Recently in B Category

Tonight was beer club, a meeting of beer minded individuals from my work who get together for a meal and lots-o-beer (and the occasional cider or wine) once a month. A very big turnout this month, and lots of good ol' fashioned pizza place BYOB fun (I actually had a sandwich whose description was: "It's like a cheesesteak and an Italian hoagie had a baby... it was very good, but the most popular dish of the night were these deep fried stromboli-like things that were amazing.) Good times were had by all...

(Click for bigger image)

For the sake of posterity, some thoughts on each beer are below. As usual, these were not ideal conditions, so these notes are probably not very reliable. Or rock solid. The point is that I have thoughts about these beers, and I'm going to share them, and you're going to like it. I hope. Ok, fine, maybe not, but I'm putting them here anyway. In order of drinking (not in order of the picture above):

• Prism Bitto Honey IPA - An offering from a relatively new, relatively local brewery called Prism (which, for whatever reason, always reminds me of the premium cable channel from way back when that eventually turned into Starz, I believe). Anywho, I actually got a taste of this stuff at the Philly Beer Week preview a couple weeks back. It is basically a very nice, sweet IPA, with a pleasant floral citrus hoppiness that is offset by a prominent honey character. I would not call it a favorite, but it's a unique take on the style, which I certainly appreciate. B
• Kaedrin Earl Grey Bitter - My homebrewed English Style Bitter, brewed with Earl Grey tea and bitter orange peel. The taste actually continues to evolve, though it remains a highly drinkable, light, citrusy take on the traditional English Bitter. Believe it or not, the tea-like character seems more prominent now than ever. Beer club peeps seem to enjoy it, and I'm glad I've got an ample supply leftover for summer drinkin... B+
• Magic Hat Elder Betty - A wheat beer brewed with elderberries, it came off a bit on the muddled side. It didn't particularly have a strong wheat feel to it, and the elderberry was there, but not super strong. It certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't knocking my socks off either. A nice alternative to macro swill, for sure, but not something to go out of your way for... B-
• North Coast Blue Star Great American Wheat Beer - Now this one is a little more like it, though it's not exactly a spectacular beer either. Still, I got that nice wheat character out of this, and it was a really solid take on a standard style. Again, not something that will melt your face, but it's pretty good! B
• Victory Summer Love - I had this beer a few times last year and I have to say that I was not impressed. However, trying it again tonight, I was quite surprised with this one. It was much hoppier than I remember, sorta like a lighter ale version of their classic Prima Pils. We weren't outside, but that's what this beer is made for... B+
• Fegley's Brew Works Monkey Wrench - A very solid take on the Belgian Saison style, a little sweet, very spicy, but not overwhelming the palate. A relatively full mouthfeel, yet it still leaves you with a light impression, which is strange, but nice. A well crafted take on the standard sweet and spicy version of the style. B+
• Weyerbacher Blasphemy - My other contribution for the night, this is a bourbon barrel aged version of Weyerbacher's Quad. I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of the Quad, which I found a bit too sweet and boozy for my tastes. I mean, it's good and all, but not among my favorite quadrupels. Unfortunately, the bourbon barrel aging treatment hasn't improved things as much as I'd thought it would. It comes off as being extremely boozy, with that bourbon really dominating the finish and aftertaste. But I'm not getting the richness or vanilla oak flavors out of this that I normally get out of bourbon barrel aged beers. It's still good, but I was expecting a bit more... At 11.8% ABV, we didn't actually finish off the whole bottle, so I may take another sample of this sucker soon, so perhaps I'll have a better idea of this then... B
• Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA - Holy weirdness Batman! This thing was the weirdest beer of the night. Granted, we probably should have cracked this before Blasphemy, but even still, it had a very strange floral note, almost like perfume, in both the nose and taste. Presumably, that's the Jasmine that's dominating the beer. As I drank, I gradually got more of the floral hops, but nothing really seemed to mesh with this beer. It was sorta a mess, definitely not my thing. C+
• MacTarnahan's Spine Tingler - A Belgian style Tripel, and a pretty well crafted one at that. It's perhaps not perfect, maybe a bit too sweet, but still eminently drinkable stuff. Very nice spicy, bready Belgian yeast character, lots of sweetness, a very good beer. B+
• 5even Helles Bock - My friend Dana's homebrewed beer wasn't quite ready, but we tried it anyway. It was actually pretty good, nice and sweet, malt-forward beer. She things it will clear up with some more conditioning time, but it seemed quite nice to me, though I'd like to try it in another month and see where it's at...

And that just about covers it. Good times were had by all, and as usual, I'm already looking forward to the July beer club!

On the first Friday of every month, there's a beer blog roundup called The Session. Someone picks a topic, and everyone blogs about it. This month, Carla Companion wants to talk about an unsung hero:

What is the one beer style usually makes up the first position in the sample flight, but yet is usually the one that we never get really excited about? The Pale Ale.

Your mission - if you choose to accept it - it so seek out and taste two different pale ales. Tell us what makes them special, what makes them forgettable, what makes them the same or what makes them different. Then, share it with us.

First of all, I love the idea. One of the cornerstones of this blog is that of the Double Feature. Pick two beers of similar style, compare and contrast, all whilst taking in a filmic double feature. It's a really helpful tactic for learning about beer, especially when used with beers that sometimes have very similar flavor profiles... like pale ales!

Pale ales have a weird rap here in the beer nerd community. You never hear people raving about pale ales the way they do for the latest hopped-up double IPA, face melting Imperial Stout, or Brett-dosed sour bombs. And yet, a lot of folks will tell you that they got into craft beer the moment they tasted something like the classic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Indeed, a lot of breweries got their start with pales, even ones we think of as being extremist or weird. Stone's first beer was their most excellent Pale Ale (which seems to me like Arrogant Bastard's little brother, very flavorful). Hard as it may be to believe, Dogfish Head's Shelter Pale Ale was their first foray into "off-centered" beer. Pale Ales are a cornerstone of the craft beer world, a stepping stone for fledgling beer geeks, and a fantastic alternative to macro light lagers for regular folks.

Indeed, it's not like there's a shortage of big selling pale ales. Locally, we've got Yards' Philly Pale and Victory's Headwaters, both of which apparently do gangbusters (and oh yeah, they're excellent too). I'm no stranger to huge face-melting beers and I have to admit that sometimes the notion of checking out a "simple" pale ale seems like it might be boring, but there's plenty of interesting stuff going on in the pale ale world right now. I didn't go bonkers for Maine's Peeper like most folks, but it was an intriguing change of pace, a very interesting beer. Even if it wasn't particularly my thing, I love that they did something different with their beer, and that's the sort of stuff I like to try.

Speaking of which, I think it's about time to try out a few beers, as ordered. One is eminently interesting and experimental, the other is a bit more on the standard side, though it's got some interesting aspects too...

Victory Bavarian Mandarina Pale Ale - Victory recently released a series of beers utilizing experimental German hops, including this one, which has just received it's official name: Mandarina. Pours a golden orange with a finger of head and a ton of lacing. Smells of herbal, spicy hops, with a an orange citrus note and a little caramel malt too. Taste has a nice malt backbone, but it's not huge - it provides a nice background to highlight these new hops. Plenty of those citrusy, herbal hop flavors coming in the middle and more spicy bitterness emerging in the finish... Mouthfeel is surprising for a pale ale, a little heavier than expected, but quite nice nonetheless. This is actually the second time I've had this beer in the past couple weeks, and on the second tasting, I think I got a lot more of the orange character than the first time. Overall, a very solid, interesting change of pace. B

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV on tap (16 oz). Drank out of a nonic pint on 5/31/12.

Alesmith X - Pours a bright straw yellow color with two fingers of fluffy white head and some lacing as I drink. Smells of more grassy, citrusy hops, along with a nice bready yeast and malt character. Taste is sweet, with that bready yeast and malt really coming through, though not in a strong or overpowering way. Light grassy hops and citrus come through a bit in the taste as well. The finish is relatively dry, with a very slight bitterness. The mouthfeel is hit with a huge carbonation at the start, very effervescent, but it smooths out by the finish, which is quite nice. Despite the bite from the carbonation, it's a light, crisp, and refreshing beer. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of a Belgian style pale ale (I bet if you were to substitute something like a saison yeast in the same recipe, you'd end up with a similar, if a bit spicier...), but it still feels like an American Pale Ale. Overall, I'm really enjoying this beer! B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/31/12.

Overall, the Alesmith was lighter in color and body than the Mandarina, and it had a more traditional, grassy citrus pine hop character, while the Mandarina hops brought a specific orange character, with lots of more herbal notes. Both are very good beers, and I'm really happy I got to try them. I also got to try one of the other Victory beers that was experimenting with new hops, this one called Polaris. It was an IPA, and thus not suitable for this post, but it was quite good, reminiscent of those New Zealand hops I've been digging lately. I love that Victory is playing with experimental hops, and the Pale Ale format really does provide a good platform for highlighting these new varieties. As summer goes on, I'm sure pale ales will be a staple of my beer diet...

The summer saison is upon us, so I decided to revisit a beer that disappointed me many moons ago. I've mentioned before about how Ommegang Hennepin was my Craft Beer revelation, but being a fledgling beer nerd at the time, I had no idea what I was really doing. All I knew about the beer was that it was a saison style beer, so when I went to the beer distributor looking for saisons and saw this local offering, I bought me a case of the stuff (grumble, grumble, the PA case law is evil, grumble) and was a little crestfallen when it turned out that the beer wasn't as good as Hennepin. It was a fine beer, much better than the macro swill I was used to at the time, and I had no problem finishing the case (I had roommates at the time who helped with that task), but it was still a little disappointing. As it turns out, the saison has the least coherent style definition in the history of beer, so my strategy of trying other saisons was doomed to failure anyway. But all this was a long time ago (almost a decade? Yikes...), so I figured it was time to revisit the stuff:

Yards Saison - Pours a slightly hazy yellow gold color with a finger of whitish head. Smells a little like a Belgian Wit - this is clearly a spiced beer, though some of that may be the result of yeast. Lots of spice on the nose, clove, orange peel, maybe some peppery notes, and just a hint of light fruitiness. The taste is lightly sweet with some spice character evolving throughout the taste and aftertaste. The mouthfeel is relatively light, well carbonated, a little spicy harshness, and some dryness that strangely gives way to a less dry finish (not bad, but it is different). Overall, this is certainly a nice, flavorful, non-funky take on the saison, but it's not really best in class either. I certainly enjoyed it, but my earlier impression of the beer (which was not bad, to be sure) hasn't changed very much. Solid beer, but not really lighting the world on fire. While not quite a session beer, it is hitting the spot after a warm day though... B

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a goblet on 5/18/12.

As summer approaches, I'm sure more saisons will be reviewed... indeed, there's one in the pipeline right now that will lend even more credence to the aforementioned notion that the saison style has the most incoherent definition in all of beer.

So I've heard a lot about these Erie, PA brewers from the guys over at Aleheads, who did a great interview with the founder, Jason Lavery. As such, when I noticed a few bottles popping up here in Eastern PA, I jumped at the chance to try some of this stuff. Selection is still limited and I'm holding out hope for their summer seasonal, apparently a huge saison-style beer. In the meantime, I figured I'd check out this Imperial Red Ale.

This can be a bit of a strange style. A lot of times, it comes out like a reddish IPA or DIPA (think Gordon/G'Knight or Yule Smith Winter), but in this case, it was much more recognizable as a souped up Irish Red Ale. Knowing more about the brewery now, this is unsurprising, as these brewers are Irish, and you can see that influence all throughout their catalog.

Apparently the recipe for this has changed significantly. They originally used all Amarillo hops, one of the most popular and trendy varieties out there, but apparently small breweries can experience supply problems... From the Aleheads interview: "It's a really sad story. The Imperial Red Ale was originally all Amarillo. From the hops in the kettle to the dry hops, but our hop contractor told us that since we're so small, we won't be getting any more Amarillo until 2013." Well, crap. I love me some Amarillo hops. They've got this bright, juicy citrus flavor and aroma that's just very difficult to replicate, hence Lavery's woes. The beer I had was apparently a blend of Centennial, Cascade, and Nugget, but I'd love to get my hands on some of that Amarillo version someday (perhaps next year!), assuming the great hop contractor conspiracy deems it acceptable.

Anyway, I cracked this open to celebrate the return of Game of Thrones. It's not a very... Irish... show or anything, but something about this beer seemed to fit with the atmosphere of that series quite well. Go figure.

Lavery Imperial Red Ale - Pours a deep, dark red color with two fingers of small bubbled head. Smells are interesting... definitely some sugary sweetness and plenty of hop character, but when put together it's hard to place. Is it... is it like a fruit rollup, but with earthy, piney hops instead of fruit? Geeze, I hate it when reviewers say stuff like that, but that's what I'm getting out of this. The taste features a well balanced sweetness and bitterness, with neither overpowering the other - a relatively mild seeming beer. The malt backbone is similar to that of an Irish Red (amber and caramel malt, probably a hint of roasted malts for color), but unlike most in the style, strong hop flavors hit in the middle with a burst of citrus and pine (but not a lot of that resin character that I usually expect), leading in to a very dry finish. Mouthfeel is surprisingly light to medium bodied, and again, the finish is extremely dry. Overall, it's more like a hopped up Irish Red Ale than anything else, but I like that concept and would gladly try this again. B

Beer Nerd Details: 7.2% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 4/1/12.

Well, there you have it. An interesting first taste, but I'm intrigued by a lot of Jason's experimental talk in the Aleheads interview... though I have to wonder how much of that stuff will make it over to us Easter PA folk. As previously mentioned, I'm really hoping to get my hands on some of their Imperial French Ale, apparently a summer seasonal...

Wilco Tango Foxtrot? Ah, I see what they did there:

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot - Pours a very nice looking clear dark brown color with beautiful amber highlights and a finger of light head. Smells sweet, with some fruity hop character and some malty notes, maybe even a hint of roastiness. The taste is more malt than the nose would lead you to believe, very much like a brown ale (Beer Advocate calls it an American Strong Ale though), light caramel and some minor roastiness, but the hops are clearly there too. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with ample carbonation. Overall, very solid beer, well worth trying. B

Beer Nerd Details: 7.83% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 4/7/12.

Despite not being a huge brown ale kinda guy, Lagunitas continues to impress, and thus I continue to explore their catalog.

PS - In other news, my commenting system was torpedoed by my host's new security measures, but has since been restored. Sorry for any inconvenience, and thanks to those who alerted me to the issue. I assure you the person or persons responsible will be sacked. Good day.

PPS - My readers (all 4 of you) are an astute bunch, so I'm sure you've noticed that my Wednesday entries tend to be rather sparse. This is generally because I spend time writing for my other blog on Wednesdays, so time is limited. I don't know how long I'll keep up this 4-5 entries a week schedule here, but while I don't see any end in sight, I also assume things will slow down a bit at some point. Thems the breaks, I guess.

One would assume that a Doppelbock grew out of the single Bock style, but apparently not. Doppelbocks have their roots in monastic brewing, and it was after the beer became secularized that goat-loving drinkers¹ began to notice similarities between these beers and regular Bocks. Apparently, a bunch of drunken Italian monks² found their way to Munich and began brewing this extra strong beer to sustain themselves during the fasting periods of Advent and Lent³. Full bodied with a rich, chewy malt character, these beers became known as "liquid bread".

Their beer was called Salvator (translates to "the Savior") and the Monks kept it to themselves for over a century. Once they began selling it to the public, that's when the whole Doppelbock moniker came up, though interestingly enough, other breweries who copied the beer called the style "Salvator" too. Eventually trademark protection forced those other breweries to come up with new names for their beer, though many try to keep it traditional by using words that end in "-ator", including new takes on the style like today's example:

Tröegs Troegenator Double Bock - Pours a deep, dark amber color with hints of ruby and a small amount of light colored head. Smells of caramel malt with a yeasty note, maybe a hint of fruitiness as well. The taste tends towards those caramel malt flavors, though it's a bit muted. Clearly there and very sweet, but not overpowering either, and while there's no real hop character to the beer, it's balanced enough not to be cloying either. Mouthfeel is smooth with just a bit of richness filling out the body, making this easier to drink than a sipper, but not quite at the level of a super-quaffable beer either. Overall, this is a solid beer. Not a ton of complexity, but quite nice for what it is. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8.2% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of one of them fancy Sam Adams glasses on 3/30/12.

Tröegs continues to be an interesting semi-local brewery. I enjoy trying their beers, but I've rarely been blown away... though I will admit that Nugget Nectar has grown on me quite a bit and I'm always on the lookout for new beers in their Scratch series....

¹ - For the uninitiated, "Bock" means "Goat" in German. Like a lot of beer origin stories, there are a few interpretations of where that comes from. One is that it was a shortened, mispronounced version of Einbeck, a city famous for its beer. Another is that the beer was often brewed in the Capricorn (symbolized by a goat) timeframe. Regardless, that's why you see a lot of goats on labels for Bocks and Doppelbocks.

² - These monks were from Paula, Italy, and became known as Paulaners... a name that exists to this day, though the brewery seems to have been secularized.

³ - Yeah, I probably should have posted this on (or before) Easter, eh?

Another day, another Victory. This low gravity Dry Irish Stout is only really available on tap (and I'm pretty sure it's only locally available too), so it's not one that I've had often, but it's a solid beer (and though I didn't drink this on St. Patrick's Day, it makes a nice local alternative to the ever present Guinness, especially when it's on nitro tap).

In other news, I'm pretty sure this is the lowest alcohol beer I've ever reviewed (unless you count that non-alcoholic swill we had that one time at Beer Club). Let's do this:

Victory Donnybrook Stout - Pours a very dark brown with a tiny amount of highlights and a finger of thick, light brown head. Smells strongly of roasted malts and a little coffee... Taste features that same roast and coffee character. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, very lightly carbonated with a nice light body. Almost quaffable. I'm pretty sure this one was on regular tap, but when it's on nitro, it's much smoother, though still light bodied. Overall, it's a nice stout that's as good as any I've had in the style and as previously mentioned, it makes a nice local alternative to the ever-present Guinness. B

Beer Nerd Details: 3.7% ABV on tap. Drank out of Victory's 0.3L glass on 3/24/12.

I'd like to say that this will probably be my last Victory review for a while, but I think we all know that's not going to happen.

Update: Nope, this is only the second lowest ABV beer I've reviewed. The lowest was Tetley's English Ale, clocking in at 3.6% ABV. However, this beer was a heck of a lot better, so foo on you.

I'm a backwards man. Instead of easing myself into sour beers, I started with the sourest of sours*, a Gueuze that was fine for what it was, but it almost soured** me on sour beers forever. Or for a few weeks, at least. I then moved on to some of Russian River's fabled sours (described on their website as "high" sourness), which I enjoyed quite a bit... and yet, I hadn't really caught the sour bug just yet. And despite some true sour revelations over the past year or so, I still wouldn't call myself a huge fan of sours. But then, I realized that I didn't really start off with the typical beers.

According to dontdrinkbeer, Duchesse De Bourgogne is "The Mistress that Starts Every Man's Sick Foray into Sours" (he also mentions Rodenbach, which has also been on my list at Padraic's urging for quite some time now - I'll get theres someday, I promise). As we've already established, I went backwards, so this was probably the dozenth or so sour I've had... but I'm glad I'm getting back to basics here. So once more unto the breach, dear friends:

Duchesse De Bourgogne - Pours a dark amber with beautiful highlights when held up to light. Just a bit of light tan head. Smell is quite funky and earthy with a twang in the nose. Taste is very strange. Sweet with a fruity candy character, a little funk emerging in the middle and a light, vinegary sourness hitting in the finish. Well carbonated but but an incredibly smooth, almost creamy mouthfeel. Maybe a little vinegar acidity there, and lots of slickness in the finish. Overall, it's an interesting beer. Not being a big sour guy, it's a bit unusual, and it's not my favorite, but it's very well done. B

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (11.2 oz) Drank out of a snifter on 3/23/12.

I suspect I'd had this beer earlier in my sick foray into sours, I'd have a higher opinion of it. But after having had some revelatory examples, I didn't quite find myself loving this, though it's clearly a good beer. Oh, and while I'm not a huge food and beer pairing guy, I've noticed that Flanders Sours (I've not tried it with others) go really well with both dark chocolate and cheddar cheese. Go figure.

* In case my lack of experience with sours is not apparent, I have no idea whether or not that Gueuze is actually the "sourest" of sours. It's just the one that sticks out in my head as being obscenely sour.

** Pun intended.