Bill's Brew Thoughts: 3/12/12

This Week in Beer

It would be hard to top last week in terms of sheer awsomeness in my beer adventures. I kept it quiet for the most part, choosing to enjoy beers at home and work through the different sours from The Bruery I received in the mail last week (friendly reminder, there's a link on the right to my Beer Advocate reviews) . This really was a Bruery kinda week for me, as the one event I attended was a tasting class at Amanti Vino centered around the 12 Beers of Christmas series from them. Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger (Dogfish Head collaboration) and Autumn Maple rounded out a tasting list that included 2 Turtle Doves, 3 French Hens, and 4 Calling Birds. It was great to check in and see how the Christmas beers were doing, since I only have a couple bottles of each, and a few years before the series is finished. The 2 Turtle Doves was the star of the show, as notes of dark chocolate, caramel, and a slight nuttiness were nicely balanced by a just emerging sherry characteristic from oxidation. If the oxidation is already making itself known after two years, I'm skeptical that it will hold up until we see the release of 12 Drummers Drumming, but for now it's in a good place. Furthermore, the year of age did wonders for 3 French Hens, a beer that I did not care for at all fresh. Just 12 months later the rough, tannic qualities from  the aging in fresh oak had softened a bit. All in all it was a great class (the bonus Alesmith IPA and Green Flash Rayon Vert certainly didn't hurt).

Cellar Monday

I decided to go with a smaller bottle from the cellar this week (probably would have been a good idea last week), and after all the sours I've had in the last couple days, a nice malty beer was in order.

I decided to go with one of my two remaining cans of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy from back in the fall of 2009. Fresh, I found the beer to have a ton of dark chocolate flavor, as well as some prominent piney hop notes. After almost two and a half years in the can, the hops have totally died off. Furthermore, the brew seems bit more dry than before. Dark chocolate has been replaced with straight cocoa powder, and a bit of roasted coffee beans. The body, while still full, isn't quite as chewy as I remember either. Ten Fidy with a bit of age on it is definitely a different beast than a fresh can, but it's still a quality brew. As an aside, I paired the second of my glass of this with some coconut cake, and it was a killer pairing. A coconut stout/porter is definitely on my radar now for a future homebrew.