Recently in B+ Category

During previous sorties into Vermont, I liked to play a little game I called Vermont Beer Roulette* wherein I would grab bottles of beer from a Vermont brewery that I'd never heard of before and try them out. This is how I discovered obscure breweries like Switchback, Foley Brothers, Bent Hill, and Crop Bistro.

So far, the most eye-opening random discovery of Operation Cheddar III: Cheddar Harder has been Lost Nation. The founders got their start at Von Trapp Brewing, then set out on their own with Lost Nation in 2012, releasing their first beers in 2013. They focus on "lesser known European beer styles" like Gose (a beer we'll get to soon enough!), but this is Vermont we're talking about here, so they have some hoppy offerings as well. This is a 4.8% Session IPA (a style I will forever call American Pale Ale) brewed with wheat and presumably hopped generously with Aussie Galaxy hops. I get the impression these are limited cans only available at the brewery, hence the nifty but clearly improvised can labels (Alchemist did something similar with early batches of Focal Banger), let's go in for a closer look:

Lost Nation Lost Galaxy - Pours a very pale, clear yellow color with a finger of fluffy whitehead. Smells strongly of citrus hops with perhaps a note of slight spice to it, those nose certainly makes a nice first impression. Taste starts with those citrus hops, moving into a light spice (not belgian/saison spicy or anything like that, but something light and earthy) and a biting bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is very light bodied, almost watery (in, like, a good way), well carbonated, and quaffable. Should have sprung for more cans of this (I elected to split a 4 pack of this and the Gose with friends), as it's quite drillable. Overall, it's a great little session beer, light but tasty. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 4.8% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a willibecher glass on 6/7/15. Canned on 5/22/15. Can also sez: HEY MAN, presumably another batch code or perhaps they're just saying hi.

I am fortunate enough to have several other rather exciting beers on deck from Lost Nation and have indeed already cracked open my lonely can of Gose and taken some notes (which I may or may not get to this week - I'm behind on reviews for some unfathomable reason). I will most assuredly be returning to Lost Nation on the next Operation Cheddar trip, which may be happening sooner rather than later...

* A variant on my earlier game, Belgian Beer Roulette, where I simply find a Belgian beer I never heard of before and try it out.

Fiddlehead was the first stop of Operation Cheddar III: Cheddar Harder and while we struck out on Second Fiddle cans (which we later got to consume in Boston, oddly enough), we did manage to get our hands on some cans of Tejas Marron, a hoppy brown ale brewed with unrefined dark brown sugar, which sounds awfully nice. Not sure what makes it a Texas brown ale (as the name implies) or why the can has Spanish for "The Devil's Right Hand" included, but who cares - it sounds great:

Fiddlehead Tejas Marron - Pours a hazy brown color with a finger of light tan head that sticks around a while. Smells of citrus and pine, maybe hints of brown sugar. Taste is surprisingly tame given the color, some citrus and pine hops again, especially up front, with the brown sugar emerging towards the finish, which seems well balanced between sweet malts and bitter hops. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, on the lower end of medium bodied, not thin at all, but not quite what it appears to be either. It feels a lot like an IPA that has some darker elements incorporated... without getting into stout/black IPA territory. Overall, it's a rock solid brew, not my favorite thing ever, but I'll have no hesitation in polishing off the 4 pack! B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a Charente glass on 6/5/15. Canned: 05/22/15. Can also has a note that says "T for Timbuktu" (or something like that - batch designation?)

I like this a lot, and I shared a Hodad with a friend a while back which was nice, but it's still pretty clear that Second Fiddle is the best thing I've had from these fellas. That being said, I will certainly be on the lookout for more from them on subsequent Operation Cheddars!

How do you do, dear reader? I am your most obedient servant and I am right heartily glad to see you. Forsooth, I have a most curious beer to discuss with you. Hailing from the honorable brewery known as Aleworks, situated close to the colonial town of Williamsburg, Virginia, this elixir began its life in a traditional brick wrapped brewhouse with open flame (as opposed to the modern heathens who useth more gentle steam systems), then slumbered for nearly 18 months in French oak barrels formerly used to age red wine. Truly a testament to the fleeting virtue of patience, that most humble of qualities. Hold ye onto thine britches, for these suds pack a sour punch:

AleWerks Lover's Greed - Pours a pale, hazy reddish orange color with a finger of fizzy head that quickly resolves into a cap of head that sticks around for a while. Smells of vinous fruit, sour cherries, and tart vinegar. Taste is surprisingly mellow, definitely lots of tart fruit, cherries and grapes, vinegar tones, a little in the way of oak and vanilla, sour but not overpoweringly so. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, well carbonated but smooth, slightly acidic but not a monster. Overall, a nice American wild ale; it's quite approachable and goes down rather easy, comporting itself well in a crowded and competitive style. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (500 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 5/16/15. Vintage: 2014.

Many thanks to Danur for the bottle! Also, I beg your pardon for my horrid attempts at colonial speech. It's funny, AleWerks has even dropped Williamsburg from their name, so I'm guessing they're trying to distance themselves from that connotation. Regardless, I've enjoyed most everything I've had from this small operation, and have been on the lookout for Bitter Valentine for a while now... There's always next year.

I've been doing a better job keeping up with Forest & Main's bottle releases lately, in part because they're such low-pressure affairs. Unlike a Tired Hands release, where you need to arrive at least a couple hours early, I can roll up right around opening time and still snag a bunch of bottles. People do wait in line, but it's definitely a more relaxed atmosphere and everything moves swiftly once the doors open. Oh yeah, and the beer's pretty good too.

Two beers at the latest release. One was Paradisaeidae, named after a family of birds known as the Birds of Paradise, a barrel-aged saison brewed with Forest & Main's local saison yeast, conditioned on lemongrass and lime, and dry hopped with Motueka. I never knew this, but Forest & Main's saison yeast is foraged from a variety of flowers and fruits growing within a few blocks of the brewpub ("Cultures from mulberries, cherries and honeysuckle made the final cut.") They switch up the yeast every year, so you can expect significant variations between vintages.

It's unclear if every saison they make uses this foraged yeast, but the second bottle I snagged, Ash & Alder (presumably a reference to the trees used to make Fender guitar bodies) was a more traditional saison except that it was dry hopped with Mosaic and Mandarina Bavaria. Unlike Paradisaeidae, this is not barrel aged and isn't really suitable for aging. I'm sure it would do just fine, but judging from the nose on this sucker, you really want to drink it fresh. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's take a closer look at both of these beers:

Forest & Main Paradisaeidae - Pours a hazy golden orange color with a finger of dense white head. Smells funky, sour, fruity, with some oak pitching in for good measure. A very well integrated nose, actually. Taste starts off with a sour little snap that quickly subsides as things get earthy in the middle, funk and oak, some fruity hops and hop bitterness emerging in the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, lightbodied, moderate sourness and acidity, a little dryness in the finish. Overall, a nice sour saison, but not quite the equal of some of their other offerings, notably Moeder saison or Marius variants. Still very nice, a solid B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 5/10/15. Bottled: Feb 26 2015 (Released May 2015)

Forest & Main Ash & Alder - Pours a more hazy, slightly darker golden color with tons of fluffy white head. Absolutely beautiful nose, perfect melding of saison spice, fruit, and funk with citrusy hops. Great tropical fruit aromas, oranges and the like. Taste is a little more subdued than the nose would have you believe, and the balance definitely leans more towards the spicy saison up front, with the hops kicking in towards the bitter finish. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, crisp and clean, and very, very dry. Overall, this is one of the better hoppy saisons that I've had, well worth checking out when fresh. A high B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 5/10/15. Bottled: Feb 13 2015 (Released April/May 2015)

As per usual, solid work from Forest & Main. Always consider heading up there and should really visit more often. I am getting better, I swears.

No, this beer is not named for the awesomely badass shark. Like all of Hanger 24's Barrel Roll series beers, it's named after an aerial maneuver which is, in itself, named after the badass shark. I think. I mean, I guess it could also be named after, you know, the head of a hammer. But I prefer to think it's the shark that drove the name. It's a turn-around maneuver where the plane goes vertical, appears to stall, then rotates as the plane descends in a quarter loop so that it's made a full 180° turn. Or something. I'm clearly not a pilot, and haven't even really played one in video games.

After Pugachev's Cobra introduced me to Hangar 24's barrel aged beer program, I quickly resolved to sample more from the series, and this Barleywine aged in rye whiskey and bourbon barrels certainly did the trick. So let's take this highway to the danger zone:

Hangar 24 Barrel Roll No. 4 Hammerhead - Pours a deep, dark brown color with half a finger of slow forming head. Smells sticky sweet, toffee and caramel, werthers original, a little bourbon, oak, and vanilla, a sorta rum-soaked fruit thing going on too. Taste is very sweet, some sticky toffee, light caramel, brown sugar, rum soaked fruit, with boozy bourbon hitting in the finish. The mouthfeel starts out in a way that makes you think this is a big, rich, chewy, full bodied beer, but it quickly thins out a little, with the barrel aged richness dissipating into the hot, boozy finish. It is perhaps not as hot as Pugachev's Cobra, but it gets the job done. Overall, this is a pretty great barleywine, not quite top tier, but well worth the stretch. A high B+, maybe A- territory, but will need to try again. If only someone would twist my arm and give me another bottle.

Beer Nerd Details: 13.9% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a snifter on 5/2/15. Vintage: March 2015.

Would be really curious how a spell in the cellar would treat this one, and may actually have an opportunity to try that out. In the meantime, will be brushing up on my aerobatics and on the lookout for more Barrel Roll beers.

Remember all the paranoia about Satanic cults back in the 80s? This manifested in many ways, but one of the coolest is something called backmasking. That's when you can discover a hidden message if you play a recording backwards, usually something Satanic or generally meant to corrupt the youth of the day. The Beatles famously popularized the notion of backmasked music, but thanks to human beings' predilection for pareidolia (i.e. finding meaning in something that is random, like shapes in the clouds), rumors of hidden messages became rampant in the 60s and 70s (the Beatles' good natured exploration came back to plague them later with rumors of Paul's death).

None of this was new, of course. Thomas Edison noticed the phenomenon almost immediately after inventing the phonograph, and even the Satanic connection dates all the way back to 1913, when Aleister Crowley wrote a book that advised those who were interested in black magic to "learn how to think and speak backwards." Along with related paranoia surrounding subliminal messaging, backmasking and satanism peaked in the 80s and has subsided as it's been proven that such techniques aren't exactly effective. But it's fun to go back and read all those irrational fears.

The advent of digital recording technology has lead to a bit of a resurgence in backmasking, as it's a lot easier to accomplish now. Artists being artists, they've always fought against the false accusations by using backmasking for humorous or satiric effect. For instance, there's a Mindless Self Indulgence song called Backmask which, when played forward, has all the nasty lyrics like "go kill yourself", but when played backwards, the hidden message is revealed: a soothing female voice tells the listener to be good, "Don't stay out too late", "Get dressed for church" and so on. Irony! (For the record, it's a clever idea, but the song ain't exactly great.)

So this beer is an ode to that Satanic scourge, with a perfectly executed label. Very much fitting with Three Floyds' brand. Oh. Oh no, I'm talking about branding now. What is wrong with me? Please forgive me, dear reader, I deal with this stuff for my day job sometimes. I try not to let it bleed through to the beer blog and... why are you looking at me like that? Stop judging me! Beer. The beer! So this is a relatively straightforward Oatmeal Stout that is variously reported as 6% or 8% ABV, depending on who you ask. I'll assume 8% because that's what Three Floyds' website sez, even if their labels frustratingly omit ABV for some unfathomable reason.

I was going to try and unearth some Satanic messages in this beer, but decided that "drinking beer backwards" would not be very fun (and apparently peeing doesn't count) so I'll have to lead it as an exercise for the reader, if you're so inclined.

Three Floyds BackMasking - Pours a deep black color with a finger of tan head that has decent retention and leaves a little lacing as I drink. Smells sweet, dark malts, but not super roasty, not quite caramel or toffee either, but closer to those than your typical stout. Taste is where the roasty hell-like notes come in to play, brimstone and the like, but there's lots of other things going on. Not as sweet as the nose would imply, but it's got notes of caramel and vanilla, some faint piney hops and a little hop bitterness towards the finish. As it warms, the hops come out a little more. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, thinner than expected but still pretty substantial, well attenuated, faintly satanic, plenty of carbonation and a silky feel. Overall, it's a rock solid moderate-ABV stout, well worth seeking out. B+ would try again.

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 5/1/15.

As always, Three Floyds is worth the stretch and they have great brandin... dammit, I'm doing it again. Leave me alone, I learned it from watching you! What? I'm... sorry, I don't know what is going on right now.

Started by a pair of married schoolteachers in their hometown of Blaugies, these folks have been brewing in their quaint farmhouse garage since 1987. That's a pretty long time for an American brewer, but in Belgium, where some brewers have histories dating back centuries, it's a young brewery (Michael Jackson once quipped that this beer was "A fine revival"). Everything they make is a saison, so you know it's a good bet, even if you're playing Belgian roulette. This particular example is made with Spelt and Dupont's yeast strain, but despite being very yeast-driven, it manages to remain distinct from most of Dupont's classic beers:

Brasserie de Blaugies Saison D'Epeautre - Hoo boy, the pressure in this bottle must've been massive, that cork could have punctured the ceiling if I wasn't careful. Pours a slightly cloudy straw yellow color with massive amounts of bubbly head and decent retention, though little in the way of lacing. Smells of dusty, musty belgian yeast, a little spice, like clove and coriander, and faint hints of fruity esters. Taste has a big spice note to it, the clove and coriander from the nose, plenty of musty yeast, with hints of bright fruit coming through. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, crisp, and effervescent, quite dry as well. Overall, this is a fantastic, very well executed example of a rather straightforward saison, one I'd like to revisit for sure. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 5/2/15.

Well, now I need to go find everything Blaugies ever brewed. Super.

I like puns as much as the next fella, hell I'll even chuckle at the most overused of beer puns: the hop pun. But even I have to question the wisdom of naming your beer with a pun that refers to one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. Welcome to the Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub, here's your bottled pestilence! On the other hand, it is a beer soured with bacteria, so there is a certain sense of propriety, I guess. Consider my question withdrawn.

I've had the occasional misfire from Cascade, and at these prices, those are not pleasant affairs (even when the beer is ultimately not all that bad), but they're always interesting, and when they're on, they're really on. I've had my eye on this one for a while, in part because I initially thought it wasn't a sour. It's a blend of spiced double porters that were aged in Bourbon and wine barrels for 18 months before aging on dates and spices for up to an additional 12 months. Nothing in there screams sour. Except for the part on the label that sez it's a Northwest Style Sour Ale. That's kinda a dead giveaway. I am, as has been amply established, the worst. Anywho, bourbon barrels aren't typically used for sours, and I've found that when they are, the bourbon gets lost behind the sourness (with the notable exception of Cuvée De Tomme). This one falls somewhere inbetween...

Our opponent is running a black deck, so watch out for plague rats and gird your buboes, because we're going in for a closer look at this Bourbonic Plague:

Cascade Bourbonic Plague - Pours a dark brown color with a finger of light tan head that quicky fizzes down to a ring around the edge of the glass. Smells funky, a little sour, but you get some spice and vanilla (almost like a coke), oak, maybe some vinous fruit, and something deeper and darker lurking in the background. Taste is very sweet, some of that vinous fruit, a nice sour punch, rich dark malts (but not roasty at all), spice and vanilla (again with the almost coca cola character, like if coke was sour? Maybe not the best description, but there's something to it), and some booze, maybe even actual bourbon (not Cuvée De Tomme levels, but it's there). Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, a little heavy and acidic, nice booze factor. Intense, complex, and interesting, it's a sipper for sure, and probably should be shared. Overall, a fascinating piece of work, not sure I've had anything quite like it. B+ but certainly worth seeking out.

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a snifter on 4/25/15. Vintage: 2011 Project.

Yet another interesting winner from Cascade, and at least one more in the pipeline sometime in the near future. Not to mention lots of their beers that remain unexplored territory for us... territory we'll surely enjoy charting.