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This past tuesday (Sept. 17, 2013) was the much anticipated Homebrew Tap Takeover event put on by BrauHaus and Indie Alehouse. We finally got to try the fruits of our labour, our carrot cake ale, “Have Your Carrot Cake & Drink It Too,” and it was delicious!
The beer turned out even better than we had hoped. It poured a murky, dark copper, with flashes of orange if it caught the light just right, and a thick, creamy white head. The aroma was all nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove, with a hint of sweet bread. There was a nicely balanced sweetness in the taste, with just the right amount of spice. The carrot flavour was subtle but came through just enough from beneath the smooth, creamy, bready malt character. We’re not sure ourselves, but some people mentioned that they could even taste cream cheese icing (possibly the combination of vanilla and notes from the hefewiezen ale yeast?). All in all, it was definitely reminiscent of carrot cake in a glass.
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Along with ours, there were 13 other homebrews on tap to try, and we made sure to have a sample of them all. There were some really great beers available, made by some extremely talented home brewers.
Some of our favourites were…
“Marshmallow Mild,” a 4.5% english mild brewed with vanilla beans and actual marshmallows by Mark Brosens and Andrew Cooke.
“Relax This Won’t Hurt,” a hoppy imperial porter by the Biergotter Homebrew Club, featuring an extreme grapefruit and pine flavour that dominated the chocolately malt base.
“I Hefe Dream,” by The Three Sheets homebrewing. A smoky oaked dunkelweizen with a lot of big ripe banana and clove notes in the finish.
“Quittin’ Time Grisette,” a very tart, very refreshing grissette brewed with sour cherries, raspberries and blackberries, by Sean Crawford.
There was also the intensely boozy “Winter Is Coming” Russian Imperial Stout, with an ABV of 13% (or higher?), and aged in a whiskey barrel, it packs a very distinctly hot punch. It would definitely keep you warm enough to endure a winter north of the wall.
While we could keep going, those were some of the ones that stood out the most to us. There were some really great tasting “simpler” brews though, like the juicy “Amarillo Slim” American pale ale, among others.
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The place filled up fast by 6:00, forcing some unlucky guests to put up with one or two hour wait times, but those who did finally get in seemed to have a blast.
We hope this is just the first of many homebrew tap takeovers that we get to be a part of (or even just attend, really) in the city. It’s a great way to taste some truly unique and inspiring beers that you would otherwise be missing out on.
Big thanks to BrauHaus and Indie Alehouse for organizing and hosting the event, to Jeff and Brandon from Indie for helping us all brew, and to all the homebrewers themselves for creating such delicious beers!