Port Brewing Anniversary Ale.

Still working through the haul from the west. I brought back a lot of bombers from Port Brewing, which I think is a great all-around brewery. Even better, they make some pretty damn good pizza and their sister brewery, Lost Abbey isn't too shabby either. I picked up a couple bottles of the 5th Anniversary Ale since anniversary ales are usually pretty good and/or interesting. I was surprised to find that this is "yet another hop monster of a beer". Is it a hop monster? Not really. But it is a pretty hoppy, yet well-balanced IPA. Definite sweet malt up front with a jack-in-the-box hop backbone. A swish releases a lot of carbonation before releasing a healthy dose of hop bitter, slightly pilsener-y. Everyone on BA keeps mentioning pine, but I get more of resin-y taste.

• Appearance: Somewhat pale on the double IPA scale. Thick, luxurious head on the pour, diminishes to a steady thin head.
• Smell: Pine-y resin-y aroma but not out of this world; actually, a bit mild.
• Taste: Sweet up front before presenting a solid hop bitter.
• Mouthfeel: High carbonation at first. The other half of this bottle has simmered down quite a bit. Finish is fairly clean, mild residue on the lips with a inoffensive hop linger.
• Drinkability and Overall: BA rates it at 10%ABV, so no on sessioning. It is, however, a pretty good all-around double IPA.

Southern Tier Warlock Cream Stout.

A brand new beer from Southern Tier, Warlock Cream Stout was on tap for fills at the local beer shop, currently only available on draft. Sweet beers are something of ST's signature so I had high hopes for this one. Cracked open on Thanksgiving, it gave a nice, opaque nearly black pour with a rich mocha head. The aroma is very pleasant, rich chocolatey coffee aromas with hints of the dark roasted barley around the edges. This is the kind of beer that really needs the mouthfeel and taste to be in sync, and ST did a pretty good job here. The lactose gives it that silky smooth mouthfeel that well-contains the slightly prickly carbonation. The coffee aroma carries into the taste as well with a decidedly sweet surround.

I definitely enjoyed this beer, but somehow I don't anticipate this carrying over well into the bottle, unfortunately. However, if I see it on tap, it's a definite bet.

• Appearance: Very dark brown, nearly black, opaque. Tan, finger-deep head.
• Smell: Predominantly coffee, slightly wort-y malted barley.
• Taste: Sweet, dark chocolate, coffee, barley.
• Mouthfeel: Silky, light to medium weight. Carb is slightly too acidic but still ok.
• Drinkability and Overall: At aroudn 7%, it's a bit much for a session beer, but it gets along pretty well. It's a nice finishing beer for cooler weather.

Fraoch Heather Ale.

Yet another beer that has overstayed its welcome in my fridge. Heather ale is pretty uncommon; I think I've only had two or three others ever. An unhopped ale, it's instead brewed with heather flowers. I suppose the only other ingredient is malt, but I think the other heather ales had some serious spices. Fraoch, imported from its native Scotland doesn't indicate any such shenanigans, and so I presume it is unspiced.

Indeed, the taste is pretty mild, slightly floral, and maybe a little herbal. It is more like a tisane than anything else and slightly tannic. Unfortunately for me, it just doesn't do much for me. I won't go so far as to say that it's nondescript; it is a pleasant drinker but maybe a bit too easygoing for me at the moment. Interestingly, the bottle is stamped with a best-by date of March 2012.

• Appearance: Crystal clear, light copper; mild head.
• Smell: Sweet, honey, melon.
• Taste: Mildly floral, slightly herbal, sweet light malt.
• Mouthfeel: Fairly low carb and somewhat astringent.
• Drinkability and Overall: Easy drinker, but not much up my alley.

Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager.

This has been sitting in my fridge all summer, and I was tired of looking at it. Another entry from Rogue's GYO offshoot, black lager isn't a very common, but not rare, style. 9 ingredients: Melanoiden, Carafe, Special II, NBlack, Chocolate and Risk malts, Independent and Revolution hops, and of couse, free-range coastal water and German yeast. I guess this is a different strain than their regular Pacman.

It pours very smoothly, a quick black oil giving rise to a moderate mocha head. I get some salty, oyster-like aromas which is disorienting. The first sip was smooth and light, a big, round mouthful of toasty malts with chocolate tones. My first impression is like a far less carbed Guinness Draught with more bittering. To be honest, I'm not really feeling this one.

• Appearance: Opaque black, mocha head.
• Smell: Reminiscent of an oyster stout, salty, sea breeze and oysters.
• Taste: A balanced roasted bitterness with a lasting, mild finish.
• Mouthfeel: Very little carb, silky smooth and just barely cohesive. Slightly astringent on the finish.
• Drinkability and Overall: An easy drinker, for sure. A slightly more sophisticated Guinness Draught. Do with that what you will.

Sierra Nevada Hopsichord, Camp 36.

First review since returning home last week. To be honest, with all the drinking I had done on the drive back, combined with the slew of upkeep, I had been feeling a little burnt out. But here we are. I picked up this bomber at the Sierra Nevada brewery because I had been so impressed with the Best of Beer Camp half-case I had earlier this summer.

The head is pretty creamy and soft though not terribly aromatic. With a name like "Hopsichord", I would expect this to be much hoppier, but it's more on a malty side with apple tones, surrounded with some overdeveloped hop bitter that draws out on the finish. Carbonation is low and smooth. Mostly, I don't think this is as harmonious as its name would imply. I can't figure out if something is actually unbalanced or if nothing really works together. Pretty disappointing.

In contrast, most people on BA noted a good balance and one said the hop bitter was harsh. So I don't know what's up with that. At 9.8%ABV, it's a little beefy.

• Appearance: Dark copper; fine, creamy head.
• Smell:Mild and nondescript.
• Taste: Heavy malt, caramel, brown sugar; not enough hops that don't kick in until the back end.
• Mouthfeel: Carbonation is low and body is smooth, slightly cohesive.
• Drinkability and Overall: 9.8%ABV is pretty hefty, but it's really the lack of harmony that's the showstopper here.

Roadtrip.

For the trek back home, we scheduled a pretty aggressive beer tour through NorCal and Colorado. A quick rundown of the breweries: North Coast, Sierra Nevada, Moab, Breckenridge, Great Divide, Avery, Twisted Pine, Ft. Collins, New Belgium, Odell, Funkwerks, Left Hand.

We took a jaunt north up to North Coast in Ft. Bragg. We bypassed a few other NorCal spots like Menodcino, Anderson Valley, and Lost Coast in the interest of time.

We had an ok meal at the brewery, and it was nice to see the whole lineup on draft. A secondary shop was across the street with lots of swag.

Finally heading back east, we ran into Chico to pop in to Sierra Nevada.

SN is no small operation, and their facility shows it. The great thing about breweries is that they recycle when they can. Aside from the typical practice of shipping spent grain to farms, SN composts their used material and uses plenty of solar panels to take advantage of the CA sun.The brewery also operates a full-blown restaurant which was pretty good, and it was nice to have a good meal under the sun.

The long drive through Nevada and Utah was punctuated by a stop into Moab Brewery after some hiking at Canyonlands and Arches. The real gem of the whole trip, however, was hitting up the Denver area breweries. After some iffy weather through western CO, we rolled into Breckenridge for a handful of drinks.

Great Divide was a short walk away which had a really nice lineup.
The bar was pretty small, but the whole operation itself was pretty small, relatively speaking. Not much food to speak of, but the tour is decent and the bar is great.

I've had the chance to sample offerings from Avery now and again, always pretty good but nothing outstanding.

Seeing a full lineup from Avery was pretty cool. They do some pretty exclusive stuff. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is pretty crummy, very college UG feel. We ordered some light food, some sort of sweet potato tater tot chili cheese concoction, which was pretty great except for the swarm of flies in the joint.



The beer was pretty damn good though.

We ended the first day at Twisted Pine, which was a bit of an off place,populated by mostly older folks in contrast to Avery. The beer was a little tamer aside from the Ghost Face Killa that I tried. Brewed with ghost peppers, it is the hottest thing I've ever tasted. Plenty of chili beers have a peppery taste with some degree of burn, but this one just kept burning, most of it hitting after the swallow so you have no idea what you're in for. It's one of the more impressive beers I've have, and so I brought back a few bottles.

We were the first visitors at Ft. Collins Brewery the next morning. We showed up at open, but apparently their winter hours were different from what was on their website. They served their samplers in something that looked like an oak stave which was pretty nice. I do recall the chili beer here which I found very pleasant and well-balanced.

The next big hit was New Belgium; we had to book the tour over a month in advance. New Belgium is a brewery that's always been near and dear to me. I remember drinking Fat Tire in UG as a luxury. Even these days, it's still a solid beer. I recall reading that their were starting canning, but sure enough, I saw 12-packs of Fat Tire and Ranger in micro-kegs.


New Belgium is a pretty green brewery. They do the efficiency-driven techniques of recycling kettle water and heat exchange, but they also own a good-sized piece of property. In addition to solar, they have covered a few ponds on their property as methane generators. Pretty cool.
They do a lot of bike-related art, of which I was fond. Chairs and balanced sculptures. Also, barrels of La Folie.

Odell had a nice feel in their taproom. The tour itself wasn't much to speak of, but the tap room was by far one of the largest I've seen, lots of polished wood and windows to catch the Colorado sun.


We ordered a couple of the pre-built flights to hit pretty much everything of interest. The swag shop was displayed in crates against the wall which was unobtrusive but also weird. I will note that Odell uses brushed cotton for their shirts like Backcountry, in contrast to most folks who use American Apparel or heavy duty types like Gildan.

We also managed to get some time in Funkwerks, a tiny little operation cranking out funky Belgian saisons. Their merch was pretty good, I have to say. It reminded me a bit of some of the old Element product. There was also a onesie that was pretty awesome.

Left Hand was another sort of odd place whose crowd was akin to Twisted Pine. The beers were great and came with great regard. The merch was also pretty nice but somewhat overpriced compared to most places. I walked away with just a pint glass though all the merch, glassware included, was pretty cool.

At some point, we also hit Oskar Blues which was across the highway from the hotel at which we were staying. A jaunt across the highway and a skip under the fence led us to show up in some roundabout side of OB but we found our way inside anyway. The experience was rather underwhelming. The staff looked mostly like high school kids, the food tasted a bit pre-packaged and rather salty, and the service was fairly slow. Still, Oskar Blues's bar was good, and their brews are great.

Past CO, there wasn't much to hit. Boulevard was booked up, and we weren't passing by Shlafly. There was the standard hit at Goose Island and then a one-day haul back to NY. At some point, I would like to hit up the Ohio breweries. Overall, it was a pretty solid trip. Very few places have the density of top notch breweries like Denver area but cramming a dozen breweries into two days, not for the weak-willed, but very awesome.

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest.

I didn't necessarily want to pick up a whole six-pack for my last couple of days so I ended up getting two bombers, both happening to be interesting and new. I wouldn't even have seriously considered this one had it not said "wet hop". This is the companion ale to the Southern Hemisphere Harvest which uses fresh hops flown in from New Zealand. The confusing thing about wet hop and fresh hop is that fresh hops are actually whole-cones dried and then used within a few days while wet hops are undried and whole-cone hops used withing 24 hours of picking. The wet hops for this one, naturally, came from Yakima.

Pouring with a pretty full head, it leaves plenty of lacing down the glass. It's also a touch darker than I might see in an American IPA. The aroma is surprisingly subdued, noting the hoppiness but exuded some pine-y, woody, more organic character. The taste is fairly deep with a strong, lasting bitter but not palate-wrecking. Rather than resin-y, it's more oily and flavorful. It's well-smoothed over by the malts making for an exceptionally well balanced beer, both in terms of malts and hop and in terms of mouthfeel. It's full without being too voluminous.

This is really a well-put-together beer for Sierra Nevada. Assertive but not ostentatious, no off-flavors. At 6.7%ABV, it's still easy-going enough to be a relaxing beer or a dinner beer. I like it.

• Appearance: Dark copper with a luxurious head, which dissipates to moss but laces well.
• Smell: A subtle, subdued hop aroma; aromatic and organic.
• Taste: A solid but not overpowering hop bitterness. It balances well with the malts. Slightly grassy, pine-y, woody.
• Mouthfeel: Carbonation is spot on, full and refreshing.
• Drinkability and Overall: 6.7%ABV is a little high for sessioning, but it is still a solid, occasion beer.

Epic Portamarillo.

I have no idea why I bought this beer. After a pretty shit day, all I really want is a solid, hoppy IPA (to be followed with gin and tonics, martinis, or whiskies), but taking a look at the label on this one: "the world's first tree tomato beer". Fuuuuuck. A self-described "sorta-porter" brewed with Tamarillos smoked over NZ Christmas Tree wood chips, oh boy. I guess I bought this because it seemed intriguing at the time and it was a collab brew with none other than DFH. Of course, DFH always does weird stuff. Also, a tiny, barely visible best-by indicates 19.10.11 so cool.

My first sip was really tentative because, gosh, a tomato beer sounds awful. As it turns out, it tastes like a decent, creamy porter. It's a very dark, translucent, ruby red against the light. The overall taste is quite mild, no tomato-y nonsense. The smoked component is subtle but noticeable and pretty tasty without being overpowering like some smoked beers. The center is fairly nondescript, most akin to a porter. I don't normally like porters because I don't care for that thin body and half-assed roasted malts, but this is pretty good. There's also a slight ashy, savory taste. It's smooth and creamy, The finish is somewhat more interesting as it's a bit astringent and hints of chocolate show up around the edges as I feel my tongue drying a bit.

An interesting beer, much better than I had feared. It leaves at a bit of a loss, no idea how to pair or how to follow it.

• Appearance: Dark but clear; creamy-looking head that subsides a bit but is still mossy.
• Smell: Couldn't get much out of the nose, typical of porter.
• Taste: First impression is the smoke but that's mild. Hints of chocolate, ash, and savory.
• Mouthfeel: Thin but smooth and creamy without frothing. Noticeably astringent on the finish.
• Drinkability and Overall: 7%ABV so strangely strong for a porter. Both interesting and run-of-the-mill at the same time. Worth a try but not anything I'd pick up again.

High Water Brewing Hop Riot IPA.

After spending the last few months climbing in the gym, I finally went outdoor climbing. We got pretty destroyed, and I almost fell off a cliff in the worst way. I'm pretty sure I've definitely earned this beer maybe. Also, this is a beer that I got from Cool New Friend Who Buys Beer For WF, so that is pretty cool. For some reason, the label looks very familiar, and i don't know if it's because I just saw it a lot here or if I've actually seen it back home. Beer labels are kind of like beers in that way that there's ones you remember and ones you don't. For some reason, this label makes me think of amateur homebrew guy trying to get some sales and distro. I think it's the font. I guess I am just not that into so much serif.

The pour looks resin-y and produces a decent, lasting head so that's potentially a good start. The aroma is hoppy, more on the weedy side than floral or grassy, perhaps an effect of the dry-hopping, of which they don't specify the format. The undercurrent of malt keeps a fairly potent bitterness in check, and there's a noticeably nice balance there, something that's far too uncommon in IPAs. My only outstanding complaint would have to be the carbonation level and shape which is a little too fizzy, a little too diet soda-like. Otherwise, it's not bad. It's a fairly standard, no-real-complaints, IPA, which is perhaps it's greatest detraction, that there's nothing outstanding about it. At 7.3%ABV, it's unusually strong, but no real complaints there. Because it's so bitter, I'm not sure I would want to pair it against anything other than a very spicy Thai curry with coconut milk.

Also, what is the deal with such aggressively named beers? I don't want a riot in my mouth. People get beat up at riots. Why can't they make an IPA called Hop Symphony or Sock Hop or Hop Pants-off Dance-off? These possibilities are far more intriguing than riots, armageddon, or other such devastation.

• Appearance: Slightly darker than typical, more of a copper tone. Clear. Moderate head that manages to persist.
• Smell: Strong, bitter hop aroma. Noticeably not fresh but certainly not stale either. More on the weedy, resin-y side.
• Taste: Solid bitter with a well-balancing malt. Somewhat one-dimensional, but not as obnoxious about it as, say, Hoptical Illusion.
• Mouthfeel: Somewhat overcarbed, but otherwise of a pleasant, standard weight. Slightly resinous, leaving some stickiness, which denies it the ability to be crisp and clean.
• Drinkability and Overall: 7.3%ABV, somewhat high for a standard IPA. It lacks the depth to stand too much scrutiny and the residue gets a little annoying. It's otherwise a simple drinker to be consumed while doing other things.

Epic Armageddon IPA.

With the rash of New Zealand hops being used these days, I thought a New Zealand beer might be an interesting change of pace. Clearly, they are apt on marketing abroad as the top of their label proclaims "ALL THE WAY FROM NEW ZEALAND". I wonder what folks in New Zealand think when they see this. To be contextually appropriate, I am now listening to Flight of the Conchords.

It's business time.

The whiff is rich and malty with a almost resin-y with hops. Very nice. That's foreplay. Sweet, green, and grassy with lots of lacing. I know this bottle must have been sitting on the shelf forever, but it still smells almost fresh, not dried or pellet-y. But when we get down to business socks, it is not as epic as its namesake. And that's the unfortunate curse of many beers that insist on their epicness, that they will wreck your palate, and otherwise cause catastrophic devastation and calamities. No one wants that in their mouth anyway.

The hop character, while not a cataclysm, is thin and sharp, evident and rather firm. It's not necessarily metallic, but more akin some more organic surfacing material around a full, more-of-a-pale-ale body. It has a session feel despite being the odd 6.66%ABV. It's also a curious format, 1 pint and .9 fl oz. Everything's backwards on that side of the world. That being said, it's a very solid, retro IPA, without some of the more floral or wide-ranging hop complexities that's more commonplace today. Ultimately, I think it's lacking a solid malt backbone, which makes it very drinkable without being filling. The strong-enough hop character is just enough to carry its flimsy compatriot.

At the end of the day, it'll never be a concert flautist, but it's a decent, drinkable beer, depending on the street. I'm not sure if I would want to sit down and drink this on its own, but it might be a good opener for a night.

• Appearance: Clear, slightly darker golden straw. Fluffy, finger head which settles down a bit but leaves plenty of lacing.
• Smell: A rich hoppy, malty, aroma, fresh and grassy.
• Taste: A bit might thinner than one might expect from the smell. Thin, hard hops but without the malts to fill it out leaves it so-so.
• Mouthfeel: Thin on taste but the mouthfeel is a voluminous pale ale. Not uncomfortably filling though.
• Drinkability and Overall: Based on feel, it's sessionable, but at 6.66%ABV, it's slightly steep. I just wasn't terribly impressed. less than epic.

Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA.

Speakeasy is a SF-local brewery. I had been putting off picking any up this summer since I figured I would get down there at some point. Since I'm packing up an leaving in a couple weeks, I'm doubtful I'll find myself there. And after having tasted this one, good time not wasted.

The head almost indicated something promising, but I couldn't get anything of the nose, which is really weird for an IPA. As it turns out, there's nothing to get out of the nose because there is nothing there. I have had lagers hoppier than this. This has got to be one of the wateriest IPAs I've ever had. And it's kind of flat to boot. This is my disappointed face: '_'

Hands down, one of the worst IPAs I've had. To be honest, I don't even want to finish this. There are IPAs that are terrible because they just totally fucked up going for something or because it was a bad bottle (I did get to try Denogginizer again; better bottle than the one I had.) but this is the worst because there's no effort. And that's basically as bad as Lex Luthor stealing forty cakes.

• Appearance: Too clear golden straw. Mossy head that is lacing a bit, but too little, too late.
• Smell: Virtually nothing. lolwut?
• Taste: Very mild hops that manage to not taste pellet-y and only slightly metallic on the finish.
• Mouthfeel: Soda going flat. There is not much hop or malt so the finish is pretty clean.
• Drinkability and Overall: Terrible. Do not buy. No redeeming qualities.

Karl Strauss Boardwalk Black Rye.

I've been to Karl Strauss a couple times now, and the beer had always been a decent experience. Most brews are not bad but nothing spectacular. I usually pass over the Karl Strauss options because I was never really wooed, but I saw this one at the store, I had to give it a try. I have a penchant for rye; whiskey, beer, bread, it's all good.

A nice black pour, with about a centimeter of dirty head, I got a nice whiff of spice. There's a bit of chocolate right on the tip of the tongue. There's no strongly dominant flavor but it starts toasty, progresses to roasty, and finishes fairly burnt, like burnt toast. There's hints of spiciness throughout, but unfortunately not as potent as I'd like. I think it gets a bit overwhelmed by the strong roasted malts. It's a bit sticky on the finish but is otherwise clean on the palate.

So I'm going to guess that this is supposed to be a Cascadian Dark with rye. I'm not feeling it. Yet again, the label indicates their strong hop character ("of a Double IPA", ha!) but fails to follow through. This is supposedly rated at 80IBU and has garnered some decent ratings on BA, but I just don't get that strong of a hop impression with this, nor many other Cascadians. I don't get it. Maybe I should try a blind tasting sometime and see if the visual cue is what's screwing with my palate. Or maybe there's just not that much hop to taste.

• Appearance: Opaque black with a centimeter of light brown head. Fades pretty quickly though.
• Smell: A spicy, cereal aroma.
• Taste: Predominantly dark malt impressions of varying toast. The hop character is just not there for me. There's a bit of chocolate on the tip at the beginning.
• Mouthfeel: Clean, round, and smooth. Finishes a bit sticky.
• Drinkability and Overall: As with Karl Strauss's other beers, it's not bad, but it's not knock-your-socks-off. At 8%ABV, maybe a way to start of a meal at one of their brewpubs.

Straffe Hendrik Bruges Tripel 9.

I picked up a bottle at the recommendation of a WF guy who "loves malty, fruity things", tripels among them. Right on popping the cork, a spicy, tart aroma emerged, an auspicious start. A slightly reddish golden pour, topped by a fine, creamy head, which is a little low for the style. Despite that, it is persistent as a moss. The palate impression is rather phenolic, slightly tart, slightly bitter. Surprisingly, not as sweet and malty as I might have thought, given the source of the recommendation. I also have to say the carbonation level is rather low. What is up with that lately?

Actually, taking the last sip from this glass, it's almost completely flat, which sucks. However, I did pick up a perfume-y flower petal note as well. Also, a slight inhale on a sip yields some characteristic banana notes.

Pouring to finish off, the sediment is kicked up pretty early. It is not caked down. Slightly annoying, but maybe a candidate for harvesting? I might pick up some of the other Straffe Hendrik line, but I will rinse and save this bottle because I like the label (not paper, printed!). The others utilize the same moon image, presumably signifying the Halve Maan Brewery, but change the color of the label, much like Chimay. I enjoy tripels too much to think they need a pairing so nothing really comes to mind for this one. A gander at the label also indicates that this is a "Brugean tripel", with 6 malts and Saaz and Stryian Golding. Apparently, this is a local specialty of the Bruges area, using darker malts than normal, hence, perhaps, the reddish color. Neat.

• Appearance: Reddish golden. Rather thin, creamy head; low retention.
• Smell: Rather tart, a bit pear-like.
• Taste: Banana, tart, flower petal perfume. Not as malty as I might think.
• Mouthfeel: Carbonation is fine albeit a bit low. Slightly drying on the finish, which is nice.
• Drinkability and Overall: 9%ABV clearly disqualifies it from sessioning, but it's a unique tripel variation worth trying.

Sam Adams Longshot Blackened Hops.

The last unique installment of the Longshot 6-pack. After the dismal Friar last time, I was hoping this would better. And it is. But only marginally. I suppose this is supposed to be akin to a Cascadian Dark, formerly known as Black IPA (THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE). The pour is pretty rich-looking and the head is creamy, so it almost looks like a stout. However, the mouthfeel is creamier than a regular stout. So the first few sips, I wasn't too impressed but now that I'm not distracted and actually paying attention, I'm getting hints of chocolate. It's a bit like drinking a non-viscous chocolate syrup though the sweetness and cocoa intensity are quite low. There is a nicely balanced roasted malt bitter as well as hop bitter towards the finish. The finish is also pleasantly clean, no metallic off-flavors.

Again, this is a self-proclaimed hop punch but I'm finding it to not deliver, which is not a bad thing. I think the level of hopping in this just right, considering everything else. It's restrained and mostly grassy, pine-y, leafy than tongue splitting. I really think the mouthfeel is probably the most outstanding characteristic though. It's cohesive but not terribly viscous like heavier stouts. Like heavier stouts though, it carries a good amount of roast and a somewhat heavier body. It's extremely smooth and pleasant on the palate, a constant low simmer of carbonation keeping it from sticking too much.

I am still not a huge fan of Cascadian Darks, mostly because I have yet to try one that really impresses me and pulls off what it claims to be doing, but this is a nice one. It's stout-like leaning makes it a unique alternative with cheese plates. Perhaps a bit too heavy for an apertif, but I think if the meal were simple, small, and hearty, it'd go over well. I'm thinking of it as a good well-into-fall-heading-into-winter kind of beer, after you get sick of pumpkin beers, tired of harvest ales, but not cold enough for heavy stouts.

• Appearance: Opaque black, barely translucent reddishness against the light. A constant but thin head, very fine and creamy.
• Smell: That unique Cascadian Dark aroma of roast and hops, but fairly subdued on both fronts. It is still a confusing one to me.
• Taste: Fairly toasty and burnt, there is some chocolate sensation as well as a leafy, pine-y hop on the back end, though contributing rather little bitterness.
• Mouthfeel: Superbly smooth and silky. The low viscosity belies the weight of this one. A very nice combination. Cohesive is the best way to describe it.
• Drinkability and Overall: It does not finish as cleanly as I would like, but it is still a pleasant beer. At 7%ABV combined with the stickiness, I don't think I would drink more than one or two.

Sam Adams Longshot Friar Hop Ale.

Second installation from the Longshot. A viscous, vinous-looking pour into a pint glass. First sip: ugh. What the hell happened here? It is very malty sweet, slightly unripened fruit, and cloying even though it's not a refined sweetness. Supposedly, this guy loves hops and he loves spicy Belgian ales. This has neither. There is some dark ale maltiness in the nose, but the taste is bordering on sour. To be honest, this seems to be either underfermented. or extremely young. Or maybe that sourness is supposed to be a mega-citrus component, but I'm just not feeling it. The more that I think about it, it tastes like some other Belgian-styled beer I had recently, but knows what the name was. Maybe this is just one of those beers.

I wanted to like it, I really did. But there's something not balanced out here. If they said to put some age on it, I would. I'm really missing the hops that were supposed to be in here, too. What gives? I don't even want to finish this bottle. It'd be well enough to piece out for a tasters, but what is it supposed to represent? For sure, this is a higher ABV at 9%, but if that's all you're getting, I'd be happier drinking a bourbon or gin.

• Appearance: A bit of a golden amber but kind of pissy. Slightly viscous-looking
• Smell: Super malty with a bit of nondescript, but reasonably fresh, hop aroma
• Taste: Just too malty, sugar-y, and unusually tart. The hops are nowhere to be found.
• Mouthfeel: Vinous and sticky. Carbed out by the time I got towards the bottom. Pretty dismal.
• Drinkability and Overall: It just didn't hit enough marks to be passable. I'm not sure what it supposed to be going on here, but whatever it was, it wasn't for me.

La Trappe and Rogue Public.

I finally made it out to La Trappe, a bar in SF specializing in imported/Belgian beers. The setting is pretty cool. There's a small dining area upstairs, but downstairs is the bar with more dinner seating. The bar area is a pretty dimly lit, cozy cellar. Their bottle list is at least a dozen pages, each front and back, small print. I didn't really have the time or resources to work on that. The draft lineup was about a dozen beers, a lot of which are pretty freely available in bottles so I focused on the most obscure ones. Notes are brief.

Van Steenberge Gentse Tripel: Very smooth and sweet, a little undercarbed. Nice fruity phenolic character.

De Keersmaeker Mort Subite Blanche: A white lambic, i.e. a lambic brewed with wheat. Awesome strawberry and tropical fruit notes, very clean and light.

I forget what this was called. I overheard the bartender chatting up some girl about this one. It is apparently the original Hoegaarden recipe.

We made our way down to Rogue as well for some dinner. The menu as La Trappe looked nice, but I didn't get the vibe that I was going to get a lot of food for my money. But the joke was on me because I had a terrible fish and chips at Rogue. In retrospect, I should have remembered that because the last time I was there, one of my associates got the fish and chips and I got a taco salad. Both looked terrible.

Coincidentally, I recently had someone mention Mata Veza Morpho to me, about how it is a 0IBU beer or something, which is bizarre. I only had a taste, and it tasted more like a tea than anything.

Anderson Valley Port Stout: I actually wasn't thinking when I ordered this. On the first sip, I realized the "port" was referring to port wine. An interesting spin on a stout, not really sure if I like it though. I certainly wouldn't want to sit down with more than a half-pint. Rather tart up front with some body; underneath it is still a stout. Not sure how well the characters blended.

Deschutes Hop in the Dark: I presume this is a Cascadian Dark. Not bad, I think. I didn't take any notes for this one, and nothing really stands out in my memory other than the free Dead Guy the waiter accidentally brought me.

Rogue Chipotle Ale: I always pass over this one in the store. It wasn't bad, more peppery than a punchy spice or heat. The style never really appealed to me so I never drank it, but maybe I should sit down with a bottle and give it a shot.

Sam Adams Longshot Honey B's Lavender Ale.

For some reason I got really excited when I saw this 6-pack of Longshot at the store, took a glance at it, and thought it was all Blackened Hops. I put one in the fridge that night, pulled it out tonight to try and saw that it was actually Honey B's Lavender Ale. Maybe it's sexist, but I'm not surprised a female would decide to brew with lavender. (As a man, I prefer to brew with flavors like SHOCKolate and GUN.) In any case, lavender is a very aromatic ingredient that takes some work to leverage in any food or beverage.

Right on the pour, I got a strong floral, lavender aroma, slightly hoppy and sweet. There is a bit of honey on the palate as it is also brewed with honey, and I get a very mild sweetness. The base flavor seems to be more of that nondescript pale ale sans hops that tends to be common amongst beer utilizing honey. I suppose great restraint must be shown towards hopping when using honey as well. The lavender is a little more subtle on the palate than the nose and contributes mostly in a generic flower petal taste and texture. The carbonation is not unusual, but the mouthfeel is somewhat creamier than I would have liked. While it describes itself as a kick-back beer, it's a little too voluminous, not exceptionally crisp and doesn't seem to come off as very cold.

Not a loser, but certainly not a kickass beer that I must recommend to everyone. That being said, I will probably remember this enough to tell a story about this one lavender beer I had way back when. And that's my beef with these kinds of herbed/spiced/honey beers. More often than not, they just don't bring enough to the table to stand on their own or against any food or occasion. What would I do with beer? I would drink it when I happen to have one around and I just want "a beer". Maybe that's a bit of a backhanded compliment, so I want to reiterate this is not a bad beer. It's just not what I'm looking for in a beer right now. Ok, ok, I let that one slip out a bit but now let me suppose this was brewed by a dude. "Yeah, it's ok, dude. I tend to like more hops...but I get what you're trying to accomplish with the lavender. Brewing is about self-expression, right?" (ZING). Anyway. How would I like to see this revised into an even better beer? More assertive. More lavender, more unconverted honey, complementary flavors and aromas like jasmine, chamomile, milk,, etc. Really, I am now just thinking about body washes, and you should probably just make a heather ale.

• Appearance: Clear gold. Kicked up a little finger of a head which fell down to a ring.
• Smell: Fragrant lavender but not perfume-y.
• Taste: Very mild, slight sweet honey. Lavender generalizes into more of a generic flower petal sensation.
• Mouthfeel: A bit too creamy for me. It seems like it just doesn't stay cold enough, but it's also been rather warm lately.
• Drinkability and Overall: Too voluminous to be a refreshing beer for my taste. Rather generic, unfortunately. Not sorry I had it though, but not in my top 5.

Sam Adams Bonfire Rauchbier.

I love Boston Beer Company because, despite being huge (they are the largest craft brewery and had to get "craft brewery" redefined to accommodate their volume), they still find time to branch out and not do it in a shitty fashion. So props. I've had only a few rauchbiers, and they've all been pretty crazy. Obviously, the first thing that people mention is bacon. Beer and bacon are both wonderful things, but bacon-flavored beer? There's bacon-flavored vodkas, which really doesn't sound that appetizing. You wouldn't make a bacon milkshake. (Or would you?)

I like that while this beer does a have a bit of bacon nuance, it's in check and lets the smokiness come out more. Woody, chestnut-y, but mostly smoky. Hickory? Really, it drowns out everything else for me. It's low and an easy drinker, but I don't really think I'd want to drink too many of these in one go. Only the bare minimum of notes; this style is still too much of a novelty for my palate.

• Appearance: Slightly ruddy brown, but very clear.
• Smell: Not too bacon-y but more like ham.
• Taste: Not as bacon-y as other rauchbiers I've had, which lets the smokiness come out a bit more.
• Mouthfeel: Boston Ale-y.
• Drinkability and Overall: More easy-going and palatable than any other rauchbier I've had and probably the most accessible. Still, I wouldn't want to sit down and drink more than one.

New Belgium Mothership Wit.

My first complaint is that this pale straw colored "organic wheat beer brewed with spices" is too damn clear. The irony of it is that the side of the labels has little pictures to teach you "how to fly the mothership", when there is, in fact, no sediment to swirl. I guess this is just a simulator. I must say this is a curious kind of wheat beer though. It's fairly tart. I suppose that is common to the style, which I am getting confused with other wheat beers. Witbier is a a Belgian/French wheat beer while hefeweizen/weissbier is of German origin. But now that I think about it, Blue Moon and Hoegaarden are witbiers. This does not look like them. It looks more like a filtered hefeweizen. In any case, it is even paler than filtered hefeweizen. It's quite strange.

Maybe the "organic" makes things taste crazy, but this has a crazy taste too. As i said, it's rather tart and sour, relatively speaking. There is some spice bundled up front but it gets shoved around a lot by this vinous character. How turbulent. I am mostly confused about this beer, but I've already drank the other five bottles last week, so I guess it can't be that bad. I will say that I did pass it over a few times, if I had some other option in the refrigerator though. Do what you will with that information.

I just can't find a lot to say about this one, nor can I do it in a cogent fashion, apparently. I want to say there's something kind of mild, unripe and slightly bitter fruit in there or something. It's all very confusing. The carbonation is probably about right for the style, but it doesn't carry well because the rest of it is so light that it might float away. Is that the joke here?

• Appearance: The palest, clearest beer I've ever seen. Weird tint too. It almost looks watered down.
• Smell: Can't get much aroma.
• Taste: Sour and tart. The spice is sort of there but is not very assertive.
• Mouthfeel: Extremely light and fairly high carb makes for a strange balance.
• Drinkability and Overall: I don't know if this was from a bad batch or what. When I typed that it looked watered down, I think that really sums it up. Everything about this beer seems really watered down. Combined with the fact that I didn't get any sediment in my bottles, maybe this was a bad batch.

New Belgium Hoptober.

I love New Belgium. Fat Tire is such a classic amber ale, and I don't go for ambers very often, but that's just a full, assertive example of the style. I remember drinking Fat Tires back in college, and it was just a great change of pace from all the Killian's on Taco Tuesdays or, much more commonly, the numerous PBRs I ironically ironically liked. Is that double 'ironically' an ironic typo or intentional. I don't even know anymore.

A few years later (or maybe a only a year), I stopped by a nice chain bottle shop that had opened back in my parents' town and picked up several examples from New Belgium's lineup. (Checking the archives, it was 1554, Abbey, and Tripel. Also, OMG SO SNOOTY.) While I wasn't as head-over-heels for those by that point, as my palate had significantly diversified, they were still pretty satisfying beers, despite what my former self was apparently thinking at the time. New Belgium is also canning these days, and I did pick up a 12-pack of Fat Tire cans to haul back east. I may have to pick up some of this to bring back too. Pale and wheat malt with rye and oats, Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, and Glacier hops, this is a pretty solid beer.

Now that I'm almost down to the bottom of this pour, I should probably write something about it. It is a super crystal clear gold that even looks refreshing. The aroma is rather pilsener-like with some hard, sharp, clean hop aromas. It reminds me of Sam Adams Noble Pils but maltier and softer. I had to look this up on BA, and it's an American Blonde Ale which not a style with which I'm familiar but it is fairly new and distinctly American, obviously. It's a bit of a take on a kolsch, a style I do enjoy but does not cross my mind nearly enough to make it to my lips. The malts are slightly sweet, maybe a bit like honey with a little bit of fruitiness, but very subdued and well-controlled. The hop blend is really nice, certainly present but not over-the-top, just a little laid back. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but there's the slightest hint of a toastiness, a nod to the changing of the leaves, as they turn in crunchy things to crush ("sounds like fortune cookies!").

I would love to have this around for an outdoor field day on one of those autumn days that run the whole spectrum of temperatures: a warm sun during the day with an occasionally gusty breeze and a cooling evening that can give you the occasional chill, if you let it. The label has a bunch of silhouettes dancing and hoolahooping around a bonfire. And that sounds awesome.

• Appearance: Crystal clear gold. The head looks a little scummy and gives the impression of it being somewhat viscous but that's misleading; it clears out on its own.
• Smell: Noble hops, clean, sharp, and hard.
• Taste: Slightly sweet malt with impressions of fruit and honey. It is primarily a well-packaged hop courier though, balanced and not overloaded. An ale-y version of Sam Adams Noble Pils.
• Mouthfeel: Slightly creamy but finishes crisply with the right amount of carbonation. Certainly heavier than a pilsener but pretty lightweight for many craft ales. Very kolsch-y.
• Drinkability and Overall: Only 40 IBU and 6%ABV combined with the relatively light body make this is a superbly easy drinker. I would say this could take through the night at the bar, but it demands to be drank outside on crisp fall day into the night.

Lagunitas Bavarian-styled Doppel Weizen.

A new-to-me limited release. Labels reads "This Special Brew Was Designed By Our Freistaat Bayern Brothers Who Also Built The Brewhouse Upon Which We Brewed It", which makes for a really long name. The edge of the label tells a cute story of making a drunken brewhouse purchase from a "Freistat Bayern Brewer" for a mere 80bbl capacity back in 2006. Today, Lagunitas is moving to a 250bbl facility. Cheers.

Interesting little brew. The aroma is strongly banana, but the first taste is rather spicy, like a Belgian wit but sours out like a German hefeweizen. And the body is creamy and smooth like a Vienna lager. There's a lot going on here, both in depth and breadth. The banana which so strongly dominates the nose bows out and allows a refreshing wheat character to take stage, though well protected by a haze of spice buffeted by a nicely effervescent body. The banana makes a brief appearance towards the end, and I think I caught a taste of something akin to a plum.

OG 1.084, 9%ABV, 34.2 IBU. This is such an interesting beer. It's like it has a little something for everyone. It doesn't excel at any one thing, but it doesn't do anything injustice either. The body makes it just filling enough that it could stand on its own on a hot day, but it's not so filling that you couldn't also have some cook-out food with it too. I like it. I'd like to keep it around during the summer months. It's a nice beer that's a little richer, a little more complex than your standard hefeweizen or witbier.

• Appearance: Hazy straw-amber; head is only a ring.
• Smell: Suddenly, bananas. A swirl to stir up some head yields more of the spice character.
• Taste: Spicy like a Hoegaarden rather than a Blue Moon. The wheat is surrounded by the spice, which really has all the exits covered. The banana is far more subdued in the palate than in the nose. I found a little bit of plum on the back end.
• Mouthfeel: Creamy and smooth, it gains some volume in the mouth, giving it a rather white-bread-y sensation. Fairly filling.
• Drinkability and Overall: OG 1.084, 9%ABV, 34.2 IBU. Pretty interesting across the gamut of sensations. I like it, and I think it could fit in a lot of situations. Too high for an all-nighter, but it'd be a nice way to kick it off.

Primator Doppelbock.

I haven't had a good doppelbock in a while. I remember my first: Ayinger Celebrator. It had a sweet billy goat charm around the neck of each bottle, which a pun. 'ein bock' (which is apparently what it sounds like when Bavarians say 'Einbeck', the origin town for the style) means 'billy goat'; hence, the association of goats with the style. I've also heard that it's a reference to the changing of the season. The onset of spring calls for a kick in the pants (or a headbutt) to shake off the cobwebs of the dark winter months, so bocks are slightly higher in alcohol (kind of like barleywines, of which I really like ST's description).

This is an incredibly sweet beer, extremely sugary. I have never tasted a beer so sugary. I am completely beside myself. That rich, toasty, malty character, the dark and bitter notion of an extra stout slightly tempered by sweetness, has been replaced with Kool-aid. This beer is just so extraordinarily sweet. It doesn't have the body of a milk stout to back it up properly so it just spills itself all over your palate, blowing out everything, smashing through another wall when it leaves, and the roast bitter shrugs sheepishly and shuffles away with its hands in its pockets.

It's fairly carbed so I'm pouring the other half to top off my glass and try it with something spicy as its neck label suggests. The violent pour stirred up the head which foamed up and fizzed out, maybe apropos for its cola soda-like sweetness. All I've really got are some tortilla chips and some serrano salsa fresca that I just bought. Turns out that this salsa is pretty mild, only rating half of a full chile. The mild heat cuts down the sweetness a bit and lets the toastiness peek through. But it's still pretty imbalanced. Ok, time to break out the Uncle Chen Extra Hot - Chili Garlic Sauce. It's, and I quote, "chiliciously hot". It's not a sauce I find myself using very often because it just doesn't go well with anything other than pho, unfortunately. That spiciness and this sweetness just don't mesh. And this big gulp I just took tasted like Kopiko cappuccino candy so that's bizarre. The salsa is good, by the way.

At this point, a few gulps away from the bottom, I'm finding more and more of a coffee character, a heavily sugared and creamed coffee, almost like canned coffee, but even sweeter. That's the thing about canned coffee; it's fatty and sugary, but there's still a clear coffee character. Primator is more like adding coffee to your sugary milk.

Here's the thing. There are no goats on the label. They claim a combination of "five different Moravian and Bavarian malts with a hint of bittering hops", (as opposed to five of the same malts?) yielding a 24 degrees Plato, 10.5%ABV wonky Doppelbock. You screwed me at "no goats".

• Appearance: Very clear, dark brown, deep garnet against the light. No head without some vigor, then it fizzes out like soda.
• Smell: When I can get the head swirled up, there's actually a nice nutty (they say chestnut) aroma. I would agree with roasted chestnut.
• Taste: Absurdly sweet. The sweetness is more reminiscent of cola soda than malt. The toasty bitterness is completely lost here. Eventually, it just starts to tastes like canned coffee but still so ridiculously sweet that it makes Starbucks drinks taste like actual coffee.
• Mouthfeel: A fairly silky lager at this point. Initially, the carbing was fairly high but not so high to foam, just enough to coat the tongue. I'm reminded of a very, very thin syrup, which is syrup nevertheless.
• Drinkability and Overall: The 500mL bottle is an awkward format because it's 1 pint, 0.9 fl oz. For my palate, it's just too sweet to enjoy on it's own, but I can't see it meshing well with anything else either. Maybe buffalo wings or something. The 10.5%ABV means you're really going to enjoy whatever you drink next, as long as it's not this.