Beer Blogging: With Boston having already made up the two runs we got in the first [update: And the two we got in the second], I must seek every possible way to take the edge off this afternoon and retain my calm. So what better time to let Dogfish Head's 120-Minute IPA kick my ass?
The Pour: Delivering the brew into a wide-mouthed goblet, we get about 1/8" of golden-tan foam. Carbonation levels appear moderate in the cloudy, amber-hued body. The bouquet was initially malty but then a blast of flowery hops came through.
The Taste: They may call it an IPA, but this has the body, texture, and even some of the flavors of a Belgian. There's a complex, densely woven quality to the malt. Sweet and sour notes are present, as is a hint of fruitiness that suggests a mead. Just behind that are the hops, which as the scent suggested are to the flowery side and which lend a zippy, citrus-like flavor to the proceedings. If you swish this beer it foams up aggressively, filling your mouth with the pungent, sour note of the malt. By contrast, if you swallow it straight down you get a better appreciation of the hops, which dominate the surprisingly short aftertaste. According to Chemist, who sampled this at TartFest, this beer is 21% ABV. Doesn't say anything on the label, however, and I'm getting only a little alcohol in the flavor, even as it makes itself known to me in other ways.
The Verdict: Funky. Not what I was expecting. Very flavorful and fairly challenging. A little unbalanced and unpleasant in some ways, and yet powerful and rewarding in others. Tough call on the rating, but let's go with a...
Rating:
Tourney Beer Blogging time! The first of many, I hope. We return to the Chemist Gift Pack for a look at New Belgium Brewing's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale.
The Pour: Very little head here, and the tiny 1/8" layer of smoky brown foam we do see only appeared after I deliberately chose to provoke it at the end of the pour. Carbonation in the glass is low enough to almost completely avoid visual detection. The body is a beautifully deep cherry oak color. Scent is minimal.
The Taste: The first thing I notice here is that, for a darker ale, this has a remarkably light body. It's downright chuggable. But I shall restrain myself so as to better appreciate it. Malt flavors clearly predominate here: Milk chocolate, a hint of caramel, and a trace of fruitiness. The aftertaste, which is medium-to-short in length, is all about the chocolate. Although the hops are not particularly pronounced, the overall flavor still feels reasonably well balanced, and the "dry" finish advertised on the label is surely their doing. Alcohol content is a meager (oh, how my standards have changed) 5.6% by volume.
The Verdict: Ridiculously easy to drink and very pleasant on the palate. The light, crisp body makes this beer taste colder than it actually is, which is a plus. Could use a little more of a kick, but that's a minor quibble considering the enjoyment level delivered.
Rating:
As we prepared to depart from New York last Sunday, Chemist was kind enough to bequeath unto me a mixed six-pack of microbrews which, unfortunately, do not make their way out to northeastern distributors. I am jealously guarding these in the fridge so that I may give them each a proper review. First up is New Belgium Brewing's 2° Below Ale.
The Pour: Pouring our specimen into a wide-mouthed frosted mug, we are greeted by a half-inch thick, sandy-colored head, the bulk of which fades away inside a minute or so. There is little to no fragrance coming off of the glass. The body is light bronze in color and carbonation appears to be very faint.
The Taste: The first thing I notice here, immediately, is that there's a very crisp, bracing edge to the texture of this beer. The second is that, about 1.5 seconds after taking a sip, there's a strong and somewhat biting sour note that really reaches out and gives a twist to the tip of your tongue. Despite the lack of much visual carbonation noted earlier, the brew foams up quite nicely as you swish it around in your mouth, bringing out notes of nut and straw in the malt. The assertive Sterling and Liberty hops add to an overall flavor that feels quite busy, although not in an obnoxious or unbalanced way. Aftertaste is to the malty side and shorter than I was expecting. Alcohol content is listed at a reasonably robust 6.6%.
The Verdict: 2° Below is a beer that would slot very nicely into any reputable bar's tap rotation. It has enough distinctive characteristics that you could identify it in a lineup, and yet it retains the drinkability and user-friendliness of a mainstream microbrew.
Rating:
Well, the football game might suck, but there's still beer to drink! Time to take a look at Anchor Brewing's "Our Special Ale". Yeah, we all think of it as their Christmas Ale, but right on the label it says "This is the thirty-second Our Special Ale from the brewers at Anchor". It's a very confusing name, true. Especially when you've been drunk for the better part of the weekend. But there you go.
The Pour: This edition of Anchor's holiday offering exits the bottle smoothly, revealing a silky, dark brown body. A small (1/4") but substantial head results, dissipating after a few minutes and leaving a dark tan film on the surface. Carbonation is fine and appears pretty persistent.
The Taste: Mmmmmm-yeah. This is very nice. Big, sweet malt hit right off the bat, which provides the delivery mechanism for the sweet caramel-chocolate-nutty flavors that characterize this brew. Deliciously chewy body that coats your tongue and keeps you entertained way after each mouthful hits the south-bound trail. The confectionery goodness more or less buries the hops, but that's OK. The tiny trace of bitterness speaks to a hoppiness that's woven deep into the recipe, and it's there to provide balance and roundness, not to assert itself in the flavor. Quite a long aftertaste, most of which centers on the nut flavor, although there's just the smallest hint of smoke in there.
The Verdict: This seasonal falls somewhere between a nut-brown and a stout, with a nod, perhaps, towards a scotch ale. As this description would lead you to believe, it's complex. It's a beautiful complexity, however, rather than an overwhelming one. This beer lets you take your sweet time discovering it, and doing so is a highly-enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Damn! I just looked in the fridge and I don't think I've ever had such a ginormous backlog of beers that need reviewing. Ah well, add that to my list of "chores" for the weekend.
We start with a look at Flying Bison Brewing Company's Aviator Red ale. Flying Bison is out of Buffalo, NY, home of VMH, so I'm holding him accountable for the quality of this beer.
The Pour: Aviator pours with very little head and not much of an aroma. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably note that my sense of smell is sub-par, so when I say I can't smell anything off the top of the glass, take it with a grain of salt.) There is scant visible carbonation. The body is a deep, clear cherry oak.
The Taste: This is one robustly flavored beer. The label describes it as "malty" but the hops keep pace with the malts quite nicely, lending to a taste that's well balanced. The malt profile actually feels like a brown ale to me, all nut and oak with a beautiful roasted character to it. The hops lend to a brisk, dry finish. Mouth feel, oddly enough, is much lighter than you'd expect from the appearance and the assertive flavors. For an ale, it's actually a bit watery. The aftertaste is a little on the short side too, which is unfortunate, because these flavors would certainly be welcome to stick around for a while.
The Verdict: Nice little beer. If they'd beef up the body a bit, this could be a true champ. As it stands, however, this is plenty drinkable. This brew gives you a whole bunch of flavor without ever being particularly demanding.
Rating:
Post-game Beer Blogging!!! Sticking with the Hat, let's take a look at Batch 373, the newest in their "Mystery Beer" series. For those of you who are deprived of the singular pleasure of having Magic Hat available in your area, here's the deal: A couple of times a year, they add a mystery beer called "Batch ###" to their seasonal variety pack. They don't tell you anything about what type of beer it is, what style, what their intentions were. It's up to you to figure it out. It is a beer afficionado's dream.
This current offering is... odd. Weird. Strange. Puzzling. Family-wise, I'd classify it as a stout. It's dark, dark brown in color with a small head. A little light on the carbonation. Thick mouth feel. Now, the flavor. Right. There's a lot going on here, not all of it good. A little bit of caramel, a little bit of chocolate, a lot of smoke. Also a bit of... what? Some kind of fruit that makes you pucker. Not the way a lemon or lime does, but the way you pucker when you bite into a piece of fruit that's a little off. There's some hoppiness at the front end too. Nothing like the HI.P.A., mind you. These hops are standing off to the side, doing their own thing.
Now, you see, I don't mind a complex flavor, as long as everything harmonizes well. If you're going to throw a lot at me, do it Bach style. Stick to a theme. The overall sensation I get from 373, however, could be likened to a Stravinski piece. It's a bit of a cacophony. It's like the "mixed drinks" I used to make at the frat where I'd grab one of every bottle and pour everything together at random. Yeah, that's it. That's what I'm tasting. Like they grabbed a ton of random ingredients and tossed them into a stout base to see what would happen. Not truly awful by any stretch, but not altogether pleasant either. Like I said: Weird. Oh well. Gotta let these guys flex their creative muscles. From the seeds of each random batch may come the next Number 9 or Blind Faith, after all.
Rating:
Warm, muggy Sunday afternoon of a four-day fourth of July weekend. Took a long bike ride yesterday, and I've got an even longer one planned for tomorrow. But today, shopping is done, the chores are under control, and leisure beckons. What better time for... The TRIUMPHANT Return of WEEKEND BEER BLOGGING!
Let's kick things off with Berkshire Brewing's Maibock Lager. Berkshire, a regional brewer here in western New England, is probably best known for their Steel Rail Pale Ale, a staple at bars and restaurants out this way. Being a fan of Steel Rail, I thought I'd see what Berkshire's interpretation of a Maibock (traditionally a German bock-style beer brewed in the month of May for Spring festivals) was like.
Pouring the Maibock into a frosty mug produced a giant, foamy head with a flowery fragrance to it. The body is a rich, deep amber in color. Taking a swig, I encountered a texture that could best be described as syrupy smooth. The carbonation is relatively fine and initially abundant, but it's no match for the viscous liquid it inhabits and it quickly dissipates, leaving a body that seems as if it's straining to revert to the wort stage. There's a sweetness to this brew that is frankly cloying. After a dozen or so sips, I could actually feel a sweet, sticky film coating my lips. Berkshire describes this beer as having a "delicate hop finish". In my opinion, that overstates the hop presence here by quite a bit. If you can detect hops in this brew, you've a more sensitive palate than my own.
None of which is to say that Berkshire Maibock is an unpleasant experience. It's just a bit much in the malty sweetness department. The sweetness here doesn't end at the flavor, but somehow penetrates straight to the core of this beer's being. Part of the problem for me was that this is clearly a beer that's best in small doses and yet, me being me, I bought the bomber. So there you go. Bottom line: Nice effort, but too aggressively one-dimensional.
Rating:
Time for some Halftime Beer Blogging! Last night I had to make an emergency packie run to get Tracy some cognac for a recipe*, and on a whim I picked up a six pack of Brooklyn Brewing's Black Chocolate Stout. This, it turns out, was an excellent decision on my part.
The Pour: Thick and glistening coming out of the bottle. Visions of used motor oil. Exactly what a stout should suggest. Thin, dark, mahogany-colored head that dissipates almost completely inside of a minute.
The Taste: Oh, yum. Whopping hit of roasted malt right off the bat. Big, bittersweet chocolate presence that starts on the tip of your tongue and then rolls straight back and down your throat. Heavy mouth feel, as you'd expect. As the malt fades, the hops take over. Nice, deep bitterness going on here. Assertive without being overpowering. Aftertaste is loooooooooooooooooong. This beer leaves a film on the roof of your mouth and a lingering ashy/smoky flavor on your palate that isn't going anywhere for a good long time.
The Verdict: A deeply satisfying beer experience. This beer has everything you want in a chocolate stout. It's rich, fairly complex and loaded with flavor, and yet the brewmasters didn't go overboard like many do with this variety. This is a chocolate stout you won't get tired of halfway through the glass.
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Appropriate, I suppose, that on the same weekend we take down the X-Mas tree and put away the decorations, I close out the holiday season with Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. I mean, is Taking Down the Tree one of the most satisfying-yet-sad things ever? It's a melancholy affair, wrapping up the season of warmth and sharing and joy, and yet at the same time you're like "I'm glad that shit is over." Hmmmm. I believe I will create a new word: "sadisfying".
Anyhow, yes, beer.
Sometimes I think my expectations for beer have gotten too high. Personally, I blame Magic Hat. See, Celebration is a nice little beer. It's basically an amber ale. Amber body. Good head, nice carbonation. Hoppy. In fact, I have to reprise my criticism of Southern Tier's Old Man Winter Ale here: Winter/Holiday beers aren't supposed to be Hop Fests. They're supposed to be heavier, maltier, and a little spice on top. Celebration is a hoppy amber ale. A good hoppy amber ale, but it doesn't rise to the occasion like I'd expected. See? Sadisfying.
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On a lighter note, next we bring you Magic Hat's Circus Boy unfiltered Hefeweizen. The Hefeweizen is the beer of Summer, designed to refresh, lighten, and perk ones spirits up when the oppressive mugginess is beating you down. Let us see, then, if Circus Boy is up to the task, for I am one sweaty, sticky, lethargic motherfucker right now.
Circus Boy has a very small head. I'll pause while everyone snickers at that. No, but seriously, it's true: The head on this brew is light, unscented, and quickly dissipated. Beneath it we see a beer that is light yellow and cloudy in color with fine carbonation. The mouth feel here is very light indeed, quite easy to drink. Coming to the flavor, however, I am somewhat disappointed. As one would expect for a Hefeweizen, the malt predominates over the hops, although unlike our previous glass, the hops here are at least present once the brew has cleared your mouth and things have dried out a bit. What's missing here is the tartness that this breed is typically known for. There's a hint -- and only the barest hint at that -- of lemony flavor but virtually none of the pucker that I'm used to in weissbiers. It's as if they took a standard weiss, with the right weight, mouth feel, subtle hoppiness, etc., and then neutered it, resulting in a beer that is mildly enjoyable, highly drinkable, but otherwise unremarkable. And that is not what I expect from the boys at The Hat.
Rating:
Now before you say "Toast, come on, don't you like any normal beers, ya beer snob?", I give you... Corona. Two Summers ago, Tracy's dad was coming down to visit, and Tracy said we should get a 12-pack of Corona because that's what he liked. I had tried Corona once or twice and found it decent, but nothing special, and I said as much. "But have you tried it with lime?" Tracy asked. No, I had not, I replied. The rest, as they say, was history. Corona is now our default Beer of Summer. As such, I must give it its due.
When Corona first became popular back in the 80's, it quickly gained a reputation as "Yuppie Beer". The Great American Beer Renaissance was still several years away, and so La Cerveza Mas Fina's import status gave it a certain cachet. Now, two decades and ten thousand microbrews later, in a day when you can walk into your typical Mom & Pop Liquors and find rare Belgian ales, Corona seems about as exotic as Coors.
In it's natural state, Corona is a somewhat bitter and heavy lager. The body is certainly more robust than a mainstream domestic lager and the flavor has an edge to it that's part Heineken, part ashtray. Ah, but insert a wedge of lime through the neck of the bottle and an amazing bit of alchemy occurs, transforming this sour, standoffish brute into a suave party boy. The sweetness and zest of the lime bond with the beer's natural characteristics to create a rich and refreshing taste experience. The body actually seems to become lighter after the addition of the lime (the beer's body, that is). The malt is brought out more too, and the ashy aftertaste is completely gone. Truly, I don't know how or why these synergistic effects happen. I suppose, in the interest of science, I should try adding lime to other lagers to see if something similar transpires. In fact, I'll get right on that. For now, though, I just want to give mad props to whoever it was who took that first bottle of ordinary Mexican lager and decided to give it a wedgie. Sir/Madam, I raise my bottle to you.
Rating: Au Natural - With Lime -
All right, it's New Year's weekend, and I'm not letting Joe Lieberman, George Bush, or Saddam's ghost put me in a bad mood. I think it's time for beer blogging. With some trepidation, I return to Ridgeway Brewing for a look at their "Criminally Bad Elf", which purports to be a barleywine. If you recall, I tried their "Seriously Bad Elf" a few weeks ago and found it, well, seriously bad. Here's hoping for a better experience this time around.
The Pour: Dispensing it into a wide-mouth half-liter mug, this beer failed to develop any head until the very end of the pour, at which point about a quarter inch of light tan foam developed. A mild worty smell comes off of this. The head subsides into a thin film within a minute or so, and shortly afterwards only a few wisps of that remain. Carbonation in the glass is very weak, as one would expect from a barleywine. The body is new-penny copper in color and fairly translucent.
The Taste: Big, abrasive screech of flavor. The malts start out extremely aggressively, pinching and poking at your tongue with a loud sweet-and-sour cacophony of flavors. There's a strong cider overtone which seems to be having a heated argument with some insubordinate notes of caramel and honey. Without warning, a gang of spices sneak up and shiv these characters in the back. And while all of this is going on, some hops are surreptitiously sliding in the back door and ransacking the place, leaving a bitterness that is only discovered in the longish aftertaste, once the malty-spicy racket has subsided. All of this occurs, somewhat disconcertingly, in a body that has the feel of a common pale ale. There is a slightly alcoholic edge to this beer as well, but nothing compared with better barleywines I've had in the past. Certainly nothing suggestive of the whopping 10.5% ABV payload.
The Verdict: As you can infer from the bar fight metaphor, this beer is chaotic. It's all rough edges and conflicting impulses. It is certainly not a classic barleywine. More like an attempt at a holiday ale by a homebrewer who got carried away. Looking at my review of "Seriously Bad Elf", I would say that "Criminally Bad Elf", as the name suggests, is a more robust and intense version of its sibling. On the whole, this is a good thing, as will be reflected in the rating I give it. But while CBE compensates for SBE's tepidity, the flipside is that it really brings out the contradictions that before went relatively unnoticed. A better effort, but still flawed.
Rating:
Halftime Beer Blogging! Back to the Unibroue gift pack we go for some Don De Dieu.
The Pour: Silky smooth as it flows into the mug, this wheat-colored beer develops a medium head which dissipates inside of two minutes leaving a thin, white, opaque film on top of the beer. A strong aroma of maple comes off the head. Carbonation level seems above average.
The Taste: Like its brother, Maudite, this is a malt-dominated beer. Different flavor profile, however. Don De Dieu tastes like a cross between a hefeweizen and a maibock. There's a very tangy lemon flavor that predominates here, woven deep into the body of the beer. As that fades, a hint of sweet candy flavors -- caramel and maple sugar -- remains behind on the tongue. The mouth feel is where the maibock-like characteristics come out. There's a slightly sticky feel to it, and the beer thoroughly permeates your mouth. No cloying film left behind, however, which is a good thing. The hops in this beer are a tad more assertive than those in Maudite, which is to say you can actually detect them. Aftertaste is medium in length and similar to what your tastebuds remember after eating a lemon-filled donut. Alcohol content is 9% by volume but, amazingly, you can't taste any of it.
The Verdict: This is a very nice beer, one that I'll absolutely have to revisit in the Springtime, when its sweet, tart flavor is more in season. Unlike Maudite, which was excellent but a little overwhelming, Don De Dieu has some long-term drinkability going for it. I could easily put away a four pack. Robust, flavorful, zingy and packed with alcohol, this beer gets a big thumbs-up.
Rating:
The neck label on Long Trail Brewing's Double Bag Ale reads:
"This full-bodied double alt is also known as "Stickebier" -- German slang for "secret brew". The secret is that this brew is so smooth you'd never believe it has an alcohol content of 7.2%!!!"
Well, score one for truth in advertising. This beer is easy to drink. Absolutely nothing about it screams "I'm Kicking Your Ass!!!" It's more of a "killing 'em softly" kind of vibe.
Double Bag is dark tan in color with a slightly-heavier-than-medium body. The taste is a hair to the hoppy side of dead center on the spectrum. In fact, "well balanced" is what best describes this beer. It's got a fair amount going on, but everything seems to offset each other. The result is a flavor that hints at intensity but ultimately holds back, like the brewers didn't want to risk offending you. This eager-to-please "play nice" personality would normally leave me unimpressed, but the knowledge that it's being used to sneak ass-loads of alcohol into one's system... well, I have to respect that.
Rating:
Ho, Ho, HO!!! It's X-Mas Beer Blogging Time! Admit it. You were worried I wouldn't be here to hook you up this weekend, that I'd be too busy entertaining, too distracted by the joy and mirth and and and... Come on, now. Did you think I'd let you down? You? My peeps? Of course not. So here is a little X-Mas brew sampling. Let me take you through my day in beer, as it were.
First up, Allagash Brewing out of Portland Maine brings us Dubbel Ale, which they describe as a "dark amber Belgian Style" ale. They've got the dark amber part mostly right (see below - I'd call it a brown) but the "Belgian Style" thing, eh, not so much.
The body on this beer is the weight of a typical brown ale, and in fact if you take a brown ale as a starting point and pace off about a quarter of the distance towards an abbey ale, that's where you'll find Dubbel. Very malty first impression, with a bit of a nutty flavor (again, like a brown ale). A slight, slight trace of hops can be ascertained if you concentrate, but nothing assertive. Carbonation is fine-grained, as you'd expect, but a bit too prominent for anything that styles itself a Belgian. I will say that something about the overall mouth-feel has just a hint of the headiness you'd be waiting for -- not much of a nod, but certainly welcome. Alcohol content comes in at a smooth 7%, but you don't taste it quite as much as you'd like to. All of which is not to say that this is a bad beer. It's actually quite tasty and I recommend giving it a whirl if you like, say, Newcastle. Just understand that, labeling aside, this is no more a Belgian-Style ale than Sam Adams Cherry Lambic is a true lambic.
Rating:
I think we need to start this second day of football off with some beer blogging, no? Let's hit the Unibroue again for a sip of their Ephemere. (Remember X-Mas weekend, when I first bought the Unibroue gift pack and said I was going to review all six of the beers in there over those three days? Yeah.)
The Pour: Sliding into a tall, frosted glass, Ephemere develops a tiny head (about 1/4") that is off-white in color. A very strong flowery bouquet blasts off the top of this head as it quickly disappears. Carbonation in the glass is reasonably robust. The body is a light wheat color and is somewhat cloudy.
The Taste: Mmmmm. We've got the typical Unibroue malt/hop balance here (80/20) but the volume and loudness of those flavors are muted across the board. The body, too, is lighter and more effervescent than Unibroue's other offerings. Wrapped up in the dominant malt hit is a veritable fruit basket. Tracy notes a strong strawberry flavor. I'm picking up lemon and citrus and a hint of cherry around that. All of these flavors glide beaufitully around the palate and then slide effortlessly down the throat, leaving almost no aftertaste. A very low-key hops presence puts the bow on top of this very pretty package, rounding out the flavor. %ABV is a "meager" 5.5% (meager by this brewer's standards).
The Verdict: What a fantastic first beer of the day! Not a tour-de-force, but Ephemere is light, refreshing, and bursting with flavors that perk you up without beating you over the head. Were it not for Unibroue's asking price, I could drink these all day long.
Rating:
Next up, our tastebuds travel to Germany for a taste of Einbecker Brauhaus' Mai-Ur-Bock. (Not just Maibock, people, Mai-Ur-Bock.)
The Pour: Silky smooth, with plenty of medium-grained carbonation, yielding a dense, small head that quickly dissipates. Rich hop and clover smell. Copper-colored body.
The Taste: The body is medium-to-heavy and syrupy. It has that cloying, sticky feel to it that I noted previously in Berkshire Brewing's Maibock. The malt quickly enshrouds the tongue, delivering a flavor hit that's 4 parts honey, 1 part caramel apple, with maybe a dash of lemon thrown in. There's a ghostly hoppy apparition that glides by in the periphery, but it's easily missed. You have to be looking in just the right direction to catch it. (Odd that you can smell the hops so strongly but not really taste them.) Long aftertaste with an even longer aftertexture, if you know what I mean.
The Verdict: If my recent experiences with maibocks are any indication, it would seem that the intention with this style is to shock and awe the drinker's sweet sensors into submission. Einbecker's Mai-Ur-Bock certainly succeeds in that department, providing a rich, sugary sensory experience. While you'll enjoy the first half of the glass immensely, however, finishing it off can be something of a chore, and you won't want to reach for seconds without first cleansing your palate with something lighter and brisker. Definitely a "dessert" beer.
Rating:
I decided to go local this weekend, picking up a mixed 12-pack from Farmington River Brewing, a fine little craft brewer from right here in my backyard in Connecticut. (We actually live within a mile of the Farmington River. But then, so does half of Connecticut, as I swear that thing winds its way pretty much everywhere west of the Connecticut River.) Farmington's Mahogany Ale is my favorite of the bunch. It's kind of a hoppy brown ale. Great body. Develops a nice foamy head. Hops are pronounced, but not devastating. There's a solid maltiness playing in the rhythm section, staying out of the spotlight but doing its job. All in all, I would describe this beer as "pleasant". A warm and happy beer, if you will. A great way to start the day.
Rating:
Because I'm waaaaaaaaaay overdue for some Beer Blogging, and it is time to make amends. First up, let's have a taste of Magic Hat's Fat Angel.
The Pour: Pouring into a tall, frosted pilsener glass, Fat Angel develops a meager 1/4" head on top of a coppery body. Aromas are malty and very faint. The head dissipates to film fairly quickly, and carbonation levels appear to be fairly low.
The Taste: The boys at the Hat bill this as a Pale Ale, but I'm getting something a little heavier and chewier than that. (By way of comparison, I consider Bass the benchmark for a Pale Ale.) The malt/hop balance is straight up the middle in this brew, with the two components presenting themselves to your taste buds more or less simultaneously. The malts are a nice, semi-sweet blend of nut and caramel with a bit of a sour note at the back end. The hops are assertively bitter but not punishing. What really impresses me about this beer, however, is the body. It's quite a bit bigger than your typical Pale Ale, delivering a rich, nicely textured mouth feel that's more like an Octoberfest or even a Winter Ale. Aftertaste is hoppy and medium in length. Alcohol content is not displayed on the label, but I'd guess around 5%.
The Verdict: Full-bodied and exquisitely well-balanced, Fat Angel delivers craft-brew quality flavor with mass-appeal levels of drinkability. This is the kind of beer you could spend a whole afternoon with.
Rating:
You know what? I think I've got more beer blogging on tap. I mean, on this glorious day, how can I not? The thrill of victory still courses through me, and what it says to me is... beer. You must have more beer. It is a drive that, unlike the Pats final possession, cannot be denied. So let's take a swig of Geary's Autumn Ale.
The Pour: Nice healthy head that stays around for a bit. The body is a medium-to-dark brown with hints of copper. Very little carbonation present after the pour.
The Taste: While the immediate impression is of a nicely-balanced ale, things swing decisively towards the malt side after a few seconds. A sweet-and-sour malt flavor dominates here, swelling up with each mouthful. The hops feel like they're making an effort at the outset, but then they recede into the background, leaving the suggestion of bitterness but never taking center stage from the assertive malt. The body is medium to heavy and the aftertaste, while not truly long, hangs around for a bit. An odd hybrid beer, overall. Kind of an unusually malty and sour brown ale.
The Verdict: I'd like it if the sour part of the malt were a little less prominent, but other than that I can't find a ton to fault here. Very drinkable and certainly interesting enough. Worth checking out if you run across it.
Rating:
While hunting for beer options for this weekend, Tracy espied Flying Dog's Gonzo Imperial Porter. Examining the exterior of the four-pack, she quickly learned that this brew was a tribute to the late Hunter S. Thompson ("gonzo" journalist). She then further discovered two flavor scales, one of which indicated that this beer was very dark, and a second which placed it well towards the malty end of the spectrum. Her hop-o-phobia thus assuaged and her interest piqued by the association with the venerable Mr. Thompson, Tracy prevailed upon me to make this our selection for the week. (OK, she didn't have to twist my arm too hard.)
My impressions: This is an aggressive but somewhat one-dimensional porter. The texture is chewy and kind of coats your tongue. Long, long aftertaste. The kind of long I could still be tasting tomorrow morning. The flavor is intensely smoky. Not quite Someone-Put-A-Cigar-Out-In-This smoky, but awfully close. Despite the advertised maltiness, any sweet overtones this beer might have are overwhelmed by the charbroiled taste. Very mildly hopped. Most of the time you won't notice the hops at all, because you'll be preoccupied with chewing the embers before you swallow them, but every now and then the hops will poke through and strafe the side of your tongue a bit. Overall I'd say this particular porter is intense, edgy, imbalanced, and a little over-the-top. Definitely grabs your attention out of the gate, but I can see it becoming tiresome pretty quickly. Best in small doses. Hey, sounds like a certain writer you might be acquainted with...
(Tracy says: "That must be why they sell it in four packs.")
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First up is Grimbergen Double Ale, two bottles of which have been languishing in my fridge for weeks now, waiting for me to get my act together. Well, fear not, little bottles, I have arrived.
My immediate impression? Grimbergen Double is what I'd call an "approachable" Abbey Style ale. The alcohol is a relatively low 6.3% and doesn't present itself too much in the flavor, and the body is somewhat more conventional than most Abbey styles, with a bit more carbonation and a slightly less heavy feel. Put another way, this is an Abbey Ale you could give to your uncle who drinks Bud Light without completely freaking him out.
This ale develops a nice foamy head as you pour it. Color is caramel with a bit of a reddish hue. The label describes a "chocolaty, toffee taste with a brandy-like finish." I would partially concur with that. Toffee is certainly there, but I don't get anything from this that I'd describe as chocolate. As for the "brandy-like" finish, there is the cloying sweetness of brandy -- actually I'd liken it more to Port wine -- but none of the alcohol undertones that would suggest. What I detect most strongly is a cherry flavor that lays a patch right down the center of your tongue. This is predominant enough that I'd almost guess they threw some cherries in for the second round of fermentation, but as they do not advertise this, I'll just have to write it off as an emergent property of some sort, a specter that beckons perhaps only to me. As the preceding would suggest, Grimbergen Double is all about the malt, as is usually the case with this style. Any hops which found their way into this recipe are completely subsumed by a robust, complex, and entirely pleasant sweetness.
Highly recommended. Buy a six pack of this and break it out for dessert some night when you're having guests over. I guarantee you'll enjoy it.
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I first discovered Gritty's Brewery while driving back from Acadia National Park in Maine. I was taking the coastal route so I could stop at L. L. Bean, and there was this nice cozy Brew Pub on Route 1. The Octoberfest beer they had on tap that year was astounding, and their "Best Bitter" wasn't bad either. So, this weekend, I decided to pick up a six of the latter and see how well my memory served.
Gritty's Best Bitter could well be described as an IPA for people who don't like IPA's. It's definitely got the aggressive hop flavor you expect in an IPA, but it has a creamy consistency to the body that somehow moderates the overall impact. Take a mouthful of it and while you're savoring the flavor the beer seems to foam up on you right then. It goes down nice and smooth with only a mild aftertaste. All in all, a nicely crafted, easy-drinking beer. It won't rock your world, but it'll put a nice, mellow smile on your face.
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Had to do a return run last night as the garage was overflowing with empties. Now I don't know about you, but when I dump a cartload of empties on a store, I feel morally obliged to buy something from them. So over to the cooler I strolled, and no sooner did I start browsing than I saw Lagunitas Brewing Company's Hairy Eyeball Ale. There's a name that gets your attention.
The Pour: This beer develops very little in the way of a head. Maybe a quarter inch or less of light tan foam that is gone inside ninety seconds, leaving the wispiest of films behind. I can see almost zero visible carbonation in the glass. The body is a very dark brown with hints of cherry. The aroma off the top of the glass is faint and vaguely malty. Not a ton of character for the nose to attach itself to.
Taste: The very first thing to present itself here is the alcohol flavor. It's strong and right up front, suggesting a barley wine. Next in order of intensity is the malt hit. In the main I'm getting something that's typical for a brown ale here. There are hints of sherry and rising up in there too, however, lending a sweetness that sits nicely on the tip of the tongue. The hops come in behind the malt initially, rounding out the flavor and providing a nice balance, and then take full control of the medium-length aftertaste. This beer has a fairly heavy body which, combined with the sweet malt flavors, walks things right up to the line of syrupiness, stopping just short. Oh, and did I mention the strong alcohol taste? The 9% ABV alcohol taste? It's right there through to the end.
Verdict: For a beer that's heavy, malty, high in alcohol and low in carbonation, this goes down way too smoothly. (He says as he opens a second one to confirm his tasting notes.) Seriously, if you're looking for a six pack to get you fucked up with minimal effort, grab some Hairy Eyeball.
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Pre-game beer blogging! With three brews to cover today, I think we need to kick things off a little early. Let's start with Harpoon's new Barleywine.
The Pour: The body is golden and perfectly translucent. A huge head develops as you pour it into the glass. We're talking an inch or so of rich, creamy foam that sticks around for a good long time. Carbonation is initially robust but seems to be flattening out now at Pour plus three minutes and counting. No scent whatsoever as you stick your nose down into the mug.
The Taste: The malt clearly predominates here, and it's a strong, sour note that completely fills your mouth, drowning out any other hints of flavor. There's really not even a suggestion of sweetness here, and I'm looking hard for it. There are also no hops in the house. Even Tracy, a confirmed hop-o-phobe, could not detect a trace of bitterness in this brew. While you wouldn't expect a full-on hop blast in a barleywine, I figured with the one-note malt I'd be able to find something else in here to talk about. Not the case. There's not even a hint of alcohol in the taste, which is amazing considering this sucker clocks in at 10.3% ABV. About the only real positive I can note here is the weight and mouth feel. This is a big-bodied beer. Very substantial. But that's all I can say in its defense..
The Verdict: Big disappointment here. How could anyone put out a barleywine with such a one-dimensional taste? Barleywines are supposed to be rich and complex, intense and demanding. This tastes like a heavier-than-normal pale ale that someone forgot to hop. Blah.
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Next up on the agenda is Boulder Beer Company's Hazed & Infused, which they describe as "dry-hopped and unfiltered" and I describe as "pretty damned good". Hazed is amber in color, cloudy (unsurprisingly) and develops a dense, medium-sized head on pouring. The body is typical for an amber ale, full but not cumbersome. Flavor-wise, there's lots to talk about. The malt has a little bit of the sweet and sour quality I tried to describe in Brooklyn's Pennant Ale. This intense taste dominates when you first take a sip, giving way to the hops after a noticeable delay. When that hoppiness does make its presence known, the sensation is brisk. Twin streaks of bitter hoppy goodness trace right down the sides of your tongue, gradually fading into the overall aftertaste. The label doesn't list %ABV, but I'd guess somewhere in the 5-6 range. Boulder lists this as the first in their "Looking Glass" series of specialty beers, and based on this experience, I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the ensuing offerings.
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3:40 PM: Halftime Beer Blogging!!! The beer you saw me holding earlier as I was driving the living room lane was none other than Magic Hat's HI.P.A. Now, maybe it's the warm glow of the Huskies' 12-point halftime lead talking here, but I do declare at this moment that this is the best I.P.A. I have ever had. Leave it to Magic Hat to slam this style -- one of my favorites -- straight out of the park. Wait, sorry. Tournament weekend. Rather than a home run, then, lets say that HI.P.A. is a halfcourt shot that draws nothing but net.
The body is a cloudy dark gold, medium-to-light in weight (well, light for an ale), and develops a fine head. But you know what? Fuck this. Let's get to the hops, shall we? Oh, allmighty Spaghetti Monster, the hops on this baby. Just astonishing. Here's the thing: Unlike the typical assault on your bitter sensors that occurs when a brewer tries to craft a kick-ass I.P.A. (take Victory's Hop Wallop for example), the hops in HI.P.A. go after you like a trained masseuse, wrapping pleasure around pain, artistry around intensity. You've got a hop/malt balance here that's around 80/20, and somehow it's not overwhelming. It's just crazy good. The malt isn't entirely buried, by the way. It's just a delicate flower in the background. Tracy describes it as "clover honey". I'll sign onto that, even though I'm not entirely sure what clover honey is. Well, the clover part. Anyhow, the overall effect is perfect. This is an I.P.A. lover's I.P.A. To the brewmasters at Magic Hat, I bow before your greatness.
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The Pour: Nice head on this bad boy. About 3/4" of frothy off-white foam. Aromas off the top are strong and very flowery. Just a hint of malt coming in at the end. The body is a very cloudy golden wheat color. Absolutely no visible carbonation in the glass.
The Taste: Jesus Christ with a double-fermenter is this a fantastic beer. As the name warns, the hops jump on your tongue immediately. The blend of bitter and flowery they deliver is almost transcendental in its awesomeness. It's a hop symphony. Without researching it, I'm guessing at least three or four varieties here. Nice primary bite, but the complexity behind it is what's truly awe-inspiring. The body is a shade to the light side of a pale ale. Nothing to stop you from drinking a half dozen of these bad boys, aside from your better judgement, that is. The malt here is semi-sweet and it stays in the background. Aftertaste is long and profound. Very dry, very bitter.
The Verdict: Paper City, a regional brewer out of Holyoke, Massachusetts, has always struck me as one of those nice little local brewers that you feel good buying 'cause they're hometown guys who done good. Their beers have been consistently tasty, but never, before this, have they knocked me out. Well, Paper City People? Consider me knocked out. Down for the ten count. This is, without a doubt, one of the best beers I've ever tasted. Complex but drinkable. Intense but not overbearing. You killed with this recipe. I bow before you. I am not worthy...
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Showtime, puppy dogs! Got a persistent headache and I'm still a bit groggy, but you know what? Sometimes you just gotta play through the pain.
Starting off, let's have a taste of Southern Tier Brewing's Hop Sun Summer Wheat Beer.
The Pour: Lots of coarse carbonation and a big old foamy head. The body is pilsner gold, with only the tiniest hint of the cloudiness one expects to find in a wheat beer. I have to assume this is not a traditional, unfiltered wheat. No scent to speak of.
The Taste: Light body, as befits a Summer seasonal. Not much malt presence. Any detectable sweetness is utterly overwhelmed by the hops, which assert themselves at the outset and leave a long, persistent aftertaste. No tartness, no citrus, nothing whatsoever besides the words on the label to let you know this is a wheat beer.
The Verdict: A few weeks ago, the Times ran a story on wheat beers wherein the experts criticized American craft brewers for abusing the style, all too frequently departing in directions that betray expectations. The folks at Southern Tier might want to take heed. Granted, they warn you what to expect with the name here, but still, I fail to see how this merits the distinction of being a Summer seasonal. It's essentially a light-bodied IPA. In fact, it strikes me as a somewhat watered-down version of their Old Man Winter Ale which - surprise! - also tasted more like a mainstream IPA than anything that would qualify as a Winter seasonal. If there's one thing domestic microbreweries do that pisses me off, it's when they take an off-the-shelf recipe, tweak a few settings, and try to sell it as something it's not. I'm very close to writing Southern Tier off as a one-trick pony. If I buy their Oktoberfest and it's a friggin' full-bodied IPA, they're through. (Note: I have nothing against IPA's. I just expect brewers to flex their creative muscles when they put something new on the market.)
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Per my friend Paul's recommendation, I decided to check out Victory Brewing's Hop Wallop Ale. Now, I like well-hopped beer, believe me. But nothing prepared me for the first mouthful of this brew. Hop Wallop truly does wallop you with hops. I mean -- BOOM! -- bitter sensors all over the tongue lighting up and informing the central nervous system that, HEY, this is a BITTER BEER. (Meanwhile, as I'm processing this, I'm thinking to myself, hmmmmm, are those hops or did someone put marijuana in this? The two are not dissimilar in their pungent immediacy.) So, yes, Victory, you've made your point. You own the Hoppy Crown. You can hop a beer like nobody's business. Hell, this beer could sail around the world 10 times and never go bad it's so well preserved. But is it good?
Tough call. Let me put it this way: You really need to be in the mood for this one. The recipe makes no pretense towards being balanced. The texture is a little rough and the malt is undetectable. This beer is about one thing and one thing only, and that is kicking you in the mouth with a hop-tipped boot. If you like bitter -- if you're an IPA guy and you can handle this sort of thing -- then I say go for it, just for the novelty if nothing else. I'd be hard-pressed, however, to picture anyone stocking up on this by the case. It's just a little too much of a good thing. (In the "Credit Where It's Due" category, this sucker clocks in at a relatively whopping 8.5% alcohol by volume, so the drinker is certainly rewarded for his or her efforts.)
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Boring basketball got you down? Me too. Let's try some beer. Today we'll be visiting the three winners of Sam Adams' 2006 "Long Shot" American Homebrew Contest. First up is the Old Ale, created by California's Don Oliver. Don describes his Old Ale as "a full-bodied, heavy ale" good for Winter drinking. Well, we've sure got Winter going on, so let's give it a taste.
The Pour: Score one for good looks. This is a visually stunning beer. The body is a deep, vibrant, reddish-copper color which pours with a weird solidity suggestive of molten glass. The head is on the small side of the spectrum but for the minute or two it hangs around it's very active. Lots of popping and sparkling as it fades to film. The bouquet is strong, sweet, and worty.
The Taste: WOW is this beer sweet. According to Don, this beer "offers a rich and malty taste that doesn't overpower". The label goes on to claim "a fairly balanced bitterness with some residual sweetness." Incorrect on both counts. The malt vs. hop matchup here is a 2 seed toying with a 15 seed. For a brief moment just before halftime it seems like the hops are going to make a run at it, but by the time the aftertaste kicks in it's a rout. To their credit, the malts are worthy of their high seeding. Strong notes of toffee and scotch weave themselves through a richly textured body that coats every surface inside your mouth and even leaves a thin beer moustache film if you're not careful. In fact, this might be the stickiest beer I've seen outside of a Maibock or a Unibroue label. There's a mild tinge of alcohol running quietly underneath the rest of the beer, hinting at the powerful 10.6% ABV payload.
The Verdict: This is a demanding beer - the opposite of "easy drinking", if you will. Strong, heavy, and cloying with pretty complex malt profile, it's a beer you need to be in the mood for, and even at that drinking the second half of the glass may feel a bit like work. That said, it's not boring and it rewards the drinker's efforts with a nice, warm glow almost immediately.
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Our second Long Shot winner is a Dortmunder-style lager from Massachusetts' Bruce Stott.
The Pour: This beer develops a medium-sized head of rich, off-white foam. There's the slightest hint of a flowery malt coming off the top, but it's hard to catch. The color is 14-karat gold and carbonation levels in the glass appear moderate.
The Taste: A little bit of Grolsch, a little bit of Pilsener Urquell. It's funny that, being raised in the U.S., when you drink a lager of any kind your brain's first impression is "Oh, Beer." (OK, funny and a little sad.) This brew has strong central European lager overtones. It's dry, crisp, a little bitter, and just a tad... skunky. Those of you familiar with, say, Heineken, will know what I mean. There's something that's at once a bit off and yet at the same time lends the beer its character. I'd give the flavor edge to the Pilsener malts, although there's a slightly hoppier flavor that briefly lingers in the medium-length aftertaste. Alcohol content is a pedestrian 5.5%.
The Verdict: Nothing special. A decent European-style lager -- better than the vast majority of its American counterparts -- but nothing to write home about. I almost suspect that the guys at Sam Adams included this just to have an unchallenging lager to offer people.
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Next up, we travel to Germany Vermont for a taste of Long Trail's Hefeweizen.
The Pour: Moderate-sized thick, rich head, with a fair amount of medium-to-coarse carbonation present in the glass. Strong, fruity scent. Tracy says it smells like bananas. I can smell that but also some strawberries. Body is 14-karat gold with just a hint of cloudiness.
The Taste: Medium-weight body with just a tiny hint of syrupiness. Foams up real nice in the mouth. Mellow, sweet, and malty up front. A real fruit salad going on flavor-wise. The banana and strawberry are there as the bouquet advertised, but you've got rasberry and lemon too. Quite the complex array of flavors. The hops wait a while to present themselves. You can really only get at them during the aftertaste. A tad sticky around the lips, but not maibockish or anything.
The Verdict: Stop the presses, people. An American microbrewery has finally nailed a traditional, old-school, German-style hefeweizen. The body is right, the taste is right, everything is right. It's textbook. A little rasberry syrup at the bottom of the glass and you'd swear you vere seeting in der Rathskeller, taking un break from der summer heat vit a nice, revreshing brau. (My German accent is sucky in person, too.) Seriously, though, kudos to Long Trail. I love it when an American brewer demonstrates this kind of technical proficiency, absolutely nailing a traditional European style like this. I don't see that nearly often enough, and when I do, it's both a surprise and a pleasure.
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Yo, peeps! Time for some Jets Are IN THE PLAYOFFS Beer Blogging! I think it's most appropriate to go with Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde, since this Jets team getting into the playoffs was roughly as likely as the end of the world.
The Pour: Depositing this beer into a frosty pilsener glass, it develops a ginormous head. At least two to three minutes pass before I can pour the rest of this beer into the glass. The head is thick and dense. Aromas are light and flowery, not at all assertive. The body is cloudy and wheat-colored. Carbonation is somewhat short of robust.
The Taste: This is a very tart beer. The malt immediately gives you a big -plop- of lemon right in the center of your tongue. Following that is a long, fruity aftertaste. No bitters to this beer at all. Not that the brew is unbalanced, in that "un-hopped", unfinished, "I'm Still A Wort" way that some brews are. It's just all tangy malt on the tongue. Pretty big mouth feel here. Very robust, very full. And yet, while this beer fills you up nicely in the mouth, it's almost instantly forgotten down the throat, as its aftertaste is short-to-non-existent. Alcohol is 9% by volume, but there's only the slightest hint of it in the flavor.
The Verdict: I'm starting to wonder if Unibroue is familiar with the whole hops concept. This is my third beer from them and, once again, it's a malt fest. This is not a complaint, just an observation. They brew some deliciously malty beers.
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What do you say? Time for a little beer blogging? Yep, I believe it is. Yesterday, while I was at the packie stocking up with a mother lode of beer, wine, and spirits for this weekend, I got myself a little X-Mas present: A gift 8-pack from Unibroue Brewing. I've been jonesing to sample their wares for some time, what with the cool names and bad-ass labels they give their brews. So I decided to treat myself. I'll be reviewing all six varieties (they doubled up on two of them) over the next several days.
First up is La Maudite (the Damned), which the label describes as a bottle fermented malt beverage of uncommon smoothness. Let us see for ourselves.
The Pour: This beer develops a monster head when poured into a frosted glass. We're talking a 4" tower of fluffy foam. Took me several iterations to get it all poured in there. A strong, sweet, almost flowery scent emanates from the head as it dissipates. The body is tan and cloudy, and the carbonation remains quite robust even after things have settled down up top.
The Taste: The malt jumps on your tongue with both feet the moment the first sip enters your mouth. The predominant flavors it delivers are honey and lemon. There's a suggestion of raspberry as well, although just a hint. The trace of hoppiness that lingers after each swallow is faint to the point of ethereal. Really, the malts bury the hops with sweetness. There's a creamy mouth feel which is very pleasing, and if you swish each gulp around it foams up beautifully, which brings out the flavors and scents all over again. A very rich sensory experience. Aftertaste is actually a little short, although there's a sticky, cloying film that stays up around your lips to remind you what you've been drinking.
The Verdict: This would make an absolutely beautiful dessert beer. Can't see drinking more than one at a time -- the malt-fest would lose it's attraction after the first one -- but then at the price Unibroue asks, it's doubtful you'd be doing that anyhow. Alcohol, by the way, is 8% by volume, so underneath that confectionery goodness is a beer that's not fooling around.
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Decided to go Old School this weekend, revisiting Mackeson Triple Stout, which was one of my favorite beers back in the old Holmes & Watson days, when I first began exploring the wide world of beer in earnest. (H & W is a pub in Troy, NY, that, in the late eighties/early nineties had an unrivalled beer selection -- over three hundred types typically in stock, both in draft and bottles.)
Mackeson is still a very good beer, but I have to say up front that coming back to it all these years later is just a shade disappointing. The beer hasn't changed, but, alas, I have. Back when my twenty-year-old tastebuds were first exposed to Mackeson's pitch-black brew, it seemed downright exotic. Now, hundreds upon hundreds of microbrews, specialty brews, and high-end imports later, it's, well, just another very good beer.
The first thing you notice as you're pouring a Mackeson is that someone has replaced your beer with used motor oil. It is dark and shiny in appearance and fills the glass silently, as there's very little carbonation in the body and almost no head to speak of (note: Now that I think about it, that last part could be an artifact of using a frosted mug). Take a mouthful and you are overwhelmed by the bittersweet flavor of dark chocolate. The body is thick, cloying even, and its syrupy texture leaves a thick lining on the roof of your mouth. The malt is cranked all the way to eleven on this brew, but beneath the intense sweetness lurks the lingering flavor of hops. Not a well-rounded mixture by any stretch, but not one-dimensional either. A word of warning: Mackeson is a heavy beer. It settles in your stomach like cement. Two in one sitting is the most you want to do before switching to a lighter-weight beer. Something like Guinness, for example. Overall, Mackeson still delivers. And the good news is that it's cheaper to buy than ever before, down to around $8 a six-pack as opposed to the same for a 4-pack back in the day. Love those market forces.
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The Pour: The champ, by contrast, develops a very meager tan head -- maybe 1/8" at its peak -- which is gone inside of a minute. Carbonation levels appear low. Aromas off the top are strong, sweet, and alcoholic. The body is a deep, oaky brown.
The Taste: This beer is intensely sweet and rich. The first sip almost overpowers you with molasses-like maltiness. A strong alcoholic note presents itself immediately, weaving its way through the back of the malt like a nice sherry. Precious little in the way of a hop presence here. There's a slight bitterness that suggests itself immediately after you swallow, and it appears again at the tail end of the very long and boozy aftertaste. Mouthfeel is thick and heavy and there's a bit of stickiness that stays behind after each sip.
The Verdict: A clinic in what a Scotch Ale should be. In my opinion, it remains the benchmark for the style.
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Being a pair of hopeless pun addicts, every time Tracy and I see a six pack of He'Brew (the Chosen Beer) sitting on the shelf, it completely cracks our shit up. Why we haven't bought it before now is a mystery, but this weekend, for whatever reason, He'Brew's Messiah Bold just jumped out at me as I was scanning the selection at our local beer emporium. "Oy", I thought, "What is the matter with you? Why haven't you tried this yet, you schmuck?"
The menschen at Shmaltz Brewing bill Messiah Bold as a nut brown ale. The body starts with a few brown ale hallmarks -- right weight, right level of fine carbonation in the glass, smooth mouth feel (for your reference, I consider Newcastle the benchmark for brown ales) -- but then departs in the direction of portertown and stoutville. The color is very dark, almost black. The flavor hits you with nut brown on the tip of the tongue first and then surprises you with a long, slightly bitter, sweet/smoky aftertaste (no doubt a product of the Dark Chocolate malt they use). Percent ABV isn't listed on the label, but my finely tuned spirit detector is feeling something in the 6-7 range.
The verdict? I can definitely see myself buying this again. Well balanced, nicely crafted, and yet kinda quirky, Messiah Bold serves up a very enjoyable glass of beer.
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In a very special looking bottle from our friends at Shmaltz Brewing, this brew is called "Jewbelation". See, I can't help myself with these guys. I love the schtick. I love the gimmick. And I loved their Messiah Bold. So when I saw "Jewbelation" there was no chance of a non-buy scenario. Here we go.
The Pour: New motor oil. 10W-30 weight. Not quite opaque but damned close. Amazing head. We're looking at 3/4" of thick, dark tan foam that collapses to about 1/4" with an unusual clumpy character to it. Large bubbles dot the head a full two minutes after the initial pour. I get a slight malty hit off the top. Tracy detects cherries, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. Impossible to tell the carbonation levels in the glass, given the darkness of the body.
The Taste: "Chewy and rich" is what immediately strikes me. I'm getting a dark chocolate stout here. Thicky thick body, chocolate malt that's almost harsh in its assertiveness, but there's an intensely bitter hop presence that's right there from the start as well. Adding to the chocolate malt is a strong hint of smoke that sticks to the palate long after the swig is gone. The rest of the aftertaste, sadly, is a little on the watery side, with the hops diappearing entirely. Only a hint of the 10% ABV presents itself, making this a dangerous brew indeed.
The Verdict: If the body didn't leave that weird watery taste at the end, this would be yet another five-banger. As it stands, this is still a fantastic Chocolate Stout. Rich, tasty, and fabulously intense, I would strongly recommend you indulge in a little Jewbelation of your own.
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That's right! That's right! It's a Weekend Beer Blogging Two-Fer! Yeah, Baby! And to what do you owe this pleasure, you ask? I'll tell you what: The MONSTER is in the hizZouse!!!
The first snow has fallen here in the Shire, heralding the arrival of Winter -- real Winter as opposed to "calendar" Winter (now there's a SSTAM post just waiting to be written) -- and what is Winter if not the time to sip from that most exquisite sub-species of genus Beerus, the Barley Wines? Ah, yes, here they come to a packie near you: Sweet, silky smooth, and ready to Kick. Your. Ass.
First up this season is an old friend, Brooklyn Brewing's Monster Ale. I almost missed it today as I scanned the racks, but, just as I was about to turn away, there it was, it's mylar label winking at me from the bottom corner of the domestic microbrew section. Immediately, I was transported into reverie. Ah, Monster, I remember when we first met. It was our mutual friend, Hank, who introduced us. I was having a football party at my spankin' new bachelor pad, and he was kind enough to bring a six-pack of you along for the fun. Somehow, in the excitement, I missed the informative blurb on your packaging that read "11% alcohol by volume". So it was that, after imbibing the better part of the aforementioned six-pack, I missed several other things, including the AFC Championship game and the pizza we had ordered. Ah, Monster. Good times.
A word of warning to those who don't already know: Barley wines are an acquired taste. Starting from the swill that Americans know as mass-produced domestic lagers, a barley wine could be seen as a third cousin, twice removed. A good barley wine has a stronger spiritual kinship to a single-malt Scotch than it does to, say, Budweiser. The barley wine is no casual beverage. It is to be sipped. Slowly. It requires -- nay, it demands -- your attention.
Monster is an absolutely splendid spokesman for the family. It has the silky texture that comes from the ultra-subtle carbonation that characterizes the type. It has a sweet and heady aroma. There is a strong enough suggestion of hops to remind you that you are, in fact, drinking beer. And there is the kick. The kick that says a high-octane alcoholic beverage is en-route to your gastrointestinal system. Ah yes, while Monster is not nearly as overwhelming in this regard as other barley wines, it does let you know who's in charge. Firmly. No talking back.
If you are a beer aficionado, you absolutely need to give Monster a try. If you're a casual beer drinker looking for a little adventure, then for you, my friend, this qualifies as Living on the Edge.
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It's time to get horizontal. As in Victory Brewing's Old Horizontal barleywine. Hey, come on, do beer names get better than that? I laughed out loud when I saw this one in the store yesterday. Horizontal indeed. That's what I'll be in short order.
The Pour: Sizeable head for a barleywine. About a half inch of rich looking light tan foam. Beautiful malty aroma with a strong alcoholic note. The body is a deep caramel color and cloudy to the point of being opaque.
The Taste: Yesterday, as we trundled into Liquor Depot in Avon, I noted the mid-thirties temperatures and thought "HA! Barleywine season, bitchez!" Man, I was so right. Summer beers are fine. They have their place, really. But cold weather brings out the big fucking guns. The Winter Ales. The spicy holiday malts. And the barleywines. Oh, dear FSM in his bowl, the barleywines. Has Man ever crafted a tastier beverage? A fine barleywine is roughly equivalent to a great single-malt Scotch. Just incredible. This particular offering is an outstanding example of the breed. Sweet and malty with a heavy note of alcohol, Old Horizontal is almost mead-like in its smoothness. The predominant notes in the malt -- which is front and center, true to the style -- are honey and caramel with a slight hint of dark cherry. The hops are flowery and demure, ceding the stage to their sweet brewmates. The body is extremely rich and thick. You can really chew on this beer if you feel like it. There's a tiny bit of cloying stickiness around the lips, and the aftertaste is sweet, alcoholic, and ridiculously long.
The Verdict: Two five-bangers in one day. I definitely woke up on the right side of the bed. Victory Brewing has a tendency to go to extremes. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much (Hop Wallop). Stylistically, a barleywine really plays to their strengths. This beer is truly delectable. Almost Ommegang quality. I am very pleased.
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Picked up a six pack of Southern Tier Brewing Company's Old Man Winter Ale on Friday. A couple of weeks ago I tried Southern Tier's Fall sampler 12-pack, and I was sufficiently intrigued that I figured I'd give this new offering a try.
The executive summary: Very tasty beer, atrociously mis-labeled.
Winter ales are typically rich, thick, maybe a little spicy, and more towards the malty end of the spectrum than the hoppy side. What the boys in Lakewood, NY have created in their "Winter Ale" is nothing of the sort. It is, rather, a classic IPA, and a very good one at that. Light to medium body, crisp, and hopped like crazy. Seriously, this is a bitter, bitter beer, so if you're into that (I am) by all means run out and grab this brew.
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Halftime Beer Blogging! Picked up a six pack of Weyerbacher's Old Heathen Imperial Stout last week. Liquor Depot in Avon had it on special for only $5.99. The combination of "Imperial Stout" and "$5.99" is not something I'm likely to pass up. Besides, the name? Come on, it's like this beer was out shopping for me, not the other way around.
The Pour: Silky smooth coming out of the bottle. Deep, dark mahogany in color. Holding it up to the light, I have to report that not a single photon makes it through this body. About a 1/4" head which quickly fades away, leaving a wispy tan film on the surface. Not much carbonation to report.
The Taste: Mmmmmm. Nice flavor. Assertively malty. Hints of both chocolate and caramel here. Slightly chewy mouth feel although, oddly enough, the body feels somewhat light for a stout. The hops are on the bland side. I mean, I'm looking for them right now and I'm just not getting much. Their presence is implied from the overall feeling of balance, but that's about it. Medium-to-long aftertaste with just a tiny hint of the smokiness you'd expect in this breed.
The Verdict: Well-crafted and flavorful, yet the brewers seem to have deliberately reined themselves in. The result is a rarity: A user-friendly imperial stout. Or, put another way, an imperial stout your wife or girlfriend will actually like.
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Sorry I'm a day late with this, but yesterday I just had too much important shit to do. Like, you know, destabilizing the reactor core on the Pillar of Autumn in order to blow up Halo and thereby save every sentient life form in the galaxy. Tough job, but I was up to it. Anyhow, on to beer blogging!
Serendipity, baby. This first beer wasn't even on the plate for this weekend. Tracy and I had to stop and pick up a white wine for a recipe she was making, and, um, since I can't go into a packey and not get beer, well, you know. Right?
So here's this beer on the end cap of one of the aisles. Caught my eye. Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing. I mean, look at that label. You're going to say no to that man? Frankly, I was too afraid to not buy this. Dude looks rather serious. Anyhow, I am so glad I did. This is a classic stout, a masterpiece of stoutiness. Thick, rich, foamy body. Nice hoppy edge to it. Hints of smoke and chocolate, but the flavor is balanced, it doesn't clobber you over the head. Long aftertaste. Everything that arises from this brew feels right, feels natural. You know from the first sip that you're in the hands of professionals here. Nine percent ABV which, if a quick scan of my memory banks is correct, is rather high for a stout, but hey, that's not something I'm prone to complaining about. A bit pricey at $8 for a four pack, but you have my word that it's worth it. A fine, fine beer.
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Next up we've got North Coast Brewing's Old Stock Ale. Picked this up about a month ago on our trip up to Saratoga to visit Angelos & Mrs. Angelos. They've got a truly first-rate beer store a few miles from their place and I, uh, went a little crazy. Anyhow, I was quite impressed with North Coast's Old Rasputin Stout, so when I saw this offering I decided they deserved a second go round.
The Pour: On a hunch, I went with the goblet for this one. Good call by me. This beer -- deep, dark brown in color with a shade of cloudiness -- poured into the glass with the thinnest of heads, and the micro-layer of foam that did develop was gone in an eyeblink. Lifting the glass to my nose, I immediately detected the sweet, alcohol laden notes of a barley wine. It was then that I realized yumminess was in my immediate future.
The Taste: Deep, rich, sweet malt tones dominate as I take my first sip of this beer. Then the winey, slightly fruity (cherry?) flavor kicks in. Then the alcohol. Oh, yes, that 13.25% ABV is not shy. The body is very thick and sticky, verging on cloying. Each mouthful leaves behind a tiny bit of film on your lips and the roof of your mouth. Not a bad thing, mind you, as the longer these flavors "stick" around the better. The aftertaste is long, of course, and in it you'll find a hint of oak and nut, rounding out a sensational taste tour-de-force.
The Verdict: Delicious. Hard core. Really freakin' intense. We're talking Ommegang's neighborhood here. North Coast Brewing? You're making me your bitch.
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Our second contestant this week is a fine Belgian-Style Abbey Ale from the brew monks at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York. Angelos and Maurinsky (on behalf of Mr. Maurinsky) both recommended this one, so when I ran across it at the CT Beverage Center, I had to scoop some up.
They should rename this stuff Omygod. Because that's what I said when I got my first taste of it. Ho ho ho ho is this good beer.
Dark cherry brown in color. Offers a nice, foamy head when served at room temperature, slightly less so if you cool it down for half an hour in the fridge (not a beer that you drink cold). Serve it in a goblet or other wide-mouthed glass, something that lets you stick your nose down in there. Mmmmmmm. Nice, heady aroma. Then the taste. Big sweet hit on the tip of the tongue to start, then a slow savory flavor burn as you swish it around, and finally a short aftertaste that's part cherry liqueur, part tobacco (in a good way). The body is rich without being syrupy or overbearing. Good alcohol bite to it, but nothing that will scare anyone away. This is definitely a keeper.
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Not to say that the B-list doesn't have its charms. Otter Creek Brewing's Copper Ale, for example, is a delightfully unpretentious brew. Exactly the kind of undemanding beer I need to help me through my current miserable state. (Wow, Tracy's right: I do whine a lot when I'm sick.) This little ale is, as advertised, copperish in color with a medium body and average carbonation. The malt/hop balance is -- wait for it -- about fifty/fifty. Of particular note is the way the malts and hops blend together. Usually when I take a sip of beer I can make a clear distinction: OK, the malt hits here and tastes like so, and there are the hops over there. Not so with this one. The two components seem to meet each other halfway, providing an unusual unity of flavor. Alternatively, I could just be high on cold medication. The aftertaste is, literally, short and sweet. Ah, what a friendly little beer. I make it go bye-bye now.
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What beer to blog about on the first day of baseball season? Why, the choice is obvious, is it not? Allow me, then, to introduce you to Brooklyn Brewing's Pennant Ale.
But wait! First, a short rant. Dear Major League Baseball: It is Sunday. It is freakin' beautiful out. A truly glorious day. There is only one thing I can think of that would improve upon this day, and that is a Yankees game on the television. But, alas, like the NFL, you have decided to do the idiotic single-game opening day thing. Which sucks. Really, really quite dumb, I'll have you know. Next year, please let everyone open on the weekend. Please? Thanks.
So then. Back to the beer at hand. Pennant Ale presents itself with a good foamy head and a body that is light copper in color. The flavor is quite assertive, and it's the malt that grabs your attention. It's maddeningly hard to describe, however. I ran it by Tracy, and the best she could come up with was "like a candy, but not sweet". Paradoxical as that may seem, it's not off the mark. I hesitate to use the word "sour" to get at what I'm tasting here -- negative connotations, right? -- but it kinda sorta is. Like sour candy, perhaps? (My woman's taste buds are smart. Like her.) Maybe a hint of smoke too, or perhaps even a suggestion of scotch. Anyhow, the important thing to note is that this malt jumps on your tongue hard. In a good way. The only fault I'd point out about this is that because the malt is so assertive, the hops get more or less buried. I suspect they're in the house, but they're hiding under the bed or in the closet or something. Not a huge deal, mind you. It's true that I'm a hop fanatic, but this ale brings enough to the table in other departments that I can let the relative weakness in the hop department slide. I will sum up this beer in a single word: Robust.
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Update: Tracy says that Pennant Ale's flavor is really good second-hand as well. Nudge nudge. Wink wink.
So, decided to revisit Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre this weekend. Tracy and I tried this last year because 1.) We like Dogfish Head and 2.) You have to love that as a name for a beer. When I saw it at my local toy store Friday, I figured, hey, that was good right? I'll tee it up for the blog.
Now I remember what I like about Dogfish Head so much: Their IPA's.
Seriously, this is what I think happened with this beer: They have an allotment of hops, and by the time they're finished brewing their 60-minute, 90-minute, and 120-minute IPA's, there are no hops left. How else to explain Raison D'Etre which is all malt. Here I sit with a mouthful, bathing my tongue in this brew, and I'm trying to sense even the slightest bitterness going on and, nope, nuthin'. All malt. Now, it's a good maltiness, mind you. Very nice taste. Carmelly with a hint of fruit. But it really could use some balance, just a hint of hops to keep things on track. The body is medium weight with decent carbonation. Short aftertaste. This beer definitely isn't looking to kick you in the face. 8% ABV, although you don't get even a hint of that from the flavor. Wish I could give these guys the thumbs-up here, but they broke one of my cardinal rules for ales and went one-dimensional.
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Next up on the agenda, Flying Dog Brewery's Road Dog Scottish Porter. Mmmmmmmm, sweet. Dark brown body, medium-to-heavy in weight, with a meager head. Fine carbonation. The mouth feel has the velvety touch of a porter and leaves a bit of a treacly residue behind. Flavor-wise, however, I don't detect any of the smokiness or edginess that the term "porter" usually conveys. Instead, the malt -- which clearly predominates throughout the proceedings -- carries hints of caramel. This puts this brew more in line with a standard Scotch ale, but mitigating against that label is the absence of the slight alcohol edge that those usually have (BTW, %ABV isn't listed, but I'm feeling a 6.0. Ooops. No, make that a 7.0). A little light on the hops, which are present but distant. Aftertaste is short considering the other aspects of the beer. Interesting. Mehinks we have an odd hybrid on our hands. Taxonomy aside, though, this is a very pleasant beer. I'd been staying away from Flying Dog because the last two or three beers of theirs I'd tried came across as sloppy and imbalanced, but they put together a nice recipe here. Overall, a smooth, almost elegant brew.
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OK, time to air a pet peeve of mine about "flavored" beers. Wait, you say, What's the beer that occasions this X-Mas rant? It's Sea Dog Brewing's Riverdriver Porter Hazelnut Ale. Not a terrible beer. In fact, because I generally like Sea Dog and am fond of their brewpub up in beautiful Camden, Maine, I'm going to go easy on them with the rating. But still...
Here's the thing. You walk a fine line when you decide to flavor a beer. I'm a Master Drunkard, not a Master Brewer, so I don't know where the art lies. What I know is that, if you're going to try to produce a beer that has a non-beer flavor woven into it, you have to somehow make the flavor arise organically. It's not enough to craft a beer of a particular type and then just "add flavor" like you would with, say, a flavored coffee.
Riverdriver has a typical porter base to it. Very heavy body, almost pitch black in color, and a somewhat chocolaty bouquet. Chewy, too. Pleasant in all respects as porters go, but then there's the hazelnut. It tastes like they just went to the supermarket, found some hazelnut extract, and added it in after the fact. D'Oh!!! You can't do it like that. It's too obvious. It hits you over the head. No, if you want to add in hazelnut flavor you have to weave it in to the core. When I sip this, I shouldn't think "porter... chocolate... HEY! Hazelnut!" The added flavor should feel immediate and intrinsic to the beer.
Anyhow. Just something I want to get out there. This is aimed mainly at American microbreweries too. It's like some of them, in the quest to expand their offerings, take a recipe they already have on the shelf and then toss a flavor in. Not good enough, guys. Not givin' those novelty beers the love they need.
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Tracy's in the other room wrapping presents for the Toast family gift exchange tomorrow and I'm pondering putting up some additional lights in our windows. I believe I'm up to the task, but I think I need a kick-butt brew to fuel me. So how about we do a little Saturday night Beer Blogging? And I know just the beer, too. The boys in Burlington finally unleashed their 2006 Winter offering upon the world, so let's take a look at Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles hoppy amber ale.
The Pour: Depositing the beverage into a frosty mug, we are greeted by a meager head. Perhaps 1/4" of foam which quickly dissipates to film. Carbonation in the glass is a little light but still reasonable for this style of beer. The body is a dark amber with a bit of a reddish hue. No aroma off the head, but I'm rather stuffed up, so my nose is probably thwarting whatever is there.
The Taste: The immediate impression is that this is a well-rounded beer. Very robust in the mouth, foaming up a little and grabbing your attention in a number of different ways. The hoppy edge asserts itself first, but the malt hit is only a half a length behind. They seem to actually meet somewhere in the middle of your tongue, blending together in a bitter-woody-sour harmony that is altogether pleasing to the palate. While the hops (brewer's gold and simcoe) are forward enough to command your attention, they don't assault you. Likewise, the malt, which, contrary to the descriptoin in the online profile, is almost devoid of sweetness, won't make you pucker or grimace either. The hint of oaky/nutty flavor smooths out the rough edges. Aftertaste is medium in length, long enough to keep your attention, not so long as to monopolize the rest of your day. Alcohol is 5.8% by volume.
The Verdict: What the Hat has given us here is a deeply flavorful, perfectly balanced, rich but refreshing ale. It's got some shades of their legendary number 9, but it also -- and this might just be me being nostalgic -- seems to pay homage to the late, great Catamount Amber Ale. In fact, I'd wager they used the same variety of hops. (Catamount, which went out of business a few years back, hailed from the same area in upstate Vermont as Magic Hat. Their Amber Ale was, at one time, my favorite beer.) Unsurprisingly, another winner for the Northeast's premiere brewer.
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Magic Hat debuted their 2005 winter seasonal brew, Saint Gootz, a couple of weeks ago. The label identifies it as a "dark wheat ale", and like most wheats it's got a nice, tangy zip to it. As a dark ale, however, it's got a lot more body than, say, a summer wheat. Nice, deep, smooth feel to it. Great flavor. No bitterness at all, so you hop-o-phobes out there can enjoy it. Once again, the beer wizards at Magic Hat come through with a winner.
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Ah, yes. The great meal is through. The turkey and stuffing are in the belly. You're sitting and watching a little football and letting the day settle in. Nothing like finishing off X-Mas night with a good friend.
Mmmmm... Smoky. Chewy. Dark and silky and... hey, my old buddy Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I haven't had this since I was a senior at RPI and I was spending every spare dollar I had down at Holmes & Watson's in Troy, NY expanding my beer repertoire. It's still the sly devil of a beer I remember. Worth every dollar of the $10 a four-pack you'll be charged. Sam's Oatmeal Stout is darker than pitch, smoky like a fireplace on X-Mas day (hmmmm...), slightly bitter, and it sticks to the roof of your mouth in an altogether desirable way, lingering like a friend who doesn't really want to go home. It's a heavy beer -- be warned -- like a 10W/30 at least. But I could not recommend it more warmly.
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(Update: Wow, reading that last one really illustrates the inverse relationship between blood alcohol content and writing ability. I think I'll leave it up there unedited as a reminder to myself.)
The Pour: This beer develops a 3/4" head of sand-colored foam which dies off to a 1/8" remant in a few minutes. The body is a rich copper color. Carbonation is quite robust. A dense mist of bubbles continues to cascade towards the top of the glass a good five minutes after the pour. Not much, if anything, in the way of scents here.
The Taste: The malts lead the hops here with what feels like a 60/40 flavor ratio. Malt notes are semi-sweet. A touch of honey, and maybe a hint of caramel. Nothing overpowering, but they don't need to be, because the hops aren't killing you either, delivering just a trace of dryness around the edges. The body is where this beer really falls flat. Very watery and insubstantial. No aftertaste whatsoever. You swallow this beer and it's gone. Not even a hint of the 6% ABV suggests itself throughout the proceedings.
The Verdict: This is a perfect example of what can go wrong when American craft brewers recklessly expand their catalog by attempting to recreate complex European styles using a variation on their safe, "base" recipe. Saranac's "Scotch Ale" tastes very similar to every other Saranac you've ever tasted. There's none of the richness, none of the intensity, none of the big, dessert-like reward you expect from a proper Scotch Ale. It's Saranac Pale Ale with a bit of caramel in the hops.
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Halftime beer blogging! Lets try to make some mischief with Ridgeway Brewing's holiday double ale, Seriously Bad Elf.
The Pour: SBE is amber in color and more or less clear. Pouring it, we see a moderate head of light, fluffy foam that dissipates inside of a minute. Almost zero carbonation remains in the glass after the head is gone.
The Taste: We have a variety of sweet, malty flavors going on here. A little bit of butterscotch, a little bit of cider, perhaps. Maybe a hint of caramel. None of these are terribly assertive, but they don't need to be because the rest of this beer is utterly tame. There is a mild hop presence which comes out primarily during the aftertaste, as the malt flavor fades away. All of this would work much better if this beer had a body. Unfortunately, the substance of this brew is pure papier-mache. It almost tastes -- dare I say it? -- watery. That is not an adjective one expects to apply to a double ale. Furthermore, this beer is as flat as a ten-year-old girl. After ten minutes in the glass, you feel like you're drinking watery syrup. At least this concoction packs 9% ABV, so I'm not completely wasting my time.
The Verdict: When Ridgeway labeled this Elf "Seriously Bad", I doubt they meant it as a description of the beer's quality, but alas, the moniker is apt in exactly that way. A totally unimpressive experience. I am 0 for 2 on the day. Cranky.
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Today, A Tale of Two Wheat Beers, one from Sierra Nevada and one from Long Trail. Belly up to the bar, friends, as we draw two glasses and see what's what.
First, the Sierra Nevada unfiltered wheat. Having been quite impressed with their Summerfest a little while back, I decided I just had to check out their wheat offering. One good turn deserves another, after all, right? (I don't actually know what that saying means, but it sounds good here.)
The Pour: Big old foamy head, which seems to be the result of this brew shooting its carbonation load all at once, as there's very little in the way of bubbly going on shortly after the pour. Light yellow in color with a cloudy body. Just beneath the surface there's a layer of extra-cloudy swirliness going on, which is cool to look at.
The Taste: Very lightweight feel here, bordering on insubstantial. Surprisingly, though, this wispy thing packs a decent flavor payload. Sour taste to the malt, which grabs the tip of your tongue and jumps on it. Well-hopped for a nice, crisp edge. Tart, lemony finish. Fairly long (and enjoyable) aftertaste.
The Verdict: Quite a package here. Everything balances really well. Each sip provides a nice little pop-pop-pop experience with the punchy malt, followed quickly by the hoppy bitters, and wrapped up with a tarty, zingy finish. And yet, even though it's so assertively flavorful, it's got a body so skinny you could drink a ton of 'em. Very well-crafted beer. I really like what Sierra Nevada did with this one. Could work its way into the regular summer rotation.
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Our first contestant today comes from the fine folks at Guinness. Smithwick's Irish Ale lands dead-center on the beer spectrum between Guinness' two more well-known offerings, the legendary Guinness Stout on the heavy end and Harp Lager on the light side. Coppery in color with a foamy head, it is an unusually effervescent ale, somewhat insubstantial in nature. The flavor is pleasant enough but completely lacking in assertiveness. A hit of flowery malt, a trace of hops, Smithwick's goes down smoothly and is almost instantly forgotten, leaving not a trace of aftertaste. In fact, if I were to rename this beer, I would call it "Smithwick's Mild Ale". Now, this is not an entirely bad thing. In fact, if you're looking for an Ale you can drink a lot of without getting bogged down, Smithwick's might be just the ticket. At 4.5% ABV, it's not going to do you a lot of damage in that department either. (Note to Self: Remember this beer when you get to Ireland in August. This could be the solution to that sprint/marathon problem we always run into.) Bottom Line: A beer with mass-market sensibilities, Smithwick's is user-friendly and in no way unpleasant. I predict, however, that true beer enthusiasts will be unimpressed.
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Halftime Beer Blogging!!! Meant to get to this brew last week, but I was too hammered by halftime of the late game. So here we go: Smuttynose Winter Ale.
The Pour: Small head which dissipated inside of a minute. The body is a very attractive copper color. Carbonation is extremely fine and the tiny bubbles almost seem to hang suspended in mid-beer, creating a cloudy look.
The Taste: First thing I notice here is the foamy mouth feel. This beer really fills up your mouth if you provoke it with a little swishing. The malt has a bit of a sour taste to it, which I seem to sense primarily on the underside of the tongue. Strong hints of spice and a little pumpkin present themselves next. The hops are pretty weak. There's enough there to keep things from being completely out of balance, but they really should have put a bit more emphasis on that end of things. Aftertaste is on the short side, and basically consists of the sour malt note that got us started. Kind of falls flat in the end.
The Verdict: Not bad, but nothing special either. This beer has a bit of a superficial feel to it, like they didn't think the recipe through all the way.
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Next up, we've got a beer I was supposed to blog about months ago, because it's the beer that I sent to John Howard for being the 100,000th visitor to TwoGlasses.com. This was a tough call to make. I must have spent twenty minutes walking around the beer aisles at Liquor Depot. I needed a beer that was available in bomber size - no chincing with a 12 oz. for such an accomplishment as this. I also needed a beer that was at least somewhat interesting but still very drinkable, nothing exotic. Believe me, had Chemist or Mike or Angelos won this thing, I would have gone in an entirely different direction, probably a Belgian or a barleywine. But for a guy who sees nothing wrong with drinking a Bud Light? I knew I couldn't stray too far from the beaten path. Lastly, I figured I'd go with something local, and that's how I wound up choosing Berkshire Brewing's Steel Rail Pale Ale.
The Pour: Depositing Steel Rail into a wide-mouthed frosted mug, we see a body that's very light in color for a Pale Ale, almost a lager yellow. The head tops out at 1/2" of white foam which leaves like it's got a hot date somewhere. A faint grassy scent wafts from the top of the glass. Carbonation appears moderate, and there's a bit of cloudiness in the body, like a mist of fine bubbles that just hang there instead of rising.
The Taste: A strong sweet & sour malty flavor jumps out and asserts itself immediately here, with notes of honey providing the sweet and a puckery fruity taste delivering the sour. Precious little to speak of in the hops department. In fact you can only det