TLDR Beer Club

[Skipbidder]

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Hey Skip, what year was your Czar? I've heard that it needs some time before opening and I have a 2006 in the fridge.


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Bottled in 2006.

[ToTheFelt]

I like the Belgium beer "LEFFE"... (pretty sure it's Belgium). Awesome!

Also Abbaye de Maredous is good.

Last but not least... ANYTHING, ANYTHING, ANYTHING FROM STONE BREWING! The newest release Stone 11th Anniversary Ale... DANG! And Top 3 Favorite- Stone Ruination IPA.

[cwsiggy]

Went to the awesome Foodery store in Philly and picked up an expensive Japanese beer - Hitachino Nest Beer - XH

Hey look - the O-RLY owl!!!



Stock photo - This is a strong Brown ale or even perhaps a barley wine style that is aged in sake casks for 3 months. No head at all, very dark and sweet flavor with a slight bitter aftertaste - could this be the sake coming through? A very unique beer that makes you say "wtf" after the first sip, but grows on you bigtime.

I'm very impressed but at $7 for a 12oz bottle and like most "strong" ales, it's a beer to be enjoyed once in an evening and you really have to be in the mood for it. At least 3.5 to 4 on the scale. Can't wait to try their White Ale.

[MrWookie]

Huh. I think the section at Beers of the World for Japan only has the various Japanese pale lagers, but I'll look for this brewery next time I'm there. Their white ale was given a great review here. However, at $7/bottle for this one, I would probably skip it. I could get a bottle of St. Bernardus Abt. 12 for less than that, so if I'm going to pay that much, I expect to be blown away by the flavor, or at least knocked on my ass from a higher ABV than 8%.

[MaxxDaddy]

Can't say I've had anything from Hitachino, but I've heard good things about their newest release, Espresso Stout. I was curious about the XH, though I think in New York it runs for about $4.50-5 a bottle. The Foodery is indeed awesome, but Pennsylvania alcohol laws are definitely not.

[cwsiggy]

Ok - well it's time for another unique beer from Heather Ales Ltd. from Scotland. The Alba Scots Pine Ale. stock photo - (I'll be getting a digi cam soon )




I reviewed the Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale earlier and was very impressed. This brewery rocks. This beer is a triple style based on an old viking recipe. Dark copper color, almost no head, not too much carbonation. Medium heavy body yet very drinkable with a rather strange aftertaste that for me was very, very sweet. Others have mentioned that it is a rather "strange brew". Definitely worth a try and for me a solid [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Around $4.50 and 7.5 ABV

This ain't Bud light folks.

[MrWookie]

It's been a while since I've done a proper review in here. But, I was back at Beers of the World, and there were several that caught my eye. The first I'll review is Sierra Nevada's Harvest Fresh Hop Ale. It weighs in at 6.2% ABV for a 24 oz bottle that ran me $4.55.



The beer pours a clear reddish brown with a goodly head. It laces my glass nicely. I would have thought this was a slightly stronger beer.



The hop aroma of this beer is good, but the flavor is a bit of a let down. The beer most similar to this one would probably be Arrogant Bastard, and it doesn't live up to that standard. The hops are a little more bitter tasting and not quite as flavorful, and the malt isn't quite as rich and sweet. It's a good beer, I like beers in this style, and it's not a bad price for a single 24 oz bottle, but it's not a best in class. I'll give it a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] rating that's a little on the low side. Maybe I should consider going to quarter heart ratings and give it a 3.25.

[MrWookie]

For tonight's review, I'm returning to a brewery I haven't sampled in a while: Avery. They seem to have made a decent name for themselves, but I've been underwhelmed with their beer compared to their competitors, such as North Coast, Stone, and Great Divide -- the larger US microbreweries with national distribution. A new brew from them caught my eye, though, and a unique style: a so-called Imperial Oktoberfest that they've dubbed The Kaiser. I generally like Oktoberfest beers, and I'm a big fan of almost any ueber-beer, so I decided to give this one a shot. I paid $7.59 for a 22 oz bottle of beer that packs an unexpectedly precise 9.37% ABV.



The beer pours a clear amber with a decent head. It dissipates almost completely saving a ring of carbonation right at the glass, though.



The smell of this beer is unique and interesting. I smell a strong malt mingled with apple cider. The flavor is quite good. It's sweeter than I expected from the smell. The first thing that hits me is that strong amber malt. Second is the fresh apple cider, and third is alcohol, followed by a light herbal hopping in the finish. It all works out to be an excellent combination. This is my favorite brew from Avery that I've tried, and it's certainly something that sets them apart. With most of their other beers, there are comparably priced options from other breweries that I've enjoyed quite a bit more. With this, I only have standard-strength Oktoberfests to measure this against, and I like this better than any of them (I think I overrated Ayinger's Oktoberfest by about 1 full heart). I'm awarding 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]. With the apple cider character, this could be a good beer to drink all winter, so I hope it isn't about to vanish.

[MrWookie]

Alright. Continuing my theme of "Unusual Imperial Fall Seasonal Ales from Breweries I'm Lukewarm About," tonight's review is the Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Weyerbacher. Ran me a modest $5.89 for a 22 ouncer of 8% ABV beer.



The beer pours a reddish brown. It has a decent head in the photo, but that's mostly due to an aggressive pour on my part. The head dissipates almost immediately.



When I sniffed this beer, there was only one thought going through my head: "Spice!" The bottle advertises cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves prominently on the bottle, and it seems that it delivers. Yes, yes it does. This is one of the spiciest beers I've had yet, right up there with Stone's 070707 Vertical Epic. The malt behind this is a perfect match. Just sweet enough and toasty. I'm going award 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].25. I'm going to have to bust out the quarter hearts again for this one. I highly recommend this for anyone who's a fan of spicy beer or pumpkin ales in general.

[MrWookie]

Inspired by cwswiggy's adventures with the Williams Bros. Brewery, I decided to pick up a couple of their beers myself. I tried their Fraoch Heather Ale last night, actually, but I forgot to review it here. One 11.2 oz bottle ran me a rather steep $2.95 for a fairly modest 5% ABV.



The beer pours a cloudy darkish gold color. It has almost no head to speak of.



I was expecting a more floral smell from this beer, it being made with heather and all. Instead, it smells slightly woody and earthy with a hint of the flowers. The flavor is very earthy and sour with hints of the wood and so little flower flavor that I'm not sure I'm imagining it. The sourness of this beer combined with the earthiness is unique and interesting, but when it comes down to it, I probably wouldn't ask for a second bottle of this. I'd like to give it some points for originality, but if I don't really want another, it's hard to give this beer higher than a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] rating. It's too pricey, too. I can't advise anyone to buy this one.

I'm going to review the Eblum Elderberry Black right now. It was the same price for the same size, but it's a hair stronger at 6.5%.



I'll have to apologize for the pics. I forgot to take them right away, so I have an empty bottle and a partially consumed glass. The beer doesn't look much different after a few sips, though. Anyway, this beer pours jet black with a minimal tan head. It again dissipates quickly down to almost nothing.



The smell of this beer.is like a porter with a hint of the fruit that I have to presume is elderberry. I've never had elderberries myself, so I'll take the bottle's word for it. Taking a sip of this, I'm going to have to say that I respectfully disagree with swiggy. To me, this tastes like a fairly hollow porter without enough of the elderberry flavor to make up for it. There's a hint of the coffee and the dark malt, but not as much as I'd like. The sourness of the berries doesn't make up for the light hopping I'd like. To this beer's credit, as I'm nearing the end and as it warms up, the berry flavor is coming through more and it's tastier. Not quite enough to earn another half heart than I had planned on giving it, though. I'm awarding it [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].