Beer Log: Feb. 14-28, 2013

Beer Log: Feb. 14-28, 2013

Feb. 14: Tonight’s Beer: Pelican’s: MacPelican’s Wee Heavy Ale: Described on the bottle as having half the water and all of the malt of the MacPelican Scottish Ale. So, essentially, the high powered version. It pours dark brown with a ruby hue. The head is thin and lacey. The scent is richly malty – sweet caramel. The flavor is exceptionally delicious –sweet with hint of tartness and veiled alcohol. There is also a lightly toasted marshmallow flavor, along with lightly roasted coffee, and brandied cherries.  While the flavor of the alcohol is hidden well, the feel of it comes through in the thickness and richness of the beer. The bottle does not list the ABV, but it has to be over 9%. The more I try from Pelican, the more I am impressed by their craft.

Feb. 18: Tonight’s Beer: Knee Deep’s: Simtra Triple IPA: One of the few bottled triple IPAs available and the only one I’ve seen. It was recently listed as one of the best 5 triple IPAs available along with Drake’s Hopocalypse Black label (which I have yet to see anywhere). The color is golden-orange honey – mostly clear, but with some cloudiness. The head is very limited and dissipates quickly. The aroma is highly citrus, mostly grapefruit. The taste is exceptional. It starts with a bright grapefruit citrus flavor with a backdrop of pine. The pine becomes more dominant as the sip settles in. As that happens, the malt, which was initially hidden also comes to the fore in tandem with the pine. The malt is an earthy sweet that also has a deeper bitter roasted flavor to it. The beer is also sneaky strong. At 11.25% ABV, you generally expect a more dominant alcohol presence, but not here. The balance of flavors keeps the obvious alcohol flavor at bay. It also sports an impressive 131 IBU. The more I try from Knee Deep, the more I like them.

Feb. 19: Tonight’s Beer: Knee Deep’s: McCarthy’s Bane Imperial Red Ale: Well after a day of discussing Cold War-era anti-communist paranoia, this seemed the right beer at the right time. I’d read a blurb about this one in a Portland beer magazine and was intrigued so I picked up a bottle at BevMo. It is a deep ruby red, almost brown color with a limited head. It has an excellent floral-citrus scent with a hint of pine. The balance of hops and malts is fantastic! The deep caramel sweetness with a hint of burnt sugar matches up well with the floral-pine hoppiness. It finishes with a deep earthy bitter. There is also a rye spiciness. (OK, turns out this is actually from rye – not listed on the bottle.) As much as I enjoyed the Simtra, I really love a beer in which the malts and hops share the spotlight and accentuate each other. This is an exceptionally well balanced beer. 8% ABV. 80 IBU.

Feb. 23: Tonight’s Beer: Moylan’s: Hopsickle Imperial Ale (Triple Hoppy):  The beer is all about the hops and boasts the use of Tomahawk, Chinook and Anthanum hops. The color is a cloudy deep honey-gold with a light thick lacey head. The scent is somewhat floral and very fruity – both citrus and apple cider. The flavor is hard to nail down. The malts are somewhat sweet with a bit of a caramel flavor. The hops are mostly bitter, particularly the earthy variety. Somehow the flavor drops off – it seems like there should be more to it than there is. Despite the high ABV at 9.2%, the beer feels almost thin and has a watery feel to it. There is a softness at the edges of the flavor – I really don’t know how else to describe it. It is a strange phenomena. The hoppiness is respectable, but isn’t supported by the rest of the beer – there is too much of a disconnect between the disparate parts for it to be a satisfying whole. It feels like the equivalent of a limp handshake.

Feb. 26: Tonight’s Beer: Pelican’s: Tsunami Stout (bottle): Deep black with a deep tan creamy head. It has a subtly sweet roasted aroma with a hint of citrus. The flavor initially shows citrus, but quickly the dark espresso flavor takes over. The espresso aftertaste that lingers is quite wonderfully delicious. Smaller sips are more citrus and there is a somewhat metallic note. With smaller sips the alcohol comes through, but just a bit. I don’t find the same bourbon character as I experienced with the draft version in the pub.  I see on the bottle that it was bottled back in Nov.; I suspect that this one would be better served by consuming it when fresh. It is still a very good stout – worth it for the lingering aftertaste alone – but not as impressive as it was when fresh at the brewery.

Feb. 27: Tonight’s Beer: Knee Deep’s: Knee Deep in Beer Week 2012 (With Track 7 Brewing; Sacramento, CA): This is a collaboration beer between two central valley brewers. It is a light honey gold color – very light complexion and wonderful fruity-floral aroma. This is an amazing beer. One of the best I’ve had recently. It has the mild yeastiness of a Belgian beer, but it is mostly American IPA. The flavor is sweet and fruity with a backdrop of pine. The finish is a tart citrus that ends in bitterness. Oh, tasty, deep bitterness. 9.1% ABV. 101 IBU. Btw: on the side of the bottle it describes the beer as a Belgo American Imperial India Pale Ale. Another winner from Knee Deep!

Beer Week Adventure:

Beer Week Adventure:

Feb. 13: Beer Adventure: Harry’s Hoffbrau: Stone Tap Takeover.

Amazing.

So many offerings.

Tried:

Anise Imperial Russian Stout

12/12/12

Collaboration IPA with Drakes. This was fizzy with a floral piney flavor. It had a light, ethereal hoppiness and a tasty pepperiness. No ABV listed. Dry hopped with Centennial. Delicious.

Beer Log: Feb. 3-12, 2013

Beer Log: Feb. 3-12, 2013

Feb. 4: Tonight’s Beer: Big Sky’s: Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout: It’s been a while since visiting Big Sky, so it’s time. I like their use of northwest imagery and animals in their naming and artwork. Their elk looks like a cow with antlers. This stout has a nice thick, creamy tan head. The scent is deep roasted coffee with a very subtle hint of licorice. The first sip sets up a delicious smoky, slightly tart flavor. The coffee smoke lingers in the aftertaste and envelops the palate. It has a somewhat dry character and isn’t as sweet as some stouts. This one would hold its own nicely against many of the fine offerings in the American stout family that are now available (Ninkasi, Firestone, Bear Republic, Pelican, 21^st Amendment, Stone, Alameda, Oakshire, etc.). 5.4% ABV.

Feb. 5: Tonight’s Beer: Cascade Lakes’: Project X NW Pale Ale: Honey Gold color with a pleasant floral scent. The taste grabs your attention. There is a robustness to it that makes you take notice and devote your focus. It has a well-rounded sweetness that is entwined with a floral-citrus hoppiness and a mildly bitter finish. The balance and partnership between the hops and malt is quite wonderful and unusual – in most beers, one element tends to dominate.  It lists Mt. Hood, Tettnanger, and Cascade hops. 5.6% ABV. 41 IBU.

Feb. 6: Tonight’s Beer: 10 Barrel Brewing’s: Hop Rye’It IPA: So, this is the first offering I’ve tried from 10 Barrel, another Bend brewery. Aside from Deschutes, there are now a significant number of Bend breweries (at least a dozen). I’ve seen their stuff when I’ve gone up to Oregon, but had not yet picked one up. I got this one from Belmont Station on the recommendation of another patron who seemed to know what he was talking about. And I love ryes, so, it was an easy sell. The beer has a copper penny color, bright and orange hued. The aroma is almost like hard apple cider. The foam light and lacey. While the initial flavor does indeed have a slight apple cider character, it also is strongly rye – it has the familiar savory rye flavor offset with a sweet caramel maltyness. While it is billed as an IPA and there is a bit of bitterness, there is also a delicious citrus, almost mandarin orange, flavor. Lovin’ it! 6.5% ABV.

 

Tonight’s Second Beer: Widmer Brothers’: Columbia Common (Spring Ale): Got this one at Belmont Station. They let you take any beer as a single. Love that place. So, this one is a light copper color with thick head. The scent is floral, almost rose. The flavor, likewise, is almost like rose – sweet and floral. Nice pleasant beer with a good complex taste for such a low alcohol beer (4.7% ABV).

Feb. 7: Tonight’s Beer: Full Sail’s: Brown – Nut Brown Ale (FS Pub Series – Available only for 90 days). Another Belmont Station purchase. I was told by another patron that this is the original pub ale produced by Full Sail. It pours nice and brown – about the color of a cola. There is a light tan head that dissipated quickly. The flavor is very sweet with a bit of burnt caramel and a note of bourbon. A slight hint of alcohol comes through, but very slight and pleasant. Finishes with a tart nibble, almost citrus. Someday, I must get to Hood River. 6% ABV.

Tonight’s Second Beer: Snowshoe’s: Thompson Pale Ale: Honey golden color with a small creamy head and floral piney scent. Appropriate for a mountain brewed beer. The flavor had a juniper-pine taste. It is almost like a rye with a slightly savory pepperiness. The flavor ends with a mildly earthy bitter. Good balance of hop to malt. The Brown is a good beer and I generally like browns better than pales, but this is a very strong contender and is a better done version than the brown.

Feb. 9: Tonight’s Beer: Russian River’s: Janet’s Brown: I tried this as part of the Martinez Santa Crawl back in Dec. 2012. But, didn’t write about it at the time. Apparently it was a collaboration between a home brewer in the Martinez area who is connected to their brewery based internet radio station and Russian River. So, when I was up at Russian River during the Pliny the Younger release, I filled my growler with it. Turned out to be an excellent decision. The color is relatively light for a brown. It is about the color of a watered down cola. Or perhaps a very dark amber. Either way, it is an excellent color. The pour reveals a thick creamy head and nice cascading action. The flavor is about the best brown I’ve had – caramel, and roasty, with a light hoppiness. It starts sweet with an almost chocolate influence and ends with a tasty earthy bitterness.

Feb. 12: Tonight’s Beer: Drake’s: Hopocalypse (Double IPA): An annual release from Drake’s that is very popular. It has a light copper hue, orange and gold. The head is thick and foamy. The aroma is piney and floral. This is a very hoppy beer at over 100 IBU, and a strong beer at 9.3% ABV. The flavor is piney and bitter – sharply, harshly, bitter. All hops all the time with this one. Not at all subtle. Nope. You’d barely recognize that there are any malts at all, so dominant are the hops in this here beer. But, the aroma is wonderful and the taste impressively hoppy. There is a somewhat rye-savory character as well. Upon looking at the description on the bottle, this makes sense since the beer uses rye in addition to four other malts (American 2-row,  English Pale, Vienna, and Crystal). The hops are German Magnum, Citra, and Chinook. The dry hopping hops (that dominate the aroma) are the same with the addition of Columbus hops. With more sips, the malts do make more of an appearance as the palate accommodates to the level of hoppiness. More of the caramel sweetness emerges to balance the high hops level. Overall, impressive beer.

Beer Adventure: Pliny the Younger

Beer Adventure: Pliny the Younger

Feb. 2.

Groundhog’s Day. Beer Adventure: Russian River’s Pliny the Younger. OK, so I had gone last year on the first day and experienced the release in the best way. We were first in line, had our pick of tables, and chatted with Vinnie, the owner and brewer. This was much less glamorous, though in some ways more labor intensive. My buddy Jordan and I arrived about 4:30 and proceeded to wait. The line was down around the end of the block from the brewery and at first seemed to be moving. However, this was just a trick. All in all we waited nearly five hours to get in. Then we had to put our name in for a table. Still, it was a good experience to see how the less fortunate live, having been one of the privileged. And the beer was exceptional. This year’s release is more clearly a relative of Pliny the Elder. The version last year was more citrus and this year’s more floral. It felt more like a high powered version of the Elder. So, Jordan, Terrill, Jeff, and I all persevered (though Terrill and Jeff arrived after nearly 3 hours of waiting for Jordan and me). Once in, we had to get to the bar, which was packed in tight. We carved out a space for ourselves next to the stage, and ignored the “don’t sit on the stage” signs. Fortunately the wait staff was too busy to care about people violating the signs. After about 30 min. we got a table and finished our second beers and had a pizza. The waitress informed us that the Younger was out for the night. And there were still some people outside. Suckers.

Beer Adventure: Lagunitas and Bear Republic

Beer Adventure: Lagunitas and Bear Republic

Feb. 1. Beer Adventure! It was Pliny the Younger release day and much beer adventuring was in the offing. Last year, we were first in line and this year many of the same crew were set to do it again. Sadly, I had to work on this morning, so I was unable to join the Pliny crew. However, I did drive up with my buddy Rano to join the afternoon adventures. After meeting with the rest of the crew in Santa Rosa, we headed south to Lagunitas. This is one of my favorite beer sites ever. The way they have the beer garden set up is very nice – it is like a southwest desert beer garden. There was live music going and plenty of new beers to try. I also love Lagunitas’ sampling options. They allow a choice of 4 selections of your choice for $5. Such a deal for a pint’s worth of excellent selections. I had the WTF (hard not to have it since it is one of the greatest beers ever), the Hairy Eyeball 2011, the Sonoma County Stout, the Filmore Fusion, Doppleomyces, Etwas Kolsch, Fusion 11, and the 3B Gnarly Wine. All wonderful beers. Though the Filmore Fusion and the Gnarly Wine were the best selections. Though the WTF and Hairy Eyeball were close seconds.

A quick rundown:

WTF (2013) (Pub): A perennial favorite: brown, caramel, citrus, hoppy, with a hint of licorice.

Doppleomyces (Pub): Dopple with sour yeast. Cloudy honey color. Brown sugar sour. Hint of winter spices. Like a Trader Vic’s hot buttered rum.

Hairy Eyeball (2011): All malt all the time. Sweet, dark and caramel – so delicious. One of their best.

Sonoma County Stout (Pub): Stout with bret yeast. Like sour raisons. Good, but not really a stout.

Filmore Fusion (Pub): One of the greats. Floral citrus hoppiness. Sweet and Glorious. Like an IPA. Crazy good beer – close to Pliny.

Etwas Kolsch (Pub): This one was described as the Sumpin Sumpin as a  kolsch. It has a banana scent and flavor. Cloudy and sweet.

Fusion 11 (Pub): Good solid dark malty beer with rye spicy notes. Turns out it does use rye. Delicious with a hint of pine.

3B Gnarly Wine (Pub) The winner of the night! Chocolate and cherry liquor. Parts were aged in Bourbon, Brandy, and Rye barrels and mixed. Complex sipper. Most delicious.

After leaving Lagunitas, we stopped in downtown Petaluma for dinner at Taps. I tried a 101 North Heroine IPA. It was solid if unspectacular. 7% ABV. More of the earthy hops.

The last stop was Bear Republic in Healdsburg. Tried the Peter Brown, the Cafe Racer 15, Old Saint Chongo, Big Bear Black, Baba Yaga, and Old Scout Barley Wine.. It isn’t Lagunitas in terms of the atmosphere, but the selections were excellent and the variety of offerings impressive.

I tried:

Peter Brown (Pub): Brown, hoppy, and sweet. Earthy hops. Strong alcohol flavor. 6.3%

Old Saint Chongo (Pub): Coffee flavor. Somewhat astringent. Cocoa. 7.6%

Café Racer 15 (Pub): 100IBU. Double IPA with Citra hops. Golden color, and super hoppy. 9.5% ABV.

Big Bear Black (Pub): Deep black, smoky and sour – excellent stout! 5 IBU. 8.1% ABV.

Baba Yaga (Pub): aged in cognac barrels. Imperial stout. With banana essence and sweet licorice. 11.5% ABV and 115 IBU. Very tasty.

Old Scout Barleywine (Pub): Sweet with sour and smoky notes. Roasty, smoky malts. 9.85% ABV and 100 IBU.

Beer Log: Jan. 27-31, 2013

Jan. 27: Tonight’s Beer: Coalition Brewing’s: Two Dogs IPA: I first went to Coalition in August 2012 (Aug. 16). I tried their Maple Porter and one other, but only remember that the Porter was nice and dark with a deep roasted flavor. It was very good, but I was unable to get a full description. This is the first bottle I’ve been able to try from them. I like that they invite guest brewers and home brewers as partners. This IPA is a nice pale amber color with a floral yeasty scent and lacey head.  The flavor is somewhat unusual but very tasty. It has a bright sweet citrus flavor with a mildly earthy bitter finish. It has a fruitiness to it – a hint of tart astringent bitterness – not quite apricot, but in that family. It was brewed with whole cone hops and oats (“golden naked oats” to be precise). So, there is a dryness to the beer from the oats. I find I like the pale beers brewed with oats – Burnside Brewing has a very good OPA. The flavoring hops used are nugget and Sterling, along with aroma hops from Cascade and Simcoe (hence the citrus, floral, and fruit). 5.8% ABV. 77 IBU.

Jan. 28: Tonight’s Beer: Full Sail’s: LTD #6 Black Lager: This is part of their LTD Series of limited releases. I like this approach as it allows great creativity in a pretty structured kind of way. I’ve tried others but this is the first I’ve written about. It is a very dark, smoky, espresso color and flavor. Very smooth with a dark roasted sweetness. It is well balanced with limited hoppiness – just enough to let you know they are there, but subdued enough to let the dark malts shine. There is a very mild tart citrus note, but not as much as one would experience with a porter. There is also a bitter chocolate taste. Excellent black lager. Rivals Moonlight’s Death and Taxes. 7% ABV.

Jan. 29: Tonight’s Beer: Two Kilts Brewing’s: Pale Ale: Honey gold color. Somewhat cloudy. Sweet and fruity scent. The flavor is a bit fruity, somewhere in the peach/apricot family and is balanced with a mild bitterness.  Very tasty pale. This is from a nano-brewery in Sherwood, Oregon. I came across it at Belmont Station in Portland. One of the locals pointed it out to me as I was staring at the massive selection at Belmont. 5.5% ABV

Jan. 30: Tonight’s Beer: Smooth Ryed Ale: OK, I love rye beers, not only because they are tasty, but also because they so easily lend themselves to bad puns. (e.g. Dechutes’ Ryeders on the Storm). This one qualifies on both counts as well. It has a nice honey-orange hue. Not quite an amber. It is an unusual color. The beer hits with a similar bite as the IPA, but with the distinct savory nature of the rye. It starts sweet and malty and yields to slightly citrus and morphs into a mildly earthy, almost smoky flavor. I do like Bridgeport and am glad to see them continuing to branch out and innovate. This is a keeper. 6.3% ABV.

Jan. 31: Tonight’s Beer: Lompoc Brewing’s: Special Draft: The bottle describes the beer as using “smoked malt” and being “generously hopped”. Good description – certainly enough to entice me to purchase it. I got this at Belmont Station as part of my stop there in January. I liked the Proletariat very much so was intrigued by this one. It is a very dark beer, about the color of a porter – almost black, but lets enough light through to see that it is in fact a very very dark brown. The scent is sweet and slightly roasted. Nice creamy tan head. The flavor is quite wonderful. The first sip is sweet and tart with a smoky-roasty maltiness that takes command. It is a very rich, tasty, full flavored brew. They should just have called it a porter and been done with it. It is an excellent porter. If indeed that is what it is. And in my view, it is. That must count for something. 6.9% ABV.

Beer Adventure: Lost Cost Brewing, Eureka, CA. Jan 26, 2013

Jan. 26: Beer Adventure: Lost Coast:

I like Lost Coast’s beer’s but never really give them much thought. The Downtown Brown and Winterbraun are the ones I find most interesting, but hadn’t thought too much more about them. But, with a road trip underway, I was passing right through Eureka and right by the brewery. How could I not stop. As it turns out, this is a great place. Great pub and great food (delicious oysters with garlic and butter . . . .yum . . . and a commendable clam chowder. But, the creativity with their beers impressed me as well. I tried:

Alley Cat Amber (Pub): Sweet, light orange gold color. Sweet caramel flavor with mild hoppiness and mild bitterness. Very tasty amber, though not an amber color. 5.5%

Indica IPA (Pub): Deep gold. Floral pine scent and flavor. Robust hoppiness with excellent malty sweetness. Great balance. 6.5%

Apricot Wheat (Pub): Cloudy. Sweet apricot scent. Smooth, crisp, light with good apricot flavor. A bit watery, but tasty. 5%.

Downtown Brown (Pub): A very solid brown. Deep brown like a porter with a deep roasty flavor and burnt caramel sweetness. 5% ABV.

8 Ball Stout (Pub): Kind of disappointing. Black with tqan head. Sour blue cheese essence with burnt roastyness. More sour than most stouts. And not as interesting. 6.2%

Baltic Porter (Pub): The winner of the day! Excellent dark beer. Somewhat soy sauce essence with solid bourbon notes. Hints of cherry. So complex and delicious. Just a bit darker than the Downtown Brown. 7.4%.I really wish they bottled this one.

I shall return. My mom ordered a rootbeer float since they brew their own rootbeer. Very sweet and tasty.