The J. Clyde » Jerry

Week 6 Tornado Relief – Gelukkige Vaderdag!

Jerry — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:48:35 +0000

This week, Good People presents a Belgian IPA that should appeal to the hopheads and Belgafreaks. The Belgian IPA is sort of a hybrid style that blends the malt and hops of a traditional IPA with a Belgian yeast that imparts a unique flavor to the ale. The fourth ingredient – American water from Birmingham, Alabama! We open early today at 12pm with a Father’s Day brunch (reservations only), but stop by early if you would like to try this unique beverage. We’ll be open ’til 7pm for tornado relief.

Le Jour De Père Huereux! Gelukkige Vaderdag!
Happy Father’s Day!

A Bit o’ Hop Oil for Week 5

Jerry — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:52:13 +0000

Snake oil you say? NO WAY! This conccoction – far from fraud – is made with Hop Oil. You see, most cask-conditioned beers are topped off with some fresh hop flowers or a bag of pellets to allow the aromatic character of hops to steep out. What you get is a more aromatic rendering of the hops than you achieve while boiling them in late additions to the brew kettle.

This week though, Good People has obtained a portion of hop oil – yes, hop oil to “dry hop” this latest cask of Pale Ale. Intrigued? I certainly am and I can’t wait to try this out.

The oils in hop flowers are similar to the oils you would find in flowers to make perfume or spices. They are volatile and contribute significantly to the aroma of flowers. It doesn’t take a whole lot to be very prominent. We’re talking PPM – that’s parts per million.

A lot of folks think that most of the esters in beer originate from the yeast – banana and cherry flavors come from the esters that are yeast fermentation byproducts. You can also get citrus flavors – grapefruit to lemon – that affect the flavor from hops.

Anywho, this beer should be interesting and I can’t wait to try one or two.

Cheers!

Red, White and Birch! Loose Cannon Cask Tonight!

Jerry — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:15:45 +0000

Come check out this offering today at The J. Clyde! Already tapped, this beer is incredible. Lemony, piney, and hoppalicious! Can’t believe I just wrote that.

At approximately 7.25%, this IPA delivers a wallop. They’ve knicknamed it Hop³ (hop cubed) ale to reflect the enormous amount of hops in this beer: over 3 pounds per barrel! It is hopped 3 ways: in the kettle, in the hop back, and dry hopped. Pairs well with strong cheeses and steak. 2nd Place CAMRA award winner at the 2010 Great British Beer FestivalFrom Heavy Seas website,

“Loose Cannon – This very citrus hop-driven American IPA has its aroma augmented with notes of smokiness, vanilla, and caramel. Marsh has dry-hopped the cask and added hand-toasted slats of Red Oak, White Oak, and Birch: a patriotic Red, White, & Birch, if you will. ”

Hugh Sisson from Heavy Seas will be on hand as well from 7pm on to talk about Heavy Seas and hopefully this beer in particular.

Cheers!

Quattro! Un Otro Snakehandler!

Jerry — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:16:28 +0000

Week four of tornado relief brings us another firkin of Snakehandler! Generously dry-hopped with Columbus and Chinook, this double IPA definitely fulfills the description of what it SHOULD be!

Me personally? I’m still wondering when I’m gonna see these cans on the shelf!

Cheers!

Third Week of Tornado Relief

Jerry — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:33:12 +0000

Another Good People cask will be on tap this Sunday! This time we’ve got a firkin of GPBC Pale Ale dry-hopped generously with Amarillo and Cascade hops. As usual in our tornado relief efforts, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Birmingham Chapter of the American Red Cross.

We’ll be open from 2pm – 7pm – Sunday, May 29th.

Cheers!

Charity Sunday – pinch hit?

Jerry — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:20:26 +0000

Week 2: A Californian brewery and another from Colorado have stepped into the batter’s box to pinch hit for Good People this week. So, I thought it would be interesting to bring back the mystery concept for this Sunday. We will have a pin of Scotch Ale and a pin of Double IPA. The first three persons to guess both breweries win a $50 gift certificate each. Only one guess allowed per person!

Sunday, May 22nd from 2pm to 7pm, all proceeds from the sale of the two beers goes to charity – the Birmingham Chapter of the American Red Cross – Tornado Relief fund.

Cheers!

American Craft Beer Week – Alabama Friday!

Jerry — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:45:50 +0000

Friday, May 20th is all about Alabama breweries at The J. Clyde. We’ll be tapping special beers from Blue Pants, Good People, Straight to Ale, and Yellowhammer.

A great video about American Craft Beer Week can be found by clicking on the link you just read.

We’ll be tapping kegs of:

Blue Pants Courdoroy IPA
Blue Pants Knickerbocker Red
Blue Pants Saison
Good People Brown Ale
Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout
Good People IPA
Good People Pale Ale
Good People Snake Handler
Straight to Ale Lily Flag
Straight to Ale Monkeynaut
Straight to Ale Unobtanium
Yellowhammer Miracle Worker

Please join us as we celebrate our little corner of American Craft Beer Week as we showcase our best from Alabama!

Cheers!

Tornado Relief

Jerry — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:48:22 +0000

Normally, The J. Clyde is closed on Sunday. However, this Sunday kicks off a sequence of charity events at The J. Clyde to support those folks in our community who were impacted by the destructive tornadoes and storms that struck Alabama on Wednesday, April 27th.

Good People Brewery and The J. Clyde are teaming up to support Alabama’s tornado relief efforts. Beginning Sunday, May 15th from 2pm to 7pm, a special cask of Snakehandler Double IPA will be served with all proceeds from the cask sales donated to the Birmingham Chapter of the American Red Cross. The J. Clyde’s Pub Menu will be available during the event; however, the first beer served to each attendee MUST be the charity beer. For Snakehandler, we are serving half Imperial pints only since it packs a pretty good wallop.

Good People has agreed to supply casks of beer weekly for one year to support this effort. So, for the next 52 weeks The J. Clyde will be open on Sundays from 2pm to 7pm serving a special cask of Good People beer. You can expect old favorites like dry-hopped IPA and new additions to the Good People lineup like Iron Ore Imperial Red Ale (just throwing a name on the wall for ideas!). I would expect many very special beers to be included.

One of the things I’ve been reading in the newspaper the past week is that eventually the country’s attention will focus on other stories. As a matter of fact, with the killing of Osama Bin Laden and the Royal Wedding (seriously?), it is noted that the focus has already shifted.

I would ask that you add Sundays at The J. Clyde to your calendar to help remind you that there are folks still out there who desperately need your assistance.

At the moment, we’ve only scheduled a year’s worth of casks; however, it will take YEARS, maybe decades, for the impacted areas to recover. We’re doing what we can and every little bit adds up. I have already been approached by four other breweries around the country who wanted to participate in potential fund raisers. Certainly, there are people across the country who have seen the devastation and want to help.

We will have a donation receptacle available and highly encourage attendees to give what they can.

Thanks for your support!

Blind DIPA Results!

Jerry — Sun, 08 May 2011 01:19:39 +0000

Well, the people have spoken! Which is the best Double/Imperial IPA? An “unscientific” panel of 16 judges tasted nine of the options currently available in Alabama. The judges were asked to rate the beers according to the style guidelines of BJCP for aroma, appearance, taste, and mouthfeel. On a scale from 1 to 5, each guideline is independently rated by each judge. Judges do not know which beer they are tasting nor do they know which beers are included in the tasting until the tasting is completed.

The results were weighted 10% appearance, 20% aroma, 60% taste, and 10% mouthfeel and tabluated for all judges…and the three medal winners are (Gold) Moylan’s Hopsickle, (Silver) Avery Maharaja and (Bronze) our local brewery’s Snakehandler!

The beers tasted are in order of finish:

Moylan’s Hopsickle
Avery Maharaja
Good People Snakehandler
Bell’s Hopslam
Great Divide Hercules
Yellowhammer Hop Revival
Boulevard Double Wide
Hebrew Lenny’s RIPA

All in all, it was just a really good time with beautiful weather. Not too scientific, but a lot of fun. Keep your browser tuned to this site for the next one which will probably feature a Belgian-style in July or August.

Cheers!

Update: Blind Double IPA Tasting Moved to May 7th

Jerry — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:44:29 +0000

Sorry, folks. We had to move this tasting to Saturday, May 7th at 2pm. Here’s the original post with changes.

This is part 4 of a series of tastings that Danner and I have coordinated. Seating is limited and requires a credit card reservation. It’s really a great way to figure out which beers you like and which you don’t because there’s no packaging, no preconceptions, and no hype to prejudice you.

We’re doing this one at The J. Clyde on May 7th at 2pm. $19 gets you samples of ~10 DIPA. We’ll also have a selection of cheeses for the event to help your palate. Again, please take note that t’s been moved to Saturday, May 7th at 2pm.

Call The J. Clyde at 205-939-1312 to make a reservation, or drop by in person to have a beer while you make your reservation.

The exact lineup of beers is a secret, but you can count on the usual suspects being involved, as well as some that are a bit rare by AL standards.