Terrapin/De Proeuf- Monstre Rouge.

Let me start by saying I did not buy this and most likely would not have bought this if left to my own devices. Katie brought it home from work for me, so I thought I would give it a whirl.
The label states this is an Imperial Flanders red. I believe 8% abv.
Pours a murky red/brown. Very hoppy aroma, which is kind of what I was afraid of. Tastes like an IPA. It wasn't until the third glass (with the bottle left at room temp) that I felt I could detect even a hint of funk, and that was more Brett and no lactic tartness at all.
Very hoppy over all, not true to style. If I had bought this and thought of it as a Flanders Red, I would have been very disappointed, as it was nothing like one at all.
As it is, I didn't pay for it, and while it wasn't bad for what it was, it wasn't near what it claimed to be. For that I would have to give this beer a low rating. I would not buy again, and recommend that you don't either.

And wines.

1996 Jean Michel Gullion- Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes.
Beginning to brown a bit around the edges. Aromas of earth, acid, tart cherry. Flavors of rose petals, violets, cherry, earth, acid, touch of oak. Medium finish, medium body. If you have any of this, I'd probably drink it soon. But pretty good. Definitely shows the difference between an American Pinot and even a modest village appellation red Burgundy. 88.
1998 Bouchard Pere et Fils- Vigne de Enfant Jesus (375mL).
Amazing perfume. Oaky, earthy aroma. Good color concentration. Cherry, tea, raspberry. More intense earthiness in the mouth. Very balanced with nice acidity, a short finish, and lighter body. 90.
2005 Camille Giroud Santenay.
Didn't take notes, but very good especially considering the price. 90.
2006 Louis Jadot- Domaine Duc de Magenta Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Clos de la Garenne.
Rich nutty aroma, citrus. Nut, toasty flavors. Balancing acidity. Very drinkable with a nice minerality behind it. Medium plus body, medium long finish. 91.
2006 Verget Chassagne- Montrachet 1er cru Les Chenevottes.
I didn't take any notes when I drank this, but it has been the most amazing wine I have ever put in my mouth! Full, rich nutty flavor, citrus, minerals, fat. This wine comes from vines literally a stones throw from Montrachet, perhaps the most famous white wine vineyard in the world. Incredibly long finish. Could literally taste it hours later. I could drink this daily for the rest of my life and not get bored. 93.
2005 Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault- Blagny 1er cru.
Unfortunately, I believe this bottle is victim of premature oxidation. Basically a much quicker aging of white Burgundies. At this point, not undrinkable, but drink soon if you have it. Nutty flavor, along with oxidized sherry and a deep gold color. Medium body, medium finish. 86.
2008 Vincent Pouilly-Fuisse Marie Antoinette.
Very enjoyable. Marshmellow and vanilla over some nuttiness, mineral, citrus, tropical fruit. 90.
The great Sauvignon Blanc experiment- I haven't had many besides what we have at work, so I decided a good thing to do would be to try some myself. I got a cheap NZ, a more expensive NZ, and a French Sancerre.
2009 Monkey Bay.
Tropical fruits, guava springs to mind. Pineapple maybe. Gooseberry. Good acidity. Not bad for 9 dollars. 86.
2009 Cloudy Bay.
Very similar to the Monkey Bay, but more so. More depth of flavor, more acidity, more everything really. But at 25, I would have to go with the Monkey bay for a better deal. 89.
2007 Patient Cottat Sancerre Vieilles Vignes.
This shows the difference between the NZ and French Sav blancs. Definitely more wild, higher acidity, more earthiness/minerality. Tart gooseberry, flint, a touch of the tropical fruits. A different beast. 89.
2008 Paolo Scavino Vino da Tavola Rosso.
Really good for the price (around 10). Didn't take notes. 89.
2007 Phillipe Faury Condrieu.
I got this because I wanted to try a French Viognier. Honeysuckle, vanilla, marshmellow, musk melon, stone fruit. Long finish, medium body. Mouthfeel of heavy cream. Pretty amazing. 92+.
2004 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines.
None of the funkiness that I have found in some other CDP's. Not bad, but really nothing about it seemed to stand out or speak to me. 89.
2005 Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett.
I had heard about the petrolly/kerosene flavors and aromas riesling can develop if aged, but had yet to try any. This is it! And yes, there is a petrol aroma in the nose, along with stone fruits and stone. Really a good riesling so show you what German wines are all about. Great laser acidity to cut through the residual sugars, and at 8% abv, it is a lot lighter than Cali rieslings. 91.
1997 Prince Poniatowski Vouvray Clos de L'Avenir.
I got this after reading in Clive Coates magnificent book Cote d' Or that he thinks white Burgundies were once sweet wines when possible, like modern day Vouvrays. This wine is made of Chenin Blanc that has definitely seen some of the noble rot, Botrytis. Apricot, mango, honey, some of that Botrytis funk. Very drinkable. Laser acidity. Sweet without being over the top and cloying. It would be interesting to see a modern day burg made in this style, though I doubt anyone will ever do so. 92.

Some recent beers.

Well, I have apparently been way too busy to write anything recently, but I am still drinking beer of course! Here are some I have had recently.
Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale.
Rich, nutty aroma. Not as sweet as Newcastle, and the aroma in definitely present in the taste as well. Medium body and full mouth feel. Nice lingering finish. If you like Newcastle, make sure to try this beer.
Olde Suffolk English Ale.
I bought this despite the clear glass bottle. The promise of tasting a aged ale was too much for me to bear!
Dark mahogany color. Thin mocha head. Lightly skunky aroma from the clear bottle. Nuttiness. Tastes sort of like a rich Belgian ale, but lighter, giving way to something like a nut brown ale. Light carbonation. Very lingering finish. Worth a try, without the skunky flavor this would definitely be a must buy!
My very own Fantome @ 1 year of age!
Color may be a touch darker. Still streaming carbonation and a little white head. The aroma is more barnyardy than I recall- dark warm orange, hay. The flavor is earthy, soil, hay with light citrus, with a medium finish. Still very light mouth feel owing to a very low ending gravity.

Flanders Pale Ale.

Hidely doodly neighborino! Well, it's not quite that Flanders. But this time around I am trying to make something in the vein of one of my favorite all time beers- Petrus Aged Pale.
9 lb German Pils
1 lb Carahell
1.25 oz Styrian Goldings pellet @ 90 min
Wyeast 3763
tog- 1.057
aog- 1.049
ig- 1.008 (4/17/11)
3/24/11- Mash in with 4 gal water at 132. Dough in temp at 122 for 20 min. Decoct to
145 for 40 min decoct to
162 for 30 min decoct to
169 for 10 min (mash out)
Sparged with 176 water.
I had a large boil over since I was playing a video game and not paying full attention. Lost about 2 gal of volume. Added water and some light DME to make up for the volume and potential gravity lost. Still was under gravity by about 8 points. Ah well.
4/17/11- To secondary, which is the carboy that contained my historical Saison. Didn't clean the carboy at all since I liked the flavor of what come out of it.
4/20/11- Nice and foamy in the carboy. Guess the house bugs are doing some more work on the beer.

Wines drunk recently.

Here are a few wines I have consumed in recent times...
1985 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre
Nice aromatically, litchi and exotic fruits, but dead in the bottle. Not much flavor left. NR.
1945 Château La Dominique non estate bottling.
Again, very aromatic, but most of the flavor was gone. Still had a nice acidity however. NR.
2003 Camille Giroud Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Guérets
Very good, if not somewhat atypical. Darker in color and fruitier than you would normally find in a red burgundy. Evolved in the glass over time into something great. Only have one bottle left (ARG!) 91.
2006 Benziger Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon
Not bad, not great. Definitely improved with some air time. Nice flavors throughout. 89.
2008 Cameron Hughes lot 145 Chardonnay
Nose of pear, asian pear, slight oak. Same flavors, with oak surprisingly less apparent for a cali chard. BUT... hugely alcoholic and bitter finish. Dumped half the bottle. 72.
2008 Emeritus Vineyards Pinot Noir Hallberg Ranch
I don't believe this is sold at retail? I got it from work. For the first few days it took me to drink this bottle, it showed a strange burnt rubbery aroma. Kind of off putting. But once you got past that it was good. Don't know if I would spend $75 on it in a restaurant good, but at 25 retail if you can find it, probably not a bad buy. 89.
2007 Georges Dubœuf Mâcon-Villages
Not a bad Chardonnay. This could be a decent 'house' bottle of wine. Flavors of citrus, honey, tropical fruits, a little underlying minerality. 86.
2007 Corvidae Wine Co. Shiraz Lenore
Tried out my new decanter with this wine. Very fruity in the dark red fruits vein as you might imagine. Not bad, but nothing special. 84.
2006 Château d'Argadens
Surprising clarity and also light in flavor. Tannic, dark red fruits, short finish. Not horrible, but I don't know if you'd find something much better in a Bordeaux Superior for this price. 82.
2001 Maison Leroy Bourgogne
This is from the negociant side of the Leroy name. Paid 20, but their more prestigious releases sell for up to 2000. Mold growing on cork and cork also completely soaked through. Wine inside was still fine. Light color beginning to brown a little around the edges. Soft fruits, cherry, orange peel. Some funk. Earthy/forest floor. A good basic Burgundy. 87.

Dedalus Old Stout.

Ulysses is a book that I first tried to read once about seven or eight years ago. I had read that it was widely considered the best book every written in the English language, and I decided I therefore had to read it.
My first attempt didn't go so well. I took it on our family vacation to North Cackalacka and even with making a fair amount of notes in the book (for me), I didn't make it much past page 40. If that even. It is a very intricate, complicated, and almost strenuous book to read.
Now I have gotten back on the horse. I decided that now was the time. Today I passed my previous high mark, the third chapter, where Stephen walks on the beach and nearly all of the book is his inner thoughts and memories. I am now about to start chapter four and I feel pretty confident in my ability to finish the book this time around. Two tries on Ulysses is not too bad from my understanding.
The beer is an experiment as many of my brews are these days. An attempt at perhaps a modern day historical stout. The beer is fermented on oak, solely with Brettanomyces. A portion of the beer was boiled separately, without hops, and is being fermented a bit by Lactobacillus. This will be pasteurized and added back to the main wort in the future.
It is well know that Guinness adds a portion of soured beer to their blend to give it the unique 'tang'. I have read that is around 3%. Mine will be around 10%. We'll see how it goes.
Dedalus Old Stout.
9.5 lb pale British malt
1 lb black patent
1 lb dark crystal
1.5 oz Styrian Goldings pellet @ 90 min
1 oz Styrian Goldings pellet @ 15 min
Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis
2/1/11- Mash at 156 for 90 min. At sparging, kept first two quarts separate and boiled for ten minutes before cooling in some snow outside. Once this got down to around 80 degrees, I added a handful of reserved crushed grain to introduce Lactobacillus. This all went into a 2 qt mason jar with plastic wrap on the surface of the wort to prevent it from reacting with oxygen. This has my heating pad on low wrapped around it, as Lacto likes to ferment warm.
The remainder of the beer was boiled for 90 min with noted hop additions. Once chilled, racked to primary fermentor with .5 oz washed med toast Hungarian oak cubes and .5 oz new Hungarian oak cubes. Added the brett from a starter originating on Saturday.

Mine vs. Theirs.

There are two main trains of thought in homebrewing. When they start, most people start with the first, which is to make tried and true recipes out of a book or from an online source. There are many 'clones' of commercial beers, and even several books dedicated to the subject, so you can try to make your favorites such as Guinness, Sierra Nevada, or Chimay Rouge.
Then there is the other train of thought. After making a number of book recipes one may start to wonder... 'What can I really do? Will it be difficult? What if it's not good?'.
I would say at this point after spending alot of time in the first category, I am now firmly in the latter. One of my thoughts is if I can buy a beer, why would I want to try to make it? I was scared to try to formulate my own recipes. It seemed very intimidating. But it is not very hard at all. I have made some really good and interesting beers.
Of course then again, there are some commercial beers that I really love. I decided to take aim at one of those and here are the results, tasted side by side with the beer in question.
My lost for life vs. Unibroue's Maudite.
Color- Pretty darn close. Maudite looks a tad darker, with more streaming carbonation. Head color looks identical. Both are cloudy, though Maudite is clearer than mine.
(Maudite left, mine right.)
Strength- Maudite is 8% with mine being 7.6%.
Aroma- Maudite has more of the Belgiany yeasty aroma. Orange, spices, little hop perception. The hops are much more prevalent in my beer. The same yeasty aroma is there, but less so. I used Wyeasts Canadian/Belgian strain which comes from Unibroue.
Taste- Maudite is luscious and smooth as always. Nice rich mouth feel. Dark fruits, spiciness, great lingering after taste. Hops in the finish, but as a generalized bitterness. My beer has a lighter mouth feel, not as rich and filling. Both have maybe a touch of tartness. Spicy and hoppy. I added way too much in the finishing stages of the boil. More or all of that should have been at the beginning. Both seem to be retaining the head identically with a little lacing in the glass. Mine has a lingering finish as well, though it is different tasting. Hoppier for sure.
Overall- I got pretty close I would say. I think a change to the hopping plus maybe a touch more of special b malt I could be even closer. The beer under the hops tastes very close. In fact, I was close enough that one of my beer loving coworkers was able to identify what brewery I was going after, though he said he felt it was closer to Fin du Monde in taste.
I am very pleased with this beer. I wish I had thought more about the hopping ahead of time, but oh well. It is not exactly Maudite (though close enough I could say 90%), but it is good in and of itself.
Recipe and brewing information.