Beer: In Heat WheatBrewer: Flying Dog
Style: Hefeweizen
Tasting notes: (0905) A bottle @ ML's. Good attempt @ a German-style Hefe from an American brewer - bananas and cloves.
Rating: 4 glasses
Sunday, June 7, 2009
In Heat Wheat
Beer: In Heat WheatBrewer: Flying Dog
Style: Hefeweizen
Tasting notes: (0905) A bottle @ ML's. Good attempt @ a German-style Hefe from an American brewer - bananas and cloves.
Rating: 4 glasses
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Summerfest
Beer: SummerfestBrewer: Sierra Nevada
Style: Pilsner
Tasting notes: (1005) A good lager but other 4's are better. Downgraded from 4 glasses. (1005) Ditto. Great w/ food, easy drinking, and quenching. Good by itself. (0905) A summer treat. Light and refreshing. (0807) Good pilsner. Downgraded from 5 glasses. SNPA is better. (0807) #5 in the 6. Maybe lagers are growing on me. Wonderful w/ summer sausage and crackers. Upgraded from 4 glasses. Perhaps it gets a bump because it is best in style. (0806) 1st in a 6 pack. Ditto as before. This could become a summer tradition. Upgrraded rating from 3 glasses. Category changed from Pale Lager. (????) A summer delight
Comment: Summerfest is Sierra Nevada's summer seasonal.
Rating: 3 glasses
Update on Titan IPA
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Allagash White
Beer: White Brewer: Allagash
Style: Witbier
Tasting notes: (0905) A bottle @ Acacia. Nice, fruity, light, and spiced. No bitterness. A tiche heavy for a wit. Upgraded to 4 glasses. (0606) 3/4 of a 4-pack tasted off with a bitter finish. I want to buy another single. Downgraded from 4 glasses. (0604) Only a taste. Light, refreshing - a wonderful summer ale. Lisa likened it to lemonade. My initial impression was that it is better than Hoegaarden.
Rating: 4 glasses.
Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrub
Beer: Hefe-Weissbier NaturtrubBrewer: Paulaner
Style: Hefeweizen
Tasting notes: (1005) A minikeg. A good example of the style. Upgraded from 3 glasses. (0905) Two minikegs. Pleasant and good w/ paella. May rate 4 glasses. Upgraded from 2 glasses. (0702) On tap in Denver. Well crafted but seems to have a hole in the flavor. Did not scratch my itch.
Rating: 4 glasses.
Ommegang Three Philosophers
Beer: Three Philosophers Brewer: Ommegang
Style: Quadruple
Tasting notes: (0905) Ditto. Goes well w/ a wide variety of food or by itself. (0802) A bottle from gift pack. Interesting and complex. A little apple and other fruits, a little sweet something. a touch of bitter hops and tart lambic at end, with a touch of alcohol. Thought about 6 glasses. When well w/ Country Captain, apples, Clementines, and cheese. Another winner from Ommegang.
Comments: This beer is 98/2% blend of quadruple and Kriek. (I may be off slightly on the percentages.
Rating: 5 glasses.
American Pale Wheat Ale
Amerian Pale Wheat Ale features wheat in the malt and the flavor tends to be wheaty and yeasty. These are good beers in the summertime. They are light and refreshing. The style is an American twist on Hefeweizen. Unlike most American versions, this beer tends to have less flavor than the original. German Hefeweizen feature banana and clove flavors.
Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vieille
Beer: Oude Geuze Vieille Brewer: Oud Beersel
Style: Gueuze
Tasting notes: (0905) An interesting verison of gueuze. Less tart and more sour and bitter than others. Sour rotten oranges, sugarless grapefruit, and a grapefruit sour/bitterness at finish when cold. The sour and bitter diminish as the beer warms and after the yeast is added.
Comments: The bitter flavor may be hops. My understanding is that gueuze uses aged hops to eliminate hop bitterness. However, the Oud Beersel website describes the beer as "traditional oude geuze with fruity nose and hoppy flavour."
Here is how the brewer describes the taste of the beer:
"The taste of the Oude Gueuze of Oud Beersel combines from way back a pleasant bitterness with a sour yet smooth character. The first mouthful refreshes the tongue and opens the way to the wondrous world of the spontaneous fermentation with its complex subtleties."
Rating: 3 glasses. May rate 4.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout
Beer: Yeti Imperial Stout Brewer: Great Divide
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: (0905) Another fresh bottle. Big and masive with hops lurking in the background. Tasted a little hot and not as chocolately as I remembered. Might be better w/ some age. Previous review.
Comment: The brewer has changed the look of the label.
Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, 25 November 2008, and 12 May 2009.
Rating: 6 glasses, a downgrade from the previous rating of 7.
Hanssens Oude Kriek
Beer: Oude Kriek Brewer: Hanssens
Style: Fruit Lambic (Kriek)
Tasting notes: (1012) Vineous tartness. (1005) Ditto. (0905) Fantastic tartness, lemon, cider, w/ a hint of tart cherries.
Comments: Here is what the brewer says about its Oude Kriek and Oude Geuze.
Oude Kriek: This is the result of blending black cherries lambic of different ages followed by a second fermentation in the bottle. Storage is similar like geuze. All bottles are champagne corked and can be reserved, in normal conditions, for more than thirty years. It is obvious that an amazing taste evolution takes place
Oude Geuze: This is the result of blending different lambics of different ages. The second fermentation takes place inside the bottles and therefore they are stored for minimum six months in constant temperature kept cellars.
Rating: 7 glasses. I liked it so much that I purchased two more bottles w/in the week.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Update on Expedition Stout
Beer: Expedition StoutBrewer: Bell's
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: (0905) Massive stout. A soy flavor -> reduction from 5 glasses. Previous review.
Comment: My, how the mighty have fallen. This beer once had 7 glasses and was one of my 2 or 3 favorite beers.
Top 100: 29 December 2005 and 10 March 2007. (Not on 30 January 2009.)
Rating: 4 glasses
Titan IPA
Beer: Titan IPABrewer: Great Divide
Style: IPA
Tasting notes: (0905) A nice IPA, with a nice mixture of hops and a sweetness to balance. May rate 4 stars.
Comments: Great Divide brews good beer. It has just returned to VA after a few years of being unavailable.
Top 100: 29 December 2005 but neither 10 March 2007 nor 03 May 2009 .
Rating: 5 glasses
Ten FIDY
Beer: Ten FIDYBrewer: Oskar Blues
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: (May 09) A can in my cellar for 1 year. Massive. Big chocolate malt w/ hops to balance. (May 08) A little milk chocolate and hops. Sort of light. Dark bitter chocolate and hops come forward as beer warms. A hint of cherry lurks in the background. Flavorful and surprising easy to drink when cold. A sour bitter hoppiness makes it a slow sipper when warm.
Top 100: 03 May 2009 but neither 29 December 2005 nor 10 March 2007.
Rating: 5 glasses
Old Leghumper
Beer: Old Leghumper Brewer: Thirsty Dog
Style: Porter
Tasting notes: (3) A bottle @ ML's. A pleasant porter - a little sweet and a little smoke. (2) A bottle. Wonderful coffee/chocolate nose. When cold the beer had a cream stout taste but was a little thin. Overall, a pleasant stout with a sweet twist but a little thin and it lacks bite. (1) On tap at 821. A wonderful season beer. Sweet up front like a cream stout. A funny sour/bitter taste at end when beer is cold. As the beer warms the flavor improves and a nice chocolate bite at end predominates.
Rating: 3 glasses
Friday, May 1, 2009
Ommegang Biere de Mars
Beer: Biere de MarsBrewer: Ommegang
Style: Biere de garde
Tasting notes: Melons and strawberries w/ a funky kick. This brewer uses Brett in the beer, I believe in the secondary fermentation. The result is a nice tart kick in the finish over a warm, malty base. The flavors are balanced and just strong enough. The beer would be a good introduction to the world of Brett.
Rating: 6 glasses
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