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Archive for the tag “Craft Beer”

01 Feb 2013

Oude Gueuze Tilquin – Gueuzerie Tilquin

6.4% ABV

Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($12.99/12.7 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This blend of three different lambic vintages pours an opaque mango with a tight, bone-white head and a nose of grapefruit, champagne yeast, cut grass, and assorted orchard fruits. It is extremely tart on first swallow, with puckering grapefruits and lemons leading the charge, but the flavors fade in a very pleasant and refreshing manner. There are plenty of citrus rind and pulp flavors throughout, while the aftertaste leaves you with just a touch of rustic spice. Oude Gueuze Tilquin has a champagne-style body and the sweetly puckering taste of sour gummi worms, leaving the tongue pockmarked, blistered, and very satisfied.

4 Toasts

3.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Gueuze and tagged beer review, Craft Beer, Gueuze, Gueuzerie Tilquin | Leave a Comment

28 Jan 2013

1 Comment

Serpent’s Stout – The Lost Abbey

11.0% ABV

Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($12.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into globe glasses..

This imperial stout pours a midnight black with a medium-sized, brown sugar-colored head, and a beckoning nose of dark chocolate, roasted coffee, port grapes, and a little licorice root. The profound aroma suggests little in the way of sweetness, and the first swallow follows suit, offering bitter dark chocolate, dark-roasted coffee, a pronounced wood character, rich loam, and a fairly heavy hop profile. Mostly black coffee flavors are present throughout, but a bit more black forest cake-style sweetness emerges as it warms in the glass. More barrel wood comes through than booziness, even at 11% ABV, and there is nothing silly or gimmicky about this beer – it’s a heaven for fans of big stouts.

4.5 Toasts

4.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Imperial Stout and tagged beer review, Craft Beer, Imperial Stout, Pangaea Two Brews, Serpent's Stout, The Lost Abbey

25 Jan 2013

Luciernaga – Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

6.5% ABV

Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($13.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This Belgian-style ale from Michigan-based Jolly Pumpkin pours a sunny orange with a tight, off-white head, and a nose that gives off sour citrus, ginger, and white wine, with a distinctly puckering scent. It is milder than expected on the palette, with a light and juicy body that offers muted grapefruit rind, subtle spice, some lemon, and indistinct spices. Luciernaga goes down quite easily, with just a prickle of sour and some spices (coriander and grains of paradise, according to the bottle) piercing the tongue throughout the aftertaste. Subtlety is the keyword for this brew – it’s as light and effervescent as its namesake, the “firefly”.

4 Toasts

4.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Pale Ale and tagged beer review, Belgian, Craft Beer, Davis Beer Shoppe, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Luciernaga, Pale Ale | Leave a Comment

22 Jan 2013

Grand Cru – Green Flash Brewing Company

9.1% ABV

Purchased at Davis Bottle Shoppe ($7.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into Green Flash tulip glasses.

This “mysterious dark ale” from Green Flash pours a dark plum-y brown with a mid-sized, dust-colored head. There are lots of dusky – and indeed, mysterious – farmhouse spices on the nose, along with herbs, some woodiness, fruit tree leaves, and brown sugar, while still suggesting very little sweetness. Green Flash Grand Cru presents little sweetness on the tongue either, offering instead spices, wood, dust, and cracker-like notes, with the brown sugar complementing the savory flavor in the same way that it would pork chops. It makes a very pleasurable impression on the taste buds (with the spices and wood lingering on the tongue), changing character a number of times while remaining balanced throughout.

4.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Dark Ale and tagged 4-5 Toasts, beer review, Belgian, Craft Beer, dark ale, Davis Beer Shoppe, Green Flash Brewing Company | Leave a Comment

15 Jan 2013

Old Rasputin XV Bourbon Barrel-Aged – North Coast Brewing

11.9% ABV

Purchased at Pangaea Two Brews ($10/6 oz. pour) and served in mini-snifter glasses.

This barrel-aged version of North Coast’s venerable Russian Imperial Stout pours black piano key ebony with a thick and billowy almond-colored head. It offers a strong but welcoming nose of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and a very prominent booze-drenched oak aroma. Old Rasputin XV is velvety on the tongue, putting forth some amazing bourbon, chocolate, and vanilla flavors, with the expected barrel wood entering the profile on the long, warm finish. This is a beer that takes it’s time on your palette, offering some fascinating touches of coffee, banana, nuts, alcohol burn, and even some scorched caramel. And yet for all of its bigness, Old Rasputin XV is actually an incredibly subtle brew.

5 Toasts

4.5 Toasts

Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Russian Imperial Stout and tagged 4.5-5 Toasts, Barrel-Aged, beer review, Craft Beer, North Coast Brewing, Old Rasputin, Pangaea Two Brews, Russian Imperial Stout, XV | Leave a Comment

11 Jan 2013

Birra Etrusca Bronze – Dogfish Head

8.5% ABV

Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($13.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into mugs.

Another one of Dogfish Head’s “historical beers”, this marriage of archaeology and brewing is an attempt to recreate the ales of pre-Christ, pre-wine ancient Italy. Birra Etrusca Bronze pours a clear bronze with a decent, dirty-white head and plenty of fizzy carbonation. There are some incredibly funky-in-a-bad-way aromas on the nose, including raw flour, dehydrated fruits, and a touch of pilsner-y sweatsock. Utterly curious upon the first swallow, with a mix of intense grains (thanks apparently to the use of hazelnut flour and “heirloom wheat”), along with a slightly tangy, cider-style aftertaste. This beer presents an odd and unpleasant mix of flavors, both nutty and slightly tart, that only grow more off-putting the more you drink. It’s simultaneously a fascinating historical project and thoroughly undrinkable.

1.5 Toasts

Dogfish_Ect

2 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review and tagged As Follows, beer review, Belgian, Craft Beer, Stillwater Artisanal Ales, Strong Pale Ale, Tripel | Leave a Comment

07 Jan 2013

As Follows – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

9% ABV

Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($13.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “eschatological ale” (no one told Baltimore-based Stillwater Artisanal Ales that the Mayans were full of it?) pours a bright but opaque pale gold with an extremely dense, shocking-white head. As Follows offers a nose of barnyard funk, bread, peach, and a little bit of butterscotch, fairly Belgian-y in all with some subtle spice notes. The taste is decidedly un-sweet and very rustic, with a taste and light mouthfeel reminiscent of seltzer water, along with an aftertaste of funk, rye, garden herbs, and some touches of spice and wood. It’s a very subtle and drinkable beer that doesn’t quite live up to the price tag, although it could be a hit amongst beer geeks with sensitive palettes.

3.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Strong Pale Ale and tagged 3.5 Toasts, As Follows, beer review, Belgian, Craft Beer, Stillwater Artisanal Ales, Strong Pale Ale, Tripel | Leave a Comment

01 Jan 2013

2 Comments

Top 10 Beers of 2012

We sampled a lot of amazing beers in 2012, and thanks in large part to this blog, we have met a lot of wonderful new people. When compiling this list of our top beers of 2012, we eschewed any pretense of objective analysis, and simply chose our most mutually memorable first-time beer experiences. Cheers to another year of great beer!

OUR TOP 10 BEERS OF 2012:

Adam/Fred (Hair of the Dog Brewing Company – 12 oz. bottles, purchased at The Bruery Provisions, Orange)

Black Butte XXIV (Deschutes Brewery – 22 oz. bottle, purchased at Taylor’s Market)

Boda Savaje (Peruvian wedding beer home brewed by Marie – draft, sampled at Scott and Becky’s wedding)

Dos Cone Es – aged on oak chips (Cismontane Brewing Company – draft, purchased at Beer Revolution, Oakland)

Enjoy By 09.21.12 IPA (Stone Brewing Company – 22 oz. bottle, purchased at Stone Brewery, Escondido)

Every Man’s DIPA (Societe Brewing Company – draft, purchased at Blind Lady Ale House, San Diego)

Jack N Jolly (Drake’s Brewing– draft, purchased at The Page, San Francisco)

Old Stock Ale (2009) Cellar Reserve (North Coast Brewing – 16.9 oz. bottle, purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe)

Smoking Wood – Bourbon Barrel-Aged (The Bruery – purchased at The Bruery Tasting Room, Placentia)

Sweet and Sour (HaandBryggeriet – 16.9 oz. bottle, purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe)

IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN…

Pliny the Younger (Russian River Brewing Company)

Trappist Westvleteren 12

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Anniversary Barley Wine (Uinta Brewing)

Black Hole (Mikkeller)

Elliot Brew (De Struise Brouwers/Mikkeller collaboration)

FiringsQuad (Alpine Beer Company)

Imperial Smoked Porter (Sierra Nevada Brewing Company)

Jewbelation 15 (He’Brew Beer)

Madrugada Obscura (Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales)

3 Days (Hitachino Nest Beer)

URKontinent (Dogfish Head)

Waldo’s 420 Ale (Lagunitas Brewing Company)

Posted in Beer Review and tagged 2012, Alpine Beer Company, beer-review, Cismontane Brewing Company, Craft Beer, De Struise Brouwers, Deschutes Brewery, Dogfish Head, Drake's Brewing, HaandBryggeriet, Hair of the Dog Brewing Company, He’Brew Beer, Hitachino Nest Beer, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Mikkeller, North Coast Brewing, Russian River Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Societe Brewing Company, Stone Brewing Company, The Bruery, top 10, Uinta Brewing

07 Dec 2012

Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2012

11% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($14.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Belgian ale brewed with spices” pours a prune-y dark brown with a medium-sized, brown sugar head, and an amazing nose of chocolate-covered raisins, caramel apples, and other dark fruits. On the tongue, chocolate and fruit flavors are balanced against perfectly understated spices on the finish, with a surprisingly light mouthfeel for a sweetness-forward 11-percenter. Plums, figs, apples, nuts, and caramel all make an appearance, and although the spices are difficult to discern due to their subtlety, I think detected ginger and a touch of cinnamon. Perfectly balanced with a remarkably crisp finish, Santa’s Little Helper 2012 is easily one of the best brews I have sampled this year.

5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Seasonal, Winter Warmer and tagged 5 Toasts, beer review, Craft Beer, Mikkeller, Santa's Little Helper 2012, Seasonal, Winter Warmer | Leave a Comment

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

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Tripel and tagged 4 Toasts, beer review, Belgian, Craft Beer, Jessenhofke Belgian Triple, Tripel | Leave a Comment

Archive for the tag “Craft Beer”

Oude Gueuze Tilquin – Gueuzerie Tilquin

Serpent’s Stout – The Lost Abbey

Luciernaga – Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

Grand Cru – Green Flash Brewing Company

Old Rasputin XV Bourbon Barrel-Aged – North Coast Brewing

Birra Etrusca Bronze – Dogfish Head

As Follows – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

Top 10 Beers of 2012

Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2012

Jessenhofke Belgian Triple

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