The Scratch Thread

I read the section in the Homebrewer's Almanac on sap, including the recipe for this very beer, so I had to have it tonight. They replaced water with sap. This is the main draw of the beer. It won't blow anyone away, but the point of this beer is to show what brewing with sap does, and thus the beer is relatively simple otherwise so as not to mask the flavors the sap brings. No wild/mixed yeast, no other added ingredients besides a little maple bark. This is a beer that requires attention. At first sip, it tastes like a pretty straight-forward porter with maple. However, careful consideration reveals a lot of subtleties. It's mostly maple porter up front, but the finish is where the mineral content of the sap is most evident, a little earthiness to balance the sweetness, along with a good dose of wood and a hint of smoke.

 

I'd been meaning to drink this for a couple months now, but figured there's no rush.


Well, what immediately hits me is how sour this beer is. Most Scratch beers are sour, though it's usually more of a tart-mildly sour, but this one is the most sour Scratch beer I can recall (even though I've certainly had beers from other breweries that were more sour). The sour is definitely the predominant flavor, but there is definite peach aroma and taste and a slight sweetness, as well as some funk. Because it's more sour, it's less complex than usual from this brewery. Perfect carbonation. A tasty brew for sure, and one in the future I'd like to age a couple years.

 

Is anyone going to the Oktoberfest tomorrow? We've never been and weren't planning to, but all their events are so much fun and the weather will be perfect, so we last-minute decided to go. Might have to spring for a stein, they look great.

 

Great time at the Oktoberfest this Sunday. Food and beer were more traditional than usual for Scratch, but not traditional enough for a normal Oktoberfest. Well, ok, there was a beet gose, so that's far from traditional. Unfortunately, because they only did liter & half liter pours, I couldn't try everything. I had their Marzen for the first time, and I could drink that all day. Perfect balance of bitter & sweet. Wish I could buy a sixer of that every year. Bought a stein, filled it with Marzen, and that was more beer in one pour than I usually drink in an entire trip to Scratch. Also had to try the Fig Leaf Schwarzbier. Another great beer, again pretty traditional, but with a little Scratch twist in the fig leafs. That was enough beer for me (since I had to go to a youth event afterwards), so I didn't get to try the Beet Gose (which I was ok with not trying) or the Cherry Bark Doppelbock (which I really wanted to try, shoulda brought a growler). Great event, pretty big crowd but not too big, and I hope those ladies that asked the bartender what beer they should get if they don't drink beer found something they liked...

 

They are well worth the cost for a few reasons:

1. It takes more time and effort to brew these beers. Foraging for or harvesting ingredients, preparing them (toasting oak, chopping lavender, slicing fruit, etc.), takes a lot of extra time.

2. These beers are like nothing else out there. Prices are comparable to BA stouts, which everyone is brewing these days.

3. They are top quality. They aren't just unique, they're fantastic beers.

 

Similar to the Maple in that it is another beer that's more subtle, but different from the maple in style, most evident by the color, which is more of an amber than black. This one has a bit of tangyness rather than the sweetness of the maple. A bit of bark and earthiness, mineral finish. Another complex brew.

 

Some Scratch beers are subtle. This one is not. Tons of blackberry and lavender and pretty sour. A bit of wood in the finish. Really a fantastic beer. One of my favorites from Scratch.

 

The scent is so woody and smoky. Not like a campfire, just very pleasant. Toasted bark. Taste is wood and smoke up front, earthy, a little marshmallow, a bit of malty sweetness, especially in the finish. Perfect Thanksgiving beer.

 

Native Fruit Series. This one is passionfruit. Brewed with 50% wheat, and it definitely tastes like it, with that wheat beer flavor that I'm not used to in a Scratch brew, but it adds another layer to the beer. Slightly tart of course from the mixed culture fermentation. Fruity, but subtly, and not sweet. I've had passionfruit beers that were very sweet, this is definitely not so. Also had the File` Cedar, which was nicely spiced and woody/slightly smoky. A straight-forward Scratch beer showcasing the foraged ingredients.

Had another bottle of Basil IPA the other night as well. Still excellent, and very strong on the basil, but this one is best as fresh as possible, like any IPA, of course. The brightness of the hops had waned, albeit only slightly.