Thrones, Pants, Fruit and Honey

Iron Throne Golden Ale

Sampled:April 2013

I shouldn’t be surprised that my favorite brewery produced a tie-in ale for the HBO series Game of Thrones. I have no desire to see the series, but attach Ommegang to anything, and I must seek it out.

Iron Throne’s nose is rich in lemon zest and the banana-clove-coriander produced by wheat and Belgian yeast. Beneath its thick head and golden-orange body, Iron Throne radiates crisp grains and faint traces of the Noble hops, but the flavor is intense, especially an assertive orange character on the finish. At times, notes of vanilla creep in.

At just 6.5 percent ABV, Iron Throne could pass for a lighter take on Gnomegang, the brewery’s collaboration blonde ale. This blonde might be lighter, but its intense flavor should hold no quarter for fans of Belgian beer or the show.

My Antonia

Sampled: April 5, 2013

I had little clue what a continuously hopped imperial lager might look like. Dogfish Head and Italy’s Birra del Borgo decided we needed to know. My Antonia bears little resemblance to anything I’ve tasted before, especially lager. It has a lemon cream nose with note of burnt orange above its cloudy body. I get flashes of muddled orange and ginger shavings that lead to a finish of lemon with grapefruit notes and a defined leafy textures. Some taste like spearmint at times. I can’t quite pin down the hop – Nelson Sauvin, perhaps? The finish is faintly herbal. The hop’s bitter presence is not intense but far from weak. A few snatches of grain sneak in randomly. My Antonia has little in common with imperial pilsner and at times tastes closer to Belgian-style tripel.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout 2008 Release

Sampled: 4/6/13

Cracking open big beers, and there’s a feeling that they’re ready to pick up from the moment when the brewer sealed them up. Stone RIS has always given me that feeling. I remember the first time someone recommended the stout as something to cellar. Almost five years after picking up this vintage, I felt compelled to measure its progress. A few sprigs of spearmint rise from the roast chocolate.

Five years later, this beastly Stone stout has plenty of life left. The coffee has turned to espresso, smoother but stronger and more concentrated. No beers o alcohol content because tone Russian Imperial has grown immensely since its dark ages began in 2008. An ambient hop bitterness gives the stout good counterbalance to the black pepper created by the alcohol. In fact, it’s almost elegant, praise usually not reserved for Stone’s brews. But give a big stout a little time, and it will sprout complex roots. I could only question whether I opened it too soon.

Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12

Sampled: March 2

Stone too can go terribly wrong. I’m having a hard time with a metaphor for how badly the Vertical Epic series ended – if it were a lemon or had gone sour, I might be speaking euphorically. Instead, we get a Belgian Dubbel with lots of allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. If you can taste anything but the first and the last spice, count yourself lucky. The clove runs wild, and that isn’t a good flavor. I get good traces of chicory and sassafras but the beer gets a tannic, almost leathery taste at times. It comes off murky and unevenly spiced. I expected a better end to Vertical Epic, not this messy, unbalanced murk.

Terrapin Hopzilla Imperial IPA 2013

Sampled: 4/14/13

Four characteristics headline this big IPA – cream, peaches, apricots, and pepper. This imperial IPA lines up nicely with Flathead and St. Arnold Endeavour as big, high in IBUs and utterly drinkable. Brilliantly smooth, I must praise the malt as well as the hops; Maris Otter malt gives Hopzilla a rich, sturdy backbone. The hopes influence every crevasse of this ale but never overwhelm it. Hopzilla does not leave destruction; instead, notes of orange, tangerine (maybe even tangelo), plus nips of grapefruit and mandarin orange. The finish is peppery with a little meringue. Let Hopzilla rampage for a bottle or two, and you won’t regret how many different ways it can stampede the palate.

Abita Spring IPA

Sampled: March-May 2013

Centennial and Amarillo hops are not regular ingredients in Nashville grocery aisles, but Abita has successfully brought them to the masses. Not a brewery I associate with hops, Abita plows some leafy, citrus flavors in this IPA. A creamy, bitter head reveals an IPA rich in hop resin, tart citrus and spruce needles. Bright grapefruit and a little lemon pepper influence the finish.

New Belgium Rolle Bolle

Sampled: April 25, 2013

The Fort Collins brewing mainstay gets too little credit for its inventive session ales. Its latest summer seasonal takes inspiration from a Belgian yard game. As usual, it tastes nothing like anything else on the shelves. New Belgium brewed a golden ale with monksfruit and soursop, creating a crisp ale heavy on the tropical fruits. It sports nice strains of papaya, kiwi and mango. There are some herbs and traces of coriander as Rolle Bolle glides across the palate. There’s a little bitter uptick from its hops as its finishes, but the tropical fruit is the attractor here. There will be more rounds of Rolle Bolle this summer, whether I figure out the game or not.

Highwater Hoppy Tripel (Blue Pants Brewery)

Sampled: April 26, 2013

This could be the mullet of craft beers – it’s all tripe in the front, and IPA in the back. The tripel elements include coriander, peach and mango on the front and a hint of alcoholic black pepper.

Blue Pants cleverly markets this as an ale meant for fresh consumption. Sit on Highwater and the hops will fade, leaving the drinker with a standard tripel. In a fresh condition, HIghwater is anything but a traditional tripel, and a welcome Belgian-style hybrid from the Southeast. 

Terrapin Side Project No. 3: Gamma Ray Wheat Wine

Sampled: May 3, 2013

This bottle has sat in many places around my apartment. Until a few weeks ago, I had no inclination to open it. I remember struggling through my first bottle of Gamma Ray. There would be no struggle with more than four years of bottle aging on this specimen.

Still boozy as hell, the honey makes this wheat weigh heavily on the palate. The honey has developed into a brilliant orange blossom nose. Plenty of tropical fruit also lurks within. In 2008, Gamma Ray weighed in at 11 percent ABV. God knows how strong it had grown in 2013. But no matter its strength, Gamma Ray easily goes down as the best wheat wine I’ve tasted. It needed a little time, but it’s a brilliant bottle, a great experiment, and a testament to Terrapin’s brewing prowess.