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September Beer Club

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Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded folk from my work who get together every month at a local BYOB for libations and fun. I should note that what I call beer club is offically called "social club", and there are frequently attendees who want nothing to do with beer. We've often had folks who bring wine or even stuff like sake or just plan, non-alcoholic root beer. In short, usually, only a portion of attendees are drinking the beer. Well, we had a great turnout tonight, and most everyone drank most every beer. I think only one beer was left unopened (a Brooklyn Oktoberfest), and most everything else was kicked almost as soon as it was opened. So it was an impressive showing tonight! Check it:

September Beer Club

For the sake of posterity, some half-remembered thoughts on each beer are listed below. Standard disclaimers apply, these are not ideal tasting conditions and I was only half paying attention and you'd be a fool to trust most of these ratings. Except for the ones I've had before. Those are mostly awesome. Here goes:

  • Ken's Homebrewed Pumpkin Ale - Really nice pumpkin ale homebrew from my friend Ken. He had kegged it and transferred to a growler this morning, so the carbonation was a bit on the low side, but it was otherwise a pretty damn good take on the style. I was going to say that it's the best homebrewed pumpkin ale I've ever had, but it's also the only homebrewed pumpkin ale I've ever had, so that doesn't really tell you much. But it was good, and I liked it. B+
  • Stone Enjoy By 09.13.13 IPA - I know, heresy! We drank this almost a week after we were supposed to "enjoy by", and yet, I can't help but thinking that I enjoyed this more than the fresh bottle I had. I didn't get that weird plasticky character that I had from the fresh version, though I could kinda see where it came from. The slightly faded hops actually improved this for me! I know, heresy, right? I still feel like I'm pretty sensitive to faded hops these days, but this one tasted fine. Perhaps it was stored better than my last bottle? I'll still leave it at a B, but better than the last bottle I had (which was also a B)
  • Neshaminy Creek County Line IPA - I've not reviewed this, but I've mentioned it before on the blog, and I enjoy it. A local brew, this is your typical East Coast IPA, well balanced, more malt character than your West Coast IPAs, but a nice light hop character too. B or B+
  • Kaedôme Saison (regular version) - My regular ol' homebrewed saison is still drinking pretty well. The hop character has mellowed a bit and never quite achieved the Nelson Sauvin awesomeness I was hoping for, but it's still a pretty kickass saison and seemed to be very well received by the beer club crew. The Brett version of this is still in secondary, and probably has a solid month or two left it in before I bottle. I'll leave this at a B+
  • Lexington Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale - Proof that "Bourbon Barrel Aged" does not always translate to "good"... this wasn't especially bad or anything, it was just sorta bland. It was pale in color, and I didn't get much bourbon or oak out of this at all... nor did I get much else. Which is to say, it's better than most macros, but nothing to write home about. Perhaps it would fare better in a non-sampling context, but for tonight it was a lowly C+
  • Erie Brewing Mad Anthony's APA - Oh wow, this is just awful. It's got a certain blandness to it, but also a diacetyl note that I always hate. Some might be willing to put up with that, but not I. F
  • The Alchemist Heady Topper - I don't need to say much beyond my review, but yeah, it went over pretty well with the beer club peeps. Still a solid A in my book.
  • Saucony Creek Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress - Extremely sweet and a little boozy, this is an interesting take on the pumpkin ale. It's got some spice, but not quite your typical pumpkin spice, and I can sorta detect that maple syrup character as well. It's unbalanced, but in a sorta endearing way. One of those beers that's excellent in this sort of sampling context, but which would probably become cloying if you tried drinking a whole bottle. I enjoyed it well enough and will give it a B
  • Finch's Fascist Pig Ale - I didn't really get much of this, just the dregs of the can, but it seemed like a nice enough amber ale. I'll give it a provisional B, but even considering the context of beer club, I need more of this to really give it a fair shake.
  • Samuel Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin - You know what, I really enjoyed this beer. It's a more-or-less traditional take on a pumpkin beer, pumpkin pie flavors all the way, but perhaps the lopsided affair of Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress made this one appear better by comparison. It's not as interesting, but it's maybe a better crafted beer. B or B+
  • Cascade Kriek Ale - One of my contributions for the night, this sucker is just as good as I remember it, maybe even better. It was a big hit with beer club peeps as well, and definitely the most unique beer of the night. I love this stuff and might be tempted to upgrade it to A status, but I'll leave it at A- for now, trusting my previous judgement.
  • FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout - Heaven Hill Rittenhouse Rye - My other contribution, and another eye opener for the beer club crew. I've had this before and absolutely loved it, which is one of the reasons I wanted to bring it to beer club. Happily, it went over very well. A
And that just about covers it, another successful night, and I am already anticipating the next meeting!

Dark Horizon 4th Edition

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A crazy-high ABV imperial stout brewed by Kjetil "the bearded giant" Jikiun at Nøgne Ø in Norway? Fine, I'll take a flyer on that. Oh, who am I kidding? This was packaged in a triangular prism! With, like, Viking markings and shit! How could I not?

Inspired by Avery Mephistopheles's Stout, this is "a pain in the neck" for Nøgne Ø to brew, owing to the lengthy and unpredictable fermentation needed to reach that high target ABV. They change up the recipe every year and they brew some variants, including Red Horizon, which uses a variety of sake yeasts (Nøgne Ø apparently loves them some sake and makes their own as well). This particular edition of Dark Horizon (their fourth) uses Muscovado sugar and some sort of wacky green coffee beans treated with alfa-amylase (basically an enzyme that helps bread down the coffee). It's clocking in at a healthy 16% ABV, but they've packaged it in an adorable little 8.5 ounce bottle, so let's take on some null sets:

Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 4th Edition

Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 4th Edition - Pours a deep black color with a finger of light brown head. Smells of roasted malt, a little of that coffee, maybe a hint of smoke, lots of vanilla, some chocolate and caramel too. Taste features lots of that roasted malt, plenty of booze right up front, with tons of vanilla and a little caramel too. That booze returns in the finish, which also has a slight bitterness to balance all those malts. As it warms, some fruity, almost port-like notes emerge. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and reasonably well carbonated. Lots of heat from the booze, and a little stickiness too. A nice sipper though. Overall, this is pretty damn good. Perhaps not the best evar or anything that hyperbolic, but certainly a worthy beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 16% ABV bottled (8.5 ounce capped). Drank out of a snifter on 9/6/13.

I've definitely seen earlier editions around, even somewhat recently, so maybe I'll have to check that out sometime...

Very Angry Beast

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Maybe this beast would not be so very angry if we didn't dress it up in clown shoes? Alright, so this is a 50/50 blend of Blaecorn Unidragon and Vampire Slayer that is then aged in bourbon barrels. I can't say as though I've been truly blown away by any of Clown Shoes' imperial stouts, but I've enjoyed them all, and I'm always down for the bourbon barrel treatment. In this case, it seems much better integrated than the Porcine Unidragon...

Clown Shoes Very Angry Beast

Clown Shoes Very Angry Beast - Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black color with half a finger of tan head. Smells strongly of vanilla, oak, and bourbon, with plenty of caramel and not much in the way of roast. Taste is very sweet, filled with rich caramel, vanilla, oak, and bourbon, with a hint of chocolate, roast and the tiniest inkling of smoke peeking through towards the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, but not as heavy or chewy as some other BA stouts. Balance is spot on, maybe a bit on the sweet side, but still better off than, say, Porcine Unidragon. Overall, this is a very solid BA stout, maybe my favorite offering from Clown Shoes. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 8/30/13. Bottled on 7/18/13.

Somehow, this marks the fourth imperial stout I've had from Clown Shoes, and it's my favorite yet. I've never been a big fan of theirs, but this one did raise an eyebrow or two, so I'll be keeping an eye out for that Cognac barrel aged barleywine they're apparently working on...

Tired Hands Anthology

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It's been a few months since I recapped some Tired Hands brews, and these notes have just been piling up, so I figure it's time to pull that trigger and share the wealth with you all... Of course, most of this stuff will probably never see the light of day again, but some of the big ones will probably be brewed again...

Tortoise - 6.7% ABV Brett Amber Ale - Dark amber brown, funky nose. Funk is reminiscent of the Darwin Solera series, some earthiness and even a touch of salinity. Stronger malt backbone makes this a little more complex than the Darwin series, which is nice. Good stuff! B+

Perfect Hole in One - 6.5% ABV IPA - Counter programming because the PGA tour was in town... A typically great IPA, huge citrus & pine notes, very Simcoe, really nice. A-

Guillemot - 8.5% ABV Dense & Dark Oak Aged Saison - This is sorta the base beer for Guillemot Nebula (and Prunus). Dark, slightly sour, nice balance with a creamy malt backbone. Really smooth and creamy, with a slight acidic kick in the finish. Strong beer, maybe not quite as great as Nebula was, but still a worthy A-

Cassie - 6% ABV Motueka Farmhouse IPA - A delicious mash up of the saison and IPA styles, really well matched hop to saison ratio, better than their singel hop saison Motueka (and most of the others in the singel hop series)... Delicious and quaffable. I really loved this beer. A

Tired Hands 5 out of 5

5 out of 5 - 10% ABV Imperial Stout brewed with cacao, peanut butter, marshmallow, PA maple syrup, vanilla beans, and One Village Coffee espresso beans. They gave a concise tasting note at the brewpub: "Notes of everything in the description" Big roasted malt notes in the nose, with all that wacky stuff showing up more in the taste. Definitely a stout, but lots of other stuff going on... Super complex, really weird, but really well done. Not even a hint of booze. Not quaffable or anything, but not a monster either. Some folks don't like Tired Hands' stouts, but I actually really enjoyed this. A-

Sunbather IPA - 5.8% ABV honey Meyer lemon hibiscus IPA - Wow, very pretty orange amber color, not your typical tired hands pale (which is cloudy straw yellow). Lots of floral hop notes (or maybe that's the hibiscus?) and lots of citrus (again, both from hops and other ingredients). Tasty stuff, really nice. A-

Due to an equipment malfunction TH lost a batch of DIPA and to fill the taps, they dipped into their cellars supply of aged, Brett dosed saisons:

Tavna - 6.6% ABV blended Brett saison - Solid beer with Tired Hands' trademark Brett character, salty, spicy. Great nose. Solid taste, not super quaffable, but good stuff. B+

Whalagos - 7.5% ABV Well aged blended saison - Similar to Tavna, but with more of a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, really nice. Mouthfeel definitely puts this one ahead of Tavna... A-

Singel Hop Saison Pacifica - 5% ABV - Usual cloudy straw yellow, bubbly white head. Nose hits with a sorta green hop character, reminiscent of the Pacific Jade version, and the taste bears that out. Grassy, a little earth, and typical peppery saison goodness. B+

Sleep - 7.6% ABV chamomile saison - Cloudy golden orange color with a finger of creamy head. Seems to have that trademark Tired Hands salty funk going on, but it works well. B+

We Are 138 - 7.6% ABV India Black Ale, brewed with pineapple - Black color, tan head, very nice nose, that pineapple coming through and matching well with those citrus & pine hops. No roast in the nose, but it comes out a bit in the taste, which is still very hop forward. Nice balance though, and very tasty. Overall, really great, delicious beer. A-

We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency

We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency - 6.2% IPA - Mostly clear golden color, amazing juicy citrus hop nose, tastes fantastic. Top tier IPA! A

Mr.Alien - 4% ABV Berliner Weiss - Nice refreshing beer, just a bit on the tart side, really easy drinking, decent stuff... B+

Tired Hands Ellipses

... (Ellipsis) - 7.6% ABV red hued Brett dubbel - Nice amberish color, that Tired Hands Brett in the nose, but hot damn does it match well with the base beer. Nice spicy Belgian yeast, with those dark fruit flavors, and that almost salty funk character tying it all together. I originally pegged this as an A-, but had another glass on a subsequent visit and it totally warrants an upgrade. Really superb stuff. A

Tired Hands Phantom With Three Different Colored Eyes

Phantom With Three Different Colored Eyes - 8% ABV citrus IPA - Whoa! Nice citrusy pine hop nose, but the taste and mouthfeel are absurdly great. It's got an almost creamy texture, with a great balance of sweetness from the malt and bitterness from the hops, and that juicy citrus holding it all together. Just superb! A

Penelope - 6.4% Farmhouse IPA - Typical cloudy light yellow color, nice Tired Hands funk in the nose along with some citrus hop aromas. Taste has that Tired Hands funk too, a little Belgian yeast spice, and some hops. Crisp, smoove, very easy drinking. B+

Kickphone iFlip - 5.5% ABV Citra & Amarillo IPA - A great light IPA, typical Tired Hands profile, beautiful citrus hop character, off the charts drinkable. A-

Pleasant - 5.8% ABV hoppy black ale, Simcoe single hopped - Nice looking beer, black with light brown head, but I'm not getting as much Simcoe out of this as I was hoping for. Still a nice beer, and if I didn't just have some superb TH stuff, this might get rated better. B

HappyHands - 5.2% ABV heirloom tomato Berliner Weiss - Well, yeah, that tomato actually comes through. Nice sharp acidic bite to this one. I'm not a big tomato person, so this isn't my favorite, but it's obviously well crafted. B

The Rest of Your Life - 6.4% ABV classic modern saison - A really nice saison, not quite funky, though its got that farmhouse feel. Typical Tired Hands stuff here, which is to say that it's great, if a bit straightforward. B+

Safe & Sound - 4.5% ABV crushable IPA - Pours a surprisingly dark color, murky brown (maybe some amber highlights), nice malt and hop combo, maybe some rye or oats going on here, surprisingly full bodied for such a small beer... I don't know that I would have ever pegged this as an IPA, but it's still pretty good for whatever style it is... B+

Singel Hop Saison Citra - 5% ABV - I'm surprised that Citra is not quite as potent as some of the others in this singel hop series, but this is still pretty damn good! A-

And that takes us up to stuff that was just tapped yesterday. See you in a few months with more Tired Hands goodness. Or maybe sooner if they have another quick bottle release...

Parabolic Vacation

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Posting will be light this week as I head op to Kaedrin North for a respite from the daily grind. I really kicked the vacation into gear a couple days ago with a Firestone Walker Parabola, a beer which I had inexplicably "only" granted an A- to last year. Let's up that to an full-blown A, shall we?

Firestone Walker Parabola 2013

"But it is a curve each of them feels, unmistakably. It is the parabola. They must have guessed, once or twice--guessed and refused to believe--that everything, always, collectively, had been moving toward that purified shape latent in the sky, that shape of no surprise, no second chances, no return. Yet they do move forever under it, reserved for its own black-and-white bad news certainly as if it were the Rainbow, and they its children...."

See you next week, though I'm sure I'll post a thing or two on twitter, in case you're afraid of withdrawal.

August Beer Clubbery

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Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded folk from my work who get together every month at a local BYOB for drinkery and fun. A light turnout this week, so we didn't actually get through every beer pictured below, but we made a valiant effort and actually drank a few that aren't pictured. I know, I'm disappointed by my neglect to capture those additional beers in photographic form too, but we'll just have to live with this:

August Beers
(Click for larger version)

Standard tasting note disclaimers apply: these notes are not trustworthy in any way, shape, or form, because whatever, I had fun tonight. In approximate order of consumption, not necessarily how pictured.

  • Fantôme Saison - One of my contributions, it seems that Fantôme hasn't quite emerged from their smoky, rubbery funk phase just yet, though this one wasn't quite as janky as the one I reviewed recently. It actually had more of a Saison Dupont feel, with just a bit of smoky, barnyard funk to make things interesting. I'll keep it at a B+ and pine for the lemony, sour Fantômes of yore.
  • Dale's Pale Ale - Pretty standard fare, but excellent as such beers go. Always a good choice, and I'll hit it with a B+, just like before.
  • Kaedôme Saison (regular version) - So my regular homebrewed saison is actually drinking quite well at this point, big spicy yeast notes, plenty of Saaz hops, not as much Nelson Sauvin hops as I was going for, but quite a pleasant brew nonetheless. About half the batch is still in secondary, dosed with Brettanomyces (like Fantôme, hence the name of this beer). Probably still a few months away from that sucker, but even this non-funky version is doing pretty well. Another B+
  • Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale - Rock solid hoppy amber ale, not quite as mindblowing as some of those hoppy imperial reds, but a worthy, highly drinkable beer. Yet another B+. I swears, not everything in this post will be rated the same.
  • Ken's English White Beer - My buddy's homebrew, this one was made with wheat, rose hips, and an English ale yeast. A rather odd combination, but it works out reasonably well in the end. Nice wheat character, not much in the way of rose hips, but some English yeast character (thankfully without the diacetyl note that I often get from such yeasts)> Not a mind-blower, but a nice summer beer. B-
  • Ken's Roggenbier - Another of Ken's homebrews, and possibly my favorite of the homebrews tonight. Nice spicy rye character mixed with hefeweizen notes from the yeast. Really nice combination that works very well. B+
  • Port City Essential Pale Ale - Terrible. Ok, not quite that bad, but not particularly good either. A sorta muddy mess of hops and malt, never quite coalescing into good.C+
  • Dominion Oak Barrel Stout - Now this one is legitimately terrible. Ok, so some people like that British diacetyl note sometimes, but I cannot stand it, and it just overshadowed everything else about this beer for me. Not undrinkable, but definitely not good. D
  • Stone / Farking / Wheaton W00tstout - Ah, now we come to my favorite beer of the night, the Wil Wheaton collaboration with Stone and Fark.com, a huge imperial stout made with pecans, wheat, and rye, partially aged in bourbon barrels. Great rich sweetness, a hint of that bourbon and oak, with a nice overall malt character. A bit heavy, but quite a nice beer, really glad I got to try some. A-
  • Ken's Irish red Ale - Another homebrew, this time a pretty straightforward Irish Red that was made with potatoes, a pretty nice combo. Sweeter than your typical Irish Red, though it keeps that same flavor profile and works well enough. I'll go with a standard B for this one.
And that just about covers it. For those who saw the Eclipse beer in the picture and are upset that we didn't get to it, do not fear, I reviewed it a while back. You're welcome. See you next month...

Porcine Unidragon

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The use of smoked malt in beer is often described as imparting a spicy, smoked meat character, almost like bacon. Most of the time, I end up wondering who put their cigar out in my beer, but in rare instances, that meaty bacon flavor actually seems like a real thing. In the case of Porcine Unidragon, those Clown Shoes guys have taken their rather burly Blaecorn Unidragon imperial stout, added a small dose of smoked malt, then aged the whole thing in bourbon barrels. Truth be told, they'd probably be better off calling this Bourbon Unidragon, as I don't really get much in the way of smoke out of this. Not that I'm complaining, because, you know, Bourbon! Lace up your Clown Shoes and get down:

 Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon

Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon - Pours a very dark brown color with a finger of light brown head. Smells of roasted malt with some chocolate, caramel, vanilla and just a hint of bourbon. Taste again features a heavy roasted malt element (perhaps that smoke too, but it's a light touch and I don't get any porcine notes) with a bourbon kicker in the middle, a little chocolate, caramel, vanilla and oak, and that roast returning in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, moderate carbonation, lots of boozy heat, and just a hint of richness. So it's retained the base beer's attributes whilst adding in a welcome dose of bourbon and oak. It's not quite perfectly integrated, but it's an improvement over the base. As it warms up, it starts to come together better. Or I'm just getting drunk here. Overall, a little unbalanced, but a really solid beer. I'll slap a B+ on it, but I do think I enjoy this more than the base (which got the same rating).

Beer Nerd Details: 12.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 8/2/13. Bottled 4/17/13.

It's a good beer, easy to find, and dirt cheap for what it is (where else can you find a sub-$10 bourbon barrel stout that clocks in at 12.5% ABV?) I still wouldn't call myself a Clown Shoes fan, but these imperial stouts I've been having from them have been pretty good...

Pappy Van Winkle Black Magick

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Back in college, I expended some of my few electives on Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. I did so exactly for monster beers like this, but my defensive techniques were no match for Voodoo brewery's most prized beer. Indeed, this sucker sits atop the Top New Beers list on Beer Advocate, with sky high ratings and ISOs all over the place.

I used to think this was Voodoo's standard Big Black Voodoo Daddy (a hearty 12.5% ABV imperial stout) aged in bourbon barrels, but it appears to be its own beast (Voodoo has barrel aged BBVD as well, and I'll get to those soon enough). Depending on who you believe, it clocks in at somewhere between 13.5% ABV and 15.5% ABV, and in this case, it was aged in old Pappy Van Winkle barrels. As it understand it, PVW barrels impart mystical healing powers, but being black magick, there is usually some corresponding damage being done elsewhere. This ain't no second year "tickling curse" dark arts here. So sharpen your wands and prepare your counter-jinxes and defensive charms, we're going in:

Voodoo Pappy Van Winkle Black Magick

Voodoo Pappy Van Winkle Black Magick - Pours a thick, gloopy black color with a full finger of lightish brown head. Really pretty looking. Smells heavily of caramel, bourbon, vanilla, and oak, classic bourbon barrel aged stout stuff here. Taste is extremely sweet, lots of rich caramel notes, and that heavy bourbon, vanilla, and oak character pervading the whole thing. Some hints of chocolate and roast open up as it warms. Maybe a hint of booze too, but not nearly as much as you'd expect. Mouthfeel is thick and chewy, rich and full bodied, even reasonably well carbonated for such a monster. Some booze heat as well, and it coats the mouth and lingers for a while too. Overall, this is spectacular stuff. I can see it being too sweet for some, but it hit the spot just right for me, so I'll say it just barely cleared the bar for an A

Beer Nerd Details: Somewhere around 13.5% - 15.5% ABV bottled (12 oz. red waxed cap). Drank out of Voodoo Barrel Room snifter on 7/26/13. Bottle #47, bottled 1/18/13.

There was a single bottle limit on this stuff at the Philly release, but the folks at the brewery release fared a little better. Still, by my count, only 667 or so bottles were made, so I'm pretty happy I got my grubby hands on it (as well as the two other variants). The release was in April, so I'm not sure what the hell I'm waiting for. Expect some more reviews of Voodoo's barrel room collection in the coming weeks. They only make Black Magick every other year (last release was 2011), but they've got plenty of goodies in their barrel room right now and I just saw that they're doing another release in September. No details on that release yet, but I've got my fingers crossed for some BA Barleywine and Wee Heavy.

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Hi, my name is Mark, and I like beer.

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This page is an archive of recent entries in the Stout category.

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