The Bruery White Oak

The Bruery White Oak, 50% ale, 505 ale aged in bourbon barrels. Some descriptions on the front that I'll read later. Orange County, CA.

Appearance: clear and brilliantly golden, pure white head, lace-leaving and lasting.

Aroma: Bourbon hits the nose first, raw whiskey notes roaring out, with oak and vanilla flavors dominant. Slight sweetness, with a sour edge.

Taste: Again, whiskey hits first on the palate, major sweetness, big-time vanilla, over-arching oak, with caramel-y sweet tones below that. Minor hop presence, with a creeping alcohol content. Let's peek at that label. 11.5% ABV. Uff-da.
Sharp, slightly acidic, and intensely alcohol, brimming with bourbon. I'm not sure what the base beer is supposed to be, so I will cheat and read the label now, both sides.

"Vivid caramel-esque, coconut-like, and vanilla-ish flavors blanketed in a crisp yet robust wheat ale." Hmmm, I didn't quite get the wheat, but now that you mention it. And I think the blanketing is the other way around, all those flavors blanket the base, not vice versa. There's more gobbledy on the back, isn't there?
"White Oak is suitable for aging up to two years when cellared properly. Best stored and cellared…blah, blah, blah…pour carefully, enjoy in a chalice…blah, blah…"

I've got to take these down solo, so I can take these notes and notch it off my list, add it to the repertory of the blog. But it's the sort of thing I wish I had multiples of, waiting in the fridge to share with friends. Next time I see this I'll grab an extra one, just for that purpose. I've enjoyed every Bruey brew I've tried, and this was no exception. Another distinctive triumph.

Green Flash Double Stout

Green Flash Double Stout, Green Flash Brewing Company, San Diego, California. Fine, Hand-crafted Ales, Big, Bold, Complex. Alc by Vol. 8.8% ABV. 12 fl. oz. Otherwise refreshingly free of gobbledygook.  So, we need to break it open and try it out.

Appearance: solid blackness, creamy tan head, about a quarter inch, long lasting. Quite attractive.

Aroma: Ah! Wonderful roasted dark malt, with all the requisite flavors spilling out. Chocolate and coffee, licorice, molasses, cola. Below that, vanilla and cream. Very nice.

Taste: Nice bite of roasty bitterness jumps on board the palate, sticks it out, stays a while. Full-bodied, with all those rich, dark flavors joining the mix. Rich and toasted, with a blend of cocoa, espresso, and more. They're calling this a Double Stout, instead of a Russian Imperial Stout, for reasons of their own, but it carries many of that style's hallmarks. It's at nearly 9% ABV, and I'm not feeling it yet, but I'm sure it won't take long.

This is my last bottle out of a 4-pack, picked up in Wisconsin. The first three were fully enjoyed, and this last one was left for proper full inspection. It passed with all the appropriate colors, flying and otherwise. Tasty, tasty stout from Green Flash.

Summit Unchained #13: Another IPA

Summit Unchained Batch 13: Another IPA, British-style India Pale Ale. Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, MN.

Appearance: Yesterday, I had a bottle that had been purchased at room temperature and chilled for only about an hour. The beer poured into the glass was clear. Today, I pour a bottle that had been in the fridge for 21 hours, and here is the haze. Dark amber coloring, nearly bronze. Creamy white head starts big, slims to a tight ring.

Aroma: Mild bitterness, softly emerging citrus notes, followed by slightly sweet caramel tones. An intriguing mix, just enough complexity to entice. Very likable.

Taste: Right away, a burst of hoppy flavors, and that mix of bright fruit flavors and darker malt complexities. Medium-bodied, with a long finish. Bitterness remains moderate but appreciable and stays long on the palate. This is what we want in an IPA. Flavor delivers throughout the length of the drink, and the lingering on the palate keeps it on the tastebuds and in the mind long enough to keep you wanting more.

When I had that bottle last night, I wasn't sure whether I like it or not. Edging towards "not". Ready to call this Unchained a wash-out, a disappointment, a failure, even. And really, it's name was not helping. This is brewer Mike Lundell's 3rd entrant in the series and his third IPA, and keeping in mind that Summit already makes both an English-style IPA and an American style IPA, it makes you really wonder why, "another IPA?"

Getting through this bottle, and enjoying it's contents more and more, I think it actually is unique enough to justify it's existence. The malt used seems considerably different from the original British IPA, and significantly lighter, lacking it's  earthy, herbal quality, and the hops shine a light of their own.

I've always had a soft spot in my beer heart for Summit, since they were the first American craft brewery I ever liked, since the first EPA I ever had. Their IPA, introduced in 1992, was the first of that variety I'd ever had, and I fell swiftly in love with it. In the intervening years, however, my taste, along with so many others, has turned to the newer American style of IPA. I'm thinking this has fallen into favor with me because it bridges the two so well.

Third Street Brewhouse Three Way Pale Ale

  Third Street Brewhouse Three Way Pale Ale. 5.2% ABV. 12 fl. oz. It's a pale ale, and I'm gonna drink it up.

Appearance: Lightly hazed, amber colored, small head that quits quickly. 'sokay.

Aroma: Nice and hoppy, featuring notes of citrus and pine, with some caramel /butterscotch notes. Just shy of diacetyl, but not unpleasant. Feels like a mix of English and American hops at work.

Taste: Slight bitterness up front, with lemon and pine notes, and an underlying sweetness. Lean bodied, light finish. I like it for a minute, then I don't care for it, then I tolerate it, then I'm indifferent. This will do in a pinch. I tossed the first 4 bottles in the six-pack rather easily, but sitting down and studying this bottle's contents…eh, it's fine. But not much more.

Well, it's beer and I can drink it.

Hey, there's a story: "The Story: Our obsession with the number three is getting so out of control that we've named our beer three way. Too much? Didn't think so.This sessional pale ale is unlike many others. Not only because of it's three distinct hops and three select malts but this brew is a conversation starter, a proposition and a punch line all rolled into one.
And hey if it works, you're welcome."

I feel dumber for having read that. And I can see how this name would backfire. "What are you drinking?" she asks coyly. He answers in a cocksure manner: "I'm having me a three way!" Her" "All by yourself? Good luck with that."

Perennial Aria, Belgian-style Ale with Brett

We're winding down on the Chicago beers, two months later. Here's yet another one purchased at the Schaumburg Binny's Perennial Aria Belgian-style Ale fermented with Brettanomyces. 7.2% alc.by vol. Brewed and bottled by Perennial Ale, St. Louis, MO.

Appearance: hazy, golden/amber color, slight, but lasting  white head.

Aroma: Ah! The brett hits at first sniff. Wild, funky, wicked yeast-y aromatics. Semi-sweet, fruity malt lurks beneath. Hops lay low

Taste: First comes the fruit, we got some apple and apricot, peach and minor cherry notes behind them. Next comes the fuzz and the funk, that twisted sour attack on the palate that brett brings. Medium bodied, long finish, hangs lightly and delightfully in the mouth. Not too sour, not too sweet, and not too fruity, not really too anything, at all. The only characteristic that looms over all the others is that tasty semi-sour flavor of the brett. And I do like it.

Soft, malty, a little bit sweet, a little bit sour, and just enough fruity. Tasty, tasty stuff.

Harriet Woluptuweizen Dunkel Weiss

Harriet Brewing Woluptuweiss Dunkel Weizen. 5.4% ABV. I love a good dunkel weizen. (Dunkel is German for dark, weizen means wheat, of course.) All the smooth drinkability of a great German wheat beer, with more dark complexity of character. Best of both worlds. And here's one from Harriet!

Unfiltered. Utterly hazed. Dark reddish brown. Smal, creamy white head.

Aroma: wheatness and sweetness. Little bit of fruit, little bit of caramel and toffee tones, dark malts meet citrus-y notes. Banana and clove are here, too. Medium bodied, super-smooth, and completely consumable.

I love a good dunkel weizen. I'm glad this is one of them.

Lucid Silo Saison

Lucid Silo Saison, Lucid Brewing, Minnetonka, MN. Brewed and bottled by Lucid Brewing Company, Minnetonka, MN. Saison-styled Ale. 5.5% ABV.

Thoroughly hazed, dark amber hue, smallish white head. (Starts big, but collapses quickly.)

Aroma: Earthy. Malty. Belgian yeast-y. Just enough sweetness. Rye malt? Very rustic, right on point. I like this.

Taste: Ah! Yum! Tasty Belgian malt, minor hops, spicy & earthy malts. Medium to low body, easy consumability. Much complexity. A different take on a saison than we typically get from our local breweries.

I admit this: When I downed my first bottle from this six-pack I wasn't sure if I like it, so much so that I regretted having 5 more to pass down my gullet. With my second bottle, I like it more and more, wondering what I objected to with the first one. Now that I've finished my final one with these notes, I wish I had another.

Dave's BrewFarm Midnight Saison

Dave's BrewFarm Midnight Saison. 5.8% ABV.

Dark brown body,with a smallish, but lasting, cola-tinged, yet slightly white head.

Aroma: Sweet dark malt character, cocoa and coffee, with a hint of caramel, held in check with hops, ending on a dry, lightly spicy note.

Taste: An interesting mix: dark malts, citric hops, slightly spicy notes from French saison yeast character. It's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited. It's this and it's that and it's the other thing. Just the littlest bit bitter, a smidgen abrasive, butting up against smooth dark malts and the quirky yeast. Drinks down lovely like.
Although, personally, it doesn't quite mesh together in my favorite way, shall we say.
But, yet another bold experiment from Le LaBrewatoy.

What's the word? "Up all night? Here's the beer for that! 2-row, Victory, Cara Arma, and Carafa III malts, Columbus, Chinook, and Mandarina hops, fermented with a French Saison yeast."

Dave's BrewFarm Roggen Lager

Dave's BrewFarm Roggen Lager. Not to be confused with Rauch'n Lager. 5.2 % ABV.

Appearance: clear, plummy red coloring, slim, soon-gone head.

Aroma: Spicy rye malt leaps out of the glass and into the nose. Sweet caramel malt notes complement. Hops lay low. Enticing.

Taste: Now, hops are rising to the challenge, imparting enough bitterness to meet the malt. Full malt flavor continues to deliver, with excellent balance the key to consummate consumability. Light to medium bodied. Long lasting sweet maltiness with a spicy rye kick. I can say a lot of nice things about this one. I already have. That about covers it.

Wait, one more thing. What, does Farmer Dave say about it? "Pils, Melanoidin, Rye and Caramel 80 malts, and Perle, Magnum and Tettnanger hops fermented with a lager yeast result in a crisp, spicy lager."

Central Waters Kosmyk Charlie's Y2K Catastrophe Barleywine

Central Waters Brewing Company, Inc. Brewers Reserve Kosmyk Charlie's Y2K Catastrophe Ale Barley-wine Style Ale. Amherst, WI.

Y2K? Wasn't that 13 years ago? What's going on here? I thought I'd had this before, but there's no evidence of it. I must've had it when I wasn't taking notes. Or maybe I'm out of my damned mind. A resurrection of an old ale beyond it's enjoy by date? Okay.
Let's get to this bottle already…

Look of it: Deep crimson coloring, large, lush creamy-toned head, lovely stuff.

Smell of it: ridiculously rich, deep, dark and crazily delicious. Dark fruit, cherry, berry, brandy, leather, luscious and massively malty,

Tasting it: Luxurious. Expansive.  Full to bursting. Malt to the max, hops a plenty. It's all going on. It's giving me all the things I want in a barley-wine. Should I age this? Isn't it already 13 years old? The bottled on says: nothing? There seems to be some marks somewhere around November, but it's not clear. (There are similar random markings around June, July, and August.) It's like there are some random scratchings in the direction of that particular square. And I don't remember when I bought it, it's been sitting around waiting for me to take these notes for months.

Let's see what the label tell us: "Originally designed for the Y2K survival kit, this beer has proven to be a staple for anyone's emergency plan. Kosmyk Charlie's is a delightful treat, aged for a year in our cellars to create brew smooth enough to overcome any disaster. So when homeland security raises the alert level, open a Kosmyk Charlie's and raise your glass."

Interesting. The Y2K threat is long gone, but one thing has appeared since then that we didn't have in 2000, or 1999, and that's Homeland Security and alert levels. That's it, let's celebrate the latest tragedy.

All in all, a toasty, malty, high alcohol (none given on the label, I'm only guessing). treat, to be sure. Fits all the marks of a true barleywine. Nice stuff. Right on.

Anderson Valley Brother David's Tripel

Brought a 4- pack of this one from Wisconsin last Sunday. Turns out I first tried it in January of 2006. Here are the notes, on Anderson Valley's Brother David's Belgian-style Tripel Ale:


Clear , orange-hued, under a sizeable, creamy head.

Sweet, fruity nose. Smooth, lightly hoppy, bits o' spice.

Nice and easy, going down. big spicy fruit, medium bodied, light, yet lingering finish. Doesn't have enough presence, or character, though, to be memorable. Alcoholic content is well-hidden...at first. Then comes the brandy feel, and the burn.

Nice enough, though. Not quite a typical, or a trancendent tripel, but nice.

Dave's BrewFarm Mandarina Single Hop Lager

Dave's BrewFarm Mandarina Single Hop Lager 6.4% ABV.

Lightly hazed, with bright crimson coloring, very small head, grows to nil.

Aroma: sweet caramel malt notes, with delicate citrus notes. Nice.

Taste: Lean and clean. Crisp and malty. Just enough caramel malt flavors below, just enough tasty, citrus-y (mandarin orange, you think?) hop profile on top. Delicious. Hop character never quits, and stays just south of bitterness. Excellent balance, medium bodied, and ever so tasty. Terrifically consumable.

Mandarina is a hop I'd never heard of, and doing it in a lager all by it's lonesome shows off it's particular character. Now, I have to wonder what a beer like this would be like with, maybe, a different malt base? Is this how the mind of Farmer Dave works? Hmmmm….I wonder….

Dave's BrewFarm Schwarzy Black Lager

Dave's BrewFarm Schwarzy. 5.4% ABV.

Dark brown coloration, large at first, but ultimately short-lived toasty brown head.

Aroma: dark malts, cocoa. Some anise, molasses. …as it opens, a panoply of flavors unfolds.

Taste: Dark malts, some cocoa, some coffee, ultimately smooth and just slightly sweet. Low bitterness, low carbonation. Kind of a lighter version, diminutive, junior version of Schwarzenheimer, maybe? A black lager with flavor, but holding on to the easier groove, not getting too loud, too crazy, too boisterous. Just an alright, easy-drinking dark lager.

What are the deets from Farmer D? "Rich roasted malt and coffee flavors. Pale, Carafa III, Caramel 80, and Victory malts. Columbus, Northern Brewer and Cascade hops. Fermented with a lager yeast."

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Months ago, I lamented the passing of Shelton Brothers and it's beers from our area of distribution, and vowed to keep an eye out for some of those brews before they disappeared. I made an error in buying some at a store where they'd been sitting for who knows how long. So now, I'm trying to get fresher versions in my visits to Wisconsin, where SB's beers are still coming in. So, last Sunday at Casanova's in Hudson, WI, after visiting Dave's BrewFarm, I found 12 ounce for "only" $6.50. The last time I bought one it was 22 ounces for $10. And here are those notes from then, back in June of 2008:

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Copenhagen, Denmark. Imperial Stout with Coffee, 7.5% ABV. 

Brewed at Nøgne Ø. 

Ingredients : Water, malt (pils, oat, smoked, caramunich, brown, pale chocolate and chocolate), roasted barley, flaked oats, hops (centennial and cascade), ale yeast and gourmet coffee.

Darkness aplenty, with rich dark brown foam. 

Rich, bittersweet, coffee aroma, silky smooth oat feel. 

Big texture, thick and roasty. A bit intense. Complicated. Abundantly rich and flavorful. Gets smoother and easier as we go. Rough edges fall off. 

Don't know if I'd put this at the top of my list of favorite coffee stouts, but it's an excellent entry in the category. Satisfying. Think I'll have another, even at $10 a bottle.

Minneapolis Town Hall White IPA

Town Hall White IPA. What? Not red, nor copper, crimson, or gold? Not even Black? Now we've gotta have the white IPA? How'd that IPA get so white?

I kid. I know the story. Take a white ale / Belgian wit, and add hops…voila! White IPA! Everybody's doing it!

Clear, straw yellow (why not cloudy and milky white?), smallish white head above.

Aroma: Sweetness, fruit, Belgian yeast character, a little vegetal, a touch of the banana & bubblegum thing…not especially hoppy.

Taste: On the tongue, it's nothing but smooth, with just a bump in the hops. Nice low, lingering bitterness. I'm not getting the essential characteristics of a wit, not too much coriander or orange, but I can feel the wheat, that's happening. Smoothness and super-drinking of the wheat, but a refreshing resurgence of hop bitterness, but never too much. Not enough to make it an IPA, and yet not enough wit to make it White…I don't really know what's going on here, actually.

Despite all these misgivings, it's a fine, delicious, refreshing ale, that I wish wouldn't choose a style, since it doesn't stick to one, or has hooked itself to this new psuedo-style, very loosely defined. This whole loosening of styles thing has me weary, and wary. Now, there's talk of "white stouts"…bullcrap. "Who's to say a stout has to be black", queries the millennial dreamers. "Everyone does," should be the answer. "Why can't an IPA be white?" they opine, and the correct answer is: "because, you idiot."

St. Feuillien La Blanche witbier

St. Feuillien La Blanche. The White. Witbier. 6.3% ABV.

Appearance: Cloudy, bright golden hue; large, pure white head, drifting down, yet looking good.

Aroma: soft, yet spicy. Fruity (lemon and orange). Sweet and lovely.

Taste: The smoothness of wheat, sweet fruit notes, low bitterness. Nothing but easy. Drinks down a dream. Light and frothy, refreshing as you get.

About all I need to say about it. Let's find out what the brewery says: "A summer seasonal Wit beer from the St. Feuillien brewery. La Blanche from St-Feuillien reflects a unique combination of white beer and triple characteristics, thirst-quenching, aroma, high density and bitterness.
The colour is slightly blonde with an opaque, cloudy appearance. Its head is creamy, white and compact. It has a distinctive aroma of wheat beer with a delicate note of orange peel. The body shows a contrasted blend of light bitterness which become more and more intense and the wheat beer thirst-quenching characteristic. This beer has an impressive lingering taste."

Well, there's always another way to put it.

Lucifer Belgian Blonde Ale

Just tapped a keg of Lucifer. Mmm, mmm. Has it really been over two years...nearly three? My goodness. Took some notes back then, but it was just before I started doing this. So, here are notes from November, 2010, of the Lucifer Blonde Ale brewed by The Brewery Het Anker.

 From a freshly tapped keg, into an awesome brandy snifter-like Lucifer glass.

Hazy golden coloration, outsized eggwhite head, slowly simmers, leaving lace. Lovely.

Aroma: Sweet, sharp, spicy. Candi sugar and golden grains. Citrus fruit.

Drinking it: Light bodied, smooth, and supple. Some harshness up front, some shapness, sweet grains, some slight sugar, slips easily down the tongue. Alcohol becomes noticeable after a bit. Water, just a little, but deeee-licious.

Seven and a half years ago, a beer under this name got a thumbs down from me, as produced by Riva. Since Het Anker has been brewing it, I can't find a flaw. Though I don't normally prefer blondes, this is one I'll reach for now and then.

Just for fun, here's that old Riva Lucifer review from January, 2003:

All great things breed imitations, but not any old sparkling golden Belgian ale can match Duvel, no matter what Hellish moniker it adopts. Such is the case with Lucifer. 

Pours out a hazy gold color, underneath a snowy white, brilliantly lacey and effervescent head. Aroma is quite shy, giving off bits of spiciness, but largely dry and soft, lacking any distinguishing phenols. A sparkling taste hops about the buds, but, again, not a lot of character. Dazzling hop presence, firm and fiery texture, good, solid malt body contributing to a underlying sweetness on the palate. A simple, but enjoyable finish. Overall, a pleasant, decent brew, but a far, far cry from the true Devil. More like Beelezebub Jr. the 3rd cousin removed on his mother's sister's side.

Brouwerij West Saison Extra

Yet another beer from the Chicago trip in June, this one from a brewery in California that I'd never heard of before, but loved the label illustration. Here's Saison Extra from the Brouwerij West of San Jose.


Brouwerij West Saison Extra Ale. 16.9 fl. oz. 6.5% ALC/VOL. Brewed and bottled by Brouwerij West, San Jose, CA.

Hazy, bright golden shade, solid, 1/2 inch lush, creamy head, leaving lacy film.

Aroma: sour at first, funky and fragrant. Lemon peel and spices. Just a little wild and wooly. I lke it.

Taste: Now comes the sweetness, the citrus and spice. A yeasty affair, smooth malt, very tasty. Terrific stuff, just right in the pocket for a saison. Nice pepper-y notes grace the palate, smooth, fruity and spicy all the way.

I like this.

Ale Asylum Hopalicious Pale Ale

A bottle brought back from Wisconsin, looking at notes from August of 2007. Probably from my first visit to the brewery, coinciding with my first visit to Madison, WI itself, and my first Great Taste of the Midwest.


Pale peachy coloring, fairly hazing...a good 1/2" layer of snowy foam atop.

Aroma: Cascade all the way, fresh grapefruit, peach, & pine...lime twist and orange peel. I like it!

Tastin' it: Lightly hoppy, good bitter blitz on the tongue, then all is mellow...smooth, and tasty. Sweet malt ballast, solid backbone, good balance...hops take center stage.

"Hopalicious" seems very much like a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or a less hoppy Alpha King or something...great stuff here, sol-ID!
Sweet, toasty, hoppy, and excellently drinkable...I could be fond of this. Glad I grabbed a 6-pack...

Three Floyds Deesko! Berliner Style Weisse Beer

Three Floyds Deesko! Berliner Style Weisse Beer. Three Floyds Brewing Company, Munster, Indiana. Can't find alc. by vol. anywhere. Can't be much. I'd hope. Love the label. Germans love tanks, and conquering the world, and 80's new wave haircuts. And fire, apparently. Let's drink it!

Very clear, amber-y appearance, small head, soon gone, zips down to nothing.

Aroma: sour, wild, funky, fruity, wine-like.

Taste: Ooooh, big puckeration, huge sour, massive tart. Nothing but funk. OOooo! Weird, wild, crazy. There's wheat under here, there's citrus and spice, but covered up by this overwhelming sourness. Wow! Now, I know why they use the syrups for this in it's native Deutschland. Crazy funk. I've said that twice now, that makes it twice as true.

Whoa! Amazing! how often do we find a beer like this in the U.S.? I think Bell's The Oarsman is supposed to be a Berliner Weisse, but it ain't as bracingly sour as this one. Are you sure this isn't a wild Belgian ale? Have I ever really had a Berliner Weisse? I can't be sure. Never had one quite like this.

(Checking beeradvocate.com, we see that under the Berliner Weisse category, I've reviewed exactly two, the aforementioned Bell's The Oarsman, and one from Dogfish Head called Festina Peche. Amazing that I haven't come across more. August Schell just released one, but I haven't seen it on any shelves yet. I will go looking.)

Wonder what the gobbledygook is? "This "not normal" Berliner Weisse is a tart and refreshing liquid homage to Euro culture." Sure. Why not. I doubt that this is being consumed in any desko. Or nazi tanks. Unless it's Euro-culture fashion to drink feline urinary, sauvignon-blanc-y, vegetal, grassy, wild and yeasty, and ever-so crazy wheat ales.

Vild und cra-a-a-zy.