Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale

Looking at notes from July of last year, drinking it now on tap.

Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale

Lightly hazed, golden color, 1/2" snowy white head.

Soft aromatics, pleasant floral and citric fruit feel, leading into a higher hopped experience. Just a pinch of pepper. 

Taste: soft mouthfeel, brisk hoppy play on the palate, remains mellow throughout. Minor finish, but the memory lingers on, the herbal, bitter dance on the tongue.
A little honey-sweetness, and some caramel toffee feel from the malt.

Extra-drinkable, this hop-forward EPA. I might choose this over a Summit EPA, but wouldn't pick one over an IPA. 

That's me, though. Very nice EPA, suitable for many occasions.

Deschutes Obsidian Stout

Deschutes Obsidian Stout.
6.4 % ABV, 55 IBU.
Deschutes Brewing, Bend, OR.


Enjoying a 6-pack now, looking back on notes from July, 2003:

Perfectly pitch black color, and an impressive, towering, flowering cocoa-tan head that maintains it's majesty for some time before tumbling down. 

Aroma: deep, rich, roasty, bitter, and invigorating. 

Taste: remarkably flavorful, mouth-filling, and complex. Warm, tingling, tantalizing. This one feels good in the mouth, and slips down remarkably easy. Puts me in mind of an oatmeal stout, but I'm not sure it is one.Long, lovely, lively finish. 

A very impressive, solid, satisfying stout, this one. I find myself scratching at the roof of my brain trying to find new, further ways to describe it's excellence. 

A stout as black as the nearby volcanic flow from which it is named. Dive into its dark, robust depths with intense layers of espresso and chocolate. Roasted malt and barley give it a full, toasty finish.

Deschutes Black Butte XXIII

Deschutes Black Butte XXIII, Porter brewed with cocoa nibs, orange and natural flavors added, with 25% aged in bourbon barrels.

Inescapably ebon, under a rich, coffee and cream head, slowly sifting. Nice. 

Rich chocolate notes in the nose first, along comes anise, then vanilla, oak and bourbon. Deeply complex malty aromatics.

In the mouth, it's all kinds of dark, malty complexity. Layers and layers of coffee, chocolate, licorice, and bourbon. Sweet vanilla and bourbon notes come into play next, they merge and melt in the mouth. Sensations rise, grow, develop, and keep on keeping on. 

I have to admit that the oranges and the chiles are not showing up on my palate. Or, I'm not picking them out. The dark flavors overwhelm anything else, especially the Seville oranges. I'm not sure why they tossed that in there, it doesn't have a chance. Chiles are minor, too. But these quibbles take nothing away from what's actually in here, that's for sure. 

Gets smoother and silkier as we go on, but the complexity never lessens. Beeyooteeful, mmm and mmm, and mmm. Happy 23, Deschutes.

Founders Harvest Ale

Tis the season. Not of Oktoberfests, and pumpkin brews, but fresh hop/wet hop ales. I missed out on one of my favorites, Fresh Hop from Town Hall, aside from a pint at the pub Saturday, and I've neither tapped nor tasted Surly Wet yet. But I am enjoying Founders Harvest Ale. It went on tap Thursday, sold well, and was yanked off Saturday for the Belgian event. Back on again last night. I had to get a glass tonight before it's gone, just to take this picture and make this entry. Went digging through the glassware reserves, only to discover how difficult it is to really make the writing on the glass show through. ah, well, you can figure it out. I didn't need to take notes, though, because it seems I'd first had it in a bottle, back in January, 2008 through a beer trade. (It's better on tap.) Here's what I said then:

Hazy and orange, sizeable off-white head.

Huge citrus=y aromatics, plenty of grapefruit in this...pure, unadorned, raw and up-in-your-face hops, hops, hops, hops...I like it!

Bigger blast on the tongue, fierce and fresh, juicy, and just bitter enough, but never quite too much. Hop flavor remains on the palate seemingly forever. I like that, too.

Crisp and refeshing, hop head-style. My kind of session beer, even at 7%. I could drink a case of you and still be on my feet.

Full body, full flavor, slightly out of balance, but that's what the style is, and that's what I desire.

Flat Earth Belgian Pale Ale

Another from this fest, that I've tapped off and on over the past 4 1/2 years. Here follow my notes from the first tapping, March, 2007:

Appearance: clear amber hue, edging on bronze, with a nice tapioca-ish head that looks good at first, but dies down quickly. 

Aroma: musty, yeasty, funky malt, little hops, lightly sweet, complex, and pleasing to the nose. 

Taste: clean, yet zesty, mostly malt and yeast, spicy. Lean-bodied, very refreshing, easy-drinking, dry, even finish. 

Quite an interesting brew this one, very mellow, smooth, but with a special Belgian kick in it. Low on the alcohol, and with hardly any hops, this is just any easy drinker all the way, with plenty of character. 

As for me, though, I could use more body, more malt, more yeast, even...it looks and feels filtered, and I feel I'd enjoy it more if it weren't. 

Leffe Blonde

Here's another I had on tap this weekend, and for the first time, too. It'll be back when we do Belg-a-Rama #9. Leffe Blonde,  a very popular Belgian ale, and for good reason. Here are my first notes from way back in February, 2003.

Color: a clear gold. 

Head: a nice, fluffy white.

Aroma: sharp with spicy notes, sweet with citrus and fruit, peach, apricot. Palate is sweet and smooth, with full malt. Hops are playing it cool, but give a nice little tingle on the tongue. Light body, low carbonation, good texture.

Overall, uncomplicated, fine, if unremarkable.

Nothing really to add to that. It's easy to drink, goes down smooth, and offers some flavor. Accessible, some would say (even  myself). I call it a good ol' drinkin' beer. But I would only have if there were no better Belgians around.

Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze lambic

Along with the Hanssens, I picked up another gueuze recently, unsure of whether I'd had this one before. Of course I had, back in June of 2005. And it's another great one. Here's what I wrote then, and Lindemans Cuvee Rene:

My first time with this beer, scared away through the years by the higher price tag. Well, I've plenty more expensive beers since, so there's no excuse for putting it off. Here we go! 

Pale peach hue, flush carbonation, rushing up the glass, with a sturdy, off-white head...a very appetizing glass of brew. 

Aroma, sour and citric, a little spicy, super funky, that unique smell that only comes out of a gueuze. 

Taste, oooh! Puckering, then lip-smacking, sour bite at first, then all is mellow...big lemon rides through the flavor, with yeast character right behind. 
Interesting. Tartness is king in this, dominates the feel, but in a gentle, delicious way. Very sophisticated stuff, and, past the powerful tartness, especially approachable.

Kasteel Rouge

When this beer was first introduced, four years ago, I did several 30 liter kegs in a row, and moved on to the next one. It was a hit, but I only have 12 lines, and I can't have one beer tie up the footprint of a 1/2 barrel forever. I'm sort of stupified that I haven't gone back to it since. It's been a favorite all over, and some bars have tried to monopolize this cherry-aged brown ale from Ingelmunster, Belgium. And I moved on from one beer to the next, even while some of my regular customers and employees reminisced about it's wonders. Not enough of them, apparently.

So, it's been since July that I did a Belg-a-Rama, and since last June that I did a Battle of the Belg, and I decided to combine them. 6 Belgian brews I haven't tapped in the past year, paired with American-brewed counterparts. It was hard to find any U.S. equivalent to Kasteel Rouge, but I found one...or did I? We'll get to that later. For now, I enjoy the deep and dark tartness of the Rouge, and look back on my notes from exactly four years ago:

Fresh off the tap and into a Kasteel chalice. Dark crimson color, light at the bottom, smallish, very pink head. Pinky, pinky, pink. Sweet and tart cherries, all up and down and over and out. With a brown ale base lurking beneath. Yup, I can smell it. Taste: fresh and fruity, bright and tart. Rich and rounded. Lip-smackingly delicious. Big-time pucker, brisk and refreshing. Rich malt flavor right below, cherries on top. Nice. Long finish, full presence on the tongue, hangs heavy in the mouth. good stuff. nice for dessert, or a relaxing nightcap.

Ommegang Aphrodite

Ommegang Aphrodite. Malt Beverage with Natural flavors and grains of paradise. Fermented with Brett yeast.

"Like a time lapse photo with an elegant goddess floating through it. Aphrodite is ethereal. Intriquing. And mysterious. This fine ale has champagne-like carbonation, Delicate flavors with whispers of fruit and hints of funk and tartness, imbued by the yeast. The refreshing dryness comes from Ommegang and brett yeasts fermenting the pils malts and raspberry and pear juices. Grains of paradise are then infused into the nectar when poured. Aphrodite is capped by a luxuriously shimmering rosy head."

Oh, really. Okay.

Yep, it's a rosy pinkish head, that zips away without a trace. Reddishness beneath.

Aroma: Sweet stuff. Sweet, fruit, wild, and funky. Definite lambic flavor, here. Has the wild feeling, through and through. There's peach in there, along with cherries, peach, raspberries, and more.

Taste: fiercely funky, wonderfully wild, crazily fruity. Mmm, tasty, funky-fruity. Long bitter buzz leads right into fruit and sour. I like this.

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA

Thornbridge Jaipur India Pale Ale. Innovation. Passion. Knowledge. 5.9% aLC/VOL. "The immediate impression of Jaipur this multi-award wining India Pale Ale, is soft and smooth, but this rapidly build around the mouth to a crescendo of massive hoppiness."

Clouded, light golden color, slimmed, dotted white head.

Aroma: soft, then spicy, hoppy, a little citrus-y, touch of tropics.

Taste: Clean, zesty, mellow. All that at once. Chock full of hops, but at the same time restrained and cool. Rather groovy, super-keen, but perhaps lacking in spark. Spark, smirk, when it's tasty and pleasing as this.

Quite enjoyable on those terms, though.

At the price, I'll hold off on revisiting this one.

Boulevard Nommo Dubbel

Nommo Dubbel, Boulevard Smokestack Series, Malt Beverage brewed with molasses and spices. 8.1 % ABV, 1 pint, 9.4 fl. oz. No. 15 in the smokestack series.

"Why Nommo? Long ago in Belgium, Trappist monks created an ale they dubbed "dubbel" as in "two". What is else is double? Twins, of course. About the same time, some 3,000 miles away, the Dogon tribe of Mali worshipped ancestral spirits called Nommo, hermaphroditic, fish-like creates who were, that's right, twins. And get this, nommo comes from a Dogon word meaning "to make one drink". Coincidence? You decide.'

Me, I'm just going to drink. And think. And write. Which is a form of thinking. Speaking of thinking, let's start drinking///

Very dark, rich ruby, magenta tinted hue, under a long lived, dotted, creamy head. Looks great.

Aroma: soft, creamy, nutty, a little dark fruit, a minor whisper of vanilla.

Taste: sweetness first, dark fruit, plum, …nicely rounded, Medium bodied. Judiciously spiced. Mildly mollass-ed. Overall, well-balanced, mellow, malty, mmm. Not overwhelmingly deep or complex, not in the least. Simple enough, tasty enough. I don't not love it.

Central Water Satin Solstice Imperial Stout

Central Waters Satin Solstice Russian Imperial Stout. Notes from June, 2007. Here's what I said:

Dark brown, cocoa-tinged head, cola-ish...soon dissipating...

Chocolate and coffee blend in the nose...dark spices...earthy, roasty...quite nice.

Smooth, silky, but flavorful...just not enough flavor...medium-bodied, where it should be full, if not to bursting....good, tasty, choco-licious...but rather average when it comes to Imperial Stouts.

As stouts go, very nice... bit middling compared to the best Imperials, though...not so noteworthy...but good, nonetheless... mmm, silky-cocoaespressolicious!

Hanssens Oud Gueuze lambic

I lied. The Imperial Stout will wait. I just had to have a gueuze, and this one was Hanssens. Here are the notes:

Hanssens Artisanaal, sinds 1896, Oud Gueuze Lambic (each bottle matured for over three years) Ale, product of Belgium. Brewed and bottled in Dworp, Begium.

I woke up this morning with a craving for the funk. I had to have something lambic-y, something sour, something gueuze-y. Haven't had this one in a little bit, so away we go, with Hanssens.

Straw yellow color, hazed, under a slim, white head. 

Aroma: it's all there, the barnyard, the horseblanket, the urine-soaked hay. All that delightful sensory assemblage in the nose. Ahhh….sour, lactic, and weird.

Tasting it…ooo, pucker, pucker, ow, sour, sour, lemon, and piss and vinegar, mmm, mmm. This is lambic in it's rawest, no fruit, no wine barrels,(but some aging) nothing, straight-up and undiluted, wild, weird, and utterly refreshing. Sour as heck, and with just a tingle of bitterness. Malt is there to do it's job, it's the yeast that drives the amazingly uncommon flavor of this thing. It's an experience above all, not for the week, not for the timid, not for the mild or unadventurous. Strap in tight for this one. 

This one grips the tongue and palate, grabs hold, delivers what is an unusual deliciousness, a long, and quite refreshing finish, and a flavor experience not found anywhere else in the world of beer.

Odell Woodcut No. 4 Marzen-style lager

All thanks and praises go to Dave Anderson (not Farmer Dave, different Dave Anderson), for bringing me this expensive bottle from the Woodcut series, for my birthday. Three months and then some later, I finally cracked it. Here come the notes:

Odell Woodcut No. 4: Oak Aged Lager. 

"Our first lager offering in the Woodcut Series, Woodcut No. 4 boasts a refined malt base with a delicate spicy finish. Aged in virgin American oak barrels, this burnished copper colored double marzen-style lager emphasizes toasted cedar, new oak, vanilla, and almond in the bouquet. Each woodcut offering is a truly limited-edition beer with a unique flavor that comes from select hops, fine malted barley and our brewers' careful aged process. Enjoy." Bottle No. 0940, May, 2010.

ALC by VOL, 11%. (Yikes.)

Burnt copper coloring, under a thin, off-white layer of foam. 

Rich malty aromatics, oak, vanilla, and cherries. Sweetness heightened by alcohol presence. 

Taste: All that and more on the palate. Cherry turns to brandy, cognac, leather, dark rum. Getting rougher and tougher, feeling more like a barley-wine lager. Oak-aged double oktoberfest, huh? Genius. Big and beefy, but also lovely and luscious.

Hot liquor roars along the palate and coats the throat, getting hotter as we go. Becomes a big, malty bruiser, keeps company in the mouth, sets a spell, rests luxuriously…and then it comes…boom, boom, boom, boom. This is one bomber that should be split three ways, at least. But I can't write these notes while being properly sociable, so I take one for the team. Team Bitter Nib, going all the way to document the total beer experience. 

Perhaps I should have saved this for a moment or two, it's just not cold enough for a brew this hot. In a few weeks to a month, this would really come in handy. Says the guy who just decided to open up an Imperial Stout next...

Wells Bombardier Ale

As I my or may not have said before, I try to keep comments on my photos to a minimum. This one, I'll explain a little. A new dining room table has been installed, and it faces the window. The window sill is the stomping grounds of one Rollie the Cat. He's just going to be there, it's what he does, he is a cat. I've already lost some glassware to a lack of recognition of that fact. Also, when I take photos at this vantage point at night, you're going to miss some light. That's a problem with this one, and the next one. I righted my wrongs, and corrected my habits, and from now on I'll switch my seat and take the photo against the background of the white wall of the kitchen. So there. Rollie the Cat won't be hanging out there. Enjoy his brief cameo, in this picture of Wells' Bombardier Ale.

Here come the notes:

Well's Bombardier English Premium Ale  ALC By VOL. 5.2%, Drink of England.

Light brown color, clear, creamy toned head, lush and lace-leaving.

Aroma: bready malt aroma, toasty, lightly roasty. a touch of sweetness, hemmed in by hops. 

Taste: dark malts felt first, caramel and toffee flavors emerge ever so, with a touch of fruit, in there, as well. Ripe apple, a slice of cherry. Fully flavored, smooth, and extreme only in drinkability.

There's nothing on the can telling us what style it belongs to, and I have nothing else in front of me, so I can only guess. Brown ale? Mild? A bit of both? (It looks like Beer Advocate.com calls it an ESB.)

Medium bodied, lingering malty finish. Great sessioner. A good ol' drinking beer, when you just want something tasty and wet, and are in no rush to challenge your taste buds. 

thanks to Jordan the Sample Man for the sample, man.

Avery Eighteen (dry hopped, rye malt saison)

Dusky magenta hue…plummy? backside of a grape peel? It's a tough one to peg. Not quite lavender, nowhere near red. I like it, though. Beautiful. Under a slim, solid, eggshell head.

Aroma: spicy, bready rye malt hits first, citrus beneath, somewhere. Other flavors you may look for in a saison are hidden, masked, and obliterated by the rye malt. but I really don't care, for the flavor makes up for that.

Taste: rich and full in the mouth, a pumpernickel loaf on the palate. I don't want to be the broken record, but "spicy, bready" keeps coming back. The malt character dominates, and the hop presence is here, too, but in a minor capacity. Stays on the sidelines, staving away excessive sweetness.

Abundant flavor inside the mouth, spilling spice, sweetness and hop bitterness all over the place. Non-stop tingle-ation. Tasty and terrific stuff. some dark fruit flavor comes in, some raisin, some berry, …a little clove. Dark, toasty, and delicious.

This is not by any stretch a true saison (although, Belgian breweries are beginning to innovate within this category some), but damned if it isn't just plain good. Delivers everything you want, even if it blurs so many lines. Any if it delivers where it counts, who cares about the rest of it?

Can you taste the saison underneath? Not in the slightest, but it is just the base on which to innovate, bringing the rye and the hops to make something of another level. Got to love the end result. Another case of American innovation taking things to another step. Here's to eighteen more, Avery!

Brau Brothers Ring Neck Braun Ale

I wrote this in november of 2007:

Brau Brothers Ring Neck Braun Ale, 12 ounce brown bottle. Appearance: opaque, ruddy brown, small head. Aroma: caramel & nuts, nice and malty, good and toasty. Taste: medium-bodied, with flavor of nuts, and toffee. Dry finish. Grows in complexity through the life of the drink. Getting a deeper feel that reminds me of a Belgian dubbel...makes me wonder what the malts are. Hops seem to be on the way-down-low, but are around here somewhere. Missing something, though, could use a little this, a little that, to make it memorable. But quite good...As an autumnal seasonal, not bad at all...I can feel the warmth, already.

And I wrote this last week:

Brau Brothers The Ring Neck Braun Ale.

"First brewed in the fall of 2006, RingNeck Ale was a stepping stone for Brau Bros in terms of melding styles and pushing ingredients to produceunique flavors and aromas. This ale is nutty, with noticeable chocolate and raspberry. Moderate body and carbonation allow the malt to come through. Fuggle vines edge the southern face of the brewery's hop yard and make up the bulk of hop additions. The focus is on malt, however, with toasted oats and biscuit malt highlighting the bill. "

Deep mahogany hue, close to chocolate, with dark fruit edges. Slim head, nothing to talk about there.

Aroma: sweetness aplenty, nuts, cocoa, toffee, some fruit. Very slight appearance of hop bitterness, just enough to hold down the fort.

Taste: Very clean, medium body, faint finish. Sweet malt reigns supreme, rings through in the flavor, shines, and softly plays out, ending peaceably and serene. I scoffed at the 'raspberry' part, I must admit, but it's there. Well-crafted, but not what I personally prefer. I can drink it, and appreciate it, but for my tastes, I'd ask for more hops, more body, more something. But, that's just me.

Not a bad beer, just not for me.

New Belgium Abbey Grand Cru

New Belgium Abbey Grand Cru, a brew they make after every 1000 batches of the Abbey Dubbel ale. The same recipe, brought up in ingredients and fermentation time, with added Belgian yeast fermentation. Brought up to 9.5 % ABV. Custom made for a dubbel lover like myself. Let's get to it.

Dark, plummy brown body, beneath a thick, lush, creamy head, off-white/eggshell-colored, last long and leaves lacing.

Aroma: rich and sweet in the nose, plump with spice, sugar, dark fruit and cocoa. Cinnamon, clove, brown sugar, figs, and raisons. Ginger bread cookie in a glass. Soft and lovely.

Taste: Sweet and sharp at once, with the toasty dark malt taking center stage. Low hops, high booze. Alcohol shows itself early, but stays in the sidelines until late. Toffee and caramel. Starts sweet, but ends dry and smooth.

Halfway in, the booze is creeping, and flavor remains tasty, sophisticated, clean and classy. Beautiful stuff, really. Nicely balanced, exquisitely crafted, nothing too out-of-bounds, nothing out-of-step, just right and just delicious.

I'm glad to drink this on tap, but I'll be looking for some bottles to cellar before they're gone.

New Holland Charkoota Rye Smoked Rye Doppelbock

I first wrote about this on consuming a bomber's worth last year, November, 2010. Apparently, I liked it. While enjoying some on tap now, here are those notes:

Charkoota Rye Smoked Doppelbock Lager, New Holland Brewing, Holland, MI Off goes the cap, then the foil, then the glug, glug, glug... Dark brown coloration, slim head. Aroma: all about the smoke! Big time bacon! Sweet and smokey, huge malt. Rich, thick, and yummy. Feels so good in the mouth, over the palate, and all up and down the gullet. Finish: long, thick, full. Rich malty goodness. Nothing but yum meets yum, wrapped in bacon, smothered in smoke, dripped with deliciousness. Mmm, mmm. I love it. i won't stopped loving it. And it loves me.

Shipyard Double Old Thumper Ale

Double Old Thumper Ale, Shipyard Brewing Company, Portland, Maine. "…the big brother of the British Grand Champion beer Old Thumper. Available in the United States under a unique arrangement between England's Ringwood Brewery and Shipyard Brewing Company, Double Old Thumper is a real beast of a beer. Created by Shipyard's master brewer Alan Pugsley, DOT is deep brown in color with a spicy hop aroma and a warming malty finish. This beer …blah, blah, blah…" 11.2 % ABV.

Bright ruby red look, beautiful, creamy, lacy head atop. Very inviting. Urges me onward.

Aroma: sweetness, with a sting. Full, rich malt, kept pace by bracing booze. Leathery, cognac-y, caramel and a cornucopia of fruit (apple, melon, berries.). Complex, and rewarding. Love it.

Taste: Boom! Bam! Pow! Comes out swinging, this one, explodes on the palate. Spills out flavors aplenty, coats the palate with thick, malt, and powerful hops. It's a thumper, all right, a mammoth, a doozy, a ring-dinger. It hums, it roars, it simmers just before it singes, it warms before it burns.

Absolutely formidable, intense, and amazing. So rich, so complex, so round, so fully packed. Bright, fierce, indomitable. Mmmm. I like this. Ought to pick up more for the winter months. It's coming. Gonna need a big, wooly, warming ale like this.