1001 Beers

Beer No: 96
Page No: 627
Category: Dark

I've been slacking on my beer reviews, so I'll be trying to play catch up over the next few days (all of them being back-dated appropriately).  For World Cup Day 18, I finally had to abandon my World Cup Beer challenge.  I could find no beer from the Netherlands, Slovakia, Brazil, or Chile that was in my book in any local stores.  I did, however, find a Heineken Dark Lager from the Netherlands and drank that in place of an official beer from the book.  I was actually pleasantly surprised with the beer and the play of the Netherlands.  Though the score shows 2-1, the Netherlands easily dominated the game with the sole Slovakia goal coming on penalty kick on the last play of the game.  As the score implies for Brazil, they didn't have much trouble with Chile, winning 3-0.

Up next tomorrow: Paraguay vs. Japan and Spain vs. Portugal.  Following that, 2 days off, then 2 days of quarterfinals before 2 more days off and then finally 2 days of semi-finals.

Looking at today's beer, from Russia, Baltika 6 is one of many in the Baltika family and the only porter in the family.  Baltika started as a small brewery back in 1990, was acquired by Carlsberg, and now dominates the Russian beer scene with over 40% market share.  Head brewer, Irina Tlekhuray explains that the porter comes from an old English recipe and the porter indicates the skill of a good brewer.  By all accounts, Irina knows what she's doing as Baltika 6 is a strong porter and a nice-drinking import from Russia.

Oddly enough, a google search of Irina Tlekhuray returns just 6 results, and nothing on Google Images.  Very odd for a head brewer of a brewery that commands 40% market share in Russia to really have nothing said about her online.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Baltika 6 Porter by Baltika Brewery (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 9/20

Rating: 2.9 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours dark black, somewhat clear with tan head. Aroma is nice - a bit sweet, some roasted malts, toffee, raisins. Taste is similar, not too complex, hints of alcohol go with the malty flavors. Bits of caramel and alcohol linger through the short finish. A good porter, but nothing special.

Beer No: 88
Page No: 655
Category: Dark

Day 10 of the World Cup...nothing too outrageous today other than Italy being forced into a tie with New Zealand.  The commentators were comparing it with the massive upsets of years past, but they just tied, didn't lose, so I don't really think it was that big of an upset.  Now if North Korea upsets Portugal, that's a big one, but a New Zealand / Italy tie?  Eh.  Paraguay beat Slovakia like they were supposed to and Brazil beat the Ivory Coast like they were supposed to.  So nothing too special.  I'm just getting all geared up for the final games on Tuesday through Friday of the round robin round.  I'll look at the match ups tomorrow for those.

As for this Italian beer, it certainly is unique, unfortunately, I just didn't find it that appetizing.  1001 Beers states that the "moment of inspiration" for this beer came when Sergio Ormea, the founder of Grado Plato was watching a documentary about the Allied landings in Sicily during World War II.  The sight of American soldiers throwing chocolate bars to the Sicilian children, whos only sweets until then had been carobs, stuck in his mind.  So we have this strange mix of chocolate and carobs in a dark ale that tastes more like unsweetened cocoa than anything else.  The aroma and taste start out well, but unfortunately, the finish of the beer just drags it down.  I had hoped for more, but was left wanting.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Grado Plato Chocarrubica by Birrificio Grado Plato

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 4/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 8/20

Rating: 2.5 / 5.0

Had from bottle from HiTime Wines. Popped swing top cap and immediately had foam over the edge. Caught quickly in a tulip, pours dark brown/black with a surprisingly small head after it gushed over. Aroma is heavy chocolate, spices, sugar, and malts. Taste starts nice, ends poorly. Get big time chocolate and malts, hops are pretty well hidden and some alcohol at the end. Taste and finish is almost like unsweetened cocoa - dry, bland, just something seemed off. Kind of a watered down chocolate / cocoa blend that just doesn’t sit right. I’ll pass on this one in the future.

Beer No: 86
Page No: 722
Category: Dark

The fun continues...sort of.  As the World Cup moves on, the games are becoming more and more important.  And fresh off their 4-0 beating of Australia, Germany goes out and...lays an egg.  Not only do they miss a penalty kick to tie the game, but they suffer a bad red card (two yellows) and let Serbia win 1-0.  It's not all doom and gloom for Germany though.  A win in their third game and they advance to the next round.

So then we move on to Slovenia vs. United States.  And unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple days, you know the horrible outcome of this one.  First the U.S. comes out playing sloppy soccer like they did versus England and goes down early in the 12th minute.  They then allow another goal right before half in the 42nd minute.  But, they storm out of the half time break, score quickly in the 48th, and then pick up another goal to tie the game in the 82nd minute on Bradley's amazing goal.  And then...well, they score again in the 85th minute, however, this referee, officiating his first World Cup game ever, waves it off.  WHAT?  WHY?  Well he certainly won't tell anyone what the call was on the field, but after the game it comes out that he called offsides.  So...he calls offsides from behind the play, when his assistant on the sideline with a perfect view of any possible offsides calls nothing?  Great.  So here we sit with 2 points and slim chances of advancing.

And then it happens...England scores no goals against Algeria and can only manage a 0-0 tie.  How pathetic.  England can still advance with a win next week.  And the United States advances with a win as well, but how sad for England to win and still get 2nd place in the bracket?  With the United States taking the first seed with a win (assuming England doesn't go out and score 5 or 6 goals, of course).  Should be an interesting Wednesday next week.

Back to the beer though, today's beer comes from Germany, which lost, putting me at 2-4-2 overall with my beer picks.  This Schwarzbier (Black Beer) comes from Kostritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei (so obviously, this is their specialty beer).  Stating on the bottle it's the #1 black lager in Germany, I can see why.  It's clean, crisp, and easy to drink.  Which then means that it really has no flavor.  It's a watered down lager without any complexities and just the slightest hop and malt flavors.  It certainly is a refreshing beer, and better than it's Brazilian counterpart, Xingu, but it's nothing special.  Hopefully the next two beers in the lineup perform better - one from Japan, and then Italy.

As an aside, I'm keeping my rating from 2003 when I initially rated the beer.  If I had to re-rate it, I might move my overall rating down a couple points, leaving the final rating around 3.1 or 3.2, but a 3.3 isn't far off, so I'll just leave it as is.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Kostritzer Schwarzbier by Kostritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei (Bitburger)

Aroma: 5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Had from bottle at Stuffed Sandwich on July 25th, 2003 - Day 25 of Blake's Beer Month™
After looking through the multitude of beers available at the Stuffed Sandwich, I asked Sam for a Xingu - he told me I had to try this beer first - no reasoning, just to try it. Oddly enough, this was my first Black Beer - didn't really know what to expect - and was pleasantly surprised. The beer pours black (duh) with no clarity and a small amount of carbonation. The head is light brown with good lacing. The aroma was faint - yeasty, malty, but faint. The flavor was lagerish - a bit dull - nothing too special. The beer was easy to drink and was just what you would expect from a black lager - lager-like taste with a completely black appearance. On with the Xingu!

Beer No: 83
Page No: 841
Category: Dark

World Cup Day 5 (yeah, kind of screwed up my numbering in the last two posts).  Today I was very surprised by the North Koreans.  They played Brazil (where my beer of the day hails from) to a 0-0 halftime tie, but then Brazil struck twice and you would think South Korea would just try and keep it to just 2-0, but no, they go and score a goal late and end the game at 2-1.  A pretty respectable outing for a North Korea team that most people really don't know anything about.  As for the other two games, pretty boring.  Portugal and the Ivory Coast battled to a 0-0 tie, and just when you think that Slovakia would come out with a 1-0 win, New Zealand scores at the last minute of injury time.  So I guess that was interesting, but still, a boring game up until then.  I'm really hoping this second "round" of games will be better as teams realize they need points to survive and make it to the knock-out round.

As for the beer, a long time ago, back when I first started my beer drinking, Xingu was one of my favorites.  Fast-forward 7 years later and it has lost its appeal.  Xingu is much more watered-down than I remember it and it really lacks any real flavor.  It's got some subtle malts in there, but really, it's a black lager that is made for the masses.  So, this time around, I've got to pass.  It's still nice and drinkable if you're looking for a session beer that really won't interfere with any other flavors you've got going on at a meal, but other than that, I don't really see any reason to go search out Xingu any more.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Xingu by FEMSA Cerveja Brasil

Aroma: 5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 5/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 12/20

Rating: 2.8 / 5.0

Had from 12 oz. bottle from Hi Time Wine on June 15, 2010. Pours a dark brown/black with slight tan head. Aroma of toffee and malts. Taste is very watered-down and weak. A sweet flavor with nice malt flavors and seemingly no hops. Creamy, slight carbonation. Used to be one of my favorite black beers back in the day. These days, I know that there are much more flavorful black beers out there and this lager just doesn’t cut the mustard any more.

Had from bottle at Stuffed Sandwich on July 25th, 2003 - Day 25 of Blake’s Beer Month™
Only my second Scharzbier, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, the first one I had was a bit thin with no real substance - the Xingu raised my appreciation for this beer type. The aroma is faint, but more noticeable than the Kostriker with a slight waft of sweetness coming off the beer. It pours with a dark black appearance and a good sized brown head. The flavor of this Schwarzbier was much "fuller" than the Kostriker - a bit more carbonation than I expected, it could lose a bit here and be a bit better. This beer dances on the palate with carbonation and a smooth, easy drinkability. An interesting beer, and one I’d drink again - a nice change of pace in the beer-drinking world. Now - I just need to find some of the higher rated Schwarzbiers.

Original rating: 6/4/7/4/15 3.6

Beer No: 82
Page No: 745
Category: Dark

Day 3 as the World Cup journey continues.  Today's games were again not that exciting.  The Netherlands beat Denmark 2-0, in a fairly unremarkable game, but I did enjoy seeing Japan beat Cameroon 1-0 for Japan's first World Cup win off their home soil.  Also, I did enjoy the Italy vs. Paraguay match as Paraguy were heavy underdogs, but took the lead 1-0 in the first half.  Unfortunately, Italy battled back to tie it 1-1, so it was a good result for Paraguay.  Today's beer comes from the game 1 loser, Denmark.  The Mikkeller Black is about as subtle with its flavors as the vuvuzelas that are heard in the background of every World Cup game.  Heavy handed with alcohol flavors, coffee, and sugary sweetness, the Black is definitely an acquired taste (I don't think I'll ever get there).

After just having a wide cacophony of stouts and porters a couple days ago, it's quite stunning how up-front the Mikkeller Black is with the alcohol flavors.  Almost to the point of having a slight paint thinner taste.  When you have wonderful beers like the Dark Lord (my new #1 beer of all time), AleSmith Speedway Stout, and The Bruery's Black Tuesday, it just goes to show how different each and every Imperial Stout can be.  There's no balance in the Black.  It's just so heavy-handed and off-kilter that it just is not a very drinkable beer.  Each sip has to be forced down, else you get hit with the alcohol aroma, flavors, and sugary-sweet aftertaste all at once - enough to knock you out of your seat.  I've got another bottle, so I'm really interested now to see how my friends react to the beer, but for me, I'll pass on this one.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Mikkeller 黑 / Black by Mikkeller (Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij)

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 5/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 8/20

Rating: 2.6 / 5.0

Had from bottle from Hi Time Wines. Pours thick black with no head on pour, but a slight tan head materializes after all is poured and linkgers throughout. Aroma is strong alcohol, coffee, cream, and sugar. Almost like an alcoholic coffee in the morning. Taste just hits you with alcohol. At 17.5%, it’s to be expected somewhat, but when the good Imperial Stouts like Dark Lord, Speedway and Black Tuesday can mask their alcohol, it just really stands out that this one can’t. Flavors are mostly chocolate, coffee, more alcohol, licorice, and sugar sweetness. Aftertaste has lingering alcohol and sugar - not the best flavor to keep around. Each sip just hits you again with more alcohol and sugar. Not a fan of this heavy, oily, sweet, concoction.

Beer No: 77
Page No: 739
Category: Dark

I find it a bit strange that RateBeer categorizes Mc Chouffe as a 'scotch ale' since it seemed more like a dubbel, but I see where the scotch ale categorizing comes from.  Though not brewed with heather, it is a Chouffe interpretation of an ancient style.  Whatever they call it, however it's categorized, it was a damn good way to finish my night.  Even though the Lakers lost on the night I drank it, everyone had a great time, the BBQ was delish, and we all know how the Lakers did last night.

That being said, following up on my World Cup post from yesterday, I decided I really needed to make a list of the beers I needed to obtain tomorrow in preparation for World Cup beer drinking glory.  It took a while, and I didn't transcribe all the English, American, German, or Italian beers, but I've got the rest in a nice, easy to reference spreadsheet that I will take with me tomorrow as I search all these fine beers out.  Then, the planning begins - which beer goes with which match and which countries do I need to try and save until the end?  For instance, I really need to keep the Xingu around if it's my only Brazilian beer in case they make the finals.  Even if they're not in the finals, they'll most likely then be in the Third Place game, so I can't use Brazil until the last two days.

It should be fun to see if this is even possible, but I shall try my hardest!

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Mc Chouffe by Brasserie d'Achouffe (Moortgat)

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle.  Pours dark brown with large tan head that dissipates to a film over time.  Aroma is mostly of toffee, malts, sugars, raisins, and yeast.  Flavor is very malty, seems more like a dubbel than a scotch ale.  A hint of spices, with very sweet, fruity flavors.  Finishes slightly sweet with hints of caramel and toffee lingering for a bit.  Nothing that special, but a solid beer nonetheless.

Beer No: 71
Page No: 736
Category: Dark

Day three of the 330ml strange bottle journey leads us to Maredsous 8.  A "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer," this Dubbel is actually brewed by mega-brewer Duvel which then pays royalties to monastic institutions to certify it.  However, according to 1001 Beers, unlike many other large breweries that just pay the royalties for the "Certified" stamp, Maredsous is actually brewed in a small Flemish town and does derive from the original brews from the Benedictine abbey at Maredsous.

Following up on the malty beers I had just tasted in both Gulden Draak and Piraat, I had hoped for something a little hoppier, though, I knew it being a 'dubbel' it would be fairly malted.  And boy was it.  The aroma is very malty - sweet, fruity, sugary.  The taste manages to one-up the aroma though with a sweet complexity that features candi, plums, raisins, and nuts.  It's definitely a very malty beverage with very little hop balance to it, but I found Maredsous much better than the Gulden Draak which it would compare closer to (while the Maredsous 10 is closer to the Piraat).  Even though it's from a larger brewer in Duvel, it maintains its humble roots and complexities.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Maredsous 8 by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.6 / 5.0

Had from 330ml bottle from BevMo. Pours dark brown with slight tan head and good lacing. Aroma is very sweet - candi, raisins, alcohol. Taste is better than aroma - again sweet, but complex. More sugars, plums, raisins, nuts, and caramel. Finishes sweet, lingers nicely with a bit of sticky, syrup texture. Had in succession with Gulden Draak and found this one much more palatable and complex.

Beer No: 69
Page No: 704
Category: Dark

Well, it's finally June, Memorial Day has passed, Summer has begun, and the heat is beating down on my house.  So, let's drink!  First up in my run through odd-shaped 330ml bottles is Gulden Draak from Brouwerij Van Steenberge.  Weighing in at a hefty 10.5% ABV, this beer is tough to classify according to 1001 Beers.  They state that the brewery suggests it's a barleywine, but most say it's a dark tripel, whereas RateBeer classifies it under Abt/Quadrupel.  So what is it?  Well, it's heavily malted, very sugary-sweet, and though the alcohol is hidden well on the nose, it comes out much more strongly in the taste.

Whatever you want to classify it as, in the end, it's a pretty tasty beverage.  The malts are balanced well with a spicy finish, but truth be told, malty beverages like this just aren't my favorite.  I prefer them hoppy or sour.  Malty...no thanks.  But still, a high quality beverage that was actually named the best beer in the world in 1998 by the American Culinary Institute.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Gulden Draak by Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

330ml bottle. Pours dark brown with hint of red and tan head that lingers as a film to the end. Aroma is very sweet - tons of malts and candi sugars. Slight aroma of fruit and alcohol. Taste is heavier alcohol than the aroma suggests. The 10.5% really isn’t hidden all that well behind the sugars and malts. Beer is very fizzy and finishes very sweet and sticky. Not my cup o’ tea but still not a bad malty beverage.

Beer No: 53
Page No: 828
Category: Dark

It really is a shame that this is Abita's only entry into the list of 1001.  I'm a fan of their Purple Haze (which oddly enough is really lowly rated on RateBeer).  For a "fruity" wheat beer, I think the Purple Haze balances the fine line of being too fruity and all wheat very well.  If I'm ever in a pinch and need a refreshing wheat beer, Purple Haze normally is the way I go.  I pretty much fell in love with it on my road trip when visiting Abita's home state of Louisiana.  I wish I would have had time to visit the Abita brewery, but I do hope to go back to Louisiana sometime soon as even two full days in New Orleans was not nearly enough.

As for the Turbodog, billed as a "dark brown ale," the balance between going too dark and yet remaining a flavorful brown ale.  Here, Abita has excelled.  The malty and chocolate undertones of a darker ale are evident, but it doesn't get too heavy and remains a solid brown ale.

Looking back at my travels to Louisiana, I also remember having the Jockamo IPA from Abita many times with some local favorites such as gumbo and prawns, but again, I find the beer rated lowly on RateBeer.  I think there's a tendency amongst the raters to stay "in line" and rate lowly rated beers low and highly rated beers high.  Similarly, there's certain stigmas with regards to breweries.  If everyone's rating Abita low on RateBeer, others just follow in step.  Meanwhile, breweries like Cigar City and The Bruery are always rated high, and everyone just follows along.  Even beers that might not deserve a high rating are just rated high simply based on the brewery's name.  It's a shame, but there's really nothing you can do about it other than rate the beers honestly and try and avoid reading other reviews until your rating has been submitted.

But, even as I write this, I know that I'm not wholly innocent here.  With an average score given of 3.28 and an average beer rating of 3.41, it appears that, even though I try and be objective and honest with each rating, I still end up within 0.13 points of each beer's average rating.  And even with the Turbodog, which I rated 8 years ago, my rating of 3.2 is exactly what the weighted average of the beer is after 1,050 ratings.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Abita Turbodog from Abita Brewing Company

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.2 / 5.0

A very dark brownish-red beer with a slight head (about 1/2 inch on pint glass). Had on tap at Callahan’s 10/16/02. The odor is slightly fruity and taste is similar with a mild nutty malt flavor. An interesting beer with a bit more carbonation than usual beers. A very drinkable beer, but nothing special.

Beer No: 51
Page No: 617
Category: Dark

A few weeks ago, a good friend celebrated her 30th birthday, and for the occasion, David opened a magnum he had been saving for years from Hair of the Dog - their Fred of the Wood.  It was a rare treat as back when he received the bottle, they didn't bottle Fred from the Wood (apparently they do these days).  The bottle had very little carbonation, but the beer still tasted amazing (and I'm not the biggest fan of barley wines as it is).  Fast forward to today and I've got a Hair of the Dog Adam - a "heavy old world ale."  And boy is it heavy.  It's just 10%, but feels like much more.  The alcohol wasn't hidden very well within the finish of the beer and the fruit flavors almost overwhelmed the smoke and wood subtleties that I experienced back when I first rated this beer in 2003.  I'm certain I'll revisit this one as I'm a fan of Hair of the Dog's brews.  But for now, I wouldn't recommend Batch 75.  If you can find an older, aged batch though, go for it!

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Hair of the Dog Adam from Hair of the Dog Brewing Company

Rating on May 14th, 2010:

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from 12oz. bottle from Hi Time Wines (Batch 75). Pours dark brown / black with thick tan head that takes a few minutes to subside. Lacing is good and slight head lasts until the end. Aroma is sweet and fruity with malts and raisins. Taste is rich with chocolate, alcohol, fruits, malty. I wish I remembered my original tasting of this beer, but I didn’t much care for this batch. Alcohol is much too strong in the finish and the smoky flavors that I previously detected are missing. It’s tough to go from a 3.9 to a 3.4, but I will revisit this as I usually love Hair of the Dog’s brews. This batch just missed the mark.

Rating on April 18, 2003:

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

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Wow. We bought a nice large bottle to share amongst the table and I was pleasantly surprised. You can definitely smell the aroma of hops and smoke. The appearance is also quite nice - absolutely no head with a garnet coloring. The beer has a very strong flavor with a strong, smoky aftertaste. Very heavy, but very good - a beer, similar to a porter - that would just be good next to the fire on a cold night.