TLDR Beer Club

[MrWookie]

I've got another cheap beer to review tonight, Saranac's Belgian ale. It ran me just $1.59 for a 12 oz, which I think is as cheap as they come at Beers of the World. Saranac has had some decent brews, though, and I was curious how much Belgian I could get on the cheap. They say on the bottle that this is brewed in the trappist style, so we'll see what their interpretation is. The beer pours a clear (i.e., yeast-less) orange-ish color. There isn't much head, and it dissipates pretty quickly. It smells, well, not like a trappist. It doesn't have the earthy or fruity tones. It smells more like a tripel, spicy and malty. It tastes like a tripel, too. It's moderately sweet, not as sweet as some, and it's not as fruity. The spices, though, are quite nice. Cloves and cinnamon come through well. The malt is decent, and in spite of presumably filtering the beer, there's still some of the yeasty flavor, too. I'd say this is a modest step up in quality from Blue Moon, although they're not technically the same variety of beer. I'll file this next to the JW Dundee's porter as surprisingly good cheep beer. I give it [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. If someone's curious about Belgian beer but doesn't want to blow $10+ on a sixer of something they might not like, this would be a good beer to pick up.

[dcb777]

Sam Smiths Outmeal stout is a great beer.

[MrWookie]

Continuing the trend of cheap beer, tonight I'll review Sam Adam's Double Bock. I think I paid $1.85 for this one, which means it'd run you $6-$8 per sixer, depending on where you shop. I'm not sure exactly of its ABV, but it tasted on the stronger side, maybe 7%. The beer pours a nice medium brown, but without much head at all. It smells malty and slightly of alcohol, and that's pretty much the flavor, too. It's not as earthy as some bocks, but at first glance, this would be a decent option for someone who likes brown ales. The problem is the sweetness. It's very sweet, and while I didn't really mind at first, it really started grating on me at the end. I was going to give this beer a 2.5 rating, but I just can't for a beer I had trouble finishing. I give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

[JPinAZ]

As promised, here's my review of Russian River's Damnation golden ale.

My parents got me some bottles of this for Christmas 2005 (I love my family, this year my sister got me a pound each of four varieties of hops, which will probably last me a couple years). Damnation is a 750ml bottle conditioned 7%, 25 IBU Belgian style golden ale. A cool thing that Russian River does is mark which batch of a particular bottling a bottle is. This bottle was from batch 6.

It pours with a beautiful golden yellow. If this were the stuff that made yellow snow I'd have no problem eating all I could [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Nice head, though it doesn't last long. Good lacing throughout the beer.

It smells very fruity with pears as the dominant aroma. There's some banana in the background. There's also a nice yeastiness to it.

To me the flavor is lacking. There's a bit of fruityness but not what the aroma leads you to believe. There is a nice spicy flavor to it. The body finishes a little dry.

Overall, I'd give this [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I'm more partial to the sweetness of dubels & tripels so that affected the rating. If I were to judge this strictly by style it would rate higher.

After checking RR's bottle log on their web site, Batch 6 was brewed on 7/17/05 & bottled on 8/12/05. I think I need to find a bottle of a different batch. They state they couldn't use their house yeast for bottle conditioning which resulted in a thinner body than normal. Another cool thing they do on their labels & mark them how long you can age the beer. Damnation can be aged for up to 3 year.

If you're interested in trying it out, you can order bottles on line. $7.50 for the bottle I had. They also have Supplication available. I have a bottle of this as well which I'll probably won't try for a while. I wish they bottled Pliney the Elder.
http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/Merch...ategory_Code=BB

Up next (in a week or so): Supposedly the rarest beer in the UK, Thomas Hardy's Ale (2004 vintage).

[JPinAZ]

To all the lurkers following this thread: don't worry about how it will turn out, post your reviews. I've been reading this thread since TLDR was the Mod Forum flavor of the month & always thought, "I should do a review" of whatever I was drinking then or had in the frige. I never posted because I wasn't sure what to write. Get a piece of paper & a pen & write down your impressions as you drink. Tell what you like & what you don't. If it helps, have one or two before you post. I would have done that, but since the two reviews I've done were both wine bottle sized & 8% & 7% more than one bottle wasn't necessary. And if I did have more than one bottle I'd be asleep & unable to post. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[steelcmg]

So I stumbled upon this thread "Newbie to The Lounge" and think this thread is awesome. I'm a huge fan of good beer from micro brews. Next month I will be attending 2 beer festival's one in Philly (March 3) and the other in AC (March 10). Both events are around 30$ for 4 hours of drinking great beer from more then 50 brewers.

I was wondering if any of you will be attending either of these events?

Also I am going to try to get my one buddy to post some reviews along with me here. Since he trys to drink something different each week.

[MrWookie]

Steel,

Great to have you, and I look forward to the input of you and your friend. I think someone mentioned one or both of those beer events specifically a while back, but you'd have to peruse the last 100-200 posts.

[kidcolin]

Wook et. al.,

SLACKERS.

Tonight I picked up 4 brews: two 750 mL from Ommegang: Three Philosophers and Hennepin (Farmhouse Saison); a 4 pack of Duvel that came with a nice tulip glass (not gonna lie.. a big incentive to buy it); and a 6 pack of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine (a great beer at a great value). Tonight's review is the 3 P's. Sorry no pics.

I first tried Ommegang's dubbel last weekend (no review). My main appeal to it is it's brewed in Cooperstown, where a good friend of mine is from. I was very impressed with that brew, so I had high hopes for 3 P's.

I poured it into a tulip glass. It pours a dark amber color, bordering on red. Very aggressive head. The nose was pretty dynamic; notably cherry (as the bottle indicates) and some other dark fruits, as well as maple and caramel.

The taste is much the same. The malt character of this beer is amazing. Very rich. Tastes of caramel and maple come through, again very rich, with the maple and cherry really coming through in the aftertaste.

As I slowly progressed through the 750 mL bottle, I was impressed with how drinkable it was, and how the flavors came through as the beer warmed.

Very drinkable, very delicious. I really dig this brewery and look forward to trying the Saison. I give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

-Colin

[MaxxDaddy]

Well, it appears we've been called out. I actually have quite the backlog of brews to go over. The first one is another Jolly Pumpkin brew, Luciernaga - The Firefly, which they describe as their Grand Cru. A 750 ml bottle ran me $9 in PA, and it weighs in at 6.5% ABV.

According to the label, Luciernaga is brewed with coriander and grains of paradise. I looked up grains of paradise on wikipedia; apparently it'll contribute some sort of peppery taste/smell. It poured a light, cloudy orange with ample head. The aroma was full of citrus, coriander, and some yeast funkiness. The taste was pretty interesting, in that it was dominated by citrus and pepper; quite the combination. It finished pretty dry and citrusy. I shared this with some friends and we weren't really sure what to think. It's certainly quite different than any beer I had previously tasted and I enjoyed it for what it was. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Next up was Founders Breakfast Stout. It's described as a "Double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout" on the bottle. It contains 8.3% ABV. It poured inky black with a thin layer of tan head. The aroma was predominantly coffee and chocolate, as to be expected. The taste was similar to that of the Kentucky Breakfast, in that it seemed that the roastiness was overdone. However, it wasn't as overdone as the Kentucky version. The flavor was predominantly coffee, though the chocolate and oatmeal were present as well. The finish was coffee and chocolate as well. The mouthfeel was very nice on this one...very full. The sort of overdone roasted flavor is rather different than the one I experienced with Dragonslayer; it's tastier IMO. So while it's not my favorite stout, it's still pretty good. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Last, but certainly not least, is Kuhnhenn's A Few Shillings Too Many Scotch Ale. I had this last night over at Hop Devil Grill, as it was Kuhnhenn Night there. It's been aged for six months in bourbon barrels and weighs in at a huge 12.5% ABV. I got a 12 oz. glass for $6.50. It came in a goblet and was dark brown with a trace of tan head. The aroma was full of malty sweetness, caramel, bourbon, and cherries...very inviting. The taste was lovely; huge malt flavor, toffee, caramel, and cherries. The texture was silky and thick...it clung to roof of my mouth. Definitely some alcohol presence in there, but you'd never believe 12.5%. There must have been a lot of effort put into this one...what a wonderful treat. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[MrWookie]

KC,

Shortly after this last post, I went to drinking strikingly little beer for about a week, as I had to get my data together for a conference on the beach in GA. Then I was at the conference, and all I was drinking was copious amounts of (free) Bass. Now I'm back!

All,

Time for a review. Tonight's beer is another brew from Allagash, this time their Tripel Reserve. I paid $6.79 for a 750 mL bottle of 9% beer -- really, not all that expensive. Apparently this is from batch #83. I believe this is the beer that is dumped into the bourbon barrels to make the Curieux, which has been the best beer I've reviewed in this thread.



The beer pours the usual cloudy gold color, but for the style, it has surprisingly little head. Many tripels have almost uncontrollable billows, but this beer didn't really start foaming until I swirled the stuff in the bottom to mix in the yeast.



The aroma is good, but, well, pretty standard for the variety. There's a little bit of spice, some apple, apricot, and peach, but they're somewhat mild. That's largely how I'd describe the flavor, too. It's not as sweet as some tripels, nor is it as acidic. The depth of flavor is good with the spice, fruit, and malt, but it is milder than, say, the LFDM. There's no doubt that this is a great beer, but I must confess it's somewhat of a disappointment. I'm going to award it [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Calling that a disappointment is kinda funny, but Allagash has set the bar extremely high with their Curieux and their white. It's a little cheaper than the LFDM, and it's a little milder, so this might be a good beer to pick instead if you're unsure if you'll like tripels. Another fine beer from Allagash, but it does benefit from the time in bourbon barrels.