Archive for the tag “3-3.5 Toasts”

08 Apr 2014

The Maharaja – Avery Brewing Company

maharaja_bttl

10.2% ABV, 102 IBUS, 21 degrees Plato
Purchased at Corti Brothers ($7.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into pint glasses.

This famed Double IPA is part of  Avery’s “Dictator Series” (along with their excellent Czar, a Russian Imperial Stout that we reviewed here ), and it pours a deep gold with a frothy, eggshell white head.  Classic DIPA aromas make an impression on the nostrils even two full feet away from the glass. Upon closer olfactory inspection, Maharaja offers a very sweet nose of fruit syrup, strawberries, browned toast, and honey, an aroma that doesn’t seem like it could possibly be the prelude to a triple-digit IBU beer. The first swallow follows the lead of the nose, doling out honey-drizzled fruits like strawberry, peach, and pineapple, but ending in a wave of hop bitterness that closes on a note of spiced crackers. Maharaja is thick as tree sap and sweet as syrup, with a malt presence that is overstated for my taste, and an almost tyrannical mix of tastes that varies from spicy to sugary to full-on hop burn.

toasts-3   3 Toasts

Maharaja

 

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Imperial IPA and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
19 Nov 2013

Son of Otis – Auburn Alehouse

alehouse5.7% ABV
Purchased at Old Town Pizzeria and Tap House in Elk Grove ($4/16 oz. pour) and served in pint glasses.

This unlisted-on-Beer Advocate offering from Auburn Alehouse pours a clear Tootsie Roll brown with some plum highlights and a mid-sized, cream-colored head.   The unmistakably sweet smell of English malts leads the nose, along with toffee and a grassy, earthy character.  Son of Otis has a tea-like taste on the first swallow, with some toffee on the periphery, and coffee, soil, and grass on the finish.  It has a flavor profile that gains strength on subsequent swallows, eventually folding in toasted nuts and twigs.  Overall, this feels like an English-style bitter with an enhanced West Coast hop presence, as the beer is not particularly sweet despite the malt-forward flavor.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Auburn_SonofOtis

toasts-3   3 Toasts

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Altbier, Beer Review and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
08 Oct 2013

19th Anniversary Ale – Great Divide Brewing Company

19th_GreatDivide10.2% ABV
Purchased at Best Damn Beer Shop in San Diego and poured into mugs.

Denver brewers Great Divide made this beer to celebrate their 19th anniversary, although their wares are still rarely if ever seen on Sacramento store shelves.  19th Anniversary Ale was “brewed with birch syrup and aged on birch chips”, and it pours a clear honey gold with a tight white head.  The nose is certainly unusual, boasting an indefinite sweetness that is hard to pin down, although honey, banana, graham crackers and green apples eventually come into focus.  This beer wallops the palette with desserts and tree branches on the first swallow, coming off like a wood-fired caramel apple.  Some wood chips and cracker-y spice linger on the tongue, finishing off a beer that is tasty and original, but a lot for the palette to handle.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

GreatDivde19

toasts-3   3 Toasts

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Ale, Beer Review 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
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
23 Nov 2012

Love Buzz Saison – Anchorage Brewing Company

9% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($13.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This barrel-aged saison from Anchorage Brewing Company pours a shiny peach with a decent-sized ivory head, and a nose that comes on strong straight out of the bottle.  Green grass, candied citrus, grapefruit zest, and sour grape smells come to the fore, and the aroma seems to promise a mouth-puckering sour.  However, it’s more citrus-y tart on the first swallow, although those flavors change shape multiple times on the finish.  Love Buzz Saison was aged in pinot noir oak barrels with brettanomyces, but the effect on the palette is closer to white wine.  Overall, my first impression of the beer was not particularly favorable, as an unpleasant raw grapefruit taste came to dominate the palette.  However, when I distributed the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle between our two glasses, those flavors rounded out into more palatable peach and tangerine tastes.

 

    3 Toasts

 

   3.5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Saison and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
20 Aug 2012

He’Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale – Shmaltz Brewing

8.0% ABV
Purchased at BevMo ($5.39/22 oz. bottle) and poured into mason jars.

His Notes:

This “Imperial Amber brewed with luscious pomegranate juice” pours a marmalade orange with a bubbly, light tan head and lots of silt-like bubbles floating to the top. Its unfocused nose is a blend of various fruit juices – pomegranate aromas are present, but so are grapes, pears, melons, and citrus. He’Brew Origin is initially very bitter on the palette, more raw grapefruit than pomegranate, with some malt and fermented grape flavors playing back-up  The taste grows more citrus-y and mellow on subsequent swallows, with some grass and caramelized apricot notes entering on the finish. Although Origin was initially pretty unpleasant, it ended with some complex, refreshing flavors and an un-sticky finish.  

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  3 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Strong Ale and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
13 Jun 2012

Mikkeller Czechet

4.6% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($4.99/11.2 oz. bottle) and poured into lowball glasses.

His Notes:

Danish brewer Mikkeller’s “Czech-Style Pilsner” pours a light apricot orange with a nearly invisible white head and a sharp nose of yeast, tangerine, and citrus zest. Czechet offers a dry and restrained palette that is more bready and mouth-filling than the prototypical skunk-and-sock American version of the pilsner.  It has the same pear-forward flavor profile as many other Mikkeller beers, with an odd sort of salty spice to the finish.  There is a little citrus on the tongue, but the finish gets progressively thicker and yeastier, making this less a “refreshing” pilsner than simply a beer with a ton of character and unexpected twists.

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

   3 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, Czech-Style Pilsner, Pilsner and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
30 Apr 2012

Evil Twin (Heretic Brewing)

6.8% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($6.99/22 oz. bomber) and poured into pint glasses.

His Notes:

This red ale from East Bay upstart Heretic pours a murky maple brown with a decent off-white head, and offers a nice nose of pine needles, wild berry leaves, and wet grass. There is a good mix of bittersweet and tangy on the tongue, as piney hops mingle with understated berry flavors and a lingering grassy flavor.  Evil Twin has the profile of a traditional bold red ale (even if it lacks the ruby hue), but it manages to serve up big hop and malt flavors without decimating the palette –it should pair well with turkey burgers or grilled chicken.

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

   3 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, Red Ale and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2012

Top Sail Imperial Porter (Full Sail Brewing)

9.5% ABV
Purchased at The Davis Beer Shoppe ($11.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into lowball glasses.

His Notes:

Full Sail’s bourbon barrel-aged imperial porter pours an impenetrable black with an insignificant brown head.  The powerful nose whacks you with dried fruit (especially figs, raisins, and berries), old wood, vanilla, and hard alcohol.  Whiskey and dried dark fruits are also predominant on the palette, with only the bitterness of baker’s chocolate to remind you of this brew’s imperial porter roots.  Top Sail was aged in Kentucky bourbon casks for a full year, and the resultant beer is completely dominated by whiskey and oak barrel flavors.  It could use some more richness to balance out the alcohol fire, but Top Sail is still a solid slow sipper.

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

   3 Toasts


Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Porter and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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