I Have Swung Perkuno's Hammer
May 21 '00
Finally, a beer of my own!
I recently collaborated with Tom Baker of Heavyweight Brewing of Ocean Township, NJ(www.heavyweight-brewing.com) on a Baltic porter-type beer called Perkuno's Hammer. I've already described this type of beer in my still-waiting epinion on Okocim Porter (http://www.epinions.com/fddk-review-3427-79D67B4-38DC2002-prod3), so I won't go through all that again. Suffice it to say that this is a big, black beer that is roughly a combination of the best of an imperial stout and a doublebock.
Perkuno was the Baltic thunder god, described as a red-headed, irritable, middle-aged man. Except for the red hair, that sounded perfect for my beer! Tom agreed, and away we went. I had suggested the beer to him, he and I collaborated on the formulation (he doing the heavy lifting on numbers, of course, me doing the historical and sensorial research), then one cold morning in March I went to Heavyweight and we brewed. It was a great time, dumping sacks of malt in the mill, dumping buckets of beans (a traditional ingredient in some Baltic porters, we used 40 lbs. of cranberry beans), stirring the grist, and then watching as the first dark garnet wort came off the mash-tun. It was thrilling.
It was even more thrilling when I had the opportunity to taste the finished beer for the first time at my local bar, Isaac Newton's in Newtown, PA. They put a 1/6th keg on tap, did a small promotion, and I went round the bar, telling people about the beer. It was a lot of fun, and the beer, well, the beer was delicious.
Perkuno's Hammer pours darker than Guinness, with a roiling, cascading head that looks like carbonated, sparkling chocolate mousse. As it settles down into the glass, the head lightens a bit in color to cafe au lait, but the beer remains dark with only a hint of a ruddy glint around the edges. The smell is of baker's chocolate, coffee, and a hint of rich dark pitfruit. The flavor is rich, mouth-filling, and delivers on every bit of the promise of the aroma. Not a hoppy beer in the least, this is a rich, malty tonic that feels potent enough to strengthen the dying.
The only changes I would make would be to aim for a slightly higher alcohol level (it's at 8.0%, but there are Baltics that go up to 9.3%) and a bigger body. But... I'm pretty happy with it the way it is. Unfortunately, Perkuno's is a one-shot, only available for a short time in New Jersey and in the Philadelphia area.
I intend to get it while I can. It's fun to get that feeling usually reserved to brewers, to walk up to a bar and order your beer, or better yet, to see someone else order it... and see a smile on their face when they taste it.
What a feeling.
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Epinions.com ID:
beerfly
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Member: Lew Bryson
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 79 members
About Me:
One bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, eh? I'll take Kentucky Spirit, Scapa, and HopDevil.
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