Stout

2SP Bourbon Barrel Aged The Russian

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Delaware County is a weird place. I say this as a man born and raised there. Blue collar with lots of Irish Catholics (I wen’t to St. Dot’s and Cardinal O’Hara). I’m surprised there’s not a Delco flag. It’s weird for a place to choose its identity based on its county, but Delco is a way of life. Apparently. Alright, fine, I’m exaggerating for effect here, but there is something a little… off about Delco. The point is, when a brewery opens up there, you can expect them to embrace their roots and take pride in their county. Whatever that may be.

2SP is the recently opened (er, last year) brewery arm of Two Stones Pub, a small chain of solid little beer bars located mostly in Delaware. Head brewer and Delco’s native son Bob Barrar made a name for himself brewing for Iron Hill Brewpub in Media, earning numerous medals at GABF and other big contests. One of his most famous creations is Iron Hill’s Russian Imperial Stout, a beer that he’s adapted for new life at 2SP. As local imperial stouts go, it’s great and I look forward to seeing it around more often. Now they’ve put it in Bourbon Barrels and aged it for 8 months? Sold, even if it is a pricey bottle. I’ve often mentioned the need for a more regularly available local BBA stout; will this beer fill that need? Well, maybe?

2SP Bourbon Barrel Aged The Russian

2SP Bourbon Barrel Aged The Russian – Pours a deep, dark brown color, almost black, with a solid finger of light brown head that sticks around for a bit. Smells of molasses, caramel, vanilla, with hints of the bourbon and oak pitching in as well. Roast comes out a bit more in the taste, along with similar elements from the nose, light caramel and vanilla, with just a bit of vanilla and oak. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, well carbonated (moreso than typical for the style – not inappropriate, but it does lighten this beer up a bit more than it probably should), a nice sipper. Overall, it’s solid, but not a top tier affair. Honestly, I might like the regular The Russian better… B+

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 5/20/16. Batch No. 001. Bottle No. 459.

I’ve generally enjoyed everything I’ve had from 2SP, so I’m looking forward to keeping tabs on them in the coming years. As for a world class local BBA stout? This isn’t quite there yet, but we’ve got another candidate coming soon. Stay tuned.

Grimm Bourbon Barrel Double Negative

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New York City has quietly begun to establish itself with some standout breweries. They’ve always had Brooklyn, and last time I was there, Captain Lawrence was the lone savior on generally tepid taplists, but now places like Other Half and Grimm Artisan Ales popping up, putting out cans of beer that have godforsaken beer dorks lining up for hours.

Or wait, where is Grimm from? This label sez it’s brewed by Grimm at Beltway Brewing Co, Sterling, VA. Looks like we have another Gypsy on our hands you guys (oops, they call themselves a “Nomadic” brewer, a thousand pardons for not glomming onto the right hipster codeword), and yes, it looks like they’re collaborating their arse off as well. Some interesting stuff coming, too. In particular, they brewed a batch of Mosaic hopped Braumeister Pils with Victory (this will hopefully show up around here soon, and I’m most excited to try it) and collaborated with Fantôme on a saison. My kind of Gypsy, is what I’m getting at here.

So what we have here is a nice little imperial stout aged in 11 year old bourbon barrels (original batch was aged in Elijah Craig 12 barrels, so mayhaps the new NAS barrels were used for this?) No big whoop.

Grimm Bourbon Barrel-Aged Double Negative

Grimm Bourbon Barrel Double Negative – Pours a very dark brown, almost black color with half a finger of light brown head. Smells of roasted malt, vanilla, caramel, and a little bourbon and oak. There’s something I can’t quite place here as well, not brown sugar, but maybe something along these lines. Taste starts very rich, some roasted malt character, and then that weird flavor I can’t place, and maybe even some bitter hops in the finish. Mouthfeel is rich, full bodied, thinning out a bit towards the finish (not thin, but not as rich as the beginning). Overall, this is very good, but not top tier stuff. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10.3% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 4/22/16.

There’s also a Maple Bourbon version of this beer which is, you know, sploosh, but I’m pretty on board with the whole Grimm program. I also recently got a taste of their Super Spruce Gose which was very impressive. At this point, I’m definitely seeking out more from these guys.

FiftyFifty Eclipse Grand Cru

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I’ve reviewed, like, a kajillion variants of FiftyFifty’s venerable Eclipse series of barrel aged stouts, and at this point, it’s like, what else is there to talk about? Last year I held a horizontal tasting of 6 variants and also tried the Four Roses variant side by side with the Bourbon, where do I go from there? There are plenty of variants that I haven’t tried, for sure, but at some point these posts have to have diminishing returns, right? You hate these posts, right?

Well, too bad, because this is a situation where FiftyFifty’s take on the normal approach actually feels groundbreaking or something. Whereas most Eclipse variants are aged in different expressions of bourbon barrels to highlight the individuality of the spirits, this one paradoxically does the innovative yet typical thing and combines all the different expressions into one amorphous blend. I mean, yeah, this is what every large barrel program does with their bourbon barrel aged beer, but for FiftyFifty, this is new and the result is phenomenal. They say that the Grand Cru is created “from the best barrels for blending”, but I assumed that was just marketing fluff, which it probably is. Still, I loved this beer and would heartily seek this out again; maybe they really did pick the “best” barrels:

FiftyFifty Eclipse Grand Cru

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout – Brewmaster’s Grand Cru Blend (2015) – Pours a deep dark black color with half a finger of light brown head, just like all of them. Smells phenomenal, rich caramel, tons of vanilla, oak, brownie batter, hints of roast, maybe even something like coconut. Taste isn’t quite as complex, but it’s still got a lot going for it, with that rich caramel and vanilla perfectly balanced with just enough chocolate and roast. Mouthfeel is rich and full bodied, well balanced carbonation, a nice sipper. Overall, this is fabulous and worth seeking out. A

Beer Nerd Details: 11.9% ABV bottled (22 ounce waxed cap). Drank out of a snifter on 4/2/16. Vintage: 2015. Bottle Run No. GC/1.

No other Eclipse variant reviews incoming, though of course I also snagged an Elijah Craig variant recently because who doesn’t like those? I could do without the price tag on these suckers though, and it looks like next year’s lineup is very similar to the last few years… I’m hoping to checkout the Vanilla Eclipse at some point, which should be cool, though who knows if it’ll warrant a post… Blogger problems, I know. Posting should be back on track at this point, so look for 2-3 posts a week from here on out…

Aged Beer Jamboree

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Over the past several months, I’ve been dipping into my cellar to try out some aged beer. You may have noticed a few of these showing up on the blog already, but I’ve been keeping a running log of some of the less unique bottles I’ve opened as well. Some of these were aged intentionally, some were just sitting in the back of my fridge or in my basement for far too long. What can I say, sometimes my eyes are bigger than my liver. My cellar isn’t as insane as many you’ll see out there, but it’s getting sizable, so I sometimes try to take a break from keeping up with the new releases and check out some of these old suckers.

There’s something very romantic about aged booze, I think, but with beer it’s a bit of a dicey proposition. It’s rare that I’ve had a beer get better over time. It can certainly be different, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also not usually what you expect. It’s worth trying, but if you ever find yourself with a nice bottle of something that might age well, drink it fresh. If you can snag another bottle, age that. If not, just be happy you got your hands on a fresh bottle. Let’s take a closer look at some of these:

2014 Abyss

2014 Deschutes Abyss – Finally got around to drinking one of these Deschutes beers after their “Best After” date (usually a year in the future when they release the beer). Pours a deep black color with a finger of light brown head, very nice. Smell brings a lot of the non-stoutlike elements to the fore, vinous fruit, caramel, anise, liquorice, vanilla, maybe even some dank hops. Taste starts with rich caramel, moves right on to more fruity notes, followed by a wallop of dry hop bitterness. As it warms, I get hints of that roasted malt character that I found much more prominent in fresh Abyss. Mouthfeel is full bodied, well carbonated, more dry than I remember it being fresh. Overall, I don’t know that it’s improved with age exactly, but it feels very different and it’s certainly not worse, making it an interesting candidate for aging. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.1% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a teku glass on 1/31/16. Best After: 11/10/15.

Firestone Walker XV - Anniversary Ale

2011 Firestone Walker XV Anniversary Ale – My first Anniversary Ale, this one lives up to my memory. A bottle shop recently celebrated their anniversary or something by releasing a bunch of aged beer, and I managed to snag this one (so it hasn’t been sitting in my cellar for quite so long, probably wouldn’t have lasted!) Age has treated it well, though I don’t think it’s any better than it was back in the day. With time, it’s got a little less zip, but the flavors have blended together more. It still feels very barleywineish, lots of dark fruit, rich caramel, some nice barrel character. Overall, this was worth aging and is doing well these days, but it was probably still a little better when it was fresh. This is probably good advice overall for the Firestone Anniversary beers – worth aging, but not at the expense of drinking it fresh. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12.5% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 1/1/16.

Plead the 5th Stout

2013 Dark Horse Plead the 5th Stout – This has held up well. The intense roasty character is much faded, only really revealing itself in the finish. In its place we get caramel and an almost dark fruit note, like port wine or something. This hasn’t really been my favorite stout, but it holds up well. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 11% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a snifter on 1/30/16.

Angel's Share 2011

2011 Lost Abbey Angel’s Share – Bourbon Barrel Aged – The first time I had this, I thought it was a bit hot and could use some aging. Fortuitously, I came into a bottle not long after, and promptly hid it away in my basement and basically forgot about it. What was lost was found, so I figured 4 years was long enough to age the sucker. Wow, just look at that head. Yes, this was before Lost Abbey got their carbonation game on track. Fortunately, this is a tasty beer. Age is definitely showing, some oxidation apparent, but it still smells and tastes great. Great dark fruit character matches well with the bourbon barrel treatment, reminiscent of early Bruery Anniversary beers. Age definitely mellowed the booze, though perhaps not as much time is actually needed to accomplish that feat. Carbonation is an issue for me. Verdict: Uncertain! Newer vintages are better carbonated and might hold up better. I’d say 1-2 years is ideal aging time. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 11/24/15.

Smoketome!

2013 Fantôme Saison – From the Smoketôme era, I was curious to see if the smokey, burnt latex funk worked itself out over time. The answer? Nope! I suppose it’s probably mellowed some, but I feel like all the elements mellowed, so the smoke is still there in the same proportion as before. Like my other bottle, this isn’t dominated by the smoke, and it adds a sort of complexity rather than straight burning latex and bandaids (as some of the worst Smoketomes exhibited). I really wish I had saved some of my first bottles of Fantome though, from the 2009-2010 era, as those were really special, even if I had no idea what I was drinking at the time. If you’ve got a smoketome, I say hold on to it. Let’s see how that bitch tastes in 5-10 years, eh? C+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and corked). Drank out of a wine glass on 11/30/15.

Merry Monks 2010

2010 Weyerbacher Merry Monks – Back in 2010, I bought a variety case of Weyerbacher, and promptly found myself disappointed by this beer. I gave it a few tries, but this one just sat around for, well, 5 years I guess. It was time. Pours a cloudy golden orange color with a finger of white head. Smells sweet, lots of raisins, maybe a hint of spice. Taste is again very sweet, and again has tons and tons of raisins. Mouthfeel is well carbonated but almost creamy in texture, really nice, but as it warms, a boozy note hits pretty hard. Overall, this is maybe an improvement over the regular, but I’m not really a fan of either. B-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.3% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/11/15. Bottled 11/23/10. Best By: 11/23/12.

Founders Breakfast Stout 2010

2010 Founders Breakfast Stout – Pours a pitch black color with a gorgeous light brown head. Smells of coffee and creme and more coffee, roasty coffee, spent coffee grounds, did I mention coffee? Taste features lots of that roasty character, less intense coffee here but it’s still pretty prominent. Coffee is supposed to fade over time, but this is still pretty intense, even more out of balance than when fresh. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, a little thin actually, though it feels more full as it warms. Overall, I like this and it’s held up remarkably well, but it’s still not a massive improvement over the base, which seems more balanced. B

Beer Nerd Details: 8.3% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/11/15.

Of course, this barely puts a dent in the cellar, so after this semi-hiatus from beer, expect to see some more of these aged beer reviews. In the meantime, I’ve got some wine, bourbon, and Scotch coming your way. And maybe a few more beer posts peppered in…

So Happens It’s Tuesday

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Let’s talk S.H.I.T. Acronyms are fun, you see? Kudos are certainly due to The Bruery for this beer, but there are obviously hundreds of other humorous examples of this sort of thing. The Bruery clearly did this on purpose, as did my first encounter with this sort of acronym:

Springfield Heights Institute of Technology

Ah, Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. It turns out there is a long and time-honored history of urban legends wherein some institution, business, or school inadvertently wanders into an embarrassing acronym. I remember joking with a college buddy about that Simpsons episode, and he mentioned that his college, Stevens Institute of Technology, was once a S.H.I.T. school (Stevens Hopkins, I believe, though I can’t seem to find confirmation of this). The typical example is actually Sam Houston Institute of Technology, but like most of these, it appears to just be an urban legend (along with many other organization acronyms that break down into curse words).

Anyway, this beer is billed as the “more affable” version of Black Tuesday, The Bruery’s massive 19% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Clocking in at 14% ABV, this… isn’t that much more affable, but given the large bottle formats, I’ll take it. I drank this on a Friday, but heck, I’ll review it on a Tuesday.

Actually, so happens it’s Fat Tuesday! This means I’m about to embark on my annual semi-hiatus from beer. Never fear, the blog will remain active during the next month or so. I will have some beer reviews to catch up with, and of course I’ll be writing about other beverages of note (always attempting to put a beery spin on things). But I digress, let’s get back to this beer:

The Bruery So Happens Its Tuesday

The Bruery So Happens It’s Tuesday – Pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger of light brown head. Smells great, lots of caramel, vanilla, and chocolate, with the oak and bourbon pitching in quite assertively as well. Taste is all rich caramel, vanilla, and oak, sugary sweet, and as it warms you get more sorta milk chocolate, but not really much in the way of roast. It also gets a little more boozy as I drink on, but that’s to be expected I think. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and chewy, moderate carbonation (perfect for the style), and definitely a boozy bite, especially in the finish. It’s a warming beer, that’s for sure. A very nice sipper though, excellent to share, but something you could make a night out of if you were so inclined (though it’s still a bit of a feat). Overall, it’s not Black Tuesday, but it’s quite good. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 14% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 2/5/16. Bottled: 12/03/15 (2016 Edition).

Believe it or not, I actually had a few ounces of Black Tuesday just a few days before this one (at a share) as well as Wineification III (which is Black Tuesday aged on French Oak with wine grapes), and while they are both quite intense, they also seemed more integrated. Balanced is not a really a term you use with a beer like Black Tuesday, but for it’s richness, intensity, and alcohol level, it kinda is balanced. I am, of course, ever on the lookout for other variants (of which, there are many!), though I don’t have plans to tackle any of those anytime soon.

Perennial Abraxas

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Remember when Imperial Stouts were special? Just regular stouts that happened to be higher in alcohol than normal? Those things like Storm King, Kate the Great, Darkness, and so on? Then people started going nutso for barrel aged imperial stouts. I should note at this point that I’m not really waxing nostalgic or complaining here, I’m fully on board the barrel aged train to impy stout town, I just wanted to note a progression here. It’s not a perfect progression, but in broad strokes it works. We start with big stouts, move on to barrel aging, and then people started losing their minds over imperial coffee stouts (and to a certain extent, they still do). As frequently opined here (I won’t shut up about it and I am totally the worst), I’m pretty ambivalent towards coffee. I have gained a certain appreciation for coffee stouts, but I’m almost always wondering what the regular, non-coffeed version would be like.

Nowadays, the trend is towards adjuncts and a kitchen sink of ingredients. Stuff like Hunahpu’s, Bomb!, Mexican Cake, and today’s beer: Perennial’s Abraxas. It’s an Imperial Stout brewed with ancho chili peppers, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks. There are other versions with even more ingredients, but this is the regular one lowly mortals like myself can get my hands on. I’ve not been particularly on the ball with these adjunct stouts, having only had a couple, so let’s see if this is a trend worth hunting:

Perennial Abraxas

Perennial Abraxas – Pours black and viscous looking with a cap of short lived light brown head. Smells of roasted malts that give it a coffee or dark chocolate feel, with notes of vanilla and spice, definitely getting cinnamon, a little less in the way of chili (though that comes out a bit more as it warms). Taste has a light roast to it, again with the dark chocolate (less in the way of coffee), hints of vanilla, with the chili pepper coming more to the fore here. It’s got a bit of a kick to it and the flavor comes through, but it’s not really hot either. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied (I mean, it’s not watery, but I was expecting a more substantial body here, especially when considering that it looked pretty thick as I was pouring), very low carbonation, not still, but close, and a little bit of heat from the chili peppers. There’s a fine line between a complex beer and an unbalanced mess, and I kinda went back and forth on this one, eventually settling on complex, but it also strikes me as the sort of thing that will be different every time I have it. Overall this is good, and it gets better as it warms, but it’s not the mind-blowing stout of the future I was lead to believe it would be. Perhaps a matter of dashed expectations, but it’s still a solid beer that I’d totally seek out and drink again. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 1/22/16. Bottled: 11/2015.

I could see barrel aging pulling this beer together, but from the looks of the trading boards, I don’t feel like the hoop jumping would be worth it. This is a fine beer, but even this was too hard to get ahold of…

Bourbon Barrel Aged Siberian Night

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Having just endured Blizzard Jonas this past weekend, I figure it’s time to dig through the svelt 25″ of snow outside and then come back inside and review beer. In truth, being snowed in particularly suits my temperament, so long as I don’t lose power or internets (and even then…) Anyway this beer seems particularly appropriate, as Siberia is famed for its short summers and long winters of punishingly cold climate. That’s “punishingly” in an almost literal sense, actually. The Russian Empire had a system of penal labor called Katorga in which prisoners were sent to remote areas (where voluntary workers were never available in sufficient numbers) and forced to into mining or lumber production. The Soviets later incorporated and expanded on the concept with the Gulag system. If you’ve ever read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, you know that Siberia is not generally a place you want to be.

Of course, this is a brewery called Thirsty Dog we’re talking about here, so I don’t think they were channeling Alexander Solzhenitsyn with this beer. Instead, they were probably thinking of adorable Siberian Husky memes.

Siberian Husky questions your marathon

Certainly more pleasant than crippling forced labor. Also more pleasant: The beer itself is an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels for 11 months, which makes it good wintering beer, let’s take a closer look:

Thirsty Dog BBA Siberian Night

Thirsty Dog Bourbon Barrel Aged Siberian Night – Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black color with a finger of light brown head that sticks around for a bit. Smells nice, some roasted malt, lots of vanilla, some bourbon and oak too. Taste has a rich caramel character up front, a little chocolate, oak, and vanilla pitching in, hints of boozy bourbon, with a little bit of roast coming to the fore in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, well carbonated, lightly boozy. Overall, this is a pretty approachable BBA stout, well balanced, tasty, a step up from the beginner’s stuff, but not quite top tier. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10.9% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a snifter on 1/17/16. Vintage: 2015.

The regular non-BA version is pretty solid as well, and it’s companion beer, Wulver has become one of my favorites.

Christmas Beer Recap

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My favorite time of the year is the Halloween through Christmas corridor, and part of that is the seasonal beer we get. It’s not fashionable to be into Christmas beers, winter warmers and the like, but I love them and always make room for some of them during the holidays. I know I just got done mentioning that I don’t feel the need to write about every beer I drink, but now that the holidays are over, I need some way to occupy my time that doesn’t involve poopsocking it through Fallout 4, so here’s a sampling of two beers I drank for last minute Christmas wrapping fuel, and two that were gifts.

Ballantine Burton Ale

Ballantine Burton Ale – So Pabst revived the Ballantine name with a decent IPA, and for Christmas, they put together this little barleywine number. According to a bunch of strangers on the internets, this is the single best beer Pabst has ever made. Let’s see, shall we? Pours a clear amber orange color with a finger of head and some lacing. Smells sweet, lots of dank, piney hops and a little dark fruit. Taste is also quite sweet, more of the dark fruit here, but the hops balance things out without feeling too bitter in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, tight carbonation, hints of booze, a sipper for sure. Overall, it’s a solid little barleywine, tasty, and I haven’t had something like this in a long time… B+

Beer Nerd Details: 11.3% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 12/24/15. Vintage: 2015.

Samichlaus Classic 2010

Samichlaus Classic 2010 – It’s become something of a Kaedrin tradition to do last minute Christmas wrapping whilst watching cheesy Christmas movies and imbibing a Samichlaus of some kind (or maybe, um, two of them). This year was no exception, and in the spirit of dipping into the cellar to drink some of my aged stock, I grabbed a 5 year old bottle. Pours a deep dark amber orange color with a half finger of head that quickly disappears. Smells intensely of clean, dark fruits, very sweet, a little booze. Tastes very sweet, sticky, sugary sweet, with muted dark fruit, and did I mention it was sweet? Not cloying though, age has treated this well. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, well carbonated. Overall, it’s very good with some age on it, among the better I’ve had. I’m going with a high B+

Beer Nerd Details: 14% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 12/24/15. Vintage: 2010.

Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo

Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo – My brother isn’t a big beer guy, but usually manages to get some decent stuff. For instance, this year’s selections included a Sierra Nevada Celebration, a La Fin Du Monde, and a few other beers I genuinely love yet rarely revisit. Then there’s this one, which sounds like the most interesting of the lot on paper… English Strong Ale aged in oak barrels for over a year? Well sign me up! Alas, this runs into that Belgian pale ale character that I always find distressing and the oak aging doesn’t feel harmonious at all. Something odd going on here. Pours a murky amber color with a finger of off white head that sticks around for a bit. Smell has a lot of fruity character to it, some toffee and maybe some butterscotch, possibly diacetyl. Taste has more of that dark fruit, raisins, toffee, butterscotch, and a hint of tart astringency. Not, like, infected, but I think it’s the result of that barrel aging. Mouthfeel is well carbonated but medium to full bodied. Overall, this seems well crafted, but it’s just not really my thing. C

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass.

Ridgeway Lump of Coal – A gift from a coworker, I knew I was in for trouble because I’ve never had a Ridgeway that I’ve ever liked, despite the fact that they put out, like, ten Christmas beers. Pours a clear dark brown color with amber highlights and a finger of off white head. Does not smell like a stout at all, getting that toffee and butterscotch and diacetyl here. Taste is along the same lines, diacetyl and maybe even some skunking, this is terrible! Notes of death and decay. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, appropriate for the style I guess, but the problem lies not here. Overall, this is terrible! It doesn’t even warrant taking the time to upload the image I took. I don’t hand these out often, but this one earned it: F

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass.

A decidedly mixed bag this year. I shall have to endeavor to do better next year. In the meantime, New Years Eve drinking was more palatable, so I’ll cover that one tomorrow.

A Few Trips to Levante Brewing

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It’s hard to keep up with the throng of newly christened breweries in the area, but when the brewery in question is only a mile or two away, how can I not stop in? Of course, proximity isn’t the only factor in play here, otherwise I’d be chatting up uber-local Boxcar’s generally mediocre offerings (to be fair, they have opened a new brewpub, and it’s a fantastic space, even if their beer still seems to be subpar). But being close helps, and Levante has more to offer than Boxcar ever did. (Full disclosure, one of the brewers there is a former coworker.)

They formally opened about six months ago, but had been open on a provisionary basis for a month or two before that. I’ve actually been there several times over the past few months, but I’ve only just recently gotten around to taking some formal tasting notes. The tasting room is just part of the little warehouse where they’ve set up their brewery, but they’ve done a good job making it a welcoming area, and they have a great little nook for food trucks to sidle up to the building. They’re only open a few days a week, but they’ve gradually been expanding that, and their distribution footprint is getting larger as well.

Their standard lineup is comprised of your common opening break of styles (IPA, Pale, Rye, Wit, Kolsh, etc…), but their rotating limited releases have only gotten better over time. Out of the standard lineup, I’ve enjoyed Pallido Pale Ale and Ranger Rye the most (and the blended, bourbon barrel aged version of Ranger Rye? Excellent!). I’ve also quite enjoyed the Glen Mills Mild (now dubbed Mild Porter because no one understood what a mild was (I don’t think I have any British readers, but I’m guessing some facepalms are in order)), a perfect little 3.2% session ale. They’ve been somewhat less successful with Belgian styles, though their most recent attempts have been improving.

But where they’ve really nailed it is with stouts. Longtime readers know I’ve been pining for a local brewery to really embrace stouts, and I appear to have found my savior. Darkness is Spreading was a superb little milk stout with well balanced chocolate and vanilla additions. And then we come to Bullit Train, an excellent imperial stout made with bourbon vanilla. Both stouts were delicious, so when my brewer buddy informed me that they’d be releasing a bourbon barrel aged blend of Bullit Train on the day after Christmas, I was all over it. Merry Boxing Day! Some notes on that and a double IPA are below:

Levante Bullitt Train Bourbon Vanilla Stout

Bullitt Train Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Stout – A blend of three batches, one of which was aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels, then it was put on the nitro tap. Pours a deep black color with a finger or two of gorgeous, dense light brown nitro head. Smells nice, big wafts of vanilla, caramel, hints of roast and chocolate. Taste follows the nose, lots of vanilla, some more roast than the nose, hints of the caramel and chocolate. The bourbon is there, but it’s a light touch (I don’t know the details, but I’m guessing only half or so of the blend was BBA). Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, as befits a nitro pour. High medium to full bodied, very approachable at 10.5%, no real boozy notes at all. Overall, Levante has proven quite adept at stouts, and this is no exception! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV on tap (nitro pour). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/26/15.

Levante Panic Room

Panic Room – I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Levante’s single IPA, The Chief. However, their double IPAs are a different beast altogether. This pours a pale golden orange color with a finger or two of fluffy white head. Smells great, big citrus and pine hops. Taste hits the hops hard, again citrus and pine, with a substantial but well balanced bitter bite to it that lasts through the finish. This isn’t one of them newfangled northeast “juicy” IPAs, but it’s well crafted and delicious. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, no discernable booze, very nice. Overall, rock solid DIPA! B+ maybe an A- if I’m generous…

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/26/15.

A promising start from an uber-local brewery! I am greatly looking forward to where Levante goes next. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about them in the near future, so stay tuned!

8 Maids-A-Milking

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Another year, another verse in The Bruery’s 12 Days (beers) of Christmas. I always enjoy these, even when they’re not spectacular, because I’m just a sucker for the concept of a 12 year vertical series centered around a Christmas carol. Some of these have been great, most have been middle ground. Most are a take on a Belgian dark ale, and some even incorporate ingredients inspired by the verse. For instance, 3 French Hens was partially aged in French Oak, 5 Golden Rings was the only “golden” colored beer in the series, gooseberries were added to 6 Geese-A-Laying and now we come to 8 Maids-A-Milking, which is obviously a milk stout. A Belgian-style Imperial Milk Stout, to be exact. This is actually a somewhat interesting combination. Belgian yeast typically ferments through at a higher attenuation, leaving a beer lighter bodied and more carbonated than the same recipe with a different yeast. But if you add in some lactose, you offset that, which is a nice concept. Also, I’ve found that this type of beer ages pretty darn well, so now that we’re on the downslope of the 12 Days of Christmas (zoinks! Has it really been that long?), this one should most certainly be drinking well in a few years.

The Bruery 8 Maids-A-Milking

The Bruery 8 Maids-A-Milking – Pours a very dark brown color, almost black, with a finger or two of khaki head that sticks around for a while and leaves some lacing as I drink. Smell has a nice estery component that comes out before the more roasty stout-like aromas emerge. Taste is very sweet, with that fruity ester character coming through strong in the taste along with some more spicy phenolic elements from the Belgian yeast, clove and the like, finally some roasty notes are pitching in. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated but smooth and full bodied, the lactose cutting any dryness from the yeast without getting sticky, and a little booze too. Overall, this is a solid Belgian style stout, nothing to go crazy over but a nice holiday pour. B+

Beer nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 12/19/15.

This was good, but I think it could really benefit from some barrel aging. I keep waiting for a return to the BA Christmas beer from the Bruery, but alas, it has not happened yet. I remain ever hopeful. See you again when those Dancing Ladies appear!