Ron’s Beer Blog: Heretic Night with Jamil Zainasheff at Harry’s Hofbrau

Wow, what an unexpected surprise. Heretic night at Harry’s. Met brewer, Jamil, who explained about awesome Evil Cousin IPA. Brewed with Apollo and Columbus, but mega-dry hopped with Centennial, and yes…SIMCOE! Tons of it. Not just once or twice, but almost continuously over the brewing process. As he explains, leaves hops in suspension rather than settling to the bottom. He just checked over at BevMo and they have it refrigerated in bottles with “brewed-on” date. But he says you gotta get it while it’s fresh, effective hops can go from 100 down to 80 over a couple of months. Sudzers bus trip visited brewery shared with E.J. Phair in Pittsburg, but no one from Heretic was there. Jamil was nice enough, though, to leave enough cases of Evil Twin for everyone to take home a couple bottles. Was never impressed with it, but now I have a new respect for Heretic after tonight. Also tasted Torment, served in 8 oz tulip glasses. “Belgian candi sugar notes” is an understatement, very sweet. Not surprised with 10% alcohol.

Beer descriptions from Heretic’s website:

Evil Twin

abv: 6.8%
ibu: 45
srm: 18
This blood-red ale may not be what you might expect from a malty and hoppy craft beer. Evil Twin has a rich malt character, without being overly sweet. It has a huge hop character, without being overly bitter. It is a great example of a bold, rich, balanced craft beer, without being heavy and hard to drink in quantity. Our Evil Twin is only bad because it is too good to resist.
 

Evil Cousin

abv: 8%
ibu: 100
srm: 4
Evil Cousin is Heretic’s take on a West coast imperial IPA. This beer is a bold, in-your-face hop monster. It has a light, easy drinking malt character that allows the hops to stand out. The hop character in this beer is intentionally on the dank side; big, sticky, and aggressive. This beer is for those of you who can’t get enough hops. Join us on the dank side.
 

Shallow Grave

abv: 7%
ibu: 33
srm: 33Shallow Grave Porter is dark as night, perfect for a cool evening out in the woods. This a big, dark ale with a complex and rich chocolate and caramel malt character followed by a touch of warmth and light malt sweetness, leaving you ready for more after each shovelful. You will love this so much you won’t have time to dig a six-footer, so make it a Shallow Grave.

Torment

abv: 10%
ibu: 20
srm: 17
This 10% Belgian-style dark ale is the dark counterpart to Worry. Torment is a rich beer with lots of caramel, malt, dark fruit, and Belgian candi sugar notes. The luscious fruity character is full of caramel apples, candied pears, and chocolate covered oranges

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