Dan's Top 10 of 2008

This past year was a big one for me as far as beer is concerned. Before the start of 2008 I was not a beer drinker at all. I had tried a few, but i could count them on one hand. Liquor and the ocasional wine were my drinks, and I had really only come to tolerate the taste of Yuengling. It wasnt until Adam brought me a six pack of Grolsch, and shortly after, a bottle of Duvel, that I really enjoyed a beer. So here it is, the top 10 beers from my first year as a beer drinker.

1. Chimay Grande Reserve - The first Trappist I tried, and still one of my favorite beers. This will be a standby for life.

2. Westmalle Dubbel - Another dark Trappist, probably my favorite, but I've still got a few from each abbey to try.

3. Aecht Rauchbier Marzen - Bavarian Smokebeer! One of the most unique beers I've had. (review coming soon)

4. Ommegeddon - Truly outstanding "Funkhouse Ale" hmm... I should go buy another bottle...

5. Brooklyn Brown Ale - If I had to pick my favorite beer, this would probably be it.

6. Brooklyn Local 1 - Great representation of a Belgian Pale that I think was even better than Duvel (shh, don't tell Adam)

7. Theakston's Old Peculiar - An "Old Style Ale" with a very unique flavor.

8. Avery's The Beast - A Grand Cru Ale weighing in at 16.4% alcohol without a hint of alcohol on the nose or tongue. Dangerous!

9. Blue Moon - A delicious Belgian White best if you can find it on tap, and served with a wedge of orange. I'll be drinking plenty of this in '09

10. Grolsch Lager - This is what got me into beer, and it'll always be one I return to.

This was really difficult, trying to narrow my favorites down to just 10. Lets hope 2009 is just as full of great beer. It's certainly off to a great start.

- Dan

Stewart's Wheat Porter

I suppose I'm pretty fortunate that there's so many brewpubs near my house. Dogfish Head is the biggest, and at only an hour away it's well worth the trip. Still it's not practical to head down to Rehobeth whenever I want a fresh brew, so when I need to stay closer to home, both Iron Hill and Stewart's are less than 15 minutes away. Stewart's has won numerous awards at the Great American Beer Festival, and the World Beer Cup, including a gold medal from each for their Windblown Blonde Kölsch, which Dan tasted.

I chose the Wheat Porter as I was in the mood for something darker. This beer was labeled as an unfiltered American-style porter brewed with wheat, and weighed in at 5.4% ABV.

The beer arrived in a standard pint glass, and appeared nearly black in color. It had next to no head, just a mild dusting of bubbles on the top, but the head it did have was a nice mocha color. Despite the lack of head, there was some lacing at first, but by halfway through this had disappeared entirely.

The aroma was nice and malty with a bit of a bready quality to it. The yeast was also fairly dominant in the smell, but not in a way that indicated any sort of strong bitterness. I also detected a bit of nuttiness, possibly almonds in the smell. All in all, there was a earthen, musky quality to the smell, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

The taste was of sweet chocolate at first on the tip of the tongue, and had a nice round bitterness at the back of the mouth. There was an ethereal hint of cherry, as if the flavor didn't actually exist, but simply felt as if it was there. A touch of roasted grain was also present. I didn't notice much wheat in the flavor, except right in the middle of the tongue. It had a similar quality to Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat, but with a darker roast. There were two things I did have against this beer though. First was that I noticed a bit of a metallic taste to the beer, which I attributed to the water we have in this state. The second thing was that it just seemed too sweet, the bitterness didn't balance out the sweet chocolaty flavor.

The mouthfeel was crisp and highly carbonated. It had a nice full body, and was refreshing without being watery. It was both smooth and creamy. In addition it left a nice coating on the mouth. I definitely felt that this was the strongest area for the beer, and in fact may have been the best feeling beer I've ever tried.

Overall, I thought the drinkability was fairly high, but I could definitely see myself getting sick of it if I had too many. The sweetness really did seem like too much. Still, it was a reasonably good beer, and absolutely was worth trying.

- Adam

Black & Tan

I've looked around in the past on how to pour a black & tan, and haven't really found any good instructions, so now that I've gotten decent at it I figured I'd go ahead and share what I've found.

For those of you who don't know, there's many variation on the "black and tan". In Ireland, it's simply a pale ale and Guinness mixed together, but in the US it's typically poured so the beers stay separate. Technically black and tan refers specifically to the mixture of Bass and Guinness, but it can also be done with Harp or Smithwicks. There's also drinks that layer even champagne or hard cider.

The easiest way to pour is with a Black and Tan turtle like the one found here. However, other people use a spoon bent backwards, and I've found it's possible to do with even a regular spoon. There's just a few tricks to making the pour just right.

First, you pour the pale ale on the bottom, and a generous head is key. The first attempts I made at black and tans started with little to no head on the bottom layer, and they were massive failures. See the picture for more details.

Second, you have to pour the top layer over the spoon very slowly. You just want a light trickle going down the side of the glass, so there's very little disturbance when it hits the beer. I think what's happening is that the head absorbs some of the impact of the beer, so it stays on top. I personally held a spoon upside down and made sure it was touching the side of the glass so the beer went smoothly down the side. Definitely take it slow, don't rush the pour. It may take a few times to practice, but if you're patient with the pour, it can turn out well.

A final note, I've heard some people say that it only works with the Guinness draught, not the extra stout. Supposedly since nitrogen is lighter than CO2, that has something to do with it being on top, so look for the cans or bottles with the widget. I don't know how true that is, but it seems to be working for me. Now that I've gotten better with the pour, I may try it with some other beers to see if the "widget only" theory has any merit to it.

- Adam

Sierra Nevada 12th Release Wet Hop Ale

I almost didn't pick up this beer because typically I had associated hops with bitterness, and I tend not to like things that are strongly bitter. However, I had just been reading about wet hopping process that day, and seeing this bottle just felt like fate. Wet hopping is the process by which fresh, rather than dried hops, are added to the beer during the brewing process. Because the hops are perishable, they are generally picked directly off the vine during the harvest season in September, then shipped immediately to the brewery to go into the beer. A much higher weight of hops than usual are added, as the hops contain mostly water, so they are not as concentrated as dry hops. Sierra Nevada claims that this was the first US beer to be brewed with 100% fresh wet hops.

The beer poured a dark tan/red color with a 3 finger light tan head. It had good retention, and nice lacing as the glass progressed.

The aroma was mostly hoppy, with grassy overtones. There was a sweetness to the smell, a little bit of a floral scent, and some fruit. The label said it should have an aroma of pine and citrus, and although I could see the pine, I really didn't detect the citrus.

The taste was sweet just on the tip of the tongue at first, and then gave way to a strong hop bitterness. There were burnt and roasted malt flavors as well. I didn't note much alcohol, except a little in the aftertaste. I did notice that the beer got less bitter as I continued with it, either because I was getting used to it or for some other reason.

The beer had a medium-heavy body with just a light tingle from the carbonation. Overall it was on the thick side. It was a little dry as well, but definitely not too much. Not quite refreshing, but not something that would make you thirsty either.

I'm really still not sure how drinkable I considered the beer. I did enjoy it, and thought that it was good, but I don't think I would like to have more than one. It was a little bit strong, weighing in at 6.7% ABV, although certainly not too much. I can't see myself going back for another any time soon, but maybe when next year's batch rolls around I'll be in the mood for it again.

- Adam

Top 10 of 2008

Alright, so January is already halfway over, but today I was thinking about this last year. 2008 was definitely a good year for me and beer, so I decided to try to make my top 10 list of beers I tried in 2008. These weren't necessarily beers I tried for the first time, but were my favorite of the year. Dan and Solomon, I'd like to see what your lists are too. These aren't necessarily in order, they're just the ones that really stood out.

10. Rochefort 8 - Chocolaty and sweet, another great Trappist.
9. Aecht Rauchbier Marzen - Bacon Beer! The smokey/meaty flavor of this beer makes me hungry!
8. Maredsous 8 Dubbel - Each sip was a new flavor, one of the most complex beers I've had.
7. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2008 - Strong but good, this was one of the first bitter beers I've really enjoyed.
6. Chimay Blue - Always a good choice, and one of my favorite Trappist beers.
5. Brooklyn Local 1 - Like Duvel, but with a citrus flavor. Excellent beer (review is coming I promise).
4. Ommegeddon - It's a constant temptation to pick another one up. Very unique flavor.
3. Brooklyn Brown Ale - Sweet and flavorful, I could probably drink it all day.
2. Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter - Wow. Rich and flavorful, it's like Guinness on steroids.
1. Duvel - still my favorite, this one will always be hard to top.

Very Bad Elf

Would you look at that? Just when you thought the Christmas season was over, there's one last Christmas beer waiting for you. Dan's roommate Steve surprised us each with a large bottle of Very Bad Elf. Last month I posted my review of Insanely Bad Elf, which comes from the same brewer, Ridgeway Brewing. As I said before, each beer in their Christmas line is completely different, and this one is an English Pale Ale. Other examples of this style are Samuel Smith's Pale Ale, Bass Pale Ale, and Old Speckled Hen. Typically it will be a little on the bitter side, with fruity, malty, earthy, or buttery aromas.

The beer poured a reddish-amber color, and had a half finger head that was white and frothy. The bubbles in it were somewhat large, and it left decent lacing as I went through the glass.

The smell wasn't all that strong, but I did noticed a bit of flowery esters to the smell. Overall I just got the impression that the smell was a little on the bitter side. It was definitely subdued though.

The taste of the beer was initially sweet on the tip of the tongue, and it did have a slightly flowery taste to it as well. This translated to bitterness a little further back on the tongue. I also noted a bit of spice in it, which definitely added to the Christmas feel of it. The flavor was definitely not too intense, in fact it was a bit on the weak side, and definitely had some watery flavors to it. It was still good though, and seemed a nice change from some of the stronger and robust Christmas beers I had this year. It definitely would have been a good introductory beer to the Christmas season rather than a way to finish it out.

The beer had a medium-light body with moderate carbonation. There wasn't any coating on the mouth to speak of; and unlike the other Christmas beers I've had I didn't notice any warming sensation to it. It is a bit lower on the ABV than many of the other Christmas beers, but it's 7.5% so it's still pretty strong. Seeing as how it comes in a large 1 pint, 9 oz bottle, you definitely get a good bit of alcohol with the whole thing. The beer was also very refreshing, and fell more to the wet side.

Overall the drinkability was pretty good. It wasn't my favorite Christmas beer, but it definitely had it's own place. The flavor was unique and not overpowering, and it was pretty easy to drink. I liked the subdued spice flavor it had as some of the Christmas beers can be a little too overt in that area. This could easily be a year-round beer, although not quite to the extent of the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.

- Adam

Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery located in Milton, Delaware. They also have a restaurant in Rehobeth that serves their beers along with wood-grilled food that's a pretty amazing place. Their motto as brewers is "off-centered stuff for off-centered people" so when you try one of their beers, you know you can expect something different.

The Raison D'Extra is a higher alcohol content version of the Raison D'Etre. The D'Etre is brewed with green raisins, beet sugar, and Belgian style yeast. The D'Extra on the other hand is brewed with brown sugar, and weighs in at 18+% ABV. Our particular bottles were brewed in March 2007, so our January 1st tasting gave it nearly 2 years to age and continue fermenting.

The beer poured a reddish caramel color, with a slight haze to it from the yeast in the bottle. It had a 1 finger off white head with a nice foamy quality. The head dissipated fairly quickly, but it still left good lacing on the glass.

The aroma was sweet and malty. Initially it was dominated by a raisin smell, which isn't surprising given the ingredients. Underneath there's a definite hint of alcohol, but for being the strongest beer I've ever tried, it was well hidden. There was some traces of chocolate and caramel as well, but they were pretty muted. Overall, the smell was attractive, and not overly strong.

The taste was as sweet as the smell, and likewise the raisin flavor is predominant. Dan suggested that it was a white raisin flavor, and the beer definitely had some wine-like aspects to it. There was a definite burn to the beer as well, as expected given the high ABV. It was right in the middle of the throat that the warmth really got me, but it was a nice pleasing type of warmth that would be good on a cold night. There was also a nice light bitterness that finished the beer just in the back of the throat that stayed in the mouth for a while after swallowing. Dan and I both agreed that the beer was most similar to a brandy, both in strength and flavors. The one thing I noticed was missing from the taste was the metallic "Delaware water" flavor that I normally find with Dogfish beers. I was pretty happy about that fact, as it's usually the one issue I have with the flavor of stuff I've had from them.

The beer had a medium-heavy body that was somewhat syrupy in quality. The carbonation was moderate, with a light tingle on the tip of the tongue, and more roundness in the rest of the mouth. There was just a little bit of coating in the mouth, and it had a somewhat wet finish. Overall it was a substantial beer and complimented the warmth and strength of it well.

Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this if you manage to find it, but beware, it is strong! I wouldn't try drinking more than one of these in a night, and make sure you don't have to drive for a while after opening it. It's absolutely a winter ale, and not one for the weak of heart. I went from completely sober when I started this brew to feeling a good buzz halfway through, and finished it a bit tipsy - and I was drinking it pretty slow. Still it's not surprising since it's roughly 4 to 5 times as strong as the average beer.

- Adam

Brooklyn Brewery's Winter Ale

Brooklyn Brewery has, so far, produced several of my favorite American beers. Among these are their Brown Ale (as evidenced by the giant mug full in Adam's post from Oct. 3), and the Local 1, which was new for 2008, and one I'll have to pick up again, so I can review. The Winter Ale also seems to have edged its way in to my favorite American beers. It is based, loosely (I assume), on the winter ales of Scotland.

The beer's color is a dark coppery brown, with hints of red and gold. Despite my most vigorous pour, it developed a one-finger head, which dissipated quickly into a small ring round the edge of the glass. This did tend to leave a little lacing as I drank, but it slid down the sides of my glass back into the beer.

This beer is very tight on the nose. There really is not much to the aroma at all. It initially reminds me of Yuengling Lager. It seemed odd to me that a Scottish style winter ale would remind me of such a common lager, but I had to remind myself that I have drank enough Yuengling to recognize it when I smell it. The more I smell, the more the malty scents start to come out.

The taste is a bit sweet and malty at first, and progresses to bitter quickly. I am again reminded of Yuengling, and I do not say that to belittle this beer. Although it is not as flavorful as I had hoped, and come to expect from Brooklyn, it is a very well balanced beer. The sweet start, and long-lasting, mildly bitter aftertaste are really making this stand out to me.

The mouthfeel, however, is this beer's best quality by far. It is a medium to med-light bodied beer, with just the right carbonation. It is smooth to drink and leaves a nice coating on the tongue and teeth, which is contributing to that long-lasting aftertaste.

The outstanding mouthfeel and understated taste make this beer extremely drinkable. So much so, that I had to repeat my Brooklyn Brown Ale experience, and once again fill the oversized OBX mug. Overall, drinkability seems to be the common quality present among all of Brooklyn's offerings, and this is certainly no exception.

-Dan