Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Fresh Hop Ale

I picked up this beer back in August while I was at the beach with my family. It was at some nicely sized liquor store in the Rehoboth area, and since I enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale last time I had it, I decided the Southern Hemisphere version was worth trying. I was interested to see just how different the Southern Hemisphere version would be as well.

The aroma was quite hoppy at first, but in a way that I was not familiar with before. It had a bit of a spicy pepper smell to it. Underneath it had a toasted bready malt aroma. The smell started strong, but got weaker as the beer sat for a bit. I'm not sure about the exact science behind this right now, but it's common for the hop aroma to lessen as a beer sits out.

The appearance of the beer is a dark amber color with a rocky cream colored head. The head was about 1 finger thick, and had moderate retention. The beer was also slightly hazy. It left a decent bit of lacing as I drank the glass.

There was a bit of tangy sweetness on the tip of their tongue, followed by a dull bitterness in the back half of the mouth. This bitterness also had a bit of a pepper quality to it and left a mild hotness. I thought I detected a bit of grapefruit as well. Other than the peppery taste, the beer was similar to the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which was probably the base recipe for the beer.

The beer had a medium body, and was on the higher side of a decent level of carbonation. Just a little bit less carbonation would have felt perfect to me. There was a little bit of coating on the mouth, but not really much. It wasn't dry, but wasn't quite wet either.

Overall, it was good, but not spectacular. Since it was so similar to the normal wet hop beer and pale ale with the exception of the pepper flavor, it didn't have the wow factor I look for in a special beer. It was fairly easy to get down. I kind of wonder how long I'll keep trying special beers from Sierra Nevada though since most of them taste just like the pale ale. Of course, that doesn't extend to the Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada collaboration beer, Life and Limb. I can't wait to try that out if I can find a bottle.

- Adam

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

It's kind of an interesting phenomenon how tastes can change over time. The first time I had the Dogfish 60 minute, I didn't like it at all. I thought it was too bitter, and didn't have the malt profile necessary to balance the beer. That was a few years ago when I first had a Dogfish beer. It wasn't until pretty recently that I gave this beer a fair chance again. Now I'm sitting near the end of a case and a half that were left over from the wedding, and I've become pretty fond of it.

The initial burst of aroma carries a strong hop scent, but it's got a dull bitterness to it, that seems similar to dark chocolate. It's a bit surprising since the beer isn't all that dark, and chocolate usually comes from heavily roasted malts. There is also a grassy hay smell underneath. All in all, it's not the best smelling beer in the world, but there's nothing unpleasant to it.

In the glass the beer has a smooth and deep golden color with a faint hint of ruby. The beer is extremely clear, and the bottle doesn't contain any sediment. A vigorous pour is required to get a finger thick creamy head, mostly white with a touch of caramel color to it. Still this dissipates quickly to a ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass and a dusting across the top.

Although the malt quality of the beer doesn't stand out as particularly strong, it is fairly present. It's not sweet, but butterscotch flavors come through along with a faint roasted taste. In the back of the mouth, the hops come through clearly with a smooth dull bitterness. There's a bit of grapefruit, spice, and a bit of pine. There's also a lasting warmth in the front of the mouth and a dull bitterness in the back.

In the mouth, the beer has a medium body, with a moderate and pleasant level of carbonation. The warmth in the beer seems to come more from a spice quality of the beer than from the alcohol. There's a light smooth coating in the mouth, and a decent wetness to the beer.

It really does astound me just how much my opinion of this beer is changed. Before I would have had to really force myself to get through this beer, now I find it extremely easy to drink. It's not particularly strong, but not exactly lightweight either. At 6% it still has the potential to sneak up on you, even more so if you find it as easy to drink as I do now. With beers like this it's no wonder that Dogfish has manged to become one of the top breweries in the country.

- Adam

Revisited: Sierra Nevada 2009 Bigfoot

So what happens when you let a beer sit for 6 months to a year? Well, generally speaking probably some pretty terrible things. Beers with lower alcohol content tend not to hold up well, but given the right beer with a high enough alcohol content (around 8% or more) it becomes possible. The goal is to gain complexity not found in the fresh brew, and a better blending of flavors. Well, I have a bottle of 2009 Bigfoot from back in February that I'm ready to try out and see what has happened.

The first sniff pouring the beer in the glass revealed a strong fruity scent, which dropped off fairly quickly. Underneath is a roasted malty quality similar to caramel. There's a touch of apple cider as well. Mostly it's got the caramel sweetness to it that I didn't feel came out as much originally.

The appearance is identical to the fresh version, so I'll skip over it.

At the first sip I got a fruity sweetness on the tip of my tongue for just a moment, cherry or apples, but it quickly went away. The hop bitterness took over on the back of the tongue, and was followed by a warmth and a somewhat grassy aftertaste. On the second sip I noticed that the bitterness was more mellow and rounded than I previously remember it being, but I found the flavor slightly astringent. There was a dark chocolate flavor just around the bitterness that I didn't think mixed well. I noticed that if I didn't hold the beer in my mouth, the unpleasant flavors subsided. The fruit loop flavor I had noticed in it with the previous bottle was gone.

The feel of the beer was pretty similar, although I felt the warmth came through more than before, and the carbonation was significantly reduced. Instead of the prickling sensation I had previously mentioned in this beer, there was just a mild tingle on the tongue.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. After 8 months or so, I was hoping that it would make the beer much better, but I'm actually not enjoying it as much as I did when it was fresh. Granted I didn't exactly keep it temperature consistent, and the flavors have changed quite a bit. However I guess I'm not appreciating the changes as much. I think Dan has a bottle of the 09/09/09 that he's putting aside for us to try in 2012, so that will be an interesting experiment with a beer that's designed to be aged.

- Adam

Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall 09

Wow, so a lot has happened in the last month. I got married... moved... basically it's been busy. Now that I'm starting to get settled in, and have internet in our place, I figured it's time to start posting again. To make things even more interesting, I decided that tonight I'm going to crack a beer open that I've never tried before, and review it as I'm drinking. What's up for tonight is the 2009 Fall version of Magic Hat Odd Notion. Odd Notion is an interesting concept, like Stone's Vertical Epic, each time it's brewed it's a different style, although it seems like Magic Hat does a different one with each season rather than once a year. For Fall this year we have a Belgian Strong Dark ale, one of my favorite styles. I'm sitting here with the bottle, my Chimay glass, and a bottle opener ready to go.

The smell is sweet and fruity, reminiscent of plums and raisins. I feel like there's also a bit of alcohol in the smell, which I found a bit surprising considering that it's only 6.2% ABV. There's also a roasty, syrup, and licorice smell underneath.

The beer poured a fully black color. It's got a deep tan head that initially was a half finger thick, but dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass with a light dusting on the top of the beer. There's tiny bits of lacing on the glass.

The taste initially is a bit sweet and fruity in an interesting way. It's got a hint of banana, but with some taste of a darker fruit mixed in. It's also quite roasty on the front of the tongue, but once it hits the back of the mouth it tastes strongly of coffee and dark chocolate. It's got a lingering bitterness for minutes right on the back of the tongue. And suddenly I want some crackers and cheese. Mmm... smoked gouda and ritz crackers.

It's got a somewhat unusual feel in the mouth. It's very highly carbonated, actually overwhelmingly so. It's got a lighter body too, which is strange for such a dark beer. There's a little coating on the mouth, and a bit of warmth in the throat.

Overall, I'm not sure what to think. Stylistically it's all over the place, but I don't really care about that. It's got a good balance of flavors, nothing stands out too much except maybe the coffee flavors. However I'm not sure about the mix of flavors, and there's a little bit of a medicinal quality to it. I enjoyed it, but not as much as almost any Belgian Strong Dark I've had before. So, it's ok, not great, not terrible.

OBX Happy hour - Oak Aged Un*Earthly

It's a little early to call this happy hour, but I pulled out a bomber of Southern Tier's Oak Aged Un*Earthly Imperial IPA to have after lunch, and it definitely warranted a post. I've been looking forward to this beer more than any other that I brought along on this trip. This is the first brew I've had from Southern Tier, but it comes highly recommended and has a 98 on RateBeer.

Orange and copper in color, and appearing slightly cloudy after the pour, this beer looks rich and full of flavor. There is not much head, just a thin layer of bubbles, quickly disappearing into just a dusting. What is there leaves just a tiny bit of lacing.

The aroma reminds me of some barleywines Adam and I tried this past winter. It is rich and malty with heavy notes of caramel as well as a citrus aroma. There is less hop aroma than I have come to expect from imperial IPAs. As expected there is an oaky smell, not a heavy one, but it is there.

This beer is full of flavor. It starts malty and full of oak, moving slowly towards a piny citrus hop flavor. Still dominated by oak the hops turn to a very bitter after taste. This is a very long finish. As I type it has been over a minute since I have taken a sip and still there is oak and hop on my tongue. The caramel flavor from the malt combined with the balance of hops is what is reminding me of a barleywine. this is extremely well balanced for any kind of IPA. I was definitely expecting more hop flavor.

This is surprisingly light on the tongue, with small sharp carbonation that doesn't stick around for long. Even with the big flavors present here, this is one of the most drinkable imperial IPAs I've had, even more so than the DFH 90 minute, one of my personal favorites. The drinkability is best represented by the fact that in the amount of time it has taken me to do this post, I've nearly finished the bomber.

Overall this beer was not what I expected. Not in aroma, taste or body, but it is, nonetheless, one great beer. What else that I've brought, if anything, will be able to top this?

OBX Happy Hour - West Coast IPA

Hello from Avon, NC! I am down here on vacation this week, and brought with me a pile of beers to try while I bask in the sun on the beach. I've decided to do a few posts while I am down here, to write exactly what I am thinking as I drink these beers. I have a slection of mostly IPAs and Imperial/Double IPAs along with a few miscellaneous other beers.

Adam and I have each spoken about the obsession with hops in American craft brewing. And, while I do still tend to prefer a more balanced beer, it's safe to say that I love hops far more now than when I started drinking beer, and hoppy IPAs and the like are increasingly the beers I turn to as daily drinkers.

So lets jump right in to it. West Coast IPA from Green Flash Brewing is described as being "extravagantly hopped" It weighs in at 7.3% abv, I'm guessing due to adding extra malt to balance out the heavy multi-tiered hopping that this beer underwent. It boasts Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial and Cascade, each added with a certain purpose, each flavoring or adding aroma in a specific way.

This beer pours a hazy copper-brown. There wasn't much head, but what was there left good lacing as it disappeared. I'll tack a picture of the next one, since I've already worked my way through half of the glass while writing this.

Needless to say, the aroma is delightfully hoppy. There is a definite malt characteristic, just a bit of sweet behind a fruity citrus bitter smell. I've been working my way through a lot of popular IPAs lately. Even this is my 4th IPA since arriving in the Outer Banks last night. With that said, this is one of the most appealing.

The flavor is dominated by the citric and pine flavors of the Centennial hops. Eat a grapefruit with pine needles sprinked on it instead of sugar. That is this beer. There's a fuity component to it early on that starts to disappear is it warms up. There is just a hint of the maltiness from the smell, just enough to even things out.

I'm being called away to the hot tub, so I'm gonna wrap this up, The mouthfeel is light, and carbonation tingly and sharp, making it very refreshing, and highly drinkable, in fact, i'm gonna crack open another one as soon as I finish this one. A great overall brew, and quickly becoming on of my top IPAs.

Clipper City Red Sky At Night

When I was in high school Solomon and I always used to joke along with our friend Ben about the Clipper City brand. This was when none of us knew anything about beer, and Solomon's parents would occasionally get stuff from them to drink. Since none of us had ever heard of Clipper City before, I guess we kind of just assumed it was crap. So when I saw Clipper City beer at State Line, I really wasn't all that interested in trying it out. However, when I was reading an article about saisons online, Clipper City's Red Sky At Night came up. It perked my interest up, so I decided to buy it next time I was there.

The beer poured a deep golden color, very clear despite the yeast the bottle is conditioned with. I didn't get any head out of a normal pour. There's just a little dusting of bubbles on the top.

The smell of the beer is a mixture of slightly sweet hay and horse blanket. It's a smell that's both sweet and sour, with some hints of the alcohol as well. I think I smelled a little bit of apple juice in there too. The smell of a saison is generally one of my favorite parts, since there's a exhilarating sort of wildness to it. This is supposed to come from the wild yeast used in making the beer. This is one style that I'm very interested in trying to make at some point.

The taste at first is of grain, a bit sour. It's got somewhat of a biscuit quality to it. I thought I got a touch of white grape as well, but barely noticeable. There's a touch of bitterness on the back of the tongue, but this tastes more like it's from yeast than from hops. I noticed a slight bit of alcohol in the flavor, and possibly some apricot. It also seemed to be a little bit watery.

The beer has a good medium body and a decently strong level of carbonation. There's a nice smooth coating left over the teeth. It's a bit warming in the throat, not surprising since it's a bit on the strong side. It weights in at 7.5%.

Overall it's a good offering for my first beer from Clipper City. It's a decent flavor, but not the strongest, and although it's not the best saison I've ever had it's still very good. It's very easy to drink since it's not overwhelming, but at the same time it would be hard to drink too many because of the alcohol content. If it had a bit less alcohol in it, I could drink them all night. I could definitely stand to go back to this one a few times in the future.

- Adam