Revisiting

This week has been a week of retrospective thinking on my part.  I revisited a brewpub that I haven't been to in a long time, I tasted a beer in my cellar that I had stashed away, and I have been contemplating what I actually like in beer.


I never had a lot good to say about Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora, Colorado, except that they do seem to win a lot of awards for a new brewery.  I personally couldn't find anything I liked there.  Unfortunately, I still feel the same way, save for one beer.  They have a Braggot (mead/beer) at 12.1% ABV that is really good.  But it is 12.1%, and I can not order or drink one in good conscience (or with conscience) when in a mood for a beer.  It is more like a liquor.  I can not get into their regular offerings, and suggest that unless you are an IPA guy, you would feel the same.  I have the feeling that doing basic beers is not their thing, and they focus on perfecting styles you can not necessarily get everywhere or anywhere else (and subsequently, perhaps, do not have a lot of competition in the professional beer contests).  That said, the people are nice, the atmosphere is good, it is attached to the brewing store (which is convenient) and their AHA discount is one of the best around if you are there on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.


I cracked open one of perhaps 7 remaining Oktoberfests we made in February.  This beer is getting better.  I hope that I can keep them until the crispness of fall sets in, but I have my doubts.  I have also been craving darker beers....go figure, I just got done bottling a light ale and am fermenting a messy watermelon wheat, and all I want is a Porter.  I am truly a contrarian.  I have decided that while my Witbier is excellent (wish there was a local contest to enter...but I wouldn't want to waste the beer), I am convinced that I can take or leave the style.  I much would rather an American style wheat (like my W1 last year),  and am not convinced that it makes our regular beer schedule at this time.


My brother wants to brew a brown, and I am up for it.  I want to redo the porter, and maybe a traditional English bitter before that and before it gets cold.  That is a lot of brewing....as always.  Like Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company says, "There is a rhythm to the seasons".