TLDR Beer Club

[milesdyson]

I just finished the first 12oz of this beer. I'm going to drink the rest of it right now. It's so good, that sucks they don't carry it. It's a San Diego brewery - I'm probably going to make a weekend trip out of it sometime.

[MrWookie]

I'm going to review one of my impulse buys from yesterday, the Allagash Musette, from Maine. This is advertised as a Scotch ale aged in oak. I've really enjoyed the Scotch ales I've tried. They're typically unhopped darker beers without much head and are slightly sweet. This beer weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV. Here's a picture of the bottle:



I paid a whopping $13 for a 750 mL. That's a pretty high standard for beer to live up to.

Here's a picture of it poured into my goblet.



It wasn't quite as dark as I was expecting. It didn't smell as strongly as some of the other beers I've been trying lately, but with the IPA's and barley wines, their smells are much stronger than most beer with the hops. Taking a sip, it's quite sweet and bubbly. The oak doesn't come through all that strongly. There are hints of apple and plum behind the malt. It has a long finish, no doubt aided by the sugar. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Ommegang 3 Philosophers, but a little less fruit and a little more beer. I'm going to 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]. It's very good, but I think it's too expensive for what you get. So far, my impression with oaked beer is that it's overrated. The aging just doesn't seem to do as much for beer as it does for wine, whiskey, or port, presumably because it's not aged for nearly as long. I'd probably pick up the 3 Philosophers instead of this if I'm looking for something sweet, a little friuty, strong, and blubbly, but still beer.

[RunDownHouse]

Wookie,

That's not a... poker-themed... goblet, is it?

[MrWookie]

Heh, I guess it does kinda look like a playing card from the back. No, it's not. The white thing you see is actually a white shield with a red fleur de lis in the middle and two stars on the sides above it. The writing says Tripel Karmeliet.

[ethan]

[ QUOTE ]
I just finished the first 12oz of this beer. I'm going to drink the rest of it right now. It's so good, that sucks they don't carry it. It's a San Diego brewery - I'm probably going to make a weekend trip out of it sometime.

[/ QUOTE ]

Alesmith is one of the breweries that'll be at Stone's 10th Anniversary Celebration on September 9th. I'll be there for session "A", I'd recommend it over the afternoon one as some beers do run out.

[MrWookie]

Belgian White Round Up!!!

I love this style of beer, it's great for summer drinking, and I just bought a whole bunch of them. I'm going to kick things off with Ommegang's Witte. I have come to expect good things from this brewery based on their Rare Vos, abbey ale, and 3 philosophers. I paid $9.89 for a 6 pack of 12 ouncers. It weighs in at a lighter 5.1% ABV. Here's a picture of the bottle.



And poured into my glass:



Taking a sniff, I smell some of the wheat and citrus, but not any of the cloves I've come to associate with this style of beer. On my first sip, this beer is quite a bit "sharper" than other Belgian whites I've had, like, say, Hogaarden or Sterken's. It does indeed lack the cloves. I think the sharpness is coming from some of the citrus flavors. It's kinda lemony, with a little bit of orange. I do taste the advertised coriander in the finish. All in all, I don't think I like this as much as Hogaarden, but it's a little better than the Sterken's. I don't so much dig the sharpness, and it doesn't have as much behind it. I give it [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

Next up is the Unibroue Blanche de Chambly. I picked up beers from this brewery on the recommendation of 2+2. I consumed a bottle of the La Fin du Monde and the Trois Pistoles late one night when I was already drunk, and while I remember them being great, I wasn't sober enough to write up a review. I paid $9.69 for a 4 pack, so it was markedly more expensive than the Witte. It packs 5% ABV. Here are the familiar picks of bottle and glass.





This beer doesn't seem to have as much head as the Witte, and in fact, as I've gotten half way through, the head has almost completely dissipated. Smelling it, though, it smells much stronger than the Witte. I clearly smell orange and cloves, probably the two most defining flavors of this style of beer. Taking a sip, it has some of the same sharpness of the Witte, but just a hair less. The flavor, though, is much better. It has much more in the finish, notably orange, clove, and coriander. This is my favorite Belgian white so far. I 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]. I just wish it wasn't so pricey.

My last beer of this round up, as I'm reading the bottle now, actually isn't a Belgian white. It's a golden ale. Crap. I picked up North Coast's Pranqster thinking I'd use it for this round up. Oh well. I'll still write up a review. After noticing I got the wrong kind of beer, the next thing I saw on the bottle is that this beer is a hefty 7.6% ABV. For a non-imperial beer, that's pretty huge. I paid $7.95 for a 4 pack. Here are more pictures:





This beer has even less head than the Unibroue, and it smells like a completely different beer. It smells like honey, with a little orange and apricot. It tastes like honey, too. This beer is quite sweet, moreso than I'd expect from a non-imperial beer. I also taste some orange and apricot, and there's a hint of some herbs in the finish that I can't quite make out. It's not quite as deep as the Unibroue, though. I do miss the feel of the head and the carbination, but it is pretty thick in my mouth, no doubt from sugar. There are some little brown bits floating around in this beer. I'm not sure what they are. I'm going to give this beer [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]. It's a good beer, but not quite as deep as some. It's honey and apricot flavors are distinct from most other golden ales; the combination of flavors is pretty unique. I think this is a fantastic beer for non-beer drinkers. It's sweetness and fruitiness are welcoming, and it doesn't have any bitterness. It's a little milder than the 3 Philosophers, and it's cheaper.

[kidcolin]

Wookie,

Thanks for the Allagash review. There's a brewfest coming up in mid-September in Sac, and I was excited to see a brewer from the east-coast/my birthplace attending, even though I knew little of them.

Hopefully I'll be attending and a trip report will follow.

[MaxxDaddy]

I had actually posted this in OOT previously, but you guys seem to be constantly updating so I'll be checking this out more often. Here's a post I made there a while back.

Recently I've bought a couple of offerings from Victory (Prima Pils and Old Horizontal) and Rogue Chocolate Stout. The Prima Pils is a pilsener as you might expect, and it's a pretty good beer with plenty of hops and bitterness, but not to the point of being ridiculous. I'm not terribly familiar with the pilsener style and I'm more of a stout fan myself.

The Rogue Chocolate Stout was as good as it sounded. Came out essentially black with a nice caramel-colored head. It tasted like chocolate in my mouth, but on the way down it tasted more like bitter dark chocolate, just a great finish. I'd definitely have this again. Apparently they brew the beer with chocolate in there, I'm not sure if this is standard for all chocolate stouts (anyone know?).

Lastly, the Victory Old Horizontal is Victory's barleywine offering. At first I had no idea what the hell a barleywine was. Old Horizontal is 10.5% ABV and this particular batch was bottled in December 2004. It came out amber-red and smelled like plums caramel out of the bottle. Despite the high alcohol content, it sure doesn't taste that way. I found myself liking this beer more and more with every sip. By the end I was sad to see it all gone and I knew that having another one wouldn't be such a spectacular idea. Plus, I plan on cellaring some of these for a bit.

In summary, I think I'd give the Prima Pils a 3.7/5, Chocolate Stout 4.2/5, and the Old Horizontal a 4.4/5.

[MrWookie]

I've tried the Prima Pils. As pilsners go, it's better than most, but pilster is, IMHO, just not a very good variety of beer. It's sorely lacking in flavor compared to Germain hefe's, Belgain whites, and darker beers. I'll have to try the Old Horizontal.

[ethan]

[ QUOTE ]
The Rogue Chocolate Stout was as good as it sounded. Came out essentially black with a nice caramel-colored head. It tasted like chocolate in my mouth, but on the way down it tasted more like bitter dark chocolate, just a great finish. I'd definitely have this again. Apparently they brew the beer with chocolate in there, I'm not sure if this is standard for all chocolate stouts (anyone know?).


[/ QUOTE ]

The Rogue chocolate stout is sweeter and more chocolate-flavored than most. "Chocolate stout" originally referred to a stout brewed with chocolate malt - there was no chocolate involved. Rogue isn't the only brewery adding actual chocolate now, but you shouldn't necessarily expect others to taste similar to it. (They will still be sweeter than Murphy's/Guinness/etc.)

I've always liked Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which is generally not to hard to find in the 14.9oz (+widget ) cans. It's also sold in bottles but the cans are a better option.