Archive for the tag “beer review”

18 Jun 2013

Stone Ruin-Ten IPA

ruinten_bttl10.8% ABV 
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($7.50/10 oz. serving) and poured into globe glasses.

This super-hopped, 10th-anniversary version of Stone’s popular Ruination Double IPA was intended as a one-off, but has now become part of their seasonal rotation.  Ruin-Ten pours a bruised peach with a tight, off-white head and a delicious nose of candied citrus, snowy pine, and butter crackers.  I’m not a big fan of the standard, diesel-hop iteration of Ruination, but this version tastes both stronger and cleaner, giving caramel and pine resin nuances to the crushing hoppiness.  Alcohol-soaked oranges and a moderated sweetness give way to the expected palate-smashing resin bitterness.  Slight hints of fresh peppermint, burnt caramel, and spicy hops come and go on the tongue, but there is a lasting and consistent impression of pine needles.

toasts-4   4 Toasts

StoneRuin10

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Posted in Anniversary, Beer Review, IPA and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
12 Jun 2013

Hollow Point – The Perfect Crime

hollowpoint_bttl

10% ABV
Purchased at Trappist Provisions ($6.50/11.2 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This quadrupel from Belgian brewers The Perfect Crime pours a bright copper with a vaporous white head.  The nose is similar to booze-soaked fruitcake, with raisins, figs, and hard alcohol most prominent, along with red apples and cooked cherries.  Hollow Point is more nuanced on the tongue, offering black walnuts, wood, raisins, and a little caramel, with a prolonged nutty bitterness and a slight alcohol burn coming to dominate the aftertaste.  Its body is exceptionally light for the style, and I like the lack of overpowering sweetness here, as Hollow Point emphasizes nuttiness and hoppiness over dark fruit flavors.

toasts-4   4 Toasts

HollowPoint

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Quadrupel and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
10 Jun 2013

Pimock – Freigeist Bierkultur

pimock_bttl

5.3% ABV
Purchased at Trappist Provisions in Oakland ($6/16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into weizen glasses.

This “Rhineland Weizen” from German brewers Freigeist – a more experimental offshoot of the successful Braustelle brand – pours a murky cantaloupe orange with a sizable eggshell-white head.  The body is filled with bubble agitation and the free-floating, unfiltered remnants of the brewing process.  Pimock has a smell that evokes dried apples, caramel, and some grains and hay, and the first swallow indeed emphasizes crisp, red apples instead of the banana and cloves endemic to Bavarian weizen beers.  Despite the relatively light body, it’s a lot closer to a German fest beer than any weizen beer I’ve ever sampled, although the presence of crisp wheat and hops on the finish give it body and a welcome brightness.

***Pangaea Two Brews Cafe will be hosting a Meet the Brewer event with Freigeist this Friday, June 14th, from 6 to 9 p.m.***

toasts-3   3 Toasts

Pimock

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Weizen and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
30 May 2013

Prairie Noir – Prairie Artisan Ales

prairie-noir-bttl9% ABV
Purchased through The Rare Beer Club ($66.95/four 25.4 oz. bottles) and poured into pint glasses.

Oklahoma-based Prairie Artisan Ales only produced 100 cases of this “imperial oatmeal stout aged in oak whiskey barrels”, which pours a deep onyx with a scarce brown sugar head.  Prairie Noir offers a distinct nose of sawdust, bitter chocolate, coffee grounds, and fire-hot whiskey, but has a little more moderation and complexity on the tongue.  Freshly sawed lumber is the main flavor up front, followed by the expected coffee and chocolate notes, and some scorched sugar and burnt cereal on the retreat.  There is almost as much barrel as beer here, with that sawdust-y wood flavor coming to dominate the profile, along with hard alcohol and vanilla bean.  Allowing the beer some time to warm brings out more of the rich stout flavors.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

PraireNoir

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Oatmeal Stout and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
28 May 2013

Lower Dens – Stillwater Sensory Series, Vol.1 – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

stillwater_Bttl6% ABV
Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($6.99?/12.7 oz. bottle) and poured into tasting glasses.

This “ale brewed with hibiscus” pours a clear, pale yellow with a bountiful bone-white head and a nose of citrus, grass, flowers, Sour Patch candy, and a subtle farmhouse funk.  It’s marvelously refreshing on the first swallow, with a just a prickle of sour citrus cutting through the balanced barnyard sweetness.  The hibiscus flowers enter the frame on the superbly dry finish, along with clove-heavy Belgian yeast, cracker-y notes, and a touch of honeydew melon.  This stellar “Vol. 1” of Stillwater’s Sensory Series (each bottle comes w/ a QR code that when scanned links to the “full sensory experience” – i.e., a 13-minute psychedelic jam by Baltimore indie rockers Lower Dens), is light and drinkable, but packed with complex flavors and spices.

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

Stillwater_Hibiscus

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Herbed-Spiced Beer and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
07 May 2013

Tramp Stamp – Clown Shoes

trampstamp_bttl7% ABV
 Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($11.99/4-pack of 12-oz. bottles) and poured into tulip glasses.

This Belgian IPA from Ipswich, Massachussetts-based brewery Clown Shoes pours burnt orange with a minimal white head.  Tramp Stamp gives off a nose of sweet farmhouse funk, lemon, hay, and some stone fruits.  It offers a decent hop presence on the first swallow, but that quickly subsides into a Belgian yeast-heavy finish that absolutely refuses to vacate the palate.  The lingering aftertaste is rubbery, metallic, and altogether unpleasant, completely overwhelming the promising IPA flavors on the front end.  A successful “Belgian IPA” requires a certain balance of flavors, and although we have enjoyed other beers from Clown Shoes (like their delicious tripel Muffin Top and their  stout Chocolate Sombrero), this one completely misses the mark.

toasts-small-2   2 Toasts

TrampStamptoasts-small-2.5      2.5 Toasts

 

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian IPA and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
30 Apr 2013

La Gold – Birra San Martino

lagold_bttl7.6% ABV
 Purchased through The Rare Beer Club (around $23/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into globe glasses. 

This “strong honey bock” from up-and-coming Swiss brewers Birra San Martino pours a murky raisin brown with a mid-sized, dirty white head.  The distinctive and fairly promising nose of La Gold offers chestnuts, raw flour, twigs and leaves, and some dark fruits.  Nuts and grains appear first on the tongue, fading nicely into richer flavors like caramel, flowered honey, and plum-y chocolate.  La Gold has a unique flavor that is earthy and contemplative, and yet still quite drinkable, with complex waves of roasted nuts, cereal grains, and hints of honey, plums, and raisins washing across the palette.  La Gold gets more flower-y as it warms, with wild berry notes coming on and less of those richer caramel flavors.  With a little more sediment in the glass, some barrel root beer and sarsaparilla enters the frame.  What a beer!

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

LaGold

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Bock and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
25 Apr 2013

Heavenly Feijoa Tripel – Lips of Faith Series New Belgium/Dieu du Ciel! Collaboration

feijoa_bttl9% ABV
Purchased at Nugget Market ($8.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This Lips of Faith collaboration between Colorado legends New Belgium and Montreal-based Dieu du Ciel! – brewers of the excellent Solstice d’Hiver barley wine – pours a heavily burnished gold with a slight white head.  The strong nose smells of fermented barnyard grains, Belgian yeast, and the hibiscus flowers promised on the bottle.  However, it’s a tart, super-sweet tropical note that dominates the palette, presumably from the addition of feijoa (aka “pineapple guava”), eventually fading into more of those strong, spicy grains.  It’s definitely an original brew, and I have loved other Lips of Faiths beers (including the new Cascara Quad), but it’s also pretty one-note and too sweet for my tastes.  (2½ toasts)

toasts-2.5   2.5 Toasts

Feijoa

toasts-2.5   2.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Tripel and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
23 Apr 2013

Jack D’Or – Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project

jackdor_bttl6.4% ABV
Purchased at BevMo in Elk Grove ($7.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into wine glasses.

This saison from Cambridge, Mass.-based Pretty Things pours a cloudy pineapple yellow with a fairly slight white head.  The nose gives off hay, copious grains, lemon and grapefruit citrus, and hardly any Belgian-style funk.  Jack D’Or is more grounded on the tongue, with the expected Belgian yeast flavors offset by an immense bill of grains and spicy hops.  Bananas and cloves dominate the front end, with more grains backing them up, and a piney-spicy bitterness on the aftertaste.  It’s a decent drink, but also a real mouthful for a mid-ABV saison, and certainly too heavy and aggressive to be called refreshing.

toasts-3   3 Toasts

JackDor

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Farmhouse Ale, Saison and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
18 Apr 2013

Coming Home Holiday Ale 2012 – Grand Teton Brewing Company

ComingHome2012_bttl10% ABV
Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($10.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into pint glasses.

This Grand Teton holiday seasonal pours a clear redwood brown with a nearly nonexistent light tan head, and a nose dominated by dark fruits (mostly plums and grapes), as well as apricots and wet wood.  It’s much woodier on the tongue, offering classic barley wine flavors like barrel oak, brown sugar, and caramel upfront, and culminating with peppery yeast in the aftertaste.  Coming Home 2012 combines American-style strength with some interesting Belgian textures and bottle-conditioning, resulting in a relatively light and un-sticky beer given the style and ABV.  It’s an excellent version of a classic style with some unique twists, as apple pie spices and an almost IPA-like abundance of piney hops complete the flavor profile.

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

GrandTeton

toasts-4   4 Toasts

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

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