Get to Know Amarillo Hops Better With an Element 29 Pale Ale

Many different varieties of hops exist, each with its own flavor and aroma qualities, and with its own level of bittering capabilities. Brewers often come up with recipes that blend several different hops varieties in an effort to get the perfect combination of aroma, flavor, bitterness, and finish for a particular style. This is part of the art of brewing, which allows for endless experimentation and creativity. It's also fun to go the other direction and scale back on the ingredients, allowing just one variety of hops or type of malted grain to show what it can do. That's what Epic Brewing Company did on its recently released Element 29 Pale Ale, which is brewed with only the Amarillo variety of hops.

If a brewer is going to use only one variety of hops in an American pale ale, Amarillo is a good choice for several reasons. It's become a popular and heavily used variety in American pale ales and IPAs because of its juicy, citrusy, floral character. It brings out very desirable aromas and flavors in the beer, and with an alpha acid range of 8-10 percent, imparts a medium bittering value. With pleasant aroma and flavor, and a nature that won't destroy your palate with bitterness, Amarillo sounds like a great variety of hops to go solo, right? Well, it also depends on the brewer's knowledge of all the other ingredients used in the recipe. The other chosen ingredients, like the grain composition, yeast used for fermentation, even the water used, must mesh well with the hops variety to create a beer worth drinking. After enjoying a can of Element 29, I'd say that Epic definitely pulled this off.

Element 29, which represents the element Copper on the periodic table, lives up to its name with its deep orange, coppery color. There's a thick, prominent head of foam that lingers down the sides of the glass as you sip. The aroma has a subtle citrus and floral character, with malty sweetness like bread crusts or cinnamon raisin toast. In the flavors, tangerine, grapefruit, and pine hit the tongue first, followed by a pleasant sweetness of honey, biscuit and bread. The hefty malt backbone melds well with the Amarillo hops and keeps bitterness in check, making for a crisp, smooth, and balanced pale ale.

In a world of hop-forward beers, Element 29 offers something a little bit different. Give it a try if you want to taste the intricacies created by just one variety of hops, or if you want a beer that delivers great American hops flavors with a less aggressive nature.

In a Bourbon Town Like Louisville, It's Good to Go Against the Grain

The art of brewing is fluid and always evolving. While a brewer must be fundamentally sound in their processes and science in order to make excellent beer, there's a ton of room for creativity. Craft beer lovers increasingly want to try new or different tastes, so there's also a lot of opportunity for brewers to offer lesser-known or obscure styles. Take these considerations, and add in a local craft beer scene that's early in its development, and you have a recipe for success. Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse is a growing craft brewery in Louisville, Kentucky that embraces the foundations of brewing expertise and goes beyond the most typical popular styles out there, while also experimenting and innovating in its products.

I like to explore the Louisville beer scene when I go back to my hometown to visit my family. Against the Grain is one brewery that I'd heard a lot about but not yet experienced. It opened in September of 2011 and is housed within Slugger Field where the minor league baseball "Bats" play. Last year, after less than three years in operation, ATG announced that it plans to open a 25,000 square foot production space in the historic Louisville neighborhood of Portland in 2015. The expansion will allow the brewery to increase production by more than 400 percent, provide customers with a second taproom, and allow for tremendous expansion of its impressive barrel-aging program. Such growth is exciting news for a well-regarded craft brewery in a city with a smaller, but proud, beer scene. After all, Louisville and the surrounding area has long been known best for its fantastic bourbon distilling culture. Louisville's breweries have proven that craft beer can co-exist with bourbon, and even thrive in such a market. The creativity that ATG employs with its barrel-aging program also combines the best of both worlds, much to the pleasure of those who love complex beers enhanced by months spent in a bourbon barrel.

We checked out ATG for lunch on the day after Christmas, as it's also a full pub and smokehouse with a versatile food menu. With a broad range of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and meats, there are a lot of delicious and high quality choices to complement the eclectic lineup of beers. When looking at the beer list, you may not find the most popular styles around, or many beers that fit firmly into categories. For instance, they didn't have an IPA on tap that day, but they did have two different India pale lagers available. What you'll find is intriguing beers, many that give a nod to history and tradition. You'll find beers brewed using a wide variety of grains, including malted rye and wheat, smoked malts, and black malts. Lagers, which often take a backseat to ales in many breweries, are given equal consideration at ATG. Barrel-aged beers of all different kinds show the range of innovation at ATG, and really help set the brewery apart from most in the area.

Above all, the brewers at ATG know what they're doing. Their recipes accentuate the intricate and delicious qualities of the malts and hops varieties in the beer. The quality really shone through in each of the beers I sampled in the pub, as well as the beers I brought back to try with my co-workers last Friday afternoon. I'll admit that some of the more challenging offerings like their smoked malt beers won't automatically please every palate, but a big part of the fun of beer tasting is experiencing new flavors and finding out what you like. Against the Grain is definitely a brewery to watch over the next few years, and certainly one to visit if you're ever in downtown Louisville.

Victory at Sea is One of Many Coffee-Infused Beers to Try This Winter

If you love a good cup of joe and a high quality malty beverage, why not savor both at the same time? Beers brewed or infused with coffee are easy to find these days. Just last weekend, I enjoyed a glass each of Ozo Coffee Brown Ale from Upslope Brewing and Hiatus Cold Coffee-Infused Oatmeal Ale from Renegade Brewing. The bitter, roasty flavors of coffee beans add a dynamic element that enhances many different beer styles. I've had a bit of a craving for these flavors lately, so this week I cracked open a bottle of beer that had caught my attention this winter - Victory at Sea from Ballast Point Brewing Company. This imperial porter, infused with coffee and vanilla beans, is the perfect answer to a dark, cold winter night.

Victory at Sea has been surrounded by its share of fanfare as a winter seasonal. On Dec. 21, Ballast Point celebrated its 3rd Annual Victory at Sea Day, a celebration that featured many different versions of the beer, from barrel-aged to infused with fruit, chocolate or spices. I'm sure this event in San Diego was a blast, but for the majority of us Ballast Point fans who missed it, we have to settle for the standard version of Victory at Sea, if it's available in our area. That's just fine with me, and luckily Ballast Point distributes this world-class strong ale, and other great beers in its lineup, in the Denver metro area. Though Ballast Point, like many west coast breweries, is known best for its hop-forward beers like Sculpin IPA, Victory at Sea helps prove this brewery's versatility and range of brewing expertise.

As an imperial porter, Victory at Sea is a decadent beer to be sipped and savored, and its 22-ounce packaging makes it perfect for sharing. This is a full-bodied beer that pours a deep black color with a prominent, bronze-colored head of foam. Its aroma has an immediate draw, with a nose of coffee beans, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and roastinesss. There are big coffee flavors right up front, followed by a creamy sweetness of chocolate, caramel, toffee, some vanilla, and a bourbon character. The finish is a melding of sweetness, some roasty bitterness, and a bit of alcohol warming. The beer's strength of 10 percent ABV is noticeable, but doesn't take away from its enjoyment. Victory at Sea is an excellent robust porter made even better with the infusion of coffee and vanilla, which add layers of depth and richness.

When you have a chance to try a great coffee beer you haven't had before, I strongly suggest you take it. Beers like Victory at Sea burst with flavor and exemplify the creativity and excellence that thrive in today's craft brewing industry.