New Beer Thursday: New Republic Whipsaw

For this week's edition of New Beer Thursday, I reached for a Texas Brewery that is relatively new to the Houston market.  The beer however, is very new as I believe its only been available for a week or so.

New Republic is from College Station, and Whipsaw is their Double IPA offering. The first thing I notice about the beer is the label and all the great information on it.  For example, ideal serving temp: 54 degrees, parings: carrot cake, late nights, and good friends.  ABV: 8%, IBU: 84.  The final piece of info was the hops used.  There were 4 hops used in total and they were:

Columbus: a very typical hops for DIPA's, with high bittering potential.  Sharp and pungent.

Cascade: gives aromas of floral, citrus, grapefruit and pine needles.

Centennial: A high buttering hops with floral and citrus notes.

Magnum:  High bittering hops, with spice and citrus notes.

The beer pours a reddish copper with a thick taupe colored dense foamy head.  The nose is of pine resin, orange peel, marmalade, white pepper, a sticky smell if that makes sense.  The mouthfeel is medium bodied, but creamy.  It tastes almost sticky, coating the tongue, grapefruit, orange marmalade, tangerine.  Some slight toasty notes from the malts, but this is all hops.  Peppery, spicy, almost a funky astringency at the finish.  Incredibly hop forward, this one is a must to drink fresh as I have to think after the hop flavors go, its going downhill fast.  The finish is a slightly off putting to me, but not something that I wouldn't recommend looking out for.  Good solid DIPA.

Saint Arnold Endeavour VS DR 11

Ever since Saint Arnold moved into their new brewery its been interesting to see them trying new things with beers. First came the moveable yeast series and lately its been releasing beers in 750ml bottles instead of the traditional 6-pack. These beers they are releasing though are not just standard beers, but so far at least, they have been re-releases of some of their Divine Reserve Series. Their first big bottle release was only a seasonal release and was a version of Divine Reserve 9 called Pumpkinator. However, last week Saint Arnold releases a year round version of Divine Reserve 11 called Endeavour. Now, I was pretty excited for the release of this beer, for two big reasons. One DR11 was a fantastic Double IPA and as Endeavour it would be one of the first year round DIPAs made in Texas. The second reason was the name. Working in the space industry I think its pretty cool that a brewery has finally paid homage to an industry that gave Houston one of its nicknames.

The question remained though, was Endeavour a replica of DR 11, or like Pumpkinator before it were changes made to the recipe? Well it looks like its a replica to me. Both weigh in at around 8.6 to 8.9% and they both use Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops and weigh in at around 76 IBU. Now I did want to do a taste comparison, however, DR11 is almost a year old and most hop forward beers can change dramatically in that time since hops are the first thing to go in a beer. Just something to keep in mind when trying to compare these two beers.

DR11: It pours an orangish copper color with a thick head of just off white foam. Hops cones almost fresh from the vine show up on the nose, citrus, biscuits. I can't believe how well the hops are holding up in the nose. The mouthfeel is smooth and full bodied, still very hoppy, almost resiny. The hops though are muddled, not distinguished, but coat the tongue. There is almost a roasty flavor going on, roasted grapefruit marmalade anyone? Some boozy notes are apparent, and its just a little thin at the finish. Still a great beer, but one that I'm wondering if it isn't time to drink more sooner rather than later.

Endeavour: This beer pours a light pale orange copper, lighter than DR11. A thick head of white foam tops it off. Hops, citrus, resiny, peaches on the nose. Medium creamy mouthfeel. Really creamy, almost the texture of a beer that has gone through a nitro tap. Its tongue saturating hops, grapefruit, peaches, a hint of biscuit toastiness, and some white peppery spice. So tongue coating though, don't make this your first beer of the night, or you won't be able to taste anything else. The flavors here are so crisp and bright they pop across the tongue doing a little dance. A great DIPA, and I am very happy to see this coming from a Texas brewery.

Sam Adams Third Voyage

Sam Adams is an interesting brewery. They are a brewery that has done great things for the craft beer movement, but many craft beer nerds, turn their nose up at Sam Adams, and don't really consider them a craft brewery. Sure their flagship Boston Lager is not a mind blowingly complex beer, but is a great alternative in hotels and airports when there isn't much other options. Plus they make a great many other beers than just their Lager. Their Imperial Pilsner they brewed a few years back is one of the best beers I've ever had. They really helped create the whole extreme beer movement with Utopias and their Imperial series is damn solid (although I don't care of the Imp White at all). Sure they have their misses (Triple Bock I'm looking at you), but for the most part they make beers ranging from good and solid, to outstandingly complex.
They continue to release special beers, first it was their Barrel Room collection that we unfortunately don't get in Texas (damn label laws) and now its a collection of Small Batch beers, that luckily we do get. The first one I have had the opportunity to try is their Double IPA, Third Voyage. The beer is brewed with simcoe hops and Cascade hops from England, New Zealand, and the US which is where the name for the beer comes from. The name is based off of Captain James Cook third voyage that took him from England, to New Zealand before completing his journey in the Pacific Northwest of the US. But enough of the history lesson, how does the beer taste?
The Beer: The Beer weighs in at 8.0% (not sure of the IBU's) and pours a crystal clear ruby color capped with a dense foamy slightly off white head. The nose is full of hops, citrus, along with some earthy mustiness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a comforting level of carbonation. Massively hoppy, citrus peel, and pitch. Caramel malts, buttered bread, help give balance to the beer. There is a quality to the beer that I equate to hop marmalade on toast points. There is a slight sweetness to this brew that counters the over the top hops of the beer. However after the third or fourth sip, all I get is hops, hops and more hops. The tongue becomes saturated and its all I get. I like the white pepper spice impression that the resiny hops leave on my tongue. This is a fine beer, and makes me want to go out and try the other ones from this series. This one gets a strong B+ from me.

Wet Hopping

I'm Baaaaccckkkkk....... yes I am well aware that it has been way to long since I've last posted, and even then it hasn't been very consistent. My only excuse, is that things have gotten crazy as life can tend to do. Between having a new baby at home, and starting a little non-profit up called Open The Taps , maybe you've heard of it, but if not, check out the link. I'm hoping my limited posting has now changed, and I'll be back doing what I enjoy, blogging about beer, bars, and everything that entails. So, enough of that stuff, let's get on to the post.

I received a text message a couple of days ago from a friend about me doing a blog post on wet hops. Well now just happens to be a good time to do a post for a couple of reasons. 1) its hop harvest season, 2) a great beer resource has been released that would help give me information on Wet Hopping. That great resource is The Oxford Companion to Beer (edited by Garrett Oliver). Just in thumbing through this thick tome its clear that its something every beer lover should pick up and read.
First a little history of what wet hopping is and what it isn't. Many folks are familiar with the term dry hopping which is adding the traditional dried hops (or pellets) to completely brewed beer (usually occurs in cask or keg). Wet hopping however is very different then this process. Fresh hops off the vine are around 80% moisture, they are harvested once a year, and then they are dried or kilned and this is what is usually used in brewing beer. In the simplest of terms the drying of the hops stabilizes them so that they can be stored and used at any time of the year. However, during hop season, those that live hear hop growing areas have an opportunity to make a unique beer. Hop season runs from late August to late September depending on what hop variety you are talking about. To make a fresh hop ale, hops are harvested, packaged loosely in a cardboard box and shipped quickly to an eagerly awaiting brewery. These fresh hops need to be used within 24 hours of harvesting, so everything has to happen FAST! Once the hops arrive at the brewery they are used just like regular hops are, with one exception: (Per Oxford Beer Companion) because of the high moisture content one has to use 4 to 5 times wet hops as they do dry hops to get similar results. Because of the short turn around from harvest to brewing, wet hopped beers are one of the last truly regional ales around. You won't see many if any wet hopped beers from Texas breweries because we don't live near a hop growing region. However you do see a great many of the style in regions of California, Washington, and Oregon, all near areas of prime hop growing regions. The good news is that we do get some wet hopped beers in Texas from breweries outside the state.
Before getting to a wet hopped beer, I wanted to get a better understanding of what to expect regarding the differences in the flavor profile between a beer hopped using the traditional process and one being wet hopped. I reached out to knowledgeable beer man and owner of the soon to be open Hay Merchant, Kevin Floyd to get his thoughts on this issue. Kevin feels that wet hops have a more subtle flavor profile than their dried counterparts, but that subtlety allows for more layers of flavors. This subtlety brings more balance and more spicier notes. Kevin also gave me my favorite quote in trying to describe wet hops: "a dry hop can be a one note chorus, but in comparison that same hop when its fresh comes off like a full symphony." Well with that quote its time to have a wet hopped beer. Last week I was lucky enough that Anvil Bar and Refuge tapped a cask of Wet hopped Moylan's Hopsickle, and figured if your going to have a wet hopped beer, go big or go home.
The Beer: (Check here for my thoughts on the dry hopped version). The nose is very earthy, hops are present, but not over powering. The mouth feel is intense, mouth coating hops. I remember the other one being like biting into grapefruit, this one was more earthy, and grapefruit pith. Its big, and complex, but no single flavor wallops you over the head. Quickly though after a few sips, the flavors stick to the side of your mouth and it starts to saturate your taste buds. Its a big beer, but very little alcohol. Not a session beer, but maybe a one beer a session beer. I wouldn't know what I would drink after this one since your taste buds are overwhelmed. Having said that it was interesting because of the wet hops and wasn't a one note musical, but many subtle notes that came to together nicely.

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11

Today is the day that Texas beer lovers go insane, its Divine Reserve day. A day that twitter goes crazy with #dr11 hash tags with people informing the world where they could score some of this beer. Its the day that Saint Arnold's releases there inconsistently scheduled special brew. Each DR a different recipe, some based on winning recipes from home brew contests, others like DR11 are done in house. The Divine Reserve release today is a Double (or Imperial) IPA (DR3 also was a DIPA, but this is a different recipe). For those looking for DR you may have more luck then previous releases: production for DR 10 was 1800 cases, for DR 11 it's 4100 cases, so more than double. Also various places around the state will be tapping kegs and/or casks. In Houston I know Petrol Station, Anvil, Flying Saucer, and Stag's Head are tapping tonight. Down in my neck of the woods in Clear Lake, Boondoggles will be tapping a keg tomorrow. Like all DR's this one is higher in ABV weighing at 9% and with a lab tested 76 IBU. Believe it or not the lab tested is an important note. Many breweries that state 100 IBU's or more are basing that off of calculations and not an actual lab test (its more expensive). Lab tests have shown calculated IBU's to be significantly off (there really are a lot less 100+ IBU beers than you think). As it should be hops are the show case here and this DIPA is brewed with Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops. The Beer: This one pours an orange-y copper color with a thick white head. Before I even poured it in the glass you could start to get notes of hops. Its massive, tons of grapefruit, just massively hoppy on the nose. The first sip is an explosion of citrus pith, grapefruit rind, tongue coating, sticky hops. Its brightly hoppy, lots of citrus, but underneath, just kinda hiding out there, is some carmel-y notes, that add just touch of sweetness. Its this touch that makes me think the brew will age some what well. Most DIPA's are made to drink fresh and this should be no exception, however, as the hops fade, I think (and yes I could be way off) there is enough malt in the back ground that it will come forward with time and create a sweeter more concentrated beer. Now off of the tangent and back to the now, this is a great DIPA, to me its not Avery Maharaja, but its very damn good. It gets an A from me.

Blue Frog: The Big DIPA No. 3

I'm fortunate in that my wife gets to travel quite a bit, and she is always more than willing to pile various beers into her suitcase for me. She always brings back good beers, and some that I've never heard of before. This is one of those beers. All I saw though was DIPA, or Double IPA, and you KNOW I like that. My wife traveled to California recently and found this bottle from Blue Frog. Its actually Blue Frog Grog and Grill based out of Fairfield, California. The name of the brew pub is based on the song "I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog" by Peter, Paul, and Mary (click here for the lyrics).
The Beer: A pumped up DIPA that has 105 IBU's and weighs in at 8.4%. The beer pours a partially hazy copper color with a thick head of off-white foam. The nose is massive hops, grapefruit, citrus peel, some caramel and toffee malts. Medium to light mouthfeel, explosive hops, lots of resinous stickiness. Grapefruit pith, caramel, maltyness, but here yes hops are king. They assault the senses from the start through the finish. No alcohol on the finish, smooth. Its a little thin, maybe some more malt to create a little backbone would help. Good, heck mouthpuckering at times, but needs a little oomph for me. This one gets a B from me.

Dogfish Head Squall IPA

If you look over the right hand side of this blog and check out the categories you'll see one for Dogfish Head. They one of the few non Texas breweries that have their own category, and that's becuase for the most part I am a huge fan of their beers. Yes they have their misses, but I think they have a pretty amazing line up of beers, and love them or hate them many are thought provoking at least. One of the more highly anticipated releases from DFH of late has been their Squall IPA, a beer that we finally got in the Houston market a few months ago. Squall is basicallyh DFH's 90 minute IPA, bottle conditioned and dry hopped with Palisade, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, CTZ, and Willamette hops, plus it weighs in at a robust 9.0% abv. I love 90 minute IPA and think its one of the best DIPA's around so I was excited to try this version bottled in a 750 ml bottle.
The Beer: Squall pours a golden orange color with a thick bubbly head. The nose is hopppy, grapefruity, citrusy, some yeasty notes as well. The mouthfeel is bubbly, effervescent, full bodied. Waves of grapefruity hops hit the palate. Bitterness slams the taste buds up front, then some slightly toasted malts, a little bit of sweetness shows up. However over and over its hops that take the main stage here. Grapefruit, all of it, rind, pith, nectar, fruit, all of it show up here. Some astringency is apparent, a note of yeasty bready warmth. Delecious, one of the best IPA's or DIPA's I've ever had. Finishing it kind of made me sad, becuase all the stores around here are sold out of it so I won't get any until next year. But this one is definetely worth seeking out. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Twisted Pine Hoppy Man

I love going to the liquor store and seeing a beer that I haven't seen before from a brewery that's new to Texas. That's not entirely true in this case as Twisted Pine has been in Texas for a few months with their basic line up of beer's, however last week was the first time I had seen their big bottle offerings like Hoppy Man. Twisted Pine is yet another brewery from Colorado (when on when will Odell's make it down here?!?), this one based out of Boulder. They do make some award winning beers, however my limited exposure to them has been of somewhat solid if unspectacular beers. I was able to taste many of their beers during one of my visits to Denver and a short drive up to their brewery.
This particular beer is a souped up version of their Hoppy Boy IPA. In other words an Imperial IPA.
The Beer: The beer has 3 different types of hops: Cascase, Chinook, and Simcoe, and weighs in at a hefty 10.5%. The beer pours a slightly hazy unfiltered orangish color with a thin off white head. The nose is of citrus hops, some piney qualities, and sweet caramel malts. Big hop impact on the tongue with the first sip, with slight caramel and toasted malts mid palate before plunging head first into a resiny hoppy finish. It was then that I got my first impression of the body of the beer which honestly was lacking. A thin mouthfeel, very little carbonation.
Other notes of caramel, toastiness, toffee, malts on the nose. Yes their is a resin-y finish, but there is also some sweetness mingling with the hops, a little too much sweetness for my tastes. Some spicey white pepper notes come out as the beer warms. An OK DIPA, with lots of hop notes, but with a little too much sweetness for my tastes. This one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Brewdog/Stone Bashah

In honor of last week's BrewDog tasting at Petrol Station I picked up this beer from my local Spec's. Not the cheapest 12 oz beer in the world, but cheaper than many other's BrewDog offers. It also got my interest for being a collaborative beer with Stone Brewing. This brew is a 8.6% Black Belgian Double IPA.
The Beer: Pours a pitch black with a quarter inch taupe colored head. Notes of chocolate, malts, raisins, citrus. Medium mouthfeel, coco, roasted malts, some mild hop bitterness on the finish. As I sipped it, I really didn't get much hop presence, it honestly tasted a bit like a stout. However as I work through it, the hop flavors build in intensity and once you are finished your surprised that there is a tongue coating hop resin left behind. Slight grapefruit bitterness mixed with coco, dark roasted malts, and raisins. Slightly disappointed at the lack of Belgian ale qualities. Yes there is some dark fruit here, but its not what I would have expected in a strong dark Belgian ale. Its a good beer, but missing some complexity. Although a collaboration, this beer sums up my issues with BrewDog. They are staggeringly inconsistent, and I believe that instead of producing high alcohol publicity stunts they would be much better served producing a solid line up of beers. The publicity stunts will only let you last for so long, after the hype is over, there is nothing to go back to. This one gets a C+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Reaper Ale Sleighor

The ever growing list of new brewer's coming into Texas welcomes Reaper Ale Brewing out of Southern California. With a name like Reaper you can guess the theme of their beers. Cool website as well. Honestly I don't know much about their beers, or at least didn't before seeing this beer on the shelves of my local Spec's. But then again I can't turn down a Double IPA. As stated this is their DIPA, weighing in at 105 IBU's, finished with Centennial Hops, and dry hopped with Centennial, Chinook and Columbus.
The Beer: This DIPA weighs at 9.1% abv and pours a cloudy orangish color with a good dense head of off white foam. The nose is hoppy, boy is it ever. Grapefruit, jam, yeasts, toasty malts. The mouthfeel is medium to light body, but tongue coating hoppy. Grapefruit, biscuits, jammy. Good flavor all around, but not much intensity of flavor. Notes of white pepper biscuits grows as the beer warms. Notes of copper and just a bit of alcohol on the finish. A good beer, that I wish had just a little something more to offer. This one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Ska Decadent IPA

Another beer from Ska Brewing, except this one isn't yet available in the Houston market. I picked this up while in Denver for GABF. This is Ska Brewing's Double IPA, comes in a big format bottle with the now familiar comic grafics and capped with a red wax seal.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10.0% and pours a reddish amber color with a thick taupe colored head. The nose is hops, earthy spice, caramel, biscuity. The mouthfeel is creamy and bitter grapefruit peel, earthy spiciness, white pepper, biscuity, syrupy, tongue coating hoppy resins. In the mid palate there is this smoothness with slightly sweet caramel that evens out the intense hops. Very well done DIPA, with intense amounts of citrus and pine needles, biscuity marmalade, pale malts, and sweet caramel create a wonderful experience. This one gets a B+ from me. The folks at BA like it as well.

Moylan's Hopsickle

Ever since I found out that this beer was coming to Houston I have been excited. I mean its a legendary hop bomb and you all know my love of all things hops. Well it finally arrived on the shelves of my local Spec's and I thought to myself this would be good beer to have before heading off to GABF.
The Beer: No IBU's stated but it does weigh in at 9.2%. It pours a cloudy orange color capped by a dense head of white foam. The hop aroma pours forth as soon as I opened the bottle. Grapefruit, citrus peel, hops, hops and more hops. Is that pale malts I smell? Not sure but there is definitely hops. The mouth you ask? Its chewy, sticky, bitter, resiny. Its reminiscent of chewing on grapefruit peel, pine cones, and marmalade. No real malt presence, but notes of white pepper peak through the thick haze of hops. Did I mention the hops? They are there and they are there in force. But for some reason it works. It doesn't come off as a huge over the top off balanced mess like so many over the top (and this surely is) beers can. Its enjoyable, dare I say drinkable? Oh OK, maybe you won't have more than one in night, but you can surely have that one and love it. It gets an A from me. Here's how the folks at BA rate it.

Pike Double IPA

A month or so ago a friend of mine went up to Seattle where they departed for an Alaskan crew. While she was away she asked me and my wife to watch her house, water her plants, etc. As a thank you they cooked us dinner, and brought back some beer's from the Seattle area. This one from Pike was one of them. Now we get most Pike beer's in this area, but not this one, its special brew so I was pretty excited that she thought to pick it up for me.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8% abv and 80 IBU. It pours a cloudy orange with a good sized off white frothy head. The nose is of grapefruit and citrus peel, biscuity, marmalade. The mouthfeel has lots of carbonation, citrus peel, creamy. Orange marmalade on toasted biscuits, apricots. Lots of tongue saturating bitterness with just the right amount of balance. A tasty beer, wish it was down here. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Otter Creek Imperial IPA

Otter Creek is a new brewery to Houston, but I've been trying a lot of their beers lately. Some have been good, others just OK. However, being on the look out for hoppy beers and having heard tales of Otter Creeks DIPA I was ecstatic to see it on the shelves of my local Spec's. Let's check the stat's shall we? 4 different hop varietals: Bravo, Apollo, Amarillo, and Simcoe. 11% ABV. 135 IBU's. Let me repeat 135 IBU's. Now this isn't measured so I'll take it with a grain of salt, but still, DFH 120 min IPA is 120 IBU's. If you've read this blog you know I love hops, but can I take this? I aim to find out.
The Beer: It pours a copper orange with a thick dense whipped creamy white head. I can smell the hops even before I lean my nose over the class. It hits me in waves, singeing my nose with its fumes. Its resiny, oranges, piney, marmalade. The mouthfeel is thick, great carbonation, its like chewing a mouthfeel of hop flowers. After the initial sip I have to take a deep breath to clear my senses from the attack of hops. The attack to my tastebuds thankfully broken up by the strong levels of carbonation. My senses cleared I go back to the glass for more, taking a smaller sip this time. Its resiny, over the top so, but I start to make out hints of orange marmalade, apricots, citrus peel, white pepper. Its sticky in the mouth. There is no malt balance here. This beer doesn't need stinking balance, I feel it saying loudly. My tongue is shocked into submission, not able to take any more, but I can't help myself and once again reach for the glass sipping this nectar. Yes its intense, yes its over the top, yes there is no balance, but somehow, for some reason it works. Maybe not masterfully, but it is an experience to be sure. This gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA

Lately, I have been craving something simply hoppy. Not an IPA aged in Scotch barrels, or an IPA aged in oak, just something simply, but deliciously hoppy. I found that beer yesterday when I went to my local Spec's. It sat there on the shelf, packaged in a black 4-pack, I had heard about it, but hadn't seen it until now, Harpoon's Levaithan Series Imperial IPA. Harpoon is that other Boston Brewery, much smaller then the other one. In my opinion Harpoon releases some solid if unspectacular beers for the most part, however their Leviathan series has been reported to be very good. These are all big, complex, and rarer than their main line. This particular one is of course the Imperial IPA, weighing in at 10.0% and 120 IBU's (not measured).
The Beer: The beer pours a bright orange with a thick dense head of white foam. My first whiff has me thinking WOW. Its all hops, citrus, a bit of pine, grapefruit, lemon, and along with a bit of pale malts. The mouthfeel is creamy hoppy, hoppy, hoppy, vibrant, shocking. Citrus, grapefruit peel, orange marmalade in the mouth. Its bitter, but yet at the same time almost smooth. As it warms some notes of alcohol show up along with more bready characteristics while keeping the amazing citrus hoppy bitterness. I enjoyed this one, alot. It gets a straight up A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

A couple of Anniversary Brews

One of the neat things that a lot of brewer's do is releasing special Anniversary beers. These releases usually take one of two forms. The first is releasing a special beer around a significant anniversary (5th, 10th, 15, etc). The second is releasing a special beer every year around their anniversary. Today I'll be posting on two beers one from each of the above categories. Both are from Colorado.
Avery Sixteen: Avery has been releasing an anniversary beer for the past few years, each one being a different style. This year the style is a Saison which frankly is a perfect summer beer. This one weighs in at 7.69% and pours a very pale light yellow with a thin head. Before I forget I should mention that this ale is made with jasmine, peaches and honey. The first whiff brings the honey, floral and fruity, peaches and jasmine are all there. The first sip reveals a vibrant mouthfeel that sparkles across the tongue. The initial flavor is honey then some fruity esters flavors, notes of candied sugar, and peaches. A little on the sweet side, but with food this was a winner. I served it with a basil, tomato, mozzarella pizzeta. The sweetness of the beer counteracted the acidity of the pizza very well. I enjoyed it, this gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Great Divide 15th Anniversary Ale: This comes from the first category, the first anniversary ale for Great Divide to celebrate a huge milestone, 15 years making good beer. This particular one is a souped up version of their flagship Denver Pale Ale aged with American and French Oak. The beer weighs in at a hefty 10%. The beer pours a dark copper with a thick taupe colored creamy head. The nose is very woody. The first whiff reminded me of walking into a winery's cellar with all the wooden barrels aging red wine, it musty, oaky, earthy, then some hops, caramel show up. The mouthfeel is creamy, caramelly malty, oak, vanilla, a more subdued hop profile. More earthy than citrusy. However at the finish long after the beer has faded there is a nice hoppy resinous flavor. As it warms the rich woodiness really starts to show up, notes of bourbon, and vanilla show up creating a luxurious sipping beer that would go amazingly well with strong cheeses particularly of the blue kind. Initially I wasn't too high on the beer, but as it opened up I really started to enjoy it so much so that I plan to age it a bit to see how it develops further. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's how the folks at BA see it.

A Tale of Two Lagunitas Brews

Lagunitas is a brewery based out Petaluma California. One of the reason's why I enjoy them so much is that they make some really good beers that are extremely well priced. Many times you can get a bomber of their beers for around 4 bucks, which is pretty low compared to other similar beers. Recently my local Spec's has had two new versions of their beer. Their easy for me to pick up because worst case even if I don't like it, I haven't invested that much money in it. Over the last couple of day's I've been able to try both of these new beers.
Hop Stoopid: This is their Imperial IPA and imperial it is weighing in at 8% and 102 IBU's. It pours a bright orange with a thin white head. Hops are all over the nose here, floral and citrus. The first sip is an absolute explosion of hops dancing across the tongue. A medium body with little malt balance, but loads of citrus peel, grapefruit, hints of wild floral flavors. Its lip puckering hoppy and resinous. A great bargain DIPA. This thing saturates the tongue in hops. Its really quite a good DIPA that gets an A- from me. Lots of BA love for this one.
2009 Correction Ale: As the label says THIS IS NOT A DIPA. That doesn't mean it doesn't have hops though. It weighs in at 74.2 IBU's and 6.33 % abv. It pours a pale copper color with a good white head of foam. Hoppy bitterness on the nose a bit of citrus and an earthiness to the hops, a different nose then Hop Stoopid. The mouthfeel is a little thin on the first sip. But boy is it bitter, resinous, astringent. There is a hint of Windex in this beer. The hops are way over the top, but I don't get any of the good grapefruit or citrus peel instead I get heavy doses of astringency and that's about all. No real depth or other flavors to speak of. No malts, nothing. A bit of a disappointment this gets a C from me. Not a drain pour, but not something I'll try again. The Hop Stoopid on the other hand has now become my go to DIPA especially for the price. As for the correction ale, the folks at BA liked it more than I did.

Sam Adams Longshot

It seems I've been drinking a lot of Sam Adams beers lately. Not that, that's a bad thing. I'm a fan of Sam Adams not only because I think they make some good beer, but also because its a good company. One of the many things they do is support home brewers, but they do this in a very fun unique way. Every year they hold a completion called Longshot where home brewers from around the country submit their home made beers. Through this competition two finalists are chosen, and they get to have their beers made and distributed by Sam Adams (with their picture on the front of the label). Pretty neat huh? Well this year's mixed 6 pack has been released, except instead of two different styles we get three. The reason for this is that one of last year's winners was a DIPA and due to the hop shortage chose to not make the beer since there would have been changes to his recipe. Therefore it was released this year along with a Cranberry Wit and a Traditional Bock.
Double IPA: This one was made by Mike McDole. This one weighs in at 9.0% and has 7 different types of hops. The story goes that this is a clone of Russian Rivers Pliny the Elder. It pours an orange color with a thick white head. Citrus and grapefruit, some malt, round out this bright floral nose. The mouthfeel is creamy but not thick, a kind of medium body. Hugely bitter up front, citrus peel, floral hops, toasted malts at the finish, with no alcohol flavor. Saturates the tongue, hops stick to the sides of the mouth. Very nice DIPA, my only complaint is that I'd like a little fuller mouthfeel. The flavor is great, it just 'feels' watery. It gets a strong B+ from me.
Traditional Bock: This is from California home brewer Alex Drobshoff. This one comes in at 6.8% and pours a very bright copper color with a thick cream colored head. Caramel malts, roasted malts, plum all come out in the nose. The mouth is rich and creamy, with caramel, roasted malts, a bit of molasses. This is really nice, a great bock that's not overly sweet like some others. Very smooth easy drinking beer that gets a B from me.
Crandberry Wit: This one comes from Sam Adams employee Carissa Sweigart. I have to tell you I was very trepidatious about this beer. I'm not a huge fruit beer fan, and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is probably one my least favorite beers ever. Needless to say I didn't have high hopes for this one. Well I was wrong. The beer pours a hazy cloudy orange with a thick dense head of white foam. The nose is full of orange, cinnamon, cloves, citrus. The mouthfeel is light and refreshing, notes of orange and cloves, fruity, then there at the finish comes a nice subtle tartness from the cranberries. Nothing over the top, nothing extreme, but a wonderful hot summer day beer. This is one I could sip by the pool all day long. Greatly refreshing and the tartness at the finish adds something really nice. This one gets another strong B from me.

This was my first time getting the Longshot 6 pack, but its a great idea by Sam Adams to celebrate home brewers, near all of which are craft beer drinkers.

Deschutes Hopehenge Experimental IPA

Deschutes is one more brewery that has recently (within the last year) entered the Texas market. They are based out of Oregon, and began brewing 20 years ago. The main beers that you can find in Texas are there Mirror Pond Pale Ale and their Black Butte Porter, both very solid beers. However for the beer geek, they are best known for the deep dark Abyss, an Imperial Stout aged in French Oak barrels. This one gets the beer people all excited. Unfortunately we don't get it in Texas.....yet. What we do get is their Bond Street Series of beers. These beers are "hop-forward" as their website says, and many began at the original Deschutes Brewery and Public House that was located on Bond Street....wait a minute did someone say Hop Forward? That sounds like its right up my alley.
The Beer: This is an Imperial IPA for sure. 95 IBU's and 8.75% abv. The beer pours a bright orange amber color capped by a generous taupe colored head. Ahh the nose. There's grapefruit, citrus, apricots and just a hint of bready toasty caramel-y malts. The hops tingle the nose. The mouth feel is thick and resin-y, with an explosion of grapefruit and citrus rind. Bitterness hits all parts of the tongue saturating the taste buds before slowly subsiding, and showing just a bit of sweet maltiness. Its there, but its hidden. It hits your tongue like a hop sledgehammer, but ends up being surprisingly drinkable. It starts off sticky with hop resin, but as it warms the maltiness as well as white peppery notes show up creating a nice balance to the hops. This ones a keeper for sure and gets an A- from me. The folks at BA enjoy it as well.

Two Big Beers on Fight Night

This past Saturday was Fight Night, so I figured it was a good time to drink a couple of big beers that I've been holding on to for a few weeks.
Stone Ruination: Ahh yes a big ole hoppy one from Stone. The first time I ever had this was on cask at the brewery, but I've been a big fan of this one for some time. This one packs a wallop at 95 IBU's and 7.7% abv. It pours a clear orange color with tons of tiny bubbles and capped by a white head. The nose is grapefruit rind, citrus, citrus and more citrus, with hints of toasted pale malts. The mouth is unsurprisingly a hop bomb, but there is some malty backbone that helps give it balance. Its bitter, grapefruit, its crisp and clean though. Very drinkable for being so hoppy. A good solid DIPA that gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think about this one.
Rogue Double Dead Guy: This is a more potent version of Rogue's flagship beer Dead Guy ale which is a maibock. This more potent one weighs in at 75 IBU's and 9% alcohol. The beer pours an amber orange with a quarter inch white head. The nose is sweet malts, caramel, toffee, and a little bit of hoppy earthiness. Not like the other one at all. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy, very tasty, full of toffee and caramel notes. Rich and malty if a little sweet for me. A good soul warming beer as there is definitely some alcohol warmth to this one. There is some yeasty notes that with the sweetness of the beer reminds of a croissant. You don't get a lot of hops here, even with the IBU's, there's just a lot of malt hiding it. A good beer, but like I said a bit sweet. This one gets a B- from me. The folks at BA seem to like it just a bit more than me.