Ola Dubh 40 yr Tasting

I am really falling behind on posts these days. Blame it all on the great beer culture going on here in Atlanta.

A couple of weeks ago I received a cryptic email from Ale Sharpton "life changing beer" in the subject line. Obviously, I was hooked. Turned out to be a gathering of the insider's round table of Brick Store Pub beer-nuts, all in line for an early afternoon of 'Appreciata Maximus Excellenti". Dave & Mike were welcome recipients of 1 cask of Ola Dubh 40 year, 1 of 10 in the U.S., the only one in Georgia. This 'life changing' brew was all that and then some.

Ola Dubh (or ‘Black Oil’) is a collaborative effort between Harviestoun Brewery and Highland Park, Distiller. It is based on Harviestoun’s award-winning Old Engine Oil, with a whole lot more than a stylistic nod to the classic Imperial Porters (and Stouts) of the nineteenth century, this is a rich, dark, 8% a.b.v. beer, the first ale to be aged in malt whisky casks from a named distillery and, with traceable casks and numbered bottles, the rst with genuine provenance. Scotch Whiskey was aged in the casks for 40 years! Then turned over to Harviestoun for further aging of the "Oil".

The result. "life changing beer" Really.

I don't drink one type of alcohol, Scotch Whiskey. However, this amazingly balanced brew brings together my favorite beer style and my least favorite alcohol type in a marriage that would make any brewer smile. I just can't believe I was fortunate enough to get 3 glasses of some of the finest oil to come down the pike. In the words of Jed Clampet - Black Gold, Texas Tea. But worth much, much more.

By the showing of hard core faces at the gathering, the word was leaked out to an appreciative few to avoid anarchy. I got there an hour early just to be sure. Dave served up a few glasses to the eager masses and we were on our way. Being a regular also has some other advantages. Like getting a side by side tasting of ALL the versions of the elixir: 12yr, 16yr, 30 yr and the big 40 year!! My faves were the 16 and 40; 16 being really big on the Porter end, 40 being just freakin' big. The subtle flow of scotch-essence wrapped in an old style porter rolled around the mouth in a way that made you want to absorb it, not swallow it. I am simply not capable of accurately describing the amazing mouth feel, texture and lush notes that the barrel aging brought about. Scotch whiskey aged Porter? Why yes, I'll have another.

40 year Ola was not bottled. If you weren't there, you'll never go there. Sorry. All this has led me to add a stop into Harviestoun Brewery- Alva, Clackmannanshire, UK on my next european beer vacation.

All hail Belgium. I hail Scotland.

FAT TUESDAY!!! (Sierra Nevada/Taco Mac Dinner)

It's a bit late in arriving but, here is the entry for the beer dinner hosted on Fat Tueasday by Taco Mac.

It was a sold out, paired tasting of some great food and Sierra Nevada brews. Included was the much anticipated release of Hop Secret 393. This is the brand new brew, brought to life by none other than Fred Crudder of Taco Mac and the gang of brewers at Sierra. It's name and amazingly unique taste come from a new strain of hops, known only as 393. Results are so great that the word is Sierra is contemplating making it an official brand!! What, Why, How is this sooo different? It just does not taste, drink or play on the palate like any other beer. Big claims? Yes. Can they replicate it? We all hope so. I'll get back to this in a minute.

Ok, this was a five course dinner. Executive Chef Matt Deckard prepared dishes from an experimental menu, possibly showing up on a plate near you soon.

ONE: Beer Battered Shrimp, wrapped in bacon with an Ale remoulade. Both the batter and the remoulade were made using the classic Sierra Pale Ale. A perfect kick-off for the evening, paired great, crunchy crusted shrimp chased with crisp Pale Ale.

TWO: Blue Crab Tart w/ house made Grainy Mustard & arugula. Delicious newcomer, Anniversary Ale made it's way into the mustard and was balanced well with the light crab dish.

THREE: Chicken Tikka & Charred Green Tomato/serrano chile chutney. PERFECTLY marinated & prepared chicken and delicious chutney were 'spot on' with the amazingly different Hop Secret 393 brew. Both beer and bird were so unique on their own and then even better together. Again, 393 floats on the tongue, as if not even there and yet, the delivery of full flavor never even thinks about coming up short. I don't even know what else to say. If you missed this release, YOU MISSED IT. Only 29 kegs were produced for all of these United States, hope that they do this again, . Thanks Fred, a keg of 393 is truly "the bomb" of choice.

FOUR: If that course wasn't enough, Matt turned the dinner up to Eleven with an amazing Ancho rubbed Farmers Steak with sweet Plantains and Smoked Porter Rum sauce.

Holy Sh*t.

Where to start? Farmer's steak is that yummy outer ring of perfect meat on a ribeye. This version comes from shaving the whole farmer's off a standing ribeye, then rubbing it in chile ancho powder. Finally rolling it up, searing it perfectly outside and rare in the middle. On it's own a carnivorous wildfire. But wait - sweet plantains (hispanic love) swimming in a sauce so perfectly balanced between smoky and rum sweet, well, it was perfect. A bite of steak dredged through the sauce, chased with one of the best porters to ever walk the earth, now you're talking about wishing you had never even tried the first three courses, and they were wonderful. Personally, I could have repeated this pairing all week. Sierra's Smoked Porter is a balancing act of outrageous proportions in of itself and it just makes everything meat even better.

whew!

FIVE: Yes, there's more. Milk Chocolate Cake with Barley Wine frosting paired with Bigfoot Barley Wine, of course. With barely enough room left to even begin thinking about cake and Bigfoot all in the same menu item, we dove in. Once again taken to yet another delicious place. I was nearly in a digestive coma by now, coming round long enough to smile, then pass out. YUM!!

This may sound like a Taco Mac/Sierra Nevada paid
infommercial, but it's not. It was really that

great of a night. If you don't believe me, ask my wingman Ale Sharpton. He was just as

frightening to watch eat like a banshee as I was. Sierra front-man Dave Kemper showed up 48 hours after intensive hand

surgery to dig into Farmer's Steak with just a fork!!! (wipe your chin man)

Many thanks to everyone at Sierra Nevada for letting a known fanatic like Fred Crudder come into the brewery and help knock off a fantastic beer. 393 is here to stay I say, just make more this time. Thanks also go out to Taco Mac for hoppin' up the menu to nitrous injected. I hope this turns into a permanent thing too.

Gotta go. I'm hungry all over.......