I expanded my world a lot in 2010. After starting this blog, I went back to my dormant Twitter account, and really started trying to connect with people as passionate about beer, wine & food as I am; it wasn’t hard. I barely had to swing a cat and I found hundreds of people who felt like I did!

Twitter was how I came across the Iron Brewer competition, which when I started was competing in round two, opened me up to a whole new group of really passionate homebrewers. That was really exciting for me. In round 3, Brent competed against Bob Olson of Bolero Snort Brewery and I was lucky enough to try his beers for the first time. When Bob put out the word that he wanted some feedback on his “Wee Heifer Fruitcake”, I threw my hand up FAST! He kindly sent me a few of his brews to try and I excitedly chilled them down in the fridge, ready to taste!

I started with the Wee Heifer. It pours a pretty reddish brown, sort of auburn colour into the glass with about half an inch of bubbly, off white head. As you can see in the picture, it looks really effervescent; rest assured though, at taste time it was perfectly carbonated! The head didn’t stick around for too long though.

On the nose I’m smelling fig newtons, a little banana, raisins and maraschino cherries. I’m also getting a whiff of custard, although that could be vanilla and I’m just thinking custard because I love it with christmas pudding/fruitcake!

Bob, you hit it on the head with the taste! There is this great sweet and sour bite which I’m guessing was from the cherries and also the bourbon. The first sip punches you in the face (in a good way) with that bite, and then settles out. I’m also getting all kinds of dark fruit; prunes, raisins and dried figs. The custardy nose I was getting is still kind of present, but not as strong.

Delicious!

Next up was the Longhop IPA. It is a gorgeous caramelly colour in the glass, with a huge fluffy head. The head sticks around too, and leaves beautiful lacing down the inside of the glass.

The nose is chock-full of tropical fruit and citrusy hops. There’s also a hint of the nice balance in the beer with a caramel note as well. Taking a sip, you get a really nice balanced mouthful of grapefruity hops and a great maltback; makes it very drinkable!

I’m so glad to be able to taste my fellow zymurgist’s work; we put a little of our hearts and souls into each and every one of our home brews and it’s a joy to see it in other’s as well! Bob, you are doing some great things up there in NJ and I’m looking forward to tasting more as Bolero Snort progresses!