Michael Jackson: 1942-2007

I was saddened this week to learn of the death of "The Beer Hunter", Michael Jackson after a long bout with Parkinson's Disease.

In 1992, at the age of 21, I bought a hardcover copy of his 1988 revision of The New World Guide to Beer and, at the risk of sounding completely sappy and geeky, it truly did change my life. My new found interest in "microbrews" was pretty enthusiastic but now I had a beer bible! Styles I had never dreamed of, brewing processes, origins and producers of the great classics were now revealed in glossy pictures and words that breathed life into those pictures.

My favorite quote: "It's a perilously drinkable brew." That was in reference to De Konninck but I'm sure he used it elsewhere.

I loved his writing style. He was sometimes criticized for being too easy on beer that was less than stellar. People sometimes missed the subtlety in his jabs at soulless, corporate beer but Jackson was a beer ambassador more than a pure critic. His writing was pure beery poetry.

Mostly, Michael Jackson inspired me to seek out the beer. My tendency to road trip or plan entire vacations or incorporate beer hunting into vacation or business trips is directly attributed to Jackson. (I actually call those entries in my blog "Beer Hunts".) Getting the beer at the source is very rewarding on many levels.

So, to Mr. Jackson I'll raise a pint or three today. But every pint I've had up until now and every pint I'll have after will really be in his honor.

Tasting Notes: Skinny Dip

Brewer: New Belgium Brewing Co.
Poured: June 2007

ABV: 4.2%

According to New Belgium, one of my old favorites, Loft, is no longer produced but Skinny Dip was recommended as a similar beer by a New Belgium rep. On the surface, they do seem similar. They are both golden ales, both spiced with kaffir lime and both are fairly low in alcohol making them nice options for summer session brews. The proof, however, is in the pudding.

The skinny dip pours bright gold into my New Belgium pilsner glass and is topped by a billowing creamy white head. It smells of light citrus (from the Cascade hops I suppose).

Surprisingly, the hops aren't the first thing I noticed in the flavor. The pale malt is front and center, lightly sweet with a creamy mouth. The cascade kicks in lightly for balance but this beer is far less crisp than I was expecting and finishes very clean. More sweet in the finish than dry, this is where the similarities to Loft end.

Loft was crisp not creamy, and had a fruity Belgian yeast quality (that made for a wonderful juxtaposition in a summer ale) while this one finishes very clean, no yeast character to speak of.

I don't intend to run down Skinny Dip, it's a very passable summer beer but in my book it doesn't compare to the retired Loft.

New Belgium Brewing Company

Out of the Cellar: Samuel Adams Double Bock

Brewer: Boston Beer Company

Poured: Jul 2007

Aged: 1 year and 2 years

ABV%: 8.8%

This is one of those accidental cellarings, at least accidental for the beers to be cellared this long. I have heard that Samuel Adams Double Bock is a beautiful thing with a year of cellaring on it so against my better judgement I put some away last spring...and the spring before that.

In my experience, doppelbocks don't age well, nor or they meant to. I experimented with Celebrator and it goes from being a world class beer to pure garbage in about nine months. However, I have heard that Samuel Adams Double Bock really shines with a year on it so I decided to find out.

So, for this tasting, I have a bottle that has been aged for one year and a bottle that I forgot about that has been aged for two years. Into the fray...

The first thing I notice is the older one is noticeably darker. The second thing I notice is that the older one has a more intense aroma, more fruity, a richer toffee smell. In the younger version, all the above is evident, just not to the same level and there is still a noticeable alcohol aroma.

Upon drinking them, the two-year old version has no discernible alcohol and the mouth seem thinner. Unfortunately, there is also a wet cardboard flavor that pretty much obscures a lot of the "good" flavors of the oxidation. No shocker here but the two year old sample is undrinkable.

On to the bottle with one year on it. The alcohol flavors are muted a bit when compared to fresh but there are more rich toffee and dark fruit notes. Rich caramel malt, big and sticky mouth. It's not as rough around the edges as when fresh...but to my tastes it's still better fresh. Maybe a happy medium (6 months) would be the right balance.

Well, all in all, I think I'll drink my doppelbocks fresh but if there is one that will improve (for some) it would be this one.

Tasting Notes: Bear Republic Big Bear Stout

Brewery: Bear Republic Brewery

Poured: July 2007

ABV: 8.1%

I brought back this bomber from a business trip to Wilmington, DE earlier this year.

It pours a dark opaque brown, not a motor oil black like I expected, with a rocky tan head. Smells sweet and malty with significant citrusy hops in the nose, no roastiness detected.

There is a good balance of the sweet and roasty dark malts in the flavor. There is some persistent citrusy hops peeking through in the finish, unusual for a big stout like this. Mouth is medium bodied but lots of flavor. The roastiness builds as you make your way through the glass. The aftertaste has lots of hops, Cascade certainly or something like it. The robust ABV is well-masked and is very drinkable.

Bear Republic makes damn good beer, in case you haven't heard.

Bear Republic Brewing Company

Tasting Notes: Schell Pilsner

Brewer: Schell's Brewery

Date Poured: July 2007

ABV: 5.6%

Another one of my finds on my last trip to the midwest.

It's a crystal clear, very, very pale yellow-gold brew with a rocky ivory head. Nice lacing left on the glass. A very sweet pale malt aroma, some faint sweet but herbal hops aromas as well.

Very sweet malt, balanced somewhat by the herbal hops. Very sticky (for a pilsner) in the finish but the noble hops get more pronounced in the aftertaste the longer you drink it. Body is a bit soft and sweetish; I like my pilsners crisp and clean, at least as far as the malt goes.

Nothing at all wrong with it, I only wish it was just a touch less sweet.

August Schell Brewery

Tasting Notes: Oud Beersel Framboise

Brewer: Oud Beersel

Poured: August 2007

ABV: 6.0%

I was pretty excited to find this beer the last time I was downtown since I am a big fan of Oud Beersel's Oude Gueuze Vieille and Oude Kriek Vieille. I have never seen this one before so I snapped up the last bottle available.

This one pours a hazy brown with a slight tint of red. There's a purplish colored frothy head that quickly dissipates leaving no head to speak of. Tart raspberry and funky barnyard aromas waft out of the glass. Some hints of vinegar too.

Tastes quite tart and funky. There's a sweetness here too but it's not at all sticky or cloying. The sweetness is balanced by the with a nice dryness, hints of vinegar and the bretty funk. The mouth is medium bodied and lightly dry, especially in the finish

Not bad for a sweetened framboise, not overly sweet and enough tartness to provide a nice balance. It doesn't rise to the great heights of the more "traditional" offerings from Oud Beersel but it's still excellent in it's own right

Beer Coaster: Samuel Adams

I picked this coaster up in the early 90's, probably at one of the Sam Adams pubs in an airport.



Nothing really great about this coaster but it does feature the old stoic Sam Adams instead of the newer mug-raising "party patriot" Sam Adams that graces the bottles now. I prefer the version pictured above.

Tasting Notes: Burning Skye Scottish Ale

Brewery: Empyrean Brewing Company

Date Poured: July 2007

ABV: 5.8%

Another beer I picked up on my last trip to the midwest. Empyrean Brewing is based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It pours a crystal clear coppery brown with a thin ivory head. It smells of sweet earthy malt, lightly smoky and lightly sweet.

The taste is no surprise as it mirrors the smell. Earthy and sweetish, hops way in the background here. I like the smoky flavor that they get in this beer, a lot of brewer's downplay that aspect of Scottish ales. (I find later that they do use Rauch malt.)

Body is a touch light but it's plenty drinkable. I've had better but it's still a fine Scottish ale.

Empyrean Brewing Co.

Beer Hunting: The Midwest, June 2007

I will always be swayed by the occasional surprise while beer hunting but I typically have a focus, a general idea of what I'm looking for before embarking on a trip. On this trip out west, I was looking for La Folie, New Belgium's limited edition brew that seems to be sporadically distributed around the mid-west but I never seem able to find. Since I would be travelling from Atlanta to South Dakota, it seemed to be a good bet that I would find it somewhere...

I used Beer Advocate's BeerFly to locate some good beer stores along the way and hoped for the best.

Kansas City, MO - First things first, we grabbed some dinner at one of the better (I'm told) BBQ restaurants in town, Hayward's Pit Barbeque. the beef brisket burger is outstanding and the sauce was spicy with just enough sweetness to balance it out. They also had bottles of Boulevard Pale Ale so I ordered one of those. It was hoppy enough to hold it's own against the sauce and complemented my meal nicely. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Boulevard was carried widely in restaurants from KC all the way to Mitchell, SD and if you've tried anything from Boulevard, you know that's not a bad thing.

That night I ran out to Luka's a few miles away as fellow Beer Advocates had deemed it the best place for beer in Kansas City (at least on the side of town I was on). My plans of just picking up one six-pack were quickly dashed as I wandered the aisles of beer. They had make-your-own sixpacks, a rarity in Atlanta, so I was guaranteed to have to get one of those and they had a lot of Bell's beers which I had not laid hands on in nearly two years so I was going to have to get a sixer of one of their stouts. In the end I got a mixed six of various Bell's and O'Dell beers, a sixer of Bell's Java Stout and a bomber of O'Fallon Smoke (I'm a sucker for smoked beers). I could've bought a lot more but was already over my self-imposed limit. La Folie? I wandered the aisles, scanned the shelves but there was no sign of it. If this store didn't carry it, who would?

The next day we were headed north, up through Omaha on the way to South Dakota. BeerFly had recommended Brewtopia, which was an easy drive for me off the interstate. I ran in and for a small store, this one packed quite a wallop. I got a mixed sixer of various beers from Summit, Spanish Peaks and Empyrean and also an interesting looking beer in a corked and caged 750 ml bottle called Batch 1000 from Upstream Brewing. And...they had the New Belgium La Folie! I grabbed two pricey bottles. I later found out that it was fellow BA bditty187 who rang up my order. Mission accomplished...for now.

On our way home, we stopped by Taylor's Pantry in Sioux Falls, SD to see what was there. The answer was: Not much that you haven't gotten elsewhere on this trip. I did get a mixed sixer of beers from Big Sky, Schell's, Boulder and more Spanish Peaks.

We stopped in KC once more on the way home and I had to go to Luka's just one more time. This time I walked out with a case plus of beer. I got some more Bell's Java Stout, O'Dells Imperial Stout, Goose Island Demolition, Anchor Small Beer and a mixed sixer with Schafly, O'Dell and Flying Monkey.

Some very nice scores on this trip. Reports on the actual beer to follow.

Tasting Notes: Carlsberg Jacobsen Dark Lager

Brewer: Carlsberg

Poured: June 2007

ABV: 5.8%

My wife has a soft spot for Carlsberg so when I saw this interesting looking offering from Denmark, I picked it up.

This one pours somewhere between a dark amber and light brown with a frothy tan head that leaves intricate lacing. Rich caramel malt in the nose. A very sweet caramel maltiness in the mouth infused with a fruitiness that you don't typically find in German-style dark lagers. It's lightly crisp in the mouth with a faint noble hop flavor in the finish.

Imported dark lagers don't hold up well and tend not to be fresh by the time they get to our shores (my opinion) but this one held up well and is a good choice when looking for a dark lager.

Beer Coaster: Rodenbach

I picked up this coaster out of a cafe in Antwerp that I have long since forgotten the name of in 1996. I am guessing the pitch here was to juxtapose one lovely Belgian redhead with another. I remember enjoying Rodenbach on my initial visit and curse myself to this day for not finding Rodenbach Alexander during that trip. Ah, regrets...

The Session #5: Atmosphere

Atmosphere. This was a tough one for me because typically, I don't care that much about atmosphere when I'm drinking. Outside of a cool jukebox selection and a good beer list, I require little else from a drinking establishment. Why is that? Well, I think it's because I figured out that who I'm drinking with has more to do with my enjoyment than where I'm drinking it. So I decided to write about two of my longest running drinking partners and highlight a few of the memorable places we have shared a fine brew or three.

My Wife

I am fortunate that my wife has an adventurous palate and after a rocky start (she hated the first Sam Adams I bought for her) has developed a fine appreciation for craft brew, especially Imperial Stouts. We have drank all over the world, so here's the top five places I remember sharing a beer with her.

Manorbier, Wales

We stayed in a small B&B in this tiny village in 1997 that boasted little more than a ruined castle, an old church, access to the nearby cliffs and a tiny pub where we would end our evenings. They had Theakston's Old Peculier...on cask. Nothing like enjoying cask ale at a classic Welsh village pub with your girl.

Antwerp, Belgium

We arrived in Antwerp in the Fall of 1996 quite by accident and only because we were unable to find affordable lodging in Brussels. After stashing our backpacks, I dragged her out to the first promising cafe I could find. It was my first trip into Belgium and I was delighted to see that I could order a Duvel in a bar for the first time in my life (this was long before specialty beer bars had made an appearance where I lived...). She ordered a Kriek of some sort, they brought us our beers, each with it's own distinctive glass and I was in heaven.

Jacksonville, FL

The Fly's Tie was an Irish pub near Jacksonville Beach. You wouldn't think so but it had been decorated and furnished in such a way that it had a very authentic fell and the live Celtic music they featured didn't hurt things. We enjoyed many a night downing pints of Guinness, Black and Tan's and Snakebites in the early days of our marriage.

Quebec City, Quebec

Quebec City is one of the most underrated cities ever. The old city is as beautiful as any place I have ever been. There are many cafe's with outdoor seating and we had the pleasure of enjoying some Blanche de Chambly outdoors on a cool Sunday afternoon in early May while all the bells of the various cathedrals pealed out around us. Awesome.

Munich, Germany

We got a little carried away with our Biergarten "crawl" around Munich, it was all so good. But my favorite place we found that day was one of the Augustiner biergartens with the traditional bench seating and the traditional sauerbraten for dinner. The big mugs of dunkelweizen we shared weren't bad either.

Dave

The first time I enjoyed a craft beer (called "microbrews" in the early 90's) it was with Dave and it was a Samuel Adams Boston Lager. We have been exploring beer together ever since (and before that really). Our careers and families have led us far away form each other, then back together and apart again but we always remain in touch, always share our beery experiences (among other things) and we will finally be taking the "Holy Grail" trip we have planned on for years (ever since I returned from my brief Belgian encounters 11 years ago), the Belgium trip this spring.

Morgantown, WV

While attending WVU in the early-90's we spent way too much time at the Nyabinghi Dance Hall, a bar/music venue. We saw many musical acts there; Rusted Root, Royal Crescent Mob, Rasta Rafiki, They Might Be Giants, Tooling For Bovines, The Blake Babies and countless others. However, one of the things I remember best was the night we figured out that we could get Genesee 12 Horse for the same price as Busch Light ($.75 a bottle) and that it was much, much better! Genesee 12 Horse was our beer of choice from then on. Nyabinghi has long since been gutted by fire and Genesee stopped making 12 Horse, revived it, then discontinued it again but both of them hold fond places in my heart to this day.

Alexandria, VA

I drank a lot of Guinness at one point and Ireland's Own was one of our regular hangouts. It's also long gone (President Reagan visited once or twice, a fact they promoted a lot but at the time it was a very popular place to go drink, listen to music and just generally have a good time. This was a staple location for Dave and I until I joined the Navy.

The Forks, ME

We camped on the Northern Outdoors property up in north central Maine, which, not so coincidentally, also housed a brewpub. But the best part of the drinking day was not spent inside the lodge drinking their beers (although the Magic Hole IPA and the Penobscot Porter are highly recommended) but back at out tent site, right on the banks of the Kennebec River, sipping the brown ale we had purchased growlers of earlier in the day straight from the Oak Pond Brewery in Skowhegan sitting by the campfire.

Rockland, ME
The Waterworks Pub in Rockland poured brews from the (now defunct) Rocky Bay Brewing Company including the wonderful Viking Plunder in the winter. Good brunch there too. Since Dave lived just north in Camden, this made a natural spot for the occasional pint. And the nearness to Rockland Harbor didn't hurt either.

Boston, MA

The first Beer Advocate Extreme Beer Fest in 2003 was the first beerfest Dave and I attended together and was a revelation to us both. Where else are you going to enjoy Cantillon Vigeronne, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Peanut Butter Porter and Seaweed Ale all in the space of a couple of hours. Jim Koch told us about his quest for "beer that burns" and Sam Caligione spoke about pairing beer with various musical acts. We overindulged. It was good.

Out of the Cellar: Middle Ages Tripel Crown

Brewer: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY
Date Cellared: Oct 2004
Poured: June 2007
ABV: 10%

One of the more unusual combinations you'll ever taste is Middle Ages Tripel Crown which they bill as a "British Style Tripel". Actually, you'll likely never taste this brew if you haven't already as they discontinued this beer in 2005.

This beer shines a luminescent hazy orange topped by a dense but thin ivory head. Fruity aromas, spiced apple, sweet spice and alcohol in the nose.

More toffee and vanilla than I remember from the fresh tasting and still quite a bit of alcohol flavor. Much less spiciness with the age on it and not quite as carbonated as I recall either.

Has it improved? Hmmmm. Not sure but it certainly has mellowed a bit. I'm not sure if I would want to age the alcohol flavors down any further but it has enough heat that I certainly could let it go another 6 months to a year. I have two left so I think I'll check back in a few more months.

Middle Ages Brewing

Brew + Baseball League Update

Every year, I play in a fantasy baseball league with some fellow beer enthusiasts. But the prize here is for more than bragging rights or cash, it's for beer! This year, we have 8 teams split between two division and the 7 losers will send the winner about $20 worth of beer.



Right now, my team, The Allagash Cru, has a record of 46-58-6 - good for last place in the Lager Division. I need to make it into second place in my division for a shot at the playoffs.



Fortunately, I got to play the second place team in my division, The Pataskala Isotopes, this week. After losing two of my last three, it was time to shake up the roster a bit. I dumped the slumping Melvin Mora for the suddenly hot rookie 3B Alex Gordon, cut 3B/OF Aubrey Huff for Shane Victorino in an attempt to add some speed, let 2B Ryan Theriot go for the now healthy 2B Ian Kinsler and finally gave up on SP Daniel Cabrera and picked up SP Rodrigo Lopez who is now off of the DL.



The result? Very good this weekend as I beat the Isotopes 6-4. That puts me solidly in 3rd place now and hopefully will be the beginning of a winning streak since I have a long way to go to capture second place.



Lots of beer on the line, hopefully this is the start of the winning streak.

Tasting Notes: Samuel Adams Honey Porter

Brewer: Boston Beer Company
Poured: June 2007
ABV: 5.45%

Way back in the early 90's, Samuel Adams Honey Porter was one of my regulars. I picked it up whenever I could and thought it was one of the best beers in the world. And why not? It was flavorful enough to satisfy my burgeoning appetite for craft brew but not so strong that I couldn't down a sixer at a party without completely losing my senses. I could also be reasonably assured that it's strange appearance would put off the average partygoer enough that no one would drink my stash. It accompanied me everywhere a good beer was needed. It was my regular, man!

It started getting harder to find out in Chicago by '96 and by the time I got back from my first naval cruise (mid-'97), it was nowhere to be seen, at least not in Florida. Boston Beer discontinued it and I thought it was gone forever.

Surprisingly, Boston Beer brought back the Honey Porter for the latest "Drinker's Choice" promotion and it won the consumer vote. For the first time in ten years, I was going to get to taste one of my old favorites. It was out in mixed Brewmaster's Choice sixers but I recently found it in dedicated sixers and picked some up.

This porter is dark brown with a dense, frothy tan head. Lots of thick lacing on the glass. Sweet roasted malt and caramel aromas as well as hints of honey waft up from the glass. Sweet and roasty in the mouth. Light honey in the finish balanced well with the hops (East Kent Goldings according to the bottle). It's got a smooth mouth and a lightly roasty aftertaste.

It's back and as good as ever. It's gong to be one of my regulars again. Amen. Recommended.

Beer Coaster: Bell's

I'm going to start posting items from my sizeable beer coaster collection. Here's the first:

Long before I knew what Two Hearted Ale or Expedition Stout was, a friend of mine brought me back this coaster on a trip back to Michigan. He told me all about this great beer they had in Kalamazoo but instead of bringing me back some of the actual beer, all I got was this lousy coaster.

This was in 1993 or 1994, before I joined the Navy. It would be over 10 years before I would finally taste the beer that the coaster advertised.

Bell's Brewery

New England Trip, July 2005: Day 1, Boston

I flew into Logan Friday morning. I was originally going to meet my buddy Dave that morning for a quick Boston pub crawl before heading out to Jamaica Plain for the Beer Advocate Boston Beer Company Tour but work responsibilities prevented him from coming down from Maine that day. I was left to my own devices and with an afternoon to kill, I headed to the T to hit a couple brewpubs before the tour began that evening.

First on my list was Cambridge Brewing Company which enjoyed a very good reputation in Boston and deservedly so. I ordered the salmon chowder (which really hit the spot) and a draft of Three Threads. Three Threads is a porter made in the traditional way by blending three different beers together. In this case, they blended a brown ale, a sour Flemish-style ale and their Red God IPA. While this made for a porter that starts a bit sour, after a couple sips that sourness seems to fade and a roasted coffee bitterness takes over. Some persistent hoppiness too. The flavors were all very distinct at first but them began to mesh into a smooth drinking, amazing porter. If you ever have a chance to try a traditionally blended porter, I highly recommend it. It really gives you a new perspective on flavors and blending beers.

I hopped back on the T and headed down to the Fenway Park area, first to visit the Boston Beer Works location and second to tour Fenway Park. The Beer Works was nearly empty and I thought I had time for a couple drafts. Unfortunately the service was so slow, I barely had time to drink one in the 45 minutes I was there. It wasn't the bartender's fault as she was covering the bar area and a couple tables in the next room as well. Many taps were available; there were 10 house beers on tap. I had a Back Bay IPA from the tap which had a biting herbal bitterness and was really tasty but I had no time for another as the Green Monster was calling.

After the (very cool) tour of Fenway Park, I hopped on the T and headed over to Jamaica Plain where the Sam Adams Brewhouse is housed in the old Haffenreffer Brewery building. While most of Boston Brewing’s production takes place in Cincinnati and other breweries through contract, this is the test brewery and produces a lot of special releases especially in keg form for the Boston market.

It had been arranged by Beer Advocate to have Jim Koch give us the tour that day. While we waited for everyone to arrive, Jim sent some pitchers of Boston Lager and Summer Ale for everyone to enjoy.

From watching him on the Sam Adams commercials, you wouldn’t think that Jim Koch would be a dynamic public speaker but he is so passionate and so knowledgeable about his product that he is very entertaining to listen to.

He talked about the history of Boston Beer, the colorful characters that used to populate Jamaica Plain when they first bought the property, passed around a bunch of fresh hops and then showed off the brew kettles. “I could explain the intricacies of the brewing process but you guys know how that works. Would you rather just head to the tasting room?”, asked Jim. A cheer of approval from the crowd and we were on our way.

First up, Jim brought out glasses of the Boston Lager. He said that he doesn't believe that any of the beers that Boston Beer have brewed have ever surpassed the first beer they brewed. In a weird way, I think he really believes that.

Next were two beers that were soon to be unveiled in the first "Drinker's Choice" promotion for later that year. The first was a crisp and hoppy Bohemian style pilsener that I liked quite a bit. The second was a brown ale (that eventually won; it's now a regular product) that Jim kept tasting and saying "it's not ready yet" but he let us try anyway. I would have voted for the pilsener regardless.

Imagine this scene: Jim Koch carrying a tray with dozens of snifters containing Utopias and placing them on your table. I don't have to imagine this because that is exactly what happened next. Utopias famously sells for over $100 a bottle so this was indeed a rare treat. It drinks more like a sherry (Jim Koch described it in terms of a cognac but I've never had cognac...), it's rich and oaky with vanilla and toffee notes. No head whatsoever. Again, if I didn't know it was a beer, I would guess it's an aged sherry. I had my snifter and another given to me by a lady who did not want to try hers.


I met some pretty nice people, especially a gentleman from Denmark and his wife. I found the Alstrom Brothers and thanked them for the event. They asked if I wanted to continue the festivities over at Doyle's Cafe but I needed to go get some sleep and get on the road the next morning. I was on my way to Bangor the next day...

A Change In Plans...

The countdown clock has changed as you may have noticed. My friend Dave and I had originally planned to travel to Belgium in March 2008 but conditions dictated that we push it back to August 2008. When that happened, I noticed that we would be in country for the Grande Choufferie and that became the centerpiece of our trip. However, conditions have now pushed our plans back to March 2008. The bad news is, no Grande Choufferie. The good news is, there will be more time in Gent and Brugge and the plane tickets will be cheaper. Cheaper plane tickets mean more money for beer! And I get to go sooner. Sweet.

Boulevard Lunar Ale

Brewer: Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, MO
Poured: June 11th, 2007
ABV: 4.5%

This was part of a mixed sixer I got at Brewtopia in Omaha.

It's a hazy orangey-brown topped with a creamy ivory colored head. There's a wheaty aroma, clove and banana aromas are present as well. Fruity.

Flavor has prominent banana and sweet spice. Clove is quite evident. It's a lightly dry mouth, clean finish. As you make you way through the bottle, the aftertaste gets sweeter and stickier.

Wow, what a surprise. I certainly wasn't expecting this beer to be a dunkel weisse and I certainly didn't expect it to be so tasty. Well done.



Boulevard Brewing Company

Tasting Notes: Lagunitas Lucky 13

Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, CA
Poured: May 2007
ABV%: 8.3%

This is the 13th anniversary release from Lagunitas and bills itself as "A Mondo Large Red Ale". Knowing Lagunitas, that means copius amounts of hops.

I guessed right as big citrusy hops hit the nose as it pours a lovely orangey copper. The hops dominate the tongue too but it's nicely balanced by a considerable malt backbone. The 8.3% ABV is nicely masked and it the malt is pleasantly sweet. Very smooth and drinkable for a big beer.

This is probably only the second "Double Red" type beer I've had and they both have been really nice. Go get it.


Lagunitas Brewing Company