Brewery

Red Thunder Is Coming

by

So I don’t normally resort to press release bloggery, but this one interests me:

Victory Brewing Company is known for melding traditional styles and unique concepts to produce the highest quality, full flavored beers. Red Thunder does just that. By aging their popular Baltic Thunder in once-used red wine barrels from Wente Vineyards, Victory Brewing Company created Red Thunder. The burnished cocoa creaminess of the Baltic-style porter is accented by the tannic dryness of the wood to produce a rich, fruity final product.

Yessss. It looks like this one will be taking the pre-Thanksgiving release-day slot that was previously owned by Dark Intrigue. That became known as “Dark Wednesday”, so I don’t know what this will be… “Red Wednesday” or “Wednesday Thunder” or perhaps just “Cattle Call”. In all seriousness, I don’t know that I’ll be attending. They say the beer will get a limited distribution in the Northeast (and, uh, Illinois), so I’m sure I’ll be able to get my hands on a few bottles in any case (at least, if other Victory rarities are any indication). But who knows. I think I’ve already established that I’m a weak, weak man when it comes to stuff like this.

Victory Red Thunder Logo

Anywho, kudos to Victory for actually announcing this, rather than just letting a few of them slip into distribution without telling anyone the way they did with Otto in Oak (though I managed to pick up a few extras of that, thankfully). I’m not all that familiar with red wine barrel aging (at least, with respect to non-sour beer, and this one doesn’t sound like it would be swimming with wild bacteria or anything), so I’m really curious to see how this turns out.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta

by

Not content with being the least coherent style in the history of beer, it appears that there are also multiple ways to spell “saison”. This is unsurprising though, owing to the fact that “saison” is just French for “season”. Now, why Logsdon went with the Dutch spelling is a bit of a mystery, but who cares? This is an awesome beer – the biggest surprise of the year so far. Not that I was expecting it to be “bad” or anything. This was yet another in the cross-country trade with Jay, and he gave this thing a stellar writeup on his blog, so I had high hopes… but as saisons go, this is one of the funky variety, dosed with Brettanomyces. I haven’t had a ton of this particular sub-style of saison, but I’ve had some supposed world-beaters like Saison Rue, and while I’ve enjoyed them, I’ve never been really been blown away by one. Until now:

Logsdon Seizoen Bretta

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta – Pours a cloudy orange color with a couple fingers of fluffy white head. Smells wonderful, lots of light fruity aromas along with some spiciness (both presumably due to some sort of Belgian yeast) and a well balanced, earthy Brett funk. Tastes amazing too! Starts off sweet and spicy, a little juicy fruitiness in the middle (maybe a hint of wild yeast twang there), and earthy Brett funk in the dry finish. Definitely not sour, but maybe a really light tartness (which I may be attributing more to fruitiness than tartness, but whatever). Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, but not harsh or overpoweringly so (the way a lot of yeasty Belgian style brews can be). Medium bodied with a beautiful, dry finish. Overall, utterly fantastic saison, probably my favorite “funky” saison ever. Superb. A

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and beeswax dipped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/24/12. Bottle No. SB 12517. Best by: 05/2017. Bottle sez: Certified Organic.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales is apparently the brainchild of David Logsdon, who made his way into the craft beer world by founding Full Sail Brewing way back when, but if this new brewery is any indication, I can’t wait to see what they do. Heck, this single beer is pretty darn spectacular, I’d be happy if they just started distributing out East! In the meantime, I’ll just have to see if I can get my hands on another of these things. I think there’s a pretty good chance this thing could garner the vaunted Kaedrin A+ rating, but I don’t hand them out lightly, and usually force myself to have at least a few separate tastings before giving them out.

Hanssens Oude Kriek

by

My flirtation with sour beers continues unabated. I haven’t quite reached the sad level where I’m so addicted to acetic flavors that I’m rubbing vinegar on my gums in my spare time, but I like to think that I’ve gained something of an appreciation for well crafted sour beers. Most recently, I’ve been blown away by the likes of Rodenbach Grand Cru, Russian River Supplication (a beer I’d had before, but which really blew me away upon revisiting), and Marrón Acidifié. That being said, I still find sours to be a bit of a mixed bag for me… I’m guessing that as time goes on, I will gain even more affinity for the various sour styles, but for now, I’m still stuck in that experimental stage.

Hanssens seems to have a reasonably good reputation, though I get the impression from reading folks like Beerbecue that they tend towards the sweeter, more puckering, acidic side of things. Let’s see how this Oude Kriek (beer with cherries that’s spontaneously fermented and “matured for over three years”) fares:

Hanssens Oude Kriek

Hanssens Oude Kriek – Pours a bright red color with a couple fingers of pink head. The smell features that trademark sour twang, some earthy funk, and maybe some of that oak character. The taste starts very sweet and very sour, lots of fruitiness (cherries, obviously) and funk, mellowing out a little as the taste evolves. Mouthfeel is well carbonated but appropriate. The sourness packs an acidic, funky punch; it’s certainly an eye opener. Overall, a solid beer, but not something that transcends my typical thoughts on kriek beers (certainly better than the easily found Lindemans Kriek, but that’s not saying much)… B

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/31/12. Label sez: Lot nr: G.

Can’t say as though I’m all fired up to try more Hanssens beers, but this was certainly a cromulent entry in the sour experiment. Still, I’d rather seek out some of the better regarded Belgian sours (or even american Maestros like the folks up at Cascade, if I can ever get a line on those).

Beer Hop Breakfast

by

Apparently weasel poo is not involved with this beer at all. Not that it normally would be a key ingredient, but the last beer I had in Mikkeller’s Beer Geek series of imperial stouts did have that improbable ingredient… and it was spectacular. This time around, in place of poo, we’ve got hops. Unfortunately, I think my bottle had been sitting around for quite while when I bought it, and thus I suspect the hop profile was somewhat diminished:

mikkeller-beerhopbreakfast.jpg

Mikkeller Beer Hop Breakfast – Pours a thick black in color with a couple fingers of light brown head. Smells of light roast, caramel and chocolate, with some piney hops apparent (but not quite as prominently as I was expecting). The roastiness comes out much more in the flavor, along with some coffee and bitter dark chocolate in the finish (the additional hops may also have been a contributor to the bitter finish). Not quite as much hop flavor as I was expecting, but it’s clearly more of a hoppy beer than the Brunch Weasel. Mouthfeel is definitely less full than the Brunch Weasel, thinner, but not watery or anything, with a dry finish. Overall, it’s a nice beer, but I wish I had a fresher bottle. I’ll give it a provisional B, but it could go either way.

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/31/12.

Mikkeller remains one of my favorite breweries, so I’m sure you’ll see some more of their stuff popping up here soon. I think I have a red wine barrel aged stout from them somewhere in my cellar, which I’ll probably bring out to play when it gets a little colder out…

Almanac Winter Wit

by

Meet Almanac Beer Company, a tiny Northern California brewery specializing in seasonal ales brewed with local ingredients. Up until recently1, this meant the brewery produced only one-off beers, one per season. In a world where it seems most breweries boast a portfolio of 50+ beers, it’s kinda refreshing to see a brewery that makes one beer per season, period. They’re apparently contract brewers, but their reputation seems more like that of a gypsy brewer. In other words, they have a pretty darn good reputation.

Of course, being a local-obsessed brewery has its drawbacks, namely that it’s only really available locally… but thanks to the magic of beer trades, I got my greedy little hands on their 2012 offerings. So a tip of the hat to Jay from Beer Samizdat, who I must admit, is the one who got me interested in this brewery and their awesome, classy labels long before the trade ever came up. This particular beer is their Winter offering, a Belgian style Wit brewed with three varieties of early-season oranges and a helping of ginger root. Now, one doesn’t typically think of this style when talking about Winter beers, but on the other hand, at 7% ABV, it’s certainly heftier than most examples of the style (without going overboard).

Also, what the hell, it was August when I ended up drinking it, so it fit in quite nicely as I fired up the home theater system for some action packed adventure in the form of The Raid. I should mention that I’m almost always watching a movie whilst drinking2, but the pairings don’t always strike me enough that I want to post about it. In this case, the light, refreshing Wit contrasted rather sharply with the bombastic action, making it a memorable combo. So let’s get to it, shall we?

Almanac 2012 Winter Wit

Almanac 2012 Winter Wit – Pours a cloudy straw yellow color with a finger of bubbly head. Nose is filled with wheat and spice, some orange peel or other citrus character. Taste has a moderated sweetness along with all of those spices from the nose (apparently ginger, but I also get the typical Wit notes of coriander and clove) and a well integrated citrus component. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, just a hint of spicy bite, and a relatively light body. This thing doesn’t drink like a 7% ABV beer, it reads much lighter to me. This is a good thing, as the other “big” wheat beers I’ve had get to be overbearing – completely overwhelming the delicate wheat flavors. Overall, this is a well crafted, tasty take on a style that often feels muted. Right up there with my favorite Wit beers…B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of tulip glass on 8/18/12. Label sez: 5973 (presumably bottle number), 12.29.2011.

I’ve also got a bottle of Almanac’s Spring 2012 Bière de Mars, which I’ll probably be cracking open sometime in September, as the weather starts to chill up a bit.

1 – They’ve just released their year-round California Table Beers (a saison and pale ale), but I think the focus continues to be on their limited seasonal wonders…

2 – I used to talk about this more often than I do now, with the notable exception of Double Feature posts… which, come to think of it, have been pretty sparse of late. I shall have to rectify that, but at the same time, this is a beer blog, not a movie blog, so I expect that side of things to continue to fall by the wayside, with occasional mentions like the one in this post.

Allagash Bourbon Barrel Black

by

I’m not that big of a fan of Allagash Black, a Belgian-style stout that sorta mashes up stouts with Belgian Strong Darks… and makes me wish I had one or the other. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine beer, but not one of head-exploding glory like I expect from a brewer of Allagash’s caliber. The solution to this conundrum? Put it in old Jim Beam bourbon barrels, of course! Alas, that treatment doesn’t seem to have done much to improve my feelings on the beer:

Allagash Bourbon Barrel Black

Allagash Bourbon Barrel Black – Apologies for the craptacular picture (It was dark!) Pours a black color with a couple fingers of light brown head that puffed up higher than the lips of the glass. Not picking up a ton in the nose (stupid overflowing glass), but a little musty roast and a hint of bourbon are there. Taste has lots of those roasted malts and plenty of boozy bourbon. There’s some complexities emerging as I drink, but it all feels a little sloppy. Mouthfeel is less carbonated than regular black; a little richer and creamier, but also much boozier. This isn’t quite as balanced as I’d like. I’d gladly drink more of this, but it’s a little disappointing and messy. B

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV on tap. Drank out of a snifter on 8/17/12.

Well, I guess they can’t all be winners (in terms of both Allagash and bourbon barrel beers), but it’s not like this one was horrible either. I’m always looking forward to new Allagash specialties and lord knows I can’t resist bourbon barrel aged beers…

Russian River Row 2/Hill 56

by

One of the driving forces behind this blog is the wanton violation of the Constitution of the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overall a pretty big fan of that document, but Amendment XXI, Section 2 can kiss my ass. It says you can’t transport “intoxicating liquors” across state lines. Given the PLCB’s ridiculous stance on single bottle sales in PA (i.e. you have to buy full cases1), it’s pretty much required for a beer nerd in my area to become a scofflaw. In addition to this, I giddily smuggled beer back to PA on a flight back from Texas last year.

And now I’ve added another felony to my repertoire: the vaunted beer trade. Jay, from the most excellent Beer Samizdat blog2, proposed a swap of ungettables from the opposite coast. And thus I came into the possession of West Coast rarities the likes of which us East Coasters drool over3. Er, sorry, don’t mean to rub it in, but it was exciting. And I’m not sharing.

As it was my first time, I was a little nervous about shipping mishaps4, but fortunately, I had plenty of bubble wrap securely fastened around all the bottles I sent, so no bottle explosions in transit or knocks at the front door by the FBI (I can just picture them now, in their black suits, holding a dripping box, frowning… saying “Is this yours?” while their partner pulls out the hand cuffs). Jay, being more experienced on this front, sent his in a fortress of seemingly indestructible styrofoam. Anywho, this is all by way of saying that you’re going to see some reviews of West Coast mind blowers in the near future.

Like this beer, from one of our nation’s most amazing breweries, Russian River. It’s the first in a line of beers they’re calling “The Hop Grower’s Tribute Series”, and in this case, they’re honoring the three farms that grow Simcoe hops. It’s named after the location in the experimental hop yard where Simcoe was born, and is it just me, or should there be more than 3 farms growing these prized hops? If the prices for Simcoe at the homebrew shop are any indication, I think there are some farmers that could stand to make a pretty penny by stepping up production.

I’ve never actually seen a bottle of Pliny or even Blind Pig, but it looks like the label’s got the trademark Russian River disclaimers pleading with you to drink the beer as soon as possible, least the hop character fade (as they tend to do with time). “This beer is not meant to be aged! Age your cheese, not the beer inside this bottle! Keep cold, drink fresh, do not age! Consume Fresh, or not at all! Respect hops, consume this beer fresh! Keep away from heat! This beer does not get better with age! Please do not age me!” They won’t shut up about it, but then, they’re probably right. And in any case, Russian River beers tend not to last long in my house. This stuff was gone just a few short days after I received it:

Russian River Row 2 Hill 56

Russian River Row 2/Hill 56 – Pours a bright golden color with a finger of quickly disappearing, fluffy head. Smells of bright grapefruit and a little bit of pine, pure Simcoe gold. The taste is less sweet than I’d expect, with a bracing bitterness that hits quite quickly and intensifies through the taste. Pine comes out more as a flavor here than in the nose, along with a sorta herbalness I associate with Cascades (which makes sense, since Simcoe is descended from Cascade). Mouthfeel is light, smooth, quaffable, but with a pleasant hoppy bite and a nice dry finish. Man, this thing goes down easy. A fantastic summer beer, perfect for quenching thirst after a long day/week in the office. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.8% ABV bottled (510 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/17/12. Bottled on 6/26/12.

At this point, I think I’ve had everything Russian River has made available in PA (including the likes of Pliny the Younger and a bunch of their mildly rare sours), but it’s nice to know that I may be able to get my hands on stuff like this in the future. Thanks Jay!

1 – There is a loophole to the case law that says that restaurants (or some sort of eating establishments) can sell singles, so the case law isn’t as annoying as it used to be. I was surprised when I recently walked into a new local place that’s purely a bottle shop – I asked the guy working there how he got around the case law, and he pointed to the back of the place. Tucked away in the corner was one of them hot dog machines that rolls the hot dogs. I suspect they don’t sell many of those things. Even grocery stores are getting into the act these days, and one local beer distributer seems to just be throwing caution to the wind and selling singles illegally. I say good on them!

2 – I suspect most of my readers are already familiar with Beer Samizdat, but it’s an excellent blog and Jay’s been posting up a storm of late, so be sure to check it out.

3 – Jay seems pleased with his haul too. I won’t spoil the trade, but I’m sure you’ll see a few of them show up on his blog in the near future too (like this one)

4 – Definitely illegal to ship via USPS, so third parties it was. Thanks to my lazy habit of never throwing out boxes, I had plenty of bubble wrap laying around (I used at least 3 or 4 different varieties), and did my best. Still, I was a little nervous, but as it turns out, bottles aren’t that fragile.

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

by

So here we go, tapping that hotbed of beery goodness, Wisconsin. In all seriousness, these Central Waters folks have quite the reputation, most especially for their bourbon barrel stuff, which, you know, goes a long way here at Kaedrin. They’re also apparently one of them green-powered eco-hippie breweries. My eyes kinda glaze over when I read stuff about that, but from what I gather, the fine folks of Central Waters have invented a race of solar-powered, sentient robots to do all the brewing. The people of Wisconsin are quite industrious and may indeed be architects of the robopocalypse. That, or I have poor reading comprehension. Anywho, let’s drink some beer:

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine – Pours a deep amber color with minimal, whitish head. Smells full of bourbon and caramel, with heaping helpings of vanilla and oak. The taste follows the nose pretty well – tons of rich caramel malt flavors, lots of intense, boozy bourbon, along with a little well-rounded vanilla and oak. Some fruity notes open up as it warms. Very sweet, but not quite cloying. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, a little light on the carbonation (though not too light at all), a bit of sticky booze in the finish, and a pronounced warming effect from the 11.5% ABV. Overall, pretty much everything you could want from a bourbon-barrel aged barleywine. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 8/11/12. Bottled in January 2012.

Nice first impression of the solar-powered wizards from Wisconsin, definitely hoping to get my hands on more of their stuff.

Neshaminy Creek Leon

by

Continuing a look at the tiny new breweries in my area, I stopped by Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company this past weekend. Another homebrewer turned pro story here, Neshaminy Creek opened doors in early June (coinciding with Philly Beer Week, which seems to be the trend for these local breweries) and has slowly been making a name for themselves.

Neshaminy Creek tank board

They’ve got a couple standards in their lineup, including the County Line IPA, which is nice, lightly hoppy with a bigger malt character than expected (this winds up being a good thing in a market full of “hop it til it’s nasty” beers). I also sampled their Croydon Cream Ale, a nice, light lawnmower beer. Not really my style, but it was tasty and much better than typical light lager fare. Their Tribute Tripel just might be my favorite of their brews, a great take on the style. Filled with fruity esters, sweetness, and plenty of spice from the yeast (clove), it comes off as being well balanced, but still big and delicious, just like a Tripel should be (in the B+ to A- range of my ratings, I think). According to their tank board (pictured above), they’ve got some sort of Hefeweizen coming too.

But the beer that everyone’s talking about is Leon… also known as the ‘Smore beer. Yep, it’s an imperial stout brewed with baker’s chocolate, marshmallow fluff, and crumbled graham crackers. They’ve made a couple of test batches of the stuff, but it turns out that what I got was the first full batch (and probably the last we’ll see of it this year – big beers like this tend to use up an inordinate amount of resources for small breweries). Knowing I wanted a closer look at this one, I got a growler of it and have been sipping my way through it for most of the weekend. At 11.6% ABV, it’s big and burly, but the alcohol is pretty well hidden. Ah well, there goes my glycemic index. Let’s take a closer look:

Neshaminy Creek Leon

Neshaminy Creek Leon – Pours a deep, dark black color with a finger of dense tan head. Nice retention too, plenty of lacing as I drink. Smells strongly of chalky roasted malts, maybe some coffee character, but also a sorta light sweetness in the nose as well. Taste is again dominated by those roasted malts, coffee flavors, and maybe just a hint of dark chocolate. Nowhere near as sweet as I’d expect, but it’s not super bitter either. As it warms (or perhaps as my palate adjusts to the roastiness), the coffee goes away and chocolate emerges more. I have to admit, I don’t get any real ‘smore flavor here, but that don’t mean it’s not good. I know it’s obnoxious to tell a brewer stuff like this, but for a smore beer, I’d love to get more in the way of caramelized sugar flavors and less in the way of roastiness. Mouthfeel is heavy, but smooth, with plenty of tight carbonation. It’s a sipper to be sure, but the booze isn’t as pronounced as I’d expect in a 11.6% ABV beer. Very well hidden. Overall, a solid imperial stout. Not quite the beer I was looking for, but I’m sure it will make stout fanatics happy… B

Beer Nerd Details: 11.6% ABV from growler. Drank out of a snifter on 8/25/12. Beer was apparently kegged on 8/24/12, so it’s about as fresh as possible.

I’m curious to see how Leon evolves over time. According to the brewer, this one came in a little lighter than their test batches, and they’ve also reserved a bunch to age in Bourbon barrels. This excites me to no end, as bourbon barrel aging tends to temper the big roast and coffee flavors in a beer like this while adding a touch of sweetness and complexity from the oak. This sounds quite exciting. Otherwise, I’m going to be on the lookout for their Tribute Tripel, which I think was my favorite of their beers. While I was there, I heard talk of wild yeast and other barrel aging stuff, which sounds exciting. They’re mostly only on tap right now, but I believe they do some limited bottling of their brews too. Definitely a brewery to keep an eye on…

Full Pint Chinookie IPA

by

No Limp Bizkit1 references here. This blog is classy. Sorta.

My assumption was that the name of this beer was a reference to Chinook hops and that this would be one of them highfalutin single-hop experiment glorifying this particular varietal. However, upon closer inspection of the bottle’s beer nerd stats, it appears that Chinook is but one of four hops. Perhaps this is for the best. I’ve never used Chinook before, but from everything I’ve read, it’s got an intense bitterness and overpowering flavor profile (apparently very piney and resiny). This beer apparently had four hop additions along with some dry hopping, so let’s see how it turned out:

Full Pint Chinookie IPA

Full Pint Chinookie IPA – Pours a cloudy, darkish orange color with a finger of tight white head and some lacing as I drink. Smells of equal parts citrus and pine, with a heaping helping of floral hop notes as well. Taste has a nice balance between sweetness and bitterness, there’s a definite but small presence of crystal malts, and while the hop flavors (roughly matching the composition of the aromas) are light, there’s certainly enough to make this an interesting brew. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, with ample tight carbonation, and a dry finish. Overall, a solid IPA that’d probably make a nice go-to for the locals in Pittsburgh. It’s not a remarkable beer, but it works. B

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/11/12. Hops: Magnum, Warrior, Chinook, and Centennial. IBUs: 103.1. Lot 210, best by Feb 2013.

Full Pint continues to be an interesting PA brewery (Pittsburgh area, if I remember correctly) – Rye Rebellion was quite a solid entry, and there are plenty of other beers on their roster that I’d like to check out.

1 – True story: I booed Limp Bizkit off stage once (they were opening for Faith No More, a band I actually like). Not, you know, by myself, but as a willing participant. We didn’t have torches and pitchforks, but we got the job done. It was a proud moment.