TLDR Beer Club

[absoludicrous]

I didn't mind the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, I paired it up against the Full Sail Wassail, and the SN was a much better beer, hands down.

They're a bit too hoppy for my tastes, and all tend to taste very similar.


I forgot to review Spaten's Optimator. I'll grab another 16oz and do a review on it...definitely worthy.

[MrWookie]

OK, time for some stout reviews. First up is Cooper's Extra Stout. I paid $2.39 for a 12.7 oz bottle of this Aussie beer. I'm not sure of the ABV. Like all Cooper's beers, this beer is bottle fermented.





The beer pours nice and black, but without much head, unfortunately. It smells of coffee and alcohol. Taking a sip, the coffee flavor comes through nicely, and fortunately, the alcohol isn't too pronounced. There's a good flavor from the yeast, too. Rather than being cloudy like most bottle fermented beers, this beer has little chunks of yeast floating around in it. I can't say that helps its appearance. The flavor of this beer doesn't linger very long, and it's a bit on the watery side. The initial flavor is good, but it's not as rich or thick as many stouts. I'm awarding this [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

My secound stout will be Rogue's Shakespeare Stout. I paid $5.69 for a 22oz. Again, I'm not sure of the ABV.





The beer pours nicely black with a much better, thicker head. It smells of hops, a little bit of coffee, and it's somewhat earthy. Taking a sip, it's clear this is the better beer. There's just the right amount of hop flavor for this variety of beer. It's not overly powerful, but it's enough to be interesting. The coffee flavor is subtle, and there might be a little chocolate in there, too. There's even a little bit of a peaty flavor. It's not quite as rich as an imperial stout, but this is a solid example of a standard stout. I'm awarding it [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].

[JPinAZ]

[ QUOTE ]
Like all Cooper's beers, this beer is bottle fermented.

[/ QUOTE ]

[nit]
Bottle conditioned, which means it's carbonated in the bottle. If it were fermented in the bottle it would have exploded long ago.
[/nit]

[MrWookie]

Well, I do believe I get to out-nit you on this one. If you look on the label in my photo right under where it reads "Cooper's Brewery" it says "Bottle Fermented." You can definitely ferment things in the bottle. You just have to control how much sugar there is for the yeast to ferment. If you give them too much, sure, it'll explode, but most of the time the yeast use up all the available sugar long before that.

[MaxxDaddy]

Yesterday I decided to meet up with two of my friends in Brooklyn to take a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery. My only previous brewery tour took place halfway around the world in Melbourne at the Carlton United Brewery, which is the largest in Australia. It was pretty clear that the Brooklyn Brewery wasn't all that huge a place and we learned that the tour only took place in one room. Before embarking on the tour, we purchased some beer tokens up front for $3 a pop or $20 for 7 (huge savings!). So one of my friends decided to buy 7 and right before I was about to buy 7 myself, my other friend thought it would be wise to ask how big the samples are. When we heard "12 ounces," we decided that maybe 7 each wouldn't be such a spectacular idea. So we bought 7 more total and split them among the three of us. They also sell plenty of merchandise there, including shirts, hats, glassware, and even thongs for the ladies (or adventurous men). We picked up our first beers and then went on the tour. It lasted about 25-30 minutes and consisted first of a history lesson about the brewery itself: who founded it, how it came to be, the history of the logo, etc. When the brewery first started, all of its brewing was done in Utica, which we never knew. They still brew a bunch of their beer in Utica, in fact 2/3 of it, and all of the bottling occurs there. Even more surprisingly, their most requested beer, the Brooklyn Lager, is solely produced up in Utica. The latter portion of the tour was about the brewing process and how all the magic happens.

After the tour we stayed to drink our beers. The beers were served in 12 oz. plastic cups. Set up inside are a large number of benches situated in front of a small bar where you get your beers. They had 8 beers on tap: Lager, Pennant Ale, Pilsner, Brown Ale, Oktoberfest, Weisse, IPA, and their new brewmaster's reserve, the Cuvee d'Achouffe. Here's the Ratebeer description of the Cuvee:

The second collaboration between Garrett Oliver and Brasserie d'Achouffe. Brewed with belgian dark candi sugar and a dash or organic Spanish thyme.

I gave this one a try and though I don't think I'll give it a rated review, I'll give you my thoughts on it. It smelled like your typical Belgian beer with spices and yeasty notes. Tasted about the same way. Couldn't detect the thyme at all. Pretty lively carbonation and had a smooth finish. Certainly a drinkable brew, but nothing exceptional.

Overall we had a great time at the brewery. Our tour guide was pretty funny and knowledgable. In the event he couldn't answer specific questions, he just pointed us to one of the brewers, who was serving drinks at the bar. If you're ever in the Brooklyn area and feel like having drinks on a Saturday afternoon (12-5), you can't go wrong with $3 Brooklyns at the brewery. Don't forget to tip your bartender!

[MrWookie]

I'll have to see if I can get the Cuvee. It sounds like it's worth a shot. It's no secret that I really like this brewery. The don't always have the very best beer, but it's almost all a great value. Their Black Chocolate Stout is like $7 for a six pack of 10% beer! That, and I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] their brown ale.

[MaxxDaddy]

Well Wookie and others, to get the Cuvee you'll have to find it at your local bar or make the trip down to Brooklyn, as it is a Bremaster's Reserve beer. These beers are only served on tap. So for any NYC area folks, taste it while you can.

[MrWookie]

While watching football today, I'm going to tell the tale of three Bastards, that is, Stone's Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard, and Oak Aged Bastard. I'm always leery of beer (or anything really) with kitchy marketing, but I've had the original Bastard before, and I remember it being pretty decent. That, coupled with Miles's glowing review of the double, has inspired me to give them another (or a new) look and a formal review.

First up, I have the original Arrogant Bastard. I paid $5.39 for a 22 ouncer. This beer weighs in at a pretty respectable 7.2% ABV.





The beer pours a nice reddish brown color with a good, persistent head. It smells somewhat sweet, with a little bit of citrus hops. This beer tastes sweeter than I remember, and the hop flavor is a little milder. That's no points against it. Instead, the bittersweet character of this beer is very well balanced. The hop flavor of this beer is quite nice -- good flavor without being overly bitter. I like the malt behind it all, and the hop flavor lingers nicely. Overall, this is a very good beer. I'm awarding it [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].

Up next is the Double Bastard. This beer weighs in at a hefty 10% abv, and I paid $8.69 for a 22 oz bottle.





The double pours almost the same color as the single. I expected it to be somewhat darker. It does have more head, though. It smells pretty similar. Taking a sip, it tastes very similar, too. It's not all that much more hoppy, and it's only a little bit richer, really. It's just a hair sweeter. I can't taste much more alcohol in it, either. All in all, this beer isn't all that different from the single Bastard. It's just a hair better with marginally more maltiness and sweetness, but not enough to earn an extra half of a heart. I'm awarding 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]. Consequently, I can't recommend paying the premium for the Double Bastard over the regular. Dollars to donuts to drunkenness, I'd rather have two of the singles than one of the doubles. This is also a very good beer, but it's not much of an improvement over the original. We'll have to see how the oaked version fares.

And finally, we have the Oaked Bastard. I've been skeptical of the oaked beers so far. I've found the oaking to be a small increase in quality compared to the increase in price. We'll see how we fare here. I paid 4.19 for a 12 oz bottle. It's just over $20 for a sixer. This weighs in at 7.2% abv, same as the original Bastard.





Taking a whiff of this beer, it smells similar to the others, but the wood actually comes through nicely. Sipping, and it's clear that this is a great beer. I can taste the oak aging, and it adds nice complexity. As expected, the hops are good, and the sweetness is good, but not overpowering. I'm going to 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] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I'm pleasantly surprised that an oaked beer came through so well. I tip my hat to the Stone brewery.

[MaxxDaddy]

Wookie, what is your previous experience been with oak-aged products, besides the Yeti? I picked up some Weyerbacher Old Heathen imperial stout and Heresy (oak aged heathen) yesterday to do a comparison.

What's everyone's thoughts on flemish sour ales? I've never tried the style and I saw one at the store I was at yesterday that's apparently very good, but cost quite a bit at $14.99. This is the beer in question: Panil Barriquee

[MrWookie]

I have a review of an Allagash beer in here that was good, but I think the oak aging was a gimmick. I think there was another here, too.