[Local] Third Street Sugar Shack Maple Stout

Oh, and you all thought I was gone, didn't you? You thought I'd sobered up and realized writing about beer was folly, a foolish adventure for a 21-year-old with his head in the clouds. Well, you were all wrong. I've neither sobered up nor stopped writing about beer, my pace just slowed down slightly due to things like: lots of exams, working in a greenhouse, crashing while downhill skating and skinning my ass, applying to grad school, wringing my hands and pulling out my hair while thinking about grad school, playing with puppies, and a mild bout of the flu. Beer was involved in several of those things, but writing about it takes more time than drinking it.

However, I'm back, reviewing a beer that fits with the current theme of my life: dear god I love St. John's, please don't make me leave, no, no, stop, you can't make me leave, I will live in the woods as a hermit. This review is on Third Street's Sugar Shack Maple Stout, brewed with maple syrup from the Saint John's Sugar Shack. I have been fortunate enough to be involved with the Sugar Shack in a few different ways. My academic advisor/study abroad trip director/plant guru advised me on a research project on the maple syrup production when I was a sophomore. I got a chance to help out at the Sugar Shack and hopefully contributed some helpful knowledge with my research. The shack makes syrup in a very traditional way, relying heavily on local volunteers, faculty members, and monks to produce the delicious amber liquid. Beyond a few homebrews, this is the only beer I can say I've had a hand in making, albeit a bit indirectly.

The real Sugar Shack isn't QUITE as cute as the one
on the label- though it's still quite charming.

Style: Maple Stout
ABV: 6.5%
IBUs: 20
Availability: November-February

[Quick Notes] This deep black stout with small cola highlights comes with a rich, complex aroma of authentic maple syrup, light vanilla, chocolate syrup, roast malts, a touch of soy sauce, dry oakiness, molasses cookie, and dark caramelized sugars. The flavor is less complex, but quite tasty, with prominent flavors of roasted malts, a hint of soy sauce, a little chocolate, and rich maple syrup. The medium full, creamy body and low carbonation makes this one a smooth sipper and a nice end to a cold night in Collegeville.

[Appearance] Oh boy, this pours real dark, with some nice cola highlights around the edges. Even a pretty hard pour only yielded a small mocha brown head that dissipated pretty quickly to a thin ring around the edge of the glass.

[Aroma] Ohhhhhhh yeah, this brew lives up to its name, boldly hitting that maple syrup note. Get your Aunt Jemima crap outta here, this is real monk-made maple syrup! Loads of amber maple goodness, dark brown sugars, and even a little bit of vanilla hit the nose first. There's a little bit of chocolate syrup flavor in the background, along with a touch of umami brown malts, something like soy sauce. There is not a big roast malt presence, but there are hints of oak and something a little bit like a molasses cookie.

[Flavor] The flavor is decidedly less complex than the aroma, quite unfortunately, though it is still quite tasty. The most prominent flavors are rich maple syrup, a touch of umami, and a decent amount of roast malt. The maple syrup is really quite delicious, but nicely restrained, not dominating the beer like something sweet like syrup can tend to do. The slightly soy saucy umami character blends into the roast malt flavor somewhat, giving a relatively dry and slightly bitter taste in general, though this balances really well with the maple syrup. Hidden way down in this beer are some slight dark chocolate notes, nice and dry, along with a touch of something a little sweeter, like chocolate syrup. I wish some of the complexity from the aroma carried over here, as deeper layers of vanilla and molasses might have taken this beer up a notch.

[Mouthfeel] The body of this beer is medium full and nice and creamy, which is a pleasant surprise considering the large maple syrup addition. It's not syrupy on the tongue, nor is it too thin. The carbonation is moderately low, giving the overall impression of a nice, smooth, creamy stout.

[Overall] This beer is a little less complex than I like in most stouts, but the flavors that are here are balanced extremely well and keep it easy to drink. I wish the flavor followed the aroma a bit more, but the balance of the bitter and umami flavors with the strong maple syrup character is well done. Considering the whole point of the beer is to showcase the use of maple syrup, I think Third Street hit the nail on the head with this one.

This brew is only available through February, so be sure to pick up a 6er while it's still around! Sitting in my house on the edge of the St. John's campus, watching the snow fall, and drinking a Sugar Shack seems to be all kinds of right. 

As always, please feel free to comment or suggest beers to review. Cheers!

[Locally Available] Finch's Secret Stache Stout

Alright, alright, I know it's been a while since my last review. College life seems to hit like a ton of bricks, and the last few weeks have been full of exams, lacrosse tournaments, and the GRE. The drinking of beer hasn't stopped, just the writing part. However, here I am, ready to tell you about a beer that's sure to impress.

Finch's Beer Company, out of Chicago, brings a delicious stout to the table with their Secret Stache, a milk stout brewed with vanilla beans. The can has some ridiculous art, with one bird pulling beers out of the gigantic mustache of a second bird. The craft beer world is all about puns, and this one is a doozy.

Style: Milk Stout
ABV: 5.3%
IBUs: Not given, but moderate. Not terribly bitter.
Availability: Year-round, available in MN.

[Quick Notes] This massively black stout is capped with a gorgeous, thick brown head, wafting roast barley, char, smoke, and roast coffee towards the nostrils. To balance this, there are deep caramelized sugars, crispy toffee, peanut brittle, dark chocolate, cacao nibs, a hint of chocolate syrup, and plenty of vanilla throughout. The flavor starts out dry, with the roast, char, and smoke moving into crispy toffee and peanut brittle, dark caramel, dark fruits, and a touch of roasty coffee. The vanilla bean addition just blends throughout the entire flavor in a rich, but not overwhelming way. For a 5.3% beer, the mouthfeel is full and creamy, characteristic of a much bigger beer.

[Appearance] This thing pours a truly motor oil black, with almost no highlights on the edges whatsoever. The head is massive and deep tan to brown, lingering for the duration of the drink and sticking to the glass like crazy. This looks like a much bigger stout than 5.3%.

[Aroma] Whoaaaaaaaaaaa. This thing is big. It jumps at your nose with tons of roast, with burnt wood, roast barley, and a woody smokiness coming off big at the front. It is all big and bold without being too harsh. The sweetness to balance the roast can be found in notes of deep caramels, really dark and heavily caramelized sugars. There's something like a really crispy toffee combined with nuttiness, and it really reminds me of peanut brittle. The vanilla is really present without being overwhelming, sort of riding through the aroma and bolstering other elements of it. There is a little bit of chocolate, mostly dark chocolate and cacao nibs, but a touch of syrupy Hershey's works its way in at the end. The woody smoke, crispy peanut brittle, and sweet vanilla aromas all intersect to give this really unique aroma; picking out each of those characters wasn't easy, as they blend together in a wonderful way.

[Flavor] The flavor follows the aroma really closely, leading off with lots of that dry roasty flavor, woody char, and nice wood smoke. That smokiness seems very natural and woody, not harsh or acrid. The caramels are there too, both the really deep, dark ones, and the crispier toffee/peanut brittle flavors, which include a little nuttiness. A little bit of that roasty coffee comes in as well, but this is not a coffee heavy beer. There is a good amount of dark chocolate and cacao nibs that blend in with the roast elements of the flavor, along with just a faint hint of some dark fruits like figs and dark cherries. As in the aroma, the vanilla element just carries throughout, fading in and out as other flavors come to the forefront, while still remaining noticeable. It is a perfect addition, working well with the other flavors without becoming cloying and overpowering.

[Mouthfeel] This is where this beer really sets itself apart. When I see a 5.3% stout, I tend to expect the mouthfeel to suffer a bit. This beer crushed my expectations. The body is moderately full to full, absolutely creamy and luscious. A touch syrupy, but more velvety than anything, this beer just washes around the mouth like velvet, leaving every taste bud coated in its wonderful flavors. The carbonation is moderately low, but present enough that it doesn't feel flat. This thing has a better mouthfeel than some 10% imperial stouts, which is a damn impressive feat.

[Overall] This beer is a hell of a 5.3% stout. It carries a surprising array of flavors with impressive depth, hitting some notes boldly and some more subtly. The large roast character and smokiness that hits initially is balanced by deep caramels, dark chocolates and an interesting peanut brittle flavor, along with a pervasive vanilla bean character that is absolutely elegant. Not only is the flavor wonderful, but the mouthfeel is, without a doubt, the best I have ever encountered in a stout with this low an ABV. This is a cold night's companion, hitting everything I want in a drinkable stout. At $10.99 for a 4 pack of 16oz cans, this is a beer I will certainly be purchasing often, as a go-to stout.

There you have it folks, something to satiate your cravings for a stout with a bark bigger than its bite-you-in-the-ass-in-the-morning. As far as "sessionable" stouts go, this one absolutely takes the cake in my book. Pick up a 4 pack and see for yourselves!

[Local] Surly SurlyFest

Continuing with my trend of reviewing fall seasonal releases, I'll cover one of the local favorites: SurlyFest from Surly Brewing Company in Brooklyn Center, MN.  When it comes to craft beer in Minnesota, most people I know think of Surly.  Furious has become something of a figurehead for craft beer, and it's something I'll be reviewing soon.  Surly has a way of taking a style and putting their own spin on it, defying typical beer style definitions. In typical style, SurlyFest is actually far from most Oktoberfest lagers, traditional to Munich and the festival they share the name with.  There are many American interpretations with varying degrees of accuracy, but Surly says to hell with it and just brews a tasty, interesting lager.  SurlyFest includes rye in the grain bill, and they only use a single hop variety and even dry hop the beer!

I normally use a tasting glass for reviews, but this begged for a mug!

Style: "Oktoberfest"

ABV: 6.0%

IBUs: 34

Availability: September (released, it might be around through the fall)

[Quick Notes] This gorgeous, slightly hazy amber-orange beer wafts sweet biscuity, bready notes, pastry sweetness, rye spiciness, and plenty of hoppy mandarin, lemon, mango, pineapple, and grapefruit.  The flavor follows well, with the sweet bread notes balancing with zesty, more robust rye.  The hop character is less pronounced than in the aroma, but the tropical and citrus notes come out well, along with a little zesty grassiness.  This beer, true to the lager character, finishes cleanly and crisply, with only moderate dryness in the finish.  This beer goes down really easily, with each sip closely following the last.

[Appearance] I'm not normally one to care much for how beers look, but this one is just downright beautiful. The hazy orange/amber beer lets a radiant hue shine through it, like the diffuse rays of a fall sunset through an amber field of rye. The head is nice and fluffy, an off white to light tan color, and it sticks around pretty well and leaves a bit of lacing. I seriously held this beer up to the light for a good minute, just admiring the color (my friends would argue I do this every DAMN time).

[Aroma] Oh yeah, this definitely isn't your typical Oktoberfest. The aroma has a lot of complexity without being overwhelming, but it is certainly prominent. It leads with wonderful sweetbread and biscuity notes, sort of sweet pastry bread without too much sugar to it. The rye is definitely noticeable, lending a slightly rustic spiciness to the aroma, helping to balance out the sweeter bready aromas. The malt aromas transition into this killer hop kick, with notes of sweet mandarin orange, lemon, mango, pineapple and grapefruit, all a blend of juicy and zesty. It's not a massive, juicy hoppiness, but a drier, crisper character that really makes me think "lager".

[Flavor] This brew cashes the check its aroma writes, as the flavor is just as awesome as the aroma. There's the approachable, biscuity, sweetbread maltiness that lays down a nice base of flavor. It's not a heavy or overly sweet flavor, simply providing something a little more substantial than the typical pale malt. The rye adds some nice complexity in the form of a little sharper, rustic spiciness. Not heat, not really "cinnamon/nutmeg" spiciness, just a rye bread sort of thing. It's a bit tough to describe. Overall, however, the maltiness is relatively soft and round in its character, giving your palate something to chew on a little bit. The hop flavor is a little toned down from the aroma, just a little less of the tropical fruit and a little more grass. There's still plenty of mandarin orange, lemon, grapefruit, and just a little mango and pineapple. The flavors are more dry than juicy and slowly fade into a grassier hoppy note. That's a lot of complexity for one hop variety (which I believe is Sterling). The finish is nice and crisp, but not overly long or dry. The flavor just sort of drops off cleanly, leaving a hint of hoppy aftertaste, but it just makes it really easy to drink.

[Mouthfeel] The body of this beer is moderate and the carbonation is just shy of moderate, making this one go down really easily. Combined with the quick and crisp finish to the flavor, a pint of SurlyFest went away shockingly quickly.

[Overall] This beer really bursts the Oktoberfest style bubble, combining biscuity malts and rye flavor with wonderfully fresh hoppiness in a remarkably drinkable package. Surly manages to take a few characteristics that seem a bit odd at first and meld them into a remarkably balanced and drinkable beer. "Balance" is a word tossed around quite often, but this beer manages to take equally delicious malt and hop profiles and combine them with a very drinkable mouthfeel, all without sacrificing the amplitude of flavor. 

Surly hits this one out of the park with a crazy spin on the Oktoberfest style. This is the best fall seasonal I've had so far this year, and I would certainly recommend picking up a 4-pack if you spy it around you. Surly can be a bit pricy, but if you feel like upgrading to something that costs $2.50 a pint (which is a stellar bar price, when you think about it), this one will certainly hit the spot this fall.

Cheers!

[Reader Poll] Olde English "800" Malt Liquor

Alright, since apparently all my friends and family members hate me and want to see me suffer, Olde English 800 has indeed won the reader poll in quite a landslide. I promise this review will be 100% honest; I will treat this like any other beer I write about. That includes drinking it out of a tasting glass rather than the more traditional brown paper bag. I'll actually be typing this one as I drink, rather than taking it from my personal notes, so you might see things develop as the review goes on (maybe I'll puke and die and my taste buds will explode).

Olde English "800" is a malt liquor brewed by Miller Brewing Co. As far as malt liquors go, this is actually one of the better ones, having won a few awards at the Great American Beer Festival, including a gold medal for American Specialty Lager in 1997. Unlike many GABF winners, it costs $2 for a 40oz and comes in a "SHATTER PROOF" plastic bottle.

Style: American Malt Liquor
ABV: 5.9% (changes regionally and comes in several versions)
IBUs: Beats the hell out of me... it's not terribly bitter.
Availability: Year-round, it's everywhere. And cheap.

[Quick Notes] This clear, pale golden colored malt beverage yields aromas of malty corn and rice sweetness, wet cardboard, old newspaper, and a hint of frothy piss. The flavor follows, tasting like sweet, malty adjuncts like corn and rice, some stale bread, the cardboard and newspaper again, with a metallic, dry finish. The flavors aren't overwhelming and the mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, going down quite easily. While this isn't an overly impressive brew, I must admit I expected much worse. Not a whole lot different from most cheap beer, in my honest opinion.

[Appearance] Pours a very clear, light golden straw color, capped with a surprisingly impressive fluffy white head that sticks around quite well and actually leaves some good lacing on the glass.

[Aroma] The aroma is relatively strong, with plenty of adjunct malty sweetness, which is mostly a corn and rice sort of sweetness. Something sort of creamy, like creamed corn mixed with a little bit of frothy piss. Something is a little stale smelling, like wet cardboard or newspaper, a little musty and old. There's actually a surprising bit of malt backbone to it, the actual barley maltiness isn't completely hidden by adjuncts.

[Flavor] Surprisingly, the flavor is not all that strong, but leads with lots of corn adjunct character. That creamy, cheap, sweet flavor that you associate with cheap beer, but it's not really hidden by much of anything else. There's a bit of stale bread and wet graininess in there, just backing up that corn/rice adjunct flavor.  Oof, the finish is a little iffy.  There's some stale, wet cardboard/newspaper flavor going on, along with something a little metallic and harsh in the finish. The aftertaste is a lot more corn, very sweet and dry, along with that metallic character.  The finish is surprisingly dry and long as well. Honestly, while some of the flavors are a bit unpleasant, none of them are all that strong, and the overwhelming majority of the flavor is a pretty standard adjunct, beery sort of flavor.

[Mouthfeel] Actually quite smooth, the body is just about medium, and quite creamy, while the carbonation is surprisingly low. I expected an over-carbonated mess, but this is actually pretty easy to drink, with moderate carbonation to keep it moving.

[Overall] Quite honestly, this could have been a lot worse. The flavor was pretty much just like most adjunct macro-lagers, in my opinion. For $2 a 40oz bottle, this was far better than I'd expected. To be perfectly honest, I would pick this up just as readily as I would any other cheap, mass-produced lager. It tastes very stereotypically "beery", has some off-putting flavors, but all in all isn't that offensive. If I did a side-by-side tasting with any cheap beer, I really doubt I would be able to tell them apart.

I'm as shocked as you are, but I really didn't mind this. I wouldn't reach for it over any decent beer, but I would sure put it on the same level as most cheap American adjunct lagers. There you have it folks! I think most of you were hoping to see me suffer through drinking some cheap malt liquor, and I myself was expecting to write a comically awful review, but I'd rather be honest and tell you what I think. So, socioeconomic stereotypes aside, if you ever feel like drinking some cheap malt-based alcoholic beverage (even if you won't be taping 2 of them to your hands), then don't write off Olde English.

There you have it! You jerks wanted me to suffer through some horrible malt liquor like a typical beer snob, but I didn't hate it! I'm feeling emboldened, so I think I'll do another one of these polls soon. Write a comment and let me know if you have any other ideas for what you'd like me to review.

Cheers!

A nice screw-on plastic cap for responsibly postponing
drinking the rest of your 40oz of malt liquor...

[Locally Available] Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

I'm a sucker for stouts. It's true. I'm that guy drinking a stout in the summer heat just as readily as in the bitter Minnesota wintertime.  Since the mercury has been dropping mighty low at night, it's just another excuse for me to reach for a great, big stout.  On one of these cool fall nights, I treated myself to Ten FIDY, a 10.5% ABV imperial stout brewed by Oskar Blues from Longmont, Colorado. Oskar Blues was one of the breweries leading the charge for canned craft beers, back when cans were considered a bit less "classy" than bottles by some beer geeks. These days, canned beers are in style, and I've gotta say I much prefer them to bottles. Now, a canned imperial stout is still a tough thing to find, which is one small part of why Ten FIDY is such an awesome beer.

Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%
IBUs: 98
Availability: Fall, comes in 4-packs of cans.

[Quick Notes] This beer pours as black as motor oil, immediately releasing rich aromas of milk chocolate, chocolate syrup, vanilla, raisins, figs, bourbon, coffee and oak.  The decadence of this aroma is matched in the flavor, leading with chocolate that fades into the dried fruit notes and finishes with the slightly dry coffee and oak.  The flavors are carried by a full, creamy body with just enough carbonation to keep it alive, coating your mouth in the rich, sweet flavors.  A truly indulgent beer, this one will keep you warm on a chilly fall night.

[Appearance] This beer pours an absolutely opaque, deep, motor oil black, with just faint hints of brown highlights on the edges.  The head is a wonderful toasted brown sort of color, made of very fine bubbles that stick around well and cling to the glass. This is a gorgeous imperial stout.

[Aroma] Whoa, this thing jumps out of the glass, and the first word that comes to mind is DECADENT.  There are loads of syrupy sweet chocolate, like Hershey's syrup, combined with creamy rich milk chocolate. There's some vanilla and spice character, along with sweet caramel and some raisin, like a sweet and spiced raisin bread.  A bit of bourbon flavor is present even though this isn't a barrel-aged beer.  There are plenty of roast barley and dark malt flavors, but their bitterness is just enough to restrain the sweetness.  A bit of nuttiness, maybe some almond, comes through, followed by some nice, fermenting dark fruits, with that raisin note just punching through strongly. At the end, there's a hint of coffee and a little oak, just a nice touch of dryness.

[Flavor] The beer leads off with loads of rich, sweet chocolate: a nice combination of Hershey's syrup and more authentic, rich, milk chocolate.  A really full vanilla and bourbon type flavor comes through, and I can't help but call it bourbon even though this beer hasn't been barrel-aged. I want to say "tart" when I think of that bourbon flavor, but it's really sort of a boozy sweetness that comes along with the bourbon and vanilla. The raisin and other dark or dried fruits, like figs and prunes, come through strongly, carrying a little bit of that spiced character in a really nice way.  After that wave of flavors, there is a little bit of nutty maltiness, like a nice almond sort of flavor, helping cut the sweet and pungent flavors from the start.  This leads into a little oak and coffee dryness, helping keep the finish from being too sweet or cloying.

[Mouthfeel] The body of this beer is pretty much ideal for an imperial stout: very full, rich, and not too oily.  It's more creamy than anything else, but still just a touch oily, coating the mouth with the decadent flavors the beer carries.  The word "velvety" comes to mind when sipping on this beer.  The carbonation is low enough to keep it very smooth, but not so low that it feels dead in your mouth.

[Overall] This is one amazing imperial stout, easily one of the best non-barrel-aged versions I have ever had.  It's got chocolate, coffee, vanilla, dark fruits, bourbon, and a really rich mouthfeel to boot.  And it comes in a can!  A can!  This beer is an absolute treat, and while it's a bit spendy, it's well worth it as a treat on a chilly fall night.  At 10.5% ABV, Ten FIDY will keep you from noticing the insidious, early creep of winter.

Pick up a 4-pack of Ten FIDY and pull a can out on a night when you need a little comfort from the coming cold, easing away thoughts of snow and runny noses with a glass of delicious, chocolatey, 10.5% ABV stout.

Cheers!

[Locally Available] Sierra Nevada Flipside Red IPA

It seems that fall might finally be upon us, along with changing leaves, flannels and crushing loads of homework.  To help ease brief transition from "even-my-sweat-is-sweating" summer to "why-do-we-even-live-here" winter, we have some wonderful autumn beer releases.  Among them is this beer, Flipside Red IPA from Sierra Nevada.  As America's seventh biggest brewery, Sierra Nevada has a wide reach across the nation, making even the staunchest macro-brew loyalists familiar with the name. Their Pale Ale is an absolute classic, but they certainly don't rest on their laurels, even for a brewery of their size.  Many of their seasonal offerings and special releases are quite tasty and affordable, and this Red IPA is no exception.

Style: Red IPA
ABV: 6.2%
IBUs: 60
Availability: Fall, through October.  I picked up a 12-pack, I'm not sure if it comes in 6ers though.

[Quick Notes] This ruby/copper color beer is capped with a massively fluffy head of light tan foam.  The aroma is well balanced between malt and hops, starting with caramel and toffee malts with a touch of rustic bitterness. This is followed by a burst of grapefruit, orange rind, peach, mango and pineapple, finishing with a nice dry pine aroma. The flavor follows well, nice and balanced and easy to drink. Leads with caramel and toffee malts, just a bit sweet but not overly so.  This leads into a slightly creamy note with some nice berry sweetness, then into the slightly bitter grapefruit, orange, mango, pineapple and pine hop character.  The mouthfeel is moderately full, note a light summer beer but not too rich.  This slightly rustic ale balances hops and malts and is perfectly suited to the coming of fall.

[Appearance] This red IPA pours a gorgeous, clear, deep copper with ruby highlights, capped with a giant, fluffy, light tan head whose very fine bubbles leave some insanely nice lacing on the glass. This beer really looks like it belongs in your hand right as the leaves are changing color.

[Aroma] Flipside doesn't jump out of the glass too much, remaining subtle and balanced.  The balance between malts and hops really scream Sierra Nevada, reminding me of many of their brews, in a very good way.  The malt aromas are caramel and toffee, with a touch of almost rustic toastiness. The hop profile blends tropical fruits with slightly more bitter, earthy aromas.  There's mango and pineapple as well as slightly bitter orange rind and grapefruit, finally ending with dry pine and earthy, grassy hops that blend well with the autumnal malt bill.

[Flavor] The flavor follows the aroma well, but is slightly more assertive than the aroma, yet not too hearty.  The malts provide a solid base of caramel and toffee sweetness as well as a little toasty, bready character.  This is followed up by a bit of creaminess as well as some wonderful berry ester flavors, like blueberry and strawberry.  Then the hops take over, starting with mango, pineapple, and some bitter peach, like inner peach flesh.  This moves into slightly more bitter fruits, like orange rind and lots of grapefruit, finally finishing with a combination of piney, earthy, and grassy hops, with a nice dry finish.

[Mouthfeel] The body of this beer is medium to medium full, a little fuller and creamier than most IPAs, fitting for the fall season, yet the moderate carbonation keeps it lively.  There's sort of a rustic dryness in the mouth during the finish.

[Overall] With the coming of fall, a heartier, maltier IPA is just right while still being refreshing enough for the warm afternoons.  Without seeing the label, I could tell you this is a Sierra Nevada beer, the balance of malts and hops is so characteristic of their beers, making them a great choice for a simple, tasty drink.  This beer is simple and straightforward yet not boring, perfect for taking your mind off the craziness that comes with the end of summer.  Combine this with a price that definitely won't break the bank, and you have another winner of a seasonal beer from the always wonderful Sierra Nevada.

Happy fall, flannels and Flipside everyone!

Ahhhhhh, finally flannel season.

Why think about beer?

The whole "beer review" thing can seem a little odd.  Why take something fun and make it studious?  How the hell did you review 240 beers in 4 months in Europe?  How do your notes even make sense after 3 or 4 beers?  (Big secret: they don't).

I'm gonna use an interesting analogy here, please bear with me.  Drinking a beer is like taking a hike, a nice stroll through a beautiful forest.  If you stroll along without a care in the world, not really paying attention to anything, perhaps conversing with a friend, you'll have a wonderful time!  The same can be said of drinking a beer; when done with friends or in a totally casual manner, it's a great thing.

Let's say, one day, you decide to really look around you as you go for a walk.  You amble along slowly, stopping to smell some flowers, watch what the squirrels are doing, admire how beautiful that red pine is.  Perhaps you go even further, learning a little bit about the native plants and animals, and using that knowledge to make your hike all the more interesting.

That's the same thing as taking notes or just THINKING about beer while drinking it.  When you stop to think about what you're smelling, what you're tasting, you'll delve into flavors you might not have noticed.  You'll pick apart the complexities of the beer, thinking about how well that particular note works with the beer as a whole.  Perhaps you read up on brewing a bit and come to understand just how much skill and craftsmanship it takes to make a brew so tasty and complex.

However, like learning any skill, learning to truly taste a beer in a thorough and thoughtful way takes time and practice (which means drinking lots of beer).  It takes time to both develop your palate, so you can actually pick out flavors, and to get better at articulating just what you're tasting.

One of the first beers that ever truly blew my mind was Trappistes Rochefort 8.  This is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, brewed by the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy.  The rich history of brewing by Trappist monks is something I'll cover another time.  

Served in a Westmalle glass, but it's a Rochefort...

The point is, I first had this beer in Athens on September 2nd, 2013.  This was one of my first beer reviews ever, and it went exactly like this:

"Pours hazy brown. Very small head. Comes on with a stinging feeling, perhaps from carbonation or alcohol. Very roasty, with deep caramel notes or even dark chocolate with raspberry. Warming aftertaste but no harsh alcohol. Dark fruits, molasses. Like a dark fruitcake if that makes sense"

About 2 months later, on November 20th, 2013, in Rome, I re-reviewed this beer.  The difference between the two reviews illustrates how my palate and my review-writing abilities had improved.  Here it is:

"Pours a fairly hazy deep nutty yellow brown, capped with a big fluffy head of light, light tan foam. Nice small bubbles, very fluffy. A good layer lingers a long time. A few nice steady streams of bubbles keep the head going. 

Nose is nice dark chocolate and molasses, with some hints of dark, boozy fruit. Some real nice Belgian yeast character, a bit of candy sweetness. 

Taste is nice sweet, bready malt, soaked with molasses and even maple syrup. Follows with some dark fruit like figs and plums but also some tart cherries and raspberries. Finishes with a touch of hop dryness, not much hoppy flavor, but a touch of bitterness to balance he sweetness and slightly dry out the finish. That real Belgian yeasty character is present along with that Belgian candy flavor. Maybe just a tiny touch of alcohol warming near the end, but the 9.2% is hidden crazy well. 

The mouthfeel is medium full, really rich and creamy. Carbonation is medium high, higher than I'd remembered. Carries the flavor away a tiny bit but not a ton. The malt is pretty toasted is how I'd describe it. Sweet and toasty. There's that warming alcohol feeling that pairs with the Belgian yeast. That back of the throat, vaporous sort of taste. It's very pleasant though. It gets a little stronger as it warms, but it's still not bad. The tart fruits are stronger than I remember. Ooh this beer is as good as I remember. Rich, complex, beauty of a beer."

*Note: these reviews are in the format I type in my phone, for my own use.  If you haven't seen any other posts, the reviews on this blog are a bit more polished.

Moral of the story: I'm not asking all of you to write reviews of beer.  I'm just suggesting that there are many ways to drink beer, some more thoughtful than others.  Some beers are meant to be chugged, some are meant to be sipped and thought about.  I hope that you might have a beer after reading my review of it and start to think about the flavors I mentioned, perhaps finding them, perhaps not.  Either way, I hope I can turn some people on to good beer and the appreciative drinking of it.