The opening weekend of Lupulin Land was a success.

The opening weekend of Lupulin Land was well attended and hectic, although not as much so as Gravity Head – and rest assured, I’m good for only one of those epics each year.

Shawn Conn pours a beer, and Kevin Richards can't watch.

I’m very happy to note that with all the solid choices available, our own NABC Hoptimus Double IPA was consumed to the tune of an entire keg in roughly 15 business hours. Another keg is on tap now, but there won't be much after that, at least until Jesse brews it again.

We kept the Randall supplied with Cascades and poured Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA through it on both Friday and Saturday. Much discussion was prompted by the possibilities of this hopback-to-the-glass, most of it centering on the notion of using it to enhance the hop nose and flavor of an ale that was hoppy at the start, versus deploying it to modify an otherwise lightly hopped beer.

If you have any ideas pertaining to which beer you'd like to see augmented by a particular hop, please forward them to me. We have unlimited options, and ample time to play.

Randall will be back this coming weekend (October 14 and 15).

In other news, Syd Lewison’s description of Founders Devil Dancer as a “Imperial Barley Wine” is spot on. The brewery describes it as “Triple IPA,” but “Palate Stripper” might be closer to the truth. Save it for last; close the session with it, or risk losing the ability to taste for an hour or so.

The 2004 Devil Dancer keg currently is on tap, and there is another five gallons of the same ale brewed in January, 2005; I propose to save the newer version, and let it age until Gravity Head next spring.

Thoughts?

If you were there, let me know what you think. In order to stem the flood tide of comment spam, I’ve enabled the word verification feature here on the Curmudgeon’s blog. I hope you don’t find it too much trouble.