Alaskan Smoked Porter

Yesterday I saw an episode of The Thirsty Travel on Fine Living Network where he visited some Alaskan breweries. One of the beers highlighted was the Alaskan Smoked Porter. That prompted me to finally pull out a bottle from the fridge and try it. The only smoked porter I've ever had is that made by Stone. I know they keep their smoky flavor in it pretty low, and I've heard Alaskan lets the smoke fly. I must say, the smokiness in this isn't overwhelming or anything but it does add a really nice dimension to the smooth dark malt used. 4.5/5

Night of Sours

My friends basically bought these beers by giving me a gift certificate to Hi-Time Wine Cellar, so naturally they needed to be around to share them with me. And I've been waiting a while to finally try some Cantillon beers.

We started off with a mild sour calibration consisting of Rodenbach Flemish Sour Ale. This beer is really nice, as the tartness is somewhat mellow and a whole lot of fruit comes out of it. The darker base gives it more of a deeper, richer taste. A nice beer, certainly similar to Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour.

Next we got into the heavy hitters. Cantillon Iris is a lambic with a bit of a twist. They hop it a little more aggressively than usual and use all malted barley instead of a portion of unmalted wheat. To be honest I couldn't really detect any of those differences. What I could detect was a pretty sour beer with a mild fruitiness to it. The smell even beat out the amazing taste. At first it's a whole lot of smelly funk. I mean it's almost off-putting, except that we are weird and like beverages that smell like feet. Overall this was really my favorite of the night.

The third of four beers was Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus. This beer is a Framboise, containing a good amount of raspberry flavor. The raspberry isn't in-your-face dominant like the New Glarus Raspberry Tart, but has a nice amount hiding behind a pretty strong sourness and acidity. Sour raspberry isn't my favorite flavor for a beer but it was cool to try at least once, and I would have it again if it were the only thing that could give me a sour fix.

Lastly was Cantillon Classic Gueuze. As expected this was more intense than the Iris. Less fruit, more sour, and much drier. It was really great, but exhausting on the palate after the previous three beers. It also loses its carbonation really fast which was kinda odd. I would definitely get this again when in need of a gueuze though.

Rubicon IPA

I love not working cause it means I can enjoy a bunch of beers while sitting around and watching baseball. Today was my undergrad alma mater, UC Irvine, taking on LSU in the super regionals. UCI, despite only re-starting their baseball program back up about 6 years ago, made it deep into the College World Series last year and is threatening again this year (with an ex-USC head coach legend leading them).

So today's choice was made based on what would work well with my spicy chili and nachos for dinner. The choice was Rubicon IPA, from the brewery based in Sacramento. It's ok overall. I probably wouldn't get another bottle of it just cause there are so many really great IPA's out there. I still enjoyed a full bomber of this. It's very floral in it's aroma and taste, very similar to Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA. It has a pretty good maltiness to it, which I don't actually prefer too much. I like a lighter IPA with only a hint of malt backbone in to let the hops shine through unimpeded. It still carried a nice hop flavor and moderately resinous bitter finish. Giving this a 3.75/5 and would still order it if I was ever at their brewery, but probably not seek out another bottle.

As for UC Irvine, 1 more win to go against LSU to get to the College World Series! Zot!

Complaining About Beer Prices?

This story in the Wall Street Journal got me thinking again about ordering beer at bars. I've seen so many people complain recently about how they order a pint and get shortchanged on the quantity served, as if that $6 price listed on the menu is the exact price of 16 ounces. I have never understood the way these people think. When I go to a bar, whether the "pint" is $2.50, or $7, I am basically expecting a pint glass of beer with a bit of foam on the top- the way a beer is correctly served. I don't expect it to be exactly 16 fluid ounces. In fact I hate when beers are served with the liquid to the very top without any head whatsoever. Beer drinkers should assume the beer they are going to be served is a an ounce or two smaller than what is advertised. See, when a beer is served correctly a pint isn't an actual quantity but a combination of quantity and presentation. Because they are typically served in pint glasses the actual quantity you are going to get with a well poured beer is less than 16 ounces. So stop complaining!

On the other hand, if order a pint and are served something in one of these "falsie" glasses that are mentioned in the article, that is just plain misrepresentation and the establishment should be called out on it.

Ommegang Hennepin

A really good Saison! I'll spare the review since most everyone has probably had this but I'm loving me some good saisons right now! Sadly I did drink this whole bottle all by myself, but happily it was while watching the Angels beat the A's 3-1!

A Nice Beer & Cheese Pairing

I never really knew much about cheese before, but recently started to branch out and buy different cheeses. Today at Trader Joe's I picked up Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar. Generally I might enjoy this with a nice hoppy IPA, but a lighter, yet still pretty hoppy Gumballhead sounded really good today. And it does go together very nicely. Try it!

Parallel Blog Tasting: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

This is the first parallel tasting between Summer of Beer and my friend across the country, Baltimore Beer Guy. Having had Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron sitting on our fridges it was only natural that we enjoy them together through the power of AOL Instant Messenger. Here are some highlights.

On the pour...

BBG - pitch black, slight hint of purple, not much head here, smells like a porter
BBG - mine says bottled 2/11/08
SOB - same
SOB - this thing pours beaut, I got a big head, finger and a half

On the aroma...

BBG - smells sweet, bit of brown sugar in the aroma...they say vanilla on the bottle, and caramel.
SOB - I thought I was gonna get a bunch of weird smells from the wood but I can't really detect any. still smelling it.... seems to be a faint dirt sorta thing in it

On the taste... (PS- we know the wood used here is not oak)

BBG - oh yeh I taste wood, lol.
SOB - ok now i'm on the taste with you
SOB - wow, that is oak.
BBG - lol yeh, not like bourbon oak, but straight up raw oak.
SOB - yeah pure wood... with alcohol.
SOB - is it my dry mouth I have this afternoon or does this beer finish really dry
BBG - seems dry to me.
BBG - that porter smell gives way to a think a slightly sweetened brown all taste... not much alcohol in the taste.
SOB - just now I get a lot of up front sweetness, then this bitter tannic finish.
BBG - definitely getting the sweetness.
SOB - yeah the wood is bigtime in this
BBG - not too sticky either, which doesnt bother me, but surprised its not sticky sweet. they say caramel, I say brown sugar... molasses even.
BBG - I'm enjoying my beer burp there, tastes good in the way back lol

Back to the aroma...

SOB - oh wow the aroma is getting better now after swirling some more. it's a sweetness in there, jumps out of the glass. I wanna say grapes is a pretty close description, but big alcohol soaked grapes.
BBG - the smell has really toned down on mine
BBG - the smell is starting to remind me of the raison d'etre by DFH
SOB - yeah, the aroma is somewhat dominated by a fruity sweetness

Back to the taste and the overall impression of the beer

BBG - you know what this wood is doing, its sort of mellowing the beer out, its doing like it does to wine.
SOB - oh the beer would kick our ass without the wood
BBG - this beer almost might be too damn sweet without the wood, well I think it would be a lot like their worldwide stout which was just way sweet and loaded with alcohol.
SOB - I'm torn on what to give this beer as a taste rating. Not sure it's something I am a huge fan of, although I surely do appreciate it if that makes sense.
BBG - yeh its starting to improve... still a one timer...or just on a whim one day trying another... but not a regular beer
SOB - I think this'll be pegged at about a 3.8-4 overall for me

Overall Scores

• Baltimore Beer Guy: 3.9/5
• Summer of Beer: 3.65/5
  

Hitting The Road For A Beer Vacation

A year ago my friend Steve and I (also Steve) embarked on an interesting journey to Northern California. The main reason was to do a little rafting up near Sacramento, but I used that as an excuse to leave a couple days earlier to stay in Santa Rosa to visit the Russian River brewpub. Even though I had previously had a handful of Russian River beers, the experience just blew me away.

This year I planned a 4 night stay in Santa Rosa from Tuesday June 10th to Saturday June 14th, just to experience it without interruption. Whereas last time we stayed less than a mile away (a nice walk) at the Marriot, we are going with the Hyatt this time which is basically in the exact same location the Marriot is. I foresee a bit of stumbling from brewpub to the hotel again this time. It's me and Steve again this time, but we got a nice surprise that our friend Brian from Baltimore (formerly Pensacola and San Diego) is flying out to take the trip with us. He has yet to have a beer from Russian River but has probably heard me talk about them way too much. In fact I almost feel like I would be setting him up for a letdown, although I'm figuring that's probably not possible with Russian River.

We're going to leave Los Angeles early, although since we're leaving on a Tuesday and have to make our way through LA, it might be best to wait until morning traffic dies down. We'll stop in San Francisco at the Toronado for a couple beers and a sausage and then make our way up to Santa Rosa after that and let the fun begin. We also plan on making visits to Bear Republic, Lagunitas, and maybe Third Street Aleworks over the next couple days. Of course there will also be one or two stops at The Flavor Bistro for their Moonlight Brewing selections.

I'll most definitely be blogging away our experiences during the trip.

What's Really Good?

The new brewery in Placentia titled "The Bruery." They make some really good beers (see a few posts below). This is their Orchard White, a witbier made with the normal stuff plus lavender. I can't really pick up any lavender but I'm not claiming to have the most advanced palate ever. It holds up nice against all the good witbiers you can find out there. If you're in Southern California and out at the good beer shops in the area (Hi-Times, Hollingshead's Deli, Lone Hill Liquor), check them out. They have a few different beers for sale right now.

Clipper City Pale Ale

I just received a little care package yesterday from my friend and fellow beer blogger, The Baltimore Beer Guy. One of the beers in there was a local Baltimore brewery named Clipper City who I have in the past only had, and enjoyed, one beer from. Not only that but it came with a beautiful Victoria Gastro Pub pilsner glass (if I lived close to this place in Columbia, MD, I would be there a few times a week like he is also!). I was itching to try it out so I poured me one tonight.

To start off, it just looks awesome in that beautiful glass. The aroma is bready, more so than most pale ales you find out here. It has a nice peppery hop balance to it. I was having this with some pizza and the caramel maltiness on the light body of the pale ale paired really well. It's a super easy drinking and very tasty beer. Some of the hop flavor is similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale- the pale ale I drink most often probably, but it has more caramel to it and none of the somewhat sharp bitterness left in the mouth by SNPA. That makes the 2nd nice beer I've had from Clipper City. 4.15/5

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA

Well, I did it. I was told not to waste the money on this beer. At the brewery (in Munster, IN) it goes for $10 a bomber. I think that makes it one of the most expensive non-barrel aged bombers I've seen. It's also ranked on BeerAdvocate as the #15 beer in the world (how much stock you wanna put in that list is up to you). I decided I might as well take the plunge and find out for myself.

To sum this beer up quickly, it smells and tastes pretty syrupy malty. I don't like syrupy DIPA's. However, it isn't as bad in this respect as others I've had, so I found this somewhat enjoyable. The aroma also has hints of pine and orange, although the malt takes over after the first couple whiffs. The taste has a fair amount of citrusy hops, but again mostly overpowered by the syrupy malt body. I thought this glass was good enough, and wouldn't have too much of a problem finishing off all 22 ounces (although the 9.5% ABV might have it's own opinion).

After being able to drink Alpine Pure Hoppiness, Stone Ruination, and Russian River Pliny the Elder on semi-regular occasion, I just don't see how this comes even close to measuring up. Since Dreadnaught IPA is pretty local to Indiana I can see this is the best double IPA a lot of these people have come near. If they lived on the west coast they would probably realize this is a ho-hum beer compared to the amazing hoppy beers west coast brewers know how to pump out in their sleep. This beer averages 4.45 on BA, I'll give it a respectable 3.65/5.

Three Floyds is one of the most talked about breweries in the US, mostly thanks to Dark Lord, their overrated Imperial Russian Stout. I've now had 4 beers from them and here's how they stack up:

• Gumballhead Pale Wheat Ale - awesome
• Alpha King Pale Ale - good
• Dreadnaught IPA - not bad
• Dark Lord - drain pour
  

Ommegang Three Philosophers

There probably isn't too much I can say about Ommegang Three Philsophers that hasn't been said on a million other blogs. I just wanted to try this because I heard it was the premiere "panty-dropping-beer." A beer that any girl would fall in love with. After tasting it for myself I don't really see what the big deal is. It's ok. A quad mixed with a kriek. There is a bit of sweet dark fruit from the quad and a bit of fruitiness (although really subdued) from the kriek and I can't really detect a whole lot of cherry from it either. It also finishes with a dirt-like taste. Honestly I could see either a quad or a kriek by itself doing the trick, but not this concoction. Anyway, no panties were dropped during the tasting of this beer and maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it that much. 3.35/5 for me.