Homestead Artists Series Volume II: Time (The Revelator)

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Homestead is just down the road from us. We've previously reviewed their Claim Jumper IPA and have been intrigued by them since. Local brew with a great IPA, sign me up. We were excited when we saw this at Palmer's, and this became part of our Christmas gift from our friends (they gave us a Visa gift card, it bought this and the Orthodox from Actual Brewing). This is bottle #163 of this brew. 163 sounds lucky to where I might play the lottery with those numbers.

This poured weird. I poured Jennie's first, crystal clear amber with about a finger worth of thick cream head. When I poured mine, I noticed there were chunks of sediment that came pouring out of bottle. Some large chunks that floated to the top with the carbonation. My sample is a hazy amber with sediment chunks. Now, this would be off-putting to a normal person, but I've had more sediment in a glass than this. The aroma is a slice of Valhalla. Nice citrus and tropical fruit nose with a hint of sweetness. The flavor is.... okay... I literally just stopped typing and said "Holy Fuck!" This is great. What you pick up in the nose, you get in the taste, only in a huge juicy manner. The tropical fruit pops with a nice blend of orange and some zest. This isn't overly bitter, nay, juicy and refreshing. This is what my birthday home brew should have been like! I'm excited. This gets my mind racing trying to think of how to even find the proper wording to give homage to this! After the initial burst of juiciness, there is a nice biscuit and caramel blend of the malt flavors that join together in perfect unison with the hops. If you're put off by sediment in beer, man up. This is worth every delicious sip. The mouthfeel is smooth and refreshing, like drinking a glass of OJ. Jennie better hurry up before I drink her half. Homestead's website lists this at 6.3% ABV with question marks as the IBUs. It's so good though, I'm fine without knowing the IBUs.

This is fantastic and well worth the money. I would expect to have paid a lot more than $5.99 for this bomber with the quality of product. This is a religious experience in a bottle. There will always be room in the fridge and my heart for Homestead now.

5/5 caps (wish I could give it higher)

-Nathan-

I'm not quite sure how to follow this up... other than I have promised to show Nathan the expression on my face when I take a sip. I was rather impressed with Homestead's Claim Jumper IPA, and I really want to try their Stove Pipe Winter Porter. I love that they're pretty readily available within the Columbus market, and they're really reasonably priced. I also love that they make sessionable beers, and that's their focus.

I can keep my partner-in-zymurgy waiting no longer. My glass has absolutely no sediment, although I'm not opposed to a little chunk in my beer on occasion. It's a lovely medium orange-amber color with a hint of off-white creamy head still gracing the top of my portion. The aroma is tantalizing, with soft-yet-bright citrus notes and caramel teasing my nostrils. OK, I took a sip. My reaction was not quite as over-the-top as Nathan's, but it didn't disappoint. A dreamy look crossed my face, and I said, "Oh, this is good." It's really juicy at the front and middle, and then fades to an earthier note, finishing quite dry. There are discernible pineapple, caramel, papaya, and general citrus notes in here that are fantastic, which fade into grapefruit zest toward the end. The biscuit and caramel notes that were noted earlier dance in and out amid the tropical citrus joy. Like Nathan, I simply adore the juicy notes in here.

To stave off Nathan from drinking my portion while my hands were covered in paint, I had Dad take a sip. His reaction was, "Oh, that's really good!" Then he promptly went to bed, as any good 79-year-old should do.

This beer has me longing for a beach-side chair in a tropical location, such as Fiji, where exotic fruits aren't considered exotic. It's a wonderful detractor from the several inches of snow we were inundated with earlier today.

Cheese pairing: Vermont sharp white cheddar
Food pairing: Quiche Lorraine, because of the fantastic contrast with the juicy notes. And everything goes better with bacon, nay?
Music pairing: Son House "John the Revelator"

5/5 caps

-Jennie

Sierra Nevada Blood Shot (Beer Camp #95)

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It's certainly been an eventful day here, what with being snowed in and following Hopslamgate 2014. For those who are unaware, a certain Columbus craft beer retailer has been accused of illegally buying the entire stock of Hopslam from a nearby grocery store. We're not going to get in the middle of the debate, as we're friends with both the craft beer retailer and the brewery who made it common knowledge among the Columbus craft beer scene. We didn't witness the transaction, so it's not up to us to decide whether a major transgression was committed. But the seamier side of me has enjoyed watching the fur fly in this debate. And you know what makes the unfolding drama even better? A craft beer from another brewery that isn't affiliated with the local kerfuffle. We're also watching the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets as they climb the standings in the Metropolitan Division. Beer and hockey is a fabulous combination, in case you were unaware.

Let's discuss the Beer Camp series from Sierra Nevada. Every summer, Sierra Nevada hosts "beer camp", where every day normal people come together (by invitation... you can apply here) and learn how to brew beer. They brew several varieties, and release their favorite styles. This one, #95, is an imperial red ale that was brewed during the 2013 session.

As promised, this pours a lovely garnet color with a khaki-colored head that dissipated quickly, leaving a ring of lacing at the edge of my glass. The nose on this is precisely what I would expect from a red ale: caramel, bread, and a faint tinge of pine and grapefruit from the West Coast hop varieties used in this. Let's take a sip. There's some brown sugar and caramel sweetness up front, which fades quickly into the notes of pine, grapefruit, and an earthy note that come in toward the end. There is a faint sting from a boozy note, but it's not overwhelming (and at 8.5% ABV, it shouldn't be). It finishes bitter and dry, and there's almost a metallic note toward the middle and end. It's a little sticky sweet up front, which fades about halfway through the taste.

Overall, it's a solid beer. Unfortunately, my benchmark for all imperial red ales was set by McCarthy's Bane, and this one doesn't quite equal that. At the same time, it's certainly not a bad beer. I saw some Beer Camp 2013 on the shelf at a favorite local retailer this week (actually, where we obtained this), if you're interested in buying some.

4/5 caps

-Jennie

Well, Jackets lost, damn it. Thanks for cursing us, Jennie. But, it's been an interesting day. Hopslamgate has been an interesting read, especially with people coming out of the woodwork to give their take on it. As a neutral 3rd party, I will base my opinion when there are actual facts given by Premium and Bell's on this matter.

With that out of the way, I continue on this beer trek that is Sierra Nevada. An 8.5%, 95 IBU brew from a beer camp, yes please. We had one of their beer camp series a few years back, when one of the bartenders from Bob's Bar made a brew with Sierra. It was fantastic, so I'm hoping this is as good.

This pours a nice dark garnet color, with khaki colored head. The head on mine has lingered, surprisingly, as Jennie did her portion of the review. The nose on this is fantastic. Caramel, bread, citrus with a tinge of pines. The flavor on this, at this point is, hop heavy all the way around. There are earthy, pine, and citrus flavors up front with a twist of caramel malts balancing in the middle. The ending is a West Coast Hop blast. A nice herbal tea like flavor is faint in the aftertaste. This is smooth drinking, with a slightly resiny stickiness on the tongue. The 8.5%, at this point is not noticed while drinking, but is noticed after 6 ounces of goodness are sitting happily in the stomach. I just realized I was zoning off for about 10 minutes thinking about a concert I went to 10 years ago. Ambulance LTD. They were opening for the Killers at the Newport Music Hall. Ambulance stole the show, in my opinion, to where after the show, I got their autographs on the concert ticket. I wasn't interested in meeting the Killers (who were just up and coming with the release of Hot Fuss). If you haven't heard them, youtube them. And while you're on youtube, look up our video from our trip to Elevator. With that being said, I end this in order to get to the next beer, and later, to the neighbors for some drunken cards.

4.3/5 caps

-Nathan-

Cheese Pairing: Brie, Camembert
Music Pairing: Ambulance LTD "Heavy Lifting"

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