[BW] Beer Blog

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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