Again with the whiskey-barrel-aged brews...

Hailing from Lake Mills, WI we find Tyranena's Dirty Old Man...

This one is interesting. The majority of whiskey-barreled-aged beers are of the bourbon variety. Tyranena has stepped a bit out of bounds by aging 
their porter in a rye barrel. Oh. Nice.

Appearance: Pours coffee black with a brown—like melted vanilla ice cream with a bit of Hersey syrup mixed in sundae style—with a sliver-sized highlight at the bottom of the glass when held to light.  The head is a good inch and leaves a baby foam covering cap. 8.9/10

Body: Rich and viscous with a quasi-syrup quality that quickly expands and turns into this wonderfully foamy fluff that gracefully works the beer off the tongue. Full and efficient. 9.1/10

Nose: Nestle Quick mix, Worther’s Originals, Tootsie Rolls, Whoppers—the movie candy—rich, dense malt with chocolate overtones galore. Could you tell? Diced cashews and peanut shells. There are some smoky fruit notes peering over the olfactory fence, but the nose remains a Malt Club Event.  8.6/10

Taste: Much sweeter and fruity than expected. In fact, the chocolate takes a brief backseat to mingle with cherry, which lingers and lingers and lingers. It’s actually tart. Bizarrely tart. The cherry gives way to dark chocolate and the whole thing meanders away leaving you curious. Points for trickery. 8.5/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Backwoods Bastard

The old man saunters down the mountain with an old hip and a new beer...

Bourbon-barreled aged beers are all the rage. The barrels boost the alcohol, complexity and rarity. 

If, and I mean if, they are made well. 

Here we find Backwoods Bastard, from Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI.

Appearance: Pours a deep ruby with a slight brown hue. Some fine sediment suspended in the glass. The off-white, 2 inch head is bulky and stays put for a while before leaving a fine ½ inch cap and some hefty lacing. 8.5/10

Body: Semi-lazy, but assertive carbonation rolls in and expands for a creamy touch. Medium to be sure, but thins out quickly. 7.6/10

Nose: Bourbon-drizzled caramel, oak-driven vanilla bean and unfortunately, an overbearing, seriously boozy note walks in and eclipses everything else.7.2/10

Taste: Sweet, malty with some minor fruit notes. Again the bourbon barrel has a ton to say, and trust me, it won’t shut up. The thin body doesn’t help and this beer falls a bit flat. I’m not dumping it out, of course, but I’m not buying it again. 7.1/10

Overall: 7.7/10

Life and Limb

There was some press behind this brew. Serious palaver. When was it coming? Who would distribute it? 

What will it be?

When it arrived--in quite limited quantity--the beer geeks and gals sped to their local beer retailers with the urgency of a chased lamb. 

What did they find? An ale with birch and maple syrup. 

For $13, it leaves a lot to be wanted. 

Appearance: Deep brown with red highlights at the bottom of the glass. Khaki fluff, pancake batter head of an inch that shrinks to a ¼ inch and remains covering in a tightly packed manner. Bit of stickiness on the glass. Everything in place. 8.7/10

Body: Subtle carbonation that fades gracefully, rounded silkiness, on the very light side of medium. For the ABV, pretty good. 8.3/10

Nose: Hmm. Rum soaked raisins, brown sugar, molasses, rootbeer candies and oatmeal maltiness. Feint melted chocolate. These aromas don’t jump out of the glass. I don’t mind…but hey, this is a $12 24oz. 8/10

Taste: Ok. I know this is a wild beer. Well, supposed to be. Birch syrup in the beer. I’m for it. Starts off sweet, then briskly shifts gears and gets bitter in the vein of hops and chocolate. The syrups make their way into the spotlight towards the end, but briefly. There is some booziness and I won’t dock the score too much. Life and Limb should be better with age. 8.3/10

Overall: 8.3/10

2 Turtle Doves

Tis the season to...drink Christmas beer. 

Also, Hanukkah beer...I guess. 

I'm not playing favorites. I love every religion that embraces drinking. It's fitting I was born into an Irish-Catholic family. 

Anyway, I'm getting into the season. Breweries across the world are releasing wonderful gifts for the tongues of the eccentric. I mean come on, who would drink a beer with cocao nibs and toasted pecans? Me.

Appearance: Coffee black with no light seeping through whatsoever. Beige head hits at about a ½ inch before quickly dropping to a thin cover around the rim of the glass. 8.4/10

Body: Oily, cheek-puffingly creamy, concentrated carbonation that delicately buzzes—truly spot on carbonation. Medium with elegance and balance. It has some weight, but just enough. 9/10

Nose: Smoked chocolate/fruit, dominant and very tart cherry, maple syrup, pecan pie, biscuit malt, baking spices. Great variety and harmony. Nothing seems out of place. Original and interesting. 8.9/10

Taste: Hey there cherry…tart cherry. Followed by dark chocolate. You know, those $8 jobs you find at Whole Foods. The chocolate/cherry attacks retreat into brown sugar and citrus/bitter hops. The pecans stay hidden until the very end, where their crumbly nuances meld well with the hops and lingering malt backbone. The carbonation really holds the whole thing together providing structure. 8.7/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Gueuze Beers

Gueuze beers, according to the Brewer's Association Guidelines is "old lambic is blended with newly fermenting young lambic to create this special style of lambic. Gueuze is always refermented in the bottle. These unflavored blended and secondary fermented lambic beers may be very dry or mildly sweet and are characterized by intense fruity-estery, sour, and acidic aromas and flavors. These pale beers are brewed with unmalted wheat, malted barley, and stale, aged hops. Sweet malt characters are not perceived. They are very low in hop bitterness. Diacetyl should be absent. Characteristic horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic character evolved from Brettanomyces yeast is often present at moderate levels. Cloudiness is acceptable. These beers are quite dry and light bodied. Vanillin and other woody flavors should not be evident. Versions of this beer made outside of the Brussels area of Belgium cannot be true lambics. These versions are said to be 'lambic-style' and may be made to resemble many of the beers of true origin."

I happened to come across an extremely rare keg of Gueuze and scoffed when the bartender mentioned the $600 price tag. "There aren't many of these in the States." he boasted. Fair enough. I had to have one. It's called Boon Oude Mariage Parfait and it was made by this fine man. 

Now that we have a frame of reference, let's drink it. 

Appearance: Deeply hazy burnt orange with carbonation clinging to the sides of the glass in blotches and haphazard lines. A 1/3rd of an inch off white head sits and fails to recede. 8.8/10

Body: Paper-thin body and almost no carbonation. Light, but in an intriguing way. Soft edges, but not watery. 8.1/10

Nose: Funky cheese, sour cranberries, pickles, damp hay, horse blanket, wet earth. Interesting in the sense that most beers primarily derive aromas form their ingredients and this Gueuze reeks of the place it was made. 8.7/10

Taste: This beer is all about the finish. It touches down sour, but not over the top with the aforementioned fruit giving way to a sour/liquid triscuit/cheesy finish that lasts for a minute or so before shifting gears into a beautiful sweet, nutty, cereal malt note that lingers delicately. 9.3/10

Overall: 8.7/10

Comment: This is one of the strangest and interesting flavors I've ever encountered. Bizarrely good. You can buy it here. I Would. 

Sierra Nevada Estate

This isn't your average beer. This is an "estate" ale composed of ingredients grown on the grounds of the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA. Much like a Chateau where the wine in the bottle is made exclusively from grapes grown on the owned estate land and nothing else--it's common for company to buy wine or "juice" from several wineries and blend it. Breweries buy their ingredients and Sierra Nevada has broken new ground by growing their own. 

Read more here. 

Ok. Let's see if it was worth it...

Appearance: A clear medium red rose with a thick, voluptuous, buzzing, two-finger head that slinks some nice lacing around the edge of the glass. 8.8/10

Body: Medium and smooth with delicate, well-structured and restrained carbonation. 9.1

Nose: Clean wet hop nose. Pine sap, orange rind, grapefruit juice, sage and a hint of mint. The malt notes are on the toffee side with some caramel nuances. 7.9/10

Taste: Zesty hops kick off the flavor with orange bitters and are returned by the aforementioned toffee malts. Kind of “eh…”8.0/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Comment: I really wanted to love this beer. I absolutely love the concept and I want to support it but the beer simply didn’t delivery for $13. Now, this isn't to say I won't try the next release, just that I wouldn't bother spending the money to try it a second time. 

 

Sierra Nevada 13th Release Wet Hop Harvest Ale

Appearance: Dark chestnut with light ruby highlights and bright bronze when held to a light. No sediment to speak of at all. Pours a tightly carbonated, sustaining, light beige/vanilla bean ice cream 2 finger head. Sticky lacing grips the glass. 8.0/10

Body: On the lighter side of full with assertive carbonation balancing the slightly viscous nature of the fresh hop oils. 8.2/10

 Nose: Christmas tree farm hops with resin to boot. A douse of citrus, brown sugar, baked bread malt, pepper, lemon, orange rind, fresh lupulid invasion on the olfactories. 8.7/10

Taste: Lemony hops touch down on an—initially—malt-less runway. Bitter and soft citrus quickly fade into slightly sweet, biscuity malt. To be honest, it’s underwhelming.

Overall: 8/10

Comment: The nose and body are all spot-on for the style and definitely above-average. The problem is, the taste just falls flat and barely pays homage to the alluring nose. 

 

#2 Port High Tide

Appearance: pours an unclear, cloudy orange which pales around the edges when held to a light. A frothy and appetizing, 1.5 inch head takes a good while to dissipate. Lace all over the place.  9.1/10

Body: Medium full with a big round character. Fluffy creaminess expands elegantly with near-perfect carbonation--for the style—bolstering fading creaminess. 9.2/10

Nose: Piney, floral, grapefruit, expansive tropical fruit—lychee, mango, cool aid. The tropical fruit is absolutely wonderful. Makes you inhale deeper. Beyond well made. 9.4/10

Taste: Hello grapefruit…on steroids. Huge over-the-top bitterness intertwined with spicy orange and leman that tag-team for a finish that lasts and lasts and lasts. In the far background are some balancing sweet malt notes that add just enough to without bothering the hops. Great. 9.0

Overall: 9.2/10

Comment: Don't get me wrong. This beer is outstanding, but Three Floyd's Broodoo is just so effortlessly great. This beer beats your tongue, while Broodoo seduces it. 

#1 Three Floyd's Broodoo

Appearance: Seductively cloudy, deep flame orange with specs of sediment suspended like hop sand in a freeze frame. An apple cider hue, but a touch lighter. Candy stick lace seems to fuse onto the glass. The beer looks tasty. 9.2/10

Nose: Funk, dank, drizzly hops that actually smell viscid. Skittle fruit, tropical punch. Fresh mango. Orange sherbet. Wet grass. This nose has it all, but it isn’t all hops—close. Carmel doused malt notes superbly conflate with the fruit-hop-wonder that is Broodoo. 9.6/10

Body: The body is lush, rich and full with nearly perfect carbonation for the style with some soft oily nuances. Beats the tongue down with a hop cane.  9.5/10

Taste: Perfectly expressive, yet perfectly harnessed hops touch down with a bitter citrus bite, orange rind, and an excellent array of spice notes. Lemony. Delcious. 9/10

Overall: 9.3/10

Comment: An absolute joy to drink. Every sip is more fulfilling than the last and every sip provides a new nuance unnoticed before. Utterly compelling and master-crafted.  

Snow is falling, small children wobble down streets puffed and wrapped and the harvest is over. The corn is in the silo, the fat is in the fire. The city is hardening and so are we. Afternoons spent on balmy patios and ivy-walled beer gardens have faded into closed-curtain take out with Anderson Cooper and another 30,000 Americans destined for the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Trusted experts, medal-chested generals, consultants, geniuses, men/women-of-their-time(s), Valedictorians, by the boot strap types, pewter spoon-fed aristocrats all offer custom blades to carve the globe. One may do. Maybe all are necessary. We know this for sure: when the whittling begins, there's no turning back. 

 The same notion can be applied to the Harvest IPA. It's a dicey game. The day of the hop harvest brewers spend serious cash to have fresh hops delivered within twenty-four hours of being picked. The harvest decides the outcome. I've mentioned this style before, but man, they just kept coming and coming. Here are the two reigning champions of 2009’s Harvest IPA.