TLDR Beer Club

[MrWookie]

I think I'm going to do a couple of reviews tonight. First up is Brooklyn's Summer Ale. I paid $1.85 for a 12 oz bottle.



The beer pours a familiar gold with a decent head. It made an attempt to lace my glass, but it wasn't too much of one.



The smell of this beer is mild, but I'm hopeful. There's a good aroma of citrus and flowers from the hops. The flavor, though, let me down. The malt is downright watery, and is a real disappointment. The hops are not bold enough to cover that fact up. I like the character of the hops, but basically, this tastes like a watered down version of Brooklyn's Lager. I love their lager, but this beer is a pass. I'm going to award this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I considered 1.5, but that would mostly be punitive with my disappointment.

[MrWookie]

For my second review, I'm going to review a new beer from Dogfish Head, their black and blue. DFH has decided to get into fruit beer, and they're doing it in a big way with a beer that combines blueberries and black raspberries, and selling it in a 750 mL bottle for a whopping $13.99. DFH beers are usually on the expensive side, but fortunately this beer is much stronger than most fruit beers, packing a hefty 10% ABV.



The beer pours a clear light brown with a distinct reddish tinge. It has a good and fairly persistent head on it.



The fruit smell in this beer is milder than I was expecting. It has a nice brown malt smell, and a hint of both the raspberry and blueberry come through. The flavor surprised me. I was expecting something extreme, but this is a more balanced beer. The malt is rich and sweet, and the berry flavors are present, but not overpowering or syrupy. The flavor lingers nicely. I thought about giving this beer just 3.5, but I'm going to give 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]. Is it worth it? That's the real question. It's a good beer, but this is a steep price to pay. I'm going to say no, unfortunately, unless you really, really like fruit beers. Nice job from DFH, but it's a little too pricey.

[toddw8]

[ QUOTE ]
Quick question: How does everyone pronounce 'Rochefort' and 'Chimay?'

Is it ROCKfort or ROSHfort? Kimay or is the 'ch' pronounced the same as in 'chip?'

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.belgianstyle.com/mmguide/...nce/speak.html

[RunDownHouse]

When I was in Atlanta a few weeks back, I got to pick up a bunch of beers I can't get in TN. Among them is North Coast's Brother Thelonius Belgian ale.



I took the picture after I'd been drinking it a little while. It poured with about a 1/4"-1/2" thick light tan head that settled pretty quickly and didn't leave much lacing. Given kidcolin's review of the beer earlier, I thought it'd be a lot darker than it came out. Its a sort of chocolaty brown with maybe a bit of red/amber in there.

First sip is all malt and alcohol. The alcohol doesn't get in the way, really, but it is definitely present right away. I definitely can see what kidcolin was saying about the cherry flavor; for some reason, my first thought was "black cherry?" but its been so many years since I tasted any black cherry soda or something that I don't really know. I don't mind the sweetness as much as kidcolin seemed to. I don't think its as cloying as he seemed to taste it.

I do agree that the beer doesn't get much higher than "OK," though. On taste alone, I've had better beers, but I don't remember how much I paid for the bottle, so I can't really rate it against something like Maudite. I think the beer could actually really improve if well-matched with food, maybe a German Black Forest cake or something. Something with strong, sweat flavor, to help stand up to the booze and complement the fruity, malty sweetness.

[MrWookie]

All,

Last Friday was the 1 year anniversary of the beer club. Thanks to everyone for posting reviews and helping me find a bunch of great brews. I had hoped to post an index of every review that has been posted to date to commemorate that anniversary. Obviously, that didn't happen. Real life got in the way. I'll probably have that post up in a week or so. It'll be a sorted table of every beer that's been reviewed here, including the location it's brewed, the ABV, a link to the review of everyone who's reviewed that beer, and of course their rating. It'll be a pretty good resource for people wanting to look something up in here, but, yeah, I have to actually make it. Anyway, thanks again guys for a fun thread. I'll probably be returning to Beers of the World in the next few days and should have some more reviews, too.

[Yaboosh]

[ QUOTE ]

One thing I should note, though, is that the German Maibocks were in green bottles. These generally aren't as good to the beer as brown ones due to damage from light. It's not a big deal in the very short term, but I couldn't tell you when exactly they were bottled. If it was a long time ago, they might have deteriorated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just as a note, skunking of beer (the reaction with isomerized hop acids with light that causes a beer to taste/smell like a skunk) can happen in minutes, particularly if the beer is in direct sunlight in a clear/green bottle. Age can have very little to do with it. Be very careful not to ever let beer sit out in the sunlight. Unfortunately, if you have a hoppy beer on a sunny day, your beer could be skunked before you finish drinking it.


If you enjoy Flying Dog, do yourself a huge favor and pick up a six pack of their Gonzo Imperial Porter. I am not a big fan of Flying Dog, but the Gonzo is one of the best beers I have ever had. This is compared to Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Bell's Expedition Stout, etc... Big company, but boy, does the Flying Dog Gonzo hold its own.

[MrWookie]

I've had the Gonzo. I may not have actually reviewed it properly in here, but I've referred to it. I agree. It's awesome.

[MaxxDaddy]

Well it sure has been a while since I've posted here and I've got a bit of a backlog. I'll start with ones I have pictures of I suppose. The first beer is a new one from Ithaca Beer Company's "Excelsior" line of brews: IPAbbey






I picked this one up at Whole Foods in NYC. They had quite the awesome beer selection, I was very impressed. Ran me $10 for a 750 ml at 9% ABV. Poured reddish-amber with plenty of white head. Aroma was more IPA than abbey I must admit, but a decent aroma nonetheless. I could smell a little Belgian spice in there, just not much. The taste was IPA dominated as well. A little more the Belgian side came out in the taste, some yeastiness and honey in there. After that, it was all piney hops in the finish. I'm really getting into this whole "bitter beer" thing. I enjoyed this beer, though I think Houblon did a better job with this style. 3.75 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

The next one is a beer I picked up on my trip to San Diego a couple months back: Alesmith Old Numbskull. Cost me $9.49 for the 750 and weighs in at 10% ABV.






Poured a really dark reddish-brown color with slight off-white head. The aroma was all fruity/candy sweetness and booze...I guess this has mellowed out some. Upon tasting, I get all malt to start, with dark fruits being the predominant taste, though it was tough for me to pinpoint anything specifically. The finish was sweet and boozy, with the latter being predominant after swallowing. The hops definitely faded in this one. I wonder how this tastes fresh, as it was made in the American Barleywine style. I think if it had the sort of bitterness I was looking for, this would easily be a 4+, but as it stands I give it 3.75 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[MrWookie]

Max,

Good to have you back [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Sounds like the IPAbbey was better than the White Gold. I guess I chose poorly when I was deciding between which one to buy and review.

[MaxxDaddy]

No go on the White Gold huh? I guess I'm still curious. I assume it doesn't hold a candle to Double White then. I'd really like to try their other two beers in the Excelsior line, Old Habit (a rye barleywine) and Kaffinator (espresso doppelbock), as they sound pretty interesting, though I haven't seen them around here as of yet. Have you (or anyone) seen these in stores?