[S2/E9] Mmm...Hops!

Season 2, Episode 9 - This week, we’re going back to the hops with homebrew from Nagel and hoppy radness from Noble Ale Works, Alpine Brewing, and Societe Brewing Company.

Now that we’re all fully recovered from last week’s epic stout tasting, we’re back with a homebrew from Greg, and some beers from some of SoCal’s best breweries: Noble Ale Works, Alpine Beer Company, and Societe Brewing Company.

We kick the show off with a unique homebrew from Greg that’s kind of saison, and kind of a pilsner. Weird, right? The beer was intended to be a saison, and technically speaking, it is. It was brewed with Belgian pilsner and rye malts, and fermented with White Labs WLP568 Saison yeast. What makes this beer different was the utilization of whole leaf Saaz hops. The beer was bittered with Nelson Sauvin in the boil, while the Saaz hops were used in a custom hopback made by Greg. The Saaz come through so much in this beer that it’s reminiscent of a Czech pilsner. All in all, it’s a tasty, easy drinking beer and an example of how experimentation with homebrewing can lead to unintended, yet interesting results.

Next up is yet another attempt to convince Matt that Sorachi Ace hops aren’t just extract from an old lady’s perfume bottle, Noble Ale Works Sorachi Ace Showers. Matt was given this beer from the brewer himself, Evan Price. If you aren’t familiar with the “Showers” line of beers, it’s a series that Noble Ale Works has been doing for quite a while now, that focuses on one specific hop. This beer is a great example of how to utilize the characteristic of this hop. The malt profile on the beer has a unique, malty, savory flavor, almost like candy, and the hops back it up with a balanced, lemony bitterness. This beer doesn’t smack you in the face, and it’s quite refreshing. Interestingly enough, Matt kind of digs the beer, while Jason is simply not a fan. Thanks for the beer, Evan!

The next two beers are from Alpine Beer Company. Jason picked up a couple of growlers from Green Flash Brewing Company, who is now brewing Alpine beers at their facility in San Diego, California. Alpine Beer Company is a very small brewpub out of Alpine, California who is known for their spectacular beers, most notably their hoppy beers. They were recently purchased by Green Flash Brewing Company to help expand the brand, get the beers to a bigger market, and help Alpine Beer Company keep making the truly unique brews that they are so well known for. The two beers we have on this episode, Hoppy Birthday and Nelson, are two classics from Alpine. Both of these were brewed at Green Flash, which in comparison to Alpine’s brewhouse, is enormous. There are certain recipe scaling issues that come about when stepping up a beer to a production run of this size. We discuss those issues on the show, and whether or not these beers are truly accurate iterations of the beer Alpine is known for.

The final beer of this episode is The Miser from Societe Brewing Company, by way of our good friend and “Ruler of the Underworld” at Societe, Mike Sardina. This beer is made with Amarillo, Simcoe, Mosaic and El Dorado hops, and boy does it show on the nose. This beer smells absolutely delish. Coming in at 10% ABV, the body on this beer is really nice, and not just a vehicle for hop delivery. Societe very much prides themselves on making a unique, quality product, and it really shows in this beer. Expect an on-location episode from Societe in the near future…

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Links to things from this week’s episode:
S2/E9 Show Outline
Noble Ale Works
Alpine Beer Company
Societe Brewing Company
Firkfest 2015

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