Saison

June Beer Club

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Tonight was beer club! For the uninitiated, beer club is a gathering of beer-minded individuals from my workplace who get together once a month for beer and revelry at a local BYOB. This time around, we returned to an Indian/Thai restaurant and despite a medium turnout, had much in the way of fun.

June Beer Club Lineup

For the sake of posterity, I’m documenting my nearly incoherent thoughts on each beer below, which is my way of saying that you should not trust any of these ratings because as we’ve established recently, I’m the worst. In order of drinking (not necessarily the order pictured above):

  • Red Star Zingerbuch Kombucha – So the first beer of the night… was not beer! This is some sort of bizarre fermented tea concoction with ginger and hibiscus. It was very aromatic, flowery, and ginger aley. It was not exactly my bag, but this is the perfect setting for weird crap like this. No rating because I don’t even really know what this is.
  • Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale – Basically a palate cleanser, and a beer I’ve already covered before. B+
  • Founders All Day IPA – So the new trend is to call pale ales a “session IPA” or something like that? Ok, whatever, this is a pretty solid example, and I could probably drink a bunch of these with no complaints. Nice hop presence, but light and quaffable. B+
  • Surly Furious – Ah, now this is an IPA! Surly does not distribute to PA… except during Philly Beer Week. One of our attendees tonight was fortunate enough to attend a Surly event and snag a few cans, and generous enough to share with the rest of us. I’ve heard so many great things about Surly that I was afraid they wouldn’t live up to the hype, but this is indeed a really fantastic IPA. Citrus and lots of pine and resinous hops, but exceedingly well balanced stuff, lots of hops and enough crystal malts that it didn’t feel super bitter despite being 99 IBU. Probably the best beer of the night. I’ll leave it at A- territory for now, but I definitely want to get some more of this (it could warrant an upgrade).
  • Kaedrôme Saison – Dammit, this still has not carbonated as much as I’d like, but it is still a tasty beer, light on the funk, but still a nice peppery saison flavor. I’m guessing that if it hasn’t carbonated much by now, it’s not going to get much better… which is fine, since I probably only have 6-12 bottles of the stuff left. B
  • Ken’s Homebrewed Chile Beer – Made with chile peppers and smoked malt, this sucker was spicy but flavorful. Not really my thing, but it’s an interesting beer, and certainly not the abomination that Cave Creek Chili Beer was…
  • Lost Abbey Carnevale – A Brett does saison? Sign me up, this was one of my favorites of the night. Nice fruity, earthy funk pervading the whole thing, a pleasure to drink. It’s no Logsdon or anything, but it’s really nice. A high B+
  • Southern Tier Compass – Perhaps it was just because we opened it towards the end of the night, but this felt exceedingly bland to me, with the only real dominant note being the flowery aromas and flavors. Not really my thing. C
  • Brooklyn Wild Streak – A belgian strong pale aged in Bourbon barrels with Brett? Well ok then. The Brett has a minimal, but still detectable presence. But the taste is more dominated by that pale ale aged in bourbon barrel character that never really works as well for me as it does for stouts or barleywines. It’s fine for what it is, but it’s not really my thing. B-
  • Kaedrin Bomb & Grapnel (Blend) – The imperial stout is doing quite well. This blend has faint hints of the bourbon and oak, but nothing like a BBA stout. That being said, it’s delicious and only getting better over time. I’ll still leave it at a B+

And that is all for now. We will probably return to regular blogging next week, so stay tuned.

Philly Beer Week Recap

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As per usual, I did not have my act together for this year’s Philly Beer Week, and thus only went to a few events. For whatever reason, this week always seems to sneak up on me and I’m always caught unprepared. I’m the worst. That being said, I did manage to snag a few pretty interesting beers, so here’s a quick recap. First stop was the venerable Philly institution Monk’s Cafe:

Monks Cafe

The event was all about collaborations, most of which involved Monk’s very own Tom Peters… First up was the next entry in the whole PNC collaboration series (last year’s collaboration yielded Firestone Walker PNC, a most spectacular beer). This release comes to us from Maine’s Allagash brewing, and this beer actually began its journey over four years ago (“Brewed in April 2010 & racked into oak barrels on May 25, 2010”). In a nice touch, the little beer menu actually included details of each barrel (including a couple that were marked as “DO NOT USE”, heh). Click for a larger version:

Allagash PNC Broken Elevator Barrel Details

Allagash PNC Broken Elevator

Allagash PNC Broken Elevator – Dark pour, fluffy tan head… darker than I was expecting, but when you look at the barrel details, that makes sense. Smells oaky, almost chocolaty and very sour, I can almost feel the sourness in my jaw (and I haven’t even tasted it yet). Taste is bracingly sour, tart puckering fruit with some dark, chocolaty notes, almost a chocolate covered cherry feel. Mouthfeel is surprisingly full, not like a chewy stout but very big for a sour, which is an interesting feel. Extremely acidic, biting, but still nice… Overall, this is a really interesting, complex, unique, and very sour beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

So after that, I sampled a few other brews, including another small glass of Firestone’s PNC stout (still exceptional, no change from my initial review):

Dock Street Trappiste Style Pale Ale – Inspired by Orval, this is obviously not a clone or anything, but it’s nice. It’s got a very dry feel, lots of peppery yeast notes, and some earthy funk in the finish. It’s a fine beer, but not quite lighting the world on fire. I heard that this beer was actually made for last year’s PBW, so perhaps it was better fresh? Not that it’s terrible now or anything… B

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

Dilewyns Philly Tripel – This is the official Philly Beer Week Collaboration orchestrated by Tom Peters, where one local brewer travels to Belgium to collaborate with a brewery there. This year it was Justin Low from Dock Street who went and collaborated with Anne Catherine Dilewyns from the relatively young Dilewyns brewery (they make Vicaris labeled beers) in Belgium. The result is a relatively straightforward tripel, with some small twists. Pale colored, sticky sweet, lots of honey flavor and fruity esters, less in the way of Belgian yeast spice. This is perhaps not my preferred take on the style, but it’s nice. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

De Molen Rook and Leer

De Molen Rook & Leer – The weirdest, most unique beer of the night, I’ve never had anything like this before. So get this, we’ve got an Imperial Smoked Porter base that was aged in whiskey barrels with brettanomyces and Rodenbach yeast. Oh, and it clocks in at 11.5% ABV. Um, yeah, ok. The more amazing thing: It actually works. Neither the smoke nor the sourness dominates, leading to an extremely complex beer. Usually high ABV sours don’t work so well for me, but this one is just very well balanced. It’s certainly odd, and I think the fact that this was originally brewed in 2011 has helped the flavors mesh together (and perhaps even mellow out some). It’s a weird beer to rate, but I’ll give it a A-, but maybe I was a bit far gone at this point.

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

By this time, I was doing pretty well, so I slowed down a bit, got a table with some friends and ate some dinner. I did have a glass of Pliny the Elder, which was great as always, though I’m starting to see where the contrarians are coming. Naturally, I had some mussels, and as usual, they were fantastic. We also got a plate of Frog’s Legs, which were basically a lot like chicken wings (I’ve had Frog’s Legs before, but never like this).

At this point, we took our leave of Monk’s and headed over to the Good Dog Bar & Restaurant, which is a great little place about a block over from Monk’s. Well worth a visit if you’re ever in Philly, and they also have great food (I’m pretty sure they’ve been featured on one of them Food Network shows at some point). They were having a Firestone Walker event and included this rarity, which I assumed would never make its way out East:

Firestone Walker Helldorado

Firestone Walker Helldorado – So you know how Firestone does that Anniversary blend where they invite a bunch of local winemakers to their brewery and set them loose on a bunch of barrel aged beers? Many of the component brews are available in bottled form, but most seem to be relative rarities, and Helldorado is one of those. I was shocked to see it at this event and immediately got myself a glass of the stuff. Alas, this is perhaps not my favorite style. It’s described as Blonde Barleywine brewed with Honey, and boy can you really tell. It’s extremely sticky sweet, with that honey coming through strong. It’s supposed to be brewed with El Dorado hops, but I get almost no hop character out of this, so I’m guessing it was a light touch (or just used to balance out that intense sweetness). It’s definitely a big, boozy bomb of a beer, and it’s got a full body. However, something about the way light colored beers react in bourbon barrels is just not as exciting to me as when you get a darker base beer (the picture above makes Helldorado look darker than it was, though it wasn’t super pale either). I mean, it’s good, I’m really happy I got to try it, and everyone else who had it seemed to love it, so maybe this is just me, but I’ll leave it at a B+ and go from there.

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

Firestone Walker Lil’ Opal – Now this, on the other hand, was way better than I was expecting. It’s a toned down (“lil'”) saison that’s been aged in barrels with Brett and blended with various vintages, and it’s fantastic. Granted, this is right up my alley, but I really loved this beer, a great funky saison, fruity, earthy, spicy, almost quaffable (even at this point in the night). It was a refreshing beer to have right after Helldorado, and it totally stood up to those intense flavors as well. Obviously, I was a little far gone at this point, so I’ll conservatively rate it an A-, but I need to find me some more of this someday.

Beer Nerd Details: 5.9% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

Firestone Walker Agrestic Ale – Firestone has always been known for barrel fermenting and barrel aging, but they always stuck to non-wild styles, and they apparently greatly feared infections and the like. But when they opened up a completely separate facility, that allowed them to play with all sorts of sour bugs, and we’re starting to get the fruits of that labor now (Lil’ Opal also came out of that program). This was a really nice, light bodied sour, it reminded me a little of brighter Crooked Stave Origins. Again, I was a little far gone at this point in the night, but I really enjoyed this. I’ll give it a B+, but I’d really like to try it again sometime.

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass on 6/7/14.

Phew, it’s a very good thing I was taking the train home, and while the above does seem like a lot of beer, it was spread out over quite a long time. Again, I need to better prepare for Philly Beer Week next year, so we’ll see what happens. That’s all for now. Stay tuned for Beer Club tomorrow! (No post on Thursday though, as I didn’t really drink much else this past weekend, for obvious reasons!)

Tired Hands Second Anniversary

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It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two years since Tired Hands arrived on the scene and started melting faces with their amazing saisons and quaffable pale ales, amongst other strange and beautiful beers. To a beer nerd like myself, having a brewery of this quality and with these specialties even remotely close to my home has been a Godsend. Two years of fantastic beer, and the future is looking rather bright.

Like last year, the second anniversary celebration yesterday was a total madhouse, and given what they were pouring, totally worth it! I was fortunate enough to snag a seat at the bar rather early on, and my neighboring bar sitters were a lot of fun, which was great. For the sake of posterity and to instill jealousy in you, my valued readers, some half remembered thoughts (based on hastily entered notes jotted into Evernote that I’m trying to decipher right now) on what I had are below.

The Emptiness Is Not Eternal

The Emptiness is Not Eternal – 7% ABV Oak fermented Sorrel & Dandelion Saison – The Emptiness series of collaborations with rockstar farmer Tom Culton continues with this beautiful oaky sour beer, a little more herbal and floral than previous incarnations (all of which were fruited, to be sure). Someone was saying that this resembled Hill Farmstead Vera Mae, though I feel like this is an entirely different beast (in particular, I think the oakiness of this separates it considerably, though the emptiness bugs that bring the funk are also distinct from whatever HF is using). That’s all academic though, as they’re both great beers. As Emptiness beers go, I think I prefer the fruited versions, but this is still fantastic. A-

St.Twoer

St.Twoer – 6% ABV Citrus IPA – Brewed with clementines and a wicked combo of Galaxy, Simcoe, and Motueka hops, this greatly resembles St.Oner (though this one has less notes of pun). Beautiful juicy IPA, lots of bright fruit and citrus hops, the $4 pint deal on this was well worth it.

Handfarm – 5% ABV Barrel Fermented Saison – At this point, I think I’ve had some of every batch of Handfarm. I’ve always loved it, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen it on tap and hmm, I think I might like it slightly better that way. A nice vinous and fruity funk character with a more balanced oak presence, I could have probably drank this all day. Still an A- in my book.

Tired Hands Only Void Garlic Cask

Only Void – Garlic Cask – 11% ABV Imperial Stout Cask Conditioned on local black garlic (!?) – Tired Hands has made some weird beers and done some wacky cask conditioned stuff before, but this one really takes the cake. Their description on the draft list they handed out: “Wweeeiiiiiiirrrdddddddd!” This is pretty accurate. The garlic comes through very powerfully in the nose, and much less so in the taste. This is a good thing. The nose is actually really interesting, almost like… pizza? Yeah, kinda like that. Roasty chocolate pizza? Er, not sure. It’s perhaps not something I would seek out again, but I’m very happy I tried it because it is a billion times better than it sounds. One of those beers that’s just fun to experience. No idea how to rate, so I’ll just slap a B on it and be done with it.

American Youth – 5.5% ABV APA collaboration with Half Acre – One of two Half Acre collaborations on tap, this one was a quaffable pale ale that is basically comprised of a blend of Daisy Cutter and HopHands, with the result being a very aromatic, very light bodied and refreshing beer. I seem to be saying this about a lot of these beers, but I could have drank this all day. A-

Geodesic – 6.5% ABV Hoppy Spelt Saison – Alright, so I’m not afraid to say that I was pretty far gone by this point, so my memory here is a little hazy. That being said, it was a very nice funky saison, almost sour (but then, my palate may have just been completely wrecked at this point). This was the last beer of the day for me, so take this with a grain of salt, but instinct sez rate it a B+

Alright, so now we get to the weirdest thing of the whole event, which was the Parageusia Bar. For the uninitiated, Jean has been posting cryptic comments about some dude named Christian Zellerfield, described as the “talented Future Rustic contract-brewer”, for a while now. No one really knew what was up with this guy or these Parageusia beers we kept hearing about, and the research department here at Kaedrin turned up almost nothing about them (other than Jean’s cryptic pronouncements on social media). So at the Anniversary, you could buy two (very pretty) pieces of glassware, which would entitle you to a fill of each of the beers available (Parageusia1 and Parageusia2) at a little popup bar they set up in the tiny little second floor office. Only two people were allowed in at any given time, the room was all dark and moody, and the whole thing was very hush hush. When we got in there, we asked what was up with the beers, and the Euro-accented “representative” (who was not Christian Zellerfield) gave us the skinny: Cabernet Franc Barrel Fermented sour ales, one at 6.5% ABV, the other at 8.2% ABV. We asked where this guy was, and honest to God, his answer was that he was traveling in space, but that he had chosen Tired Hands to be the one place to distribute his beer in the Milky Way Galaxy (to me, this implied that other galaxies were awash in Parageusia beer, but the representative was evasive when I tried to press him on that).

So the rumor is that Jean is basically fucking with us, and this whole thing is an elaborate ruse. Or that Parageusia is real, but basically brewed entirely by Jean and his crew, and this Christian guy is the one who is yanking our chains. Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t really matter, because both of these beers were spectacular. And that glassware is beautiful too…

I do not remember how to spell this awesome beer

Parageusia1 – 6.5% ABV Cab Franc Barrel Fermented Ale – Wow, this is an amazing beer, rivaling the best of Tired Hands’ output. Very sour, beautiful oaked character, funky, vinous, fruity, absolutely delicious. This was probably my favorite beer of the night. A

This one too, it is para-something

Parageusia2 – 8.2% ABV Cab Franc Barrel Fermented Ale – A slightly darker beer, a little more intense on the sour end of things, perhaps not as great as the Parageusia1, but still really wonderful in its own right (and really close in terms of the flavor profile). A-

The word Parageusia is apparently the medical term for a bad taste in the mouth, which could not be further from the truth. I don’t know what the future plans for these beers are, but Jean has teased that bottles are coming, so I will most definitely be keeping an eye out for that. Or whatever this crazy space traveling brewer brings to us in the future (or, perhaps, from the future?)

All in all, it was a fantastic day, though I will note that I was happy I took the train to get there! The only thing I didn’t get to try was Negative Creep, an oak fermented Kiwi sour ale (it had not tapped as of my departure around 5 pm). Congrats to Tired Hands on two years of spectacular beer, and things are only looking up from here. The next year should see a new brewery and a corresponding increase in output, which is most exciting. Stay tuned, I plan on continuing to make you jealous.

Lavery Rum Barrel Aged Imperial French Ale

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France is clearly more enamored with wine than beer, but seeing as though they share a border with Belgium, it’s not a surprise that French-inspired beers tend to share that rustic farmhouse quality. Supposedly there has been a recent proliferation of smaller breweries making interesting stuff, though I have no real experience with that. And it’s not like today’s beer is actually from France, though it was made with some strains of French saison yeast (in Erie, PA). It’s got wheat and rye in the grain bill, IPA sized American hop additions, and it clocks in at a rather hefty 11.5% ABV. So it’s appropriately weird enough to call it a saison. Oh, and this particular batch was aged in 30 year old rum barrels from Jamiaca. The bottle mentions nothing of this treatment , but the waxed cap (and, uh, the guy at the bottle shop) gave it away. I’ve seen mixed results from barrel aged Belgian styles, but this one seems hefty enough to take on the added complexity without getting overwhelmed. Only one way to find out:

Lavery Rum Barrel Aged Imperial French Ale

Lavery Rum Barrel Aged Imperial French Ale – Pours a murky, turbid golden brown color with a finger or two of large bubbled head that nevertheless manages to stick around for a bit. Smell has a lot of what I’d call Belgian yeast character (or is that French yeast?), spicy and fruity, but also a rich element of booze, presumably the rum and oak coming through. And yes, that rum comes through very strongly in the taste, rich caramel and oak, with tons of rummy booze, especially in the finish. Some general spicy fruity yeast characteristics also come through in the middle, but this is clearly a rum bomb. Mouthfeel is rich, nearly full bodied, and very, very boozy. Lots of alcohol heat from that rum. Overall, what we have here is a pretty unbalanced brew. That rum and barrel character come through well and I like that about it, but it’s perhaps a bit too hot for its own good (the base is perhaps a bit too dry to really stand up to the barrel). Still a worthy and interesting brew, I’ve not really had anything like this before… B

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (750 ml red waxed cap). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/23/14.

Lavery continues to be an interesting little brewery, and I’d love to try some more from their barrel program… and I’ll probably grab a bottle of Liopard Oir next time I see it.

Saint Arnold Icon Series: Bière De Saison

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The Icon Series is Texas brewer Saint Arnold’s experimental line, a chance to try one off beers unlike the normal stuff they make. This particular entry in that series is difficult to pin down. The beer itself says its a saison, and Ratebeer agrees. Beer Advocate calls it a Bière de Garde, which isn’t entirely inaccurate (it is a more malt-forward take on a farmhouse ale). The label itself sez it combines “the richness of a winter ale” with a saison yeast, which is probably the best description yet. Personally, I found myself thinking “Dubbel” whilst imbibing, though that’s not entirely correct either. I’ll just settle on dark saison because it’s not like this sort of style dysphoria hasn’t struck before. And I kinda love that about saisons.

Saint Arnold Icon Series: Bière De Saison

Saint Arnold Icon Series: Bière De Saison – Pours a cloudy dark amber color with nice highlights at the edge of the glass, visible sediment, and a finger of head. Not your typical saison appearance, but then, it’s also not that unusual. The nose is all Belgian yeast, leaning more towards the fruity banana esters than the spicy clove phenols. The taste has an ample malt presence, dark candi sugar, lots of that fruity Belgian yeast and some spice too. As it warms, the spice comes through more. It smells and tastes more akin to a dubbel or quadrupel than a saison (or a Bière De Garde), though it’s not quite in full bore Belgian strong dark territory either. It’s an interesting middle-ground this beer has discovered. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, well carbonated, a little spicy, and just a hint of sticky booze. Overall, this is a really nice malt and yeast forward Belgian beer, somewhere between a strong saison and a dubbel. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/16/14.

So I’ve had 3 Saint Arnold beers, each of which rated a B+ in my book, which is enough to make me wish they actually distributed up here, though I apparently have no problem getting unsolicited bottles in trades and BIFs and whatnot…

Stillwater Classique

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Ensconced in the loving cocoon of craft beer, it’s easy to forget that the grand majority of beer that is consumed out in the real world is mass-produced, industrial adjunct lagers. People suck that stuff down like it’s water. It’s easy to turn up our noses at a low ABV beer that has the gall to use flavorless adjuncts like rice and corn, but those beers have their place, and it’s not like a “cheap” malt bill like that can’t make for a great beer.

Enter Stillwater Premium, their reconstructed “Post Prohibition” style ale. The malt bill and hop schedule are absolutely pedestrian (Pilsner malt, corn, and rice, hopped with Cluster, Northern Brewer, and Saaz), but fans of Stillwater know what’s coming next: farmhouse yeast and 3 strains of Brettanomyces to add a little funk to the proceedings. These were originally released in bottles, but the goal was to get them into cans for that easy drinking lawnmower market. Alas, despite a successful “hand canned” batch of Premium, brewer Brian Strumke ran into a classic blunder of Gypsy brewing: “finding a facility that would not only brew with Brett, but also run it through the canning line, for obvious cross contamination risks.”

Premium remains in bottles, but Strumke took the same recipe, removed the Brett and added some Cascade hops to make up the difference, and called it Classique – a sorta Belgian interpretation of the classic American adjunct beer. Slap some typically awesome Stillwater artwork featuring a mustachioed man wearing an eyepatch (presumably a play on National Bohemian’s cartoon logo, notable since the old National brewery is right across the street from Stillwater’s bar), and you’ve got yourself a go-to table beer.

Update: In a grievous oversight, I neglected to mention that this also makes a great go-to shotgunning beer. I was never any good at that sort of thing, but Beerbecue has the goods.

Stillwater Classique

Stillwater Classique – Pours a cloudy straw yellow color with loads of billowy head that leaves thick lacing as I drink. Smell is all Belgian yeast, peppery spice, banana and pear and the like, even some fruity and herbal hop notes. Taste also strays to the spicy side, but the fruit is there aplenty. Mouthfeel is very well carbonated, light bodied, crisp, refreshing, a little dry, utterly crushable. It’s tasty, but not so intense that you couldn’t take down a few of these in one session. Overall, fantastic table beer, worthy of repeat drinking… B+

Beer Nerd Details: 4.5% ABV canned (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/1/14.

So this is a great go-to beer, and rumor has it that there will be a Classique Noir someday (presumably a darker take on the same beer). As per usual, Stillwater is always worth trying for us farmhouse fans…

April Beer Clubbing

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Tonight was beer club! For the uninitiated, beer club is a gathering of beer-minded individuals from my workplace who get together once a month for beer and revelry at a local BYOB. This time around, we went to a local Pizza place, got our fill of deep fried pizza pockets and other such delights, and naturally partook in lots of beer:

April Beer Club Selections

(Click for larger version)

For the sake of posterity, completely unreliable notes on each beer are below. Standard disclaimers apply, and other such waffling. Great, now I have a sudden craving for waffles. Thanks a lot. Anywho, in order of drinking (not necessarily the order pictured above):

  • Green Flash Le Freak – Labeled a Belgian IPA, I didn’t get much in the way of hops out of this, but it remained a pretty solid Belgian Strong Pale nonetheless. Nice spicy Belgian yeast character. B
  • Ovila Abbey Saison – Bog standard saison material, nothing special at all, though certainly not bad or anything like that. Still, there wasn’t much to make it really stand out in a setting like this. Mild Belgian yeast character, maybe a hint of lemon peel if you are really looking for it. B-
  • Stone Stochasticity Project Grapefruit Slam IPA – Rock solid IPA that feels like it’s actually made with grapefruit (as opposed to only hops that lend a grapefruity character). I don’t actually know if that’s the case for sure, but that’s what it feels like. Beautiful nose, what seems like Stone’s trademark hop profile, and a heaping helping of citrusy but astringent grapefruit. An interesting beer. B
  • Evil Twin / Crooked Stave Ryan And The Gosling – One of my contributions for the night, this is dominated by funky Brett. This is quite welcome in the nose, and the front end of the taste is fantastic, but the finish is very odd. That funk turns super earthy, almost savory in the finish, which brings this down a bit. Still an interesting beer to try though. B
  • Allagash Midnight Brett – Hey, look at that, a beer I just reviewed yesterday. And it held up rather well in this setting as well.
  • Ken’s Homebrewed Honey IPA – Brewed with a bunch of New Zealand hops, this was quite nice.
  • Sly Fox Nihilist – An interesting take on the imperial stout style, huge carbonation, dryer than I’d normally expect, but a nice roast character, with hints of booze (but not overpowering). It’s definitely a decent brew. B+
  • Kaedrin Bomb & Grapnel – Straight up imperial stout, this one compared very favorably to the Nihilist, definitely thicker and more creamy, less roast, but really quite nice. B+
  • Kaedrin Bomb & Grapnel (Bourbon Oaked) – Interestingly, I feel like the char that came through on early bottles has mellowed out, and the bourbon seems to be lessening the roast as well, making this an interesting blend of flavors. It’s turned out quite well, though not at all like your typical bourbon barrel aged stout. Still, not bad for a first attempt, and quite nice on its own. B+
  • DuClaw Dirty Little Freak – Holy hell. Huge chocolate nose, like powdered cocoa. Less chocolate in the taste, as it takes a back seat to a big coconut character. Surprisingly not super sweet, and it works well enough I guess (certainly a unique beer), though I was a little disappointed. B-
  • DuClaw Cocoa Fuego – Brewed with dark chocolate and chipotle peppers, its the latter that seems to dominate this beer, even contributing a sorta smokey flavor that’s pretty tough to overcome. There’s some peppery heat that takes up residence in your jaw, but it’s not punishing or anything like that. Not the worst hot pepper beer I’ve had, but not a beer that I connected with either. C+
  • DuClaw Hell on Wood – Ah, now this is more like it. This is DuClaw’s excellent Devil’s Milk barleywine aged on bourbon barrels, and it turned out reasonably well. Clearly not a top tier BBA barleywine, but it works really well on its own. B+

So all in all, quite a nice night. As per usual, already looking forward to next month… In the meantime, stay tuned for another .rar wale review tomorrow.

The Emptiness is Eternal

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For 40 days or so, I pretty much gave up beer, mostly just to see if I could. There were a couple of preconceived exceptions to that, but for the most part I was busy expanding my horizons to bourbon, wine, tea, and the like. I really enjoyed all that and my pleasantly reduced waistline thanks me, but I have to say, nothing quite satisfies like beer. Not even a Snickers.

One of the things I missed most during my mini-hiatus from beer was trips to Tired Hands. This was exacerbated by the fact that they’re absolutely tearing it up of late, and they’ve had plenty of newsworthy events in the past month, including the announcement of a new production facility and brewcafé (“we will soon have room for hundreds of oak barrels” – music to my earballs) and two, count ’em, two bottle releases. Of course, I attended these because I am a glutton for punishment, but when I finally got back into the beer drinking swerve, I knew I had something special to start with.

This is the third beer in the Emptiness series of barrel fermented saisons made with various fresh fruits from “rockstar farmer” Tom Culton (in this case, we’ve got Hachiya persimmons). So for my triumphant return to beer, I cracked a bottle of this stuff and experienced a Highlander-style quickening (fortunately, my electronics are hardened against such disturbances). I’m sad to say, the emptiness of this particular bottle will now be eternal:

Tired Hands The Emptiness is Eternal

Tired Hands The Emptiness is Eternal – Pours a beautiful, hazy but radiant straw yellow color with a finger of white head. Smells of oak, fruit, berries, and funky, musty yeast. The taste is perfectly balanced between sweet, bright, and tart fruit, berries, oak, and finishing with a puckering sourness. Mouthfeel is well carbonated (perhaps the highest carbed Tired Hands beer I’ve ever had!) with medium bodied, a beautiful oak character, and a well matched dry acidity. It’s crisp and refreshing, bright and damn near quaffable. This may well be Tired Hands’ best sour since the superb Romulon, and is certainly playing with the big boys of farmhouse sours (Hill Farmstead, Sante Adairius, etc…) This beer is awesome, in the true sense of that word. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (500 ml waxed cap). Drank out of a flute glass on 4/18/14. 400 Bottle Release.

This will be a tough act to follow, but then, I said that about the last Emptiness series beer… So It Goes? We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I had some interesting Allagash stuff this weekend, and dipped into my cellar for another wale that we’ll cover later this week. Stay tuned. In other news, I have to get my ass to Tired Hands sometime this week. Godspeed, uh, me.

To Øl White Wine Barrel Aged Snowball Saison

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Before he became a famed Gypsy brewer, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø was a high school teacher. Two of his students showed an abiding interest in homebrewing, so Mikkel schemed to use the school’s kitchen during off hours (10 pm until 6 am) to teach them to brew. When they slept, I do not know. Eventually Mikkel would go on to found Mikkeller to great acclaim. A few years later, his two students threw their hat into the ring and started To Øl (Danish for “Two Beers”). Like their teacher (and his Evil Twin), they would pursue the Gypsy approach to brewing, scrounging excess brewing capacity where they could, and started putting out their own well received beers. To date, I have had none, so it’s finally time to rectify the situation:

To Øl White Wine Barrel Aged Snowball Saison

To Øl White Wine Barrel Aged Snowball Saison – Pours a mostly clear golden orange color with a couple fingers of white, fluffy head that sticks around a while and leaves lots of lacing. Aroma isn’t especially strong, but I’m getting Belgian yeast, fruity esters and spicy phenols, and that white wine barrel is coming through too. Does not smell sour or particularly funky. Taste bears that out, it’s very much like a regular ol saison, sweet with some peppery yeast notes. The white wine is there, as is the vanilla aspect of the barrel (though I really don’t get a lot of oak itself), but this not at all sour or funky. Mouthfeel is actually very nice, highly carbonated, effervescent. That white wine cuts into that a bit though, and makes the finish a bit on the sticky side. Overall, this is a nice beer, if not exactly what I was expecting. Reminiscent of White Monkey, actually. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (375 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 2/22/14.

So not blowing the doors off the building or anything, but I’m still curious to try more from this pair of gypsies.

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.