Firestone Walker Double Jack

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Strangeways Phantasmic East Coast IPA

Strangeways Phantasmic East Coast IPA is a nice beer of good quality. The hop profile missed my mark a little, more of a hoppy pale ale with a tiche of sour flavor, but the lacing was fantastic. 3 glasses. Might merit 4?

Update on Imperial Stout (Founders)

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Update on Hennepin

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Heady Topper

The Alchemist Heady Topper is a wonderful double IPA. The hops accentuate grapefruit and are intense without being intensely bitter. The beer is so easy to drink that you might think that it is a session beer but the ABV will hit you quickly. The malt backbone is present as a supporting actor but big enough to make the beer so easy to drink. The reviewers on BeerAdvocate recently rated it as the best beer in the world. The beer earns it accolades. I am giving it 6 glasses and may upgrade to 7 after drinking the last one in my frig - I am reluctant to give 7 glasses on one evening of drinking. Many thanks to Mary Lou for bring some to me from Vermont.

18 August 2013

Bell's Oarsman: A solid 4. Simple, tart, and easy drinking. 

Boulevard 80-Acre: A hoppy wheat ale. Simple and a little watery. 2 glasses.

Allagash Tripel Reserve: I am liking this more and more. Upgraded to 6 glasses.

Visit to Mekong

I ate at Mekong Restaurant tonight and sampled 5 beers. One beer was interesting and not my cup of tea. another was good, two were very good and one was fantastic.

Boulevard Saison-Brett is a nice saison with a touch of sour. Good but paled somewhat with the beers that followed. Downgraded from 6 glasses to 5. Click here for previous review. 

BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Square root 225 is a delightful funky saison. It is tart enough to be a sour. I asked An for a recommendation and he gave me a glass of this, telling me it was better than Saison Brett. He was correct. 6 glasses.

Firestone Walker Double Jack is a big Double IPA. It is nice and hoppy and not too malty. I only had a small portion because my order blew the keg. Darn. 

Update on 1308. Had a full glass and was not as impressed. Good  but I missed something in the hop profile. Downgraded from 6 glasses glasses to 5 and thought about 4.

The Bruery White Oak "is a blended beer-- 50% wheatwine aged in Bourbon barrels (we call it "White Oak Sap"), and 50% Mischief (our Golden Strong Ale)." It was nice and interesting and not my cup of tea. 3 glasses.

BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Bon Chien (2012) is a fantastic beer. Sour with oak and smoke and tons of complexity. 7 glasses.

Recent beers

21st Amendment Hop Crisis is a complex Imperial IPA. The web site says, "We made the biggest, hoppiest IPA we could imagine and aged it on oak for good measure." It is one of the better barrel-aged IPA's I remember. The aging muted the hops but give a wonderful complexity to the beer. 5 glasses.

The Bruery Hottenroth is a pleasant Berliner weiss. Slightly tart and acidic with a touch of lemon, it is easy drinking and light.Still three glasses.

Trappistes Rochefort 8 is a fantastic example of Strong Belgian Dark Ale. The last bottle I pulled from my "cellar" had been aging for about 5 years and it was yummy. Easily 6 glasses and I am thinking about 7. It is complex, flavorful, and easy drinking.

Bell's Third Coast Old Ale is another beer that is improving with age. The last bottle I pulled from my cellar was about 5 years old. It had evolved into a caramel, butterscotch brew that resembled an English Barleywine. It continues to earn 6 glasses. 

Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René

0803: Nice, apple cider w/ lemon and vinegar. Good value for gueuze. 6 glasses

1304: More sour and less tart. A slight rancid metallic taste. Downgraded to 5 glasses and thought about 4 glasses.

Russian River Supplication

Brown Ale aged in used Pinot Noir barrels from local Sonoma County wineries. It is aged for about 12 months with sour cherries, brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pediococcus added to each barrel. Flavors from the cherries, Pinot Noir and oak balance each other nicely with a little funk from the brett (URL).

Good but not great. A little like wine added to a beer. Tart and compex. 6 glasses.

Hardywood Baltic Porter with Bacon and Maple

Oh no! Hardywood missed on this one. Massive and dense but not what I want to drink. 1 glass.

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

Had a bottle at Happy Hour at Cafe Catura. The grilled shrimp tacos were boffo. The beer was not. It does not hit my sweet spot. A review from April 2008 gave the beer 2 glasses and said, "OK. A little cream, a little chocolate, and a little smokey bite but a little thin. Better @ room temp. May rate a 3." The beer is crafted well and I am moving the rating to 3.

NPR on Big Beer

This story on NPR talks about the dominance of ABInBev and MolsonCoors and ABInBev's attempt to acquire Modelo.

Beer and Civilization

This note in the New York Times claims that beer played a vital role in creating the type of civilization we enjoy today.

Beer Quotes

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/favorite-beer-quote-of-all-time.72843/

If the Four Horsemen Arrive, Offer Beer

http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/80011/john-michael-greer

Caledonian Newcastle Winter IPA

I paired my Pho Sate w Newcastle Winter IPA tonight. It is easy to drink and pleasant. As advertised it is an English IPA, with mild hops.

I am giving the beer a rating of 3 glasses.

Edit. I just finished the six pack. The more I drank, the less I liked. Downgraded to 2 glasses and thought about 1.

Smuttynose Winter Ale

I succumbed to a stack of Smuttynose Winter Ale on a visit w Lisa to Kroger's today and bought a 6-pack. I thought it was a wittier. I tired one tonight because I thought it would be a a nice aperiti. Well, surprise!  The ale is actually a winter warmer reminiscent of a Belgian style dubbel. Beeradvocate classifies it as a dubbel. I think that I will group it w winter warmers. The brewer states that the beer contains no spices.

The beer reminds me of Great Divide Hibernation Ale and Anchor Old Jubilation.  It is nice and malty with some caramel and spicy sweetness. Pleasant and Christmassy.

I give it 4 glasses. Upon further examination I may move the score to 5.

Business Week

Here is a good article on the effects on the beer industry of the InBev's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch to form AB InBev. The article does a nice job describing some of the real or potential tradeoffs between cost efficiencies and quality.

Three recent wonderful experiences

I have tasted three wonderful beers recently: North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Bell's Third Coast Old Ale, and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine Style Ale.

Old Rasputin is what the name says, a big Imperial Stout. Nice chocolate and smoke flavors with a touch of charcoal. Thick and smooth. I purchased this bottle in November 2011 in Mathews; it had aged at least 1 year. Yummy. I discovered that I left an inch or so in the glass overnight and drank what was left in the morning. Still good. I liked the beer so much that I went out this week and bought 3 new 4-packs. I moved its rating from 5 to 6 glasses and thought about 7. Previous review.

Beer Advocate classifies Third Coast Old Ale is an American Barleywine. Bell's bottled this 6-pack on 4 Dec 2008, making it about 4 years old. The taste was all brown sugar and malt. I want to buy and age more. Yummy. It continues to earn its 6-glass rating. Previous review.

Tonight I took a 2010 vintage Bigfoot out of my cellar. Malt and hops and wonderful. Still 7 glasses. Previous review.