40. Lazy Boy IPA

Lazy Boy IPA is from Lazy Boy Brewing in Everett, WA. I’ll be up front—something was wrong with this particular beer. We’ve had Lazy Boy IPA before and enjoyed it very much, but something had gone terribly terribly wrong with this one either in the brewing or bottling process. I’m gonna guess it was the brewing process, via the flavors, but it would seem odd that the beer would then make it to the bottling stage. Who knows? All I know is that the problems indicated via taste would not be ones that would resolve themselves with age in the bottle (like acetaldehyde). But I digress.

Lazy Boy IPA begins with a hoppy nose: pine, resin, and spice dominated, and there was almost no malt aroma. In terms of color, it was a clear old penny copper with red hints, and a thin ivory head. From this point, however, things took a turn for the worst. The faint malt taste was quickly taken over by piney and resin hop flavors, which then began to move into astringent, phenolic, and solvent-like flavors that continued through the close of the beer. We initially thought the flavors were from over-hopping (although there was no real grassy flavor), but as the beer warmed the phenolic flavors became increasingly plastic and smoky, and a distinctive paint thinner or lacquer/acetone-like flavor emerged. The spiciness also began creating a harsh, burning sensation at the back of the tongue. Elli dumped hers out pretty early; I soldiered on trying to see if it would get better. It didn’t. It got worse, and I scarred my mouth with the taste. Although it pains me, this beer has to go down as the second Top 10 Worst candidate.

From the Lazy Boy website: “A Northwest style IPA utilizing locally grown hops with plenty of malt backbone to give a smooth and pleasant finish.”

ABV: 6.5%
Grains: Pale, Crystal, Munich
Hops: Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo
IBU: 75

(8/9/2009)

39. Victory WildDevil

WildDevil is from Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, PA. WildDevil is an experiment with Victory’s HopDevil beer using Brettanomyces yeast instead of their normal yeast strain, making a much more distinctly Belgian beer out of HopDevil.

WildDevil was a bit over-carbonated to start—it overflowed the bottle when we first opened it, and filled a good portion of the glass with foam during the initial pour, reminding me of some of my own carbonation issues with home brewing. But then, that’s the joys of using Brettanomyces—it wants to and will eventually eat pretty much everything it can. WildDevil begins with a hard candy malt nose mixed with slight bubblegum notes and a hop finish. It is a cloudy soft copper color with, as noted, a large off-white lacy head. Starting with a spicy candy sweetness in the front, WildDevil moves into bitterness mixed with pine and citrus notes as the beer rounds out, closing with a lingering sourness typical of Brettanomyces beers. As is typical with Belgian style beers, WildDevil has a sharp but well-rounded mouthfeel. There was also some warmth in the mouthfeel that had nothing to do with alcohol or temperature, both from ester flavors and via the carbonation bite. Overall, an interesting variation, but not as exotic as we had been led to expect—the reports we heard from others vastly over-exaggerated the sourness of this beer. While we appreciate the experiment, we’re not really sure it is an improvement over the original.

From Victory’s website: “Bold, spicy, menacingly delicious HopDevil takes on an entirely new dimension when subjected to a ‘wild’ yeast fermentation. A sharp, tart edge has been added by this fermentation that plays into the caramel sweet malt deliciously and creates complex interplay with the citrus accented hops.”

Someone appears bored with beer

ABV: 6.8%
Malts: Imported, 2 row German malts
Hops: Whole flower American hops
Yeast: 100% laboratory grown Brettanomyces

(8/8/2009)

38. Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Crooked Tree IPA is from the Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall, MI; we had this beer on tap at the South Park Tavern during their Dark Horse brewing special event. As you can see, they had Dark Horse glasses, and we got to take them home with us. New free glassware is always a plus, especially when it comes in pint glass form.

Crooked Tree has floral and citrus hop aromas that cover over the minimal malt sweetness of the nose, and a cloudy topaz color with a generous head that laces the glass nicely. It has a light malt sweetness at the start, moving into an abundantly bitter middle with some low level floral hop flavors, and a lingering bitter finish. With a smooth, substantial mouthfeel and a well-carbonated body, Crooked Tree does have the substance to carry the large hop load present in the beer and that emerges in the slight curling at the back of the tongue. There is a solid hop bitterness present throughout the beer, one that, while sharp, is also pleasant and enjoyable. Crooked Tree is certainly much more of an American than a British IPA; while it would benefit from more hop flavors in the body of the beer, the aroma and bitterness levels are well-balanced.

From Dark Horse’s website: “Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.’s, but brewed with Michigan style. The Crooked Tree is heavily dry hopped to give it a big aroma of pine and citrus. The flavors are big, yet very balanced between fresh hops and malt. Often described as "grapefruit" our hops give this beer an excellent fruit flavor that finishes dry, crisp, and clean. It will pour a nice deep copper color with a bit of haziness. Because of our almost patented ‘Intense Transfer Methods’ our Crooked Tree has won several medals in the India Pale Ale category.”

ABV: 6.0%

(8/7/2009)

37. Bürger Classic Beer

Bürger Classic Beer is made by the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company in Cinncinati, OH. Founded in 1885, Hudepohl Brewing joined with Schoenling Brewing in 1986. This combined brewing company then was bought and sold a couple more times, before being purchased by Gregory Hardman in 2006 (Hardman also owns Christian Moerlein Brewing Company). At least this is what I have pieced together thus far—I couldn’t find a website for the company—the closest I could get was the listing for it on BeerAdvocate. However, I did stumble across several other interesting bits of information that I document below.

Bürger is a crystal clear pale straw yellow—see photos. It had a good head with the initial pour that quickly faded. There is the classic lightly musty lager smell; otherwise a clean crisp malt nose. Bürger begins smooth and slightly sweet with some light graininess in the middle before ending crisp with a touch of bitterness. At mid-bottle (or, more appropriately, mid-can), with some warmth, the musty smell is replaced by a malty smell, and the flavor develops some toasted, malty notes. With a light, crisp mouthfeel, it compares well to PBR or other similar domestics—a good example of an American lager with a nice balance of sweet and dry. And at $2.95 a six-pack, it was worth every penny.

The history of Bürger, and of the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company, seems the normal narrative of conglomerate brewing: smaller breweries are purchased by larger breweries until only a couple own everyone else. The Wikipedia entry for Hudepohl Brewing Company maps a good portion of this out, observing that “As of April, 2008 the Hudepohl building on Gest street still stands, though it appears to be in the process of being deconstructed. The smoke stack bearing the Hudepohl name is still in great condition. As of November 2008, Little Kings, Hudy Delight and the Moerlein brands remain in production under contract brewing arrangements with other regional brewers. On May 20, 2009 Mr. Hardman announced the relaunch of Bürger Beer. He plans to relaunch Hudepohl 14-K in late 2009 or early 2010.”

Then there is this post on the ruins of the Hupepohl Brewery from Queen City Discovery, detailing some local information about the abandoned brewery, and providing both old television commercials from the ’70’s and photos and commentary on the exploration of the abandoned brewery itself. All in all, pretty interesting. There are also two follow up posts, Climbing to the Top of Mt. Hudepohl and Hudepohl Brewing Company: Tour 3.

There is also BrewtifulCincy, which documents “Cincinnati's Rich, Frothy Brewing History,” although this blog is more interested in the whole of Cinncinnati's brewing history.

(bonus points awarded to the first person to correctly identify what Elli is doing behind the glass)

We also have Abandoned, which documents abandoned historical buildings. Click on the photographs link to see all of the pictures from the abandoned Hupepohl Brewery. There is some cross over between the photos here and the ones in the Queen City Discovery posts; one of the links on the second Queen City Discovery post is how I ended up on the particular site.

Finally, there is this news story from 2005 about an attempt to sell the old Hudepohl smokestack. Seriously. Like that thing's gonna be easy to move and install somewhere else.

(8/6/2009)

36. Murphy’s Draught Style Stout vs. Guinness Draught Style Stout

Today we're having our first annual widget draught can drink off: our contestants are Murphy’s Draught Style Stout and Guiness Draught. Murphy’s is brewed by Murphy Brewing in Cork, Ireland, and Guiness is brewed by St. James Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland.

Murphy’s begins with a dry burnt malt nose and a rich, creamy off-white head, created in part by the widget can. With an opaque brown color and a thick, creamy head, Murphy’s is visually pleasing. Guinness begins in much the same way; there is a light burnt malt nose that is almost crisp and a rich, creamy white head via the widget can. There is a bit more visual settling with Guinness once it is in the glass—you can see it settle out from head to fluid—but other than that, both look quite similar. As well, Guinness's body is slightly darker, the head is a bit lighter colored, and it is less opaque.

Aroma and Appearance Advantage: Guinness

In terms of taste, Murphy’s starts with a creamy roasted and slightly chalky malt sweetness; there is not much of a distinctive middle, and it finishes with a burnt bitterness. In comparison, Guinness begins with a bit of a smoother and sweeter flavor; while there is limited middle, as with Murphy’s, there is less burnt taste until the finish.

Flavor Advantage: Murphy’s

Murphy’s has a thin, smooth, and creamy mouthfeel—there is not a lot of sweetness, but the creaminess is similar to a milk stout. The dryness makes this drink and taste like a lighter stout with less body. While Guinness is much the same, there is a slightly heavier mouthfeel and more overall malt flavor with Guinness.

Mouthfeel Advantage: Guinness

Murphy’s flavor profile makes this is an easy drinking beer good for an entire evening of potable pursuits. While Guinness is in much the same category, it is the intangibles that set them apart. The visual qualities of Guinness are good, but the light chalky dryness of Murphy’s gives it the overall advantage in terms of flavor and tasty enjoyment.
Overall Advantage: Murphy’s

Both of their websites are pretty much useless for finding any interesting information about the beer in question--it’s mainly glitzy advertising copy with no substance. The Guinness website did offer this: “There’s a little bit of magic in every expertly crafted drop of Guiness. There are six distinct features that make our beer stand out from all the others. There’s our roasted barley, the extra hops we use, the special yeast, our maturation process, the famous creamy head and lastly the supremely skillful craft of our brewers. Arthur Guiness started the St. James’s Gate brewery in Dublin back in 1759. Today at our St. James Gate Brewery, there are nine key steps in our brewing process to achieve the enjoyment of our Guiness beer.” So while it tells me about how happy they are with their brewing process in general, it gives me nothing really of interest or merit—just bland advertising copy. Just once I’d like to see the brewery that tells me they use an “unspecial yeast.” That would be the day.

Website Advantage: Nobody wins with these websites.

Murphy’s

ABV: 4.0%

Guinness

ABV: 4.2%

(8/5/2009)

35. New Belgium La Folie Sour Brown Ale

New Belgium Brewery is in Fort Collins, CO. New Belgium is a great great brewery. New Belgium doesn’t distribute to Ohio. That sucks. That sucks big. I tried all summer to win one of their Tour de Fat bikes using my dad’s address, but I failed miserably. We first had La Folie on tap at the Map Room in Chicago; when we were getting ready to open this one, my mouth started puckering even before I opened it.

La Folie has a tart, sour, sweet hard candy smell; there are also slight adhesive and medicinal hints within the nose. With a tan light head and a deep mahogany color mixed with red highlights, La Folie is almost as pretty as it smells. And that’s before getting to the flavor. It begins with a slight fruity carbonation fizz before moving into a sour candyish flavor with slight medicinal notes; as it runs across the palate, it continues to pucker the tongue, and ends with some astringency that lingers in the back of the mouth. The mouthfeel is watery, slick, and puckery. And yes, we understand that that may be a contradiction in terms. Welcome to the beauty that is sour beers. Overall, a delightfully tart and delicious beer—so so tart and yummy. As well, it is most certainly part of the dirty band aid family of beers. This beer is pretty much a guaranteed Top 10 best beer of the year—the sourness and tartness appeals to both our palates, and the overall taste and flavor range is exquisite.

From the New Belgium website: “La Folie Wood-Aged Biere, is our original wood-conditioned beer, resting in French Oak barrels between one and three years before being hand bottled, numbered and corked for your enjoyment. Brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, came to us from Rodenbach – home of the fabled sour red. Our La Folie emulates the spontaneous fermentation beers of Peter’s beloved Flanders with sour apple notes, a dry effervescence, and earthy undertones.”

ABV: 6.0%

(8/4/2009)

34. Southern Tier Imperial Mokah

“Dessert in a glass.”

Our second beer from Southern Tier Brewery, located in Lakewood, NY.

Southern Tier Imperial Mokah has a rich chocolate and roasted coffee nose—very delicious smelling—and a dark coffee-colored body with a creamy tan head. The beer begins with a sweet malt flavor, bringing with it chocolate and vanilla notes that range across the palate, before finishing with a dark coffee bitterness with lingers on the back of the tongue. Mokah has a creamy, rich, and thick mouthfeel; there is some alcohol warmth in it, especially at the end. While a delicious and interesting beer, Mokah could be a bit more stout-y: it could use more burnt and roasted notes to build the body and lessen the sweetness, and the bitterness that is apparent tastes like it is from the coffee only.

(someone can't resist hamming for the camera)

From Southern Tier’s website: “Mokah: a stout brewed with chocolate & coffee. When empirical and creative impulses collide, the result is often timeless. The classic utility-art aesthetic of the coffee maker is an example of design and engineering working in concert. It is through similar cooperation that the simple bitter cocoa bean is transformed into a sweet treat. As scientists, our brewers utilize their materials to exacting standards. As artists, they couldn’t resist the temptation to combine two of our highly acclaimed Blackwater Series Imperial Stouts: Jahva and Choklat. Alone each is perfect, but together as Mokah they are an inimitable expression of two of the world’s most sought after flavors. Enjoy Mokah stout with – or as – your favorite dessert!”

ABV: 10.9%

Color: 221ºL
OG: 27º P
Malt: 2-Row pale malt, 2-Row barley, Caramel, Chocolate & Black malts, Roasted barley, and Barley flakes
Other Ingredients: Jamaican roasted coffee and bittersweet Belgian chocolate
Hops: Chinook, Willamette, Cascade & Columbus

(8/3/2009)