last friday I got around to kegging both the belgian and wild version of my patersbier.

• I took a sample of the wild version, which had a  FG of 1.007, resulting in an abv of 5.7%.
• I also tasted the sample, which had some positive (non-phenolic) esters, but no funk/sourness.  since this beer is so dry, I am planning on letting it age out for a few months before serving.  if the results are promising, I might toss my saved slurry in a saison in the future…

on saturday, AP and I headed out to congregation ale house in long beach.

• our latest goal has been to investigate LA beer spots, and this one was the closest unexplored location.
• at first glance, I feared congregation would be trendy with a limited selection, as it was brand new and was best known for having staff dressed in catholic schoolgirl outfits.  however, when I checked out the tap and bottle list, I was happy to find more than a few great beers.
• AP grabbed a marzen to start off, while I nabbed a bottle of alpine’s duet, which had a fantastic hop aroma without any astringent bitterness. I finished off with a pour of harviestoun ola dubh 30 yr, which must have been sitting in the keg for quite some time since I missed much of the fantastic aroma and flavor people rave about online.  I should have grabbed a pour of angel’s share…
• overall, the great beer selection and tasty/inexpensive food at congregation definitely merit return visits, especially on a weekend afternoon.

on sunday my two kegs of kolsch went on a swiss family robinson-style adventure.

• AP and I headed out north on PCH to go visit our new orleans krewe for a mardi gras picture swap/potluck.
• after passing dozens of tempting sets up the coast from surfrider, to point dume, to zuma(!), we finally arrived at our host’s estate(!).
• the potluck was being held at our host’s beachfront cottage, which necessitated an agile climb down a steep cliff side staircase (not something you want to do while balancing ten gallons of brew).  fortunately, a zipline had been constructed as a sort of abstract dumbwaiter, and after a minute of securing, the beers were off down the cliff.
• a few minutes later party-goers were enjoying some cloudy kolsch with pulled pork and slaw on a private beach.  doesn’t get much better than that!

Tags: alpine, congregation ale house, kolsch, new orleans, patersbier, wild yeast

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