Tasting pointers?

The second brew tonight is the Nostradamus Belgian Brown Ale. This beer is from the Brasserie Caracole, which is the same source of the Troublette Belgian Wit I tasted some time back.

The nose on this beer is big and almost candy-like. It's malty and not at all hoppy. As the photograph shows, this brew poured with a very nice head, but as I took my first few samples the head had receded to a simple thin sheet of very fine light tan bubbles on the surface. Carbonation is almost a little too much. This beer foams up a tad on my tongue, and it kind of reminds me of drinking a not quite cold Coca Cola right from the can in a hurry. That's not the taste though...

I'll start the flavor part of this write-up by saying that the ABV of the Nostradamus is 9%. This is a high gravity beer, or at least it is compared to what I usually drink. I am also quite aware that the Belgian way of regularly attaining these type of gravities is by using a good amount of candy sugar. I may not really be accustomed to it, but I'm finding it kind of unappealing, just as I found the hot flavors in the Troublette disappointing, I'm feeling a little let down here. I am really beginning to believe that I might not be as big a Belgian fan as I had previously imagined myself to be. The really big surprise to me here is the trick of the nose. This beer had my tongue tricked into expecting something similar to the Belhaven Wee Heavy, with it's slightly ripened banana hints and heavy malt notes in the aroma. When one takes a nice sip, and lets it rest on the tongue, it does warm the mouth, as well as give wine/sherry-like twang to the tastebuds. The suggested serving temp of this bottle says 55ºF, and I poured this one colder than that, but as it warms up the bite at the back of the tongue becomes more prominent. There's also some other harsh tastes present, but I'm reluctant to simply write this off as a bad bottle, and simply say that I think it's just me and the Belgians. I am really looking forward to cracking open the last two beers in this latest collection, as they're also both Belgians as well, and I'm dying to find out if I should just avoid them all from now on.

edited for spelling

Thanks to Sherpa FE and ArcaneXor for taking the time to read my ramblings. If I haven't made it abundantly clear before, I'm not a pro beer taster, and I really don't hope others limit their selections based on anything I write here, unless they want to take my word that Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic isn't very good.

Sorry to be replying to myself here, but I feel I need to expound on the whole Belgian experience.

Prior to doing a whole bunch of reading round HBT.com I considered Urquell the epitome of really good foreign beer. I hate to admit this, but prior to this last October, I was not familiar with words like Kölsh, Wit, Blonde (as it pertains to beer anyways), Helles, or much of anything other than what you found at most Oktoberfests and trendy pubs.

I also had limited exposure to wheat beers, other than the damned Pyramid Hefe that so many West Coast bars have on tap, and that is responsible for so many people saying they hate wheat beers.

I also am ashamed to say that my first exposure to a wheat I really liked was Blue Moon. It says Belgian style right on the bottle, and it tastes pretty good to me, especially for the price. So I assumed that if this is Belgian style, then I'm a Belgian fan. Fast forward to a couple beer listed here, the Southampton Double White and the Avery White Rascal. Both those beers are now counted among my favorites. Both are supposedly Belgian type beers, but when directly tasted next to the "real thing" I like the American ones better. Sorry to any Belgians who might be reading this, and I'm not being all patriotic here, I simply really enjoyed the domestic whites a whole lot more than the Belgian. Now I try another Belgian and I'm even more disappointed. Am I doing it wrong? Am I missing something?

I also wanted to add another note, but this is purely superficial. The Belgians, or at least the Brasserie Caracole, have a real flare for label design. Perhaps it's some sort of subliminal thing, and by having such soothing and beautiful labels they hope to trick the drinker into thinking that these beers are subtle and mild. Then you take the American beers, particularly one like Avery's White Rascal, with a devil on the front and you assume it's some kind of tough beer that only the diehards are going to appreciate, then you take a sip and are surprised by the clean approachable yet complex taste that anyone can sit down and enjoy, and even dissect the different things going on in one's mouth.

The next time I visit Cape Fear Beer and Wine, here in Wilmington, NC, I think I'm going to be going for an all domestic sixxer.

ETA: I am yet to be disappointed by a German beer.

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Your reviews are awesome!! Thanks so much. I think I'm in much the same boat as you. I've tried a wide variety of beers, but they were all pretty much the same style. Lately I've been trying to broaden my tastes, and your thread has inspired me to go even further. Earlier today I picked up 9 bottles of beer of a wide variety, and from varying places on the globe that I will try (much as you are doing here) and see what I can find that's new and that I really enjoy. I picked up everything from a hefe to a honey porter to a dunkel to a scotch ale, and several other styles. Thanks again, and keep up the good work!!!

OK, so I'm giving another Belgian a shot. It's a Tripel, Trappist Ale, so this will probably be an experience...

I cracked the bottle open and while I was carrying it to the table I could already start to smell the contents. As I poured it out into the pint glass I couldn't' be sure this was the right thing for this brew but I don't have a snifter which would be my next guess for a Tripel. I watched as the head came up big on this beer, even though I was trying to pour it nicely down the side of the glass. I was already having fears that this beer would be a repeat of last night's Nostradamus. One reassuring thing was that I was already smelling hops, Saaz if I'm not mistaken.

There's yeast at the bottom of this bottle, which I was surprised wasn't advertised on the outside as bottle-conditioned. Apparently I disturbed a fair amount while popping the cap and transporting it to the table, as there was only about 1/4 of the bottom of the bottle coated, but it was clearly there, and I found it a pleasant surprise. It just seems that something labeled Trappist should be bottle-conditioned. The head hung in nicely, and was not unlike a meringue, with soft peaks formed as I sipped and got some remnant's stuck in my mustache.

This is a different beast from both the Caracole products I've tried before, and I'm somewhat relieved to know that not all Belgian beer is the same. Now don't get me wrong here, this does still have the candy sugar twang, but not to a displeasing degree. Even at 9.5% ABV, this doesn't have the overpowering hot flavors that the Caracoles hit me with. This, and forgive me for saying this, tastes like a Pilsner on steroids. It has the clean crispness up front, and it's only during the aftertaste that the alcohol content warms up the tongue and the "ale-ness" comes through with obvious yeastiness. I am enjoying this Belgian beer! I can see my self having one of these following a decent day's skiing, or some other cold weather sport that makes one thirsty, yet also makes one crave some warming goodness as well. Of course I only 2/3 of the way through this glass and I'm already feeling a slight buzz, so I think I need to work some more on dinner, and get something in my stomach before moving on to the sixth and final brew of the sixxer, and my weekend.

It took an extra night to get through this sixxer. That's the way it goes when you're married with kids...

So I finally broke into a bottle of Delirium tremens. I am dumbfounded as to why they paint their bottles, but that's neither here nor there. This brew poured into a pint glass with a nice medium head, and would have poured out perfectly clear, except since I couldn't see in the bottle, and since the brewers didn't see fit to label this bottle-conditioned, I poured until I just caught the first signs of yeasty cloudiness emptying itself from the bottom of the bottle. The head didn't hang in there like the Westmalle did, but the carbonation was perfect unlike the Nostradamus, which I felt was a little too bubbly.

Once again, as I now fully expect in any Belgian Ale, I get a light cidery twang from the use of candy sugar in the fermentation. This one falls more into the Westmalle category, and is more than palatable, it's welcome and doesn't assault your tongue. I'm also getting different flavors from this beer, and there's definitely some hints of clove and maybe even a hint of banana in the nose, but neither of these is very powerful. There's a heavier flavor in the taste that isn't showing up in the scent, and while it's along the clove lines, I don't know if it isn't something like coriander or another spice. Again, it's not over the top, so it's actually nice and adds another dimension to this beer that sets it apart from the Westmalle. At 8.5% ABV, this isn't a weak brew by any means, and I find I'm drinking this one on an empty stomach, so halfway through the bottle I'm already feeling some of the alcohol. I don't think I'd recommend sitting down and drinking a whole six pack of either this one of the Westmalle Tripel, but this would be another great beer to have at the end of another long hard day in cold weather, and I imagine it would be great to have with or after a nice hot meal and would help put one right to sleep. Whatever hops were used in this beer are not evident in the scent, and I can't pick them out from the taste, but I imagine they were probably Saaz and not added to late in the boil. It's funny, but where the Caracole beers' weaknesses became more pronounced as the glass warmed, this beer is actually becoming more "floral" without getting harsher. I'm enjoying drinking this glass of beer slowly, as I would think a beer of this gravity should be imbibed.

I'm happy to say that I'll be buying other Belgian beers in the future, and I think that the Brasserie Caracole just doesn't agree with me. I just couldn't see how Belgium had garnered such respect in brewing, but obviously I was making a snap decision based on limited information, and I imagine one could say that BMC sells so well that it should represent American brewing, and sadly I assume that many foreigners do just that, but like the Belgians, I'm going to need to really expand the beer selections in the future even further. I'm also going to make sure I start carrying a scorecard or reference sheet with me when I visit Cape Fear Beer and Wine, as I'm going to need assistance remembering what I'm looking for in the cooler.

This is a great thread!!! Thanks for doing it!

Well, that's it for this six pack, and while I can't promise I'll be doing this again next month, I certainly hope I can continue to sneak ~$20 out of the grocery budget each payday to share my impressions of beers I've never had the pleasure of tasting before. This thread has had near a thousand views, so I know there's others out there interested in trying these beers too, so I'd be happy to hear about other ones that I just need to try, and others can too.

God, I love beer.

I was captured by a tractor beam like device and uncontrollably diverted into Cape Fear Beer and Wine.

(I apologize for this bunch of pictures, but my digital camera has finally become completely useless, so I'm using SWMBO's cell phone)



First beer up tonight is the Southampton India Pale Ale. As stated a few reviews back, I'm trying to toss in more domestic micros in here. I also really enjoyed the Southampton Double White, so giving another one of their brews a try was a no brainer.

Right off the bat, when I cracked the top on this one I got a healthy nose full of hops, and it was good. This beer poured out with a good head, but it didn't hang on very long. No complaints, as it's got good carbonation. This is not a bottle conditioned brew, but it's also not perfectly clear like the Jenlain or either of the Kölschs I tried. Again, no complaint, since it's not cloudy or anything like that, in fact I like that it looks like it's got "substance", or something of a good homebrewed feel to it just pouring a glass.

For those hopheads out there that are looking for something to blow your head off with cascades, keep looking. For the rest of us that want to taste a hoppy beer, and still taste other elements in the brew, this is great. It does have a wonderful scent, and while being full of hoppyness, it's got a nice malty nose too, and a flavor to match. This has more "umph" then SNPA, but it's also got a more complex punch. The neck label states that there's five varieties of Pacific Northwest hops in there, and I can actually tell it's not just Cascades and Centennials. I guess I'm learning to tell these things the more I brew, but sadly I can't tell you what other hops are in there. There's British ale overtones, so I imagine there's got to be some Willamette. I'll take this over Red Hook Longhammer any day. I can appreciate this beer for being on the heavy hoppy scale for me, and yet having malt that comes through in the aftertaste, without having to try very hard to pick it out.

Once again Southampton has proven to be a winner for me. They're batting 1000, but I've only had two of their beers now. I hope the rest of their lineup is just as good. It's a shame I have to visit a specialty shop to get this in my neck of the woods, but I'm sure it would detract from the quality of the product were they to make enough to provide every supermarket and quick-mart on the East Coast.

This one's kind of special because a good friend of mine was just telling me about this one this last week. When I saw it in the cooler at Cape Fear Beer and Wine I had to grab a bottle.



It's Original Flag Porter. The big deal? It's got yeast harvested out of the English Channel off a wrecked ship from 1825. I have to say, the idea of this was pretty cool, and one would have to admit, it's marketing genius.

While I got a decent hiss when I pried off the cap, this brew poured out of the bottle in to my pint glass with a rather disappointing head. Following a number of minutes I'm left with a simple ring of small bubbles around the glass.

As for the nose on this beer, it's real malty. This may not be PC, but this smells like a Belhaven Scottish Ale to me. This brew is also very dark. Darker than any Guinness I've had. The mouthfeel is real nice on the tongue, but as noted from the head, there's very little fizz. The carbonation is almost non-existent, but there is some. I don't know if that's proper, but I could use just a little more bubbles. Also like the Belhaven, this porter is sweet. It's not at all dry like a Guinness, but not cloyingly sweet either, just kind of "breakfasty" I think.

Final word on Flag Porter: It's alright, but I wouldn't ask for this at the bar. There's nothing that really stands out, other than the story.

Sorry if tonight's write-ups seem a little short. My kids are both sick, and the wife and I are kind of taking turns juggling the boys. I think I'm pretty tired, but following the long morning of yardwork, and in between puking kids, I have to say that the IPA was a real welcome refresher, and following the porter I'm feeling much better.

First beer tonight, and a welcome one at that, is the Allagash White. From the first sixxer I wrote about in this thread, Allagash wasn't a real winner, and their Grand Cru wasn't all that grand in my book.

This Belgian style wheat beer poured out very nicely, with a rich shaving cream like head. The aroma is a nice blend of spices and yeast, almost bread like. I'm not saying like pumpkin bread or anything that spicy, but rather like a nice piece of lightly toasted sourdough, with a hint of marmalade smeared on, as smelled from basket in the middle of the table. It smells nice, without trying to cover up anything.

While this isn't quite as good as the Avery White Rascal, or the Southampton Double white, it still tastes better to me than the Carricole Troublette. This does not have the distinct hop flavor that the Avery does, and I can't discern which hop was used for bittering, but it still works nicely. Where the Allagash Grand Cru was over spiced and tasted artificial, their White strikes a proper balance of malt, yeast and spice with me. By letting this beer warm up while I write I get to see if the flavor changes through the temperature range, and this White is holding up very well, with the slightest welcome hint of banana coming out with a little warmth. I think Allagash has a winner of a white here, and I know they have their fans here on HBT.

I think the only problem I still have with Allagash is the twist-off caps.

ma2brew said:

I'm not saying like pumpkin bread or anything that spicy, but rather like a nice piece of lightly toasted sourdough, with a hint of marmalade smeared on, as smelled from basket in the middle of the table. It smells nice, without trying to cover up anything.

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This was a great description of an aroma. Now I'm really intrigued. It goes on the list!

And for "clean up" on this beautiful Sunday evening, Ommegang Abbey Ale.


Again, I'm going with a Belgian type, yet it's a Domestic. Looks like I'm beginning to get in a Northeastern rut though. This one's from Cooperstown, NY. It's a Dubbel, and comes in at 8.5% ABV. The description on the label says it's "...a rich, fruity, and aromatic, burgundian brew."

I know it's not a British thing, but I like to see a good head on a beer, and this one was lovely. Suggested serving temp is 50ºF, and while I let this one warm up, to really show me what it's got, the head has receded, but the remnants on the side of my pint glass tell the tale, with "legs" of fine bubbles that remind me of something similar in a good glass of wine that gives away the sugar content based on the legs that run down following a proper light swirl. Also like a glass of wine, this beer gives up some hint of things to come when one takes a nice sniff of the glass. I smell raisins. I smell candy. I don't smell a hint of hops, but there's malt-a-plenty. The color is rich, like caramel sauce.

I'm getting gentle warming of my tongue, as well as my throat when I swallow, but while I can sense the alcohol, this isn't "hot" flavor. What I'm really getting out of this beer, and this may be the power of suggestive thinking, is the boldness of a good Cabernet Sauvignon. There's definitely fruity tones to this beer, more than the Westmalle, and it's almost a light brandy flavor that lingers after the mouthful is gone. This is good, not as good as the Westmalle, but I like it better than the Delirium Tremens. I think I wouldn't mind having a sixxer of this just to stash away to share with a good friend on a cool night.

Silviakitty said:

This was a great description of an aroma. Now I'm really intrigued. It goes on the list!

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Thank you for the compliment Sylvia!

I am not writing about any beers on St. Patty's day, as I'm pretty sick at the moment. The kid's bug finally bit me as well.

'Tis a shame too, as one of the final pair is an Ohara's Irish Red Ale. Oh well, I guess I forgot to kiss the Blarney Stone somewhere along the line...

Back to bed for me, good night all.

Having been sick since before St. Pat's day, I have had a couple beers sitting in my fridge waiting to be tried, but needing my full healthy attention before prying off the caps.

First of the pair, La Fin Du Monde. For the few who don't speak French around these parts, that translates as The End of the World, or something like that, but this beer isn't from France, rather it's from our fine neighbors to the north, Canada.

When I poured this into the glass, which was close to the suggested type from the directions on the back of the bottle as I had in my cabinet, I couldn't help pour this with a big head. Carbonation isn't a weakness in this ale. The head is fine and bright white, and the nose is fruity and big. One of the first impressions is of a Belgian Trappist. I don't get any sense of hops, just yeast and grain when I stick my nose in the glass. A statement on the bottle also says "Ale on lees", which I presume to mean that this is bottle conditioned, with yeast on the bottom of the bottle. Even though this bottle has been sitting still in my fridge for over a week, and I didn't manhandle it when opening or pouring, there's little yeast left on the bottom. Most is in suspension in the beer, and clarity is poor. This stuff is cloudy like a Wit, and it's got some banana/clove scent that seem like a Wit as well.

The alcohol comes in at 9% ABV according to the label, and I have no doubt that that's a true statement, as I definitely taste and feel the warmth of it when I swallow. It's not a hot flavor, like the Caricole's, but rather a pleasant heat that is reminiscent of a nice brandy, rather than a cheap bourbon. I also like the almost homebrew ale flavor, which makes this seem like a beer I could replicate given the right blend of grain and yeast, along with similar temperature control.

I am enjoying this beer, and I'd be happy to have another, but maybe not right away because of the high gravity... This brew definitely gets my blessing as a wonderful way to end a hard day of yardwork, or if that's not "romantic" enough for you, how about picturing a long day's hike through some Northern forest, perhaps on snowshoes or maybe even on Nordic skis, and celebrating with a glass of this after a hearty dinner, enjoyed in stocking feat by a wood-fired stove or fireplace. Too wordy, perhaps?

I love La fin du monde! good review and keep it up,

one tip for this beer, let it warm up a bit and you'll get alot more out of it

html034 said:

I love La fin du monde! good review and keep it up,

one tip for this beer, let it warm up a bit and you'll get alot more out of it

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It's funny you should say this. I had about a quarter of the glass left that I didn't drink, and kind of just let set on the counter while I tackled some dishes and cleaned a couple dozen wine bottles a friend saved for me. After I was done I sat back down at the Mac to see what's going on and I finished off the beer. It was really good, and even a little more brandy like, wit some plum/raisin flavors coming through that I didn't get before. Next time I get this I'll be a little more patient after pouring before I begin drinking.

Exactly. This beer is what gave me my policy for drinking belgian beers: go slow

Opening a never before tasted beer on a Monday night, and after 10 PM local at that, I don't know if I'm being fair, but since I was really thirsty for one, and this O'hara's (their punctuation) irish ( they don't capitalize the i in Irish, apparently) red.

I must apologize now, because I didn't get a picture of this beer. This is somewhat of a shame, because while this isn't a bottle conditioned brew, it does have a gorgeous amber/red hue, a nice head, and perfect carbonation.

Interestingly enough, this beer struck me as odd because I smelled the hops quite clearly, while I could detect almost no maltiness at all when I cracked open the bottle. I've become accustomed to the beers that I've been getting from Scotland, Ireland and England being more malty than hoppy. The hops in this beer smelled noble, and I almost had visions of a Belgian, or maybe even the Jenlain Blonde. There was nothing in the nose that reminded me at all of anything like a Belhaven draft, which for some reason I was assuming this might be along the lines of, just not as dark. I guess it was the line on the label about a "...sweet malt finish" that threw me. Once I had my first taste though my tongue was happily bathed in not a hoppy pale ale, nor a breakfasty cereal maltiness, but a really pleasant balance of grains and hops in a very refreshing beer. The 4.3% ABV number is definitely slightly higher than your average mass-marketed American light lager, but nowhere in the neighborhood of limiting yourself to just one of these in an evening. I'd enjoy hoisting a few pints of this while tossing some darts at a pub, if only my dart game wasn't so lame.

I think my only reservation about the O'hara's irish red is that for some reason I get the feeling that this beer might not be considered a craft brewed beer, as I get a mass-marketed feel from both the clarity and crispness of this ale, along with some of the various clues on the bottle including a "drink by date" stamp, which to me means this is a beer with no life left in it, and one that is going downhill from the time it was pasteurized and filtered at the brewery. Aside from the fact that I got this at my favorite specialty beer store, I can imagine this beer being on a supermarket shelf. Maybe I'm becoming a snob, but I am really finding I favor the hand-crafted beer from a smaller brewery, even with a flaw or two, over a generic impersonal big machine made brew.

I'd buy this beer again, but only if it came in at under $9 a sixxer at the supermarkets I frequent. This isn't meant as an insult, just my opinion.

I can definitely appreciate the fact that it looks like you're trying out brews that are no double IPAs, IPAs, or imperial stouts. Big beers are all the rage these dys and maybe for good reason but it's good to see someone paying respect to the other easily forgotten styles out there.

Keep up the good work.

Oh yeah!
Another payday, another mixed sixxer!!!
Can you name 'em all? I'll post the list in a few, but here's a picture for now:

Nice array of reviews, and good taste I might add. In particular it seems like you're really making an effort to give those Belgians a try. Good call.

What's number three the reallllyyyy long necked fliptop?

EinGutesBier said:

Nice array of reviews, and good taste I might add. In particular it seems like you're really making an effort to give those Belgians a try. Good call.

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I don't know where it came from, but I've guess it's all the talk about the Belgian beers that's got me gravitating to them and their styles. I also don't really consider myself a hophead, yet you might see I've been getting more of an appreciation for the hoppier stuff lately, but I still want a balanced beer. Something like Red Hook's Longhammer isn't really my thing, as I didn't find it balanced at all, yet Southampton's IPA was great and still full of hop flavors and aromas.

I haven't even decided what to try tonight, and a couple of these I might make into a one beer a night tasting, as they're bigger bottles and I wouldn't open a beer and not finish it, unless it was atrocious.

Left to right we've got:
1)Japanese Classic Ale
2)Bos Keun Special Paasbier from De Dolle Brouwers
3)Dusseldorf Altstadt from Uerige
4)Doppel-hirsch Bavarian Doppelbock
5)The Maharaja IIPA from Avery
6)Saison from Southampton

I'm practically watering at the mouth as I write this. I am still trying to see if my wife has plans for us tonight or not, as I can't crack open one or two of these if I have to drive .

Revvy said:

What's number three the reallllyyyy long necked fliptop?

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It from these guys: http://www.uerige.de/en_home.html

So first brew for this Friday evening is the Japanese Classic Ale.



According to the back label this beer is " ... brewed following the original India Pale Ale brought to Japan in the 19th Century. It is slowly matured in Japanese cedar casks which are commonly used in the brewing of traditional Japanese sake." On the neck label is an ingredient list that looks good enough to follow the Reinheitsgebot, with simply "water, malt, hops and yeast" listed.

I poured this beer into my pint glass imagining it was going to come out of the squat, dark amber bottle with the color and clarity of Kirin Ichiban. Boy, was I wrong. The color is a rich deep caramel, and the head is a lovely tan. While I didn't pour too gently I did pour down the side of the glass, yet I was rewarded with a shaving cream lather-like head of only about a third of an inch thickness. Almost ten minutes later and a couple sips after I've still got a nice quarter inch head and nice lacing on the glass. There's been a constant abundance of tiny bubbles climbing through the beer from unseen imperfections in the glass. This ale really looks the part.

When I stick my nose in the glass and take a big whiff I'm surprised by what I don't smell, cedar. There's another reference to being "MATURED IN CEDAR CASKS" (their caps), on the lower part of the front label, and I figure there's a pretty good likelihood that the claim on both the front and rear labels is going to mean that I'm going to be getting some sense of all that woody goodness coming through. Not so. I smell this brew and I get visions of a pub in England. I smell that fruity yeast that screams old world ale, not Japanese IPA from a sake cask. I'm also getting some Belgian candy tones in the nose. There's some hints in there of Delirium Tremens aroma. It smells like a really good basic ale. I guess if one's going to call their beer Japanese Classic Ale it had better smell like it, and it does.

I was also pleased to see a nice layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. I'm glad I didn't pour out every drop of beer while pouring, and paid attention. I still like a bottle conditioned beer myself, perhaps because I like to think of it as a still-live product, and therefore fresh. The IPA part of this is nowhere near American IPA hoppiness, and I'd be reluctant to call this more than and ESB, based on my not-so-experienced palate, but at a listed 7%ABV it's got a balance of bitter to malt that I'm enjoying. Don't get one of these thinking you're going to be bombarded with Cascades, it ain't there. In fact, I'm at a loss to nail the hop variety here at all. There's bittering aplenty, but the aroma isn't that strong, and I'm smelling the yeast and malt more than a distinct hop.

I've had the pleasure of visiting Japan a few time, courtesy Uncle Sam, and I've had probably more than my fair share of Japanese beer, but this was an eye opener for me. There's no crisp light, rice adjunct addition filled lager tastes to this beer. It's a truly classic ale, and I would have likely left a lot more Orion for the locals in Okinawa, or Asahi in Misawa, had I had this beer to drink when I was there. That said, it's unlikely that this would be considered more than an acceptable oddity in an historic pub in Olde England.

It's good, but not in my top five beers.

The eyes are drawn right to the bottle, with its flip top, long slender neck and a label on the front that's so unassuming it looks like it'd be small for a back label on any other bottle. I've just cracked open the Uerige Dusseldorf Altstadt.

I haven't even had a taste at this point, I'm just observing the head, and letting the beer get a little more up to temperature, and I'm smelling the bouquet from time to time as I type. I don't know an awful lot about an Alt, and I can honestly say I don't recall ever having one before, but this is dark and smells wonderful. It's funny that I can smell some of the same scents that I smelled in the Japanese Classic Ale last night, but this is much more complex, yet restrained. The yeast, or Uerige-Hefe as it says on the bottom of the label, is there but nowhere near the level of the JCA. The head is beautiful on pour, and there's lace rings at every level I drink down to, but after about 10 minutes now the head is all but gone. I'm not too upset, as the carbonation is perfect, and I've got lovely stream of bubbles rising all around the glass gently.

Getting to really tasting this beer I'm a little surprised to find it's not nearly as strong as I was imagining it to be. When I first opened and smelled it I was thinking this was going to be a "big" beer, in the same class as an IPA, and this was also partly based on the description from the Uerige Brewery's website, which listed this as their beer with "...highest content of bitter constituents." The color is significantly darker than I had expected, and for some reason my palate still thinks that dark beer equals strong/bitter beer. This brew is neither overly strong, at 4.7%ABV, or bitter, but is a good balance, and I'm really enjoying it much more than the JCA from last night. It hits all the right notes on the various parts of my tongue, and the aftertaste leaves me longing for another mouthful. I know there's Hallertauer in there, but there's another one I can't nail.

I'm finding it funny that I keep getting drawn to Belgian beers and styles when I visit Cape Fear Wine and Beer (which is the correct order on their sign, not Beer and Wine as I've listed in many posts above), yet every time I figure I'll just toss a German beer in the ol' sixxer for good measure I'm always blown away by the quality of the contents. From the Gaffel Kölsch to this Alt, I'm reminded why the Germans have a well founded reputation for making world class beer. They know how to strike a great balance of malt and hop, yeast and fermentation control, that they can produce beers with great complexity for the beer fan, yet not so unapproachable that my wife would grimace while tasting one. In fact I just gave her a sip and she liked it! I knew it. Good stuff here. I'm not sure how high I'd place it in my personal rankings, but it approaches top ten.

Finally having a flip-top in my bottle cache ain't too bad either.

But I went ahead and figured I'd contrast the German Alt with a Belgian Easter Ale:


Talk about opposite brewing styles, this couldn't be much more different than the Alt and still be called beer.

This ale has a great head, if not a little too bubbly when poured. As the head recedes it's leaving lace rings along the way on its own. The head climbed right out the top of the glass, much like a soft-serve cone, when I topped off the glass. It held its shape and kind of reminded me of a white version of those ground snake fireworks that stain the driveway around the fourth of July. I like a good head, but this is kind of silly.

On to the scent. This ale assaults my olfactory nerves, it's big. I smell no hops, just malt, yeast and esters. I'm getting almost brandy-like warmth, and I have to do a double-take on the label review. This is a whopping 10% ABV. I can smell that kind of ABV, and I'm a little concerned that this is going to be like drinking a Caracole brew. Well, time's a wasting, get to tasting...

This beer hits the tongue right up front with a nice sweet flavor, and as it passes by the sides, there's little in it's wake to notice. Surprisingly I'm sensing this beer with the roof of my mouth as well, and that's a precursor to the burst on the back of my tongue. There's hops in here, cause I get sharp bittering punch on the swallow, but it's followed by a wave of heat. I don't want to call it "hot" like the Troublette or Nostradamus, but it's heat just the same. It's like taking a good swallow of brandy. This brew has the classic Belgian sugar umph. The difference in brewing style to the German Alt is almost comedic at this point, and I'm probably getting a kick out of it because I'm getting a "kick" from this beer. The Alt looked, and smelled, like it was going to make my eyes open up a little bit wider when I tasted it, like I'd get that pause one gets on tasting an Espresso for the first time, but then it actually makes you say "ahh", and a wave of refreshing balance and flavor goes down smoothly. This Bos Keun pours out with an angel white head. It has a cute buck-toothed cartoon bunny on the label, and is supposed to be an Easter beer. It has the color of Blue Moon. Now here's the rub, this stuff even begins its travel to the stomach with a sweet start on the tip of the tongue, yet delivers one heck of an "Easter egg" of Belgian funk. There's fruity esters going on, but other than raisins and possibly hints of Sunshine Golden Fruit biscuits, I can't say if there's banana or bubble gum too. I've fermented at 70+ degrees for a couple batches, and I'm not getting any flavors like this.

That said, I'm enjoying this more than the previously mentioned Caracoles. It's got wine-like qualities that I'm really digging, and I could just about picture myself drinking this with a bold garlicy lamb for Easter dinner. Pairing this with chicken or even a steak would be ridiculous. Maybe a pungent cheese...

I like this beer, but again, it's not a top ten. I am curious what the OG and FG of this are. It's got plenty of residual sweetness, and I'd bet it's over 1.015 right now, but I don't have enough left to measure. Maybe next time.

What finer activity could there be while brewing up a batch of beer than drinking one to pass the time while mashing or boiling?



First, and quite possibly the only taste-tested one for the evening, is the Avery Brewing Co. Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale. I've got high hopes for this beer as the previous sampling from Avery, The White Rascal, was fantastic.

So I cracked open the big 22oz'er, and poured out a portion of the contents into my pint glass. I got a lovely head, and a color about the same shade of caramel as the JCA from two nights back, but much better clarity. There's bubbles rising through the beer, but not as many as any one of the previous three beers I've tested. The head's also got a mix of large and fine bubbles. Carbonation seems just fine on the tongue.

A nose to the glass gives one a big bold blast of pine-like hop essence, and while the first thing I think of is Cascades, I browse on over to Avery's website and look up the info, because they are great at actually giving out pretty detailed info about their beer. Dang, I was wrong, no Cascades here at all, but there's Magnum, Crystal, Centennial and Simcoe. In fact there's lots of those hops. This beer is labeled at 102 IBU, and I believe it. This stuff has a much sharper punch to the palate than I ever recall having in a beer before (No, I've never had Arr. Bas.), and I wouldn't normally go for this bitter of a beer. I've used Red Hook's Longhammer IPA as a measuring stick for beer IBUs, as that was a beer I didn't care for too much. This tastes much more bitter, but it does have some malt backbone in there as well, so it almost seems like a better balanced ale than the Longhammer. Of course, another element of the attack on my palate is the whopping 10.54% ABV, which does make its presence known, but nowhere near the extent that the Bos Keun from Belgium did.

All in all, I believe this to be a well brewed bottle of IIPA, but as it's not really my thing, I don't think I'll be buying another bottle, but I also don't think I'm punishing myself by drinking the rest of this one either. Definitely not in the top ten, but for a hophead I have to imagine that this could very well be a favorite. Digging around the website some more makes me want to get a hold of a bottle of The Kaiser.

That cork really didn't want to budge. I had brief flashes of breaking the thing off, and having to dig out a corkscrew to pull the thing, but with some less than gentle coaxing I finally popped that bugger out! There wasn't much fanfare at that moment, since I really didn't "pop" the bottle. I felt the cork getting to that last tiniest bit of resistance and I gently let the gas escape. Along with that pffft of gas I got the nicest first whiff of this beer, and I was pleased.

The pour was full of bubbles, and I had as much head, probably more, than I had beer in the glass from that first pour. This is one fizzy beer. The carbonation is high, but I like it, and it seems to compliment the beer well. Of note is the healthy amount of yeast settled in the bottle. I've stated it before, but I'll repeat, I like bottle conditioned beers. If for no other reason than the fact that I carb my brews this way. Even though this has the yeast, it's an incredibly clear ale. I let this cool in the fridge for exactly one week, unmoved. Perhaps that was just the ticket, and no yeast got stirred up into the beer.

There's little to go by for a description on the label of Southampton's Saison, and I'm at a loss for all I'm smelling in the aroma. There's an unmistakable maltiness I like. I can smell hops, but not right up front, more like a subtle note, and I can't tell what kind. They're more grassy than piney to me, so I imagine German or Czech, but I've been wrong before, and they could be a Fuggle or similar. Whatever, again I am pleased. I'm also noting hints of spice, but I don't know if there's any in there. I get a kind of clove along with fruit scent, but that could just simply be the yeast, not a spice that's been added.

The flavor of this is all ale. I am tasting all the positive flavors of a Belgian ale, with no spikes of "hot" alcohol, or any overabundance of banana or clove. This beer has a light spike of harsh on the tongue to remind you that it's a farmhouse Belgian style, and was fermented warm, but this is totally in balance with a great malt flavor, and perfect bittering. This is a good sized bottle of beer, which is a big plus in this case, as I can enjoy it over quite some time, getting to drink it while it approaches cellar temp and warmer. The warmer it gets the more fruitiness I get in the nose. The aftertaste is odd compared to the Belgian beers I've had before, as this beer lingers on the front and sides of my mouth, while not warming or drying the back of my throat. It leaves me wanting another mouthful.

I could sit here drinking this all night. I'd love something salty to go with it though. I'm thinking salt potatoes, but that's not really a spring/summer dish. Perhaps just taking a seat in a nice rocker or glider on the porch, and having a nice pile of roasted and salted in the shell peanuts. At 7.4 ABV I wouldn't have too many of these in an evening, but being well below the 10+% of the Bos Keun or The Maharaja, I could probably have more than just one in a night.

Once again I'm really pleased with a Southampton product. Sure this is only the third beer from them that I've tried, and as I've stated and repeated in many posts before, I'm no trained and certified beer judge, but the most important thing to me is what tastes good. Of the three Southampton's I've had so far, the Double White, the IPA and this Saison, I am yet to try one that didn't leave my longing for another.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says "bock"? I always seemed to have images of a bold bitter beer. I remember back in the days of my youth that my father used to get Budweiser Bock in a can, and that it wasn't always available. I also remember sneaking a couple of these at one point or another. It was, as if my palate then was any better trained than now, a bolder and slightly darker beer than regular old Bud.



OK, so fast forward a couple decades to this evening. I levered open, as it's hard to describe opening a bail and stopper topped brew as "cracked", a bottle of Bavarian Doppelbock from Hirsch Brewery of Sonthofen, Germany. Unlike the Alt from last week, this bottle positively popped open with a report that spooked my wife. It had a Champagne bottle sound, and a head to match. Like the French sparkling wine, the head didn't stick around in the glass too long, but there's a trail of lacing down the sides of the pint glass, and the carbonation is pleasing in the beer.

The nose on this beer is not what I expected either, and I had to do a double take when I first sniffed it. My wife looked at me funny, funnier than she usually does anyways, because I must have had the most quizzical look on my face upon removing my nose from the glass. I expected hops. I got malt. I got big breakfasty malt. I don't want to say it's as heavy as the Belhaven Wee Heavy, but it's easily as malty as the Belhaven Draught.

So I take a nice mouthful in. It's sweet. There's some hops in the background, but this double bock is sweet and malty. It's hardly what I was expecting. "Oh well", I say, "this is different than I imagined". I take another drink. This is pretty good, but it's not really what my palate was expecting, and I think I'm a tad bit let down about it.

I am going to have to go on record here saying that I've found a German beer I don't think I'm going to be wanting again. Not because it's bad or anything like that, but because it just didn't leave me feeling like I just had something special. Maybe if I had tried this before the Gaffel or the Urige, just maybe I'd feel different, but right now it seems like a porter without the SRMs.