Archive for the tag ““Beer”

03 Dec 2016

Mosaic Saison – Anchorage Brewing Company

mosiac-saison_bttl6.5% ABV
Purchased at Capitol Beer and Taproom ($14.99?/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This saison made with brettanomyces and “fermented in oak tanks” pours a pale, lemonade yellow with a fluffy, mid-sized ivory head.  Mosaic Saison offers a lovely nose that blends the funkiness of the farmhouse with the zest of a hop field – lemons, grapefruit peel, wild yeast, grass, and hay all show up, indicating tart and refreshing flavors ahead.  The first swallow is all that and more – with the barnyard funk, cracker-y Mosaic hops, and abundant but not overpowering citrus, it tastes like your favorite saison mixed with your favorite pale ale, with all of it cohered and given shape by the rich, oaky notes. Smooth, delicious, and complex, this outstanding beer has all the makings of a hot weather habit-former, and more than holds its own against beloved Anchorage staples like Bitter Monk.

  5 Toasts

 

 

   5 Toasts

 

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Saison and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
23 Dec 2015

Paris of the West – Almanac Beer Company

Beer bottle9.5% ABV
Purchased at Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa ($5.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Quadrupel ale brewed with flame raisins, candi sugar and oranges” pours a date-like dark brown with a small, off-white head.  The richly inviting nose offers classic Belgian Quad aromas of raisins, dark fruits, nuts and a hint of maple, but the first swallow beckoned some unexpected flavors, especially on the sharp and seltzer-y finish. It’s no wonder the bottle suggests pairing Paris of the West with Roquefort cheese, and even as the brew warmed, it became apparent that we probably needed food to fully bring out the flavors.  That seltzer aftertaste is likely due to the unusual addition of oranges, as subsequent sips brought forth fruitcake-like flavors of citrus peel and dried fruits and nuts.  Not fully successful but consistently interesting, and I love the willingness of Almanac to push the envelope on familiar beer styles.

  3 Toasts

 

Almanac-ParisoftheWest

 

   3 Toasts

 

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Quadrupel and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
23 Oct 2015

Punk’in Drublic – Coronado Brewing Company

punkindrublic_bttl8% ABV
Purchased at Der Biergarten in Sacramento ($6/13 oz. serving) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “imperial pumpkin beer” and highly anticipated fall seasonal from San Diego-based Coronado Brewing Company pours a burnt orange with a slight, white sand-colored head.  True to its NOFX-inspired name, it smells of drunken pumpkins, both the flesh and the seeds, along with dark fruits and autumnal spices.  Punk’in Drublic brings robust pumpkin pie flavors to the front on the first sip, with subtle cinnamon and allspice notes that become more pronounced on subsequent swallows, but it’s still more pumpkin-y and less kitschy or sweet than most beers in this style.  It’s a real rarity – a pumpkin beer with complexity, as brown sugar and honey sweetness play off the savory spices and juicy pumpkin.

  4 Toasts

Punk'inDrublic

   4 Toasts

 

Posted in 4-5 Toasts, Beer Review, Farmhouse Ale, Pumpkin Ale and tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
27 Aug 2015

Paradox – Skully Barrel No. 26

paradox8.0% ABV
Purchased at Capitol Beer and Tap Room (16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “sour golden ale brewed with mango, chili, sea salt, and natural flavors and aged in oak barrels” from Colorado-based Paradox pours a dark burnt orange with a big-bubbled, hazy sliver of foam that all but disappears upon impact with the glass.  The nose offers a sour-y aroma of tart fruits, melons, Pixie Stix, and just a whiff of heat from the chili.  I got a lot more than a whiff of chili on the first swallow, although the lingering burn is balanced well by a salty finish.  More tequila-like lime and cantaloupe and green apple come through than the promised mango flavors, but it’s all nicely rounded out by mouth-coating wine tannins, with the salt continually beckoning you back for another sip.  As is the case with most “hot” beers, a little bit of Skully Barrel No. 26 goes a long way, so splitting a 16.9 oz. bottle between two people is just about perfect.

  3.5 Toasts

 

Parradox

   4 Toasts

 

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Golden Ale, Sour Ale, Spiced Beer and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
12 May 2015

Lectio Divina – Saint Somewhere Brewing Company

lectio-divina-bttl10% ABV
Purchased through Rare Beer Club and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Belgian-style Amber” was brewed by Florida-based Saint Somewhere Brewing Company with their own house yeast, and open fermentation techniques were employed.  It pours an opaque chestnut brown with a cumulus cloud of a dirty blonde head.  Lecto Divina boasts a lovely nose of fruity Belgian yeast, dates, dark fruits, and tropical nuts.  Despite the quad-like color and nose, the beer is actually quite tart on the first swallow, heavy on green apples and other sour fruits.  With its peppery yeast and tongue-coating flavor, Lectio Divina is almost saison-like, and while it’s a fine beer now, Saint Somewhere expects it to mellow and ripen with age.

  4 Toasts

StSomewhere

 

   4 Toasts

 

Posted in 4-5 Toasts, Amber, Beer Review, Belgian and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
09 Apr 2015

Bokonon – Shady Oak Barrel House

 

bokonon_bttl6.75% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market in Sacramento ($12.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This inaugural offering from Santa Rosa-based Shady Oak Barrel House pours a gorgeous light gold with a foamy, bright white head.  Inspired by the works of Kurt Vonnegut, the brettanomyces-heavy Bokonon exudes tart and earthy farmhouse aromas – lemons, grass, barnyard funk, Belgian yeast, and minerals dominate the nose.  It’s also a little bit metallic, on the nose and on the first swallow, but it’s brimming with Belgian complexity, with mellow citrus and freshly mowed lawn holding the front line while the more tart and aggressive flavors guard the rear.  Bokonon offers a whole lot of funk and must, not all of it entirely pleasing, and yet I kept going back to discover more about this fascinating and challenging beer.

  3.5 Toasts

Bokonon

   4 Toasts

 

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Farmhouse Ale and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
06 Mar 2015

Tweak – Avery Brewing Company

tweak17.89% ABV
Purchased at Curtis Park Market ($12.99/12 oz. bottle) and poured into mini goblet glasses.

This “stout with coffee added aged in bourbon barrels” pours a desolate black with a tight, brown sugar-colored head.  Tweak blasts out an intensely sweet nose of chocolate syrup and black coffee, with alcohol singe and barrel wood bringing up the rear (it’s very similar to the Black Tuesday we reviewed earlier this month).  The first sip is not as sweet as expected, but it packs a mighty punch – dark chocolate, coffee grounds, sawdust, vanilla, and whiskey-soaked wood chips crowd the palate, leaving an almost chile-like burn on the tongue. It’s a beer that goes directly to your dome, almost too strong for its own good, but also too big and bold and challenging to dismiss or ignore.

  4 Toasts

tweak

   4 Toasts

 

Posted in 4-5 Toasts, Beer Review, Imperial Stout and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
26 Feb 2015

Black Metal 2013 – Jester King Brewing

blkmtl_bttl9.3% ABV, 1.085 OG, 1.015 FG, 44 IBUs
Purchased at Final Gravity ($11.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

This imperial stout brewed with farmhouse yeast from Austin-based Jester King has been aging in our “cellar” for nearly two years, and it pours a licorice black with a marshmallow-y, toasted brown head. Rich coffee and chocolate aromas welcome you on the nose, along with wood, licorice, and a citrus smell that eventually comes to dominate; the overall effect is similar to chocolate-covered oranges. That orange-y bitterness is also present on the first swallow, as are bitter chocolate and kindling, with those richer chocolate and coffee flavors barely peeking out from the background.  After aging, Black Metal is still a big, dark boozer with a light body and some intriguing bitterness, but it’s also one-note, and it was a lot better fresh.

   3 Toasts

 

blackmetal

   3.5 Toasts

 

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Imperial Stout and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
06 Feb 2015

2013 Black Tuesday – The Bruery

black-tuesday-beer

18.9% ABV
Purchased through The Bruery online shop and poured into mini tasting glasses.

This already legendary bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout from Orange County-based The Bruery pours a midnight black with a vaporous, light brown head.  It smacks you with hard alcohol aromas upon the first crack of the bottle, but chocolate, coffee and wet wood notes emerge when you dial in further.  An eye popper upon first swallow, with the flavors working on two different levels – throat-clearing booziness on one end of the palette, spectacularly strong and nuanced chocolate and coffee on the other.  Black Tuesday is a masterful slow-sipper, and not as grossly sweet as some of The Bruery’s other big-ass brews.  The beer works wonders if you take your time with it, growing a little more peppery on the aftertaste, and with vanilla bean and wood growing stronger the longer it warms.

   4.5 Toasts

BlackTuesday

   4.5 Toasts

 

Posted in 4-5 Toasts, Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Stout and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
15 Jan 2015

Coffee Brown – Saint Archer

starcher_coffee_bttl6% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($4.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into pint glasses.

Brewed by San Diego upstarts Saint Archer, Coffee Brown pours a black coffee color with a mid-sized, sawdust-colored head.  The nose is more sweet than roasty, not unlike coffee candy, with aromas of coffee, amaretto, milk chocolate and toffee.  Coffee Brown gets sweet on the first swallow as well, with a flavor that feels a little too artificial, and although it finishes with a nice coffee and cream richness, the aftertaste is a little thick and syrupy.  There is some nuttiness from the brown ale base, but I would have preferred more bitterness, and a coffee flavor that was slightly more authentic.  We have really enjoyed some of the hoppier offerings from Saint Archer, but this one just misses.

   2.5 Toasts

StArcher_Brown

 

   3 Toasts

 

Posted in 2-3 Toasts, Ale, Beer Review, Brown and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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