From the label:
"Don't give up the sip."
A handcrafted India Pale Ale from Cleveland, Ohio
Alcohol by volume: 7.5 percent
12 fl. oz. capped bottle
Sampled: April 5, 2007
His Great Lakes victories over the British came nearly 200 years ago, but Oliver Hazard Perry's namesake IPA is a new migrant to Central Ohio, and new entrant in Great Lakes formidable lineup.
I could prop my nose over its wildly florid, alcohol-rich smell all evening. But there's too much promise to avoid going forward, and the Commodore's rewards are quickly reaped.
It's quite hoppy, but it never impedes the beer's drinkability. Throughout it strives for balance and complexity, with a small bitter bump in the road as it closes. Even then, the hop bouquet blends swiftly into the maltiness. Thankfully, they avoid the trap of overhopping.
The biggest issue is I've tasted it before, not from Great Lakes, but in Saranac's Imperial IPA and Goose Island IPA. It lacks a good hook to set it apart.
It doesn't really separate from the pack of IPAs on flavor; ingredients in keeping with the Bavarian beer purity law of 1516 (Reinheitsgebot) and the freshness of unpasteurized beer from Cleveland squeeze a little extra intrigue from the Commodore Perry.
Rating: 7/10
Friday, April 06, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Every time I finish a beer tour, they reel me right back in
The end finally fell into sight.
Down to the Elevator Brewery's Masters of Beer Appreciation (a monthly seasonal draft for 12 months, then a mug), I notched off my last brews in my second Winking Lizard beer tour and in the inaugural tour through the cooler at Bob's Bar.
Finish my last draft at the Elevator in May, and my touring was over.
I should have known myself better.
New tours pop up all the time, and in a matter of a week, I'm back witha tally running at Bob's and the WL again.
Bob's unveils its addendum to the World Tour of Beers, with a new 40 selections and the prize of a beer glass with my name engraved ... I'm back in, with five of the 40 cleared away.
I'd ask why I do this to myself, but that was before I noticed an interesting new post on the winking lizard Web site.
The sports bar/beer tour HQ dangled a carrot I've always thought would make a short, sweet look at the world's most complex ales: the Trappist Beer Mini-Tour.
Drink five of their six Trappist offerings in April (no Westvleteren, whose monks disapprove of its sale at American marked up prices, so that's OK) and receive a Trappist glass for the $35 of beer imbibed.
Weak I might be, but for a $1 entry fee and an Orval goblet (WL's locations were allotted different glasses, and one of our Columbus sites drew my most-wanted glass). One more trip, and the little tour is done. With Achel Blonde and Orval marked off, it's a tossup between the four high-octane finalists (Chimay Grand Reserve, Rochefort 8, Westmalle Trippel and Koeningshoeven Quadruple, the only Dutch Trappist brewery left).
This sick beer tour obsession ultimately comes down to rewards; coats, shirts, beer glasses and little points of pride for the kitchen shelf. My beer glass collection swells larger all the time (a Grimbergen chalice came home with me last night from the WL), and more of an relaxation-wear features beer and bar logos than ever before.
I'm not apologizing - there are worse things in life than being a whore for beer goblets.
Down to the Elevator Brewery's Masters of Beer Appreciation (a monthly seasonal draft for 12 months, then a mug), I notched off my last brews in my second Winking Lizard beer tour and in the inaugural tour through the cooler at Bob's Bar.
Finish my last draft at the Elevator in May, and my touring was over.
I should have known myself better.
New tours pop up all the time, and in a matter of a week, I'm back witha tally running at Bob's and the WL again.
Bob's unveils its addendum to the World Tour of Beers, with a new 40 selections and the prize of a beer glass with my name engraved ... I'm back in, with five of the 40 cleared away.
I'd ask why I do this to myself, but that was before I noticed an interesting new post on the winking lizard Web site.
The sports bar/beer tour HQ dangled a carrot I've always thought would make a short, sweet look at the world's most complex ales: the Trappist Beer Mini-Tour.
Drink five of their six Trappist offerings in April (no Westvleteren, whose monks disapprove of its sale at American marked up prices, so that's OK) and receive a Trappist glass for the $35 of beer imbibed.
Weak I might be, but for a $1 entry fee and an Orval goblet (WL's locations were allotted different glasses, and one of our Columbus sites drew my most-wanted glass). One more trip, and the little tour is done. With Achel Blonde and Orval marked off, it's a tossup between the four high-octane finalists (Chimay Grand Reserve, Rochefort 8, Westmalle Trippel and Koeningshoeven Quadruple, the only Dutch Trappist brewery left).
This sick beer tour obsession ultimately comes down to rewards; coats, shirts, beer glasses and little points of pride for the kitchen shelf. My beer glass collection swells larger all the time (a Grimbergen chalice came home with me last night from the WL), and more of an relaxation-wear features beer and bar logos than ever before.
I'm not apologizing - there are worse things in life than being a whore for beer goblets.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Moinette Belgian Ale
Brasserie DuPont, Tourpes, Belgium
Unfiltered and bottle conditioned
750 mL corked bottle
8.5 percent alcohol by volume
Bottled: 2/2006
Sampled: April 2, 2007
Coming from a brewery with DuPont's reputation, Moinette was an easy sell.
Whether its taste might actually depart from the popular Saison DuPont was the tough question.
From the onset, it treads its own path with fantastic results. Lacking the long-lasting head of the Saison, the Moinette's diminishes into a thin crown above the golden orange body almost immediately.
Beneath the subtly florid nose comes a body highly inflected with orange, herbal and citrus yet without the dry pepperiness of the sister ale. Moinette comes to a more nuanced, rounded finish, with a mild maltiness breaking through.
A sweetness curls in on the finishing bow; it's there, but never in plain view, and gone in an instant once discovered. You've got to hunt it down, exactly what complex ales such as Moinette the taste to do.
Thankfully forgoing the champagne-like bubbliness of the other DuPont, I consider this a superior ale, ideal for sipping on summer evening. Moinette's flourishes are mature (a year-old bottle might aid that cause) and don't punish the palette through the course of a 750 mL bottle.
Rating: 8.5/10
Unfiltered and bottle conditioned
750 mL corked bottle
8.5 percent alcohol by volume
Bottled: 2/2006
Sampled: April 2, 2007
Coming from a brewery with DuPont's reputation, Moinette was an easy sell.
Whether its taste might actually depart from the popular Saison DuPont was the tough question.
From the onset, it treads its own path with fantastic results. Lacking the long-lasting head of the Saison, the Moinette's diminishes into a thin crown above the golden orange body almost immediately.
Beneath the subtly florid nose comes a body highly inflected with orange, herbal and citrus yet without the dry pepperiness of the sister ale. Moinette comes to a more nuanced, rounded finish, with a mild maltiness breaking through.
A sweetness curls in on the finishing bow; it's there, but never in plain view, and gone in an instant once discovered. You've got to hunt it down, exactly what complex ales such as Moinette the taste to do.
Thankfully forgoing the champagne-like bubbliness of the other DuPont, I consider this a superior ale, ideal for sipping on summer evening. Moinette's flourishes are mature (a year-old bottle might aid that cause) and don't punish the palette through the course of a 750 mL bottle.
Rating: 8.5/10
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