I don’t have to say much about Sherbooke Liquor store on these pages – almost all of you know about who they are, what they do and why they are so important for Edmonton’s beer scene. What you may or may not know is that today, Sherbrooke puts on its shelves its 1000th beer. That is right – there are now 1000 beer available on the shelves. That HAS got to be some kind of record for Canada. Actually, Jim tells me he is likely over 1000, but he had to pick some time to pronounce it (and likely he can’t count that high – just kidding, Jim!).
So, to celebrate the event, Sherbrooke has released Big Kahuna, made by Alley Kat. And it is quite the beer for number 1000. It is a sour ale aged ale with a post-fermentation addition of sweet cherries, followed by a second fermention. The base beer is fairly dark and rich and the cherries will add an earthy note. I think the Kats are reluctant to go as far as calling it an Oud Bruin – as I don’t think it aged long enough or sour enough to apply, but it will still be something quite different for Alberta.
And Sherbrooke ain’t done! This appears to be the month of Sherbrooke. Last week the latest in their beer god series, Yasigi, arrived. Yasigi, the god, is an African goddess of beer, usually depicted as a well-endowed woman, beer mug in hand and ready to party. Yasigi, the beer, is a Belgian-style ale with hibiscus flowers. And then next week is the arrival of Westveleteren in Alberta (more on that next week). And if that isn’t enough, I am told a fourth beer is on its way here and to be released at the end of the month – but for now it is a secret.
But if that isn’t enough, there are more beer releases this week!
- Work of Tart: Alley Kat’s latest Big Bottle series was released yesterday. It is a sour ale dosed with raspberries (Hmm! Sounds familiar). Actually, the two beer are quite different. This beer is a light wheat ale with lactic fermentation and a whack of raspberries. I tried some at the opening and the raspberry aroma is fantastic and comes through in the flavour as well. For my palate, it could have been a bit more tart, but I suspect for most who try it, the tartness will be quite refreshing.
- Paddock Wood has a couple of new beer out (for the record, they came out a couple weeks ago). Their summer seasonal is Arthur, a low-alcohol (4.2%) English-style bitter designed perfected for summer patio sessions. Don’t expect a hop bomb here, kids. This one is supposed to follow the British tradition of the session ale. The Paddock folks also tossed out a Cherry version of their popular Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout (which is their barrel-aged version of 1000 Monkeys)
With all this beer ready to be consumed, this heat wave doesn’t stand a chance.
July 13, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Not enough fingers.
July 13, 2012 at 7:14 PM
Just count to ten 100 times…
July 14, 2012 at 8:14 AM
Can I also use my toes?
July 16, 2012 at 1:50 PM
Had Work of Tart and Big Kahuna yesterday (both from bottles bought at Sherebrook)and all I could taste in both was band aid. As a homebrewer I know this is the results of exposure to oxygen after the primary fermentation. have you notice this? any idea what happen?. I was disappointed to see Alley Kat even releasen a beer that taste like that. Have they not notice yet? was a problem at bottling? I was looking forward to drink this beers but end up drain pouring both.
July 16, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Band aid can be atributated to chlorophenols which can result from high levels of chlorine in the water mixed with the polyphenols produced by the yeast strain. These beers use lacto in them so, some wild yeast strains can lead to an excessive production of polyphenols that react with trace amounts of chlorine in the water. Could also be the lacto and some external, contamination, wild yeast strains. I have a bottle of the work of tart. We’ll see if I am getting any. Could be that you are not use to the taste of “wild” beers hehe
July 16, 2012 at 5:16 PM
you are right, band aids smells are from clorophenols not oxidation, I got them confused.
any way the flavor was really strong in both of them. I’m very use to “wild beer” flavors and what i got from both beers is definitively not one of them. also as far as i understand, Lacto is usually very clean, producing little more that lactic acid. I though oxidatio nwas easy to explain. now I wonder what happen.
July 21, 2012 at 1:35 PM
A little dissapointed unfortunately in the big K. Seemed watery for a style I would expect to be richer, wonder if some equipment sanitizer made its way into this beer. Not sweet enough to stand up to the funk the Lacto adds and the sourness was mild as well. The byproducts of the Lacto were not of the good kind in comparison to my somewhat limited experience with other sour beers. A fun experiment by Alleykat but would have hoped for a little more control over the outcome. Not too pleasant of a drink.
July 22, 2012 at 12:12 PM
Alley Kat might want to check Edmonton City Water to see if they have started adding chloramines in addition to Chlorine. These won’t dissipate like chlorine, and need special attention to be removed. Low levels of chloramines will release chlorine into the beer and produce these flavours. potassium metabisulphite will remove them though
July 22, 2012 at 12:43 PM
Edmonton has used chloramines for years. I stopped using Edmonton water for my brewing more than a decade ago for that reason. I don’t know what AK uses for filtration, but I suspect they are on top of the chloramine thing. As for my homebrewery, I suck it up, by bottles of RO water and then add brewing salts as needed depending on the style I am making. Not the most economical way to do it, but easier and pain free. And, really, if a homebrewer can’t spend a little extra per batch, who could??
July 26, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Perhaps I was a little harsh, and by all means folks should still give this beer a shot, even if for educational purposes! According to Randy Mosher’s ‘Tasting Beer’ Chlorophenolic flavours are a result of reaction between phenolic compunds and sanitizers or cleaning solutions so I think Christian and I were noticing the same thing. Have yet to try the Work of Tart so I’ll have to see how they compare.