HOPPY HOUR
Boese Brothers cranks up the hops for Double Dead Red Ale
Boese Brothers Brewery’s latest creation is to die for.
Double Dead Red Ale is not for the faint of heart. It packs a hoppy punch. The rule of thumb for American India Pale Ale is usually about 3 pounds of hops per barrel, but Double Dead Red Ale takes it up a notch, according to Boese Brothers Operations Manager George Boese.
“This one is all the way up at 4 pounds per barrel, so in a single batch there’s an upwards of 60 pounds of hops, which are lots and lots of hops,” Boese said. “So what you get is it’s got a little bit of malty sweetness, but it’s very, very bitter and then it has lots of kind of fruitiness, to me. It’s kind of like an orange marmalade flavor to the beer. It sounds weird, but it’s kind of nice. It has that fruitiness and then an intensely bitter finish.”
The flavorful beer presented a challenge to Gold Street Caffe General Manager Miguel Morrison, who created a food pairing for the red ale. Gold Street Caffe supplies food for Boese Brothers’ taproom takeout menu.
“That kind of a flavor, particularly the bitterness, is going to overpower a lot of different kinds of foods, so that’s why he’s doing kind of a, I guess, a New Mexico take on an American classic,” Boese said. “(Morrison) is doing red chile fried chicken strips, which will be really good. I’ve requested that he really dial up the spice on them so you have that really intense dry, red chile spice to the chicken strips. That bitterness from the beer can be a really nice pairing with the spicy food because the bitterness can really clean your palate and cut through that dry spice really well.”
Later in the night, cheers to the sounds of Gabe from Ace Barber Shop, who will be busting out the vinyls for your listening pleasure. He will be mixing up some rock and blues and throwing in a touch of hiphop beginning at 8 p.m., according to Boese.
Take home a little souvenir from the party. Ten bucks gets you a commemorative pint glass filled with Double Dead Red Ale.
“We do so few seasonals here, we really only do one a month, where you know a lot of other breweries will do like eight or more seasonals at a time,” Boese said. “We kind of like to go all out, so we do a food pairing and we try to do some glassware for special releases.”