Category : Reviews
Fruit Beer Week: Lost Coast Raspberry Brown
August 27th, 2010
The other fruit beer that Lost Coast Brewery makes (along with their Tangerine Wheat) is Raspberry Brown. This beer is a version of their flagship Downtown Brown infused with real raspberries; however, where Downtown Brown is 5% ABV, Raspberry Brown is 6.5%. I’m not sure the raspberries alone would account for an extra 1.5% of alcohol, but I suppose it’s possible.
Appearance: Brown with red highlights, a nice color; tan head that’s thick and generous.
Smell: Nice mellow raspberry aromas, like raspberry tea. Floral, sweet, and lightly malty. Raspberry scone.
Taste: Earthy berry bramble; like fresh-picked raspberries that are just shy of being fully ripe so there’s a touch of tart, and a dry note from the brown (chocolate) malts backing it up. Not really dessert-y, but the raspberries are a nice complement to the brown ale.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a fulfilling presence that finishes simultaneously sweet, dry, and the lightest touch of tart.
Overall: Nicely done with a very nice presence; no one component is out of control (balanced well).
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.2 out of 5, and is in their 72nd overall percentile (92nd for the style).
Fruit Beer Week: Chapeau Banana Lambic (Re-review)
August 26th, 2010The other day, in reviewing Wells Banana Bread Beer, I wrote: “I can’t say as I’ve had many banana beers (the only other one that comes immediately to mind is a homebrewed banana wheat years ago)”—and then I found my original review of Chapeau Banana Lambic from 2008.
It’s brewed by Belgian’s Brouwerij De Troch to 3.5% alcohol by volume.
Appearance: Pale yellow-orange—golden, almost—bubbly. White head was fizzy but didn’t last long.
Smell: Delicate notes of sweet banana, slightly clovey. There’s a musty, horsey tang of Brett yeast… very delicate.
Taste: Tart green apple thing going on with sweet, very ripe bananas playing the background. Crisp. Pretty tasty. I want to say “Jolly Rancher” but not in the annoying way that Lindemans Pomme is. Nice interplay of sweet and tart.
Mouthfeel: Light, but a tad puckery, leaves a bit of a cloying aftertaste behind, but very drinkable.
Overall: Yum! Unusual but I like it.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of C+. On RateBeer, it scores 2.38 out of 5, and is in their 15th overall percentile.
Fruit Beer Week: Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
August 25th, 2010Lost Coast Brewery down in Eureka, California, brews a couple of fruit beers, and Tangerine Wheat is (I think) the newer of the two. This a light, summery American wheat ale brewed “with natural flavor added.” I’m not exactly sure what “natural flavor” refers to, but if I didn’t know better I would guess that they added plenty of actual (possibly whole) fruit to this beer.
Tangerine Wheat makes for a nice light summer beer (especially on a hot day), and it’s perfectly sessionable at 5% ABV.
Appearance: Hazy golden color with white head that started smooth and got choppy.
Smell: Bright tangerine—citrusy and zesty like freshly-zested peel. Juicy with sweet fruit and a touch of bitter peel.
Taste: On the tongue there’s more of that bitter, pithy peel flavor than fruit itself. Light, sweet fruit comes out though at the back of the mouth and as it warms; nice orange/tangerine notes (though still has bitter peel overlaying those).
Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, effervescent and I want to say a touch oily as citrus peel can be. A bit dry in the finish, too.
Overall: Light and refreshing, a bit different as far as fruit goes—it’s like they use lots of peel (whole fruit maybe?) in the brewing.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 2.94 out of 5 and is in their 44th overall percentile (74th for the style).
Fruit Beer Week: Great Divide Wild Raspberry Ale (Re-review)
August 25th, 2010Great Divide Brewing, out of Denver, offers a Wild Raspberry Ale made with wild raspberries:
[A] unique, thirst-quenching ale fermented with real red and black raspberries. Its balance of malt and fruit flavors make it a beer lover’s fruit beer.
It’s offered year-round, which makes me curious how they handle seasonal variations in the berries. Or perhaps I’m over-thinking it—I have the image of hand-picking mountain berries in my head, but a brewery as big as Great Divide probably has the berries commercially provided.
I reviewed Wild Raspberry Ale back in 2006:
Appearance: Red… the color of dark red berry juice. No real head. Clear. The red is a bit brownish—a brick red. Adobe?
Smell: Raspberries—dark and sweet. Almost like a raspberry syrup. Nice.
Taste: Pale maltiness… very light. Berry character is likewise light. Fruity, not extraordinarily sweet. No bitterness though. Not as infused with berry as I would’ve thought from the aroma.
Mouthfeel: Very light and thin… very effervescent but not bubbly (does that make sense?). This makes it seem lighter than it is.
Wild Raspberry Ale is 5.6% alcohol by volume.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 2.94 out of 5, and is in their 43rd overall percentile (though 73rd for the style).
Fruit Beer Week: Melbourn Brothers Strawberry (Re-review)
August 24th, 2010Melbourn Brothers beers hail from England and they offer three varieties of fruit beers, all spontaneously fermented—which technically qualifies them as Lambics. (Though I believe the fruit is added post-fermentation in the form of concentrate or syrup.) Back in 2006 I reviewed their Strawberry beer, and this is what I had to say about it:
Appearance: Poured into a Pilsner glass, it resembles a slightly dark rose champagne, pink and orange. Faint pink head, very thick and creamy.
Smell: Strawberries! Very sweet. Champagne again, hardly any beer character.
Taste: Strawberry sweet and a bit tart, a nice combination. Similar to Lindemans Framboise. A hint of malt in the background, but no hops.
Mouthfeel: Sparkly, on the thin side, thinner than a lambic, more like (you guessed it) champagne. Seems appropriate.
This is actually quite a fruity “non-beer” beer, one that people who ordinarily don’t like beer (like my wife) will enjoy. The beers (the other two are Apricot and Cherry) are imported by Merchant du Vin, so you should be able to find it easily enough at a good beer outlet (at least, on the West Coast, I think). Plus, it’s a very easy-drinking session beer with only 3.4% alcohol by volume.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.32 out of 5, and is in their 84th overall percentile.
Fruit Beer Week: Wells Banana Bread Beer
August 23rd, 2010I can’t say as I’ve had many banana beers (the only other one that comes immediately to mind is a homebrewed banana wheat years ago), so Wells Banana Bread Beer stands out in that regard. As it happens, I’d been hearing for a while how this beer actually smells exactly like banana bread, but I’ve never been able to find it in Central Oregon; however, I did find a bottle on our spring break Lake Tahoe trip and couldn’t resist picking it up.
(Yes, I’ve been sitting on this review since March.)
Wells Banana Bread Beer is a 5.2% ABV ale brewed (according to the label) “with bananas and banana flavor added.” According to the web the bananas themselves are Fair Trade bananas, so that’s a good thing.
Appearance: Clear brown-copper with a bit of an off-white head. Bright and effervescent.
Smell: Definite aroma of ripe bananas, bready and sweet. I don’t know if it’s exactly like banana bread, but I am enjoying the banana. A little brown sugar and that’s about all.
Taste: Nice banana notes in the flavor too; the malt behind is a touch sharp and roasty with some earthy bitter hops. A touch zingy—label mentions “peppery spice” of hops. Bready, sweet, interesting.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a bit of a bit (from the effervescent body).
Overall: Lots of banana character here, interesting and tasty though I’m not sure I’d make it a regular.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 2.91 out of 5, and is in their 42nd overall percentile.
Bashah
August 12th, 2010
Last year, Stone Brewing teamed up with Scotland’s BrewDog to brew up a collaboration beer, and Bashah was the result: a “Black Belgian Double IPA” (how’s that for a style designation?) that weighs in at 8.6% alcohol by volume.
(Yes, this was last year’s beer—this is a review from February I hadn’t posted yet, though I’ve still seen Bashah on the shelves, so if you have a decent bottleshop nearby there’s a chance you can still find it.)
You might be thinking “Black IPA,” and that’s more-or-less what I thought when I picked it up. What I found instead was a much more Belgian-influenced character without being overpowering.
Appearance: Black pour without much carbonation at first except a light brown head that built up gradually. Deep ruby when held to the light.
Smell: Roasted malts with a bit of earthy hops but with a chocolate “funk” that strikes me as Belgian and reminds me of earthy mushroom at the same time.
Taste: Definitely hoppy but also spicy up front—peppercorns and radish greens in the mix. Roasted malts and bitter cocoa powder with a bit of sweetness like… honeycomb? Raw honey maybe. Hops again follow up with a minty “green” bitter-spice.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a lightness on the tongue, finishing the sweetish body with a roasty dryness.
Overall: Unusual and tasty, not the assault on the tastebuds I’d feared. Nor (for me) nearly as bitter as expected. Nice, interesting mix of flavors happening.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.66 out of 5 and is in their 97th overall percentile.
Christmas in July: Climax Noel
July 30th, 2010
My local Whole Foods still has bottles of Eel River Brewing‘s Belgian Christmas beer, Climax Noel, in the cooler (albeit on sale) so I picked one up to review this week. According to the label it’s a Belgian Imperial Red Ale, 9% alcohol by volume, and is certified organic.
Appearance: Nice clear amber-red color (“auburn” from my wife), bright with a lively thick head.
Smell: Sugary-sweet nose with a cherry-like fruit note. Juicy. Some sherry-like notes from the alcohol.
Taste: Sweet strong Belgian-style character, warming from the alcohol and candi sugar washes over the tongue. Long and dry, with a sweet fruity note of figs.
Mouthfeel: Lively and effervescent, a bit of a drawn-out dry finish. The effervescence lightens up the body considerably.
Overall: Nice nose, nice flavors, it’s Belgian-styled through and through, something like a Tripel but “red” and figgy.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.42 out of 5 and is in their 90th overall percentile.
Christmas in July: 2 Turtle Doves
July 29th, 2010Even though they’re only a couple of years old, The Bruery in Southern California is the current darling of the Brewinati (did I just make up that word?), and everyone online was raving about their 2 Turtle Doves over the holidays—the second in their ambitious “12 Days (Beers) of Christmas” series, where they’ll release a new beer based on a verse from the eponymous song each holiday season for, er, 12 years.
2 Turtle Doves sounds great in concept:
2 Turtle Doves is the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Services. We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the “turtle” candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter, this beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming.
In execution, though… this is where I get to be a lone voice of dissent, because I don’t feel that it lived up to the hype. It’s a big, 12% ABV beer with lots of things going on—too much, perhaps.
Appearance: Cloudy brown coffee-colored with a creamy light brown head. Reminded me of chocolate milk in a way.
Smell: Cocoa with a sharply nutty note; minerally and a touch roasty. Kind of a “chocolate Belgian funk” going on, with some hard-water notes.
Taste: Semi-sweet chocolate combined with a somewhat fruity Belgian character. Yields to a dry finish at the back of the mouth—roasted malts and bittersweet cocoa and a bit of residual alcohol heat. Fruit but indistinct—a dark berry or black currant, kind of muddled. Wine-y.
Mouthfeel: A touch tart with a dry finish and well-attenuated, medium-full body.
Overall: Interesting, big and ambitious; I think it needs some aging. Notable chocolate notes and maybe a hint of nuttiness; a little sharp.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A-. On RateBeer, it scores 3.75 out of 5, and is in their 98th overall percentile.
Christmas in July: 25 Dodici
July 28th, 201025 Dodici is another beer I’d featured on last year’s Advent Calendar: a strong Winter Warmer from Birra del Borgo in Italy, which I speculated had not been actually brewed since 2008. I must have been wrong about that, because imagine my surprise when this beer popped up at Whole Foods this past winter! Yes, I snapped one up, because with a description like this, how could you not:
Dark amber with a beige-colored foam. The nose is dominated by fruity notes such as berries, plums and orange as well as spicy notes such as pepper and coriander. Chestnut honey and definite hints of chocolate enrich the aroma. On the palate, 25 Dodici is rich and full bodied. The fruity notes are well balanced with the maltiness.
The beer is 9.5% alcohol by volume, but comes in reasonably-sized 12.7-ounce bottles.
Appearance: Amber-brown with chunks of what looks to be orange peel floating around in it. Slow-building off-white head doesn’t stay long.
Smell: Musty, bitter, a bit of funk and a touch ascetic. A bit of caramel and for all that it’s enticing.
Taste: Bitter and spicy in a bitter orange peel way; for a malt profile I’d call it a brown (if I had a gun to my head) but it’s got a nice sweet backing and a bit of funk. Nutty, maybe. No sense of its alcohol strength. Woody. Interesting.
Mouthfeel: Bitter, semi-full-bodied and finishes dry with just a hint of tart.
Overall: I like it, it’s got what I’m coming to think of as the “Italian funk”—similar to a good Belgian in that sense. Nice sipping beer.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.36 out of 5 and is in their 80th overall percentile.
Christmas in July: Goose Island Christmas Ale
July 27th, 2010This past holiday season was the first year I remember seeing Goose Island Christmas Ale available here in Bend, and was also the first beer I picked for last year’s Advent Calendar—needless to say, it was one I knew I had to try (and had been wanting to for a while). Goose Island is old-school about their Winter Warmers: they change up the recipe every year.
Every year to celebrate the holiday season, we brew up our Christmas Ale, and with each year we change the recipe slightly so that you have something special to look forward to. Traditionally, our Christmas Ale is a complex brown ale that develops well in the bottle for up to five years.
The 2009 vintage was 5.7% alcohol by volume and, I have to say, lived up to its reputation.
Appearance: Hazy amber-brown with two fingers of light tan head.
Smell: Sugary with burnt toffee and hints of spices; a touch of roast and caramel malts.
Taste: Sweet and caramel-rich, slightly buttery. Very tasty, reminds me of rich candies—not quite bon-bons, more caramlized sugars and nuts. Spicy aftertaste, kind of mace-y or clovey.
Mouthfeel: A bit fuller than medium-bodied, with a sticky-sweet presence.
Overall: Very good, way too easy to drink and the candy body steals the show.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.49 out of 5 and is in their 93rd overall percentile.
Christmas in July: Winter Hum Bug’r
July 27th, 2010Portland’s MacTarnahan’s holiday offering is Hum Bug’r: an easy-drinking Porter wrapped up in packaging reminiscent of something you’d see in an indie graphic novel. The “hum bug” part of the name naturally makes you think of Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol—though MacTarnahan’s has someone else in mind:
You know he’s arrived. Wheeling through the party, being too loud, crowding the buffet, lurking under the mistletoe and spilling cheer. He’s a lot like this beer. Its dark malt body and rich roasted flavor will unravel your ribbons and leave you wanting more. Too bad it only comes once a year. Good thing is there’s plenty more where it came from.
MacTarnahan’s makes good (if slightly boring) beers, though one thing that stands out is that they are super clean and polished.
Appearance: Opaque dark brown with coffee-tan head, nicely frothy.
Smell: Roasty coffee notes, a bit of sweet cocoa malts. Some milk chocolate?
Taste: Porter with a touch of roast, a touch of spiciness (hints of cinnamon or cardamom), with a clean dark profile.
Mouthfeel: Medium-full, with bitterish aftertaste from roasted malts, very clean.
Overall: Decent porter, nice and sessionable.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.23 out of 5, and is in their 66th overall percentile.
Firestone Walker Parabola
July 7th, 2010
I realized it had been awhile since I received the PR bottle of Parabola, Firestone Walker’s barrel-aged Imperial Stout (the first time bottled, no less), and while I knew I was behind on a review (at least, in my mind I was behind), I will admit that the thought of drinking a 13%, 22-ounce bottle of Imperial Stout with the weather warming up was a bit daunting. At the same time, I was quite looking forward to it so I finally steeled my liver and opened it up.
And boy, am I glad I did. This is one terrific beer, and I’m only sorry that it was such a limited run; I’d happily buy several more bottles to lay down for special occasions.
To recap, this isn’t the first time Firestone Walker has brewed Parabola, but it was the first time they released a limited bottling run (only 1000 cases). According to their notes it’s a “multiple vintage blend aged in oak barrels” though I don’t know if they were used (whiskey, etc.) or new barrels.
Appearance: Motor-oil black and opaque, pours fairly still but a small dirty-brown head forms gradually.
Smell: Dark chocolate, sweet black coffee, whiskey-barrel alcohol notes. Very rich and sweet. Molasses, hints of black licorice, nice touch of wood char.
Taste: Wow—amazingly syrupy sweet but more dark chocolate or coffee liqueur sweet rather than cloying. Decadent—this is dessert, a double chocolate cake soaked in brandy with a coffee sauce. Pretty amazing, there are a lot of layers of flavor but all are remarkably well-balanced: Turkish coffee, very dark chocolate, a hint of smoke and tobacco, ganache, burnt caramel, much more.
Mouthfeel: Thick and syrupy, full-bodied, sticky with a full, flavorful finish.
Overall: Simply amazing; easily one of the best Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had. Is it because of the barrel aging? Possibly; it’s also one of the most balanced barrel aged beers I’ve had.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A. On RateBeer, it scores 4.01 out of 5 and is in their 100th overall percentile.
Summer Beer Week: Festina Pêche
June 25th, 2010
Ironically enough, I’ve reviewed Dogfish Head’s Festina Pêche before—during another Theme Week. Two years ago this month, actually, during Wheat Beer Week. But I couldn’t help it: when I saw it on the shelf at the store, I had to pick up a bottle.
Like yesterday’s Gose, this beer isn’t in the typical discussions of the “summer beer style” (at least, not for many Americans), because it’s brewed in the style of a Berliner Weisse—another wheat ale, very light, and very tart. (Actually, I would call Berliner Weisse and Gose the German summer beer styles.)
Dogfish has applied their own spin to it, naturally: they’ve added fresh peaches (or at least, peach concentrate) to give it a subtle, fresh fruit character. And it’s brewed to only 4.5% ABV, which might make this the lowest-alcohol beer they release in bottles.
Appearance: Hazy delicate yellow, straw-colored, with a minimal fizzy white head.
Smell: Lightly tart with very delicate aroma of fruity fresh peach. Nice and clean.
Taste: Mouth-puckeringly tart—lemon-citric and a hint of ascetic (vinegar). Nice layers of fresh fruit in the mouth, too, subtle but very pleasant. The sour packs a wallop, but the essence of the peaches comes across really well, especially at first (it dissipates as you drink it).
Mouthfeel: Light, puckering and tart, crisp and very refreshing.
Overall: Sour! But very tasty and very much the kind of beer to drink on a hot, hot day.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.23 out of 5 and is in their 75th overall percentile.
Summer Beer Week: Leipziger Gose
June 24th, 2010Here’s a Summer Beer Week curve ball you may not have thought of: a German Gose style of beer. Gose is a light, tart wheat ale spiced with coriander and salt, and is enjoying a small revival with some American craft brewers lately. I didn’t get a hold of any of those, but I was thrilled to find Leipziger Gose at my local Whole Foods, imported from Germany—the first Gose I’ve seen in Bend and it is in fact my first-ever sampling of the style.
This is a perfect summer style of beer, and inasmuch as there can be an “official” Gose beer from Germany, Leipziger appears to be it. It’s 4.6% alcohol by volume, and if you can find this near you (or any Gose beer), you should definitely seek it out to try it.
Appearance: Lively and bubbly, pale gold and very clear. Pure white head, like beaten egg white.
Smell: Tart wheat and coriander, clean and a touch creamy.
Taste: Tart and sharp with a hint of salt, very crisp. The coriander imparts an almost peppery character. Very clean on the tongue, with a dry wheat bite.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light, lively on the tongue, and a nice “cleansing” finish.
Overall: Super drinkable, nicely tart (which makes it refreshing along with the touch of salt), quite a nice beer. There’s a creaminess from the wheat too, I think.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.34 out of 5, and is in their 88th overall percentile.
As I mentioned, Gose is undergoing a mini-revival among American brewers, but there aren’t many yet: BeerAdvocate only has 22 Gose entries currently. If I can get my hands on some more, perhaps I’ll be doing a Gose Week at some point.
