Bard’s Gold
April 30, 2010 by justin · 2 Comments
Well, I had to do it. Why?
Because it was gluten free? No.
Because it had great reviews? No.
Because the design was cool? YES!
Seriously, I saw Bard’s Gold in the store and I was like, “cool label dude” Then I realized it was gluten free and thought, “hey what a great shout out to all of my gluten free friends” then… I drank it, oops. Stick to mead all you gluten free folks, beer just might not be your thing.
I have two fears in life.
- That I will become gluten intolerant
- That I will become allergic to milk, and thus cheese
Seriously, I can’t think of any other fears off the top of my head. My favorite things in life include milk and gluten. Beer and mac ‘n’ cheese. What would I eat or drink?
So, if I become gluten intolerant, shoot me before handing me another Bards. Actually, it is not as bad as I am making it sound. But drink more than one? no way.
Brewed for and by people with celiac’s Bard’s is brewed with sorghum. What the heck is sorghum you ask? According to Wikipedia, “Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture.” It is a fodder grass, for animals.
It has basically no aroma. It is smooth to drink, till you realize that there is some mc’funky aftertaste and, it is just down right boring. I guess it is not bad, especially when you consider that it is missing one of the key ingredients in beer, barley, valued by God of course, “Leviticus 27:16 reads, “. . . an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.” Seriously, the big guy talks about barley, not sorghum. Anyway, joking aside, barley is important to beer, don’t leave it out.
BTW… The packaging still rocks, so does the website. Want to see way more of the packaging awesomeness? Look here at thedieline.com
Oh, and there is a lesson to be learned here. Drink beer for the quality of the inside, not the outside.
Peak Organic Nut Brown Ale
April 29, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
So the thing I don’t understand is why do people talk about “organic” beer like there should be some different taste or something? All it means is that there are no genetically modified things used and no pesticides used. And honestly, I care about that. I don’t want that bad crap in my beer. I just want beer, thank you very much. I think that everyone should brew with organic ingredients. To me, it is a no brainer. If companies like New Belgium care about the environment so much then stop using ingredients that are treated with pesticide and/or genetically modified. Stopping the use of pesticides and GMO’s in farming will do a lot more for the earth than riding your fat tire bike to work. [BGD steps off soap box]
All of that said, there is no wow in this Peak Organic Nut Brown. I went down to the Water Street Grill for a pint and this is what they had that sounded good. I got the opportunity to try out my new “33 Bottles of Beer” notebook as well, FUN (in fact a lot more exciting than this beer)!! The notebooks just arrived today and I’m in love already. The flavour wheel is cool. See this drawing shows you what a boring beer this is. Just not much happening. Great session beer. However, even in my session beers I want something more happening.
This beer has some caramel and nut notes, not very nutty for a nut brown. Just not much more to say here, sorry.
Sam Adams 2010 Longshot Winner Jeremy White’s Lemon Pepper Saison
April 28, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
Wrapping up my journey of the Long Shot winners with Jeremy White’s Lemon Pepper Saison.
Well first what is a “Saison” anyway? According to Beer Advocate’s style guide:
Saisons are sturdy farmhouse ale that was traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. Not so long ago it was close to being an endangered style, but over recent years there’s been a massive revival; especially in the US.
This is a very complex style; many are very fruity in the aroma and flavor. Look for earthy yeast tones, mild to moderate tartness. Lots of spice and with a medium bitterness. They tend to be semi-dry with many only having touch of sweetness.
So now a bit of the backstory. Jeremy White, is actually on the Information Technology staff at Boston Beer Company. I read about this at beernews.org and beerpal.com. The way the Long Shot thing works, I first thought we had a nepotism case on our hands here, is that there are actually 2 contests. Contest 1 is the general public, contest 2 is just for BBC employees. Jeremy won the BBC employee bit. (see more about this as Jim Koch talks about it in the Here for the Beer video below.)
Anyway, onto the beer. The saison style description you see above is kinda vague. Many people who have been reviewing this beer say that it is not a saison, that it does not fit the “style”. If you read the vague description this beer fits in just barely. It is slightly citrusy and though I didn’t notice the pepper at first I did as I kept drinking, it can be found at the end of a sip if you let the beer sit on your tongue. It is not the most drinkable beer I’ve had but it might be nice with some grilled salmon. I paired it with a butternut ravioli mixed with fresh garlic, basil and olive oil topped with a healthy amount of Parmesan cheese.
But what about all of the people saying it’s not to style? Well, it’s not! The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), which certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process defines a saison as follows: “A refreshing, medium to strong fruity/spicy ale with a distinctive yellow-orange color, highly carbonated, well hopped, and dry with a quenching acidity.” There is also a lot more on their website under style category 16, the Belgian and French Ales.
The problem is that while Jeremy’s ale is ok it does not come close to even the overall description set out by the BJCP. There is no way it comes close to being medium/strong on the fruit or spice notes. Nor is this beer highly carbonated or well hopped.
Overall for me, it is ok but I must agree that since this was a contest based on style, it does not fit the style. Try it and tell me what you think.
Sam Adams 2010 Longshot Winner Ben Miller’s Mile High Barley Wine Ale
This is so much better than the Old Ben I tried yesterday! Ben Miller’s 12% Mile High Barley Wine is beautiful, tasty and balanced. This is a very drinkable Barley Wine. Miller won both the GABF Pro-Am Competition and the Samuel Adams LongShot, impressive. He is the first to do that, according to Beernews.org!
This barley wine pours a ruby colour with a decent head and an aroma of figs and some citrus notes. The flavour is similar, malty, with a fig sweetness and hop finish. This is a big beer with a light alcohol hint throughout, more pronounced at the end. Very tasty, pass me another!
Thanks to Jon at The Spirit Shop!
Sam Adams 2010 Longshot Winner Michael Robinson’s Old Ben Ale
Thanks to Jon at The Spirit Shop on Cole Ave. in Williamstown for supplying the next three beers. Jon got a hold of a limited six pack of the 2010 Samuel Adams Longshot winners for me. These six packs are comprised of the winners from the 2009 Samuel Adams® American Homebrew Contest®. Tonight is the first of the 3 winning brews.
Michael Robinson’s Old Ben Ale pours an orangish cooper colour with a small tan head. The aroma is faintly smokey more of a brown sugar malt. The flavour is more of the same with some hints of figs and dates. It is interesting cause I rarely eat dates and today I just so happened to pick up a pack of date rolls at Wild Oats. When I first sipped this beer I noticed the date right away. The old ale was brewed by Michael Robinson of New Hampshire. According to beernews.org,”This was actually Robinson’s second trip up to the finalists podium in two years (perhaps another first?). Robinson’s Espresso Oatmeal Stout came up just short of a chance to be in the Longshot package last year. The year before that, Robinson contributed entries to the Samuel Adams Patriot Homebrew Competition. Again, he was a finalist with two of his beers making it to the final group of five. The winner of that competition won cash and the opportunity to pour beer at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots.”
With 9%ABV the sweetness can make you not realize how strong this beer is. I did notice the alcohol as I drank it but I can see how the more upfront sweetness could throw someone off. The finish is rather dry. Overall, nice old ale. Well done Mr. Robinson.
Beer Journals
Just wanted to share a cool tool with everyone. Beer Journals! Yes, you can imagine you are as cool as beer geek dude by buying a 33 bottles of beer journal to take notes on beer. I bought a pack today!
Hop15
I have been so excited about this beer! I just love Hop 15 from Port Brewing Company in San Diego. I brought it with me the other night but we ended up having that impromptu beer tasting. At the end of our beer tasting a friend asked if I wanted to crack Hop 15 open. I laughed, it is 10% ABV double IPA! It needs to be consumed on its own. Saturday was Hop 15′s night and I shared with no one.
Hop 15, as it’s name implies, is very hoppy. I was at a BBQ so I didn’t have the correct glassware, as you can see from the photo. Filling up my plastic cocktail glass I could smell the floral and slightly citrus bouquet over the smell of the yummy chicken on the grill. My nose was getting more and more excited as the beer flowed into the glass. The beautiful slightly yellow head crowned this beautiful golden ale. The lacing on this beer is beautiful, all the way down the glass. Now you might be like, “dude, you were drinking out of plastic” Yes, I was but my friends were too and their beer didn’t look like this.
Every sip is a dream. This is a very hoppy, resiny, slightly viscus beer not for the faint of heart. It is one of the most beautiful West Coast Style IPA’s, IMHO.
Why is it named Hop 15? Well, because according to their website, Hop 15 has 15 different hop varieties added to the beer every 15 minutes of course. Duh.
BTW… if you have not tried this beer bottled in the past couple years please give it another go. I have heard that people used to have a hit or miss with Port’s bottled ales. This has clearly been straightened out and is not the case anymore. Some older reviews of this beer are not anything close to what I tasted.
Also, CONGRATS to Dr. SHAY WELCH!!!
Avery IPA
April 23, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
After the amazing benefit dinner at the Congo Church to support Sylvia’s Place in NYC I went with some friends to Mezze (surprise, surprise). On tap they had Avery’s IPA. The Avery IPA pours an off orange colour. The aroma is a combo grassy and citrus. The citrus aroma is on the sweet side. The flavour is a pretty standard IPA flavour. There is nothing really exciting here. With all of the amazing IPA’s out there Avery’s offering falls short.
Of course, any beer is ok when you are with friends (note friend behind glass)
Thursday beer tasting at Mezze
April 23, 2010 by justin · 2 Comments
Headed to Mezze with my Hop15 in hand thinking that I might need it as I’ve tried almost everything they have. I was pleasantly surprised that not only did Mezze have some new brews on hand but Nancy had procured an amazing selection of Dogfish Head and Bear Republic beers for an awesome impromptu beer tasting. Friends and 8 beers to taste, how can you go wrong. We worked our way through the selection mainly commenting on the similarities and differences.
The Dogfish Head line up included: Shelter Pale Ale, Indian Brown Ale, 90 Min IPA, Raison D’Etre, and the Aprihop. From Bear Republic we tasted Racer 5 and the Hop Rod Rye.
I think the hit of the night was the 90 Min IPA, hard to beat this one. We noted that the Dogfish Head beers were on the sweet end of the styles. This is something I had never really noticed but as my friends started mentioning the sweetness my only option was to agree with them. The Racer 5, which I had had before was a disappointment in comparison to the rest of the lineup. I am a fan of the Indian Brown Ale. It’s smoked sweetness and hoped bit
e is something to be admired. The Aprihop, which I can’t remember trying before was a pleasant surprise. The apricot is not as noticeable as anticipated, which was a good thing. Instead it gave the beer a slight tartness and very dry finish, nice.
Thanks to Nancy at Mezze for a very enjoyable evening of fine beers.
BTW… At the end of the night I threw all that was left in the bottom of the bottles together and it tasted rather fine. You will note that these beers have a lot of similarities so it worked well.
Quercus Vitis Humulus
April 22, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
The Quercus Vitis Humulus (Latin for Oak Grape Hop) is what an Imperial is all about. It’s not a double IPA but it sure tastes like one. It has a healthy 12%ABV! and the aroma is sweet like a hop field on a summer day. Before I was buzzed, from this beer alone, I smelled the sticky bumps surf wax aroma. It is very drinkable, in fact maybe too drinkable for a 22oz bomber bottle. Share this with a friend, or two.
It is brewed with grape juice and you can smell and taste it. For a strong ale it is in balance.
Most people who are bashing this beer on Beeradvocate are beer snobs. They think that challenging the line between wine and beer is a bit too much. I don’t think so. This is beautiful.