Adam's Beer #9 - Baird Dark Sky Imperial Stout

“It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.” - Nigel Tufnel

I love purchasing unknown Stouts….Russian, Coffee, Milk, Oatmeal it does not matter, when you unlock the bottle it is unknown what is going to empty out. Will it be watery? Will it be more of a coffee color than black? Will it have a lot of carbonation? This was the fun I had tipping the bottle of Baird Dark Sky Imperial Stout.

Let me rewind for one second to explain that Baird Brewing is located in Japan. For this reason, and this logic only, the beer was purchased. The only beer I have ever had from Japan was Hitachino Nest White Ale, which I love. The Japanese have perfected the Belgian Ale, but can they compete when it comes to the world of Imperial Stouts?

Back to the Dark Sky – the stout poured a stunning black into my pint glass with a small amount of coffee colored head; the name of the beer fits perfectly. As I take in the nose I wonder if I am dreaming…is that a bouquet of hops? I had to run to my computer to find if it was true, and yes they dry hopped their stout with two different types of hops. A strong taste of tobacco and chocolate dominate the first taste while other wonderful flavors peak their head out to say hello as it works its way around my mouth.

Overall I have to give this beer a 9.5/10 – it is very hard for a stout to stand out among some of the best beers around, but the Japanese have seemed to figure it out.

Adam's Beer #8 - Fullers 2008 Vintage Ale

It seems that because of Take 52, my list of rules that I will try and not break is increasing weekly. This new rule is: if a beer is a numbered, limited edition it is a must have (baring it is not $50 for a bottle.)

The beer of choice this week was the Bottle Conditioned Fullers 2008 Vintage Ale - Bottle Number 116005. Just like the show LOST, there is a lot of mystery behind these numbers. Did this vintage get better in the later numbers, or was bottle 1573 where it’s at? Why are the numbers written on the wall by everyone's name...oops sorry that's Lost.

The oversight I made was locating this beer in the fridge. While reading up on this old ale I learned that it should be tasted at cellar temperatures. After work I ran home and tried to get the temperature up, but I also did not want to wait too long to open up this bad boy. I bet this one would be remarkable on cask.

I really enjoyed this English Strong Ale. The tastes of citrus and dark raisins backed up by very sweet malts were extremely evident mostly due to the low alcohol in each mouthful; any more alcohol and this would be considered an English Barleywine.

Overall I gave this old ale 7.5 out of 10, I really expected this beer to be more complex then it was though it was a very well-crafted beer. Perhaps with a bit more age it would move up in the rankings.

Mike’s Beer #6—Stone Levitation Ale

There’s not much to say about this one. I looked at the brewery and the price and falsely figured that I was getting a juiced-up version of what I love about Stone—a bounty of hop flavor and aroma. What I got was something pretty dry and tame, the first unmemorable brew that I’ve tasted for this column.

Levitation has a very dry, clean finish, bitter with just a bit of floral taste on the tongue. It’s an award winner, but not really for me… tastes like my homebrew did, which should make me feel good, but there’s a reason why I stopped brewing: my skill hit a plateau and the brew just wasn’t getting any better.

Mike’s Beer #5—Widmer Brothers Reserve Cherry Oak Doppelbock

I was a little worried when I popped the top on this one. I was going for my third bock in a row. What if it turned out to be just like the others? What if I was stuck in an unrelenting loop of similarly tasting bock beers? Silly me.

Silly because I didn’t consider my source (the bottle was a gift from Adam). Silly because I didn’t trust the brand (which I loved when I lived in Seattle back in ’93). Silly because it came in a cardboard box. And if that’s not a sign of elegance, I don’t know what is.

I’d put this up there with some of the great Ithaca Excelsior! brews: big, complex and tasty, a beer worthy of discussion. It smells like a bock, with a deep, roasted, slightly sour aroma. It tastes like a bock way back in the tongue, but it also has an added bitterness from the oak and cherries. Worthy of its packaging, this brew kept changing from moment to moment, each swallow taking on a handful of different twists and turns.

In the end, I think they overdid it just a touch with the oak. Deep into the swallow, I would be reminded of Ithaca’s experiment with an oaked nut brown. Two beers, two styles, yet with very similar finishes. Yep—got to be the oak. But man—I’d drink this again, for sure.

Adam's Beer #7 - Ipswich Dark Ale

There are so many different categories of beer it can drive you crazy. From Barley Wine to Weizenbier who is to know which beer to pair with a menu?

This Valentine’s Day we sharpened our teeth for a carnivorous feast of grilled steak from Whole Foods, caramelized onions, sautéed green beans and homemade Yukon Gold fries…without a doubt I knew I wanted a brew with a nice earthy tone that would pay tribute to the sweet marinade.

It just so happens that friends of mine surprised me with a growler of Ipswich Dark Ale from Mercury Brewing Company…everyone should be so lucky to have friends like these. Last year Ipswich Dark took 6th place in the American Brown Ale category at the US Open Beer Championship.

As I emptied the growler into my English pint glass the rich, brown beer was eaten up by a huge, tan head that did not want to disappear until I sipped it off the rim. Even then the lacing was left around the glass as if I were drinking a glutinous, root beer float.

The malted, molasses sweetness of the beer brings out the very best of any BBQ, while the dynamic, bitter hop finish was a welcomed revelation. I laugh at a lot of reviews when I read that someone tasted weird items such as dried soil or a rare fruit only found on the shores of the Amazon….but for the first time I found myself craving some butter as the suggestion of burnt toast rolled over my tongue that had my mouth begging for another sip.

Overall I gave Ipswich Dark Ale 8 out of 10. It is not the supreme brown ale, but it is undeniably one I would hunt out again.

Adam's Beer #6 - Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

In a post a couple of weeks ago I listed a few personal regulations when it comes to drinking beer, but I also have a few rules that I never break:

1) Try any beer once, even if it was made with Blueberries. That does not mean I will buy it, but if given the opportunity to sample who can say no?
2) If going to a new city I will try to find the local brewery to fill a growler. The most recent was Middle Ages Brewing in Syracuse – Yum!
3) If a beer is on the Beer Advocate Top Beers on Planet Earth or Rate Beer’s Best Beers in the World lists, and locally available, I must purchase it.

While touring Valley Discount Liquor in Ansonia, CT (yes, I said Ansonia) I came across the Limited Edition Ballast Point Brewing Sculpin India Pale Ale. Currently ranked #40 on RateBeer.com and #14 on BeerAdvocate.com (recently pushed from the #13 spot by Cantillon Blåbær Lambik) it fit into my rule book flawlessly.

Jim and I parked ourselves at his dining room table and opened the bottle over a conversation of our usual beer nonsense. Once poured the talking turned to sniffing, it was hard to make out what was going on in our noses. The fruits were so distinct that you seem to be able to pinpoint them all on their own. Grapefruit, apricot and other citrus aromas were tuning their instruments waiting to be discovered by our pallets.

I have to come clean that at first sample I did not really get the hubbub, but fast-forward a couple of days later to bomber #2 and I realize what we had was something very extraordinary. When you knock back a beer with a high I.B.U. (International Bittering Unit) you expect to be all pucker with no flavor (see Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial,) but not the case here. The fruit and hops work so well together I would say that they are the Joe Montana and Jerry Rice of beer. I have read often of drinkers tasting a pine taste, but I think the hops and citrus are too dominate for other flavors to materialize.

Overall I give the Sculpin a 9/10 – it is right up there with Pliny the Elder as one of the best IPAs I have had the pleasure of drinking. Not a beer I could drink everyday, but it makes for one hell of a night.

Adam's Beer #5 - Poperings Hommel Bier

When it comes to beer, I love surprises…this is the reason I like to make my selection based on the label alone. Using this method I have come across Imperial Stout Trooper, Hop Rod Rye, Old Rasputin and this week’s beer of choice Poperings Hommel Bier.

Even as I jot this down I am unsure of my position towards this Belgian IPA. Drinking this beer was like strolling through the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory, around ever corner seemed to be a new flavor waiting to jump on my senses.

As I pop the cork on the 750ml I am struck with the beautiful perfume brought on by the freshest of hops which I expected since the label is a spectacular landscape covered in my favorite flower.

Around the next corner of my factory tour my tulip glass filled with a magnificent honey haze below full foam that, once dissipated, left lacing throughout the entire glass. I had to take in the scent once more before rounding the next turn knowing I was falling into a trap.

These snozberries did not taste like the snozberries I was expecting. A nice symmetry of malt and hops usually reserved for a Tripel – I should have known this was coming after the large amount of carbonation on the pour. As with most of my experiences drinking a Belgian beer the first taste that hits my mouth is a large metallic tang. I am not sure if it is the combination of spices, but it soon gets lost in the citric finish I was anticipating from the hops on the label.

I give this beer a 7.5/10 - Being an extreme hop fan it was on the mellow side for my IPA taste buds, but I will not hesitate buying another bottle. I would like to find more Belgian IPAs to weigh against the Poperings Hommel Bier.

Mike’s Beer #4—Troegenator Doublebock

As I’ve said earlier, bocks have sort of been off my radar for a while as I’ve vacillated between the worlds of IPAs and Belgians. This is where Take 52 has been helpful in expanding my understanding. Running into Finger Lakes Beverage Center this afternoon, I might have easily grabbed one of my comfort beers—Middle Ages Wailing Wench, or maybe Ithaca Flower Power IPA. My sites were set on Stone IPA when I spotted TroegsTroegenator Doublebock in the next cooler over. This Pennsylvania brew has been showing up more and more recently, and I figured, after my great experience with EKU 28, it was time to try this one. I can’t claim to be an expert on the style, but it drinks super clean, with a serious balance between the malt and heavy alcohol. The carbonation is light, just as I want it to be with this style. And when the swallow is gone, the taste dissipates quickly, making the net sip all the more urgent.

I had this beer while celebrating my boy’s 5th birthday. Turns out that Troegenator goes well with chocolate. Cake, that is. Only, the combo of heavy carbs (we also had potatoes with brunch, homemade cinnamon rolls and plenty of birthday cake) made napping a distinct certainty.

I would most certainly pick up this beer again, especially if I were visiting family in Florida and mom was buying.

Mike’s Beer #3.5—Ithaca GroundBreak

According to the ground rules, I’m not supposed to mention any brewery more than once. I will, of course, be trying a great many new beers by Ithaca this year since a) they’re my hometown brewery and b) they keep coming out with new beers about as often as I change my socks. I reviewed their TWELVE and LeBleu two weeks ago, and already they’re back at it with a new beer. This one’s going to be a regular late winter seasonal. GroundBreak is an American saison, which you know, means that it’s a Belgian-style saison with lots of hops. This one is medium body for a saison with a strong hop flavor and bitterness. It’s definitely unlike anything else Ithaca has put out. I’m guessing that I’ll be bringing plenty of this with me to TAP-NY.

Adam's Beer #4 - Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer

I have a few regulations when it comes to drinking a beer that has seemed to be broken recently; for example:

1. Never Drink From the Bottle. This rule was kaput when Captain Lawrence Brewing Company began bottling Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA.
2. Never Drink a Macrobrewery. I cannot stay away from a Miller High Life which I recently ordered at a restaurant because instead of the proper name was listed as The Champagne of Beers.
3. Never Buy a Beer in a Clear or Green Bottle. I newly broke this rule while drinking my beer of the week – Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer.

The myth that a clear bottle ruins the beer is exactly that, a myth. Yes, it makes the beer more susceptible to UV rays, but the color of the bottle can not be blamed for the skunked flavor.

Another rule I have is when I see a beer that is Aged in Oak (or any other type of barrel) I must have it. While perusing the Great Britain section of my local brew-market I was torn, Innis and Gunn…Clear Bottle…Oak Aged…would it cancel my two laws out? The answer, yes.

The oak gave this English Pale Ale toffee like characteristics that came over way too sweet due to the lack of hops to balance the flavor. For a Pale Ale, this brew had a huge malt backbone which I may have enjoyed had there been more of a medium body instead of the thin mouthful that I enjoy for an IPA. I guess the best way to describe the overall reaction would be to state that it tasted like a scotch after the ice has watered it down.

Overall I give this beer a 7/10. It was a worthy effort from Innis and Gunn. It wasn’t a bad beer, nor was it great, but I would definitely give it another go around some other time.

Jimmy's Beer Number Three

I know part of the game is to try different breweries each time, but I have decided to just try beers I have never had before. So, with this said my third beer is from the Dogfish Head brewery, Theobroma. The pour resulted in a small head that disappeared quickly. The color is a bright light amber. There are hints of honey in the aroma of the beer. But some would say it just smells like a beer. It is brewed with honey, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, ancho chilies and ground annatto. The flavor is rich with the sweetness of the honey. There is a subtle hint of the chili pepper, it is as if the chili taste arrives with the after taste from the back of the mouth. Or it could be the heartburn from my dinner, but I doubt that. This is a beer that I received in the great beer trade of aught 9 with Randy. So, I am not sure exactly how old the beer is but as I as progress on this beer its getting easier and easier to get down. In hindsight I should of split this beer with someone else, these large bottles are sometimes tough to fight down on my own. Overall its a very good beer, but there is too much sweetness in the beer for me to ever have again. Once is enough for me.

Mike’s Beer #3—EKU 28

I had one of these bad boys last weekend at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh, NC. The bottle was portrayed on a beer poster I had in college, but I hadn’t encountered one until that fateful night at Scott’s 40th birthday shin-dig. The EKU 28 was a great way to kick start the evening. At 11% ABV, the alcohol did not take over the flavor. Instead there was a deep, funky maltiness that didn’t give up. It occurred to me (about ¼ way through the bottle, while I was still capable of intelligent thought) that I hadn’t had a bock in a long, long time. I suppose it’s because they take so much time to ferment (and brewers don’t want to tie up their tanks for one batch when they could make many ales over the same amount of time). A quick scan of the Net shows a great many celebrated bock beers that I haven’t ever tried. It looks like I have several new topics for upcoming columns.

Adam's Beer #3 - Dogfish Head Squall

Let me start off by stating that I do not like Dogfish Head beers. I do enjoy a 90 minute as often as Scorsese wins the Best Director Oscar®, but that's about it. Something about the flavor combinations that turns me off, but I have never been able to pinpoint one thing alone. I knew eventually my travels through 52 breweries would make a stop in Delaware so I figured that there was no time like the present.

Just like every other beer conceived by Dogfish Head, the Squall IPA did not blow me over. Being that this is completely bottled conditioned it was smoother than the ordinary 90 minute, but just like the rest produced by DFH it has an uncontrollable sweetness that is trying its best to hide behind the use of six different types of hops.

The best part about this beer is the aroma...filled with beautiful, flowery, citrus scents that can only be enhanced through perfect dry hopping. This is a characteristic that I have tried to emulate in my home brew but never got the results that matched my expectations.

I give the beer a 6/10 - though it was not the perfect IPA, bottle conditioning made it as smooth as the sweet sounds of Yacht Rock (look it up)

I have just realized that I have lied to you in paragraph #1; No, I still do not like a majority of DFH beers, but there is one that I am a HUGE fan of and I happen to have one in the fridge to cleanse the pallet - Palo Santo Marron. I may not have enjoyed my beer of the week as I hoped, but at least I can end the evening on a high note. Cheers!

Mike’s Beer #2—Ithaca TWELVE; Ithaca LeBleu

If I’m going to review a different brewery each week, then I’ve only got one shot to discuss the home team, Ithaca Beer Company. Turns out there’s no time like the present. They just released two new brews in the Excelsior! series: TWELVE and LeBleu.

Don’t look for LeBleu in stores. It sold out after only two weeks. Sold retail for $15, there’s already been one sold on eBay for $75.

Ithaca brewer Jeff “Chief” O’Neil contends that these big beers Ithaca puts out are meant to be conversation pieces, and I have to agree. I stood in my kitchen, sipping the TWELVE with research assistant Todd, comparing it with LeBleu. A formal review, we decided, was impossible. We’d have to resort to metaphor. In that case, TWELVE is deep, rootsy funk. Parliament, James Brown… the Ohio Players. It’s nasty and rich, with syncopated flavors. Smells like an armpit. A goddam, sexy armpit. LeBleu? That’d be jazz, baby. Light and delicate, yet innovative, complex and rooted in tradition. Coltrane, Monk.

The two beers have one similarity: both have roots in Belgian styles. That’s about it, other than both being incredibly interesting and delicious. TWELVE is a quadruple—a very strong wheat beer, malty and feisty with flavor. LeBleu is like nothing else, a sour ale made with wild yeasts and then blended with blueberries. Pours red like cranberry juice and has a light pink head. I drank the entire 750-ml bottle in one sitting and puzzled over it the entire time. In a good way. I won’t be tasting anything like that again—that is, until I crack another one at TAP New York this spring.

Adam's Beer #2 - Imperial Stout Trooper

Living in Connecticut is very hard for a beer drinker. 3.4 million people, 5,500 square miles and the 4th most densely populated state only has 4 breweries, with only two of them worth mentioning and none of them worth drinking. But has the Constitution State redeemed itself by brewing Imperial Stout Trooper??? It is hard to believe that such a great beer can make it out of the New England Brewing Company especially when they only have three selections to choose from...none of which are any better than bath water.

Originally I bought this beer due to the bottle being a Storm Trooper helmet, but after reading reviews I knew that it was a true Russian Imperial Stout. I popped open the 12 ounces after letting sit in my beer closet (yes, beer closet) for a year. It poured completely opaque into my pint glass with a very light, mocha head that departed just as fast as it came. At 9% abv, the alcohol was masked by roasted malts and bitter chocolate flavors making this one of the smoothest Russian Imperial Stouts on the market. The taste stayed in your mouth for quite some time, very similar to smoking a cigarette.

It seems that a brewery in CT finally has unlocked the secret of making a good beer, I just wish that they would figure out how to make it year-round. I would also like to give myself a pat on the back for not writing any Star Wars references in this write up...the force is strong in this one (doh!)

Overall: 9/10 - one of the most drinkable Russian Imperial Stouts, right next to Victory Storm King Stout

Mike’s Beer #1 – Wolaver’s Alta Gracia Coffee Porter

I’m going to come clean here. Even though I’ve covered central New York breweries with the Great Lakes Brewing News for nearly a decade, I’ve never been through a formal tasting process quite like we’re doing here. I’ve focused more on the marketing side of things, reporting about all the great beers that have been flowing out of the Finger Lakes and Catskills regions and the successes of our regional breweries. I recently resigned my position, and I find myself ironically looking more closely at beer than ever. That’s a good thing, people. Like when I quit tabling for MASSPIRG in college and then found time to actually recycle.

Here I am in my kitchen, examining Wolaver’s (Middlebury, VT) Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. Like all of Wolaver’s beers, this is an organic offering. The coffee is from the Dominican Republic, organically grown on a fair trade farm.

The beer pours dark brown, almost black, with a thin, cream-colored head. Fresh espresso beans are more than hinted in the bouquet, as a dry and fragrant aroma of coffee dominates the nose.

Alta Gracia coats the mouth like a glass of whole milk. It has a creamy consistency and has very light carbonation. The beer has a very clean taste, no doubt a result of the high quality ingredients used in production. The pleasant coffee flavor is very prominent with notes of dark chocolate, burnt caramel and bark. The coffee flavor dominates, with coffee flavors remaining long after a sip. The result is that few of the characteristics of a porter are evident, other than color and a body. The balance restored itself somewhat as the beer warmed closer to room temperature.

Overall – 6/10 … This is a tasty and enjoyable beer, a bit of a slow sipper due to the intense coffee flavor and aroma. While the coffee flavor was excellent, I prefer more malt to balance out the porter end of things.

I’m guessing that I’ll be much more comfortable with evaluating beer by the end of the year. Reviewing this one was somewhat stressful, as I hemmed and hawed my way through the pint, only to realize I had very little left to sip when I was done analyzing. I think I discovered a great way to beat this problem, though--for the time being, I’m going to drink two bottles for every one I review.

Adam's Beer #1 - Lost Abbey 10 Commandments

**WARNING** Please be kind to the writing - hopefully the reviews will get better as the weeks fly by. I have decided that after a year of listening to a new (to me) album a week throughout 2009 that I would keep with the theme of introducing myself to something that I have yet to try. 2010 will have many new experiences but the two I am going to shoot for are BEER and SHORT STORIES. The goal for the beer is to have a new beer each week that I have yet to try, but the twist is that I can not repeat a brewery.

For my first beer of the 52 I have opened a Lost Abbey 10 Commandment. From the bottle: 10 commandments: 1. The most imaginative beers are our crusade. 2. We believe we are all in this together. 3. We strive for honesty and integrity in our lives like you. 4. Fresh beer is great, aged beer is better. 5.Now that you have found us, help us spread the message. 6. There is good and evil in the world, our beers are good. 7. Passion isn't something you can buy at the corner store. 8. We believe an inspired life is worth living. 9. Life is about choices. The Lost Abbey is a great choice. 10. We are not perfect but no one is.

This Belgium Strong Ale in a 750ml bottle and poured a very dark, cola brown into a 16oz tulip glass. A lot more carbonation than I expected, which you can see by the picture above gave it a large head. As the head dissipated it did not leave much or any lacing.

The raisins came fourth big time in the aroma, and a sourness that I expect was caused by the Brett that was added during bottling. The taste was of a dark cherries and red wine which turned into a more sweet alcohol on the finish. It seemed to have an enormous mouthful, but it may have been the abundance of carbonation dancing on the tongue.

There was a lot going on in this beer, but without going over the top, which made it a very enjoyable beer to drink. As the beer got closer to room temperature it only got better. The spices made it a must have beer for the winter time.

Overall - 8/10 ... As the 9th Commandment states, "Life is about choices. The Lost Abbey is a great choice."