Mar. 21. Today’s Beer: New Belgium’s Abbey: Belgian style Dubbel. It claims to have 6 different malts. Strong yeasty scent and banana aroma and flavor. Beautiful brown amber color. Nice thick head. Sweet and caramelly with a hint of burnt brown sugar.
Mar. 22: Today’s Beer: Alaskan’s: Birch Bock: Dopplebock with Alaska Birch Syrup – part of their Pilot Series of Limited Edition Specialty Ales. I saw that this was brewed with Birch and immediately bought it. The only other time I remember coming across a beer brewed with birch, it was Life and Limb (great collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head, which turned me on to the wonderfulness of Dogfish Head beers). So, I was very excited about this and fortunately my expectations were met. This is a very sweet beer, but it is a distinct type of sweetness that differs from the typical malty sweetness of normal browns or ambers. Also a light toasty flavor, but very subtle. It is lightly fizzy, but with virtually no head during the pour. Deep amber, almost ruby orange in color. Strong at 8.5% ABV, but hardly any alcohol taste. I’m definitely enjoying the alternative syrups that brewers are using (rye is another current favorite).
Interlude. For the past week, I haven’t tried anything new.
Instead, I’ve sampled some standards and favorites, such as the Laugunitas
Imperial Red, Stone’s Smoked Porter, and Pliny. Sometimes, it’s good to just
drink and not write. Enjoy without analysis. Cheers!
Mar. 28: Today’s Beer: Heretic’s: Evil Twin Red Ale: As I poured it into a glass, it looked much darker than most reds. It almost looked more like a deep brown. But holding it up to the light, there was a deep amber red glow coming through the darkness. Very alluring color. Nice medium head that dissipated quickly. Mild bitterness in the foam. Very creamy foam – though after watching David Mitchell’s thoughts on the use of “creamy” to describe bitters, I’m not sure about using that descriptor. If you haven’t seen that segment of “David Mitchell’s Soapbox”, you need to check it out. The dominant flavor is a floral bitter hoppiness, with a faint citrus, almost grapefruit taste. Beyond the hoppiness is a deep dark roasted malt flavor. Not quite burnt – almost like the outside of a golden brown roasted marshmallow. Excellent balance of malt and hop. Mmmm. Heretic – I’m becoming a believer. At 6.8%ABV it has a kick, but only a mild one.
Mar. 29: Today’s Beer: Full Sail’s: E.S.B: Extra Special
Barney. Special edition 22oz. brewed by Barney Brennan for part of their
Brewer’s Share series. Beautiful golden amber color. Light head, low
carbonation. Fruity, almost banana-like aroma, but no banana in the flavor. The
taste is fruity, but it is more akin to apricot than anything else. As the
fruitiness subsides, the flavor turns more sweet and caramel, almost vanilla,
and finishes with a pleasant bitterness. The beer boasts that it uses 5 malts
and Challenger hops. Unique, well balanced, and refreshing.
Mar. 31. Today’s Beer: Stone’s: Arrogant Bastard Ale: Oddly
enough, this is the first time I’ve tried the flagship beer from Stone. About
damn time. Nice dark brown amber color. Medium thick head. The first taste is
an earthy bitterness. This is an aggressively hopped beer, and rightly so. It
has a very mild sweet undertone which blends nicely with a hint of tartness in
the hops. The malt has a lightly toasty flavor. Not really an IPA, more like an
highly hopped brown. Pleasant strength at 7.1% Definitely would not describe
this beer as “creamy.” Cheers!
Flagship beer???
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