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.

Beer Rant

For this blog I wanted to redeem the Belgian Triple Style with one that could possibly just drive the margin of error back towards the high side. One of my favorite breweries is Fish Brewing in Olympia WA, so when I saw that they had brewed a Triple for one of their specialty Reel Ales, I knew I had found an American brewed Triple Style that should be up to the challenge. And challenge it did, my god I know a couple these styles from Belgium that could learn a lesson or two from the humble little organic brewery in Olympia. Carbonation, just the right amount, and if your a big drinker of Triple's you may even think it's a little underdone. It didn't hurt the smell of the drink either, the floral scent was perfectly fragrant out of a snifter style glass. In fact I could smell the raw ingredients of the beer better than a great many Triple's I've sampled in the past. The ale itself was silky smooth, it was like a gentle blanket of flavor across the tongue. This highly drinkable ale was a complete pleasure all the way through. The Belgian yeast flavor that is typical of just about all Belgian ales, was evenly woven throughout the rest of the flavor. For a Triple style this beer was the appitomy of equilibrium, nothing to out of the ordinary to spoil any of the other flavors. The barley and yeast flavors were melded into a wonderful array of strong flavors to give this the sweet, and bold taste that are typical of a good Belgian Triple in my opinion. Strong, well it just would'nt be a Belgian if it was not, this one weighs in at a respectable 10% alc. It doesn't taste the strength that it is though, it's the stealth bomber of beers. The alcohol in this will sneek through and knock out your senses with a decent helping of alcohol before you even know it, one will due for just about anyone quite nicely. If I had to put any negative on this, it would have to be the name. Monkfish although nice and punny given that it is a Belgian style Triple Ale which was developed by monks, is also the name of probably the nastiest tasting fish roaming the sea. This ale is definitely not nasty in flavor, just attitude. For me it would almost be on par with naming one of your beers pigeon shit brown ale, or rotten tuna sour ale. To all other breweries please I beg you, no puns! Their only clever to you for a minute and loose their appeal immediately to anyone else that reads it. Other than that this is definitely one I recommend you run out and buy as soon as possible, it's more Belgian than most Belgians I know.

Beer Rant

Okay I have another rant about one of Big Sky's limited edition bottle condition like the Ivan the Terrible Imperial Stout. This one is Buckin' Monk a belgian tripel style ale. After trying Ivan I was amped, and giddy as a school girl to try this, and was left a bit dissapointed. The other specialty ale I had was so good, maybe it left my expectations running a bit to high, but the best I can say about this tripel was that it tasted completely ordinary. There was nothing about this tripel that screamed extraordinary, or unique, my tongue simply felt the equivelent to hopping on a bus to ride to work, completely unsatisfied. It didn't taste bad, but simply a baseline style belgian tripel. All the usual tastes are there, the belgian yeast, barley, hops, etc., but I definitely would not classify it as special which the presentation and bottle seem to scream, and after Big Sky's last ale I tried, fully what I anticipated out of this ale. It does have a very strong fragrance to it, so as far as smell goes you will be satisfied. I don't know about anyone else out there, but smell is reletively low on my reasons for choosing the style of ales I like. The reason for the fragrance though, is something I deeply dislike, I equate it to clown paintings, and driving past a dairy farm, and that is carbonation. This is hands down the most carbonated ale I have ever had! Drinking belgians, especially tripels, I fully expect to have a carbonated effect, it's part of what makes them what they are, and adds a fullness, and enriching factor to the entire palette of the beverage. Buckin' Monk made me feel like the Big Sky brewing company was trying to inflate me, it was so bad I could taste more air in each gulp than actual liquid. Now it does have a wonderful "Where's Waldo" type cartoon on the front depicting a bunch of Belgian Monks, drunkenly riding a rodeo training barrel. Which is kind of cool, but other than goofy artistry I don't see a sensible reason not to have a better tripel and probably at a lower price, oh but if you are looking to get tipsy the 11% on the bottle can help you accomplish that I guess. There were only 3000 of these made, THANK GOD! Would I recommend this, no, but would I stay good with Big Sky, yes. There Ivan the Terrible stout was so good, they deserve to have more than a couple screw ups. So let's just chalk this one up to bad batch, and I'll toss em a do over on this time. For this one though I'll have to say Big Sky should do the brewing equivelant to the walk of shame back to Missoula.