319. New Belgium Ranger IPA

More from New Belgium, the brewery that loves to brew. While we haven’t had anything from New Belgium for a while, this is still our seventh beer from those fellows following their folly. Previous beers include Le Fleur, Misseur?, Transatlantique Kriek, Biere de Mars, Fat Tire, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale and La Folie. Ah, the tasty, tasty memories...

Ranger IPA pours a crystal clear copper with a creamy white head. Aromas start with soft spicy and floral hops with not much in the way of malt aromatics. Flavor-wise, Ranger opens with light sweetness before the hops take over; the front has spicy resin flavors, the middle has a fair amount of hop bitterness along with an emergence of floral hops, which carry into the finish. There is a return of the spicy hoppiness along with a good amount of lingering bitterness at the end. Ranger is light bodied and has a bit of a soft mouthfeel; the carbonation is medium, although a bit sharp at the end—it may mix with the astringency of the hops to build some of the punch in the beer. The balance of the beer is certainly towards the hops, giving Ranger a range of hop complexity across the flavor profile. A pleasant and drinkable offering from New Belgium; we just wish they’d hurry up and get their ass to distributing in Ohio.

From the bottle: “Are you a hopinista? Thank our Beer Rangers for inspiring (and begging for) this well-balanced Simcoe, Cascade and Chinook hopped IPA. 70 IBUs.”

From the New Belgium website: “Ever met a New Belgium Beer Ranger? They are our beloved folks out in the field. Spanning all 26 of our states from the Pacific to the Atlantic, our Beer Rangers do their best to protect, to pour and to partake. And explore many a beer from many a brewery, they do. The fellows up in the Northwest kept calling for ‘more hops!’ Soon it became a common theme across the land. Rangers, fans and craft lovers everywhere were searching for hoppier beers. So, here it finally is – New Belgium’s foray into the true American India Pale Ales. Bring out the hops! This clear amber beauty bursts at the starting gate with an abundance of hops: Cascade (citrus), Chinook (floral/citrus), and Simcoe (fruity) lead off the beer, with Cascade added again for an intense dry hop flavor. Brewed with pale and dark caramel malts that harmonize the hop flavor from start to finish, Ranger is a sessionable splendor for all you hopinistas. Thank your Beer Ranger!”

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 70

And yes, I realize that the label says that the beer is 7.0% ABV while I list it as 6.5%. Chiggity-check the website, party clown.

(5/15/2010)

318. Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster

Only our second beer from Great Lakes (we tried the Oktoberfest back in August); we actually kinda feel bad about this, being that it is late in the year and all. Don’t worry, though—we’ll start spreading the Ohio love around soon, Great Lakes.

Who doesn’t love monsters?

Described as an unfiltered imperial IPA on the label, Lake Erie Monster pours a middlin’ copper with an ivory head. The nose is composed of orange, citrus, and resin hop aromas coupled with a few stray malt hints. Beginning with bready and biscuit malt flavors, Lake Erie Monster quickly moves into bitterness accompanied by spicy and resin hop flavors. There is some rising fruity sweetness at the end, along with some lingering spicy bitterness. The body is medium with medium carbonation, and the mouthfeel is slightly sticky. Overall, Lake Erie Monster is well balanced for an imperial; while not particularly complex, it is nonetheless easy, enjoyable drinking.

Did some one say well balanced?

From the Great Lakes website: “Double India Pale Ales are a strong, very hoppy style of pale beer. Also known as Imperial IPAs, these beers are essentially India Pale Ales that are brewed with higher amounts of malt and hops. While still relatively new, it is one of the fastest growing styles in the craft beer industry, and a favorite among ‘hopheads.’ A beer this distinctively hoppy inspires many a tall tale. And they don’t come taller than Bessie, the legendary monster that roams the shallow depths of Lake Erie.”

ABV: 9.1%

IBU: 72

(5/14/2010)

317. The Bruery Saison de Lente

Seasonals and saisons are a winning combination, at least in our (or my) book. This is our fifth (I’ll refrain from the usual Dave Chapelle joke here, although I do have a secret document that you need to see) beer from the Bruery; we’ve taken on Rugbrød, Hottenroth, Orchard White and Saison Rue. We fought the beer and we won.

Saison de Lente pours a hazy gold with an abundant white pillow-y head that slowly works its way down, turning into silky crystalline foam along the sides of the glass; the nose is earthy, loamy (although I think Jeff Fortney has trademarked that term), and there’s also some barnyard and hop spiciness along the way. Starting soft and moderately sweet with a mix of dry malt and Belgian candy, Saison de Lente moves into spicy bitterness and funky brettanomyces flavors in the middle—the dry malt front is further dried out by the hops and barnyard flavors—before finishing dry, tart, and with a good dose of lingering bitterness. Light bodied and highly attenuated, Saison de Lente has a fair amount of puckering bitterness and bright and crisp carbonation—the combination of the two makes the beer clean and refreshing, and leaves you wanting more. An excellent spring time beer—Elli was pleasantly surprised by this beer, and the overall structure and balance was exquisite. We’re already looking forward to more of this beer—but until then, we’re making it a Top 10 Best Contender. We’re also taking the unprecedented step of making this a Top 10 Best Label Contender as well—a potential dual award winner in just one beer! After all, who doesn’t like swirling green bunnies? I’ll tell you who—Nazis, that’s who.

From the bottle: “Our Spring Saison will evolve over time; clean and hoppy when fresh, and drier with earthy, wild notes when aged up to two years. ”

From the Bruery website: “Our Spring Saison is light blonde in color with a fresh hoppiness and a wild and rustic Brettanomyces character. Lighter in color and alcohol than our Saison Rue, yet equally complex in its own way. Perfect for warmer weather and Spring celebrations.”

ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 35

(5/13/2010)

316. Jandrain-Jandrenouille Saison IV

Our first beer from Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille in Jandrain-Jandrenouille, Belgium. As you can see, there is not much to their website, but then again, some things are more important than web presence, like making good beer. At the same time, however, that means we have to rely on other information found on the internet, which is dodgy at best. Go the internet!

Saison IV pours a clear gold with a mousse-y bitter head; the nose is spicy mixed with yeast esters, paperiness, bitterness, and soft malt. Starting with a dry flat malt that is crackery and papery, Saison IV moves into a lightly bitter and slightly caramel sweet middle before moving into a leathery finish accompanied by more paper and some lingering bitterness along with low levels of spiciness. As it warms, there are some chamomile flavors accompanying the spiciness that develop in the middle and on into the end. The mouthfeel is quite drying; it is a combination of the highly attenuated body mixed with the hop bitterness and the papery flavor components. There is also some chewiness, even though the body is a bit soft. The carbonation starts soft, but ends bright and lively on the palate, accentuating the spiciness and the dry papery characteristics. Saison IV is light and dry across the palate and flavor profile, but has good complexity and nuance. An excellent and well-crafted beer; we hope to find more bottles of this to try again.

From the random website I found that had some marginal discussion of Saison IV: “The Fourth Season is brewed by Stephane Meulemans and Alexander Dumont in a beautiful farm in Brabant Wallon. This season kind beer 6.5% alc. has a beautiful golden color. The hops used in brewing its beer to make a fruity and refreshing, balanced by good bitterness.” The above was translated via Google, since my French is not so good (and by not so good, I mean non-existant); the original reads: “La IV Saison est brassée par Stéphane Meulemans et Alexandre Dumont dans une très belle ferme du Brabant Wallon.Cette bière de type saison de 6.5% alc. a une belle couleur dorée. Les houblons utilisés lors de son brassage en font une bière aux arômes fruités et rafraîchissants, balancés par une bonne amertume.” Exactly.

ABV: 6.5%

I also attended the Stone Vertical Epic ’03-’09 tasting at Brewtensils (Elli let me go this one alone)—seven of them in all, all in one night. Yes, I felt a bit slow the next day. Here’s the rundown:

Yours truly getting his sniff on...

03/03/03: Hazy copper color with an ivory head; the nose was sweet caramel with a slight amount of yeast esters accompanied by Belgian candy and some dark fruit. Flavors begin with caramel in the front, along with some yeast characteristics and rich malt complexity as it moves into the middle. The finish is mellow and smooth; there is almost no alcohol flavor or warmth—this has certainly mellowed and the flavors have married with time. The mouthfeel is chewy with a medium carbonation; some alcohol flavor does emerge as it gets warm, but still very smooth and rounded. Overall, a good beer, but I’m not sure how much better it will get. It is not that distinct anymore and, as Jeff observed, it is a bit flabby. Still, 03/03/03 tastes like a very drinkable barleywine.

ABV: 8.2%

IBU: 48

04/04/04: Pours a hazy gold, but relatively clear with a nice white head. The nose is very much that of a Belgian strong ale: slightly metallic with some butter and a nice aromatic and creamy malt character. Beginning with a soft malt front, it moves into herbal and yeast ester flavors in the middle, with possibly just a touch of bitterness. The soft mouthfeel and medium carbonation help smooth this beer across the palate; there is a little alcohol heat at the end, especially as it warms. Very good as it it right now, and could certainly have some more life to it.

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 35

05/05/05: This beer offers a big change from the last one; sitting a dark chocolate brown in the glass, and possessing a creamy tan head, 05/05/05 has a rich dark fruit nose that includes raisins, prunes, dates, figs, and cherries—basically, all of your pitted fruits, combined to create a complex and delicious olfactory experience. The flavors started sweet, and quickly dropped into the fruity middle—I’m guessing that there was some Special B used to help create the raisin, fig, prune, and dates flavors in this beer. There was also some earthy and leather tastes in the middle; the end lingers away softly—while it is not clean, it is very smooth. With a medium carbonation and the combination of a chewy mouthfeel and complex fruit flavors, this beer was a winner, and my favorite beer of the evening.

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 45

06/06/06: So since this was a long evening of tasting and discussing, some of the beers got the short end of the stick in terms of the actual notes I recorded about each one. And sad to say, my good friend 06/06/06 did get shafted. I can tell you that this beer poured a clear dark brown with an ivory head, and had a creamy nose mixed with clove and phenolic spiciness as well as more subtle touches of dark malt and brown sugar. I’m guessing some of that brown sugar made it into the flavor profile, but I didn't write any of that down, although I did note that this was the most Belgian of the beers thus far in the evening. Not like any of these beers were losers, though.

ABV: 8.66%

IBU: 25-30

This was my table of misfits. I’m texting someone who cares.

07/07/07: This came out of the bottle a clear gold with a luscious white head and a nose full of peppery phenolics mixed with bubblegum and fruit—banana and apple, specifically, although the banana was very low. Flavor-wise, 07/07/07 started dry but sweet with a metallic flavor in the front and some juicy fruit flavors in the middle, followed by a return of the banana from the nose. There is also some warmth and spicy alcohol flavors that come out in the finish. The carbonation is medium, and is bright and sharp on the mouth. A good beer, but one that still tastes a bit young; while a good beer, some of the flavors could further marry and settle to make this a smoother beer.

ABV: 8.9%

IBU: 20-25

08/08/08: This hoppy Belgian golden ale is a clear gold with a white head; the nose is hoppy with spicy Belgian yeast ester aromas. This ones tastes a lot like Stone Cali-Belgique, but this one tastes much better; the spicy hoppiness merges well with the Belgian yeast characteristics. The medium body and medium carbonation work well with this beer; this one is just about right, and is my second favorite of the tasting—even though it got a bit of the short shrift with the notes, it is an excellent beer overall.

Say hello to our little friends...

ABV: 8.9%

IBU: 65

09/09/09: With roasty dark and rich malt notes along with spicy yet subdued coffee aromas, 09/09/09 has a big aromatic nose. Flavors open with a brown roasted malt front and move into a spicy middle with a little bit of dark chocolate and coffee roastiness that swings this beer towards home. There is some warmth from the alcohol, but this beer is very drinkable right now, with a good balance between flavors and mouthfeel; it will be interesting to see how this one holds up over time.

ABV: 8.6%

IBU: 50

Finally, because he can, Mike Schwartz brought along a couple of growlers out of his J. W. Lees ’06 Lagavulin Cask for everyone to try—not that we all needed more beer at this point in the evening. The nose on this one was peaty and malty with a good dose of Scotch still evident in the aroma. While the beer was nice and malty, there was still plenty of Scotch and oak to help build the body, as well as peaty and smoky flavors buried in the body. As well, some nice sherry notes had begun to develop via some of the oxidation in the cask. All in all, an excellent and enjoyable evening. Word.

(5/12/2010)

315. Bear Republic Red Rocket

We’ve had something like three of the beers from Bear Republic; the last two were Racer 5 IPA and Hop Rod Rye. Delicious. And now we’re on to this, which we had on tap at the Trolley Stop. Keep bringing in that beer, Jason. If it didn’t seem slightly creepy and weird, I’d call you pimp daddy mack.

Beware the disembodied hand yet again...

Red Rocket was served in a pint glass; it was a deep copper with red highlights and had a creamy eggshell head. The nose was a mix of evergreen and herbal hops aromas along with a slight caramel malt waft. Beginning with caramel sweetness and dry biscuit malt flavors, Red Rocket moves into an herbal hop flavor along with some bitterness and more of the biscuit malt flavor in the middle—the sweetness runs through the middle, giving way to biscuit and bitterness. The finish is mostly characterized by a bitterness that lingers a bit on the palate. Red Rocket has a medium body with a slightly chalky mouthfeel, possibly via the herbal hops. The carbonation is medium, with a bit of bite at the end. A good beer, but not very refreshing, as it is a bit heavy on the taste. They need to simplify the flavors—too much caramel and dryness across the profile, and without the reciprocal pay-off elsewhere in the beer.

From the Bear Republic website: “Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized Scottish style red ale that traces it’s origins to our homebrew roots. This full bodied and hoppy brew finishes on the palate with sweet, caramel malt flavors.”

ABV: 6.8%

IBU: 67

(5/11/2010)

314. Ommegang Three Philosophers 2009

“And remember: philosophy begins in wonder.” Plato

If we were counting, we would say that this is our fourth beer from Brewery Ommegang, and that we’ve previously tried and imbibed Hennepin, Bière de Mars, and Witte. But we’re not, so let’s just get to the beer, shall we?

Three Philosophers sits a hazy caramel in the glass; there are also red highlights that sparkle along the edges. The nose is dark pitted fruit and caramel maltiness mixed with some Belgian yeast esters—the fruits are cherry and possibly plum and raisin. With warmth, a slight creaminess also emerges. Three Philosophers starts with a bit of sourness coupled with sweet fruitiness and some yeast esters; the middle is a good dose of richer, darker fruit flavor—with cherry to the forefront and some plum in the background—mixed with some tobacco and/or leathery flavors. The finish has a return of the sweetness that is close to Belgian candy—it is sweeter than the front or the nose—but then drops off to finish rather dry. As it warms, the finish does take on a slight citric tartness that lingers on the palate. Although there is a medium to medium heavy body, Three Philosophers does have some dryness in the mouthfeel. The carbonation starts soft in the front, but picks up strength towards the back of the beer, becoming lightly sparkling. And excellent and intriguing beer, although not one we could drink everyday.

My Three Philosophers glass is finally paying some dividends...

From the Ommegang website: “Cynics can’t believe it, Epicures hail it a sensation, and Pythagoreans just can’t add up what makes this luscious blend of rich malty ale and cherry lambic so delightful. It might be the flavor of dark chocolate and cherry cordials; it could be the way it acquires wisdom and grace in the cellar. Maybe it’s a conundrum. What’s your theory? The essence of wonder is a unique and masterful blend of strong malty ale and authentic Belgian Kriek. Our philosophers deduce that this powerful marriage of cherries, roasted malts, and dark chocolate will only achieve more wisdom and coherence as it broods in the dark recesses of your cellar.” My theory is you need some better ad copy...

ABV: 9.8%

And what does wonder begin in?

(5/10/2010)

313. 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood

Another canned beer from 21st Amendment; our last one was Brew Free or Die IPA. While the 21st Amendment is in San Francisco, CA, they do also have a brewery in Cold Springs, MN.

Monk’s Blood pours a hazy rich caramel and maple syrup color; the head is a light ivory, and dissipates to a ring rather rapidly. Aromas in the nose include Belgian candy, vanilla, and caramel malt, along with a creaminess that melds the aromas in a very pleasant manner. Starting with caramel and candy sweetness, Monk’s Blood moves into low levels of fruity sweetness in the middle, which could be either the dried figs or some yeast-derived esters, and a small amount of spiciness. There is also a bit of tannic oakiness in the middle, accompanied by a light vanilla flavor that continues into the final third of the beer. The end is characterized by a return of some of the sweetness mixed with a little alcohol flavor that helps clean up and conclude the beer. Monk’s Blood is medium bodied with low carbonation; there is low alcohol warmth as well, but nothing that we would considered distracting—in fact, for an 8.3% ABV beer, it is very smooth and clean on the palate. There is a slight tang of bitterness on the back of the mouth well after we’ve finished sipping; possibly a late emergence of hop bitterness or some of the low alcohol warmth. The low carbonation does leave the beer a bit sticky, but as mentioned in regards to the flavor profile, the alcohol at the end helps clean up the finish. Good beer, but not spectacular. The nose does set a rather high standard that the body has a hard time following—we enjoyed the beer, but expected more after we initially smelled it when first in the glass.

From the 21st Amendment website: “21st Amendment founders Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan traveled to Belgium to develop the recipe for this special beer, visiting small, traditional breweries in the hop fields of west Flanders, not far from the famous Trappist abbey of Westvletren. Monk’s Blood is designed to pair beautifully with rich winter stews, creamy cheeses, unctuous desserts or just by itself, in a Belgian tulip glass, with a good book by the fire.”

ABV: 8.3%
IBU: 34
Malts: Belgian Pilsner, 2-row Pale, Caramunich, Caravienne, Aromatic, Special B, Flaked Oats, Flaked Wheat
Bittering Hops: Magnum & Centennial
Flavor Hops: Amarillo
Specialty Ingredients: Dark Belgian Candy, Cinnamon, Vanilla Beans, Dried Black Mission Figs, Aged on Oak

(5/9/2010)