A

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

September Beer Club

by

Tonight was beer club! For the uninitiated, beer club is a monthly gathering of like-minded coworkers and acquaintances at a local BYOB for drinks, food, and general revelry. This time, we stopped in at a local Pizza place for some deep fried dough, strombolis, and yes, pizza. It’s not a big place and the pizza isn’t as spectacular as the last beer club gathering, but we always manage to make due. Good attendance tonight too, and plenty of beer.

September Beer Club Selections

(Click to embiggen)

For the sake of posterity, some half-addled thoughts on each beer are listed below. Standard disclaimers apply, this was a social gathering, so I wasn’t paying too close of attention to what I was drinking and you should totes ignore what I’m writing and make up your own mind because I’m totally the worst and this post is definitely an ill-advised idea that I’m only doing out of tradition because I’ve done it for all previous iterations of beer club and are you even reading this? Why? The beer notes are below, in order of tasting, not necessarily in the order pictured (and some later attendees brought some stuff that is not pictured):

  • Platform Speed Merchant White IPA – Not expecting much out of this Ohio beer brought back by a visitor, fantastic citrusy nose, more typical IPA-like taste. Quite solid though, and worth a look on its own. B+
  • Pizza Boy Hop Test #1 (Cascade Single Hop) – Yep, it’s a pale ale. The very definition of cromulence, this does nothing particularly special, but it’s an enjoyable little pale ale. B
  • New Belgium Pumpkick – Whoa there, this is quite perfumey, moar ginger than anything else, but that perfumey character really overpowers everything else with this beer. Not horrendous, but not a particularly good pumpkin beer either. C+
  • Firestone Walker Union Jack – Back in the early days of this blog, this would have been an A worthy beer, but grade inflation is a bitch. It’s still an accomplished and emminently accomplished IPA, well worth checking out. Delicious citrus/pine/malt balance. B+
  • Weyerbacher Tarte Nouveau – Very nice little tart beer, tart, crisp, refreshing, very light bodied and easy going, sorta beginner sour stuff but quite nice on its own. B+
  • Overshores Tripel Brun – Bottle a bit of a gusher, and thus carbonation levels a bit off, but this is basically a very raisiny Belgian strong dark. B
  • Brasserie De Blaugies / Hill Farmstead La Vermontoise – I know I’ve had this before, but apparently I never reviewed it. It’s not quite up to speed with the best of Hill Farmstead, but it’s a rock solid saison, earthy and spicy, quite delicious. B+
  • Fantôme Coffee Ruby – One of my contributions, this came off as surprisingly muted. There’s some coffee character that is definitely present, but it’s not overpowering at all, despite the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a ton of other stuff going on with this beer. It’s got a very, very mild funk to it, and the combination of the base with coffee doesn’t entirely blesh, but it’s certainly an interesting beer. A little weird, but could more interesting with more funk. Keeping in mind my legendary indifference to coffee, I’ll give it a B
  • Cascade Figaro – This is typical Cascade sour here, which is to say, it’s a fantastic little sour. I don’t get a lot of fig or lemon peel out of it, but it’s got that trademark Cascade lactic sour and oak character that just work so damn well. Generally agreed to be one of the best of the night. A-
  • White Birch Indulgence Ale (2014) – Not sure which version of this beer I tried (I think it’s this retired 2014 version), but it was labeled as a Belgian Imperial Stout, and it definitely had a sorta brighter take on the imperial stout style that worked really well. Lots of rich malt, light roast, some hints of Belgian character, but with the style’s inherent dark malt sweetness (i.e. not a dry or highly carbonated beer). Actually quite nice and among the better of the night. B+
  • Brewmaster Jack Barrel Aged Prinsipia Quad – Sounds great, but came out kinda limp, very boozy, a little raisiny Belgian character, but not at all balanced. Not terrible, but not quite getting the job done either. B-

And that just about covers it. We just got this one in under the wire, last day of the month. Will need to try and plan the next beer club soon. Great time, as always.

Tahoe Mountain Double Feature

by

Tahoe Mountain is a new brewery to me, introduced by our mutual friend Jay from Beer Samizdat in a recent cross-country trade. They appear to hail from Truckee, CA, on the Eastern side of the state near, you guessed it, Lake Tahoe. In fact, it appears they’re just a few miles down the road from Kaedrin favorite FiftyFifty, which makes Truckee a pretty impressive little brewing town considering its location. They seem to be big on experimentation and barrel-aging, which is music to my earballs, so let’s take a closer look at the two beers Jay flung my way, drunk whilst engaging in a mini-Larry Cohen horror movie marathon.

First up is their “full-bodied, yet sessionable rustic multi-grain Farmhouse Ale”, a description bound to annoy English readers since it clocks in at 6.2% ABV. Perhaps these guys graduated from the Adam Avery “They’re all session beers” school of thought, though this is admittedly a pretty easy going beer. Strap in folks, it’s going to be a relatively smooth ride, but you can never be too careful:

Tahoe Mountain Provisions

Tahoe Mountain Provisions – Pours a hazy golden yellow color with several fingers of fluffy white head that sticks around and leaves lacing all over the place. Smells spicy, bready belgian yeast, with an almost grapelike fruit aroma kicking in too. Taste crackles with that spicy character, a little bit of a bite there, with only hints of yeasty esters lingering towards the finish. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, crisp, and effervescent, very dry, but with enough firepower to keep it from feeling slight. Overall, what we have here is yet another rock solid but traditional style saison. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a Teku glass on 9/25/15.

Next up, we have a wild ale “aged two years in oak cabernet barrels with fresh cherries and blueberries”, which sounds a mighty bit more experimental than the previous beer. Let’s see what’s up:

Tahoe Mountain Viejo Rojo

Tahoe Mountain Viejo Rojo – Pours a dark amber color, deep robey tones, nice looking when held up to light, with a finger of off white head. Smells Flandersy, acetic sour cherries, a little oak and vanilla rounding things out. Taste has a nice rich sweetness to it, some of those sour cherries pitching in, dark vinous fruit, clearly some dark (but not roasty) malts contributing, vinegar and a nice, well matched sourness puckering things up in the finish. As it warms, the tartness creeps up earlier into the taste, but regardless, it’s more sweet than sour. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, well carbonated, some vinegary acidity cuts through it all, but is not overpowering. Overall, this is a really nice sour, along the lines of a Flanders red, and makes me want to check out more Tahoe Mountain stuff. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7.8% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a wine glass on 9/25/15.

Certainly a promising start for a brewery I’ve never heard of before. Here’s to hoping Jay slings more of these my way in future trades!

Drie Fonteinen Hommage (2007)

by

A couple weekends ago, I celebrated my birthday, and with it, uncorked a few prized possessions including this hallowed lambic from Drie Fonteinen, a blend of lambics aged on mostly whole raspberries from the fabled Pajottenland, but also includes some cherries and probably some other twists and turns. They don’t call Drie Fonteinen’s Armand DeBelder a master blender for nothing, and this beer was made in honor of his late father, Gaston DeBelder, so you know Armand went all out with this one. They’ve only made this twice, once in 2007 and once in 2013. I figured 8 years was enough aging for this one and dug into that first. It did not disappoint.

I don’t put much credence to the pretty ridiculous White Whale list, but on a hunch I just looked it up and yes, this marks the first time I’ve had a beer from that ridiculous list (note that the 2013 vintage didn’t make the cut). As you all know, rarity makes beer taste better, so let’s fire up those three big fountains and get a load of this amazing beer:

Drie Fonteinen Hommage

Drie Fonteinen Hommage (2007) – Pours a very pretty pink hued amber, robey tones, finger of fizzy off white head that nonetheless sticks around for a bit. Nose is beautiful, raspberries, cherries, blackberries, berries galore, along with a deep, earthy funk and a little oak too. Taste goes in hard on that jammy berry front, again with the berry cornacopia, predominanty raspberry, but some other berries for good measure. Things get a little acetic and sour in the middle, followed by some of that deep, earthy funk, a unique character actually, but quite tasty. Finishes off with a nice oak and vanilla component that yields to a lingering sour note. Mouthfeel is on the lower end of full bodied and rich, jammy, slightly acidic, moderate to high carbonation cuts through nicely, certainly not a gulper, but very well balanced and a great sipping experience. Overall, this is intense, complex, funky, and balanced, leaning more to the rich and oaky side of fruited lambics (like Cantillon Kriek) than the light an airy (like, say, Fou Foune or St. Lamvinous), a wondrous beer, absolutely delicious. A

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 9/13/15. Bottled: 14/02/2007.

Bottling date for the doubters

Wales, bro. Well that was impressive. After this one, I cracked a 2012 BCBS, which was holding up exceptionally well. Let’s just say it was a good night. I actually have a 2013 vintage Hommage that I may have to hold onto a little longer, but I’m betting it will be opened sooner rather than later. I love these lambics, but they’re a bear to get ahold of these days. Even Kaedrin secret Tilquin is starting to disappear from shelves these days. I have a couple Drie Fonteinen Gueuze in the cellar as well, and hope someday to try some of their other stuff. Cantillon has the reputation for better fruited lambics, but if this beer is any indication, they’re basically on the same hallowed field.

Prairie Pirate Noir

by

Avast, ye bilge rats! Come witness mine grog tastin…. ok, I can’t really keep that up. Speaking in what I’m sure are apocryphal and historical dialects is just not my strong suit, even if last Saturday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day (more appropriate for me would be something like “I don’t feel like paying for Photoshop.” anyway). Plus, I drank this on Friday night not even realizing that Saturday was that most hallowed of holidays. I’m the worst. No, wait, what I am I talking about? You’re the worst. Why are you giving me crap about not drinking this beer on a ridiculous, made-up “International Observance”? You are totally the worst. Instead, I celebrated World Water Monitoring Day by drinking fermented sugar water aged in barrels previously used to store fermented Jamaican sugar water that was then distilled. I monitored the hell out of my water intake on Friday, rest assured.

Um, anyway, Prairie has a whole series of Noir beers, each a pretty standard imperial oatmeal stout tagged with different treatments. The standard is bourbon barrel aged, but there’s also coffee, vanilla, and even apple brandy barrel aged variants. Pirate Noir is the Jamaican rum barrel aged version. Shiver some timbers, torrent some new releases, and get ready for Pirate Noir:

Prairie Pirate Noir

Prairie Pirate Noir – Pours pitch black, with just a cap of light brown head. Smells of brown sugar, vanilla, oak, molasses, booze, really nice. Taste is very sweet, rich caramel, molasses, rum, vanilla, oak, a little booze in the finish. As it warms, I’m getting coconut and something along the lines of anise or liquorish too. Mouthfeel is rich and full bodied, a little boozy, a sipper, sugary but not cloying, and the finish is surprisingly easy going. Not going to gulp it, but it doesn’t feel as heavy in the finish as it does up front. Overall, this is a very nice rum barrel aged stout. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a snifter on 9/18/15. Bottled 18815 (so that’s 7/7/15, not sure which batch, but this is long after they stopped waxing the bottles).

So perhaps I should try more of these barrel aged Prairie beers, eh? I’ve got another one in the pipeline somewhere, so look out for that, but what I really need to find is a Prairie Pirate Bomb!

Tired Hands Conspectus

by

Now that the Fermentaria is open, it’s getting difficult to keep up with the sheer variety of awesome emanating from the fine brewers at Tired Hands. I still hit up one location or another pretty often, but the small batch style simply yields a lot of new brews. Also, I’m getting more and more lazy about writing down any sort of notes on the beer I’m having, which means it’s getting difficult to even remember what I’ve had. Still, I manage to squirrel away some notes every now and again, so I might as well append them to the more detailed tasting notes on two highly prized bottles.

First up is Parageusia5, a Cabernet Franc barrel-fermented Ale, aged for approximately 12 months. This is a prized line of sours, and this one takes a distinctly more Flandersy take than previous Parageusias, and while it doesn’t quite live up to the hallowed realms of the first few iterations, it’s pretty darned fantastic. This quote accompanies the beer:

“Trigeminal prisim on a sunny hillside. Will you engage indefinitely?” – Christian Zellersfield

I can kinda, sorta parse that, and my answer is yes. I will engage indefinitely. Or I would, but I only had this one bottle:

Tired Hands Para5

Tired Hands Parageusia5 – Pours a very dark, clear amber color, very pretty when held up to light, with a finger of off white head that sticks around for a bit. Smells of vinous fruit, cherries, oak, and acetic sourness, kinda Flandersy. Taste starts rich and sweet, cherries and oak followed by a bit of acetic sourness, vinegar, vinous fruit, finishing on that sour note. Mouthfeel is full and rich up front, but less so towards the finish, moderate sourness and acidity, reasonably well carbonated. Overall, doesn’t quite compare to the initial Parageusia offerings, but is pretty impressive in its own right. Also: match with dark chocolate. Delicious. A-

Beer Nerd Details: Squiggle, Squiggle ABV bottled (500 ml waxed cap, no ABV listed, just various squiggles and tentacled creatures on the label). Drank out of a flute glass on 9/6/15.

Next we have one of them swanky beer and music collaborations, in this case it’s jazz musician Mike Lorenz, who released an album of Black Sabbath and Nirvana covers along with this beer (Jean provided the art for the album, git that vinyl while it’s still around), Scentless And Senseless. Lorenz is a fixture at Tired Hands, playing a show once a week and sometimes humoring the beer nerd masses during bottle releases. This beer is an oak fermented Saison dry hopped with Equinox and Mosaic, right up my alley:

Tired Hands Scentless and Senseless

Tired Hands Scentless And Senseless – Pours a very pale, cloudy straw yellow color with a finger of white head. Smell definitely has that foudre thing going on, a little oak and vanilla, big citrus aromas too, partly from the funk, partly from hops. Taste hits again with that foudre character pretty hard, dry oak, vanilla, some citrusy fruit in the middle, just a bit of tartness, followed by some earthy funk in the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, light body, hints of sourness, some very dry character happening, right up front too. Overall, a step up from the previously released foudre bottle (Astral Plane), and pretty delicious in its own right. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.6% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 9/12/15.

Dudholio – 4.5% ABV maize saison with motueka and Brett – Great little saison, light Brett feel, moderate fruity hops, and well carbed, really enjoying this! A-

Milkshake IPA – 7.4% ABV blackberry and blueberry IPA brewed with lactose sugar and Mosaic and Citra hops – So a while back one of the “Bros.” from BeerAdvocate published a review of a cloudy pour of HopHands and called it a mess (the Bros. have a bug up their arse about beer clarity, I guess), saying literally “Milkshake beers are not a trend or acceptable with modern styles… No excuses.” In response, Jean and crew have put together a series of “Milkshake” IPAs (that actually use lactose and are also generally cloudy beers); as usual, it’s a fun way to respond to criticism. Anywho, this was a great Tired Hands style IPA, juicy fruit, fuller bodied than normal but velvety smooth, great! A

Hissing at Snakes – 7.5% ABV Rye IPA – Simcoe, Amarillo, and Nelson Sauvin, typically great TH IPA with a spicy rye kick, really nice! A-

Neutral Impulse From The Visual Cortex – 6.2% ABV IPA – Nice citrus hops and a surprising honey note, almost creamy mouthfeel… B+

Expansive Vestibule – 6.1% ABV sturdy Porter – Nice nose, dark chocolate and vanilla, with a more roasty taste and a relatively light body… B+

Einsteinium – 5% ABV hoppy sour – Not a huge fan of hoppy sours in general, though this is working just fine… B

Rutilant – 5.9% ABV Nelson Sauvin & Simcoe IPA – Beautiful little IPA, typical Tired Hands stuff but with significantly more carbonation, really nice… (IIRC this is one of the first beers I had at the Fermentaria, which seems to have a different carbonation profile) A-

Temporary Shape of My Own Person – 5.2% ABV Grissette – Like a slightly tart version of a typical th saison, crisp and light, refreshing summer drinking… B+

Vaporizer – 6.8% ABV IPA – Ah, now this is a typical TH IPA , bright, juicy citrus hops, something a little more on the green, grassy, floral hop side as well. Nice! B+ or A-

I’m Sad – 8.5% ABV imperial honey coffee Porter – Interesting interplay between the honey and coffee, both are there, but the combo sorta works for me, despite not particularly liking either honey or coffee! B

Can’t Keep Up 23 – 5% ABV blended sour saison – Whoa cucumbers, blend of HandFarm, Parageusia, and Saisonhands conditioned on lemon, cucumber and agave nectar, tasty! Have liked other Can’t Keep Up beers better, but this is nice. B+

Slowly Rotating Mass With Bright Lights – 5.2% ABV crushable pineapple IPA – Solid IPA, delicious and juicy, very light and quaffable, A-

Rigel – 6.8% Rye India Black Ale – This is all I wrote about this beer, and yeah, I don’t really remember anything about it, though I’m guessing that means it didn’t melt my face (nor did it make me do a spit take in disgust).

Fripp – 4.5% ABV American Bitter – Very nice bitter base with sweeter, more citrusy hop character, quaffable in the extreme! B+

Honey, I Love You – 5.8% ABV Honey Saison – Beautiful little saison here, nice citrus and spice character, a little oak and tartness in the finish… Foudre beer starting to come into its own. Delicious! A-

Avoiding Purgatory #1 – 6.6% ABV India Black Ale – Hrm, surprisingly muted hops and roasted malt here, one of those IBAs that makes me wish I was drinking an IPA or Stout instead of this quasi hybrid. Lack of roast probably has to do with the use of debittered black malt, but the hops (lemon drop and centennial) aren’t doing the trick… Not really bad, to be sure, but TH has done much better in this realm! B

Yup – 5.1% ABV hoppy blonde ale – Amazing citrus nose, lemons and tropical fruit, tasty stuff! B+

Nope – 4.2% ABV dry stout – Polar opposite of Yup, dark, roasty, earthy goodness. B+

Rob “Strawberry” Berliner – 6% ABV strawberry Berliner Weisse – Very nice, lots of ripe, tart strawberry goodness, very well balanced, delicious. A-

Wound – 7.3% oat IPA – Awesome, back to basics Tired Hands style IPA, citrusy and floral, delicious! A-

Calm – 4.2% crushable IPA – Nice light pale ale, quaffable and refreshing. B+

Tuff Leather – 1.5% table saison – Whoa, beer nerd lite beer, nice carbonation profile, grassy, bready, a little watery, but not in a bad way for what this is… Very impressive for such a low ABV beer. B+

It’s Okay – 7.6% ABV IPA – Nice IPA, sweeter than normal, lots of citrus, hints of dank pine, more body than normal, but really good stuff here… B+

Yellow & Green – 5.6% ABV dry hopped Pilsner – Dry hopped with Ella and Helga, 2 hops I’ve never heard of before! Earthy, grassy, floral, with enough citrus to take it away from traditional pils profile, nice! B+

Perfectly Preserved Brain – 8.2% ABV English Smoked Barleywine – Moar earthy than expected, sweet, slightly burnt bread, interesting, but not amazing.. B

Lambos & Mansions – 4.8% ABV crushable Galaxy IPA – Nice citrus hop character, dry, quaffable stuff, very nice! B+

Fuzzy Yellow – 6.3% ABV local peach IPA – Typically solid th IPA, citrusy, balanced, tasty! B+

Petalite Songbird – 5.2% ABV gooseberry saison – Whoa, was not expecting the tart, fruity funk on this, really nice, looks like Emptiness culture stuff, which explains it. Great stuff… A-

Minnow – 8% ABV DIPA – Nelson Sauvin & Citra Very nice, sweet, delicious, juicy, almost vinous stuff. A-

Kuro – 5.5% lime leaf schwarzbier – Muted black malt, burnt sugar, something bright, very nice! B+

Pathway of Beauty – 6.8% ABV Citra IPA – Holy hell, this is amazing, juicy hops, compulsively quaffable, delicious IPA, a kinda successor to Psychic Facelift (one of my favorite TH IPAs of all time)… A

Tired Hands Freedom from the Known

Freedom from the Known

Freedom from The Known – 7.2% ABV Cherry saison – Whoa, this is the most cherry I’ve ever gotten out of a beer, ever. Sometimes cherry flavors in beer are overwhelmed by other elements, but not at all here. Cherries are the star. Kind of like a cherry version of Peche ‘n Brett. Amazing, tart, delicious, a little oak mellows things out, dryish, great stuff. A

Mosaic MagoTago – 7% Mango IPA – An interesting twist on the standard Simcoe Mago, beautiful juicy citrus IPA. Hard to believe this was on at the same time as regular Mago, Pathway of Beauty and Freedom from the Known. An embarrassment of riches at the Fermentaria! A

FunnieDuddie – 6.5% ABV Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe IPA – Typically good th IPA, but damn, this suffers from the comparison to the rest of the tap list right now. B+?

Yellow Fog – 3.7% cucumber Berliner wieise – Really nice, cucumber comes through well, still a nice tart beer, tasty! B

Lychee Milkshake IPA – 7.2% IPA made with lactose sugar, lychee purée, vanilla, and citra/Mosaic hops – Sweet and juicy, lots of citrus, almost rich, full bodied mouthfeel… Great! A-

Phew, that covers about 6-8 months of visits to Tired Hands, and honestly, I probably missed a few things. Indeed! I forgot to mention that the latest couple batches of SaisonHands, Tired Hands’ flagship saison (and one of two beers that is almost always available) that used to be a rock solid standard-approach saison, but now spends time in the foudre and wow! You can really tell, this beer has changed a ton since the Fermentaria opened, and it’s pretty amazing that it’s this regularly available. This is the sort of thing that keeps me coming back (also the potential for that one night they had MagoTago, Pathway to Beauty, and Freedom from the Known on tap, seriously astounding).

Lost Abbey Track #10 – Bat Out Of Hell

by

Sometimes you have a beer and it’s great, but you wonder what it would be like if they only stuck it in Bourbon barrels. If you’re like me, you think that about most beers, but one beer that stuck out for me has always been Lost Abbey’s Serpent’s Stout. It’s pretty fabulous on its own, but just imagine the majesty that would result from a Bourbon barrel treatment! So when I saw that they made another batch of Track #10 (after the initial Boxed Set, they rebrewed some of the more popular tracks), I jumped. High. For the uninitiated, Track #10 is basically Serpent’s Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels with real Meatloaf. No, wait, sorry, that’s not Meatloaf, it’s a much more harmonious Coffee and Chocolate combo. According to this video, the coffee is from Ryan Bros and was steeped in the beer using L’eggs Everyday Knee Highs purchased from a local CVS. TMI? Too bad, because despite my infamous disdain for beer made with coffee, this is some pretty spectacular stuff:

Lost Abbey Track 10

Lost Abbey Track #10 – Bat Out Of Hell – Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black color with a light brown head. Smells utterly fantastic, lots of rich chocolate, some coffee, caramel, oak, and vanilla. As these things go, the nose is quite well balanced, not betraying a dominating factor. Taste starts with some sweet, rich caramel, moves on to more roasty, coffee-like flavors, followed by chocolate and maybe even some hop bitterness in the finish. Really nice balance between roast, chocolate, and light on the coffee (my kinda coffee beer). Mouthfeel is full bodied but well carbonated, slightly astringent from the coffee and and a little boozy, some stickiness in the middle, but drying out a bit in the finish. Overall, a pretty fantastic little number, but I kinda wish they made a straight up BBA Serpent’s Stout. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 13.5% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a snifter on 9/6/15.

As of right now, I believe only Track #8 and Track #10 have been rebrewed, but who knows. Maybe we’ll see more tracks from the box set someday… Or perhaps just a straight up BBA Serpent’s Stout…

Telegraph Gypsy Ale

by

Many moons ago, all the cool kids were talking about this rad wild ale brewed with Brett and plums and lo, I was jealous. In typical Kaedrin fashion, I’m about four years late to the party, but I have to say, it was totally worth the wait. Telegraph feels like an underrated gem. Everytime I have something from them, I come away happy, and they’ve only grown in my estimation over time. This Gypsy Ale is the best I’ve had yet. What is it, you ask? In an interview with our friends over at Beer Samizdat, Telegraph brewer Brian Thompson recounts this beer’s origin story:

Our Gypsy Ale was born from a conversation at the brewery over some beers. Paul Rey, one of our brewers, has very eclectic musical tastes. He had some Roma Gypsy music playing one day and we got to talking about what a Gypsy beer would be like. Definitely wild, we thought, and rustic, with some less common grains, like rye. And we remembered a Serbian guy we know who, at parties, always pulls out these re-used plastic water bottles full of slivovitz plum brandy he brings back with him from visiting his mother. Since I have a big plum tree in my yard, it clicked. We would add plums to a barley- and rye-based strong ale, and age it with Brettanomyces.

Well, sign me up… Opa!

Telegraph Gypsy Ale

Telegraph Gypsy Ale – Pours a mostly clear golden orange color with a finger of white, fluffy head. Smells great, spicy, fruity, funky, earthy, very, very nice nose. Taste follows the nose, spicy up front, followed by lots of tart stonefruit, plums, cherries, and the like, leavened by some earthy funk, with an almost acetic sourness pitching in towards the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, crisp, and bright, medium bodied, slightly but pleasingly acidic, easy to polish off the 750. Mouthfeel is always something Telegraph has excelled at for me, and this is no exception, it’s wonderful. Overall, this is a complex, delicious beer, certainly an underrated beauty. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a wine glass on 8/28/15. Vintage: 2014.

These guys distribute out here in PA, but they only show up sporadically. Well worth seeking out! Many thanks to Jay for parting with this one, and I’m very sad that another Telegraph ale didn’t survive the cross country trek. I actually snagged a bottle of Reserve Wheat to share with some friends in a few weeks, hoping to blow some minds (it was certainly an eye opener for me!)

Trillium Farmhouse Ale

by

Boston’s Trillium brewing very quickly sashayed their way into our hearts during Operation Chowder earlier this year, and I’m already jonesing for more of their wonderfully crafted beers. So far, they’ve amply demonstrated their proficiency with hoppy beers, creating some fabulously aromatic examples of the style that put them in the upper tier for me. But how’s their farmhouse game? Sunshower was a nice dry-hopped example, but can they swing a straight up saison? The answer is yes, and this eponymous brew stands out as one of the better American takes on a standard (non-funky, non-BA) saison:

Trillium

Trillium Farmhouse Ale – Pours a slightly hazy yellow color with a finger of fluffy head and some lacing. Smell has a nice Belgian yeast profile, peppery spice, some fruity esters, very nice nose (typical of Trillium). Taste has a nice sweet and spicy thing going on, feels Dupont-like in that respect, but a little brighter in terms of hop profile. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, on the dry side, pretty easy going stuff. Overall, rock solid non-funkified saison, up there with the Duponts and Apex Predators of the world. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.4% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a charente glass on 8/21/15. Bottled 05/21/15.

I have another bottle of this to coddle, but am otherwise all out of the Trills, need moar. Also, after a week of putting dumb images and memes on my posts, I’ve fallen off the wagon again, but I really wanted to get a gif of Jim Carrey sashaying through a restaurant in Cable Guy (for whatever reason, this one tiny bit of a scene imprinted on me or something) but either my Google-fu is weak, or no one has made this gif. Both seem unlikely, but then, here we are.

Update: Screw it, I made the Cable Guy gif. This is Trillium sashaying their way into my heart:

The Cable Guy is Trillium in this metaphor

I love you too, Trillium.

Pizza Beer Club

by

Tonight was beer club! For the uninitiated, beer club is a monthly gathering of like-minded coworkers and acquaintances at a local BYOB for drinks, food, and fun. This time we went to a favorite discovery of mine, Ravanesi Pizzaria, a tiny little joint out in the burbs that scratch makes almost everything. Pizza places are a dime a dozen around here, but these guys really distinguish themselves. It’s one of those places where they open at 4:30 pm and close whenever they run out of dough. Yes, it takes approximately 30 hours to make the dough, so they do run out fairly frequently. As a veteran BYOB attendee (because of beer club), most places aren’t so busy on Tuesdays and thus welcome a bunch of beer nerds who take up a table and drink a lot of beer whilst occasionally munching on their food. This place was pretty much bumping from around 5 pm until we left at around 8 pm. But the pizza. The pizza is almost absurdly good. And it’s not like Philly is bad at pizza (there’s plenty of bad pizza, but we’ve got our hotspots). Check it:

ravanesi-pizza.jpg

A most excellent backdrop for beer club.For the sake of posterity, some thoughts on each beer we had are below. Usual nerdy disclaimers apply, this was not ideal tasting conditions and I didn’t exactly take detailed notes, so take it all with the requisite mountain of salt. In order of drinking, not necessarily how they appear in the photo:

August Beer Club at Ravanesi Pizza

  • Otter Creek/Jack’s Abby Joint Custody – Yep, it’s a pilsner, but it’s a pretty darn good one, crisp, light, and refreshing. Certainly a step up from your typical macro, and perhaps worthy of a closer look this next weekend. B+
  • Night Shift Santilli – A rock solid IPA, nice citrus and dank pine character, nice and crushable. B+
  • Two Roads Road Jam Raspberry Wheat Ale – Holy hell, this is terrible. Robitussin tones, artificial raspberry flavor, and the like. Perhaps not quite that bad, but not at all good. D
  • Vault Mosaic Imperial IPA – Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, I just reviewed it yesterday. In fact, it performed supremely well in this tasting format, pairing well with the spicy Sopressata pizza and just generally standing up to the other beers pretty well. May be tempted to raise this one to an A-
  • Night Shift Trifecta – Brewed with three Trappist ale yeasts, I found this a bit disappointing. It’s got some decent Belgian yeast character, but it isn’t quite carbonated or dry enough to really work well. Disappointing C+
  • Smuttynose Spank – For a beer that labels itself as a “hoppy saison”, I have to admit that I find little in the way of hops here, even if it’s an otherwise unremarkable beer that is far from bad, but which won’t exactly light the world on fire. B-
  • Adroit Theory Ortolan Bunting – A very odd beer, almost quad-like, but without the full fruit character, but a very nice nose that doesn’t quite live up to the straightforward taste, with some dark malts, perhaps even some smoked malt. Fine, but not quite a top tier effort. B
  • Lickinghole Creek Enlightened Despot – One of the best beers of the night, a clear winner, Pappy 15 barrel aged imperial stout, is quite tasty, very sweet, loads of coconut and vanilla from that barrel, delicious stuff. A-
  • Smuttlabs Durtay – Smuttynose – A rum barrel aged brown ale, this one works pretty darn well, very sweet, a little boozy, but a nice barrel and molasses character comes through too. B+

And that just about covers it. I really love this pizza and want to come here as often as possible, but it’s also a little out of the way, so I’m guessing it won’t be quite as regular as some other BYOB places. Still worth the trip though, so we’ll see…

Allagash Cuvée D’Industrial

by

Back in the day, my first introduction to good beer was Belgian style stuff, which in America basically meant Ommegang and Allagash. At the time (turn of the century timeframe), they were roughly comparable in their offerings, but Allagash seemed a little more expensive and I was just out of college and poor. Many moons, and Allagash really stepped up their game, especially when it came to their sour program. Ommegang has played with wild yeast a few times, but seems content to put out their old standards and some new Game of Thrones stuff, which is fine, to be sure, but not quite as fun as Allagash’s barrel aged wonders. Allagash was one of the first breweries in the US (citation needed!) to install a coolship (basically a long, wide, open fermenter), open their windows, and invite spontaneous fermentation, lambic style. Then they dump the resulting melange of wort inoculated with wild yeasts and bacterial beasties into a variety of old oak, wine, and bourbon barrels for extended slumbers (sour beers are not for the impatient).

This particular Cuvée is a blend of 38 barrels ranging from 1 to 5 years old. Last time I had one of these Allagash blends, they thoughtfully included a full breakdown of each barrel, complete with tasting notes and even listing barrels that weren’t used because of various flaws. Alas, no breakdown here, but I did notice that they used the hashtag #passwordistaco on their Instagram post, and these barrels have infamously been attracting attention on brewery tours for a while now (apparently since October 2013 if the barrel heads are to be believed). I guess there’s a lot of fans of The League out there.

Allagash Password is Taco Barrel

Other barrel codes you can see in various pictures around the internets include Peterman (2012), Victoria (2009), Lawrence (2011), Nimbus (2013), and Cracker Barrel (2012). This, of course, means nothing (and who knows if all of those barrels made it in the final blend), but I like the goofy names they use on their barrels. Let’s take a closer look at the result:

Allagash Cuvee D Industrial

Allagash Cuvée D’Industrial – Pours a cloudy golden yellow color with a finger of fluffy white head. Smells amazing, earthy funk, oak and vanilla mixed with the barnyard, but also lots of bright fruit, feels almost like a gueuze. Taste starts off with a bright, tart fruity note that quickly transitions towards more earthy, pungent barnyard funk territory, finishing off with a well balanced sour note. Mouthfeel is crisp and refreshing, effervescent, on the dry side with a bright, bracing acidity. Overall, this is some fabulous stuff, delicious and complex. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 8/8/15.

I need to find a way to pick up more of these Allagash sours, which have been pretty fantastic so far…