Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Cerise-Founder's Brewing-A light tantalizing ale that's gotta have some wheat malt as it is a somewhat thin body/texture with a bit of zest. The cherries are tart and sour, the IBU are low at 15 (Ozzie range) and the ABV is a highly quaffable 6.1%. The pour is mildly cloudy and the head is short-lived. This could almost be served in a champagne flute with some fresh fruit as a pre-dinner beverage. It would be tasty also with some fruit cobbler after dinner. There was some sediment, a bit surprising, but not unpleasant. I am not sure this is bottle-conditioned which is why I mention it. It wasn't cough medicine-like in its drinking but it was certainly below the enjoyability of the New Glarus Wisconsin Red. Definitely worth a taste and sharing but not a brew I'd buy another 4/6 pack of to put in the 'fridge.

[devildeac]

Backwoods Bastard-Founder's Brewing-This is a fascinating creation. My guess is that it is a variation of their Dirty Bastard which is a scotch type ale with a bit of peat and smoke. This blends nicely with the oak aging in whiskey barrels which gives it a bit of vanilla, a bit of oak and a moderate amount of boozey bourbon flavor. There are a ton of dark cherries in the brew with very mild bitterness and an IBU of 50. The ABV of 10.2% makes this quite a sipper so I'd serve it at cellar temperature in a snifter with a plate of fruit or some soft, mild cheeses for dessert. Might be heavenly with some chocolate covered strawberries. Found this in Asheville and bought 4 bottles in January. I'll see if I can save or trade any...

[rockymtn devil]

Victory Storm King Stout--Trader from DD during his trip to the Centennial State. It's 20 degrees and we're expecting somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow in the city tonight. Naturally I picked out a dark, high octane beer to get me through.

On the nose the beer has a very nice hop presence--think seriously bitter chocolate. As stouts go, I think only Yeti rivals the upfront hoppiness of this beer. The smell also has a notes of rich vanilla and butter that hint at oak aging, but it doesn't appear that's the case. The flavor has a strong burnt quality that initially reminds me of a Porter. All the way through, dark, roasted coffee and chocolate dominate. It's a great balance of the roasted malts and the bitter, hoppy chocolate. Most importantly, the beer has an excellent warming character.

[devildeac]

Victory Storm King Stout--Trader from DD during his trip to the Centennial State. It's 20 degrees and we're expecting somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow in the city tonight. Naturally I picked out a dark, high octane beer to get me through.

On the nose the beer has a very nice hop presence--think seriously bitter chocolate. As stouts go, I think only Yeti rivals the upfront hoppiness of this beer. The smell also has a notes of rich vanilla and butter that hint at oak aging, but it doesn't appear that's the case. The flavor has a strong burnt quality that initially reminds me of a Porter. All the way through, dark, roasted coffee and chocolate dominate. It's a great balance of the roasted malts and the bitter, hoppy chocolate. Most importantly, the beer has an excellent warming character.

Shooting 100% so far at 1 for 1 on the trading front.

Next up is...

[rockymtn devil]

Victory Storm King Stout--Trader from DD during his trip to the Centennial State. It's 20 degrees and we're expecting somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow in the city tonight. Naturally I picked out a dark, high octane beer to get me through.

On the nose the beer has a very nice hop presence--think seriously bitter chocolate. As stouts go, I think only Yeti rivals the upfront hoppiness of this beer. The smell also has a notes of rich vanilla and butter that hint at oak aging, but it doesn't appear that's the case. The flavor has a strong burnt quality that initially reminds me of a Porter. All the way through, dark, roasted coffee and chocolate dominate. It's a great balance of the roasted malts and the bitter, hoppy chocolate. Most importantly, the beer has an excellent warming character.

Shooting 100% so far at 1 for 1 on the trading front.

Next up is...

I have a review of Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy from last week. I took notes on it at that time and will post them soon. Needless to say, it was delicious.

[devildeac]

Victory Storm King Stout--Trader from DD during his trip to the Centennial State. It's 20 degrees and we're expecting somewhere between 10-15 inches of snow in the city tonight. Naturally I picked out a dark, high octane beer to get me through.

On the nose the beer has a very nice hop presence--think seriously bitter chocolate. As stouts go, I think only Yeti rivals the upfront hoppiness of this beer. The smell also has a notes of rich vanilla and butter that hint at oak aging, but it doesn't appear that's the case. The flavor has a strong burnt quality that initially reminds me of a Porter. All the way through, dark, roasted coffee and chocolate dominate. It's a great balance of the roasted malts and the bitter, hoppy chocolate. Most importantly, the beer has an excellent warming character.

Shooting 100% so far at 1 for 1 on the trading front.

Next up is...

I have a review of Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy from last week. I took notes on it at that time and will post them soon. Needless to say, it was delicious.

Looks like 2 for 2 then.

[bluebeer]

Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale--One of several one time releases they have planned for this year. Pours a medium straw color with a huge head. Taste can best be described as a cross between a triple and an ipa. Decent amount of hoppiness up front with lots of pine. Not too much bitterness. The esters come in next with some mild fruitiness and a slight booziness despite the low ABV. The finish is all yeast. A nice easy to drink beer which blends 2 different styles pretty well. ABV of 6.5%..

[bluebeer]

Oskar Blues-Gubna IIPA

Full disclosure, this beer was supposed to end up in DD's trader but I wasn't sure how the can would handle the flight back to NC. So I decided against it and am now (as I'm trying the beer for the first time) regretting it. I should have given you one and told you to drink while in Vail.

A quick backstory: for the past few years OB has released The Gordon as its IIPA offering but, as anyone who has sampled that beer can attest, it simply isn't an IPA. It's Imperial red ale, and a fine one at that. So the fine folks at OB relabeled The Gordon as an "ale" and introduced a true IIPA in the Gubna.

High ABV? Check (10%). Serious IBUs? Check (100+). Awesome flavor? Double check. The beer uses only one hop variety (Summit hops, from the website), and shows that an extremely tasty brew can arise from simplicity. On the nose the beer smells like a fresh mix of grapefruit and cannabis. The flavor continues with a fresh citrus burst that perfectly mixes sweetness with bitterness. In the end the beer doesn't represent anything I haven't had before. It's a IIPA and has all of the tasting points you'd expect from that style. But it does everything about that style better and cleaner than I've ever had. Very tasty beer.

Finally got my hands on some of this and was not disappointed. The use of just (and a lot of) summit hops definitely makes for a unique tasting IIPA. I picked up a lot of pine and far less of the citrusy hop bite of many other similar beers. There was also a sweetness that I couldn't quite place but was definitely different from the maltiness of some more balanced IIPAs like 90 Minute. Price is a bit steep at $16 for a 4 pack but I would definitely buy again..

[devildeac]

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale-One of their better offerings. CB&B and I discussed this briefly last PM in Section 21 when we shoulda been talking about hoops but hops came up instead with rmd, bluebeer, CB&B and yours truly. I drank it as a celebration for uk's win on Thursday. Think about it... ;)

OK, back to business. A yellow-pouring, mildly frothy and citrus-y IPA with some pine/spruce resin tastes, too. Interestingly, I don't think the IBU are very high. Their web site does not list them and their brews are not wildly hopped. The caramel malt balances well and the ABV is 8%, a bit high for a regular IPA so I nursed this one through the game last PM. Well, OK, I drank darn near all of it by halftime after our wretched showing and sipped the last 4-6 ounces of the bomber during our much more relaxing 2nd half . This would be a nice brew with a slab of fish and some peppery/fruity salsa.

[rockymtn devil]

Finally got my hands on some of this and was not disappointed. The use of just (and a lot of) summit hops definitely makes for a unique tasting IIPA. I picked up a lot of pine and far less of the citrusy hop bite of many other similar beers. There was also a sweetness that I couldn't quite place but was definitely different from the maltiness of some more balanced IIPAs like 90 Minute. Price is a bit steep at $16 for a 4 pack but I would definitely buy again..

$16? Wow. It's $10-11 here, which is still steep for a 4-pack, but more reasonable.

[bluebeer]

So how are people celebrating tonight? I have a few special brews which I plan to wait just a bit longer on ;) but I'm just about to crack open Sierra Nevada Fritz and Ken's Ale..

[rockymtn devil]

I'm having NB Trippel. Nothing special tonight. I'll save that for a week from tomorrow (Deschutes Mirror Mirror is the likely culprit).

BTW, where did you try Avery Black Tot? I haven't seen it and assumed it was brewery only except for a few lucky bars who got some (their second in the barrel aged series, Suis Generis, was brewery only too).

[bluebeer]

I'm having NB Trippel. Nothing special tonight. I'll save that for a week from tomorrow (Deschutes Mirror Mirror is the likely culprit).

BTW, where did you try Avery Black Tot? I haven't seen it and assumed it was brewery only except for a few lucky bars who got some (their second in the barrel aged series, Suis Generis, was brewery only too).

I had read that it was brewery only as well (unlike Brabant which seemed to be distributed fairly widely) but then there it was sitting on the shelf at a local store. I hope to have the same luck with Suis Generis which sounds incredible..

[bluebeer]

Sierra Nevada Fritz and Ken's Ale--The first of several 30th Anniversary beers that SN has planned for this year. Corked 750ml bottle. An imperial stout that pours black with a surprisingly large head. Lots of toasted malts with dark chocolate and espresso. Very hoppy as one would expect from SN with a decent amount of bitterness that blends well. Almost no trace of alcohol despite being over 9% ABV. I tend to like imperial stouts which are a bit sweeter and boozier but this is definitely on the dry and smokey side..still very enjoyable and worth trying if you see it.

[devildeac]

Black and Blue-Dogfish Head-Best beer in the world. At least last PM it was ;) . The base is a Belgian golden ale with a generous amount of black raspberries and bluebeeries (sic; )added in the fermentation process. So, there is a moderate amount of fizz but it does not linger and it pours a slightly cloudy (probably from some wheat malt and the fact that it is bottle conditioned) blu-ish/reddish/orange color with some hints of cloves and coriander. The fruit flavors are not subtle but are mild and not over-powering. The IBU are 25 and the ABV is 10% so I sipped half of the the capped 750 ml bottle last PM and will enjoy the remainder tonight. Dessert beer here but one could make a case for serving it in a champagne glass with a plate of fresh fruit as an appetizer, too. Dad would have enjoyed this immmensely after the Duke victory.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Sierra Nevada Fritz and Ken's Ale--The first of several 30th Anniversary beers that SN has planned for this year. Corked 750ml bottle. An imperial stout that pours black with a surprisingly large head. Lots of toasted malts with dark chocolate and espresso. Very hoppy as one would expect from SN with a decent amount of bitterness that blends well. Almost no trace of alcohol despite being over 9% ABV. I tend to like imperial stouts which are a bit sweeter and boozier but this is definitely on the dry and smokey side..still very enjoyable and worth trying if you see it.

Ooooh, I hope they release that here. SN is pretty good about distribution, so I'm sure at least Total Wine will have it, sounds tasty.

[devildeac]

I plan on making a visit to the Liquor Barn in the Land of the Lost on Friday. They have a better selection than Total Wine . Anyone interested? Bueller? CB&B? ;)

[CameronBornAndBred]

Hoptical Illusion from Blue Point (Long Island brewer, IPA)
Totally new company and new brew to me, I found a 6 of this at Harris Teeter. They also have a "Toasted Lager" which I'll try at some point. As for the Hoptical Illusion, I'm always leary about new "hoppy" beers, because they usually dissapoint me, and coming from a new company, I was extra leary. This is really, really good though. If you gave me Sierra Nevada Torpedo, and an Illusion to blind test, it might be a bit of a struggle. 6.8% ABV, the hops are very flavorful, and really fresh tasting. High bitterness, over 70 IBU's easily. Lovely deep golden color crowned with rich off-white head, thick body, but slight less than I'd expect. The malts are packed in, and if it weren't for the high bitterness this would be a sweet beer, but it's a nice undertone. I wasn't thrilled about the price, almost $10 for the 6, but I'm sure if I bought them as singles at Total Wine they'd be around $2 each. Still, almost a buck more than a 6 of Torpedo, and over a buck more than most other crafts you find in the grocery store. A slight knock also for the twist off caps.
But...if you are looking for a really good IPA, it's a strong recommend. I'm looking forward to seeing what else these folks offer when I find them. I'll even try the toasted lager....one day.

http://www.bluepointbrewing.com/

[CameronBornAndBred]

A brewery now has the legal right to release a beer called 'F**king' after winning a battle with the European Patent Office......
Because F**king is a real place name, officials were helpless to prevent him from releasing the beer. Equally the 'Hell' in the title obviously comes form the German word for larger Helles.

http://www.aroundglobe.net/2010/03/brew ... fking.html



Ozzie needs to see this post, he sent an email about the town. F**cking funny.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Yup, I sent out that Fucking email!