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!