IT WAS A DRINKY OLD TIME, FRIENDS! Fine beer, fine food and fine friends. And then more beer. Folks gathered at our house around half past twelve and we set out on the (slightly longer than I had said it was) walk to the lovely Red Carpet Liquors. There we came upon several tents, tables laden with krauts—er, kraut—and brauts and potatoes and… why… there was another tent… a tent where upwards of 15 kinds of BEER were available!

And oh, many a fine beer was had. There were the staples: Franciskaner Heffeweizen, Edel Weisen, some Paulaners and Spatens… there were some curveballs, like Brooklyn Brewery’s wonderful Schneider Weissen. If you’ve not had this beer, have this beer. It is a Weisen unlike any weisen… it’s… hopped! Yes, that’s right: a wheat beer with a significant hop balance to the sweet malt and with a refreshing, bitter finish. Florals and pine. In a wheat brau. Very nice, friends, very nice.

There were also plural cases of Sam Adams Oktoberfest and good old Sam Lager. Now… we’ve made our feelings clear (more clear than this take on a Marzen—oooh!) on Sam’s take on Oktoberfest beer. It’s only OK. But, hey I’ll take a Sam Lager any day! And I did. I took a lot. It didn’t hurt that there was some sort of weird cooler-connected to-keg-with-taps-coming-out-of-the-cooler thing that was essentially a never ending supply of a light but refreshing and crisp pilsner.

Much of the Fleet and some friends assembled. Why, we had Sgt. Stout, Admiral Ale, Brigadier Bock, Commander Cheap and, of course, this good Captain. Once we had drank our fill, we ate our fill. Delicious Deutschness! They even had some fine young vegetarian brauts for Mrs. Beer. So thoughtful, those guys. Aw gee. Anyway then we drank our fill again and indeed it was good that the comfort of home (and more beer) was a walk and not a drive away.

What tales have I to tell! I mean… what tales have I to tell? Why don’t you read on!?!?

The good folks at Red Carpet had come up with an interesting and enjoyable whathaveya: the tasting focused on Belgian and Belgian-style beers, and each round was served up blind. One glass held a genuine, “old world” Belgian brau, the other an American beer in the same style. I’m proud to report that the Fleet came to a correct consensus as to Belgian v. American* with 90% accuracy! That’s because we have refined and trained palates, eyes and noses:

It was a lovely event with lots of great beer and it was informative too! For instance, I never knew that Belgians brewers are taxed based on the amount of grain they use, and thus have grown resourceful and tricky, adding more sugars, fruits and other elements to their beers. This in turn lets (and indeed they encourage) the yeasts to play a much more prominent role in shaping the flavors and characteristics of the beer. German beer’s flavors, on the other hand, are much less influenced by yeast which serves really just to convert the starches of the malt (and/or wheat) and break down the hops.

Yowza, right!? RIGHT!!! Oh, and then there was this:

That was… later in the tasting. (Wonderful beard, Brigadier! Prost!) Anyway, along with some excellent cheeses I have heretofore not mentioned because, c’mon hosebag, we’re here for beer! But naw, there was good cheese as well… anyway, all the great beer, and even the surprise finish of an Old Rasputin Imperial Stout from 1997** made for a great time and a good way to salute Sgt. Stout’s birthday (shared with The Kolonel and the General by the way! Ey!). In fact, damn… how better to spend a Sunday? Perhaps with even more beer… but I’ll take it!

* now THAT would be a fair fight. Heh.

** the flavor was INTENSE. Oily, thick mouthfeel bringing in deep chocolate, roasty coffee, almost leathern and smoke notes. Damn. The carbonation was too low and I think the brau was maybe a year past its prime but man… awesome 11 year aged stout? Sweetness.

Guys: I am not sure what to make of this. I gave my IPA a taste just before bottling. It was both hoppy and reasonably bitter, almost to a point of harshness. Completely understandable–after all, this was a very young IPA.

Fast forward to last night. It’s been in the bottles for a week, and I began thinking about how the flavor is refining. My wife suggested I open one; after all, I have 50 left. Impatient as always, I quit brooding over the issue and stuck one in the fridge. A couple hours later, I opened it, and was delighted at the sound of gas escaping as I used my favorite wall-mounted bottle opener. It whispered to me, “Psst! I have bubbles!” as the cap came off. At least it carbonated, so I had surpassed the Sarge’s carbonation issue.

The good half of the story ends right about there.

The flavor moved from a bitter flavor to…indescribably bubbly-breadiness. The hops were barely detectable over the champagne-like bubbly texture and this odd bready flavor.

My brothers in brewing, I beg for both your help and intercessions (both holy and secular). Please help me answer these questions:

1. Am I worrying unnecessarily? It’s been six days for a beer which takes 4-6 weeks of bottle conditioning.
2. Could this entire batch of beer be bad? If the end of secondary fermentation (pre-bottling) tasted OK, presumably there would be enough alcohol in the brew at this point to kill off any other bacteria.
3. Could just this bottle be off? Should I try another at the expense of careening deeper into listless worry?
4. Why would the flavor change so much from the beginning of bottling to a week later? Have any of you experienced such a dramatic shift in flavor of a young brew?

Thanks for your help. Yours in Brewing,

Gen. German