A Dash of Winter, a Hope for Spring

Sam Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA
Sampled: Feb. 16, 2012

Combining the attributes of Baltic porter and IPA. The nose has a mix of chocolate, toffee and hop floweriness. Hearing that description, I might not expect it to work, but Dark Depths navigates those straits. I also get a note of hazelnut and herbal citrus character.

Using Saaz Noble, Zeus, Ahtanum and Simcoe, none of the hops turn Dark Depths into ale more edgy than another black IPA. The malt bill is stiffer, easily pushing into porters more common to Scandinavia. Creamy, opaque body has enough spikes of hop to stay interesting. I haven't seen anyone crossbreed porter with IPA, so give Sam Adams credit for matching the right hops with the rich dark malts that make Baltic Porter an exquisitely complex style.

I adore a Baltic porter on cold night, but Dark Depths easily fulfills the same role. Dark Depths finished with a dose of syrup and hop bitterness. These flavors continue to peacefully coexist; perhaps I have gotten to used to beer styles serving s silos to separate flavors. I didn’t know beer needed an answer to dark chocolate with orange peel, but Dark Depths provides it enthusiastically.

Green Flash Rayon Vert Belgian-style Pale Ale
Sampled: Wednesday, Feb. 15

This could be the best beer I’ve ever tasted with a redundant name (Rayon Vert translates to “Green Flash”). But I cannot escape the gravity of any beer that sparkles with the influence of brettanomyces. Rayon Vert greatly expands the scope of Belgian-style pale ale. The introduction of brett greatly enhances the flavor, pushing Green Flash into territory Orval or Reinart’s Wild Flemish Ale. A layer of yeasty mud coats the bottle’s bottom, a signal that the wild yeasts have been busy.

The nose is highly medicinal and herbal, with fingers of sour lemon streaking throughout. Then comes a sharp edge of incessantly sour citrus that quickly breaks open. A nice funky character underlines tones of lemon zest, hints of cider followed by white pepper and a creamy finish.

As with Orval and other brett-infused ales, Rayon Vert has plenty of bottle variation. Some burst forth with vibrant and tart facets, while others are more muted and malty. But that’s the way the cap pops when playing brett roulette, a game worth playing.