For a style not far removed from paint thinner and industrial solvents in strength, a well-balanced can hit the same impressive notes as other high-alcohol beers.\
Never subtle, Avery Brewing Company's Hog Heaven (billed as a barleywine-style ale) attacks with a sharply sweet nose that the intense alcohol bouquet tempers. It's also rather flowery, and not dissimilar from an Imperial IPA in tone, although Hog Heaven's hops smooth out the everpresent malted barley. It's a beauty in a tulip glass, ruby-colored with enough burgundy highlights to be mistaken for true wine.
The malt produces flavors across a broad spectrum - a plug of tobacco, molasses, raisins and a citrus undercurrent not really attributable to the hops (I'm guessing - it isn't a typical high alcohol beer citrus flavor).
Unless you're a masochist, serve it slightly chilled; without a little fridge for this massive ale, it will steamroll any seasoned drinker, and make them wish for a glass of paint thinner instead. Not for everyone, Hog Heaven rewards those who stick with it.
Rating: 7/10
Showing posts with label beer snob reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beer snob reviews. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Unibroue Edition 2004
Ale on Less
Unibroue, Chambly, Quebec, Canada
750 mL corked bottle
10.5 percent Alcohol by Volume
Bottled: March 4, 2004
Sampled: March 25, 2007
As the sediment in the bottle attests, this ale sat for three years before I uncorked it on a placid Sunday. Edition 2004's body is coppery red with a thin foamy halo and innumerable flecks of yeast leftovers floating through it.
It was hardly worse for the aging.
The nose give away both an intense fruitiness and high alcohol content. The beer tastes tart, with a slight roasted feel; though not a typical pair, they dovetail nicely. The roasted flavor evolves into a slight, welcome smokiness in the finish.
Cellared beers follow wildly disparate paths, and not having sampled a younger bottle of Edition 2004, I can't compare youth and maturity.
But the overall fruitiness is intense here. It rises to a quick, effervescent crescendo in the finish, which also has notes of grain and the yeast (after 3 years on the shelf, it's inescapable).
Tastes include lemon, apple and some spiciness. You cannot avoid the sediment, but it shies away from the flavors rolling through every sip.
Edition 2004 seems to throw everything it can at the Unibroue drinker, albeit in an orderly, complementary fashion. The finish's incredible facets really round this ale out.
It's well worth the wait - what you should not do if you spy it still sitting on the beer store shelf. Three years is a world of change for a beer, and the yeast's work in the bottle pushed Edition 2004 to high regard.
Rating: 9/10
Unibroue, Chambly, Quebec, Canada
750 mL corked bottle
10.5 percent Alcohol by Volume
Bottled: March 4, 2004
Sampled: March 25, 2007
As the sediment in the bottle attests, this ale sat for three years before I uncorked it on a placid Sunday. Edition 2004's body is coppery red with a thin foamy halo and innumerable flecks of yeast leftovers floating through it.
It was hardly worse for the aging.
The nose give away both an intense fruitiness and high alcohol content. The beer tastes tart, with a slight roasted feel; though not a typical pair, they dovetail nicely. The roasted flavor evolves into a slight, welcome smokiness in the finish.
Cellared beers follow wildly disparate paths, and not having sampled a younger bottle of Edition 2004, I can't compare youth and maturity.
But the overall fruitiness is intense here. It rises to a quick, effervescent crescendo in the finish, which also has notes of grain and the yeast (after 3 years on the shelf, it's inescapable).
Tastes include lemon, apple and some spiciness. You cannot avoid the sediment, but it shies away from the flavors rolling through every sip.
Edition 2004 seems to throw everything it can at the Unibroue drinker, albeit in an orderly, complementary fashion. The finish's incredible facets really round this ale out.
It's well worth the wait - what you should not do if you spy it still sitting on the beer store shelf. Three years is a world of change for a beer, and the yeast's work in the bottle pushed Edition 2004 to high regard.
Rating: 9/10
Friday, March 23, 2007
Dogfish Head Aprihop
"A serious India Pale Ale brewed with real apricots"
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
12 fl. oz. bottle
Bottled: Feb. 28, 2007
Alcohol by Volume: 7 percent
Sampled: March 22, 2007
Whew (wipe the brow) ... for a minute there, I thought Dogfish Head might have brewed it with artifical apricots, imitation apricot mystery fruit or an apricot flavor created in a laboratory.
But an IPA with real apricots mixed into the brewing process?
Don't bother telling me, brother, I'm already there.
So are the apricots, but not with the bold, tartness of a lambic; this is a much mellower ale than those naturally-fermenting freaks of beer-nature.
Aprihop has a nose far less flowery yet more fruity than a mainline IPA. Rather than pursue the "hop till you drop" mentality ruining far too many microbrewed ales, the Aprihop is well-rounded, with the hops and malt complimenting each other well. Try adding some fruit instead of shooting for the IBU ceiling, hopheads!
While the apricot flavor is not immediately apparent and mostly mild, it charges out in the finish, stepping to the front of the palette but not to an obnoxious level.
Dogfish Head's experiments are a mixed 6-pack for me, some odd and excellent (Midas Touch, 120-Minute IPA), while some receive unearned praise (Raison D'etre) or qualify as absolutely wretched (Immort Ale).
With the Aprihop, they've succeeded with a refreshing spin on the IPA formula that doesn't involve heaping gratuitous amounts of hops and malt into the brewing process.
Most beer snob won't tolerate a slice of fruit anywhere near their beer, but Aprihop should open horizons for a fruit-IPA collaboration.
Rating: 8/10
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
12 fl. oz. bottle
Bottled: Feb. 28, 2007
Alcohol by Volume: 7 percent
Sampled: March 22, 2007
Whew (wipe the brow) ... for a minute there, I thought Dogfish Head might have brewed it with artifical apricots, imitation apricot mystery fruit or an apricot flavor created in a laboratory.
But an IPA with real apricots mixed into the brewing process?
Don't bother telling me, brother, I'm already there.
So are the apricots, but not with the bold, tartness of a lambic; this is a much mellower ale than those naturally-fermenting freaks of beer-nature.
Aprihop has a nose far less flowery yet more fruity than a mainline IPA. Rather than pursue the "hop till you drop" mentality ruining far too many microbrewed ales, the Aprihop is well-rounded, with the hops and malt complimenting each other well. Try adding some fruit instead of shooting for the IBU ceiling, hopheads!
While the apricot flavor is not immediately apparent and mostly mild, it charges out in the finish, stepping to the front of the palette but not to an obnoxious level.
Dogfish Head's experiments are a mixed 6-pack for me, some odd and excellent (Midas Touch, 120-Minute IPA), while some receive unearned praise (Raison D'etre) or qualify as absolutely wretched (Immort Ale).
With the Aprihop, they've succeeded with a refreshing spin on the IPA formula that doesn't involve heaping gratuitous amounts of hops and malt into the brewing process.
Most beer snob won't tolerate a slice of fruit anywhere near their beer, but Aprihop should open horizons for a fruit-IPA collaboration.
Rating: 8/10
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Samuel Adams Brewer Patriot Collection 4-pack
Samuel Adams isn't a brewer people sit on the fence with when it comes to their beers: they love or they loathe. But once you get away from their mainstream beers, a more adventurous side of the brewer emerges, resulting in some rare brews, like its Double Bock and its Fall Harvest Imperial Pilsner.
On July 4, I caught a glance of the Brewer Patriot Collection, four ales made from Colonial-era beer recipes. $10 for 4 beers might not sound like a bargain, but at least 3 of these beers here are usual enough to merit the purchase.
I drank all four beers from a Statesmetal beer mug, since other beer vessels of the time weren't available to me, and I'm pretty sure the Sam Adams portrait on most bottles holds a metal mug. But I could be wrong on that. All I really know if what I tasted. And I'll give each beer its own rating; to rate such a disparate group of ales together does justice to none of them.
Traditional Ginger Honey Ale: The most pleasant surprise of the batch. I had no expectations, but what I found was a perfect summer session beer; drink it in the sun all day and never suffer from its ill effects. Honey, ginger and lemon hit the taste buds early and often, just as the name promises.
Because it fermented quickly and could be made from everyday ingredients, this was an everyday libation for the colonists. Even at 5.5 percent alcohol-by-volume, this would serve as a fine alcoholic substitute for ice tea on a hot summer afternoon.
Rating: 8/10
George Washington Porter: Easily the best beer here, if only because it stands out as one of the best porters I've ever tasted. Most porters come off as stout light (which they are), but those one takes off in new directions of flavor and complexity. I attribute that to its unfiltered state (none of the beers in this collection are filtered) and the sharp flavors it exhibits: molasses, licorice and a divine roasted finish that recalls a German rauchbier.
I want a sixer of this porter. And I'm not a fan of most porters.
9.5/10
James Madison Dark Wheat: Blah. That's all I can say. I've been drinking too much hefeweizen and wit bier this summer to show patience for an ordinary wheat. It isn't bad --- some slight toffee and cocoa flavors emerge later in the sampling. Coming on the heels of the GW Porter, however, banality is a misdemeanor.
Rating: 4/10
1790 Root Beer Brew: Advertising exactly what it is once again, here we have an alcoholic root brew, with a strong - though not imposing - spearmint tone running through it. Another one that works well on a hot summer day. However, it is heavy like root beer, and more than one glass might leave you on the bloated side. Since I only had one, I think it was a quality, if somewhat esoteric, way to wrap up the fine Brewer Patriot Collection (just as long as we ignore James Madison).
Rating:7/10
On July 4, I caught a glance of the Brewer Patriot Collection, four ales made from Colonial-era beer recipes. $10 for 4 beers might not sound like a bargain, but at least 3 of these beers here are usual enough to merit the purchase.
I drank all four beers from a Statesmetal beer mug, since other beer vessels of the time weren't available to me, and I'm pretty sure the Sam Adams portrait on most bottles holds a metal mug. But I could be wrong on that. All I really know if what I tasted. And I'll give each beer its own rating; to rate such a disparate group of ales together does justice to none of them.
Traditional Ginger Honey Ale: The most pleasant surprise of the batch. I had no expectations, but what I found was a perfect summer session beer; drink it in the sun all day and never suffer from its ill effects. Honey, ginger and lemon hit the taste buds early and often, just as the name promises.
Because it fermented quickly and could be made from everyday ingredients, this was an everyday libation for the colonists. Even at 5.5 percent alcohol-by-volume, this would serve as a fine alcoholic substitute for ice tea on a hot summer afternoon.
Rating: 8/10
George Washington Porter: Easily the best beer here, if only because it stands out as one of the best porters I've ever tasted. Most porters come off as stout light (which they are), but those one takes off in new directions of flavor and complexity. I attribute that to its unfiltered state (none of the beers in this collection are filtered) and the sharp flavors it exhibits: molasses, licorice and a divine roasted finish that recalls a German rauchbier.
I want a sixer of this porter. And I'm not a fan of most porters.
9.5/10
James Madison Dark Wheat: Blah. That's all I can say. I've been drinking too much hefeweizen and wit bier this summer to show patience for an ordinary wheat. It isn't bad --- some slight toffee and cocoa flavors emerge later in the sampling. Coming on the heels of the GW Porter, however, banality is a misdemeanor.
Rating: 4/10
1790 Root Beer Brew: Advertising exactly what it is once again, here we have an alcoholic root brew, with a strong - though not imposing - spearmint tone running through it. Another one that works well on a hot summer day. However, it is heavy like root beer, and more than one glass might leave you on the bloated side. Since I only had one, I think it was a quality, if somewhat esoteric, way to wrap up the fine Brewer Patriot Collection (just as long as we ignore James Madison).
Rating:7/10
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