Monday, March 26, 2012

Bill's Brew Thoughts: 3/26/12

This Week In Beer

So I may or may not have missed posting last week. A rare Monday night shift came up at work, and with no Cellar Monday and no major beer happenings, I decided to just hold off for a week and keep on schedule. It really has been a couple of quiet week on the beer front though. I happened to find myself in NYC anyway on Kentucky Breakfast Stout release day (Joel McHale stand-up performance/Community screening party) and decided to bounce around on the subway for an hour and hunt some bottles. I ended up with three bottles of KBS and a bonus surprise Speedway Stout for my efforts. They were definitely worth the time, as they're both fantastic beers, and the KBS in particular was nice to come home to after an insane day at work over the weekend. This past Wednesday I hit a milestone as I logged my 450th review on Beer Advocate, and did so with a bottle of Cantillon Fou' Foune that I'd been saving for the occasion. This lambic aged on apricots was absolutely phenomenal, with an absurd amount of fresh apricot aroma and flavor. If anything, my only complaint was that the funky/sour part of the beer was a little subdued. I'd love to get my hands on another bottle and let it age for 6 months or a year and see where its at. Hopefully the road to 500 reviews won't be too long, because I've already got another Great bottle lined up for that night.

Cellar Monday

I like to think that I have fairly decent taste in craft beer. I also like to think that I have a fairly solid grasp on what beers should and shouldn't be good candidates for aging. As a result I anticipate that most weeks this section will continue to highlight good drinking experiences I've had with a beer from my stash. Not every week can be a winner though, and I guess it was only a matter of time before I hit on a night like tonight and a beer like Cuvee de Tomme. Cuvee de Tomme is a big sour quad aged on cherries in bourbon barrels. At face value there are a lot of things that I tend to like in beers at play here, and in fact this has been a favorite of mine on draft at several beer festivals. As a result I traded for a bottle just about a year ago. The problem with that is, Lost Abbey is quite well known for dodgy QC/some of their bottled beers not conditioning properly and ended up nearly or totally flat. This one was he latter unfortunately, as I when I poured it not a bit of foam came together on top of the beer. The aroma was alright, with a bit of cherry and bourbon and tartness, but the flavor profile ultimately ended up making this one a drain pour. There was a huge soy sauce taste on the back end of each sip that, without the bubbles from the carbonation, just lingered on my palate until it was briefly washed away the next time I brought the glass to my lips. There was also a surprising amount of oxidation present for a beer that I believe has less than two years in the bottle. My best guess is that by nature of the beer being totally flat, there was no layer of CO2 in the bottle to protect it and it was left more susceptible to the effects of oxygen exposure than your average beer. Whatever the case, this isn't my firs flat bottle from the Lost Abbey, and it's a problem they've been associated with for a couple years now, so I don't think I'll be making any effort to get any more bottles from them in the near future. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Bill's Brew Thoughts: 3/5/12

This Week in Beer

I <3 Russian River. Sorry, just had to get that out o my system. Vinnie and his crew are churning out some of the best brews in the country, and it's a rare treat that I get to enjoy one of them, let alone several of them, let alone on draft. That's just the position I found myself in this weekend though as I made a couple day trips into Pennsylvania for Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Younger is a so-called "triple IPA", Russian River's 11% ABV absolute hop bomb, and goes back and forth with Westvleteren 12 as the highest rated beer in the world. It's draft only, a once a year release, and the Philadelphia area is the only market east of Colorado to see any. Needless to say, the tapping of the one keg a few select bars get turns into a big deal. Accordingly, my cousin and I made the trip down to Capone's in Norristown for their Pliny tapping Saturday morning. Like most places, Capone's only got a sixtel of Younger, and the result was a single small (~5oz pour) for 100-150 of us that were lined up by the time the bar opened, and a keg that was kicked within a few minutes of the doors being unlocked. The bar took the opportunity to turn the day's tap list into a hoppy beer extravaganza, thus meriting the pre-6am alarm and 4 hours round trip driving. Aside from a glass each of Pliny the Younger, my cousin and I split Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig (another Russian River IPA), Williamsburg Alewerks Bitter Valentine, Hill Farmstead Edward, and Weyerbacher Uniform. There wasn't a bad beer in the bunch, and after a couple hours at the bar we checked out the attached bottle shop (find of the day: 2005 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout). We got home early enough to get a brew day in as well, a Belgian tripel aggressively hopped with Galaxy that I really have high hopes for. We capped the day with a late dinner at the Cloverleaf Tavern, highlighted by a brownie sundae for dessert paired with a Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter.

Saturday wasn't my only Russian River adventure though, as I again set my alarm to go off early this morning, got ready and hopped in a friend's car to head down to the famous Monk's in Philly for another Pliny the Younger tapping. Monk's is widely regarded as one of the best beer bars in the country, and it's the owner of Monk's relationship with the people from Russian River that led to their beer being distributed in Philly. As such, Monk's got a full half barrel keg of the Younger, built a Russian River rather than hoppy draft list around it, and made the whole day a charity fundraiser. 100% of proceeds from the PtY keg went to Alex's Lemonade Stand, as well as 10% of the sales from all the other Russian River beers. The owner even pulled out a ton of great bottles from his cellar to raffle off and raise more money for charity. The much larger keg plus the weekday vs weekend crowd meant a lot more Younger to go around, as over the course of the afternoon I had about three and a half glasses worth. I also enjoyed pours of Pliny the Elder, Damnation, Supplication, and Consecration. I honestly can't think of a much better way to spend the day. I could, and maybe should have been done for the day after that, but tonight's Monday night, and that means it's time for...

Cellar Monday

After all the great hoppy and sour beers I had this afternoon, I knew whatever bottle I pulled from the cellar tonight was going to have to be a malt forward beer just to keep things interesting. I eventually decided to pull a bottle of 2010 Abyss from Deschutes Brewery. 



The Abyss is partially barrel aged stout (blend of 1/3 barrel aged, 2/3 not) that has a bit of a unique bent to it with the inclusion of licorice and molasses in the brewing process. The licorice stands out a bit more than the molasses, but both leave room for some milk chocolate and roasted grain flavors. There's no overt flavor contribution from the barrel aged portion of the beer, though I imagine there's a bit of vanilla mixed in with the chocolaty notes. The body stays away from being syrupy or excessively full, and it's actually fairly lean (without being too weak) for a stout. I like licorice (and to a certain extent molasses) when it's playing a secondary role to the rest of the beer, but it's still fairly prominent in the 2010 vintage. I look forward to seeing how my other bottle responds to some long term aging.