Mark

Adventures in Brewing – Beer #19: Untitled Conan Project

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It’s been over a year since my last brewing escapade, so let’s change that, shall we? First up is a quickie variant of Crom Approved, my Northeast IPA that I keep screwing up. Some differences in malt/hopping mean I should probably call this something different. Also, I’m guessing that Crom did not approve of my previous batches. Anywho, here’s the nerdy details:

Beer #16: Untitled Conan Project

Full-Batch (5 gallons)

January 14, 2018

16 oz. CaraPils (specialty grain)

7 lb. Breiss Extra Light DME

1 lb. Breiss Wheat DME

8 oz. Turbinado Sugar

1 oz. Simcoe (bittering @13.6 AA)

1 oz. Amarillo (flavor)

1 oz. Amarillo (aroma)

1 oz. Citra (aroma)

1 oz. Citra (first addition dry hop)

1 oz. Galaxy (first addition dry hop

2 oz. Citra (second addition dry hop)

GigaYeast GY054 Vermont IPA Yeast

Ingredients for my homebrewed IPA

(Some malt not pictured, click to embiggen)

Very similar to previous batches. More CaraPils, no crystal 20, a little extra base malt, and some minor tweaks to the hopping. Moar Citra, less Amarillo. The all-important Vermont IPA yeast is the key to the recipe though, and I think I got a good pitch this time.

Original Gravity: 18.8 Brix, which runs about 1.079, higher than I was aiming for, but should result in something around 7.5%-8.5% ABV depending on how well the yeast does (I probably should have done a starter for this, but we’ll see how it turns out).

I originally wanted this to be a bit toned down from the past couple of batches, but I must have done something wrong in my recipe app, as I ended up using too much malt, which is what brought the OG up. Still, this should wind up in the 8% area, and the higher Alpha Acid Simcoe hops actually yielded more IBUs this time, so I should be in decent shape there.

Activity started in the airlock almost right away, so I think I’m in decent shape here. If all goes well, dry hopping commences next week, and then I put this sucker in a keg on the weekend of 1/27… Fingers crossed.

As for the name, I’m not sure. This recipe has mutated enough from its initial batch that it warrants a new name. Current candidates include The Riddle of Steel, something about The Atlantean (i.e. Conan’s Sword), or some sort of play on one of Robert E. Howard’s Conan story titles (i.e. Rogues in the Hops, The Hops of the Dragon, The Hops in the Bowl, Hops of Gwahlur, etc…) Funnily enough, the “Untitled Conan Project” name that I chose as a placeholder is actually growing on me. It’s the sort of thing you saw on Jason Mamoa’s IMDB page, like 5 years ago or whenever they were making that movie.

Up next on the homebrew front is that Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy I’ve been threatening for a while now. This will be another split batch, with some oak aged, and some not. Or maybe I’ll just oak it all. I’m hoping to get to this in relatively short order too (though obviously the oak aging takes a few extra weeks).

Firestone XXI

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Every year, Firestone Walker invites their winemaker friends to their brewery in order to blend a bunch of their barrel-aged stock into a Voltron-esque super beer to commemorate the brewery’s anniversary. I’ve gone over the process in wonky detail before, so I won’t repeat myself too much here (but you already have -ed. Sorry, it has been amply demonstrated that I am the worst.) Suffice it to say, this is one of my most anticipated releases of any year. The blends are always different, usually occupying a space along the stout and barleywine spectrum, and they’re always marvelous.

This year’s blend consists of five different components:

  • 42% Velvet Merkin (8.5% ABV) Traditional Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon barrels.
  • 18% Parabola (13.1% ABV) Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon Barrels.
  • 17% Stickee Monkee (12.5% ABV) Central Coast Quad (English Barleywine). Aged in Bourbon barrels.
  • 14% Bravo (13.5% ABV) Imperial Brown Ale. Aged in Bourbon Barrels.
  • 9% Helldorado (13.5% ABV) Blonde Barley Wine. Aged in Rum Barrels.

Clocking in at 11.9% ABV, it’s the lowest ABV anniversary beer I’ve had from them (and the second lowest ever, only behind XI, which I want to say has a reputation as being the least impressive of the bunch; I’ve not had it, but that’s my anecdotal observation and I’m a moron, so you should take that with a grain of salt.) It’s comprised of the exact same components as last year, just in wildly differing proportions (and it appears some of the barrelage has shifted slightly – no brandy or new oak barrels this year, but some rum barrels in the mix). The bulk of this is stout, but it’s anchored by Velvet Merkin, the lighter, nimbler BBA stout in their lineup. I’ll note that for whatever reason, I found this year’s vintage of Velvet Merkin to be lit af, even if it’s still no Parabola. That could be because this year is genuinely different, or the small bottle format placebo effect, or simply because I’m the worst. That being said: this blend didn’t do a whole lot for me. It’s still really damn good and I’ll gladly seek out and drink more, and it’s better than the pretenders that I’ve seen of late, but it still doesn’t quite hold up to the example set by its predecessors.

Firestone Walker XXI Anniversary Ale

Firestone Walker XXI Anniversary Ale – Pours a very dark amber color with a half finger of off white head. Smells nice and boozy, bourbon and rum and oak, with some dark but not quite roasty malt in the background. Taste has a nice, rich caramel start to it, with a hint of roast peeking in towards the middle, followed by lots of booze, bourbon and oak, in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied and well carbonated, hotter and less balanced than usual for a FW blend. This is weird, since this is the lowest ABV anniversary ale I’ve had (though apparently XI was only 11%, but then, I can see what they did there… and it’s also notoriously the worst blend). I mean, I’m no stranger to booze and usually have no problems with this sort of heat, but it feels out of whack here. Overall, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the components are clashing here, but it’s certainly not the most harmonious blend they’ve put out in the anniversary series. Still better than most barrel aged stuff out there though, and I’m actually curious as to how this would age – if the flavors bleshed more, maybe that’d help. A high B+

Beer Nerd Details: 11.9% ABV bottled (12 ounce boxed). Drank out of a snifter on 12/27/17. Bottled 10/20/17.

I may need to try this again sometime, but right now, the rankings come in something like this: XV, XX, XIX, XVII, XVIII, XVI, XXI… But then, this is completely from memory and who the hell knows. I mean, I remember XVII being better than an A-, but that’s what I rated it at the time? I have some bottles of the stuff, so I’ll have to check it out I think. Anywho, would be interesting to see some new components next year. Maybe bring back §ucaba? Please?

Boon / Mikkeller Oude Geuze

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The second lambic collaboration between Boon and Mikkeller (the first being their Bone Dry, a sorta older sister beer to Black Label (which always annoys me because despite being delicious, the bottle does not actually have a black label on it… but I digress)), this iteration focuses on a blend that is primarily comprised of lambic from a foeder that had previously contained Calvados (apple brandy, for the uninitiated). No indication which foeder or how old that particular foeder is, but it’s got the traditional Geuze blend of 1-3 year old lambics, which is certainly good enough for this beer dork. Let’s dive in:

Boon Mikkeller Oude Geuze

Boon / Mikkeller Oude Geuze – Pours a yellowish golden color with a solid finger of bubbly but dense head with good retention. Smells great, lots of earthy funk, something a little fruity playing around the edges (of my nose? Yeah, something like that.) Taste is has a lighter earthy funk to it, definitely some fruity twang (if I’m looking for it, maybe, maybe some Calvados green apple kinda character), a little sourness towards the finish. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, very dry, moderate acidity, pretty easy going. Overall, it’s good, but I don’t know that the Calvados character comes through in a particularly strong, identifiable way. Still a worthwhile experiment and a nice twist. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.4% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 12/1/17. Best before: 22/11/2036.

Boon seems to be riding that novelty wave by putting out lots of variants and different releases, but one thing that is different about them: They seem to be generally available. You have to hunt them out a little, as most stores seem to focus on the US boom these days (and who can blame them), but if you want these suckers, you can usually find a way… Moar Boon incoming soon (I picked up that set of four different Vat variants, which should be interesting)… and maybe even lambic from another producer. Stay tuned.

2017 Year End Musings

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Another orbital cycle has passed, which means its time to take a step back and reflect on where we are and where we’re going. There are always things to dislike about a given year, but rarely do I come down on beer as being one of those things, which is nice, since this is a beer blog and all. So what happened this year?

  • The End of Novelty? Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. But the fact remains that I’m drinking more repeat beers than ever. This is to be expected, as I’ve been at this for a while, but even beyond that, there are annual releases I look forward to drinking every year, and sometimes I will even *gasp* buy a four (or six) pack and drink all of them. There are tons of people for whom this is a trivial occurrence (and who are no doubt confused if they’re reading this), but I spent several years as a total novelty whore, where basically every beer I drank was different and a repeat beer seemed like a moral failure. That is silly, of course, and I’ve moved on. I regret nothing, and both approaches are fun, and it’s not like I don’t go in for new, novel beers or anything.
  • The Rise of Lambic? One thing I’ve found myself reaching for more and more over the past couple of years is Lambic and in particular, Gueuze. This goes along with the above, since what is regularly available is usually something I’ve already had, and yet I do keep reaching for these beers whenever I get a chance. I’ve definitely reviewed more lambic in the past couple of years, but there’s still less opportunity to do so. I’ve also found that lambic purchases contributed to:
  • Aged Beer Coming to Fruition? The past couple of years have seen a lot of aging experiments come to fruition. For instance, this year I reviewed a host of vintage Victory and Dogfish Head beers that had been sitting in my cellar for 5 years or so (there were a bunch of others that I never got around to posting about either). Of course, only some of these were intentionally aged beers, and not all were of good aging stock, so results were mixed. But then, aged beer results have always been mixed in my estimation. My general advice remains: Aging beer is fun, but if you’ve only got one bottle and you’re debating whether to drink fresh or age it, drink it fresh. One exception to this seems to be Lambic though. I haven’t done much formal evaluation of this, but informally, I’ve had some aged lambic (in the 3-15 year aged range) and seen some fascinating results. As such, my cellar is filling up with lambic to age.
  • The Rise of the Local Beer Release? Ok, so this one isn’t particularly new at all, but I was talking with a friend recently about good beer distributers in PA and realizing that I pretty rarely go to them anymore. For the uninitiated, PA law changed at the beginning of 2017 to allow distributers to sell singles or 4/6 packs (previously, you had to buy a case if you wanted something – a ridiculous law that basically meant I never went to beer distributers), but while I’ve popped in to a few of them from time to time, I find that I still get most of my beer from local brewery releases (or travel to other brewery releases, as with Operation Cheddar, or muled releases, or trades, etc…) The only thing I really go to package stores for anymore is lambic. Doesn’t mean I won’t pick up something else while I’m there (always in the mood for some BA Firestone Walker, etc…), but still.
  • The Decline of Blogging? The rate of new posts here has also been slowly dropping over the past couple of years, but has seen a more steep decline of late. This is partly due to some of the factors discussed above: less novelty and more repeat beers means less reviews to blog about. Plus, I’m starting to run a little dry when it comes to writing up a new beer. There’s only so many quick brewery profiles or style recaps to go through, and sometimes a beer’s backstory isn’t all that interesting. I’ve got a backlog of reviews right now, of course, but I’ve been slow to pick them off. This might augur more general or creative writing about beer, which could possibly be in the cards, but wouldn’t be as frequent as reviews. Then again, blogging in general has been in steep decline for, like, a decade, and it’s not like anyone is reading this (if you are, thanks!)
  • What happened to Homebrewing? No homebrewing all year. I had hoped to turn that around this fall, but I got sick at the wrong times and it just never aligned. I still hope to rebrew Crom Approved and that oak-aged Scotch Ale that I’ve been threatening for a while now (tentatively named Barlennan, a particularly nerdy reference – if you get it, we really need to be friends).
  • Other Stuff: I took another break from beer this year, and I still find this a very valuable exercise. From a health perspective, though, I had a not so great year. I’ve managed to right the ship by the end of the year, but I suffered through a weird toe injury (that prevented exercise) and then I had a cold and ear infection that have lingered on for far too long, which makes drinking and general health a bit challenging. Still, I’m hoping the new year will really get me going again. I’ve ticked some great stuff this year, but less in the way of walez, bro. Not complaining at all, just a note. Ratings inflation continues unabated, and I never managed to induct a new class of A+ beers, but perhaps we’ll just make that a bi-annual event anyway.

So it’s been an interesting year in beer. In accordance with the decline in blogging and increase in repeat beers, my top “new to me” beers of the year list is shrinking. This year, I’m only slotting in 25 beers with reviews… though I will have a list of unreviewed beers that I had a shares, etc… Standard disclaimers apply: this is not an all time list, it’s a list of beers I had and reviewed this year, so if you’re favorite isn’t on it, that might just be because I reviewed it in a previous year, or perhaps I haven’t had it at all. Or maybe I had it and hated it and you have bad taste. I’ve also tried to limit brewery appearances so as not to be a list of the 20 best Hill Farmstead beers I’ve had this year. This is a naturally arbitrary exercise, but I always have fun with it and enjoy making lists like this. After all, lists are American! So let’s get on with it.

  1. Lawson’s Finest Liquids Apple Brandy Fayston Maple Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout)
  2. Tree House Julius (IPA)
  3. de Garde Oude Desay (Saison)
  4. Victory Red (Flanders Red Ale)
  5. Burley Oak 100 (DIPA)
  6. Levante South Pacific Hop Cartel (DIPA)
  7. Burial The Persistence Of Memories (DIPA)
  8. Upper Pass First Drop (American Pale Ale)
  9. Barrel of Monks Monk de Soleil (Saison)
  10. Pretty Things Our Finest Regards (Barleywine)
  11. Hill Farmstead Sue (American Wild Ale)
  12. Casey Saison (Saison)
  13. Rare Barrel Wise Guise (American Wild Ale)
  14. Boon Vat 79 Mono Blend (Gueuze)
  15. Founders CBS (Imperial Stout)
  16. Tired Hands The Emptiness is in Bloom (Saison)
  17. Bottle Logic The Spice Must Flow (Pumpkin Beer)
  18. Oude Mûre Tilquin à L’ancienne (Lambic)
  19. Ommegang 20th Anniversary Ale (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)
  20. Fantôme Vertignasse (Wheat Beer)
  21. Bissell Brothers LUX Rye Ale (Rye Beer)
  22. Tired Hands Only Void Bourbon Barrel Aged (Imperial Stout)
  23. Firestone Walker Bravo (American Brown Ale)
  24. Interboro Premiere IPA (IPA)
  25. Civil Society Fresh (IPA)

The Unreviewed

Beers that where I had small samples and/or never wrote a review, but an impression was made regardless.

  1. Hill Farmstead Aaron (Barleywine)
  2. Modern Times Monsters’ Park Aged In Nicaraguan Rum Barrels With Cherries & Vanilla (Imperial Stout)
  3. Anchorage A Deal With the Devil (Barleywine)
  4. Cycle Trademark Dispute: Hazelnut (Imperial Stout)
  5. Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Plead the 5th (Imperial Stout)
  6. Other Half/Monkish Twice Baked Potato (DIPA)
  7. Casey Fruit Stand – Bing Cherry (Saison)
  8. Voodoo Tenacious Wee – Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged (Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy)
  9. Angry Chair Dulce de Pepe (Imperial Stout)
  10. OEC Antioch (American Wild Ale)

Anchorage A Deal With The Devil

I may need to make some real deals with the devil if I am to land that caliber of beer again. Or, you know, like, try. I could do that. And not risk my immortal soul. Or something. There are a few things I drank last year (even including stuff from way back in the middle of the year) that I still haven’t written up at all, but I guess they can wait until next year. So it’s been a fun year, and hopefully many more to come. Enjoy your beer folks!

Founders CBS

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Back in the halcyon days of 2012, after many moons searching, I finally landed a bottle of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. At the time, I naively referred to it as a whale, because for me, it kinda was. It was this mythical thing that I had never seen, but which people on teh internets kept gushing over. In time, I would come to learn of the absurdity of the white whale list, but 2012 was a different time.

Right around when I was snagging my first KBS, Founders decided to bottle their infamous Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS), a legendary variant of KBS that used the same base (imperial stout brewed with chocolate and coffee), but aged in bourbon barrels that had also been used to age maple syrup. Up to that point, it was an annual favorite at their taproom, but didn’t receive much in the way of distribution. And of course, amateur beer hunter that I was at the time (and frankly, still am, at least compared to a lot of folks), I never even got close to a bottle. The next batch came a few years later; they didn’t bottle it, but did distribute a fair amount of kegs to the Philly environs. Alas, moron that I also am, I never got off my keister to get a taste (by that time, my thoughts on coffee dosed beers had calcified and I wasn’t really up for hunting down a beer I’m sure I’d enjoy, but which would fall somewhat short of my favorites). Finally, CBS in its most recent incarnation arrived on shelves and in taprooms around the area just a few weeks ago, and I managed to snag a couple of bottles with relative ease (even unexpectedly scoring a glass on draft a few days later). Then I got slammed by a head cold and ear infection, so the bottle sat sadly undrunk in my fridge for a while. On a chilly Festivus evening, I finally popped the cap on this sucker. What does five years of anticipation do for this? Well, it’s pretty much what I expected, but I do rather like it more than expected…

Founders CBS

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) – Pours a deep, dark black color with a finger of light brown head. Smells of coffee, roast, a little of that syrup, and some bourbon, oak, and vanilla. Taste starts with rich caramel, that bourbon and oak character hits, followed by some roast and coffee, finishing on a brighter, sweeter syrupy note. The coffee character is clearly there, but takes a back seat to the barrel and syrup notes. As it warms, the coffee comes out a bit more, but so do the other elements. Much like KBS, this is a beer that I found decent at first sip, but which got better and better the more I drank. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and chewy, faint hints of booze. Overall, a very nice, complex beer. My coffee ambivalence be damned, I like this a lot. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.9% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a snifter glass on 12/23/17.

As per usual, Founders is always reliable, and stuff like this still manages to stand out, even as beer dorks are constantly zonked out on NEIPAs and pastry stouts.

Again Dark Wednesday

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Every year, on the day before Thanksgiving, Victory has some sort of beer release. They hath dubbed the day Dark Wednesday, and past offerings include the likes of Dark Intrigue, Java Cask, and Java Cask Rye. This year’s primary offering was Wisdom’s Hour, a dark sour, but they were also teasing another “mystery” beer that wasn’t really a mystery because it sorta already came out during the summer that they were making another batch of Java Cask Rye, but with added vanilla beans. As per usual, Victory’s releases tend to be pretty low-stress affairs, so even though I was battling a cold at the time, I managed to pop over and secure a couple bottles without notably impacting my condition… Anywho, Victory is one of my long time favorite local breweries, so I’m always excited to see them trying new things from time to time. Let’s get on with it:

Victory Wisdoms Hour

Victory Wisdom’s Hour – Pours a dark amber color with a finger of off white head. Smells of dark fruit, oak, vinegar, vanilla. Taste has some darker malt sort of notes, not exactly roasty, some dark fruit, spice, oak, and vinegar, only moderately sour. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, moderate acidity, pretty easy going. Overall, it’s a nice little sour, not going to light anything on fire, but worthwhile. It may be on the lower end of the B+ rating, but I’m feeling generous enough.

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 11/27/17. Bottled on: 10 Nov 2017.

Victory Java Cask Rye with Vanilla Beans

Victory Java Cask Rye with Vanilla Beans – Pours a jet black color with almost no head whatsoever (and what’s there disappears quickly). Smells of coffee, with a little bit of booze and hints of that vanilla evident. Taste starts with some rich caramel, lots of booze, oak, and a little vanilla, with the coffee only emerging in the middle and not super strong either. Mouthfeel is rich and despite the appearance, actually pretty well carbonated, lots of warming booze. Overall, it’s pretty darned good, but I have a feeling coffee fans would be a touch disappointed, but as someone ambivalent to coffee, I think I liked this more. It’s definitely not the non-coffeed version of my dreams, but it’s darned good. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12.5% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a snifter on 12/3/17. Bottled on: 13 Nov 2017.

As per usual, Victory remains a local go to, and it looks like they have another batch of Red coming soon, which was phenomenal last year…

Melting Down with Root Down

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Root Down Brewing opened its doors earlier this year, and it was an event I had been anticipating for a while. The owner/brewer, Mike Hamara, was the guy who sold me my homebrew setup many moons ago. On at least one occasion, he improvised a complete recipe from scratch for me because I needed something quick and didn’t have time to prepare (I’m the worst). To put it mildly, this is a guy who knows what he’s doing, and has been planning this operation for years, if not decades.

Root Down Graffiti

Located in Phoenixville, PA, the building is deceptively large and punctuated by graffiti inspired decor. Chances are, there will be some sort of obscure martial arts film playing on the TVs (though they will cave in and put the Eagles game on if someone asks), and indeed, some of the beer names (like the below Flying Guillotine IPA) are inspired by said movies (truly a brewery after my heart). I didn’t have any food during my visit, but they have a menu of BBQ goodies and even a whole page dedicated to Vegan offerings, such that I’ll definitely be checking this stuff out upon future visits.

Root Down Flying Guillotine IPA

I visited on a Sunday when they were releasing a particular beer made in cahoots with BeerNERDs (N.E.R.D. stands for Network of Educated Refined Drinkers), with proceeds going to Main Line Deputy Dog, a local charity that helps with training service dogs for those in need. For the uninitiated, BeerNERDs is a group of, well, nerds centered in southeastern PA with smatterings of members from MD, DE, and NJ. There’s a Facebook Group of 5000 plus members, which naturally leads to the occasional, erm, argument. Tensions mount, some people can’t handle it, others pile on, and then a full blown meltdown ensues. One particular meltdown centered on Root Down taking forever to deliver an ordered beer. I can no longer find specifics of the complaint, but the guy was awfully strident in his distaste and apparently greatly exaggerated his experience, as it was later revealed that he had only been around for a scant 107 seconds before up and leaving the place. But these details are unimportant; Root Down and BeerNERDs decided to relax and remember that it’s just beer, eventually deciding to collaborate for charity.

So finally we get to the beer, a 10.7% ABV (I see what they did there) imperial oatmeal stout brewed with bitter chocolate and slow molasses. Sounds wonderful, so let’s kick it root down:

Root Down Melt Down

Root Down Melt Down – Pours a very dark, deep brown, almost black color with a finger of brown head. Smells of roasted malt, dark chocolate, maybe a little coffee note, and that molasses tang in the background. Taste is rich and sweet up front, with a bitter roastiness emerging quickly, leavened a bit by the molasses, then returning to roast, coffee, and chocolate in the finish. Mouthfeel is rich and full bodied, solid carbonation, a hint of boozy heat. Overall, rock solid imperial stout. Rumors of barrel aged variants in the future, so let’s leave some room for such endeavors in the rating, making this a high B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10.7% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a snifter on 11/12/17. Canned 11/6/17. Batch: DOOMA DOOMA.

Very much looking forward to more trips to Root Down, as well as seeing some of their barrel aging efforts come to fruition…

Jackie O’s Double Feature

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The impression I get is that Jackie O’s is a sort of hidden gem. Perhaps because they’re located in Ohio, or perhaps because they don’t have that one walezish offering that everyone goes bonkers over (an arguable point, I’m sure, but still). I’ve had a few things in informal settings, and recently came into a couple of staple bottles that would be a reasonable introduction. So let’s get into it:

Hockhocking

Jackie O’s Hockhocking – I’m pretty sure Jackie O’s isn’t known for this sort of thing, a mixed fermentation saison aged in wine barrels. Named after a river and music festival that takes place on the banks of said river, this is certainly a worthy entry into that crowded style. Pours a pale, slightly hazy yellow color with a finger of white head. Smells sweet, vinous fruit, lactic funk. Taste starts off sweet, with lots of tart, vinous fruit, maybe a hint of saison spice in the middle, with the finish having a funky, lactic tartness to it. Mouthfeel is tightly carbonated, medium bodied, moderate acidity, quaffable. Overall, this is a pretty great little saison. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a charente glass on 11/11/17. Vintage: 2017.

Oil Of Aphrodite

Jackie O’s Oil Of Aphrodite – An imperial stout brewed with black walnuts and Belgian candied syrup. Pours black with a finger of light brown head. Smells very sweet and sugary, not much roast, a little caramel and vanilla. Taste follows the nose, a little more roast here than the nose, but still very sweet, caramel and vanilla, some piney hops in the finish balance things out a bit. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, well carbed. Overall, a pretty straightforward imperial stout, a little on the sweet side, but quite nice. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (375 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 11/17/17.

A promising start. Now I just need to snag some of their barrel aged offerings, which I’ve heard good things about…

Marshal Zhukov

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Georgy Zhukov was a Soviet Army officer who commanded troops during the Battle of Berlin, eventually resulting in the defeat of Nazi Germany. He attained the rank of Marshal (the highest military rank in the Soviet Union), but also became Minister of Defence amongst taking on other political roles. Infamously stubborn and hot-tempered, he was known to risk life and limb by heatedly arguing with Stalin over this or that policy (normally surrounded by sycophants, Stalin respected Zhukov’s independent thought, while presumably also being annoyed by his stubbornness, which is the sort of thing people got disappeared for…) Basically, a decent guy to name a Russian Imperial Stout after. In a mildly refreshing change of pace, there’s nothing particularly special about this stout (other than it being really good). No weird ingredients, no spices or vanilla, not even barrels. Just barley, hops, yeast, and water. Spaseeba!

Marshal Zhukov

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout – Pours a deep black color with a pretty brown head that quickly dissipates. Smells great, lots of sweet malt, caramel, hints of roast, vanilla. Taste hits those same notes, rich caramel, hints of roast, a touch of vanilla, a little booze. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and chewy, moderate carbonation, a little boozy heat. Overall, fantastic straightforward imperial stout. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.2% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 10/29/17.

There are tons of variants of this, some of which I’ve had (a couple of coffee dosed versions), but I’d love to try a barrel aged one sometime (of which there are several varieties). Someday!

Boon Vat 109 Mono Blend

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For anything that is primarily blended, there’s this instinct to see what individual components would taste like. You see this a lot in whiskey, but there are plenty of other applications as well. Take this series of Mono Blends from Boon. Each is primarily composed of lambic from a single foeder (blended with a very small amount of young lambic for bottle conditioning purposes), and this is the third one that I’ve had. Unfortunately, I’ve had them over the course of 2-3 years, so this isn’t exactly a side-by-side comparison, but I feel like all three have been somewhat distinct.

Vat 77 was very earthy with a big kick of minerality. Vat 79 was noticeably more fruity and tart, though it still retained that mineral character that I seem to get out of all of Boon’s lambic. Now we’ve got Vat 109, a 9000 liter cask built over a hundred years ago (approx 1910 timeframe) and originally made to be used in beer production. That being said, it was used to age Cognac starting in 1935 up until Boon got their hands on it in 2009. This particular batch was brewed in 2014 and released in 2016, only showing up on my local shelves recently (at least, that I saw). With acknowledgement to the infamously unreliable nature of memory, I’d put this somewhere on the continuum between Vat 77’s earthy minerality and Vat 79’s more fruity character, though all have what I’m coming to recognize as Boon’s trademark character.

Boon Vat 109 Mono Blend

Boon Oude Geuze A L’Ancienne Vat 109 Mono Blend – Pours a hazy golden color with a couple fingers of fluffy, fizzy head that manages to stick around for a bit. Smells great, lots of earthiness, that trademark Boon minerality, and something brighter, fruitier in the background. Taste hits that mineral character pretty hard, lots of earthy funk, with a touch of sourness and fruit only really emerging in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, highly carbonated, crisp, and effervescent, lowish acidity. Overall, this is another solid offering from the Mono Blend line, maybe not quite as great as 79, but still damn good. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.25% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a geuze tumbler on 11/4/17. Best Before 04/19/2025. Batch #: 71312.

I have some extra bottles of Vat 79 and now 109, so maybe one day I’ll be able to do a better, side by side comparison (perhaps we can wait until we get some additional batches out there), which would be entirely more reliable than drinking these suckers months/years apart and trying to discern the differences that way.