Sunday, July 22, 2012

sierra nevada/russian river brux

a decent enough belgian with hints of brett. reminded me a lot of sofie with about a year on it. glad i got two bottles, the second one will be aging for at least a year or so. if you go into this one expecting an '_____ation' style you may be disappointed, but it's a very solid beer and i'm sure it will only improve with age.

i did get to try exportation during philly beer week, which was sierra nevada's previous collaboration with russian river. it was their beer camp exPorter aged in russian rivers pinot noir barrels. that was pretty fantastic. sour, vinous, but with all the best qualities of a baltic porter.

the real limitation on brux was that i understand it was made at sierra nevada's facilities, making the possibility of infections a very real issue.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

de molen heaven & hell

enjoyed this one with kenny on the day of final reviews. sweet and chocolaty, this is a great imperial stout. it's very rich and thick like any good RIS should be. every de molen beer i've had has been excellent and this is no exception.

sixpoint resin

a good piney, citrus flavors. a good double ipa. very smooth, with little alcohol taste for a 10% beer. great packaging, too, like all of the sixpoint beers. 

santa fe brewing company chicken killer barleywine

brought this back with me from a spring 2010 trip to new mexico. i left my passport at the liquor store i bought this at and had to push back dinner reservations to go get it, so it has some memories attached. this held up remarkably well. there was still a little hop bitterness two years later, but it was mostly very smooth and sweet with little detectable alcohol. very good barleywine and i hope to try some more santa fe brewing beers soon.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

sixpoint diesel

a great hoppy stout, almost approaching a 'black ipa'. good piney flavors. very enjoyable. cannot wait to be back in the distribution area for these guys. 

mission st 2012 anniversary ale

for the price, you can't beat this firestone walker brewed 'imperial brown ale' it's not parabola or abacus, but it doesn't claim to be. it's a bit hot at the moment, but i have two more bottles put away to see how it goes. overall, at $3.49 you can't go wrong.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

mikkeller barrel aged big worst cognac edition

this is very sweet and you notice the cognac immediately. there's a lot of carbonation and heat from the alcohol is definitely present, but it's very smooth for 18.7% abv. very glad i got to try this. i'd like to seek out the bourbon barrel version, too. 

tallgrass 8-bit pale ale


i've been looking forward to this for a while. i first got to try it last week, but had had a couple of palate killing ipa's before hand so i couldn't get a proper read on it. the galaxy hops are the big draw for me. i swear it's not patriotism, they are just so good.

this is a great use of the galaxy hops and i'm glad that this appears to be a year round release from tallgrass, because it will be a fixture in my fridge. i still may prefer stone & wood's pacific ale, but since i'm half a world away this is a great substitute. the tropical/passionfruit flavors of the hops are really what make galaxy do it for me. i also have to mention the excellent artwork on the can. really stellar. this is the first mention of tallgrass brewing on here, but it won't be the last. their (canned!) tripel, velvet rooster will be the next one from them i check out.

nøgne ø red horizon

very sweet. very viscous and nearly no carbonation. at 17% it is almost a liqueur, but still pretty smooth. the strong flavors from the sake yeast dominate. it's an interesting beer for sure. of the 'horizon' series i've had, i definitely prefer 'dark horizon'.

hitachino nest nipponia

hard to classify this beer with a specific style. the sorachi ace hops are the star here. it's light, peppery and very refreshing. it's a beer you could enjoy on a hot summers day. another excellent beer from hitachino nest.

hitachino nest xh

this was a beer that i first had a long time ago when i started getting into beer. it still stands up very well. the aging in skae casks gives it a very interesting quality. add that to an excellent belgian strong dark ale base and you get a delicious and interesting beer. it's one that i definitely keep coming back to.

cigar city guava grove


my first cigar city beer. pretty tart. a nice amount of sourness. belgian yeast and tropical fruit as well. i really enjoyed this. looking forward to being somewhere i have access to cigar city's beers.

Friday, April 27, 2012

captain lawrence captain's reserve imperial india pale ale

brought this back from new york. it was my first experience with captain lawrence and it will definitely not be the last. a really solid dipa. good hop bitterness balanced well by the malt. not too grassy. a very well done beer.

founders KBS

it's KBS. it's really good. i do like it with a bit more age on it to take the edge off the coffee flavors. i was lucky enough to get  a few this year, so i'll be aging the rest. founders really knows how to barrel age a beer.

BFM abbaye de saint bon-chien grand cru (rum barrel)

really get the rum on the nose. some good fruit flavors and decent sourness. almost no carbonation. good, but probably a bit expensive.

nectar ales black xantus


had this on tap a few months ago. coffee has faded a bit. still some hops and a bit of oak from the barrels. i like this beer, both fresh and with a few months.

i'm a bit behind on updating. i'll be catching up slowly.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

2nd Shift Brewing 'Brew Cocky'


in your face bitterness (sorry). resiny hop character, a solid double dipa from a brewery making very good beer. my first encounter (that I'm aware of) with falconers flight hops. i like it.

brooklyn brewery sorachi ace

a very nice saison. peppery, with lemongrass from the sorachi ace. wish i could get brooklyn here.

Friday, February 24, 2012

lagunitas a lil' sumpin' wild


it's not a bad beer. i prefer the non-belgian, but equally embarrassing to order sumpin' sumpin'. it's a solid belgian ipa, but that's a style i'm not all that fond of at the moment.

upland komodo dragon fly black ipa

dark malts and piney hops are the stars here. black ipa's can be pretty hit and miss to me, but this is a good one. 

mikkeller hop burn high

piney and citrusy hops up front, not too sweet. mikkeller does some very nice ipa's, good stuff.

bourbon county brand bramble rye


amazing. good fruit flavors, not completely dominated by the barrel aging. the flavors of the rye barrels, fruit and the stout meld really well. wish i had another bottle.

new belgium la folie 2012

i try to get this every year. sour, with some oak. i like this beer. new belgium does some nice sours. hoe they do another batch of la terroir this year.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

schlafly southern hemisphere ipa

wow, there is a reason galaxy is one of my favorite hop varieties. this is an excellent ipa. i really wish this wasn't a one off. very nice tropical flavors and so well balanced. this is possibly the best schlafly beer i've had yet.

mahrs bräu mastedon unfiltered lager


a nice unfiltered lager. noble hops, pale malts. there is something to be said for a good solid lager. nothing crazy, cool label though.

arcadia barrel aged shipwreck porter

had this for the first time last year. liked it then and enjoyed it this time. bourbon and oak with some chocolate in tehre, too. more alcohol presence this year for sure. have a couple extra to set down in hopes that the alcohol will mellow a bit.

three floyds arctic panzer wolf

nice citrusy hops. alcohol is there, but not overly so. great douple ipa from some guys that know how to do it well.

rochefort 8

i had stopped drinking dubbels for a couple of years because of some taste that i can't even remember putting me off them. all i needed was a reminder of how a dubbel should taste. this is it. delicious. dark fruits, extremely smooth and balanced.

Friday, January 27, 2012

deschutes hop henge experimental ipa

a good double ipa. it didn't blow me away, but it was solid. resiny hops with grapefruit flavors. the 8.5% abv creeps up on you. 

nøgne ø holy smoke

a smoked lager from one of my favorite breweries. the smoked malts are prominent, but it's not as smoky as a schlenkerla. an enjoyable beer.

drie fonteinen oude geuze

probably my favorite style. it was a 2010 bottle. tart, like a geuze should be with some oak. with the reputation drie fonteinen has i was expecting a bit more. the last geuze i had was a cantillon from 2008 and that was amazing. i think with a few years on it this will be great. i'll be looking to pick up another bottle to cellar for a while. 

three floyds robert the bruce

malty scottish ale. scottish ales aren't my preferred style, but this represents it well. three floyds hasn't disappointed me yet.

founders imperial stout

probably the best non-barrel aged stout i've ever had. it's smooth, has all the coffee, chocolate and whatever else is usually used to describe imperial stout's. great.

deschutes black butte porter

great roasted malt, chocolate and coffee flavors. glad this is now readily available here. 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

green flash rayon vert

a belgian pale made with brett. i've seen it compared to orval, but it's less ybready and has more hop flavors. i enjoyed this, and will do a side by side with orval at some point.

mikkeller red white christmas

a mix of a british red ale and a belgian wit. it's a lot hoppier and closer to an ipa than either of those styles. that said it's a good well beer with some interesting notes of ginger and some orange from the wit.

little creatures pale ale

the comparisons this gets to sierra nevada are apt. a great pale ale that's easy to come across at home. 

murray's wild thing imperial stout

definitely one of the best australian beers i've had. hoppy, roasty, good chocolate flavors. great beer.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

stone & wood brewery

i was lucky enough to visit the brewery while we were out there. great beer and great people. my sister took the photos.







great divide colette


aged a year, this beer is still great. bready belgian notes in the nose, thankfully it's not as strong in the taste. more tart than i remember having it fresh. worth putting one or two away for a while if you get a six pack

Thursday, January 5, 2012

murray's oak aged heart of darkness


was saving this to have in the more appropriate climate of st louis, but succumbed to temptation. didn't get a lot of oak from this, maybe just a touch of vanilla. lots of chocolate, though. the belgian fruits came out more as it warmed up but were very subtle. not a bad imperial stout, but i expected more from the oak aging and 'belgio' label.