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Beers that have been rated A-, A, or A+

Aventinus the Wise

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Both the name of this beer and its label make me think it’s going to tell my fortune or something. Perhaps I’ll open the bottle, and instead of delicious beer, I’ll get a piece of paper with a cryptic message predicting my future, like “You will invent a humorous toilet lid” or “You will be aroused by a shampoo commercial” or something appropriately weird*. As it turns out, Aventinus was named after a famous Bavarian historian and fortunately, my bottle was indeed full of delicious beer:

Schneider Aventinus

Schneider Aventinus – Pours a very cloudy, medium brown color. Smell is full of bananas and clove, but in more of a wheat beer way than a Belgian yeast way. Really wonderful, complex aroma here. Taste is sweet and spicy, some fruitiness and spiciness (clove?) and a nice, dry finish. Wheat is also present, and it even comes out a bit in the aftertaste. Drinks pretty easy for an 8.2% ABV. Overall, a really good beer and I can certainly see why it’s considered a classic. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8.2% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a goblet on 9/3/11.

I’m quite behind on my reviews at this point, but I’m also trying to slow my intake down after the whole Texas debacle vacation.

* Yeah, yeah, another stolen Simpsons gag.

Texas Beer Dispatch

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As previously mentioned, I spent the last week watching horror, SF, action and just plain weird movies, not to mention hobbits beating the crap out of each other (see my other blog for thoughts on the movies and other events of Fantastic Fest). Of course, nearly all of this was accompanied by beer. I must say, the Alamo Drafthouse is one awesome venue for a number of reasons, but right now, I’ll just say that it represents a melding of two passions: beer and movies. They’ve got some common offerings, but most of their beer menu is local craft stuff, and I spent most of the week sampling beers I’ve never heard of and can’t really get up here in PA. As I mentioned in an update to my previous post, I was tracking my beers via Untappd all week, but then, I was also watching movies and talking a lot, so take the below thoughts with a grain of salt. Alright, here goes (in roughly the order in which they were drank):

  • Live Oak Oaktoberfest – So not only local beers, but local seasonals – and this is a pretty damn good one. I wouldn’t say it’s a spectacular beer, but it was exactly what I was looking for out of an Octoberfest beer, and one of the better examples I’ve ever head of that style. B+
  • Shiner Bock – You can’t got to Texas and not have at least one of these, right? And Shiner happened to be a sponsor of the festival, so these were available in abundance, sometimes even being handed out for free. I’ve talked about this beer before, though that was on another trip so I didn’t actually rate it. It’s certainly nothing special, but it’s a solid beer and it’s hard to argue with free pints, right? B
  • New Belgium Hoptober – Ok, so this isn’t a local Texas beer, but New Belgium doesn’t really distribute here (though they have started in Maryland) so I always try some of their stuff whenever I can. I would have described this as a very good IPA, but BA calls it an “American Blonde Ale”? Strange because, as the name suggests, it’s massively hoppy. A really nice piney hop aroma. Well matched sweetness and hop bitterness in the taste. Overall, a really good brew, one of my favorites of the week. B+
  • Lagunitas Mystery Red Ale – So on Friday, my local Austin friends took me out and I ended up getting some sort of Lagunitas seasonal beer which I can’t recall, but it was a red ale of some sort, very hoppy and tasty. I actually enjoyed this one immensely, so I wish I remembered what it was called. I think it may have been the Lucky 13, but who knows. B+
  • Independence Brewluminati Braggot – Well, braggot has gone from a style I’d never heard of to a style I’ve had two examples of in the past few weeks or so (the other being Weyerbacher’s Sixteen). Go figure. I don’t know that this one was as good as Weyerbacher’s offering, but it was still a nice change of pace and worthy beer. It was lighter in color, so honey flavors dominated the taste more, but I still really enjoyed it. B
  • Real Ale Fireman’s #4 – Another blonde ale and apparently another of Austin’s typical session beers, as it was available all over. It’s not a mind-blowing beer or anything, but pretty good for a simple blonde ale. It’s got some subtle bready caramel notes, but is otherwise pretty straightforward. I only had one, but it’s certainly a worthy session beer and I’d try it again. B-
  • North by Northwest Black Jack (Bourbon Barrel Aged) – Local friends took me out to dinner at this most excellent brewpub, where I had their bourbon barrel aged black ale (BA calls it a Belgian dark ale, but I don’t think that’s right). It’s quite fantastic. I didn’t detect a ton in the nose, but damn, that taste is fantastic (and once I had some headroom in the glass to swirl the beer around, the nose came out more). Rich flavors of caramel malts, bourbon, vanilla, a light oakiness, and maybe even some chocolate. Just a hint of toasted malts, but nothing like a stout. Very well balanced – no flavor dominates, making for a very complex brew. Appropriately carbonated, but a smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Not too heavy and not too boozy, but it’s certainly not a lightweight either. Probably my favorite beer of the week. A-
  • Thirsty Planet Buckethead IPA – This is the sort of beer that makes me feel like IPAs are kinda… samey. It’s hoppy in the nose and the taste, and it’s bitter, but it’s kinda one-note. Not much going on here. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but there wasn’t really anything special about it. C+
  • (512) IPA – Now this IPA, on the other hand, was maybe the best I’d had all week. Great citrus/pine nose, well balanced sweet/bitter combo in the taste (with some of that citrus/pine shining through). Nice and complex, a very well made beer. And damn, I didn’t try any other (512) beers. Given this one, I probably should have sought them out! B+
  • Left Hand Milk Stout – Another non-TX beer that isn’t super common in PA, so I gave this one a shot too. It’s very good, roasty, coffee and chocolate flavors and that milk stout chalkiness (probably the wrong way to describe it, but it seems common to the milk stouts I’ve had recently). Well done, but nothing super special either. B
  • Stone Arrogant Bastard – So this one’s really not local, nor is it something hard to come by, but I’d had a bunch of drinks that night, and was settling in for the Fantastic Feud, so I gots me a comfort beer. If you’re reading this blog and need me to describe Arrogant Bastard… I’m sorry. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a favorite, but it’s of course very good. B+
  • Independence Bootlegger Brown – I have to admit that I’m no expert on brown ales, but this one didn’t really do the trick for me. It was fine for what it was – a dark, roasty, almost stout-like ale, but there wasn’t really much complexity to it. I had no problems putting one down, but it doesn’t really stick out for me at all either. B-
  • Live Oak Hefeweizen – I enjoy a good Hefe as much as the next guy, but they do tend to get pretty boring… but not this one! Wow, what a fantastic (pun intended) brew. If I had this earlier in the week, I’d have certainly had more of them. Really wonderful aroma of bananas and clove. Typical wheat and yeasty flavors mixed with a surprising fruitiness. Well balanced, complex, and a joy to drink. A-
  • Avery White Rascal – Another non-TX beer, but since I was rockin the wheat beers, I gave this one a shot. It’s… not as good as the Live Oak, but it is pretty tasty all the same. Perhaps if I didn’t have these two wheat beers back to back, I would have rated this higher. B
  • Bear Republic Racer 5 – Yeah, I’ve had this before and of course it’s very good. I don’t really have much to say about it – hoppy and bitter! – but if you like a good IPA, it hits the spot. B+

Well, there you have it, a successful outing and quite a variety of new beers I’d never heard of before. If you’re ever in Austin, I recommend anything by Live Oak, as they seemed to have put together the best lineup (yeah, I only had 2 of their beers, but BA seems to rate the others pretty highly too). Before I left, I did stop off at a grocery store and picked up a big beer to bring home: Jester King’s Wytchmaker Rye IPA in a fancy 750 ml bottle. Look for a review… uh, in the next month or so! Overall, I’m pretty jealous of Austinites. Not only do they have the best movie theater I’ve ever been too, but they can drink beer there too. We really need to get us some Alamo Drafthouse style places up here.

Weyerbacher Sixteen

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Every year, Weyberbacher brews an anniversary batch, often choosing a relatively obscure style. Past styles include a Wheatwine, a Smoked Imperial Stout, and a beer that utilizes a Calagione level of obscure spices. This year’s installment describes itself as a Dark Braggot Ale. Right, so what the hell is that? Apparently Braggot is a Welsh variety of mead, one which is brewed with a mixture of honey and malts along with hops. Well, don’t mind if I do:

Weyerbacher Sixteen

Weyerbacher Sixteen – Pours a very dark amber color, almost brown with a finger of light colored head. The nose is filled with the sweetness of fruity malts and honey. The taste has a very sweet pop in the middle and a really clean finish. Lots of fruity notes detected. No real aftertaste either, which is interesting. Well carbonated and medium bodied, you get a bit of alcohol burn, but it doesn’t overwhelm, instead giving the beer some additional character. Overall it’s a complex, unique and welcome change of pace for me. If I were a bigger fan of honey, I’d probably love this beer even more. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/3/11.

Given the dark color and high alcohol, I’d be interested in seeing how this stands up over time. It’s probably all gone by now, but if I see more, I’ll probably pick some up. Weyerbacher continues to be one of the more interesting local breweries. I don’t know that I’ve had anything revelatory from them, but they’re always interesting. That brand redesign they mentioned a few months ago needs to come soon. I mean, their logo is the woefully overused comic sans* text (with an underline). Comic Sans! Word on the street is that Greg at the Pour Curator interviewed them about the redesign a while back, but he has not posted it just yet. Will be curious to read it though.

* Incidentally, Russian River uses comic sans as well, though not in their branding. They should probably stop that too, though it’s not as distracting there.

Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale

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“Nut.” Tee hee.

In all seriousness, does anyone else really hate the foil wrapping stuff that comes on these beers? Sure, it looks nice and I’ve apparently been conditioned to buy fancily packaged beer (fucking Pavlov), but most fancy packaging is pretty easily dealt with. Not the fancy foil wrapping that’s on Sam Smith’s beers, though. Seriously, the entire surface area of that foil is seemingly superglued to the bottle, which means you have to pick and snip at it with various kitchen utensils, which just causes the brittle foil to flake into this annoying glitter-like substance that gets everywhere. And even once you cut around the cap enough that you can use a bottle opener, you have to worry about how you pour the beer and will it touch the glue and will those glittery flakes become airborne and land in my beer and give me cancer and stuff? No? Just me? Oh. Well then. Carry on.

Samuel Smith Nut Brown ale

Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale – The bottle was a bit of a gusher (tee hee) when I opened it, but not excessively so, and it settled down quickly enough. Pours a very pretty, clear dark brown color with a finger of tan head. It looks very dark, but when held up to the light, I can see right through it. Smells on the roasty side of things. The taste also features that roast, along with some more complex notes. Either I’m a sucker for the power of suggestion or this is a nut brown beer that actually features nutty aromas and flavors. Indeed, it’s probably the most prominent characteristic of the taste. The mouthfeel is quite nice as well. Medium bodied and eminently quaffable. Brown ales are not among my favorite styles, but this may be the best I’ve ever had. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank from a gigantic mug on 8/28/11.

You know, I’ve only had two of Samuel Smith’s beers, but they’ve both been pretty damn good. Not face melting experimental beers, just really solid takes on classic styles. But then, you know, fancy foil wrapping…

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.

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).

Trappistes Rochefort

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rochefort 6

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

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

Rochefort 8

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

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

Rochefort 10

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

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

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

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

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

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…

Chimay Cinq Cents

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I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all the Trappist beer tropes before, so I won’t bore you with the general trivia again. Chimay is probably the most commonly found of the Trappist beers… Indeed, back in the day, they were probably one of the most common Belgian beers you could find (in particular, the Chimay Red was pretty popular). The name of the monastery is actually Scourmont Abbey, but they market all of their products (aside from beer, they also make a line of cheeses) using the name of the tiny town in which they’re located: Chimay.

This particular beer is variously known as Chimay White, Chimay Tripel and Chimay Cinq Cents. The first refers to the white cap that was used in bottling, the second is a reference to the style, but the third is a mystery. It only appears on the 750 ml bottle… the smaller, 12 oz. bottles make no mention of the… catch phrase? What does it really represent? At first glance, I thought it perhaps translated to “Five Cents” and referred to, perhaps, some aspect of the pricing in the distant past. But it doesn’t make any sense that a Trappist brewery in Belgium would name their beer after American monetary units. After some google-fu, I figured out that it really translates to “Five Hundred”, but I was still a little unclear as to what that really meant. More googling ultimately lead to this post from 52 Brews (apparently their first post!) where the author heroically answers the question:

Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide features interesting write-ups on some of the best beers in the world, and upon perusing its pages, the answer was right under my nose. Regarding Cinq Cents, the book makes note that while this beer was once identified only by its white cap, the “Champagne-style presentation” was introduced to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Chimay, the town.

Mystery solved. Not only does that explain the significance of the phrase, but it also explains why it’s only on the 750 ml “champaign style” bottles.

I’ve probably had this beer a dozen times over the years. On tap, in small bottles, in large bottles. It’s often one of the few good beers available, which I’m usually pretty happy with because these beers really are great (indeed, I had one of these along with a Blue during my recent Vegas Trip.)

Chimay Cinq Cents

Chimay Cinq Cents – Pours a cloudy golden color with lots of fluffy head. Smells strongly of sweet, fruity Belgian yeast. Taste is sweet and very spicy with a dry finish and a little lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. Chimay beers have a certain distinctive element that I can never place, but I think it’s the way it’s spiced – it’s more peppery (?) than most other Belgian beers (this is probably entirely due to their yeast, not actual spice adjuncts). It’s here in the Cinq Cents, but it’s not as prominent here as it is in the Red, and I think this more subtle treatment works better here. It’s got a full body and tons of carbonation. Overall, it’s a great beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 7/17/11. Cork says 07/10, so I’m guessing it was about a year old when I drank it.

I think the Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue) is probably my favorite of their beers, but comparing that with the Cinq Cents is an apples and oranges type of thing. Strangely, despite the fact that I love dubbels, I’m not a huge fan of the Red. It’s a really well crafted and unique beer, but something about it just doesn’t jive well with me. Of course, I haven’t had it in years, so perhaps my tastes have changed…

August Beer Club

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Today was beer club! Due to various factors, the variety of beer was somewhat limited this month, but there was still plenty of merriment to be had, and when we got to the BYOB restaurant, we saw this sign out front:

Free Beer!

Certainly a good omen! Apparently the restaurant had some Lager, but since they had no liquor license, they were just giving it away for free. Score! There was no real theme for the month, but we did end up with about 7 different beers (not including the free Yuengling) as well as some wine, cider and homemade Limoncello (unpictured, but it was very sweet and incredibly alcoholic!) Here’s a quick picture of what we had:

August Beer Club

(Click for bigger image)

As usual, tasting conditions were less than ideal, so take the following with a grain of salt (beers listed below are basically in order from left to right in the picture, not necessarily the order in which we drank them):

  • Victory Sunrise Weissbier – Hey, I’ve actually reviewed this before! A friend had been at the brewery lately, so they had picked up a growler of the stuff. It struck me as being somewhat better than the last time I had it, but I’ll leave it at a B-. Solid hefeweizen style beer, but not particularly special either.
  • My Homebrewed Saison – I know I mentioned this last time, but this is definitely my best homebrew yet, and the first that I think is truly good. Sweet, spicy, well carbonated and easy to drink, it came out really well. Indeed, I’d probably give this a B+ or maybe even an A-. I should really review my other homebrews, which I’d probably rate much lower.
  • Lancaster Milk Stout – Yep, I just reviewed this one too. I think the coffee flavors were more prominent this time around, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same. B+
  • Founders Dirty Bastard – Yet another beer I’ve reviewed before. Indeed, I’ve had a few of this since I originally reviewed it, and I do believe I like it better now than I did that first time. I had originally noted that there wasn’t any fruitiness in the flavor, but in the recent tastings, I’ve definitely gotten a really nice fruity quality out of this. Tonight I could also really taste the alcohol as well. It certainly wasn’t unpleasant, but I think it might have been a reflection of the other relatively low ABV beers of the night. B+
  • Samuel Adams Rustic Saison – A very light example of the style, though still very flavorful and smooth (looking at it now, I’m surprised it’s only 4.35% ABV), featuring a nice twang in the nose and taste that I couldn’t place, but which someone had mentioned might be honey. It’s not a beer that will melt your face or anything, but it’s definitely a quality brew and well worth a drink. At 4.35%, it would probably be a decent session beer as well. B
  • Samuel Adams East-West Kölsch – Not a style that typically fares well here at Kaedrin (or at beer club, for that matter), but this one was apparently brewed with Jasmine, and that addition really does make this a much more interesting beer than it would have otherwise been. Again, not setting the world on fire, but a quality brew that’s worth trying. B-
  • Cave Creek Chili Beer – When I first saw Aaron’s awesome video review of this beer, I thought he had to be exaggerating, but that first swig of this beer gave me that same, out-of-breath, it’s so spicy feeling. It was a really weird experience too – the spiciness seems to really hit at the back of your throat and tongue, but the rest of my mouth/tongue didn’t really pick anything up. And that spicy hot aftertaste didn’t go away either (I’m glad we opened this last). It was really, truly horrible. When you open the beer, it almost smells like you’ve opened one of those pepper bottles with the brine in it – overpowering chili pepper aromas and not much else. I can’t imagine drinking an entire bottle, and indeed, I could only really take a few sips of it. Unanimously the worst beer club beer ever. In some ways, I’m glad I got to try this, as it certainly is an experience. In another way, I really hope I don’t burp this up later tonight. F

Despite the fact that I’d had/reviewed half these beers before, I think it was another successful outing for the beer club. It’s looking like we might get a bonus beer club meet at The Whip in addition to our normal meetup next month. Score!