Tag: review

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Oregon Collaboration Review # 3 – Deschutes & Widmer

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You can tell right off the bat that this is a whiskey barrel beer that Widmer and Deschutes have put together.  Wood chips and sweet caramel and a touch of the alcohol heat make this less German and more Kentucky. Back in December (and in Oregon) you could sample the barrel aged bitter next to the barrel aged alt, next to the blend of the two.  I wish I had that luxury.  I would love to see which beer stood up stronger against the whiskey.  Because that is the main component that I get from this beer followed by a little bit of bitterness and spice.  You could tell me that it is an imperial brown or an old ale and I wouldn’t be able to talk you off that opinion.

All that said, this is a a smooth and flavorful beer.  I just wished that it was a little less barrel-y.

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Oregon Collaboration Review # 2 – Ninkasi & Devil’s Backbone

Since you would have to go to great distance to get a Devil’s Backbone beer, it was with great anticipation that I saw that they had collaborated with Ninkasi on a beer.

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Now let’s see what it tastes like…which is easier said than done. This is an odd duck of a beer. It’s labeled as an imperial rye but only is 7.7%. Maybe that is imperial by rye standards. The aroma is a combo of sawdust and caramel but the taste is quite dry and bitter. There is a tiny bit of candied orange peel bitterness in there as well. The alcohol level does show which is odd for this level of ABV. What gets me is the rye bread note. It makes this really toasty and I don’t quite know if it works as a whole.

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Review – Hops from Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada has added a new bitter wrinkle to their IPA line-up with Hop Hunter but as I was beer shopping, I was also pointed to a new Golden IPA as well.

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Let the taste off begin!

These two IPA’s could not be any more different and both have elements that I really enjoy in my hop bombs but both also contain stuff I don’t like so much as well.

The Golden IPA has a mild tea like aroma and then it just punches you in the face with bitterness. It is really sharp on the tongue. It isn’t heavy in body though and it does have some white wine and grapefruit pith notes that blend well together. But that carbonated bitter blast really set me back on my heels.

The Hop Hunter with distilled hop oils also has an aroma/flavor disconnect. It is big on that cat pee aroma. Close to off putting levels. But then you take a sip and it is a symphony of flavors. Mango, a touch of vanilla and even grape notes as it warms and in the background is a bready cereal note that offsets the mild bitterness and leads to the next sip.

I guess if I forced to choose one, I would go with the Golden due mostly to the aroma on the Hop Hunter. It was just not appealing to me. And the sharpness of the Golden, though not my favorite, was not the distraction that the aroma was.

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Home Brew Review – Egg Nog Stout

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We come to the final beer. Always a sad occasion but in this case happy because this is my favorite of the quintet.

It is the boldest of the group. The spice is there on the nose and follows through with a bang in the flavor. Some might find the nutmeg and clove too much or cloying but I think it works. It is a bit on the soda side because the base beer isn’t muscular (which is the tweak I would recommend).

Why I like it is because it delivers on the promise of the name. The other four had failings of not enough. Which is not a problem here. Plus I like the spice profile already so I was inclined to like this one the most.

What I love about tasting home brew is to see the idea of a beer at the beginning. I certainly saw more germs of a finished beer that I liked than didn’t which I was not surprised about considering the source. All of the beers just needed tweaks. No tear downs here.

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Home Brew Review – Coffee & Donut Milk Stout

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The tour of home brew continues on with the Coffee and Donut Milk Stout. Hopefully it is meant to pair with and not taste like, the name.

This is the murkiest pour of the bunch so far. Brown and black swirls with an espresso head to it. Big pop when the Grolsch top was opened. The initial hit was quite carbonated but it calmed down as it warmed. Bit of a tar taste to this one. Less coffee and donut and more coffee and cigarettes. Not in a disagreeable way though. There is also an undercurrent of sweetness here too.

And that is the one-two combo of this beer. Tar roast and a bit of sweet. Maybe paired with a BBQ or as an after dinner in a snifter beer.

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Review – Count Hopula Red IPA

I know it isn’t October but when presented with the opportunity to try my first, From the Vault series beer from SanTan Brewing, I threw holidays to the wind.

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Count Hopula a doesn’t quite pour blood red though there is a tint of darkness in the brown colored beer. At first I wasn’t enjoying it and I didn’t quite know why. It’s plenty hoppy for sure. But there is a spicy rye character and some heavy malt taste that aren’t working in concert for me. Three flavors going off in different directions.

I started to think that maybe this was an old can. But try as I might, no bottled on date was to be found so I don’t know for sure. But this beer gets a negative score from me.

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Home Brew Review – Honey Sage Saison

Next up in the home brew reviews of January is the Honey Sage Saison

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This concoction pours a lovely orange mimosa color. With a bit of haze and a prettu cap of foam on top. The aroma is a mixture of bread, honey and yeast. A mixture that doesn’t quite work for me. The taste veers from a splash of orange to farmhouse before settling in on honey. It isn’t thick or sticky like honey on the palate but it is close, (saved by some bubbly carbonation) and it certainly reminds me of opening the bear shaped honey container.

Much like the previous spruce ale, I’m afraid that the spice component, sage that I was looking for has gone missing though. It would have added a nice counterpoint / compliment to the honey. Surprisingly more dry than sweet, which I like.

Of the two, I would choose the Spruce over the Honey Sage. I am looking forward to the darker beers coming.

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Home Brew Review – Spruce Ale

So, the backstory. A dear friend has been home brewing all of last year and (hopefully into) 2015. For Christmas, I received bottle after bottle. OK, five all told. It was an awesome gift.  I highly recommend giving that gift to me even if you don’t know me.

I will be reviewing all of them this month and first on the docket is the Spruce Ale.

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The label is a bit smudged but believe me, it is a spruce beer. The beer is a hazy orange/red mixture with a big ol’ head of foam on it. The smell is a bit too sweet. Almost like a cough syrup. Any spruce notes have to be waited on but really only emerge a skosh in the taste. The taste is sweet as well even after warming. Not quite cherry but maybe spiced holiday cherry flavor. Little bit of fruitcake notes as well.

Overall, it needs more spruce and the sugar is too high. A little recalibration and further taste testing are in order.

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Review – Deception from Black Market Brewing

OK.  This beer has both coconut and lime.  On top of the relatively weak base of a blonde ale.  Can Black Market pull this off?

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Deception pours a murky orange color. I get more lime than coconut on the aroma and I get more tropical than coconut. The taste is very subdued. Coconut can be overpowering but it is barely hinted at here. I get just at the back before I take the next sip. The lime juice is more prominent but isn’t big on that citric note.

Overall, I found this beer to be too watery to me which I found disappointing. More lime zest and maybe some toasted coconut would improve it to me.

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Review – Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA

The name tells you all you need to know.  Which is why it is so long.  This is the 4th of a 5 beer series from Sierra Nevada.  This and the Wild Hop beer being the ones that caught my attention.

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What I liked about the Wet Hop is the simplicity of the ingredients:

  • Bittering Hops Wet Centennial
  • Finishing Hops Wet Cascade, Centennial

That is it.  And boy does it impart flavor.  This IPA is half danky earth and the other half is straight up Orange juice.  It really struck me at first the power of the flavors.  The aroma is reminiscent to me of orange juice that is sitting on the table with breakfast.  I know it sounds weird but that is what was triggered in my mind.

This is a super bitter beer too.  From first sip to aftertaste, there is a vegetal earthiness that just sticks to the palate and will not let go.  This from a beer that was bottled at the end of September.  I can’t imagine the IBU punch on a fresh bottle!  But as much as it is bitter that juice note doesn’t give up either.  I would probably call this a Double IPA taste wise even though the ABV is only at 6.7%

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