Three Cheers for Jim Koch!

Wednesday a package was found at our front door from the Boston Beer Company. I remember a few months ago reading that Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company, was tired of seeing different glasses for wine, but seeing beer served in the common "Libby" pint glass found in so many bars and restaurants. He had decided that it was going to be his mission to set out and develop a glass specifically for HIS beer, much in the way the Belgians do. For those of you who don't know (all three reading this) the Belgians have a specific glass for almost every type of beer brewed there.

Anyway, here are Jim's words from their web site:

"We wanted to create a glass that offers beer lovers a full sensory drinking experience by fully showcasing Samuel Adams Boston Lager's complex balance of malt and hop flavors. This glass achieves that mission."

Tiax, the world-renowned sensory experts, worked closely with Jim to identify and evaluate the functional design features needed in a glass to showcase the key attributes of Samuel Adams Boston Lager®. The key requirements for the perfect glass for Samuel Adams Boston Lager included: delivering sweetness from the malt; maximizing the hops aroma and flavor; maintaining the ideal temperature; supporting a rich and creamy head; and sustaining the right amount of carbonation.

Back to the story. I remember a few months back reading a beer magazine and finding this out, thinking "those are pretty cool glasses. Maybe I'll order some..." and thought nothing more of it. So Wednesday comes and there's this package on the front porch. I open it up and, lo and behold, there are two of these new Sam Adams glasses. Now, I've killed a few brain cells in my day, but I had to think long and hard - did I actually order them and they're now just getting here? After digging through the packaging (reading the card) I discovered that Sam Adams sent two of these new glasses to everyone who is an AHA (American Homebrew Association) member. AHA! Membership DOES have its privileges. Anyway, here's to Jim Koch for supporting the homebrew community and for not settling for the status quo.

This was a perfect opportunity to try the glasses out on the Cali Common, and I must say it's a great glass. The shape captures the aromas, and the laser etching on the bottom releases carbonation. The beer turned out pretty well, too. Good legs, good head, and pretty evenly balanced. The hops are there, but not overpowering. I'm thinking of using my Randall in-line to serve from the kegerator.

Update: busted open the first bottle of the Survey Porter last night, and it's well carbonated, good roasty chocolate notes, and mellowing well. I figure a few more months should age it to perfection.

Holidays are a Wonderful Thing...

...because they allow you the time to do the things you don't normally have time to do during the week, like go see Blue Oyster Cult at Ribfest, or bottle and keg the beers that you've had in secondary for over a month.

The Cali Common I decided to go the easy route and keg, so it's currently force carbonating (which reminds me, I'd better go hit it again with the CO2). The Survey Porter, on the other hand, I figured that if I went through all of the time and effort to design a label for it, the least I could do is bottle it and show off the labels. Bottled a case and a half of 12 oz bottles, a few crown tops and a few 650 ml Rogue bottles, plus one empty from the Rogue 10,000 crown tops. All things considered, I think that my label designs are getting better, but they still have a long way to go.