good measure. Today it finishes a 1.012, and to me is noticeably drier. Still some dark stone fruit, put more tartness because it isn't balanced out by the residual sugars. I think I may be getting some horsehair as we'll. 

So the question is, was it the heat wave that gave me a fruity phenol finish? Or did I get invaded by some big bad Brett? Thoughts?

Heavenly hefe

I wish it hadn’t taken so long between posts.  I was doing well for a week or two, but that was far too long ago.  Life has been pretty busy around here.  The Rootbeer Ranger has been keeping us both on our toes, but I’ve found time to brew now and again. 

I finally switched to all grain brewing.  Thru the local homebrew club, I made a contact who sewed their own BIAB Bags.  I gave them the dimensions of my brew kettle, and presto… I’m in the All-Grain game.  I was also able to procure a 1/2 barrel Sanke and am working on making that into a fully loaded Keggle.  I was able to pick up a BIAB Bag for that too, but I’ll need a pulley system to lift that much wet grain out of the Keg.

I did a beer tasting for an old Army buddy and his fiancée.  They asked that I brew up some beer for their wedding.  While honored, I knew that it was going to be a lot of work.  They decided to go with a few clones.  One was  Sierra’s Pale Ale, another of New Belgium’s Fat Tire, and I convinced them to do a Hefeweizen and have Lemonade on hand for Raddler’s or Shandy’s.

Brew Days came and went, and everything was going really well.  I was very happy with the flavor of both the Pale Ale and the Phat Tyre.  However, the Hefe was just not turning out right, and I had 10 gallons of it!  It was sulfury to the point of triggering my gag reflex.  I’ve smelled some horrible smells in my life, but this was pushing it.

It came down to the day of the wedding, and a few hours before we had to leave.  I decided that the Hefe just wasn’t going to cut it, even if you mixed heavily with Lemonade.  I was so glad that Total Wine and More opened up at 9 a.m. and that they had a 1/4 barrel of Widmer Hefeweizen (which happened to be one I used for the tasting).  I made a quick run up to the store while the Cider Wench got the Rootbeer Ranger ready to go.

We got to the wedding with a few minutes to spare, and all the beer was very well received.  It was liked so much that we ran out of nearly 16 gallons of beer in a little over 2 hours.  Fortunately they had a back-up plan.  The Groom and his lovely were very happy.  So was the Best Man.

I nearly tossed the Hefe I had made as soon as we got home, but cooler heads prevailed thanks to CW.  She told me to just give it awhile and just use a lot of Lemonade.

Well, last weekend…. nearly a month after the wedding, and nearly as long since I last tried it, I took a few growlers up to my friend’s place, Danny Boy.  By some miracle, the good lord saw fit to turn my 10 gallons of garbage juice into a lite, crisp, heavenly white cloud of heady goodness. 

Just goes to show you, that even if you think you made a terrible beer… it can shine up to something sparkly and delicious.

Slainte

NWBB