516. Victory Summer Love

Oh, Victory Summer Love, we’ve only just met, but I know we’ve found something special. You, you’re the edgy working class dance instructor at the summer resort my family frequents, and me, I’m the doe-eyed city girl naive to the ways of the world. We can make it work, though, can’t we Summer Love? I don’t care what my family thinks—I’ll give it all up for you and the soft siren call of your gyrating loins. Dance for me, Summer Love, dance the forbidden dance that will make us forget the foolish social norms that keep us apart. But remember, Summer Love, nobody puts Baby in a corner. Previous illicit summer liaisons with Victory include Headwaters Pale Ale, Yakima Twilight (now Yakima Glory), Saison du Buff (the collabo with Stone and Dogfish Head), plus Prima Pils, Baltic Thunder, HopDevil, and WildDevil.

Summer Love bursts from the bottle in rich cascades of loving clear gold that are capped with a lustrous white head; the nose is redolent with crystal and pilsen malt (although that could just be the Saaz telling me what I want to hear) and earthy and spicy hops—it’s got a faux-lager thing going on for the fresh loving rays to rock out on. The front is slightly sweet—more crystal malt than caramel, but not quite candy bright—with earthy and (this is for Fortney) maybe even some loamy hop flavor. The middle is bitterness; light, clean, and even to balance with the sassy light body still carrying a twang of spiciness, while the finish is where the faux-lager smell struts its stuff in flavor form. Touches of both the earthy and spicy hops continue into the final third of the beer, followed by the well-nigh classic lager finish: a clean, bracing bitterness that is crisp, light, and all summer long. The mouthfeel and medium body points to the actual ale pedigree of the beer; while the carbonation, hop profile, and even malt contribute to the faux-lager feel, the body is not as clean and bright on the tongue as it needs to be, although it is still tasty.Plus, it does say “ale” on the label. Let’s just say that Victory’s dyed its roots for the summer having heard somewhere that for summer makeovers, blondes have more fun. I’m pretty certain that the usual minions will be queuing up to call this a gateway beer made for the average drinker, but I’m gonna have to snap back that this is just how Summer Love tastes in the land of Victory. Can I get an amen? Who don’t?

From the bottle: “All this talk about peanuts and crackerjacks can really make you thirsty. Especially in a town like Philadelphia where we flock to the ballpark like birds coming home from winter vacation. There’s no better place to sip a Victory Summer Love, our refreshing ale brewed in Downington, just outside of Philadelphia, than in the warm summer sun, waiting to catch a glimpse of greatness (or a foul ball). Whether you’re reading this label behind home plate or under a shady tree by the river, we hope that these pale malts and German hops help connect you to the magic that is Summer Love.”

From the Victory website: “With the sublime, earthy familiarity of noble, American and German hops backed up by fresh and clean German malts, Summer Love Ale® ends with a surprising burst of lemony refreshment from fistfuls of American whole flower hops. Love Summer, now.”

ABV: 5.2%

Extra credit for the first person to correctly identify the mixed metaphor in the label description. And no, I’m not referring the gender-shifting I do between the first two paragraphs (you can figure that one out on your own). I’d call this a contest, but as no one has ever bothered to respond to any contest I’ve ever done in the past, we’ll kick that kiss of death to the curb.

(6/6/2012)

285. Chatoe Rogue First Growth Single Malt Ale

We’re going Rogue again (I hope you’ll forgive us for that terrible, terrible pun); this is our twelfth Rogue beer, and our third from their GYO series. We’ve previously imbibed Dead Guy, Shark Tooth Ale, John John, Mogul Madness, Dirtoir Black Lager, Yellow Snow IPA, Chipotle Ale, First Growth Wet Hop Ale, Juniper Pale Ale, Maierfest and Capt’n Sig’s Northwestern Ale. Here’s to more Rogue!

Single Malt Ale pours a bright, hazy copper with a thin ivory head that does leave behind some lacing. With a malty bready nose accompanied by a slight bit of fruitiness, Single Malt has a soft but chewy mouthfeel. The beer starts with a malty sweetness that is also rather dry; there are low levels of bitterness and some spiciness in the middle followed by bready maltiness and some lingering bitterness. Single Malt is medium bodied, with a medium to high carbonation bite in the final third that helps dry out the beer; there is some spiciness on the palate, leaving a bright sensation behind. This beer is a good example of a Northwest Blonde; the spicy hoppiness is a bit aggressive, but helps cover over some of the graininess found in a more traditional Blonde.

From the bottle: “Dedicated to Farmers and Fermenters. GYO is a Rogue Ales term for Grow Your Own. We made this beer with our own hops and barley. Malty Aroma, deep golden in color with a dense dreamy head. Medium bodied with a lush rich maltiness from the Dare malt.”

From the Rogue website: “Single Malt Ale has a malty aroma and is deep golden in color with a dense creamy head. It is medium bodied with a lush rich maltiness from the Dare™ malt. Single Malt Ale and all Chatoe Rogue brews are all GYO Certified, First Growth, Appellation products made with hops and malt from our Department of Agriculture’s Hopyard and Barley Bench.”

OG: 12° P
IBU: 35
Malts: Rogue Barley Farm first growth Dare™ malts Hops: Rogue Hopyard first growth Revolution Hops

(4/11/2010)

218. Rogue Shark Tooth Ale

Well look who it is! Another beer from Rogue. Our well documented love of Rogue continues; this is our tenth Rogue: John John, Mogul Madness, Dirtoir Black Lager, Yellow Snow IPA, Chipotle Ale, First Growth Wet Hop Ale, Juniper Pale Ale, Maierfest and Capt’n Sig’s Northwestern Ale are all the previous victims of our voracious thirst.

Shark Tooth Ale has a grainy and citrusy nose with a crystal clear golden color and a light white head. The graininess of the nose bleeds into the opening flavor; there is some dry wheat malt that mixes with the grainy malt flavors before shifting to low levels of bitterness in the middle with cleaner malt characteristics, and ending with an emergence of the coriander and ginger flavors before closing dry with hint of tartness and citrus zest. Light bodied and crisp, Shark Tooth has a decent carbonation bite that starts early in the beer—almost within the front third. The ginger and spices contribute to the bright flavors without overwhelming the light body. This beer would be good summer drinking—it is light and fresh, and would go down well on a hot summer day. Too bad we’re drinking this in early February.

Craft Breweries per Million People (from Wikipedia); Oregon is fourth

From the bottle: “Enjoy this crisp, cool ale with a hoppy bite. Brewed on the Oregon Coast to the highest standards. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this ale supports the Oregon Coast Aquarium and its mission to expand our understanding of the ocean.”

Nothing on the Rogue website; Beer Advocate notes that Shark Tooth Ale is a pseudonym for Rogue’s Oregon Golden Ale, which is also not on the Rogue website. Every week it’s mystery meat.

IBU: 30
OG: 12° P
Malts: Harrington, Klages, & Wheat
Hops: Saaz & Rogue Farm Willamette
Other Ingredients: Coriander & Ginger

(2/3/2010)

81. Great Divide Samurai Rice

Great Divide’s meteoric climb up our charts might have hit a small bump in the road with our most recent sampling—number seven was certainly not lucky, although this was more circumstantial and rhetorical than because of any problems with the beer. First off, Elli couldn’t smell or taste, so she wasn’t much help. She did dutifully go through the motions like the trooper she is, but with not much success: “What kind of flavor profile do you get with this one?” “Um, malty?” Second, the food pairings on the bottle were more than a bit lame and blasé: “Asian food, seared tuna with sesame seeds, goat cheese.” Run out of ideas on this one? “Hmm, what would go well with a beer named Samurai?” “Um, I don’t know, how about Asian food?” C’mon guys, get your head in the game.

Samurai Rice has a light malt and a light hop nose. While a clear straw yellow, it was a bit hazy from some small bits floating in the beer, and it has a minimal white head. Samurai Rice starts a bit sweet on the front—there is a soft sweetness to the front that tastes like more than just barley. Our (or, in this case, my) taste buds would say the sweetness comes from corn, but going with the name, we’ll go with some rice as the source of it. The turn to the middle brings some bitterness and crispness, and the end has a slight return to sweetness before ending dry and clean. Light-bodied with a well rounded carbonation bite that contributes to the crispness, Samurai Rice’s mouthfeel effectively contributes to the beer’s overall character. Besides the lame food choices on the bottle, there was very little to critique about the beer across the board.

Check out the old school label

From Great Divide’s website: “Samurai is an easy drinking, unfiltered ale that changes the status quo for unfiltered beers. The addition of rice gives Samurai a slightly fruity, crisp, refereshing, and clean taste. This is definitely not your everyday unfiltered beer.”

And I thought I liked adjectives...

ABV: 5.1%

Today also marked the first day of my BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) class—10+ weeks of learning and reviewing beer styles, developing my knowledge of the art of brewing, and sampling classic examples in order to understand all of the different beer styles. I can hear all of you already—“Oh, a beer tasting class. THAT must be difficult.” Well, besides blocking out three hours every Saturday morning, let’s see you memorize all of this. Yeah, that’s what I thought. We started with a general overview of the BJCP program, and talked about our collective goals for the next couple of months, leading up to the BJCP exam on December 5th. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the purpose of the BJCP is to:
1. Promote beer literacy
2. Promote the appreciation of real beer
3. Recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills

Our beer sampling for the day included 1.Light Lager and 2. Pilsners:
1A. Lite American Lager: Sam Adams Light
1B. Standard American Lager: Pabst Blue Ribbon
1C. Premium American Lager: Miller Genuine Draft
1D. Munich Helles: Weihenstephaner Original
1E. Dortmunder: Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
2A. German Pilsner (Pils): Warsteiner Premium
2B. Bohemian Pilsner: Cvechvar
2C. Classic American Pilsner: no commercial examples available

(9/19/2009)