Archive for the tag “4 Toasts”

12 Feb 2013
2 Comments

Hoppy Daze – Coronado Brewing Company

hoppydaze_bttl7.5% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($7.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Belgian-style IPA” from San Diego-based Coronado pours a cloudy gold with a lovely white head and a curious nose of citrus, green tea, and roots.  Very flowery up front – fresh grass and dandelions – with a very obvious hop presence, although it fades out with some of those green tea and root flavors suggested in the nose.  I don’t quite understand what is especially “Belgian” about this beer – it has more herbal tones than the quasi-tropical nature I associate with the pale beers of the region.  But don’t be discouraged by this case of mistaken identity – Hoppy Daze is still an original and pretty damn good to boot, offering an oddly satisfying mix of pink bubblegum, sasparilla root, and grass.

toasts-4    4 Toasts

HoppyDaze_Coronado

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    4 Toasts
Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, IPA and tagged , , , ,
28 Nov 2012

Jessenhofke Belgian Triple

8% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($14.00/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This “malt beverage brewed with garlic” pours an iced tea brown with a slight white head and a curious nose that mixes champagne grapes, Belgian earthiness, and yes, garlic.  Although billed as a “Belgian Triple”, it is hardly triple-like on the tongue, instead offering a plum-like fruitiness on the front end that fades into a backyard garden mouthful on the finish (with not just garlic present, but a variety of herbs and vegetables).  Upon subsequent swallows, the flavors coalesce into a burnt caramel sweetness with a grape and pressed apple tang around the margins.  Jessenhofke is a surprisingly tasty and decidedly non-garlic-forward brew with a number of welcome surprises.

    4 Toasts

    4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Tripel and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
05 Nov 2012

To Øl – Sans Frontiére

7% ABV
Purchased at The Trappist in Oakland ($8.75/33 centiliter pour) and served in wine glasses.

This Belgian gold aged in white wine barrels with wild yeast from the excellent Danish brewers To Øl pours a burnt orange with a substantial and marshmallow-y off-white head.  Sans Frontiére offers a delicious nose of fresh grains, white wine grapes, fruit candy, and a little honeydew melon rind.  The taste is simultaneously dry and fruit-juicy, a neat mélange of unique tropical and citrus tastes (especially melons and tangerines) and a more delicate champagne sherbet-style flavor.   There is a distinctive but subtle development of flavors here, and the ultimate effect is a sort of Italian soda vibe, both in mouthfeel and aftertaste.

    4 Toasts

   4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
19 Sep 2012

Ale Epiteios – Left Coast Brewing Company – SoCal Taster

10% ABV
Purchased at Small Bar in San Diego and served in goblet glasses.

This barrel-aged Imperial Stout pours jet black with a miniscule, sawdust-colored head, and a nose of coffee, cocoa nibs, and fermented grapes that suggests a red wine-and-chocolate vibe.  Instead, blackstrap molasses, black licorice, and bit of booziness hit you on the first sip, and yet the flavors are surprisingly balanced and mild.  More cocoa notes come in on subsequent swallows, but the alcohol aftertaste remains while never straining the barrel-wood backbone.  Ale Epiteios has a light mouthfeel given the strong dark flavors, and those promised red wine flavors emerge as the brew warms, but I would have appreciated a little less sweetness and a little more complexity. 

   4 Toasts

   4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Beer-cation, Imperial Stout and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
16 Jul 2012

Orval Trappist Ale – Brasserie d’Orval S.A.

6.9% ABV
Purchased at Nugget Market ($5.99/11.2 oz. bottle) and poured into red wine glasses

His Notes:

 This product of the Trappist monastery Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval pours a murky burnt orange with a billowy off-white head.  It possesses an odd and invigorating nose of caramelized bananas, along with some highly unusual spice and burnt sugar notes.  The first swallow has the mouthfeel of seltzer water along with a root-based earthiness, although those banana and unusual spice flavors are ever-present in the aftertaste. Orval is a mysterious brew, and fairly uncommon for a Belgian Trappist ale – I got more mouth-coating hops and bready yeast than the usual candi sugar and estery fruit.  I can’t say that I loved it, but I’ve certainly never had anything quite like Orval.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

 

  4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Trappist and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
06 Jul 2012

Tilted Smile Imperial Pilsner – Uinta Brewing

9% ABV
Purchased at Alley Katz ($16/25.4 oz. bottle) and served in tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This Imperial Pilsner from Uinta’s Crooked Line series pours a transparent gold with a frothy white head and an alternately sweet and pungent nose of guava and farmhouse funk.  Tilted Smile is crisp and biscuit-like on the first swallow, with some restrained citrus, sharp yeast, and tropical notes on the periphery.  There is a lot more mesmerizing and mysterious Belgian “good funk” here than American pilsner “bad funk”, adding muscle without sacrificing drinkability.  Complex for such a simple brew, Tilted Smile honors the pilsner style by including Saaz hops and real pilsner yeast, yet subverts and expands on it by pushing the flavor profile in the direction of a Belgian pale ale.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Imperial Pilsner and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
16 Jun 2012

Aprihop – Dogfish Head

7.0% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($9.99/4-pack of 12 oz. bottles) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This seasonal offering from Dogfish Head pours a burnt orange with a sizable off-white head, and a strong nose of fleshy apricots – in fact, it’s like walking through an apricot orchard in the middle of harvesting season.  Apricots also dominate the palette, but it’s leavened with a honey-caramel sweetness backed up by a substantial amount of hops. Aprihop is a refreshing take on the summer IPA, and unlike the similarly fruit-inflected Sam Adams Whitewater IPA, the tastes here are refined and don’t reek of gimmickry. Like so many Dogfish Head brews, Aprihop manages to combine disparate and seemingly discordant ingredients into a harmonious whole.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


Posted in American IPA, Beer Review and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
04 Jun 2012

Monk’s Blood – 21st Amendment

8.3% ABV
Purchased at Nugget Market ($10.49/4-pack of 12 oz. cans) and poured into mason jars.

His Notes:

This thought-provoking Belgian strong dark pours a rusty brown with a moderate, light brown head, and a confetti splash of spices when you hold the glass up to the light.  It has a sweet nose of cranberries, fruit pastries, and raisins, with an overall aroma as similar to berry wine as it is to beer.  There is berry tartness on the tongue, as well as dried fruit and a candied sugar quality indigenous to Belgian dubbels, although 21stAmendment’s take offers a lot more hop punch.  Toffee flavors, raisins, toasty vanilla, and a slight heat from the addition of cinnamon come to dominate the unique finish much more than the initial berry impression

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Strong Dark Ale and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
04 May 2012

Simtra (Knee Deep Brewing Company)

10.1% ABV, 131 IBUs
Gifted by Knee Deep and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

Simtra is the Triple IPA relative of Lincoln-based Knee Deep’s award-winning Hoptologist DIPA.  It pours a pale gold with a tight white head, and has a surprisingly sweet nose of cotton candy, citrus fruits, and spruce needles.  Much like Hoptologist, there is little in the way of traditional west coast IPA hop/pine/citrus/floral flavors here. Instead, Simtra is dry and cracker-like on the tongue, with dusky spices and an almost wormwood-like twist to the finish.  The hops are dank and chewy, and despite the triple-digit IBUs, this beer doesn’t crush you with bitterness – it insinuates and distracts you with its unique flavor profile while quietly coating your mouth with delectable hops.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, IPA, Tripel and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
22 Feb 2012

SF Beer Week – Freudian Slip Barleywine (Evil Twin Brewing)

10.3% AV
Purchased at The Trappist in Oakland and poured into wine glasses.

His Notes:

This “American-style” barleywine from Danish brewers Evil Twin pours muddy brown with an enormous, off-white head.  The nose has as many roasted coffee and grass notes as the expected wood, hard alcohol, and molasses aromas.  It has little of the syrupy sweetness of most American barleywines, but rather cords of wood (especially dry, smoke-able woods like hickory and apple), pepper spice, smoky peat moss, and under-roasted coffee beans. Freudian Slip is meditative, rather bizarre, and not entirely successful in its’ ambitions, but it does provide strong and earthy flavors that are unfailingly intriguing.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


Posted in Barleywine, Beer Review and tagged , , | Leave a Comment

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