Cup O Kyndness

Well for this one I'm reviewing one of those weird hybrid beers that some people see and go huh? Especially since you see this one brewed by a fair amount of Belgian brewers as well though. This is Ommegang's shot at making a Belgian-style Scotch ale. For those who are not familiar Ommegang is one of those American breweries that make strong specialty Belgian style brews, typically named as one of our extreme breweries on par with Lost Coast, and Dogfish. Now for the brew, Belgians typically brew their own specialized type brew each one kind of having an individual spin on a wide variety of styles with their own specialized yeast. Now besides IPAs being brewed recently in a Belgian style, there was only one foreign style ale that the Belgians would tackle, that being a Scotch style ale. The bottle on this one gives you a brief history lesson, basically Scottish troops in WWI missed their maltier beverages so the Belgians incorporated this style into their fold with the major difference being the use of the Belgian yeast. One of my favorites of these is the one brewed by Bison, this one by Ommegang is a different taste though. It has a wonderful sweet smell to it. The smell accompanies the taste in that it is not as malty as a lot of other scotch style ales typically are. This one leans more toward the sweet, toffee flavor kind of side, with a slight floral aftertaste that comes from the addition of the heather added to the beverage. Other than that the brew has a slight hint of the taste typical to brews made with a belgian yeast, that has a bit of a sharper bite to the brew. If it was food think of the difference between cheddar, and sharp cheddar, and for those of you who don't like cheese, besides the fact that you may not be human I do not have a comparison readily available. Of course being made in a Belgian style this scotch type brew has a higher amount of carbonation. It's also not as strong as a fair amount of scotch ales as it only weighs in at about 6.6%alc. Think of a scotch style ale with a bubbly make up of a brew closer to like champagne, or Belgian Tripel style ale. Is it worth with it? Well like I said I like the maltier flavor, over subtle sweetness so I would go for something closer to the one made by Bison. For everyone else this may be the kind of brew your looking for. It also makes the nice bridge over to the wacky world of Scotch ales from Belgians. I purchased this one from 99 Bottles, but I've also seen it at the Beer Junction so I'll go out on a limb and say it's pretty readily available. I definitley fully encourage people to try this ale that bridges the cultural divide that is Belgium, and Scotland.

I Hardcore You Imperial IPA

Well I'm back ranting on a brew collaboration by two of my favorite European breweries, who seem to pop one out every six months or so. Mikkeller, and BrewDog have brewed a couple of great collaboration beers I've tried, one of my favorites being the one they also collaborated with Stone in San Diego. The Imperial Stout was also very well done. This one I was really interested in because these two breweries tend to pump out beers that are closer to modern beer tastes, where if you've had any of the traditional like European IPAs and other brews have a definite different taste. Basically every tradtional brew tastes like it was brewed for a nitro tap, which is really awesome in it's own way. Only a handful of the newer breweries over there brew beers that taste closer to what alot of the American brewers are making. This collaboration is the birthing of this newer style by Mikkeller (Norway), and Brewdog (Scotland). The beer was actually brewed by the Mikkeller brewers at Brewdog, I know a little confusing and my writing probably does not help. This one is an Imperial IPA that has a nice strong hoppiness to it. Now tasting the brew it seems like it would have a strong hoppy smell to it, though actually it smells very smooth. It was not the knock down hoppy smell that you get with some Imperial IPAs. If you were comparing it to an American IPA I would say it's close to what a Supergoose would be, though slightly stronger, with a sweeter taste from a higher alcohol content. This one weighs in at about 9.5% alc. The brew was around seven dollars so it may not necessarily be worth it for the beer since it's nothing that will stand out really too much from other strong IPAs that are more readily available and much cheaper. Now the other rub to this, I picked this up at John's market in Multonomah Village in Portland OR, and I have not seen it anywhere around this area so it's not readily available it seems in this area. If you do it has kind of sea green label with like some 'Giving Tree' style illustrations of something that is an allusion to Adam & Eve if I had to judge, with the I Hardcore You scribblings in the tree. In closing argument though a stellar Imperial IPA, but may not be worth it. If you have some money burning a hole though I definitely say pick it up.

Humboldt Brown Ale

Well once again it's been a little while since I've eeked out one of these wonderful beer related ramblings, and what better way to start out than first reviewing a beer I felt was definitely not worth the money. The beer being Humboldt Brown ale brewed with hemp. Why brewed with hemp? Well I don't know if it was just an exercise in another type of bittering agent in the brewing process or what, but I can say at least from my perspective it was not worth it. The beer has a nice slightly floral smell about it if you first get a wiff, nothing that's going to jump right out of the bottle and bite your nose. Now this ale is stated as being a brown ale, but it tastes extremely light. Like it makes a blonde ale look like it's packing a pair, and giving a mikes hard lemonade a run for it's money. For all those who love the latter drink I would apologize, but I've tasted it so I'm not going to. As a rule of thumb for a brown ale I'd choose one widely available with a decent taste. So let's compare it to a Moose Drool, while I taste a slightly sweet, small amount of maltiness, basically it has a good definite flavor. This one tastes very light with a slightly floral taste as well, but nothing that even comes close to say a heather ale. I'm all about trying some kind of new flavors in the brewing process, but I'm big on a strong definite flavor. I want it to have a taste something stronger than a Pabst Blue Ribbon. If this was a super hippie exercise with yet some other lame attempt to just add hemp to something for the sake of it being hemp, please stop. Hemp may be good for many things, that doesn't mean you throw it into whatever food or beverage imaginable. If it's summer time this could possibly be an ale for you, it's extremely light to drink, and it ways in at about 5.7%alc so it actually weighs in a lot stronger than it tastes. Now I know my taste buds are not necessarily the linch pin for societies taste so if your interested this beer is fairly widespread. I bought this one at Top Foods, but I've seen it at Fred Meyer, and just about every specialty beer store. Also on the other hand I do not believe it was that expensive for a microbrew, so if your trying to save may be one to try. For me though this beer was a big flop, a brown with a strange flavor I had some high asperations, that crashed like a fiery plane wreckage. For those of you who are super hemp fans, it may be your holy grail.

Heather

Well for all those who may not know, the state of Washington produces a lions share of the world's hops just east of the Cascades across the Yakima Valley. Most of these hops are siphoned off to become bastardized by some of the nastiest ales in the world namely Busch Lite, and I could keep listing but that one beer should tip you off as to what I'm talking about. If not please visit your local mini mart and check out the nearest 24 pack of whatever is on display at the moment. But I digress, recently a very wonderful trend has reared it's head as local breweries have begun to dot all the small cities and towns of the Valley, mostly through their ability to garner a share of hops from the plantations in the area. One of these new breweries making a good start is Yakima Craft Brewing out of where else, Yakima Washington. Now given the proximity you may think I'm going to right about some wonderfully fresh hopped ale, hahaha not so fast. This brewery has been producing a wonderful variety so far, including a hop-less heather ale. Heather ales are an ancient ale (records go all the way back to 2000 BC), brewed using heather tips as the bittering agent. I've had some awesome variations on this ale, as more and more breweries have started to experiment with these types of ales. None that quite had the wonderfully light and floral taste of this particular ale though. The reason for that is the honey that was used in the brewing process. The initial floral scent of the heather ale is only heightened by the honey. This beer actually smells like spring, it's sweet floral smell is nothing short of wonderful. The taste is equally as nice, this is a light drinkable ale. Unlike alot of other lighter ales though this one is loaded with flavor. The sweet taste of the honey sugar is perfect for the floral nature of the heather ale. Heather ales I've found to be slightly sweet anyway, the honey instead of becoming overpoweringly sweet, seems to instead be a wonderful helping hand to the heather flavor. Is it hoppy? No not at all, but then again this isn't that sort of beer. Think of it as a marriage of Fraoch Heather Ale, with Big Sky's Summer Honey ale. The alcohol level is 5.5%, nothing astronomical but high enough to let you know this brew has some flavor over say your usual blonde ale. So far I've liked a lot of what these breweries in the Yakima Valley have been cranking out. Yakima Craft Brewing is another stellar brewery with a wonderful beer. So if you want a light ale to make this dreary winter seem a little sunnier this is a great place to start. I've only found this kind at 99 Bottles so far, but I'm sure more markets are sure to come, enjoy!

Lips of Faith Sahti

Another varied entry from New Belgium's more exciting line (or at least in my mind, and for all you who think fat tire is the greatest of the bunch you may be reading the wrong blog). This variation of ale is Sahti, a juniper based ale that is originally from Nordic punching back Finland. That's right the land that brings you one of the rarest languages in the world, Simo Hayha (look him up), and travel via reindeer sled bring you this variety of juniper based ale. This is the first type of this ale I have tried that is actually labeled by it's correct name (Dogfish head makes Sah Tee, which is Sahti, blended with Chai Tea, which I guess is a close name). Traditional Sahti is made with Juniper berries providing the bittering factor mostly in olden times, nowadays as with this entry they use hops with the process as well. I'm happy to report though that the hop flavor does not translate at this one at all, yup hop heads time to face the ground and walkaway to a downtrodden Charlie Brown song. The Juniper though is much lighter than I expected going into this beer. It smells strong initially when you go to take that first sip, but doesn't seem to translate into a real strong taste. I read on the website that New Belgium added some citrus elements, I actually think the Juniper flavor is tempered out a little too much by mainly the orange taste. They should either remove this flavoring, or taper it off something fierce, as I believe the Juniper flavor could be so much better. The Rogue Juniper Pale ale by comparison has a much richer Juniper flavor, the finest example is Alba Scots Pine ale which uses no hops and pine with the fresh spring juniper which was the bar I had set when setting my mind on drinking this ale. Well New Belgium dove right under that bar, hopefully Finland petitions them to increase the quality on their national brew. As with all these style ales for the ease with which this ale can be drank, watch out cause it usually marks in at about 8% alc. With the right combination of food though, this ale may come to life, but as a straight I want to try this beer, might want to pass it by, especially at the price. I've only found it at the specialty beer stores so far (Beer Junction, 99 Bottles, etc.), but you may be able to find it at some specialty grocers. Well I guess it's a first try, but for this Lips of Faith entry it looks like New Belgium might have been channeling their inner Fat Tire.

Black Douglas Ale

Well once again I'm going to my ancestral well for another great brew to write about. This is my personal favorite from the selection of Broughton Beers out of Broughton on the Scottish/English borderlands. Typically all their beers have some cultural and historical name, and illustration. A quick history note Black Douglas is a revered knight who fought in the Scottish Wars of independence(for historically challenged that thing Braveheart is all about). Anyways he was a great fighter and friend of King Robert Bruce I, and carried his heart into crusade as was wished on his deathbed. The beer label will actually give you that little cliff note. So how does this beer stack up against the image of such a badass historical firgure? Pretty well actually, your first hints are that this is going to be a full-bodied beer with a lot of heft. Visually it looks more like a stout or porter, which is what you may prepare yourself for. This would be a mistake, because this is actually lighter, and extremely drinkable in just about any circumstance. As with most beers out of the UK it has a wonderful frothy finish to it as well. The smell is actually a wonderful roasted aroma sticking out, when I smell it I kind of get a little hint of nut, floral, and malt smells from it as well. It's nothing like a Scotch ale though in terms of flavor, this beer is completely different beast as it is not the uber-malt those ales attempt to be. Like I said this beer is pretty much drinkable to the entire spectrum. It has a nice light roasted taste about it, with just the right amount of heft to it so that it's nothing like a stout or a porter. I've had other ruby ales before, but officially this one is slated as a dark ruby by Broughton Beers. I believe the difference in this beer though, is that this beer doesn't really let on any real hop sense to it. Other ruby ales I've had still have a faint hop taste, but this one just has the enjoyable roasted grain taste executed perfectly. Keeping in step the alcohol percentage isn't astronomical either stepping in at 5.6%. While the beer mostly applies to the historical badass in mostly just the name I imagine, Douglas seems like the hearty kind of fella that one mind kicking back a barrel or two of this. Well sit back an enjoy a highly drinkable beer that fits right in the middle of the spectrum, with a little history to boot, after all in the immortal words of NBC "The More You Know"

Abominable Winter Ale

I feel ashamed to say that I have not reviewed a beer from Portland Oregon's own Hopworks Urban Brewery (or HUB for short) for the entire duration I have been writing on this blog. I can only think of one real complaint from these guys, and that's the lack of strong, malty, and darker ales I so love and adore. Other than that I have zero complaints not one. Their beers are definitely for the hop-headed, bushels of hop taste in just about every brew, though they do have a smooth pale ale, stout, and red that are very good. Their bottles are readily available at the Beer Junction and 99 bottles, and a whole host of supermarkets in the area. On a brief side note of the blog, if you find yourself in Portland take time to visit the brewery. It's the epitomy of a green brewery, with all sorts of cool inovations around the place. Besides having great beer, the place is run and operated by great people. Several family and friends of mine went on a brewery tour last spring that we planned, they accomadated us with a free tour, and samples galor! My god I really needed a breather after all the brew they were handing out. So if you have not been yet, go it's worth the trip, and they blew the next brewery we went to out of the water (I'm scouring at you Lucky Labrador on Hawthorne, for shame). Anyway for my first review I decided to go with a maltier ale from the group at HUB, and went with their Abominable Winter Ale. First off, I love the drawing! I know peripherals, but catoonish yetis somehow make me wax nostalgic about my youth. Now as with just about every ale they crank out, the first impression is this was brewed hoppy, and with a tinge of citrus smell. The citrus part does not really translate to the taste on this one. Instead as you delve in it starts to get a taste similar to a spiced type hop ale. Now the bottle says a nice maltier finish to this beer, and as a big scotch ale fan I can say that it is not really malty at all. Though there is a better hint of that flavor than most of their other intensely hoppy ales. It seems it may be taking it's powers to squash that citrusy hop taste into something that it is a slightly malty hop ale. Now alot of other winter warmer ales are generally nice and malty, with a dark roasted taste. There are some variations that veer more towards the hoppy end of the spectrum, and the Abominable Winter Ale is one of these. I would say it compares closer to Full Sail's Wreck the Halls winter ale (this is not the Wassail winter warmer, but another ale). It's always best to break out and have an ale that doesn't imitate every other winter warmer out there. This beer like all great winter ales has a kick that would make a donkey blush (yeah that's right vague farm references) clocking in at a healthy 7.3%. As with all their beers, HUB crafts a very drinkable, well rounded ale that is of some of the best quality out there. If you haven't had the pleasure of one of their ales this is a great place to start, and I request, ne demand you the drinking public take the time to enjoy a HUB ale once before you die.

Flume Creek IPA

I'm back from a prolonged period of oh let's call it busy time. For this blog I'm reaching out to my roots sort of. Back to that somber, reclusive area known as northeastern Washington. If you go north from Colville, right next to FDR lake (aka the Columbia River), there lies the small town of Norhtport Washington. Now sadly this is one brewery I have not yet reached, and if any of you know the distance to this area, then you'll also know why I'm saving it way down the list. I have managed to have a taste here and there at the odd brewfest, but not a good helping. Well hope comes to forwishen, as I laid eyes on one of two bottles from Norhtern Ales while perusing the isles of 99 Bottles. After a rigorous amount of scientific analysis and calling upon all my supernatural capabilities with statistics, eenie meenie miney moe yielded the IPA for me to sample. What I love about this beer, it's the first bare bones IPA I've had in quite some time. No hints of citrus, or dash of herbs, or touches of honey, nope just straight mashy hop smell. It has been the closest to a straight hop on the vine smell I've come across yet. The taste translates right from the smell. Once again this is just a pure bitter IPA, with none of the bells and whistles attached. It tastes like a hoppy mash, and it's wonderful. Not to fruity, not to hardcore, it's positioned itself in the center of varieties. I'm glad to see a company like this thriving and bottling out of one of Washington's most rural, and economically slowed areas. Whats more impressive is just having the ability to bring up a straight shooting IPA, that goes down smooth, not to sweet, just a wonderful hoppy mash of flavor.

Lobster Lovers Beer

Okay I went far off my normal range of beer countries this time. For this ale I journeyed to that awkward part of the globe that isn't quite Scandanavian, and not quite Russian either. From a country once known as the basketball powerhouse of Europe comes an interestingly labeled beer. This is the first beer from former soviet bloc member Lithuania that I have ever had. And it will not be my last, not because it was that good, but because I believe all things are worthy of redemption and because of this beer I deeply feel the good people of Lithuania deserve that when it comes to their beer. The brew is called Lobster Lovers beer, and it has a very interesting name and picture. I know photography is top notch and all, but for those who can't make it out, it depicts a lobster on the back of a naked female. I'm not sure if this is just some art I'm totally missing the point on, but it seemed like the kind of kooky out there kind of beer I'm drawn to. This beer may be the poster child for not judging a book by the cover. This beer looks like cloudy bright, with a golden hew. The taste really matches the look though as it has a kind of cloudy grain like taste to it. Although it is a lager based beer it does have a slightly strong aftertaste. I looked up the beer and I guess it is supposed to be a European style pale lager. I guess that is one way of describing it, another is just a strong lager with a very distinct aftertaste. Now it said the beer was about 8.5% alc on my bottle, and well if it was truth, and it was that strong, bravo on their part for making it that seemless. There was no strong sweeter taste that is typical with a higher alcohol beer. Now the only place where the pale might have reared it's head was the smell, where it did have a slightly similar hew to what all us regular beer snobs would spot as a regular pale ale. All and all this beer was rather bland and closer to a regular blonde ale, with a goofy aftertaste, and a grainy smothered flavor up front for a blonde. Now for a little counterpoint having eaten some lobster a while back I can say that this beer is the closest thing I've ever drank that comes close to that flavor, and in a beer that is not good. If they set out with the goal of creating something that tastes like a fermented lobster, they may want to talk to our former president about borrowing that giant mission accomplished banner. To the brewery itself, it may be time to go back to the drawing board and try making some tastier brews. And to the marketing department over there in Lithuania, congratulations you baited and nabbed this fish. Although I am eager to try a new beer from Lithuania, this was quite happily my last Lobster Lovers beer.

Elysian The Great Pumpkin

Well I figured after reviewing the Pumking I should just keep the pumpking theme right on rolling! Also it's a nice little festive beer run-up to Halloween for all of us in this country that indulge in one of our more rediculous holidays. I have not reviewed it yet, but let me just state that before I review any pumpkin ale my baseline for a good one is Elysian's Night Owl. This was the first I ever tasted, and for so very long doned the crown of the best. That was until several breweries decided to make their own spin on this wonderful holiday ale, and spruce it up in any way they could. These past couple years I've tasted some great pumpkin based ales (see Pumking), but Elysian always makes several variations, and tries to differentiate themselves from the pack as much as possible by delinieating this ale in as many ways possible. From Elysian's pumpkin well springs yet another great one, The Great Pumpkin to be specific. Although not labeled as such, this tastes like an Imperial version of their popular Night Owl pumpkin ale. In short that means a great taste juiced on steroids, to bring you a truly great flavor. Great Pumpkin makes night owl look like a dynamite compared to a pop-it. As with all pumpkin ales there is a great smell of spices in the mix, similar of course to a pumpkin pie in most cases. Elysian does the favor of listing all in the brew cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Picking out each individual spice is hard, but the combined flavor leaves this smelling like pure, distilled pumpkin pie. As if it were simply put in a blender and allowed to ferment! The taste follows it's lead, but unlike Night Owl this one has the flavor of a strong ale. It has an old ale taste, but with a very smooth texture, which is rare even for those types of ales. All the other flavors are there, make no illusions to yourself this beer is hefty on the sweetness, tons of flavor, and not listed but I am sure the alcohol percentage must be above 10%. I would even go so far to label this a dessert beer, simply from the intense, sweet flavor this brew provides. It is all good in my opinion, as Elysian seems to reconcile it's seat as the king of pumpkin ales. If you have a chance visit the brewery they usual have a couple special pumpkin ales around now, and even a pumpkin brew festival sometime this month. I deeply enjoyed Southern Tier's Pumking, Elysian's the Great Pumpkin takes it up another notch. Sorry New York, the Northwest loves their beer like so many thing in life, strong, and sweet. For another great pumpkin ale, definitely track this down so you have a baseline to measure out how good the rest of the pack is, and just how far they are away from sweet pumpkin perfection!

Southern Tier Imperial Pumking

Ah the month of Halloween is upon us, and for that I've decided to kick off October with a brew I've been meaning to sample, and write about for almost a month now! That is another wonderful beer from the folks at Southern Tier brewing. This time I'm going with their seasonal, the Imperial Pumking ale. Now pumpkin ales have gained a ton of momentum over the past two years I've noticed, with more and more brewers taking a crack at this festive type ale. Some of the more notable ones have come from Elysian, which their Nightowl (a definite solid selection) is one of the first and most notable out there, with Midnight Sun in Alaska providing a plethora of choices in distinct styles of brewing with pumpkins. In sampling some their other beers (see Creme Brulee Stout) I've wanted to dive more into the Southern Tier fold and see what other treasures abound in their cave of brewing wonders. Now for starters this is the first, and only Imperial Pumpkin Ale I have tried to date, through all the other styles and all the other brands this is the first one of this type I have gotten a taste of. Now for the smell, the spices, and the brewing technique have been mastered to give this the smell of a freshly baked pumpkin pie. If your not a fan you should probably quit reading, but as I am a pie-fiend this smell does nothing less than titilate every sense in my body! The taste matches the smell pretty well to. It is a beer, although a sweeter beer, and it has a very strong ale flavor, for the beer portion I would say closer to an english style old ale. The base gives this a sweet flavor already, but up front are the fimilar spice accompaniments typical of this style ale. A very strong hint of nutmeg, possibly cloves mixed within the brewing process. Midway through that distinct pumpkin flavor starts to assert itself amongst your tastebuds palate, leaving a distinct aftertaste familiar to any fan of the festive holiday dessert. In my opinion it is a great brewing interpretation of a popular, if not immortalized part of American holiday dessert palate. I got mine at the Beer Junction in West Seattle, but I also know that it can be picked up at 99 Bottles as well. I know a couple of my friends have tried this particular ale, any counterpoints, or flavors I missed, chime in please, I am by no means classically trained in, well anything. I'm am as always just an experienced, and devote beer sampler! From what I have tasted so far Southern Tier is quickly becoming a top contender for king of the dessert brews. All are very hardy, and jam packed with sweetness. For a base go pick up Elysian's Night Owl, then after take a sampling of Southern Tier's Pumking. If your a pumpkin pie fan like me, I can almost guarantee you'll likee, you'll likee alot!

Iwate Kura Bakushu Oyster Stout

For this blog I decided to take a little beer excursion across the world's largest ocean. I have hopped the pond to bring you an entry from the land of Godzilla, and awkward tv game shows. This blog is about a beer brewed in Iwate Japan. I do not know much about this area, only that it lies in Northern Japan. Anyone with more knowledge, especially brewery related, on this area feel free to yell a couple more facts about me. Anyway I had been wanting to do one on some of the emerging craft beers coming from our neighbors across the Pacific, and I did not want it to be Sapporro either sorry if your fan, but quite frankly it's the Carona of Japan. This beer from Iwate Kura Bakushu is much more flavorful by far, and the best oyster stout I've had as well. It has a pleasent stout aroma to it, with a slight hint of smokiness to it. The taste is a nice dry stout, that has a small sweet chocolate taste to it. If you savor it in your mouth for a little while it is easy to start picking up a hint of a smoked flavor, but just slightly different. I do not have a ton of info on this beer but I am guessing it was made with smoked oysters, which lent it self perfectly to the beer as a whole. There are many flavors in this particular stout, but they are all slight hints, which makes the a very subtle, yet flavorful type of brew. It is also incredibly drinkable, and what I believe makes this such a great beer is that no one taste is overpowering. It is another prime example of how using the the proper ingredients in the right proportion can create an incredibly balanced beer. The beer appears to be a great stout as it is, but the slight sweetness, and oyster taste works perfectly in balance with how the beer is created. An example to give perspective is another oyster stout is one I drank made in Ireland, and blagh! It was horrible, it tasted like they plucked an oyster right out of the ocean and included in the brewing process. The beer was so briny it tasted like a mixture half beer half brine. For all you nasty beer salters, that may be the perfect beer for you pre-salted, but for all normal beer drinkers just nasty. Now I don't know how easy it is to find this particular one, but I found mine out of 99 bottles in Des Moines, and I don't really recall seeing it anywhere else. There may however be alot of these style beers popping up more frequently as I know many NW breweries are starting to brew these in an increased frequency. It's definitely different, and as this beer proves, can be quite flavorful as well. I highly recommend it, and say bravo to Japan this beer is about 20 times more exciting than a godzilla movie.

High Five Hefe

I have waited a while for this one. As far as hefeweizen beers go I have received nothing but praise, and raves about this particular version. I love this one as well! It is a another great ale that has pumping out quality ales since it's inception in the tiny little college town of Ellensburg, WA. For those of you who do not know of the brewerey with which I speak it is Ironhorse Brewery in Ellensburg, and they make one of the best sweet stouts I have ever had the pleasure of attaching to the taste glands of my tongue. This review however is of the their hefeweizen, which is one of the most flavorful entries I've encountered in quite some time. For starters I consider Pyramid Hefeweizen the benchmark by which all other Hefeweizens should be measured. In it's pure for it is the perfect mark of what a German style Wheat beer should be. This one gooses that genre, then sends it streaking into the atmosphere. I have yet to meet a person who does not agree that this is a great beer. It is a perfect summer beer, eary to drink, full of flavor, and not to heavy. Everything most people (including myself look for in a beer come summertime). Just like their Irish Death, Ironhorse combines the perfect amount of ginger and honey to create an incredibly flavorful beer. The odor spells out exactly what the beer is, in a snifter the sweet smell, combine with ginger and wheat base beer is extremely pungent. The flavor, well the wheat taste of a good hefeweizen is immediately apparent. Instead of adding a lemon during the inviving process, this one has added flavor during the brewing process. It comes out great the ginger and the honey combine to add a sweetness to the wheat beer that is almost seemless. The impressive part of this beer is that no flavor really overpowers the other, creating a complex beer with a highly desirable flavor, and smell. For lighter wheat beers the bar has been set, as this ale fit to finish creates a new standard of flavor and drinkability. This beer is easy to get in trouble with, I bought a case at the brewery, and a bottle is so easy that you forget that it is near 7% alchol what you are drinking! This beer is easily accesible from the brewery which is just off of I90 for those of you traveling, and has started to pop up at the specialty beer stores (99 bottles, Beer Junction, etc.). If you happen to catch it at your local grocery store, I highly recommend, neh demand you pick it up. Despite differing tastes in beers, every friend I have talked to, or given a bottle to, has come back blown away by just how smooth, balanced, and flavorful this light ale is! Ironhorse is central WA's great white hope, and they are starting to pummel the competition. I highly endorse getting to know one of our state's best kept secrets, and probably the best damn wheat beer on the mirco market. High Five is a leap forward that I didn't even say coming, bravo Ironhorse, bravo!

Alaskan Double Black IPA

Okay I know, I know Alaska doesn't always make the fanciest, or best tasting brews around. In fact with the mass prevelance of Alaskan Amber out there it almost seems as common place as Coors Light in any NW bar. There are however some shimmering examples that show their proficiency at forging premium brews, their barleywine for example is one of the smoothest around. It is for this reason that I chose a new Alaskan brew for this rant. The Alaskan Double Black IPA, this is the first example of an imperial black IPA I've sampled so far. For a good example of a Black IPA, or Cascadian Ale as it is also known, Deschutes Hop in the Dark, and Cascadian dark from Airways Brewing have all been stellar examples of what I believe this genre should taste like. Both those ales have a dark malt taste, but the same bitter, sharp hoppiness people come to expect from an IPA. With a double black IPA then one would expect an increase in these flavors, something stronger, and a might sweeter perhaps. The smell was sort of the first sign of what was to come when I tried this ale, it had that dark malt smell to it, and suprisingly still kind of yeasty as well, which I normally don't get with any kind of beer in the IPA genre so far that I've sampled. Finally the taste, it is unique, but I'm afraid while trying to hit that delicate balance that makes a dark IPA, Alaska may have floated a little to far towards the dark side. Yup this ale is practically hugging darth vader (a little treat for any Star Wars geeks who may be reading). This ale tastes like a slightly hoppy stout. Which isn't suprising considering the fact that the ale is trying to balance out the right amount of dark malt, with the amount of hops being added for the bittering effect. When one is trying to create something a little stronger, it naturally gets a little sweeter, and that is how this ale kind of became lost in a sea of darkness. If your looking for a smooth example of a stout with some slight hoppiness to it, then this is your beer. The fit and finish is well done, the ale is exceedingly smooth, and always a plus on my account is definitely not overcarbonated. It is a great ale, and I always appreciate when a brewery takes a jab at trying to create a new exteme beverage for us to have a go at. Fit and finish this is a well done ale, but if your looking for a truer example of a dark IPA this isn't your bird (sorry I'm feeling punnish for those who glanced at the Edgar Allen Poe motif of the bottle). It's definitely worth a try, and who knows a couple different batches and Alaska may really be on to something, but for now I'd have to say back to the drawing board.

Death Match Rocket Dog Rye IPA vs. He'Brew R.I.P.A. on Rye

Okay I'm just going to start by saying that this is now the second time I will be writing this due to an error occurring deleting this whole massive blog I just finished, in a word frustrating. Still I press on with a tit for tat battle of two very different Rye style IPAs. First off a little background for all those who may not be totally up to speed on all things rye. It is a grain, and when brewing it in beer it takes the place of some of the barley involved in the brewing process. Typically these ales leave a dry, grainy after taste, that have on more than a couple of occasions given me a wicked case of dry mouth. It also doesn't hurt that they are extremely hoppy, and bitter most of the time weighing in at healthy amounts of alcohol.
The first competitor is He'brew (Conney Island, NY) R.I.P.A. on rye. He'Brew typically makes alot of unique one of a kind beers, so they like to try a lot of new stuff. This particular Rye IPA has been aged in rye whiskey barrels as well, and created in a doulbe IPA style. The double IPA was to be expected the, the rye whiskey barrel aged not so much. What it does though is give this beer an awesomely smooth texture typical with alot of barrel aged beers. It also seems to taken out a lot of the dry flavor that usually comes from a Rye IPA. This one has been created so that it is not a knock you down kind of hop stength, but actually starting to lean more towards the sweet side approaching near barleywine, which is no real suprise with some of the stronger IPAs as they climb the alcohol percentage ladder. R.I.P.A. is definitely in that category listed at a nice hefty 10%, so pretty strong.
While our first competitor is dressed in nothing but class, our next competitor is coming in with cut off sleeves. Rocket Dog Rye IPA from Laughing Dog(Ponderay, ID) is what I've come to expect when reaching for a Rye IPA. Now Laughing Dog is a brewery that excells in all things IPA. They have a couple of different variations of imperial IPAs, all beers usually hoppy, usually bitter. This Rye IPA follows right along with that tradition. It has a very raw hoppy taste that leaves a real bitterness inside your mouth. The while having a very dry exposed feel to it, almost as if you skipped the brewery and just stuffed hops in your mouth! It smells hoppy of course, but with some overtones of that rye finish definitely present. After one sip your throat is drier, and that wonderful rye aftertaste has clung to every last tastebud on your tongue refusing to let you forget what just traveled down your esophogus. Bottom line is the Rocket Dog is the exact definition of what a Rye IPA should be in my opinion, a raw very unapolgetically strong flavor about it. That's not to say the He'Brew R.I.P.A. is bad, distinctively not, just very different from what I've come to look for when trying a rye IPA. It's smooth sweetness oozes class, but doesn't scream out in raw unbridled fury like the Rocket Dog does for this type of ale. I give my edge to the Rocket Dog, because it's exactly that strong distinct flavor I prefer when drinking this type of ale. Either way you really can't go wrong, so tip back one, the other, or both either way it's all golden.

Rye Deathmatch Rocket Dog Rye IPA vs. R.I.P.A. on Rye

All great artists much branch out into the fields of variety, man the ego is in overdrive tonight. There is a meaning behind my words, for this blog I will be reviewing two beers. Both a Rye IPA, and both done by accomplished breweries from very different areas. A little background information on Rye IPAs, which are made Rye added to the mix of barley during the brewing process. And to get even more basic Rye is simply another type of grain. Typically Rye IPAs have a very hoppy flavor that leaves a nice bitter aftertaste that is typically dry in feel. After about one beer I've had times where I'm tettering on cotton mouth with these types of beers. I guess is doesn't hurt that both are typically higher on the alcohol scale. Now let's get this blood match started and measure out the competitors. First we have Laughing Dog (Pendorey, ID) which does a ton of IPA varieties, and usually does them very strong, extemely sharp and very hoppy. The competitor is He'Brew (Conney Island, NY) which does a variety of strong unique flavored beers across the spectrum.
The He'Brew R.I.P.A. is listed in at about 10% alcohol, and it has the sweeter taste to back it up. The full description on the bottle calls it a rye double ipa aged in rye whiskey barrels. This beer definitely has the smooth, wet finish that typically comes with barrel aged ales. It had the sweeter flavor and nice finish that come with some stronger IPAs which fit right in line with description of the ale. If you let it linger in your mouth it eventually starts to let some stronger hoppy flavors in, but barrel aging is to smooth to let the strong flavor of the rye really grab ahold of the drinker.
That is where Rocket Dog's area to shine lies. This has the full bitter, extremely dry, hoppy taste that are typical of many of these west coast style rye IPAs. Now for my part I'm sure a bias is in here given these were the initial style rye IPAs I grew to become familiar with. But this beer dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts. It gave me the real dry taste, that almost feels like you simply dumped the bushel of hops right in your mouth and skipped the whole brewing process. Although it doesn't say the strength, the was a very raw, dry, style IPA and I would say it to is probably close to 10% alcohol area. The one thing I was really looking for with R.I.P.A. hit me immediately with the Rocket Dog. That rye grain aftertaste that lingers on the tongue after you drink it. The R.I.P.A. was simply to smooth, while the Rocket Dog wanted to stick to each and every taste bud possible all the way down. It lingers till the last possible minute within the confines of your mouth. It's that combination of these that make me declare it the truer version of an intense, raw, hoppy, dry IPA. It is in my opinion the definition of what this ale should taste like. Don't get me wrong though R.I.P.A. is also a wonderful ale, but just in a completely different way. I fully recommend it in fact, just be aware it's not going to have that raw nature to it, the beer is simply to classy for it. So either way you can't lose, but if you want that truly intense IPA taste of a Rye IPA stick with the Rocket Dog!

Miles Davis Bitches Brew

Well I've had quite a few interesting brews lately to say the least. That coupled with a little rampant insomnia, has created a perfect environment for me to spew out some more verbage on one of these said brews. While strolling the isles of The Beer Junction in Seattle the other day, I ran into another interesting entry in the brewer's arms race from Dogfish head. For those not familiar with this particular brewery they are most likely one of maybe two reasons to visit Delaware? Anyway they make a huge variety of extreme beers, and all sorts of different flavors. Whatever profit the owner makes in fact he's dumped right back into the brewery and discovering new concoctions for us beer lovers to enjoy. New for August the brewery has delved out yet another strong brew for us to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Mies Davis famous experimentational album dubbed Bitches Brew. In fact the cover of that same album is the artwork for the label on the beer itself. It's not very easy to find a weak brew from Dogfish Head, and why stop now, this little number weighs in at a healthy 9%, for those who need the math that's about 6 Schmidts deer beers. As with the album this beer is all about fusion of a ton of different flavors. First off the main background is an Imperial Stout, so the main, and most abundant flavor of this is going to be that robust sweetness that's typical with those particular types of ales. The next part is something I actually had to read up on, because quite honestly I know about as much about this beer as Sarah Palin does about Russia. Shockingly I even read up on more than just wikipedia, to find out what exactly Gesho root is. For you see it is one of the main ingredients of this ale. The beer has mixed in an element of Africa a beer/mead type of drink from Ethiopia called Tej or Tella. Tej is made with honey, just like Braggot, or a standard Mead, using that particular element as it's sugar base. Tej is also made with Gesho root, and it's made with that root because hops were not standardly available throughout Africa when this type of brewing took place. Thus Gesho root is the bittering element like hops are in most of our standard brews, but believe me it has a much different flavor to it. Now I've had other ales that replace hops with heather or even seaweed, but this was something that was a whole new experience. I am not sure how strong the flavor of such a drink naturally is when made with Gesho, but the stout does a nice job of tempering the flavor to something that us beer drinkers in the states can reach as a familiarity of flavor. The best way to describe the flavor is bittersweet, I don't know if it's just the way this particular drink fuses with the honey or stout, but it is something that I can't quite familiarize any other way. The bitter element is definitely there, but it has a sweetness to it that is not like hops it all, it has a complete lack of citrus quality, it is more like a sweeter type of fruit. The aftertaste on the backend is definitely stout though, once it's down your throat old reliable takes it's place among the flavor palette. Now I got this one at the Beer Junction, but I also heard it was available at 99 bottles, and I think there were only about 3 left so it doesn't seem to be in great supply if your adventuring for something unique and new to cross your tastebuds. If you are though I definitely recommend this one, usually upon trying a beer something streams into my head almost immediately, but this time I had to clear the cobwebs and come up with a way to describe this kind of ale. It is like nothing I've tried yet, which is something Dogfish Head does well, and in honoring an ecletic fusion album, they have most certainly created an ecletic fusion of brews.

Creme Brulee Beer

Jeez you miss a week or two and every one is a critic. Alright so I may have been a might stagnant in my authorings, but I have some interesting beers to go over, and actually many blogs worth of material from them. I have a newcomer this time to the repatoire, an offering from the Southern Tier Brewing Company of Lakwood....Gasp New York. Yup that's right a beer sent to us from the empire state, not to be mistaken with the crime infested hood that lurks beneath Tacoma. The full title of said brew is Imperial Creme Brulee Stout, and as they say in the text world OMG! This thing is both unique and worderful, and left me, well flabergasted at how to describe this entity upon my first sip. Now I've had some wonderful vanilla porters before from breweries such as the Harmon and a couple others, but none that did it in the guise of an Imperial Stout, and definitely none like Souther Tier did it. Texture wise this brew had the feel of a straight up cream stout. Now normally stouts tend to have a very smooth, wet, feel to them, but cream stouts feel like a soft pillow wrapped in snuggle fabric softener. They are the epitomy of smooth as far as any beer I've had, and this Imperial stout has that feel to it. Now on to the main event, the flavor is a tidal wave of vanilla, and it weaves itself immaculately within the concept of this particular imperial stout. I drank this from a snifter, and it smells like almost pure vanilla extract. Don't get me wrong the same robust taste of a normal imperial stout is there, but tempered with an equal vanilla taste this beer is almost a dessert! If ever there was a chance of truly making creme brulee into a beer, then this is it. The creators of this beer obviously had a taste target in mark, and they hit the bullseye so well they make robin hood look like a hack. Now as per usual with sweet brews this one tips in at a hefty 10%, so it's not exactly the beer of lightweights. It's pretty identifiable as the label is ladened with Earth's super beast the cow. I purchased this one at 99 bottles in Federal Way, but I've seen it at QFC, Top Foods, and a new beer store that is in West Seattle that's pretty good called The Beer Junction right by the QFC off of California. Anyone that is a fan of stouts, and looking for something that is definitely something different then this is your beer.

Widmer Prickly Pear Braggot

I was feeling a tad typey, and my last blog reminded me of one I've been wanting to write about for some time. I've seen this "specialty beer" in almost every supermarket around, so for those who wish to try it should not be hard to find. The beer I'm writing about is Widmer's Prickly Pear Braggot. Braggot is a meadlike beer, where the sugar being used is a sizable amount of honey. Naturally it should have a little bit of a sweeter flavor similar to anything else made with honey. Prickly Pear's grow on cactus' and are painstakingly disassembled for fruit in some areas, obviously where they have more cactus' than our lovely pacific northwest. When your using more sugars, typically you get a higher alcohol percentage, and this beer follows suit sitting at about 10% or so. Different, well definitely it is. There are a great many flavors mashing up and partying down in this Braggot. Now to stop dancing around it, I did not like this ale one bit. Not that I did not applaud the effort and something so different, but it did not taste that good, and parts of the Braggot had the usual ring of half-assedness about it that I've come to expect from Widmer over the last couple years. I've never tried a prickly pear juice before, but this ale just tasted bland, I am not entirely certain if that is the characteristic of that particular fruits flavor, but if it is then I am not a fan. The only hint of flavor is the honey from the standard braggot, trying with all it's might to bust through that glass ceiling of flavor, alas it is being mired and drowned in a sea of blandness. Now another friend of mine tried it, and said it was okay, but nothing special. To be honest considering how different our taste buds are I was expecting a better endorsement than that from him. The bottle says 10%, but like a fair amount of other Widmer beers I have had it tastes watered down. From something that is supposedly that concentrated I was expecting way more flavor, but it never came, essentially it's the dead beat dad of brews. I don't know if it's because of Widmer being so big, the fact that they were bought by In Bev, whatever this just straight up had almost zero appeal to me. For their next shot they need to go back, actually make a drawing board, and start attaching ideas to it. By the end I was starting to think I could get a more desirable flavor out of a can of Steel Reserve. Okay I'll quit picking on the little feller, but dear lord Widmer try again, and please do it with a little bit of what the rest of the world knows as effort, jeez!

Lip Stinger

Howdy y'all, I guess it's been a little while since I typed up my last little blog, let's just say July was a very busy and chaotic month. Alas I press on to blog about a different sort of beer I was weary on tasting. This month's entry comes to us via McTarnahan's brewery out of good old rose city. For those not aquainted with the history of random breweries so much, McTarnahans was a brewery that was once seperate, but then bought by Pyramid, then of course the Microbrewery back east that purchased Pyramid. Over time they've kept their tradtional beers going, a standard amber ale, and nice little cream porter. Okay beer, but definitely nothing that's too fancy. Over the past year and a half though the brewery has been churning out some specialty brews, like a great deal of other larger brewing companies have also tried to do. Though some of their new standards are pretty much pyramid clones, the specialty ones that usually come in a 22oz bottle have been suprisingly good. Now Redhook makes a couple good ones, parent Pyramid also is giving it a go, and Widmer needs to go back to the drawing board, out of these higher profile breweries I would have to say McTarnahans is doing a much nicer job overall. Now I'll say up front that I definitely not a fan of the beer I'm writing about, but I can see how others may enjoy it, and give a standing ovation with an Arsenio woot for brewing something that is definitely not the norm. Lip Stinger is a belgian style farmhouse ale fermented with peppercorn. Belgian farmhouse ales are a nice golden smooth ale, that tastes nice in the summer, has the usual beer accompaniments like lemon or other citrus flavors. It tastes close to like a hefe, or golden ale, with the difference being that nice belgian yeast flavor. This ale itself follows all those characteristics, smooth, light, golden, with the major difference coming from the peppercorn. There is no way to escape the flavor, when accompanied with a farmhouse style ale all accompanying flavors become immediately infused and refuse to be ignored. To me it tasted like someone had sprikled pepper in my beer, I'm already vigorously against salt in beer, and now I'll go ahead and add pepper to the list. And yes your tongue will feel a slight sting as you drink it, witch is a nice nitche if your into the gimmicky side of brewing. Like I said though, this beer is awesome in trying something completely different. It's refreshing to see McTarnahans sporting a massive set of cahones on this one. If you feel like some expensive marinade this could be a great beer to cook with I imagine, may have to try it out on a steak or something, or even better some beer battered halibut ggaaaa. Now I have seen some other beers that have been made with peppercorn as well, but they are usually a pale ale, or other beer that has other portions of it that will definitely blot out most of the flavor, as opposed to this farmhouse one which walks right up and staples it to your tongue. So my cudos, props, and salutations go out to one of Portland's older breweries that's staying true to the towns motto of being weird, and trying something different.

Beer Rant: Port Townsend Scotch Style Ale

Well for this review I kept going over all the light colored wonderful summer ales available out there to try right now. After a while I began to feel like a trash can being stuffed in with a rock trying to squeeze in a decision on all those other kind of ales, and so instead I went with a wonderfully malty repose to such an issue. Truthfully I've been meaning to do a review on what is one of my personal favorite of ales for sometime, but never quite fit it in till now. When one is overwhelmed go with what you know and love, and Port Townsend's Scotch Style Ale is something I definitely love! This scotch style ale literally kicked Boundary Bay's Scotch Style Ale right out from under it's crown to become the king of this style amongst the Northwest breweries. While Boundary Bay, and Silver City's are close (with charging strongly from the back), Port Townsend in my opinion is making fit and finish the best of these around our little beer hub. It combines that wonderful malty taste accompanied with a nice sense of sweetness that is sometimes lost when making a scotch style ale. The problem being that it has a malty taste that is all to apparent, or it has the more traditional sweetness that cancels out all the other flavors making the brew taste closer to a barleywine than a scotch style ale. This one balances brilliantly and has that familiar peat taste just like actual scotch. Again the flavor is never compromised as a beer though, that peaty flavor (or wood aged flavor as many of these ales are) never smothers the actual taste of what type of beverage this is supposed to be. The beer has a nice ruby-red/brown coloring to it, and overall silky smooth. It's the comfy-blanket of beers to be sure. While it is not labeled on the bottle, by rigorous self-testing (yes my sacrifice is your benefit I'll drink it as much as it takes to get the right answer) I would label this one at somewhere near 8% alcohol so your going to feel a little fresh and a slightly wobbly after inbibing of said brew. It has a very deep sweet smell to it to if you desire to try it from a snifter, just another little added bonus in this treasure trove. If your lucky enough I've even happened upon an Imperial version of this Scotch ale which doubled the entire experience of this brew, I've only found that on tap at the Parkway Tavern in Tacoma though. For the regular scotch style ale the bottle can be found at 99 bottles, Tacoma Boys, Metropolitan Market, and I've seen it at QFC a time or two so it is readily available compared to some other beers out there. As this is one of my favorite brews the next part is a great shame for me, of the 98 breweries in WA this is one of the few I still have not been to! The horror, it ravages my soul everyday. I press on though, if not for the illustrious reason of shouting the praises of said brew. So anyway you can run, hurdle, tunnel, ride a goat, whatever it takes, this is one of those brews I feel everyone should try. And yes that means everybody IPA snobs, this is a brew not to be snubbed.

Well July is a month for fireworks and explosions, so why not start out with a beer that has equal the amount of bang. My first selection for this month is another damn strong ale, this one is not far behind Dogfish Head's 120 min. IPA either. I'm going to file this in the section of throw your keys down and prepare to remain inebrieated for oh let's just say a smidgeon shall we. The name is Tokyo, named after a space invaders game in Japan from the 1980s so the bottle reads. The brewery it comes from is BrewDog in Scotland (not usually associated with Tokyo the game or city for the geo-culturally impaired), they make some of the most extreme beers in the world of which I've already written on a couple. Why the odd name? Well this brewery fancies itself as new-age material, with a lot of alternative themes, and artistic attributes about their company. They pulled out all the stops on this one, slapping on a very eary looking picture attached to the bottle as well. Down to the good bits though, this beer is an intense version of an imperial stout. Weighing in at 18.2% alcohol this little baby is definitely not a lightweight. At this amount of alcohol you may expect a grand amount of pure sugary sweetness to this particular brew, but no, for what it is, and how much alcohol content is contained within the intermingling flavors do a great deal in diminishing that overwhelming sugar taste that can have a beer dangerously close to tasting like cotton candy. Nope this little gal left the excessive make-up for the clowns, it is delightfully subtle in the beers approach to flavor. This Imperial Stout was aged in French Oak and made with cranberries and jasmine. Now I've had beers with cranberries before, mostly lambics, and they have been some of the most god-awful monstrosities ever brewed, most simply taste like somebody left cranberry juice sitting out in the sun for oh a couple months. I've only had one other brew made with Jasmine, that being an IPA made by Elysian, and that was good. Upfront the first taste that accompanies all the normal stout flavor is the cranberries and jasmine. The Jasmine presents a mild, but good taste all it's own, but the magic here is that it seems to temper that overwhelming cranberry taste from just overwhelming the drink. The flavor becomes much more subtle, and closer to a flavor produced when mixing cherries in with a stout, but with slightly more tartness to it. The Oak aging comes in to play as this delightful little number lingers in your mouth for a while. It makes the beer much smoother, as well as a nice finishing taste on the back end of the brew. I think this is also the final piece of the puzzle the wrangles in the cranberry flavor, another ingrediant that rounds out the accute flavor of the berry itself. While I have been talking about the addtional flavors, this is still a tried and true stout, and still has all that exceptional stout taste to it. What I truly appreciate about BrewDog is the constant expermentation, and the no fear attitude they present about beer constantly swinging for the fences with any brew they make. I myself have never played the so called space invaders game, or have any idea (even an artist) who the hell would ever try and make a brew metaphor for it, but I am really happy they did. And if Japan liked an old pixalated arcade game that most likely had square little squinting aliens, just wait till they get ahold of some of this, it makes all space invaders, and even godzilla seem like a pussies.

Beer Rant

A while ago I was asked by a friend to identify where a couple of beers may be found. One of those beers was St. Bernardus Prior 8 Watou. As I was strolling the isles of Tacoma Boys in Puyallup I happened to spy the same particular ale in question. I've had other ales by this Flemish brewery, but never this one specifically I believe (I've tried alot of beer, by the nature of the beast I'm not always remembering everything anymore). The name itself might not give it away to most readers, but this is a Belgian Dubbel ale. These and Grand Cru's are typically my favorites from one of mainland Europe's more spritely nations, the reason being simply they are darker style ales which are right up my alley when it comes to beer sampling. A tripel will tend to have a more golden finish once poured into the glass, and usually a little stronger Belgian yeast taste to it. All Belgian ales seemingly have the flavor of this very distinct yeast, and this Dubbel is no exception. However, what makes it different is a darker flavor that yields a stronger type of sweetness typical of higher alcohol ales that let the natural sugar flavors take a prominent role in the flavor. Though I can't be one hundred percent certain, on the aftertaste I can actually get a hint of nice malty flavor that unfortunately lacks in many Belgian ales, or fortunately I guess from whatever flavor standpoint one is seemingly coming from. The taste is not a sweet one to be sure, but nothing like the intensity of a barleywine, or similar strong type ale. It is a smooth sweetness made to be sweet and pleasureable, but not overwhelming, something I guess hundreds of years of brewing experience may learn to exact into a brewing science. Carbonated? You know it, as per just about every style belgian ale this one is definitely well carbonated. I will say though it was not a suffocating experience where some ales seem to think you would enjoy breathing the damn thing more than drinking it. For people who do not have a reflux problem like myself this will make a very well balanced carbonated brew. It is not as fragrant as many other belgian ales, but it did taste good out of two different style glasses I tried. For an experience with a nice head piece, I would go with a kwak style glass, for a more standard affair just a regular snifter glass will yield just about the same amount of fragrances, though not as extreme as the kwak style glass. Of many of the belgian ales I've tried this is definitely one of the better ones, extemely well-rounded, and an overall sensual drinking experience. Drinking this did let me admire how much the American Dubbel's are catching up, though not as well rounded some, example Pike, are getting very close to this type of finish and fit. Much like the history of our country it gets the job done, but definitely not as pretty. I will say though that the monk on the label looks like it was done in a very rockwellian style, at least one feature they may have stolen from us. In any case this is definitely a beer worth tipping back and having a couple of rounds, so praise the Flemish and drink up this wonderful Dubbel livation.

Beer Rant

Well I found myself unable to sleep this evening, a side effect of an ever changing shift schedule, and a weekend of festivals and celebrations. So I figured why not wittle away some of these sleepless minutes blathering away about some beer huh? For this blog I chose to write about a particular celebration that took place in May, a new operation referred to as Seattle Beer Week. The week was filled with events ranging from simple IPA fests at pubs like Duck Island Ale House, or Brouwers annual Sour Beer Fest (regrettably I missed the second one on opening day). Basically for one week it was good times with beer across many of Seattle's finer beer drinking locations. In honor of this new festival one of my favorite breweries of all time Hale's Ales, brewed a special Seattle Beer Week 2010 ale. For this initial outing the brewery chose to brew a double IPA. For the math challenged, or those of us who simply need a little mind break, a double IPA is alot like a regular IPA only usually near double the alcky percentage than that of a regular IPA. What's the difference between this and an Imperial IPA? Well nothing really their both crafted in the same manner, I will say this for IPAs each brewery, for each different variant, loves to make that hop soup taste a little different. This one while being strong in the alchol department as per usual with this specific type, does not have a smothering hoppiness to it. The overall drinking experience is rather smooth. For anyone looking for death by hop, this is not your beer. This Double IPA also does not have a strong sweetness to it that is typical with a great many stronger IPA types when the alcohol levels start to climb upwards in strength. Actually the best way to describe the taste of this one oddly enough is a smooth tanginess. It had that kind of edgy taste I'd assort with some apples or other kinds of acidic fruit, but not anything really like a normal hop flavor. Nor is it specifically the taste of lemon or lime you may find added quite frequently to these types of ales. It almost tastes like an IPA mixed with some flavoring from a bland can of minute maid orange juice. I know a strange description to say the least, but this Double IPA was not really standing out like the standard in this category in the least. I definitely say it's worth a try, it was not bad at all, just something different in an extremely overfilled category. The smell of the ale follows the taste, no strong hop stench or anything of that nature, just a really subdued tangy kind of smell, with a hint of hop to it. On the bottle there is a nice logo of the Seattle Beer Week image, with the standard Hale's logo naturally. The beer can be picked up at most places Hale's Ales are sold, I've seen it at all the specialty beer stores, and some lingering at a couple Fred Meyers and Top Foods around the area. It's also on tap at a good many pubs around the area, and also made an appearance at the Washington Brewer's Festival (another awesome festival all should attend) this weekend. Well for all you hefty IPA lovers out there, another molding of the hop is now available for you to saturate your mouths to, and taste something a little unique in an area of brewing that seems to have no ceiling, or signs of scarcity.

Beer Rant 120 min IPA

Well given that the Washington Brewers Festival is this weekend, I set myself in fine beer drinking gear weeks ago. Last weekend was my birthday, my friend Brooke, cousin John, and myself sat down to share a very special beer I haven't had in quite a while. To properly illustrate the effects of this beer both phsychologically and physically, I'm going to start off with a wonderful non-fiction story about my first encounter with it. I was in Tacoma Boys beer section when I spied a Dogfish Head 120 min. IPA. As you can read from yet another one of my wonderful photographs, it calls itself, "The Imperial IPA." Now it comes in your standard beer bottle, not a 22oz, or any other kind of mega-bottle. Nope just a plain ordinary size beer bottle, and although I did expect it to be quite a heavy beer I really had no idea what I was in for. So I sat down to a quick dinner then proceeded to drink this ordinary bottle, and oh about 15 minutes later I was stumbling all over my house knocking over bits of furniture here and there, basically acting like the drunken bafoon I had accidentally morphed into. The cause of this? Dogfish Head 120 min. IPA is 21% alcohol per volume!! I'll repeat that 21% alcohol, for all you wine drinkers check your bottle it's pretty rare to find any of that type of alcoholic beverage coming close to that percentage. Yes for all my smarts, all my know how, I was fooled by the mere size of a bottle. The taste of this beer is ultra smooth, with only a small tinge of hop taste to it. This beer is so hopped up, that it has broken through to the realm of barleywine flavor. And a great flavor it is! There are many people who find this beer almost unbearable, there is also a certain percentage who love the sweet smooth taste that a heavy style ale like this presents. It takes one hell of a beer to subdue the extreme hoppiness of the standard IPA, but this does the job handily. Dogfish Head 120 min. IPA is probably the only true balanced IPA you can get, the shere alcohol content enables the sweet flavor to stand toe to toe with the hoppy flavor. The smell is something resembling a mix of honeysuckle, and hop, not bad for a beer lover like myself, and definitely worth a drink from the snifter. Watch out though, the initial wif can knock you down almost as much as drinking the thing. The name, well it certainly does live up to the moniker of, "The Imperial IPA." My brave selective panel received the beverage to much delight, only one other who wanted some missed out, sorry dad maybe next time, be happy in knowing that the three of us were more than enthralled with the entire tasting experience. So if you have some spare time, and preferably some friends to help lift a little of the burden from this beast of a beer, Dogfish Head 120 min. IPA is something that should be done at least once in every good beer drinkers lifetime.

Beer Rant Dogzilla

Time to start out the month right, with a wonderfully brewed northwest IPA. Yes a wonderful dark IPA, ooooo let that burn in a little IPA lovers. Black IPA's are my personal favorite of the whole genre, but before any lovers of the traditional IPA begin to shun this particular drink, this offering from Laughing Dog brewery is pretty damn good, and well worth the taste. Laughing Dog is located in a small town in Norther Idaho called Ponderay, which is next to another slightly larger town called Sandpoint. This region is remote, beautiful, and now a great place to pick up some micro-brews thanks to a couple breweries. Laughing Dog in particular has hit the ground running, and you can pick up alot of their standards at many supermarkets across every state in the northwest. This one is one of their specialty ones that pops up whenever the bottle a batch, I purchased this particular one at Top, but I've seen it at both Bottleworks and 99 Bottles. Okay onward to the flavor, does it taste like your chewing hops straight off of the vine, hell no! There is no real sting, or overwhelming flavor you normally receive when dowsing your tastebuds with an IPA. Is it hoppy? Yes, all the traditional hop flavor is there. The big difference in this beer, is the stinging, citrus flavor is strong, it doesn't bite your taste buds like alot of traditional IPAs do. Instead it is subdued in this regard, so in actuality it almost seems to taste like a purer sense of what the hop truly tastes like. This is achieved in a nice balance in this particular one by a fair amount of roasted malt. I actually do not know this for a fact, except that the flavor strongly hints toward that direction. The roasted malt flavor is what really makes this exceptional, it brings out a raw flavor of all the ingredients including the hop. Smooth is what this beer permeates heavily, it puts down all the best pick-up lines, and seduces your tastebuds into a sensually pleasing ultra-smooth flavor experience. If you happen to have a snifter glass to drink this particular one with, enjoy because there is also a wonderful roasted smell to the beer as well. On their special ales they love to add some goofy little pics, this one is a black-godzillaesque dog attacking some city, cute and campy. For all the true hoppy IPA fans out there don't fret, Laughing Dog has a huge line of all IPAs, there all damn hoppy, and every one is a hop fans wet dream. I not only recommend this beer, but also the brewery, the service, beer, and snacks are all good. Hey if your skiier/snowboarder there is no excuse, the brewery is basically at the bottom of Schweitzer Resort in north Idaho. Tip back, let your inhibitions go, and be seduced by the smooth roasted malt, and hoppiness of Dogzilla.

Beer Rant

Welcome one and all, for this blog I've chosen a beer from a brewery that is one of the few reasons I'm really looking forward to visiting Boulder Colorado sometime in the not so distant future. The particular brewery I'm talking about is Avery, and they do make a wide array of beers for all of us adoring consumers to try. I've done a blog before on one I wasn't such a big fan of, but this special addition, barrel-aged beer, I am definitely a fan of. The bottle is quoted as saying, "Ale brewed with sour cherries and aged in zinfadel barrels, 100% brettanomyces fermentation." From that description I was sure I was stepping up to another sour style ale. For those who have not tasted, sour ales are usually just as the name describes sour. They go from complex tastes, and wonderful flavors, to something that tastes like warhead candy melted down and mixed with water. Like any beer they can be done wonderfully right, or god awful wrong. This beer was done wonderfully right, but did not have that intense sour taste I prepped myself for before trying. In fact it was a nice tart ale that was only slightly sour at best. It had a wondferful the taste was subtle so not to be overpowering/face puckering. The cherry flavor is mixed in well, with an ale prepped in a very belgian style manner. That harkens back to the brettanomyces fermentation, which is a style where spore forming form of yeast is used in the brewing process (for more see the ever accurate Wikipedia). It has that nice smooth flavor associated with many belgian style ales, which I'm sure loans itself well to making this a sour style ale that leans more towards the tart end of the taste spectrum. Anybody who knows me, knows I love barrel-aged beers, the complexity of whatever came before almost always lends itself well to just about any ale you combine it with. Zinfidel barrel flavor apparently is a match made in heaven for sour cherries, and just increases the smooth complex flavor and aroma you get with this ale. If you haven't picked up on it, use a snifter style glass, it smells just as good as it tastes. Carbonation wonderfully minimal! Sour style ales typically have a high alcohol concentration, this is no lightweight coming in at a respective 9.59%. For all those looking for a tasty alternative to their steele reserve, this wouldn't be a bad choice. I purchased this from 99 bottles, and I haven't seen it anywhere else in the area, so if your jonesing for one (as well you should) then your stuck headed there most likely. This is an increbily complex beer, that was crafted beautifully. For anyone wanting to try a sour without the intensity, this is the beer for you. It has an awesome tartness to it. Throughout the tasting your palette will range from sweet to sour, in both taste and smell. Avery trys alot of different beers, some are hits, and some misses in my opinion. This one is a nice hit, two thumbs up, with some bull horns raised in the air good. Looking for something different, then this is an excellent start.

Wow! Almost the end of May and I haven't written about a beer yet, these are indeed hectic times. No I'm not slacking, I mean something this in depth takes time and a huge amount of skill. You may think it takes seconds to photograph a beer, but it literally takes me a minute to get just the worse amount of light possible so each and every picture is horribly obscured with glare. Well with all seriousness it's nice to write about my passion, and this one is brought to you by a recomendation from a friend. I'll admit to being hesitant to try this, I always am when it comes to the fruit beers. And I know what your thinking, "Why don't you just drop the pink umbrella in your beer mug now, and start collecting care bears." Well normally that kind of attitude towards a fruit beer I would whole-heartedly agree with, but sometimes there's an exception. This Oatmeal Blueberry Stout from Buffalo Bill's Brewery is one of them. Buffalo Bill's you say? Well I did to since I had never even heard that utterance before, but flip over the label and you'll notice that it was brewed by Pyrmaid Ales of Seattle/Portland for Buffalo Bill's Brewery. That means you can pick this up at just about any local grocer, although I see it more at Kroger establishments (QFC, Fred Meyer, etc.). Bravo, is my first inclination towards the Pyramid revelation, I'm really happy to see them start brewing something different every once in a while. When it comes to beer I am a devote follower of variety being the spice of life, and IPA people quit whining try expanding your horizons for once. Well on to the meat and Potatos, as with any Oatmeal Stout this beer has a wonderful robust body that is very filling, and smooth at the same time so as not to make the drink feel overly heavy, or intense. The best part is that the blueberry flavor is very subtle, and woven in nicely to this style of brew. The flavor is tightly woven to give it a wonderful complexity that creates a very well balanced drink. It doesn't have an overly sweet taste that come from many fruit beers, and especially those taste bombs called Lambics. I believe it is a more tart type flavor that enables the two flavors to work well with one another, it's the type of berry that lends itself well to a dark rich beer. The only other flavor I know that has been able to accomplish this before are some of the dark cherry stouts and porters I've tried. Mad props, and tons of kudos go out to pyramid for working with a berry that is not blended traditionally as much as the cherry, yet accomplishing the same dark, robust, semi-sweet flavor that this drink envelopes. As another counterexample peppy sweetness of pyramid's apricot ale, will drive me away again and again. This Oatmeal Stout, well it will keep me coming back for more until my lips are locked around it, and I begin to slip it a little tongue to titulate the senses, so enjoy this wonderful offering from Pyramid's pseudonym!

Beer Rant

Well as you can plainly observe there is no ale currently in this particular growler. What was in it was a Cascadian Black IPA, and probably one of the best I've had to date. For those who have never seen a black IPA, they have a roasted malt and are typically as black as a porter or stout. They also have a more well-rounded taste to match the darker color. It's not the kind of pop-you-in-the-mouth hoppiness you get from uber-citrus IPA's that abound throughout the brewing world. In this one you can actually taste some of the other ingredients from the beer making process versus feeling like your suckling off of a hop vine teet. The hops in this one gave the beer a rather sweet flavor that was toned out and balanced by the finely roasted malt. The hop flavor was there, but not in a strong, stinging, citrus way that IPA's tend to lean towards. If I had to describe this one in a more basic it sense it tasted like the love child of a basic IPA, with a simple scotch ale, with just hint more of a sweet flavor roaming about it. There have been several breweries producing these Cascadian Dark IPA's lately, I've also heard it's for a contest to see which brewery can do the best, and this one is about the best I've had so far. Very smooth finish to go along with it, and it is just about the right amount of carbonation on the drink. Again, nothing overly done, and extremely drinkable for just about anyone no matter where their taste may lie on the beer-drinking spectrum. Airways brewing has only been open about 7 weeks, and they have a nice little tasting room in Kent. If you went to Hops N Props you may have also had a sip of some of their brews (I'm eagerly awaiting the Triple Chocolate Stout). It's in one of Kent's sprawling business parks (it wouldn't be Kent if it wasn't), just down West Valley Highway about a mile from the bridge that takes you to Costco or Home Depot down by Southcenter. They do have some food available, and a taster tray is only 3$! It's quite affordable, and the atmosphere is very friendly, and a very likable group of people. The down side on their beer, you can only get it at the brewery so far, and they are only open 4-8 Thursday through Friday. If you have some free time and want some good beer during those exact times then definitely make the trip, all there other beers were wonderful as well so it should leave no one dissapointed.