21st Amendment's Fireside Chat

I heard a lot about this beer from my instagram/facebook beer buddies, so I naturally had to pick up a six pack of it. I picked up the six pack as an X Mas day brew, to have with X Mas dinner. I saved one beer to review, and it was near impossible to impose enough self control to make that possible. Anyway, here's my write up of the brew:

Name: Fireside Chat
Brewery: 21st Amendment
Location: San Francisco, CA
Style: Winter Warmer/Winter Spiced Ale
ABV: 7.9%
Packaging: Can
Price: $9.99/six pack of 12 oz cans.

Appearance: Very, very dark mahogany in color, with a 2-3 finger thick caramel cream colored head. Light lacing around the glass that falls rather quickly.

Aroma: Clove and nutmeg, as well as cinnamon. Warm apple cider notes as well, coupled with banana bread, as well was dried fruit. Spicey and fruity.

Taste/Mouthfeel: The carbonation is on the light side, and the beer itself has a very "dry" mouthfeel. This is definitely a full bodied, complex brew. There are a lot of spice notes up front, such as clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon, followed by roasted coffee and dark chocolate notes (with accompanying bitterness). I am also getting some sweet cider notes before the finish, followed by banana bread, and a long lingering bitterness on the finish. At times, this is very reminiscent to a spiced dunkelweizen with it's rich chocolate/roasted malt taste coupled with the added spice. Moderately drinkable, but it definitely fills you up.

Overall: 10/10 I have had a few other 21st Amendment beers, but this has been the best offering I have had from them. If you're into dunkels, as well as belgian ales, well then this is the perfect almagamation for you. It's a very unique mix of two very different styles of beers, but both styles (belgian ale and dunkel) have their roots deep in winter time sippings. If you are a fan of either styles of beer, I strongly suggest you try this one. It definitely lives up to the name of "winter warmer". I am finishing up my glass as I type this, the snow outside is falling pretty hard, and this beer just makes the pearl white blanket falling outside feel "just right". An excellent winter brew. Cheers!

Widmer Brother's Drifter Pale Ale

This brew came as part of a mix 12 pack that I bought on a whim. I had never had any Widmer Brother's beers previously, and I thought this would be a good chance to get a sampling of a few beers this brewery has to offer. The first brew I am reviewing here is the Widmer Brother's Drifter Pale Ale. The west coast (thanks to Sierra Nevada, Rogue, Stone, and others) has done a very good job redefining what pale ales and IPAs have been commonly known to be. They've all created new, distinct, and diverse hop profiles that keep hop enthusiasts coming back for more and more. I will be the first to admit, I am a hop junkie. I love hoppy, bitter beers more than anything in the beer world. However, I often times can find the overuse or misuse of hops incredily offensive. I wants my hops, but I still want my malt as well. So, when hops are overdone, especially in a pale ale, I get very offended. With IPA's I expect an overuse of hops, but when I am drinking a pale ale I expect more of a balance. So, I was curious to see Widmer Brother's take on a traditional American Pale Ale. I was pleasantly surprised.

Brewery: Widmer Brother's
Location: Portland, OR
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.7%
Price: $16 for mix 12 pack (also included a grapefruit IPA, a hefeweizen, and an oktofest beer as well)

Appearance: Not a very pale ale at all. In fact, the beer pours a rather dark amber color. Not at all reminiscent of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or any of the other West Coast vairieties of Pales. There is a nice, finger thick head and generous amounts of loose lacing around the rim of the glass. There is also generous amounts of carbonation.

Aroma: Some grapefruit and lemon zest on the nose, followed by faint piney notes. Also, a lot of bread on the nose as well, remiscent of pizza dough.

Taste/Mouhfeel: Medium body, a lot more body than other pale ales I am used to. Generous amounts of carbonation  help ease out the medium body of the brew. Beautiful hop characters up front such as grapefruit bitterness, but not overpowering at all. Very subtle hop characteristics, that quickly take a step back and allow the pale malts to take over the show. The finish of the beer has the sweetness of thepale malts dominating, resmiscent of a sweet citrusy dessert bread on the back end. Think of lemon bread, with a slight bite of bitterness of the lingering aftertaste.

Overall: 8/10 I enjoyed this a lot. However, it was a bit more body than I am used to in a pale ale. This was definitely a darker brew, and far more complex in flavor profiles than most pales that I have had. The balance between malt sweetness and hop characters, however, was excellent and really allowed the pale malts and sweetness to shine through without being overpowered with aroma or bittering hops. A well balanced, delicious pale-ish ale (he he he), that serves as a great salute to pale malt and hops. Cheers!

Lagunita's Maximus IPA

 

 

Lagunita's is an excellent brewery from Petaluma, California. They are masters of the hop, and most of their beers have a very distinct hop characteristic to them. Personal favorites of mine are their Hop Stoopid Ale, Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale, and their Daytime Pale Ale. They take their beer very seriously, but their labeling and their message isn't very serious at all. You'll find very funny creative names on their beers (I mean...hop  stoopid? Hysterical!), and there are always funny anecdotes behind the creation of each beer printed on the labels.

 

So I recently decided to do a review of Lagunita's Maximus IPA. I've had this a few times before, and really wanted to write a review of it. So, here it is...

 

Beer: Maximus IPA

Brewery: Lagunita's Brewing

Location: Petaluma, CA

ABV: 8.2%

Style: Double IPA

 

Appearance: Beautiful pale amber in color, with a 2 finger thick cream colored head. Visibly carbonated, with plenty of carbonation sticking to the glass.

 

Aroma: Citrus and pine notes dominate on the nose, specifially grapefruit and juniper. Very crisp, clean aromas remiscent of citrus zests.

 

Taste/Mouthfeel: Definitely a generous amount of carbonation on this one, and it helps to give an airy feel to an otherwise medium body brew. At first, you get the sweetness of the pale malts, followed quickly by citrus and pine, specifically grapefruit notes dominating in the middle. On the finish you get a lot of the bittering hops, which linger for a bit, giving you one last hop bite. Definitely a hop lover's dream.

 

Overall: 10/10 I loved this beer. I was surprised to be hit with the sweet malt characters at first on this one, and then have the hops hitting me as a secondary taste explosion. Not very common with most double IPA's. It was a pleasnt surprise, and it almost played a mind game with me. The finish is a spendid bitterness, and really gets you in your cheeks and under your tongue. It's also amazing how the hops aromas and tastes on this one are near identical, with grapefruit being the real star of the show. A complex, and very drinkable DIPA! I wholheartedly endorse this brew! And as Lagunita's logo states "BEER SPEAKS!" CHEERS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Newburgh Brewing Company's "Sterk Ale Von Hoodie"

Here's the last review in my three part review of Newburgh Brewing Company beers. All 3 beers are part of their "Brewed With Heart" series of beers. The"Brewed With Heart" beers are small, usually single batch beers that are availabl for a limited time. They're not part of their year-round rotation. However, it seems as though the "Brewed With Heart" series sometimes has an influence on what the brewery may put in their year round rotation. Recently, a post from Newburgh Brewing on facebooks stated that their Madura-Menditto Harvest Ale was such a hit that they're brewing a new whole cone hopped Pale Ale that might become part of their seasonal rotation. One can only hope that this is the case, because the harvest ale was off the damn hook good! An excellent american pale! Anyway, so here's the review of their "Sterk Ale Von Hoodie" Belgian Strong Ale. Enjoy!

Brewery: Newburgh Brewing Company
Location: Newburgh, NY
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
ABV: 10.2%
Packaging: Draft

Appearance: Beautifule godlden hues, with not much of a head. Razor thin creamy white head. Decent amount of lacing on the glass despite the absence of a defined head, and the lacing sticks fairly firmly to the glass.

Aroma: Definitely getting a lot of spice on the nose. Predominantly clove aromas, followed by nutmeg and brown sugary notes.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Spicey notes (mainly clove, pepper) dominant the initial tasting, whoch slowly gives way to a molasses/brown sugar sweetness. The finish consists of the brown sugary sweetness followed by a small, insignificant bite from the alcohol. However, you hardly notice it, making this beer incredible drinkable, and dangerous with it's 10.2% ABV.

Overall: 10 out of 10. I loved this. I am a huge fan of Belgian Strongs, but at times I feel like the spice notes become a bit too much. In this brew the spice notes aren't overpowering, and the sweetness of the malts are allowed to shine through to the finish. A completely enjoyable ale that will keep you warm on those cold winter nights. This is, hands down, my favorite beer from Newburgh at this moment. So remember, it's part of their "Brewed With Heart" series of beers, which means it won't be around long. So, the next time you're looking to warm yourself up on a cold winter's night, get down to the brewery on Colden St. in Newburgh and allow this beer to wrap it's warm arms around your frigid flesh! Cheers!

Unkel Dunkel (Dunkelweizen) from Newburgh Brewing Company

Ok, so here's my second review of a Newburgh Brewing Company beer. Like I've said, I love what Chris comes up with at the Brewery, and you can taste his attention to detail in every batch you taste. This review is of their Unkel Dunkel, which is a Dunkelweizen style of brew. Dunkelweizens are German Wheat beers, however, unlike the hefeweizen the Dunkel is a darker version of the typical German wheat beer. (The word "dunkel" meaning "dark").

Style: Dunkelweizen
ABV: 4%
From: Newburgh Brewing Company, Newburgh, NY
Packaging: Draft at the tap room.

Appearance: Very dark brown, black coffee appearance. A nice 1-2 finger thick creamy taupe colored head. Decent amount of carbonation can be seen sticking to the glass. Also, a decent lacing at the top of the head that sticks to the glass as the head dissapears.

Aroma: A lot of sweet, malty aromas come off on the nose at first, followed by banana notes and chocolate notes. Also getting some chocolate notes and roasted coffee as well.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Generous amounts of carbonation on this one give it an "airy" feel to your mouth. On the first sip banana bread, carmalized malt and chocolate notes seem to prevail, followed by slightly bitter chocolate notes on the back end. The beer seems to get sweeter with subsequent sips, giving way to banana notes, and banana bread notes. As you continue, the banana bread notes mingle with the chocolate on the back end, and there's always that bitter chocolate bite on the finish.

Overall:  Another outstanding traditional session beer from Newburgh Brewing Company. These guys kill it with their devotion to traditional session beers, and they do it so damn well. This is an excellent example of a dunkel, and houses all of the complexities you would expect from a German brewery. Definitely another one of my favorites from Newburgh! Cheers fellas!

Score: 9/10-Very, very delicious.

Newburgh Brewing Company's Old Tjikko Baltic Spruce Porter

Let me start this off by saying I love Newburgh Brewing Company. Paul and Chris have something very special going on over there, and being that the brewery is only 10 minutes from my house, it's my "go to" tap room when I want fresh craft beer. I went to the brewery with my brother last Sunday (12/09/12), and I had 3 different offerings from the brewery. I will post my reviews of all 3 beers in subsequent posts, however, I will start in this post with Old Tjikko Baltic Spruce Porter which was released on 12/7/12.

Style: Baltic Spruce Porter
ABV: 6.6%
Price: $5 per glass.
Location: Newburgh, NY

Appearance: Pitch black with a caramel head that is roughly 1-2 fingers thick. Genersous amounts of lacing that sticks firmly to the glass.

Aroma: Strong, very strong pine notes. The pine notes fade out to chocolate and mint chocolate aromas.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Full bodied beer, with a very thick feel in the mouth. This is what many would call a "chewy" beer. There is a medium amount of carbonation. The pine is overwhelming on the first sip, and it over powers whatever else is going on in the beer. After subsequent sips, the pine subsides a bit and allows the chocolate/roasted coffee notes to creep in a bit on the finish. The finish is also slightly bitter, with dark chocolate notes and hints of mint. However, the spruce notes stick around long after the finish and overpower the beer a lot.

Overall: I can't say this is my favorite offering from Newburgh. They have a ton of great brews, but this one just isn't my thing. I love porters, but the spruce in this beer overpowers the tastes I commonly associate with porters (roasted/chocolate notes).  I suggest everyone tries it, because it's quite the experience, but it's not for the faint of heart. This is definitely for beer connoisseurs looking to broaden their palettes.

Score: 7/10

Stay tuned for my reviews of Newburgh's Unkel Dunkel (Dunkelweizen) and their Sterk Al Von Hoodie (Belgian Strong Ale).

Dogfish Head's Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (2010 batch)

Imagine being faced everyday with the worst temptation imaginable. After a long day of work, you walk into your front door and you are faced with a temptation that you've promised to turn your face from. You've read various reviews, and heard others talk about this temptation and it makes it more and more difficult to resist. Well, this is what I was faced with during the 2 years I cellared my Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. A full 730 days of wanting, so badly, to just have a taste of what was inside the bottle. I had heard from so many people how amazing it was, but I had made a promise to a close friend that we would drink our respective bottles on his 30th birthday together. First, like I have stated in a previous post, I'm not a huge proponent of Dogfish Head beers. Their IPA's are good (the 120 is stellar, but overpriced as all of their beers are), and I also enjoy their Raison D'Etre, and a few other offerings. I got very excited about the Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. It sounded like an interesting beer, and the reviews I read made me even more interested. I had bought my bottle, as well as my friend's on his 28th birthday when we both decided to cellar the beer for 2 full years and enjoy it together when the time came. Well, on December 4th of 2012 the time came. Here is my review:

Style: Stout
ABV: 9%
Price: $15/24oz bottle
Packaging: Bottle

Appearance: The color is a dark as night...pitch black, with a caramel brown head roughly 2 fingers thick. It has a rich lacing on the glass, very this lacing, which sticks firmly to the glass and hardly moves down the glass.

Aroma: Amazing, simply amazing. Chocolate overload on the nose, as well as mocha-coffee notes. A deep, rich roasted smell with hints of smoke.  Incredible.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Very full bodied, with a medium amount of carbonation. Right off the bat I am bombarded with roasted/smoked flavors, coupled with dark chocolatey bitterness. After the initial bitter chocolate and roasted notes, sweeter malty chocolate notes prevail. This train ride ends with a more bitter finish, reminiscent of Angostura Bitters, but the bold chocolate/roasted/smoke flavor profiles prevail throughout the tasting.

Overall: A very interesting, and complex beer. Although this beer is brewed with honey, I don't get any distinctive notes of honey at the front or the back end of the tasting. I'm not a huge fan of stouts either, but this one had me craving a sip after the finish of each sip. If you love rich smoked, roasted malt and chocolate flavors, then this beer is surely for you. I  would definitely drink this as a desert beer, possibly with chocolate mousse, or dark chocolate ganache. Enjoy!

Score: 9/10

Troeg's Mad Elf

I bought this beer on a whim, looking desperately to try a seasonal winter ale that I hadn't had before. I had heard that Mad Elf was a Belgian Strong (one of my favorite styles), and then seeing "ale brewed with cherries and honey" on the side I became a little hesitant, not being a big fan of ales brewed with fruit and various other ingredients. I have actually had an issue lately with the overabundance of "experimental" brews that throw all kinds of ingredients together in beers to create "new and unique" flavors. I call it the "Dogfisheading" of the beer industry, being that Sam Caligione's success has really spearheaded this movement of "experimentation." Don't get me wrong, Sam is a genius, and he makes some amazing beers, but I have the mindset that you should "learn to crawl before you walk", meaning, brew some traditional brews (which Sam has done well) before you start throwing 25 different ingredients into your batches. I also believe this is true for beer "connoisseurs", that if you're going to really get into tasting different beer styles you need to try the classics first. Plus, my own beer palate enjoys tasting the different malts, hops, and yeasts used in making certain traditonal beer varieties. I simply don't want those flavors masked, or hindered by the presence of unecessary ingredients.

That being said, I decided to take a gamble with this brew. I didn't even notice the ABV of the ale until  I reached the counter and saw the price of the six pack ($18 and change). A little steep for a sixer, but when you're buying a six pack of 12oz bottles that are 11% ABV each, it's expected. I picked up the six pack at a local beer distributor called "Half Time" which is, hands down, the largest beer store I have ever been in. You can check them out at www.halftimebeverage.com, and if you're ever in the Poughkeepsie, NY area you will be left completely speechless and overwhelmed by their selection, like a kid in a candy shop.

Appearance: Very dark mahogany in color. Clearly a belgian-style ale with it's very dark, reddish brown tint. Almost no head at all on this one, with slight lacing at the top when you swirl the glass round. It also has very low carbonation, not a vigoursly bubbly brew at all.

Aroma: At first, I get a lot of candied fruit smells, very remniscent of dehydrated fruit. A lot of spice notes as well, and a brown sugar scent.

Taste/Mouthfeel: On my first sip I there is a clear presence of candied fruit/brown sugar tastes, and also molasses notes. This sweet taste dissipates to a slight bitterness on the back end, with a little nip of alcohol at the very end. During my addtional sips I get a lot more of the molasses notes, coupled with more of the candied fruit notes. The lack of carbonation makes this suprisingly drinkable (and dangerous). In additional sips the sweetness of the honey becomes more prevalent, quelling the nip of the alcohol on the back end. This is definitely a full bodied beer, with very deep, rich, and complex flavor profiles. It almost evolves with each sip, and you can discover new tastes each time you put it to your mouth.

Overall: 9 out of 10. Every so often a seasonal beer comes along whose aromas, taste and overall feel force you into the mindset of that season. This beer has done exactly that. After finishing the beer I felt as though I had thrown a warm, wool sweater on (probably the high ABV of the brew). With the full body of the Belgian Strong, Troegs did an excellent job of conveying the feeling associated with the season. Feelings of warmth, spice, sweetness, and joy. Mad Elf is a beer that is a fitting holiday brew, a real "warmer" that throws you into memories of sitting around a burning yule log listening to family members regale you with stories of holidays past. Pick this one up, and enjoy with some friends and family this holiday season.

Sam Adam's 48 Latitude IPA

So, let me start this off with saying I'm not a huge Sam Adam's fan. I feel that they've lost a lot of the "crafting" in their beers as they've grown larger, and more popular. That being said, Sam's Boston Lager was one of the first craft brews to get me into beer. To this day, I still feel like their lager is excellent, and well deserving of it's flagship status.

Since my early days of drinking craft beers, I have evolved into quite the "hop head", and I love growing, smelling, and tasting all varieties of hops. It's mostly the gardener in me that has spawned this hop-monster is you will. Due to my complete love of hops (hence the name of this blog) I can be quite picky when it comes to IPA's and Pale Ales in general. I have my favorites, and they tend to serve as a barometer to which all other IPA's are judged. So, let that be known when reading this review.

ABV: 6.0%
IBU's: 60

Apperance: A dark amber, slight mahogany in color. A bit darker than most IPA's that I am accustomed to. A nice 1-2 finger thick creamy white head surfaces at the top of the glass.

Nose/Aroma: Not nearly as strong a scent as many other American IPA's, especially the westcoast varieties that spearheaded the style. Very earthy, grassy notes on the nose. Very faint pine notes.

Mouthfeel/Taste: Medium body, very drinkable beer. Definitely a good introduction to IPA's if you're not used to the flavor/scents of hops. Well balanced malt/sweetness and hop flavors, much more like a British style IPA than an American one. A lot of grassy notes, with more prevalent pine and pineapple notes than there were on the nose.

Overall: A well balanced IPA. For newcomers to the style, this is your beer. It's quite drinkable, and the hop aromas and bitterness isn't overwhelming at all whatsoever. Definitely a great beer to drink with a group of friends while watching the Sunday Football game.

Pairings: I suggest pairing this beer with anything that has a kick to it; Buffalo wings, Mexican food, Thai food, Indian food would all be great pairings.

Welcome to my beer blog.

Recently I realized that I post a lot about beer on social media websites. I also realized that it must get very annoying for people that aren't into beer at all, and have no interest in discovering/discussing new information about beers. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that creating a beer blog would be an excellent avenue for people who are interested in beer to read my posts, subscribe, share info, their tastes, their favorite styles of beer, etc. I want this blog to be my avenue for nerding out about beer, without offending those of you that could care less. I would also like to see this blog evolve into a place where anyone that is into beer can share info. Let's have at it! Cheers!