Brew Session! Imperial IP... uh.... Barleywi.... ummmm.... BEER!!!

What started out as a standard IPA has turned into this. What is this? We're not sure yet. One thing we know... it will be hoppy!
This beer will be your hop dream, your hop nightmare, your hop dream vacation, your fortress of hoptitude... it will be an all out tongue ravaging of blatant, brutal bitterness with brazen brashness of boldly, beautiful, bountiful bodacious hops. Am I going over the top with this? Did we do too much? Hell no! What did we do, you ask? Simple, jacked the crap out of an IPA.
3 oz of hops for an IPA? Forget that! Our boil includes 9 oz of hops that were continually added over the course of 90 minutes with a mixture made up 4 oz columbus hops, 3 oz cascade, 1 oz glacier, and 1 oz perle.Add to that an about 11.5 lbs of malt, maple syrup, and honey and you have got yourself one big ass beer! To top it off... after racking to a secondary fermenter, this beer will be dry hopped with 2 oz of cascade hops.
We're anticipating a very big Imperial IPA, but with the way Paleolithic (Old Van) turned out, we're not gonna jumped to conclusions on this one. We'll give you an update on it in about a month or so.

Dude Food: Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers

This next installment of Dude Food will not be a recipe, but simply a delicious and inexpensive restaurant. And with that, I give you Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers.
Chicken Fingers is all they do, and they do it well. I was first introduced to this place a little over four years ago at OSU. I had heard about the place... Heard people rave about the chicken fingers, and especially the sauce. I didn't think the place could be that special because what more can you do with chicken fingers? I decided to give the place a try anyway because you can get a lot of food for $5 (4 fingers, coleslaw, fries, texas toast, and a cup of sauce). I was blown away. I first tried the fingers straight up without any sauce and I was blown away. Unlike most restaurants that produce fingers that are very dry and way too salty, Cane's fingers are perfectly breaded with just the right amount of breading that is perfectly crispy and light. The chicken itself could not be any more moist and the seasoning is perfect. After sampling the plain finger, I gave the sauce a try. The sauce is what everyone raves about and I didn't think it would be anything special, but the sauce is incredible and adds great flavor to the chicken fingers and is simply delicious. What is also great about the Cane's is you can substitute items in their combos. Don't like coleslaw? Get extra texas toast or extra fries. Speaking of the toast and fries they are also delicious. The fries aren't seasoned with anything other than salt, which I like because then the fries don't take away from the great taste of the fingers. I suggest trying the fingers plain first to get an appreciation for how great they are on their own... but then definitely give them a try with the sauce and decide what you like best. Also, from spring to early fall Raising Cane's offers some of the best lemonade I've ever had.
However, we're not pairing this meal with lemonade. We're pairing it with beer. This meal is fairly light in flavor, but is extremely filling. A perfect match is Session Lager from Full Sail Brewing Company. Since this meal is filling, you don't want a filling beer. Session is light in flavor, but isn't bland and flavorless like macro lagers. A perfect match.

Home Brew Update

After waiting a little over a month for it to develop, the Brewski Brothers' Hopalong Hefner Hefe is a huge success. Multiple samples have been passed out with 100% positive reviews so far. The beer pours a nice opaque copper/orange color with a moderate, foamy white head that gives off tart blood orange in the aroma. The flavor is extremely balanced with loads of blood orange, but no sweetness. The finish lingers for a long time with notes of orange peel and tart blood orange. This will definitely be a brew done again by us. Perhaps once again before the end of the summer... it may have to wait 'til next summer as we have lots of other exciting beers to come.

We now also have an update on our Paleolithic Imperial Pale Ale. It has been conditioning in the bottle now for two weeks, so we decided to sample one bottle this weekend to check the progress. Well, what a surprise we got. The beer poured a very dark copper color... nearly brown with almost no head. The aroma produced lots of caramel maltiness and plenty of floral hops. The flavor first hits you with loads of malty sweetness that is then counterbalanced by grapefruity hops. The finish stays with bitter hops and a pronounced alcohol burn in the chest. Damn! We each had 5 oz between us and were feelin' pretty sleepy afterward. We assumed this beer to be around 8.5-9% alcohol, but after looking at our ingredient list and seeing we added over 13 lbs of sugars, and given that 5 oz made each of us pretty tired, this beer is lookin' to be more around 11%. It also became apparent that the beer we had produced is not an Imperial Pale Ale. It certainly is hoppy, but the malt character is also very pronounced. After a minor debate and some thinking, it was decided that we have our barleywine... and thus, we give you Old Van Barleywine, Dude. We will see how this one has progresses while aging the bottle around another month or two.

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout

Last released in December 2007, Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout is a highly coveted, legendary beer of epic proportions. Bigger. Bolder. Richer. At 372 calories per 12 ounce serving and reaching heights of 18%+ alcohol, it is a dessert and a sleeping aid in itself. It claims to have more in common with a fine port than a cheap, mass-marketed beer...And, I couldn't possibly agree more. Although it probably has more in common with "Purple Drank (aka Lean)" than it does with Budweiser.

From Wikipedia:

Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip-hop community of the southern United States. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine.

The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup. Recently, the term has expanded to cover mixtures including over-the-counter cough syrup. There are numerous other slang terms for purple drank, including sizzurp, lean, syrup, drank, barre, purple jelly, and purple stuff.

There are great similarities in the effects of both the World Wide Stout and Purple Drank. Proceed with caution.

The World Wide Stout pours jet black. I would also describe the color as Ronald Reagan's hair. The brew is so dark, it is hard to believe. Its head is furry, tan and thick. By the way, I am referring to the beer now. Aromas of black chocolate, licorice, raisins, roasted almonds and alcohol. The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy. On the palate, this stout is black forest chocolate cake, Italian roast coffee, fig and whipped cream. It is extremely coating and goes down silky like a glass of Nestle Quick made with whole milk. The finish just hangs around in your mouth like a chocolately fog. Absolutely delicious.

With it being so potent, you really need to savor it slowly. Otherwise, you'll feel like you just did a few shots of Nyquil and chased it with some "Purple Drank." This world-class beer is well worth seeking out. If Budweiser thinks of itself as "The King of Beers," then Dogfish Head World Wide Stout should proclaim itself as "The Exalted Imperial Emperor of the Universe of Beers." That would be fair.

Brew Session! Ivan Drago Russian Imperial Stout

Back at Brewski Brothers headquarters we're at it again. This time we're brewing up a Russian imperial stout. But this can't be just any other imperial stout... It has to be more. But where do you look to in order to find inspiration? Look no further than Ivan Drago. Ivan Drago is huge; Ivan Drago is strong; Ivan Drago is intense; Ivan Drago is ruthless; Ivan Drago is juiced up on 'roids. This imperial stout is Ivan Drago. Only, instead of juicing our brew up with 'roids we've used an insane amount of malt along with coffee, bourbon, and French oak chips. Are you Rocky Balboa enough to handle this brew? If not, you best steer clear because in the words of Ivan Drago, "This beer must break you."

Charlie's Review of Dogfish Head Fort

Well, what more can I say about this beer that hasn't already been said by Rob? And really, what I could say wouldn't come close to giving any idea of what this beer is like. You simply have to find it and then drink it. Out of state will be the only way to get this beer without illicit means, so perhaps a road trip to Kentucky is in order. It only takes about two hours out of Columbus and as far as i know, Kentucky has no alcohol limit on beer.

As I poured this beer, the instant the liquid hit the bottom of my glass my nose was assaulted with raspberries and alcohol. Getting my nose closer to the glass I also noticed a hint of apple. I took my time with my first glass, taking notice of flavors of the beer chilled and then when it had warmed up to room temperature. While cold the massive 18% alcohol is hidden fairly well. The beer is surprisingly malty with loads of sweetness from the raspberries and has a huge raspberry flavor. I also agree with Rob on thinking this beer is brewed with some wheat malt. The finish burns in the throat and chest with alcohol and the raspberries linger for a long time. While warm, the dimensions of the beer do not change too much other than the alcohol flavor being much more aggressive and contributing a more significant burn.

Four hours later this beer was gone... and so was I. Was the high price of this beer worth it? I'd say so. It's rare, it's delicious, and it's interesting. This definitely isn't one of my favorite beers from Dogfish Head, but the bold move to brew a 18% alcohol fruit beer and have it turn out this well really shows what a top notch and trailblazing brewery Dogfish Head is. Bring on more, please.

Buckeye Brewing Company Mammoth Stout

Out of Lakewood, Ohio, Buckeye Brewing Company offers a wide selection of beer varietals that are affordable and usually very good. Such is the case with their Mammoth Stout, which I sampled out of a 22oz bottle. It made with dark roasted malt and a touch of oatmeal. Also, the stout is dry-hopped using Challenger hops, which gives it a refined spice aroma.

It poured a root beer brown color and had a decently thick, creamy head. The dominating aromas are of mocha, espresso and caramel. Its body is medium, with a silky, slightly coating mouthfeel. The Mammoth Stout has a lot of unsweetened bakers' cocoa flavor to go along with its coffee and cola notes. It finishes dry, with the bitter chocolate and coffee lingering on the tastebuds. There is a slightly burnt malt smokiness in the finish as well.

Overall, I enjoyed this stout from Buckeye. They are one of the better brewing companies in the state of Ohio. I would say that they are approaching the level their nearby neighbors at Great Lakes Brewing Company. They still have a lot to prove, but Buckeye Brewing Company is moving in the right direction.