Ymm, Beer!

[CathyCA]

Great Lakes Glockenspiel...a neat trader from the visit I had with Lavabe and DD this weekend. A weizenbock, it's a light brown, high octane ale, very fruity with a bite. The bottle says "plum-colored and full-bodied"; I disagree with both of those statements. I don't think it has enough body to call it "full-bodied" as it pours and stirs very freely. As I said, the color is a light brown, and while the label makes no mention of it, I enjoy the nuttiness that I detect. It comes across as a high ABV New Castle with spice. The head makes a quick tan presence, and poof! it's gone. Low carbonation, but pretty bitter, with that bite that I first detected hanging around for a bit. A good ale, worth visiting on a cold holiday evening, especially if you are looking for something slightly different.

Just took a bath while enjoying an Avery "Old Jubilation" (another trader, had it before plenty and always enjoyed) and it struck me how similar the two ales are. The Avery is a little better in every category...body, flavor, head retention, aroma...but they really are very close, and make a good comparison.

You took a BATH while drinking a beer?

[CameronBornAndBred]

You took a BATH while drinking a beer?

Yeah, but I don't have my own tap like that lucky bastard.

[devildeac]

You took a BATH while drinking a beer?

Yeah, but I don't have my own tap like that lucky bastard.

Shouldn't that be lucky Arrogant Bastard? ;) (but not "oaked")

[CameronBornAndBred]

Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout (Otter Creek)--
This was a stab in the dark buy at Total Wine. I've never heard of Wolaver's before, but the Oatmeal Stout was touted as having an 87 pt. rating on Beer Advocate, and since it's stout season I gave it a shot. Out of the bottle, the pour had me worried. It looked thin, and more of a porter color, the tan head dissipated quickly. The aroma helped my expectations some, filling the nose with memories of the morning's roasted coffee beans. The flavor was more of the same, lots of coffee and roasted malts. I'm really surprised about the quantity of flavor given the thinness of the liquid, I would expect the brew to be much darker and heavily bodied if I were tasting it blind. Mild ABV, just under 6%, low bitterness, maybe 20 IBU's. I'll go for it again if I see it, in fact next time I'm going to try it at room temp to see what differences I notice.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Victory Yakima Twilight--I think this falls into the double IPA category though a bit of a unique take on it...Pours a reddish brown. Decent hop punch up front with lots of pine and citrus. The hops are balanced well (perhaps even overbalanced for the style) by a good malt presence but the malts are more toasted and not nearly as sweet as other malty double IPAs that I've tried. Some mild smokiness and a lingering bitterness in the finish. A nice robust double IPA that's hearty enough for the winter. ABV about 9%.

DD and I found this at Total Wine this week and split a 6 pack, I'm enjoying #2 right now. I'm also going to try a yeast culture from this brew for my next batch, which will be a first. I'd be hesitant to call it a double IPA, since it's heavy on the roasting and thus less pale, but the hop quantity and the high ABV sure fit well. An imperial brown, maybe?

[devildeac]

Getting wayyy behind on the reviews with 3 days in a row of call and 4 outta the last 5. I'll try to compose/post some thoughts tomorrow night about the vertical tastings, which were quite excellent, BTW ;) Good to read about the Yakima Twilight as I bought/shared it based on bluebear's review which I vaguely recalled .

[bluebeer]

Instead of going to the Great Divide event tonight I chose to come home and walk the dog in the rain/snow . My reward was a first taste of Avery's duganA IIPA. This beer has been described as a more sessionable cousin to the Maharaja IIPA.

Well, call me old fashioned, but I like the Maharaja better. First, they've certainly toned down the pungent cannabis aroma that makes the Maharaja so enjoyable. On the nose, this beer has some pine and citrus, but is dominated by the malt sweetness and a somewhat unpleasant smell that I can't pin down. The flavor is actually quite bitter for a supposedly toned beer, and makes you pucker a bit more than the Maharaja does. It hits all of the IIPA notes--grapefruit, pine, caramel--but it's all very resinous and medicinal. This isn't a bad beer by any means, but it's not great either. A rare miss by the folks at Avery. At least I still have some Old Jubilation.

Picked up a bottle of this last night despite hearing similar reviews to rmd from others. The beer guy at the store actually had the exact same reaction as rmd in terms of hop pucker compared to Maharaja. I think the bottle might have been sitting around since the initial release and the bit of age might have tampered down the hop bite. A nice pine and citrus hop presence but not nearly as bitter as I was expecting. There are some caramel malts for balance but this is definitely a hop driven IIPA. I liked it overall and found it very drinkable. 8.5% ABV and IBUs in the 90s...Might be worth picking up an older bottle or laying one down for some time to let the hops fade a bit...

[devildeac]

Maple Porter-Saranac-Not bad, CB&B, not bad at all. This is part of the Saranac winter 12 pack and was included with the purchase price of a couple original water colors about three weeks ago.. I actually thought this was the Caramel Porter but realize now that is not the case, though the recipes are pretty similar. Lots of caramel and chocolate malts with Fuggles and East Kent hops and maple syrup added in the process somewhere. It pours a dark brown with about a 2 finger tan head. The IBU are probably about 30-40 and the ABV an estimated 5-6%. Nice maple sweetness and this was surprisingly tasty with my dessert last PM which was a banana with some caramel sauce. I believe this concludes my reviews of the singles I received from the 12 pack.

[devildeac]

Morehead City Imperial Porter-90 day tasting, I think. This has matured nicely with a very modest hop presence to balance the chocolate and probably some black patent malts. A bit of coffee on the palate for some additional bitterness/roastiness. Quite a nice winter warmer to end the evening last PM. I'd estimate the IBU to be 30-40 and it is a slightly boozey at about 8%. A fine effort from the gentleman at the coast.

[devildeac]

Reviews from the Christmas Eve tastings on Thursday or Friday. This includes the 2 Bigfoots (Bigfeet :roll: ), Backwoods Bastard and the 2 Samichlaus'.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Reviews from the Christmas Eve tastings on Thursday or Friday. This includes the 2 Bigfoots (Bigfeet :roll: ), Backwoods Bastard and the 2 Samichlaus'.

I'm saving my goodies for New Year's. I am enjoying the OAKED bastard now..very impressive, but I've imbibed too much and been distracted too much to review. But I'd do it all over again...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Morehead City Imperial Porter-90 day tasting, I think. This has matured nicely with a very modest hop presence to balance the chocolate and probably some black patent malts. A bit of coffee on the palate for some additional bitterness/roastiness. Quite a nice winter warmer to end the evening last PM. I'd estimate the IBU to be 30-40 and it is a slightly boozey at about 8%. A fine effort from the gentleman at the coast.

My samples of this brew lasted 2 days, not 90 days But it would go great with the Carnegie Deli cheese cake that DD brought to last night's game as a surprise desert for me and my daughter! Our spouses finished off the remnants when we got home.

[bluebeer]

What are people drinking to usher in the new year? It is doubtful that I will make it up until midnight but I will soon be cracking open a Bruery Papier..an old ale that I've been sitting on since the summer...happy new year to all..

[CameronBornAndBred]

Haven't made up my mind yet, but I think it will be my bomber of Asheville Brewing's Auld Asheville Vintage Ale. 9.5%ABV, I've never had it.

[devildeac]

Morehead City Wheat-30 day sampling (from time of receipt)-darn good effort. a slightly hazy, straw-colored ale with flavors and scents of lemon grass, coriander and orange. Modest head, low IBU and ABV. I'd go for about 20 and 5%. Not a winter beer but this sure was tasty prior to an oatmeal stout after 3 days on call . Would be great after a lawn mowing, with a fruit salad or some grilled fowl or seafood with some mango/pineapple chutney.

[devildeac]

Morehead City Oatmeal Stout-another 30 day tasting. Just as I would expect for this style. A very deep brown, opaque elixir with flavors and aromas of milk and dark chocolate and a bit of java. Medium tan head which lingers a bit. The chocolate and black malts dominate the modest hop presence, though there is some bitterness from the heavily roasted malts. I'd guess the IBU to be 40-50 and the ABV to be about 5%. The oatmeal makes this quite smooth and almost silky in appearance and taste. A fine dessert brew or serve it with ribs, stews or game.

[CathyCA]

What are people drinking to usher in the new year? It is doubtful that I will make it up until midnight but I will soon be cracking open a Bruery Papier..an old ale that I've been sitting on since the summer...happy new year to all..

Um, it's not beer, but it's egg nog with a little Captain Morgan's spiced rum.

made it for us!

[devildeac]

What are people drinking to usher in the new year? It is doubtful that I will make it up until midnight but I will soon be cracking open a Bruery Papier..an old ale that I've been sitting on since the summer...happy new year to all..

Um, it's not beer, but it's egg nog with a little Captain Morgan's spiced rum.

made it for us!

that would be the egg nog thread... :roll:

[cl15876]

What are people drinking to usher in the new year? It is doubtful that I will make it up until midnight but I will soon be cracking open a Bruery Papier..an old ale that I've been sitting on since the summer...happy new year to all..

Um, it's not beer, but it's egg nog with a little Captain Morgan's spiced rum.

made it for us!

that would be the egg nog thread... :roll:

[devildeac]

New Year's brews:

Morehead City Honey Brown Ale-just bottled last week and is a good pour now but I'm saving one for 30 days. This was a bit flat but is quite an interesting taste for a brown ale with more hop bitterness than I would have expected but nice sweetness from the honey and, I would imagine, a buncha caramel malts. There is a hint of brown sugar, too. This would blend nicely with mild to moderately spicy grilled fare and make a nice additive/stock for a stew/chili. IBU? I dunno, maybe 30-40. ABV? Prolly about 5.5% Tasty.