Jul 19
Full Sail comes to me via trades, usually with the west coast. Special thanks to Wasatch for this one. Full Sail has a distinct place in a very busy brewing part of the world. Oregon boasts more craft brewers per capita than any other state, and Full Sail has been at it since 1987, longer than most. I've had their flagship amber and it's nice. This Imperial Stout is part of the brewer's reserve line that changes every year, so it was now or never for this one. So many beers, so little time. As the bottle and website promise, it pours "black as night". The smell is typical of imperial stouts, but the flavor is not. The smell is dominated by malts and you can sense the chocolate and coffee flavors in there as you inhale. My criteria for judging an imperial anything is partly whether or not I can taste the alcohol. In this one you can. It's actually a bit pronounced, considering that it's only 8% ABV, but I've had worse. The malty notes are there, but the 65 IBU's jump up and demand attention like a kid in church. It's a nice attempt, and many hop lovers will enjoy the final product. I could have used fewer hops, but I did like it. I gave it 7/10.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
Jul 19
Cisco is a brewer on Nantucket. Since the island is small, they are also the winemaker and the distillery. Now if they can just block imports, they'll have a monopoly. (Wait for laughter)
The brewer has a range of beers that is quite respectable and those I've had have been very good. Bailey's Blonde is named after their lab - another brewer really enamored with their dog. Oh well. The real problem with the beer is that it is an IPA trapped in a blonde body. It pours a nice amber, gives a nice hoppy citrusy aroma and a crisp hop-heavy flavor. IPA lovers and hop heads will be quite content with this beer. None of them is likely to try it because it's labeled as a blonde ale, which hop heads know to be a malty beer. Malt lovers like me are inevitably going to be let down by expectation, even as I learn to appreciate the hops all the way up to double IPA's. Pour it into a glass, call it an IPA and everyone will be happy. Note to Cisco: the brewing department is doing a great job, but check into the sampling habits of the labeling department, love ya, babe. My scoring scale is an absolute scale and is entirely personal, so grading it as an IPA won't help it, but I simply thought of it as an IPA very soon into it, and gave it 7/10.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
Jul 14
Harpoon is in the first third of a 100 barrel series of specialty, small batch beers. I reviewed number 30, the oyster stout (review #162). This is a fantastic ESB (Extra Special Bitter), which is not normally my favorite style. This beer is number 31 in the series, and does not put the 'extra special' on the bitter. It pours a deep copper, almost a brown ale color. The aroma is very malty and spicy sweet. It reminded me of some of the winter beers that are my usual favorites, including Harpoon's winter warmer. But we don't get the beer for the aroma, do we? The flavor follows with malt in the initial taste, and a sweet spicyness, almost fruity, but that's a subtle designation - this isn't a fruit beer by any stretch. Then the hop follows through to perfectly balance this flavor package with that touch of bitterness. Very nice. One interesting note is the single hop. They claim a Delta Hop, a "new American variety". I haven't heard of it, which means nothing, but it may be the secret to this beer. I'll have to ask some ESB fans what they think. I liked it, and that's something since during summer, I prefer smoother, maltier beers. Too bad it's not available year round. I gave it 9/10.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
Jul 10
Average. That's my middle of the road assessment of this beer. Shipyard is rapidly making inroads across the nation. I've seen this in Maryland for a while now, and recently I took a trip to Mobile Alabama were I could not find an Alabama beer, a Florida craft beer, but I could find Sea Dog, a Shipyard division. It is currently the largest craft brewery in Maine (now located in Portland), and is the 16th largest craft brewery in the US. They started in Kennebunkport in 1992. Not bad progress there. The skinny on their styles is that they use the same yeast strain for all of their styles. Yeast not only ferments the alcohol and CO2 in a beer, but like the malt and hops, the various strains give characteristic properties to beer. When I had this one, I was not sure what it was that I didn't like much. The reviews on BeerAdvocate indicate that perhaps this ale does not work well with this yeast. I don't know. What I'm sure of is that the beer is a gold color, leaning a bit towards copper. The flavor was malty, with minimal complexity and almost no hop, but it was hopped for balance. Some reviewers complained of over-carbonation, but I didn't find this to be the case. Average for the lack of complexity. Something's not working here, but I can't say for sure what that is. 7/10.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
Jul 8
The full name of this beer is Charlie, Fred & Ken's Bock, and it's an Imperial Helles Bock, according to the label. It is the second of four releases this year commemorating Sierra's 30 years in the business. See my review #186 for the first one, a very nice stout. This one pours an uncommon dark gold or light amber, not quite copper. I poured mine into a crystal rocks glass and it looked like a gem. It has a rich, creamy aroma of malt, alcohol and mild hops. The taste follows suit with a very creamy mouthfeel - it took some getting used to, but I liked it. The creamy feel is unlike any helles I've had, and bocks don't typically have that so strongly as this. The alcohol I could barely detect, so it's a beer to be cautious around, though at 8.3% ABV, it's no record breaker. It is a well-rounded and balanced, complex ale, that at turns reminded me of lagers and of ales. I have no idea which methods or yeasts were used to produce this flavor but it truly stands out - high praise in a land of beers trying to stand out. I give it 8/10, a strong showing, but not my favorite.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
Jun 23
Smell - Yuck
Taste - Yuck
Mouthfeel - Yuck
Drinkability - Yuck
They should change their tag line to "The gift of great beer, and also Lucy." Did anyone else notice the stormy scene on the label?
Ok, seriously, what were they thinking? This beer was drain-pour material. No complaints about the appearance, so there's that. It smelled bad and tasted worse. I couldn't pick out the ginger or coriander, but the lime was there and dominated, which is why it's reminding beer tasters of cleaning products (see BeerAdvocate.com). The website promises that it will remind you of summer days at the beach. It didn't. Terrible. Save your time, your money, your tongue. Save your self. 2/10, I give it a point for being beer in the first place, and one point because in other circumstances I like limes.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
www.starrhill.com
Jun 23
Brooklyn's Black Ops is one of the great mysteries in the beer world. You will find no information about it, not even a cloaked reference, on the website. It is an bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout, produced in small batches. One rumor is that the founder, besieged with administrative concerns, concocts a batch each year just to keep his skills sharp, and the type and style of beer changes each year. According to BeerAdvocate however, it's been the same style since 2008. I came across it at my beer retailer and had admired it sitting high and alone for several trips to the store, before inquiring and picking it up. Between the cryptic label and online sites, I can be reasonably sure about the bourbon aging (from the taste as well), the imperial stout and that champagne yeast is used for secondary fermentation. Fancy stuff. Black ops checks in at 11.6% ABV, and you can tell it's high. This alcohol balances out the malt sweetness present and gives the beer
a good character. The alcohol is more present than my preference, which is a minus. The bourbon does indeed seep into this beer in the flavor. I am pleased to report that said bourbon is subtle, which is a plus. There is a lot of complexity going on, I'm not even sure how to begin to describe it. The beer is dark as a club, and invites you in with the aroma of a far gentler stout - malt, vanilla and promises dominate. It is my favorite bourbon-barrel aged beer, which is saying something. I gave it 9/10, which may be unduly influenced by high expectations.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
http://www.brooklynbrewery.com/
Jun 21
For Father's Day, we had a nice gathering of family with a few delicious, warm weather beers. One of them was the Jever Pilsner. Jever is a brewer in Jever, Germany, taking its name from the town, typical of German Brewers. The beer is very clean, straightforward and refreshing. It is a typical example of a German pilsner. Straw-yellow in color, with a smooth, malty aroma. The flavor is similar with that mild hop chase. Pilsners have become such a ubiquitous style that its difficult to distinguish them. It doesn't help that the Germans came across something good (from the Czechs, in this case), and passed all kinds of laws so that it never changed. From 2010 America with craft experimentation running gloriously rampant, it's hard to appreciate this mentality. Jever serves its intent: make a good tasting beer that delivers what Germans want: predicability. European pilsners are just a bit simple for my current taste, but they are very refreshing on a hot summer day or evening, and they make the perfect introduction to better beers if you have one of THOSE friends. 8/10
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
http://www.jever.de/
Jun 21
Mephistopheles is a great name to say. If I ever hear about a living thing with this name, I have little interest in meeting. However, a brew with this name is not to be missed. I had this some time back on my quest, and give it the honor of blog number 200. Mephistopheles, of course, is the prince of darkness; one of many names for the devil. The beer, a strong imperial stout, is a prince of darkness itself, allowing just enough light to escape to make it appear slightly brown in the glass. This stout gives the taste that it's high in alcohol, maybe 9% by taste. Not surprising, the deceiver is at work here. There is a strong malt aroma and taste, with sweetness first. A chocolatey goodness that can turn a sinner. There's no real hint of hops, as the alcohol gives the beer its bittering balance. Ah, yes, that. Mephistopheles checks in at 15.1% ABV, the strongest beer I have had yet, but it didn't feel like it. I typically don't like imperials because of the alcohol, and much prefer any that can hide it. This beer balances both realms. I found it to be quite angelic. 9/10.
Drink Beer, Be Happy.
http://www.averybrewing.com/
