Yes, we are plastic filling the ocean. Yes, climate change is real. But maybe, we can start working with the ocean instead of against it.
Instead of thinking that you are so cool to cool of your cans in the lake or river, how about THIS?
Up From the Cellar – Threes from Eagle Rock Brewery
This 3rd anniversary beer from Eagle Rock Brewery pours an opaque dark orange. Not much head in the pour. This Strong Ale has held up pretty well though for a seven year old beer. The rye spice note is still there. A little caramel/ cola sweetness as well. There is a component here that may be a degradation of the beer, I think it may have been where the alcohol burn may have been, a woody bass line.
Up From the Cellar – Propagation 001 from Beachwood Blendery
I dipped back into my purposefully dwindling cellar stash since the weather has turned a bit cold at night and hot at day so I needed something in-between and I found this gem from the early days of Beachwood Blendery...
This brings back memories from the very start of Beachwood Blendery. The cage was harder to pry off than the cork but once inside I found a simple Brett-astic small Saison. It made my stomach gurgle that night but this was a lovely sipper. Pours with a thick meringue foam. The flavor is all Brett but not overpoweringly so. It is easy to imagine this being a part of a blend. Lot of barnyard funk. Tiny bit of old hat as well.
Up From the Cellar – Christmas Ale from Anchor (2012-2013)
Up from the Cellar for December will be focusing on multiple vintages of the Anchor Christmas beer. I will be covering the years 2008-2014.
(You can check out last years review HERE)
2012 pours a dark brown color. There is a caramels sweetness here with an almost cola like sweetness. Getting a toasted bread type of note in the background too. A hint of the cherry note is underneath there lurking. But this year has held up nicely.
2013 The tree, pine, spruce notes are back! Good amount of spice and the cherry notes are gone! The cola note is in the back as well. Still lively as well. Good amount of bubbles which really helps the beer. Nice espresso foam lacing as well. Way in the back are some leafy hop notes too.
OK, I am changing the rules. 2012-13 are the winners. I will compare them to the latest incarnation. Previous to 2012, Our Special ale is just too cherry and slightly tangy to really recommend.
Up From the Cellar – Christmas Ale from Anchor (2010-2011)
Up from the Cellar for December will be focusing on multiple vintages of the Anchor Christmas beer. I will be covering the years 2008-2014. Today’s post goes back to 2010 and 2011.
(You can check out last years review HERE)
2010 This one tastes much like a regular, current year offering would taste like. Though there is a creeping set of flavors that remind me of the 2008 version. Tartness. Cherry like notes. But right now they are at bay and the malt is nice and there is a bit of bitterness to it still.
2011 Finally a beer without a red tint! The progression from year to year shows a marked growth from too sour-ish cherry back to the holiday themed taste that I am used to. But they are all of a piece. And flavors that are foreground in older vintages are bit players in later years. There is even a bit of chocolate notes in 2011. 2009 is such an outlier in comparison.
My winner though is the 2010. There is simply more hop bite here that covers the ferric fruit tang that is super prevalent in 2008 and still there in 2011.
from the cellar – Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale
For 2014, I will be pulling up some bottles from my cellar and reviewing them. Not to be pessimistic, but I don’t have lofty expectations. Though my beers were light protected and kept at a consistent temp, beer can be fickle and some may have been better last month or next month. That being said, I am really excited to dig into the beers and see what time has wrought.
First up is a Stone Brewing collaboration with the esteemed BottleWorks of Seattle Washington. But before that, the backstory on the beer from Stone, “Bottleworks, Seattle’s legendary craft beer store captained by Matt Bonney and Matt “Vern” Vandenberghe, celebrated their 13th Anniversary in March of 2012. Since bottle shop owners can’t make their own beer, “The Matts” commission a different brewery each year to help them create their anniversary brew. This time they wanted an especially big beer (they were aiming for 13% abv), so naturally they turned to us for help. Here you see the delicious fruits of our collective labor: a 13-grain, 13-hop imperial porter that packs a wallop.”
The beer pours with a big head of espresso that you could put a barista design into easily. I catch a slight bourbon-esque whiff as I pop the cap. A little sweet raisin note and a bit of alcohol heat also rise up out of the glass. Not totally what is expected but this beer sorta defies style though it is called a porter, it probably could just have easily been called a strong ale or barleywine due to the hefty malts and hops in it.
Now the taste is very complex. He’Brew has done the whole double digit malt and hops thing and I have liked the idea better than the execution but this beer is quite enjoyable and different. I get notes of tobacco, coffee, caramel and milk chocolate that start and finish a sip as the sharp raisin note takes over the middle. Coffee notes at the end linger for a bit too. The time wore away the hop aroma and bitterness. Though that may be for the better. Probably more akin to an English Barleywine with the fruit notes. For all the big flavors, the consistency is a bit on the thin side. And for it’s high ABV, it isn’t hot on the palate or cheek warming.
The final cellaring verdict: This beer held up well but I think that if I had pulled this a bit sooner (maybe 5 months ago) some of the more jarring raisin notes would not have been there and this beer would have been even more balanced. But overall this experiment in aging gets a thumbs up.
from the cellar – Review # 2 Monk’s Blood from 21st Amendment
The second cellar beer comes from 21st Amendment in San Francisco (though the beer was canned in Minnesota, I believe). It is Monk’s Blood.
I opened one can back in March of 2010 and gave it this review “Pours a lovely dark amber / brown color. predominant aroma is stone fruit which fades into fig then some other notes that I can’t pin down. taste is very strong. very warming initially. some vanilla notes. not tasting the oak or cinnamon at all. a well made beer but not to my taste”
Now, almost two years later, is my cellared version review….
from the cellar – Review # 1 – White Oak from The Bruery
This month is all about opening up the cellar. Not only will I do it for two reviews this month but also for Open It! which occurs on the weekend of the 24th-26th and for my birthday as well.
It is time to see how the aging experiments are going. We start with White Oak from The Bruery…
Brew Vault
I don’t know if the cellaring beer craze has peaked or not. It certainly hasn’t with me. But this app might rekindle the fire if it is easy enough to use.
“Brew Vault is a complete inventory and journaling app that allows you to manage your collection. Brew Vault is also an excellent note taking system that will record your most detailed tasting notes. Your notes can then be shared with other Brew Vault members who love craft beer just as much as we do!
Brew Vault’s database is member driven. Your entries help grow the database for all members. Don’t see a beer listed? Add it. Your addition will sync all Brew Vault members.
Brew Vault’s inventory system allows you to track your collection by lot, vendor, quantity, price, bottle size, date, storage location, and more!”
Open It!
Mark Dredge (who I had the pleasure to meet at the Beer Bloggers Conference) has come up with a great idea. A weekend where beer lovers open up their beer treasure chests and open up that craft beer they have been saving for a special occasion.
Here is the rationale behind the agenda:
“So here’s the idea: let’s create a special occasion. Let’s call this special occasion Open It! and let’s drink the good beers. Let’s find a bottle from the depth of the cellar and open it, drink it and then tell others about it (in blogs, blog comments or twitter or facebook).
Open it alone or open it with others; hold an Open It! party or take it to the pub to see what people think. Most importantly, get that bottle open and drink the thing and then tell everyone about it.
Open It! over the first weekend in December — Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th — and then blog about it in the week after. Use the #openit hashtag on twitter while you are drinking it and like the Facebook group. It’s just about opening something special and enjoying it.”
I am thinking about popping open the Monstre Rouge on one of those days.