Recently in A Category

So today saw the release of Victory's Dark Intrigue, a bourbon barrel aged version of their Russian Imperial Stout, Storm King (in an event they called Dark Wednesday). I've never been to a big beer release, and this one was purported to be a big deal. Apparently all of last year's batch sold out in 45 minutes or so, and Victory announced that this would be the last year they'd be making this particular beer. They apparently made more of it this year, but given the extremely rare nature of the beer, I decided that I must go to the brewery early and get me some bourbon barrel goodness.

Because I'm a nerd, that's why.

Victory's brewery is in a weird location. It's like you're driving around in a neighborhood, lots of houses, when suddenly you make a right turn and bam! Brewery. I actually know several people who live in homes within walking distance of the brewery. This, of course, makes me want to sell my home and look for such houses, but I digress. Not really knowing what to expect, I left my house rather early this morning, arriving at around 8:45 am. I ended up being #44 in line. They have a nice, stress-free system here, rather than the clusterfuck I was expecting. You arrive, they give you a numbered wrist band, and you're thus free to do whatever you want until around 11 am, at which point they request you get in line, in order. Nevertheless, most of us just stood around in a rough approximation of order. It actually rained this morning, which I think decreased the turnout a bit (300 cases were apparently available, and well more than that showed up, but still), but it was all good. Most folks were well prepared, and those that weren't were able to head to their cars without losing their spot in line.

The few hours passed by quickly. The rain died down, the sun came out, and thus we assumed God was blessing the occasion. Beer nerds are apparently quite friendly folk, and I spent most of the time talking with my neighbors in line. Oddly, we did not introduce ourselves. I have no idea what their names are and I didn't give mine. Strange. But we talked beer and shared stories and had a generally good time. The time came, and we got our beer. It was all quite exciting, in a nerdy way. Upon returning home, I immediately cracked the case and put one in the fridge for later. I was assuming that the beer would still be young and brash, not very well balanced, and that it would take a while for it to mellow out, but I got a case of the stuff, so I might as well try one as soon as possible:

Victory Dark Intrigue - Pours a pitch black color with a finger or two of light brown head that slowly disappears, leaving some nice lacing patterns. The nose is very complex and surprisingly balanced for such a young beer. I'm getting some roastiness, some hops, and a nicely matched amount of oak and vanilla, with just a bit of bourbon and booze. The taste starts off with some sweet and maybe even chocolately notes, with some bitterness settling in the finish and aftertaste. Booze cuts in on the bitterness though, making it all seem balanced. In addition, the oak, vanilla and bourbon come out in the middle and last through the finish, but it's not nearly as overpowering as I was expecting. The mouthfeel is very strong and full bodied. It's thick and coats the mouth, what the beer nerds would call chewy. There's a bit of a bite to this too, though things seem to smooth out a bit as it warms up. The booze and bourbon give the beer a sorta hot character, which lends itself to the typical warming alcohol feeling as I drink. Overall, I was not expecting this to be as good as it was. I was thinking that it would need to age a bit before all the various flavors would come together, but damn, this is working right now, on day one. I'm sure it will mellow out some, perhaps that hot bite will smooth out with time. Great stuff from Victory. I'll give it an A, though I'm sure that's partly the novelty speaking here. So sue me.

I actually had a regular old Storm King last night, in preparation for this bourbon barrel version. I actually reviewed this beer a while back, but the one I had last night was much better than I remember (at least a B+ if not an A-), but perhaps having it on tap makes a difference (I'm also told that having it on cask is amazing, but I'm dumb and haven't tried that yet, despite it being available regularly). That being said, the bourbon barrel version is definitely a step up, which basically means that this was all a fantastic idea.

Victory is saying that this was an experiment with barrel aging. The general idea was to take one of their existing beers and put it in bourbon barrels to see what happens, then take their learnings and apply it to making new and unique barrel-aged wonders. Given how this turned out, I can't wait to see what they do with barrels next.

So this beer is labeled as a Quadrupel. I've written about a few Quads on the blog, but I've never really written much about the style, instead just referring to it as "mildly mystifying", which is certainly true (I've also said it's a brew "which is like, 4 times better than regular beer, right?"). It's usually referred to as a style of Trappist origin, though obviously lots of non-Trappist brewers make beers in the style. Beer Advocate describes the style thusly:

Inspired by the Trappist brewers of Belgium, a Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. Typically a dark creation that ranges within the deep red, brown and garnet hues. Full bodied with a rich malty palate. Phenols are usually at a moderate level. Sweet with a low bitterness yet a well perceived alcohol.

What's more, BA lists about 150+ examples of the style, including heavyweights like Rochefort 10, Westvleteren 12, and St. Bernardus Abt 12. The weird thing about the style, though, is that it seems to date back to... 1991. That's the year Koningshoeven (known to us Yanks these days as La Trappe), the only non-Belgian Trappist brewery, supposedly coined the term Quadrupel. The sourcing is somewhat vague about this. My meager collection of beer books has very little to say about the style. In Brew Like a Monk, Stan Hieronymus refers to it as a "style that's not quite a style." With the help of google books, I see a reference in The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer that says La Trappe/Koningshoeven's Quad is "the beer that supposedly coined the Quadrupel name." (Curious, that. While Quads are indeed very strong, I was not aware that they had gained the power of speech and were coining controversial style terminology.) Notorious beer history wonk Martyn Cornell takes a more measured approach:

[Koningshoeven] made Dubbel and Tripel for a long time and has "reinvented" (Tim Webb) the terms Enkel and Quadrupel to extend its beer range at either end of the strength scale. The terms double and single for different strengths of beer were used across Northern Europe: the three commonest styles of Swedish beer before the middle of the 19th century, for example, were dubbelt öl, or double ale, enkelt öl, or single ale, and svagöl, "weak ale".

From a common sense point of view, it seems wise to acknowledge that the term "Quadruple" (and various fancy/foreign spellings of such) could have been applied to various strong beers for a long time. But it does indeed appear that Koningshoeven has succeeded in reinventing the term, as when people talk about a Quadrupel these days, they're generally referring to the style that Koningshoeven began to brew in 1991. Of course, that does little to explain why this is a distinct and separate style from, say, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Indeed, the BJCP doesn't list Quads as a style, instead classifying them under Belgian Strong Ales or Belgian Specialty Ales. Ah, the joys of pedantic style debates. Well, enough of that, let's drink some Baby Tree, a particularly good example of the style:

Pretty Things Baby Tree - Pours a beautiful dark amber brown color with just a bit of head that seems to persist reasonably well. The aroma is filled with dark fruitiness and sweet malts. The taste is bursting with dark fruit (apparently plums), with just a bit of spiciness to offset it. Extremely well balanced taste (generally the hallmark of a great beer for me). The mouthfeel is rich and full bodied but very smooth, making this extremely easy to drink (especially for a 9% ABV beer!) I suppose it could be a bit of a sipper... if I wasn't gulping the stuff down so quickly because it's so smooth and full of awesome. In reality, 9% is actually rather low for this style that isn't a style, so I guess that makes a sort of sense. Whatever the case, the alcohol is hidden really well, and this is just an all around fantastic beer. A

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a goblet on 10/29/11. Bottled June 2011.

Pretty Things (another of them newfangled "gypsy brewers") are now on the list of breweries where I'll need to seek out more of their stuff. And naturally, I want to get me some more of this particular beer as well. As for other Quads, I will say that it's among my favorite styles, so expect to see some more of them (or, at least, Belgian Strong Darks, which seem to be popular this time of year). I think I may even have a line on a bottle of the fabled Westy 12!

For Beer Advocate's Belgian Beer Fest, the Allagash folks apparently collaborated with the hallowed Alström Bros to create two beers. First was Little Big Beer, a funky 10.5% wild ale. Then, using the second runnings of the Little Big beer, they made Big Little Beer. This one turned out to be more like a straightforward Abbey single. At least, on paper, that's what it looks like. But damn, this thing turned out to be quite flavorful, almost like a Tripel without the alcohol:

Allagash Big Little Beer - Pours a very cloudy golden color with a finger of creamy white head. I actually didn't pick up a ton in the nose (I'm assuming that's more a function of the full glass and bar atmosphere than the beer), but it did have a typical Belgian yeast aroma. Musty and spicy. The taste, though, is very powerful. Full of spice and fruity citrus, almost perfectly balanced with a nice dry finish. The mouthfeel is light, refreshing, and compulsively drinkable, with that perfect dry finish. The amazing thing about this beer is that it seemingly packs the flavor of a Tripel (or at least a Belgian Strong Pale) into a very lightweight beer. At 5.5%, I would have expected this to be much less flavorful, but it's now obvious why it's called Big Little Beer. A

Beer Nerd Details: 5.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a goblet on 10/8/11.

I totally lucked out in finding this beer. It just happened to be on tap when I went to dinner (though, granted, I went to the Station Taproom, which always has an interesting selection). According to Greg, Allagash is considering making this a year round brew, but I'm guessing that's just wishful thinking (I would totally buy tons of this stuff if it was readily available though, so if Allagash is reading this, please go for it). Greg's also got some additional details about the recipe used for Big Little Beer, in case you're interested...

Tonight's beer club was most excellent. Good turnout, really good beer, and an overall good time. For the uninitiated, the beer club is basically just a bunch of folks from my work who get together once a month to enjoy a nice dinner together... along with lots of different beers and wines and other alcoholic wonders. The past few months have been sparsely attended, so the beer selection was somewhat sparse, but tonight we had so many beers that we didn't even get to them all. As you might expect, lots of seasonal beers were brought, and we had a couple of quite excellent brews:

(Click for bigger image)

For reference, here are some brief thoughts on most of the pictured beers (some we did not get to, though at least two of those I will review separately). As usual, this isn't exactly ideal tasting conditions, so take them with a grain of salt. In order of tasting (not necessarily the order in the picture):

• Ithaca Flower Power IPA - While not popular with some folks (i.e. non-hopheads), I thought it was quite a good beer. Very floral, so much so that it does tend to differentiate itself from the throngs of other IPAs. Quite enjoyable and something I'd like to try again at some point. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• The Bruery Autumn Maple - Wow! This was a really fantastic beer. Full of Belgian yeast character and full bodied, this was a dream to drink. Perhaps it was just the power of suggestion, but I felt like the molasses and maple syrup flavors were very apparent, along with the general spiciness. It doesn't taste like a pumpkin beer, but it's definitely got a fall seasonal feel to it, which is a nice change of pace. The Bruery never ceases to amaze me with their beers. I loved this one and will need to find myself a bottle to try out by itself, but for now I'll give it the A it surely deserves. (Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (750 ml capped.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Shmaltz Coney Island Freaktoberfest - Perhaps the weirdest beer of the night. It pours an odd blood red color with a pink head, but it tastes more along the lines of an Oktoberfest beer, though there was something distinctive and odd about the taste that was throwing things off. As a gimmick beer, it's certainly successful. The appearance is certainly a hoot, and the fact that it's 6.66% ABV is pretty funny as well. Ultimately, it's got some neat gimmicks, but it's an average beer. C+ (Beer Nerd Details: 6.66% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Otter Creek Oktoberfest - A not particularly accomplished version of the Octoberfest style. In discussion, someone mentioned that it tasted a bit like rotting otter, which is perhaps an exaggeration, but this isn't a particularly good beer. Maybe drinkable, but not something I'm rushing to try again. My least favorite of the night. C- (Beer Nerd Details: 4.8% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Blue Point's Mother Pumpkin Ale - Another of the more subdued pummpkin ales that I've had this year. Certainly not a bad beer, but the pumpkin and spice flavors were somewhat faint here. That's not necessarily a horrible thing, but it also doesn't really make the beer stand out either. It's an ok beer, worth trying, but not something I see myself seeking out at any point. C+ (Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Post Road Pumpkin Ale - I didn't realize it when I tried it, but this is actually Brooklyn Brewing's take on a pumpkin ale. It's yet another of the more sessionable pumpkin ales, perhaps slightly better than Blue Point's entry (see above), but not nearly as good as some of the other pumpkin ales I've had this year. Well crafted and worth a try, probably something I could drink again, but also not particularly special. B- (Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Dundee Oktoberfest - Ah, a stealth macro! Not bad, but I'm also not sure if I'd identify this as having that distinctive Oktoberfest character either. It tastes fine, and it maybe has a hint of the typical flavors associated with the style, but it's certainly not an eye-opener either. I don't see myself seeking this out again, but I wouldn't turn it down either. B- (Beer Nerd Details: 5.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Victory Otto - This is one of my most anticipated beers of the year; a smoked Belgian style dubbel from my favorite local brewery. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to expectations. It's got a nice smoky character and it doesn't seem like that would overwhelm the rest of the beer, but I would have liked to have tasted some sort of Belgian yeast flavors here as well, and they were just absent. This makes it somewhat one-dimensional. I will say that it seemed to get better as I drank, and it certainly isn't bad, but as Belgian dubbels are one of my favorite styles, I wish this had more of that sort of style going for it. I'll probably try this again at some point, as it did end up being enjoyable, but I did find it a bit disappointing as well. B (Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked.) Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)
• Cape Ann Fisherman's Imperial Pumpkin Stout - Wow, this is really fantastic beer from a brewery I've never even heard of... It's basically an imperial pumpkin stout. It's got the typical pumpkin pie flavors and spices, but it's all very well balanced. The stoutness is downplayed and not very roasty, but that's the way I like it, and the pumpkin pie character fits well with the dark style. It's full bodied but smooth, and it definitely hides the 11% ABV well. Dangerously drinkable stuff, and perhaps the most flavorful beer of the night - certainly the only beer that even came close to comparing with the Bruery Autumn Maple. I'm not sure where I can get this, but I need to find myself another bottle of this stuff. Really wonderful beer. A (Beer Nerd Details: 11% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of my mini English tulip pint glass thingy.)

Well, that covers most of the beer we drank. We also had another of my homebrewed saisons (which, again, I should review, but not now) and some of the less beer inclined folks had a Leinenkugel Berry Weiss, but I kinda knew that's not for me, so I didn't try any of that. Of the unopened bottles, I'm sure I'll be trying the Warsteiner Oktoberfest this weekend, and I'll get to Founders Centennial IPA at some point as well.

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle-and-bustle of new experimental brews, limited releases and white whale beers. As such, many first-rate beers linger on the shelves, unnoticed. I've had all of Rochefort's beers before, but it has been far too long since I've revisited them. They are true classics. If you have not tried them, you should probably be out hunting for a bottle rather than reading this post.

Rochefort is a small town in southeast Belgium. A few miles down the road lies Rochefort's Trappist monastery, Notre Dame de Saint Remy. The monks there started brewing beer in 1595, though recent operations started in 1899. As usual, Michael Jackson provides some interesting background based on a rare interview and tour with the head brewer:

There are 25 monks at the abbey, and four have jobs in the brewery, along with five secular workers. The monks rise each morning at 3:15, and have the mash under way before heading for High Mass at 7a.m. ...

The beers are brewed from two Pilsener malts and one Munich type, with dark cane sugar added in the kettle. The hops are German Hallertau and Styrian Goldings, added twice. Two strains of yeast are use in primary fermentation an bottle-conditioning. White crystal sugar is used as a priming in the bottle.

"Two of the pale malts, two of the sugars, two hop varieties two yeast strains . . . two of this and two of that . . . we like to keep it simple," laughed Father Antoine.

Indeed, it is even rumored that all three of Rochefort's beers start from a single wort, which they modify by adding varying amounts of dark candy sugar to meet different strengths. All three of the beers share a similar flavor profile, so this does make sense, but I don't think it's ever been confirmed (and in looking at the difference between the weakest and strongest beers, that's a lot of adjunct that they'd have to add). In any case, like the other Trappist breweries, Rochefort only sells their beer to help sustain the monastery and some charitable causes. As such, production is fairly low and won't be raised to meet demand. In general, though, you shouldn't have a problem finding at least one of the three varieties.

Speaking of which, I've always wondered about the way a lot of Belgian beers are numbered. St. Bernardus has a 6, 8 and 12. Westvleteren has an 8 and a 12. And Rochefort has a 6, 8, and 10. I had always assumed that it was a general reference to strength (sort of like Dubbel, Tripel, and Quadrupel), and in a manner of speaking, it is. However, in more specific terms, the numbers are a reference to original gravity. 6 corresponds with an original gravity of 1.060, 8 corresponds to 1.080, and so on*. Interestingly, the Jackson article referenced above mentions: "This is handy, observed Father Antoine, because they are ready to drink at six, eight and 10 weeks." Go figure. Of course, these are bottle conditioned, high alcohol beers, so they can actually stand up to time rather well.

A while back, I picked up each of the available varieties, originally intending to do a triple feature, but that didn't work out as planned. Rather than get stupid drunk one night, I decided to stretch this out over a couple of weeks. I tried them in order of strength, from lowest to highest.

Trappistes Rochefort 6 - Apparently the least common of the three beers, this one is only brewed once a year. I've never had a problem finding it though, so perhaps that's no longer in effect (that or people tend to gravitate towards the higher strength beers). Pours a cloudy reddish brown color with a couple fingers of quickly disappearing tan head. Aroma is very fruity, and not the typical Belgian strong dark fruitiness either. There's something different about this. Bready Belgian yeast aromas are also present, along with a sorta nuttiness and toffee, but both aromas clearly take a back seat to the fruitiness. The taste goes along similar lines - a well balanced fruity sweetness throughout, with some more intricate and subtle flavors emerging as it warms up. Again, not sure what that particular fruit flavor is, but I've never had anything quite like it (except for other Rochefort beers). As the 6 is the "weakest" of these beers, I was expecting it to be lighter and maybe even watery, but it was highly carbonated and full bodied. Very easy to drink. I really love this beer. Wonderfully complex and unique, but still approachable. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 7/31/11.

Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Pours a slightly deeper, darker brown color with a couple fingers of head. Aroma is more intense, but along the same lines. Taste is perhaps a bit sweeter, with just a hint of additional stickiness. I think you can taste the extra alcohol, but it's still well balanced with the rest of the beer. Again, intricate and complex flavors emerging even more as it warms up. Mouthfeel is a bit fuller bodied, but it's not a huge difference.. Like the 6, I do love this beer, which is similar, but bigger and richer. Indeed, I believe this one is my favorite of the three, even warranting the highest rating I can give, the vaunted Kaedrin A+

Beer Nerd Details: 9.2% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 8/6/11.

Trappistes Rochefort 10 - Deep, dark brown color, similar to the 8, but some of that reddish color is also seeping in... Seemingly less head. Aroma is very rich, but along similar lines. The taste is definitely boozier and sweeter than the other two varieites. I'm drinking this a couple weeks after the other two, so my comparative palate is a little off, but my feeling is that the extra alcohol here really does give this beer a whole different character. Mouthfeel is heavy, a little less carbonated and again, very full bodied. There's more of a stickiness apparent, presumably due to the extra sugar and alcohol. The thing is, it's all still very well balanced - no small feat considering the 0.040 difference in original gravity. An amazing beer and a nice complement to the other two. A

Beer Nerd Details: 11.3% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 8/20/11.

It's almost a shame to compare and rate these three beers, yet I do find that I prefer the 8 above the other two. Interestingly, I think I might even prefer the 6 to the 10**, which is not to say that the 10 is bad or anything. Indeed, I'd put it near the top of any best-of list. Hmmm. I should "research" this more. By which I mean I probably shouldn't wait another two years before having more Rochefort!

* To complicate matters further, Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer claims that the O.G. for the 6 is 1.072, the 8 is 1.078 and the 10 is 1.096. Take from this what you want. It's great beer no matter what!

** Despite the BA nerds' ratings (which put the 10 at the top), it seems I'm not alone in my preferred ranking of 8, 6, then 10. Jay's recently released Beer Samizdat 100 features these three beers in that order, even going so far as to name the 8 the best beer evar (personal preferences may differ, but I find it hard to argue with that choice).

After last week's homebrew session, I was hungry and in no mood to cook, so I popped over to Iron Hill for a burger and some of their brewpubby goodness. Iron Hill doesn't really have national exposure, but it was part of the Craft Beer Class of 1996, which also featured local mainstays like Victory, Yards, Dogfish Head, and Flying Fish. That's pretty good company, and I do believe that much of what Iron Hill puts out compares favorably with their brethren (to see the various founders fooling around, check out this video from 2010 Philly Beer Week). Anyway, I had just walked in the door when what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Mexican wrestling? Beer? I'm in! Of course, the actual event was a week away, but both of the contestants were available, so I figured I'd do a preview of the main event and see who I thought should win.

Iron Hill Kryptonite - Apparently, they've been making this one for a few years, but the recipe seemingly changes from year to year. Beer Advocate has it at 10.5% ABV, but everything I'm seeing about it has it lower. Iron Hill's website has it at 9% (and the brewer made a blog entry a couple years ago that confirms it), and judging from what I had, that seems right. According to various sources, this is an Imperial IPA brewed with massive amounts of Colombus, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Citra hops. As the brewer sez: "There are enough hops in this beer to make even the mighty Superman buckle at the knees." I guess Superman isn't a hophead. As it turns out, I had this one on its second day of release, so it was quite fresh, which might account for at least part of my reaction.

From the first sip, I knew I had tasted a winner. Pours a darkish gold/amber color and a small finger of head that leaves lots of lacing as I drank. The smell is amazing - lots of citrus and pine along with that sugary sweet aroma I love so much. The sweetness comes through in the taste as well, but there's a nice bitterness that emerges in the middle and fully balances out the sweetness in the finish. It is utterly delicious. Perfect carbonation and mouthfeel, very easy to drink despite the high ABV (which is pretty well hidden). It's an extremely well balanced beer, and it's probably my favorite Iron Hill beer of all time (and I've had many an Iron Hill beer over the years). Indeed, I just had another Pliny the Elder the other day, and I do believe this compares favorably. High praise? Perhaps, but it deserves it. I don't know who won the official Lucha Libre de Cervezas event on Friday, but I would put my money on Kryptonite. A

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV on tap. Drank out of a goblet on 8/13/11. Depending on what source you're looking at (or perhaps what batch you're drinking), the IBUs are anywhere between 80 and 155.

Iron Hill Hopkowski - BA actually has this as a retired beer and once again, the ABV is different there than it is on Iron Hill's website. This is actually an imperial red ale, but with a name like Hopkowski, you can bet it's got a ton of hoppy character involved. Not sure what the story here is, but their website does mention that it was "Made with the help of assistant brewer Mike Rutkowski and as many Polish-American friends that we could get in the brewery." Well, that sounds fun.

This one pours a darker amber/red color, with a finger of head and lots of lacing. Not as much going on in the nose, but still enough hoppy aromas to go around. The taste is again very sweet, but this time there's a bit of a spicy character going on in addition to the typical hoppy flavors and a hop bitterness that grows throughout the taste. Though very bitter, it's not quite at the same level as the Kryptonite. The mouthfeel is definitely stickier, but also creamy and easy to drink. It's actually quite good, but in comparison to the Kryptonite, it falters considerably. This is perhaps unfortunate, but that is the way of things. B+ but it would probably be higher if I hadn't drank it at the same time as the Kryptonite.

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV on tap. Draink out of... whatever you call that glass on 8/13/11. Around 100 IBUs.

I don't know what the outcome of the actual Lucha Libre de Cervezas event was, but again, I think my money is on Kryptonite (I meant to head over there, but other events conspired to keep me busy on Friday night, so no beer for me). At this point, I'm probably going to go and pick up a growler of the stuff for next weekend. Iron Hill also has a series of "bottled reserve" beers, which I'm in the process of checking out (they're pretty pricey though). I got a bottle of their Dubbel that's been calling my name lately, so look for a review (probably in a while). One last thing to note about Iron Hill, right now, Beer Advocate has 207 beers listed, and 85 retired (and as established above, some of the retired stuff comes back from time to time). Perhaps unsurprising, given that they're a chain of brewpubs, but that's still impressively prolific. I can't believe I haven't reviewed any of their beers before...

As you may have noticed in my last review, I've got a number of reviews that have been sitting in the queue for a long time. I've been pretty good about keeping up with recent drinking, but I just haven't gotten around to some of those older reviews, so I figured I'd just do a quick recap now...

• Leffe Blonde - I was surprised to see the relatively craptacular reviews on beer advocate (though apparently it's gone up to a more respectable and appropriate B rating since I've last looked at it... the Bros still have it at a C). I wasn't sure why the hate existed for this, then I found out that Leffe is owned by Inbev, the Belgian beer conglomerate that owns Anheuser-Busch and is famous for changing recipes for their acquired beers to save costs; even including long-standing Abbey breweries like Leffe which apparently now uses cheap adjuncts in their recipe (for all the beer nerd fury, I can't really find much detail around this - though the brewery does say that it uses rice, which is not typically a favored ingredient in beer). In any case, it certainly looks, smells, and tastes fine. Sweet and bready, typical Belgian yeast aromas and taste. It's not complex or subtle, but as a simple and straightforward brew, it's pretty good. B (Beer Nerd Details: 6.6% ABV bottled (11.2 oz bottle) Drank from a goblet on 4/16/11.)
• Stone Double Bastard - It's like Arrogant Bastard, only moreso. Very hoppy in the nose which follows through in the taste along with that unique blend of hoppy flavors that Stone uses for this brew. A nice bitterness and slick alcohol character are also present. It's very good, but I don't get the high praise heaped on it, though it does seem to have fallen off the BA top 100 at this point. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 11.2% ABV bottled (22 oz bomber). Drank from a goblet on 4/23/11.)
• Trappist Achel 8° Bruin - This is the sixth of the seven Trappist breweries that I've sampled, though unfortunately, I was not particularly impressed with this brew (at least, compared with other dubbels). That's not to say it was bad - definitely a nice appearance, with typical dark fruits and spiciness in the nose and taste. Relatively dry finish, drinkable, but not particularly complex either. I typically expect richer flavors out of a dubbel, though perhaps I should have this again just to make sure. Even considering that, it's quite good. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (11.2 oz bottle) Drank from a goblet on 5/7/11.)
• Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout - Another imperial stout that used to be in the BA top 100 but has since fallen out (no wonder I can never get a high percentage of completion on that list!) This one reminds me a lot of Victory's Storm King Stout - very roasty, giving way to a hoppy bitterness as it warms up. Very well crafted, but not especially my style. B (Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (12 oz bottle) Drank from a tulip on 5/7/11.)
• Ommegang Rare Vos - An old favorite of mine, I always worry about beers like this. Will it continue to live up to the expectations I've built up in my mind? I've spent the past year or two trying as many different, new beers as I could. Would this beer live up to memory? As it turns out, yes, it does. One of my first discoveries after Hennepin about a decade ago, I always come back to this one, a sweet and spicy Belgian amber. It is delicious and matches well with most meals. I daresay it's a candidate for the vaunted A+, though I'll just stick with an A for now. (Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked bottle) Drank from a tulip glass on 5/13/11.)
• Tröegs Pale Ale - Ok, so this is a relatively recent drink, but I don't have a ton to say about it. It's a decent, straightforward pale ale. It actually made a really nice first impression (nice hoppy presense of pine and grapefruit), but it loses some of its punch as it warms. Certainly not among the best pale ales, but well worth a try... B- (Beer Nerd Details: 5.4% ABV bottled (12 oz bottle) Drank from a tulip on 7/16/11.)

Well, that just about covers it. I have more details about these tucked away somewhere, but for now, this will have to do. Of course, this doesn't completely catch me up on reviews, but now the unwritten ones are from the past couple weeks, which is certainly more manageable.

Before tonight, I have a vague inkling of what Sierra Nevada Beer Camp was - a sorta Willy Wonka-esque contest with the prize being a tour of their brewery, along with a chance to brew your own beer (collaborating with the other winners and the Sierra Nevada staff). Apparently you win by entering a creative video explaining why Sierra Nevada should pick you to attend - so I would never win! And until now, I was pretty sure I'd never actually get to taste any of these beers either, but imagine my luck: on the same night I got my hands on Pliny the Elder, I spied several Beer Camp beers on tap. Most excellent:

Sierra Nevada ExPortation - So Beer Camp #25 was a Baltic Porter style beer brewed in honor of Philly Beer week by some Philly beer geeks who won a spot a Beer Camp. It was called Philadelphia ExPorter. Now I'm not sure what genius (not being sarcastic here, whoever had this idea is genius) is responsible, but someone had a brilliant idea: Hey, let's take this Baltic Porter over to Russian River and have them age it in some Pinot Noir barrels. Fuck. Yes. It pours a nice opaque black color with a finger of tan head. The smell is outright twangy. The funk almost, but not quite, overwhelms the typical roasty aromas. In other words, it's fantastic. The taste has a similar profile: funky sourness almost, but not quite, overwhelming roasty Porter flavors. Relatively full bodied, but a smooth and easy to drink mouthfeel. The thing that's most amazing here is that, well, I'm not a huge fan of porters, nor have I truly acquired a taste for sour beers. And yet, this beer is almost perfect for me. It's like the two styles cancel out the things I don't like, and amplify the things I do. Amazing. And keep in mind that I had just drank a glass of Pliny the Elder, so the bar was set pretty high here. The only bad thing about this beer is that I will most likely never get the chance to drink it again (unless I head back over to that bar in the next couple days - certainly a possibility). A

Beer Nerd Details: 6.3% ABV on tap. Drank out of a pint glass on 6/23/11.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #48: Hop Smack - This one has a less clear provenance. It's not even listed on the Beer Camp site, nor does it appear on Beer Advocate. I did find the RateBeer page, but it only has one review! Basically, it's one of them American Black Ales (or whatever the hell you call them)... actually, it said it was a Double American Black Ale. My experience with the style is limited, but since ExPortation was so awesome, and since I was unlikely to ever even see this again, I gave it a shot. It pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger of head. Smells surprisingly hoppy - almost no roastiness getting through to the nose. The taste is almost wholly like a DIPA. Sweet, hoppy, and bitter. At first, no roastiness at all was apparent - if you blindfolded me and made me taste, I probably would not have guessed that it was an American black ale. As it warmed up and I got to the bottom of the glass, I got the faintest hint of roastiness out of the beer, but it wasn't much. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible beer or anything, it just doesn't seem like a particularly good take on the style. That, or my palate was obliterated by the likes of Pliny and ExPortation (both very strongly flavored beers). I'll give it a B-, as I was disappointed, but I suppose others might find more to like.

Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV on tap. Drank out of a half-pint glass on 6/23/11.

There was another Beer Camp beer on tap, but it seemed like a plain old Pale Ale. Don't get me wrong, I would have tried it, but after having a DIPA, a strong sour beer, and a Double ABA, I think that would have paled in comparison (pun intended!)