It's finally here!
Tonight is the night! After an exhausting day of sensory training, I will be heading to our brewpub in Rehoboth Beach to be the hometown representative at Simul-Cask. Before the firkin is tapped, I will give a run down of the process leading up to this momentous occasion and at 7:50 sharp, the keystone will be breached and the beer engine will get to work.
I filled the firkins last week and the beer tasted magnificent. This beer was dryhopped with whole leaf Cascade hops at a rate of one pound per barrel. This is on top of the ridiculous amount of dry hops already administered to the batches of 60 and 90 that went into it. It is out of control. The maple syrup acquired to prime the beer was wicked flavorful as well (because it's from Mass, of course).
So a little word about the proper dispense of this beer. To fully enjoy the splendid hop aroma from these casks, I STRONGLY recommend serving it with a hand-pump equipped with a sparkler. The hop aroma compounds are all hydrophobic and want to come out of solution. When the beer comes out of the sparkler, those compounds get released from the beer but are then trapped in the head of foam created delivering their bounty to your nose moments before the beer hits your lips. Pure hop heaven for sure. If you local doesn't have this equipment, urge them to make the investment. It will enhance the Johnny Cask experience and ensure that you'll come back again and again for more.
I hope to see one or more of you in Rehoboth tonight!
-Bryan