Deschuttes Jubel 2010

Many brewer's these days put out special once a year ales. Most of these are anniversary beers like Shiner's 100, or 101 beers, others are special cult like ales that folks stand in line for hours to obtain (like Three Floyd's Dark Lord). However Oregon brewer has taken this a step further and has brewed a beer that is released in bottles once a decade. This ale dubbed Jubel has been made just twice, once in 2000, and now it has been released once again. However unlike many other special beers, this one while not easy to find, you didn't have to sell your soul to get. So whats so special about this beer you ask? Well Deschuttes takes their winter seasonal Jubelale, a dark strong ale that has some hops at 60 IBU's and weighs in at 6.7%. Above I mentioned that Jubel is bottled once a decade, however it is available on draft at Deschuttes brew pubs. To create this beer, they've brewed a stronger version of their Christmas ale and aged it in Oregon oak Pinot Noir Barrels.

The Beer: This one weighs in at 10.0% and pours a rich dark brown with ruby highlights and a thin line of taupe colored head. The nose is of rich malts, cherry, raisins, figs, plums, and coco. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Strong notes of alcohol. Dark Russian bread, fig compote, raisins, prunes, notes of coco, candied sugar, christmas bread, vanilla and oak all show up in the flavor profile. It's an incredibly flavorful beer, with concentrated dried dark fruits as it warms, sticky toffee. This beer is strong, tastes much more than the 10% it is. Alcohol becomes even more prevelent as it warms. Looking at the bottle there is a "best after" date. The date is next year. Glad I got a couple more bottles becuase this one should age wonderfully well.

Port Brewing Shark Attack

Back home after a few days in Denver visiting the in-laws (details and other thoughts on my visit in an upcoming entry, I promise). As always I picked up a stash of brew and if you follow my twitter feed there were even pictures! Last night after I returned home I cracked open a bottle that I had brought back. This one from San Diego brewer Port Brewing. Shark Attack is Port's Imperial Red ale.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.0% and pours a cloudy brown beige color with a thick dense head of slightly off white foam. The nose is hops, hops, and more hops, grapefruit peel, pine tree sap. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and much maltier than the nose. Creamy without a lot of carbonation. Malty up front, notes of caramel, toffee, biscuits, then it finishes with a hammer of hops across the tongue. Citrus pith, tongue saturating hoppiness. White pepper spice. Very good beer well balanced with hops and strong malt characteristics up front. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Boulevard Harvest Dance

It seems like a long time since I've picked up a brew from Kansas City brewer Boulevard, and what better way to get reacquainted then grabbing a beer from their Smokestack series. This Harvest Dance is a Wheat Wine. Now some of you may be going a what? I've heard for a barleywine, but what is this Wheat Wine you speak of? Well glad you asked.
Like a barleywine, Wheat Wines are strong ales, however they are relatively new to the beer scene where as barleywines have been around for a long time. However they also mix in the complexity of a Wheat beer with many of these wheat wines having upwards of 50% of their malt bill being wheat. I've never had a wheat wine, so this is something that I've been wanting to try for some time.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.10% abv and pours an orange copper with an absolutely ginormous pillowy slightly off white head. The nose is full of fruity esters, banana, cloves, bubble gum, spice, just like a great hefeweizen should. The first sips give the impression of a very full mouthfeel, alcohol, winish quality. Then those things part and you start to get the impression of a "heavier" wheat beer. Bananas, spices, cloves, then white grapes, honey suckle-ish quality. A dryness that reminds me of a trippel. Some astringency notes. As the beer warms one can get a "wheat-y" taste that's quite nice. Also much lighter in the mouthfeel than a barleywine is which is very nice. A bit boozy. If I had to sum it up in a sentence it would be like taking a Belgian Trippel mixed with a good Bavarian Hefe. An interesting beer that makes me want to delve deeper into this style. This gets a B+ from me. Here's what folks at BA had to say.

Magazine Review: Beer Connoisseur

A new magazine has joined the ever growing ranks of Beer publications. There is of course the great All About Beer (one that I have subscribed and can heartily recommend), Beer Advocate (the magazine version of the on-line community), DRAFT (I've heard problems about their subscription, but I've enjoyed picking it up at the news stands) and Beer (a beer magazine for the Maxim crowd). Well now there is Beer Connoisseur magazine one that is released quarterly. But how does it compare, and how does it make it self different than the others?
The first thing you notice when you see it on the newsstand is it's size. This is a large format magazine (think Wine Spectator, the old LIFE, etc) and it grabs your attention. The cursive type of Beer, the big block letting of Connoisseur, the beautiful photography on the cover it speaks to you. It was this that made me pick it up for the firs time a few months back. Now that they have released their second issue, I wanted to write my thoughts and tell my avid readers (I know there's a few out there....I hope I'm not just talking to myself) if it's worth a pick up. The first thing I did was see who was contributing to it. Its different than DRAFT or All about beer, both of which seem to share many writers and frankly many features. Some of the contributors include Stephen Beaumont, Shawn Connely (of Beer Philosopher.com), Martyn Cornell, Evan Rail, Lisa Morrison (aka the Beer Goddess). All of these have a pretty large following on the on-line beer community and many have written wonderful beer related books so seeing them contributing to this magazine gives it some credibility. The next thing I look for is the different features. One thing that they don't have is a "Whats going on in beer" feature. In AAB, DRAFT, or BA mags this the feature that goes over news in the industry, mergers, technology, etc. However, in this day and age of on line news, it seems unnecessary, so I have no issue with it not being in this mag. Its other normal features do include a Style Guideline section where Shawn Connely introduces readers to different styles each issue. These are usually informative, and includes info that you can also find on BJCP.org. The other features include a Travel piece (This month on Czech Republic), an interview (called the Innovator Series, this month with Garrett Oliver), Food and Beer, and of course Reviews. There are other things of course, this month has a very interesting piece on Green brewing and the Accidental Connoisseur discussing things outside of beer (thinks Scotch, Whiskey, etc).
Over all the features are all very well done, well laid out, very well photographed and well written for the most part. The beer and food section is probably the best of any beer magazine I've seen, with great recipe's, great photography, and really utilizes either beer (something more than Guinness or pilsner that many other beer magazines use) in the recipe or as pairings with the food.
The Beer Review section is done very well also and done a little differently than other magazines. For example they do not group beer styles or even state it within the review the style of the beer. I would like at least the latter (my personal favorite method for beer reviews is AAB). But each food pairing comes with a Food Recommendation both a complimentary and contrasting pairing which I think is a great idea. Each review pictures the beer poured into a brewery glass, the reviews are well written and in two issues I haven't found one that I strongly disagree with.
Another thing that separates this magazine from others is that it focuses much more on the south. While I feel that AAB and BA specifically tend to focus a lot of their attention on either the West Coast or north east, this magazine does have southern, and specifically south eastern influence going so far as to do a separate "Southeast Beer Review". Additionally Beer Connoisseur has a wonderful companion website that one can search for food & beer pairings, brewpubs, travel tips, etc, along with an excellent beer forum.
This review has been pretty positive so far, however there are some issues that I have. One is that there is a lot of space taken up by advertisements, honestly no more than other magazines, but its not something I'm a huge fan of (yes I understand you have to pay the bills). Secondly I do wonder if they are being too hoity-toity with the term Beer Connoisseur. Its a fine line between getting folks to respect beer and understanding that it deserves the same respect and place at the table that wine does, and trying to make beer an elitist beverage. I'm not saying that BC Magazine does this, but that they are walking a fine line, it will be interesting to see how they evolve over time. Lastly and maybe most importantly is the price for subscription. This is a quarterly magazine, so 4 issues a year and it costs $21.00, compare this to BA (12 issues/yr for $29.99) or All About Beer (6 issues/yr for $20.99). You can see that this magazine is probably way more expensive than it should be and honestly I think to really sell its going to have to lower prices.
There are a few other things I would love to see in this magazine. 1) Something that has not been done in any "national" beer magazine (but is done in other magazines), is to create a regional review section separate from the main review. So the south eastern US would keep the Southeast Beer section, but other regions would have Southern Beer, Mountain Region, Northwest, Northeast, West Coast, etc (and if they needed someone to review the Southern beer's I'd be more than happy to help!). There is precedence to this, for example Sports Illustrated does have some regional features especially for subscribers. Another thing I'd like to see is styles mentioned in the beer review section. You can see a beer reviewed and have no idea what style it is supposed to be. I think this is important when you also look at their outstanding section on Beer Styles. Lastly and I've mentioned before, they have to lower their subscription price. For only 4 issues the yearly subscription is just too high.
Now to answer the question? Is it worth picking up? Let me preface with this magazine is absolutely a wonderful addition to the line up of Beer related magazines, and along with their website a great addition to the on-line beer community. Taking into consideration it has the best photography of any beer magazine, great contributors, good reviews, good features, I will absolutely pick this magazine up on the newsstand. Will I get a subscription? Not yet, I need to see how this magazine grows, and as I've stated a couple of times already I think the price is just too high.

Lost Abbey Inferno

I've been extremely lucky as of late to try as many Lost Abbey beers as I've been able to due to my travels to Denver. I know that some in the past have had carbonation or other quality issues, but I have never experienced those and in fact been more than pleased with everything I've had from the. As with most brews Lost Abbey makes this one is another Belgian style ale, specifically a Belgian Strong Pale Ale (think Duvel).
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.5% and pours a pale golden color with a thick head of bright white foam. The nose is of pale malts, noble hops, small grassy notes. Medium to full mouthfeel Crisp dry, grassy, pale malts, an earthy hop ting, minerally. Very dry. There is some sweetness up front, but as stated the finish is pretty dry. Good level of carbonation. Maybe a note of honey, strawy, hay, grassy, yeasty notes. Great food beer (as is Duvel). This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Real Ale Sisyphus

I always look forward to the release of Real Ale's outstanding Barleywine. So much so, that I immediately go out and buy a bunch of bottles so that one day in the future I can do a multi-year vertical and see how well these things hold up. But that tasting is for later, today we talk about the most recent vintage of Sisyphus.
The Beer: It pours an orangish copper with a good dense head of off white foam. The nose is hoppy, citrus, grapefruit, raisins, malty. The mouthfeel is full bodied, hoppy, grapefruit peel, balanced with strong caramel malty flavors. Raisins, vanilla, toffee, almost a bourbony quality. There is a slight metallic taste to the beer. Sticky. It works towards balancing hoppy with malty sweetness. I must say that this vintage is not my favorite, but I will be interested to see how well this holds up. This one gets a B from me.

Camp Beer: Excursion #2

Today was the day, a day I have been excited about since I received the announcement that Camp Beer II was going to occur. You may remember how awesome Camp Beer I was. Well Camp Beer II promised more of the same. The Camp Beer events are part of the Live It Big charity that assists small and start-up charities to grow by raising money for them throughout the year. They also host a Cocktail Camp. The Idea behind Camp Beer is to bring to the beer lovers of Houston, hard to find and very sought after beers, many not available in this city. The event is hosted by Kevin Floyd, beer man and co-owner of Anvil Bar and Refuge. He put together the list of beers for the tasting, organized it, and was in charge of telling us a little about each one, along with answering any questions the folks may have about beer in general. For this Camp Beer there were about 20 or so folks, getting the opportunity to taste 21 beers. Below are my notes on the beer tasted in the order we tasted them (unless stated otherwise these beers are not available legally in Texas).

Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin: This first ale from a Santa Cruz California was our only beer to be packaged in a can. This was an unusual 8.5% Belgian Dubbel style ale brewed with keffir lime, coriander, Thai spices, and lemon grass. It poured an orangish color with a slightly off white head. The nose was of lime, spices, pale malts, and yeasts, even some lemon grass. The mouth was not as promising as the nose was. Medium bodied, crisp, clean, but sweetness, slight burn and grainyness. Some off flavors here that may be from the all the different spices not coming together in a cohesive manner.

Russian River Temptation: This was the first of 3 different Russian River beers we were able to taste. A blonde ale aged in Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces and weighs in at 7.25%. It poured a hazy blond with a good size white head. Sourness on the nose, oaky, yeasty, some wineish notes as well. Sour tart and effervescent on the mouth. Slightly acidic, finishes very dry. Really enjoyed this beer, as a wonderful example of what wine barrel aging can do to a beer.

Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze: Due to my limited contact with Lost Abbey beers this was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most. A gooze (essentially an unflavored lambic ale) that weighs in at 7.0% it pours a hazy golden color with a small white head. Sour yeasty smelling that was shockingly sour on the first sip. Medium mouthfeel, sourness of course, notes of white pepper, lemon citrus notes, good blend of light malts, some sweetness as well that along with the counteracting sourness creates a wonderfully balanced beer. Very enjoyable.

Southern Tier Pumking: The first of many Southern Tier beers we tasted during this session. This one is an Imperial Pumpkin ale that weighs in at 9.0%. It pours a bright orange color and smells of pumpkin, let me reiterate that, it smells of PUMPKIN! And pie spices, although from the label I can't tell that they used any or not, but it reminded me more of pumpkin bread than pumpkin pie. There is some alcohol here, but its not over the top, instead adding a nice pleasant brandyish flavor to the brew. Very enjoyable brew, that I hope I can find next fall.

Dogfish Head Fort: The first beer from Delaware's Dogfish head, is also the first beer that is available in Texas. A brew made with raspberries this one weighs in at a robust 18.0%. It pours an amberish color and smells of tart raspberries. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, but its very sweet, fruity, raspberries, tartness, strong notes of alcohol. This one is meant to age for 3 to 5 years and this one was about 2 years old and definitely needed some more time. This has never been one of my favorite DFH beers but it was interesting to try one aged.

Alesmith Anvil ESB: A huge fan of this San Diego area brewery, but never have had the chance to try their bottle conditioned ESB before. It pours a nice coppery color with a good creamy off white head. There is some caramel notes, earthiness, malts on the nose that leads me to believe this is definitely going to be a English style pale ale. The mouthfeel is way overly carbonated leading to me not being able to discern many more flavors, maybe some caramel, some earthy floral hops, but not any strong flavors. My tablemates and I wonder if the bottle is bad. I will look for this again to see if it was just one bottle or if this was what was intended.

Bear Republic XP Pale Ale: A second beer that's available in our city, this is an Exception Pale Ale that weighs in at 5.4%. It pours a light golden color with a thin white head. Citrusy hoppy nose, caramel, malts. Earthy hops, some citrus notes, some sweet caramel and malts on the tongue. Very smooth, tasty, and incredibly drinkable, almost sessionable.

Russian River Damnation: A beer that I am familiar with, I was none the less excited to try it again, this is Russian River's take on the well known Duvel. It weighs in at 7.75% and pours a pale golden color. The flavor is just as I remember it, light lemony scents, bready yeasts, grassy, candied sugar. Crisp, clean, oranges, spices, some corriander flavors from the yeast. Great beer.

Ise Kadoya Genmai Ale: This was a beer that I was extremely excited to try. The brewery is based out of Japan and after many years of making other things (soy sauce and miso mainly) they decided to get into brewing. This particular brew is a Pale Ale made with brown rice and weighs in at 5.0%. It pours a cloudy coppery with a thin white head. There is a brown rice hint to the nose and I wish that I could say it lived up to my admittedly unfounded expectations, but it did not. Both in flavor and smell myself and tablemates couldn't get over a wet cardboard or urinal cake smell to the beer. Disappointing.

Port Brewing Wipe Out IPA: Another brew that I was looking forward to, and this one did live up to expectations. Weighing in at 7.)5 the beer poured a pale golden color with a good white head. Grapefruit on the nose with very little malt backbone. Medium mouthfeel, this one is all about celebrating the hops. Great amounts of grapefruit and citrus peel, almost sticky. I could sit down a big bottle of this and be extremely happy.

Mayflower IPA: The placement of this beer in the tasting was an excellent choice by Kevin to highlight the differences between a West Coast IPA and an East Coast IPA like this one. Weighing in at 7.0% just as with the Wipeout its a completely different beer. Copper colored with an off white head, the nose is of sticky malty caramel, earthy floral hops. The mouthfeel is a little fuller, more malty, more balanced, but still achieving a slight hoppy resiny finish. Very good well balanced IPA.

Russian River Salvation: This was our last brew from Russian River, a dark Belgian beer. Weighing in at 9.0% its a rich dark brown beer with a white head. Malty, sour cherries, figs on the nose. Candied sugar figs and malts flavor this full bodied brew. Easier drinking though than I would have expected. Some sweetness, with figs and raisins, concentrated dark fruits. Good example of the style.

Three Floyds Moloko: This one is an 8.0% milk stout that pours a pitch black with a tan colored head. The nose is of dark roasted malts, some sweetness as well. The mouthfeel is creamy sweet malts, roasted coffee, coco, sweetness, very drinkable, hides the alcohol very well. A very drinkable beer.

Southern Tier Java: An 11.0% stout made with Blue Mountain coffee this beer pours a dense black with a good size head of cafe colored foam. The nose is of raisins, figs, coco, coffee. The mouthfeel is lighter than expected, creamy. Notes of raisins, figs, coffee, really great coffee flavor here. There is not a lot of burnt malt or burnt coffee flavors here that one has a tendency to get in a lot of coffee stouts. Done very well, maybe one of the best that I've had.

Foothills Sexual Chocolate: A coco infused Imperial Stout that weighs in at 9.75% abv 85 IBU's. Again pouring a pitch black with an almost reddish tinge to the tan head. The nose is of coco, malts, dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy. The brew starts off really well with dark bitter chocolate notes, roasted malts, espresso beans, but the beer finishes very acidic that I didn't really care for.

Southern Tier Hoppe: An imperial extra pale ale this one weighs in at 8.5% and poured a pale yellow. Very hoppy citrusy nose. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, flavors of green or fresh hops, pale malts, citrusy, bitter grapefruit pith. I'd call it a good IPA.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee: The last Southern Tier of the tasting. It weighs in at 10.0% and pours a very dark black with ruby red streaks. The nose...holy cow the nose, its smells of fresh baked cake, chocolate, vanilla, breadyness. The first flavor? Its LIQUID CAKE! Medium bodied, notes of vanilla, chocolate, creamyness. Its sweet, but its not cloyingly so. This would go so well with ice cream its ridiculous. Wonderful beer and after the ones I've tasted tonight I really need to get some Southern Tier beer.

Bell's Expedition Stout: This is my first run in with this Michigan brewery. Although I am familiar with their work, I've never had the chance to try their beers so I was pretty excited to do so at the tasting. This one weighs in at 10.5% and pours a very dark black with a cafe colored head. Dark chocolate, malts, raisins, on the nose. Full mouthfeel with some alcohol burn. Flavors of coffee, chocolate, raisins, roasted malts, creamy chewy goodness. A very good solid Imperial Stout I really enjoyed this one.

Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout: An oak aged stout weighing in at 9.0%? Yes please. This one pours a black with a taupe colored head, smelling of roasted malts, vanilla, oak. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, strong flavors of whiskey here. Although the label makes no mention of this being whiskey barrels that the beer was aged in, the folks at my table all agree, that there was. It was almost too strong, but still made for a pretty good beer.

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout: Another beer that I have had before, and frankly wasn't that excited about as my first time wasn't all that enjoyable. It pours a very dark brown almost black. Its portish on the nose, hints of vanilla, coco, raisins, malts, alcohol. Full bodied mouthfeel, raisins and figs, an almost sour tang at the finish. Sipping this, treating this beer like a port, I actually started to enjoy it this time around, which makes me happy that I have another bottle aging.

Surly Darkness: The last beer of the night, and of course the one I was really excited to try. I've heard lots about this brewery from Minesota, but never had the chance to try much from them other than quick tastes at GABF. This of course is their Imperial Stout that weighs in at 9.8%. It pours a dark deep black. The nose is of malts, chocolate, coffee, malts, smells like a package of whoppers. The mouthfeel is full, and it tastes like whoppers! Wonderful creaminess, chocolate, rich malts, vanilla. Rich, delicious, smooth, easy drinking for what it is. I really like this beer.

Another great event hosted by Cathy and her team at Live it big. Thanks to her and Kevin for an awesome evening of great beers. Can't wait till the next one. Not only are these fun for tasting beers, but they are great ways to meet fellow beer lovers in Houston. It was nice to meet all those folks today.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken Ale

30 years ago this year a little brewery in Chico, California opened, their first beer was a shockingly (at the time) hoppy pale ale. That beer became a hit. The brewery of course is Sierra Nevada one of the pioneers in the craft beer movement and one that has made it through the good times and bad times of the movement with success. 30 years in the craft beer industry is just flat out amazing and is worthy of a grand celebration. In honor of their great birthday, SN is not releasing just one beer this year, instead they'll be releasing 4 different ones the first three collaborations or homages to other craft brewery pioneers. The four are as follows:
Fritz and Ken Ale: A beer guest brewed with Anchor Brewing owner Fritz Maytag, a strong stout. Release: Out Now.
Charlie, Fred, and Ken's Lager: Brewed with Home Brew pioneer and AHA founder Charlie Papazian, and beer writer Fred Eckhart, this one is an Imperial Helles Lager. Release Mid-May
Jack and Ken's Ale: Guest brewed with Jack McAuliffe the original craft brewer. Jack started New Albion largely credited as the first microbrewery in the country, unfortunately that brewery closed in 1982 but his legacy continues to live on. This beer is an American Barleywine brewed with 100% Cascade hops. Release: Mid July.
Brewers Oak-Aged Reserve: This one is a blend of SN's Pale Ale, Oak Aged Bigfoot, and Celebration and then dry hopped. Release: Mid-Oct.
The Beer: This stout weighs in at 9.2% and pours a deep dark black with a thick dense tan head of foam. The nose is of coffee, slightly burnt roasted malts, raisins, some alcohol, licorice. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy, almost syrupy, viscous. Notes of coffee, dark chocolate, licorice, raisins, figs, memories of dark chocolate covered espresso beans come to mind. Very little alcohol. My wife plants a small scoop of chocolate/chocolate chunk in to the last bit of beer in her glass and it seems a match made in heaven its so rich.
The beer IS rich, syrupy, but bitter with dark coco nib flavor. A delicious beer and worthy of celebrating this fine brewery. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Beery Houston Happenings

30 MARCH UPDATE below!

There's a few things going on around Houston that I felt the need to point out.

- First up is a new note on Anvil Bar & Refuge. Fresh off an amazing anniversary party last Sunday, the crew there is continuing to give back to its customers. Starting this Saturday they will be doing half off all drafts starting from when they open at 5pm until 9pm. If it catches on with the customers, they may make this a weekly thing. So if you've been thinking Anvil's beer prices are too high, here is your chance to take advantage of some amazing beers at half off.
UPDATE: Spoke with Kevin Floyd at Anvil, they are continuing the Saturday Half off Drafts, however it is from 5pm to 8pm.

- A reminder that I'll be attending Beer Camp II this Sunday. Check out here for a list of the beers we'll be tasting. The ones that peak my personal interest? Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze, the Russian River beers, Southern Tier beers, Uncommon Brewery Siamese twin ale, and Surly Darkness. This should be a great event, one I've been prepping for (yep prep...its hard work!). I'll try and post my notes as soon as Sunday night on the event.

- Lastly another week another Saint Arnold's beer dinner. This time closer to where I live down in the Clear Lake Area. Local Houston Brewery has announced that next week on April 1 (nope its not April Fools!), Kemah restaurant The Flying Dutchman will be hosting a Saint Arnold's beer dinner. The dinner will be six courses, with beers paired with king crab cake, gumbo, shrimp and stuffed beef tenderloin, dessert will be bread pudding and Saint Arnold root beer. The cost is a very approachable $45. If you've been holding off on a Saint Arnold dinner due to the price then here is a great chance to go to one that is very reasonable. For reservations contact 281-334-7575

If anyone knows of other events coming up, let me know and I'll add them to the Events Calendar on the right hand side of the blog.

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.

Brew Dog night at Petrol Station

Last night Houston Beer mecca Petrol Station hosted Scottish brewer's Brew Dog. This was not just them coming to Petrol and talking beer. Oh yes they did that, but they also were pouring beers, including two very unique ones: Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismarck the first weighing in at 36%, the other weighing in at 41%. I've not been kind to these beers because I think they are unnecessary gimmicks, from a brewery that for the most part has a relatively uneven line up of beers. However in fairness to the beer and the brewery I felt that I should make my way up to Petrol Station and try some of these brews. First, about the event. It was really great, there were tons of folks there, many fellow Houston Bloggers, Steve from All good beer, Chris, from Blog of an aspiring foodie, and Cathy host of the amazing and wonderful Beer Camp. Getting through the small crowded space at Petrol was a challenge but I started off with two of the beers that Petrol was pouring from Brew Dog, Hardcore IPA, a really good citrusy, piney IPA, and Paradox on cask, a thick syrupy stout aged in scotch barrels.
Around 8pm it was time for the main event folks started crowding around a table at the front of the bar, suddenly a man in a penguin outfit (sorry for the crappy picture, camera phone and it was dark) stood up on a table and we knew it was time. In a thick Scottish accent head brewer James Watt spoke about the two beers we were about to taste, us? We eagerly reached forward for the first pour of Sink the Bismark, a 41% IPA. Each of us was given very small pours, no more than a few sips each: here are my brief notes: Light amber color, notes of citrus and pine, alcohol burn, the mouthfeel is full bodied, on the tongue there is intense citrusy and piney notes, it tastes like beer, then the liquid makes it to the back of the tongue and down the throat and it BURNS, almost making me cough. Its intense yes, and I sure couldn't drink much of this, but it still tastes like beer, as Steve from All Good Beer said to me, you know where they are going and its a good place, it just needs some time.
After getting that beer down it was time for Tactical Nuclear Penguin a 36% barrel aged beer: This one was much darker, brown, malty notes, sweet caramel, vanilla and oak all on the nose again with some alcohol notes. The mouthfeel is syrupy, malty, but very alcoholic, and very disjointed, it seems to have lost its way, and frankly its not all that good, it has lost its beeryness for lack of a better word.
Surprisingly I rather enjoyed the 41% beer. I still feel that these are complete gimmick beers, and that Brew Dog would be better served creating a solid line up of wonderful beers than spending the time and effort it takes to create these alcoholic monsters. I do respect them for what they have done here, taking beer, amping it up to where they have and still keeping some beer qualities is quite simply amazing.

St. Patrick's Day without Guiness

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! The day when the masses drink loads of green beer and dark Guinness. While I respect the history of Guinness and appreciate it for what it was, life is too short to drink mediocre beer, and Saint Patrick's Day is no exception. I'm not saying don't drink an Irish Dry Stout, by all means that's exactly what you should be drinking today, but there are some really fine examples, not only from our shores but from Ireland as well. All of these should be available in Houston
American Dry Stouts:
Avery Out of Bounds Stout
Harpoon Oyster Stout
Sierra Nevada Stout

Irish Stouts:
There are of course those that we all know: Murphy's, Guinness... however my favorite Irish Stout right now is from Irish Craft Brewery Carlow Brewing Company, maker of O' Hara's Dry Stout (we also get their Irish Red Ale, another very good beer. Whatever you do just don't dye it green). This Dry Stout is an incredibly rich, roasty dark black stout. Incredibly tasty, and if you want the full Guinness effect there are bars in the area that might have this on nitro. Regardless of what you drink, have a happy Saint Patrick's day.

Lost Abbey 2009 Gift of the Magi

Lost Abbey is one of those "cult" beers, beers that get folks all atwitter, especially some of their special releases, like Cuvvee de Tomme. I've had the opportunity to check their small brewery out, just outside of San Diego and tasted many of their outstanding brews. Unfortunately tasting their beers is a few and far between experience for me since they don't distributed to Texas. However they do to Denver so whenever I am in town visiting family I make a point to pick up something from them I haven't had. That's how I got this brew, their Christmas Seasonal Ale. The base of this beer is their Biere de Garde with Frankincense and Myrrh added and bottle conditioned with Brett.
The Beer: This beer weighs in at 10.0% and pours a gorgeous burnished amber with a quarter inch off white almost tan head. The nose is primarily of malts, with some mild barny notes, hops, lemony, and honey. Mouthfeel is chewy and dense. Malty is the first thing that comes to mind, then notes of honey, some citrusy grapefruit notes and a little bit of barnyness. But this barny taste is incredibly restrained and actually gives the beer a balanced counterpart to the malty sweetness. Sweetness is really what defines this beer, but there are notes of spice, clove, mustyness, candied fruit, cinnamon. All these other flavors, along with the addition of the Brett, really creates an outstanding counterpoint to the malty honey and caramel sweetness. Very drinkable, hides the alcohol very well. This gets a happy B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Two More New Glarus Brews

This was a wonderful weekend in Houston. The weather was beautiful, and this ended up being a good beer weekend. As most of you know Anvil tapped a keg of wine barrel aged Real Ale Coffee Porter. I wish I could say it was earth shattering good, unfortunately it wasn't. It was still a great Coffee Porter, but I didn't (and neither did the 4 or 5 other folks I talked with) really get any barrel notes or wine notes. But alas it was a nice effort from the small brewery in Blanco Texas. I didn't get discouraged though, I had more New Glarus beers to try.
Hop Hearty: Claiming to be a Wisconsin IPA gets my attention right of the bat. Brewed with old and new world hops and additional dry hopping of Cascade and East Kent Goldings lends this to be a hybrid beer, between what one expects an American IPA to be and what an English IPA is. The beer pours an amber orangish color with a thick slightly off white head. The nose is of hoppy citrus, and caramel malts, some bready notes as well. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and hoppy. Citrus peel, earthy floral notes, caramel, breadiness, sweet pale malts. Very smooth and easy drinking, my hop headiness thinking this is more of a pale ale than an IPA, more British style, more restrained. Biscuity notes as the beer warms. A little more bitter than a traditional English pale ale, some more citrus-y notes. A good drinkable, dare I say sessionable beer. Gets a solid B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Old English Porter: Having spoken to some beer folks about this beer, I have been pretty excited to try this one. This beer is brewed in what I imagine was a traditional sort of way. Per the website on the brew, their recipe is based on the research of one Graham Wheeler. The beer was made with multiple different malts including a small amount of smoked, half the batch went through a souring fermentation, then the whole beer was aged on wood. The beer weighs in at 5.5% and pours a rich brown with a quarter inch tan colored head. The nose was of richly roasted malts, oak, sourness and tartness, almost a tang to the nose. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, and the sourness hits you with a right hook. It's tartness right off the bat, then subtle notes of roasted malts, slightly burnt coffee, vanilla show up. This is exactly what I would have expected a Porter to taste like some 100 plus years ago. The sourness, tartness, and out right tanginess hit you up front, but the other flavors are what lingers giving you the impression that you are drinking two different beers. Notes of chocolate show up as well. It's almost like drinking slightly sour chocolate milk, except it tastes much better than that description. Amazingly done, and gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse

A couple years back two brewers came together from different parts of the world with different philosophies and traditions in brewing. One was Garrett Oliver from the great Brooklyn Brewery, home to Local 1, and Local 2 as well as one of the best Imperial Stouts around. The other was Hans-Peter Dresler from Schneider and Sons brewery in Germany, home to one of the best wheat beers around as well as Aventinus. They came together to make two beers, one made in Germany, the other made in New York at the Brooklyn Brewery, creating two very unique beers. This beer is the one brewed in New York packaged in a champagne like bottle. Its a pale-weisse bock fermented with the Schneider house yeast, and dry hopped with Amarillo and Palisade Hops.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.5% and pours a honey golden color with a thick pillowy white head, instead of dissipating the head seems to continue to grow up over the lip of the glass. The nose is banana, fruity esters, hops, cloves, it smells of hoppy resins. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Tons of spice, cloves, cinnamon, bananas, hops, citrus. Very effervescent. Has a very dry finish that has become a Brooklyn hallmark. Just a little alcohol. The finish is bitter, some from hops, some from something else that I just can't place. As it warms it becomes creamier, but that bitterness on the finish just doesn't subside. Its not the citrus peel bitterness of hops its something else that's not all that pleasant honestly. This starts as a great beer that finishes a notch below. It gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Odell Mountain Standard Reserve 09

Yet another brew from Odell that I picked up while in Denver. This one is an interesting take on an IPA. First the hops while not unusual (Chinook and Cascade) where they are grown is. Instead of coming from the normal places of the Northwest (or Europe) these come from Odell's back yard. While not literally, figuratively at least having grown on the Western Slope. It's also double dry hopped to create a more intense beer. All packaged in a beautiful bottle with a great green label and capped with a champagne cork and cage (picture courtesy of Odell's website). Now you know the background let's get to tasting.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.5% and has 54 IBU's. It pours a dark ruby read with a thick dense head of cafe colored foam. Nose is hoppy, grapefruit, citrus peel. Chewy mouthfeel, hoppy at all points of the palate, start, middle, and finish. Some balanced malt flavors come forward, caramel, floral, bready, malty notes, cereal graininess even. Notes of cherry, vanilla, spices, almost a bourbon quality show up as it warms. I check the bottle again, nope no barrel aging, but the flavors seem to be there. Some sweetness in the final sips as it finishes warming, molasses even.
Intense hop flavor, I can't believe this beer is only 54 IBU's it seems twice that. Yes its intensely hoppy, but it comes off balanced when all is said and done. Really great beer that gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Coffee Porter is Everywhere!

UPDATED BELOW:
Well maybe not everywhere, but it will be served in a unique manner in two different places this week.

- First up, off of news from their Facebook page, Beer mecca, coffee house, and home of the Rancor Burger, Petrol Station will be tapping a keg of Real Ale Coffee Porter on Thursday March 4th. This isn't just any CP though, its a keg of wine barrel aged Coffee Porter! This sounds pretty awesome.

- But that's not all. The beer and cocktail place in Houston, Anvil Refuge and Bar sent out a press release over the weekend about a RA Coffee Porter Cask tapping this Saturday March 6th. Kevin Floyd and company will be tapping a fresh cask of the popular Coffee Porter aged in Oak Barrels.
UPDATE: Recieved an email clarification from the fine folks over at Anvil. The RA Coffee Porter being served on Saturday is the same that is being served at Petrol on the 4th: of wine barrel-aged coffee porter. These are the only two in the city, very rare opportunity to try this beer.



I must say I am pretty happy to see these two events being held in Houston. There are a couple of reasons why this is really good to see: 1) Simply put its great to see beer bars promoting traditional cask ale. 2) Its great to see beer bars offering beers that we are all familiar with, but served with a twist, 3) Lastly and probably most importantly, good beer and good beer bars are truly a symbiotic relationship. Bars like Anvil and Petrol support the local craft beer scene by putting Real Ale's, or 512, or Saint Arnold, or Southern Star on their tap wall, offering and discussing these beers with their patrons. In return though its nice to see some breweries offering special casks to these bars. This is something I've seen in other places around the country. Go look at the tap wall at Denver's Falling Rock, they get special one off casks regularly. Its nice to see this happening in Houston.

Two New Glarus

I mentioned this briefly before, but a buddy of mine from Wisconsin brought back a stash of beer from me when he was up there during Christmas. I ended up with about a mixed case of beers from New Glarus. NG is only available in Wisconsin so its quite a treat to try some of these beers. The brewery is run by husband and wife team Daniel and Deb Carey (if your remember my entry from my New Belgium tour, the brew equipment came from he CO brewery). Daniel Carey is not only the owner he is the brewmaster and helps turn out some of the best and unique beers in the country. In fact Mr. Carey has some strong brewing chops having been Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch prior to starting up New Glarus in 1993. New Glarus has won quite a few awards including Small Brewery of the Year in 2005, and Mid-Size brewery of the year in 2006. NOt only are they good, they are growing!
Because of the large stash of NG beer that I received, I'll be posting notes on a couple of their beers every once in a while, starting today.
Crack'd Wheat: This is a Pale Ale Hefeweiss which was all I needed to read on the label of the beer to get excited about it. It weighs in at 5.95% and pours a hazy golden yellow, bubbly with a thick white head. The nose is hoppy, citrus, bananas, and clove. The mouthfeel is full good carbonation. Hoppy, grapefruity, cloves, and banana, citrus peel bitterness. Slightly resiny on the finish. This is a wonderful beer and surprisingly combines the citrus-y flavors of a pale ale with the banana and spices of a hefeweiss. This one gets a B+ from me. BA thoughts?
Black Wheat: It makes me sad to know that this one is a retired beer from NG, but I'm glad I was able to try it. This is a winter style dark wheat beer that weighs in at 5.7%. It pours an almost pitch black with a thin white head. The nose is full of banana, clobes, spices, chocolate, bubblegum, and rich malts. The mouthfeel is chewy and full. NOtes of chocolate up front, along with the expected cloves, cinnamon, banana, spices. Oh the spices in this beer are wonderfully complex. Its hearty for such a low abv beer. Great spices, great chocolatey notes as well. Good solid beer that gets a B+ from me. BA's give it love as well.

Quick Hits: Upcoming Events Edition

Its a great time to be a lover of craft beer in Houston. There seems to be beer related events every week. Just last week we had the Petrol Station/Flying Saucer Stone RIS Vertical. There are even more events over the course of the next few weeks and months:

- Yes, I've knocked the idea multiple times, but it doesn't mean I won't try the beer. On March 17th, James Watt the brewer for Scottish brewery BrewDog will be at local beer institution Petrol Station serving to controversial Sink the Bismark.

- March 14, Rice Village watering hole and the original Beer institution of Houston Gingerman will be hosting a Texas Beer Tasting. Event starts at 3 pm.

- Speaking of Petrol Station, on March 29th they are hosting a Beer Vs. Wine dinner.

- Of course I've mentioned it before but Beer Camp II is coming up at the end of March. Unfortunately tickets are sold out.

Well thats a brief example of what's coming up in Houston. If you know of any other events, put them in the comments section and I'll post them on the Calendar on the right hand side.

Odell India Barleywine

This small brewery from Fort Collins is quickly becoming one of my favorites. We are unlucky enough to not get it here in Houston, however I try to pick up a couple of bottles of their beer whenever I am in Denver. Per Odell Brewing's website this is a cross between a barleywine and an IPA. I'll raise my glass to that.
The Beer: It weighs in at 9.7% and 65 IBU's. It pours a light caramel color with a thick dense head of off white foam. Very hoppy on the nose. Citrus peel, resiny, malty, toasty, caramel, malts. The mouthfeel is full, almost sticky, chewy, caramel, sweet, HOPS (yep capitalized), grapefruit marmalade, syrup. Super hoppy but with tons of deliciously sweet malty backbone. Gorgeous lacing along the glass, with plenty of patterning along the inside of the glass. There is an earthyness to this beer that brings to mind a good English barleywine. Notes of toffee, bread pudding. Jammy with bits of white pepper. One interesting thing I notice as the beer warms, the finish weakens. The up front flavor still tends to slap you across the face, but the finish is more watery, with just a bit of lingering hop resins. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA say.

Well its not ending any time soon

A few days ago I asked the question "When will it end" in reference to the on going arms race to see who can create the highest abv beer. Well another salvo has been launched, this time by German Brewer Schorschbräu as pointed out in a reply in the above linked post.
Schorschbräu, in response to Brew Dog's "Sink the Bismark" beer weighing at 41%, has promised to brew one to 45% using the traditional Eisbockverfahren method of freezing the beer, removing the water, and thereby concentrating the sugar and alcohol levels. in their press release they even called out Brew Dog for cheating by using Whiskey barrels to increase the beer (James of Brew Dog points out there was no barrel aging for this beer unlike Tactical Nuclear Penguin).
My question remains the same though, WHY? Whats the purpose? To create something that tastes like whiskey? Why not drink whiskey then? Is it a pissing contest, see which ones bigger? Isn't that a tad childish? Also what about the taste? Which of course is the key? With all due respect to the brewer's I'm just not sure how either of these would actually taste, and taste like you know BEER! Or some semblance there of. You've seen this week I like big beers, but they still taste like beer. Why can't we appreciate beer for all that it is, instead of trying to make it something that it probably shouldn't be.
Of course if I had the opportunity to try it I would, but honestly I can't imagine it would taste all that good, I don't believe you can hide the alcohol in something that big. So of course the question remains "When will it end?" A collaborative 50% brew to make up between these two warring breweries?

Nogne Barleywine

Another day another post on a barleywine. Unintentionally this week's theme has become barleywine, and you know what I'm OK with that. This particular one is from the Nogne brewery out of Norway. Just like here in the states, home brewing interests inspired two friends to start their own brewery back in 2002. They are very proud of their beer, and each bottle is subtitled with the motto - "The Uncompromising Brewery." Nogne has become incredibly popular over on this side of the Atlantic for making some amazing beers, some unique, some strong, all very good. Unfortunately as of right now they aren't imported into Texas, but I was fortunate to get my hands on this bottle of theirs. Their barleywine as some interesting history. The recipe was used to celebrate Nogne's 100th batch, but it was only available in small batches. The brewer's noticed its incredible popularity and decided to release it commercially (lucky for us!).
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10% and 80 IBU's. It pours a very dark brown with a thick taupe colored head. The nose is figgy, hoppy, citrus, and really rich malts. The mouthfeel is rich, chewy. Loads of hops, citrus, earthy notes, figs, and raisins. Notes of warm dark bread, toffee. Creamy, bourbon like. Vanilla notes. Its warming, but not from the alcohol which is hidden pretty well. Tons of dark concentrated fruits like prunes, raisins, figs, hints of citrus peel. Citrus peel bitterness lingers through the finish. A wonderful barleywine that gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

2009 Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

A friend of mine is from the Wisconsin area and over Christmas he was able to visit some of his family. He is also a fellow craft beer lover (as well as an amazing home brewer), so he brought back a slew of beer to share with me. Most of those were New Glaurus beers (posts on those later I promise) but there were some from other WI breweries as well, including this one from Central Waters Brewery out of Amherst, WI.

The Brewery: Before I get to the beer, a couple of notes about the brewery. First just from the initial look at the website you can tell they are not just your ordinary brewery. Like many others (namely New Belgium) they have an intense interest in doing things environmentally friendly and have recently installed 1,000 sq ft of solar cells in addition to other environmental things that they do like radiant floor heating and energy efficient equipment. The brewery started in 1996 in an old Ford Model-A dealership, a few years later however the original owners sold the brewery to the current owners Brewer Paul Graham and a home brewer Clint Schultz. They worked hard to keep not only the solid list of beers already being brewed but to expand into some more interesting offerings. Their list of brew's looks pretty solid, especially the seasonal offerings. Some like the one today are aged in bourbon barrels, however I am unsure of which bourbon.

The Beer: This 2008 GABF Gold medal winner weighs in at 11.5%. It pours a rich amber brown with a medium sized tan colored head. Notes of bourbon, oak, vanilla, caramel, and some nice floral and earthy hops, along with figs, raisins, plums, oh my. The mouth is rich and chewy with little carbonation. Oaky, vanilla, slight notes of bourbon on the finish. Dark fruits like plums and figs. Charred oak is evident as well adding an interesting depth to the beer. Caramel and hints of alcohol show up after another sip. Very malty. As it warms the bourbon flavors become more pronounced along with notes of cherry. Warming it almost becomes sherry like. A wonderful beer that gets a very excited A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

When will it end?

Recent news has set the beer blogosphere and beer forums like Beer advocate on fire. What's that news you ask? That an IPA weighing in at 41% abv (yes you read that right) has been made by Scottish brewer's Brew Dog. You may remember a few months back they received quite a bit of publicity when they created a beer Tactical Nuclear Penguin that weighed in at 38%. However shortly after the release of that beer, another brewery Schorschbrau released a beer weighing in at 40%. Before all of this there was of course Sam Adams Utopias weighing in at around 26-27% abv. Now why the controversy, why this post? Well, my question is in the title...where does it stop? When do we go back to brewing beer because it tastes good, because it has all the nuances that a great beer should, versus brewing beer for no other reason than get some cheap publicity (sorry but I truly believe that's all this is). Beer is NOT whiskey (yes I know beer from a certain point of view is the basis of whiskey), beer is NOT wine, beer is NOT cognac, beer IS beer.
Another issue I have is how are these brewer's getting this high in alcohol? Sam Adams has made no secret that they are using "ninja yeast," to get the alcohol that high. Basically a highly active champagne style yeast along with using other yeasts help create this beer. Both of the Brew dog's beer use a freeze distillation process. Some of you might say well its distilled so it can't even be counted as beer. Well this is where I actually do back folks like Brewdog. Freezing the beer, removing excess water leaving behind alcohol and solids has been going on for years in Germany (reference my recently reviewed Eisbock for some background). So just because they used a non standard brewing practice doesn't mean its not beer, but I still have some question as to whether or not using Eisbeer methods would get alcohol that high, what else are they doing and why?
Another argument in support of going as high as possible in alcohol is that its no different than other breweries adding tons of raspberries, or aging in whiskey barrels, or using brett in beers. Except for the fact that all those things were going on around the world for hundreds of years, its just that for the most part we (especially here in the US) have rediscovered these methods over the past few years. Never have brewers pushed the level of alcohol to the levels that folks are doing so today. Not to say that's bad, but to compare it to methods that were traditionally used and are just now coming back into vogue is nonsense.
My last point on this and honestly probably the most important, is that very few (if any) of these high octane beers taste good. Yes there are those that will swear up and down that the beers are good (but then if you look at BA some folks think Sam Adams Triple Bock tastes good), but there is nothing that's going to hide 41% abv, its not going to taste like beer. If you want whiskey, have a dram, if you want beer, have a pint (or snifter, or mug, etc). I don't mean to bash Brewdog, but wouldn't they be better served working on their beer, making all of their offerings better, working on distribution to the states (which I know they ARE starting to work on) to ensure their beer is better when it arrives? I've had a few BrewDog beers and I'm about 50/50 so far on what they've made and I hear about the same thing from other folks that I've talked to. So why not work hard and improve what you've got vs going out for what I consider a cheap publicity stunt? Many will compare BrewDog to Sam Adams Utopia, or Dogfish World Wide Stout. My response is that for the most part both SA and DFH have a pretty strong line up of beers, they have worked incredibly hard to improve the quality of their brews across the board, working on distribution issues, and then they have worked to release these high octane beers (and if you remember I wasn't a huge fan of WWS). My feeling is Brewdog can't compare themselves to DFH or SA for those reasons.
How far are we from a 50% beer that's been fermented with multiple strains of champagne yeast, triple frozen, freeze hopped, loaded in bourbon barrels, blended with alcohol, and someone tries to call it beer? Will folks still stand up and proclaim that it is? Where does it stop and when do we go back to enjoying beer for beer's sake and not trying to make it something its not.

Quick Hits

We'll call this edition of quick hits Good News, Bad News. First up unfortunately the bad news.

- Last week in the DFW area there was a horrendous snow storm (yes you heard that right, snow storm). Unfortunately it affected Fort Worth brewery Rahr and Sons, causing the roof to collapse. Worse still it looks like it coule be at least a couple of months before they are able to start up operations again. The only good news from this issue is that their distributor Coors, was able to get all bottled product out of the brewery and is storing it at their warehouse so they can distribute it. There are some good pictures and updates from Paul Hightower on his blog. Hopefully Rahr and Sons will be able to bounce back and continue the strong brewing of beer.

- A little late I know, but a unique vertical is occuring in the city of Houston this week. Bars Flying Saucer and Petrol Station are paring up to do a 6 year verticle of Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. Each night a different bar will host, tapping a different year of Stones RIS. They will also be tapping other different Stone brews. For example at last nights event they tapped Stones Cali-Belgique. For more details on how the tasting is going down head over to Ronnie Crocker's post about the event on Beer, Tx.

- Lastly, and a little more bad news for some is that Beer Camp II is coming! You may remember my write up on the original Beer Camp. Well the 2nd one has been announced for Mar 28th, unfortunately the tickets are sold out. They went in less than a day which at 50.00 a pop is amazing. I was out of town the day the tickets went on sale, but thanks to my wonderful wife I was able to score a couple of tickets. Here is a list of beers that could be available for tasting. As with last time I'll be posting my thoughts and notes on the tasting. If you want to be kept in the loop on all things Beer Camp, keep checking out the website, and follow beer camp on twitter.

Well thats it for now, back tomorrow with more tasting notes!

Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of barleywine (and if you didn't the name of the blog should be a clue). I'm always on the look out for new ones, especially when I am out of town. This particular offering from DFH is one of those picked up outside of Houston. Unfortunately it's one of the few brews we don't get from this Deleware based brewery. As with most DFH offerings this one is big with a capital B.
The Beer: This one weighs in at a hefty 15.0% and pours an orangish color with a thick foamy off white head. The nose is of alcohol, hops, citrus peel, caramel malts. The nose is full and chewy, strong hop flavor up front. Notes of biscuits, marmalade, syrup, strong alcohol notes, but it doesn't ruin the flavor. This one unexpectedly is over the top, flavor wise. All flavors are intense, not just the alcohol. In the finish there is an unexpected smoothness that keeps this beer drinkable. A sipper for sure, but still something that over time gets better, smoother, like a good bourbon, which this beer has some notes of. Soul warming on a cold night. Great beer, really enjoyed this one and it gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Russian River Consecration

I had this beer back when I was in Denver over the holiday's. As I mentioned in earlier posts we had the chance to hit up a few breweries up in Fort Collins, on our way back to the city we stopped by the Oskar Blues brew pub in Longmont. This has place has some really great food, but it also has an amazing guest tap list and it was here back along the wall that I saw they were offering RR Consecration. Living in Texas I jump at the chance to have anything from Russian River and this day was no exception.
The Beer: Consecration is a dark Belgian style ale aged in Cabernet Barrels. It weighs in at 10.0% abv. It was poured into a 12 oz snifter. Deep dark ruby read with a thin white head. sour cherries, oak, vanilla all on the nose. The mouthfeel is shocking. Effervescence, sour, just mouth jolting taste bud slamming sour. Oak, caramel, tartness, incredibly wonderful. Something new that would shock BMC drinkers, it expands one's thoughts of beer. It makes you sit down and contemplate the meanings of things..meanings of beer, life, LOST, anything. Having said that, its a wonderful beer...in small doses, I couldn't imagine drinking more than the 12 oz that I had at one sitting, it would be just too much. A great beer that gets an A- from me. The folks at BA love it too.

Avery Sui Generis

Avery brewing out of Colorado has a growing reputation for not only their solid line of beers, but their exceptional special release beers. Beer's that I've enjoyed like their Anniversary Beers, Collaboration Not Litigation, and Maharaja one of the best DIPA's around. Recently they have gotten into barrel aging certain beers, the first of these was Brabant No 1, and exceptional brew aged in Zinfandel barrels and made with two strains of wild yeasts. Their second beer from this series was released during Great American Beer fest. Only 138 cases were made and they were only available in the Avery Tap Room. Unfortunately the release day was the day before I arrived in Denver for GABF, lucky for me though a friend from Houston arrived early and picked up a bottle for me. So what is this beer? It is a blended barrel aged sour ale. Ok so what does that mean? It's a beer brewed with 1 special yeast and two different bacteria including Brettanomyces, lactobacillus and pedicoccus, respectively different batches are aged in different barrels and then blended for the final product. 20% aged in Cabernet Savignon, 35% in Chardonnay, 13% in Port Barrels, and finally 13% in Bourbon barrels.
The Beer: It weighs in at 10.2% and pours a hazy orangish brown with a thick dense head of foam. The nose is funky, sour, tart, notes of vanilla and oak. This is a full bodied beer, tart, sour, oaky, vanilla, winish notes. Its all here, warming to oak and bourbon, sour cherries, slight portish notes. A predominant flavor is cherries its reminiscent of a Manhattan with the flavors of bourbon. Tons of lacing here. More flavors coming through, green apples, tart, bready, figs and port, wine and cheese, earthy. Wonderful beer that with each sip and each sniff more flavors are brought forward. Yes its sour, yes its tart, there is no doubt that this is a sour ale, but there is so much more that it becomes balanced to me, hiding the alcohol relatively well. This is an absolutely wonderful beer that gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.