Underbite Double IPA

Well, I’ve got tasting notes on lots of beers I’ve sampled in the last several months.  Here is one review for your beer drinking pleasure.  Please read responsibly.

Underbite Double IPA: Big Dogs Brewing Company, Las Vegas NV.  8.7% ABV.
In my last newsletter I mentioned this beer, and promised a review, plus the story behind the brew and how it ended up at Mac’s Beer Appreciation party.  Now, I know that was a tease, but here’s the story, and I didn’t make you wait long for it.

On Saturday August 11, 2018, I attended the Festival of Flavors at the Brianhead Resort in Brianhead Utah with my brother, Don Evans.  This was a beer, spirits and wine tasting event (held annually at the resort). There were several Utah breweries in attendance, including Wasatch, Talisman, Squatters, and others.  While there, Don introduced me to his friends, Charlie and Amanda Koeller.  It turns out Amanda is one of the three brewers at Big Dogs Brewing Company in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While talking with Charlie he showed me a photo of his dog, Sorrel, a Bordeaux Mastiff (think Tom Hanks’ dog, Beasley, in the movie Turner and Hooch), and explained that the photo inspired the drawing on the Underbite Double IPA can (which he also showed me a picture of).  With my curiosity piqued, I spoke to Amanda, and immediately formed a bond of friendship when I discovered that she was a brewer at Big Dog’s Brewing Company.

Amanda explained how she came up with the recipe for Underbite IPA the night before it was brewed, putting the finishing touches on the recipe well after midnight.  It was supposed to be a one-off brew, but demand for the beer was very high, and Big Dogs decided to add it to their core line-up.

I told Amanda that I found IPAs difficult to brew exactly how I envisioned them, and was impressed that her first iteration of this brew was spot on and so wildly successful.  Unfortunately, Amanda said Big Dogs beer is not distributed outside of Nevada, so I was not going to be able to get it in California.  Lucky for me however, the story doesn’t end there.

That night, long after the event was over, Amanda and Charlie came over to Don’s cabin in Brianhead and brought Sorrel, along with a couple of Underbite Double IPAs to share.  Although I had already had enough beer for the day, how could I turn down the opportunity to drink this IPA with the designer/brewer and the dog whose face graces the can?  Of course I sacrificed and had a can of Underbite with them (see photo).  I REALLY enjoyed the beer, and Amanda agreed to give Don a case of it to bring to Mac’s Beer Appreciation party.

Amanda Koeller (the brewer), with Sorrel (the inspiration) and Mac, enjoying Underbite Double IPA.

Don proudly served this beer at the party, and it was thoroughly enjoyed.  Fortunately for me, there were several cans left over.  I retained the excess Underbite and have been enjoying it at Mac’s Brew Pub.  Now YOU get to vicariously enjoy this beer through my description, but if you want to taste it for yourself, you’ll have to go to Nevada, or come over to Mac’s before it’s all gone.  NOW, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it . . . but enough of that, here’s what you’ve really been waiting for – the review of Underbite Double IPA

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Underbite pours a slightly hazy straw yellow color with a ½” head that fades after a couple of minutes to a thin ring around the perimeter.  The aroma is tropical fruit, apricot, citrus and lemon.

The flavor follows the nose – citrus, grapefruit, lemon, and pine, with a dry finish and a bitter grapefruit/lemon aftertaste.  The bitterness lingers on the back of the palate.  There is some malty sweetness to this beer, as is typical with a Double IPA, but overall the sensation is bitter and dry.

Underbite has a medium carbonation level with medium body and mouth feel.  The alcohol content is fairly high at 8.7%, but is well hidden, and not noticeable in the flavor.

This beer is very refreshing and easy to drink. It’s a typical bittersweet DIPA, but it leans more toward bitter, less toward the malty end of the style range. One could put a lot of it down on a hot day, but be careful, that high alcohol content could put the hurt on you.

Very well done, Amanda!   And Sorrel, thanks for inspiring her.  I highly recommend this beer.

Underbite Double IPA is available in 12 oz. cans. Unfortunately for most of us, it’s only available in Nevada.  But, next time you go to Las Vegas, pick up a sixer or two and bring it back home with you (and in that case, what happens in Vegas WON’T stay in Vegas).

I normally review more than one beer when I publish beer reviews, but this one got quite lengthy because of the associated story.  Stay tuned, however, I’ll post more beer reviews soon.

Sláinte!

Mac’s Brew News – September 17, 2018

Greetings, beer fans.  It’s been way too long, but I will try to catch you up without getting too lengthy.  Please read responsibly!

Well, where to start?  How about an update on a couple of items from the previous newsletter . . .

Maktoberfest– Brewed June 22, 2018.  5.5% ABV, 26 IBU. (Now on tap)
I brew this malty German Märzen each year in late June to have on tap during the Oktoberfest season.  It features a caramel sweet flavor with enough German noble hops to give it some balance.  This is an easy one to like.

Strange Addiction– Brewed May 30, 2018.  12.1% ABV (so far), 78 IBU.
When I last wrote about Strange Addiction in the previous newsletter, it was conditioning in glass carboys on cacao. I finally racked it to the bourbon barrel on Friday September 7, 2018.  It conditioned in the carboys for about 2½ months, which was about a month longer than I had planned, but there’s a good reason for the extensive cacao aging.

At the end of June I was planning to add some fresh bourbon to the barrel for a few weeks to get it ready for the stout. I first thought to fill it with water to confirm that it was watertight.  Good thing I didn’t just put the bourbon in the barrel without checking – that would have been an expensive mistake.  It leaked like a sieve.  Yes, I let it sit dry for too long (I bought the barrel at the end of November, 2017), and who knows how long it had been dry before I got it?  It took me about a week of filling the barrel with water and draining it each day before it was leak-proof.

On July 5, 2017 I finally added the bourbon to the barrel – 1.75 liters of Maker’s Mark (not the good stuff, their lower end bourbon).  I rotated the barrel daily to infuse the entire barrel with fresh bourbon.  I thought the entire amount of bourbon would be absorbed, but it never was, and although I couldn’t really tell how much was still in the barrel, it sounded like a lot when I would slosh it around each morning.  Finally on Friday September 7 I decided enough was enough, and removed the remaining bourbon so I could fill the barrel with beer.  Much to my surprise, there was only 300 ml of bourbon left when I drained it.  [Now, the question is, how much of that 1450 ml was absorbed by the oak, and how much was lost to evaporation.  I can’t know for sure, but I’m thinking most was absorbed, as it wasn’t really in the barrel for that long, and it was well sealed.]

I racked the 15 gallons of Strange Addiction to the barrel and topped it off with the 300 ml of bourbon that I had just removed. I also checked the gravity to see if it had changed at all during the 2½-month conditioning.  I expected no change, as I had not seen any evidence of slow fermentation during that time.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find it had dropped a couple of gravity points to 1.027, which raised the alcohol level to 12.1% ABV.  Now if I can just be patient for a few months and let this beast develop the sweet bourbon and oak notes; that’s not going to be easy.  I’ll start tasting it in early January to assess its progress.

Strange Addiction’s home for the next few months.

Strange Addiction is aging in this “Few Spirits” bourbon barrel

So much for the old news.  Let’s get to the recent stuff.

Hurricane Mac: Brewed July 30, 2018.  7.0% ABV, 110 IBU. (Now on tap)
I’ve brewed numerous IPAs (my own recipes), but not one of them has been to my satisfaction.  Although most of them were pretty good, they just never turned out like I wanted them  . . . until now.  Finally, I nailed an IPA.

Hurricane Mac is a Category 5 Tropical Fruit Hop Storm. It’s a New England style IPA (juicy and slightly hazy), with overwhelming tropical fruit and citrus notes. In spite of the relatively high IBU level (this is per BeerSmith, my brewing software, and I suspect it’s not really that high), I used only 1½ oz. of hops in the boil (12½ gallons volume post-boil).  Instead, I saved most all of my hop additions for whirlpooling and dry hopping – 21 oz. of Citra, Mosaic and Zythos.  It’s not a bitter bomb.  In fact, as I noted, it’s actually a tropical and citrus fruit bomb.  It’s delicious, and very refreshing (but watch out, at 7% alcohol, it can put the hurt on you).

San Andreas Malt: Brew day September 19, 2018.
This is my first attempt at a California Common style lager.  So you’re not sure what that style is?  Think Anchor Steam Beer (thanks to Fritz Maytag for rescuing this style from the dustbin of history when he purchased Anchor Brewing in 1964).  Although this is not a clone of Anchor Steam, I am hoping to get it pretty close – caramel malty, but dry, with noticeable hop bitterness and flavor.

What’s more common in California than earthquakes, huh?  That’s why I’m calling it San Andreas Malt.  We’ll see how it turns out.  I’ll brew in a couple of days, then ferment and condition for several weeks (it’s a lager, so fairly lengthy cold conditioning is required).  This is a collaboration brew with Jeff Nash (he’s been brewing for awhile, but it’s his first foray into all grain brewing).  I should have it on tap in early November.

I put on my annual Beer Appreciation Party on Saturday September 8, 2018 (we missed it last year due to extensive backyard remodeling and construction).  There were about 60 people in attendance.  The theme this year was IPAs.  Sheila and I provided some; several attendees supplied many more. We served samples of 13 different IPAs over the course of the evening – from Anchor’s Liberty Ale (the first post Prohibition American IPA), to Hurricane Mac, to Pliny the Elder (the IPA game changer, and still the IPA standard bearer).

Of note, Don and Donna Evans came from Utah to attend the party, and Rose Evans came from Arizona to attend.  Now that’s a real commitment to beer!  Don brought Underbite Double IPAfrom Big Dog’s Brewing Company in Las Vegas, Nevada.  It’s a double IPA that’s not available in California (or anywhere outside of Nevada).  There is an interesting story behind this beer getting all the way to Mac’s Brew Pub, the brewer, (Amanda Koeller), and the dog who inspired it (Sorrel). I will enlighten all of you when I post a beer review on Underbite Double IPA very shortly.  You won’t want to miss it.

Don Evans (with Mac) presenting Underbite Double IPA at Mac’s Beer Appreciation party, September 8, 2018.

Well, that’s all I have time for right now, and this newsletter is getting longer than I had intended.  Check back real soon, because I plan to post some beer reviews, including the review of Underbite (since I just teased you with a little introduction) in the next few days.

Sláinte!