Attack of the great pumpkin!

No, I don't have a pumpkin ale to review tonight. I actually looked for one last weekend, despite the fact I hate them, but couldn't find anything that wasn't lame. So, instead I've got a beer with fall leaves on the label, which is at least mildly seasonal. Decent trick-or-treat turnout tonight, but not overwhelming. Katie got 2 bags of candy which I thought was going to be WAYYYY short of demand, but as it turned out we probably didn't even go through one bag. Oh well, more for me.

Back to the beer: Allagash Dubbel Reserve. I don't think I've ever had a Dubbel I didn't like. The trend continues. This is good. Not the best ever, and less sweet than a lot of them, but still good. My taste buds are a bit off at the moment because I've been playing guitar with a brass slide, and accidentally licked my finger (I spilled beer on my hand, if you must know) and now all I taste is brass, which does not really compliment anything well. From what I recall before this rather tragic mistake, it's a little more dry, less sweet, and more fruity than the average Dubbel, but none of those things are really negatives except maybe the level of sweetness (no candy sugar flavor). I like it though. Grade: A-

Looks like Harper

Also from last night: Avery Ellie's Brown

This was a pretty standard Brown, which is a style I seem to avoid for no good reason. I like it just fine, but it doesn't really jump out at you. This is a good beer for when you just want a beer's beer with no particular crazy flavors. Enjoyable, but also kind of forgettable. Sounds like a grade of: B

Grumpy old man

Leftover Thursday 10/30 post:

Just had a Founders Old Curmudgeon. This is a weird one. It's an "old ale" whatever that is. It has some similarities to American Strong Ales, maybe also a brown, and maybe something else that I can't place. It is very buttery and sticky...I literally have sticky hands just from pouring it and holding the glass. I honestly don't know if I liked this or not. At first, I didn't like it at all, but it grew on me, both as it warmed up and as I got used to it. I think I'd need to have another one to really give it an honest review, but for now, I'll tentatively give it a B-

The best 14 since Pete Rose

Leftover Tuesday 10/28 post:

Avery Anniversary Ale 14. This is very tasty. It took me a few sips to place the style, but I'm pretty sure this is an American Strong Ale. It is very similar tasting to a Left Hand Chainsaw or an Arrogant Bastard... for some reason I associate this with fresh sawdust, but I don't know if anyone else thinks that, or if that was a subliminal thought from the name "chainsaw." I think I like it just as much of either of these, which I love, so that means I love this too. There were a few more on the shelf (this is the 2007 anniversary) so I'll try to get a few to stash away if anyone wants to try it, although as I recall I was the only one who liked Chainsaw, so this may not be necessary. It has a slight fruity tinge which makes it have some Belgian dark strong flavor also, but this is more of a hidden hint than a main flavor.
Grade: A

Darkness Eve, Part Deux

After a pit stop at the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, we made a trip to Stub and Herb's, a campus bar. They were having a ton of imperial stouts on tap and I was meeting some douchy beer people for the purposes of doing in person beer trades.

First on tap...
Leinie's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout - Yeah, you got that right, Leinie's. I've never seen this around Madison before and evidently it isn't made any more, but it was tasty. A-

Big Sky Ivan the Terrible Imperial Stout - Not great, but not bad. A solid stout, but a little thin bodied. B+

Bells Hell Hath No Fury - meh, fake Belgian B-

Surly Oak Aged Cynic - I tried to like it, but I didn't. I like very few Saisons. C+

Surly Coffee Bender - I had this beer at the Great Taste of the Midwest and I didn't like it. I don't know what kind of crack I was smoking. This is a great coffee brown ale. Everything comes together perfectly. A

Surly Darkness - Later in the night, they busted out a keg of the 2008 Darkness. It was a fucking steal at $6.50 for a full 16 oz pint pour. This beer was worth the trip...it is so sweet though, it might put off some people...but not me A+

YIKES!

Well, the new IPA is in the primary fermenter, though there is no fermentation yet. In changing my first IPA recipe, I added another half pound of pale malt and another pound of pale malt extracts. Result: it is very dark. In addition, the beer has been bombarded with three different hops varieties, with a predominant emphasis on juicy, citrus fruits. It may change the world.

Whiskey II: Son of Whiskey

Oak chips soaked in whiskey are potent. And so is the latest homebrew. At this time, the oak/wood flavor is too prominent. But the beer is huge, with the flavors of vanilla, oak and chocolate and is very sweet and will improve. In conclusion, this beer is promising, but not yet as great as the java. Time will tell. I have bombers waiting for deployment.

I am thinking that whiskey alone would have been better, or that whiskey belongs in a beer that is over 10% ABV, a level which I doubt Whiskey II: Son of Whiskey achieved.

Grade: AB.

Brewtastic....with an IIPA aside

Some people get jacked up talking about their favorite books, sports teams, music, etc. I concur. However, nothing gets the old ticker pumpin quite like some beer chat. My conversation with Pete has left me energized and ready to brew.

I hereby propose that we all meet up over Christmas break to drink beer. Pete has a ridiculous amount of homebrews prepared, and the two of us will be brewing IPA's this week. It seems natural we should all enjoy the fruits of our labors together.

As an aside, a picture-less post for Left-Hand's Twin Sisters Double IPA: It's fine. More malty than hoppy, and that' s not the way to win me over. There's also that banana taste that I now associate with the Simcoe hop.

B-

Sposborth Java II: Son of Java

Mmmmm. Smells like coffee. Tastes like a mouth-full of chocolate mousse and a sip of dark coffee (with cream). This has been in the bottle for only 8 days. The best is yet to come.

Maybe making beer is easy after all?



Edit: Grade: A+

Orval Redenbacher

Katie and I went to a new place that just opened (The "Dunn Inn" which is cleverly named from it's location on Dunn St.) Overall, the experience was a bit of a letdown, as everything was overpriced and the beer selection was superficially good, but in actuality kind of poser-ish. They had a couple locals (Upland Wheat and BBC Pale), some british stuff like cider and Sammy Smith, some german stuff like Spaten and Warstiener, and some belgian stuff like Chimay, Duval, etc. It wasn't Bud and Bud light, but it was also pretty standard fare, by my new beer snobish standards. Oh well. I got an Orval Trappist Ale, which was actually really good. It also came in a ridiculously mamoth goblet that probably weighted 2 lbs and was about 3/4's of an inch thick - a definite 2-hander. Overall, this was a good beer that I would drink again, but probably not if I could find something a little more interesting. I'll give it a Grade of B+

Ooo, snap! Sposborth Pilsner

I finally opened a pilsner. I liked it so much that I even took some notes, "Bitter on the back of the tongue, dry and sweet." Everything I wanted it to be. The head/carbonation is just right. Should improve over the next few weeks since the lagering phase is only four days old. I left it in the cupboard a little longer because I was worried that the carbonation was stuck.
Check out the solid lacing.

It didn't take long to drink. This last picture conveys the color a little more accurately.


Grade: A. (Nevertheless there are no plans to make another pilsner since the process is so lengthy and I am not patient.)

Darkness Day Eve

As I think all of you know already, Carey and I made the trip up to Minneapolis for the release of Surly Darkness. It was a very fun time. On Darkness Day Eve, our first stop was at the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery.

They have lots of good stuff there.

Beer one: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Eye of the Storm - This one was a 10% alcohol strong ale made with 10 different varieties of honey. The aroma was distinct honey-y. The taste reminds of some honey beer I've had before, but I can't place it. Solid. A-

Beer two: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Black H2O Oatmeal Stout - I liked this one less. A little thin tasting. Carey liked it better than me. Not bad, just not remarkable. B

Beer three: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Fresh Hop 2008 - This one was by far the best of the three. This fresh hop IPA was made with 200 pounds of fresh Cascade hops. That's right 200 pounds of hops! This beer is totally not balanced and it does not matter one bit. Piney, spicy and extremely intensely bitter. Outstanding. Best harvest ale I've had to date. A+

PS: If you come to the Draftstravaganza on Saturday, you will get to split a growler with me.

Ahoy Mates!

This is the best local beer in State College hands down. Milwaukeeclassic, I bought you two.

Grade: A.

Weyerbacher two-fer

First up: Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Tastes like a Belgian Trippel and pumpkin. I could smell the pumpkin upon opening the bottle. It's okay. I don't really like pumpkin and I don't seem to like Belgian Trippels either.

Grade: BC

Next one is a Weyerbacher Black Hole (stout, I guess). Not very diesel; dirty tasting. Meh. The pizza was a lot better.

Grade: C.

Deal of the century?

That's what I was hoping for when I saw this...bourbon barrel imperial stout bomber for $4? Sign me up. Sadly, you get what you pay for with the Browning's BBIS. There are some odd flavors here: A) Wateriness...in an amazingly inconsistent way where one sip will taste like tap water, and the next sip will be flavorful. Very odd.
B) Coffee grounds...note I didn't say "coffee flavor." This tastes like the flavor of a mouthful of grounds at the bottom of a cup (not the gritty texture, but the actual flavor), and also comes inconsistently about every 3rd or 4th sip
C) The very first flavor on the tongue is like a good russian imperial, but it fades almost instantly
D) Virtually no bourbon flavor, although there is a very nice vanilla-bourbon smell. This only serves to disappoint because it smells so good and tastes so bland.

Final verdict: A disappointing showing from the Louisville brewery. I'll give it a grade of C- which was all the more disappointing because I was really craving a good stout tonight.

ps... please note our new "label cloud" on the left panel of the blog, thanks to Katie's newfound handiness with HTLM coding.

Another swing and a miss from Dogfish

...or if not a miss, at least a foul tip. I broke open the Dogfish Theobroma tonight. It could be that I had ridiculous expectations for this beer, but I think it would have been a letdown no matter what. Supposedly this is from some ancient Aztec recipe for some sort of alcoholic chocolate drink. When you read that description, you think it must be a dark beer, but in fact it is super light...like a light IPA. There is also not really even a hint of chocolate flavor. This is basically a fruity, white grape-like drink that tastes like a better version of the Midas Touch (see my earlier entry on that here under the "blurst of times" section). To be fair, it's drinkable and enjoyable, but it's really nothing particularly special, and definitely not worth the $12/bottle. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't' think I'll get it again, unless maybe I'm in Rehobeth, DE and get it on draft.
Grade: C+

More Harvests

Last night I had two more Harvests...first, the Founder's Entry: Harvest Ale. This was very hoppy, but also very good. Lots of bitter piney citrus flavor. I could have gone for a little more balance, but it was still an excellent beer. I'm not sure where it fits in the ordering of fresh hop beers I've had lately...probably somewhere in the middle. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite of the style. I have 3 more in the fridge though, so we'll see if it grows on me.
Grade: B+

The second entry is a bit of a repeat, but it's in bottles this time instead of draft. I got a 6 pack of Two Brothers Heavy Handed. The bottles aren't as good as what I had on tap, so Barry I can see why you didn't like it too much. It has an acidy, leaky battery tinge to it that sort of reduces the enjoyment level. I didn't like it as much as the first time, but still liked it as much as the Founders...a little more maltiness and a little less bitter hoppiness which I was a fan of. Katie liked this one a lot. It's a darker beer than the Founders, which may have been why I initially thought it was an imperial when I had it in the bar. I'll give it the same score:
Grade: B+

Best beer ever

This is being entirely posted from my phone, so bear with me.

Barley John's Dark Knight Returns. Holy shit. This might be my favorite beer ever. I might have reviewed this before. I don't care. This is the single best porter on the planet. It is aged in bourbon barrels...twice. It is 13.5 percent abv and has very little alcohol taste. It is like you took the best tastes of bourbon and imparted them to a beer. This IS my favorite beer ever. Perfect.

A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sierra Harvest round 2

Had another Sierra Wet Hop Harvest yesterday, this time from a more recent release (12 edition). I thought it was pretty much just as good as the other one I had, which I think must have been the 11th? Anyway, those of you who don't like this need a major tongue transplant. Wet Hop/Harvest ales are now officially my favorite beer style, edging slightly ahead of IIPA's and IStouts. I have a couple more to review this week too...found Heavy Handed in 6-packs today and also have a 4 pack of the Founder's version. A good week for hops on Southdowns Dr. !!!

Grade: A

Sahara Mart East grand opening!

The beer store that I've switched to opened a new, bigger location today about 2 blocks from my house. Katie was with me so I had to keep the purchasing in mild check, but there are some cool upcoming reviews, including some Dogfish Theobroma I've been dying to try. For future reference, there are 2 doubled sided aisles of beer, each probably about 40 feet long. Most everything has singles alongside 4 and 6 packs. Solid.

Java Stout

Tastes like chocolate, dark malt, spicy hops, toffee and coffee in one glass. It could be a little more carbonated, but all in good time. Lookout Speedway, Sposborth Java Stout is a beer on the grow.

Grade: A

Goose Island

Goose Island Matilda. This had all the things I dislike in a Belgian and not really any of the things I love. I'm going to call this a Tripel, although I'm not sure that's quite accurate. It has the sour, yeasty, and (it's worst sin) bananna-y flavor that I hate without the buttery-ness I love. The Tripel de Ripel I rated earlier last week, for instance, is a perfect example of what I like, whereas this is more like a Victory Golden Monkey, which I hated. Not my thing, although I think it is consistent with the style, and Duane and Pete might like it. I don't... my grade is a C+

Wynona's Big Brown Ale

Voodoo Brewery's Wynona's Big Brown Ale is a solid brown. Definitely the best brown I've had in a long while. Like a lot of the bottle conditioned beer I've had lately (and especially darker beers) the head disappears if you look away for a second. Anyway it's carbonated enough. Tastes like brown. It's sweet like a milk stout and sticky on the lips. Significant hop bitterness to go with the sweetness. Not a sessionable beer. Solid. Chris you might likey. I would go to this again.

Wynona's Big Brown Ale: AB.

On an unrelated topic, Sierra Nevada's Fresh Hop Whatever sucks. Buck is right.

On a second unrelated topic, my recent homebrews are not yet carbonated (I tried the nugget pale ale and the java stout over the weekend) so I will withhold any reviews. But I will say that my friend Matt called the Java stout the best beer I've made (This is kind of a joke: I say that at the time of every batch I make, but he was also not kidding.) On the other hand the nugget pale tasted like apple juice..... yuck. I'm going to brew this Saturday.

On a third unrelated topic, I tried the Sam Adams Scotch Ale and Dark Lager over the weekend. Both were good, but not styles I aspire to drink. I've noticed that Sam Adams is making A LOT of different beers lately. Good for them. (Although Sam Adams is no DFH.)

Geeked

Look - fantastic, very black with a brown, creamy head

Smell- like butter cookies and dough, some vanilla

Taste - More bitter than expected, begins creamy with tastes of oats, finishes bitter vanilla coffee

Body - Somewhat thinner than expected, not nearly as chewy as some beers of this variety

Drink - I could drink this for breakfast; good not great - note: maybe too cold......addendum to come

B+

Go Cincinnati...Home of Imperial Malt Liquor

This looks like it might be enough to make even a Bengals game watchable. If anyone finds them, get me one.

Back to Upland last night...

For the release of Black Panther Schwarz ...brewed to benefit the exotic feline rescue center which is a very cool place Katie and I have been to. This was a very good Schwarz... probably my favorite I've had with the possible exception of Shoreline Brewery's Black Bavarian. This isn't a style I'd drink every day, but it's one I really enjoy from time to time. Sweet and dark, almost like a milk stout, but with a little more bottom end and more complex flavor. This was an excellent example I think. I'll give it an A- overall

Another fresh hop beer

Following up on Duane's entry, I had this the other night on tap at a new Brasserie in B-town: Two Brother's Heavy Handed. This was a stellar beer. I didn't know what it was till I got home and looked it up. I had assumed it was an imperial IPA...it's very malty like a 90 minute or a double dog. One of the most flavorful IPA's I've ever had I think. It was like chewing a beer. I'm hoping to find it in bottles, but might have to go back and get another few draft pints as well. This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite beer styles. A+

Sorry Buck, you are sorely mistaken

Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Harvest Wet Hop Ale - Sorry for the stock footage, but I had this one at Brasserie V. Carey seems to think that IPAs have two different kinds of bitterness. On the front of the tongue and on the back of the tongue. This one is definitely a back of the tongue bitter (even though I don't really understand it). It's like a beer mullet. Business (malt) up front and party (hops) in the back.

A

PS: I deem the "harvest" or "fresh hop" ale to be a totally different style from the IPA

Another special delivery from the happy gnomes of Urthel

I've already told you of my strange obsession with the Urthel gnomes/dwarfs who hypnotize me with their cartoon beards and convince me to buy their products. Luckily, they tend to not lead me astray. Today's entry is Urthel Hop-it. I'm not really sure how to categorize this...it says "superior hoppy blond ale" on the bottle. I guess that sums it up pretty well. I would say it's somewhere in between a Saison, a Tripel, and an Imperial IPA. Kind of like the Houblon Chouffe IPA Tripel I guess, although it's been awhile since I had one of those. It's an odd amalgamation of flavors, like something Floyds would come up with, but it works pretty well in this case. There is a definite hop presence and a yeasty saison presence, but they balance out pretty well. It's also a pretty potent brew...I was feeling it a bit towards the end which seemed odd for a 12oz-er so I looked at the bottle and realized it was a 10% abv. You don't notice the alcohol at all in the flavor, so this is a silent but deadly beverage. Final verdict: This was $2.50 well spent - I'll give it an A-

P.S. I was just wondering how many beers I'd reviewed so far this year and went back to look. If I'm counting correctly, we've been doing this blog for almost exactly 8 months (say, 240 days give or take) and I think I've written about nearly 175 different beers. Wow. Not quite averaging 1 new one a day, but I'm trying.

Sweet lion of zion...

I've been burned enough over the years that my expectations for any Indiana beer are so low that not even Hermes Conrad and Barbados Slim could limbo under them (if you don't get this reference, you are officially lame - a hint/interesting fact: Barbados Slim is the only person with an Olympic medal in both Limbo and Sex). That made today's beer all the more amazing and memorable. Brugge Brasserie's Tripel De Ripple is perhaps the best Tripel I've ever had. There is almost no yeasty grossness, and the overwhelming flavor is a smooth buttery sweetness that is fantastic. I had the exact flavor in my mind but couldn't quite place it until I remembered the buttered popcorn flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans, and that is exactly what this beer tastes like. That might sound gross, but it isn't. Also a hint of honey and/or caramel. Bravo Brugge Brasserie. You have achieved an A for this beer.

Split 'em Stouts

Racked the latest stout today. On the left 1.125 ounces of whole coffee beans soaked in whiskey and on the right oak chips soaked in whiskey plus 3 tsps whiskey. We'll see what happens. I siphoned a little more of the yeast sediment into the whiskey stout since I am thinking the higher alcohol content will make it more difficult to ferment and eventually carbonate. Chris, you get to name the beer on the right since you called for the bourbon. I will save some for you.

Next up: Golden Promise IPA.

GABF winner's list

http://beertown.org/events/gabf/pdf/winners/gabf08_winners.pdf

I haven't had nearly enough of these. I wholeheartedly agree with the Imp Stout winners though...BORIS and Yeti were gold and bronze. Also of note, Hurricane High Gravity won in the "American-style specialty lager" category and was followed by Naty Ice and Busch Ice. Pete and Barry...this category looks to be wide open for potential victory. Start working on your recipes.

Red pens and black stouts...

It's grading day for me, with the first midterm of the semester. Barry, I don't know how you do this on a regular basis...3 times a semester is more than enough for me. Very average results...I'm guessing it's going to come out around 75%, which is pretty good for the first time I've written an exam for this class. I've gotten the impression I'm on double-secret probation for having my grades too high, so am trying to keep it under a 3.0 this semester.

Turning to beer, tonight I popped open a Three Floyd's Moloko Plus Milk Stout. I've only ever seen this once, so I don't know how rare it is, but it looks cool anyway. It's a pretty good beer, but maybe a little too sweet for me. It reminds me of when I pour a cup of coffee at the office and the sugar comes out of the canister too fast and I'm stuck with a barely drinkable cup of joe. This has a strong coffee-ish taste and smell, very "roast-y" if that makes any sense. Strange fizzy taste on the tongue too although it looks flat in the glass. The sugary-ness is just too overpowering though...to the point where I'm almost expecting it to still be sitting in granules on the bottom. This is one of those beers that you kind of enjoy the novelty of trying, and don't hate, but would likely never pull off the shelf again. I still have a lake louie milk stout in the fridge that I'll compare it to tomorrow.

Verdict: C+/B-

P.S.-I'm not sure who's worse, the Bengals or my fantasy team. Brutal.

New Otto's IPA

This is the last of a growler of 'Slab Cabin IPA' from Otto's I bought last night. The bartender is one of my students. (How come I didn't get a discount?) This definitely has some rye in it. I am becoming a very big fan of rye in all beers and IPA's in particular. My feeling is that rye adds a little spice to the beer.

Slab Cabin is better than Otto's DD IPA, which has been suspended until hop prices come back down.* Also the ABV is lower, which I am all for. Lately I've been looking for lower alcohol beers. (Except for the stouts I'm making. Obviously.)

Extremely sessionable. I would happily drink this all evening.

The grade: B.


---------------------------------------------------------
*Does anyone else suspect that regardless of future hop yields, prices will remain high? Are hops and petroleum the same from an economical perspective?

Brewing suggestions wanted

Today's brewing complete. I have about 2.5 gallons going in the primary. I am planing to split this into two batches and dry hop one with coffee beans.

I broke my hydrometer, but I believe the gravity is high.

The malt profile is

Pale 2-row
Chocolate malt
Belgian biscuit
Cara Aroma
Dark Malt

and I hopped with the last of my Nugget.

Question: What should I add to the other gallon?

Upland IIPA

Katie and I went to Upland last night to try a new Imperial IPA. It is amazingly well named as "Bad Penny IIPA" because that's exactly what it tastes like. To me, it's a cross between a heavily circulated penny and some mild battery acid. I did not like it. I even left half a glass on the table when we left, although in full disclosure that was half of my second glass. I think this would fall under Barry's favorite word "astringent." To be fair, it actually reminded me A LOT of Dreadnaught, so it could be that you guys who like that would like this one. For me, as Dreadnaught is my least favorite IIPA I've ever had, it did not make a good role model for this one, but I think that is pretty clearly what they were shooting for.
C-

Katie had an Octoberfest that was pretty good.

PS...another negative was the 50,000 mosquitos on the patio. How about investing in some citronella Upland?

Bottled some Sposborth

So I bottled three different batches today. The picture shows the Java Porter. It smells like coffee and chocolate brownies and a little Nugget hops. Earlier I bottled my Nugget Pale Ale and then later, the Single Malt Whisky, Triple Malt Porter. I also blended the Java and Whisky into a couple of bottles. I would have bottled the Pilsner too, but I ran out of bottles. The Nugget PA batch was ruby red.

The Java Porter smells good enough that I've already made a yeast starter to make another batch tomorrow. I broke my hydrometer today.

Of all the homebrews I've made the porters and stouts come out best. I resolve to make more imperial stouts and porters.

Here is the current Sposborth reserve list:

Imperial India Pale Ale
Oaked Imperial India Pale
Nugget India Pale Ale
Chocolate Biscuit Porter
Rebellious Rye Ale
Belgian Pale
Java Porter
Single Malt Whisky, Triple Malt Porter
Scottish Breakfast Blend (Java/Whisky)
Pilsner (coming soon)
Pumpkin Ale (coming soon)

Barry I read that Furious is brewed using Golden Promise barley. I'm going to try to replicate it. Do you know the O.G./F.G. for Furious? How is your Hoppy Brown?

Breakfast At All Hours

Let us drink Breakfast often.

A

Catching up...

Haven't posted in awhile due to the fact I was deathly ill for about the last 10 days. I haven't left the house except to stumble in to teach every other day, and if my scale is to be believed I think I lost something in the neighborhood of 15-20 lbs in 10 days. To put the experience into pleasant euphemisms, my gastrointestinal system was waging some kind of unholy civil war with violent offensives both to the north and to the south, if you catch my drift. But, I'm feeling much better the last day or two, and may even venture to open up a beer tonight. I'm also posting some old drafts that were waiting for me to add pictures.
In other news, I finally got around to picking up Duane's massive Lambic bonanza today, so if you're nice to him he might share. Included is roughly 4.5% of the world kiwi-lambic supply.

New Left Hand IIPA

9/28/08:

Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA. Chewy, sticky, hoppy, malty. Lots of caramel maltiness which seems to be what the beer advocates dislike. Not me, this is nearly perfect. Easy Drinking. Surprisingly full flavor for a pretty light color that almost looks like a bud lager. This is a truly great beer. Like Mercury Morris, it's in the Hopslam neighborhood, if not quite knocking on the door. I'd put it somewhere between Hopslam and 90 minute in taste, or maybe a Breckenridge 471. Whatever it is, it's an A+. Go Lefty!

Belgian Darks

9/28/08




1: Bell's Hell Hath No Fury Ale. This was really good. Kind of mellow and not overpowering but I'm viewing that as a positive. Fruity. A little flat but still great. A








2: Unibroue Chambly Noire. Very yeasty flavor, much less fruity than the Bell's. Kind of watery. Fizzy. Probably my least favorite Unibroue to date. C-






3: Dogfish Raison D'Extra. Another ridiculously high ABV dogfish. Heavy alcohol burn like their 120 min or World Wide Stout. I had pretty low expectations for this, but wanted to give it a try anyway. It's actually not half bad if you can handle the high gravity. To be honest, all these Uber-ABV beers are pretty much overwhelmed in the flavor area by the same basic alcohol flavor, but there are some of the Belgian dark fruity flavors coming through. I'd give this a B+, but probably won't ever get it again. Might try the D'etre if I can find a single of it (they only had it in 6 packs today and I knew I didn't want that many)

Bell's was the big winner tonight.

Go Green Flash

Whoa, Doctor. Lot's of alcohol burn, quite bitter, hoppy front and finish and Belgian candy finish. This is the very in my face Le Freak from Green Flash B.C. The label says, "Extreme Ale converging San Diego-style imperial pale ale and Belgian-style trippel." Sums it right up.

There is a lot of flavor in each sip. I'm sure that this would age like a champ.

Very Good: AB

Remote posting from St Louis

While the town is shitty, I did manage to find one beer that I've been wanting to try for a while. To counter Barry's previous post, this is a beer from a brewery that is usually disappointing, but this brew is great.

New Belgium La Folie - This one is a Flanders Red Ale (in the style of Rodenbach if you've had that before). It is outstanding. This one is tart like a granny smith apples. My streak of good sour beer continues. Who would have thought that the brewery that produces such shit like Fat Tire could belt out a brew like this?

A

A Toast to All the Bullshit

Avery's Ale to the Chief is a shout out to these blowhards that don't answer the questions asked and continually repeat themselves. To you gentlemen!

Here are some musings: Avery's big beers, as a whole, are very alcohol heavy in taste. Though I only had one bottle, the Maharaja IIPA was like drinking gasoline and grass clippings. Very unimpressive. Chris's drainpour posting was also an Avery. My high hopes for this beer are slightly tempered now as well. A citrus based hop pale ale is overriden by that unpleasant taste of astringency (to answer your previous question Pete: astringent is a taste of gas and vodka in my mind). It is also inconsistent, with some sips shining through and others being overpowered. Inconsistent and a bit of a letdown, much like our political system and candidates.

B -

P.S. I would really like the opportunity to drink another AleSmith IPA

P.P.S Any other thoughts on breweries that don't deliver on expectations?

Bud American Ale

Let's start with the grade: C. (In a world of only microbrews this would earn a D.)

The good: nice carbonation, not too heavy.
The bad: too 'Red', not hoppy (okay, slightly hoppy).
The meh: The taste.

Tastes a lot like Yuengling Lager, only more advertising and more expensive at $7.41 per six pack. If you don't like amber lager or Yuengling, skip it. I was curious enough to buy it once, having seen about 10,142 adds for it.

The return of Sposborth - with OAK

What a difference a day makes. Tonight I'm trying the oak chip version of the IIPA. I would love to get a second opinion on this one. The flavors are more varied - vanilla, bourbon and oak. The hops are not overwhelming like in yesterday's IIPA. Tonight's beer is a little colder too and I think that is a big help.

I'm as happy with the oak chipper as I was disappointed with the 'plain' IIPA. Next time I'll add a little more crystal malt and try to improve the hue. I would probably scale down the oak chips slightly next time. The oak chips soaking in whiskey should do a lot of good in the Stout I just made.

There is a little lacing. A good swirl brings out about a half inch of white foam.

I'm doing it; I'll give it an A for taste.

Sposborth IIPA

Too hoppy? That is my current verdict. Unbalanced is a maybe more accurate description. The beer looks very clear and nice, perhaps too much, and tastes a little too much like nothing good. Maybe all grain is harder than I thought. I do think there is not enough malt. Probably I should yield and add some DME to my next batch. Too much like cough syrup and too smelly (sickly aromatic). Hopefully the taste will improve as I have been anxiously awaiting this homebrew. I will try to pinpoint the flavors later.

Having said all of that, it is still better than most IPA's I can buy in Centre County (Zeno's excluded). It just isn't as good (yet?) as I hoped for. There are 10 more bottles and my fingers are crossed.

Current grade: B-.