Tasting pointers?

[Bromley]

The Bellhaven:

OK, this might not have been the ideal one to start with, but as I have a Scotch Ale in secondary at the moment I had to see if this is what I was envisioning when I selected the kit.

It's got a deep root beer brown color, and poured with a nice head of foam. It smells wonderful, but not awfully aromatic, kind of like a bowl of hot breakfast cereal, in a good way. Sorry, that's what I pictured with my nose in the cup and my eyes closed... It's also got very fine tiny bubbles. ABV for this one is 6.5%, and it's not readily apparent until well after the beer has gone down the throat. I get a light warm feeling a few seconds afterwards (my batch is measured at about 4.2% when it went to secondary). It's definitely sweet to start on the tongue, but for all the malt talk about Scotch ales, I'm really not get a blast of malty flavor from this one.

Bottom line, I like it alright, but I wouldn't pick this one for guys night out, or for a refreshing drink after a round of golf on a hot day. I also wouldn't drink more that one of these in a sitting. I hope mine has more maltiness, and maybe not just as sweet, if that's not too contradictory?

I'd recommend reading the BJCP style guidlines for a good accounting of what you can/should expect from any beer you're tasting/making for the first time.

Without having tasted anything other than Belhaven and Founder's Scotch Ales, I brewed a batch. It came out at 7.8%. My first reaction was "this is too damn sweet". THEN I read the style guidelines and low and behold it's often described as a "breakfast" beer and should have a good amount of residual sweetness.

 

[Bromley]

Went with the Weissbier:

Historically I've never been a big hefe fan. I don't know if this is the one to change my feelings, but it's drinkable.

I like the color of this one and, aside from the cloudiness, it reminds me of pouring a pilsner. The head is good, but doesn't hang around for very long. The nose on this one is much more interesting then the Wee Heavy. It's got a floral scent, with slight banana hints. This is a nice contrast to the Scot, and it's actually a brew I would be happy to order on a hot day after a round of golf, and I'd probably be happy having this with a nice grilled chicken sandwich too. Sorry, I'm just rolling with my inspiration here...

There's some spice in the aftertaste here. I can't nail it yet, but it's different then the initial citrus tone I get while the beer's on my tongue. I don't know if I care for it or not, but it could grow on me.

This could make me try a hefe of my own after not too long.

If you're going to try your own hefe and liked the banana/fruity/spicy flavors and aromas, DEFINITELY use WY3068. The yeast makes a HUGE difference in a wheat beer.

 

[DUCCCC]

The last beer from this latest shopping trip is the Harviestoun Brewery Bitter & Twisted.

I have to admit, when I asked the salesperson for a recommendation and got this one I was actually asking for a good example of bitters, not a bitter beer. I don't think this is bitters, but rather a pale ale. The back label say, "Blond in colour. Bitter & Twisted has a superb hop profile, combining the aromatic Hallertau Hersbrücker with the spicy Challenger. It's finished by 'late hopping' with Styrian Goldings which gives a sharpness like a twist of lemon." Well, this is flavored along the same profile of the IPA I reviewed earlier, but much less assaulting to the tongue. I can really enjoy the hops in this beer. They smell great while not completely drowning out the rest of the beer, and the same can be said of the taste. It strikes out at first with bold hop flavor, but you get a chance to taste hints of malt as the bitter fades away, and with a mild by comparison 4.2%ABV, you could actually drink a few of these in an evening and not worry about feeling like crap in the morning. Other comments on the label include information about this ale being cask conditioned, so this is supposed to have a third less carbonation. Honestly, I can't tell that it's much less bubbly than any of the other beers I've tried other than the Troublette that took quite a while to settle down.

I'm not in love with this beer, but it's one I would order, especially for pairing with something like, and this might sound weird, some spicy Thai food or Kung Pao. This would stand up great against salty and spicy, but not obscenely hot food. I will say that this is the clearest glass of brew I've had from this lot yet. There's no haze at all, and it could easily be mistaken for a BMC when looked at, it just tastes much better than anything from an American mainstream lager producer.

(edited for spelling)

 

[Bulls Beers]

The Kolsch...

It's clear. Looking at last night's picks, which all were more translucent than transparent, this one looks clean. It tastes it too. To me, this is beer. The initial taste is similar to a good pilsner, but the complexity of the brew is quick to show itself following the swallow. This beer is tasted more on the sides and back of the tongue, rather than the tip. I don't think I'm really getting a fruity taste, as is mentioned on the neck label of the bottle, but there's definitely a faintly fruity smell. I'm glad I chose this pictured glass for this one, as it really focuses the nose when you take a sip. This beer is dry, and refreshing. At 4.8% ABV I wouldn't call it a session beer, but I could drink a number of these at a sitting. As for a food pairing that came to mind, I'm picturing a nice plate of Italian cold cuts, with a healthy amount of spicy salame and coppa, as well as a stronger cheese and some crusty bread. This is just the beer to cut through the saltiness of the salame, and compliment it at the same time. I'd feel bad drinking it with a pizza, unless the pizza was made by hand and cooked in a wood-fired oven.

The shame of this one is that I don't currently have the refrigeration necessary to make a truly lagered Kolsch. I sure hope I can make an ale that has the bite of this one, without loading it too full of hops.

Any ideas for an extract/steep recipe that might have similar qualities to a nice Kolsch will be greatly appreciated!

Matt

Man, I've been looking around for Gaffel. All we have around here is Reissdorf, not that thers anything wrong with it..It's really good..

 

[DUCCCC]

Another payday, and a Leap Year to boot!

1. Reissdorf Kölsh
2. Nostradamus Belgian Brown Ale
3. Delirium tremens Belgian Ale
4. Jenlain Blonde French Farm-Country Ale
5. Westmalle Tripel Trappist Ale
6. Fuller's London Porter

Writeups to follow shortly.

 

[DUCCCC]

The first brew of the latest sixxer is the Jenlain "French Farm-Country Ale", as I picked up some cheap goat's milk cheese, sliced up a Fuji apple and busted out the Keebler Elf's finest Club crackers, and somehow the most fitting beer seemed to me to be the Jenlain. I've never heard of this beer before, but that's not surprising at all, as I am still "awakening" to a whole world, literally and figuratively, of beers that one doesn't find in the import section of the Piggly Wiggly.

The first thing that strikes me about this brew is its extreme clarity. Maybe it was just the Fuji apple that made me think of this, but I swear this ale looked like a glass of Martinelli's sparkling apple juice in the glass.

I can't exactly nail down the hops here, but they're present in both the aroma and the flavor, thankfully. They're not Saaz. They smell German in origin, and since I've been using Hallertauers myself lately that's what I first thought of, but the more I concentrated on the nose of this beer I caught hints of Norther Brewer too. This isn't to say that this is a "hoppy" beer in the American sense, as SNPA would be considered much bolder, but compared to the Gaffel Kölsch I tried way back in my recent beer "travels", this is much hoppier. Every time I get a nice whiff from the pint glass I'm rewarded with a wonderful nose full of hops that's so lacking in about all the mass produced beer in the USA. I say this because I think this is a beer that doesn't challenge the drinker to enjoy at all, and I think I could hand a bottle of this to a Heineken drinker and they'd really enjoy this, probably much more than their green-bottled stuff. Of course at 7.5% ABV, that Heineken drinker isn't going to be putting away too many of these without falling off their barstool before long.

This is a relatively dry beer. I smell the malt more than I taste it, and I really don't get a sense of the alcohol content while I sip on this. Unlike the Troublette, which got "hot" flavors as it warmed, this beer's bread and malt character sat up a bit more than while it was cold, right from the fridge. There's no hint of anything exotic or spiced, just a clean beer. Perhaps it's just a bit too clean.

I was spot on with the pairing of the snacks and beer here. This goat cheese is soft and creamy, but with a more pungent punch than your basic Philly cream cheese, and it goes fine with the basic bolder apple flavor of the Fujis. Just as there's plenty of different cheeses and crackers out there, and I could run the gamut from Saltines and aerosol cheese in a can, to some fine Bleu and home made baguette topped with perfectly ripe pears, but as my snack selection fits somewhere midstream, so does my opinion of this beer. I put the farm and country adjectives in quotes in the first paragraph because I don't think this is a rustic beer at all. There's no hint of bottle conditioning, and I'm positive its been finely filtered prior to being carbed with gas at bottling. It's a fine beer, but I still get the feeling I'm drinking a mass marketed brew. I could serve this to the Williams Sonoma type crowd proudly, if you get my drift.

 

[DUCCCC]

Leap Year's second and final beer up for tasting this evening is the Fuller's Porter. I'm familiar with the name, but I don't recall ever having one before. I hope anybody across the pond, or on these shores, doesn't take this the wrong way, but since I've seen ads for this beer before, and because I don't exactly consider myself extremely knowledgeable of all things brewed, I considered this a mass produced beer going in to this tasting. I also have to add that based on my self-confessed lack of experience here, the "control" beer, or the one I'm basing my comparison on is Guinness. Yes, I know, that's a stout, not a porter, but that's about the closest thing I've got for a point of reference, sorry.

I don't know how evident it is in the photograph, which I also claim two faults with, being I'm by no means a pro photographer, and secondly my camera is dying a painfully slow death at the hands of my electronics abusing kids and wife, but the head on this porter, while plentiful at the pour, was not by any means creamy, and it didn't last very long at all. I was left with a nice lace around the glass, and the carbonation is fine. This is a dark beer that's every bit at opaque as a Guinness. That's not bad at all, I'm just making the observation.

Aside from the claim of "The World's Finest" on the label front, there's also the adjectives "Rich, Dark & Complex", and the description on the rear label uses words like "delicious chocolate and coffee flavours" (sic for the yanks), and coffee along with more of a honey scent fill the glass when I smell this beer. I don't really get the sense of chocolate at all, other than the color. Coffee is a good description, and I get the aftertaste of a cup of joe, with somewhat tart and acidic tones. I hate to say it, but I'm really just having flashes of Guinness, and I'm not complaining per se, but I was really expecting something that would give the impression of being a beer that would be easily identifiable on the scale somewhere between Newcastle and Guinness. It's not bad, it's just not what I was hoping for when I got it out of the cooler at the beer shop.

 

[Sherpa FE]

secondly my camera is dying a painfully slow death at the hands of my electronics abusing kids and wife.[/QUOTE]


ROFL, I thought I was the only one that had to replace electronic gadgets earlier than expected ecause of this.

Great write-ups. I enjoyed reading them all.

 

[DUCCCC]

Having just dined on a lovely plate of steamed shrimp and oysters on the half shell, Stump Sounders, I had a real thirst for a beer tonight. The choice to follow all that nice seafood? The Reissdorf Kölsch.

It poured with a lovely head and had a few streams of fine champagne-like bubbles lazily rising to the top from various unseen points around the interior of the tall glass. As I smelled the beer I couldn't help think that it smelled just like the hops in the Jenlain from last night, but much less boldly. Like that French ale from 24 hours ago, this one is also apparently not bottle conditioned. There wasn't a trace of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. This beer was also crystal clear, but I expect that in a Kölsch, whereas I was expecting something less refined in last night's "Farm-Country Ale".

This beer is clean, like a Pilsner. It's crisp and refreshing, like a Pilsner. It's lightly, but pleasantly hopped, like a Pilsner. Where it's not like a Pilsner is in the flavor following that initial taste. I don't know if I can get this flavor described here, but I get a light hint of that classic Malt-O-Meal goodness in the nose of this beer, and for a few seconds following the moment I have already swallowed that same light malty-ness lingers on my tongue. It's good, and something of a character that I found lacking in the Jenlain. I don't mean it's malty like a Scottish ale, though. It's not bready, like some of the British ales, but rather somewhere between fruity and carmel, if you can picture that. It's definitely not banana either. I like this beer, but although it's been a while I think I was more impressed with the Gaffel I tasted in the first sixxer I started this "training" with.

I put this one above both the Jenlain and the Fuller's in this current lineup.

 

[ArcaneXor]

The Kolsch...

It's clear. Looking at last night's picks, which all were more translucent than transparent, this one looks clean. It tastes it too. To me, this is beer. The initial taste is similar to a good pilsner, but the complexity of the brew is quick to show itself following the swallow. This beer is tasted more on the sides and back of the tongue, rather than the tip. I don't think I'm really getting a fruity taste, as is mentioned on the neck label of the bottle, but there's definitely a faintly fruity smell. I'm glad I chose this pictured glass for this one, as it really focuses the nose when you take a sip. This beer is dry, and refreshing. At 4.8% ABV I wouldn't call it a session beer, but I could drink a number of these at a sitting. As for a food pairing that came to mind, I'm picturing a nice plate of Italian cold cuts, with a healthy amount of spicy salame and coppa, as well as a stronger cheese and some crusty bread. This is just the beer to cut through the saltiness of the salame, and compliment it at the same time. I'd feel bad drinking it with a pizza, unless the pizza was made by hand and cooked in a wood-fired oven.

The shame of this one is that I don't currently have the refrigeration necessary to make a truly lagered Kolsch. I sure hope I can make an ale that has the bite of this one, without loading it too full of hops.

Any ideas for an extract/steep recipe that might have similar qualities to a nice Kolsch will be greatly appreciated!

Matt

Congratulations! Gaffel is a great Koelsch, and usually pretty hard to find in the US (I have yet to come across any true Koelsch except Reissdorf over here, which isn't the best). Frueh is my personal favorite.

I also do not have any means to bulk lager, but I am thinking about giving a Koelsch-style homebrew a go using extended bottle-lagering in the fridge.

 

[DUCCCC]

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

Also edited for spelling

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

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!!!

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[Revvy]

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[Silviakitty]

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.

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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?

 

[html034]

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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

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.

 

[html034]

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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.