Cilantro Mang!

Cilantro and mango marry quite well. They both have a musky citrus twang with the cilantro cutting and lifting the cloying nature of the mango nectar. This is an orange-mango mimosa with cilantro.

Drunktime

I am truly a sucker for a Mai Tai. Make it a $4 Mai Tai and I am gonna sit a spell and dream of Fiji. West 5 on California has a pretty generous Tiki pour with this here idol of rum and juice.

Fresh to concentrate.

Personally, I prefer a mojito at martini strength. A nice rum like Flor de Cana 7 year makes for a strong base comingled with tons of FRESH mint and lime.

A six count of rum, ample ice cubes, juice of half a lime, a healthy sprig of "farmer's market-fresh" mint, and a pinch of powdered sugar. Shake this vigorously for two minutes, strain it into a chilled martini glass and top with a splash of soda. Concentrated Cubanismo!

Form Ale!

Ah yes...
One, fully-formed, kitchen-brewery fresh, bottle-conditioned ale. I have not brewed a batch in a long while. I briefly wrote about the brewing process in my Gastronomenon blog a couple of months ago. Now the ale has matured enough to blow my mind. What style is it? That is the question.

What makes a beer style? Is it hops, malt, water, yeast...or, is your beer whatever you decide to write on the label..?

My fellow brewer, Fitz and I wanted a light, golden, crisp ale that was an easy-quaffer for the arrival of warmer weather and long days. In order to get exactly as we wanted, ALL of the aforementioned beer variables had their individual parts to play in the production.

Hallowed Ground(s)

Normally I wouldn't be excited about anything left over in my pint glass after I've finished drinking the beer. There is nothing normal about cask ale though, and this was an above average real ale on so many levels.

The Stumbling Monk on Olive in Capitol Hill is known for its Belgian ales, but once a week they get a cask of something special from one of the local breweries. This week it was a special expression of Elysian Brewing's Dragontooth Stout spiked with a ton of Lighthouse coffee. I mean spiked IN the firkin. If you don't bellieve me, look what was left in the bottom of the glass after I thoroughly enjoyed the liquid contents.

This ebony elixr poured like turkish coffee. Opaque black with brown highlights and a fragrant billowy head that left lace evocative of some stormy, atlantic archipelago scattered about the inside the drinking vessel.

The aroma was bittersweet cocoa, a serious blast of roast coffee, and a little molasses/burnt sugar. Huge mouthfeel with a chewy coffee-brownie quality. Not overly bitter or acrid with an unbelievable balance for such a huge ale.

Battle Roy-Ale.

Dogfishhead Burton Baton Oak-aged Imperial IPA

VS.

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

No Hops Barred in this battle of superheavyweights. When I saw Dogfish Head Brewery's latest (okay, it has been around, I just haven't had it) uber-ale I knew that I must have it. Oak-aged and weighing in at 10% ABV, Burton's Baton is heavy-handed to say the least. I decided to pit its power against one of the reigning beasts of this particular varietal. Great Divide Brewing of Denver, CO has been known to amp up the intensity of its ales from time to time. Hercules Double IPA has stood tall through numerous tastings. Can it survive a standoff with an IPA on an oaky roid rage? I just got goosebumps.....brrrrrrrr.

I figured that the Dogfishhead offering would be bigger and stronger with more general intensity, so I started with the Hercules so as to not obliterate my palate prematurely. Of course, the Herc is no softie by any means. It pours a warm copper with highlights of orange and ruby. The head is present, at about 3/4 inch and it dissipates at a reasonable clip leaving a nice lace clinging to my oversized wine glass. First whiff reveals a fruity alcohol laden nose that co-stars with the citrus pine of the hop character. Caramel, ruby-red grapefruit, alcohol and a substantial hop-bittereness comprise the impression on the palate. It has decent balance, and is seriously quaffable, though the style is a little over the top for non hopheads.

Speaking of over the top...
The Burton's Baton is so far over the top, it could easily out arm-wrestle Sylvester Stallone. This stuff pours a deep mahogany with a tighter head that produces more lace than a doily factory. The nose is alcohol, apricot, citrus, caramelized sugar, and rich wood. This ale is indeed on some form of HgH (hop growth hormone) as well as a booster of sweet, sweet oak. The flavor profile is a touch cloying and the woody sweetness is a little overwhelming. It is a rich, rich ale. Oaky roid rage indeed.