558. The Bruery 5 Golden Rings

And now onto the last beer of the evening: the Bruery’s 5 Golden Rings. Technically, we had a Timothy Taylor’s Landlord to close out the evening after this, but we’re not counting that. Previous excursions into the land of my personal beer fantasy world include Marrón Acidifié (a collabo with Cigar City), Autumn Maple, Humulus Session, 3 French Hens, Saison de Lente, Rugbrød, Hottenroth, Orchard White and Saison Rue.

5 Golden Rings pours an opaque golden orange with a thin white head—you can see the carbonation fighting through the body in slow, measured time. The nose is a tart, citric pineapple front and center; behind that, there is some chewy rounded Belgian malt and yeast character, but the pineapple is currently running the show. Flavors start with pineapple and malt sweetness, leading into a chewier rounded middle mixed with alcohol warmth. In the finish, there is a touch of bitterness before the alcohol heat comes into play—it is the warmth that points to the youth of this beer more than anything else. This beer is going to need some time to come together—the pineapple is too much the pineapple-juice-out-of-a-can-of-fruit right now, and the alcohol warmth is a too much. I will say that the beer is well-attenuated; I expected it to get stickier as it warmed, when it actually dried out more on the palate. But otherwise, this beer needs to sit in the cellar for two or three years to figure itself out. Because right now—and it does pain me to say this, loving on the Bruery as I do—this beer is not very drinkable. So if you’ve got it, age it for posterity. Come back to this one. Forget about it for now. You might not thank me later, but you’ll certainly thank me now. 

From the bottle: “The fifth verse of our ‘Twelve Beers of Christmas’ saga incorporates sweet, cake-like spice into a rich and robust golden ale. Happy Holidays! 5 Golden Rings is suitable for aging up to seven years (soon after release of ‘Twelve Drummers Drumming’) when cellared properly.”

ABV: 11.5%

(2/13/2013)

511. Sun King Osiris Pale Ale

So today was all about the adventure. Which means we threw a hung-over Jeffrey in the backseat, and headed to Indianapolis to check out Sun King Brewing. After all, if you win all of the GABF medals in the world in one year, you’re probably a brewery worth visiting. Especially when you’re only a short two hour drive away.

Visiting the brewery goes like this: on the way into the tasting room, you’re given coupons to sample their beers—four for regular beers, and two for fancy beers. Small samples, certainly, but if they want to dole out the free beer, who I am to stop them? Since it was Saturday, they were also doing tours, so while Jeffrey signed all three of us up, Elli and I started the sampling process. About half way through our samples, we got called for the tour, so after a quick refill, we wandered over to begin the shenanigans. Our tour guide drove the truck during the week, but seemed to be having a good time leading us through the brewery, and putting up with Jeffrey’s questions and both of our desires to poke our heads everywhere. Visiting a brewery becomes a lot more fun when you actually have a sense of the way things work. I did like the pink fermenter that Sun King uses for lagers—so cute! After the tour, we finished our samples, ogled the GABF medals and the small science lab through the window (with yeast slurries on stir plates!), and then got our growlers filled up to take with us. We opted for the Osiris Pale Ale, while who the hell knows what Jeffrey got, since he brought like eight growlers for everyone he knows. Afterwards, to bask in the glow that is Indianapolis, we went to Brugge Brassiere for
lunch and a beer (I had a Harvey, Elli had a Bee’s Knees IPA, and Jeffrey had a sampler), followed by a quick one at Upland’s Tasting Room (the brewery is in Bloomington), a visit to 21st Amendment (beer store, not the brewery—it’s in San Francisco, silly!), and then we hit the road back to Dayton. And, as you can undoubtedly guess, that growler of Osiris became our beer for the day.

Osiris Pale Ale pours a rich, burnished gold—it is clear with a white head that mostly hangs around. In the nose, there is biscuit and caramel malt mixed with pine and resin hop aroma, although the hop character is subdued and comes into play after the malt—the aromatics are subtle and pleasant, performing a delicate dance that offers a pleasant initial encounter with the beer before tasting it. Once in the mouth, flavors start with biscuit and a light breadiness that border on doughiness before the hop flavors—again, pine/evergreen and resin—come into play. The middle features a clean and refreshing bitterness, bright and present, but certainly not overpowering—again, it comes in after the malt flavors. The biscuit returns in the tail-end of the middle and on into the finish; it combines well with the hop bitterness in the finish, creating a clean finish where the bitterness hovers briefly before disappearing. While carbonated, the beer is soft on the palate. There is a slight bite from both the carbonation and the bitterness in the final third of the beer as it turns towards the finish, but again it is subdued and restrained—this beer is a model of balance in both flavor and profile. Osiris is both well-made and approachable; it is an excellent example of an APA, one that would be refreshing and enjoyable all evening long, and certainly worth seeking out. Nice job, Sun King.

ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 50

(2/18/2012)

487. Goose Island Fleur 2010 & 2011

Somewhere along the way, we pulled out bottles of Goose Island’s Fleur from 2010 and 2011 and drank and compared them. I’m not sure exactly when, but I have discovered both the notes and photographic evidence to prove it—how’s that for your classic forensic evidence? I even think we invited Jeff and Jeffrey over to enjoy the fun, but at this point, who knows? Either or you two care to validate my spotty and shoddy memory? We’ll just call this our beer for “today,” and move on—after all, if you can’t learn to roll with it, you’re gonna have a painful, shitty life. Take that, Albert Camus—you can suck my existential dread. Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Anyway, this is our fourth beer from Goose Island. Previous ventures include Bourbon County Stout 2009, Summertime, and Honker's Ale. And in a shocking new development, future ventures will include Sophie and maybe even Matilda. That’s right—I can predict the future when we’ve got bottles awaiting us in the fridge. Does that make me a beer tease?

Fleur 2010: Fleur 2010 pours a clear tan with a thin white head; the nose is sweet candy mixed with floral and hibiscus. Flavors start dry, tart, and floral before moving into gentle sweetness and floral hibiscus in the middle. The finish is clean and even; there is a tart tang than increases as the beer warms. While the mouthfeel is gentle and delicate, the carbonation is sharper; yet both balance well in playing across the palate. My rudimentary descriptions aside, I can safely assert that the last year has been very, very good to this beer—it kicks the crap out of 2011.

Fleur 2011: Surprisingly, this beer is more carbonated than the 2010, with a darker red and pink coloring to the beer. The nose mixes caramel and candy; flavors start with floral and candy components, giving way to caramel in the middle with a muted candy sweetness, and a non-descript finish. This beer is not nearly as clean or as dry as the 2010. There is more body in the mouthfeel; however, while creating a more rounded feel on the palate, this same effect paradoxically limits the most subtle and enjoyable characteristics of the 2010. My advice: wait. This beer is an easy lesson in cellaring—it’s cheap, and you can buy another bottle next year to host your own comparisons. Just don’t misplace the notes...

From the Goose island website: “A Belgian style pale ale blended with hibiscus and kombucha tea, Fleur is a beautiful, rose-colored ale with an aroma of strawberries and hibiscus flowers. Her flavor balance starts with a hint of sweet, ripe berry and finishes tart.”

ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 32
Hops: Super Styrian, Styrian Golding, Saaz
Malt: 2-row, Caramel, Sugar

Does anyone besides me find the use of the pronoun “her” to describe a beer slightly creepy?

(10/17/2011)

455. Jeffrey McElfresh Belgian Pale Ale

This beer, sadly, marks the conclusion of another Jeffrey McElfresh Homebrew Drinking Week. However, I would like to point out that if McElfresh was a state, it would rank above New Hampshire and below Massachusetts (and be tied with Delaware—take that Sam Calagione!) for the overall number of different beers we’ve had here at what we’re drinking. And that’s nothing to sneeze at. We’re rooting for McElfresh to challenge Oregon, Michigan, and maybe even California. Let’s get to work there, tiger. Time’s a wastin’. I’m already waiting for installment number three of JMHDW. Word!

McElfresh BPA pours a hazy copper—I’m guessing it would be a bit clearer, but since it is a tad overcarbonated, it drew the yeast up off the bottom of the bottle with the initial pour. The head is white and pretty mousse-y, but settles down given the time. McBPA has a toasted, bready malt nose along with fair amount of spicy and fruity notes—let’s just say that this beer certainly invokes Belgian with the ol’ magical sniffer. The front starts with a soft caramel and bready malt flavor before the orange/citrus fruit esters and spicy phenol flavors pick up in the middle. The middle is also leavened by a touch of bitterness before giving way to a slight touch of sweetness in the finish, followed by a dry lingering bitterness. The mouthfeel is soft and creamy with a pleasant gentle carbonation. As the beer warms, a dry chalky mineral tang develops as a lingering presence in the back of the throat after the other flavors have passed along; it also has some warmth and astringency to it. I’m not sure what to make of this other than to guess that this is the cause of the overcarbonation. It is certainly out of character with the soft malt profile and the gentle balance of the rest of the beer—I was warned that something had “turned” in this beer, and when I had the same thing two weeks ago, it was much cleaner across the entirety of the beer’s profile. Nonetheless, the basic beer itself is solid minus the developing infection. I remain undeterred—bring it on, Jeffrey, I’m already longing for more.

(2/11/2011)

393. St. Feuillien/Green Flash Bière de L’Amitié

Ah, the collabo. Seems like everyone is doing it nowadays. Which is a good thing—spread that beer knowledge and share that beer experience. And with Green Flash willing to head east and cross the pond to Belgium to visit St. Feuillien, the world just got a whole lot more interesting. Because while the domestic collabo is good, the international collabo is all things to all people. And yes, you can quote me on that. We’ve previously tried beer from both breweries: from St. Feuillien we’ve tried the Saison and the Belgian Abbey Ale, while with Green Flash we’ve had Hop Head Red Ale.

Bière de L’Amitié pours a lightly hazy bright gold—we can see through it, but there is some slight cloudiness. The head is white and mousse-y, and laces the glass rather well. The nose has bubblegum (Bazooka Joe, to be specific) and creaminess, along with spicy phenols that are lightly clove-like and spicy. Which is just a fancy way of saying that it smells very Belgian. Bière de L’Amitié starts slightly sweet in a candy-like way with some juicy flavor coupled with fruity esters and spicy phenol flavors across the back of the tongue. The middle dries out on the palate, and has a fair amount of bitterness, especially in relation to the drop in sweetness. There is a slight touch of alcohol warmth in the turn to the finish that sits on the tongue, further drying out the beer on the palate, although the beer does finish a slight creaminess in both the flavor and mouthfeel. As well, there is a bit of lingering dryness and bitterness on the tongue after the creamy finish passes, leaving a pleasant and lightly fruity taste. The carbonation is bright and effervescent, helping to dry out the beer, while the body is pretty light—while there is some alcohol warmth, the body is far lighter than your normal 9.5% ABV beer. In fact, while the label refers to this as a “blond Belgian collaboration ale,” it does have some saison characteristics to it, specifically with the dry body and mouthfeel coupled with some of the aromatics. The complexity and nuance of this beer made for a great drinking experience—Bière de L’Amitié is a study in subtlety and enjoyment. I wish we could find some more of this so that we could both enjoy more of it in the short run, and throw a couple of bottles in the basement to see how it ages. It should go without saying (although I’m still gonna say it) that this beer is a Top 10 best contender for the year. So delicious.

From the bottle: “St. Feuillien’s centuries old brewing traditions combine with Green Flash Brewing Company’s cutting edge brewing techniques to form our first collaboration brew: Bière de L’Amitié (Friendship Brew). A blond Belgian collaboration ale, brewed with St. Feuillien’s traditional yeast and spices. For a modern twist, we add rye malt, wheat malt, and American Amarillo hops. At the crossroads of collaboration, we dry-hopped the brew for more zest. It’s old-world Belgian Abbey-style meets new-world American craft brewing—and a friendship is formed.”

From the Green Flash website: “During a recent twelve day Great Belgium Beer Tour, brewer’s from Green Flash Brewing Co. of San Diego County, California and Brasserie St. Feuillien of Le Roeulx, Belgium teamed up to produce the first-ever collaboration ale between American and Belgian family-owned breweries. The beer will be called Bière De L’Amitié, or Friendship Brew, and will be released in the United States in June 2010.”

ABV: 9.5%
Brew Date: March 9, 2010

(7/28/2010)