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Septembeer Club

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Today was beer club! The event seems to have waned a bit in recent months, but we’ve always got a core group of about 4-5 folks who always come and always bring new beers. I’m pretty excited for the next beer club meetup in about two weeks, which will be at The Whip, an English style pub that we went to a while back. Anyway, tonight’s offerings included:

Septembeer Club

No real theme this month, though one member had just gotten back from a cruise and thus had smuggled some Caribbean beer. Otherwise, it was kinda stoutish this month. Here’s what we had (listed in order of left to right from the picture above):

  • Cayman Islands Caybrew – This is apparently the premium beer of the Cayman Islands. And it is quite bad! Well, no, it’s not the worst beer ever, but it’s got a very typical American Macro aroma and flavor going on, very Millerish (think High Life or MGD), and it’s packaged in a green bottle! Would probably be decent after sitting in the sun all day, but it didn’t really do anything for us tonight. D+
  • Belize Belikin – Another Caribbean lager in the style of a Macro, this one even less flavorful and nondescript. It’s pretty horrible. D-
  • North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout – My contribution for the night, and probably the best beer I had all night. Nice and sweet, with a surprising hop aroma and flavor. Perhaps because of that, it’s got a nice, almost fruity character to go along with the typical sweet and roasty flavors. At 9%, it’s got a bit of a booziness to it, but very well matched. I quite enjoyed it. I’ve had a couple of these before, and I believe I have another one in the fridge, so perhaps I’ll do a dedicated review at some point. For now, let’s give it a B+, though it might eek its way into A- territory, depending on my mood.
  • Mackeson Triple XXX Stout – Apparently once a classic British Milk Stout, this beer has since been acquired by Inbev (scourge of the beer world) and discontinued, though for a time it was contract brewed in the US (but even that brewery is now defunct). There is apparently a 3% version (non XXX?) brewed by Wells & Young in England, but this one was a 4.9% Milk Stout brewed in Trinidad & Tobago (no idea if this is the same recipe as the discontinued beer, or if it’s still owned by Inbev). Whatever the case, it’s actually a pretty solid Milk Stout. It reminded me a lot of the Lancaster Milk Stout I reviewed recently. Not especially my style, perhaps a little too roasty or coffee-like, but definitely well made. B
  • My Homebrewed Stout – My other contribution. It’s definitely come out a bit more on the roasty side than I planned, but then, it’s also got a nice caramel characteristic as well. It seemed to go over very well with the Beer Club crowd. Some even preferred it to Old Rasputin! Personally, it’s not exactly what I was going for, but I do really enjoy it. I should probably catch up on all my homebrews in terms of reviews at some point, but for now, I’ll give it a solid B (it’s also still a bit on the young side, so it may even get better).
  • DuClaw Naked Fish – The bottle sez it’s a Chocolate Raspberry Stout and boy does that aroma sell it. It smells very much like that raspberry syrup that you get on fancy dessert plates, with some chocolate and very faint roasty aromas also around. In terms of taste, it’s more dark chocolate than raspberry, again with just a hint of roastiness. I did enjoy this, but it also seemed a bit on the light side (which makes a bit of sense for a 4.6% beer). I’d rather have it hit with more sweetness and a richer, deeper body. Still, this is pretty well done. I’d try it again. B
  • Allentown Brew Works Funky Monkey – Beer club member from Allentown brought this local brewpub growler of a beer I can’t seem to find any listing for. It’s a saison-style beer, and from the aroma and taste, I’d say it’s got a very light dose of Brettanomyces as well (and given the title “Funky” Monkey and that the Brew Works makes other saisons Monkey Wrench and Space Monkey, that sorta makes sense). It’s actually quite good, nice and sweet with just a bit of that distinctive Brett twang. Not sour at all, but definitely funky. B
  • Dana’s Homebrewed Imperial Wheat – The bottle was a bit of a gusher, but once we got it settled down, it was pretty darn good, though the Imperial Wheat style can be a bit weird. The typical wheat flavors are there, but in a muted fashion. Very sweet and extremely boozy – so much so that it sorta overwhelms the typical wheatines. Not sure if that’s typical of the style or what, but I did enjoy drinking this, even if it was a bit on the strong side. B

And that about covers the beer. As usual, take the ratings with a grain of salt, as conditions were not ideal for uber-beer-nerdery (but they were ideal for fun, so there). I do kinda fudge the club name a bit, as it’s more of a “beverage club” or even just a “supper club”, meaning that not everyone who comes drinks beer. In the past, we’ve had Sake, root beer, and almost always wine. This month was no exception – we had a bottle of Coppola Merlot, which to my palate tasted quite sweet, with a nice dry finish. But then, I just finished sampling a bunch of roasty stouts. All in all, another successful outing. Look for the Whip recap in about two weeks! And it would probably make sense to do a fall seasonal theme next month too. Exciting!

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils

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This is one of Sly Fox’s flagship brews, and one of the more popular local pilsners… but can it hold up to Victory’s Prima Pils? I have to admit that the pilsener style isn’t one of my favorites, though they sometimes do hit the spot.

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils – Pours a clear golden yellow color with tons of loose, large-bubbled head. It’s got that distinct earthy, floral hop aroma (Saaz hops?) that I associate with pilseners, which follows through to the taste. The taste is pretty straightforward stuff, pale malts with the light hoppy bitterness that characterizes the pilsener style. Mouthfeel is well carbonated but very light and easy to drink. Overall, maybe better than your average pilsener, but again, this isn’t really my favorite style and it certainly hasn’t unseated Prima Pils. B-

Beer Nerd Details: 4.9% ABV canned (12 oz). Drank out of a pint glass on 9/2/11.

Sly Fox is still one of the more interesting local brewpubs, and I look forward to trying more of their beer. I’ve even got a couple cans of their IPA ready to go…

Yards Cape of Good Hope IPA – Beware of tigers…

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So we all know of the stories about India Pale Ales – brewers added extra hops to beer so that it could survive the long and arduous trek from England to India. The cape of good hope is located in South Africa and represented a milestone in the trip to India (basically, it’s when you begin to travel more eastward than southward).

The confusing thing about this beer, though, is that Yards claims that the IPA stands for Imperial Pale Ale (no India to be found). Weird. Of course, it is typically classified as an Imperial IPA, so there is that. Yards also says that this beer “is an unfiltered, uniquely aged Imperial Pale Ale.” Aged? I suppose if you’re trying to replicated the historical style, that might be accurate, but it also generally means a less fresh beer, and most hoppy beers in particular do not age all that well. In searching around, it appears that this aging has to do with the longer-than-normal dry hopping period after initial fermentation (upwards of a few months), which should give this a very nice aroma, though perhaps the bitterness will be somewhat toned down by that point.

It’s also a very limited batch of beer, only around 100 or so barrels were produced, and the bottling was apparently very limited. They switch up the recipe every year, so it’s unlikely that I’ll ever see this exact beer again… but the general process seems to stay the same and Yards sez they’ll be doing a bigger batch next year. They also say that the beer “is reminiscent of something you’d find solace in on a balmy, Indian evening far away from home. Beware of tigers…” Well ok then:

Yards Cape of Good Hope

Yards Cape of Good Hope IPA – Pours a slightly hazy golden amber color with a finger of fluffy white head that leaves lots of lacing. Very nice, powerful hoppy aroma, citrus and pine along with some sweetness. Taste is sweet with a light bitterness emerging in the middle and following the taste through the finish (I’m guessing this muted bitterness is indicative of the extra aging). Mouthfeel is really nice, very smooth and dangerously easy to drink given the high alcohol. It’s not a revelation, but it’s a really good, well balanced take on the double IPA (and certainly much better than Yards’s regular IPA). B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/2/11.

When I started this blog, I wasn’t really that big of a fan of Yards, but as I’ve tried more and more of their beers (at this point, I think I’ve had most of them), I think I’m definitely coming around. Their Ales of the Revolution series was fantastic, their ESB is especially good on cask, and I really enjoy their Philly Pale Ale. At this point, I think I should probably try their saison again, as I haven’t had it in a few years. Perhaps another trip to their tasting room is in order as well – I’d love to get my hands on some Bourbon Barrel Aged Thomas Jefferson’s Ale!

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

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Many people seem to recommend this beer to other folks who can’t get Pliny the Elder in their area. This is a somewhat contentious claim, and most will admit that Hop Stoopid isn’t quite the equal of the vaunted Pliny, but they do share a certain character (of course, there are always contrarians that will say this is better than Pliny*, but I digress). That being said, it’s definitely much easier to find Hop Stoopid (and it’s usually cheaper too).

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid – The label prominently displays the tagline “102 I.B.U. 4 U” which means we’re in for a pretty bitter beer. Luckily, Lagunitas knows what they’re doing and they’ve balanced that bitterness with an appropriate amount of sweetness. Pours a dark orange color with a finger or so of head that leaves lacing as I drink. The smell is filled with grapefruit, pine and resin aromas. Actually, so is the taste. Sweet, filled with intense citrus and pine flavor. There’s a nice, bracing bitterness appearing midway through the taste and continuing through the finish. It’s got a medium body, but it’s extremely drinkable for something packing this much flavor. Alcohol is hidden pretty well here too. Overally, a really fantastic double IPA. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (22 oz bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/27/11.

Apparently I need to make myself more familiar with Lagunitas. For whatever reason, I’ve never been that attracted to their beers (perhaps it’s their labels, which never seem to catch my eye), but they seem to be a big deal and some folks seem to really like them, so yeah, I’ll try and pick up something else from them on my next trip to the bottle store (which may be a while, as I’m pretty well stocked right now). This is certainly a good first impression.

* Update! Jay from Beer Samizdat comments on twitter: “Better than Pliney, I say – no contest.” I guess he’s one of them contrarians I was talking about. See also: his original review of Pliny the Elder (which he calls “A very good overrated beer”) and his original Hop Stoopid review.

Weyerbacher Heresy

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There are a number of ways to trick me into buying your beer, and apparently one of them is to barrel-age your beer. In a recent beer run, I think maybe half the beers I bought had some sort of barrel-aging treatment (it was an expensive trip). I guess I’m just a sucker for that sort of thing… but then again, it often works out pretty well for me.

Weyerbacher Heresy

Weyerbacher Heresy – The base for this beer is Weyerbacher’s Old Heathen, a pretty middle of the road Imperial Stout, but one I enjoy. This beer is basically a bourbon barrel aged version, and it pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger or two of light brown head (no real lacing here). The smell is roasty, with a little bit of that vanilla and oak character. Perhaps some caramel and chocolate flavors in the nose as well… Taste is again, very roasty. Just a little in the way of chocolate and caramel along with the oak and vanilla flavors. You can taste the alcohol as well, but it’s well incorporated here, not overpowering anything else. It’s reasonably full bodied, but still pretty easy to drink. Overall, I was hoping for a bit more of that oak and bourbon character would show through, but it’s still a pretty solid RIS and a slight improvement over the Old Heathen. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/27/11.

Weyerbacher is a local brewery (with one of the worst logos ever) that puts out a lot of interesting, experimental, and really big beers. Sometimes these work better than others, but I always find their stuff interesting. Up next for me is their sixteenth anniversary beer, which is a 10.5% Braggot (basically a mixture of mead and beer).

The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel

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We don’t get a lot of The Bruery‘s beers around these parts, but there are some places that stock them and whenever I see a new variety, I snap it up as quick as I can. I have to admit, I’m not even really that familiar with their catalog – I just know that if I see a bottle from The Bruery, I should buy it. Sometimes an expensive proposition, but usually worth every penny. Even when I’m not completely blown away by one of their beers*, I find myself happy to have tried it anyway. Most recently:

The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel

The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel – In an attempt to differentiate this beer from the throngs of other Belgian style tripels, The Bruery gave this one an Asian twist. Instead of using Belgian Candi sugar (as is traditional for the style), they used rice**, then spiced with Thai Basil. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with lots of fluffy, tightly beaded head. The nose is filled with fruitiness as well as a spicy and musty Belgian yeast character. There’s also an almost, but not quite funky aroma going on here too. The taste starts spicy with some sweetness hitting in the middle, finishing crisp and extremely dry. That finish is actually quite strange; it’s almost like I can feel the liquid evaporating in my mouth, leaving it very dry. The mouthfeel is actually pretty tame for the style. It starts out as expected, but gives way to a gentler, more subtle mouthfeel. This lighter-than-expected body is no doubt due to the use of rice in the recipe. Overall, it’s an interesting take on a classic style***. I don’t think it really rivals it’s competition, and it’s not blowing me away as some of The Bruery’s other brews do, but it is really quite good. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 8/26/11.

This marks the sixth Bruery beer I’ve tried, of which three have blown me away, and three have “merely” been great. In a recent beer run, I picked up a couple bottles of Cuir, their third Anniversary ale that is composed partially of a barrel aged version of their second Anniversary ale (there is actually a really interesting reasoning behind this method, which I’ll cover when I review Cuir). Actually, their second anniversary ale, called Coton, was the first Bruery beer I’d ever had, and it knocked my socks off, so I’m expecting a lot out of Cuir. At 14.5% ABV, I’ll have to find a good time for that (or perhaps share it with some folks), but I’m very much looking forward to trying one (and cellaring the other, along with an old bottle of Coton). I’m also very much looking forward to The Bruery’s next step in the 12 Days of Christmas series…

* And in such cases, their beer is still among the best out there.

** Rice is typically an adjunct used by the big macro breweries to lessen costs. Sugars derived from rice are very simple and thus completely consumed by yeast, increasing alcohol but not really impacting the taste. This proves useful for light, flavorless beers, I guess, but in the case of The Bruery, they’re adding it to an 8.1% ABV beer of a style that is usually overflowing with taste. In other words, The Bruery is using rice to enhance and complement the beer, rather than to make the beer cheaper and more flavorless.

*** Indeed, it almost reminds me more of a dry saison than a tripel. Sorta like a summer tripel – and this being a summer release that features the words “Summer Fun” on the label, I guess that makes sense.

Anchor Liberty Ale

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Pale ale! Yeah!* According to Anchor’s website, this beer was introduced in 1975 and “Before it became a permanent year-round product, variations of our Liberty Ale formula enjoyed brief tenures as Our Special Ale, available at Christmastime.” Huh, I think I’d like to try that. But since that will never happen**, I’ll have to settle for the regular Liberty Ale:

Anchor Liberty Ale

Anchor Liberty Ale – Pours a slightly cloudy golden/orange color with tightly beaded head that leaves lots of lacing. Smells hoppy, a little bit of citrus and maybe even some pine. Taste is sweeter than I was expecting, with just a bit of a hoppy bitter bite in the finish and aftertaste. Mouthfeel is surprisingly strong for a simple pale ale, though it’s not a particularly full bodied beer or anything. Overall, it’s not one of my favorites, but it’s a nice enough brew. B

Beer Nerd Details: 5.9% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a pint glass on 8/26/11.

* Ok, sorry, but sometimes it’s hard to make standard styles like pale ales exciting. Nothing against pale ales, of course. Some of my favorite beers are pale ales.

** Not that I’m bitter.

Stone Levitation Ale

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Stone makes a real, honest-to-God, session beer? Will wonders never cease!

For the uninitiated (i.e. those of you who aren’t British), the goal of a “session beer” is to allow you to consume multiple beers in one reasonably long session without overwhelming your senses or getting you completely sloshed. As such, these beers typically feature very low alcohol content, clean, balanced flavors, and an overall high drinkability. For some reason, the specifics of session beers are absurdly divisive in the beer nerd community. For example, just trying to pin down the ABV threshold after which a beer is no longer sessionable can be a laborious exercise. For the most part, though, people seem to agree that the beer should be no higher than 4-5% ABV. You’ll see lots of arguments (usually from Americans) that a 5.5% or even 6% beer qualifies, usually accompanied by harsh denouncements (usually from Englishmen who claim that anything over 4% is an affront to the beer gods).

There really isn’t a single, definitive answer, and quite frankly, it seems like the history behind the phrase isn’t even that well established (though the concept of a “session” has certainly been around for a while, the term itself seems to be a relatively recent development). Whatever the definition, these low-ABV, highly-quaffable beers are certainly a worthwhile pursuit. In case you can’t tell, this whole concept grew out of British pub culture, and as such, sessionable beer is most common there. But there are certain circles in America that are also doing their best to promote session beers in the craft beer arena.

Stone Brewing has a reputation, though. They’re rebels, angry and aggressive. Their most famous beer is called Arrogant Bastard and printed on the bottle is the phrase “You’re Not Worthy!” It’s also 7.2% ABV, which I don’t think anyone would argue is sessionable. According to BeerAdvocate, Stone currently has 68 different beers available. The average ABV for those beers is over 8%. I could go on, but one of the interesting things about Stone is that they do put out some more “normal” beers. They have an interesting and distinctive pale ale, and their regular IPA is phenomenal. Then there’s this beer:

Stone Levitation

Stone Levitation Ale – Pours a dark amber color with a finger of tight head. Smells absolutely delicious – very hoppy, some citrus, and sugary sweet aromas. The taste is perhaps less sweet than the nose implies, but it’s really quite good. A nice, complex malt backbone with a prominent but not overpowering hop bitterness throughout. It’s got a relatively light body body; very easy to drink. I had this after a particularly long day, and so I think I was ideally primed to like this sort of thing, but boy did it go down easy. I really enjoy this beer and it’s definitely something I could drink all night… A-

Beer Nerd Details: 4.4% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a, uh, glass that I don’t know what to call on 8/20/11. 45 IBUs.

At this point, I don’t actually have any Stone beers on my plate, but there are definitely some that I need to get around to (in particular, the decidedly non-sessionable Old Guardian Barleywine has been calling my name).

Butternuts Double Feature

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It occurs to me that I’ve been slacking on the filmic side of Double Feature posts of late. This is partly because my recent Netflixery has included an inordinate amount of television – catching up with the likes of HBO’s Deadwood and the Doctor Who Revival (slow going to start, but I am assured of future greatness), but I’ve also slowed down my movie intake recently. This is all about to change, though, as we’re heading into my favorite time of the year, Halloween, which I celebrate with a 6 week marathon of horror movies. As it turns out, I will also be attending Fantastic Fest later in September. For the uninitiated, it’s a mostly genre film festival, but one of the prime locations is at the Alamo Drafthouse – a movie theater with craft beer on tap. What a novel idea (we need one up here). Not that the beer blog will be filled with movie reviews – it’s never been like that and I’ll save my verbose reviews for my general purpose blog – but I do so enjoy the notion of combining two beers and two movies in a double feature.

Anyway, a fellow beer club member recently took a trip to Ohio, and came back with a bunch of exotic (i.e. mostly not available in PA) beer. Some of it she didn’t like, which means free beer for me. I’ve never heard of Butternuts before, but just from their branding, I have a feeling I’m in for something a little weird. Maybe white trashy. So I threw a couple of Hollywood thrillers from earlier this year on the screen and cracked a few cans of this stuff open. First up was Source Code. I actually saw the first half of this movie in the theater, but there was a power outage, so I never saw the ending. The theater was very kind and gave us all a free ticket, but perhaps tellingly, I did not use that free ticket to see Source Code again. Instead, I waited for Blu-Ray. It’s not a movie I’m particularly in love with, but it’s entertaining and engaging stuff, and there’s some more disturbing substance that emerges the more you think about it (especially the ending). I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Second was Limitless, an enjoyable enough thriller about a drug that makes you, like, super smart. Of course, it suffers from the same problem that most stories featuring geniuses does – namely, the genius does some really dumb things. Still, it’s not especially egregious in that respect, and it’s a fun little film. On the beer side, I had the two aforementioned Butternuts beers:

Butternuts Porkslap

Butternuts Porkslap – I have to admit, I love the audacity of naming a beer Porkslap and then putting two belliy-flopping pigs on the can. It’s all very evocative. Anyway, it pours a deep, slightly cloudy amber color with a finger or two of off white head. The smell is strange for a pale ale. Just a hint of citrusy hops, but more of a sugary, almost Belgian mustiness in the nose… It’s quite quenching at first. Downright quaffable. None of that Belgian character from the aroma, but you do get a nice, subtle bitterness in the taste. There’s also some hop resin or maybe caramel character floating around in here too. It’s not really typical of the pale ale style, but it’s a nice changeup that features similar traits. All that being said, it is also pretty straightforward and loses some of its punch once you reach the bottom of the glass. Fortunately, that didn’t take long. It won’t knock your socks off, but it’s eminently drinkable, and at 4.3%, it won’t kill you either. If this were readily available in my area, I’d probably grab a six pack for a barbecue or something. B

Beer Nerd Details: 4.3% ABV canned (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/12/11.

Butternuts Snapperhead IPA

Butternuts Snapperhead IPA – Not quite as ambitious here, it pours a slightly lighter color, more like orange, with some haziness and a finger of off white head. Again with the Belgian yeast aromas, perhaps a little more pronounced this time, along with some sugary sweetness, maybe some toffee aromas, and the hoppy citrus typical of the style. Taste is nice and sweet with a balancing, but not overpowering hoppy bitterness. That’s actually somewhat rare for an American style IPA, and it’s actually a nice change of pace. Definitely a heavier beer than the Porkslap (which is to be expected), but it’s still maybe a medium bodied beer. Not quite the perfect barbecue beer like Porkslap, but still quite drinkable. B-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.8% ABV canned (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/12/11.

I would say that neither the movies nor the beers were particularly remarkable, but they all worked well enough to have a good time. I have to admit that I could really do with making Porkslap a regular thing and might even upgrade the rating over time…

Lucha Libre de Cervezas

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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?

Lucha Libre de Cervezas

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

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

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…