1001 Beers

Beer No: 106
Page No: 420
Category: Blond

It's funny, back to back posts where I originally rated the beer 7-8 years ago, and then looking back today, I feel completely different about it.  I really enjoyed this Liberty Ale and it'll be my go-to in the future if I'm just looking for a quick six-pack to take to a party (previously I usually just picked up Sierra Nevada Pale).  I really enjoyed this American Pale Ale finding it to be incredibly complex, yet wonderfully balanced.  Easy to drink with tons of flavor, I just couldn't have been happier this morning.  As mentioned, this is the second beer in a row that I've taken another look at and a commenter yesterday picked up on the change and I agree with him how fun it is to sometimes look back at old ratings and see how our tastes have evolved.

I really like the fact that you came back and did a re-review. It's interesting from a beer drinkers' perspective to see how our tastes and moods change from one sitting to another over time. And from a readers' perspective it's interesting to see two different takes on a beer - especially if they're from the same person. Gives a more complete idea of the beer.

In beer news, the Craft Brewers Alliance bought Kona, rescuing them and allowing Kona to contiue to create great craft brews.  When I first read about the acquisition, I at first thought of Kraft, and found a brewery to be an odd choice, but then realized it's something completely different:

Under the agreement, Kona will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Craft Brewers, which also distributes the beers of Chicago's Goose Island Brewery. Craft Brewers was formed with the merger of Portland's Widmer Brothers Brewing and Woodinville, Wash.,-based Redhook Ale Brewery in 2008.

I'm glad Kona will be able to continue to produce the beers the way they want to and hopefully the Craft Brewers Alliance can provide distribution that will help them grow.

((And yes, this review is being back-posted to fill in some gaps in reviews.  So you'll notice the re-rate on August 4th and the article from August 3rd despite the article being "posted" on July 29th.))

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Anchor Liberty Ale by Anchor Brewing Company

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

UPDATED: AUG 4, 2010 Wow, what a difference 7 years makes. Had from bottle, this beer is thoroughly refreshing. Pours golden yellow with a slight orange tint and tons of head. Beer actually foamed over on me when taking the cap off. Aroma is perfect balance of floral hops and muted malts. Flavor is wonderful. Quite possibly my new favorite easy-drinking beer. The perfect amount of hops complement the complex malts. Probably my new favorite in the APA category. Wonderfully smooth finish, a very well-rounded beer.

Had on tap at Callahan’s on February 19th, 2003
The beer was poured a golden yellow with a slight head that dissipated quickly. Aroma is slightly fruity, but weak. Taste is hoppy and bitter with an aftertaste that is slightly acidic. Not an outstanding taste - drinkable, but not tops on my list.
Original Rating: 4/3/6/4/12 2.9/5.0

Beer No: 105
Page No: 572
Category: White

Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse is easily one of my favorite Hefewiezens.  So it saddened me so when half way through drinking this beer and reading the Wall Street Journal, a fly landed in it and could not escape.  Such a shame to waste this beer.  My friends all told me to fish out the fly and continue drinking, but I just couldn't do it.  That being said, I still got to drink half of the beer and then went in and started on a new beer - Speakeasy Prohibition Ale - a nice amber, but nothing too special.  Easy to drink and a good representation of the style.

On a side note, I found it pretty funny that just days after BrewDog comes out with the world's strongest beer at 55% and names it "End of History," another brewery, just for fun comes out with a 60% beer and names it "Start the Future."  A fun game of one-upmanship and hilarious product naming.  However, one downside to "Start the Future" is it doesn't come bottled in roadkill...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier by Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau (InBev)

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 16/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

UPDATED: AUG 1, 2010 Rerate 7/28/2010
Not quite sure what happened with my original rating 8 years ago - maybe I had a bad bottle or something, but since then, Franziskaner has become one of my favorite Hefeweizens. The aroma has a wonderful blend of fruits, spices, yeast, and bananas while the taste is pretty much exactly what a hefe should be. Fruit, cloves, and vanilla all dominate the tasting and blend together perfectly. A truly wonderful hefe.

I’m usually a huge fan of hefeweizens, but this one seemed a bit bland. The color is the usual hazy yellow with a medium sized head. The aroma is slightly fruity and the taste as well, but overall, it seemed weak with a taste that left something to be desired. A refreshing beer, but nothing special - not a stand-out hefe.

Original Rating: 6/4/6/3/13 3.2/5.0 on 10.10.2002

Beer No: 73
Page No: 877
Category: Specialty

It really is a shame when good beer goes bad.  I can't quite remember where I picked up this specific bottle of Duchesse de Bourgogne, but in the process of shipping it to Belgium, stocking it on the shelves, and waiting to be purchased, something went horribly wrong.  And, judging by the reviews on RateBeer.com, I'm not the only one it's been happening to.  The problem is, when I originally rated this beer back in January of 2009, I liked it.  The bottle I bought back then must have been fresh, exhibiting a malty sweetness that balanced the tart sourness perfecty.  Unfortunately, this time, the taste was completely off.  There were heavy alcohol flavors and vinegar off-flavors that just shouldn't have been there.

The real problem I have is that printed right on the bottle is "Best Before Feburary, 2011."  Now, I'm way short of that "Best Before" date and still the beer was rancid and an immediate drain pour.  I even offered it up to someone else at the house and he knew right away that something was wrong with it.  There's usually always two different sour ales available at most beer stores in the area - this and the Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale (review tomorrow).  This is clearly the better of the two, but only when you get a good bottle, and it seems there's been a rash of bad bottles and it will easily turn people off from ever buying this brand again - and perhaps from ever buying sour ales again - which is the true shame.

Since I know this bottle had gone bad, I will not be re-rating it, instead here's my review from January, 2009 when I know I had a good bottle.  If I were to rate it today, it would have been a 2.3 (or maybe a bit lower when I put the ratings in category by category).  But hopefully my original rating still represents the bottles that the majority of people are able to buy here in the U.S.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne by Verhaeghe

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

2009.01.11 - From Bottle. I’m a fan of sour ales and found this one to be a welcome departure from the norm. The smell is tart fruits with malts, a very pleasant aroma. Color is reddish-brown (more brown) with little foaming and good lacing. I expected a bit more tartness when I tasted it, but it ends with a sweetness that was quite unexpected. The more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. Though a bit more sourness would have been a welcome addition. In all, a very strong beer, and I’m glad I picked it up.

Beer No: 65
Page No: 315
Category: Blond

Woah foam.  Apparently De Dolle likes to bottle prime their beers agressively which results in gushers (just taking the cork out causes the bottle to foam over).  So you've gotta have your glass ready and start pouring as soon as you can - though, as you can see by the picture, you won't get much into the glass before you need to give it some time to come down a bit.  But I guess you wouldn't expect anything different from the "Mad Brewers" (Dolle Brouwers).

After all the foam dies down, the real flavors of the beer really make themselves known through agressive fruits and spices.  It just makes me long to try it on tap one day.  1001 Beers notes, "Don't hesitate to enjoy it on the outside terrace, which overlooks a peaceful rural scene; the quiet is only broken by the chickens next door, the lowing of the cows, and, of course, the merry sounds of a full house of dedicated drinkers."  One day...one day my Belgium trip will be a reality...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

De Dolle Arabier from De Dolle Brouwers

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Gushes out when opened, immediately pour into glass which foams up like none other. Pours with a yellow/orange haze once the bubbles finally die down. Aroma is spicy with lots of fruits - orange, lemons, and hops. Yeasty undertones deliver a bready light aroma under the citrus. Taste is similar, very citrus, bready, and spicy. Finishes a bit dry, but the aftertaste is refreshing and lingers nicely. A wonderful strong blond that hides the 8% very well.

Beer No: 63
Page No: 89
Category: Amber

Well, this finally finishes off my Avery beers.  Truly a sad day.  Luckily, I have many more Maharaja's in the fridge and storage, so Avery will not be forgotten.

Today, I made my way out to my temperature-controlled storage to see what I had sitting there waiting for me to drink.  And while I'm happy all my Vertical Epics are sitting there, aging perfectly, I found some other, lesser beers that most likely did not age well at all.  It's these beers that I brought home with me to sample over the next few days.  Plus, I took one of the AleSmith Speedway Stouts from the early 2000's (I think it's either 2003 or 2004) (I have 3), and brought it home for the Stout Party on June 12th.

Back to this beer, it's got a really cool story behind it.  Both Avery and Russian River had beers named Salvation in their line-ups.  But instead of suing each other for the name, they got together, blended the two Salvations, and came up with Collaboration Not Litigation.  The resulting beer is a fruity marvel with a wonderful complexity and 9% ABV that really hits you (not in taste, just in warmth).

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Avery Collaboration Not Litigation

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

Had from bottle from BevMo - Batch #4. Pours hazy orange / brown with slight white head. Aroma is very fruity - oranges, sugar, and malts. Flavor is more fruits - slightly alcoholic, strangely able to feel the ABV after a single bottle of beer. Had no idea why it was called Collaboration Not Litigation, but love to read the cool story. Very tasty, drinkable beer.

Beer No: 50/1001
Page No: 694
Category: Dark

Wow, 5% done with all 1001 Beers...I can't believe I'm at 50 already and I easily have another 50 beers sitting in boxes around my room and in the fridge just waiting to be tasted, reviewed, and rated.  For #50, I picked a good one - the Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter.  According to 1001 Beers, it was first brewed in 2005 after Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide.  It features artwork from Ralph Steadman who did much of Hunter's illustrations, and also won the gold medal in the World Beer Cup in 2008.  So this is no slouch of a beer.

I usually don't drink porters or stouts on a daily basis as they're usually just too heavy for a mid-day drink, but this Imperial Stout was right up my alley.  Heavy on the hops (as the Imperial would imply) and the coffee, this complex beer is balanced nicely and made a nice addition to my chicken sandwich dinner.  That being said, come June, I'll have tons of stouts and porters lined up to discuss here.  June 12th I'll be hosting a Stout/Porter party at my place and I have a lot of nice beers lined up to taste that day.  I'll be starting with a blind tasting of barrel aged stouts/porters and then move into a blind tasting of smoked stouts and porters.  After that, if people are still up for blind tastings, I'll break out some other stouts and porters that aren't barrel aged or smoked and we'll go from there.  As of now, the stout/porter list stands at:

Barrel Aged:
BrewDog Paradox (whiskey)
North Coast Old Rasputin XII (bourbon)
Haand Bryggeriet Norwegian Porter (aquavit)
Deschutes Abyss 2009 (bourbon)
The Bruery Black Tuesday (bourbon)

Smoked:
Alaskan Smoked Porter (2005)
Alaskan Smoked Porter (2009)
Stone Smoked Porter

More:
Brew Dog Rip Tide
Lost Abbey Serpent's Stout
Dieu du Ciel Peche Mortel
Alesmith Speedway Stout (2005)
Alesmith Speedway Stout (2009)
Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
Mikkeller Black
Nogne O Imperial Stout
Requiem Espresso Stout
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Stout
Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Three Floyds Dark Lord (2009)
Victory Storm King (2002)
Victory Storm King (2010)

Not a bad line up if I say so myself...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter from Flying Dog Brewery

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

Had from 12 oz. bottle from Total Wine. Pours brown with huge tan head, good lacing, and slight head retention. Aroma is heavy on coffee and hops. Slight aroma of chocolate and caramel. Taste is full of hops and coffee. Hints of malts, sugar, chocolate, and citrus. Very well done imperial porter with heavy hop flavor that balances the coffee nicely.

Beer No: 34/1001
Page No: 544
Category: Blond

It's somewhat saddening that my journey through Green Flash's offerings with this, their IPA.  They have two listings in 1001 Beers, the other being the inordinately complex Le Freak (a blend of "San Diego Style" IPA and a Belgian Tripel), but despite my Green Flash tastings being done from the book, I do hope to try the rest of them.  Both of the beers I tried from this smaller brewery down in San Diego were top-notch, and heck, who doesn't like an old-time car filled with beer every once in a while? (Flip through the pictures above).

On an unrelated note, today while flipping through my usual reading material, I stumbled across this article from Northern Brewer - Make wine for better beer.  Now, a couple of people have already asked if I have thought about making wine, mostly because they enjoy wine more than beer, but I've always said no.  I'm not the biggest wine fan, however, when paired correctly, they can be amazing.  I'll take my beer pairings any day too (like the one on my last birthday at the Crow Bar featuring Stone Brewing's beers).  Back to the article...it really just focuses on one point of wine making - preventing oxidization.  We as beer makers do that too, but, as mentioned in the article, not to the extend of winemakers.  In fact, topping off the carboy is all but impossible with the way beer ferments so rapidly.  During any aging process though, I can see how it would be beneficial to top off the carboy via CO2 or some other mechanism, but it seems in beer making you really have to go out of your way to get oxidization.  Perhaps beer is a bit more forgiving than wine, but I've never had a brew oxidize (fingers crossed), so either I'm doing something right, or I'm just getting really lucky.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Green Flash West Coast IPA from Green Flash Brewing Co.

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

Had from bottle from Total Wine. Pours a golden orange with good carbonation, small head, and adequate lacing. Very hoppy, yet fruity aroma. Flavors of pine, hops, citrus, grapefruit, and orange. Standard hoppy, bitter finish, but nothing too astringent. Very good IPA. Quality San Diego beer.

Beer No: 16/1001
Page No: 477
Category: Blond

In anticipation of my weekly trip to the Bruery (and today's special Humulus Humanless release), I popped open a 375 ml bottle of Brasserie Dupont's Saison Dupont.  This hazy farmhouse ale pours with an awesome head and lacing and is just a perfect beer.  Easy to drink, complex in flavors and aromas, spicy, fruity, and sweet.  It was paired with a roast beef sub from Ralph's Deli, a deli I used to visit on a weekly basis that I had all but forgotten about.  Their bread is nothing special, but just does wonders to tie their sandwiches together, and though it wasn't quite as good as my home made pizza yesterday - built from scratch - my meal was quite acceptable today.

As for tonight, like I said, another trip to The Bruery.  I submitted an application yesterday to work there as I would love nothing more than to work with beer all day.  But if that doesn't pan out, it's still my favorite local brewery and I can't wait to try their new brew on tap today.  Last time they had a release like this was for Amulet: Tyler's Magical Unicorn which was unfortunately sold out by the time I arrived at 7pm on Friday (they open at 4pm).  So today I'm hoping to get there just as they open to try the Humulus Humanless:

"This pilot has been dubbed “Humulus Humanless” by our brewer Jay. It's made from the second runnings of Black Tuesday and then dry-hopped with Summit and Sterling. Delicious!"

After the Bruery, it's back to studying.  I'll be watching a webinar as training to become a Certified Cicerone and hopefully it will help me in my weak areas that I think I discussed yesterday (or maybe the day before).  Speaking of beer study, I just started my in-depth reading of Tasting Beer today.  The first 30 or so pages chronicle the history of beer through the ages and it really is quite impressive.  The book itself is really quite awesome as it covers so many different topics in-depth with great writing.

Back to the Saison Dupont though...I really did enjoy this beer today.  It's complex and refreshing with a nice texture and no hint of the 6.5% alcohol buried within.  Very highly recommended.  My first review of this beer was back in February, 2007 and I did not update it today.  Although I could add a little more detail to the review, I find the review still holds.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Saison Dupont Vieille Provision from Brasserie Dupont

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

Bottle conditioned, not pasteurized, I found this at the local Beverages and More and had to give it a try.

Citrus smell, bottle-conditioned yeast floats beautifully through a hazy, yet still clear body. Pours with a thick head and light, crisp consistency.

Quite good for a Saison, slight sour aftertaste, it is easy to drink with an almost oaky finish. Well above average!