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Our next holiday treat is for even the naughty people on Santa’s list. From the state capital of California comes Nice Lager from Rubicon Brewing.
“With the holidays upon us, we welcome you to a NICE holiday lager. Floral on the nose, spicy on the palette, and with caramel through to the finish, this hop forward lager is just what you’ve been asking for. Some good deeds do go unpunished.”
I know that I sound like a broken record (or is it, broken streaming audio?), but I love the presentation of the Ruhstaller bottles (cans too). I like the kid with the bad boy look, I like the netting on the neck of the 22oz bottle. The marketing copy is not only readable but fun. For their California Tripel, they talk about an artist, a curator and the brewer plus have room for the beer ingredients. Cause that apparently is the most important thing if the blogosphere is to be believed. Made with California Metcalf & Copeland barley and California Cluster hops, this Belgian Style Tripel comes in at 9.5%.
Which is a good thing because this is another of the unintentionally aged bottles from Total Wine. This beer came out in July. This being June, I assume that this beer is from 2013. The production was limited to 230 cases.
It pours a bright orange color with a disturbing amount of floaty bits in it. As you can probably tell from the photo. Tripels can be evil. Their high alcohol masked until you finish the glass and this one doesn’t quite succeed in that. You can get a little heat from it. That is strike 2. Which I am holding Total Wine accountable for, not the brewer. There is some typical Belgian spice in there but the finish is a bit watery despite the alcohol. I am getting some of the sweetness that you might sense as well which is good but overall, I would have to recommend buying this beer fresh and popping the cap then. And do not buy it in June in hot Southern California.
I love the design on the Ruhstaller beers. They are playful and simple. The neck is adorned with fabric and tape and though the graphic is busy, it isn’t annoying. It is like a piece of art that some may like and others may not. Plus their backstory on the beer is simple and straightforward as well. This hoppy beer made with hops grown in Dixon, California at the Ruhstaller farm. It is part of their Rapid Fire R&D series.
That bodes well but what about the beer itself? It pours a really dark reddish/brown. Akin to an imperial red, hence the lack of an IPA moniker in the name. The initial aroma has balsa wood notes and some caramel as well. It is one of those beers with a low ABV that taste stronger. The hop character is mostly woody and herbal and is pretty strong without being overwhelming. Their website alludes to a licorice taste that I don’t quite pick up myself. But I do get some toast notes here that balances the affair out.
I have had a couple Ruhstaller beers now. They of the distinctive netting on the bottle necks and the detailed information on the provenance of the beer’s ingredients from this Sacramento brewer. Then I see this hoppy lager (in a can) which I immediately grabbed knowing that I would review it later. So here goes….
Pours a medium yellow. Foamy head at first. Nice amount of bubbles, very sparkly and festive looking. Cereal aroma hits me first with a spicy hop note on the side. Taste marks this as more of a hopped lager. Initial flavor is that malt crispness that is quickly hidden by the piney hops. Though the grain does make a comeback at the end of a sip which is cool. Love the stick on label attached to the plain silver can. And I love even more the listing of the hops and barley. Makes for a more informed customer!
And what am I reading now. you ask? Well it is Double Feature by Owen King. Yes, another writing son of Stephen and Tabitha. Must be genetic. I have just started but I am partial to father-son dynamics so it should be up my alley.
Sacramento is becoming quite the beer town. Considering they have have a neighboring city to the south that is thought of more for beer (just like us in LA), I am glad to see that they are doing their own brewing thing. Without further ado, let me introduce New Helvetia Brewing.
New Helvetia is trying to honor the brewing past embodied by Buffalo Brewing which was one of many regionals that went under in the run up to the BMC beer take-over as well as honoring a more recent Sacramento brewing casualty all while staying connected to the current community. For that last bit, each of their beers has a recommendation for a local restaurant dish that pairs well with the beer. (Really cool idea!)
Here are the two beers that I would order first….
“The best of both worlds, this Pale ale is brewed in the British tradition, with a nutty, full body and clean finish. Except because we’re not British, we added a very American amount of Cascade hops late in the boil, leaving this beer both flavorful and sessionable and more of a half IPA than a pale ale.”
“This American wild ale is brewed according to the best traditions of Belgium; Having been allowed to undergo a spontaneous secondary fermentation, this beer displays a striking tartness that perfectly balances the roasted qualities of the malt. An Auroch (by the way) is a Paleolithic Longhorn Bison.”
Tomorrow morning over at Food GPS, a companion piece to my Central Coast post from a couple weeks back.
What breweries in Northern California are must visits for you?
Is it Russian River or Moonlight?
Sierra Nevada’s massive complex in Chico?
Or do you have some other small spot that needs a light shone upon it?
Let me know below…..
Just when I think that I have a handle on all of the breweries another new one pops up. Case in point, scanning the beer shelves at my Glendale Whole Foods, I ran across a canned four pack with a weird face on the silver can.
It was the 1881 California Red Ale from a brewery in Sacramento called Ruhstaller. And they have taken the novel step of having an Oregon hopped version and a California hop version. Screams for a side-by-side comparison for sure.
As I mentally noted this Raider color schemed can, I saw another Ruhstaller beer with a black fabric around the neck. A CAPT California Blk IPA. That is the name.
When space in the ‘fridge opens up, I will have to investigate these new offerings from the state capital.
I am hoping this makes it’s way south from the state capital to LA. Because if it tastes 1/2 as good as this description then I will want alot…
“The beer has a decent amount of wheat in the grist, which lends a fantastic lemony tartness that is incredibly refreshing. We’ve also tweaked our recipe a bit from our pilot batches to be sure the body is full, but not heavy, with notable texture and depth. The color is a shade darker than you might expect; a tawny-golden hue. The kicker? The yeast if friggin’ amazing! The aromas that you’ll find in this beer are wild and fruity, with a hint of peppery spice and a subtle earthy note. The beer doesn’t shy away from the traditional Belgian yeast, it’s in your face and proud of its heritage. We’re certain you’ll appreciate this; Saison is not your run-of-the-mill beer.”
Another new (to me) brewery but not to Sacramento beer geeks is Odonata Beer Co..
Two of their newest and intriguing beers are “Water Witch, a rich, dark brown brew with red highlights. The beer recipe itself is for a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. What deviates slightly from the ‘official’ style guidelines is the maturation in red wine barrels, which lends a slightly acidic note to the finish.
Our first collaborative beer – made with the help of the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton! This is called Beersel, a name that pays homage to the place our yeast culture originated – in the bowels of the famed 3 Fonteinen brewery! This is a true Sour Ale, but not technically a Lambic (which is a spontaneously fermented beer) or Gueuze (lambics, blended). The grist and hopping is pretty much what the Senne Valley brewers use to make their lambics, however, with raw wheat, pale malted barley and whole flower hops aged 10 years.”
