RIS Swap ~ Evets' Beers

I sent four 12oz. beers to EvitTOJ, Poindexter and Flowerysong. They each will receive 2 888RIS, 1 Smoked Porter and 1 Belgian Tripel.

Belgian Tripel

Appearance: Deep golden-brown, good clarity. Thin off-white head quickly subsides into a ring around the edge, but the ring then proceeds to stick around.

Nose: Smells Belgian. Spicy phenols, citrusy esters. A hint of caramel. Some alcohol is evident, but that's okay.

Taste: Spicy and fruity. Moderate peppery phenols, light fruity esters. Herbal hops in the middle, medium-high bitterness lasting into the finish. Said finish is on the sweet side.

Mouthfeel: Good, zippy carbonation. Medium body is bordering on too much, but manages not to cross over. Creamy and slightly warming, a very slight hint of solventy alcohol.

Overall: Decent, decent. I'd like to see a drier finish and the alcohol is a bit evident. On the aesthetics side, it's darker than it should be--but that doesn't affect the drinkability, which it has plenty of.

Smoked Porter

Appearance: Opaque brown, minimal head.

Nose: Sweet, roasted malt. A hint of smoke.

Taste: Too much smoke. A background of earthiness, caramel sweetness, and cocoa. Dry, very slightly astringent finish.

Mouthfeel: On the light side of medium, good level of carbonation.

Overall: Needs easing up on the smoke, or something more to counterpoint the heavy smoke. I'm not sure what, though. The mouthfeel and what I could discern of the base beer were both good.

I am so frustrated. Homer Simpson noises.

Kudos to Evets. I know he will come through.

Don't worry, you'll get your beer. I'll probably ship(third time's the charm, right?) on May 3.
I'm not blaming anyone, but I can't help but wonder why I wasn't given your complete address the first time.

That is my fault - I don't know what happened but I never entered the Apt # into the spreadsheet. I'm terribly sorry to have inadvertently caused this mess.

Yeah, I sent it once and it came back. Sent it again and UPS destroyed and discarded the package. I'll be sending again soon. Oh well, ****e happens.

Just a bump, in case anyone has gotten to my RIS yet.

Hold your horses, I'm workin on my review!

At first did not have an aggressive head, but after letting it sit got a nice dark creamy head to it. Almost like a mocha. Initially there's an aroma of hops that quickly gives way to malt and roastiness. There's a bite of alcohol (but not overpowering) and a taste almost like raisins after the finish. Very thick mouthfeel, almost oily, but I could be imagining it. Very nice lacing down the glass. I started feeling warm about halfway through the glass, so it has more alcohol to it than I can taste.

I give it 5 thumbs up!

http://flowerysong.livejournal.com/57504.html

I'm too lazy to re-cut the notes to separate each individual beer.

I finally got hoem to North Carolina two weeks ago and finally got to open the box my friend had been cellaring in his basement. I was tickled to find the bottles happened to be upright as boxed. Woot!!

I drove the two RIS's up to Alaska with me, I will cellar them for a couple months more after eight days in the car at a velocity I don't need to announce on the internet.

Bottle #1 was labeled "RA" on the cap. I vaguely remembered a rye ale with some coriander in the recipe floating around. It was Saturday, May 22 in Wrightsville Beach, NC. We started cleaning my budy's boat with long handled brushes about 10AM and knocked off around noon. Thankfully I ws slathered in SPF15 already when I opened the RA. After a year in Alaska the humidity was really taking the wind out of my sails, and I wasn't crewing, and it was the weekend laddy.

I pulled a glass glass out of the galley and poured that thing at noon sharp. Good hiss, excellent carbonation, I got about 3/4" of really good head in the pint glass. A tiny bit of chill haze, just a tiny hint of hop aroma. Nice.

I was hooked on the first swallow, this is why I homebrew right here in this glass. I don't see pairing that recipe with very spicy food, but having a beer for lunch, this hit the spot, it went down real nice.

I slept on the foredeck for about 90 minutes...

Clearly Evets hashis process nailed down. This beer aged a year in excellent cellar conditions with flying colors. All around outstanding. I detected some rye and I detected coriander and I liked it. It isn't probably a recipe I would make five gallons ~ I have no idea where it was a year ago ~ but that was a motivational pint right then right there.

If I had had a score sheet in my hand it would be a 35+ easy, the only "flaw" was a tiny bit of haze, but a one year old ale, come on, that's a picayune point.

Kudos.

After I woke from having my butt kicked by the "RA" we got to slack tide and pulled the boat out of the slip over the fuel dock for some diesel and some H2O. We were also waiting for two crewmembers to show.

I spent a little time on the brightwork and fixed a thingamajig but that other Evets beer, cap mark "M" was calling my name...

I decided M was for mystery. Again, this one came through a year of celllaring with flying colors. Zero off flavors. Good foam. I poured it around 45°F, maybe a little too cold. Too dark for a pale ale, not hoppy enough to a an IPA, not dark enough to be a stout, not roasty enough to be a stout; but really, really good beer that knocked me flat on my butt. I spent about two hours layed out flat onthe foredeck and I have the tan lines to prove it.

Again, I don't know what style it was supposed to be, not heady or light enough to be a triple, but I sure wish I had about three cases of it back in my cellar for special ocasions. Not even any chill haze in this one. mmm-mmm-mmm.

I have two of Evets' 888RIS now cellaring in Alaska and I am inclined to let them go quite a while. Dude clearly has his process under control. If you are lucky enough to get some in the mail, hang on to it.

This is some good cracker right here.

EDIT: I have a Sam Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale openthis evening, it and the "M" cap from Evets compare very favorably.