Routes des épices (French for “spice route”) is a rye beer brewed with botch black and green peppercorns. Initially the beer reveals flavours of fresh grain and malt, which give it noes of chocolate, caramel, and fruit. The pepper flavour and aroma is fully revealed in the finish, which leaves a pleasant, spicy, tingling sensation on the tongue
From my notes:
nice thick head, nearly two inches. Beer is a cloudy red color. Smells of pepper. Flavor: hint of caramel and fruit with a spicy, peppery finish. Lightly carbonated. Fascinating test using peppercorns. You can taste and feel the peppercorns in this brew. Complex
depp, cloud, red coloring to this beer
I picked this beer up on a whim. I was intrigued by the idea of using peppercorns in a beer. I love spicy food and if the peppery feel and taste could be imparted to a good beer, well I thought that would taste good. And it does! Every sip of this beer I was surprised at the complex, balance, and richness of the flavor. I kept telling my wife and roommate to take a sip and tell me what they thought. Wanting them to share in the uniqueness of the beer! This isn’t a beer you would want to drink every day but it is one you’d want to share with friends! I imagine it’d go great with a nice pepper steak.
I haven’t talked much about the fall/winter garden much this year and that is because it hasn’t been doing very well, for several reasons. One, there hasn’t been much rain or cloud cover so it’s been dry and very, very cold; the plants don’t like that. Two, having cleared out the problem slugs the garden has been hit by some sort of caterpillar, or so the wife tells me. One that I can’t seem to find no matter when I go out there to check on things. Three, Jake got into it. The picture up top is what is left of all our just beginning to grow cauliflowers… Needless to say Jake has been in the doghouse.
That giant bare spot is where kale and chard was supposed to grow but none of the seedlings made it...
The kale and chard that we transplanted in when they were about an inch tall never made it. I don’t know if it was the cold or the pests that did them in… All I know is that they’re gone now. The broccoli just seems to be waiting around for something to happen. It has been attacked by the caterpillars too but seem to be doing okay despite that but I don’t see any hint at flowering going on. At least the bok choy and arugula are still there and seem to be doing fine. We’ve harvested and eaten two heads of bok choy which leaves us with four more and the arugula is getting to the point where we can start picking it for garnishes and small dishes. I’m hopeful that we’ll soon have enough of the green for some salads. But, with the ones this growing has gone so far I’m not holding out hope… This has been the most disappointing planting since we started over a year ago.
UPDATE: Since writing this post on Sunday (12/11/11) Jake has also eaten the cabbages at the far end of the garden and begun working on the Bok Choy. I don’t know why he is eating the Bok Choy seeing as whenever we’ve tried hand feeding it to him he spits it out… Needless to say he is even further into the Dog house now.
With 3 feet of powder closing the roads, a brewery is not a bad place to get snowed in. Given the unanticipated hall pass of a snow day, our brewers decided to experiment. Hmm… what about this dark caramel roasted Midnight Wheat braced with a serious load of Styrian Goldings, Centennial and Cascade hops? Shovel it in. What a deliciously unexpected way to spend a SNOW DAY!
From my notes:
Dark caramel, almost black coloring. delicate tan head with nice lacing. Smells hoppy with citrus notes, the smallest hint of malt. Smells amazing. Feels light, almost thin in the mouth, with a taste that does not match the smell. Tastes of dry hops and sharp grapefruit, (rinds?) There is a little smokiness here too. A bitter chocolate finish.
I enjoy New Belgium’s brews and this one isn’t bad for a seasonal brew but I’d never pick up a six-pack of this when I can bring their 1554 home… This beer was so close to a 2 star review but that’s only because the smell promised so much more and I expect more from New Belgium.
An unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this ale comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted. At 10,000 gallons each, these are the largest wooden brewing vessels built in America since before Prohibition. It’s all very exciting. We have wood. Now you do too.
From the notes:
Thick head, tannish quickly dissipated, dark colored almost caramel reminds me of root beer. Smells of cut wood with subtle candy sweetness. You can taste the alcohol in this beer. Reminds me of a stout, toasted molasses, malts, and spiced wood tastes. Bittersweet finish.
This is a uniquely flavored beer. I’ve never tasted anything like it. While I was drink and taking notes I kept finding myself searching for words to describe the complex smells an tastes I was experiencing… Woody and spiced came up a lot. But I think both of those words fail to encapsulate what is going on with Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Marron. In the end I don’t think this beer is for me, despite the taste I don’t see myself drinking this beer regularly in the future. I do recommend that everyone give it a try though!
