We hear about it all the time. Malt liquor. Single-malt scotch. Malted milk balls. Chocolate malts. Michelob made a big deal a few years ago about bringing back an “all-malt” recipe. We use the term to describe other beverages. I love a black tea with a malty nose, myself. I am giving all of these [...]
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 by Chris Washenberger
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey recently invited me to take part in the pilot session of their new program, The Whiskey Workshop. The workshop is designed as a 2-day getaway for whiskey lovers and distilling nerds. My invitation was fortuitous, as I like to claim both designations. The idea is based on the belief that said lover-of-libations wants [...]
Thursday, February 14, 2013 by Chris Washenberger
Max’s article a while back about decanting wine got me thinking. I have seen a lot of weird sediment in wines over the years. Only some of it was backwash from swigging out of the bottle. There seems to be a number of distinct morphologies when it comes to junk floating around in a wine [...]
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 by Chris Washenberger
Today’s Mr. Science’s Drunken Science is going to be as much drunken history as science. The question came in from Kilo in a past comments section: “Would love to know the difference between good alcohol / ethanol and bad. Occurs in booze and beer. Bad booze can make you blind, and we better all know [...]
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
You’ve likely heard the news: it seems that our local Strange Brewing Company and some homebrew store in Massachusetts are having a little bit of a legal twist-up over the name “Strange” followed up by some iteration of the term “Brew.” I am going to be up front. Where lawyers are involved I generally try [...]
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Here’s to updating a classic. I had a chance to visit and sample some of the offerings from the newly renovated Gaetano’s. The Denver classic has been around since 1947 and recently closed for a few months for a sprucing-up. The place had a physical change as well as a staff change to bring some [...]
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
I am one with my vices. I really am. Yes, the drinking and smoking and general tendencies toward inebriation and enjoyment of psychoactive substances is probably bad for me long term, but what the hell? On Saturday, I had the opportunity to engage my love of nicotine in the company of many (upwards of 2000, [...]
Monday, August 27, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Well, isn’t this all something. The Great American Beer Festival public tickets sold out faster than ever before. Sourfest at Avery Brewing sold out in seconds. Literally seconds. Pretty nuts. In the last few years, I have experienced the dread and sheer terror of pounding F5 in the moments after the tickets go on sale [...]
Thursday, July 5, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Sometimes I get ahead of myself and think everyone is on board with stuff. As a brewer, drinker and a guy who is an all around beer dork, I have the expectation that people are with me on the intricacies of beer. Recently, I witnessed the terms ale and lager being used interchangeably. After I [...]
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
During an impromptu survey of new breweries on Saturday, Mama Monroe and I found out that Hogshead brewery was open. Two weeks in, the tap list was short. That notwithstanding, this is my type of brewery. There was not a Kaffir lime leaf in sight. No lavender, ginger lemongrass or fartberries either. Just really solid [...]
Thursday, June 7, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Burning Can! Just like Burning Man except without all of the wierdos. Well… um… That might not be the right way to put that at all. I mean, the event is in Lyons, there will definitely be weirdos. Anyway, this Saturday, June 9, Oskar Blues is having a festival for those of us that love [...]
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
So it seems that absinthe is gaining back a bit of its historical popularity. We have all heard the absinthe myths and legends. It is one of those things that crosses science and history in a way that I really love. We have these long term ideas about a beverage that very few of us [...]
Thursday, April 19, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
So, tiki drinks. I love them. Poorly done, excellently made, it just doesn’t matter. Tiki drinks have become increasingly important to me as Spring rolls around. I suffer from some sort of seasonal affective disorder and by the time April gets here, it begins to manifest itself as spine-crushing ennui peppered with exciting bouts of [...]
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
The inception of my sciencey articles happened over beers one night at Falling Rock Taphouse. At the time we were drinking Russian River’s Consecration, one of the really excellent American sours out of Santa Rosa, California. It is rich, fruity, and awesome. Foremost on the palate though is its tartness. Brightly sour, it dries out [...]
Thursday, February 23, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
There is a new collaboration beer on the horizon for Lyons’ Oskar Blues and Indianapolis’ Sun King Brewing. The collaboration has a long history as OB’s head brewer Dave Chichura started his brewing career back in the late 90s in Indianapolis. He met Dave Colt at Circle V Brewery. Chichura began brewing shortly thereafter at [...]
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
By Chris Washenberger and Chris Bruns Denver Beer Company held a coffee beer fest on Saturday morning and my wife and I were lucky enough to attend. It was an excellent morning. As we pulled up to park, something seemed strange. There was tons of parking and probably about 20 people lined up outside. This [...]
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
The fact that St. Valentine’s Day falls during the middle of the week this year got me thinking. What drinks go best when playing video games? I know, I know. You are thinking this is the bitter “I hate V-Day” post. I am not a curmudgeon or anything. In fact, I like the sentiment of [...]
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
On January 28th, we had the opportunity to attend the Denver Winter Brew Fest. I have been a few times over the years and it’s always a good time, for a good cause. I started going to the Fest when it was held at the Oriental Theater over on 44th. It has since moved [...]
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Mr. Science recently spent a week in Panama with Mrs. Science. Many, many drinks were consumed at the swim-up bar in the pool. Mostly, I was drinking Seco, a sugar cane liquor that was pretty tasty with pineapple and lime; gallons of Abuelo Cuba Libre; and quite a bit of beer. The standard light lagers [...]
Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Chris Washenberger
Hi everyone. This is the first installment of Mr. Science’s Drunken Science. Some of you may have read my other entries here at Denver Off The Wagon. One night over sour beers I happened to begin yakking about azeotropes and proceeded to say azeotrope until it lost all meaning. Anyway, an idea was born. Lots of [...]
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Thursday, May 2, 2013 by Chris Washenberger
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