Archive for the category “Strong Dark Ale”

21 Aug 2014

The City – Calicraft Brewing Company

city_bttl

6.4% ABV
Purchased at Curtis Park Market (22 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Dynamic” India Pale Ale from Walnut Creek-based Calicraft Brewing was “brewed with blackberry root and orange peel,” and it pours a murky tangerine color with a sizable off-white head.  Dried fruit and a honeyed sweetness are the first to appear on the nose, with apricot and cantaloupe especially prominent.  There is an unusual, seltzer-y flavor on the first swallow, along with a very definite berry and bitter root presence, and it ends with some nice citrus and pine bitterness.  As more is consumed, the bitterness on the first flavor movement becomes less and less pleasurable, too closely resembling cocktail bitters, although the pine and citrus finish still satisfies.

toasts-3   3 Toasts

 

TheCity

toasts-3   3 Toasts

 

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12 Aug 2014

Brotherly Love – The Commons Brewery

BroLove-commons-bttl10% ABV
Purchased at Final Gravity ($11.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This “bourbon barrel aged Belgian dark strong with sour cherries and cocoa nibs” pours a dark and brackish espresso brown with a marshmallow-like, sawdust-colored head.  Hard alcohol and barrel wood aromas assert themselves on the nose, with dark cherries, dark chocolate, and some citrus peel on the periphery.  Wood and alcohol take the lead on the tongue as well, although here those flavors are given depth by the cocoa nibs, as well as a little bit of tartness from the cherries.  Still, the most robust flavors (freshly cut wood and bourbon neat) seem to come straight from the barrel, and the fact that the Portland-based brewery The Commons used a Belgian dark as a base may have given the alcohol-soaked staves more to latch on to. Brotherly Love has a powerful firewater character, but there is also some nuance and craft, and despite being a little overwhelming, the flavors of this beer are still quite good.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

BrotherlyLove

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Belgian, Cellar Series, Strong Dark Ale and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
19 Jun 2012

La Terrible – Unibroue

10.5% ABV
Purchased at Corti  Brothers and poured into globe glasses.

His Notes:

Quebec-based Unibroue’s La Terrible pours a ruddy black with a fluffy but quickly retreating desert sand-colored head, and a nose of black licorice, pepper, and rustic bread.  This Strong Belgian Dark Ale possesses a very complex palate that mixes raisins, nutmeg and pepper spices, dark fruits, spun candy, and coffee.  La Terrible leaves an immense bread and dried fruit impression that lingers pleasurably on the tongue, and takes on more and more complex bitterness the longer it sits.  A strong but contemplative slow-sipper, this would be a magnificent desert beer to pair with heavy deserts like caramel brownies or rum cake in place of coffee.

  4.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts

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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


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18 Jan 2012

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

10.0% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($14.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This Christmas release from the great Brouwerij St. Bernardus pours maple brown with a copious but quickly retreating off-white head.  The smell is of toffee, dried fruits, and the banana and cloves familiar to Belgian yeast, with hints of molasses and wintry spice.  St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is tangy and sweet on the front end, with a wintry maple backbone, while spices (including ginger, cinnamon, and allspice) coat the tongue on the retreat.  The introduction of tropical yeast strains into a spicy winter beer results in a unique and mouth-filling brew with the thickness and savory-sweet taste of banana bread, but the effervescence of an impeccably crafted Belgian ale.

  5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  5 Toasts


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12 Jan 2012

4 Calling Birds (The Bruery)

11.0% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($11.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This is the 4th in The Bruery’s series of Christmas beers (the first was “Partridge in a Pear Tree”, the second “2 French Hens”, and so on), and it’s intended to be cellared for up to eight years. That might account for this dark Belgian brew’s notably immature taste, much like an unripe fruit plucked before its time.  It pours a brackish brown color with a minimal light brown head, and smells of gingerbread and savory spices.  A wall of mouth-filling ginger and chewy spice (especially allspice) overwhelms the tongue, giving way to a strong, bitter chocolate aftertaste.  It grows in complexity the closer it gets to room temperature, with molasses and even slight citrus zest entering the picture.  I would love to taste this beer again after it’s been cellared for a few years, when the bakers’ chocolate flavors would presumably settle into something silkier.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


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