January 2013 Archives

In the rough and tumble world of beer blogging, it's easy to become jaded. That's why it's sometimes good to throw caution to the wind and take a flier on something obscure, like this fanciful New Zealand brewing duo who have a punnily named brewery and take some ridiculous chances with their beer. Case in point: Rex Attitude, a beer with an absurdly simple recipe. No fancy specialty grains here, just a single golden malt (ok, I'm being a bit facetious here, but we'll get to that in a moment). No trendy hop blends, just 31 IBUs driven by the mild character of Willamette hops. No estery, phenol driven Belgian yeast monsters, just a clean fermenting US yeast.

The thing that makes this beer so interesting is that that single golden malt also happens to be smoked. And not just any smoke: peat smoke. Scotch fans just raised an eyebrow. Most smoked beers burn traditional wood to get that smokey flavor - stuff like beechwood, hickory, ash, maple, and, uh, vampire stakes. But historically, you used what you had, and Scottish folks had lots of peat moss. So that's what they use to smoke their malt. These days, that malt is mostly used in service of Scotch Whisky (I'm unclear as to whether or not Scottish breweries used to use peat moss to dry their malt back in the day, but Scotch ales don't usually feature peat smoked malt).

So these wacky Kiwis took that heavily-peated Scottish distillers malt and made their beer with it. And thanks to the simplicity of the rest of the recipe (mild hops, clean yeast), that peat smoked malt is the true star here. This is an absolutely ludicrous idea and I expected disastrous results. But that's just this jaded blogger being a goober, because this thing is a real eye opener. I cannot believe they got this to work as well as it does, and it's nice to know that after years of obsessing about beer, I can still be blind-sided by something this surprising:

Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude - Pours a cloudy golden color with a couple fingers of billowy, fluffy head and tons of lacing. Smells of smokey, peated malts and not much else... but it works shockingly well. I could sniff this all night. It's like the nose from peated Scotch (think Islay), but it won't singe your nose hairs. The taste has a nice sweetness to it, well balanced against the smoke, which is ever-present, but not at all overbearing. Indeed, it's extremely well balanced and quite tasty. And we haven't even gotten to the best part, which is the mouthfeel. Highly carbonated and relatively dry, reminiscent of the feel you get from a well attenuated Belgian yeast, but without the fruity or spicy notes. Medium bodied, but this thing drinks like a champ. It's like drinking an Islay Scotch, but without any of that burning booze. Probably not for anyone, but I'm a bit of a peat freak, so this beer pushed the right buttons for me. Overall, this beer has no business drinking this well, one of the most unique and interesting experiments I've had in a while. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/19/13.

There's a doubled up version of this very beer called XeRRex that is supposedly just as audacious and successful, despite being a 10% monster. I must find that beer. In the meantime, I'll have to hit up my local bottle shop for their Pot Kettle Black (which they call a hoppy porter, otherwise known as Black IPA). Yeastie Boys came to my attention by way of Stephen Beaumont, and I'm glad I caught that post. Yeasty Boys is a contract brewing operation, but Stephen notes: "in New Zealand, where a small population base is stretched across a long and isolated land mass, or rather, masses, that is a status without the perception issues that tend to dog it still in North America and parts of Europe. Indeed, contract craft brewing seems at times almost the Kiwi norm rather than the exception." So this is the only one of their beers I've had, but if it's any indication, these guys are worth seeking out. And thus ends Smoked Beer week. I hope you had fun, I know I did. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a fresh box of West Coast beer to scarf down this weekend. Stay tuned.

I wasn't originally planning on drinking a bunch of smoked beers last week, but you never know what you're going to get from Brasserie Fantôme, and when I cracked this one open and realized that it featured smoked malts, I figured I'd just go with it. What can I say, it was a smokey weekend.

Fantôme was never easy to find, but it's even more difficult these days, so when I saw this La Dalmatienne, I pounced. Background information is sparse, but it appears to be one of Fantôme's trademark funky, almost sour saisons, but with a touch of smoked malt, just to further confuse the saison style definition. There's also another version La Dalmatienne that has a black label with white spots, but I'm reliably informed that the one I had was the better version. What dalmatians have to do with any of this is anyone's guess (they ride on fire trucks, smoke comes from fire, ipso facto a smoked beer?), but let's strap on our proton packs and hunt some ghosts anyway:

Fantôme La Dalmatienne - Pours a bright, mostly clear golden yellow color with a couple fingers of white head. Smells funky with some more traditional saison spice lurking in the background, and a rather prominent (but not overpowering) smoky aroma. The taste is lemony sweet, a very light fruity tartness, some funk, and that smoke from the nose. That smoke is the odd man out, though not in an unpleasant way. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, crisp, and lightly acidic, making it a sorta bright brew. Overall, an interesting brew, that smoke could have been a disaster, but I think they pulled it off. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/19/13.

I need to find me a regular hookup on Fantôme beers. They were never plentiful around here, but they seem to have gone the way of the loon in recent times. Anywho, after I had this beer, I threw caution to the wind and embraced the smoked beer theme that had been developing, which lead to tomorrow night's beer, a puntastic New Zealand entry that sounded like it would be a disaster, but was actually amazing.

Smoked beer week continues with Clown Shoes' second anniversary ale, a Smoked Imperial Stout called Vampire Slayer. I have to admit, Clown Shoes doesn't feel like my kinda brand. They seem to rely on marketing gimmickry and controversy moreso than quality, but then, I really haven't had many of their beers either. In particular, they appear to have some well respected imperial stouts, so I picked up a couple to give them a shot.

Perhaps I should have read this label a little more closely though, as I didn't immediately realize it was a smoked beer (I should note that it was readily labeled as such, I just wasn't being very observant), nor did I see that it was one of those beers made with gimmicky ingredients like "Holy Water" and smoked with "hickory, ash, and vampire killing stakes". I mean, it's no Dogfish Head, but Holy Water? Really? On the other hand, this thing is sporting a respectable 4.15/92 rating on BeerAdvocate, and we all know how much the opinion of a bunch of strangers on the internet means. So let's put on some clown shoes, sharpen our stakes, and see if Van Helsing would approve of this beer:

Clown Shoes Vampire Slayer - Pours a very dark brown color, almost black, with minimal head. Smells of roasted malt with a little coffee character thrown in for good measure. The taste features a bit more in the way of crystal malt character, but the roast is certainly still hanging around as well... and it's brought a friend in the form of a smokey flavor that is actually very subtle. There's also a very well matched bitterness keeping all those malts in check, if not going all Black IPA on their asses. Mouthfeel is full bodied, on the thicker and chewier side, though not quite a monstrous beer. Well carbonated, but smooth, not dry, but no really stickiness to speak of either. Overall, what we have here is a very well balanced imperial stout that won't quite melt your face, but will perhaps make you grin in appreciation. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber) Drank out of a snifter on 1/18/13.

So it's not quite a revelation, but perhaps Clown Shoes have earned another chance, as I picked up another of their Imperial Stouts, Blaecorn Unidragon, a decidedly more traditional take on the style. Not sure when I'll get to it, but stay tuned anyway. Up next in smoked beer week, we strap on some proton packs and go Ghost Hunting, only to find ourselves with spectral... Dalmations? Find out what the heck I'm talking about tomorrow!

Once upon a time, smoked beers were common. This was more a result of technology than anything else. You can dry malt just by spreading it out on the floor and letting it dry naturally, but if you're a commercial brewery trying to make a consistent product economically, you need to find a way to dry malt consistently, quickly, and in bulk. The process of kilning malt also imparts additional flavors, which is an added bonus. Initial kilns were direct fired, so the combustion gasses and smoke passed right through the malt, imparting that smoky character. However, once maltsters figured out a way to dry their product using indirect heat (looking at early 18th century here), smoke quickly disappeared from most beer. Some regional breweries have kept the process alive, notably in what was northern Bavaria (in particular, Bamburg), so we end up with things like Rauchbiers and Smoked Beers. I'm a little unclear on why these are distinct styles, but Rauchbiers seem to have a more narrow definition, basically using German lager recipes like Märzens, but with smoked malt, whereas the more general Smoked Beer can be just about anything with smoked malt.

Smoked flavors in beer can be a bit intimidating, but I find that after the initial shock of smoke (who put their lit cigar in my beer!?), my palate adjusts to the point where it can become enjoyable. Some smoked beers can certainly be overpowering and I don't think I've ever gotten to the point where I can taste the meaty, bacon-like flavor everyone talks about with smoked beers, but I can find an appreciation for a well crafted version or one that incorporates just a touch of smoke. As it turns out, I inadvertently went on a smoked beer kick recently, so this week, I'm going to review four beers that use smoked malt in one way or another.

We begin with the most obvious smoked beer of the lot, a tribute to a time when Norwegian farmers were required to brew their own ale (they don't say why, but I guess the lack of potable water made such practices common back then). Not being professional brewers, they generally just kilned the malt over an open fire, thus imparting that smoky character. In an added twist, those wacky Norwegians spiced their smoked beer with juniper twigs and berries. HaandBryggeriet enjoys a pretty healthy reputation here at Kaedrin HQ, and they seem to get a kick out of smoked beers, so we thought this one would be worth checking out:

HaandBryggeriet Norwegian Wood - Pours a deep, dark amber color with a finger of white head. Smells really interesting, but I'm having trouble articulating it. The most prominent feature is obviously a light smokiness, but there's a lot of other stuff going on too. Perhaps a rich malt aroma is also there, but there's something bright about the finish of the aroma too. Taste starts off sweet, some nice crystal malt character along with a very, very slight roast flavor that leads into the smokiness, followed by that brightness from the nose, maybe a kinda fruit flavor (I'm guessing this is the fault of the juniper berries). Mouthfeel, medium bodied and well carbonated, very well balanced, goes down easy. Overall, this is a very well balanced, complex beer. The smoke is extremely well integrated; it's the star of the beer and most prominent aroma/flavor, but it doesn't dominate the beer either. It's just that it's so well integrated into the rest of the beer. As smoked beers go, this may be the best straight version I've ever had. B+ (borderline A-)

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a on 1/11/13. Label sez: Batch 358. Total bottles 1500.

So a pretty powerful start to smoked beer week. Next up, I strap on my Clown Shoes and Slay some Vampires. Stay tuned.

I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to Tired Hands. They're awesome, and they're close, and it's a fun place to visit, so I go there pretty often. Now, I've enjoyed covering the rise of the brewery these past few months, and I'm sure I'll be posting more about them, but the strange thing about all this is that for the most part, they don't make the same beer twice. They've got two house beers, HopHands and FarmHands, both quite tasty and only 4.8% too, but other than that, everything else has been a one off. Now, someday, I hope they will repeat some of their more interesting brews. Stuff like Zombie or FlavorAroma or Westy13 (which may be coming to bottles someday). But for the most part, I'm writing about beers that will not only never see the light again, but will probably only have been available for 2-3 weeks.

Is that interesting to read about? Heck, tasting notes in and of themselves aren't all that interesting. I mean, I've found them personally useful, but why subject the rest of the world to them? I do try to use these reviews as a jumping off point for other discussions, but I still resort to pretty straightforward posts from time to time. And in most cases, even the rare beers I get are things that are made on a yearly basis. What about these one-offs? I suppose when the beer is something strange or otherwise special, it could warrant a post, but I should probably ease back on these posts. Or not. I guess we'll see what happens.

Today's focus, though, is Tired Hands' first barleywine, which just happens to be "conditioned on locally roasted coffee and Madagascar vanilla beans". Given the emergent theme of coffee beers this week, I figured it was worth pushing this one up the queue and talking about it today:

Tired Hands MotherAnimal - Pours a gorgeous ruby toned brown color with a couple fingers of khaki head. Not getting a lot out of the nose, but there's a sorta mellow coffee and vanilla character going on. Taste is very sweet, but it has a really well balanced blend of caramel, coffee, and vanilla going on here. The coffee is actually quite nice, not roasty or bitter at all, and it doesn't overpower the other flavors while still making itself known. The vanilla sweetness is probably more prominent, but it works well. Mouthfeel is a little light on carbonation, but that just makes it feel smooth and velvety, with just the faintest note of booze. Despite that, you really can't tell that this beer is as strong as it is, so I'd say the booze is hidden pretty well. Overall, really nice brew. B+ Would like to try again, possible A- stuff here.

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of 8 ounce glass on 1/23/13.

This one isn't really turning a ton of heads in the RateBeer/BeerAdvocate set, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's got a really uncommon array of flavors going for it, stuff you don't normally see in barleywines, which I appreciated. Alrighty then, here's a few more quick hits from Tired Hands, compiled over the course of the past month or so. I'm going to refrain from posting my full tasting notes for these, because like I said before, that might be overkill for brews that will never see the light of day again (and some of which are already long gone).

Singel Hop Saison, Motueka - A unique hop character, really bright tropical fruit, non-tart lemon, light saison pepperyness, and it works. This has been a really interesting series of beers, and I'd put this one a step above the Nelson Sauvin, but not quite the heights of the Simcoe (or, for that matter, the next one, listed below). B+

Singel Hop Saison, Amarillo - The perfect balance of citrusy Amarillo hop aromas and flavor with the rustic saison qualities of bready spice. A little light on carbonation, but its just so damn quaffable, it's taking me longer to write these lame notes than it is to drink! Delicious. Not sure if its just that Amarillo hops are awesome, or if Tired Hands is getting better, but who cares? This is the best Singel Hop Saison yet. A

Falco's Nerd Flight - All hops, all the time. Bright grapefruit citrus character with floral and pine notes, a strong bitterness throughout, and a great, crisp, dry mouthfeel that makes this easily quaffable. A-

Domo - Barrel fermented black rye saison, aged in a wicked combo of Chaddsford red wine barrels and old Weyerbacher Insanity barrels. Huge sour cherry notes, light oak/vanilla, maybe a hint of chocolate. I was lucky enough to sample this a couple times, and it just got better. Tired Hands sour beers tend to be rather sharp and abrasive, but they grow on me, and this is no exception. A-

California Über Helles - Tired Hands has occasionally been putting out some lagers, but I gotta say, this thing drinks more like a really well balanced IPA. Brewed with Falconer's Flight hops, this shares that hop character with Falco's Nerd Flight, though the hops are toned down considerably here. Still, really bright and compulsively drinkable. A-

Nigel - Probably more IPA than Black, but it's delicious nonetheless. Very light roast, but big hop character, citrus and pine, you know the drill. A-

Whatever, Nevermind - A strong saison, it's got a really nice lemon zest, light tartness to go along with the more typical spicy, bready saison yeast character. It feels kinda like Fantôme light, more approachable, but perhaps not as complex. B+

Well, that's a lot of B+ and A- ratings. Another reason to ease off ratings for a bit, I guess, as this is just getting ridiculous!

A few years ago, the non-Inbev-tainted Goose Island took their already spectacular Bourbon County Brand Stout and started making some one-off variants. There was a vanilla one, a raspberry one, not to mention the infamous Bourbon County Rare, which was like the original, except it was aged in 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle barrels. It retailed for $40-$50, but has become one of them .rar wales that drives beer nerds completely bonkers (so yeah, it's living up to that "Rare" designation). Alas, I will probably never see a bottle of that stuff. I will just have to settle for this most recent batch of Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout.

Yet another top 100 tick for me (actually, this is currently slotted in at #8 in the world right now, the highest of the BCBS series), it's like the original BCBS, but with Intelligentsia La Tortuga coffee beans added (I'm no expert, but Intelligentsia is arguably the best coffee in the world, with the possible exception of that weasel poop coffee). As recently discussed, coffee beers are not really in my wheelhouse, but sweet merciful crap, if they were all like this, I'd have no problem at all. Heck, with beers like this, I could really get with the program and crack this sucker open at breakfast.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (2012) - Pours a deep black color with just a cap of light brown head that quickly fades into a ring around the edge of the glass. Smells of equal measures bourbon, oak, caramel, vanilla, and coffee, a winning combo if ever there was one. Taste is sweet and sugary, filled with rich caramel, chocolate, and bourbon, a little sting from the booze, and a smattering of coffee. Mouthfeel is big, thick, and chewy, though perhaps not quite as much as I remember the regular BCBS so the flavors don't stick around as long. It's got reasonable carbonation for such a gigantic beer, and plenty of warming from the alcohol. Compared to the normal BCBS, this is a little smoother, a little more palatable, a little more approachable (none of which is to say that this is better or worse than BCBS, just that it's a little different). Overall, yeah, it's spectacular, just like its unmodified brother. A

Beer Nerd Details: 14.3% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 1/12/13. Bottled on 11/12/12. Label also has cryptic number on it: 0240.

To be honest, I think I might still prefer the original BCBS, but hot damn, this stuff was fantastic too. There's another 2012 variant making the rounds too, called Cherry Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout. My local beermonger has mentioned that it's on its way, so fingers crossed. In the meantime, I've got that bottle of Dark Lord, also made with Intelligentsia coffee, burning a hole in my cellar. Of course, that one's been sitting around for a while and coffee flavor is supposed to fade with time, so who knows what that will be like.

There once was a man from Nantucket. He brewed great beer. The end.

So yeah, I need to work on my dirty limericks. In the meantime, here's some spectacular beer from that great brewer in Nantucket:

Cisco Brewers Lady Of The Woods - Pours a bright, almost glowing straw yellow color with a finger of bubbly white head that quickly subsides. The smell is filled with funky Brett, musty earth, a little more traditional Belgian biscuit and spice. Taste is very sweet, plenty of Brett funkiness, some earth in the middle, even some welcome but well balanced oak, but then that vinous Chardonnay character starts to assert itself too, finishing of with a big fruity bang. It's tart, but not super puckering or anything, actually struck that balance really well. As it warms or maybe just as my palate adjusts, that big tropical fruit character becomes even more well blended into the rest of the flavors. Mouthfeel is light, bright, and refreshing, with a little pleasant acidity. Just compulsively drinkable stuff. This is a really impressive beer, among the better American Wild Ales I've ever had and it makes me want to revisit Russian River's Temptation and due a cage match to see who comes out on top. In any case, this one's a winner. A

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/11/13.

Well, I guess this means I need to seek me out some more of that Cisco goodness. Everything I've had from them so far has been their basic, regular line up. Pale Ales, Belgian Wits and the like. Nothing bad, per say, but nothing that would indicate greatness like Lady of the Woods. There's a whole series of "Woods", sour beers aged on oak, and then a series of Brewers Reserve series that also shows some promise (yeah, a promise to lighten my wallet - zing!)

I used to be that guy. The I don't like dark beers kinda putz. This concept of "dark" eventually collapsed when I discovered that a lot of Belgian dark beers tasted nothing like their roasted brethren in the stout and porter family, and I really grew to love them. But I still clung to this notion of kinda hating roasty stouts and porters. You can even see this in the early days of the blog, but then I discovered the joys of the imperial stout and its sibling, the bourbon barrel aged stout. Still, I tend to waver on beers that have a really sharp, bitter roasted flavor... and beers that have a really strong coffee component.

I don't drink coffee regularly. I'll have maybe a cup or two a year. I don't necessarily dislike it, and truth be told, I love the smell of coffee, but in general, I find some coffee flavors a bit of a turnoff in beer. What I'm beginning to figure out, though, is that what I really don't like is that roasty, toasty, burnt character that a lot of beers cultivate in an overpowering and dominant sense. I've been on a bit of an unintentional coffee beer kick lately, and I think I'm beginning to get a taste for it. Sure, I tend to prefer rich, chewy, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, oak, and bourbon in my stouts, but I'm finding that coffee makes for an interesting change of pace. And not everyone uses the bitterest, most burnt malt/coffee as Founders does in their Breakfast Stout (a beer I've never particularly jived with). These flavors are much more interesting to me when they're not dominant.

I am wondering how much of this change is just my evolving palate, and how much is just that I'm drinking really good beer. Take Péché Mortel, another top 50 baller brewed by those goofy French Canadians at Diu Du Ciel... A bottle conditioned imperial stout "brewed with real, fair-trade coffee", truly a beer after a Libertarian's heart. Is this something I would have enjoyed just as much two years ago? Or have I just drank enough that I'm starting to appreciate the subtle nuances of flavor that differentiate this from the throngs of mere mortal beers? Will I ever get to the point where I don't include the "It's good... for a coffee beer" proviso when praising these things?

Does it really matter if I don't? The answer is a clear "no", because who really gives a pidoddle what I like or don't? Still, during the course of my beer-drinking tenure, I've found myself acquiring tastes for things I never thought I'd love. The more I think I learn about beer, the more I realize that what I don't know is growing at an even faster pace. I don't want to become complacent, so I like to try things outside of my comfort zone, like coffee beers. I suppose there's only one way to find out:

Dieu Du Ciel Péché Mortel - Pours a deep, dark brown color, almost black, with half a finger of tan head. Smells of coffee, a small amount of roast, something sugary, like molasses, maybe some caramel. Taste features a more prominent roast character than the nose would imply, lots of coffee too, but nothing overwhelming. There's a balancing hop bitterness in the finish, maybe some pine flavor from those hops too. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, a light richness, well carbonated but smooth, a little warming booze too. Overall, a great coffee-based imperial stout. I'm not a big coffee person, but it works really well here. For a coffee beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (11.2 oz) Drank out of a snifter on 1/5/13. Can't really decipher the notched label dating thing, but there's a 4 involved.

A few years ago, I probably would have hated this. As it stands now, I really enjoyed it even if it didn't blow me away. And I'd actually like to try it again, so there is that. I've got a couple more coffee infused beers on the horizon as well, including a few more top 100 beers, so keep your eyes peeled for reviews.

Philly Beer Week is generally an occasion for special releases, brewery openings, and collaborations. The Brotherly Suds team of Philly area brewers always puts something interesting together, but the past two years have also seen a Belgo-Philly connection. There's a contest of sorts in which a lucky raffle winner picks a local brewer to go on a trip to Belgium and collaborate on an official Philly Beer Week brew. 2012's entry was a collaboration between Iron Hill and Brasserie Dupont, and it was quite nice.

What we have here today is the 2011 Belgo-Philly collaboration between De Proef and Sly Fox, Broederlijke Liefde (which means Brotherly Love in Dutch). It's a 37 IBU saison fermented with traditional yeast, then dosed with Brettanomyces for good measure. This bottle's a year and a half old, so it may be showing its age, but Brett beers tend to evolve interestingly over time, so let's see how this sucker is holding up:

De Proef and Sly Fox Broederlijke Liefde - Pours a cloudy bright golden orange color with a finger or two of fluffy white head, lots of lacing, great retention. Smells heavily of funk, earthy and fruity, maybe a little spice too. Taste is sweet and spicy, some bright fruit, relatively light on the funky Brett character, but it's there and it works. Mouthfeel is well carbonated and spicy, drying out towards the finish. Easy to drink, slight warming from alcohol, but nothing unpleasant. Overall, this is a really solid funky beer. Perhaps not in the running for best evar, but it's certainly worth a try if you can still find it. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 1/5/13. IBU: 37. Hops: Target and Styrian Golding.

I wish I sprang for some of this stuff back in 2011, just to see what it was like fresh. In any case, this year's collaboration was just announced, with Chris Wilson from Weyerbacher heading to Belgium to brew a beer at Brasserie de la Senne. No news yet as to what they'll be brewing, but I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be reading about it here sometime in the June timeframe.

What do you do when your bank threatens to chain your brewery's doors shut if you don't make your loan payments? Well, the owners of Founders went out and bought a pair of bolt cutters. Fortunately, they didn't have to resort to that backup plan, and the brewery has grown into one of the country's most respected beer makers. To celebrate their 15th anniversary, they released a beer named after said backup plan, a whopping 15% ABV barleywine. It's another blend, with some of the beer aged in bourbon barrels, some in bourbon barrels that were also used to age maple syrup (which, by the way, I'd like to get ahold of sometime), and some just straight up barleywine.

It's part of Founders' backstage series of beers that were previously only available on tap at their brewpub in Michigan, and as such, their was a fair amount of attention paid to the release by beer nerds. Nowhere near the shitstorm surrounding CBS, but not quite the resounding "meh" of Frangelic Mountain Brown (which I enjoyed well enough). So these showed up on shelves, but they didn't last long at all...

Founders Bolt Cutter - Pours a beautiful looking bright orange/amber color (roby tones, so much clarity), with half a finger of quickly subsiding head. On the other hand, I'm getting some lacing and there's a thin film of head that kind of retains itself all throughout the experience. Smells of rich caramel and vanilla, with some fruity malt character peeking through, some light citrusy, grassy hops, and maybe a hint of boozy bourbon heat. Taste is full of rich caramel, some fruity notes, with those citrusy hops taking on more of a flavor component than expected, a very light bourbon note hitting in the middle, and a surprising but welcome bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is much lighter than expected. Still on the upper end of medium bodied, but not as heavy or foreboding as I'd expect. Certainly not a quaffable beer, but not really a sipper either. Something you can take a swig of, but not quite a gulp (these are scientific terms here). As such, there's a big warming alcohol component, maybe a little burn in the mouth, but I gotta say, it's cold outside, so this is nice. A little stickiness in the finish, but it works with the tenor of the beer. Overall, this is really good. Not mind-blowingly spectacular, but close. Really strong, well crafted, complex, and tasty. Truth be told, it might be my favorite Founders beer... A-

Beer Nerd Details: 15% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/4/13.

Another rock-solid offering from Founders. I don't know what's next for them. There's supposed to be another Backstage release in April, but I don't think it's been announced yet (beer nerds are still salivating over the March release of KBS). Oh, and then there's that bottle of Founders Breakfast Stout that's been sitting in my fridge for almost exactly 2 years at this point (yes, I know, coffee is supposed to fade with time, but I actually didn't care for the regular Breakfast Stout, so that will probably be a good thing in my book).

The past few years, I've cracked open a big, effervescent saison beer to ring in the New Year. Such saisons are a solid fit for the occasion, but they're not quite the champagne of beers, which is clearly the Gueuze style. A blend of spontaneously fermented beer aged in oak, incorporating beer that's at least 2 years old, Gueuzes are also quite bright and effervescent. They are usually even caged and corked, just like champagne. Alas, I appear to have misplaced my sabre, so I had to open it the old fashioned way.

This Girardin variety seems to be pretty well regarded for a gueuze not made by Cantillon or Drie Fonteinen, so let's see how 2013 began, beerwise:

Girardin Black Label Gueuze 1882 - Pours a bright orange color, slightly hazy, with a finger of white head. Smells of fruity funk, with that twang that indicates sourness. Taste is very sweet, with some tart fruit hitting in the middle and evolving into true sourness in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but crisp, well carbonated, drinkable, but that sweetness gets to be a bit much as you finish this off. Still, it's all pretty well done. Not quite the revelation that, say, Tilquin was, but very good in its own way. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (375 ml, caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/1/13.

The sour march goes on, some other exciting stuff in the pipeline too, so stay tuned.

I've more or less run out of beer puns for beer clubs, so you'll just have to deal with it. I know, you all love puns, so you're all broken up about it, but you'll just have to deal. Beer club is a meeting of beer minded individuals from my work who get together for a meal and lots-o-beer once a month. As per usual, this gathering is anchored by a core group of stalwarts, along with assorted return guest stars. So it was a solid turnout, lots of beer, good BBQ and just an all around good time.

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In accordance with tradition, my thoughts on each beer we sampled are recorded below for posterity. Standard disclaimers regarding non-ideal tasting isolation conditions apply, so all you pedants better stay frosty, as nearly all of this will be untrustworthy/awesome. Roughly in order of tasting (not necessarily the order in the above picture):

• Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer - Things started off on a bizarre note. It's basically alcoholic ginger ale, which is fine for what it is, I guess, and definitely attracts the non-beer folk due to it's high sweetness and ginger spicing, but I found it kinda poopy. It's actually good that we had it in this sort of setting where I only had to try a tiny sample, but I'll give it a D, because fuck ginger beer. Seriously guiz.
• Belhaven Scottish Ale - Belhaven is supposed to be one of the top Scottish ale styles out there, but man, we must have gotten a bad bottle. It has that gross diacetyl buttery flavor that I get out of a lot of British pale ales and have grown to hate. I'm not sure if that's just the beer, or if it's the clear bottle, or what, but it felt kinda skunky too. Not totally undrinkable, but I was again glad that I only took a very small sample of the stuff. D
• Abita Jockamo IPA - While a big improvement over my first two tastes of the night, this strikes me as being a fairly unremarkable IPA. It reminds me of the sort of thing you'd get in a John Harvard's brewpub, circa 1998. Totally an improvement over BMC (or, since we're talking about my college years, Natty/Beast), but nothing special at all. A nice hop aroma, but a taste that fell a little flat and bland. B-
• Old Forge Overbite IPA - Ahhh, now that's more like it. A really nice semi-local IPA, lots of that citrusy, floral hop goodness, maybe a little pine too, was a real breath of fresh air after the first three beers of the evening. It's not a world beater, to be sure, but these guys are totally making a name for themselves in the Philly area, and this makes for a pleasant enough IPA. B+
• Birrificio Del Ducato Nuova Mattina - Guest star Steve contributed this very nice Italian beer to the proceedings, a Belgian style pale with lots of sharp carbonation, sweet and spicy (lots of spices used in making this, and they contribute, but not overwhelmingly so), bready, with a touch of light fruit. Overall, it's got a really nice rustic quality, an almost quaffable beer, really enjoyable. B+
• Widmer Brrr - A totally solid winter warmer, pretty light on the spices actually, though it works well enough. It's not the sort of thing that stands out in a tasting like this, but it's totally serviceable and would probably get the job done if needed. B
• Kaedrin Christmas Ale (2011) - A vintage bottle of my very own homebrew? It's still doing pretty well, actually, though I do believe it has peaked and is now on a bit of a downward swing. It's still retained that sorta creamy vanilla caramel base, and the spices are still there, particularly clove with a hint of cinnamon, though those are diminished from last year. It's held up about as well as I could have hoped, though it's not quite as fantastic as it once was. B+
• Allagash Fluxus 2012 - Another of my contributions for the night, it's a totally solid Belgian pale ale, actually quite similar to that Nuova Mattina beer, though with less carbonation. Still, a very nice Belgian yeast character, spicy and biscuity. Not especially a standout, especially amongst Allagash's lineup, but a solid beer nonetheless. This could be tasting fatigue setting in, but I'll go with min instinctual rating of a B
• Traquair House Jacobite - Ah, now this is a Scottish brewery I can get behind. Of course, this is a slightly stronger style, but I like me some Wee Heavy/Scotch Ales, and this is a pretty superb example of the style. Big rich malt character, brown sugar, some fruitiness, a light booziness, and all of this is very well balanced against each other. Truly a solid beer, and widely available too, well worth checking out for the Scotch Ale fan and a contender for best of the night. A-
• Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale - Once again, this might be tasting fatigue setting in, but I was expecting more out of this. Don't get me wrong, it's a totally good beer. Not very red in appearance, but it certainly smells/tastes like an imperial red, big, well integrated citrus and pine hops mixed with those crystal and red malts. Very nice, would like to try again in better conditions. For now, we'll give it a provisional B+
• DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus - Perhaps the strangest beer of the night, but it worked surprisingly well. You could say it's gimmicky, it being a "Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter", but this is quite possibly the perfect beer for a tasting like this. Exclamations of "Whoa" and "It smells like peanut butter" all around the table. It tasted like peanut butter brownies that were perhaps a bit overcookied so that you got that roastiness. Kinda like the edge/corner piece (which, you know, I love). It worked surprisingly well in this setting. I have no idea how I'd react if I were to drink an entire bottle, but I'm feeling generous enough to hand it a B+ (though it's probably more of a B)
• Victory Oak Horizontal - Another of my contributions for the night, it's just as good as I remembered it. The bourbon, while prominent, was not overpowering at all, which endeared it to some folks who don't tend to like bourbon. Still an A- and a fitting end to the evening.

Another Belgian Strong Dark from Ommegang, I wasn't sure if I'd go for this "extremely limited" release, but dammit, they put it in a tin canister thingy and I'm powerless against fancy packaging. So here we are. I'm not sure exactly what makes this worthy of their 15th anniversary, aside from the fact that it's big and dark and strong. They claim it's unlike any other ale they've brewed, but I can think of two obviously similar beers in their lineup. How does this stack up to the solid but straightforward seasonal Art of Darkness? Or, for that matter, the admittedly unique and most excellent staple beer that is nonetheless big and strong and dark, Three Philosophers? Only one way to find out:

Ommegang XV - 15th Anniversary Ale - Pours a dark brown color with amber highlights and half a finger of bubbly tan head. Smells faintly of Belgian yeast, a little spicy with biscuit and maybe a hint of fruit. Taste is sweet, lots of spice from that Belgian yeast, some caramel, a non-roasty chocolate character that's really nice and perhaps unique (definitely sets it apart from Ommegang's other Belgian Strong Dark styled beers). Mouthfeel is well carbonated, almost but not quite effervescent, medium bodied, relatively dry for such a big beer, though there's a bit of stickiness in the finish. It's all rather well balanced though, and that's a good indicator that Ommegang is hitting on all cylinders. They're at their best when they're doing stuff like this. Overall, an easy drinking, very well balanced, complex brew, worthy of a look, though it's a pretty steep price tag. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.6% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 12/31/12.

Ommegang has recently gained some notoriety for partnering with HBO to create a series of Game of Thrones beers. The first beer looks to be a relatively ho-hum affair, a 6.5% blonde ale. Certainly will be approachable for the non-beer-nerd fans of the series, but I'd be more excited if they did something really wacky. I can't say as though I'm excited by this. I like Game of Thrones fine, and Ommegang was the brewery that got me into beer, but somehow this combination isn't doing it for me. I suppose it will prove beneficial to both companies though, and as corporate tie-ins go, this is much better than most. I do wish success on Ommegang though - maybe if they can make enough money, they'll start an actual sour program or something (they've made overtures in that direction in the past, but nothing regular).

Tired Hands held a bottle release today, which, as far as I know, is their first official such event (I've heard tell of mythic one-off bottles, and even seen a few empties floating around as decorations, but I'm pretty sure this is the first real release). Approximately 500 bottles of wine barrel aged FarmHands (a saison, one of their two mainstay house beers) was available, and it sold out in less than an hour. Here at Kaedrin, we're big fans of Tired Hands, so we made sure we were there. Not a particularly nice day to wait in line outside, but I'd guesstimate that around a hundred folks were in line ahead of me, and it looked like the supply was dwindling mightily by the time I got my share. As per usual, all the beer dorks on line were amiable folk, so it was a good enough time, and I'm glad that I didn't arrive too late to get my greedy paws on some of this stuff.

Alrighty, that's enough preamble, let's get this party started:

Tired Hands HandFarm - Pours a bright but hazy straw yellow color with half a finger of white head. Smells funky, lots of vinous aromas from the wine barrel, some musty, spicy farmhouse yeast character too. Taste is sweet, again lots of vinous white wine flavor here, but the more traditional FarmHands flavors (musty yeast, some grainy malt complexity, a little spice) come through in the middle. A nice sharp sourness also hits pretty quickly, and a pleasant tartness continues through the finish. Not a ton of oak, but it's there too, blended well with everything else. Mouthfeel is lightly but appropriately carbonated, a little pleasant acidity that delivers the sourness, but it's crisp and bright, and it's an easy drinker. It's not super dry, but it makes overtures in that direction. Overall, this is a well crafted, balanced, complex beer and I'm happy I got my hands on some. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.2% ABV bottled (500 ml wax dipped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 1/13/12.

So this is some pretty great stuff. For any Tired Hands experts out there, I'd put this a peg above Mysterious Mood, another barrel aged saison they did this past summer (which, actually, has a pretty good reputation). I guess this means I'll be hitting up Tired Hands bottle releases semi-regularly too. Fingers crossed for some Westy 13, which I really grew to love when it was on tap. I have, of course, got a bunch of other Tired Hands reviews in the pipeline somewhere, but I wanted to get this one out as soon as I drank it... I'll save those other ones for another speed round or something. Great stuff, as always. Indeed, their Domo, a black rye saison aged in a blend of Weyerbacher Insanity barrels and Chaddsford red wine barrels, is another fantastic sour beer, lots of sour cherry goodness. Ok, I'll stop now, as I could probably just ramble on and on about these guys. Here's to hoping they can keep this momentum up...

La Trappe always seems like a lesser Trappist due to the fact that they're the only one not located in Belgium. On the other hand, they seem to be the only Trappist that does much in the way of creative new beers. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Breweries like Chimay and Westmalle trace their recipes back to the 19th and early 20th century, originating and codifying some of the styles we know and love today, like dubbels and tripels. La Trappe, on the other hand, coined the nebulous style Quadrupel way back... in the 1990s. And they're still going. Both of today's beers were first released within the past couple years (though one is simply an old beer that was barrel aged).

Alas, since I have no pre-bankruptcy Hostess snacks to pair these with, I had to settle for my normal pairing of beers with movies. In this case, since we have two very different beers, one relatively light (but not super pale), one relatively big and dark, I went with the cinematic whiplash pairing of ParaNorman and A Separation. I can't say as though I recommend the pairing, but each movie was pretty good in its own right, especially A Separation, which I found a little languid at the start, but slowly and deceptively turned into a captivating movie. I felt sorta like the frog placed in cold water that was slowly heated to boiling, cooking me alive in the process. Or something. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, beer:

Koningshoeven La Trappe Isid'or - When I first saw this, I thought it was a Lord of the Rings tie-in (Yeah, yeah, not the same spelling, so sue me in nerd court. I'll totally go free because of the Irony defense.) But no, this was brewed to celebrate the 125th anniversary of La Trappe, and is named after their first brewer, Brother Isidorus. It pours a hazy light brownish orange amber color with tons of fluffy white head. Smells of fruity, spicy Belgian yeast, one of them bananas and clove affairs. Taste is sweet and spicy, again with the lighter fruits and lots of Belgian yeast spice, more malt character than you typically get out of a Belgian pale, but it's not a dubbel or anything. It's actually a hard beer to classify, which isn't to surprising whenever you're talking about Belgian beers, but it's very fruity and doesn't really fit in with the usual pales, nor is it particularly dark. Somewhere inbetween. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, spicy, relatively dry, all in good proportions. Overall, a very well crafted Belgian ale. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (11.2 oz) Drank out of a goblet on 12/30/12.

Koningshoeven La Trappe Quadrupel Barrique (Oak Aged) - Batch #7 - I previously had batch #3 of the oak aged Quadrupel and really enjoyed it. That one was aged in a mixture of new oak, old Port wine barrels, and previously used quadrupel barrels, and it was all a pretty great match with the beer style. This time around, we've got a batch that was aged in old Scotch barrels. The distilleries in question (Bowmore, Tamdhu, Strathspey and Laphroaig) seem to be a mix of Speyside and Islay, which can be troubling. In particular, I've found that beers aged in old Islay Scotch barrels are a bit challenging in that the peaty, smoky flavors really tend to overpower the beer. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Islay Scotch (Ardbeg 10 is a standard at my house, and their Uigeadail is a recent acquisition that I'm sure will find a place in the rotation), but mixing those strong flavors with a beer that is as highly attenuated as this seems to be a lot trickier than, say, mixing stouts with bourbon. I thought perhaps the Speysides would calm things down a bit, and indeed, this isn't the worst attempt at an Islay barrel aged beer, but it's not particularly special either.

Pours a dark brown color with some orangey amber highlights and almost no head, just a ring of bubbly stuff around the edge of the glass. The smell is mostly Scotch, lots of peat, some smoke, and some of that base Quadrupel spiciness and fruitiness, though the Scotch character is clearly the star here. Taste is all Scotch, lots of peat, but that smokey, medicinal character comes out a lot more here and overpowers things. Mouthfeel is much less carbonated than the usual quad, making this feel a little gloopy. Overall, this is a lot less balanced than the regular Quadrupel or even Batch #3, and the flavors just aren't meshing well. As it warms up, things even out a bit, and like I said, I like me some Islay Scotch, but it's still not working that well. C+

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 12/30/12.

It looks like Batch #7 is the odd man out, a misfire in a series of otherwise pretty well received oak aged beers. Batch #8 is supposed to also use Scotch barrels, but they blended that with new oak, which I think could really help tone down some of that peaty, smokey flavor (the reviews on RateBeer and Beer Advocate seem to bear that out). Batches 9 through 11 were aged in old Malbec barrels, and batch 12 used old Bourbon and Cognac barrels. So yeah, pretty much every batch of this sounds great, but avoid #7.

Another top 100 beer from Midwest ballers and abnormal label art masters, Three Floyds. Behind Zombie Dust and various barrel aged versions of Dark Lord that I'll probably never see, this DIPA is nevertheless well celebrated by beer nerds. Beer Advocate recently made some "controversial" changes to their ratings scheme, so I think this one fell down the ranks a bit, and we all know that the opinions of a bunch of strangers on the internet are usually dead on, so this is vexing. Still, being ranked 75th in the world is pretty sweet. Let's not waste any more time and get to it:

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA - Pours a clear golden color with a finger or two of white, fluffy head. Smells wonderful, sugary sweetness with tons of citrus and pine. Taste starts off sweet, very light crystal malt character, but then the mango and grapefruit emerge quickly and continue into the finish, along with some floral and pine notes. It finishes with a nice bracing bitterness, which is impressive considering the high ABV. As it warms, the floral notes open up and become more prominent in both the nose and taste. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, crisp and clean, maybe just the slightest hints of stickiness, but again, this is pretty good for such a big beer. Overall, this is a fantastic beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/29/12.

I would put this about on par with Double Jack and Gemeni. It's maybe slightly beefier in terms of malts than Double Jack, but perhaps not quite as much as Gemeni. I don't know the hop schedule of this one, but I suspect there's some of that cascade/simcoe and centennial going on, wither perhaps a few others, which I believe puts it right in the same playing field. But I'll tell you one thing, Dreadnaught tastes a whole lot harder to get than those two. That being said, I may need to start trading with more Midwesterners, just to keep up a supply of Three Floyds stuff, which has been uniformly impressive.

The two main Rodenbach beers are blends of oak-aged beer and "young" beer. The Grand Cru is mostly 2 year old oak aged beer, while the Classic leans more heavily on the young beer. Well, a few years ago, Rodenbach started putting out these Vintage beers, which are unblended and comprised solely of 2 year old oak aged beer from a single foeder (the giant oak vats they use to age their beer). This particular bottle was released back in 2011 and came into my possession by a fortuitous turn of events. By which I mean that it was sitting on the shelf and I happened to pick this over the 2010 edition... I'm a huge fan of the Grand Cru, so my hopes were high for this one:

Rodenbach 2009 Vintage Oak Aged Ale (Barrel No. 145) - Pours a relatively clear, dark amber brown color (robey tones, so much clarity) with half a finger of bubbly white head. Smells of vinous fruit, cherries, oak, and vanilla, with that sour twang. Taste starts off very sweet and fruity, tons of sour cherry flavor, maybe some jolly rancher, all of which is more prominent than the Grand Cru. The sweet and sour vinegar character is more prominent than the Grand Cru, but then the oak and vanilla kicks in, tempering that sweetness a bit, evening out the brew. Sourness is present and assertive, but not overpowering. Mouthfeel is a little brighter and more acidic than the Grand Cru, but it's well carbonated, rich, and full bodied. The sourness keeps it from feeling heavy though, and it goes down pretty easy. Overall, this is fantastic stuff, a little more vinegar and less oak than the Grand Cru (odd, considering the unblended nature of this one), but certainly worthy. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/28/12.

Rodenbach Grand Cru is one of those beers that turned me into a lover of sour beer, so perhaps it's hard for these other vintages to stack up. They clearly share a similar character, and I'll probably continue to seek out any of Rodenbach's specialty batches, but the Grand Cru just hit my tastes perfectly.

I bought this beer a while ago, and then I saw on the interwebs that the next iteration (XV) was just released, so I figured it was finally time to raid the cellar and drink this sucker. I'm a big fan of the regular Old Rasputin, and that resilient video-game-boss-like historical figure is pretty interesting too, plus we all know my thoughts on barrel aging, so I was excited for this one (despite the rather high price tag):

North Coast Old Rasputin XIV Anniversary - Pours a very dark brown color with a finger of tan head, great retention, tons of lacing. Smells of bourbon, oak, vanilla, caramel, and that citrus and pine hop character from the regular Old Rasputin... Taste features that rich bourbon and caramel flavor, some oak and vanilla, maybe a hint of that roasted malt character, and some light hop bitterness in the finish. Not like a Black IPA or anything, though this does retain a lot of hop flavor. The bitterness is appropriate for a big stout though. Mouthfeel starts rich and chewy, but it dries out a bit, finishing with seemingly less body. Sometimes I don't like that, but it works well here. Ample carbonation also helps cut the rich flavors while still allowing them to shine. Overall, a very good Bourbon Barrel aged stout, though I don't know that it really warrants the price tag. Still, if I ever run across a cheaper bottle of the stuff, I'll pick it up in a heartbeat. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 12/28/12.

This is a sneaky one. I thought it was a 22 oz bottle, and it certainly looks at least bomber sized, but it's only 500 ml (16.9 oz). You can get a 4 pack of BCBS for a couple bucks more (and if some BA nerds are to be believed, some places jack up the price of BA Rasputin to well above that, on the order of $26-$30 which is a little ridiculous), and that stuff will kick your arse. Not that this is bad, the A- is nothing to whine about and I'm glad I tried it, but still. North Coast has not endeared themselves to me with these prices (Old Stock Cellar Reserve is no slouch in that department either, though at least that bottle looks like 500 ml). I'm sure they're all broken up about it.

On the first Friday of every month, there's a beer blog roundup called The Session. Someone picks a topic, and everyone blogs about it. John at Homebrew Manual wants to know about everyone's relationship with beer and how it's made. He poses a series of questions on the topic:

Do you brew? If so why? If not, why not?

I have dabbled with homebrewing for a few reasons. First, I'm a huge nerd and actually did want to know more about beer and how all of its various characteristics were achieved, etc... But from my perspective, it was more about making something out here in the physical world. I recognized at some point that while I have participated in a lot of creative activities, both personally and professionally, most of what I've produced is virtual (i.e. most of my creative endeavors have primarily been done on a computer). There's nothing wrong with that, per say, but I wanted to make something out here in meatspace. So homebrewing has helped me scratch that itch, and I love beer, so it's been a really fun process.

How does that affect your enjoyment of drinking beer?

It's given me more perspective in what I like about beer, and I feel like my palate has become more attuned as a result. It also helps me understand what brewers are talking about, separating actual process from marketing fluff, and so on. In general, I think of all of this as a positive development, and I think I enjoy beer more now than I did a few years ago. I do think there's a danger in becoming too well versed in this, though I'm not really all that sure either (some of the other questions get into this, so see more below).

Do you need to brew to appreciate beer?

Of course not. In my mind, appreciation and enjoyment are easy. You don't need to know how something was made in order to appreciate or enjoy it. Indeed, I would say that most people don't know how the majority of things they use on a day to day basis are made, but that doesn't stop anyone from appreciating that stuff. Now, perhaps those that brew beer have a greater appreciation... or perhaps not. It's all very subjective.

Do you enjoy beer more not knowing how it's made?

This is sorta the flip side of the previous question, and like I said, it's all very subjective. Life is what you make of it, and enjoyment comes in many flavors. I think knowledge of brewing can be a benefit, or a curse. I recently came across some quotes from Mark Twain's book Life on the Mississippi, wherein he discusses the details of how he became a steamboat pilot. He learned to read the river, looking for subtle signs on the surface of the water that indicated danger, or where currents were strongest:

The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful book--a book that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger, but which told its mind to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as if it uttered them with a voice. And it was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day.

Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river!

If you brew, can you still drink a beer just for fun?

Well, I certainly have no problem doing so. Would someone who has achieved a Twain level of mastery be able to? I would assume so.

Can you brew without being an analytical drinker?

This is a tough one, because I was an analytical drinker even before I brewed anything. I'd like to think that my analysis is better now that I brew, but I think we again come back to the subjective nature of the process. Are there brewers out there who can't help themselves but to analyze the beer they're drinking to death, even whilst in a social engagement? Probably. But I suspect most brewers would be able to turn off such analysis in at least some situations, alcohol being a social lubricant and all that. I certainly don't seem to have any problem doing so.

Do brewers get to the point where they're more impressed by technical achievements than sensory delight?

I think that's certainly possible, though I don't think it's an inevitable occurrence. In particular, I think a lot of brewers have become obsessed with strange and weird ingredients (I'm looking at you, Dogfish Head!) There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but my favorite beers tend to have a pretty straightforward set of ingredients. Oh, and they taste good. That's ultimately the bar that needs to be set for a question like this, and I think there are some breweries out there that take the whole experimental angle perhaps a bit too far, I think they're ultimately doing so in the hopes of opening up new avenues of sensory delight, which I can hardly fault them for. You never know until you try.

Does more knowledge increase your awe in front of a truly excellent beer?

I think it does, and actually, I think more knowledge has expanded the scope of what I'd consider truly excellent beer. There are a number of beer styles or flavor profiles that I've found to be an acquired taste, and I think knowledge has helped unlock some of the secrets of such brews. Of course, knowledge comes in many different forms, one being knowledge of other beers, another being how a given beer was made.

Ultimately, I beer is what we want it to be. It can be enjoyed with or without context, and while knowledge may change the ways in which one appreciates beer, it need not prevent enjoyment.

Let's talk label artwork for a minute here. Three Floyds obviously employs talented artists for their labels and branding, but on the other hand, what the hell? Their main logo has a skull with batwings attached, kinda like an Ed Hardy dudebro logo. Then there's the label for Broo Doo, their fresh hop harvest ale. It features what appears to be a troll doll in a sailor's outfit, but instead of the typically furry hair, we've got a sorta hop/hair hybrid thing going on. Now, this is a little odd, but kinda par for the course in terms of beer labels. However, in the background, there's also a unicorn attempting to perform a Lucio Fulci-esque eye gouging maneuver on what appears to be a Disney princess (update: it may be Princess Peach, but the jury is still out on that one). And behind that, there's a fairy tale castle on fire with a rainbow flying over it. None of which mentions the outer portion of the label, which is all pastels, neon swishes, and stars, like something out of My Little Pony. In a bit of self-awareness, they have at least emblazoned the sides of the labels with the slogan: "It's not Normal" Well, they got that right.

I can't decide if it's the worst or most awesomest label ever, but in any case, it's what's inside the bottle that counts, so let's get to it:

Three Floyds Broo Doo Harvest Ale - Pours a clear golden (they say "apricot") color with a finger of white head. Nose is all citrus and piney, with some floral and grassy, herbal, almost spicy hop notes coming through too. The taste has a crystal malt sweetness that provides a nice platform for the various hop flavors, which tend more towards that grassy, herbal, almost spicy side than the nose, though the citrus and pine are still quite prevalent. It could just be my imagination, but it does feel like the age has subdued some of that hop character, making this more sweet than I'm guessing it is when fresh. No info on exactly what hop varieties are used, but I'm guessing Simcoe/Cascade, Centennial, and maybe some CTZ, but who knows? Mouthfeel is crisp, well carbonated, medium bodied. Not quite something I'd call quaffable, but it's still very easy to drink. Overall, another strong offering from FFF, I really like it, though I don't think there's much to differentiate it from the throngs of similar beers and it's far from the best harvest ale I've had (but then, there is the freshness factor). A tentative B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/23/12.

I've got a few more FFF beers left in the pipeline, but hoo, I'm going to want to get me some more of their stuff at some point. They are seriously pretty awesome at this whole beer thing.

Tröegs Scratch series of beers is always interesting, but every once in a while, they hit on something great. This beer, brewed in honor of (or perhaps to spite) the (now lapsed) Mayan apocalypse, is a big imperial stout. Their description sez: "If your tongue doesn't disintegrate as a result of the birthday party cheesecake jellybean BOOM, it most certainly will wreak major havoc on your taste buds." I don't know what the "birthday party cheesecake jellybean BOOM" thing means at all, but I stumbled onto this beer on tap, and it melted my face. Makes me wish I made the trip out to Hershey to pick up some bottles. But who knows, maybe they'll make this an addition to their regular lineup, a la Flying Mouflan. A man can hope.

Tröegs Scratch Beer 83 - 2012 (¿Impending Descent?) - Pours a deep black color with a finger of brown head. Smells lightly of chocolate and a little roast - not a strong aroma, but that's more the bar/glass than the beer (this has happened before at this place). Taste is full of rich malt sweetness, light caramel and plenty of chocolate with just a hint of roastiness peeking through and lingering into the aftertaste. Nice, well balanced bitterness in the finish. It's a great imperial stout flavor profile. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, gooey, and a little chewy. Lightly carbonated but enough to be appropriate for the style. It's a big, heavy beer, a sipping beer, but I really don't detect much booze at all either, which is impressive. Overall, fantastic, absolutely delicious beer. I want moar. A

Beer Nerd Details: 10.9% ABV on tap. Drank out of a goblet on 12/23/12.

This could easily have made my top 40 for 2012, but I had lazily let the notes linger in Evernote instead of reviewing it. Perhaps I'll make an exception for next year. If I remember. I doubt there are any bottles of this hanging around, but if I see any, I'm going to snatch them up.

It's going to be a good year in beer:

(Click for a bigger version)

For the record, that's Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout, The Bruery Black Tuesday, Fantôme La Dalmatienne, New Glarus Serendipity, Founders Bolt Cutter, and Three Floyds Dark Lord. And that doesn't include some other recent and exciting acquisitions. 2013 is shaping up to be a good one... at least, in terms of beer.