Schell's Chimney Sweep

Schell's Chimney Sweep. August Schell Brewing Company, New Ulm, MN. 12 fluid ounces.

I thought at first glance that this new brew was labeled without any information on it whatsoever, aside from the legalese that every label must carry. At first glance, we see no clue to the contents and can only surmise from what the name suggests. Until we look  closer and find a few lines that will guide us to further understanding. I'll look at them later, and drink it now.

Clear, dark burgundy color, with a roasted brown head on top, starts big and slims down slowly, leaving some lace.

Aroma: soft and pleasant, nice malty touches, caramel and toffee meets light roast coffee.

Taste: Lands tenderly, but assuredly on the palate, residing mellow in the mouth. Flavor finds itself just inside of richness. Medium body, just enough heft in the mouthfeel and texture to keep it interesting. Smooth, malty, and just a little bit sweet. Minor bitterness…rising deliciousness…I'm getting fonder and fonder of this one, and I'm going out on a limb to guess it's a schwarzbier, one of my favorite of the lager styles.

So, let's look at that side bar from the label: "Schell's Chimney Sweep is inspired by the rich, dark lagers of Upper Franconia. Black in color with a rich roast maltiness, firm hop bitterness, and a subtle underlying smokiness."

Hmmm. That smokiness is subtle, and underlying, but, yeah, that's there. And I wouldn't call the hop bitterness "firm", but it's holding it's ground, though it's not sticking out or showing off.

Tasty stuff, too. I could drink this, and then drink another. Good job, Jace Marti, and, please, keep them coming!

O'so Hop Whoopin' I.P.A.

O'so Hop Whoopin' IPA. Once again, the label is a string of of words and phrases which may, or may not, have something to do with the beer inside. This string of seeming non-sequitors could render my notes obsolete. So, I will dispense with them until I've done my thing. And, away…

Clear. Bright. Yellow. Small head.

Piney. Sticky. Lemon, orange, pithy, resinous.

Bracing, puckering, bitter/sour intensity. Citric assault. Oncoming alcohol assault.

And yet…and yet…ah, it tries, but misses the mark. Seems to be a something I often find in the O'so beers. They come close, but don't quite hit it. Sometimes, though, close is good enough.

Let's list those words now: "S.M.A.S.H. {???} . 95 IBU. Intense. Freakish. Obnoxious. Excessive.Deranged."

What?

Mother Earth Dark Cloud Dunkel Lager

Mother Earth Dark Cloud Munich-style Dunkel Lager, Handcrafted in Eastern, N.C.

Cloudy, reddish brown/burgundy hue, smallish dark head.

Aroma: sweet malty notes, touch of fruit. Earthy, herbal, intriguing.

Taste: Lean-bodied, malty, flavors dark and grainy. Mild bitterness. Easy-drinking, good balance. A little bit roast on the malt, increasingly tasty. Not bad, not bad at all…..

Harriet's Wachen Bock

Harriet Wachen Bock. Traditional German-style bock bier. 6.9% ABV.

Took me about a minute to figure out the name for this one. I won't spoil it for you, you go figure it out on your own.

Clear, dark brown color, small head.

Caramel malt nose, sweet, but balanced.

Taste: More of the same in the mouth. Dark malt flavors, caramel and a touch of cocoa, a little nutty, with just the requisite amount of hops to hold it all in check. Medium bodied, nice roasty flavor coming through, long, tasty malt finish. Great drinking, despite nearly 7% ABV.

This brew is an anomaly in the local craft brewing scene. I can't think of anyone doing a regular bock. It's doppelbock, maibock, and nothing else. We're way too hop-obsessed, and a bit too trend-happy, in some cases, to entertain a brew like this. We'll, good for Harriet in bucking that terrible trend.

Minneapolis Town Hall 15th Anniversary I.P.A.

Fifteen years of Town Hall. Wow. That means 10 years of me patronizing them. (I still don't know what kept me from stopping in from 1997-2002. I think I just wasn't into brewpubs yet. Didn't trust them.)

So, here's the anniversary IPA made specially for this occasion. I scribbled these notes on it's ingredients: 15 year IPA…american double ipa, 9.4%, Centennial, Simcoe, Experimental  342, Nlson, columbus, with  mn basswood honey

Now, let's check this out…

Beautiful amber coloring, darker, close to crimson, with a smallish head.

Aroma: Ah! Gorgeous. Every kind of citric fruit is dropped into this, there's pineapple and mango and tangerine and orange. Bright and sunny, ebullient, even. Stunning.

Taste: Yow! That is some zippy, zesty stuff right there. A thorough blast of citrus fruit, pine, and more, an incredible blast of everything available from the hops at hand. Everything from the nose returns on the tongue. Multitudes of fruit, citric and tropical, bitter blasts of pine, and exceptional doses of sweetness. The honey, possible added for fermentable sugars and raising the alcohol really shines through. This was utterly delicious, and was one of the most enjoyable beers I've had in quite some time.

I enjoyed this one over the course of two nights. (If I'd downed it in one night, I'd be useless the next day.) Went back for more the next Tuesday, and, sadly, growlers were gone, but I got to enjoy more on tap. Here's to 15 more!

Liefmans Cuvee' Brut

Liefmans Cuvee Brut.

Called a "kriek", but not a lambic. Cherries are macerated with an aged Belgian brown ale, aged for a year, then blended with Oud Bruin and Goudenband for different ages. 6% ABV.

Dark, cloudy, reddish-brown coloring, small, pinkish head.

Aroma: sour cherries with a judicious jolt of sweet. Dark malt lies below. Little bits of chocolate. Lovely stuff.

Taste: silky smooth, with a brace of bitterness, followed by a storm of sour. Fruit flavor mixed with oakiness, swimming over a brown ale base. Great texture on top, nice tannin-like play on the palate. Tasty, tasty stuff. Sourness is mellow, not a puckering pounce, but a gentle message. Mmm. Velvety, luxurious, plain ol' delightful. So lovely and delicious, I've coined a new phrase: "Lover-licious."

Hm. I'm going to wait on that one. Don't quote me yet.

Great beer, though. Get one for Thanksgiving. Seriously.

Mission Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout

Mission Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout, 9.8% ABV., …I'll skip the verbiage until later, just a glance and I can tell I won't like it. So, let's get to the beer…

Dark as the deepest sin, ringed with a roasty tan color, staying slim, but lingering long.

Aroma: Mmm. Yes. Chocolate, coffee, rich molasses and dark rum. A whiff of char and ash, but overall sweet and lush.

Taste: Yeah. Richness galore. More cocoa, more espresso, mucho anise, lots of spice, pepper aplenty. Yum. Thick, but not overly so. Tasty, for the dark malt lover in you. Oh, so, lovely RIS.

Olde Hickory Imperial Stout

Olde Hickory Imperial Stout, Ale Brewed With Honey. Brewed and Bottled by Olde Hickory Brewery, Hickory, North Carolina. 10.6% ABV.

Black as night, this one, with a richly roasted, deep, dark tan head, settles into a slim ring. Looks incredible.

Aromatics: all the usual suspects are in attendance. Rich cocoa, espresso, some maple. Lightly hoppy. Rich, roasty malt is king.

Taste: Hops are bigger, brighter, brasher, bolder on first sip, nice little fandango on the palate, good and tasty. Full-bodied, but far from thick, not quite viscous. Just enough sweetness, just enough bitter, loads of roasty-toasty dark malt.

Now to quote the label copy and hope I didn't unwittingly repeat anything they wrote: "Blacker than night, stouter than stout is our Imperial Stout! Brewed with a lot of malt and a touch of local honey, Imperial Stout is rich and robust with deep, deep notes of dark chocolate & espresso. A few sips and you will think you are the Czar of all Russia!"

Well, call me Nicholas! And if I get any further into this bottle by my lonesome, I'm gonna feel like Vladimir Putin.

Mission Shipwrecked Double IPA

Mission Shipwreck Double IPA, Brewed and bottled by Mission Brewery, San Diego, CA.  9.25% ABV.

"Double India Pale Ale, A style of beer curiously born on the foggy shores of Father Junipero Serra's first founding mission. Our own vigorous entry is one rebellious IPA, quick on the trigger, and brimming with a bounty of hop ingenuity. This is a big, bold, brazen beer, a restless vision of a new America."

Oh, it is, is it? We'll see about that!

Bright golden/ amber, clear, with a creamy-toned, half-inch head, nicely dotted.

Aroma, pleasantly bitter and hoppy, orange peel, tangerine, and flowers.

Taste: Mmm. Great big, bitter bite up front, fierce puckering grab at the palate, then, slowly, mellowing out just a touch. Juicy, fruity, buoyant, and boozy. Hophead's joy. Nice stuff.

French Broad Anvil Porter

French Broad Anvil Porter, Ashville, North Carolina.

"French Broad"? Still not sure what kind of a name that is for a brewery. Trying to figure that one out.

Thoroughly black appearance, slim tan head.

Aroma: roasty, a little toasty, nicely hoppy. Some cocoa, some nuts. Classic American porter nose.

Now let's taste 'er, already…it lands on the palate evenly balanced, very medium, very right there in the middle. Not too sweet, not too dry, not too …anything, really. Doesn't really stand out too much. Nice, rich malty character, a trifle hoppy, a bit dry in the end. Hoppy, malty, clean, that's the order of business.

It's a bit metallic in the end, …flinty… touch funky, and a whisper sour, ….and it doesn't quite satisfy. Needs a little something more in the flavor department. Hmmm. I can drink it, but I wouldn't return to it. Alas.

Mother Earth Sisters of the Moon I.P.A.

Mother Earth Sisters of the Moon India Pale Ale, Mother Earth Brewing, Kingston, NC, "Handcrafted in Eastern N.C."

Highly hazed, but bright yellow appearance, slim white head, leaves a little lace.

Aroma: Mostly muted, but some citric fruit hop character peeks through.

Taste: Smooth and almost creamy, with a persistent hop snap. Not an attack, nor even a bit, just a snap, a nip, a nibble. It grows and grows, though, the bright hoppy flavor shines mores and beams throughout the palate. Orange, tangerine, lemon, maybe some pineapple.

This feels unfiltered, I can definitely taste the yeast in here. That's bringing it home and making the case. The bitterness finds a home in the back of the tongue and camps out a while. I'm liking this more and more.

What do they say about it? "Made with hops grown in the good ol' U.S.A. …you'll proudly support American farmers when you drink this beer! Light copper in color, it has an intense hop aroma and strong hop bitterness. Our hopsack process uses fresh hop cones to take this IPA to unexpected places. Prepare for a mouthful of flavor."

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Grand Cru

I've been neglecting the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery again, much to my shame. Missed out on the Fresh Hop Ale again, this year. Didn't stop in at all during Anniversary week. But I brought some empty growlers down the other day, and was glad to get one of the 15th Anniversary IPA, which we'll get to soon. The other growler was the Belgian-style Grand Cru, which goes down far too easily. Here are notes from February, 2004, right around when it was first released:

I first sampled this several weeks ago at the Winterfest in St. Paul and found it to be the hit of the evening. Now it's on tap at the pub, finally, and I can check it's progress from a fresh growler, and so I shall...

Appearance: solid orange color, with a lively, fresh, bubbling froth above, very attractive.

Aroma: Wow! This is the stuff! Fruity, alcoholic, with an utterly ethereal quality I associate with the likes of Abbaye des Rocs or Delirium Noel. Spicy, yes, and loaded with dark fruits, grapes, cherries,.plums, elevated by a sublime, otherworldy somethin' else! Yeast is predominant and contributes to this atmospheric effect.

So, taste already! Don't mind if I do...Mmmm! Flavor rides high in this one, spicy, solid, sure, becoming a magical blend of malt, fruitiness, spice, hops, and all things nice and good. Alcoholic content lends a certain whisky-ish tone to the taste. All in all, deli
cious.
This is a marvelous nightcap, an excellent guard against this ridiculous February chill, just the thing to wrap around me before I surrender to slumber.

Watch as I try to stockpile some growlers to last until spring...pity you can't cellar the stuff!

New Belgium Trippel

The Belgian-style tripel from New Belgium. Notes from May of 2003:

If certain steps could be taken to improve my happiness, and that of doubtless others, I can assure you that one would be to get more of this fantastic brew around and about us, in unfailing supply.

Appearance: a slightly hazy, bright golden hue, and a large, luscious creamy white head, that remains for a spell, then dwindles.

Aroma: an explosion of fruit and spice, a gorgeous blend, a veritable fruit salad up in the nose.Tropical fruits, mango, banana, peach, apricot, citrus: yup, all that! A heavenly delight, swimming in sparkling sweetness.

On the tongue, a burst, no a blizzard of hoppiness, a dervish dance on the tongue, flooding the senses. Excellent, generous texture. Rich, sweet malt, though never to the point of cloying. Candied, honeyed sweetness and spice abounds in this happy ale, and the flavor lasts and lasts, every portion of the experience compounding it's overall effect.

One of my favorite American beers. Now why doesn't Trippel have the cult status of Fat Tire, that's the next topic for the Armchair Philosophers Club...

Sand Creek Wild Ride IPA

Wild Ride India Pale Ale, Sand Creek Brewing Company, Black River Falls, WI.

Aroma: Highly hazed, dark orange coloration, good half inch, nicely dotted white head.

Aroma: dank and pungent. Under a mask of murk, there's pine and citric fruit. Ripples of bitter hop oils attack the senses.

Taste: Bitter/sour attack on the palate at first sip. Not holding anything back here, while a maelstrom of flavors assaulting the senses. As a card-carrying, due-paying hop head, that's a good thing. Hangs hard in every corner of the mouth, laying in thick, and lasting long. It's an indelible punishment you need to go in wanting, not a delicate delivery of nice, tidy hoppiness, this is a brash affront. But, it's one that hop-loving masochists like me don't mind terrorizing the tongue.

This one is a blast, in more ways than one. I believe that I've made the case that this is one for everyone. Some might find flaws, or feel it's strong points are not to their favor. Okay for them, and fine for me.

Tyraneana Bitter Woman IPA

The IPA from Tyranena of Lake Mills, Wisconsin.
Notes from way back in November, 2003. Bit of a gusher, but I still like it. You will notice that there are far fewer exclamation points than the review you'll find on BeerAdvocate.com:

Appearance: clear, bright, perfectly orange color, with a fresh and frisky layer of bone-white foam.
Aroma: Ooooo! Bold, bright, sharp, spikey, piney, grapefruity, exploding with citric emanations of every kind (add lemon, peach, pineapple!), vibrant and vivacious. This is the true ticket for every true lover of humulus lupus.

My kind of hoppiness, bristling with fruit and pine-resin.
Taste: BAM! WOW! Mouth-filling, with a full, sticky, resilient texture, long, tasty finish, never, ever giving any intention of quitting the mouth!
Bitter, yes, but lip-smackingly delicious. Fresh flavor bursts forth and floods through every gulp and swallow. A brew that just won't slow down.

Holey schamoley, dammity, damn, damn! Wonderfully balance, too, the malt is adequate buttress, though the hops are running this show. You might put out your cup and beg for more malt, please, but you don't really want that, do you, because then this wouldn't be, you know, this ...this.

Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale

So, here I am in November of 2012, tapping Ommegang Rare Vos at my bar for the first time, and I look back on my old notes to find only notes on some bottles that were Cave-aged available for view. This was way back in July, 2003, and I am going to share those notes with you now, but without any reference to the cave-aging, and what-have-you. I think it stands on it's own.
So, here's Rare Vos, the Belgian-style amber ale from Brewery Ommegang:

Pale orangeish color, good-sized creamy head..aroma is fresh, yeasty, fruity, uplifting, and more character shines through, more sweet, candyish, even...distinctly sugary, and the perfect profile for a Belgian-style ale bent on delivering deliciousness.

Oh, yum...oh, delicious...thick, fruity, ...heavenly, chock full o' sweetness...malt, hops in perfect alignment to produce a divinely candyish, magnificent dessert beer...or dinner beer...or Happy-to-Be-Alive-Beer (and who doesn't need a copious amount of these?)

Wonderful mouthfeel, dazzling hops...my appreciation continues to grow...bright fruit flavors continue, peach, apricot...

... a really nice beer...really, really nice...mmmmn, did I say nice? I meant niiiiiiice!

The Bruery Oude Tart

The Bruery Oude Tart Flemish Style Red Ale Aged in Oak Barrels.

Deep burgundy hue, dark red, with a slim, soon-gone head.

Aroma speaks up form the first minute, spilling out sour fruit, matched with sweetness, a beautiful blend. Just a touch of vinegar, a magnificent marriage of sweet and sour.

Taste: Bam! boom! Mmmm. A great flash of sourness, an intense puckeration that outreaches many other sour red ales. And the vinegar rises up, as well. Big, fresh, intense, and amazing.

This one is just about a match for Rodenbach or any of the better Belgian Flemish reds. Not a damn thing wrong with it. In fact, I love it. Mmmm, mmm, good.

"Pleasantly sour with hints of leather, dark fruit, and toasty oak from extended aging in oak barrels."

Left Hand Smokejumper Smoked Imperial Porter

Left Hand Smokejumper, Smoked Imperial Porter, Left Hand Brewery, Longmont Colorado. 8.8 % ABV.

This beer has been out for so many years, why has it taken me so long to get to it? Why have I never tackled a bottle? Why wait until my first time tapping it? So many good questions, and no answers. Let's just drink it up, okay?

Look at it: Solid black, under a lovely brown, dotted head, last long, if thin. Good looking' beer.

Smellin' it: roast first, then toast, some cream, and along comes cocoa. Nice.

Tastin' it: Full-bodied, massive impact on the palate, jumps on board and lays it in thick. First comes roasted malt, then cocoa, then it's swept up with smoke. A little bit hoppy, then smooth, and nothing but lush malt and full-blown deliciousness. Smoke gains in prominence and surely takes over. There's still some molasses and trickles of anise, bits of cocoa. Yum. Yum-a-dum-dum. Trademark and copyright.

What was my problem, not trying this one out until now? I was slow on this one. Don't be like me, you. Or, be like me now, not like me then.

Red Brick Vanilla Gorilla

Red Brick --Brick Mason Series. Smoked Vanilla Gorilla, Ale aged in oak whiskey barrels with vanilla beans. Atlanta Brewing Company, Atlanta, GA.

No style given for this one, outside of "ale." I'm going to guess before I open it porter or stout.

Once open, it looks that way. Black as it gets, under slim, brown head.

Aroma: sweet vanilla notes hit right off, wrapped in bourbon, with whiffs of smoke, trails of toffee, and a dusting of charcoal.

Taste: Oooo! Sweet! The vanilla is big in this one, with less of the complexity from the oak barrels that we would like. There's not a lot of there there. Needs more depth. More weight. Much more. Faint finish. Too, too thin. Falling flat, leaving me listless.
Chocolate is here, and toffee, too, but not as big as they should be. Body should be fuller. Tastes good, somewhat…but this lack of heft leaves me unsatisfied.

Sorry, Gorilla, maybe next time?

Mission I.P.A.

Mission Brewery, San Diego, CA. IPA, 6.8% by Vol.

Here's a California brewery I've never heard of, purchased at my most recent Wisconsin trip. First of from Mission, their IPA.

Very hazy, dank and dusky golden/amber hue, under a white head that dies down quickly.

Aroma: pungent, piney, and resinous. A heady helping of hops. Plenty of citrus, grapefruit, lime and orange. Ah…every hophead's dream, here.

Taste: All that, back on the palate. Not as intense, though. big, still, but not overmuch.
And that's just how it should be. We don't have a double IPA in the bottle, after all.
Yum. Nice and easy-drinking, plenty of flavor, tons of yum.
 Laying the hops on heavy here, but not so much that it over-burdens so.