505. Fremont Brewing Bourbon Abominable 2011

Today’s goals were modest: check out a couple of things in Seattle, go shopping at REI, and then head to Fremont to tour the Fremont Brewery. After all, breweries in Seattle are like Simpsons reruns: ubiquitous and yet silently informing our national consciousness. (Note: I spent 20 minutes trying to come up with an appropriate simile involving Dayton, but I failed miserably. My only consolation: Elli couldn’t come up with one either. Jeffrey and Kevin, the ball is in your court.) Which means that we need to choose carefully. Fremont Brewing is at the top of the list—after I tried the Harvest Ale, they jumped to the front of the line. Damn, that beer was good. Plus, they decided to tap a keg of their Bourbon Abominable Winter Ale today, which is the regular Abominable Winter Ale aged in bourbon barrels. Thank you, beer gods, for always making me feel like a rock star.

Fremont Brewing’s tasting room is located on the edge of the brewery—our table looked down a row of the fermenters. While I chose the Bourbon Abominable (try saying that 10 times fast, by the way), Elli went with Interurban IPA, which was super-fresh and yummy—the hop aroma itself was worth the price of admission, and the rest of the beer followed suit. Bourbon Abominable, or B-Bomb, pours a rich, deep chocolate with a long lasting tan head. The nose is bourbon and chocolate mixed with burnt sugar, vanilla, and a touch of oak. The front features flavors of caramel, burnt sugar, toffee, and vanilla, while the middle exudes creamy bourbon and chocolate. The mouthfeel here is also slightly slick, like you would find in an oatmeal stout, and the finish features a touch of roasted malt with chocolate and coffee, followed by vanilla and oak. The carbonation is light, while the mouthfeel is chewy yet slick—the medium-heavy mouthfeel is simultaneously rounded and smooth while also rich, even, and creamy. There is some alcohol warmth and flavor, but this is still a young beer. The key element to describe this beer is balance—while it is a big beer, it is far smoother and more evenly balanced than many other similar bourbon barrel-aged beers. Part of this might be via the winter ale body, but I think it also has something to do with production—there is bourbon flavor, but only as it complements the beer. A damn fine beer that will only get better.

From the Fremont website: “Lovingly referred to by Fremonters as the B-BOMB, this bourbon barrel-aged edition of our winter ale has a warming spicy aroma and rich carmelly notes of bourbon, wood and vanilla added to dark roasty chocolatey malt flavors and subtle hopping.”

ABV: 9.5%
Malts: Pale, Crystal, Munich, Roast Barley, Chocolate & Carafa
Hops: Centennial, Willamette & Goldings

I also tried the Universal Pale Ale Shandy cask—this beer featured their normal UPA, but had a bag of ginger and lemon zest in the cask. The nose was lemon and lightly hoppy, while the front was a mix of lemon citrus and ginger bite, leading into a gentle bitterness that rolls into the finish—flavors were fresh, clean, and sharp. While there was a slightly astringent note that lingered on the tongue, the beer as a whole was pleasant. The one criticism would be that this beer might not be best served as a cask—it would be better with some brighter, spritzier carbonation. But I was told that this was day 2 on the cask before I got it, so I was given due diligence.

Oh, and I do feel compelled to observe: B-Bomb is just more proof that West Coast breweries invented and perfected the Winter Ale. So suck it.

(12/30/2011)

502. Prodigal Son Christmas Carol(e)

When you’re on a long road trip, an interesting destination along the way makes the time pass faster. Our destination: Prodigal Son in Pendleton, OR. And since we’ve never been one to let a little thing like 2,147 miles get in our way of fun, off we went! Only one problem: when we got to Prodigal Son, they were featuring a whole slew of guest taps by Terminal Gravity, which is in Enterprise, OR. Foiled again. Or, in the immortal words of Homer Simpson, d’oh! Prodigal Son did, however, have their winter warmer, Christmas Carol(e), on tap, so we started with that, followed by Terminal Gravity IPA.

Christmas Carol(e) was served in an 8 oz. glass (ahem—we did have to drive another 300 hundred miles, thank you very much); the beer was copper brown with a long-lasting tan head. The nose was super-delicious—it was a mix of fruit and esters with a touch of alcohol—and it pretty much embodied the “old ale-like” character Elli pointed to last week in the Ill-Tempered Gnome. Christmas Carol(e) starts with a mix of fruit and bread, specifically fig, pear, and apple, mixed with bread and caramel malt; in the middle, there is a lighter fruit character and a touch of alcohol. There are also hints of malt chewiness, but it tastes a bit too young to come fully through, while the finish is clean with a touch of heat and alcohol lingering on the palate. The mouthfeel has a corresponding light alcohol warmth that fits with the lighter, gentler carbonation. Christmas Carol(e) is good but young; I’d love to see what this turns into next year at this time. A good first impression. I would have loved to try Bruce/Lee Porter (one of the reasons we stopped here), but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe on the way home.

From the Prodigal Son website: “The Christmas Carol has arrived–A seasonal winter warmer featuring Golden Promise and French Aromatic malts. Dark Crystal and Belgian Candi sugar mingle with herbal Noble Hop bitterness, creating a beer which is ideal for any celebration.”

ABV: 9.0%
IBU: 62

Terminal Gravity IPA came in an imperial pint glass (nice touch, Prodigal Son), and was a hazy caramel—it looked like liquid Werther’s. The head was thin and white, but hung on like the dickens, while the nose was a delicious mix of spicy and resin hop aromas with a touch of floral in the background and clean hop bitterness. This beer was also super fresh and tasty—the hop aroma jumped out of the glass, and flavors really danced on the palate. Flavors started with restrained bread and biscuit malt, along with floral and citrus hop flavors mixed with a slight fruitiness that tasted yeast derived, although we could be wrong. A pleasant clean bitterness also began in the front and continued into the middle, which also contained a faint hint of caramel malt followed by spicy hop flavors. The finish saw a return of the bread flavors before concluding with a lingering clean bitterness. The body was medium as was the carbonation, although it was bright on the palate. The breadiness builds on the palate as the beer warms, as does the hop spiciness, revealing a touch of alcohol warmth. There is also a slight astringent/vegetal note that emerges as the beer warms. Nonetheless, a delicious, approachable, and super-drinkable beer. Too bad we couldn’t stick around for more. But the sweet siren song of the road was calling....

From the Terminal Gravity website: “Terminal Gravity’s ‘India Pale Ale’ is pale copper in color but big in flavor with a heady hop character. It is a true beer drinkers beer and brings a smile to many a face. We use spring water and snow melt from high in the Eagle Cap Wilderness! This is the beer that was named Beer of the Year by the Oregonian.”

ABV: 6.9%
OG: 15.2° P
FG: 3.2° P

Funny side note: all of this photos were shot blind. I broke the viewing screen to our digital camera some time during the first two days of the trip. Color me smooth. Turned out alright, though.

(12/21/2011)

501. Oakshire Brewing Ill-Tempered Gnome Winter Ale

“I appreciate the bitterness. From the nose, I thought it would be a bit sticky sweet, but it’s not.” Elli

Our first beer from Oakshire Brewing, located in lovely Eugene, OR. Damn, I miss Eugene. Can anyone tell me if Frog is still around? I found one of his joke books in my last move, and that took me way, way back. But I digress; Oakshire started in October 2006, well after my time there. Still, it makes me nostalgic, as Oakshire pretty much has their rhymes right and their game tight.

Ill-Tempered Gnome pours a mix of orange and mahogany, with a light tan head that rouses rather easily. It appears mostly clear in the glass, although there might be a slight chill haze. Aromas combine brown malt and candy sweetness—it’s a mixture of English and Belgian, with the elements Elli describes as “old ale-like” winning out. There are also hints of biscuit malt and fruit hiding in the back. As it warms, Elli’s “old ale-like” character increases—there is a bready fruit component that strikes me as figgy bread pudding. Flavors start sweet and bright (and yes, I find that an odd description as well) with biscuit and brown malt; there is a hint of caramel and molasses in the middle before the sharp, clean bitterness takes over. Some of the brown malt comes back in the finish—present as a touch of roast and almost but not quite chocolate—but it is in a losing battle with the bitterness, which lingers pleasantly on the back of the throat. As Elli notes above, the body is lighter than expected—it is medium, with the hop bitterness further contributing to lightening the beer on the palate. The bitterness does pick up as the beer warms, but that’s almost petty to note—this is a winter ale we can both get behind. And, as I am sure Jeffrey is just waiting to blurt out in the comments, no one should be surprised by that. Because as we all well know, West Coast breweries both invented and perfected the winter ale. And yes, that is a fact so transparent, it needs no justification. Now if they’d only do something about all those damn pumpkin ales. Nice work, Oakshire.

From the bottle: “Take a little gnome home this winter! However, don’t put him in the front yard. The neighbors might steal him & he’ll definitely lose his cool! He’s a malty, hoppy brown ale of pure winter deliciousness. Enjoy!”

ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 65
OG: 15.5° P

(12/15/2011)

497. Smuttynose Winter Ale

I’m not the biggest fan of winter beers and ales, unless they’re of the West Coast variety, which normally means more hops than spice—think Sierra Nevada Celebration, think Red Hook Winter Hook, or even think Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, which, while falling more into the traditional winter beer category, makes use of spices in a restrained and controlled manner. Read: the beer doesn’t taste like potpourri in a glass. But I am a fan of Smuttynose. So I decided to give this one a run. Or, better put, Elli decided to give this beer a run, since she bought the six pack. We’ve been hitting the Smuttynose IPA pretty hard as of late, so she decided to flip the script but keep the same crew in play. And as should be somewhat obvious by now, I’m always game with beer. Our earlier excursions into the land o’ Portsmouth include S’muttonator, Big A IPA, Old Brown Dog Ale, Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale. Scoring at home? That’s the kind nine.

Smuttynose Winter Ale pours a rich deep raisin-colored chocolate, something that looks chewy and inviting and decadent. For that reason, I am officially dubbing the color of this beer “figgy chocolate bread pudding.” How’s that for a name? It also appears rather clear, but since I can’t actually see through it, I’m not really certain. Works for me. The head is an off-white/eggshell cream color, but it rings rather rapidly, leaving me staring at the small skiff of cream and the luscious figgy goodness of my delicious repast. The aroma is mainly chocolate—more cocoa than milk—backed up by caramel sweetness, cracker-y biscuit notes, and even fainter spice and fruitiness. My fig and raisin gamboling might actually have some merit here. Flavors follow the nose pretty closely, although not in the same order—dry cocoa and chocolate into caramel, raisin, fig, and fruitiness. There is a possible touch of cinnamon and nutmeg spice lurking in the middle and the finish; either that, or some yeast phenol/spiciness. If forced to choose, I’d lean towards the latter. These flavors come across with the biscuit dryness in the middle, which blends well with the drier cocoa flavors that also return in the finish. While the flavors contribute to dryness of the beer, the beer does have some body on the tongue—it is slightly chewy even though the flavors run counter to that. The carbonation is gentle but present, and helps accentuate some of the biscuit and cocoa flavors in the final third of the beer. All in all, this was a very pleasant surprise. Thank you, Smuttynose, for the balance and restraint in this beer. If you were attempting to curry my favor for your previous failings (ahem! Big Beer! ahem!), consider it a job well done.

Hand-drawn map of Smuttynose Island from here

From the Smuttynose website: “Smuttynose Winter Ale is a full-bodied, amber beer brewed with a special Trappist ale yeast. Stylistically reminiscent of a Belgian Abbey Double, it features fruity aromas and flavor, balanced by soft Crystal hops. Warming, mellow & pleasantly complex, Smuttynose Winter Ale is your perfect cold weather companion.”

ABV: 5.1%
Best before: 4/17/2012

So it seems that the lesson here is that I like Winter Ales that really aren’t Winter Ales.

(12/7/2011)

439. Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin/Stone Special Holiday Ale

Hot damn! Hold the presses! Holiday AND collabo? Dag, that’s like a little slice of heaven! Even further, this is a collabo remake from 2008, when the original was produced by Stone in San Diego. So it’s like old school and shit. For this beer, Kjetil Jikiun from Nøgne Ø, Ron Jeffries from Jolly Pumpkin, and Mitch Steele from Stone all got together to produce a beer that would make beer geeks scream like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. And I’d like to apologize to 13 year old girls for comparing them to beer geeks. But my favorite part of this beer is the name: I like that Special is used to describe Holiday—I guess that Holiday is no longer special enough by itself, and requires further qualifiers to make the holiday season even more special. Get ready for next year’s Super Special Holiday Ale.

Special Holiday Ale pours a hazy and murky brown—kinda like that sweet ol’ Mississipppi that the folk were drinking by the glassful back in the day—with a minimal tan head that actually thickens and has better retention as the beer warms. The nose is spice mixed with dry fruit; we’re not talking fruit cake or anything, but there is a chewy dried plum aroma underlying the initial spice burst. As it warms, a dark Belgian candy sweetness develops and the spice diminishes, although the fruit sticks around. With even more warmth, the sage starts popping out more distinctly. When initially poured, the flavors were rather muted: chewy malt sweetness in the front, a drier middle with slight spice-related flavors, and finishing dry with a touch of bitterness and juniper tang. As the beer warms, the front contains juniper along with the chewy malt sweetness, and plum and raisin dark fruit flavors emerge in the middle. Chewiness increases across the profile, and the white sage starts playing with the juniper in the lingering finish, mitigating and balancing the bitterness. The body is medium with a chewy yet dry mouthfeel, and the carbonation is medium to light. There is a slight residual mineral/spice character that lingers past the sage/juniper/bitter finish that detracts from the complex flavors that exist across the profile—it is a bit of letdown after all of the interesting and balanced flavors that play across the palate, although this too disappears as the beer heads to room temperature. Nonetheless, an interesting beer. Even if it needs the special to make the holidays complete.

We Three Kings be making the beer...

From the bottle: “This is the second Nøgne Ø release of Special Holiday Ale, which was first brewed in San Diego in 2008. Each brew is following the same recipe, including Michigan chestnuts, white sage from southern California and Norwegian juniper berries, but differences in brewing and aging practices produce different beers. Cheers to being different! Skå!”

ABV: 8.5%
OG: 22° P
IBU: 50
Ingredients: Grimstad water, malted barley, malted rye, malted oats, hops, white sage, carraway, juniper berries, chestnuts, yeast

(12/15/2010)

215. Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale 2009

Our second beer from Anchor Brewing; the last one was the ever-classic Anchor Steam.

Christmas Ale 2009 has a rich dark malt nose that is lightly resonant with dark fruit and some sort of conifer aromatics. It is a deep rich clear brown with ruby highlights and a creamy tan head. The beer starts sweet with dark fruit flavors running across the palate, moving into an even sweet middle, and finishes clean and almost lager-like with some dark fruit and evergreen tang along with some light pitch-iness. Christmas Ale has a medium body that is rich and dry on the mouth and a bright, tight, and clean carbonation that bites sharply but freshly in the second third of the beer through the finish. As it warms, the dark fruit expands and dominates in the nose, and some low level cola flavors emerge in the middle. While Elli is not a fan, my holidays are not complete without at least a six pack of this every year—it is the only holiday beer I like drinking on a regular basis—not only is it well crafted, it stays away from giving me a big fat mouthful of potpourri. I mean, if I wanted potpourri, I’d eat a Glade air freshener.

From the beer: “This is the thirty-fifth ‘Our Special Ale’ from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew.”

From the Anchor website: “The brewers of Anchor Steam Beer are proud to announce the release of our thirty-fith annual Christmas Ale. Every year since 1975 the brewers at Anchor have brewed a distinctive and unique Christmas Ale, which is available from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew. Each year our Christmas Ale gets a unique label and a unique recipe for the Ale itself. Although our recipes must remain a secret, many enthusiasts save a few bottles from year to year—stored in a cool dark place—to taste later and compare with other vintages. Properly refrigerated, the beer remains intriguing and drinkable for years, with different nuances slowly emerging as the flavor mellows slightly.”

ABV: 5.5%

(1/31/2010)

206. Rogue Mogul Madness

Our umpteenth beer from Rogue, and by umpteenth we mean eighth. We had this out of a firkin at Boston’s Bistro. The Rogue rundown for the year includes Dirtoir Black Lager, Yellow Snow IPA, Chipotle Ale, First Growth Wet Hop Ale, Juniper Pale Ale, Maierfest and Capt’n Sig’s Northwestern Ale. In case you hadn’t gathered, we like us some Rogue beer.

Mogul Madness has a chocolate brown color with a creamy & pillowy tan head. It begins with a soft gentle malt sweetness, transitions into chocolate and coffee in the middle with low levels of fruitiness that start emerging towards the end of the middle, and ends roasty and dry. There is not much hoppiness or bitterness across the palate—there is a small amount of bitterness that develops in the end as a lingering flavor. As well, the flavors of this beer get progressively bigger across the profile—it ends big and roasty. The mouthfeel is soft and creamy but also thick and rich; there is a pretty low level of carbonation, consistent with a firkin, and some dryness in the mouth, particularly towards the end, that does get a bit papery (the firkin was tapped a week ago, so it could have begun to oxidize a bit). There is also some lingering fruitiness as it warms. This was very different that the bottle version we had, which was a bit more subdued in terms of the roasted flavors, and also more hoppy and bitter in the middle and the end. This one comes across more like a winter ale with richer and big roasted flavors.

From the Rogue website: “Hoppy, caramel aroma, dark burgundy in color with an off white head. Intense flavors of citrus hops, and complex notes of nuts, berries and mocha. It finishes long and lingers for at least 15 seconds. Small batches of seasonal beers were traditionally brewed in Europe during the 19th century. Breweries made darker brews, brews with high alcohol content and festive taste. Mogul is a strong ale, darker in color than other pale ales and more assertively hopped—the John Maier trademark. First brewed in 1991.”

The man himself.

OG: 16.5º P

IBU: 68

Malts: 2 Row, Munich, C-120, C-150, Kilncoffee, & Carofa’s Special 2 Malt

Hops: Newport, Horizon, Simcoe, Centennial, Crystal 90, Amarillo, & Rogue Farm Willamette

(1/22/2010)

181. Stoudts Winter Ale

We’re hitting Stoudts up again pretty quick, I know, this being our sixth Stoudts beer and all, although I did miss number five. We’ve tried Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Oktoberfest, American Pale Ale, Scarlet Lady ESB, and Heifer-in-Wheat. And now it’s time for Winter Ale. I was also recovering from some sort of viral infection, most likely an unintentional Christmas gift from my nieces and nephew, who have a history of spreading plagues during the holidays. But anyway, as I tried to contribute some sort of input on this beer, Elli looked at me and said “you’re sick, you don’t know what you’re tasting.” Ah, true love.

Winter Ale is a clear dark amber with a thin ivory head. The nose is a combination of malt and slightly musty dark fruits, and the front starts rich and sweet with dry chocolate in the middle, finishing chalky and dry with hop bitterness. There is also some slight lager-esque graininess at the end, and some bready flavors to accompany the dry chocolate in the middle. Winter Ale has a creamy mouthfeel with a medium body and medium carbonation; the dryness and bitterness at the end are nice, although the dryness is a bit too alkaline. A good beer, especially as it doesn’t go on the usual spice tear that many winter beers do, but nothing particularly stands out—some of the darker fruits in the nose could have helped flesh out the body.

From the Stoudts website: “Although we change recipes every year, this winter warmer will always be a full bodied ale. ” [I saw this described elsewhere as a hoppy red ale, hence my label choice below.]

(12/28/2009)