Jamie the Magnificent Eisbock release party Tuesday February 27th!

Greetings all,

Yes next Tuesday is the release of a very special beer which will also conclude our series of big/dark/malty winter beer releases. The release party is being held at our Taproom at 1444 E. Wash starting at 3PM when we open.

Last December we collaborated with our good buddies the House of Brews to brew an Eisbock in honor of our dearly departed comrade Jamie Cowles, who died in January 2017. Jamie was a lover of big malty high ABV ales and lagers so an Eisbock seemed like an appropriate beer to brew in his memory. Brewmasters Page and Jim collaborated on an excellent recipe that took forever to ferment in our 2.5 barrel Psychobrew fermenter that was just part of the epic saga that the creation of this beer turned out to be. Elegantly smooth and dangerous at 9.2% ABV, we hope you’ll be able to join us at the Taproom on Tuesday 2/27 for the release of this ode to Jamie the Ice Man!

Jamie had his Tuesday night drinking club: hence the release on a Tuesday. We anticipate many members of that august group will be in attendance.

Join us for details on this the most difficult beer to create in Parched Eagle history! I’m brewing that day but plan on getting to the Taproom from the Westport Brewhaus by 5:30-6.

Ein prosit!

Jim

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Beer releases week 2/13-17!

Greetings all,

Yes next week features the release of two new beers at each of our locations along with the return of Chachalaca American Stout at our Westport Brewhaus AND the debut of Parched Rider Coffee Stout at our Taproom at 1444 E. Wash on Saturday 2/17!

Before the two stouts as mentioned is the release of the two new beers, the first of which is a collaboration beer with Working Draft Brewing Company that is opening in the Willy Street neighborhood on the near east side of Madison in coming weeks. Working Draft Brewing Company head brewer Clint Lohman and I brewed a one barrel batch of this collaboration Weizenbock a few days before Christmas and it turned out really well! 7% abv and a beautiful mix of banana/clove and rich bock malt character. Collab Weizenbock will be on tap when we open at 3 on Tuesday 2/13 at our E. Wash Taproom and we’ll be joined by the Working Draft dudes around 4 or 5. Ein prosit!

Then on Valentine’s Day Wednesday 2/14 we’re releasing our first new (non-collaboration) beer of 2018: Smooshface American Brown Ale! Its name comes from one of many nicknames for our bartender Erika’s charming little canine Valentine. So: Smooshface is being released on Valentine’s Day and Smooshface herself will be there. Meanwhile the beer is a hop-forward American Brown Ale featuring a rich malt character and Chinook and Amarillo hops. It will be on tap at both of our locations when they open at 3. 

Then as mentioned on Saturday 2/17 we’ll have the release of Parched Rider Coffee Stout at our E. Wash Taproom and return of Chachalaca American Stout at the Westport Brewhaus! The base beer for Parched Rider is indeed Chachalaca. It’s a collaboration with Let It Ride cold brewed coffee and the addition of Let It Ride’s java adds an excellent caffeinated aroma/flavor dimension!

Meanwhile Chachalaca was the first stout brewed in Parched Eagle history and is inspired by the likes of Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout and Sierra Nevada Stout. Lots of roasted barley and chocolate malt coupled with big American hops (Northern Brewer, Simcoe, and Chinook). 6.3% ABV and 54 IBUs.

Hope to see you at either of our locations during our big February beer releases week!

Cheers,

Jim

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Verily shall Verily Belgian Dubbel return Friday 12/8!

Greetings all,

I write this while caffeinating on this chilly Thursday morning before heading up to our Westport Brewhaus to keg a new batch of Verily Belgian Dubbel. This year-round beer for us has been 2017’s proverbial problem child with the last two batches we brewed during the summer not turning out well, leading to us pulling them off tap lines at both of our locations.

Why did they not turn out well? Because I used unhealthy yeast for both batches so it was my fault and for that I apologize.

With that said I’m excited about this new batch and have been telling our newer bar tenders who haven’t had a good batch of Verily yet to get ready! Not only did I use healthy yeast this time I also switched from Wyeast’s 1214 Belgian Ale to its 1762 Abbey Ale II, which is the strain I use for Stella Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Simply put I feel that 1762 is (has been) a more reliable performer for us. Speaking of Stella look for it to return on tap within a couple of months!

BUT before that we have the return of Stella’s “little” brother Verily! Checking in at 7.8% abv, verily shall Verily return on tap our E. Wash Taproom tomorrow 12/8 and at our Westport Brewhaus as soon as a tap line opens up there (i.e. it’s on deck).

Santé!

Jim

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Notes on Calicious California Common

Hoppy Friday!

This Wednesday Calicious California Common returned on tap at both of our locations after a surprisingly successful debut in September.

I intended the release of Calicious as an ode to the end of summer and really didn’t know what to expect in terms of customer reception to it. In fact I wasn’t sure how good it was going to be until I kegged it and put it on tap at both locales and (I too) was knocked out by how good it was! For reference there was one other beer in our history that I didn’t realize just how good it was/turned out until tasting it on tap: Grainne’s Special Bitter ESB back in 2015.

Calicious sold out within two weeks back in September. So, we decided to brew a double (two barrel) batch of it and it turned out well.

Calicious: smooth/easy drinking/light-medium mouthfeel yet full flavored. A bit hop-forward (and is dry-hopped with Simcoe) including a somewhat bitter finish that is balanced out by a nice/soft German pilsner malt character. This includes a nice crisp lager finish. Beautiful light amber color, too!

California Common is one of the truly indigenous American beer styles that goes back to the Gold Rush era in the bay area and of course was originally referred to as Steam Beer. It’s basically an amber lager fermented at ale temperatures due to the use of a wonderful lager yeast strain that ferments well at warmer temperatures.For reference: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/132/

Come on by for a delicious Calicious!

Cheers,

Jim

P.S. Who knows? Perhaps Calicious will be the next beer we put in bombers…,

 

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Sweetness Imperial Sweet Stout Release Party Friday Nov. 24th!

Greetings all,

“Black Friday” is the perfect day for the release of SWEETNESS Imperial Sweet Stout! Sweet Stout is the official name for the milk stout style (which means that lactose is used to provide some creamy sweet flavor/aroma as well as adding some weight to the beer’s body/mouthfeel) and at 9.3% ABV Sweetness is definitely of the imperial variety. Rich, creamy, smooth, dark and dangerous, Sweetness will help get rid of that trytophan torpor the day after Thanksgiving!

And, if you’ve already run ouf of Thanksgiving leftovers our good buddies WE GO WAFFLES food cart will be serving their unique Belgian waffles fare from 5 to 8 (and quite possibly beyond).

Sweetness will also be on tap at our Westport Brewhaus starting at 3 on black Friday.

Do your “shopping” on black Friday by supporting your local nano-brewery!

I’m very excited about this one (and yes it’s named after his favorite football player EVER).

Cheers!

Jim

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