Bell's Two Hearted Ale

I'm going to be rounding out my recent IPA kick with a pretty major offering from the folks over at Bell's brewery in Michigan, Two Hearted Ale. I picked up a 6-pack of this while we were on vacation in Virginia, since Bell's doesn't get distribution in Maryland or Delaware just yet. I've had this one before, but knew I enjoyed it thoroughly. Bell's is probably more well known for Hopslam though, a major hop bomb that's sought after by hop heads nation wide.

The first thing I noticed upon pouring was the pungent and sharp leafy aroma from the hops. As it sat the resin broke up a bit, making room for a sweeter grapefruit scent. While there may be some malt smell as well, I didn't really pick it up, instead the beer was drowning in intense hoppiness.

In the glass the beer takes on a golden color with a touch of reddish hue, and supports a thin white head. Being bottle conditioned, I may have poured a bit of sediment into the glass, and ended up with a bit of haziness in my otherwise clear beer.

Grapefruit assaults the tongue on the first sip, then makes way for a substantial bitterness at the back of the mouth. There's a light bread aftertaste on the sides of the tongue that lingers along with the hop bitterness for a few minutes. The beer is most assuredly balanced towards the hoppy and bitter side, which is certainly not unwelcome. It does however lack some of the intensity of Hopslam, which assaults the palate thoroughly with its hoppy nature. That isn't to say that it's lacking in flavor, but rather that it is more of an every day beer.

It certainly doesn't lack for carbonation, actually having a somewhat light body with constant tiny bubbles. The hop resins leave a stickiness in the mouth as well, quickly coating the tongue. The beer goes down easily though, with just a touch of warmth on the tongue and in the chest.

There really isn't much left to say, I love this beer. It's flavorful but not overwhelming, and has a great blend of hop flavors and aroma. The only criticism I can come up with is that there's the slightest touch of either metallic or phenolic taste, barely enough to notice. While sometimes this can be a welcome addition to the mix of flavors, in this case I didn't feel that it added anything. Still, this was a very minor issue for me, and for a standard IPA this is one of the best I've had. I imagine this beer is even better fresh, I don't know how old it is, but I know that it's at least from January. All things considered, it has held up rather well.

Clipper City Loose Cannon

I'm just getting back from a trip to Virginia with my wife and some friends. It was a good time filled with memorable events, but it also gave me the opportunity to try some different beers and pick up some new things that I normally wouldn't get in Delaware. However, today's review has nothing to do with those. Even though the trip was enjoyable, it feels good to be home, and as such I'm relaxing for the evening with another favorite local standby, Clipper City's Loose Cannon. This beer is an IIPA, and one of my favorite offerings from the brewery.

Initially the beer has a grapefruit character mixed with a vinous quality. It's a thick and full hoppy smell if that makes much sense. As it sits it becomes more leafy and open, allowing a bit of bready malt to come though as well. As expected, the hops dominate the nose, so there's not much room for anything else.

The first taste offers a bit of mild citrus flavor, followed by a gripping bitterness as it's swallowed. Although there does seem to be some caramel and bready flavors in there, again it's really the hops that dominate the mouth. It's a pleasantly sharp flavor, but be careful because it will just about ruin your palate if you're going to try anything else in close succession.

The beer is medium bodied, and not very heavily carbonated. I actually prefer this in my beers, although I know others do not. I find that it can distract from the flavors if the beer is highly carbonated. This beer evokes somewhat of a cask feel, perhaps like it would have been on a ship transported from England back when IPAs were first created.

Overall this is another excellent offering from Clipper City. I've been consistently impressed with their Heavy Seas series, in fact I don't think there has been one that I didn't like yet. This is definitely one of the under-appreciated breweries of the East Coast, pick it up for sure if you can.

- Adam

Evolution Lot No. 3 IPA

For those of you that are not familiar, Evolution is a craft brewery from southern Delaware, who are quickly gaining a reputation within the craft beer community. I've toured the brewery twice, and their Rise Up! Stout easily makes it worth the trip every time. Recently they've begun some experimental beers with their Menagerie series, and from talk from the brewers, they have barrel aged, sour, and buggy beers on the way as well. While their normal beers are good, these future brews promise to be something extra special, and should be worth the effort to obtain. Unfortunately that generally means being at the brewery for the release, which for some reason tends to fall mid-week during work hours.

Upon pouring, Lot 3 is a clear copperish golden color, with a small dusting of white head on top. This head doesn't last long, and soon there is only wisps of bubbles floating on the top of the glass.

The aroma is a mixture of bready malt and a mixture of citrus and spicy hops. It's a sharp smell, with the hops cutting through, lending a leafy goodness to the mixture. Still, there is a balance of sweetness in the aroma, rounding it out nicely.

At first taste, one experiences a touch of orange peel, a bit of toasted bread, and then a strong peppery bitterness from the hops in the back of the mouth. This spiced sensation lingers for quite a while in the back half of the mouth, while the sweeter qualities dissipate almost immediately. Despite being almost 7% ABV, there's no alcohol flavor or warmth to it.

The beer is well carbonated, prickly without being overdone. It feels medium bodied, and leaves a build-up of stickiness in the back of the mouth. It does seem to have a certain dryness to it as well.

While it's not quite a standby for me, this is a beer I've gotten for myself before, and one I'm certainly planning on having again. Certainly when I want a peppery IPA, it would be among my first choices. Although the flavor leans strongly to the hoppy side, it still has good balance, and the flavors work together well. It's absolutely worth a try if you happen to be in the area.

- Adam

Red Poppy

It's been an interesting day so far. Dan and I have taken a trip to a case distributor to pick up some beer we can't normally get in the area, we stopped by a brew pub, and now we're back at Dan's enjoying on of his recent acquisitions, a bottle of Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale.

Red Poppy is a Flanders Oud Bruin, a darker sour style originating in the Flanders area of Belgium. It becomes readily apparent upon the first whiff of this beer, as it has a strong aroma characteristic of a sour beer, with a mix of vinegar, lactic acid, and some fruitiness that I thought was apple and cherry. There's some oak as well, and a little sweetness to it that I don't recall smelling in many sour beers.

At first, the classic sour flavors come though as well, with a strong tartness and just a touch of vinegar, supported by a bit of cherry. There's some oak flavor as well, but I feel like this mostly comes through as a smoothness in it. Although some sours are loaded with so much flavor that they can be overwhelming, this seems somehow more drinkable, and the flavors are blended well. There doesn't seem to be any real hop flavor or aroma to the beer, as should be expected, instead it seems the sweetness is balanced by the sour qualities. It's very enjoyable if you like sour beers.

In the mouth the beer has a medium or medium-light body, but is extremely dry. It's well carbonated, and leaves almost a gritty sensation in the mouth while seemingly sucking away moisture.

I was a bit surprised as well at how relatively low the alcohol content in the beer was. I expected it to be upwards of 8 or 9%, but it's actually 5.5% Perhaps that explains why it is so easy to drink. I think someday I'd like to take a shot at something similar to this, since Red Poppy is fairly expensive and hard to come by, and I would like to have a lot more of it.

- Adam

Some quick thoughts and a Cantillon Classic Gueuze

I've got a busy couple of weekends coming up (and one past) with beer tastings, and I wanted to get a few posts in during this time. Tomorrow night marks the 1st Anniversary of BeerThursdays, which promises to be truly epic with rare and aged beers being pulled from a few people's cellars. The following weekend I'll be hosting my second tasting (and only 8 months after the first one!) which will be coming mostly out of my own cellar, so keep an eye out for posts from me and Adam on some special beers in the near future.

And now on to the gueuze! It's safe to say I've been on a bit of a Lambic bender lately, so I picked up two bottles of this on my last trip to State Line knowing that it can disappear quickly, and I would want to age at least one. As I was listening to this week's Sunday Session from The Brewing Network, one of the hosts got talking about his love of gueuze, and how, in America, we usually get a smaller pour (8oz or so) because of the price of good Lambic beers here. It was really how he stated his point that got to me; that in Belgium you can go into a bar and have a "big glass of gueuze" like you would expect to have any other beer here. Fast-forward through a day and a half of "big glass of gueuze" running through my mind and I'm standing in my kitchen staring down a 375ml of Cantillon Classic Gueuze. This shall be my big glass of gueuze.

Poured into my Duvel Tulip, it sat, a hazy pale gold with bits of orange. A one finger white head quickly faded to a ring with a thin coating over the middle of the glass thanks to the etching in the bottom. The smell is sour and earthy with a grassy finish. There's also an really acidic smell that seems to fade as its allowed to breathe.

The first sip is tart, but balanced. The malt presence is a nice counter to the acidic sourness that dominates the finish. It seems less carbonated than I expected, but the carbonation that's there is sharp and helps to ease your palette into the complex flavors ahead. The earthiness of the aroma is back as I get further into the glass, bringing the grass with it. The balance stays throughout the glass, with each sip bringing malt, sour and slight hop character (Czech Saaz?) into alignment.

The swallow is delightfully dry; making it tremendously drinkable. More drinkable than any sour I've had, certainly more than the ultra tart beers of brewers like Russian River. I love those beers, and they have been a treat every time I open a bottle, but they are sippers. Gueuze is for having a pint with dinner, and I delight in that.

If this is the sort of thing I can expect to drink large quantities of on a regular basis in Belgium, I may move there and never come back. I hope I've effectively got everyone thinking about a "big glass of gueuze," and dare you not to go pour yourself one.

- Dan

Big glass of gueuze.

Clipper City Black Cannon

Black Cannon is part of the Heavy Seas line of Clipper City beers, a brewery which has established itself among my local favorites. Although they tend to not put out a lot of over the top beers, what they do offer is generally a good, flavorful example of the style that's well done and balanced. Black Cannon specifically is a Black IPA, sometimes called an IBA, and is one of the currently more trendy styles out there. As would be expected, the beer pours a very dark brown, nearly black, and supports a small light tan head with moderately low retention.

The first thing that I noticed upon pouring was a distinct hoppy presence, more reminiscent of the fresh hops that I often use in homebrewing than the more common aromas found in a finished beer. There's a poignant citrus quality to it, leading me to believe that it may be Amarillo or one of the West Coast "C" hops.

A touch of biscuit malt hits the tongue initially, with just a hint of acrid roast up front, followed by a strong mix of hop and roast bitterness in the back of the mouth. I felt like there might have been just a touch of a medicinal flavor as well that I couldn't quite put my finger on. While decidedly not a sweet beer, it felt only slightly more balanced to the hoppy side to me. One thing I will say is that the "black" flavors (roast, coffee, chocolate, etc.) don't come through all that strongly in this beer. If you were drinking this beer without seeing it, you might not even realize that it's not just a Pale Ale or IPA. That's not to say that those flavors don't exist in the beer, just that they are fairly subtle.

It's a little sticky in the mouth, while initially feeling fairly light to medium bodied and a bit dry, after swallowing it leaves an oiliness. Still, from the flavor and lack of heat, I never would have guessed that this beer was over 7% ABV. While it may not be the best Black IPA I've had, it has a strong and robust flavor while remaining fairly drinkable. I could see myself putting a couple of these away in a single night. In fact, something about it reminds me of my own homebrewed Pale Ale, a beer I can drink all night long without getting tired of it. While Black Cannon might not be in the upper echelons of Black IPAs, it's certainly a decent session offering if you want to try the style out.

- Adam

Championship Results

We recently were invited to enter the Master's Championship of Amateur Brewing based on our gold medal at the Happy Holidays 2010 competition in St. Louis for our New World Stout. This competition hosted winners in each category from select national competitions, sort of a "best of the best" event. We were pleasantly surprised to be eligible to enter, especially since this beer was not planned as a competition beer at all. What I mean by that is that we didn't even try to follow the BJCP category guidelines, which are the standard to which each beer in a competition is judged. This is done to take much of the subjectivity of tasting out of the judging process. Because it was the closest match in color, gravity, and flavor profile, we entered this beer in category 13E - American Stout. However, we were not completely within the style as we used English hop and malt varieties to make up our beer. Hence the name New World Stout, a beer with English hop and malt character, but American style boldness.

As I said, we did not actually place in the competition, however upon receiving our score sheets I noticed that we were awarded an Honorable Mention. This was thrilling for us because it means that out of the 30 or so other stouts we were competing with, all gold medalists, ours was still considered to be among the very best. In fact, upon reading the feedback that we were given, I found that the judges did not have anything negative to say about the beer other than they would have liked a more "American" hop aroma and flavor profile. This makes sense because we did not use a single American hop in the beer. One of the judges even commented that he would drink our stout any day of the week.

Although it is a little disappointing that we did not technically place in this competition, it's a comfort to know that our beer was so well received and that it's really only the specificity of the style guidelines that kept us from placing. They went so far as to say the whole beer was well made with no off-flavors or problems, just simply lacking the citrus quality of American hops. If we ever choose to brew this beer again specifically for competitions, we can simply replace the hops we used with American varieties, and I'm sure we'll have a winner. I doubt we will ever do that though, we brew our beer for flavor and this beer is pretty much exactly what we want it to be. Good work New World Stout, you've done us proud.

- Adam