Pretty Things ¡Magnifico!

Beer dorks get all excited when Massachusetts-based Pretty Things release a new beer, but on the other hand, this is a curious offering. So curious that Pretty Things did a sorta soft launch last year to see if anyone would notice. Why the hesitance? Well, beer dorks usually don’t get all that excited for beers with only 3.4% ABV… but apparently the soft launch went swimmingly, and now Pretty Things is bottling the stuff and distributing it.

I kinda love the title of the beer, though it does represent something of a confusing heritage. Magnifico is Italian for “Magnificent” and is usually used to indicate a person of distinguished rank or importance. I love it when a beer name has punctuation, but the leading inverted exclamation is a Spanish convention, right? And the beer itself is a Belgian style (at least, that’s what it’s labeled as on Beer Advocate, though Pretty Things leaves it a mystery on their site – hey, why don’t we call it a saison?) In any case, I was intrigued, so I picked up a bottle:

Pretty Things Magnifico

Pretty Things ¡Magnifico! – Pours a slightly hazy, light yellowish gold color with a finger of white, fluffy head. Smells of herbal, grassy hops along with a very light amount of Belgian yeast. The taste most prominently features those herbal, grassy hop flavors, not a lot of malt character (which is to be expected in something like this) and just a wee bit of spicy Belgian yeast flavors. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and effervescent, but also extremely dry. There’s enough subtle complexity to elevate this above a lot of beers, but it’s not going to rock your world either. Then again, that’s probably not the point. It’s a welcome change of pace and I kinda wish there were more well-crafted low ABV options out there… They might not blow your mind, but they get the job done. B

Beer Nerd Details: 3.4% ABV bottled (22 oz bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 7/13/12. Bottled in June 2012.

Also appearing in stores recently, Pretty Things Meadowlark IPA, their first take on that most popular of styles (spoiler: it’s quite good!) Look for a review soon. And hey, look, I’m only a couple of weeks behind on reviews, so this might come sooner rather than later.

Choose Your Own Adventure Beer Reviews

After wandering the forest for hours, you are relieved to come to a white house. The doors are locked, but as you circled the structure, you find a large window ajar. Clouds cover the sky and you can feel a rapid decrease in pressure in your bones. It is going to rain. Flashes of lightning illuminated the sky in the distance, followed by peals of rumbling thunder. Throwing caution to the wind, you pry the window wide enough to allow entrance.

You are in a kitchen. A table seems to have been used recently for the preparation of food. No food remains, but an unopened brown bottle adorned with a pictogram of a combined “O” and “C” can be seen. A rack of stemmed, curvy glasses hangs above the table. Some sacks smelling faintly of pepper are piled in a corner of the room. A narrow passage leads to the west, and a dark staircase can be seen leading upward. A dark chimney leads down. You hear stirrings of movement coming from the chimney.

Lightning flashes and the accompanying thunder follows quickly. Outside, rain has begun to fall. Your growling stomach echoes the thunder. What to do?

To sit at the table and drink the bottle, click here.

To take the passage to the west, click here.

To climb the stairs, click here.

To explore the chimney, click here.

Next Section

You have chosen to drink the unopened brown bottle.

You sit at the table, glad to be off your feet after the long trek through the forest. You examine the bottle more closely. Otter Creek 20th Anniversary Ale. Your eyes widen. You remember hearing of the war up in the northern territory of Vermont in which a race of ferocious otters purged humans from their land. No one is welcome there, but these otters are known as craftsmen, and have taken to exporting their beer. It is rare indeed that such a brew would make its way this far South:

Otter Creek 20th Anniversary

Otter Creek 20th Anniversary Ale – Pours a dark brown color with almost no head at all, just a little ring around the edge of the glass. Smells of rich malts, very much like a Scotch Ale, with some booziness and maybe even hops also apparent. The taste starts very sweet, followed by booze in the middle and more booze in the finish. It’s… boozy! But lots of malt character too, maybe a little hop bitterness also hanging around, but just enough to balance out the sweetness. The mouthfeel is strong with a little heat from that booze, not to mention a certain stickiness, especially in the finish. Again, this reminds me of a souped up Scotch Ale, ton of malt character, lots of booze. A solid sipping beer, worth drinking, but not really lighting the world on fire. B

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a snifter on 7/7/12.

Refreshed by the beer, you consider your other options.

Choose another path.

Next Section

You have chosen to take the western passage.

You walk through a long hallway that turns to the right, leading into a large room housing many boxes, barrels, and what looks like a laboratory. Lots of tubes, beakers, open flames, boiling liquids, and jars filled with fruits and spices populate a large table on one side of the room. Boxes of bottles, all adorned with a railroad track logo, line the wall on the other side of the room. You recognize the logo as that of the Boxcar Brewery, a business located just a mile or two away from your home! Overjoyed at the prospect that you are no longer lost, you quickly snap up a bottle and gulp it down:

Boxcar Mango Ginger IPA

Boxcar Mango Ginger IPA – I have to admit that Boxcar’s regular “IPA” has grown on me. Sure, it doesn’t feel like an IPA at all, but as Belgian style pale ales go, it’s solid stuff, and fresher bottles do have a really nice (if unusual) hop presence. Pours a golden orangish color with a finger of medium bubbled head. Smells strongly of that ginger, along with some fruity hops, perhaps augmented by the mango. These are fruity hops, but not typical grapefruit and pine, and they’re not as strong as you’d expect in an IPA. The taste is sweet, with lots of ginger balancing it out and just a little in the way of hop fruitiness (again, perhaps augmented by the mango). Like the regular Boxcar IPA, there’s not much bitterness here, but the mango ginger adjuncts seemed to overwhelm any Belgian character. The mouthfeel retains that effervescent, highly carbonated Belgian pale feel to it. The spices keep it from being something to gulp down, but it’s decent stuff. Overall, this is a reallly strange beer. Like the regular Boxcar IPA, this is certainly far away from your typical IPA (I would never in a million years have labeled this as such in a blind tasting), and even when it comes to Belgian pale ales, this is an odd duck. None of which makes it inherently bad, it’s just hard to wrap my head around… and to be honest, ginger is not my favorite spice in beer. A solid beer, a strange change of pace, well worth trying, but I think I’d rather have one of their regular IPAs than this… B-

Beer Nerd Details:7% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 7/29/12.

Alas, the room seems to be a dead end.

Choose another path.

Next Section

You have chosen to climb the stairs.

The stairs are steep and tiring, but you can see a mesmerizing glow ahead that keeps you climbing. You reach the top and enter a large, bright room. As you enter, the room becomes even more luminous, almost blinding you. Indeed, no exits seem visible anymore, even from whence you came. In front of you is an old man armored in chain mail with a large cloth cloak displaying the markings of a Crusader. You are surrounded by a vast array of chalices, many sizes, many shapes, some gold, some silver, some clear, but they all glitter with potential. The knight selects three and places them on the alter in front of you.

The knight simply says “To escape this place, you must choose,” and waves his hand at the alter.

There are three glasses in front of you, one goblet, one brandy snifter, and one plain pint glass. They are all filled with liquids of varying degrees of darkness.

To drink from the goblet, click here.

To drink from the brandy snifter, click here.

To drink from the plain pint glass, click here.

Next Section

You have chosen to drink from the goblet.

You pick up the goblet and drink deeply. Pleased with the taste, you look to the knight, who grins and says “You have chosen… wisely.”

Val-Dieu Brune

Val-Dieu Brune – I’ve actually seen this beer many times before, but the name Val-Dieu just doesn’t inspire much confidence (sounds like it would be cheap, “value” beer from Belgium). That’s completely superficial though, and it turns out that this is a brewery with a decent enough reputation… Plus, as we frequently say here at Kaedrin, it’s what’s inside the bottle that counts: Pours a clearish dark brown color with beautiful amber highlights and a finger of deep tan head. Smells very nice, biscuity Belgian yeast with a hint of spice, maybe some dark crystal malt aromas. Taste is sweet, that dark, toasted crystal malt character coming through loud and clear, maybe even a small amount of straight up roasted malt, and of course, that bready, spicy Belgian yeast. Mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth, well carbonated yet very tight, with a pleasant dryness in the finish. Alcohol is well hidden, though I did get a bit of a warming effect… perhaps because I drank rather quickly… I’ve been craving a dubbel recently, and this hit the spot pretty well. Not quite a top-tier dubbel, still very nice. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank out of a goblet on 7/18/12.

As you finish the goblet, you notice that the room has become completely saturated in light. Your eyes are overwhelmed by the white light, but soon your vision comes back. You are standing about a hundred yards from the house. It has stopped raining. There is a road in front of you, and you quickly recognize the way home. Success!

Next Section

You have chosen to drink from the brandy snifter.

You pick up the snifter, give it a whiff, and sample some of the brew. You look to the knight for validation, and he shrugs and says “Eh… good enough.”

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale – Apparently this beer was brewed in honor of a 20 day suspension imposed on the brewery by overzealous coppers who sent people undercover to discover how much pot the Lagunitas boys were smoking (apparently a lot). I guess they couldn’t convince the police that they were actually just smoking hops. Anywho, it pours a clear dark golden amber brown color with a finger of whitish head. Smells wonderful. Sweet, juicy pineapple aromas along with something else I can’t quite identify. I could just sit here sniffing this all night. The taste seems comparatively muddled. Very sweet, tons of flavorful hop citrus character, a hint of darker malts (maybe even some roast), and quite a bitter finish for such a high ABV beer. That bitterness and roast character lingers in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is relatively heavy, ample but tight carbonation, actually goes down easier than you’d think. Overall, this is a strange one. It’s not quite gelling for me, but it’s a complex and enjoyable enough brew. B

Beer Nerd Details: 9.7% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a snifter on 7/14/12.

A blinding light appears on the far side of the room, then subsides, revealing a door. You bid the knight good evening and open the door, finding youself at a road leading into your hometown. It’s still raining lightly, but life is good. Success!

Next Section

You have chosen to drink from the pint glass.

You observe that the liquid is a clear golden color with some fluffy white head. The aroma is slightly skunky, but you drink it anyway. It’s so very cold that you don’t notice much at first, but it feels sorta flabby and bland. As it warms, a well-rounded skunkiness dominates the palate. You haven’t drank much of it, but you’ve realized your mistake too late. You look over at the knight, who frowns and says “You have chosen… poorly.”

He reveals that the beer is, in fact, Miller Genuine Draft. While your body physically feels ok, you can feel your soul being diminished. Soon, you collapse to the floor. Alive, breathing, but completely inert. As your soul dissipates, your body quickly ages, decomposing into dust in mere seconds.

You have died! Go back and choose another beer.

Next Section

You have chosen to explore the chimney.

As you approach the chimney, the noises you heard earlier begin to intensify. The chimney has quite a wide opening, such that you are able to enter. When you look up, you can see darkness, occasionally illuminated by lighting overhead. This is a most unusual structure, and after further examination, you find that the wall is carved with regularly spaced grooves. It’s a ladder!

Visions of hidden treasure fill your head as you quickly mount the ladder and begin to descend. The noises you heard earlier conspicuously disappear, but you’re too excited to notice. As you progress, darkness seeps in around you. The light from the kitchen above is becoming dimmer, but it feels like you’ve almost reached bottom.

A scraping sound of stone against stone sounds out from above. The light from the kitchen completely disappears as you are plunged into darkness. Startled, you miss the next ladder rung and fall backwards. Fortunately, you really were close to the bottom, and your fall is cushioned by burlap bags smelling of peppers.

It is pitch black. You stand up and dust yourself off. You feel a sinister, lurking presence nearby. The silence is disturbing, but not as disturbing as the sounds you now hear.

You have been eaten by a Grue. Its insatiable appetite craves strong flavors, such as the hot peppers from the burlap sacks. It finds you somewhat bland tasting, but it washes you down with a bottle of Rodenbach Classic.

Rodenbach Classic

Rodenbach Classic – Pours a dark amber color with a finger of thick tan head. Smells of wine and vinegar, that twang that indicates sourness, and maybe some bready yeastiness too. The vinous character hits pretty quickly in the taste, light on the tangy sourness, followed by some malt character. The grue gets much less oak character from this than from the Grand Cru, but there’s still a complexity that is coming from that small, oak aged portion. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and the sourness keeps it light. Overall, a very good beer and it certainly spiced up the grue’s meal, but the Grand Cru is clearly superior. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5.2% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 7/14/12.

You have died! Go back and choose another path.

Next Section

Well, that’s one way to catch up on reviews, I guess. Not that I don’t have plenty of tasting notes still to be posted, but still. Making progress here, and sometimes it’s fun to liven things up with a post like this. Also, sorry for the lack of an MGD picture, but I swear to you, I was handed a clear glass bottle of the stuff recently and it was, in fact, skunked and disgusting stuff. I know some folks don’t mind that brew, but even among macros, MGD is foul.

I’ll be traveling later this week, but a few posts will make it out if I can manage to click the “Publish” button on my phone, assuming I’m able to get a signal where I’m going.

Weyerbacher Seventeen

Weyerbacher brews a special batch every year to celebrate their anniversary, usually picking an uncommon style for the honor. For instance, last year’s installment was a Dark Braggot (a sorta mead/beer hybrid). This year, we’ve got… a saison. Doesn’t sound strange? Well, considering that the saison is the least coherent style in the history of beer, that actually does leave Weyerbacher some room to make something wacky.

And wacky it is: brewed with pink peppercorns, orange zest, lemon zest, and grapefruit zest, this beer weighs in at a “style-obliterating 10.5% abv”1. This last bit is done in accordance with the classic “Weyerbacher anniversary requirement” of a strength around 10% ABV or so, but I sometimes get the feeling that Weyerbacher overdoes it with the alcohol in their beers. I often find myself wondering if some of their beers would be better if it was just a little lower in alcohol, a little more dry. Then I have another Double Simcoe and forget everything I just said. But I digress, this anniversary beer probably could have used a little less alcohol:

Weyerbacher Seventeen

Weyerbacher Seventeen – Pours a very pretty, clear golden color with a minimum of quickly disappearing head. Smells strongly of spicy Belgian saison yeast, clove with some light earthiness, maybe even a little booze. The taste is full of that spiciness, which helps cut through the sweetness and the booze, which are quite prevalent. Mouthfeel is full bodied, reasonably well carbonated, but it gives way to a sticky mouthfeel in the finish. The booze is definitely a big part of this brew, maybe too much, but it’s still a worthwhile effort. I’m enjoying it, but I wish it were a few percent ABV less. B

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a goblet on 7/6/12.

I can’t really blame Weyerbacher for this, it’s apparent that they like their beer boozy, and it’s not like I didn’t enjoy this stuff (in fact, I’ll probably pick up another bottle and see what age does to it). They’re still one of the more interesting brewers in the area though, and I always look forward to trying something new from them.

1 – In my post on the lack of coherence of saisons, I gave a range of 3-10% ABV, based on the highest ABV saison I’d had or seen, Fantôme De Noel. Weyerbacher didn’t smash the record or anything, but that’ll learn me to think I could ever describe a saison in any sort of consistent manner. I bet, somewhere, someone is making a 2% saison, chipping away at the other end of the range. I should just say that a saison is anywhere from 0-60% ABV, but then some crazy European will probably make a 65% ABV saison. Ok, I’ll stop now.

Kriek De Ranke

This beer is brewed by two guys named Nino and Guido. I thought we should get his out of the way first, as it’s kinda awesome. Anywho, the story behind this beer is also pretty interesting. The tale begins when Nino and Guido were commissioned to brew a relatively lame pale ale for a local pub. The beer turned out fine at first, but it was lightly hopped and some wild yeast made its way into the beer, so it quickly turned sour. In desperation, they turned to the old Belgian proverb: “When life gives you sour beer, make Kriek.”

Kriek  De Ranke Fancy Packaging

It took experimentation, a crapload of sour cherries, and blending with true lambic beer (a distinction that’s probably best saved for another post), but they eventually settled on a recipe that became this beer. I bought it totally on a whim because my local beermonger said it’s really good and that it wouldn’t last. Plus: it’s got one of them fancy paper wrappings around the bottle (which is good, as the bottle is green)…

Kriek De Ranke

Kriek De Ranke – Pours a maroonish red color with a finger of quickly disappearing, light pink head. Smell is filled with wild funky aromas that signal sour to me, with some fruitiness apparent. The taste winds up being very sweet, but there’s a bit of bitterness in the finish and a lot of earthiness to balance out that sweetness. There’s a fruity tartness to it, but nothing overpowering, and it plays really well against the sweet and earthy components. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but well carbonated. Well balanced, flavorful, and composed, it never falls into cough-syrup or cloyingly sweet territory, so this is a very nice beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 6/30/12.

I’ve had mixed feelings about De Ranke in the past, but they make some interesting stuff too, and this is probably my favorite beer I’ve had from them…

Great Lakes Burning River

In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire. Apparently this wasn’t an entirely uncommon occurrence on the highly polluted waterway, as river fires had been reported there as far back as 1868. But the one that happened about a century later caught the interest of Time magazine, who described the lowly Cuyahoga as a river that “oozes rather than flows”. A few years later, the Clean Water Act was passed and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh, and Great Lakes Brewing Company made this beer in honor of the Cuyahoga, the river that burns!

Now, given the atmosphere that the beer’s name evokes, I would assume this would be something like a gloopy stout, or an extremely high ABV monster, or a spiced ale of some kind. But no, it’s actually a pale ale. Ain’t nothing wrong with pale ales, but methinks they could have come up with a more fitting name for this one (or a more fitting beer for the name). In the end, as I always say, it’s what’s in the bottle that counts:

Great Lakes Burning River

Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale – Pours a very nice looking, clear golden color with a finger or two of white, fluffy head. Smells of earthy, herbal hops, with a sweetness also present. The taste features those earthy, herbal hops from the nose, but ups the ante with a little bit of spicy hop character in the finish, along with some light bitterness. Now, they say this beer is “assertively hopped with citrusy and piney Cascade hops”, but I’m getting approximately none of that character out of this beer. Not sure what it is about Cascade hops, but they feel almost Jekyll and Hyde to me. Sometimes I get the earthy, herbal character out of it, like this beer, but other times, I get an almost Simcoe-lite feel (which makes sense given lineage), such as in Victory Ranch S. As the beer warms, a little bit of citrus opens up, but not a ton. Mouthfeel is light bodied, moderate carbonation, and relatively easy going, though not quite quaffable. All in all, a very solid pale ale… but not really blowing me away or anything. It’s apparently a big award winner, and again, it’s solid, but not really my fave… B

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 6/22/12.

So Devil’s Milk aside, this week’s posting is shaping up to be filled with solid, but mildly disappointing brews. Things I was expecting more out of. Great Lakes always seems to fit that bill for some reason, though I’ve also had some stuff that’s surprised me. I’m sure they’ll be making more appearances on the blog, at least in beer club posts, as they seem to be a popular target there… Will tomorrow reverse the trend of B or B- rated beers. Well, only one way to find out…

Mean Old Tom

I’ve already mentioned my Pavlovian response to fancy packaging (boxed bottles, fancy labels, wax dipped caps, etc…), but I also have to admit that there’s something to the minimalism of Maine Beer Company’s label designs. Simple fonts, straightforward description of the beer, maybe a little representative pictogram, but their labels are clearly dominated by whitespace. Sometimes straightforward trumps fancy, and you have to admit, Maine’s simple bottles do stand out on a shelf.

I suppose it also helps that those crazy neo-hippies from Maine have brewed some pretty fantastic beer. In this case, we’ve got a “stout aged on natural vanilla beans” which sounds rather good, but it didn’t quite work out as well as I’d hoped:

Maine Mean Old Tom

Maine Beer Co. Mean Old Tom – Pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger of tan head. Smells of deep, dark malts, maybe a little roast coffee. The taste also features that deep, dark malt character with less roast and maybe some notes of chocolate making an appearance. Not really getting any vanilla in the nose or taste. Mouthfeel starts off medium but sorta thins out as I reach the finish. It’s certainly not light bodied, but it’s on the lighter side of medium. Overall, it’s fine, and I’m enjoying it, but it’s not something that’s really pushing my buttons… It reminds me a bit of my homebrewed stout, though this is certainly better than that… B-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 6/15/12. Bottle sez 050312 (presumably bottling date) and 6 (batch number?).

Despite being a little disappointed by this one, I’m still looking forward to trying… pretty much anything else that Maine has available. I’ve got a bottle of MO in the fridge as I write, and it probably won’t last the weekend. At the rate I’m getting through reviews, you’ll probably read about it in a month…

I Hardcore You

Last year, I did a double feature of Mikkeller’s I Beat yoU and Brewdog’s Hardcore IPA. One of the great things about doing double features of styles like the IPA is that you can get a good feel for the diversity of flavor within the confines of a style that can sometimes seem… samey. This usually works out, but for the Mikkeller/Brewdog session, I did find that both beers had very similar profiles. I enjoyed both though, so when I heard about this collaboration where they essentially just blended the two aforementioned beers, then did some added dry hopping, it made sense. I assumed it wouldn’t be all that different from the two component beers, but I’m not quite sure of the result:

Brewdog and Mikkeller I Hardcore You

Brewdog and Mikkeller I Hardcore You – Pours a dark amberish brown color with a finger of lightish head. Smells of huge, juicy citrus and lots of resinous pine, with some sugary sweetness in the nose too. Taste is absolutely dominated by hops. Citrus, pine, and a thorough bitterness all throughout the taste. Mouthfeel is full bodied, heavy, well carbonated. Overall, this one seems more messy and unbalanced than its constituent parts, though I haven’t had them in quite some time. It feels much more bitter right now too. It’s certainly not bad, and I am enjoying it, but I was expecting more. B

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (11.2 oz) Drank out of a snifter on 6/15/12.

Great, now I want to go and revisit the component beers again. But I’m guessing that won’t happen anytime soon. I’m pretty stocked up at the moment, though I do have a couple Mikkeller beers in the pipeline. Though if I remain a month behind on reviews, you probably won’t see anything for a couple months. I may have to do a quick catchup post at some point, but I guess we’ll see.

Art of Darkness

What’s with the rash* of Joseph Conrad references in beer names? First came the beer I’m reviewing, Ommegang’s Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Art of Darkness (despite all their wizardly references to spellbinding and mystical incantations, we know they’re referencing Conrad, right?) Then, more recently, The Bruery released Tart of Darkness, a sour stout aged in barrels. What’s next? Clown Shoes making a beer called Fart of Darkness, that’s what. Okay, that was a cheap shot, so let’s move on…

Ommegang was my first introduction to really good beer (many moons ago), so I’m always on the lookout for new beers from them. However, one of the weird things about Ommegang is just how fantastic their core stable of beers is. In contrast to most other breweries, their core lineup is pretty much all great beers (with a potential exception in the recently added BPA). Oddly, their one-off limited-edition brews tend to be a bit on the underwhelming side. This isn’t to say that they’re bad, just that they’re not as transcendent as, say, Three Philosophers. A few of the limited edition brews have struck a nerve though, notably Gnomegang and Tripel Perfection, so I feel like my compulsion to try their new stuff is not unwarranted. So here we go:

Ommegang Art of Darkness

Ommegang Art of Darkness – Pours a very dark brown color with plenty of dark tan head. Smells of bready Belgian yeast. A little spiciness apparent, but also something lighter, almost fruity. Taste is sweet, some dark malt character, but not much in the way of roast. Plenty of yeasty spiciness though, and the sweetness gives way in the dry finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but highly carbonated, almost effervescent, and relatively dry, making this go down easy. No indication of booze at all, which is interesting given the ABV. Overall, very nice, well balanced beer! B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.9% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 6/9/12. Bottled on 02/27/12. Best by 02/2015.

So where does this fit in? I’d say, towards the top of Ommegang’s limited edition brews, if not quite the pinnacle. Quite enjoyable though, and well worth a try. Up next from Ommegang, a rather old limited edition brew I’ve been squirreling away in the basement for, sheesh, has it been two years? We’ll see. And I’ve been seeing this Biere D’Hougoumont all over the place too, and I’m betting I’ll get me a bottle of the stuff at some point.

* As recently established, it only takes two examples to constitute a “rash” of something.

Ayinger Bräu Weisse

Every once in a while I think to myself: Self, you should try more German beer. They’ve got a long, illustrious brewing tradition and you’ve only tried but a few beers made there. I then drink one, such as Ayinger’s well-respected hefeweizen, and promptly forget to buy/drink any others. While usually well-crafted and tasty, I’m rarely all that intrigued with German beers. But who am I kidding, I probably just saw some fancily packaged, limited batch, barrel-aged behemoth and my carefully curated Pavlovian response kicks in, making me blind to the likes of German beer. But I digress. The point here is actually that I don’t always drink massive face-melting American beer, and I must admit that this one really hit the spot after Philly Beer Week (where I probably overdid it with the drinkin).

Ayinger Brau Weisse

Ayinger Bräu Weisse – Pours a cloudy golden yellow color with two fingers of white, fluffy head. Smells strongly of traditional banana and clove weizen yeast. Taste has that same fruity, spicy character to it, with that wheat flavor kicking in around the middle and a really nice additional fruity note hitting towards the finish and lasting through the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is beautiful, crisp, refreshing, light, but well carbonated and substantial. Overall, one of the better Hefeweizens I’ve ever had. A fantastic summer beer too. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5.1% ABV bottled (500 ml capped). Drank out of a shaker pint on 6/8/12.

Well, I don’t have any other German beers in the pipeline, but I’m sure I’ll have another hefe or two this summer, as they really do hit the spot on a hot day. In the meantime, I’ll have to make do with all these face melters I bought recently. It’s a hard life.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Back when my beer nerdery was going into overdrive (let’s say 2009ish), I saw a few bottles of this at the store and balked at the high price tag ($8 for a 12 ounce bottle). Little did I know that I wouldn’t even see another bottle of the stuff for two years (this delay was apparently exacerbated by a bad batch that had to be dumped, as portrayed on the short-lived Brewmasters tv show). So when Dogfish Head started releasing the new batch last year, I jumped on the opportunity. I had some on tap and picked up a few bottles, price tag be damned*!

I don’t always love Dogfish Head’s wacky shenanigans, but I usually find their stuff interesting and worth a shot. And say what you will about their shameless gimmickry, but Dogfish Head knows what it’s doing when it comes to IPAs, and their “minute” series is a sorta rite of passage amongst hopheads around here. I’ve already talked about the history of the massive 120 Minute IPA, but one thing I never quite understood was the beer nerds’ dismissal of this beer when it’s still “young”, claiming that it’s “undrinkable” unless it’s been aging for at least two years. When I had it on tap, I had no idea what these dorks were talking about, but now that I’ve cracked one of my bottles, I may have an idea what they mean (even if “undrinkable” is an overstatement).

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA – Pours a beautiful, mostly clear golden orange color with a finger of white head. The smell is filled with caramel malt and a ton of hoppy citrus notes. The taste is very sweet, plenty of that rich caramel malt going on and again with the citrusy hop character, but not a ton of bitterness. What there is a ton of, though, is alcohol. Very boozy stuff, moreso than I remember from last time, though it’s not undrinkable or anything, just different. Mouthfeel is full bodied, almost chewy, and again, there’s a very boozy heat here. This is actually pretty easy to drink, but it’s still just a sipping beer due to the booze. Overall, a very complex, interesting beer that’s well worth seeking out. Like last time, I find it hard to rate something this weird and experimental, but for now I’ll give it a B+, a slight downgrade, but I have a few more bottles of the stuff in my cellar, so we’ll see how this ages. I think that age would mellow all that booze out a bit, making this a much better beer…

Beer Nerd Details: 18% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 6/2/12. 2011 vintage.

I’ve got two more of these 2011 vintage bottles that will most likely sit in my cellar for those two years (or more) the nerds were talking about. This is generally made easier by the fact that it’s such a high ABV beer. I’m looking forward to it, as well as the bottle of 2010 World Wide Stout I’ve got sitting around (another 18% monster). Alas, most of Dogfish Head’s recent releases have not seemed very attractive to me…

* Is it sad that I now find this to be only moderately priced? Still, I probably made the right decision when I was in my beer nerd infancy, as I don’t know if I would have appreciated it as much as I do now…