A

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

HaandBryggeriet Odin’s Tipple

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Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology, is associated with war and death, but also wisdom and poetry (amongst other things). I’ll have what he’s having. But then, we should be careful. Odin once drank from the Well of Wisdom, but to do so, he had to sacrifice one of his eyes. So, have you got what it takes to tipple with Odin? I’d like to think that I do, but I’m a little disappointed with my choice of drinking vessel, as I did not have any giant fucking ram’s horns laying around (like Odin has on the label). I’ll just have to make due with this snifter glass and this Mjolnir thing.

I’ve heard some conflicting things about this Norwegian beer from HaandBryggeriet. Some folks have noted that the recipe can change from year to year. It’s labeled a Dark Norse Ale, but the Shelton Brothers website sez they use “wild yeast”, which is something I didn’t really get out of the beer (though perhaps that flavor I attributed to chalkiness is really more of a funky, musty thing?) To my mind, this is definitely in the mold of an Imperial Stout, wild yeast or no. Whosoever tipples this beer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of Odin!

HaandBryggeriet Odins Tipple

HaandBryggeriet Odin’s Tipple – Pours darker than a politician’s soul (sorry, watching House of Cards tonight), black with a finger of brown head that quicky resolves into a ring around the edge. Smells of rich dark malts, chocolate, caramel, a hint of roast, maybe even some coffee. Taste is very rich, much larger roast here than the nose would imply, coffee too, maybe a hint of chalkiness, but plenty of rich caramel and chocolate too, and for a beer this big and rich, it’s got a good ofsetting bitterness, especially in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and chewy, well carbonated, a little pleasant booze. A bit burly, so the 500 ml packaging is a good fit and hey, it’s a cold winter over here at Kaedrin HQ, so burliness is welcome. Overall, this is a really fantastic non BA imperial stout. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11% ABV bottled (500 ml capped). Drank out of a snifter on 2/21/14. Batch 487.

I’ve got to haand it to these wacky Norwegians, they’re pretty good at these dark beers. I should really take some time to explore more of their catalog.

Back Into The Emptiness

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Celebrity farmer. Rockstar farmer. Now those are words you don’t normally see put together, but they’re both used to describe Tom Culton, who cultivates a small patch of land in Lancaster County, PA (let’s say it’s about 70 miles west of Philadelphia), generating obscure, heirloom produce to supply trendy restaurants in Philly and New York. And let’s not forget about Ardmore, PA, as Culton is a good friend of the whole Tired Hands crew, and we often see beers made with fresh fruits or cider from Culton’s farm (most recently, we had Culton Hop and Culton Sour, both made with 51% Culton-supplied apple cider, though there have been a bunch of others that I simply haven’t mentioned in my crazy long recaps).

This particular beer is part of a series of saisons aged in wine barrels with fresh, local fruit. The first was called Out Of The Emptiness, and it was aged on local plums (not to get all Portlandia on you, but I’m not sure if these plums were actually from Culton Organics). I missed out on bottles, but was fortunate enough to get a glass at the release because people are nice. It was awesome enough that I was ready to stand in line for the next one (not that I wouldn’t anyway, because I has a problem, but still). Back Into The Emptiness is the followup, and it’s aged on French Policeman grapes. I tried to do some research on these suckers, and found out the backstory:

After a few trips to France, he began growing heirloom crops. Then he cold-called restaurants. His first major “get” was the venerable Le Bec-Fin, which bought small table grapes from 75-year-old vines that Culton says a French policeman gave to his grandfather.

Add in some local wine barrels, Tired Hands’ house microflora and “ambient microflora from Lancaster, PA”, and we’ve got this beauty:

Tired Hands Back Into The Emptiness

Tired Hands Back Into The Emptiness – Pours a golden orange color with a finger of fizzy, short lived head, though once it settles down it actually left a bit of lacing. Nose has a beautiful oak character, some musty funk, and a very pleasing fruity sour note too. Taste is delicious, starting off sweet, with a tart, vinous fruitiness emerging quickly and escalating into sourness towards the finish. I don’t know that I would have picked out grapes, but this does have a fruited sour feel. The oak comes out in the middle and tempers the sourness through the finish. Mouthfeel is crisp and light, good carbonation (higher than your typical Tired Hands bottled beer), and a moderate but pleasant and well balanced sour acidity. The finish dries things out a bit, but not all the way. Overall, damn if this isn’t their best bottled beer yet (at least, that I’ve had). A

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (500 ml waxed cap). Drank out of a flute glass on 2/21/14.

Not quite Romulon-level, but spectacular nonetheless. Already looking forward to getting a taste of The Emptiness is Eternal, which is due to be conditioned on persimmons (watch out, Pediobear!) from Culton’s farm, of course.

Firestone Walker XVII – Anniversary Ale

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Every year, Firestone Walker invites their neighboring Winemakers to the brewery to tie one on and blend a series of barrel aged component beers for their Anniversary Ale. The Winemakers (no strangers to blending) are divided up into teams and compete to make the best blend. It’s apparently quite cutthroat, though fortunately, no murders this year. I’m trying to be concise here, because this is a subject I’ve already described in wonky, exhaustive detail before. Suffice to say, for barrel aged fanatics like myself, this is one of the most interesting releases each year, and they can vary dramatically too.

The XV blend heavily favored barleywines, and most of the component beers were aged in bourbon and/or brandy barrels (and oh yeah, it was spectacular). The XVI blend was more equitable, a much darker brew though barleywines still had a slight edge overall. The other big change in XVI was the inclusion of Tequila barrels into the blend. This year, things swing back towards the barleywine a bit, though not as much as XV. Here’s the component beers:

  • 30% Bravo (13.6% ABV) Imperial Brown Ale. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels.
  • 25% Stickee Monkee (15.3% ABV) English Barley Wine. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy barrels.
  • 15% Velvet Merkin (8.7% ABV) Traditional Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon barrels.
  • 15% Parabola (12.8% ABV) Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon Barrels.
  • 8% Double Double Barrel Ale (12% ABV) Double Strength English Pale Ale. Aged 100% in Firestone Union Barrels.
  • 4% Helldorado (11.5% ABV) Blonde Barley Wine. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels.
  • 3% Wookey Jack (8.3% ABV)- Black Rye India Pale Ale. 100% Fresh, Dank & Hoppy 100% Stainless Steel

So we’ve got around 67% barleywines, 30% stout, and 3% Black Rye IPA (which sorta splits the difference between the two). Also notable is that this year’s blend “only” utilizes 7 component beers (while the previous two used 8), and that PNC with Tequila barrels is nowhere to be seen. So this comes in somewhere between XV and XVI in terms of the components, and I will say that it does taste more like a barleywine than anything else, though I don’t quite think it reached the heights of XV:

Firestone Walker XVII - Anniversary Ale

Firestone Walker XVII – Anniversary Ale – Pours a brown amber color, garnet tones, a finger of light tan head that sticks around a bit. Smells of various spirits, boozy but not hot, some caramel-like notes and bready malt too. Taste starts off sweet, quickly moving into a rich caramel note, maybe a hint of fruity malt character, then comes various spirits and the one-two punch of oak and vanilla. The spirits here seem much less Bourbon focused than in years past, and looking at the component beers, perhaps that Brandy is asserting itself more than in previous years, though not in a dominant way. Call it the power of suggestion if you like, but this taste is very complex and evolves as it warms up, with the various flavors emerging or mellowing as I drink. The taste profile is more akin to a barleywine than anything else, closer to XV (which was clearly barleywine) than XVI (which was much more muddled, though still very nice). Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, but velvety smooth. Some pleasant booziness, a bit of heat, but given the cold weather of late, this is a welcome feature, not a bug. Overall, yep, it’s fantastic. Better than XVI, but not quite at XV levels. But when you’re playing at this level, these distinctions are really splitting hairs. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 13.3% ABV bottled (22 oz. boxed bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 2/14/14.

Of course, all of Firestone Walker’s barrel aged beers are spectacular and worth seeking out. It’s seeming like I’ve missed out on last year’s release of Velvet Merkin (local beermonger sez that government shutdown last year delayed and maybe even limited distro in this area, which could be total BS, but I still hope to track down a bottle somehow, someway). Rumor has it that Stickee Monkee will be coming to bottles and seeing distribution for the first time this year as well, and then there’s their first wild ale, The Feral One. So what I’m saying is that I’m going to be hunting for lots of Firestone beer in 2014 (because don’t forget about world class bottles like Sucaba and Parabola)

February Beer Club

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Tonight was beer club, a gathering of beer minded individuals from my work who get together about once a month at a local BYOB for good company and libations. As per usual, a good turnout, with a good representation from the core team, but also some very welcome new faces. About half of us are, at this point, avid homebrewers, so discussion veered into a rather nerdy realm from time to time, but that’s all good, and there was also a nice contingent of non-beer drinking peeps who were bemused by our nerdery, but steered the discussion other ways as well. Good times had by all.

February Beer Club

For the sake of posterity, initial thoughts on each beer are captured below. As you might guess, conditions here are not ideal, nor did I always drink a full portion, so take this with a gigantic grain of salt if you dare. Or not. I am pretty awesome, so I’m sure these inchoate notes are all you’ll really need. In order of drinking (not necessarily in order pictured):

  • Heavy Seas Gold Ale – A pretty basic Blonde Ale, comparable to most macro slop, but a step above such extremes. B-
  • Kaedrôme Saison – This is drinking well, though it still has not carbonated as well as I’d have liked. I don’t know if this is because the yeast is just so old and overstressed or if it’s because it’s been so cold lately and my cellar is just so cold that it’s taking the beer a while to condition. Whatever the case, the flavors are at the right place, and there is enough carbonation to make it drinkable, it’s just that I wish there were more. B
  • New Belgium Lips Of Faith – Coconut Curry Hefeweizen – Holy curry, Batman! At first, the curry seemed to overpower everything else, but as I drank and as it warmed (we had some of this later in the evening as well), the coconut and hefeweizen notes came out a bit more. Its a very interesting, weird beer, but I don’t think it’s quite the right combination of flavors for beer. C+
  • Stone Matt’s Burning Rosids – I think you all know how much I love me some saisons, even weird, incoherent takes on the style, but this one seemed to be filled with a sorta burnt rubber band aid flavor that overpowered everything else. Perhaps not totally undrinkable, but I’m really, really happy I only tried a smallish sample of the stuff. D
  • Green Jack Rippa – I’ve seen this around and been curious about an “English Triple” beer, and it was an interesting beer, though it came off as being incredibly boozy, which is a bit odd for an 8.5% beer. To be sure, that’s not a whimpy ABV, but it’s also not something I’d expect to be quite so powerfully boozy. It had a nice malt backbone too, but not enough to stand up to the booze. C+
  • Ken’s Homebrewed ESB – A light take on the style, though perhaps it just seemed that way because we had this after the boozy bomb previously mentioned. Still, very easy drinking stuff, malt forward but quaffable. B
  • Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale – Now, this beer club group occasionally visits an authentic (at least, to us Yanks, it seems so) British pub called The Whip Tavern. They have this rather spectacular dessert called Sticky Toffee Pudding, so hopes were somewhat high for this beer. To be sure, I was tempering my expectations by the fact that a lot of English ales, even stuff like this that is flavored with adjuncts, come off with hints of diacetyl, but in this case, my fears were unfounded. It’s nowhere near as good as the actual dessert, but it had a really nice toffee/caramel character that worked really well for the beer. B
  • Chimay Tripel (White) – A beer I’ve obviously had many times before, and it’s just as good as ever, though I seem to have veered away from a lot of the Belgian styles that initially hooked me on good beer. Still, this is a nice one. I’d probably downgrade to a B+, but it’s still very nice.
  • Starr Hill Psycho Kilter – A nice take on the Scotch Ale style, certainly not a top tier effort, but a nice, malt forward, relatively low carbed beer that doesn’t quite bely its relatively high 9.3% strength. B
  • Kaedrin Bomb and Grapnel (Bourbon Oaked Version) – This is the version of my RIS homebrew that was aged on bourbon soaked oak cubes. In this version, the charred oak really comes through strong. Not a ton of bourbon, though it is there. The charred oak is pretty strong at this point, which makes me think that perhaps I should have soaked the oak cubes in bourbon for longer than the 1-2 weeks I employed. Still, this turned out well, though the blended version seems to be the best version. B+
  • Lost Abbey The Angel’s Share (Bourbon Barrel Aged) – A beer I’ve had and reviewed before. It is still pretty fantastic stuff. A-
  • Deschutes Jubelale – Another beer I’ve had a few times this year, and it’s a nice winter warmer style beer, malt forward with lots of spice, quite enjoyable (and surprisingly did not suffer from a no doubt beleaguered palate at this point in the night). B

And that just about covers it. Already looking forward to the March beer club, where I’ll be able to share some Fat Weekend IPA…

Tired Hands Compilation

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It’s been a while since I’ve recapped recapped some recent Tired Hands beers, and these notes just keep piling up, so here goes nothing. Note that the earliest of these is from late August, so it really has been a while since I’ve attempted to stoke the jealousy of my readership with these local gems. Most are one-offs that will never be brewed again, but we’ve gotten to a point where I’m starting to recognize rebrews of some of their beers, so you never know.

Screeching Loud Thrashing Death Metal Offensive Song

SCREECHING LOUD THRASHING DEATH METAL OFFENSIVE SONG – 10.5% ABV blended old ale – Named after a review on Yelp where someone complained about the, shall we say, eclectic mix of music you hear when at TH (it looks like someone told her that they brewed this beer in her honor, so she updated her review, but the original one is still there.) A blend of 9 month old Flemish red (25%), fresh Barleywine (65%), and rye whiskey barrel fermented Barleywine (10%). Very interesting! Not a ton in the nose, but the taste is unique and interesting. I’m getting lots of chocolate, and maybe even coffee-like notes. Faint hints of cherries and a note of something bright escaping in the finish (prolly that Flemish red). Unique beer, never had anything like it. B+

Singel Hop Saison Citra – 5% ABV saison – Hurm, either this has gotten a lot better since my last glass (my previous note expressed surprise that Citra wasn’t that potent – but it was great this second time), or my palate got destroyed by Vermont beer and is only coming back… Juicy citrus hops and saison spice. Glad I gave it another shot, upgrade! A-

Tabel, Sacred – 4.2% ABV spiced saison – Brewed with oats and Holy Basil, fermented with a touch of grapefruit and pomegranate. Is there a touch of funk in here? Not sure, but it’s a nice, quaffable saison, with some citrus rind character, maybe a hint of lemon, an herbal note, and slight spicy yeast notes. B+

Mt.Sharp – 7.2% ABV Citra and Columbus IPA – Interesting sticky icky citrus and pine combo. Sticky and yet creamy? This is striking a chord that I can’t place, but who cares, because its awesome! A-

SuchUnique – 8.2% ABV Double IPA, Simcoe & Centennial hops – Nice floral and citrus notes, mango, flowers, good stuff. Well hidden ABV. Good! A-

Pub Style Ale – 4.5% ABV pale ale brewed with oats & Centennial hops – Great nose, lots of citrus, big floral hops in the taste. Quaffable! B+

Sad State of Affairs – 8.2 % ABV DIPA – A less profane reference to the cease and desist for FarmHands? Regardless, this is a rock solid DIPA, citrus and pine, a little slickness but still well balanced. Fantastic! A-

Lizard Queen – 5.2% ABV Motueka & Centennial Pale Ale – Yep, another great pale ale, juicy citrus nose (maybe even a lemon note), some earthy floral notes too. Crushable. A-

Euphoric Sunshine Drip – 5.7% ABV spiced saison with Meyer lemon and pink peppercorn – Another typically great Tired Hands farmhouse saison, not quite funky, but that lemon makes overtures in that direction, and the peppercorn accentuates the yeast well… A-

The Multiverse – 8.1% ABV pear farmhouse DIPA – Wow, really nice pairing (pearing?) of farmhouse spice (funk?) and hops, with neither dominating, but instead melding into something different. Really nice! A-

Critical Anxious – 7.8% ABV Biere De Garde – And I didn’t take any notes on this one, though I did write down that I had it, so, um, I dunno. Mulligan.

Oktüberfest – 6.1% ABV Ser Gut Yam Bier – Very nice Oktoberfest style beer, mild, light toasted bread, but still relatively sweet. Great mouthfeel on this one too. Not really my style, but this is my kinda take on the style. B+

My Favorite Show – 5.7% ABV classical modern saison – Typically great Tired Hands saison, almost funky, nice peppery notes, highly drinkable, like a slightly amped up FarmHands (er, SaisonHands). B+

Communication is the Key – 5.5% ABV crushable Simcoe pale ale – Typically great Tired Hands pale ale, big juicy fruit notes, hint of pine, crushable is a perfect descriptor. A-

Tired Hands Murky Growlers

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So I’m at the bar one night and Jean fills a couple of growlers. He gives them to some guy who’s making a trip to Hill Farmstead and says that Shaun Hill likes his beer extra cloudy, so he renamed “Communication is the Key” to “Communication is the Murky” and “We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency” to “We Are All Hazy As Hell Vibrating at the Same Cloudiness”.

Fall Precious – 6.6% ABV autumnal saison – Really nice saison, it’s got that typical Tired Hands farmhouse character, but it’s carving out an identity of its own. Sweet up front, maybe some fruit, with the spice emerging towards the finish. A-

H.C.S. – 5.9% ABV viscous and delicious saison – Power of suggestion, or is this really viscous? Definitely a fuller body than your typical TH saison, very cloudy, a little yeasty spice, well done. B+

MortalGrade – 8.2% ABV DIPA brewed with wheat, oats, Chinook, Citra, Zythos, and Simcoe – Fantastic, one of my favorite Tired Hands DIPAs! Huge juicy citrus, some grassy, floral, and pine hop notes too. Obscenely quaffable for its ABV, no real hint of booze. Great stuff! A

MoMoCoe – 5.5% ABV Motueka, Mosaic, and Simcoe pale ale – Great juicy hop character, lots of grapefruit, nice bracing bitterness, really good! A-

Singel Hop Saison, Chinook – 5% ABV – The 8th singel hop saison, and probably around the middle of the pack. Indeed, the hops and saison yeast seem a little at odds here. Still good, of course, but not the best of the bunch. B+

Under Pressure – 7.6% Blended Artisanal Farmhouse Biere de Garde – Excellent malt forward Brett beer, some nice malty fruit notes, with some peppery yeast and complementary Brett. Great! A-

Coulton Hop – 5.5% heirloom cider/pale ale – 49% of the fermentables came from cider made of apples, pears, and quinces. Hopped with Simcoe and that’s really what stands out, but it’s amazing that they were able to coax something so beerlike out of something comprised of so much cider… As I drink more, the cider twang becomes more pronounced… Really nice. B+

Coulton Sour – 5.5% heirloom cider/Berliner Weiss – Similar approach with the cider used as fermantable. Holy sour patch kids, this is super tart, and you really get that cider side of things here too. Really interesting beers here. A-

Cosmic Slop – 8.3% DIPA – Tired Hands’ 200th batch is a typically great fruit and hop forward DIPA, lots of citrus, pine, and floral notes, very well done B+

Hail Santa – 6.4% ABV Rye IPA – Slightly darker than typical, but still a pale yellow, beautiful juicy hop nose, with some floral and spicy notes hitting in the taste. Really good! B+

I See a Darkness – 8.5% ABV porter brewed with coffee and honey – Collaboration with Sante Adairius, very nice, bigger than normal porter. Tried getting some a few days later, but they were out… B+

Sgt. Salamander – 5% ABV Holiday Sour Berliner Weiss – Wow, this has a typical Berliner nose, but the taste is all sorts of great. Really tight lactic sourness, puckering really, and it’s great. Also had some dosed with cinnamon & vanilla bean syrup that just puts this miles ahead. Super flavorful. B+ (regular) and A- (with syrup)

Trendler – 5.5% ABV alt bier – Very interesting and different, Jean is branching out here, malt forward but not heavy at all… B+

Praise Bee – 9% 2X honey IBA – Zombie rides again… Sorta! Doesn’t quite live up to zombie levels, but it’s really good, nice hop character, well matched dark malts, excellent. A-

Circumambulation – 7.2% biere de garde – Fermented with kolsch yeast and lagered three weeks, this is a subtle beer, super creamy head, not a typical TH feel, but still very good, lots of muted flavors, complex but not overwhelming… B

Bucolic Overlord

Bucolic Overlord – 8% DIPA – Brewed with oats, Citra, Columbus, and Simcoe hops. Great stuff, dank and resinous, with floral and citrus notes rounding it out. Superb! A

VOID ego VOID – 9.8% ABV blended imperial stout – Partially barrel aged in Tuthilltown rye whiskey barrels for 7 months… Not a lot of barrel character, roasty up front, sweet towards the finish with a nice hit of vanilla. Not as thick or heavy as you’d expect, but it still has admirable heft. I really enjoyed this! A-

Principal Eel – 6% sour farmhouse IPA – Well this is unusual, better than the last sour IPA I had from TH last year, but something about the strong hop and sour combo doesn’t completely work for me… B

All-O-Gistics – 5.9% Experimental IPA – Experimental hop #05256 – Whoa carbonation! Not that I’m complaining, but this is more carbonated than your typical Tired Hands beer. Great juicy hop nose, citrus, pine, and grass. Maybe something like green onion. Taste is more piney and it’s got a sharp bitterness. Definitely not your typical Tired Hands IPA, but still great. A-

Can’t Keep Up – 6.2% Spontaneous Saison – Fermented in old Tuthilltown rye barrels that had previously been used to make some apple cider (by frequent TH collaborator, Tom Culton), only 10 gallons produced. Amazing, nice oak character, sharp but very pleasant sourness, almost vinous tart fruit, really great. I love this! A

And that just about covers it. If you’re local and heading over to the next release on Sunday, let me know!

Sante Adairius Cask 200

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I don’t know about casks 1-199, but I think Sante Adairius may have stumbled on to something with numero 200. In reality, they only have one of these (and you can see it in the background sometimes). It’s a 660 gallon oval cask that they use in Solera-like fashion for a funky saison. Each time they package a portion of its contents, fresh beer is added back to Cask 200, thus mixing with the old beer and “learning” how to ferment and be like its aged brethren. As such, the average age of any packaged beer is going to be higher than previous bottlings and the finished product will vary from batch to batch. Unfortunately, I have no idea which batch I’m drinking here (I suspect batch #2), but that doesn’t really matter because this is fantastic stuff.

Solera style beer production isn’t particularly common here in the beer world, but in my limited experience (with, for example, The Bruery’s Anniversary beers and Tired Hands’ Darwin series), this is a unique way to approach it. Many thanks to Jay from the sadly now defunct Beer Samizdat blog for sending a bottle my way:

Sante Adairius Cask 200

Sante Adairius Cask 200 – Pours a cloudy straw yellow color with a finger of white head and good retention. Smells amazing, hugely funky, lots of musty Brett, some fruity aromas, and a very nice oak character. Taste is sweet, tangy with that fruity Brett funk, vinous notes, a big tart sourness yielding quickly to that oak character, which lasts though the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, crisp, and refreshing. Light bodied, with some acidity and tannins. Overall, this is another amazing beer from Sante Adairius. A

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a flute glass on 2/1/14. Batch 2?

So Sante Adairius is 2 for 2 here at Kaedrin, with 2 solid A grade beers. It’s almost enough to plan a trip to Capitola, CA and visit them first hand. At the very least, I’ll have to make arrangements to secure more of their beer!

Grassroots Arctic Saison

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Before the tiny juggernaut of Hill Farmstead, there was Grassroots. It’s the oft-collaborative label of Hill Farmstead’s Shaun Hill, who began Grassroots during his 20 month tenure at Denmark breweries like Nørrebro Bryghus and Fanø Bryghus. The idea was to start a contract/gypsy/collaborative brewery called Grassroots that would build enough capital to move brewing operations to Hill Farmstead in Vermont. Grassroots started in Denmark, but has moved all around the world as Hill has collaborated with a variety of other brewers (including local Kaedrin heroes, Tired Hands, amongst many others). I’ve only had a couple Grassroots beers, but they’ve been uniformly excellent.

This particular beer is a saison fermented in oak tanks with Brett. It’s a collaboration with Anchorage brewing in Alaska, and because it was brewed at Anchorage’s larger facility, it’s actually received a reasonable distribution (some Grassroots brews are made at Hill Farmstead, and thus don’t really make their way out of Vermont). Me, I got this by waiting in line at Hill Farmstead during Operation Cheddar, but for some unfathomable reason, this beer sits on shelves at various places around the country. Given the obscene (yet somehow appropriate) hype surrounding Hill Farmstead, it’s surprising that this beer isn’t more highly sought after. I guess most folks don’t know what to make of this whole separate, subsidiary label. I’m not complaining though, as that just means more for those of us in the know.

Grassroots Arctic Saison

Grassroots Arctic Saison – Pours a slightly hazy straw yellow color with a couple fingers of bubbly head that has great retention. Smell is pure funk, lots of Brett, light earthiness with a fruity kick. Taste starts sweet and spicy, with that funky Brett bringing some earth and fruit to the story, slightly tart finish. Mild oak character, but really loght… Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a high, effervescent carbonation, some spice, a little rough, but very drinkable. Overall, this is pretty great stuff! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/26/14. Batch 1 May/2013.

This marks the last of my Vermont treasures, and thus I think I need to start planning another trip up north to stock up on more Alchemist, Lawson’s, and Hill Farmstead.

January Beer Club

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Just in the nick of time. This was scheduled for earlier in the month but got delayed due to snow and other such things. But we persevered, and Beer club marched on. For the unawares, beer club is a gathering of beer minded folks from my work, who get together once a month at a local BYOB for beverages and fun.

January Beer Club 2014

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For the sake of posterity, some thoughts on each beer are below. As per usual, these are off the cuff responses with no formal notes, so they’re basically useless for you, but I’m including them anyway because why should I care what you think of my drunken recollections of these beers? In order of drinking (and not in the order pictured above, and there are definitely a couple beers not pictured at all because I took the picture early and didn’t feel like updating it later and why are you so confrontational about this, it’s just a thing, and fine, you want to fight about it? Let’s do this thing. Or not. Whatever. What were we talking about?)

  • Stone Double Bastard – Probably not the best beer to start off a tasting with, but it worked just fine, and it was as good as I remember. Which is to say, it’s good, but not mind blowing. B+
  • Unibroue Éphémère – This is not as apple-flavored as I remember, though that character is still fully present in the beer, which is a pretty solid Belgian Wit style affair and would make a great summer beer.
  • Boxcar CarKnocker IPA – The uber local (i.e. within a couple miles of my house) brewery’s take on a standard IPA, it’s decent, but not quite as good as their original (kinda, sorta Belgian style) IPA. B-
  • DC Brau The Corruption – A beer I reviewed in more detail just yesterday.
  • Bell’s Midwestern Pale Ale – A fine offering, but perhaps sampled too late in the the night, as it sorta suffered in comparison to the other IPAs. B-
  • Boxcar Belgian Tripel – One of uber-local Boxcar’s best beers, it’s still a pretty straightforward Belgian style tripel. Along those lines, it’s pretty good. Not a top tier effort, but quite nice. B+
  • Element Brewing Dark Element – A rather nice India Black Ale (or whatever you want to call that hoppy stout style), this sucker had just a hint of roast, a nice malt backbone, and plenty of dank, piney, resinous hops. One of the best of the night. A-
  • Ken’s Homebrewed Hybrid Thingy – A sorta beer/wine/mead hybrid, this was made with some barley, copious amounts of honey, and muscat grapes. This is some crazy Dogfish-head style shit, but it actually worked pretty darn well. Clocking in at around 10% ABV, this thing didn’t feel like it at all, making it dangerously easy to drink. B
  • Kaedrin Bomb and Grapnel (Blend) – This is the version that contains a blend of straight RIS and Bourbon Oaked RIS. It turned out pretty darn well, though the oak character is a bit muted here. I don’t know that I’d be able to pick it out blind, but regardless, it turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Look for a triple feature (with all the variants) soon. I’ll give it a B+ for now, though it could easily be higher.
  • Spring House Satan’s Bake Sale Mint Chocolate Chip Stout – One of my contributions, this was a fascinating sorta Girl Scout Thin Mint beer. Not sure if I would have reacted so positively if I drank the whole thing by myself, but it’s a perfect beer for the setting. The mint chocolate chip character comes through strong, but not in an overpowering way. Very nice, and I enjoyed muchly. B+
  • Boulevard and Sierra Nevada Terra Incognita – A whiskey barrel aged beer that shows off that character pretty well. I still think that stouts and barleywines work better on that front, but this was certainly a fine effort. B

And that just about covers it. Good times had by all, and I’m already looking forward to the next installment (which should be sooner, rather than later… hopefully!)

Gazing Into The Abyss

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Finally. I know that if I call this a white whale beer, a million neckbearded beer dorks will descend upon Kaedrin HQ with righteous fury, but it’s been several years of near misses for me, so it was a hard fought victory for me. For those of you in the distribution range or who don’t live in a state with archaic booze law (i.e. states that allow you to have beer shipped), you’ve got it easy. Well Deschutes distributes to Philly now (apparently one of the few east coast places that gets some Deschutes), so I’ve finally got my greedy paws on some of this stuff.

So what’s the big deal? Well, The Abyss is a monster 11% ABV Imperial Stout, and when you gaze into it, it gazes back. It’s actually got quite the recipe. Brewed with black strap molasses and licorice, finished with cherry bark and vanilla beans, and partially aged in oak barrels. From what I can tell, this changes each year, but the 2013 reserve is 6% aged in oak Bourbon barrels, 11% aged in oak barrels (presumably new oak), and 11% aged in oak wine barrels (Pinot Noir, I’m told). Some earlier vintages have left out the cherry bark and vanilla beans, and also had a slightly higher barrel percentage (and I gather that the Pinot Noir barrels have only been around for a couple years as well), but I ain’t complaining, cause this is decent stuff:

Deschutes The Abyss 2013 Reserve

Deschutes The Abyss 2013 Reserve – Pours pitch black with a gorgeous finger of brown head that gradually subsides to a cap with decent retention. Smells heavily of roasted, dark malts, perhaps some of that molasses and vanilla pitching in as well. Nice complexity in the nose, I keep picking out new notes. As it warms, there is something bright but not quite fruity in the nose (perhaps the wine barrel or cherry bark?) Coffee, chocolate, sugary caramel, It just keeps coming. The taste starts off with that rich caramel, but that quickly evolves into vanilla, then chocolate, a heavy roasted malt character, finally leading into a relatively bitter finish (bitter both from hops and from roast). I don’t get a lot of direct oak or Bourbon, but the barrel aged character does sorta come out in the rich mouthfeel of the brew. Speaking of which, the mouthfeel is rich, thick, and chewy, full bodied but reasonably well carbonated. The bitter finish dries out the mouthfeel a bit, but it’s still a big, rich beer that will coat your mouth and linger for a bit. Overall, this is excellent, even if it’s not quite ticking my favorite stout checkboxes, it’s still really impressing me… A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11% ABV bottled (22 oz waxed bomber). Drank of of a snifter on 1/18/14. Best After 08/16/14.

Zuh? Best After 08/16/14? It turns out that it’s just fine to drink fresh, but they claim it will age very well too, though it’ll be “entirely different” a year on. So you’re saying I need to hunt down another bottle? It looks like it. I could definitely see that bitterness mellowing out over time, and perhaps some of those other elements becoming better incorporated.

Thirsty Dog Wulver

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In Scottish folklore, the Wulver is a kind of werewolf, but not the kind you’re familiar with. Wulvers are not tortured human souls, cursed to yield to the beast within on the full moon. Nor do they have, like, a bazillion abs and fall in love with a passive girl who’s knocking boots with a vampire. Not that I’d know anything about that. In fact, Wulvers aren’t even human; they’re merely a human-like creature with a wolf’s head, and they’re not known to be particularly aggressive… unless provoked. Wikipedia sez: “He didn’t molest folk if folk didn’t molest him.” Uh huh, interesting choice of words. Anywho, it also sez Wulvers are fond of fishing, and perhaps they’d drink a beer like this one whilst kicking back. That’s a blind speculation on my part, but it’s a wee heavy style beer aged in bourbon barrels for 11 months, and who wouldn’t want to sip on one of those whilst fishing in Scottland? Ok, fine, perhaps the Wulver would molest the bottle. There, you happy? No? Fine, then just look at the pretty picture:

Thirsty Dog Wulver

Thirsty Dog Wulver – Pours a dark brown color with a finger of tan head that has pretty good retention. Smells deeply of bourbon and oak, some caramel, maybe even something smoky, and huge, sweeping vanilla aromas too. Taste starts with rich caramel, a hint of dark and/or smoky malts (very subtle smoke, if it’s there) yielding to that bourbon barrel treatment and those big vanilla notes towards the finish. Maybe a bit of dark fruit as it warms up, and a bit of pleasant booze too. Mouthfeel is perfect, well carbonated but silky smooth, rich and almost creamy. Overall, yep, this is a winner for sure. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 1/11/13.

The label sez they made this beer specifically to be aged in Bourbon barrels, and I do believe they’ve succeeded in that task. Now I’m going to have to keep an eye out for that BA Siberian Night, though wonder of wonders, Wulver seems to be the more highly praised of the two (normally the Imperial Stout is the more popular offering).