Bottle Beer Tour #6: It's Fuggin Cold, Drink Beer.

 It is Mid-February here in Nebraska and, right now, the weather is doing it's best to make the joint uninhabitable.  It's the time of the year when a dip above thirty-two degrees is cause for running outside naked in sheer celebration of the fact that your bits won't turn blue and fall off.   It is the time of the year to sit inside and drink beer until it becomes warm enough to... well... I guess go outside and drink beer.

 It's also been a slow travel season for me.  On the upside, no white-knuckling it over some God-forsaken mountain pass.  On the downside, no weird brews to talk about.   So it's time, once again, to break open the beer fridge and root around inside for some goodies.

 
Victory Brewery, Hop Wallop: This has an absolutely wonderful
 orange blossom honey aroma to it.  Those flavors translate slightly into the flavor profile.   It kind of sits in the background while a massive herbal hop bill takes center stage.  Nice blend of flavors.  Given the nice sweet orange honey flavor I could be persuaded that fewer hops could be better, but a nice beer all around.

 Choc Beer, Last Laugh:  American White ale from Oklahoma
light banana lemon aroma.  The fruity esters are more pronounced in the flavor with that lemony flavor lingering in the background.  Clean and refreshing beer.




 New Holland, The Poet:  Deep charcoal, woody aroma on this oatmeal stout.  The aroma suggest that it might be on the bitter side, but it really isn't.  Not quite sweet either, just a nice full-bodied mellow beer with woody coffee notes.  An excellent beer for the winter months.

Three Floyds, Gumball Head: There is a light fruity citrus aroma on this eccentric wheat beer.  The flavor is hoppy.... but it's not.  The first thing you get in the flavor is a flash of citrus, floral hops and, just as you are waiting for the dry, herbal bitterness that should probably follow... it just blends away into this nice, slightly sour, bread and rye malt flavor.  I imagine it as a really good beer to use as a practical joke for a die-hard IPA fan as their beloved bitter hops remain just barely out of reach.

Canned Beer Tour: That's right. I said it.

It has been said that good beer doesn't come in cans.  It didn't come in cans, at least.  Things have changed a bit.
I've said before, I'm a fan of this and my conviction is only growing.  For the first time I've managed to assemble a few of the old 'oil can' in my Sanctuary (or where I get drunk in front of my computer) and sampled a few canned beers gathered from both hither and yon.

Ska Brewing, Mole Stout: Pretty much as advertised.  The aroma has a nice dark chocolate note to it with just a hint of pepper.  The flavor is just wonderful.  Sweet dark chocolate and coffee notes dominate with some woody, herbal flavors and just the slightest hint of black pepper.  This is one of those beers that just stands out.  Once you have this beer, I'm convinced that if I were handed this in some blind taste test some day, I'd be able to pick it out.

Sun King Brewing, Osirus:  The aroma on this pale ale is subtle, spicy, citrusy and kinda sweet.  The flavor has a lot of those same qualities flowing through it.  It's sweet, citrusy with a spice that kind of lingers with the bitterness into the aftertaste.

Sun King Brewing, Wee-Mac: Scottish style ale with a slight woody cherry aroma.  The beer has quite a bit of body with just flashes of flavor.  I pick up a hint of cherry a hint of wood and a hint of bitterness before they kind of fade into a light roasted flavor.  

 Santa Fe Brewing: Saison 88: I like the sweet, floral slightly citrus fruity aroma on this a lot.  The flavor is lighter, but not without a lot of nuances.  There's just a hint of sour along with the floral qualities.  That sort of melds into a nice malty, citrusy finish.  Light on the palate with a fizzy mouthfeel.  Nice session beer with a little extra kick.

A sixpack of freestyle: O'so Brewing

I picked up a six pack from this eccentric Wisconsin brewery.  I've mentioned before my love for such things.  There is nothing that fills me with as much hope and joy as the thought of a barely-contained maniac standing over a brewpot with a handful of obscure ingredients and a gleam in his eye.  O'so seems to have that same love.  The self-proclaimed 'freestyle brewer' invites the world to 'join the fight against boring beer'.  This is a motto they hold quite well, all of their beers have a little something extra.  A strange, texture or a different flavor that keeps the beer snob on her toes.  

One thing that I found endlessly entertaining was the fact that they put descriptions of their beer on their labels.  They were, for the most part, a little grandiose, but one would not expect much less.  I had a bit of fun with them and they are reprinted in italics.

Night Train Roasty Chewy Robust Judicious Cream Bold Complex Immense: Lots of roasted coffee and chocolate with maybe a hint of cherry on the aroma.    This is one of those beers where you have to run to keep up with the flavors that are running across your tongue.  I picked up the aforementioned coffee and chocolate, cherry, vanilla and so on.  It all takes place on a kind of bitter background of roasted barley.  Very nice dark beer.

Hopdinger: Pungent Hoppy Crisp Floral Bitter Piney Resinous Engaging:  Yep, that's pretty much the available lexicon when it comes to IPA's... except maybe engaging.  Not sure if I've ever labeled a beer engaging... I mean ALL beer is engaging, I suppose.  Anyway I pick up a little bit of pine and citrus on the nose.  Lots more citrus on the palate with a kind of astringent herbal flavor just behind it.  It's not an overwhelming IPA the citrus, floral and herbal qualities are intense but they are not overly bitter.

The Big O, Zippy Crisp Tangy Luminous Subtle Unique Sunny Jubilant: This has a very light malty aroma.  Kind of a lemony pilsners.  It's got a little bit of body and starts with a sweet malt that's... kinda pushed aside by a hint of lemongrass.  Nice, light, refreshing but not without an interesting nuance.

DANK Imperial Red Ale.  Wonderful brown sugar cherry caramel aroma.  Not the malt bomb I kinda assumed it would be.  The above flavors are more or less tempered with a coffee and unsweetened chocolate bitterness.  The cherry peeks through a little more then the other flavors and there's some slight astringent hops character in there as well.

Memory Lane: A special pilsner brewed to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  Light grassy aroma.  O'so brewing proves they have, not only the will, but the ability to put their own unique spin on every style, though in this case I'm not sure it's a good one.  There is a very intense, lemony sour flavor.  It wasn't unlike another German beer from Wisconsin.  This wasn't as pleasant, though. 

Dominator Dopplebock:  Wonderful chocolate cherry aroma with maybe a hint of charcoal.  The flavor starts sweet with that chocolate cherry flavor.  Some bitter pine and woody flavors arrive a little later and help temper the malt and blend together nicely leaving a crisp, slightly dry aftertaste.

Bottle Beer Tour #5: The malted and the hoppy

 It's bottled beer tour time again... er because it's summer and I don't actually go that many places in the summer.  It's random sampling time so I present five beers that I drank.
...

...

That sounded more exiting in my head.  Anyway, here we are.

Shiner Brewery: Ruby Redbird: Summer beer featuring grapefruit.  Nice, citrusy aroma with a hint of herbs.  Light, refreshing taste like a light, sweet, carbonated orange juice.  I can see how this would be nice on a hot summer day, but not something I would make a habit of drinking a lot.  Pretty good though.

World Brews: Dieselpunk Porter: Okay, I confess, this is a beer I bought primarily for the label.  It's source is wierd.  The only indication of the brewery is a small note on the label indicating World Brews.  Trying to find any information on World Brews is a bit interesting.  I can't tell for sure, but they seem to be a brewery out of Rochester who's entire buisness centers around brewing microbrews for sale in grocery stores and similar markets.  However Beeradvocate.com has two different listings for this beer, one from California and one from Montana.  There are whispered words among the beer geeks of the Internets that this is actually one of the Evil Empires trying to stick a foot in the door of microbrewing.
There's probably a story in and of itself right there.
Anyway the aroma is very chocolatey.  The taste is has more bitterness with some sharp roasted flavors and coffee along with the chocolate.  The feel is smooth with a semi-sweet finish.  Not bad for a sweeter porter.  Overall, if this is Budwieser or Miller's attempt to try and run with the little guys... meh, okay.

Flying Dog Brewery: Gonzo Imperial Porter: Beer brewed in honor of the late, great Hunter S. Thompson who once said, "Good people drink good beer."  I don't often comment on the label, but this is my all time favorite because... well, Ralph Steadman is damn near the textbook definition of awesome.
Wonderful sweet nose with hints of cherry and rasberry against a kind of herbal backdrop.  The fruit flavors hit first, but softly meld into something more like caramel and chocolate which blends into one final layer of flavor that leaves a hint of liquorice, vanialla and earth notes.  It finishes dry for something that packs this kind of malt bill.

Now let's get the hell out of here.  This is bat country.

Blue Blood Bewery: 1327 Pod's ESB:  Running back to good 'ol Nebraska for the last two.   Blue blood is a beer I've seen pop up in the grocery store just recently.  It's one of the few (but increasing) microbrews that come in a can.  At first, I was skeptical of the can as a conveyer of microbrew, but I've got to say, I'm a heavy convert.  No skunky beer problems, it stays colder and there is a pretty high convenience factor.  I'm just saying...
Anyway the ESB has a piny grassy aroma.  The flavor is has some light malt with just the right amount of hops to add to a refeshing, flavor-filled beer.

834 Happy As Ale: Lighter beer with a grassy, lemony aroma.  It starts with a pretty massive hop bill with lots of grassy, pine and lemon flavors there.  On  the bitterness scale, it gets closer to an IPA then a pale.

New Glarus: A tour in five bottles.

Last time I was in Wisconsin, I brought a few friends back with me.  I've been aware of New Glarus for a while now.  I previously talked about one of their beers that came back with me during the first of these bottle beer tours.  I had the opportunity to acquire a few more of it's cousins for an unofficial family reunion. 

Two Women: A lager brewed in honor of the women of brewing as done by two companies run by women, New Galrus and Weyerrmann malting.  It has a slightly grassy aroma.  I picked up notes of peach and nectarine along with some grassiness from the hops.  I think I detected a touch of vanilla in there as well. 

Totally Naked: This is a beer brewed just as the label suggests.  Malted barley, hops, water and yeast. It is simplistic and it's suppose to be.  It has a light, grassy aroma.  The flavor is slightly malty with almost no detectable hops.  For a beer brewed to be a simple refreshing drink on a hot summer day, it hits the mark pretty well.

Dancing Man: Belgian wheat beer.  It has a heavy clove aroma.  At first, the flavor was really, really intense.  The tropical fruit, peach, clove and spice was almost too much at first, but as the beer warmed and my palate adjusted, I found it to be pretty enjoyable.

IIPA: I had to laugh at the label description for this beer, "More the 85 provocative IBUs reverberate cleanly through this Double IPA.  Local Wisconsin hop saturation from kettle boil to dry hop cellaring dominates this elegant and lustful sensory enchantment.  You hold a deceptively seductive Original Gravity of 20.9 Plato, following the always 100% natural bottle fermentation.  Luscious English Maris Otter malt is the essential heart of this voluptuous Double IPA.  Surrender is inevitable, so enjoy now!

I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think my beer might be hitting on me.

Apparently this a beer where they turn their brewer loose on whatever idea might be floating around his little mind.   This particular idea had citrus and herbs and spice apparent on the nose.  It's smooth, although those hops come on in force.  There's a moment where the malt holds them back, but they are there and they hit the palate hard with a dry, herbal grassy flavor that affect the back of the throat more then anything.  The finish is remarkably clean for a beer like this... though I don't think it's quite the 'lustful sensory enchantment' they claim.   Come to think of it, I don't know what a lustful sensory enchantment is, but I'll have to ask my wife if she's willing to do that.

Berliner Weiss: This is the second example of one of New Glarus' experimental beers.  This is a obscure style that charmed the likes of Napoleon in centuries past.  This pours very pale and clear from the bottle.  Has that wheaty, carbonated aroma of a light pilsner beer.  And the flavor... was not at all what I was expecting.  It is extremely tart.  The light color hides a lot of body, but it's still has a fizzy mouthfeel.  The flavor is refreshingly lemony, like a carbonated light lemonade.  Not bad, but I don't think I'd drink a lot of this.

Bottle Beer Tour #4: Beer, the Great and Powerful

I was down in California a couple weeks ago.  Sadly my free time was dominated by eating enough food and getting enough sleep so that I could be half-way functional for the job I was doing down there.  So now brewery trip.  I did, however bring a few old friends back with me.  So it's bottle beer tour time again, this time featuring some beers that, although I have had many times before, I have never written about and, quite frankly, I can't get them in the Midwest and I miss them.

Dogfish Head; Palo Santo Marron: Okay, so I didn't pick this one up in California.  But it was in the beer fridge and it was begging to be opened. 

Proving the commitment, drive and complete and utter insanity of the good people at Dogfish Head, the Palo Santo Marron is fermented in huge 10,000 gallon fermenters crafted out of a rare South-American wood.  There's commitment and then... well then there's pure, blind obsession.

The aroma has a light caramel, vanilla flavor.  The beer is fruity with hints of spice, vanilla and maybe a little smoke and herbs on the back.




Lanunitas Brewing; IPA: Heavy pine and citrus aroma.  Flavor has lots of the same qualities, but they hit and they are overtaken for a minute by some more malty flavors.  The hops do end the palate leaving a dry herbal taste.  The flavors are smooth enough that, although this is a very dry, hoppy IPA, it's one of the more approachable of it's type.








Widmer Brothers; Hefeweizen: Talk about an old friend.  This was my first exposure to wheat beer and was probably one of the first, if not the first, microbrews I ever had.  The aroma is citrusy and almost like a sweet white wine.  Flavor is light and sweet with some light peach fruit and grassy notes.  The flavor turns slightly herbal and lemony towards the end of the palate.  Was and will remain almost the quintessential summer beer for me.

Stone Brewery; Levitation Ale: Stone is known, first and foremost as the brewer of Arrogant Bastard, a beer that... well that's a pretty accurate description.  It's a big beer with flavors about as subtle as an axe to the head.  For this, they were going for more of a session beer.  The aroma is lemony and herbal.   Herbal, citrus hops hit right off the top and stay.  They have some light malty support right off the top, but it quickly disappears leaving the bitter, hoppy flavors to carry the show.  It's a good beer, but as far as a session ale, I prefer something a little more subtle.  This is too similar to an IPA for a good sit-down-kick-back-have-a-pint, beer.

Bottle Beer Tour 3: The Fermented Menace.

Okay, taking a short break from the road to empty out the beer fridge a little, (And yes, I have a refrigerator just for beer.  That's not weird, is it?)  Today is the day daylight savings time hits and to commemorate that fact we got about six inches of snow.  In typical midwest fashion, winter is going keep an icy hold as long as possible.

Tis the season of indecision, so we've got some winter beers, some summer beers and some nasty weather to drink away.

Abita Brewery, Marti Gras Bock:  Seasonal selection available only January through about mid February or something.   Pours clear and copper colored, with a very light herbal aroma.  Has a bit of a spicy, herbal bite to it.  Lots of caramel malts there as well, with a nice full body. 

Choc Brewery, Winter Stout: A winter stout with a wonderful chocolate, raisin coffee aroma.  The flavor has a lot of bitter coffee with some unsweetened chocolate. I also get just a hint of fruit somewhere in there, but I can't quite place it. 

 



Breckenridge Brewery, Agave Wheat:
Something a little different from a brewery halfway up a mountain.  This beer pours a cloudy golden color.  Slightly lemony and herbal. It has a kind of sour-sweet flavor.  Not like the sour of an infected beer, but more like green apple.  It has some slight herbal qualities on the back.  Lighter body, smooth mouthfeel.  Nothing all that astounding, but a nice summer beer anyway.

Huisbrouwerij Klein Duimpje, Erik De Noorman Dutch Barley Wine:  Okay stepping a little out of the United States a bit for the first time.  Pours cloudy and copper colored.  It has a raisin and plum aroma.  Full bodied with a slightly fizzy mouthfeel.  Sweet and malty with dark fruit flavors off the top with a slight bitter back and a dry finish.




This last one... I don't know if it even still qualifies as a microbrew.  I guess it is in the sense that Sam Adams is considered a micro brew by some.  Still, because I happen to have a bottle here, here's a midwest staple: Leinenkugles, Berry Wiess:  And it's pretty much as advertised.  Strong, fruity nose.  Very sweet raspberry flavor to the point of being a sparkling cider. 

Bottle Beer Tour 2: The Rebottling

It's Thanksgiving this week, so I have a little bit of time to settle in at home, eat the hell out of some food and crack open a few beers that I've collected from around the country.    So to that end, I present the Bottle Beer Tour, part 2.


Dogfish Head Brewery
Midas' Touch:  Ancient Ale made after anyallisis of clay pots in Midas' temple.  Sweet and white wine aroma.  Has more in common with a mead then a beer.  It's slightly sweet with a honey, citrus sour fruity taste.







Great Lakes Brewing
Elliot Ness:  Pours copper-colored and transparant.  Aroma has some caramel and dark fruit notes along with honey malt.  Smooth mouthfeel with a bit body.  Very malty with some slight herbal bitterness at the back.

New Planet Brewery
 Off the Grid Pale Ale  (Gluten Free):  Gluten Free beers have always concerned me on a very primal level.  It's the idea that someone is making beer without something that should be in the beer, something that might make it extra special tasty.  That being said, I am almost certain that I have had gluten free beers before without knowing it, and may not have even sensed a difference.
This beer pours transparent copper and has a floral pine hop aroma.  It starts off hoppy and bitter with hints of citrus and pine.  After that... well it get's more bitter.  The citrus and floral hops fade away leaving a deep medicinal bitterness.


Lucky Bucket Brewing
Snowsuit Belgian Ale

A seasonal beer from my local brewery.  It has a spicy, clove and citrus nose to it.  Flavor is just slightly spicy with hints of  caramel and dark fruits.  It finishes just slightly dry and kind of light.  Very drinkable for a winter beer, but this is one where I like the aroma more then the flavor.  The aroma reminds me of a spiced winter ale featured in the Joy of Homebrewing, but the flavor doesn't come through as much.


Cheers

Bottle Beer Tour: A Midwest Sampler.

It is still the down season.  Not a lot of opportunity to get out and sample beer at the brewery, but quite enough time to sit down and pour myself a nice pint from one of the six-packs I collected on my previous travels.
So strap in time to go on a three-state tour of the Midwest:

Burning Skye Scottish Ale, Lincoln NE: Okay, so I picked this up at a local supermarket.  Aroma is light and malty with just the slightest hint of lemon.  Color is a deep copper color and hazy.  Flavor is a very light malt with a medium body.  Hops arrive in the middle kind of unexpectedly.  Not a lot of flavor but leaves a bitter, back of the throat feel.

New Glarus Brewing Co.  Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale, New Glarus, WI:
Intense spicy citrus hop flavor.    It's nice.  The aroma is there but it's not quite the hop bomb it would seem from the aroma alone.    The hops are there, but they add citrus overtones to a light malt bill for a nice, clean refreshing summer pale ale.  Absolutely wonderful beer.

Lucky Bucket Brewing Co. Certified Evil, La Vista, NE:
Kind of a local legend among the Nebraska beer snob crowed.  It has lots of dark fruit and coffee aroma.  Bitter coffee with with sweet chocolate and toffee back.  I taste a little butterscotch in there as well.    It's a big, malty beer but not as complex as some imperial stouts, but a pretty good selection.








Great Lakes Brewery Dortmuder Gold: Cleveland, Ohio
Very light lemony aroma.  Light sweet honey, citrus flavor finishes dry with just a hint of hops in the back.  An awesome light lager.  The flavors are subtle but very nice making this the ultimate summer session ale.