Game of Thrones

Yup it's around that time where I'm brewing have a little time on my hands, and instead of school would love to write about something I truly love to spill words out of my mouth for....beer! Now for this one I decided to go hyper-nerd beer, I'm talking this one won't be trumped until someone has the legal rights to either go chewbacca's deep sensual brown ale, or Harry Potters blonde hemp ale (I'm sure both of which are currently being tossed around crazier heads than mine). No for this one I went into a category of nerdom that has caught fire across the United States, the Game of Thrones beer brewed by Ommegang in New York. Now for the most part I'm not the biggest fan of alot of the east coast brews, sometimes they just seem to lack that flavorful zing that the west coast beers just pop you in the mouth with. Since I'm a fan of the books (read every single one and eagerly await the next), and watch the show (best adaptation ever!), I felt an almost orgasmic drive to review this beer. This initial offering is a nice Belgian Golden Ale, or Blonde as it's labeled on the body. Also of note the second one is already getting ready with it being called the Night Watch Stout, I'm hoping a nice robust offering for the red wedding red beer I'm sure is coming hopefully in a much better setup and not as punny as I'm sure it has the ultimate possibility to sound like. Now upfront the beer accomplishes what it should as a belgian, it has that wonderfully lighty yeasty floral scent that the belgian yeast and beers do a wonderful job of accomplishing. It also seems to have a nice scent of zest or possibly lemon grass that tickles the nose perfect to set the mood in the early summer. The taste is the usual semi tastful blonde base that really needs the right combination of herbs and hops to really give it a character of it's own to make it more appealing then a mike's hard lemonade that's been aging in the sun for about a month or two. This one tends to have a real herbal sharpness to it upfront, which uses probably an herbal hop like hallertau to accomplish (some people are a fan, however I am but only in a powerful beer where that flavor does not decimate all. I'm not sure if they used any but on my tongue the late after taste gives the sort of juniper berry flavor, though light and not overpowering which I am a fan of, which could be the "spruciness" the bottle seems to claim. Lemon peel was added but mostly as a scent characteristic in my mind, you will not get the flavor of a blue moon, or wailua wheat (please don't judge I'm in Southeast Idaho and they were the best I could think of examples, I may cry if I dwell on this point to long). It's a real interesting mix, though not my favorite belgian blonde I've ever tasted. I'm really hoping the next ones blow my socks off because you would think in a specialized series with one offs you'd be making something pretty unique and not well done. My advice try harder and get off the little bus, I've had good beer from this brewery before so no excuses and come up with a stronger, richer recipe and not one that could be achieved by anyone coming off a peyote bender. Now onto the bottle artwork, now here is where the nerd part of me is just fainting like a little girl with this brew. The iron throne with some wonderful background art, and the game of thrones in golden writing, OMG OMG OMG!!! Hahahaha a little over the edge but I love it. I'd say it's worth a try if you come across it and it's not to ludicrously priced but if not you can find better in the belgian styles (try sound brewing). The nerd in me says must have though, like some stupid fish I took the worm, and have now been mounted for the glamour shot. Sit down grab a snifter and allow your nose to take in Westros.

Tanglefoot English Style Ale

For the most part many of the Idaho brews I've had haven't captured some of the punch I get from the let's say more flavorful entries that some Washington and Oregon breweries offer up. To be sure there are some examples of some some more complex and harder beers but not a lot. One that seems to be getting closer to it's neighbor states is McCall brewing with a fair amount of the beer they offer that I have had. For this one I chose their winter beer which is labeled a English Style Ale, which for the most part of a lot of other southern Idaho beers I've had makes many of the others look like they've been caught pulling their pants up and hurriedly scurrying off in the morning like a classic walk of shame. Which the label kind of alludes to which looks like a turn of the century pictorial of England with a sloppily drunking man trying to stagger upright, a kid who looks like a monkey, and an old hag which shows the remarkable abilities that have made the British dental system the superior force that it remains to this very day. The visual does intrigue and gives an inviting feel to with a wink in it's eye that makes you think it'll be a good beer, and it truly is. The name is very undescript as there are many English style ales, I believe this one was shooting towards that of an English Style Old Ale, which are awesome and for those unaware think of it as a bold malty type of barleywine as a comparator. This one comes close to actually achieving the British style alcohol level sitting at 8% which in comparison would be close to say Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine. When you get a that opening whiff of the beer upon opening and a couple swirls you'll get that sweet punch to the nose that comes from a brown sugar or molasses. The flavor is a nice bold malty ale that leaves that sweetness sticking on your tongue and giving you a fairly balanced look of being not to sweet like some of the harder style barleywines. It warms the belly nice, and won't knock you over in one shot like Old Schoolhouse Barleywine will. It has a nice brash maltiness I love in these beers that I think get's lost in the translation sometimes with the incredibly smooth examples such as North Coast's Old Stock Ale. A bit more slightly carbonated to, which slows down the tasting experiences and allows the sweetness to kind of linger on the palate, it warms right up and after a thrilling experience sticks around and cuddles your mouth to satisfaction. I'm sure in a bigger market like Boise it costs a whole lot less, in Pocatello here though it got a little pricey at 9$ for the bottle which for the money back home equal up to some other great beers for that price, but I'm just happy it's here for me to buy! On their own description of the bottle they say the beer is balanced with hops for a nice floral and sweet offering. I don't know if that was the weed they were smoking at the time but they may need to lay off the pipe because it's about as warm and floral as a Hippo. Another reason I write these just because you add a floral hop to the brew and expect a floral sensation, and trick your mind into it, doesn't mean it happened. That being said awesome beer that I'd be happy to spoon with again anytime, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice molassey, winter beer. In actuality I hope they never try and balance it more, that would make it a more west coast style barleywine, and if they want that then they should just let their testacles descend and make one in the lineup, their other beers are very enjoyable I'm sure it'll be a wonderful offering to that anyone will love to get ahold of down one of these meaty 22 oz long necks. Your on your way Idaho keep going, the little kid in the bunch is growing up and pretty soon that voice will quit cracking.