Girly Beers.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had as fantastic of a weekend as I did. Saturday, I made the trek down to Rolla yet again for a couple very special events, and on my way down I had the privilege of picking up some bottles of Public House Brewing's famous Revelations Stout! I also stopped by their Rolla location to enjoy a glass of their stout while I nibbled on a sandwich.

I cannot say enough good things about this beer. The subtle coffee and chocolate aromas are immediately enticing, and there are even flavor notes of both, even though neither is an ingredient in the beer! If you have the chance, try it- once you do, it won't come as a surprise to learn that it has won a medal at the World Beer Cup.

As I mentioned, I went to Rolla for some special events- a wedding and a job keg! The wedding was a great time, and I loved being able to see some of my favorite friends and former co-workers.

We got dressed up.

We ate some green bean casserole- a favorite!

Some of us even danced like complete idiots.

I wasn't able to stay at the job keg as long as I would have liked, but I did get to say hi to family and enjoy a Saint Louis favorite- Schlafly's Dry-Hopped APA!

Perfect for the unseasonably warm December evening!

The real highlight of my weekend came today. After visiting the finest of Rolla's liquor stores to pick up a White Elephant gift for a bottle share later in the week, I drove back to Saint Louis to attend my first meeting of The OG! Although this Saint Louis-based women's craft beer collective hasn't quite been around for a year, they're already making big waves in the craft beer scene. After sitting in on today's meeting, I immediately paid the annual dues to join as a full-fledged member.

This month's meeting, which was held at Cicero's, opened with some review of previous meetings, an introduction session for all of the first-time attendees, and some planning for an upcoming OG beer trivia night! I'll have more details in the next few weeks, but the OG has partnered with Schlafly Bottleworks to present a trivia night on January 23rd- $100 per team of 4 for five rounds of trivia, featuring some exciting craft beer prizes! 

The OG has also done some homebrewing as a club, and will be taking on quite a few brewing projects in the early months of 2015, including a three-stage brewing/educational outreach partnership with Femme Ferment and Girl's Pint Out, two other phenomenal organizations focusing on spreading the joyous gospel of craft beer to women!

Every OG meeting also includes a "tech topic," and this week's was Chocolate- hence the name of this post! It's kind of a stereotype that all women like chocolate, and I know my fair share of women who like chocolate beers. Some of the chocolate stouts that we see during the winter are incredibly complex and alcohol-heavy brews, especially the barrel-aged or imperial stouts, so don't make the assumption that all chocolate beers are light or for wimps! 

We discussed the many ways that chocolate flavors can be imparted into a beer, be it through the addition of chocolate syrup or extract (which, due to its heightened sugar content, can result in a higher-ABV beer), baker's or semi-sweet chocolate, or cocoa nibs (the rawest form of chocolate). We also noted ingredients that should NOT be used to add chocolate flavors to a beer, which include (but are not limited to) chocolate pudding, chocolate body paint (has someone attempted this?), or brownie mix.

Next, we sampled three different chocolate beers and attempted to deduce which chocolate ingredients were added to each! The first beer was very sweet and tasted very strongly of milk chocolate; I guessed that it was made with a syrup or extract. The second beer had a thin mouthfeel, and I picked up some hints of dark fruits. I guessed it was made with processed chocolate, like baker's chips or cocoa powder. The third smelled like roasted coffee, and had some very intense dark chocolate flavor notes. I guessed it was made with cocoa nibs.

I'm incredibly happy to say that, with the help of my neighboring attendees, all three of my guesses were correct! If you're curious, the beers in question were Southern Tier Choklat (my favorite of the trio), Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate Stout, and Founder's Breakfast Stout. We also discussed the role of chocolate malt in the brewing process- chocolate malt simply refers to malted barley that has been roasted to a rich dark brown. It helps give beer a roasty chocolate nose and taste, but it's not actually chocolate.

In addition to the delicious chocolate stouts as well as some bottle-shared beers, we also enjoyed a pitcher of Dale's Pale Ale and some pizza for lunch. This is especially fitting because, due to a serendipitous coincidence (I swear!), my chosen brew for the evening is a can of Dale's big brother- Deviant Dale's IPA. Have I told y'all recently just how happy I am that Oskar Blues is finally available in Saint Louis?

Upon cracking open this can, my entire kitchen filled with the scent of citrusy hops. Hitting the charts at 8%, this bitter beer also features some mellow piney flavors. Definitely enjoyable! IPAs were the first style I really explored and enjoyed, and they're what I look forward to most about the warmer months of the year. This would make an excellent mid-July campfire beer, and I give it an A! While it's not my favorite big bad voodoo daddy, um, I mean IPA, it does get bonus points for coming in such a beautiful can! 

I think that wraps it up for me tonight. Many thanks to Lizz and the other ladies of The OG for being so welcoming and enthusiastic- I truly could not be happier with my experience at the meeting today and am really looking forward to diving in as a full-fledged member of the group.