196. Dogfish Head Theobroma

Yep. Another beer from Dogfish Head. This makes our sixth: we’ve had 120 Minute IPA, Festina Peche, Squall IPA, Burton Baton Oak Aged Imperial IPA, and Sah’tea. So, backstory. In graduate school at SUNY Buffalo, I had to read the Popol Vuh for one of Dennis Tedlock’s classes. And yes, Adam, you still better have your copy of that sitting on the bookshelf. So while we’re reading it, Tedlock tells us a story one day in class in his monotone voice that’s a half-register above the air-conditioner about how the Maya used to drink this alcoholic hallucinogenic chocolate beer out of a calabash, which represented the skull of their slain opponents. Damn. Hardcore. My first thought upon hearing this story: I need to get me some of that. Fast forward to the present, and I read about Dogfish Head’s Theobroma. While I did have momentary pangs about the lack of hallucinogens, the flashback to my dreams from grad school made it all worthwhile.

Theobroma has a candied fruit sweet nose; it is a very clear tan with a strong red undertone and has a light white head. In terms of flavor, Theobroma starts with low levels of dry malt before moving into some light fruitiness (mostly cherry-like) and some alkaline cocoa flavors, ending with a return of the sweetness that lingers too long on the palate. It is soft and dry in the mouth, and, somewhat paradoxically, has some cloying stickiness in the mouthfeel. There is medium carbonation, but very little bite to it, and the heat that does appear in the back of the throat from the ancho chilies is very much in the background and takes some time to accumulate. This bottle was sort of a letdown—last time we had this (on tap at the Trolley Stop) it was much spicier and had more of a chocolate flavor in the body with a lot less fruitiness. We’re not sure what happened between that last batch and this, but we liked the previous one much better.

From the bottle: “Theobroma, or ‘Food of the Gods,’ is a re-creation of the premier chocolate beverage of the Americas, intended only for the gods, kings, and the elite. This liquid time capsule is based is based on the earliest chemical and archeological evidence of cacao in the New World, dating to before 1100 B.C., and enhanced by natural additives of the later Mayan and Aztec drinks.”

Stolen from the New Yorker

From the Dogfish Head website: “This beer is based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras which revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. The discovery of this beverage pushed back the earliest use of cocoa for human consumption more than 500 years to 1200 BC. As per the analysis, Dogfish Head’s Theobroma (translated into ‘food of the gods’) is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs (from our friends at Askinosie Chocolate), honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). It’s light in color - not what you expect with your typical chocolate beer. Not that you’d be surpised that we’d do something unexpected with this beer! This beer is part of our Ancient Ales series - along with Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, and other - step back in time and enjoy some Theobroma.”

ABV: 9%

(1/12/2010)

195. Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary Ale

Our third beer from Port Brewing; we’ve had the High Tide Fresh Hop and the Hop-15. I sense a theme, don’t you? And this beer certainly continues that trend...

Port’s 2nd Anniversary Ale has a sweet caramel nose mixed with a generous abundance of hoppiness—there are citrus and hot spicy hop aromas, and maybe a slight metallic astringency. The beer is a cloudy murky copper color with a light white head that quickly dissipates to a ring around the glass. There are hops throughout the flavor profile on this one—it’s got some big hops. Starts with a sweet malt with some already present bitterness, and moves into some caramelized sugar flavors that blend well with the blossoming bitterness of the middle. There are also some pine and resin flavors, but nothing that can be clearly pinned down (i.e. we taste nothing that would allow us to lay claim to this being particular types of hops). Port’s 2nd Anniversary Ale does end rather clean—there is a good amount of lingering bitterness, but the malt profile rounds out smoothly. It is medium to medium heavy-bodied with some carbonation bite, but there is more hop bitterness and bite than that of the carbonation. There is some slight stickiness in the mouth; the alcohol is rather subdued, but the large hop presence could easily cut this out. There is also some astringency from the larger hop profile, but nothing overbearing—it is more the product of a big hop beer than something detrimental. The description on the bottle says this beer “oozes hop oils, aromas and flavors,” and we certainly agree with that. While the hop profile is big, it is a bit indistinct. It is much better than many of the other DIPAs or Imperial IPAs we’ve had, both in terms of the hop profile in relation to the malt profile and the overall taste in relation to it being a big beer, but it could use a bit more crispness in the malt profile and bit more distinctiveness in the hop profile. But in the big picture sense, we both like it—I may like it a bit more than Elli, but the strengths of this over other big beers we both agree on.

From the bottle: “Let’s party! It’s been our mantra for years now. Since we opened our doors two years ago, we’ve had many things to be thankful about. So, in true Port Brewing fashion, we thought it would be appropriate to mark our 2nd full year of business with another new beer. Port 2nd Anniversary Ale joins other Port Brewing beers in celebrating all things hoppy.

In your hands, you are holding yet another hop monster of beer brewed in San Diego. Yes, we know this is hardly original, but, we love hops as much as you do so let’s party! This oozes hop oils, aromas and flavors. We hope it’s a worthy addition to the riches that is the Port Brewing family of beers. We look forward to this annual release each May and hope you will too.”

ABV: 9.5%

(1/11/2010)

194. Full Sail Wreck the Halls

Our second beer from Full Sail Brewing; our last one was Grandsun of Spot IPA. Like Grandsun, Wreck the Halls is another beer from the Brewmaster Reserve 2009 Series. Wreck the Halls is an excellent name for a holiday beer—a perfect description of those holiday get-togethers with family where shit gets broken...

Wreck the Halls is a hazy deep copper color with an ivory head that quickly dissipates to a good sized ring. The nose is malty with some light fruitiness followed by pine and resin hop aromas. Starting with toasted and caramel malt flavors that are rather dry, Wreck the Halls has a sweet juicy middle—we’re not sure where the juicy is coming from, but we like it—and some pine hop flavors before ending dry, spicy, and bitter with some lingering light grape-flavored sweetness. Medium-bodied with a medium carbonation bite; there is also some slight puckering on the back of the tongue from the hop bitterness. I’d call this one the cream of the holiday beer crop of 2009, but Elli finds some of the ending fruitiness a bit off (it is slightly reminiscent of the grape flavor in Bell’s Christmas Ale). Still, hoppiness carries the day in this one—there is no potpourri in a glass, or anything like that. The mix of IPA and winter beer works well here; we look forward to trying this one again in the future.

From the bottle: “An annual holiday favorite, the hoppy holiday ale is aggressive yet sublime, assertive yet mellow, complex yet drinkable, and has a lot of hops in it.”

From the Full Sail website: “This annual favorite is a sublime hybrid of an American style IPA and a winter warmer. The result is a bold brew that celebrates the holidays with an intriguing blend of Centennial hops providing elegant citrus notes balanced by a backdrop of a rich caramel malt body. Dry hopped to amplify the aromas and flavor.”

ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 68

(1/10/2010)

193. New Holland Dragon’s Milk

Only our second beer from New Holland Brewing—for some reason, I’d thought we’d run through a couple more. Anyway, our last one was Golden Cap Saison. Dragon’s Milk is part of their High Gravity Series, joining Beerhive Tripel, Charkoota Rye, El Mole Ocho, Imperial Hatter, Black Tulip, and Night Tripper, and Pilgrim’s Dole as part of New Holland’s big beer line up. Let’s call Dragon’s Milk the starting pitcher...

Described as “ale aged in oak barrels” on the label, Dragon’s Milk is a crystal clear deep chocolate brown with ruby red highlights and a pretty minimal tan head. With a sweet malty nose that also has good amounts of vanilla and oak, Dragon’s Milk smells like rich and creamy goodness. Dragon’s Milk starts with a thick, rich malt profile that has sweetness and some alcohol and vanilla, moves into chocolate and oak, and finishes with roasted malt flavors, the return of some of the vanilla, and some lingering tannic oak flavor. Full bodied, rich, and creamy, both from malt and oakiness, it has a medium carbonation bite and a thick chewy mouthfeel. While there is some alcohol warmth, it still has a good balance, particularly because of the complex flavor profile. This beer is exactly the thing you need on a cold winter night in front of a warm fire—it will fill you up and warm you up at the same time.

From the bottle: “An intriguing stout with soft, rich malt character intermingled with deep vanilla tones, all dancing in an oak bath.”

From the New Holland website: “The beer you hold in your hand, Dragon’s Milk Ale, is a crown jewel of New Holland Brewing Company. It is the unrivaled result of painstaking processes - both creative and scientific. We could tell you about the centuries-old tradition of the term, Dragon’s Milk, or we could tell you about the history, craftsmanship and challenges of important, the beer inside this bottle. Expect a complex ale with a soft, rich caramel-malt character intermingled with deep vanilla tones; all dancing in an oak bath. Unmistakably distinctive example of New Holland’s Art in Fermented Form.”

ABV: 8.5%
OG: 19° P

(1/9/2010)

192. Gavroche French Red Ale

This is our first beer from Brasserie de St. Sylvestre, which is in St. Sylvestre, France. This is the Flanders region of France, famous for its brewing traditions.

Gavroche French Red Ale has a soft clean lightly caramel nose that carries just a touch of something wild and slightly exotic with the yeast esters. It has a hazy copper color and a white head that laces the glass well. Gavroche starts with a light fruitiness and some yeast esters before moving into a light caramel middle and then finishing dry with a hint of tartness. Light-bodied with spritzy bright carbonation, it is clean and refreshing on the palate. Overall, it is a well-balanced and very drinkable beer—it’s not quite Belgian, but not quite French either—it’s a bit too neutral. It would be better if it further developed some of the tart and wild notes that are present.

Doing the good work...

From the Brasserie de St. Sylvestre website: “Gavroche is a character in Victor Hugo’s 19th century novel, Les Misérables, a rebellious yet always generous little urchin, living by his wits on the streets of Paris. Gavroche is a strong, red beer, in which the deep malt flavour and brisk hoppiness are very well balanced; and the whole is gracefully accentuated by fruity flavours derived from a special top-fermenting yeast. This is a rare French example of an ale refermented in the bottle. Gavroche must be served with care (leaving behind the fine yeast sediment) at about 10°C.”

ABV: 8.5%

(1/8/2010)

191. Ska Brewing ESB Special Ale

“Can-tastic!”

Our second beer from SKA Brewing in Durango, CO; our last one was Modus Hoperandi.

SKA Brewing’s ESB Special Ale has a bready and biscuity nose with some slight spiciness that could either be hop aroma or some yeast esters. It has a hazy copper color with an ivory head that dissipates rather quickly. Starting with a rounded bready malt flavor, ESB Special Ale moves into low levels of bitterness before ending dry, biscuity, and bitter, although not enough to take it out of the ESB category. There is a slight amount of a plasticy flavor in the middle of the beer, but it is mainly in the background. ESB Special Ale has a medium body and medium to low carbonation bite. Except for the plastic off-flavors, this is about exactly what an ESB should taste like; a very British malt profile, and low levels of bitterness and carbonation. Coupled with the can format—and it appears that SKA Brewing is working the can angle—ESB Special Ale is the beer for today’s on-the-go traveler.

From the SKA website: “Yes we can. Okay, that was stupid. But we can and we did. We can come up with can puns all day. We can do it. Can. This English Special Bitter is our Special Ale. Special because it was the second canned microbrew in the nation (after Dale’s Pale Ale). Special because the Galena hops and pale malts create a crisp first sip, a hoppy tongue, and a malty sweet finish. Though bitter is part of the name, better would be a more accurate term. Fresh and lively, this canned beer suits the needs of any outdoor enthusiast. Like it says on the can: fish, luau, golf, raft, toboggan. SKA can!”

Lip up Fatty, indeed. Why does everyone forget about Maui Brewing and their sweet sweet can action?

ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 58

(1/7/2010)

190. Dark Horse Too Cream Stout

This is our third beer from Dark Horse Brewery (last two were One Oatmeal Stout and Crooked Tree IPA); we had this on tap at Trolley Stop after the January beer tasting. Got to watch Casey MC the event and heckle those people who voted against his wishes, which was of course quite delightful. The line-up for the evening included Bruery Orchard White, Old Speckled Hen, Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir, Flying Dog Raging Bitch, Bell’s Hop Slam, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, Heavy Seas Below Decks, Alesmith Old Numbskull, and Founder’s Breakfast Stout. Since we had Dirtoir last week, it was funny to see them run it as a black lager in the third spot, since it was a bit heavier than expected—after sorting through it some more, I’m guessing it is more of a Baltic Porter than a black lager—hell, even still calling it stout light still fits better than the black lager label. We both voted for Hop Slam, but Founder’s Breakfast Stout won. So at least nothing lame snuck by and stole victory from Hop Slam...

Too Cream Stout has a burnt malt nose with an inky black color (well, it was dark, and we had also already sampled a boat load of beers, so sue me) and a minimal tan head. It starts roasty with some sweetness with chocolate and coffee flavors before moving into a crisp malty middle and finishing with more roasted malt flavors and some lingering burnt notes. The mouthfeel is smooth, clean, creamy, and medium-bodied. Well-balanced overall, Too Cream Stout has rich roastiness that is also balanced with the lighter elements of the beer along with a good amount of creaminess. Most certainly a delicious and very drinkable beer, one worthy of future drinking and indulgences.

From the Dark Horse website: “Number Two - This beer is made with milk sugar (lactose) which gives this beer a nice creamy mouth feel which mingles with hints of chocolate and roasty flavors.”

(1/6/2010)