Random News Update

So there's 2 fairly major things that I found out about this week pertaining to beer. First is that this year, Samuel Adams will be releasing Utopias again. This is generally regarded as the world's most expensive commercial beer, retailing at $150 a bottle. Dan and I are already on a waiting list for this beer, so depending on how many bottles are shipped in, we may end up with one. It comes in a special 24-oz bottle shaped like a copper brew-kettle. It's served uncarbonated, and at room temperature.

The other thing I was informed of was that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada will be making a set of collaboration beers. One is called Life & Limb, the other is Limb & Life. Limb & Life will be released first as a draft beer, and is a lower ABV version of Life & Limb. Life & Limb will be released in bottles only, and is meant to be aged. More info can be found here.

Flying Dog's Kerberos Tripel

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a bit of a fan of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. My interest in Thompson's life, like many others, was instigated by my first and several subsequent viewings of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. So when I was browsing through State Line's collection of domestic micro-brews and noticed a few bottles featuring what appeared to be some of Ralph Steadman's art and a quote from Dr. Gonzo himself, it got my attention. "Good people drink good beer." Never have truer words been spoken, I thought. So after perusing their bizarrely canvased collection i decided on a sampler of the four beers in their Canis Major Series.

Kerberos, named for and branded with a picture of the mythical three headed dog that guards the gates of hell, is a traditional, bottle conditioned, Belgian Tripel. I've had quite a few tripels over the last year and a half, and, while not my favorite style, have always found them to be rich and full of flavor.

This tripel pours a cloudy golden color with a modest half a finger off-white head. I'm sure mine was extra cloudy, as i prefer to pour some of the yeast in with most dubs, trips, and quads. The head slowly faded into just a ring of bubbles around the glass, and left no lacing as i drank.

The aroma is powerful. I could smell it from a distance as I poured the glass. It is massively fruity with overtones of citrus. It reminds me of the smell of dried apricots with a less noticeable apple scent as well.

The flavor initially is very similar to the smell. It is sweet and fruity with a mild citric taste like an apricot. The yeast then starts to hit you on the mid-pallet, again, pouring some of the yeast adds this flavor that I enjoy. There is a bit of a spicy flavor here as well, not much, but enough to get my attention.

Kerberos has a great dry mouthfeel, which I absolutely loved. Overall it started feel like I was drinking a dry white wine, especially considering that apricot is a common flavor in white wines. The carbonation was sharp on the tongue. Had this been a less flavorful beer i could see this really distracting from the taste, but as it stands, it didnt effect my opinion of the flavor.

For a beer that was by no means light in flavor or in body, Kerberos is highly drinkable. The intense flavors mask its 8.5%abv perfectly as it's dry finish begs you to keep on sipping it down. A brilliant and devilishly dangerous beer, to say the least. This is a brewery, and a beer that I will be revisiting often.

-This has been Dan saying: "No point in mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastard will see them soon enough."

North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin

Facebook is well on its way to taking over the world. Even my mom has a facebook profile now, so it's really not much of a surprise that North Coast Brewing has their own facebook page where you can become a fan of the brewery or a particular beer. What was surprising to me was when I stumbled upon their page for the Old No. 38 Stout earlier this week, and found a link to my own blog up there! So having this on my mind, when I made a trip over to State Line last night to pick up some new brews I couldn't resist grabbing a 4-pack of Old Rasputin.

When a beer has an A on Beer Advocate and a 100 on Rate Beer, it's a pretty safe assumption that it's not only tasty, but also a decent representation of the style. I've had a few Russian Imperial Stouts in the past such as Rogue's XS Imperial Stout, Great Divide's Yeti, and Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. My reaction to these has varied pretty greatly from not being able to finish the Rogue XS, to enjoying the Great Divide and Stone brews even though I had to take my time with both. Not knowing quite what to expect from Old Rasputin, I was a little nervous going in.

The beer poured a deep, nearly black hue with a 1-finger light brown head. The head dissipated to a thin layering fairly quickly, but this remaining layer stuck around for a while. As I drank the beer, it left a decent bit of lacing at first, but this dropped off after I got about a quarter of the way through the glass.

My first whiff of the beer surprised me a little bit. One of the things I've come to expect based on the Russian Imperial Stouts that I've had in the past is a blast of aroma when it's first poured, and a decent bit of alcohol coming through in the smell. Old Rasputin however had a moderately strong, but not overpowering aroma, and the alcohol was definitely not forefront. What I did smell was a nice, slightly sweet combination of chocolate and coffee. Underneath this was just a touch of smokiness, and finally just a hint of alcohol. For being 9% ABV, this was definitely well masked.

Having had my nerves comforted a bit by the pleasant smell, I went ahead and took the first sip. What I immediately noticed was a mix of dark chocolate up front in the mouth, a little bit of a nutty quality in the center of the tongue, and a bitter roasted coffee flavor in the back of the mouth. There was a bit of heat left in my mouth from the alcohol, but I didn't really taste alcohol in the flavor. The aftertaste is pretty similar to dark chocolate as well. The flavors are bold, but they mix together well. Even though the bitterness was the dominant flavor of the beer, it wasn't so bitter that it became a chore to drink or needed to be sipped to get through the glass. The sweetness from the chocolate flavors and the nutty quality are also balanced in such a way that the bitterness isn't the only thing to focus on.

The beer had a fairly thick feel in the mouth, as is to be expected with a Russian Imperial Stout. There's a very substantial quality to it. It's moderately carbonated, just enough to leave a nice tingle on the center of the tongue, but not so much as to distract from the flavors. As mentioned before, there was a nice subtle warmth imparted from the alcohol as well.

As with all the other Russian Imperial Stouts I've had, Old Rasputin was definitely not a gulper. It's meant to be savored and enjoyed over a longer period of time than it would normally take to consume a beer. However, unlike the other Russian Imperials I've had, I didn't feel like it was a chore to get through at any point, and felt like I could have had another without getting sick of the flavors. It was definitely the easiest to get down of the Russian Imperials I've had. It had a nice balance, complex flavors, but still didn't completely overpower the palate. I'd definitely recommend this one to others and I can see myself going back to try it again. Another strong offering from North Coast, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have out there.

- Adam

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

It's always fun when a brewery comes out with a limited edition beer. I tend to see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try something, and go into it with the expectation that they have put a lot of thought into the recipe. In fact, I pick these up with the expectation that they'll be better than average. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they're a disappointment.

One thing I have noticed is that you really have to keep an eye out to find these limited releases. Although sometimes I'll happen across an article or press release through Beer Advocate or some other beer related website, generally the first time I hear about a special release is when I see it on the shelf at the liquor store. Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout was a major exception to this. They may have even *gasp* advertised that it was coming.

Now Guinness tends to be my stand-by drink whenever I'm going anywhere that finer beers are not sold. Unless you're at the lowest of the low end establishments, anywhere that sells beer is likely to have Guinness in bottles, if not on tap. Although it's pretty thin bodied and not all that flavorful for a stout, it's easy to drink, and there's nothing that I dislike about the flavor. I would even say that I like Guinness. If nothing else, it's one of the easiest beers to get down, and I don't think I've ever thought, "no thanks, I don't want another Guinness, I can't take this flavor anymore." So when I saw the 250th anniversary beer, I figured I'd give it a shot.

To make things a little more interesting, I did a side-by-side comparison of the Guinness 250 with a can of the regular Guinness Draught. It's probably closer to the Extra Stout recipe, but Dan already had cans of the draught from the last time we made black and tans.

The 250 was nearly identical in appearance to the draught. The only difference I noticed was that the head on the 250 was a slightly darker color, more tan, and had a 1 finger rocky head. The draught on the other hand had a head the same size, but was merely off-white and creamy and smooth looking. It's possible that the nitrogen widget in the can affected the appearance of the head. I did also notice that there was much more lacing on the glass with the 250.

The aroma did stand out as a difference between the two. The 250 smelled sweeter, and had less of a roasted quality. It was also stronger than the aroma of the draught. The 250 smelled OK, but not great.

The taste of the two was also slightly varied. The 250 had a more bitter quality to it. The draught was creamy and had a stronger roasted flavor. The flavor of both was not terribly strong though.

The area that the differences stood out the most was in the mouthfeel. Granted, this is at least partially due to the fact that the can had the nitrogen widget. The 250 had more body, although at best this would put it in the "medium body" category. For a stout, it's still pretty thin. It also had a higher level of carbonation and felt sharper. The bubbles seemed to be larger. It was definitely less creamy than the draught. Again, this is probably due to the nitrogen widget. I'm sure on tap the 250 would feel more similar to the standard draught.

Overall, I thought the beer was alright, but it really wasn't anything special. Certainly it wasn't something to really celebrate their 250th anniversary with. Although I liked the thicker body, the carbonation was too high and I actually enjoyed the flavor of the regular draught a little more. I'm just a sucker for roast I guess. The beers were incredibly similar, and that alone was disappointing to me. If I remember correctly, the 250 was also a little more expensive, and there's nothing I've seen in it to justify the additional expense. Unless you just can't resist, I'd say to avoid this one, at least if you're paying for it. I did like it about as much as I like the regular Guinness draught, but there's certainly better beers out there for the same price or less. To be fair, I had a second that was warmer, and it tasted a bit better. The carbonation was subdued a bit, and the roasted quality came out a bit more, although not so much as in the draught still. This was at nearly room temperature, probably around 65 degrees.

- Adam

New Belgium Fat Tire

Fat Tire is a beer I've been hearing about for a while, but I hadn't gotten the opportunity to try it until right now. Yes, I'm drinking it while writing this review. People have been raving about it on Home Brew Talk and I've seen a couple clone recipes, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Fat Tire pours a hazy golden amber color. It's got a fairly insubstantial foamy white head that's less than 1/4 finger, but leaves a dusting on the top through the glass.

The beer smells very interesting to start off. It's got a subtle malt quality, with some flowery hop scents underneath. There's a somewhat toasty quality to it too. It smells a lot like freshly milled honey malt grains.

The taste is strongly biscuity. It's bready overall, with a nice sweet toasted quality to it. There's a clean hop bitterness in the back of the mouth. I got a little bit of a flavor reminiscent of chocolate just in the back of my mouth after swallowing as well. It's got a nice subtly sour bread aftertaste.

The beer feels bizarre in the mouth too. It's thick and full bodied, but has a tingly sharp carbonation and a creaminess to it all at the same time. It leaves a bit of smooth coating on the teeth as well.

Overall it's a very different drink, but it's really good. It mixes the bitterness of tea, the taste of bread, and overall feel of beer at the same time. It's easy to get down, and really doesn't have an in-your-face flavor. Still it's not weak by any means. Too bad it's hard for us to find out here, Dan had to get this bottle from Seattle.

- Adam

I Am A Home Brewer

Some of the members over at Home Brew Talk put together a video as an homage to the "I Am A Craft Brewer" video shown at the 2009 Craft Brewer's Conference. It's a great video and really captures the DIY spirit of home brewers. Check it out.

North Coast Brewing's Old No. 38 Stout

It's been a while since I've gotten to sit down and do a review. Honestly I haven't been trying out nearly as much lately. Since we started brewing our own beers, I haven't spent a lot on commercial beer. Partially it's because when you have 5 gallons of beer sitting around, it's a little unnecessary to go out and buy more. But it's also a price factor... brewing beer can be expensive. I think I dropped about $70 on ingredients last time I was at the home brew store. When you figure you can normally get about 52 bottles out of a 5 gallon batch, that means it's about $1.35 a beer, or $8.10 for a 6-pack. That's pretty consistent with the price of a commercial beer purchase, and in some cases even more expensive. So at some point, I just gotta say... if you want to see more reviews and less about home brewing on here, send me some money so I can afford beer!

Since the latest batch to go into bottles was a stout, I've got them on my mind. Stouts are one of my favorite styles now, which I still find amusing considering how much I didn't like the first one I tried. Anyway, I tend to go for a new stout before almost any other style unless there's something particular I'm in the mood for. Recently I had the opportunity to try Old No. 38 Stout from North Coast Brewing. North Coast is located in Fort Bragg, CA.

The Old No. 38 Stout is a Dublin Dry stout, and weighs in at 5.5% ABV. It poured a very dark brown, nearly black, with a hint of dark red around the edges. There was a light brown head, about a half finger thick, that dissipated to just a dusting rather quickly. The remains left a tiny bit of lacing, but not much to speak of.

The aroma was a strong roasty, almost coffee-like scent. The smell actually disappeared kind of quickly, until you get just a bit of a smokey smell. This was unusual in my experience, as normally the only smell that would not last throughout the beer is the initial hop aroma.

The taste was good, neither sweet nor bitter. Instead it had a strong roasted taste, with a bit of a sharp bready flavor. There was a touch of burnt flavor as well, but it was a nice addition and not unwelcome. The flavor isn't terribly strong, but definitely wasn't creamy. It was definitely an interesting flavor though, despite the fact that there wasn't a lot to it, simply because most beers tend either towards being sweet, bitter, or balanced between the two, but this one didn't really have any apparent swing towards sweet or bitter. It's hard to describe, but I think of it as a lack of either sweetness or bitterness, rather than a balance of the two. I know that sounds like it could be a bad thing, but it really wasn't.

The body of the beer was towards the heavy side, but it also had a substantial amount of sharp tingling carbonation. The level of carbonation did work nicely for me though. As the style implies, the beer had a dry quality to it. As I've learned from brewing myself, this is supposedly the result of a more complete level of fermentation of the sugars in the beer than normal. In other words, there aren't a lot of sugars left in the beer that haven't been converted into alcohol.

Overall it was a very good brew, and easy to get down. The flavor wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but I also didn't find it watery or weak. It's a flavor that sits well on the tongue. I could see this one becoming a regular for me when I'm looking for a stout, provided that it's available. I'm looking forward to trying more from this brewery at some point, as the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout is supposed to be excellent.

- Adam