1001 Beers

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: 102
Page No: 918
Category: Specialty

The last of my Stone Sour Fest reviews, this is the Lost Abbey Red Poppy.  It's easily one of my favorites (though their new Russ - strawberry sour - was pretty amazing as well), but the Cuvee de Tomme still ranks as my favorite Lost Abbey brew (I'll post both reviews below).  One day, when I'm rolling in cash, I'll join the Lost Abbey Sinners & Saints program, but for now, I'll be content with my Bruery Reserve Society membership.  Enough with Lost Abbey, on to the beers.  For the final listing, here are the beers from "C" East Side of Lawn - all on draft.  A * indicates I tried it - a º indicates I skipped it because I knew I had already tasted it at a previous festival.

• "C" East Side of Lawn
  • Lagunitas Pinot Noir Barreled Sonoma Farmhouse Saison Style Ale
  • The Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze *
  • The Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa *
  • The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale *
  • The Lost Abbey Russ *
  • The Lost Abbey Veritas Ale 07 *
  • Moylan's Barrel Aged Kilt Lifter with Brett
  • New Belgium La Folie
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith Eric's Ale º
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith Transatlantique Kriek º
  • New Belgium Love - Felix (dry hopped) *
  • New Belgium Love - Oscar (spiced) *
  • New Belgium Tart Lychee *
  • Ommegang Zuur *
  • Russian River Consecration º
  • Russian River Supplication º (tomorrow's beer)
  • Six Rivers Raspberry Lambic *
  • Triple Rock Sour Cherry Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels *
  • Dogfish Head Festina Peche º
  • Drake's FrakenBerry Sour
  • Drake's Kuato

I think this quote from Lost Abbey's director of brewing, Tomme Arthur pretty much sums up my feelings on all the sour ales (my personal favorite style of beer):

"Perhaps the single most defining beer moment for me came when I experienced my first Rodenbach Grand Cru.  It was a seminal moment, as I only then began to understand that beer could possess a range of flavors outside of bland and watery.  The beer was ruby with brown highlights.  It was at once sweet and sour, woody and dry.  This beer was an epiphany for me."

I think any craft beer drinker can agree with Tomme.  There's that moment when you discover that there's a whole world out there outside of the Corona, Bud Lite, and Miller High Life.  There's a world full of flavor, complexity, and range.  A beer can at once be "sweet and sour, woody and dry."  It doesn't have to taste like nothing and only serve the purpose of getting you drunk.  A good beer should be imbibed to experience a full range of flavors, and once experienced, there's no going back.

Thank you to all the visionaries out there.  Those at Stone, Lost Abbey, Cascade, Russian River, AleSmith, The Bruery, Bootlegger's, and countless others whom have made my life better through drink.  Keep up the good work, maybe one day I will work beside you.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale by Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

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

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Had on tap at Stone Sour Fest 2010. Easily one of my favorite Lost Abbey beers. The Red Poppy pours with a deep brownish-red color and slight tan head. Aroma of cherries, oak, lactic acid, vinegar, and citrus. Taste is equally complex with the cherries being the dominant flavor with the citrus and acids backing it up. Well balanced, finishes nicely, a true gem from Lost Abbey.

Pizza Port Cuvee de Tomme by Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 16/20

Rating: 4.2 / 5.0

Had on draught at The 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party at Pizza Port Carlsbad on March 8, 2003  #34 on the program and #100 for me!!!

The beer has a very pleasing aroma - a slight wine smell laced with cherries. It's a bit tart, but wow, it's extremely flavorful. The beer has a beautiful appearance with no head and a clear, dark red hue. The beer is sweet, slightly acidic with a very complex, flavorful density. I had actually left the Beer Fest for dinner, but upon reviewing my program, saw I missed this highly recommended beer. I went back, bought another ticket and enjoyed this very fine beer. An absolutely wonderful beer.

Beer No: 101
Page No: 866
Category: Specialty

Ok, so maybe the picture isn't really the Cantillon Rosé, but it's close enough.  I currenty have this picture as my background on my computer and it makes me thirsty for a nice rose or kriek every time I look at it.  Mmm...I need to have that Supplication I picked up at Hi-Times today...

Back to the Stone Sour Fest, here's the amazing list from the "A" Outside Bar (draft) and "B" West Side of Lawn (Draft) along with a couple special beers on cask.  A * indicates I tried it - a º indicates I skipped it because I knew I had already tasted it at a previous festival.

• "A" Outside Bar
  • Alvinne Kerasus
  • Bacchus Flemish Red
  • Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge º
  • 2007 Boon Oude Geuze Marriage Parfait º
  • Cantillon Classic Gueuze
  • Cantillon Fou Foune
  • Rodenbach Grand Cru º
  • St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
  • Stone Funky Sour *
  • Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier
• "A" Outside Bar Cask
  • The Bruery Melange #7 *º
  • Stone Estate-gown Peach Sour *
• "B" West Side of Lawn
  • Allagash Confluence Ale
  • Avery Altar Boy *
  • Avery Depuceleuse
  • Ballast Point Hout Series Black Currant º
  • Ballast Point Hout Series Gueuze *
  • Ballast Point Sour Wench Blackberry Ale *
  • BJ's Oude Jeremiah
  • Bootlegger's Cherry Chernobyl *
  • 2009 Cascade Apricot Ale
  • Cascade Bourbonic Plague *
  • 2009 Cascade Kriek Ale
  • 2009 Cascade Sang Rouge *
  • 2009 Cascade The Vine
  • 2009 Cascade Vlad the Imp Aler *
  • Craftsman Sour Lavendar *
  • Deschutes Bender Weiss
  • Deschutes Quadsimoto *
  • Grand Teton Sourgrass *
  • Green Flash Grand Mantis
  • Green Flash Super Freak
  • Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere º
  • Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca
  • Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga
  • Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza º

Looking back at my old review, it's pretty harsh, but not too far off.  The Rosé was pretty good and I'd love to find a bottle of it to try it again in a setting that doesn't involve a festival.  I do like it and would love to test it again.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus by Cantillon

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.1 / 5.0

Had on draught at the Pizza Port 12 Hour Belgain Ale Festival on March 8, 2003
#8 on your programs for those following along. What a beer - even better to be found on tap...yes - on tap. Pours with an orange/red color and a beautiful clarity. The aroma is sweet - apricots and/or peaches. The beer though has much more of a bite than the Lindeman's - you've got hints of sweetness mixed amongst a tartness. A bit more astringent than others I tasted, while this one didn't have that smokey/vinegary flavoring, it packed the perfect punch and was a nice contrast to the extremely sweet krieks.

Beer No: 100
Page No: 862
Cateogory: Specialty

Truth be told, there's really few other brewers that I would choose to be my 100th beer on my journey to 1001.  The Grand Cru was an amazing beer and an absolute delight amongst all the other fine beers available at the Stone Sour Fest.  So, just to tease you all who might not have been there, here's the full list of all the beers available (a * indicates I tried it - a º indicates I skipped it because I knew I had already tasted it at a previous festival).

• Bottle List
  • 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze
  • Alvinne Cuvee Freddy
  • Avery Brabant º
  • Avery Depuceleuse
  • Avery Sui Generis
  • Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Style Weiss
  • Birr del Borgo Duchessie
  • Birrificio Italiano Series
  • Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru *
  • Cantillon Classic Gueze *
  • Cantillon Cuvee des Champions *
  • Cantillon Iris º
  • Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic
  • Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze 2006 *
  • Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek 2007 *º
  • Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus *
  • Cantillon Vigneronne
  • Cascade Kriek Ale
  • Cascade The Vine
  • De Proefbrouwerij Flemish Primative 2008 Special Vintage Reserve
  • De Proefbrouwerij Zoetzuur º
  • De Ranke Kriek
  • Dogfish Head Red & White º
  • Girardin Gueuze 1882 Black Label º
  • HaandBryggeriet Wild Thing
  • HaandBryggeriet Haandbakk
  • Hanssens Oudbeitje
  • Hanssens Oude Kriek
  • Ichtegem's Grand Cru
  • Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga
  • Liefmans Kriekbier º
  • Lindemans Gueuze Grand Cru Cuvee Rene
  • The Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomee º
  • The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale º
  • The Lost Abbey Sinners 09 *
  • Ommegang Zuur
  • Oud Beersel Framboise
  • Oud Beersel Kriek
  • Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vieille º
  • Panil Barriquee
  • Petrus Aged Pale
  • Reinart Flemish Wild Ale º
  • 2009 Russian River Consecration º
  • 2010 Russian River Consecration º
  • Russian River Supplication º
  • Russian River Temptation º
  • Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne º

But what you have to realize from this list is this was just the bottle list.  There's another 2 pages full of sour beers on tap that I'll post tomorrow along with another review of one of these spectacular beers that I sampled.  Many thanks to the wonderful people at Stone Brewing who put this on - especially Dr. Bill.  The only downside to the event was the long line at the bottle tasting bar and the limit of just 15 tickets.  With a lot of the good (i.e. rare) beers costing two tickets, and no ability to buy more tickets, the limit of 15 taster tickets really put a damper on things.  We arrived at 9:30am and we were done at 12:30pm.  We were not drunk, we had a designated driver, and with the event going until 7pm, we had plenty of time left to sample more beers.

That being said, I have to reiterate that it was an amazing day, staff was friendly and helpful, weather was beautiful (about 90 degrees - which was actually much cooler than last year when it was 100+ with high humidity), and we had an awesome table to sample our beers at.  The day really couldn't have been any better.

On to the beer...The Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella 1900...I had it late in the day which probably upped my anticipation a bit and more than likely enhanced my appreciation for the beer.  Looking back at an old 2009 rating, I can't say I disagree too much when all is said and done.  I enjoyed the small taster I had at Stone, but when you have a full bottle, you're able to grasp the subtleties of the beer better.  So...without further ado...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru by Cantillon

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

Rating: 3.2 / 5.0

750ml bottle from High Time Wine. Pours with a few bubbles, but flat. Had to question whether it was supposed to be this flat or if I got a bad bottle. Aroma was of strong oak (expected after aging three years in a barrel) with a hint of tartness - apples perhaps - and some malt. Color is clear, crisp, gold with again, no bubbles to speak of.

Flavors are intensly lambic, oaks, woods, but a bit too much like a cider or wine. The tartness of the citrus comes through at the end, a satisfying finish, but in the end, I felt it lacking overall.

Beer No: 99
Page No: 853
Category: Specialty

About 1% of the U.S. population is gluten-intolerant, so they are unable to imbite or ingest many of the common grains used to make beer.  Which is truly a shame.  Luckily, there's a few sorghum-based beers out there that are gluten-free and safe for them to drink.  Unfortunately, the flavors are really lacking and the sorghum provides an unusual flavor that really just doesn't go well with a drink I want to have in my hand while relaxing.  Since I've never had any other gluten-free beers before, it's tough to compare this one to others, but based on this one, I'll probably never sample another one unless I must.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Bard's The Original Sorghum Malt Beer brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company under contract for Bard's Beer

Aroma: 4/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 3/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 7/20

Rating: 1.9 / 5.0

12 oz. bottle. Pours a clear, light yellow with good carbonation and a slight head. Aroma is faint, mostly grass, bread. Flavor is...interesting. Nothing special, hints of faint hops, grassy, slight sweetness. Finish lingers a bit too long. Not something I’d ever try again, but for those that can’t tolerate gluten, perhaps this is the beer for you. Sorry you’re just missing out on a truly flavorful experience.

Beer No: 84
Page No: 902
Category: Specialty

World Cup Day 6!  Now that all 32 teams have played at least one game, it should start to get a little more interesting.  Teams will know if they need to win to advance or if they can just play for a tie, so expect teams that have nothing to lose to be ultra-aggressive, while those that just need a tie to stay in it sit back and play defense.  Either way, this second week of games should be a lot better than the first week.

Today's beer hails from Switzerland.  It was the only Swiss beer I could find, a 2006 vintage of Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien.  And, even though I could have had a Spanish beer today, I picked Switzerland, and they upset Spain 1-0.  So, that got me thinking - how are my beer picks paying off for the teams I pick?

Day 1: Mexico - tie with South Africa
Day 2: United States - tie with England
Day 3: Australia - loss to Germany
Day 4: Denmark - loss to Netherlands
Day 5: Brazil - win vs. South Korea
Day 6: Switzerland - win vs. South Korea

So I'm 2-2-2.  Not bad, but not the best.  If I had picked Germany on Day 3, I'd be 3-2-1, which would be very good.  But since I already made all my picks in advance, I'm sticking to them.  If I can pick and choose the round 2 teams as I go, I'll try and pick more winners.  Up tomorrow - a French beer as France plays Mexico.

Back to the Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien, I really loved the start of this beer.  I just didn't like how it finished.  However, as I type this, the beer is warming, and the finish seems to be mellowing out a bit.  Either way, I found the finish to be a bit dry, chalky, and astringent, but the initial flavors were quite wonderful.  This oak barrel aged beer has a wonderful aroma of tartness, sweet malts, sour fruits, and wine.  The initial flavor also has that same tartness and vinous undertones.  Which is to be expected - founded in 1997, the head brewer had his start as an oenologist (which is the study of wine-making).  Given this background, the beers put out by Jerome Rebetez are remarkably refined and I'd love to get my hands on one of the Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Crus.  The non "Grand Cru" blend mixes the aged beers from a bunch of different casks, but the few casks that stand on their own are labeled Grand Cru.

I really need to figure out a way to get ahold of the brewery's La Meule as well.  Their only other brew in 1001 Beers, this Belgian inspired beer is a strong spiced dark ale with prunes and sounds pretty good.  It also feagures a strange twist - sage leaves.  So I'm really looking forward to it if I could ever find it.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2006 by BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.7 / 5.0

Had from bottle from Hi Time Wines - 750ml. 2006 Vintage, Blended in April, 2007. Pours a reddish brown with slight tan head that dissipates over time to nothingness. A bubbly mouthfeel accentuates the first taste. Aroma is tart, with nice oak / wood undertones. Aroma also consists of a bit of white wine and malty sweetness. Flavor is very vinous with a tart, sweet, fruity flavor. I love the way this beer starts, however, I’m not a fan of the finish. Finish is dry, chalky, and astringent. I really loved how the beer started - from the magnificent bottle, nice pour, good color, and sweet aroma - but the finish just put me off. The finish lingers for a bit too long and is just too astringent for my tastes. I wanted to rate it higher, but after consuming the bottle, just had to lower it a bit to account for the strange aftertaste.

Beer No: 74
Page No: 909
Category: Specialty

It's really a shame that this bottle, like the Duchesse I had yesterday just didn't hold up at some point in its journey from Belgium to my fridge.  I don't think it was an exceptionally old bottle, so it's confusing as to how two almost identical sour beers both ended up ruined in my fridge.  They hadn't been exposed to any extreme temperature changes and have been in the same box as many other beers I bought at BevMo for these tastings.  Yet both were drain pours.  It's odd, unexplainable, and just as crazy as Anheuser-Busch making a hot air balloon...

That bottle — a hot air balloon — was being inflated on the grounds at Cameron Balloons, which designs and constructs custom-made hot air balloons.

Their recent creation was commissioned by Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

Being called Flight 55, the balloon replica of a bottle of Select 55 beer will be used to promote the product at festivals around the country this summer, according to Anheuser-Busch. The tour will be "a summer long journey to find the most interesting festivals and foods in the country."

http://www.annarbor.com/news/giant-beer-bottle-spotted-in-dexter/

Yes, because what says great taste, complex flavors, and wonderful beer like a custom made hot air balloon?  I guess when the Wall Street Journal reports:

Light beer is in a slump. Advertising Age reported this week that U.S. sales of the biggest brands are in an alarming slide, with Bud Light down 5.3% this year and Miller Lite off 7.5%. Is this but a recessionary blip or are we finally witnessing a great consumer revolt against shamefully bad beer, shamelessly promoted?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704875604575280522341919974.html#articleTabs=article

Lite beer has to do something outrageous and crazy, so why not a giant balloon?  I guess with so much of the market it doesn't really matter.  InBev competes with Molson-Coors and that's about it.  Leave the craft beer making to the craft breweries.  Keep making your fizzy, yellow crap, and we'll all be happy.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Bios Vlaamse Bourgogne by Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 5/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 11/20

Rating: 2.8 / 5.0

Re-Rate June 6, 2010
Poured from 11.2 oz. bottle. Dark brown/red pour with tan head that leaves just a film behind. Aroma is sweet, fruity, with slight sourness and hints of vinegar. Taste is slightly off. Very sweet, sugar, sour apples, orange, vinegar, and just a bit of tartness. Finish is astringent, sticky, sour, and vinegar. Perhaps not a bottle representative of the beer, but I remember having another bottle after my initial rating and before this one that I was not impressed with at all, so it seems my initial rating was just off, or the quality has decline precipitously.

March 28, 2009 Rating:
A pleasant sour ale. Small bottle, pours a light reddish yellow with an adequate head and slight lacing. Aroma is fruity, cherries, sugar, a bit musty as well. I like the flavor of this ale, better than the Flemish Primitive I had before. Sweet with a cherry, earthy finish. Not too sweet or sour, just right for a Flemish in my opinion.

Original Rating (Mar. 28, 2009): 7/4/7/3/16/3.7

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: 68
Page No: 851
Category: Specialty

Memorial Day...A day of remembrance and thanks.  A time to salute those who gave their lives so we could BBQ, play trivia games, and drink flat beer.  Of course Memorial Day is much more than that, but lately, it seems that unless you lived during WWII or Vietnam we forget about what's going on all over the world and all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  We forget about those in Iraq and Afghanistan working to root out the terrorists and keep our country safe from attack.  We seem to have grown complacent and forgotten what happened on 9/11.  But we should be anything but.  There are still millions of people out there whose sole purpose in life is to seek out revenge on the United States.  They are offended by our capitalist ideals and our freedoms.  They are unable to put religious hatred aside and embrace peace, and because of them, we must still wage wars that should be pointless in this day and time.  One day, maybe these wars will be unnecessary, but until the masses abandon their hatred, put down their arms, give up their nuclear ambitions, and come to the table to discuss peace, we must protect our shores.  We must keep this country safe.  And we must never forget all those who went before us and allowed us these freedoms by giving their lives.

Thank you Veterans.  Thank you Air Force.  Thank you Navy.  Thank you Army.  Thank you Marines.  Thank you Coast Guard.  Thank you to all the reserves, the National Guard, the policemen, the firemen, EMTs, and everyone else who goes to work each day to keep us safe.  We will not forget.

And like I said, because of all those people, I'm free to drink Angel's Share (2009 vintage) and have no carbonation in it.  I'm free to decide that I don't like it - even though the masses say I should (100th percentile on RateBeer and an A on BeerAdvocate).  This beer was just lacking without the carbonation.  Perhaps some bubbles or fizz would have broken up the syrup-like consistency and added some extra pop to the thick, sweet flavors.  And unfortunate as it is, it just appears I got a bad year as the 2008 vintage was properly carbonated and a much better beer.  But until I have that, or try the 2010 (and hope for good carbonation - any carbonation), I'll have to leave my rating as-is.

For those of you who are curious also, here's the definition of Angel's Share:

Angels' share is a term for the portion (share) of a wine or distilled spirit's volume that is lost to evaporation during aging in oak barrels. The barrels are typically French or American oak. In low humidity conditions, the loss to evaporation may be primarily water. However, in higher humidities, more alcohol than water will evaporate, therefore reducing the alcoholic strength of the product. In humid climates, this loss of ethanol is associated with the growth of a darkly colored fungus, Baudoinia compniacensis, on the exterior surfaces of buildings, trees and other vegetation, and anything else that happens to be nearby.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Lost Abbey The Angel's Share from Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

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

Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Had from 375ml bottle - 2009 vintage. Pours dark brown, with maybe a hint of red with absolutely no carbonation or bubbles. Aroma is of fruit, alcohol, oak, and malts. Flavor is complicated, but being flat, leaves much to be desired. Overly sweet, syrup-like, with flavors of caramel, raisins, malts, alcohol and wood. Leaves a sticky film behind and finishes with sugar and alcohol. Really expected much more from this brew.

Beer No: 67
Page No: 870
Category: Specialty

This beer most certainly belongs in the "specialty" category.  It's just an epically special beer.  Sour flavors abound in this ale brewed with currants as each sip reveals more complexities and flavors.  The beer runs the gamut from oaky to citric to sweet to sour.  It truly is a wonderful beer to taste and I'm hoping to visit Russian River this summer to try their fantastic brews on tap at the source.

An almost perfect way to enter into the Summer and continue my Memorial Day festivities going strong.  Easily a top 5 beer in my books.  With the Supplication review coming soon...we might have another top 5.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Russian River Consecration from Russian River Brewing

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

Rating: 4.4 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle. Pours dark red/brown with tan head that dissipates very quickly and some slight blubbles on the edges. Aroma is very tart, sour, citric, hints of cherries, yeast, and alcohol. Taste is amazingly tart, refreshing, citric, and complex. Flavors range from oak to cherries to currants to lemons. Really a treat to have and a wonderfully complicated beer that might require some time to get used to if you’re not a fan of the sours. This sour goes above and beyond the slightly acidic and citric tastes of other "weaker" sours and really punches your tastebuds with flavor. More sour than I remember it on tap, but still an amazingly good beer.