Happy Birthday Great Divide: 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA
We didn’t wait long to buy this beer once it hit the shelves. Oh wait, actually we tracked it down like Locke from Lost and bought almost a case before it even made it to the shelves! Last year’s 15th Anniversary Ale was easily one of the best of the year–crazy flavors of vanilla and tropical fruits swirled into a unique and gone-too-soon wood-aged double IPA. This year’s version is the same type of beer, so we expected it to be essentially the same beer–but it wasn’t. It’s actually better. But, we’re going to do a little Crossfire-type analysis of the 16th Anniversary Ale here, and see if everybody agrees.
EW: I was a huge fan of last year’s version, and had to try the new edition. This pours a deep ruby-brown, with minimal head–typical of wood-aged ales. The aroma reminds me of last year’s, with hints of pineapple, vanilla and oak. There’s a lot of bubbly carbonation that spreads the hoppy, wood-tinged flavor around like butter. The finish has piney hops galore, and smooth wood hints. This is a more balanced, mature ale than last year’s, and it’s a bit more reserved. I recommend this to anybody who loves the taste of hops, and strong unique beers. I give this a 8.5
DW: I was skeptical as always by a recommendation of a beer tasting of “pineapple juice” but I have to admit this one does deliver the goods. I wouldn’t say pure pineapple juice in a glass but you get that sweet characteristic of juice mixed with the subtle wood flavor and hoppy goodness. The alcohol taste in this one really stands out but if you know that its there you appreciate it like a nice glass of barrel bourbon. I would recommend getting your hands on a bottle if you can. As of the time of my post I saw six bottles at Rolling Oats in Saint Petersburg. If you want to get your hands on it you should try there before it’s to late. It has also been sited at The Pour House in Tampa and Sheps Deli in Saint Pete. I have to agree with Evan on this one at mark it an 8.5. Great Anniversary Ale and well worth the modest price.
Into the Dark: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
I picked this beer up with the idea it could be a great example of the new Cascadian Dark Ale, which is a Black Indian Pale Ale. Yeah, Pale and Black, well that’s Americans for you…we can do anything we want, screw the Reinheitsgebot.
To start this one is Black as night. If you hold it to the light you get a bit of amber color of out of the murky darkness, but I wouldn’t go in there without a flashlight. The aroma you get is a complex one. There is some chocolate coffee notes, grassy hops aroma, grapefruit bitterness…complex to say the least. All of that followed up just enough alcohol to keep you warm if it’s cold. The body has a nice balance that holds all of these flavors and aromas together quite nicely. The carbonation and the alcohol content hold the complex flavors of the beer together in pretty good harmony but I think the alcohol might have been a bit bold at the finish. That is Stone Brewing for you though so it works for them.
Since the Cascadian Dark Ale is such a new style (it’s not even listed on the BJCP site), we at ThirstEase are committing to trying as many of the commercial examples. I think we may even brew one up to see how the style comes together. We will keep you posted.
pro Beer quod Clementia!
Weyerbacher Hops Infusion
This is actually my first beer review, for as much beer as I drink you would think that this would be easy for me but to tell ya the truth I don’t know all that much about beer like the others rating beers do. I just know what I like, and don’t like and then a month later that usually completly changes. I grew up drinking nothing but Busch Light and Natural Light and until moving to Florida didn’t realize how many different beers are actually out there and that flavor exist! Right now my kick is IPA’s, I love them, but if you asked me to drink a IPA 3 months ago I hated them. I give it about another 2 weeks before I get tired of them as it changes about every month. So while I like them still, I am drinking as many different ones as I can.
This review is on Weyerbacher Hops Infusion. I got it at World of Beer. I was looking for a light beer that wouldn’t fill me up (sounds like a bud light commercial) so this is what the waitress brought me and surprisingly for having a deep orange color, it didn’t have much flavor. It definetly had a hint of orange in it and the head on it blew my mind. I have never seen a beer with so much head. To be honest I wasn’t all that impressed. I’m not saying I wouldn’t order it again, but if there were other beers to try I would go for one of them first with a little more flavor. After all, the flavor is what it’s all about isn’t it? I used to just drink to get fucked up and didn’t care what it was. Now that I have discoverd real beers, I get flavor and a buzz 
Kona – Pipeline Porter
I am a long time reader, first time reviewer. Ever find yourself in one of those scenarios when you ask yourself; how the hell did I end up here? That was me last night when I met some friends at a hotel bar (Aloft Dulles Airport North) on a school night. Sparce, in that the eight of us made up a third of the crowd and a lesbian band (Mama’s Black Sheep) was playing in the background. Needless to say, I needed a drink.
Not expecting much when I went up to the bar, I was surprised to see a craft beer among all of the more common taps. Always up to sample something new, I ordered the Pipeline Porter from the Kona Brewing Company. It is dark and rich in color much like black coffee with medium body. Right off the bat you are hit with notes and flavor of chocolate that lead you into a nice coffee finish. A little sweet, but has a nice bitter balance. It is a seasonal beer that is available from September through March and is brewed with freshly roasted Kona coffee.
It was a decent dark beer that wasn’t heavy and went very well with my crab cakes. Being that we have been experiencing a triple digit heat wave, I didn’t mind putting a handful back where I normally would have stuck to a lighter beer.
BrewDog Paradox Isle of Arran
Brew Dog has cultivated a reputation of unrelenting strong ales that push limits and style conventions–but, they do so with a high degree of skill and quality. The Paradox series of ales (possibly all stouts) are apparently all barrel/cask-aged, but I am way behind on trying them all. I grabbed the Isle of Arran edition at Whole Foods as part of my series of stout reviews, for an imperial edition. Compared to the last couple of stouts I’ve reviewed, this one is high in alcohol taste and aroma, with vanilla-bean and whisky also leading in the aromatics. This engine-oil-black stout, with almost no carbonation, and more bark than bite in terms of flavor. Given the amount of alcohol in the aroma, I’m expecting a lot of hops to counter-act the alcohol, but this is mostly about showcasing the casks used. I taste a lot of black-strap rum, even whiskey flavors, that go beyond my beer-centric palate–folks who love whiskey and even cognac will rejoice at this beer in the rotation, if they have an open mind.
This is definitely an after-dinner, snifter style beer, to be savored on its own. This is a high quality stout and will impress those who have sampled the masses of stouts, and could please those who have tried lots of imperial stouts and are looking for more complexity.
Dragon Stout
I love stouts, and love searching for new ones. I read this was brewed and bottled by Red Stripe on the label, and frankly came in with somewhat low expectations. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this beer. It doesn’t have a very revealing aroma, at least not in the glass I poured it in. But the flavor is so smooth and sweet, without being overbearing at all, and the carbonation so delicate. It’s slightly chocolaty and almost has a hint of dark cherry and licorice. This is a pitch black beer with light body and a great balance of malt and alcohol–the 7.5% is almost non-existent in the flavor, as is the bitterness. Hop heads will want to avoid this stout, as there’s really no hop flavor or aroma to detect. I’d compare the taste to molasses, but the body is so light. Anybody who likes sweet stouts will definitely enjoy this one, as it is definitely sweet but without the milky lactose taste of a milk stout. I’d recommend pairing this stout with a fruity entree, such as sweet and sour Chinese food or balsamic-reduction glazed fish.
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series: Island Creek Oyster Stout
I’ll start off this review by making a few statements. 1) The very first brewery I ever visited was the Harpoon Brewery in Boston when visiting my sister, so it holds a special place in my heart. 2) I love to eat oysters.
That being said, I never thought in my life that I would drink a beer brewed with oysters, but lo and behold I found myself not only drinking the Island Creek Oyster Stout by the fine brewers at Harpoon, but I actually enjoyed it.
This beer is the 30th installment of Harpoons 100 Barrel Series which is a recipe from a company brewer made in a limited quantities. This one was made by Katie Tame. Yes, you read that right, a chick brewed this deliciousness and God (God’s, no God’s, whatever you believe in. I don’t really give a shit) bless her for doing so.
This surprisingly smooth stout boasts great hints of chocolate and even some coffee notes in it. What really grabbed me in the extremely subtle, but enjoyable hint of oysters. I seriously feared that at first, (the only other beer I’ve even heard of made with a “mollusk” is Budweiser’s Clamato), but it flowed so well with the other tastes of the beer it was very tasty.
I was a little shocked to see this was only 5.5% ABV because it carried a taste that was a little more stiff. In any event, pair this with a plate of oysters or some seafood and sit back and enjoy as the various, and odd, flavors fill your mouth.
If you’re looking for a Clamato-tasting beer, you’re out of luck. You should probably stop reading this blog and concentrate on punching yourself in the face because that beer is shit.