Tasting pointers?

[beersage]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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:

 

[EinGutesBier]

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.

 

[Revvy]

What's number three the reallllyyyy long necked fliptop?

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

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 .

 

[DUCCCC]

What's number three the reallllyyyy long necked fliptop?

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

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.

 

[DUCCCC]

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.