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)

230. Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale

Beer number three from Tröegs Brewing Company; most recently we had JavaHead Stout, and a very long time ago we had Nugget Nectar. We had this on tap at South Park Tavern, which I’m sure will shock no one who is reading this post. The keg this beer came out of was very fresh tasting and super yummy.

HopBack was a crystal clear deep copper color with a minimal white head; the nose had a light hop spiciness and some dry biscuit malt aromas. Starting dry and clean, HopBack quickly moves into some hop spiciness. There are some underlying biscuit and caramel flavors from the malt in the front; the middle has some hop bitterness along with spicy hop flavor and low levels of grassiness. HopBack ends with lingering hop resin and spicy flavors. While there is not a lot of malt presence across the profile, there is easily enough of a malt backbone to carry the hops. Medium to light bodied with a decent carbonation bite, HopBack’s mouthfeel builds and accentuates the flavors found in the body. A good, fresh tasting beer overall—there is a lot of hop flavor without a lot of hop bitterness, and the body to back up the hop profile. A solid and enjoyable beer across the board.

From the Tröegs website: “Tröegs Brewery’s Flagship beer, HopBack Amber Ale derives its name from a vessel in the brewhouse called a hopback. As the ‘wort’ is being transferred from the brewhouse to fermentation it passes through the hopback vessel. Packed full of fresh whole flower hops, the wort slowly circulates through this vessel extracting the essence of the aromatic hops. This vessel adds more time and more hop character that creates a fresh, spicy taste and rich caramel note that defines this signature ale.”

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: 55

Malts: Pilsner & Munich

Hops: Cascade, Williamette, & Nugget

Hop Back Hops: Whole Leaf Nugget & Mt Hood

(2/15/2010)

159. New Belgium Fat Tire Ale

This marks our third beer from New Belgium Brewery; we’ve previously had 1554 Enlightened Black Ale and La Folie. This beer was also one of the first non-Northwest beers to show up in Washington during the 90’s—I recall fondly some early deuce-deuce drinking in the L-Y-double N-W-double O-D. Go Haggen’s!

Fat Tire Ale has a bready nose mixed with equal parts roasty, biscuity, and grainy notes to round out the light fruity smell and touch of floral hops. Brilliant clarity with an amber color and an ivory head that laces the glass well. The body begins with a grainy malt flavor and some sweetness before moving into a biscuity middle that has a touch of hop bitterness and another malt flavor that we can’t quite pin down—something like a dark crystal or a Special B—that provides a sweet roastiness. It closes dry with some lingering biscuit and minimal hop bitterness. Fat Tire has a medium to light body and average carbonation with not too much bite. Overall, a good beer; the graininess in the front was a bit distracting, but the body was well-balanced. If we saw it on tap, we’d certainly give it another shot.

From the bottle: “Fat Tire Amber Ale’s appeal is in its feat of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting into equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Named in honor of Jeff’s mountain bike trip from brewery to brewery through Europe, Fat Tire is still crafted following the original recipe that Jeff brainstormed on this cycling trip.”

You’ll forgive us if we’re a little skeptical of that last claim to instantaneous perfection. That is, unless “original recipe” means he was intending to use beer brewing ingredients, and thus still follows the recipe using only real beer brewing ingredients.

From the New Belgium website: “Named in honor of our founder Jeff’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer’s home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Jeff found the Belgian approach freeing. Upon his return, Jeff created Fat Tire and Abbey Belgian Ale, (assuming Abbey would be his big gun). He and his wife, Kim traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire’s appeal quickly became evident. People liked everything about it. Except the name. Fat Tire won fans with its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness.”

ABV: 5.2%

(12/6/2009)

145. North Coast Red Seal Ale

Our third beer from North Coast; the other two are Cru d’Or Organic Belgian Style Ale and Old Rasputin XII. We had this on tap at South Park Tavern, always an enjoyable venue for beer drinking fun.

Red Seal pours a rich copper with a creamy ivory head. The nose is caramel mixed with light toastiness, and is accompanied by spicy and fruity hop aromas. The flavor starts with a clean malt sweetness followed by caramel flavors in the front; the middle is bready with a good dose of bitterness from the hops, and it finishes with dry, chalky, and toffee flavors along with some lingering spicy bitterness. Medium bodied, Red Seal has a chewy, creamy, and rich mouthfeel; the carbonation is medium—it rounds more that shapes the profile. A decent and enjoyable beer, one light enough for an entire evening of drinking, and interesting enough to keep you wanting more.

From the North Coast website: “Malt and hops are beautifully married in this full-bodied, copper-red Pale Ale. Red Seal is generously hopped for a long, spicy finish. An excellent accompaniment to grilled meats and rich sauces.”

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: 42

(11/22/2009)

10b. Flying Bison Rusty Chain

Since I was going to be out of town for our daily beer, I had to go it alone. And since I was going to be back in my old stomping grounds of Buffalo, NY, I knew right where I wanted to head: the Essex Street Pub. Many a long night I whiled away at the Essex, playing pool, listening to their eclectic but well-stocked jukebox, and having random conversations with the always odd collection of clientele that assembled like clockwork. Who doesn’t remember that crazy-ass old painter dude who would flip out at the drop of a hat and curse you up and down like his life depended upon heaping vile invectives upon your head? Twenty minutes later, he was buying you a beer.

photo credit: the artery magazine

Anyway, I digress. I rolled into Buffalo, and straight-off headed to the Essex. And what I found was Buffalo’s own Flying Bison Rusty Chain on tap. Consider me served.

So I’ll be honest—I didn’t take the best notes on this beer. As the random dude and now current outsider sitting at the bartop with a bunch of people who have no clue who I am, I didn’t feel like attempting to explain why I was both drinking alone and taking notes—something about giving off the creepy vibe of one who should instead be writing a manifesto somewhere in a secluded cabin in the woods. So consider this my best recollection. Rusty Chain had a dull copper color, clear, with a head that laced the glass nicely (see photo). While the initial taste was a bit malty for my palate, Rusty Chain had a solid body and nice finish. The hop profile reminded me more of an American Brown than an Amber, possibly from the malty front, but as I write this, I’m not even sure I know what the hell that means—at least not in a manner that I could tangibly explain to anyone. But clean, crisp, and enjoyable. I was slightly perturbed that the people I was in town to see called me at that point, because that meant I didn’t get another one. At least not right then.

From the Flying Bison website: “Rusty Chain is a beer FBBC is making in collaboration with Green Options Buffalo, Buffalo Rising, and Buffalo Microparks, based on Tim's Vienna Lager many of you have enjoyed in past years, to raise resources for bicycle parking throughout Buffalo. Rusty Chain will quickly become the beer of choice for cyclists and beer aficionados alike, and has been receiving rave reviews. More information can be found at thier website: http://www.rustychainbeer.com/”

So, if you want to support bicycling, local business (i.e. Flying Bison), and transportation that's environmentally sustainable and community friendly in Buffalo, pick up your very own Rusty Chain T-shirt at the Rusty Chain Beer website: "show your support for beer drinking… or… bicycling in Buffalo! The original Rusty Chain design is printed in black and sparkling rust ink on unbleached white, 100% cotton...They are available in small, medium, large, X-large and XX-large for $15 each (postage included). For ordering info, contact Green Options Buffalo: (716) 851-4052 or info@greenoptionsbuffalo.org"

That's right, I'm shillin' for Buffalo...

(7/10/2009)