Long time no review.

 Long time no review.

It’s not as if I haven’t been drinking craft beer. The day I stop drinking craft beer is either the day I die or the day I take a pregnancy test and it turns out positive.  And seeing as how I’m not out there whoring the street corners, have a ring on my finger, and I’m as healthy as a horse, neither is going to happen ANYTIME soon. So have no fear, I shall always drink craft beer. J

Review away, you say? Well, alright you impatient SOB. Here goes review overload.

Odell St. Lupulin -  Extra Pale Ale, 6.5 ABV

It reads on the bottle that this brew is dedicated to the mystical legend of St. Lupulin, the archetypal hophead. Devoting endless summers to endless rows of hops and its flowers, which contain the resin – lupulin. Paints a pretty little picture, doesn’t it?

Well this mystical little thing pours a like something you’d find at the end of the rainbow, beautiful and golden. No extreme carbonation, just smooth and slightly effervescent. Clean. Nice malty weight to the smell.  Pretty aromatic hops for an EPA, and not very bitter or aggressive. A well done dry hopped brew, and I’m assuming they just used a less aggressive hop in the boil. It has this sweet, clean malt taste. Not thick. Pretty hoppy for an EPA. Also, higher alcohol content that you would generally encounter with this style. In comparison to something local, and a general go to beer (as it’s always on tap),  I would prefer this over Summit’s EPA. It’s slightly more aromatic, and carries with it a more crisp and clean finish. Their EPA (and actually most others I’ve tried) are a bit sweeter and perhaps more viscous. But I’m thinking this might have something to do with how bars treat their kegs (too little or too much pressure, or dirty lines, etc) as I haven’t had a “fresh” summit EPA in a while. As for St. Lupulin, I’d hunker down with a 6 pack of this for sure. Though maybe I wouldn’t drink them like water, because of the higher ABV and not as crisp and drinkable as say a pilsner or kolsch. And by maybe, I mean I shouldn’t, but probably would anyways.

*New grading system: I’m now including a scale for my beers.  1. Carbonation/mouthfeel 2. Hop factor: a: aromatic; b: bitterness 3. Malt factor 4. Overall grade of beer. On a system of 1-5. 5 being extreme (or in overall category, a highly favorable beer).

SCALE: 1. 2; 2.  3 a: 3.5; b: 2; 3.  3; 4. 3.5

Deschutes Hop in the Dark  C.D.A.  (Cascadian dark ale)

Black pour. Little head.  Roasted, bitter, hoppy. Clean. Crisp. Great black IPA. Bitter and bold finish slightly lingers. Simply put: I could drink this all night. Why are all black IPA’s only seasonal or limited edition. Will some brewery please, on a regular basis make this brew?

SCALE: 1. 3; 2.  4 a: 3.5 b: 3.5; 3. 2.5; 4. 4

Widmer Brothers Brewing – Pitch Black IPA

This brew is from their 924 series. Clever little bit on the bottle: “always bet on black”. I couldn’t agree more. I’m so in love with black IPA’s, I think I’m going to adapt this as yet another beer slogan of mine. And I’d say that this one, would always be a safe bet. A well done BIPA. This brew is at 6.5% ABV and was born on March 30 11 – so not extremely fresh, but it still has a distinct and pleasant bold hop flavor to it. It’s slightly smoky. Smooth. Refreshing.  And it has a nice roasted finish that lingers a bit. This would taste great with steak or smoked pork. In fact, I’m pissed I’m not eating one right now. And now I’m hungry. Super. Well this brew isn’t as big or in your face as Deschutes hop in the dark, but still noteworthy and I’d definitely grab this one again.

SCALE: 1. 2; 2. 3 a: 3 b:2; 3. 2.5; 4: 3

Weyerbacher – Insanity

This oak aged ale is set at an impressive 11.1% ABV.

Chestnut pour. Little head. Aroma is very malty, sweet, and strong alcohol. I was hesitant to drink the entire 12 oz. and with reason.  And you know what, you’d be insane as shit to drink more than one of these. I mean, if you want something big, and in your face that tastes like there’s a couple ounces of bourbon in it. Something with extremely high alcohol content, this is your brew. Want to get messed up? Drink this. Do it on a full stomach though, or you’ll pay the next day.

SCALE: 1. 2; 2: 1 a:0 b:1 or 0; 3: 4; 4: 2

And the best for last:

Deschutes Brewery – Black Butte XXIII (23^rd Birthday Reserve)

Bottle reads: “Welcome to Crazy”. You’re damn right.

This incredible masterpiece is brewed with cocoa nibs from Theos, orange peels from Seville, and Pasilla Negra chilles, and added with 25% aged in bourbon barrels.  This beauty poured like dark liquid chocolate. Very smooth. Very little initial carbonation. Smells sweet, and the cocoa is evident in the initial aroma. Has a slightly caramel taste, possibly from the crystal malts. I’m still working on detecting specialty malt varieties in brews. Let’s be honest, I’m still working on detecting pretty much everything. But I need to carry on. It’s so smooth it’s like you can barely feel it. Like drinking dark chocolate milk, with a bit of a citrus zest and slightly bitter caramel roasted finish. Only the slightest bit of tingle as you drink this bad boy to remind you that you are in fact, drinking a beer.  This is a great imperial porter. Smoked, but not over the top. It has enough of a bitter factor, that I would drink this again and again. You find roasted and caramel notes. Then a bittersweet chocolate bite from the cocoa nibs. And to top it all off, perfectly I might add, is the slight orange zest. And I believe I taste the slight zing of the chilies in the finish. Absolutely wonderful. This is art. This is why I drink craft beer. Well done.

SCALE: 1. 2; 2. 3 a:2 b: 3; 3. 3; 4: 5!

Also note: Not using this scale again. As simple as it is, it’s just a bit confusing unless you remember which number is what and what the scale is.

Avery's Maharaja IPA

Avery Brewing Co. Their dictator series. The Maharaja IPA. Batch #13. March 2011. 102 IBU'S. 10.54% abv. This IPA is all sorts of interesting. Vanilla or Caramel hint? Citrus, which is to be expected from an IPA. Grapefruit. But something almost smells sweeter, like a sweet melon. Or even a grape or pear. I'm having a hard time pin pointing the specific fruit. But it's not the normal citrus I encounter with IPA's. It is, but there is also so much more to this. Very floral, but not extremely aromatic. Less pine and less bitter, but only to the aromatic component to the brew for the later, not in it's taste. It's very malty, which seems unusual for an IPA. It also carries with it a strong alcoholic bite to it, but not as strong as a Belgian (thought it carries with it the alcohol content of a higher Belgian). It's clean. Crisp, but not very light. Amber pour, slight head. Still drinkable. I never thought I’d say this, but this is an IPA I would like to try pairing with an interesting dessert, like a creme brulee. Or perhaps a fruity, nutty, or poppy salad. A lighter marinated chicken, or a lemon zested fish, but not peppered or heavily spiced. This is a very majestic brew. I imagine royalty would enjoy it. I wouldn't choose to drink this on its own again, but pair it with food. But it must be noted that if this was brewed in March, its effect might be completely different as I consumed it a little into May. It's very common for aromatic compounds to be lost during this time frame. [Question to others and what I'm unaware of is if the strong taste of alcohol would increase with time, and if there are IPA"s that can be slightly cellared? Also, is the degradation of aromatic compounds the melon or malty flavors I now detect? Or is this the actual purpose of the brew?]

Image from http://www.averybrewing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=75 (my own camera seems to be unwilling this week)

3 Bier System.

3 Beer review. Get it. Not the 3 Tier system...... Like how many brew pubs/breweries and even fantastic, out this world, because this beer store is your family sort of place are fighting against... in case you don't know me, the later was referring to the four firkins! ( http://fourfirkins.cloudprofile.com/ ). I'm cool. Don't worry about it.


Anyhow....


Southern Tier – Imperial iniquity black ale.

This isn’t going to be a good one; both in writing and in final judgment. Beware.

As bottle states: 9% ABV/ 21◦ Plato/ 2R pale malt, debittered black malt, kettled hops: Chinook, cascade. Hop back: Willamette. Dry hops: cascade, centennial. [Interesting that they went as detailed as to when they added which hops. Might as well tell us what the ratio was and which kind of cascades they used.]

Poured dark, but not black. Little carbonation. Clean. Easy to drink. However, it’s very carmely (yup, it’s a word now) and something else sweet. Some spice or something I can’t describe. No, not that it’s spiced. Let’s rephrase. It’s something sweet I don’t like and cannot adequately describe to you. It reminds me slightly of black licorice, which I hate, by the way. Roasted. But not the nice normal caramel roast you encounter with most stouts… it’s that black malt… It tastes exactly how it smells. And no, I'm not being racist. Or maltist. Or whatever. It's just black malt....it's just interesting. Like when you’re in a candle shop, smelling all those different scents, and you come across something like, oh I don’t know, musk…. and you’re like, “Oooh, that’s interesting!”, and you make your friend smell it. And you’re friend is like, “Are you going to buy it?!”, and to which you reply, “Fuck no. What am I going to do with "musk"?” which is exactly my point. I just don’t like black malt. I don’t know why. Probably because it reminds me of black licorice, which I have some unexplainable strong aversion too. I mean, it’s fine in small quantities. But it just seems to me like they used too much of it.

However, this beer, which I would never just drink on its own, ever again, would pair beautifully. With the right food, this beer might actually be heaven. I imagine it would taste well with smoked BBQ pork. And it might go good with something like tiramisu. Or a dark chocolate cheesecake. Or so I am imagining. As I am not a chef, nor do I have well stocked fridge, I cannot experiment. Nor am I skilled at food and craft beer pairing….yet.

Best thing about it: The bottle. Cool design. In addition, a little bit of history is on the bottle. TIL (things I learned) – hexagram – or six point star was the customary symbol of brewing representing the essential pure ingredients of the craft: water, hops, grain, malt, yeast and of course the brewer. [Side thought: Aaah….um, grain and malt… isn’t that redundant? Unless I guess you used roasted barley, which hasn’t gone through the malting process, but still, that’s not customary to all brews. Unless they are considering the actual malting of your grain a part of brewing, so then, yes, perhaps. Though, if that’s the case it wouldn’t be 6 points because you’re forgetting the maltster? Or do they think that this brewing asshole does it all? Grow their own hops too? No. You did it wrong. Or maybe it's talking about when brewers used to malt their own barley in ancient days, but back then, they didn't use hops, they used spices... so.... WTF? (Sorry, thinking out loud, in a manner of speaking)] The bottle then goes on to talk about why they chose to call it iniquity, meaning opposing goodness, which is fitting, because it’s literally how I took it. Anyways, it says that it’s contrary to what one might expect from an IPA—well, no shit, Sherlock, it’s a black ale—because it’s an ale as black as night and is the antithesis of Unearthly. Um, and no, it’s not as black as night, but close. Maybe as black as good potting soil, but not the night, or some emo kids heart. Blah blah blah.

Grade: C*

Curious about the Brewer’s Star: http://www.brewingmuseum.org/article10.htm
And also, there’s a brewery called Sixpoint in NY based off of this ancient symbol. And here’s a little ditty on them from great brewers: http://greatbrewers.com/brand/sixpoint  …WHICH BY THE WAY, notice in the picture when pouring malt into the mill, whose malt they are pouring. Rahr. That’s right. Pwned.

Review of Radeberger Pilsner:

How the hell do you review a pilsner? To me, a pilsner needs to be your thirst quenching beer. Something you can pound. It’s not water, but it doesn’t have a body. This isn’t going to be the love of your life. Nor is it going to be the best lay you’ve ever had. This is going to be your filler. What you drink when you don’t want the thrill of adventure you might get with a wild beer like some DIPA, or any sort of sophistication you’ll get with a Belgian, nor any dramatic novel you might find in a stout. This is the sports illustrated of craft beer. All you need to know is if the lens is out of focus. Well, I’ll use that analogy because most craft beer drinkers are men. If it’s too malty, or too hoppy, then it’s out. And in no way should it be hazy. Or even really golden, it must be less than that. This beer is: a hot summer day. Grilling out. Working up a sweat. Taking clothes off. That’s what a pilsner is. And this beer, well it didn’t fail. As to say what notes I tasted, yadha blah blah blah… no. Only note to be noted, good pilsner or not. This passed. If I can imagine coming home from some grueling physical activity, dripping with sweat, wanting to tear my clothes off sort off because I'm so hot.... And I imagine myself in front of my fridge… would I grab this? Yes, I would. And that is my pass fail of a pilsner. Way to go Germany. My shirts off to you.

Grade: B

Victory’s Storm King Imperial Stout

Oofdah. Speaking of taking your clothes off.

Maybe it’s just because one of my beer weaknesses is a well done, not sweet, imperial stout. Yes, folks. I’d bring shame to my family for an incredible imperial stout or an DIPA. Now you know. One of my many flaws.
This might not be a contender for my top 3 spots in the imperial stout category. But this is well done. And is actually more drinkable than my top spots. Ok… they go back and forth, but just for clarification at this moment, the order follows: Surly – Darkness, Weyerbacher – Tiny, Goose Island – Nighstalker, Great Divide – Espresso Oak Aged Yeti. So, for practicality it gets more points for being highly drinkable. But let’s face it, when you reach for a stout, you’re not reaching for something you’re about to slam. It’s roasted. And bitter. But not strictly bitter, I can actually taste the slight pine and citrus. Which is interesting in combination with this roasted flavor. Usually, in a well hopped stout, I don’t detect this note as strongly. But this is a lighter, cleaner stout. Also, no vanilla or caramel notes, that I notice. And the roasted flavor does not linger. In addition, the taste is stronger than the aroma. Usually, when tasting beers, I inhale while I drink to enhance the effect. But inhale alone doesn’t provide much with this brew. Not very aromatic. Though it smells sweeter than it tastes.
This would be good with something smoked, and spicy. Because it has the elements to bring out flavor components in a smoked meat, but it’s also clean, crisp and very, very slightly citrus(y) and can cut away from some of the more extreme peppers in certain rubs. And you can have more than one. So this beer is how it is brewed…a victory. Charlie Sheen would approve.

Grade: B++.

* = So I’ve decided to give beers letter grades for overall satisfaction. Starting now.

VCBW

I found this Vancouver Craft Beer Week video on Reddit.... it's simply amazing and needs to be spread.

TAP INTO IT from Vancouver Craft Beer Week on Vimeo.

2 in 1.

Beer Part

The Great Divide’s Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

This beautiful beast poured like black water. Hardly any head whatsoever. But not that it didn’t lack any carbonation. It was beautiful. Smooth. The constant tingle helps to bring forth the bitterness of both the espresso and the hop profile. This was what I was looking for when I tried Mikkeler’s Koppi – supposed coffee IPA—strong coffee and hop notes. The rich roasted, caramel and vanilla notes leave just the slightest sweet after taste that lingers under bold forefront of the espresso and hops. Fantastic. Move over Goose Island’s Nightstalker, you have a competitor at my number one Stout spot. Well...  a three way. You know Surly's Darkness has a claim too.

Also, what I love about this. On the bottle they put food pairing suggestions. Which, I think is brilliant. But more amazing than the idea, most of what they say to pair with, is breakfast food. Now I like where their heads at. Never too early for craft beer.

[Suggested Pairing: breakfast burrito, eggs benedict, hash browns, cheesecake, creme brulee]

Running Part

10 Miles.

First ten mile run of the season.  It was extremely windy out. To get to where I was going, I needed to travel along Calhoun, and of course the part where the wind is the strongest. Winds were reportedly gusting 29 miles an hour. I couldn’t look straight. And if someone looked at my face, it probably looked like I was crying. But once I got on the greenway, it was really sheltered and calm. And because the weather wasn’t perfect, there were hardly any people on the greenway. It was amazing. It was like the morning, the path, and the run where all mine, and mine alone. I love running with friends, but sometimes, when you’re that alone, it’s so incredibly liberating. It’s as if you could run forever, in your own little world. It’s almost hypnotic. And it can also be incredibly restorative.  And that kind of run was just what I needed in my life right now. Nothing hurt, for the most part. And other than the initial struggle with the wind, I was set in my long distance running zone; I could have been reading a book. It was so automatic and it felt so right. I did feel my shin in the last 3 miles, on the return. It was also windy going back. But even the added struggles couldn’t take away from my runners high. I really felt I could’ve run a half marathon that day. Maybe not at a good pace, but I definitely believe I could’ve knocked out the distance.  And not to mention I had a killer playlist. Which, I’ll add to this post at the bottom. But there is this one song, which came on during the last mile. It was perfect.  It’s not exactly a “pump you up” sort of song, but it was still amazing. Cloud Cult’s “There’s so much energy in us”. This song sort of makes me emotional whenever I hear it. It’s so inspiring yet I can’t find the words to convey how I really feel and why. I can try. To me, it just means that when all seems lost, there is always hope. And even when you didn’t believe you had it in you, you did, and you always did. I think back to the really difficult times in my life where I thought I was at rock bottom, or that I couldn't overcome what was in front of me, and yet I perservered and I did. When I had no faith in myself, or really in anything, and then something sort of takes over you, and you achieve what you thought was the unthinkable. So when I heard that, I felt like I was flying. And the COOLEST part was that I looked up, and there was this HUGE hawk, just floating above me, because he was just coasting on the wind. It was all surreal. It made for a truly remarkable run.  

Long Run Playlist:

Note: just part of the list that I got to. And I rarely listen to a whole song. I have song ADD. And not in order. I have an ipod shuffle so I can't really control what's coming.

Thrice – Deadbolt

Nelly – Heart of a Champion

Requiem for a Dream Melody

A run song (some techno song I’ve had on my computer since like, 1998... no clue who it is, sorry, but it’s wicked awesome to run to...so really no need to publish that, whatev)

Lil Wayne – 6 ft 7 (ft Cory Gunz)

Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On

The Black Keys – Howlin’ For you

The Postal Service – Brand New Colony

Lykke Li – Until We Bleed

Drake – I want this forever

Atmpshere – Shotgun

Fair to Midland – Dance of the Manatee

Fat Boy Slim – Weapon of Choice

Flogging Molly  - Salty Dog

Jesse James – Wanted (ha sorry!)

Joan Jett – Bad Reputation

Kanye West – Work Out Song

Moby – Go

The White Stripes – Blue Orchid

Jay Z – On To The Next One

Madonna – Die Another Day

Cloud Cult – Exploding People

-          There’s so much energy in us  --- incase you've never heard it:

Outta work early = Beer Review?

So I get out of work early. Windy and chilly outside, and I don't feel like running. Apartment is a wreck. Blah blah blah. Right? Ok. But let's do something fun first. Something to celebrate getting out of work early....What shall I do? I'm going to review some unknowns waiting in my fridge. But only two. I mean, come on, it's not even 5 o'clock yet.

Lagunita's Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale.

This is an interesting, bitter ale. As the bottle states it was brewed in response to the 2005 (pot) investigation at the brewery that shut it down temporarily. Something about pot being sold on premises, but that wasn't the case. It's bitter because they're bitter about the 20 day suspension, etc etc. The story intrigued me. So I purchased it. It was bitter, which I enjoy. I'm not into the extremely malty sweet beers, which is why I enjoy Belgians, but I do not love them. However, the initial aroma, like the head in this beer, died as quickly as you can say...[insert something appropriately clever, I'm too lazy].  It poured a beautiful amber, very clean and crisp. But all in all, my taste buds were just left with how I felt, bitter. There isn't very much to it. Not much character. It felt thin. Perhaps if I would've drank this last week, or even directly after bottling, I'd have a completely different experience, as aromatic compounds tend to degrade quickly. But, the beer does have a 9. 87 % ABV, so it's not a total downer. And it's drinkable, not filling. Sooo let's say I was this bitter woman, and I had a bad day or a bad break up. I would recommend this beer because it's not going to kiss your ass, or sugar coat things. It's bitter. Easy. And to the point. And you'll only need a few so if you're counting calories, you can still go for that ice-cream later, girlfriend! Just don't drink and dial (or txt) afterwards.

Brooklyn's Local 1

This is a Belgian beer. Bottle conditioned. [side note/question: aren't most Belgians bottle conditioned? I know they aren't filtered.] But I'm not sure how best to review this beer. I'm not very good at distinguishing all the different yeast components that come with all Belgian strains. Actually for any strains. For instance, I cannot seem to detect pear for some reason. I can discern a sweet citrus, but I can't say pear, apricot or fig unless it's rather obvious in the initial aroma. But I'm still learning. It's very interesting and not usual in comparison to any previous Belgians I've had before, or at least certain notes I seem to be catching at this point, which might have something to do with previous review. It pours a hazy golden, with a perfect head. Not too big, or little. Effervescent. Slightly sweet, but it carries with it a slightly sour (and perhaps dry?) finish. And it's light. Not really sticky, as some Belgians seem to me. So very drinkable. And also at 9% ABV, dangerous. So if you're a big fan of Belgian beers, I'm not sure if I would or wouldn't recommend this to you, because that's not my area (if I had one). But if you're a fan of good beer, this is a good grab and I'd definitely recommend it.

Caroline Smith Duo - Eagle's Nest / Callio - NORTH SHORE SESSIONS

I don't know what it is about this video, or this girls voice, but I've listened to this about 100 times in the last month. On repeat as I'm cleaning up around the apartment. So amazing. Everything on North Shore Sessions is, but Caroline Smith is by far my favorite.