[BW] Beer Blog

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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Brewery: Coeur d’Alene Brewing
Style: Vegetable Beer / Spiced
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: na
RateBeer.com Rating: na
Serving: On tap

By far my favorite place to try local, hand-crafted brews in the Palouse is the Coeur d’Alene Ale House. Tonight I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a new seasonal brew on tap. How does it hold up to other pumpkin ales? Let’s find out.

Appearance - Very light in color and transparent. Only slightly darker than a standard lager/pilsner. Absolutely no head.

Smell - Smells like pumpkin pie! Really, the only smell is pumpkin pie with an emphasis on nutmeg.

Taste - I honestly kind of laughed after the first step. This beer tastes exactly like carbonated canned pumpkin pie filling. It’s so light though that it’s kind of refreshing. I really can’t add more to this as there aren’t any sort of complex hues of anything else other than pumpkin pie filling.

Overall would I consider this a great pumpkin ale, no. However, what I think this brew has going for it is that it’s the first pumpkin ale I’ve had that I could see doubling as a session beer. If you have the chance to try this while watching a football game or something, go ahead and order a pitcher. As for great pumpkin ales, check out Night Owl (my personal favorite) or Punk.

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Over the last couple of weeks I had the opportunity to try a couple new beers that I’d like to talk about. The following reviews are strictly from memory, so I apologize about not having full reviews.

Brewery Ommegang’s Three Philosophers Quadrupel Belgian
This brew hailing from Cooperstown, NY was introduced to me by a friend who came over for dinner. To be completely honest I think he purchased it based on the fancy bottle and the fact that it comes with a champagne-style cork. I was hesitant at first, as most of you know I am still on the fence about Belgians. However, this one was a hit!

The novelty of this quadrupel is that it is brewed with cherry lambic. The very dark cherry flavor is noticeable, but not completely overwhelming. Think of this as almost a step between a traditional quadrupel and what most people expect from a full on fruity lambic. Readers of Beer Advocate gave it an 89, so it looks like I’m not the only one who enjoyed it.

Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company’s Lakeside British Ale
This was listed on the menu as Cd’A Brewing’s favorite brew, so I thought I’d give it a try. Disappointingly, it was a decent attempt at a brown ale at best. The first sip was reminiscent of New Castle, although perhaps a little bolder. I can see why the Ale House tends to cook with this a lot, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering a pint of it any time soon. I guess all of their brews can’t be as excellent as their Vanilla Bourbon Stout.

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Brewery: Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Stout
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: Retired?
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.78 (95th Percentile)
Serving: On Tap

Last night my friend Tim and I decided to check out Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company’s alehouse in Moscow, Idaho. Pullman (where we currently live) isn’t exactly a beer Mecca, so we were incredibly relieved to go to a real public house and try some hand-crafted, local beer.

I decided to try their Vanilla Bourbon Stout and wow, I was really impressed. Here’s what I wrote down while tasting:

Color - Incredibly dark brown, not quite black with only a thin lace of head. The lack of head may be due to a lag in getting the beer from the tap to my table.

Smell - Smells of roasted coffee and vanilla. Very inviting.

Taste - My nose is getting really good at this. Tim described it as “coffee with vanilla ice cream.” While I don’t completely agree, there is definitely a slight coffee hue that balances perfectly with the vanilla. The bourbon comes through afterwards very slightly and lightly floats over your taste buds for a few seconds. While this may be a stout, this brew is incredibly drinkable. It’s not very heavy and I had no problem drinking two pints.

Beers like this are the kinds of gems you can only find from local microbreweries. These are the brews that show how hard working and how creative brewers can get when they’re not forced to brew inoffensive, mediocre beers that are supposed to appeal to everybody. Coeur d’Alene Brewing has a new fan and he definitely plans on picking up a growler next time for the incredible price of only $15 and $7.50 for refills.

I also had the opportunity to order their Blue Cheese Burger. This hamburger was topped with blue cheese, two huge onion rings, and all the standard burger veggies. Served with some seasoned fries and combined with the beer, Tim and I had one very delicious and much deserved dinner. I highly recommend you visit the alehouse if you happen to be in the Palouse area, want some good food, and crave a local brew.

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