Don’t Drink and Fly

The hiatus is due to my not having beer regularly. Simple as that. And since everyone else is doing it, I’ll go ahead and throw out the phrase, “In these tough times…”

But now, I’d like to turn to a hilarious subject: beer and the Air Force. I have visited my brother (a 1st Lt. stationed at Cape Canaveral/Patrick AFB) twice in the past month, and it has become clear to me that the Air Force absolutely respects the fine libation that is beer. Let me break it down for you, in lists and pictures.

1) Many officers have their own personalized ceramic mugs.

2) Said mugs are a distinct part of the promotion ceremony. And yes, they are filled. With beer. During the ceremony.

3) Open bars are also a part of the aforementioned ceremonies. I’m not being facetious when I say that’s a fine way to spend my tax dollars. Really, I’d rather people enjoy good beer than have one more 5,000 lb. GBU in production…but that’s just me.

3.5) “Heritage rooms”. All I can say here is that one person is responsible for both the keg and the tap handle design.

4) The beer of choice for the Airfolks is clearly Yuengling. Florida offered me my initial exposure to this cheap and refreshing amber lager, though I had heard about it from friends who lived on the East Coast. There is Yuengling everywhere (more below).

“Judy, I don’t believe you. Prove it!” Well, I will!

Promotion ceremony.

90% of those important looking people are drinking beer.

Yuengling straight from the bottle. It's definitely that kind of beer.

 So, the Air Force loves their beer. And I am left with one question, and one question only: Where do I sign up?

Cheers!

YUENGLING - Yuengling Brewery; Pottsville, PA
4.40%ABV
Serving: 12oz to pint

Yuengling pours a predictable amber to dark copper with a small white head that dissipates quickly and totally, leaving no lace behind. Aromas are … Not a whole lot to talk about! Musty grains, a sweet malt background, and metallic. Flavors are similar, but luckily I don’t taste much metallic/skunk. It’s just a really mellow, crisp, easy drinking lager. And sure, it’s reminiscent of  BMC, but also sets itself apart from the rest. Pair it with pizza and you will die happy. A good offering from “America’s oldest brewery”.

Goodbye, Hello

There’s a beer for every occasion.

One for leaving:

CUVEE DE CASTLETON – Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.; Pleasantville, NY
8.00%ABV
Serving: 500mL to flute

A: A pour straight down the middle results in a quick fizzy white head. It dissipates quickly and there’s no retention. The ale is a really cloudy golden color, varying in dark-light shades.
S: Stinky feet, horses, tart fruits with an emphasis on bitter lemon. Pretty clean and straightforward.
T: Similar to the aroma, but subtle. Very bitter fruits, with that lovely sour warhead flavor. The sour doesn’t have the biggest kick, though, and I was really hoping for that! It’s earthy, grassy, stinky, but still very clean for a sour. The residuals are surprisingly sweet, with the funky lemon turning into tart white grapes.
M: Medium carbonation and medium body, with tons of shifting residuals lingering behind. They range from sour to sweet, and back again.
D: I really enjoyed this one. Thanks, Jason, for giving me the opportunity to crack this open on a very special day (my post-LSAT reward)!
Cuvee – A-

And one for arriving…

BRUTE – Ithaca Brewing Co.; Ithaca, NY
7.00%ABV
Serving: 750mL to tulip. Four of them, to be exact.

A: Cloudy straw golden, very active and bubbly throughout the body. The head is white and foamy, filling up much of the tulip quickly. Decent retention for the style, in the way of a foamy cap. No lacing.
S: Pungent aromas of sour apple, citrus (mostly lemon). Tart and exciting! I don’t get a lot of grainy malt here. The brett and oak give off such wonderful aromas. The nose somewhat reminds me of riesling, grapes and other awesome fruits.
T: Tart and tart, at first anyways. A more subtle apple than expected from the nose. LOTS of lemon emphasized, both the fruity insides and the bitterness from the zest. I get earthy tones as well, but clean and more grass-like than dirt. Faint wood and mustiness from the oak.
M: Medium body with medium carbonation. A nice mouthfeel to complement an incredible beer.
D: One of the most drinkable sours, while not compromising on puckery goodness. I drank this whole bottle myself over roughly 7 hours, but I’d crack this open for a special occasion with friends any day.
Brute – A+

As the rain finally swooped in  to clean the dirty central valley air, I decided I needed something fitting to celebrate the imminent (and impeccable) view of the Sierra Nevadas. SN Torpedo was the lucky 6er. Welcome home.

A Meal in a Glass, and others.

Bocks and doppelbocks are some of my favorite lager styles. Doppelbocks are particularly nice, with their complex and hearty aromas/flavors. They also provide the pleasant warming sensation that I look for on colder days. Traditionally, breweries have given their doppelbocks names that end in “ator”. Ayinger has Celebrator, Bell’s does a Consecrator, and Troeg’s brews Troegenator. If I had my own brewery, I’d name my doppelbock Sylvanator. I know that would make a few beings (human and not) happy.

Prost!

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock – Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer KG/Brauerei Aying; Aying, Germany
6.70%ABV
Serving: 11.2 oz bottle to tulip

A: About a finger of light tan head that’s active and bubbly. The body is very dark, revealing mahogany at the edges. There’s a ring of retention and nice spider web lacing.
S: Very ripe citrus and sour fruits on the nose right away. Then it’s bready and sweet malts with an extra twirl of the glass. There are some toasted notes, ripening berries, yeast, and sugar residuals.
T/M: Just what I expected from the aromas. Very nice flavor profile starting with the toasted bread which moves on to sweet berries. The alcohol is presented in the middle of almost every sip. A medium body with higher carbonation. There’s a slight tang at the back to end each sip from the tulip. 
D: I felt like I was drinking a fine Belgian-style ale here (which is only to say that the flavor profile is tremendous and even reminiscent of some of the stronger Belgian beers I’ve had). The flavors were really enjoyable. A really wonderful doppelbock that doesn’t let you down.
Celebrator – A-

And a couple other singles I picked up recently.

WEIHENSTEPHANER ORIGINAL – Brauerei Weihenstephan
5.10%ABV
Serving: 12oz to pint

A: Clear yellow and light golden straw. 3+ fingers of frothy white head that retains well and leaves a good deal of lacing.
S: Crisp, clean, musty grains. Grassy, and a bit of a cooked aroma.
T: Honey malt, very grainy and musty from the aroma. Semi-cooked. A crisp and refreshing grassy taste is minor, but it’s there. The emphasis is on the malts, not a ton of hops can hold up to their barley counterpart! There is bitterness left behind.
M: Medium, syrupy body with medium carbonation.
D: I’d have another, but it’s hard to choose this one over other Weihenstephaner beers!
Original – B+

And finally:

RARE VOS – Brewery Ommegang
6.50%ABV
Serving: 12oz to tulip

A: About 3 fingers frothy light beige head over a dark amber (red in the light) body. Good retention and nice webbed lacing.
S: Big fruits at the pour. Very ripe and sweet. Pleasant on the nose. A bit of earth I would expect in an Ommegang brew, and the clove spice and wheat I expect in a Belgian ale. Spices are wonderful, and the aroma is almost perfumey.
T: Emphasis on the clove and other dark spices. Wheat-like and earthy, all of which I expected from the aroma. Grassy. Delicious.
M: Medium body with high, crisp carbonation.
D: I am a big fan of this brew. To me, it seems like a less horse blanket version of Hennepin; and while horse blanket is nice sometimes, I’m not always craving it. Refreshing and drinkable.
Rare Vos – A+

Pub Can Week

There isn’t any kind of official celebration of pub cans that I know of. I just decided to go out to Cost Plus and pick up the following singles to review. Included is a cider. Cider is not beer, so I don’t know anything about it. But it was sitting right there with the rest of them and I couldn’t help it. I’ve also never had one before; perhaps you can see where that review is going…

Before I start, I want to make a special shout out to EL and ELise! If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have the proper glassware for these fine beverages. 

And one more note: I don’t care about the debate over nitro and beer. If breweries want to serve their stouts through a nitro system…so be it! It’s their beer! I find them to be of less quality than the bottles, but I am not going to pick a fight over why nitro is unnatural or bad for beer. /anti-nitro bashing.

From left to right:

BEAMISH – Murphy Brewery Ireland Limited (Murphy and Beamish both taken over by Heineken this year); Cork, Ireland
4.10%ABV
Serving: 440mL nitro pub can to imperial pint glass

A: Mag-freaking-nificent. How do they do this? The head is slowly forming into one finger’s worth of beige head right in front of me. Cascading bubbles are turning the body of the beer brown to black from the bottom up. The body is essentially black with brown edges, and not much else. That’s one of the creamiest looking heads I’ve ever seen. There’s a ton of retention, too. And I have to say: there’s not one thing I can say negatively about this beer’s appearance. And also, I dislike the word “creamy”. 
S: Aromas are of lightly roasted barley with hints of smoke. It’s sweet, but there are bitter berries and oakiness and hops are in the back to balance. Bittersweet chocolate is most definitely in there.
T/M: Looks? Great. Aromas? Wonderful. But the taste? It kind of falls apart here. The light body and low carbonation give me some flavors, but they are mostly playing a hide-and-seek game with my palate. The roastiness is there with the faintest of bittersweet chocolates and coffees, and it borders on burnt with more warmth. 
D: The quote of the night sums it all up: “It’s like roasted water…”. It’s just lacking in the taste and mouthfeel categories. I’m always going to be blown away by the appearance the nitro widget gives, and the aromas are wonderful…but the taste? It is just not quite there. Too bad.
Beamish – B

I snapped this shot at the very beginning of head formation. It took a little over a minute for the whole thing to form. Check out that neat cascading effect!

GUINNESS DRAUGHT – Guinness Ltd; Dublin, Ireland
4.20%ABV
Serving: 440mL nitro pub can to imperial pint

A: After the nitro bubbles settle, there’s a black body and mahogany edges. A finger of super creamy grey and beige head took about a minute to form. Good retention, but not a ton of lacing.
S: Really roasty on the nose. Bittersweet chocolate malts and dark berry esters with a ripe fruitiness.
T: Very roasted malts here. The bitter chocolate is there from the aroma. There’s an unfortunate lingering metallic flavor that I could surely do without. It really sticks to the tongue. There’s a hint of weak, 3 day old watery coffee and some berries that come out with warmth.
M: Lower carbonation, a light and almost watery body. Creamy mouthfeel.
D: Guinness is really, really bitter. It is hard to drink if you’re looking for balance at all.
Guinness – B-

MURPHY’S IRISH STOUT – MBIL (see above. don’t criticize my lazy acronyms)
4.00%ABV
Serving: 16oz nitro pub can (pint) to imperial pint.

A: 1 1/2 fingers of that creamy, grey beige head forms more quickly than other nitro dry Irish stouts I’ve had. The body is dark brown with red and orange edges. Good retention and lacing. And this beer actually fills up my whole pint glass!
S: Delicious roasted malts with chocolate coffee (which is weaker) that is backed up by bitterness. No kind in particular…just bitter.
T: Roasted goodness here. Dark chocolate and strong espresso bean. The bitterness is lower than its nitro-can counterparts. There are ripe berries and even a hint of alcohol. Not a bad flavor here at all.
M: Light body, low carbonation. Generally creamy mouthfeel.
D: This is one of the better nitro cans out there. I’d love to try it on nitro-tap!
Murphy’s - A-

now that is a proper pint...almost

OLD SPECKLED HEN  - Greene King/Morland Brewery; Suffolk, UK
5.20%ABV
A: A little over one finger off-white head that’s creamy in consistency from the nitro bubbles. The body is amber with golden edges. Good retention and tons of frothy lace. I can see stouts with a head like this, but the consistency doesn’t feel right for a pale ale.
S: Sweet malts, bready and fruity on the nose. Stone fruit comes to mind. The hops are there in the back and they are a bit spicy.
T: Mellow flavors. The malts are dominant with roasted barley and toasted bread. There’s an unfortunate metallic flavor that gets in the way quite a bit. A hop bitterness at the back. Not a ton of complexity here.
M: Low carbonation and a light, watery body. Creamy from the head and lack of carbonation. 
D: I prefer this beer from the bottle. I’ve been lucky enough to have a non-skunked (clear) bottle, but only the can was available for this review.
Old Speck – B-

WEXFORD IRISH CREME ALE – Greene King/Morland Brewery
5.00%ABV
A: Nearly two fingers of a creamy nitro head firmly settles over an amber to caramel hue. I can’t see through the glass because the lacing left behind by the wonderful retention is covering every speck of the pint.
S: A bit buttery in the nose. There’s a distant fruity aroma. Bittersweet and earthy. And lots of butter.
T: Aside from the massive metallic taste greeting my palate, the taste isn’t terrible, but there’s also much to be desired here. Bitter, distantly fruity and very malt heavy.
M: Not watery like many nitros. This one has a bit of body to it. Low to medium carbonation and tons of bitterness left behind.
D: I can do without the aroma, and the taste is really lacking…I probably won’t reach for this one again.
Wexford – B-
 
STRONGBOW
It tastes like Martinelli’s. I couldn’t finish it…but I can see the appeal!

More good beers to come. Stay tuned!

Mail Call!

I love beer trading!

I got a very nice box of beer in the mail this week. From left to right: Brooklyn Brown Ale, Brooklyn Oktoberfest, Captain Lawrence Cuvee de Castleton (wtf omg!), Smuttynose Baltic Porter (from the Big Beer Series), Weyerbacher Unfiltered Double Simcoe, DFH Sah’tea, Victory Golden Monkey and Sunrise Weissbier, Otter Creek Oktoberfest, and New England Atlantic Amber.

It seems I have many a seasonal to drink in the next week or so. I already knocked back that corked and caged Weyerbacher (see review below; and when I say “knocked back”, I mean it took me four tulips and four hours to finish), I’m planning on aging the Smutty for just a bit, and the Cuvee de Castleton will be had as soon as I get back from my LSATs on the 26th. Hooray and yum. Thanks Jason!

UNFILTERED DOUBLE SIMCOE – Weyerbacher Brewing Co.; Easton, PA
9.00%ABV
Serving: 750mL to tulip

A: A massive head erupts at the pour and covers an opaque melding of amber and caramel hues. The head is beige and bubbly. The retention is wonderfully puffy with spotty lacing.
S: Big fruits, especially citrus. Pineapple and ripe mandarin. Herbals and florals are working their way in, too. Not much malt comes through until about an hour into the session. It’s bready but can barely peek its head through the fresh, hoppy goodness.
T: I do get a bit more caramel malt in the flavor right away, but it doesn’t dominate the hops one bit. Not even close. Hops are killer ripe citrus (same as the aroma), but bittersweet just enough. All the usual suspects in a fresh DIPA. 
M: Medium body and high carbonation gives me a tingly feeling. Tons of residuals and a drying sense. 
D: This beer ends just as hoppy as it began. It took me about three to four hours to kill the whole bottle, and it was absolutely delicious. One of the best DIPAs out there. 
UnfDubSim – A+

College Football…rah rah rah!

I don’t know what happened to me over this past year, but since I started going to The Grad for pints and UCLA games last season, I have been ridiculously excited for college football to start. It started this last weekend, and I used it as an excuse to go out and buy beer (thanks for putting up with me, K). I picked up two six-packs at this really nice wine shop out in Avon (suburban Cleveland-ish?). Below are the reviews, but first, a little excerpt from my interaction with the woman who checked me out.

Me: “Would you like to see my ID?”
Lady: “Well that goes without saying! Such a young, small girl like you buying beers like this!”
Me: [ignoring her awkward, semi-condescending comment] “I’m really excited to try these. You have a great selection!”
Lady: [looking down at my ID] “This is NOT a very good picture of you.”

So here’s to brutal honesty abruptly putting a stop to what might have been a friendly exchange. Cheers, honest lady at the wine shop. 

HARVEST ALE – Southern Tier Brewing Co.; Lakewood, NY
5.70%ABV
Serving: 12oz to pint

A: A nice nearly clear golden color. The head is white and bubbly. ST’s website promised a deep ruby color, and it wasn’t even close. But there was a nice cap and ring of retention and good lacing, so I’m not disappointed!
S: Nice piney hops on the nose. Aromas are fresh AND refreshing. Some fruity esters really come out of the pour but mellow out. There’s a grainy barley sense to somewhat balance out the hops.
T/M: Nice hop bitterness here. Pine in the back and pretty earthy up front, though not at all dirty. Very clean and crisp. The floral hops linger forever in my mouth. The medium body has an almost syrupy consistency but it’s also tingly and drying and overall very smooth. 
D: It’s hard not to want to gulp this beer down. It is refreshing, hoppy, and quite delicious. I’m glad I bought a 6er, but it definitely won’t last long. I do want to note that I was a little worried about this beer being an ESB, since “harvest ale” makes me think of a hoppy IPA or APA, but I sure did put my foot in my mouth after the first sip.
Harvest Ale – A-
 

CASCAZILLA – Ithaca Brewing Co,; Ithaca, NY
7.00%ABV

A: Cloudy caramel and light brown. The frothy head is 3 fingers tall and beige in color. There’s a hearty finger of retention for most of the session and a ton of lacing. I love it.
S: Bready malt is both sweet and spicy. I can’t get hops to pull through too much here. The aromas are really basic and not all that impressive, but I’m looking forward to the flavor either way.
T: Hops definitely come out more in the flavor, though only mildly at first. Spiciness is full-fledged in the flavor, with pepper and cinnamon coming in and out. The bready/yeasty profile is there, and it’s too big for me. Hops are floral mostly and come out more with warmth, and the bitters really linger here. The hops hide and appear at different sips. Strange, but good.
M: Light to medium body with higher carbonation. There is so much residual bitterness lingering on my palate. It really balances out that sometimes overwhelming bready malt. 
D: This is a beer that I would love to have fresh on tap. Like…today.
Cascazilla – B+ 

“There’s a monster growing in our heads, raised up on the wicked things we’ve said…

…a great divide between us now”. 

This is not a post where I “sing” my favorite Cardigans songs. No, this post is about beer. Beer from Great Divide Brewing Co. out of Colorado, to be exact. Check it out.

ESPRESSO OAK AGED YETI 
9.50%ABV
Serving: 22oz bomber to snifter

A: About a finger of light brown head that has a creamy and bubbly consistency. Brew is jet black. Barely-there retention and zero lacing.
S: This is a really nice smelling stout. Coffee, vanilla, wood, and dark berries. Very nice.
T: Big bitter coffee stout. The oak aging is so present in the flavors, with its big vanilla bite. Roasted malts and the alcohol play with each other; I get a lot more bourbon than I do coffee, which makes this label a tad misleading for me! More alcohol with warmth.
M: Viscous and creamy, with low carbonation. Velvety and smooth.
D: I wanted coffee, and the oak/vanilla combo just seemed to stamp it all out here. Maybe it will come out with a bit of age. A nice one to sip on for dessert regardless.
Yeti – A-

TITAN IPA
7.10%ABV
Serving: 12oz to pint

Three creamy and delicious looking fingers of ivory head over a semitransparent amber. A cap of head retains and there’s a good amount of lacing on the pint glass. Pine and citrus hops throughout this aroma. Lots of perfume on the nose. As expected from the aroma, I get big piney hops right away. Also up front are those delicious florals and citrus, with the latter seeming more like grapefruit than anything else. There’s a caramel malt sweetness, but this brew is pretty fresh and has a hop profile to prove it. Good balance, though. A crisp, medium body sends this brew smoothly down. This is a damn good IPA, and I can’t wait to bust into the rest of my 6er.
Titan – A

Alright. Time to go stare at my growing cellar. L’chaim!

This Week’s Highlights

Here are a few beers that have kept me company through this week’s whacky weather.

DUVEL – Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat
8.10%ABV
Serving: 330mL to tulip

A: Hazy (I swirled and poured the last quarter of liquid…I love my yeast!) straw hue with champagne-like bubbles that are helping to form a massive, active white head. The fluffy marshmallow head rocks. There’s a ton of retention and spider web lacing. I love it.
S: Definite Saaz hop type aroma. There’s a very clean, fresh cut grass hop on the nose. It’s so crisp and clean. At first I think to myself, “Wow, there’s no metallic at all!”, but 3 more minutes of warmth say otherwise. The metallic starts at the back, sort of in passing. Then I get a sweet honey malt to balance it out and sort of shoo it away. Then one or two more minutes and the aroma is huge on metallic. I’m interested in why this happens? I look forward to the flavors. 
T: Some great complexity here that I didn’t immediately recognized with the aroma. There’s some wheat and spice (clove, perhaps?) characteristics that really dominate on the first sip. Banana and unripe stone fruit. While there is heavy metallic on the nose, I don’t get much of it in the flavor. I’m impressed. It is very refreshing and smooth…easy to drink (and with an 8+%ABV, it’s bordering on dangerous!). Forget about decanting this ale. I swirled up that sediment and threw it in and got a ton of clove and yeast. So delicious. One other important note is that I can’t sense the alcohol here at all.
M: Medium body with low-medium carbonation. Very smooth.
D: Wow, give me another because I finished this one in less than 10 minutes. Refreshing like a pils, tasty yeast like a wheat, mouthfeel like a strong ale. This beer deserves the praise it gets.
Duvel – A+

WEIHENSTEPHANER HEFEWEISSBIER DUNKEL – Brauerei Weihenstephan
5.30%ABV
Serving: 500mL to weizen

A: Approximately three fingers off-white head top a hazed caramel, tan and fig-colored brew. There’s a great cap of retention and cascading lace that doesn’t take too long to disappear.
S: Aromas are huge on banana, which is this weizen lover’s dream. Really nice clove spice in there, and a bit of alcohol is present in the back. And I can smell the other dark spices that are common in wheats but I never have the names for…
T: A nice fruitiness greets the palate. Raisins and dark fruits revel on my tongue, leaving lots of bittersweet and barely sour residuals behind. The banana is there, but it comes in and out. Throughout this session, I am relying on a toasted malt backbone to hold all of the flavors together, and it does just that.
M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation, though the mouthfeel seems inconsistent. Some sips seem a bit more watery than others. This unfortunately affects the flavor just a bit. The creamy head gives an added layer to the feel of this beer, but it’s just not enough to fill in those gaps.
D: Despite the thin moments with the mouthfeel, I really enjoyed this beer and, at the price ($2.99), I would not hesitate to buy another.
Dunkel – A

HE’BREW BITTERSWEET LENNY’S R.I.P.A. – Shmaltz Brewing (He’Brew); San Francisco
10.00%ABV
Serving: 22oz bomber to tulip

A: Hazy dark amber and plum-colored brew with about a finger of creamy beige head. Great retention, and there is spotty lacing on my tulip.
S: Big sweet fruitiness up front; a bready malt presence is pretty prominent, too. Currants are major here, and there’s a nice little sweet and spicy balance. I’m hoping for some more hops in the flavor because they are not too bold on the nose, and I’d expect a little something more in a DIPA!
T: I am happy here…it is much more hoppy on the palate. I’ve got great bitter hops all over. They are woody and mildly citrusy. These hops are balanced gorgeously with the dark fruity esters found in the aroma. The best part of this beer is the great rye base. It’s grainy and slightly earthy. I sense caramel malt, but it’s merely an afterthought here. 
M: Creamy head, a heavier body, and balanced carbonation make for a wonderfully smooth mouthfeel.
D: I am a big fan of this brew. I’d like to try it fresh and on tap if ever possible!
R.I.P.A. – A
 
And finally, I enjoyed my first Oktoberfest of the season on the same day I enjoyed my first Ohio thunderstorm. I thought it was pretty fitting.

OKTOBERFEST – Great Lakes Brewing
6.50%ABV, 20IBUs
Serving: 12oz to pint

A: An aggressive pour yields a very small, bubbling ivory head. The beer is a relatively clear dark amber with lighter golden edges. There’s a small ring of retention, and not much lacing. A swirl of the pint glass will bring about a thin cap for about 10 seconds.
S: Roasted caramel malt sweetness. There’s an aroma reminiscent of cold steel, and freshly cut grass from the hops.
T/M: A heavy malt base here, but it’s really enjoyable. Roasted flavors are doing well to hold the beer together. A simple, but pleasant, crisp grassy hop bitterness. The body is light and the carbonation is on the higher end, making this a terribly refreshing beverage. Bitter residuals stick around and dry out my mouth.
D: Oktoberfest is really refreshing and drinkable, without compromising on flavor. I recommend this beer for those who are into Marzens and amber lagers!
Oktoberfest – B+

Burning River

I’m really enjoying trying new beers from Great Lakes, since it’s the local brewery and all. I picked up a 6er of this beer, and while each bottle actually tastes different from the next, it’s a darn good brew!

BURNING RIVER PALE ALE – Great Lakes Brewing
6.00%ABV, 45 IBUs
Serving: 12oz to pint

A: Golden with straw edges and a deep red-tinted mass in the body. Really beautiful. The head is 2+ fingers of creamy, bubbly beige that collapses slowly bubble by bubble. There’s a thin cap of lace, with a thicker ring and good lacing on the glass.
S: A light and semi-sour fruitiness comes to the fore. Sweeter than I’d want it to be, considering Great Lakes flaunts the use of Cascade hops on their website. I can’t pull much of the citrus that I was expecting, but maybe I’ll eat my words with the flavor?
T: Roasted bready malt is almost reminiscent of a porter. My mind keeps saying “coffee”, but my heart wants more hops! This truly isn’t what I expected. The Cascades are there, citrusy and smooth, but they are subtle and seem to be hiding beneath the roasted barley. The bitters do pull through and linger, and they taste of bittersweet grapefruit. Not much else happening here.
M: Medium body with balanced carbonation.
D: I don’t know…this beer threw me off. I had certain expectations, I guess. I did enjoy it. I actually cracked open another one as soon as I finished the first. But it’s not what I’d reach for when I want a hoppy pale ale.
Burning River – B+

Buy ‘Em. Now.

Before leaving Davis, I had the pleasure of trying two great beers, one of which was maybe the most exceptional and complex beers I have ever enjoyed, Trappistes Rochefort 10. I am not worthy of such a libation! But first, an IPA you must buy NOW, while it’s fresh.

SIERRA NEVADA ANNIVERSARY ALE, 2009
5.90%ABV, 46IBUs
Serving: 12oz to pint

A: 3 fingers creamy light beige head over a fine looking amber. Great retention and sticky lacing. 
S: pine to boot. Heavy herbal and huge florals from the hops. All Cascade hop on the nose with just an inkling of a caramel malt undertone. The pine and grapefruit are so inviting. 
T: really hop heavy. This is an intensely fresh IPA. Tons of the hop characteristics promised to me by the aroma. The spices really hit this one home. I can’t get enough of these citrusy hops! <3 Cascade Hops <3
M: medium body, good carbonation and lots of bitter residuals. 
D: the addition of organic hops to this sustainable brewery’s newest anniversary ale proves that organic beers can have flavor. This is a tremendous beer in my opinion, the little cousin of Torpedo. I look forward to finding a 6er asap! 
SN Anniversary – A+
 

And the Rochefort 10. Worth every penny of the $7+ price tag. I cracked this one open for my 200th BeerAdvocate review.

TRAPPISTES ROCHEFORT 10 – Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy); Rochefort, Belgium
11.30%ABV
Serving: 330mL to tulip

A: a great big head erupts out of my tulip. It’s beige, frothy, and gorgeous over my ruby red and mahogany ale. Incredible retention and wonderful lacing. There’s not a thing about the appearance that could be improved. 
S: massive aromas out of the pour. Fruits like figs and berries, dark spices, and candied sugar. Heavy on malts with some hot alcohol in the back. Also peppery and is that a hint of banana?
T: wow. More complexity here than I have the palate for! Huge sweet malts are so present with dark fruits and berries gracing my taste buds with their presence. Spiciness tickles my tongue. I get very subtle hints of coffee but they come and go so quickly. Anise is light but surely present, as is a thin caramel-like flavor. There’s probably a better way to describe it, but all I can think of is “the flavor of candy you’d want to suck on all day.” Stone fruits get stronger with warmth. The alcohol is there, but in passing for now. One more note here is the oak/wood. This is a flavor that is an anchor for all other flavors that combine to make this sublime quad. Apples pull through with even more warmth. I am floored. This is truly brilliant. 
M: medium body and carbonation. Sweet residuals coat my palate and even dry it a bit. 
D: though it’s a sipper, I’d drink it before the alcohol rears its head (the warmth seems to really bring the heat out). I’d love to try this with 2 years on it! 
Rochefort 10 – A+