Recently in B Category

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Click for larger version)

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

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

And that just about covers it. For those who saw the Eclipse beer in the picture and are upset that we didn't get to it, do not fear, I reviewed it a while back. You're welcome. See you next month...

It's time to strap on that leisure suit and drink some lagers:

Jack's Abby Leisure Time Lager - Pours a super light straw yellow color with a finger of puffy white head. Smells of typical Euro-lager aromas (mild, floral hops, lager yeast), with that wheat coming through well enough to differentiate it from the crowd. Taste is a bit muted, but that wheat is coming through more here, with the mild, floral hops fading into the background a bit. Mouthfeel is very light, crisp, and clean. Finishes dry and drinks really easy. Overall, it's solid, would make a great lawnmower beer, but it's not very assertive either. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, and I'd choose it over any macro in a heartbeat, but it's not really lighting my world on fire either. B

Beer Nerd Details: 4.8% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 7/13/13.

Only one more Jack's Abby beer left in my stash. So far, so good, though not quite the mind-blowers that I've been lead to expect (then again, I haven't had a lot of their more prized brews either, so I'm certainly going to keep an eye out for more from them!)

Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded folk from my work who get together every month at a local BYOB for drinkening and fun. Minor error in tonight's choice of establishment in that it's summertime, so it's super hot, and this place isn't air conditioned. Great pizza and sandwiches though. It actually wasn't that bad, but it's off the list for summer events from nows on... Anywho, solid turnout and lots of great beer. I event remembered to take a picture (unlike last month):

One of my friends was all scared about what she should bring and so she was trying to downplay her contribution, but then was all "So my friend from Vermont thought you might like this," and pulled out two cans of Heady Topper. She wins beer club.

For the sake of posterity, random thoughts on each beer below. Standard disclaimers regarding small samples and less than ideal conditions, but don't worry, next month we're renting out sensory deprivation chambers and using industrial grade palate cleansers between each sip. But for now, you'll have to settle for imperfection:

• Kona Wailua Wheat - A pretty straightforward take on a wheat beer, unremarkable, but a nice first taste for the night. B-
• The Alchemist Heady Topper - Hard to believe, but I actually scored a 4 pack of this stuff last week, so there will be a more detailed review in the next couple days. In short, it's superb. Stay tuned for more (review probably posted on Thursday). A
• San Miguel Pale Pilsen - From the best beer of the night to the worst. This was actually a can of beer from 2007. Vintage! A friend at work visited the Philippines and brought a couple of us back a can of this stuff. It's pretty generic, bland pilsner stuff, but let's just say there's a reason you don't age pilseners. It's actually not undrinkable, but it's definitely started to get that apple-like off flavor and not something I'd ever want to drink except in small quantities as a joke, like it was tonight. D
• Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse - From unintentionally sour and bad to intentionally sour and pretty damn good. One of my contributions! Berliner Weisse (translates to "Jelly Donut Wheat") is a style that's hit or miss for me, but this one is a definite hit, and it was perfect for the hot summer night. Super light, crisp, refreshing tartness, really nice. Definitely worth trying. B+ or A-
• Horny Goat Watermelon Wheat - Watermelon can work in beer, but it did not work at all for me here. It had this weird artificial twang to it coupled with a sorta almost spicy note? Really weird and unpleasant. Lots of strange faces made around the group, though one person liked it enough. Me, I give it a D
• Ommegang Fleur De Houblon - One of the recent Ommegang releases that I've been slacking on, this one is a pretty straightforward Belgian Pale Ale, with a nice floral hop character, maybe some herbalness, but it all matches well with Ommegang's standard Belgian yeast flavors (spicy and banana). I wouldn't describe it as super hoppy, and there isn't a lot of bitterness, but there are some hop flavors here. Not an amazing beer, but definitely worth drinking. B
• Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire IO - One of my contributions and a beer I've reviewed before. Yep, still a great beer, more fruity and less funky than I remember, but that may be a function of drinking a bunch of other beers and eating food and whatnot. Still fantastic, no matter what, and everyone seemed to enjoy it and would come back to this after some of the next beers (though one person noted that the label artist was stealing the style of another artist!) Still an A- in my book, and I've got another one in the cellar just in case I want another taste.
• Heavy Seas Holy Sheet (Brandy Barrel) - I like it. It's got a typical Belgian dubbel sorta vibe, but nice rich, boozy Brandy notes hit at the front of the taste before those raisins and molasses kick in during the middle to finish. It was a little too warm when we opened it, but I'll give it a solid B+ for now.
• New Holland Envious - I got a very cough syrupy vibe off this thing, which wasn't the grossest beer evar, but not particularly great either. The fruit comes through a bit, but there's that syrupy feel that sorta drags it down, and I didn't get much oak at all. Actually very disappointing. I suppose my palate could have potentially been shot by this point, but it still was not very good. D
• Victory Otto in Oak - My last contribution, I was a little worried about this because I hadn't tried it since it first came out (when I loved it) and I'd traded a few of them out recently, so I was curious to see how it's held up. Apparently pretty well! Indeed, the smoke has faded even more than it had when I first tried it, and the rich bourbon and oak character was really nice. It's not something that beer nerds will go completely wild over, but I really enjoy it and think it retains the A- rating I initially gave it.

At this point I got a phone call telling my that my neighbors (the folks who live under me) had water dripping into their condo, so I had to leave (fortunately, I think we were mostly finished at this point). It turns out that the water leak was not coming from my condo, so all is well at Kaedrin HQ. Stay tuned, some exciting beer on its way, including that Heady Topper review (so good). So all in all, a successful night and naturally, already looking forward to the next meeting.

You know the drill: a bunch of beer-minded colleagues and I get together at a local BYOB and drink our faces off. A low turnout this month due to scheduling, but still good times. I was negligent and forgot to take a picture of the beers on offer, so I made this fancy artist's rendering in MS Paint:

I think I may have missed my calling. For the sake of posterity, some half-remembered notes are recorded below. You're welcome.

• The Captain's Invisible Moon - Which, if named after the style, would be "The Captain's Cream Ale", which just sounds gross. Unless you're a big Chris Evans fan. Like, a really big fan. Oh yeah, the beer. A homebrewed cream ale, it came out pretty well, kinda like a wheat beer, but with that smooth texture of a cream ale. Really easy drinking and a good way to start the night.
• Brewer's Art Ozzy Ale - Nice Belgian yeast character, lots of spice (clove) and again, pretty easy drinking. It's a perfectly cromulent beer, but nothing to go nuts over. B
• Boulevard Coffee Ale - This was one of those beers I got from the BIF trade, but since I wasn't a big coffee guy, I figured I'd share it with some people who might appreciate it a bit more. The coffee wasn't overwhelming at all, which is nice, especially since this isn't a stout either. Lots of malt character with that coffee taking a prominent place. It's not really my thing at all, but I was glad I got to share it (even though, uh, it seemed that a most beer club peeps were also not coffee people either). C+
• Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale - I have actually had this before (and incorporated it into my Choose Your Own Adventure Beer Review epic), and in this setting, it stood out pretty darn well. I could probably be tempted to upgrade the rating, but I'll leave it at a B for now.
• Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l'Ancienne - This is the green bottle in the artist's rendering above! One of my other contributions of the night, this one is every bit as good as I remember, and compares favorable with the big boys at Cantillon and 3F (at least, when it comes to their regular lineup). Still an A- in my book.
• Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout - Another of my contributions, I actually bought a Dark Horse variety pack a while back, and since Dark Horse apparently loves to make stouts, they have a sorta numbered series of beers, this being the third. It's got a big blueberry aroma and even a little taste, but it doesn't feel artificial either, which actually kinda works. B
• Boulevard Love Child No. 3 - Label sez it's aged in bourbon barrels, but I should have inspected more closely, because this sucker is actually a wild ale. A malt-forward base with some very tart, sour notes that hit quickly, but fade towards the finish, making this a pretty darn good drink. Decent funk, actually one of my favorites of the night. A-
• John Henry West Indies Pale Ale - A pale ale aged on rum oak spirals... I would have expected that boozy rum to dominate, but it doesn't. Unfortunately, it doesn't really add much either. I feel like the rum and oak sorta fought the hops, sorta canceling each other out. What we're left with is fine, I guess, but not as flavorful as you might think. B-
• Dark Horse Too Cream Stout - Another of Dark Horse's stout lineup, this one is a milk stout. Smooth, but big and burly, it's a bit of a bear, but it actually acquitted itself really well considering it was the last beer we opened. B

Well, there you have it. We'll return to normal review blogging for the next few days. It is actually Philly Beer Week, so I should probably hit up some other places this weekend and write about a few things I've already seen. Or something.

Well, what have we here? Yep, it's a saison, complete with baffling inclusions like trendy Galaxy hops and dark malts, brewed with Brett. Plus, it's got a label featuring constellations in the form of... the Harlem Globe Trotters? Also depicted: two disembodied blue hands pointing towards a galactic core consisting of a giant hot dog. And when I say "giant", well, if this is drawn to scale, let's call it about 1,000 light years long (and a diameter of about 200 light years). That's a big hot dog. Fortunately, no hot dogs were used in the making of this beer. Unfortunately, I'm not sure all the disparate components came together as well as Prairie hoped.

Served in appropriate glassware, of course:

Prairie Funky Galaxy - Pours a dark brown color with lots of bubbly, khaki colored head. Smells of pure, juicy Galaxy hops mixed with bready, spicy Belgian yeast. Not a lot of funk in the nose though. Taste has a nice saison yeast character mixed with some roasted malt and those juicy hop flavors. Some light, earthy funk emerging towards the finish. Mouthfeeel is highly carbonated, dry, and surprisingly crisp. Medium bodied, but easy to drink. Overall, I find myself wishing this didn't have those roasted notes, but it's still quite good. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of whatever you call that Star Wars glass on 5/26/13.

Man, this lack of harmony seems to be the theme of last weekend, but fret not, for tomorrow we'll be talking about a spectacular beer that has harmony out the ying yang. Or something. Stay tuned.

Though this Texas brewery has only been open since 2004, it has roots dating back to 1847. William Rahr was one of many German immigrants who brought their love of beer to the new world. After he, uh, fell into a brew kettle and died, his sons carried on the tradition for a while, renaming the brewery William Rahr's Sons Co. I'm not really sure what happened to that brewery (to hazard a guess: prohibition), but Rahr's malt business has continuously operated since 1847 and supplies a large portion of the brewing industry. I don't think that has anything to do with the new Texas operation, but it's always neat to find old-school U.S. brewing institutions.

Anywho, this is a Winter Warmer style beer aged in bourbon barrels for 10 weeks. A short stay, to be sure, but then, Winter Warmers probably can't stand up to super-long durations like a gigantic stout or barleywine, so maybe that's for the best. Let's find out, shall we?

Rahr & Sons Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Warmer - Pours a very dark brown color with off white head. Smells of chalky malts, not quite roasty, but dark malts, along with some spice, as befits the Winter Warmer style. Not really detecting much in the way of Bourbon Barrel action in the nose though. Taste is sweet with lots of common winter mulling spices, ginger, cinnamon, and the like. The bourbon comes out in the taste, a little boozy, with those roasted malts coming through in the finish. Not quite as harmonious as I'd like, but it's decent. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, spicy, a little chalky, medium bodied. Overall, a solid brew, not mindblowing and it could use a little more balance, but I'm glad I got to try some. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 5/24/13. Bottled Winter 2012.

I've got another big Rahr & Sons brew in the cellar right now, though I'm not sure when I'll break that sucker out... perhaps the next beer club!

I've mentioned this beer a few times since I brewed it, but haven't really done a proper recap. Oh sure, this bottle I'm reviewing was the last bottle in existence (supr .rar 24 bottle release guize), so it's not like you'll get to try it, but as per usual, I have some minor learnings. I think. I mean, I'm no master brewer, but then, that's the point. In W3C markup validation parlance, I get 1 error, 1 warning on this batch. Fortunately, beer fails gracefully, and drinkers are like browsers in that they tend to be forgiving of minor faults. Ok, I'll stop torturing this metaphor now.

First, the error, which was that I overcarbonated the beer. Normally, with a 5 gallon batch, you just pick up a 5 ounce packet of corn sugar and go to town, but I was making a small batch here, so I had to break out the measuring cups and figure out proportions. I clearly erred on the side of too much priming sugar here. Fortunately, all that means is a wicked big head that takes forever to go away. No gushers or anything that annoying, and if you pour carefully, it actually works well enough. Plus, this should be easy to correct in future batches.

Second, the warning, which is that I should probably be more careful about sourcing my hops. In particular, I'm going to be more wary of "loose" hops. This batch came out super piney and resinous, very dank stuff. Now, I enjoy that component of Simcoe and the like, but I also tend to associate that with hops that are less fresh. For my first batch of Simcoe IPA, I had the vacuum sealed HopUnion packets, and when I cracked open my first bottle of that stuff, it had this beautiful, massive grapefruit character. As time went on, that pine character emerged more and more, eventually fading back into the malts the way unfresh IPAs do.

I don't mean to say that the hop character was poor or that this beer was an immediate malt bomb (the way unfresh hoppy beers are), but I never got that big juicy citrus component that I was shooting for. Now, I did switch up the hop schedule, adding some Falconer's Flight and Citra into the mix (with Simcoe remaining on bittering and dry hopping duty), but FF and Citra are also known for their citrus components, so I was still hoping for more there. All my hops for this batch were just in loose baggies, not vacuum sealed or anything (like you'd get from Northern Brewer or HopUnion). Also, I was definitely buying the last of the FF, and there was only a little Simcoe left (in other words, those hops had probably been in the hop fridge for a while). Again, this wasn't a disaster or anything, but it's something I'm going to keep an eye out for in the future.

In general, though, the beer seemed to go over well. It was brewed for a specific event (the eponymous Fat Weekend), and we got through the full half case (which is all I brought) pretty quickly (and I only had one). But enough rambling, let's take a closer look:

Kaedrin Fat Weekend IPA - Pours a dark orange color with a big three finger fluffy, bubbly head. Smells super dank, resinous, piney, a little citrus too. Taste follows the nose, crystal malt with lots of dank, resinous, piney hop flavor, some citrus peaking out too. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, super carbonated, perhaps over-carbonated, but still very crisp and refreshing. Overall, it's a solid IPA, a little overcarbonated, and I'm getting the impression that the hops I used were not quite as fresh as I'd like, but it's still quite solid. Not quite as good as my first batch of IPA, but still a nice B level beer (borderline B+, and could have easily gone that way if I did the carbonation right)

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/11/13. Hops: Simcoe, Citra, Falconer's Flight. Bottled 2/18/13.

This, of course, reminds me that I should probably get off my arse and fire up my next batch. Planning on a saison at this point - a little scared to introduce Brett into my homebrew setup, but then Beerbecue suggested I name it Kaedrôme Saison and how can I really resist that? Can I do that without wild yeast? Maybe I can just find some strange farmhouse yeast instead of the typical 3711 or 3724 stuff...