[BW] Beer Blog

I’ve been pondering this for quite some time, but I think there’s no better time than now. It is with a heavy heart that I must announce I will no longer be updating this blog.

This has been an incredibly fun project that has reaped rewards I never imagined. However, due to a combination of lack of time, fading interest, and recent health concerns, I can no longer allow myself to leave my readers wondering when the next post will be.

Thank you to everybody who has ever posted a comment, linked to my site, recommended a beer, or even sent a few cold ones my way. I’ll be sure to stay in touch with those of you who visit frequently. In the mean time, enjoy the site for however long I decide to leave it up.

Oh, and Eric, I’m still putting together quite a package for you =)

Thank you again!

-Rick

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As I sit here working between various projects I decided I needed a cold one. Sure I have a few imperial stouts I could pop open, but no. Forget that. I need a cold one.

Enter Surly’s Bitter Brewer. This gem was sent to me by Eric at Bearded Brewing and I was immediately intrigued because it’s a pint-sized can. You know my policy on can beer, so there won’t be any mention of smell or appearance this time around.

The beer itself is exactly what it says it is. A generally inoffensive bitter in a can. I must say, I could easily go through a few of these. It’s even easier because it has a handy wide-mouthed opening.

The only part of this beer I have to disagree with is its tag line, “Beer for a glass, from a can.” No beer from a can should ever be poured in a glass. Ever.

Definitely way better than Flat Tire from a can.

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I’m going to deviate from my normal format and instead do a few quick reviews of some awesome brews I had last weekend.

Casked Deschutes Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond Pale Ale
This cask-conditioned ale I had at Deschutes’ new Public House in the Pearl District of Portland. As a huge fan of cask-conditioned ales, this didn’t disappoint. Much, much smoother than regular Mirror Pond with a way higher floral aroma. I could have drank this all night if I had the opportunity. A colleague of mine also enjoyed it, which was surprising since he doesn’t really like regular Mirror Pond.

Block 15 Chocolate Porter
Block 15 is a brewery and brew pub in Corvallis, OR that I haven’t even remotely written enough about. Block 15 has quickly become one of my favorite breweries period and definitely my favorite brew pub. Their Chocolate Porter was exactly what it claims to be. Very similar to Rogue’s chocolate stout offering, yet just a tad thinner in body. Definitely grab a pint while it’s still available.

Block 15 Ridgeback Red
Ridgeback Red is one of Block 15’s standard offerings and has claimed quite a bit of success as a beer almost everybody will enjoy. This red takes the standard west coast twist on reds in that it leans much more towards hoppy than malty. I had the opportunity to enjoy this from a pony keg that Josh from The Oregon Wine Blog brought to a recent show our rock band played. If you want to play it safe visiting Block 15 for your first time, then perhaps consider ordering a pint of Ridgeback Red.

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Brewery: Stone Brewing
Style: Oatmeal Stout
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: A- (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.83 (97th percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

Stone by and large is one of my favorite breweries. Their Russian Imperial Stout is in a league of its own, I look forward to Old Guardian every year, and I can even get Arrogant Bastard on tap. To say I was excited to see that they brewed a chocolate stout would be an understatement. Long time readers know that I’m a sucker for chocolate stouts.

“Our Anniversary Ale this year stems from 2 pilot beers that were brewed by members of Team Stone. The first was Jeremy Moynier’s incredibly delicious Oatmeal Stout, and the second was Jake Ratzke’s amazing homebrewed Imperial Stout that had authentic Oaxacan chocolate added to the boil. We loved both beers so much that we decided to combine the recipes to make this year’s Anniversary offering: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.”

I have high hopes for this one considering both that its’ from Stone and it’s price tag, so let’s see what we have:

Appearance: Jet black with the thinnest lace of brown head I have ever poured. No light gets through this one.

Smell: Surprisingly, I don’t smell any chocolate. Standard oatmeal stout aromas come though as well as some extra alcohol, which has a hint of bourbon behind it. If anything, coffee comes through as a dominant smell.

Taste: Whoa! Not a fan of this. It tastes like a coffee stout spiked with vodka. Maybe I just got a bad bottle, but this his horrible. There’s no hint of chocolate whatsoever and it’s not even that great of an attempt at an oatmeal stout. I’ll give it a shot again if I can find a bottle (to verify if mine was just bad or not), but my advice would be to pick up Rogue’s or Bison’s chocolate stouts before this one.

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Brewery: Bearded Brewing
Style: Wheat
Serving: 12oz Bottle

Instead of doing my usual pre-review spiel, I’ll let Eric from Bearded Brewing explain this brew from his original blog post.

This summer for my daughter’s first birthday party, we are planning on having quite a few guests. I decided to brew a beer for the occasion, and plan on brewing a different one every year to mark the occasion. I had been playing around with different ideas for UNO, trying to think of something that would be accessible to a variety of people. The party will be in July, so I wanted something lighter and decided on a wheat beer, but wanted to do something with it so it was a bit more interesting. I decided on adding orange blossom honey to the recipe. At the last minute I decided to throw a teaspoon of orange marmalade in as well. I am brewing it now so I can make any tweaks before brewing it for the party.

Appearance: A hazy golden color not too untypical for beers of this variety. A noticeable amount of carbonation as well with a residual finger’s worth of beige head. In comparison, this is a tad thicker than Eugene City’s offering.

Smell: The orange definitely shines though, but in more of an understated way. Very mellow yeasty smell as well with just a tad bit of honey coming along for the ride.

Taste: Incredibly refreshing! The orange flavor is definitely apparent, but like the smell, does not overwhelm your taste buds. I’m also impressed at how this didn’t come off as some orange beers where the “orange” flavor is more similar to Tang than real oranges. The honey used must have been rather subtle as well, as this brew is sweet, but nowhere near as sweet as 75% of other fruit-inspired offerings. This probably occurred during the fermentation process with the orange peels, but a hint of lemon flavor comes through as well.

Just as Eric aimed for, this brew is perfect for a hot day. I can also imagine it being fairly easy to go through quite a bit of it during a party. Eric definitely has a knack for this whole brewing thing and I definitely look forward to popping open the rest of my Bearded Brewing offerings. I also look forward to Ella’s next birthday, seeing as we all get the gift of amazing beer =)

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Brewery: Full Sail Brewery
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: A- (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.89 (98th percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

I have mixed feelings about Full Sail. On one hand they have a commitment to sustainability rivaled by few and have a completeley seperate brewery just to brew their top-tier brews. On the other hand they brew a lot of boring, completely uninspired brews. They even have a brewing contract with Miller to brew some of their smaller produced beers, such as Henry’s Organic Pale Ale. I guess I think of them as a macro micro brewery.

That aside, I’m a big fan of bourbon-inspired porters and stouts. This brew immediately stood out to me on the shelf as something I absolutely had to try. Will Full Sail redeem themselves somewhat? First, let’s see what this one is all about:

Top Sail was aged for about 10 months in bourbon casks from Kentucky. This aging presents hints of chocolate, figs, and oak to this amplified robust porter. Deep black in color, it has a raosy malt flavor and a rich malt sweetness that’s smooth and drinkable. A hearty cellar beer.

Appearance - About as dark of a brown as you can get. Not much light gets through either. A good finger’s worth of tan head is left upon pouring.

Smell - Bourbon definitely shines through, but not in an overwhelming way. Hues of chocolate and malt also come through as well.

Taste - Much more balanced than Oregon Trail’s attempt. This isn’t to say that Full Sail’s is necessarily better, but Top Sail is much closer to a porter that uses bourbon to add to the experience. My nose tagged this one perfectly as chocolate and malt are also very apparent. Surprisingly, even at 9.85% ABV, the alcohol isn’t very apparent.

All in all I’d say pick this one up if you’re into porters or darker ales brewed with bourbon. If bourbon turns you off then you can probably skip this one. While this is definitely a delicious brew, I think it got more hype than it deserved.

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This weekend I had the opportunity to splurge and purchase some awesome beer. Splurge may actually be an understatement because the average Joe Schmoe would have probably accumulated around 300 cans of beer for what I spent on relatively few bottles.

In addition to what I purchased in Corvallis, Eric from Bearded Brewing sent me an amazing assortment of his brews as well as a couple others. Here’s a full list of what I accumulated this weekend:

Deschutes The Dissident
Deschutes Black Butte XX
Deschutes 20th Anniversary Wit
Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Stone Double Bastard
Dogfish Head Peche
Bearded Brewing Bangy Tangy
Bearded Brewing Irie Stout
Bearded Brewing El Muerto
Bearded Brewing Hopshot IPA
Bearded Brewing Uno
New Glarus Imperial Weizen
Surly Bitter Brewer

Whew, I think that’s it. Some of those are in multiple quantities too, so look out for a few of those to be gifted. Anywho, also be on the look out for lots of reviews coming down the pike. I have a couple brews in addition to those as well.

Next weekend is going to be fun.

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Brewery: Nøgne Ø
Style: Barley Wine
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: A- (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.9 (98th percentile)
Serving: Imperial Pint-sized Bottle

*Gasp!* That’s right, folks. I’ve finally gotten around to posting a new beer review! I apologize about the few month gap in there, but things got pretty hectic and I just didn’t have much drive to review beer. Sure I had some great beers in that time, but I just wasn’t moved for some reason. Well that time has passed and I hope to post somewhat regularly again.

Today’s brew is Nøgne Ø’s #100 Barley Wine. This comes from the same Norwegian brewery that has continued to impress me time after time. In celebration of their 100th batch, Nøgne Ø decided to pull out all stops and brew a barley wine. Here’s what they have to say:

Our 100th batch, brewed for the enjoyment of the brewers, but popular demand forced us to release it commercially. This malty, yet light bodied ale has a massive hop bitterness. Most enjoyable in a comfortable chair in front of a roaring fire.

I may not have a roaring fire going on, but I do have a rather bright computer monitor. Let’s hope this is an acceptable substitute.

Appearance: Very dark caramel color with a couple fingers worth of tan head. Pours rather creamy compared to other barley wines. Not a whole lot of light gets through either.

Smell: Typical sweet aroma as with most English-style barley wines. Hughes of caramel, apple, and maybe roasted hazelnuts? I can’t quite put my finger on that last one.

Taste: Wow, definitely unique for a barley wine. Some of the typical English barley wine tastes are there, but the mouthfeel and overall experience is much closer to a cream stout. Definitely hues of roasted nuts, caramel, and even a little chocolate. By far the most innovative effort I’ve tried when it comes to barley wines.

Overall this is a very unique and incredibly delicious barley wine. Nøgne Ø continues to impress me with yet another world-class ale. Pick this up if you’re a fan of both barley wines and darker ales such as stouts or brown ales. Pass on this if you’re not on ales with heavier alcohol or prefer American-style barley wines as there is absolutely no citrus in this one. I’d also recommend finding a roaring fire. A computer monitor just isn’t the same.

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Brewery: Oregon Trail Brewery
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: B (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.68 (93rd percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

It has been entirely too long since my last post, so to make up for my absence I am reviewing a beer that I’ve wanted to try for quite some time. The Oregon Trail Brewery is a small, local brewery in Corvallis, Oregon mostly notable for their Wit. However, they also brew a slew of other beers and one just happens to be a bourbon porter.

The bottle itself is dipped in red wax and a price tag (almost $12) that easily scares off the weak of heart. I’m not intimidated though, as I love huge porters and stouts. From their site:

Oregon Trail Bourbon Barrel Porter is as big as the West, masterfully brewed in the true pioneer spirit. This robust porter is aged in Kentucky oak bourbon barrels. The result is a pitch-black brew, rich with oaky smoothness, bold bourbonesque aroma, with hints of fruit and vanilla.

Sounds delicious. Let’s find out!

Appearance - While not absolutely pitch black as advertised, not much light gets through this one. One can easily tell that it’s clearly a porter and not a stout. A couple fingers worth of tan head also appear upon pouring.

Smell - I smelled bourbon the second I popped the cap. Upon getting my nose in there, I was bombarded with a whole ton more of bourbon. I’ve had bourbon-inspired beers before, but none greet you like this one. Behind the bourbon is a little bit of vanilla tagging along for the ride.

Taste - This beer is exactly what it says it is. This is no ordinary porter by any means. The bourbon taste is immediately apparent, as is the vanilla. Only after the initial taste dissipates are you reminded that this is a porter. I have to say that I expected this to be a porter first and not the other way around, but Oregon Trail made an incredibly delicious and unique brew. Take your time with this one too as the 11% abv will knock you on your butt.

I highly recommend getting your hands on this if you can.

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Brewery: Coeur d’Alene
Style: Maibock
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: C+ (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.16
Serving: On Tap

First of all, I’m back! It’s been entirely too long since my last post and I apologize. Now that the busiest time of the year is wrapping up, I’ll once again have plenty of time to review new beers. I’m also excited because in 5 days from now I move back to the Portland area. This means exponentially more beer for me and a lot more interesting reviews for all of you.

Today’s review is yet another brew from Coeur d’Alene. I figured this is my last weekend in Pullman for the next three months, so I might as well hit up the Ale House one last time. I hadn’t been there in a while and was pleasantly surprised to see that they have a seasonal maibock.

Appearance - Dark copper color with a healthy amount of white head. Looks like a pretty standard maibock. Think maybe a tad darker than how Dead Guy pours.

Smell - Smells like a typical maibock as well. Pretty standard mixture of flowery hops and caramel-type malts.

Taste - I have to say this tastes like a typical maibock as well, but with a more pronounced alcohol taste. From what I’ve read, this brew is only supposed to be about 7% ABV, but mine tasted closer to 8.5-9%. Perhaps this year’s batch is just boozier.

Either way, this is a fairly typical maibock that will hit the spot of that’s what you’re craving. If you want something completely unique, perhaps try elsewhere. At the very least, this will please you if you’re craving a Dead Guy.

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