Recently in Beer Ale and Spirits Category

Lately it seems that there has been a lot of hubbub on the interwebs of beer regarding Avery Brewing. I had somehow assumed in my ignorance that this was just something we didn't get in Michigan. Anyhow one night when I popped into Siciliano's I asked about Avery, and sure enough, we do have it. So I picked up a bottle of The Czar Imperial Stout.

If you hold it up to the light, it does become transparent, while not the darkest brew on the face of the earth, it's clearly an Imperial Stout. Deep red to the point of great beauty, its nose is very unique, malty, but not in the conventional sense. It smells like fresh mash, if you have ever been to a brewery when they just dumped their mash tun, or have homebrewed, you know what I mean. That heavenly sent that without question exceeds all smells in the universe. So I give it a pretty decent rating for smell, it also has a little bit of a cidery... oh hell it's just got that maltyness that's freaking awesome! Nice mouthfeel, malty notes to match the aroma, and just very well balanced. Not a lot of roasted malt notes - I am not a fan of roasted malt so that suits me just fine - it lacks the carrot flavor of some stouts, and it has limited burnt caramel notes. So while it differs from say Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout in character; this is just simply an excellent stout, absolutely amazing. As Imperial Stouts go I would be temped to put this in the top two with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. I will have to do a horizontal tasting to place it for sure, but I think it rival Great Divides Yeti, and the gauntlet of Imperial Stouts in the arena.

So this leads me to Mephistopheles, their big bad Imperial Stout. I want to try it, somehow I doubt it comes around these parts. But if it does, I WANT ONE! 

So here I am drinking his 'absolutely amazing' selection. The spicy Belgian yeast strain hits your nose... and that's it. I was waiting for all the complexity, it was a bit cool, so I let it warm, nope still nothing. The spicy yeast strain dominates the entire ale, and leaves little to the imagination, or perhaps everything to the imagination, and nothing to the palate. It does have a nice creamy mouthfeel, and when it warms a hint of chocolate. For the price I would prefer something along the lines of Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, which carries a bit more complexity. Overall decent, but not really worthy of being shanghaied into again.

     Bottled on 11/11/11 this years Bourbon County Stout comes to the table with an additional 1 1/2 % alcohol content from last year. The bourbon and carrot nose hit you the moment you crack open the bottle. With a tingly bourbon sweetness Bourbon County Stout has a smooth, chocolate, velvety mouth-feel that finishes with a never ending tiny bourbon burn on the tongue. This year seems to have a bit more raw alcohol character and a little less bourbon oakiness. Overall this year does not disappoint, I guess big evil AB-Inbev hasn't ruined them yet - let me interject with a quick rant - I hope that instead of taking the Pete's Wicked ale path and the path of every other brew that was ruined by Miller SAB the intrusion of big business takes a different spin this next score and they realize that good capitalism means good ale.

      BCS pours a nice motor oil viscosity, with insignificant head, and a sheer caramel blackness. Overall this winter warmer comes in just under Founders CBS and a stretch past Founders KBS. Right next to Anchor Porter, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Dark Horse Plead the 5th, and Founders CBS (or KBS on tap) this is one of my favorite ales. Granted each tends to be just a bit different in style, and Bourbon County Stout holds its own with the most bourbon of any ale I have had. Thanks to David Stanley at Cascade Meijer for this years brew!

Bourbon County Stout.. Good to the Last Drop!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. No better way to celebrate than with a Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. With a thick smokey oak aroma, and hints of licorice and charcoal, this is one brew that does not disappoint. From the rich, sweet, velvety chocolate body, to the mildly sweet maple finish, CBS is very balanced. Unlike some Founders brews the maple is just detectable as sweetness, and not over the top. This is one the of best stouts I have ever had, as it warms it has a detectable caramelized malty sweetness. 

While this is a year round ale for many, and may not venture into Limited Edition territory, it is still a treat for anyone in Michigan. Allagash does not distribute this far out. I picked this ale up while in Dallas. The aroma is lemon meringue pie, the honey hue nicely sets up the circus peanut, Belgian ale taste. It is similar to the Brooklyner-Schneirder Hopfen-Weisse in that much of the character is a result of the Belgian yeast. Granted this has some [quite a presence of] unique nuances as a result of the bourbon barrel aging. Of any bourbon barrel aged brew I've sampled, this one, has the mildest touch of bourbon that I have ever detected. This is not a bad thing either, the flavor profile blends appropriately this way. I expected a lot from this ale, and it delivered. With very little up front, it has just a little bourbon burn in the finish unexpectedly giving a little kick before it's gone. So if you can get your hands on this strange, inquisitive, curious, curieux brew do so. Granted I say that a lot. But I still mean it. Just because I seldom buy bad brews does not mean they're not out there. They exist by the truck load. But life is just too short for bad beer. So go buy yourself a Real Ale while you have the chance.

Clurichaun, from the label

"Like their better known cousin the Leprechaun, Clurichauns are mischievous, Celtic fairies who enjoy playing practical jokes. Clurichauns (Kloo'-ra-kahns) live in wine cellars and are avid drinkers. Treat him well and a Clurichaun will use magical powers to guard your cellar, prevent casks from leaking, and keep the contents from going bad. A favorite Clurichaun pastime is riding sheep bareback on moonlit nights. These wee folk know how to party."

So there you have it, having a few Clurichauns around is bound to be a good plan. Black Clu is good, the label is designed by a local, and the mead/melomel hopped concoction is created locally by Bardic Wells Meadery, a pretty much one man operation that produces meads only available in Michigan.

As meads go, I do like this. The hop addition is almost undetectable, the cherries really complement what small nuance is present. My only criticism is that it has a bit of 'cardboardiness' that meads tend to have. Nothing to over the top like most commercial meads I have had, but more than I would want, since I find it to be a very undesirable characteristic. To really cast judgment I will need to sample more of his meads, to see if it's a result of the stone fruit, or something else.

In the end the very best meads and melomels I have had, are my own. My buddy Jay makes a decent one as well. My favorite was the Blueberry Melomel that I last year. Meads can have some really off smells, normally the flavors are decent, but sometimes they smell like fingernail polish, body odor, or cardboard. My guess is that fermentation temps have a lot to do with this.The better ones, like Black Clu have a honey aroma that dominates the nose.

This Black Clu really grows on you. At first I wasn't crazy about it, but it keeps getting better with each glass. It's the best commercial mead I have had. Well worth purchasing. 

Sisyphus is a Barleywine from Real Ale Brewing Company in Blanco, Texas. Real Ale brews Devils Backbone a great Belgian-style tripel, and Lost Gold, a highly carbonated, full bodied, brassy IPA, with a smooth head. I would classify it as a dirty hop IPA. I was impressed when I visited Stella's, in Grand Rapids, that the waitress made this definition between the citrusy, and dirty IPA, when she suggested Short's Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA (a great Michigan ale).

Sisyphus pours a deep orange, with minimal head. It's a candi-rum malty brew, with a hoppy, sweet malt nose, mouthfeel typical of the style, and a hop tang. It is a great ale, however with big hop profile, and a definite bitter hop finish, it's a bit much for a barleywine. I can only imagine the hop wham it deals before it's aged. That said, it's far from disappointing, and being a hophead I really don't mind the bitter hop content. My biggest criticism is that Real Ale uses the word epic to describe it on the label. I don't think I would do that.  

At The Libertine - a great little beer bar if you're ever in Dallas TX - I sampled Real Ale's Full Moon Pale Rye at a clear, amber ale with a slight hop dryness like Montana weeds. So far everything I have tried from Real Ale impresses me.

Short's Huma Lupa IPA

I was in the mood for something new. This was it. Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot is labeled a 'jobless recovery ale'. Originally slated to be the 2010 Recovery Ale, but since our economic recovery is yet to come, Lagunitas has just said WTF. The dark color and full body are impressive. Aside from that nothing really stands out about this ale. I don't mean that is a bad way either. It's pretty much a perfect brown, slight hops, with just a little more German maltiness than hopiness. It's very balanced, like a big beer, without the big. Unfortunately I only enjoyed half the bottle before I managed to knock my glass over doing dishes. That was not the way I would have wanted to finish this one, that's for sure. This is quite possibly one of the best ales I have had this year. To be honest I am not a big fan of browns, but I am a big fan of this brew. There are just so many crappy ales on the shelves labeled 'brown' ales. I think I could safely state this is the best brown ale I have ever had. Granted there are a lot of browns out there that I haven't tried. If anything comes along that beats Lagunitas, I will be sure to let you know.

Wow - talk about fresh hop arouma it's very unique, after a bit it almost smells like fossil fuel, I know that it sounds odd, but its really something. This is as close as you get to hops on the vine in a bottle. It has the body, and mouthfeel, of a cask ale. This is really incredible, no wonder it's so popular. It's a golden ale with a tiny (protein?) haze. A lot of breweries have a distinctive taste to their brews. But it seems that some brews manifest it more than others. This beer tastes like Founders. It has that certain indescribable something that is very detectable. Someday I will have to do a blind taste test to see if I can identify the brewery based on the taste of the ale. That would be fun. Until then try this wet-hopped ale if you can get your hands on a bottle.  

Today I picked up a case of Brooklyn Brewery, Black Chocolate Stout. With an unmistakable nose, and sweet chocolate malt flavor, Black Chocolate Stout has remained one of my favorite brews for years. Despite everyone who makes a stout slapping a five dollar price tag on it, Brooklyn Brews remain under two dollars a bottle. This year's is excellent, while not the best year ever, it's close. Given a year or two in the bottle this is a brew that becomes perfect. Currently I have three years of Black Chocolate Stout cellaring.

Black Chocolate Stout is a rich malty stout with a robust roasted malt profile. The thing about Garrett Oliver, he is not a big beer guy. All of his brews are very balanced. This caused me disappointment when I tried Black Ops, unlike Nate Walser and Jeremy Kosmicki he is just not an over the top 'lets add more bourbon and maple syrup' guy. So while I won't be seeking out any Bourbon Barrel offerings from Brooklyn Brewery, Black Chocolate Stout continues to hold it's own on top of my Russian Imperial stout world. Catherine the Great just doesn't know what's she's missing.