Recently in Weyerbacher Category

The full name of this beer is actually Weyerbacher Whiskey Barrel Aged Ale Aged in Whiskey Barrels. Believe it or not, there's a good reason for this seeming redundancy, though it requires some explanation. First, this beer is part of Weyerbacher's Brewers' Select series - a progression of "one-off and experimental brews to encourage creativity and collaboration between all of our brewers." This is sorta reminiscent of Tröegs' Scratch Series, the idea being that Weyerbacher gets to play around with tiny pilot batches using new techniques and strange ingredients in the hopes that the process will lead to new year-round offerings or improvements to same. A new brew is made every few months, then released at the brewery itself with the occasional keg being sent out to local bars.

Each beer in the series is named to follow the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc...), and this 23rd installment was naturally going to be Whiskey. Apparently getting beer labels approved by the feds is a tricky proposition even in the best of times, and in this case, naming a beer after another alcoholic beverage added an extra wrinkle. But it turns out that the law allows for a "fanciful name" as long as you include a "Statement of Process" or some such thing. Thus we end up with a name "Whiskey Barrel Aged" with a statement of process "Ale Aged in Whiskey Barrels", all of which indicates that this is, in fact, beer, not whiskey. Or something. Did I say there was a "good" reason for this? Yeah, that's not really true, I guess, but none of this buffoonery should be attributed to Weyerbacher.

So the base beer here is a 9% ABV Brown ale, made with six malts and aged in bourbon barrels. I thought I had missed out on this beer forever, but fortune smiled upon me this past Friday when the Side Bar tapped a keg of the stuff:

Weyerbacher Whiskey Barrel Aged - Pours a very dark brown (almost black) color, with a finger of khaki colored head. Some light whiskey in the nose, along with some almost fruity notes. As I drink, a pleasant oak and vanilla character emerges too. Taste has a prominent whiskey component, but not overpowering the more typical nutty, toasty notes of the base brown ale. Again, oak and vanilla come out as I drink, and there's a hint of those fruity malt flavors too. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, but not overly thick or chewy... Really well balanced, just big enough to keep it interesting, but not overwhelming or face melting. No real booziness to speak of, despite the whiskey character. Overall, this might be one of my fave Weyerbacher beers ever. Fantastic, well balanced, complex stuff. A

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV on tap. Drank out of a snifter on 10/5/12. 27 IBU.

I'm usually very happy to try one-off brews, but I'm rarely sad that I don't get to drink more. This is among the few, the proud, the ones I want to see again. Weyerbacher hasn't technically ruled that out, but it still seems unlikely. In any case, I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for X-Ray (and, for that matter, Yankee and Zulu). No idea what Weyerbacher plans to do once they reach the end of the alphabet. NATO digits are kinda boring, except for niner, but you could also go with some of the British or U.S. phonetic alphabets (lots of overlap with Nato, but some cool stuff there too).

Weyerbacher brews a special batch every year to celebrate their anniversary, usually picking an uncommon style for the honor. For instance, last year's installment was a Dark Braggot (a sorta mead/beer hybrid). This year, we've got... a saison. Doesn't sound strange? Well, considering that the saison is the least coherent style in the history of beer, that actually does leave Weyerbacher some room to make something wacky.

And wacky it is: brewed with pink peppercorns, orange zest, lemon zest, and grapefruit zest, this beer weighs in at a "style-obliterating 10.5% abv"¹. This last bit is done in accordance with the classic "Weyerbacher anniversary requirement" of a strength around 10% ABV or so, but I sometimes get the feeling that Weyerbacher overdoes it with the alcohol in their beers. I often find myself wondering if some of their beers would be better if it was just a little lower in alcohol, a little more dry. Then I have another Double Simcoe and forget everything I just said. But I digress, this anniversary beer probably could have used a little less alcohol:

Weyerbacher Seventeen - Pours a very pretty, clear golden color with a minimum of quickly disappearing head. Smells strongly of spicy Belgian saison yeast, clove with some light earthiness, maybe even a little booze. The taste is full of that spiciness, which helps cut through the sweetness and the booze, which are quite prevalent. Mouthfeel is full bodied, reasonably well carbonated, but it gives way to a sticky mouthfeel in the finish. The booze is definitely a big part of this brew, maybe too much, but it's still a worthwhile effort. I'm enjoying it, but I wish it were a few percent ABV less. B

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a goblet on 7/6/12.

I can't really blame Weyerbacher for this, it's apparent that they like their beer boozy, and it's not like I didn't enjoy this stuff (in fact, I'll probably pick up another bottle and see what age does to it). They're still one of the more interesting brewers in the area though, and I always look forward to trying something new from them.

¹ - In my post on the lack of coherence of saisons, I gave a range of 3-10% ABV, based on the highest ABV saison I'd had or seen, Fantôme De Noel. Weyerbacher didn't smash the record or anything, but that'll learn me to think I could ever describe a saison in any sort of consistent manner. I bet, somewhere, someone is making a 2% saison, chipping away at the other end of the range. I should just say that a saison is anywhere from 0-60% ABV, but then some crazy European will probably make a 65% ABV saison. Ok, I'll stop now.

I bought a bottle of the stuff, and then Weyerbacher discontinued it! In all seriousness, Weyerbacher has been talking about a new IPA for a while now, and they recently launched their new Last Chance IPA (for which they'll donate a portion of the sales to local animal shelters). Well, I don't have any of that stuff (yet!), but I tried some of the retired brew recently:

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion - Pours a clearish dark orange color (copper?) with a finger of head and some decent retention. Smells of earthy hops, with a little citrus and maybe some sugary malt. There's a bit of a tinny twang here that I detected at first... not overpowering or anything, but perhaps I got a bad bottle. Taste also has a light caramel malt flavor, with a fair amount of earthy, floral hops and maybe just a hint of citrus. Not getting a ton of bitterness, but it's there in the finish, along with that same tinniness from the nose. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and it goes down easy. Overall, I may have gotten a bad bottle, but I have a feeling that this would be a rather straightforward IPA in any case... C

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/25/12.

Well, I can't say as though I'll be upset that this is no longer available... Even if I didn't get a bad bottle, I suspect it would have been somewhat underwhelming. But I do love me some Double Simcoe, and Weyerbacher is releasing their anniversary beer soon too, which is always worth checking out...

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!

Ok, enough of that wussy low ABV beer. Let's check out this bourbon barrel aged monster from Weyerbacher. I was a little underwhelmed by Heresy, their bourbon barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout - it was very good, but it just didn't represent that big of an improvement over their base RIS (called Old Heathen). This time around, Weyerbacher is giving the treatment to their evocatively named Blithering Idiot barleywine, and I'm happy to report that this one represents a big improvement over the base beer:

Weyerbacher Insanity - Pours a deep, dark amber color with just a little bit of light colored head. Smells intensely of caramel, oak and vanilla, with some bourbon and a smattering of almost fruity malt aromas. Rich flavors of caramel malt, oak and vanilla, very light on the fruit and bourbon (but both are clearly there) and a nice, boozy finish. Full bodied, rich, and chewy, plenty of warming from the alcohol. It's a sipper, but it's well balanced and very flavorful. Overall, a big improvement over the standard Blithering Idiot. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.1% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip on 2/25/12.

I've got a few more bottles of this to put in the cellar (I feel like all the strong flavors in this would really harmonize over time), and I still have a year-old bottle of Blithering Idiot that I'll have to check on at some point as well. Weyerbacher continues to be one of the more interesting local breweries, though I feel like everything they make is just huge from an ABV standpoint.

Back in March, we had a beer club outing at The Whip Tavern, an English style pub. At the time, it was a bit cold and pouring rain, so we resolved to come back later in the year and sit outside. Well, a few weeks ago, we did just that. England doesn't really have a reputation for great cuisine, but both meals I've had here have been really great. The first was Bangers and Mash, and it was perfect. This time around I had some delicious duck contraption. For whatever reason, it seemed like the taplist was a bit more limited this time around, but I still managed to get my hands on a few seasonals and interesting beers nonetheless. I'm going from my sparse Untappd notes and memory here, so take the following with a grain of salt (also no pictures - sorry):

• Dock Street The Great Pumpkin - Another pumpkin ale, this one somewhat more subdued in the alcohol and spice departments, which isn't really a bad thing, but which also doesn't really set this apart from any other pumpkin ale. Pretty standard stuff, though certainly something I could drink a few of... B- (Beer Nerd Details: 5.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a half-pint glass.)
• Weyerbacher Harvest Ale - It's the time of year when hops are harvested and breweries grab a portion of fresh "wet hops" (normally hops are dried in order to preserve them) to make various hoppy styles (a practice that deserves a closer look on the blog at some point). This beer gave off a really fantastic hoppy aroma. It's a little on the earthy/grassy side, with just a little citrus peeking through. The taste was nice and bitter, with an almost spicy hop character to it. Perhaps this is just me buying into the hype, but it tasted fresh. It's not a face melter or a revelation or anything, but a well executed IPA. B (Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV on tap. Drank out of a half-pint glass.)
• Leavenworth Boulder Bend Dunkelweizen - Not terribly familiar with the style, but it was kinda like a stout mixed with delicate wheat flavors. I have to say, I didn't really care for it. No off flavors or anything, it just wasn't working for me. Perhaps the roasty flavors were the cause of my issue, but whatever. I didn't have a problem drinking or finishing it, and it was certainly more interesting than a macro, but still not particularly inspiring. C (Beer Nerd Details: 4.7% ABV on tap. Drank out of a half-pint glass.)
• Theakston Old Peculier - I've always heard good things about this beer, but I must have gotten a bad bottle because I didn't care much for it and the flavors I got out of it don't seem to match up with much of the BA nerds' thoughts... I got a distinct apple aroma out of this, which is typically a sign of problems. I also got some raisins in both the aroma and taste. It wasn't undrinkable, but it wasn't particularly good either. D (though I may revisit it at some point). (Beer Nerd Details: 5.7% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a pint glass.)
• Innis And Gunn Oak Aged Beer - I had this the last time I went to the Whip as well, perhaps because it goes really well with one of the desserts. This time around, I got a better feel for the oak and caramel/toffee flavors in the beer and was quite pleased that I got another. So I will up this to a B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 6.6% ABV bottled (11.9 oz). Drank out of a half-pint glass.)
• Spaten Oktoberfestbier - I was going for a German Octoberfest beer; what I got was a skunked bottle of dishwater. Yes, it was in a green bottle, and it was bad. I couldn't get much out of this beer at all, and didn't finish it. This does kinda bring up the question of how to rate beers that are clearly defective, but in this case, it's all due to the green bottle choice, so I have no problem giving it an F. (Beer Nerd Details: 5.9% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a pint glass.)

Well, there you have it. Even considering that the drafts were mostly half-pints, I probably drank too much, but it was still a fun night out (we even stayed long enough to play a couple rounds of quizzo). I'm sure I'll be returning to this place at some point soon.

Every year, Weyberbacher brews an anniversary batch, often choosing a relatively obscure style. Past styles include a Wheatwine, a Smoked Imperial Stout, and a beer that utilizes a Calagione level of obscure spices. This year's installment describes itself as a Dark Braggot Ale. Right, so what the hell is that? Apparently Braggot is a Welsh variety of mead, one which is brewed with a mixture of honey and malts along with hops. Well, don't mind if I do:

Weyerbacher Sixteen - Pours a very dark amber color, almost brown with a finger of light colored head. The nose is filled with the sweetness of fruity malts and honey. The taste has a very sweet pop in the middle and a really clean finish. Lots of fruity notes detected. No real aftertaste either, which is interesting. Well carbonated and medium bodied, you get a bit of alcohol burn, but it doesn't overwhelm, instead giving the beer some additional character. Overall it's a complex, unique and welcome change of pace for me. If I were a bigger fan of honey, I'd probably love this beer even more. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/3/11.

Given the dark color and high alcohol, I'd be interested in seeing how this stands up over time. It's probably all gone by now, but if I see more, I'll probably pick some up. Weyerbacher continues to be one of the more interesting local breweries. I don't know that I've had anything revelatory from them, but they're always interesting. That brand redesign they mentioned a few months ago needs to come soon. I mean, their logo is the woefully overused comic sans* text (with an underline). Comic Sans! Word on the street is that Greg at the Pour Curator interviewed them about the redesign a while back, but he has not posted it just yet. Will be curious to read it though.

* Incidentally, Russian River uses comic sans as well, though not in their branding. They should probably stop that too, though it's not as distracting there.

There are a number of ways to trick me into buying your beer, and apparently one of them is to barrel-age your beer. In a recent beer run, I think maybe half the beers I bought had some sort of barrel-aging treatment (it was an expensive trip). I guess I'm just a sucker for that sort of thing... but then again, it often works out pretty well for me.

Weyerbacher Heresy - The base for this beer is Weyerbacher's Old Heathen, a pretty middle of the road Imperial Stout, but one I enjoy. This beer is basically a bourbon barrel aged version, and it pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger or two of light brown head (no real lacing here). The smell is roasty, with a little bit of that vanilla and oak character. Perhaps some caramel and chocolate flavors in the nose as well... Taste is again, very roasty. Just a little in the way of chocolate and caramel along with the oak and vanilla flavors. You can taste the alcohol as well, but it's well incorporated here, not overpowering anything else. It's reasonably full bodied, but still pretty easy to drink. Overall, I was hoping for a bit more of that oak and bourbon character would show through, but it's still a pretty solid RIS and a slight improvement over the Old Heathen. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/27/11.

Weyerbacher is a local brewery (with one of the worst logos ever) that puts out a lot of interesting, experimental, and really big beers. Sometimes these work better than others, but I always find their stuff interesting. Up next for me is their sixteenth anniversary beer, which is a 10.5% Braggot (basically a mixture of mead and beer).