Terrapin Beer Company recently brewed a special beer for Taco Mac for their 30th anniversary. It’s named 30 Strong. The name needs no explanation once you see the ingredient list and alcohol percentage. Terrapin had the beer on tap at their 7th anniversary party last month, but unfortunately I didn’t know about it when I was there so didn’t get to have any. When I heard Taco Mac was going to have it yesterday I made sure to be there. I even called ahead to ask when the keg would be tapped.
All in all, it’s a good beer. I won’t pretend to be able to describe or identify the various flavors or subtleties of the beer but it’s very enjoyable. Fred, the Beverage Director for Taco Mac (a position I would kill for), describes it as a “very drinkable, high gravity beer” over at Fred’s Beer Page. Very drinkable is true, my boss joined us at Taco Mac and was surprised when I told him it was high gravity after he had just finished a glass of it. Given this, I have to say I was expecting more from the beer. With 30 ingredients I was hoping for a more exotic beer than what I had. It has nothing on Terrapin’s Gamma Ray, which has found a place in Terrapin’s Monster Beer Tour. This I am excited about.
Here’s the description and ingredient list from from Terrapin’s site:
The Terrapin “30 Strong” is a high gravity (8.8% ABV) Ale. Brewed with 30 different ingredients and aged on American oak spirals, the “30 Strong” will leave your palate begging for more. This fun little experiment has really opened my eyes to a new style of brewing. I call it kitchen sink brewing! Hope you enjoy! Spike
Malt
- 2-row
- Flaked barley
- Wheat
- Rye
- Acidulated
- Caramel Piuls
- Vienna
- Munich I
- Munich II
- Honey malt
- Victory
- Special Roast
- Crystal 65′L
- Crystal 85′L
- Chocolate Rye
- Chocolate Malt
- DH Carafu I
- Black Malt
- Roasted Barley
Hops
- Columbus
- Centennial
- Amarillo
- Simcoe
- E.K.G.
- Cascade
- Magnum
- Glacier
Other
- Water
- Yeast
- Oak Spirals
I like that Spike calls it “kitchen sink brewing.” It reminds me of my “pantry stew” which is basically whatever beans, veggies, spices, etc. that I can find in the pantry all tossed together indiscriminately.
