August 2013 Archives

While Operation Cheddar was predicated on acquiring beer from the Holy Triumvirate of Vermont Brewers (Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist, and Lawson's Finest Liquids), I was also pleased to pick up a few random bottles from Vermont breweries that I'd never heard of. This one is from Foley Brothers, a small family business consisting of an Inn, a winery, and most recently, a brewery. The brewery is less than a year old, but they seem to be churning out some solid stuff. Not Hill Farmstead level hyped stuff, but this brown ale brewed with VT grown hops and maple syrup sounded pretty tasty, so I took a flyer on a bottle at the Warren Store:

Foley Brothers Native Brown Ale - Pours a clear brown color with a solid three fingers of fluffy tan head and plenty of lacing. Smells of your typical toasty brown malts, with a sweet, almost fruity kick, presumably from the maple syrup. The taste has that same sweet maple syrup kick to it, which sorta puts the brakes on your typical brown malts, though they still peek out for some toasty fun in the middle and finish. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, medium bodied, with some richness up front yielding to dryness in the middle and finish. Overall, this is a very good Brown Ale, a style I'm not normally really big on, but this gives it a nice twist. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7.2% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of an Alchemist pint glass on 8/25/13.

I'd certainly be curious to try more from these fellas. Their Redbeards Ale, while not garnering much the way of ratings, certainly sounds interesting (a hoppy strong red ale)...

Of the holy triumvirate of Vermont brewers, Lawson's Finest Liquids seems to be the smallest and most obscure. The Alchemist puts out a ton of Heady every week (that it sells out every week is another matter, but they're still at least a couple orders of magnitude bigger than Lawson's), and Hill Farmstead manages to distribute the occasional keg to Philly, meaning that they seem to have something to spare every now and again. The same cannot be said for Lawson's. When I made my trek to Vermont the other day, the Warren Store had received 19 cases of Double Sunshine IPA, 16 of which had sold by the time I arrived at about 10:30 am. As near as I can tell, this is a weekly occurrence. As of a few years ago, Lawson's capacity was two 1 bbl batches a week, which is absolutely minuscule by industry standards (even craft standards), almost like a slightly scaled up homebrewing operation. I suspect that Sean Lawson has increased capacity since then, but it's still tiny.

All of which is to say that I'm pretty fortunate to have snagged a few bottles of this gem, a Double IPA that is prized like few others. It holds the #12 slot on Beer Advocate's top beers list with sky high ratings and plenty of ISOs. It's so popular that Lawson's has declared August "Double Sunshine Month" and is distributing nothing but Double Sunshine all month. Details on the brew are a bit sparse, but I'm guessing a significant presence of Citra hops, that most hallowed of trendy hops. Let's see how it fares:

Lawson's Finest Liquids Double Sunshine IPA - Pours a mostly clear golden orange color with a finger or two of white, fluffy head that fades quickly but leaves plenty of lacing. Smell is filled with herbal, floral, grassy, and citrus hop aromas, quite nice and complex. Taste follows the nose, very sweet with tons of hop character, plenty of those grassy, floral notes along with pleasant citrus, followed by a light, balancing bitterness towards the finish. Mouthfeel is smooth and velvety, medium bodied, tight carbonation, refreshing, almost quaffable (well, I'm drinking it pretty damn quickly). No real evidence of booze here at all. Would be great to drink out in the sun (or, uh, double sun). Overall, yep, it's fantastic beer. A complex array of aromas and flavors that are mostly due to just the hops, which is awesome. Top tier stuff. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of an Only Void snifter on 8/23/13.

With my first taste, Lawson's Finest Liquids lives up to their name (which I love) and proves themselves worthy of the excessive detour. I will gladly go far out of my way to get some more of their stuff, and you'll definitely be hearing more about these folks in the future. Hopefully the near future, but damn, Vermont is far away!

It's been a few months since I recapped some Tired Hands brews, and these notes have just been piling up, so I figure it's time to pull that trigger and share the wealth with you all... Of course, most of this stuff will probably never see the light of day again, but some of the big ones will probably be brewed again...

Tortoise - 6.7% ABV Brett Amber Ale - Dark amber brown, funky nose. Funk is reminiscent of the Darwin Solera series, some earthiness and even a touch of salinity. Stronger malt backbone makes this a little more complex than the Darwin series, which is nice. Good stuff! B+

Perfect Hole in One - 6.5% ABV IPA - Counter programming because the PGA tour was in town... A typically great IPA, huge citrus & pine notes, very Simcoe, really nice. A-

Guillemot - 8.5% ABV Dense & Dark Oak Aged Saison - This is sorta the base beer for Guillemot Nebula (and Prunus). Dark, slightly sour, nice balance with a creamy malt backbone. Really smooth and creamy, with a slight acidic kick in the finish. Strong beer, maybe not quite as great as Nebula was, but still a worthy A-

Cassie - 6% ABV Motueka Farmhouse IPA - A delicious mash up of the saison and IPA styles, really well matched hop to saison ratio, better than their singel hop saison Motueka (and most of the others in the singel hop series)... Delicious and quaffable. I really loved this beer. A

5 out of 5 - 10% ABV Imperial Stout brewed with cacao, peanut butter, marshmallow, PA maple syrup, vanilla beans, and One Village Coffee espresso beans. They gave a concise tasting note at the brewpub: "Notes of everything in the description" Big roasted malt notes in the nose, with all that wacky stuff showing up more in the taste. Definitely a stout, but lots of other stuff going on... Super complex, really weird, but really well done. Not even a hint of booze. Not quaffable or anything, but not a monster either. Some folks don't like Tired Hands' stouts, but I actually really enjoyed this. A-

Sunbather IPA - 5.8% ABV honey Meyer lemon hibiscus IPA - Wow, very pretty orange amber color, not your typical tired hands pale (which is cloudy straw yellow). Lots of floral hop notes (or maybe that's the hibiscus?) and lots of citrus (again, both from hops and other ingredients). Tasty stuff, really nice. A-

Due to an equipment malfunction TH lost a batch of DIPA and to fill the taps, they dipped into their cellars supply of aged, Brett dosed saisons:

Tavna - 6.6% ABV blended Brett saison - Solid beer with Tired Hands' trademark Brett character, salty, spicy. Great nose. Solid taste, not super quaffable, but good stuff. B+

Whalagos - 7.5% ABV Well aged blended saison - Similar to Tavna, but with more of a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, really nice. Mouthfeel definitely puts this one ahead of Tavna... A-

Singel Hop Saison Pacifica - 5% ABV - Usual cloudy straw yellow, bubbly white head. Nose hits with a sorta green hop character, reminiscent of the Pacific Jade version, and the taste bears that out. Grassy, a little earth, and typical peppery saison goodness. B+

Sleep - 7.6% ABV chamomile saison - Cloudy golden orange color with a finger of creamy head. Seems to have that trademark Tired Hands salty funk going on, but it works well. B+

We Are 138 - 7.6% ABV India Black Ale, brewed with pineapple - Black color, tan head, very nice nose, that pineapple coming through and matching well with those citrus & pine hops. No roast in the nose, but it comes out a bit in the taste, which is still very hop forward. Nice balance though, and very tasty. Overall, really great, delicious beer. A-

We Are All Infinite Energy Vibrating At The Same Frequency - 6.2% IPA - Mostly clear golden color, amazing juicy citrus hop nose, tastes fantastic. Top tier IPA! A

Mr.Alien - 4% ABV Berliner Weiss - Nice refreshing beer, just a bit on the tart side, really easy drinking, decent stuff... B+

... (Ellipsis) - 7.6% ABV red hued Brett dubbel - Nice amberish color, that Tired Hands Brett in the nose, but hot damn does it match well with the base beer. Nice spicy Belgian yeast, with those dark fruit flavors, and that almost salty funk character tying it all together. I originally pegged this as an A-, but had another glass on a subsequent visit and it totally warrants an upgrade. Really superb stuff. A

Phantom With Three Different Colored Eyes - 8% ABV citrus IPA - Whoa! Nice citrusy pine hop nose, but the taste and mouthfeel are absurdly great. It's got an almost creamy texture, with a great balance of sweetness from the malt and bitterness from the hops, and that juicy citrus holding it all together. Just superb! A

Penelope - 6.4% Farmhouse IPA - Typical cloudy light yellow color, nice Tired Hands funk in the nose along with some citrus hop aromas. Taste has that Tired Hands funk too, a little Belgian yeast spice, and some hops. Crisp, smoove, very easy drinking. B+

Kickphone iFlip - 5.5% ABV Citra & Amarillo IPA - A great light IPA, typical Tired Hands profile, beautiful citrus hop character, off the charts drinkable. A-

Pleasant - 5.8% ABV hoppy black ale, Simcoe single hopped - Nice looking beer, black with light brown head, but I'm not getting as much Simcoe out of this as I was hoping for. Still a nice beer, and if I didn't just have some superb TH stuff, this might get rated better. B

HappyHands - 5.2% ABV heirloom tomato Berliner Weiss - Well, yeah, that tomato actually comes through. Nice sharp acidic bite to this one. I'm not a big tomato person, so this isn't my favorite, but it's obviously well crafted. B

The Rest of Your Life - 6.4% ABV classic modern saison - A really nice saison, not quite funky, though its got that farmhouse feel. Typical Tired Hands stuff here, which is to say that it's great, if a bit straightforward. B+

Safe & Sound - 4.5% ABV crushable IPA - Pours a surprisingly dark color, murky brown (maybe some amber highlights), nice malt and hop combo, maybe some rye or oats going on here, surprisingly full bodied for such a small beer... I don't know that I would have ever pegged this as an IPA, but it's still pretty good for whatever style it is... B+

Singel Hop Saison Citra - 5% ABV - I'm surprised that Citra is not quite as potent as some of the others in this singel hop series, but this is still pretty damn good! A-

And that takes us up to stuff that was just tapped yesterday. See you in a few months with more Tired Hands goodness. Or maybe sooner if they have another quick bottle release...

Here at Kaedrin, we pine after Hill Farmstead like Wolverine, and I just got done explaining how I took a day out of my vacation to drive to Vermont and pick up some of their beers. Some of those beers were only available in growlers, which are not vessels to age in your cellar. Fortunately, it's not like we're going to slack off when it comes to Hill Farmstead beers, which don't last long in this household. So let's get this party started:

Hill Farmstead Susan - Another in HF's ancestral series, this is one I hadn't heard of, so I jumped on it. It's an IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe (par for the course, everyone loves these suckers), and Riwaka (I'd never heard of this, apparently a New Zealand varietal) hops. Pours a cloudy golden yellow color with a finger of fluffy white head and lacing out the yin yang. Holy mango nose, Batman! Huge, juicy citrus hops in the nose, grapefruit and mango, just a fantastic aroma here. Taste follows the nose, lots of that juicy citrus hop flavor up front, with a pleasant, well-matched bitterness doing its thing towards the middle to finish, but ultimately the fruity citrus returns in the finish. I'm actually guessing that the Riwaka hops are what's giving this that unique mango twist that isn't quite like your typical trendily-hopped beers. Mouthfeel is light bodied, smooth, and almost creamy, well carbonated with tight little bubbles that give it that smooth/creamy texture. Utterly quaffable, my first glass was gone before I finished the first draft of this paragraph. Overall, superb. A

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV from a growler (750 ml swing top). Drank out of a flute glass on 8/17/13. Growler filled on 8/15/13.

Hill Farmstead Society & Solitude #7 - The latest in HF's philosophy series of beers inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was apparently quite the hophead (the Society & Solitude series is all about experimenting with hops). This one is made with Simcoe and Amarillo, music to my tastebuds. Pours a slightly darker golden yellow color with a finger of fluffy white head and lots of lacing. The nose here is much more grapefruit-like, with some floral notes for good measure. Taste is sugary sweet, with those hops balancing it all out and plenty of those floral and grapefruit notes to keep things interesting and tasty. Mouthfeel is a bit heavier, medium bodied, same carbonation profile, ultimately still pretty quaffable for an 8% beer (not quite Heady Topper territory, but close). Overall, this is a delicious hop bomb, though perhaps not quite as spectacular as Susan. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV from a growler (750 ml swing top). Drank out of an Alchemist stemless glass on 8/18/13. Growler filled on 8/15/13.

Hill Farmstead Amarillo Single Hop Pale Ale - Another in HF's series of single hop beers, always an enlightening exercise, though it's more fun to try them side by side (I was limited to three growlers, otherwise, I would have also picked up the Nelson Sauvin single hop pale ale that was also available). That being said, I pretty much know what I'm in for with Amarillo, which is one of my favorite hops. Pours a yellower golden color with a finger of white head and again with the lacing. Smells of juicy citrus hops, and lots of them. Taste follows suit, lots of bright citrus notes from that Amarillo hop, with a sharp, astringent bitterness towards the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, light, and crisp. Not quite as quaffable as Susan, but perhaps moreso than S&S #7. This reminds me a lot of some of Tired Hands' Amarillo-based brews, which, uh, is a compliment to both breweries! Overall, yep, it's awesome. Duh. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.2% ABV from a growler (750 ml swing top). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/19/13. Growler filled on 8/15/13.

The growlers held up pretty darn well, I think. The only one that might have really been impacted was the Amarillo, and it was still superb, so whatever. I'm already looking forward to my next irresponsible trip to Vermont to fill up on more HF growlers.

As mentioned recently, I was on vacation last week. I joined family and friends in the Adirondacks (upstate New York, for the uninitiated) for general fun and merriment. Upon noticing that Vermont was, like, closer to upstate New York than it is to Philly, I made preparations for a detour on my way home. Thus began what would become known (to, uh, just me and my 5 twitter followers, really) as Operation Cheddar, an incursion into Vermont to secure beer from three hallowed breweries: Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist, and Lawson's Finest Liquids. I'm going to spend some time wanking about the planning process, but if you're not interested in that, there's plenty of pretty pictures below (just click for bigger pictures).

The original plan was to get up early on Saturday (the end of our stay in the Adirondacks) and make a detour into Vermont before returning to Philly. Truth be told, Vermont isn't that much closer, and with the stops I was planning on making, it would still be an all day affair, but totally worth it. However, as I started looking into each brewery's availability, I realized that Saturday might not be the best day for the trip.

I monitored Hill Farmstead's Retail page (which seems to be frequently updated and the best source on availability) and it looked like Saturday would probably be crowded, but fine. However, in looking at The Alchemist's Facebook page, I observed that Heady Topper was selling out most Fridays, especially during the summer months. Lawson's distributes out of a Farmer's Market that is held on Saturdays... but usually only one Saturday a month (and not the Saturday I was going). I emailed Sean Lawson, and he said that my best bet to buy bottles was to go to one of three places listed on their site. He also mentioned to go on the day of delivery, as they tend to sell out quickly.

Basically, if I went on Saturday, there was a pretty good chance of being shut out of Heady and Lawson's. That would suck, so I pushed Operation Cheddar up to Thursday, where unseasonably cool weather lead to a lull in our activity schedule anyway. I'm happy to say, this was most certainly the right decision.

First stop: The Warren Store for some of Lawson's Finest Liquids.

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This was a cool little store, with all sorts of artisanal foodstuffs, a bakery, a deli, wine, and, of course, a small selection of beer. It was actually a gorgeous day in Vermont, and they had an outdoor eating area right by a small stream. It was around 10:30 am, so after securing my allocation of Lawson's Double Sunshine (!!) and some other random Vermont beer that looked good, I picked up what was quite possibly the best breakfast sandwich I've ever had in my life. A great way to start the trip, and I was quite happy with the haul:

That's Lawson's Double Sunshine IPA, Switchback Ale, and Foley Brothers Native Brown Ale. The guy at the store said he had received 19 cases of Double Sunshine that morning, and that all but 3 cases had sold already. So basically, really glad I made this my first stop.

Next up, just a hop and a skip away, was The Alchemist.

The whole place smelled like fresh hops and malt (clearly a brew day) and they were naturally doing a brisk business. In fact, I later intercepted communications from The Alchemist that they sold out their supply of cans on Thursday afternoon (and no more would be available to the following Monday), so Thursday was definitely the right day for this trip. I bought as much Heady as I could, and picked up some glasswales while I was at it:

Finally, Hill Farmstead, which was a bit of a hike from The Alchemist... but it was a pleasant enough drive, and the resulting haul was quite worth the stretch!

There was actually quite a line for growler fills, even with the (apparently recent) limitation of only 3 growlers per person. Bottles were limited as well, but I was pretty ecstatic with my haul:

The growlers were filled with Amarillo Single Hop Pale Ale, Susan, and Society & Solitude #7. Bottles of Vera Mae and Grassroots Arctic Saison (Grassroots is basically the collaborative arm of Hill Farmstead, where they go out and brew at other breweries), and while I was at it, I grabbed a bottle of The Bruery Sans Pagaie (HF always has a selection or two from their brewer friends, so this was a pleasant surprise, as I've never seen this one in the Philly area).

Overall, I was pretty damn happy with the trip. It took up most of the day, but I got everything I was after and more (and if I stuck to the original plan, it would have been quite discouraging). The drive was actually pretty easy and scenic (Vermont is truly beautiful, and in case you doubt that small-town America exists, you should head over to Vermont), I didn't even lose GPS coverage on my phone (but I was still glad to have backup printouts). I even got back right in time for dinner, and was enjoying the spoils of Operation Cheddar before the sun set:

I suspect a day-trip from Philly would be a bit much (looking at at least 14 hours in the car for a round trip, and when you add in time spent at each venue and other stops, you're up to 18+ hours), but an overnight would work nicely. I actually had a lot of fun on this trip, so I will almost certainly be doing that overnight trip sometime. So that's Operation Cheddar. Stay tuned for a closer look at those HF growlers... and more Vermont beer reviews!

Posting will be light this week as I head op to Kaedrin North for a respite from the daily grind. I really kicked the vacation into gear a couple days ago with a Firestone Walker Parabola, a beer which I had inexplicably "only" granted an A- to last year. Let's up that to an full-blown A, shall we?

"But it is a curve each of them feels, unmistakably. It is the parabola. They must have guessed, once or twice--guessed and refused to believe--that everything, always, collectively, had been moving toward that purified shape latent in the sky, that shape of no surprise, no second chances, no return. Yet they do move forever under it, reserved for its own black-and-white bad news certainly as if it were the Rainbow, and they its children...."

See you next week, though I'm sure I'll post a thing or two on twitter, in case you're afraid of withdrawal.

Two new Weyerbacher beers have been making the rounds of late, and as a local brewery of import, I am, of course, on top of that. Because I'm awesome, that's why. Also, it's a good way to start my vacation.

First up is Viridis Lupulus, a new seasonal release meant to highlight various hop combinations. This year, we've got Apollo, Calypso, Centennial, and Galaxy hops, bottle conditioned in a 750 ml bottle with actual good artwork. I think this is worth noting. A couple years ago, Weyerbacher's logo utilized Comic Sans and their labels were hit or miss to say the least. Comic Sans! Now I'm not saying this thing should win awards or anything, but it's quite nice, and a big improvement over Weyerbacher's former designs.

Viridis Lupulus - Pours a murky orange brown color with a finger of off-white head and great retention/lacing as I drink. Smells of dank, resinous hops with a nice citrus component that levels things out a bit. Taste follows the nose, lots of dank hop character, pine and resin, some citrus too, finishing quite bitter (in a good way!) Some malt presence as well, but the real star here is those dank hops. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated (but appropriate), medium bodied, with a dry, bitter finish. Overall, this is damn good stuff, I think I like it better than Double Simcoe. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/9/13. Bottled 061113. Best by 101113.

Next, we have Weyerbacher's 18th anniversary beer. Usually a small batch of an unusual style, like last year's "style-obliterating 10.5% abv" saison, or the previous year's Dark Braggot. This year we have an 11.1% ABV Weizenbock (or "Weizendoppelbock"). Last year, I found that the traditional "Weyerbacher anniversary requirement" of a strength around 10% ABV or higher to be something of a detriment, making for quite a "hot" beer. Will this year be any different?

Eighteen - Another murky pour here, dark brown with a finger of quickly fading off-white head. Smells of typical weizen yeast, banana and clove coming through loud and clear, with some toasted notes and maybe even some nuttiness. Taste is very sweet and rich, with spice hitting strong, followed by some nutty toast and finishing with a wallop of fruity booze. Mouthfeel is rich and chewy, full bodied, lots of boozy heat in the mouth and that alcohol warming in your belly too. Overall, it's a solid, interesting beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 11.1% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a flute glass on 8/9/13. Bottled 060613. Best by 060618.

So an improvement over last year's anniversary saison, and something could see aging rather well, but still a bit too boozy for now. Still, these two made for a good night, despite being very different styles. Indeed, that matched up well with my filmic double feature of Spring Breakers and Dial M for Murder, two very different (but both worthwhile) movies. Though I think I watched/drank in the wrong order (the brazenness of Spring Breakers matches better with Eighteen, I think, while Dial M would go better with the bitter IPA that's plotting your death in exhaustive detail). Oh well. Such is life.

In other Weyerbacher news, I also recently took down some Weyerbacher Aquila, their latest Brewer's Select beer. Basically a hoppy saison, I really enjoyed this one, even if I didn't take notes (What? I was with someone. I'm not a total social pariah, only a partial one.)

So I finally decided to stop trying to cram my beer obsession down my personal twitter account's feed (which will still probably feature some beer anyway, and feel free to follow that as well) and created a new feed @KaedrinBeer for that purpose. What will be on this stream? I'm not really sure! It will certainly contain pictures of stuff that wouldn't necessarily make it to the blog, as well as links out to other articles, blogs, and the like. You should totally follow me and tweet things at me and do other things that could be interpreted with various innuendos.

Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded folk from my work who get together every month at a local BYOB for drinkery and fun. A light turnout this week, so we didn't actually get through every beer pictured below, but we made a valiant effort and actually drank a few that aren't pictured. I know, I'm disappointed by my neglect to capture those additional beers in photographic form too, but we'll just have to live with this:

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Standard tasting note disclaimers apply: these notes are not trustworthy in any way, shape, or form, because whatever, I had fun tonight. In approximate order of consumption, not necessarily how pictured.

• Fantôme Saison - One of my contributions, it seems that Fantôme hasn't quite emerged from their smoky, rubbery funk phase just yet, though this one wasn't quite as janky as the one I reviewed recently. It actually had more of a Saison Dupont feel, with just a bit of smoky, barnyard funk to make things interesting. I'll keep it at a B+ and pine for the lemony, sour Fantômes of yore.
• Dale's Pale Ale - Pretty standard fare, but excellent as such beers go. Always a good choice, and I'll hit it with a B+, just like before.
• Kaedôme Saison (regular version) - So my regular homebrewed saison is actually drinking quite well at this point, big spicy yeast notes, plenty of Saaz hops, not as much Nelson Sauvin hops as I was going for, but quite a pleasant brew nonetheless. About half the batch is still in secondary, dosed with Brettanomyces (like Fantôme, hence the name of this beer). Probably still a few months away from that sucker, but even this non-funky version is doing pretty well. Another B+
• Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale - Rock solid hoppy amber ale, not quite as mindblowing as some of those hoppy imperial reds, but a worthy, highly drinkable beer. Yet another B+. I swears, not everything in this post will be rated the same.
• Ken's English White Beer - My buddy's homebrew, this one was made with wheat, rose hips, and an English ale yeast. A rather odd combination, but it works out reasonably well in the end. Nice wheat character, not much in the way of rose hips, but some English yeast character (thankfully without the diacetyl note that I often get from such yeasts)> Not a mind-blower, but a nice summer beer. B-
• Ken's Roggenbier - Another of Ken's homebrews, and possibly my favorite of the homebrews tonight. Nice spicy rye character mixed with hefeweizen notes from the yeast. Really nice combination that works very well. B+
• Port City Essential Pale Ale - Terrible. Ok, not quite that bad, but not particularly good either. A sorta muddy mess of hops and malt, never quite coalescing into good.C+
• Dominion Oak Barrel Stout - Now this one is legitimately terrible. Ok, so some people like that British diacetyl note sometimes, but I cannot stand it, and it just overshadowed everything else about this beer for me. Not undrinkable, but definitely not good. D
• Stone / Farking / Wheaton W00tstout - Ah, now we come to my favorite beer of the night, the Wil Wheaton collaboration with Stone and Fark.com, a huge imperial stout made with pecans, wheat, and rye, partially aged in bourbon barrels. Great rich sweetness, a hint of that bourbon and oak, with a nice overall malt character. A bit heavy, but quite a nice beer, really glad I got to try some. A-
• Ken's Irish red Ale - Another homebrew, this time a pretty straightforward Irish Red that was made with potatoes, a pretty nice combo. Sweeter than your typical Irish Red, though it keeps that same flavor profile and works well enough. I'll go with a standard B for this one.

So what I want to know is: who is Jack and why doesn't he know how to spell "Abbey"? Dear reader, I'm so sorry I haven't tackled this conundrum yet. It turns out that Jack is one of the three brothers who founded the brewery. He must be the oldest one, since he clearly got to name the brewery. So far, so normal, but then why the blatant disregard for spelling? Is Abby some sort of Ye Olde European spelling? Nope! Abby is actually Jack's wife, and he named the brewery in honor of her, presumably scoring major brownie points. Well played, Jack.

This particular offering is another smoked beer, but like yesterday's beer, I'm not getting much of that fabled meatiness out of the smoke, just plain campfire... which has its charms anyway, but still. I like bacon, is what I'm trying to say, and if there was a non-disgusting way to impart such flavors in beer, that would be nice. But I digress, let's brandish our cloak and dagger and fight dishonorably, like a spy:

Jack's Abby Smoke & Dagger - Pours a dark brown color with a finger of bubbly tan head. Smells lightly of toast and maybe a bit of smoke. Taste is surprisingly tame, with some roast and that smoke playing around the edges. It's not a powerful smoke character, it's actually integrated rather well with the rest of the beer. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and well carbonated. Overall, it's a solid beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5.8% ABV (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/3/13. Bottled 5.17.2013.

This exhausts my current supply of Jack's Abby. While none really made me fall down and see God, they were all pretty respectable in their own right, and represent a nice change of pace from the onslaught of saisons, stouts, and IPAs I seem to always fall back on. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes open for more of their stuff in my travels.

The use of smoked malt in beer is often described as imparting a spicy, smoked meat character, almost like bacon. Most of the time, I end up wondering who put their cigar out in my beer, but in rare instances, that meaty bacon flavor actually seems like a real thing. In the case of Porcine Unidragon, those Clown Shoes guys have taken their rather burly Blaecorn Unidragon imperial stout, added a small dose of smoked malt, then aged the whole thing in bourbon barrels. Truth be told, they'd probably be better off calling this Bourbon Unidragon, as I don't really get much in the way of smoke out of this. Not that I'm complaining, because, you know, Bourbon! Lace up your Clown Shoes and get down:

Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon - Pours a very dark brown color with a finger of light brown head. Smells of roasted malt with some chocolate, caramel, vanilla and just a hint of bourbon. Taste again features a heavy roasted malt element (perhaps that smoke too, but it's a light touch and I don't get any porcine notes) with a bourbon kicker in the middle, a little chocolate, caramel, vanilla and oak, and that roast returning in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, moderate carbonation, lots of boozy heat, and just a hint of richness. So it's retained the base beer's attributes whilst adding in a welcome dose of bourbon and oak. It's not quite perfectly integrated, but it's an improvement over the base. As it warms up, it starts to come together better. Or I'm just getting drunk here. Overall, a little unbalanced, but a really solid beer. I'll slap a B+ on it, but I do think I enjoy this more than the base (which got the same rating).

Beer Nerd Details: 12.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 8/2/13. Bottled 4/17/13.

It's a good beer, easy to find, and dirt cheap for what it is (where else can you find a sub-$10 bourbon barrel stout that clocks in at 12.5% ABV?) I still wouldn't call myself a Clown Shoes fan, but these imperial stouts I've been having from them have been pretty good...

Flying Fish is New Jersey's largest brewery and, for some reason, they are very proud to be located in the Garden State (I kid because I love). So when Hurricane (sorry, superstorm) Sandy produced severe damage throughout the great state, Flying Fish decided to do their part and brew up a special batch of beer whose proceeds (note: the entire proceeds, not just profit) would go entirely to charities that were rebuilding the damaged areas. They named it Forever Unloved Sandy, basically just so they could abbreviate it as F.U. Sandy. A sorta hybrid pale wheat ale, it was made with ADHA 483, an experimental hop never before used in a commercial beer. It was only available on tap at first, but it proved popular enough to warrant a bottling, which I happily snapped up:

Flying Fish Forever Unloved (FU) Sandy - Pours a pale golden yellow color with a few fingers of fluffy white head and great retention. Smells strongly of grassy citrus hops, but not quite the typical citrus, which is a nice change of pace. A little wheat shows up in the nose as well. Taste is full of that grassy citrus hop character, starting with a nice sweetness that quickly yields to hop bitterness. Again, wheat pokes out towards the finish, but is not a dominant flavor. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and somewhat dry in the bitter finish. Overall, a very solid, interesting brew. It's not quite playing in the big leagues of hoppy beer, but it's got that experimental hop uniqueness going for it and is certainly worth a shot. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a flute on 8/2/13.

Flying Fish remains a brewery I need to become better acquainted with, especially their Exit series (of the ones I've had, they're pretty darn good).

Back in college, I expended some of my few electives on Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. I did so exactly for monster beers like this, but my defensive techniques were no match for Voodoo brewery's most prized beer. Indeed, this sucker sits atop the Top New Beers list on Beer Advocate, with sky high ratings and ISOs all over the place.

I used to think this was Voodoo's standard Big Black Voodoo Daddy (a hearty 12.5% ABV imperial stout) aged in bourbon barrels, but it appears to be its own beast (Voodoo has barrel aged BBVD as well, and I'll get to those soon enough). Depending on who you believe, it clocks in at somewhere between 13.5% ABV and 15.5% ABV, and in this case, it was aged in old Pappy Van Winkle barrels. As it understand it, PVW barrels impart mystical healing powers, but being black magick, there is usually some corresponding damage being done elsewhere. This ain't no second year "tickling curse" dark arts here. So sharpen your wands and prepare your counter-jinxes and defensive charms, we're going in:

Voodoo Pappy Van Winkle Black Magick - Pours a thick, gloopy black color with a full finger of lightish brown head. Really pretty looking. Smells heavily of caramel, bourbon, vanilla, and oak, classic bourbon barrel aged stout stuff here. Taste is extremely sweet, lots of rich caramel notes, and that heavy bourbon, vanilla, and oak character pervading the whole thing. Some hints of chocolate and roast open up as it warms. Maybe a hint of booze too, but not nearly as much as you'd expect. Mouthfeel is thick and chewy, rich and full bodied, even reasonably well carbonated for such a monster. Some booze heat as well, and it coats the mouth and lingers for a while too. Overall, this is spectacular stuff. I can see it being too sweet for some, but it hit the spot just right for me, so I'll say it just barely cleared the bar for an A

Beer Nerd Details: Somewhere around 13.5% - 15.5% ABV bottled (12 oz. red waxed cap). Drank out of Voodoo Barrel Room snifter on 7/26/13. Bottle #47, bottled 1/18/13.

There was a single bottle limit on this stuff at the Philly release, but the folks at the brewery release fared a little better. Still, by my count, only 667 or so bottles were made, so I'm pretty happy I got my grubby hands on it (as well as the two other variants). The release was in April, so I'm not sure what the hell I'm waiting for. Expect some more reviews of Voodoo's barrel room collection in the coming weeks. They only make Black Magick every other year (last release was 2011), but they've got plenty of goodies in their barrel room right now and I just saw that they're doing another release in September. No details on that release yet, but I've got my fingers crossed for some BA Barleywine and Wee Heavy.