3 beers. Top notch each. In order of approval: Stone Brewery's Self Righteous black IPA, Summit's unchained series #6 Golden Sovereign Ale from brewer Damian, and Mikkeller's (world's first) Coffee IPA.
Self Righteous - Black IPA.
Pour black and dreamy. Like how you want a black IPA to pour. Not sticky or thick, but refreshingly effervescent. All those pine and citrus notes you love about IPA's and the character and hint of something greater you can only get from a black IPA. You know what they say, “once you go black you never go back”. Well, it holds true for this brew. It's definitely my top black IPA. And a true contender for my top brew of it all. Absolutely amazing. I'm going into Four Firkins tomorrow to show it to some friends, and I'll probably buy another bottle. Soooooo good.
Unchained #6: Golden Sovereign Ale.
It's like everything you wanted from a beer. It's hopped, but not extremely bitter. It's golden, and crisp, and clean. It's like your favorite pilsner, pale ale and IPA got together for an orgy. And this is it's classy baby. Damian used floor malt for this. For those who don’t know, floor malt is rarely used these days. It's very labor intensive, and expensive and usually imported. I work for a malting company, I should know. This is a brew that not only satisfies, it leaves you wanting more in a good way. An incredible brew that you could completely destroy a six pack of feeling like you've accomplished all the incredible flavor compounds within a turkey dinner, without feeling like it's 6pm on actual Turkey day. My favorite unchained yet. And I'm not going to lie, the Golden Belgian and Pumpkin Porter before it were outstanding. Also, "interning" for Summit, Damian happened to be my favorite brewer. Who doesn't love an Irish bloke who loves "football" and running, and knows everything there is to know about beer? So... um, I'm not biased either.
Mikkeller's Coffee IPA:
Golden amber appearance. Hazy, though wondering if the degree is due to the fact that this was a hopped beer brewed a few months ago, and it was imported. Frothy head. Effervescent. Smell and taste: pine, and sweet citrus. Very faint caramel? Bitter, dry finish. It's a great IPA, and I would definitely drink it again. A little disappointed I didn't pick out any roasted or coffee notes. Perhaps I'm not in the right mood or my palate wasn't clean enough. But I've been waiting for this beer to hit the shelves since January expecting to taste something totally unique and mind blowing. Great beer, but I think my fantasies of what this beer was going to taste like hindered my actual experience of it.
Well, I'll post on Saturday. I'm hosting my very first beer tasting party on Friday. This will extend past my tasting sessions with my cousin from this fall (which I'll blog about later, if I have the energy), and from sharing craft beer with some of my best friends. All beers and advice provided by Four Firkins (greatest craft beer store, end of story: http://fourfirkins.cloudprofile.com/ ).
Also, Friday will be my official one year employment anniversary for my malting company. I do love my job. Who doesn't love being involved in this industry?
Bri
