1001 Beers

Beer No: 109
Page No: 933
Category: Specialty

I'm finally back from my second big beer-related road trip of the year.  Though not quite as long as an epic pilgrammage to Decatur, Georgia, this weekend's trip up through wine country brought with it some amazing breweries.  First up was Firestone Walker on Friday night.  I had the sampler there and already knew that I'd enjoy their DBA and IPA but I didn't realize just how good their Firestone Walkers Reserve is.  It was an almost perfect blend of roasted malts, citrus hops, and a creamy body that all just worked together amazingly.  The next day I had a wedding to attend, but before the reception, I made sure to pick up a six pack of Anchor Liberty Ale, one of my new go-to beers when I'm in a pinch at a liquor store with limited selection.  The wedding and reception were amazing, though the beer selection was lacking (so I just stuck with vodka tonics).

Day 3 of the short road trip took us to Russian River, where, as you can see by the picture accompanying this article, we enjoyed their sampler tray with every beer they had on tap including...Little White Lie, Aud Blonde, Gaffer's Bitter, O.V.L. Stout, Perdition, Damnation, Sanctification, Supplication, Consecration, Temptation, Russian River IPA, Blind Pig, Pliny the Elder, and Hopfather.  The standouts were, of course, the Supplication and Consecration.  But what both my friend and I were impressed by most was the Hopfather.  The highest IBU beer they had on tap, it had over 100 IBUs, more than even Pliny the Elder, and it was surprisingly drinkable.  The hops were balanced perfectly.  You got that strong pine hop flavor, but the finish was what sealed the deal.  It didn't linger all that long, and that fresh pine flavor was just tantalizing.

After Russian River, we made the long trek out to Chico to visit Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.  There we enjoyed some good food and a couple good beers - both the Sierra Nevada Old Chico Brand Crystal Wheat (a filtered wheat beer) and 30th Anniversary Jack & Ken's Ale were very good.  However, the night was ruined by the Brewer's Blackbird IPA.  They really should be sued for calling it an IPA.  There's no hops!  Maybe the faintest hop flavor, but the whole thing was just sweetness and ass.  A horrible beer that maybe we just got a bad pour of, but straight from the tap room itself, I would expect lines to be clean and kegs to be properly stored, so there's no excuse.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Russian River Temptation by Russian River Brewing

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 17/20

Rating: 4.1 / 5.0

Had on draught at Russian River. Pours golden blonde with a small white head and very nice lacing. Aroma is strongly vinous with hints of oak, yeast, and acid. Taste is amazingly complex with strong flavors of oak, chardonnay, malts, acetic acid, and the perfect amount of sourness. An easier drinking sour than the Consecration and Supplication, but no less complex or enjoyable. Worth $25/bottle? Perhaps. Worth it on tap straight from the source, any day.

Beer No: 108
Page No: 91
Category: Amber

It's always sad to read a story like this:

A small crack in a fermentation vat at the Okanagan Springs Brewery in Vernon, B.C., may be to blame for a creamy beer bomb that blew more than 32-thousand litres of fermented foam across a downtown street.

Similarly, to hear about such floods at other breweries, like the one we were told when I last visited the Stone Brewery, just make my heart sad.  All that good beer, flowing down a street, down a drain, not into my belly, just upsets me.  But alas, not every drop can flow into my belly where it belongs, but on my upcoming trip this weekend, I hope to have enough beer to make up for the beer that is spilled for no good reason.

I'll be visiting the fine folks at Firestone Walker later today and then heading out to Russian River and Sierra Nevada on Sunday.  So until I return, there shall be no new beer posts.  And I apologize for the missed days earlier this week.  I'm still trying to get back on track, but it just gets tough some days when you've got other more pressing priorities.  But hopefully when I return from the trip, I'll be rejuvenated and ready to drink more amazing beers.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Coopers Vintage Ale by Coopers Brewery

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 12/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from bottle - 2008 vintage. Pours dark red/brown with slight tan head. Aroma is full on malts, caramel, slight fruity aroma with just a bit of alcohol. Flavors are surprisingly good. Well balanced malts and spices with a hint of some fruit and the slightest bit of acid. It was good and a pleasant surprise given previous Coopers tastings. A well done vintage ale.

Beer No: 103
Page No: 930
Category: Specialty

Yum, yum, yum.  This is the reason I'm heading up to Russian River in August.  Their beers are legendary here in California, and most likely across the United States.  Amongst those that know a good sour, they know Russian River.  You really have no idea how excited I am to be able to visit Russian River in early August.  I'll be there for a nice lunch at their restaurant, hope to take a quick tour of the brewery, and then hit the road to have dinner and a tour up at Sierra Nevada a bit further north.  I had planned to continue my trip by heading up to Portland, but with finances still being tight, I just can't justify the cost of added hotel nights, more gas, more beer bought (well, that's justifiable), and other expenses.  But checking Kayak, round trip flights up there are just $221, so I'll probably go at some point, find a nice downtown hotel, and not even worry about having a car.

As for this amazing Russian River brew, I rated it almost exactly the same as the awesome Consecration.  I think it really says something about this beer when it's the #2 sour ale on all of RateBeer.com.  Lost Abbey's Yellow Bus is #1 and I almost got some of it last Saturday, but instead went to the home brew competition results luncheon at the Orange County Fair to accept our award for our first place Sweet Stout ("our" being Arkh Brewing).  Hopefully I'll have the chance to try Yellow Bus soon as I can't live without knowing what the #1 sour beer tastes like.  Oh, by the way, Supplication is #3 on the site.  Lost Abbey / Pizza Port holds spots 4 through 7 and Russian River holds spot #8 with Temptation (one of the 1001 and coming in mid-August).  Pretty insane that the top 8 sour beers come from just two producers.  If only I could figure out a way to master this type of brew.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Russian River Supplication by Russian River Brewing

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall: 17/20

Rating: 4.4 / 5.0

Batch 005X3 from Hi Time Wine Cellars. An amazing way to follow up last week’s Stone Sour Fest and an absolutely wonderful beer that I’ve had many times, but never rated. Pours with a reddish brown hue, fine carbonation, and slight tan head which dissipates quickly. Nose is mostly cherries, pinot, brett, lactic acid, and sour vinegar. Taste is perfectly balanced sourness with lots of cherries, plums, oak, wine, vinegar and citrus. Finishes perfectly with lingering fruits and oak. I just love this stuff.

Beer No: 3/1001
Page No: 471
Category: Blond

Yesterday, we focused on a pale ale (Sierra Nevada) - in my review of the beer, I lamented the fact that the hops were "a bit too disguised within the malts," but then went on to laud the balance between hops and malts.  Any pale ale should be a good balance, while any IPA should definitely be more hops than malt, and the Racer 5 from Bear Republic Brewing is definitely a hop-first beer.

Up front, I stated that my favorite beer styles are those of lambics and gueuzes - I love the sourness of the beers, the wild fermentation, the unpredictability of a perfectly brewed beer.  My second favorite beer is definitely the IPA - be it your standard India Pale Ale, a double IPA, or even a triple IPA.  I just love my hops - which is a stark, and somewhat odd contrast to that of sour beers, but there's just something about the citrus flavors, the pine aromas, and the bitter finish of a hoppy beer that gets my taste buds cheering.

The Racer 5 is one of the two Bear Republic beers in the listing of 1001, the other being a Hop Rod Rye - so it's quite clear that the fine brewers up in northern California love their hops.  A family owned brewery, the Norgroves know their beer, having been named Small Brewing Company of the Year on their 10th anniversary and having won multiple medals at the Great American Beer Festival.  Though 1001 Beers states that the Rocket Red Ale was the original flagship beer of the company, it has quickly been replaced by the Racer 5.  Blending Northwest American hops - Cascade, Columbus, and Chinook - this hoppy beer clocks in at 84 IBUs and is a striking example of what an IPA should be.

As a side note, I used to collect pint glasses and now have a couple hundred of them in storage.  I probably have a Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA glass somewhere in a box and it's a shame I couldn't taste this from the one pint glass made for this beer.  Perhaps a quick run to my storage locker is in order to see if I can pull out a few boxes of pint glasses and match them to upcoming beers...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Bear Republic Racer 5 from Bear Republic Brewing Co.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Flavor: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 16/20

Rating: 3.7 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle. Pours a beautiful clear orange hue with a substantial white head which dissipates slowly and leaves behind ample lacing. Aromas of citrus and pine, definitely a hoppy beer. Taste is all hops - bitter, piney, and floral. A wonderful IPA which finishes slightly bitter and without any alcohol aftertaste.

And, just for fun, my original rating of Racer 5 from March 20th, 2003 (almost exactly 7 years ago):

The beer pours with a nice amber/brown appearance and has a great smell of hops and a slight sweetness. The initial taste is hops, hops and more hops - but damn, is it good. A slightly bitter/acidic aftertaste, but nothing bad at all. A great, hoppy beer. Recommended.

I originally rated the beer a 3.6 / 5.0 over 7 years ago, but updated my rating and bumped the aroma up from a 6/10 to 7/10, resulting in the 3.7 / 5.0 rating that it currently holds.

Beer No: 2/1001
Page No: 491
Category: Blond

I had hoped for something a bit more exotic for beer #2 of my 1001 beers, but when you see one lone Sierra Nevada Pale Ale sitting in the fridge, it has to be imbibed.  This poor bottle was the sole survivor of last night's festivities.  During that time, 5 of his brothers perished and 6 of his cousins, the Torpedo Extra IPA also gave their lives.  But he survived, showed true grit, and almost made it to the weekend, but it was not meant to be...

So while this lone bottle might not be the most exotic or rarest beer in the book, when I started reading about it, I was happy about my selection.  The author calls it "one of the most important beers in th[e] book."  First brewed in 1980, this pale clocks in at just 5.6% ABV, but the true genius of the beer is the ability to perfectly balance the hops and malts.  And the true beauty of the Sierra Nevada lies in the hops.  Randy Mosher continues, "Sierra Nevada's founder Ken Grossman wanted to make a beer that didn't reference English pale ales, and that had a pronounced hop aroma - there weren't that many in those days."  It goes on to recount how he formulated the original recipe and used a new strain of hops for the time, Cascade.  It's hard these days to imagine a beer world in which Cascade hops don't exist.  They're a staple that first appeared in the late 1970's and are used in most every American pale, IPA, or any hoppy beer.

1001 Beers goes on to talk about how it is still brewed to this day with whole hop cones rather than hop pellets, a tradition that I hold near and dear.  Though I have recently converted to hop pellets for recent home brews, I do believe that some of our best beers (Arkh Brew is a collaboration between myself and a friend) contained whole cone hops.  I just believe there's something more "pure" about using the cones instead of the ground cones that make up the pellets.  I hope one day to return to whole cone hops and, hopefully, create something as amazing as Ken Grossman's quintessential pale ale.

A final note: this post is labeled with (Bottle) at the end because, and this was news to me, there is a draft version of this pale ale that is available on tap only at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  It's a long, 8.5 hour drive away for me, but one of these days I'll make it out there.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Bottle) from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Flavor: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.6 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours golden-amber with a slight, quickly dissipating head. I might be a little too used to the Torpedo, so the hops are a bit too disguised within the malts in this finely balanced pale ale. Aroma of hops, citrus, and sugars. Flavors are a nice balance of hops and malts. I have to just remind myself that this is a pale ale, and not an IPA or an extra IPA. It’s supposed to be balanced, not too hoppy, and not too bitter. In that case, Sierra Nevada does a great job here.