Rockfish Wheat

Brewer: Blue Mountain

Style: Kristalweizen

Tasting notes: (1010: Nice but downgraded from 5. Lacked "punch". (0910) A bottle in Harrisonburg. Ditto. Click here for previous review.

Previous rating: 5 glasses

Rating: 4 glasses

Porter

Brewer: Duck-Rabbit

Style: Porter

Tasting notes: (0910) Coffee porter?

Rating: 5 glasses

Dulle Teve

Brewer: de Dolle

Style: Tripel

Tasting notes: (0910) Dry, apples, raisins, and lemon rind bite at finish. Thought about 6 glasses.

Rating: 5 glasses

Dubbel

Brewer: Allagash

Style: Dubbel

Tasting notes: (0909) Reminded me of a good lager. Clean and quaffable mix of malt w/ hop bite. Went great w/ flank steak w/ brandy and shallot reduction. Click here for a previous review.

Rating: 4 glasses

Aventinus

Beer: Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock

Brewer: Schneider

Style: Weizenbock

Tasting notes: (0909) Cloves, bananas, dark (slightly rotted?) fruits, and cinnamony spiciness. Wonderful thick mouthfeel. Upgraded from 6 glasses. (0803) A bottle @ home w/ grilled steak. Nice. Mixture of cloves, banana, and sweet. 0707: A bottle @ Bavon. Darker, milder version of a good Hefe. Might rate 5/8. (0703) A bottle @ Grafiti Grill. (Too much?) cloves and licorice.Downgraded from 7/8. (0606) Mysteriously complex. Cloves, banana, licorice? (0603) Sweet dark fruits, cinnamon ?, with an alcohol bitter-sour bite at end. Reminded me of dark fruit version of Allaghash Tripel Reserve up front and Samuel Adams Imperial Stout at end. Ability to accompany food remined me of Hennepin. Went great with manchino cheese, apples, steak, and roasted plums.

Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 14 October 2009.

Rating: 7 glasses.

Shakespeare Stout

Beer: Shakespeare Stout

Brewer: Rogue

Style: Stout

Tasting notes: (0909) Coffee, chocolate, and hops. A little thin. Downgraded from 7 glasses w/ misgivings but was comparing it with Old Ruffian and Hanssens Oude Gueuze that I had also had that weekend. Click here for a previous review.

Top 100: 29 December 2005 and 10 March 2007. (Not on 3 August 2009.)

Rating: 6 glasses.

Black and Tan

Beer: Black and Tan

Brewer: Yuengling

Style: Black and Tan

Tasting notes: (0909) A nice beer and a good value. Simple. Downgraded from 4 glasses. Click here for a previous review.

Rating: 3 glasses

Old Ruffian

Beer: Old Ruffian

Brewer: Great Divide

Style: Barley Wine

Tasting notes: (1001) On draft @ Mekong. Smooth and strong. (1001) A 2+-year old bottle. Ditto as what follows. (0909) A 2-year old bottle. Sweet brown sugary malt with bitter hops. Easy to drink. Alcohol is totally hidden. A loooong, bitter finish comes after swallow. (0802) A bottle purchased 0707. Sweet malt with bitter hops poking out its head. Bitter aftertaste emerges. Too easy to drink. Alcohol is totally hidden. Downgraded to a 6. (0708) Sweet barley malt coats the tongue and mouth. A loooong, bitter finish comes after swallow. Almost quaffable but then you would miss the finish after each sip. Too smooth? The alcohol is totally hidden - watch out. Plan to share or spend 3 hours on a bottle. Would like a side-by-side with Old Crustacean. May rate 6.

Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 14 October 2009.

Rating: 6 glasses

Pale Ale

Beer: Pale Ale

Brewer: Sierra Nevada

Style: Pale Ale

Tasting notes: Ditto as previous review.

Rating: 4 glasses

Widmer Hefeweizen

Beer: Hefeweizen

Brewer: Widmer

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

Tasting notes: (0909) A bottle w/ chicken, slaw, and tomatoes. Pleasant. May rate 2 glasses.

Rating: 3 glasses

Racer 5

Beer: Racer 5 IPA

Brewer: Bear Republic

Style: IPA

Tasting notes: (0909) A bomber @ Acacia. A wonderful IPA. Floral nose and nice bitter bite at finish. (0608) A pint at CAH. Hops is king here. Pine and grapefruit.

Top 100: 29 December 2005 but not 10 March 2007 or 26 September 2009.

Rating: 5 glasses

Bigfoot

Beer: Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

Brewer: Sierra Nevada

Style: Barleywine

Tasting notes: (0908) 1.5 year-old bottle. Delightful. Malty and mellow at first sips. Then piney bitter hop bite which was almost over the top emerged. Ages wonderfully. Click here to read an earlier review.

Top 100: 29 December 2005 but not 10 March 2007 or 26 September 2009.

Rating: 7 glasses

Red Seal Ale

Beer: Red Seal Ale

Brewer: North Coast

Style: Pale Ale

Tasting notes: (0908) A bottle as a Bday gift. Nicely balanced red ale. Close call but downgraded to 4 glasses. (0803) Another bottle @ Avalon. Nice, malty, easy drinking pale ale. Upgraded from 4. (0612) As bottle warms pine begins to dominate. (0608) A bottle at Avalon. A nice balance of malt and hops.

Note: BeerAdvocate now classifies the beer as a Red Ale.

Rating: 4 glasses

Pinhead

Beer: Flemish Primative Wild Ale (Pinhead)

Brewer: De Proef

Style: Belgian Stong Pale Ale

Tasting notes: (0908) Sweet mangos followed by sour brett bite and dry end. Complex but didn't quite come together for me.

Rating: 4 glasses

Chocolate Stout

Beer: Chocolate Stout

Brewer: Rogue

Style: Stout

Tasting notes: (1010) On draft @ World Market. Chocolate milkshake. Sweeter than I remembered. Went great w/ chocolate gananche pie. (0908) Shared bottle w/ GS. CHOCOLATE! Dark bitter chocolate taste predominates (0706) Downgraded to 5 glasses in new rating based on Shakespeare. (0601) Yummy. Chocolate taste with rich smokey flavor. Enough edge to sip but smooth enough to gulp.

Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 25 September 2009.

Previous ratings: 6 glasses

Rating: 5 glasses

Oak Barrel Stout

Beer: Oak Barrel Stout
Brewer: Old Dominion
Style: Stout
Tasting notes: (0908) A bottle @ Avalon.Thin w/ an odd off sour taste. May have been a bad bottle. My recollection for a bottle years ago @ CAH as being a thin, OK, w/ a sweet vanilla oaky flavor.
Rating: 1 glass

Mothership Wit

Beer: Mothership Wit

Brewer: New Belgium

Style: Witbier

Tasting notes: (0908) Shared bottle w/ GS. Lemony flavor up front followed by sour bite come from orange rind spice. Light, flavorful, and pleasant.

Rating: 4 glasses

Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale

Beer: 312 Urban Wheat Ale

Brewer: Goose Island

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

Tasting notes: (0908) Lemony wheat ale. Easy drinking. May rate 3 glasses.

Rating: 2 glasses

Floreffe Prima Melior

Beer: Prima Melior

Brewer: Floreffe

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (0908) Pleasant, interesting, but not complex. Anise gives it a nice bite. Downgraded from 5 glasses. (0711) Pleasant and interesting. Sweet malt w/ fruit when cold. As it warms (better) the anise and spices come forward, sweet up front with a licorice sour/spicy bite at end.

Rating: 4 glasses

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA

Beer: Twisted Thistle IPA

Brewer: Belhaven

Style: IPA

Tasting notes: (0908) A b-day gift from MT. A nice subdued English IPA w/ citrus, and pine notes. A hint of thistle, smoke, and peat. May rate 5 glasses.

Rating: 4 glasses