September 2013 Archives

The most awesomest time of the year has arrived, bringing with it stuff like decorative corpses, mutilated pumpkins, bite sized candy, pumpkin beers, and a whole host of other nominally ghastly objects that suddenly become socially acceptable. Here at Kaedrin, we tend to drink a lot of beer (yeah, par for the course, I know) and watch a lot of bad horror movies (these tend to be chronicled on my generalist blog, so stop by and say hello if you're so inclined). So look for some season's greetings in the near future. And Sweetzels. Lots of Sweetzels.

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Speaking of Halloween themes, Tired Hands is getting into the swing of things with their series of beers named after various monsters. Last year were the classics: Vampire, Zombie, etc... Take a look at the fermenation board for a preview of this year's fun:

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Yep, 80s horror monsters all the way. Not on the board, but mentioned by the bartender last time I was there, is Marty Rantzen (!), a suitably obscure choice that warms this jaded horror movie lover's heart. Of course, these are just names, and it's what's in the glass that counts, but Tired Hands has more than proven themselves on that front and their nonsensical naming conventions only add to their charm.

Speaking of nonsense, check out this video I made on Vine after I got drunk on Saturday.

It's no DDB video revue, but I think it turned out well given the approximately 30 seconds I put into it.

Incidentally, this is the sort of thing I've been posting on Twitter lately, so go there and follow me now (if you don't already). Cheers.

It used to be that a new brewery would have to establish their bona fides for a few years, pushing out old standards like porters and pale ales, establishing a base on blandness, and only then rocking the world with something completely bonkers. In the parlance, you've got to earn your bullshit. But there's something about the current beer craze has lead to new, often tiny breweries popping up and immediately dropping bombs on unsuspecting beer nerds. For example, Hill Farmstead started putting out amazing beers way back in... 2010. Earlier this year, they're voted best brewery in the world. I suspect the same honor will be up for grabs from any number of new, idiosyncratic brewers that seem to be sprouting up at an amazing rate.

Heck, we've already covered two such candidates this week alone (not to mention recent fantastic offerings from Pipeworks, Half Acre, my beloved hometown wizards Tired Hands, and many others) and now we hit our third of the week: Sante Adairius Rustic Ales (aka SARA) has been making small batches of mind blowing beer in the small coastal town of Capitola, California for a year or so, but they somehow managed to establish an amazing reputation before they even opened. I've been following along on Jay's blog, Beer Samizdat, for a while now, aching to get a chance to try anything from this brewery. When we put together a quick trade back in August, I was wondering if he'd be able to find some bottles (they're apparently quite rare and released on unpredictable schedules) and was overjoyed to see not just one, but two offerings in my haul. Many thanks to Jay for being such a great American and snapping these up for me.

This first taste is a blend of barrel aged sour beers, one a dark saison they call Farmhouse Noir and the other a robust rye porter called Chavez. Love's Armor has proven itself to be quite formidable, wreaking major havoc with my THAC0...

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales Love's Armor - Pours a deep dark brown color with a finger of khaki head. Smells full of twangy funk, with an almost chocolate covered cherry sorta aroma that is beautiful. Sourness hits in the taste right up front, sour cherries, yielding to some chocolate malt, maybe even some roast in the middle, then heading back to sourtown for the finish. Nice leathery Brett funk, maybe tobacco, matched with a hint of oak too. Really complex, I keep picking out new subtleties as I drink, but also well balanced. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, not quite full bodied, but definitely more here than, say, a flanders red. Overall, I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately, but this is superb! An excellent, non-standard sour. A

Beer Nerd Details: 8.1% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a flute on 9/20/13.

Amazing first impression here, and I'm supes excited for that next bottle... and will need to start begging Jay for more almost immediately.

Yet another brewery that has established itself in just the past couple years, and yet has quickly achieved rockstar status amongst beer nerds. Crooked Stave operates out of Colorado, where mad scientist Chad Yakobson created his brewery as an extension of his academic work studying various strains of Brettanomyces. As such, all of the beers Crooked Stave produces are Brett fermented, which is a pretty unique approach to brewing these days.

This particular beer was evolved from Wild Wild Brett Orange, one of a series of Brettanomyces fermented beers brewed to match the seven colors of the rainbow. Each batch of this beer uses the same wit beer base, but differs depending on the fresh citrus available that season. This was the summer variant of St. Bretta, so it was made with fresh Blood Orange. Many thanks to Jay from the most excellent Beer Samizdat blog for slinging this beer my way:

Crooked Stave St. Bretta Summer - Pours a cloudy straw yellow color with a finger or two of white head with decent retention and minor lacing. Smell is filled with funk, a little earthy, maybe even a little juicy (this is my kinda funk), with more typical wit beer spicing (citrus peel, coriander, etc...) also apparent. Taste is also driven mostly by that earthy, juicy funk, edging towards sourness but never quite reaching puckering levels. Some spice comes to the party too, and it all blends together well. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, with that almost-sour bite snapping in around the middle, finishing relatively dry. Overall, this is superb. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.5% ABV bottled (375 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/20/13. 2013 Vintage, Batch 3.

A fantastic first taste from Crooked Stave. Jay sent me another of their beers, which is burning a hole in my cellar, and I'm most definitely going to have to find a way to get ahold of more of this stuff in the future.

Another day, another revolutionary (pun intended!) brewery that's only opened their doors in the past few years. This is going to come up again this week (a couple of times, actually), but let's stay in Chicago for the moment and check out Revolution brewing. They opened a small brewpub in 2010, quickly garnering a fair amount of praise (including a top 5 slot in RateBeer's Top New Brewers in the World list), expanded in 2011, and opened a full production brewery in 2012. I'm never sure what to make of the whole socialist fist iconography when it comes to breweries (maybe they just like the act of fistin... you know what, I'm just going to stop myself right there and pretend like I didn't even bring this up).

So I was particularly interested in their barrel aged brews, but this is exactly the wrong time of year for that sort of thing (I'm penciling in a Winter trade for some of that excellence), so I had to settle for a few standard brews. This one is actually a Spring seasonal, so it's a bit long in the tooth (especially for a well hopped beer), but the Belgian side of things kept it in check I think. So let's get a little crazy:

Revolution A Little Crazy - Pours a bright, slightly hazy golden color with a finger of fluffy, eggshell white head. Smells lightly of Belgian yeast, with a heavy hop component. Lots of citrus rind and floral notes, maybe even a bit of tart twang. Taste starts off spicy and hoppy, but then a huge, juicy, tart citrus note pops out, with just a hint of balancing bitterness in the finish. It's a really strange sensation, perhaps belying its age, but it works well enough. Mouthfeel is well carbonated and spicy, but that citrus note has a bright juicy tartness to it that follows through the finish. To make the most obscure comparison possible, this reminds me of Boxcar Brewing's IPA, which doesn't quite have that pop of citrus and tartness, but the Belgian yeast and hops give it a similar feel. Overall, this is a really strange brew. Not bad at all, I rather like it, but strange nonetheless. B

Beer Nerd Details: 6.4% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/21/13.

I also had their Oktoberfest, which was a really solid take on the style, but then, I'm not that big into that style, so I didn't write up any detailed notes. I've got their standard IPA in the fridge, but I'm not expecting a ton from that either. I'm still really curious to see how their barrel aged brews fare, as I've heard really good things about them.

Tonight was Beer Club, a gathering of beer minded folk from my work who get together every month at a local BYOB for libations and fun. I should note that what I call beer club is offically called "social club", and there are frequently attendees who want nothing to do with beer. We've often had folks who bring wine or even stuff like sake or just plan, non-alcoholic root beer. In short, usually, only a portion of attendees are drinking the beer. Well, we had a great turnout tonight, and most everyone drank most every beer. I think only one beer was left unopened (a Brooklyn Oktoberfest), and most everything else was kicked almost as soon as it was opened. So it was an impressive showing tonight! Check it:

For the sake of posterity, some half-remembered thoughts on each beer are listed below. Standard disclaimers apply, these are not ideal tasting conditions and I was only half paying attention and you'd be a fool to trust most of these ratings. Except for the ones I've had before. Those are mostly awesome. Here goes:

• Ken's Homebrewed Pumpkin Ale - Really nice pumpkin ale homebrew from my friend Ken. He had kegged it and transferred to a growler this morning, so the carbonation was a bit on the low side, but it was otherwise a pretty damn good take on the style. I was going to say that it's the best homebrewed pumpkin ale I've ever had, but it's also the only homebrewed pumpkin ale I've ever had, so that doesn't really tell you much. But it was good, and I liked it. B+
• Stone Enjoy By 09.13.13 IPA - I know, heresy! We drank this almost a week after we were supposed to "enjoy by", and yet, I can't help but thinking that I enjoyed this more than the fresh bottle I had. I didn't get that weird plasticky character that I had from the fresh version, though I could kinda see where it came from. The slightly faded hops actually improved this for me! I know, heresy, right? I still feel like I'm pretty sensitive to faded hops these days, but this one tasted fine. Perhaps it was stored better than my last bottle? I'll still leave it at a B, but better than the last bottle I had (which was also a B)
• Neshaminy Creek County Line IPA - I've not reviewed this, but I've mentioned it before on the blog, and I enjoy it. A local brew, this is your typical East Coast IPA, well balanced, more malt character than your West Coast IPAs, but a nice light hop character too. B or B+
• Kaedôme Saison (regular version) - My regular ol' homebrewed saison is still drinking pretty well. The hop character has mellowed a bit and never quite achieved the Nelson Sauvin awesomeness I was hoping for, but it's still a pretty kickass saison and seemed to be very well received by the beer club crew. The Brett version of this is still in secondary, and probably has a solid month or two left it in before I bottle. I'll leave this at a B+
• Lexington Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale - Proof that "Bourbon Barrel Aged" does not always translate to "good"... this wasn't especially bad or anything, it was just sorta bland. It was pale in color, and I didn't get much bourbon or oak out of this at all... nor did I get much else. Which is to say, it's better than most macros, but nothing to write home about. Perhaps it would fare better in a non-sampling context, but for tonight it was a lowly C+
• Erie Brewing Mad Anthony's APA - Oh wow, this is just awful. It's got a certain blandness to it, but also a diacetyl note that I always hate. Some might be willing to put up with that, but not I. F
• The Alchemist Heady Topper - I don't need to say much beyond my review, but yeah, it went over pretty well with the beer club peeps. Still a solid A in my book.
• Saucony Creek Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress - Extremely sweet and a little boozy, this is an interesting take on the pumpkin ale. It's got some spice, but not quite your typical pumpkin spice, and I can sorta detect that maple syrup character as well. It's unbalanced, but in a sorta endearing way. One of those beers that's excellent in this sort of sampling context, but which would probably become cloying if you tried drinking a whole bottle. I enjoyed it well enough and will give it a B
• Finch's Fascist Pig Ale - I didn't really get much of this, just the dregs of the can, but it seemed like a nice enough amber ale. I'll give it a provisional B, but even considering the context of beer club, I need more of this to really give it a fair shake.
• Samuel Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin - You know what, I really enjoyed this beer. It's a more-or-less traditional take on a pumpkin beer, pumpkin pie flavors all the way, but perhaps the lopsided affair of Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress made this one appear better by comparison. It's not as interesting, but it's maybe a better crafted beer. B or B+
• Cascade Kriek Ale - One of my contributions for the night, this sucker is just as good as I remember it, maybe even better. It was a big hit with beer club peeps as well, and definitely the most unique beer of the night. I love this stuff and might be tempted to upgrade it to A status, but I'll leave it at A- for now, trusting my previous judgement.
• FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout - Heaven Hill Rittenhouse Rye - My other contribution, and another eye opener for the beer club crew. I've had this before and absolutely loved it, which is one of the reasons I wanted to bring it to beer club. Happily, it went over very well. A

So this is the liquid version of God Hates Astronauts, a comic book that seems to defy summary. I'll just say that I read the first few pages, which depicts actual historical figure John L. Sullivan ("Pugilist Extraordinaire. Total dick.") training an army of bears, presumably for the purposes of world domination. Half Acre, tasked with summarizing this monstrosity in beer form, apparently just said "Fuck it!" and made a Citra hopped beer.

Mild digression: A few weeks ago Adrian "Ding" Dingle hosted The Session, a beer blog roundup centered around a topic of the host's choice. His topic was "What the hell has America done to beer?", AKA, "USA versus Old World Beer Culture". I did not participate because the Session posts on Fridays and that's my time for drinking, not writing, but if I did, one of the key components I would have mentioned is the impact of Americans on hop profiles. Citra is the poster child for what the 2011/2012 Barth Report calls "Flavor" hops (other notables are Simcoe, Amarillo, and a whole host of Austrailan/NZ hops like Galaxy and Motueka). To make a long story short, hops with flavor/aroma profiles like these were considered "undesirable" until relatively recently (say the 1990s, but really accelerating here in the current century), and this explosion of new hop varieties and tastes seems to be heavily driven by the good old USA. Of course, we're not alone in our hop obsession, and hops like Citra are in high demand all over the world. Fortunately, the most recent Barth Report indicates that acreage devoted to Citra more than doubled from 2011 to 2012, so we're on our way. This is a topic that probably deserves a more in-depth exploration, but for now, let's get back on track.

Chances are, if all the beer dorks are freaking out over some new IPA or DIPA, it probably involves one of these "Flavor" hops, and at least here in the US, that will often be the Citra hop. Citra is usually cited as having uncommon fruit and citrus aromas/flavors and I certainly detect that goodness, but I usually get a big dollop of floral and grassy notes as well. To give some examples of a ultra-hyped Citra hopped beer, check out Three Floyds Zombie Dust and Lawson's Finest Liquids Double Sunshine IPA. I had one of the latter on Friday, and Beer Hates Astronauts on Saturday, and while not all Citra beers are created equally, I think they compared favorably to each other. Which is saying a lot. Let's take a closer look:

Half Acre Beer Hates Astronauts - Pours a hazy golden yellow orange color with a finger of off white head and mild lacing as I drink. Pure Citra hops in the nose, grassy, floral, citrus hops dominate the smell (in a good way!) Taste follows the nose, tons of grassy citrus, some floral and herbal notes too, and a shot of bitterness dries things out in the finish. Mouthfeel is crisp, light, and dry, really well balanced and almost quaffable. Overall, this is superb. Perhaps not quite Lawson's or Hill Farmstead level, just a hair away, but close enough to warrant a a strong A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/14/13. Brewery only release, 8/30/13.

So happy that my Chicago trading partner picked this up for me, and while I enjoyed Daisy Cutter, this beer has really raised my eyebrows. Half Acre is a brewery to watch, so I'm going to (continue to) do so.

Evolution sez that the Menagerie series is comprised of one-off brews that will "probably" never be seen again. Each entry in the series is different and numbered sequentially, with most also featuring some sort of barrel aging and blending (except when it's not). Their website sez that #8 is the latest one, but I feel like I've been seeing it pop up again this year. Has this been brewed again? Or maybe the bottles are just well aged. Not that I'm complaining, as this Belgian Strong Dark aged in Red Wine Barrels (not for souring purposes) is right up my alley and since I've been overloading on IPAs of late, this was a welcome change of pace. Rev up that Star Trek episode and prepare for court martial:

Evolution Menagerie #8 - Pours a deep, dark brown, with massive amounts of tan head. Smells of Belgian yeast, lots of spiciness, clove and the like, with some fruitiness showing up too. Maybe even some oak and vinous character as well. Really great nose here. That red wine barrel comes through much more in the taste, which hits those notes hard without reaching towards sour. There is a nice fruitiness to it, some molasses-like sweetness, maybe even some chocolate (a nice match for the fruity notes), and plenty of spice up front, with the wine character reasserting itself in the finish. Mouthfeeel is highly carbonated and dry, making this feel lighter than it is. The alcohol is very well hidden, and you only really feel it as it warms your belly (because it is very easy to drink too quickly...) In the past, I've found that non-sour barrel-aged Belgian styles were sorta hit or miss. I'm happy to report that's not the case with this beer. I'm putting it somewhere in the A- range, though it's a borderline affair...

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (750 ml capped). Drank out of a Tired Hands glass on 9/14/13.

Another solid showing from Evolution, and I naturally need to check out more of their Menagerie series (if they continue!) and their Migration series (I'd definitely like to retry the Winter Migration at some point, but they all sound interesting enough)...

Boy meets beer, boy likes beer, boy homebrews beer, boy gains experience in Belgium, boy does a Kickstarter, boy wins bigtime. And by "boy", I mean, uh, two guys: Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. Another class of 2012 brewer... in fact, according to RateBeer, they were the best new brewery in the world last year (nudging out, of all breweries, Tired Hands, which came in #2). So big deal, right? Well, considering that there were over 1900 new breweries in the world last year, that actually is a pretty sweet deal.

Last week, Tired Hands got a cease and desist order on the name of one of their two staple beers. Brewery Vivant makes a beer called Farm Hand and sought to protect their trademark from Tired Hands' FarmHands. This legal wrangling is a topic I should probably write more about at some point, but seeing as though this is a post about Pipeworks, I'll just get to the point:

Currently brewing our newest beer! The Lights That Spills Outs of the Holes in your Heads! Plural is all good yo. @tiredhandsbeer

— Pipeworks Brewing Co (@PipeworksBrewin) September 3, 2013

This is, of course, a reference to one of Tired Hands' absurdly named beers (The Light That Spills Out of the Hole In your Head), and that tweet immediately endeared me to Pipeworks. Other breweries pitched in and made amusing suggestions as well (including Hill Farmstead, Sante Adairius, Prairie, and others), but me, I was just glad that a box filled with Chicago goodies (including Pipeworks) was already on its way to my house. A few days later, I rejoiced and popped open my first Pipeworks beer.

Pipeworks Simcoe Ninja - Pours a surprisingly dark amber orange color with a finger or tow of fluffy white head and a nice lacing pattern as I drink. Smells fantastic, sugary sweet, with lots of fruity, pineapple hop character. Taste has that big citrus and pine hop character, but also a solid malt backbone and a well balanced bitterness towards the finish. The notion of a west coast IPA is a bit nebulous, but this is NOT a West Coast IPA. Very East Coast stuff here, which is fine by me (I'm reminded of Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe, though this is better). Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, but very crisply carbonated. Maybe just a bit of boozy stickiness in the swish. Not a chuggable beer or anything, but it's not a sipper either. I'm not getting a lot of booze out of this either, which is impressive given the 9.5% ABV. Overall, I haven't had something I'd call an East Coast IPA that was this good in a while. Really great stuff, worth seeking out. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/6/13. Batch #192, bottled 8.22.13.

So yes, moar Pipeworks please. I've got another bottle in the fridge, just raring to go. Stay tuned!

The greater Philadelphia area saw a pretty large increase in breweries in 2012. Of course, Tired Hands gets the lion's share of attention these days (and I'm certainly guilty of that), but the other standout appears to be Forest & Main. The two breweries share a lot of similarities. They opened within weeks of each other, they both seem to have a love of saisons and farmhouse ales (though Forest & Main also has a distinctly English bent that isn't as prominent at Tired Hands), they're both quite small, and they're both damn good brewers. They both have brewpubs that buck your typical brewpub (at least, the ones we get around here, like Sly Fox, Iron Hill, Victory, and McKenzies - all of which I like a lot, to be sure) and focus on local, small-scale, quirky, and personable atmosphere. When I stopped by last week, I immediately recognized that vibe and felt right at home.

My visit came on a whim, so I actually didn't end up staying very long and missed any opportunity to try any food. However, I did run into the chef and several employees who were finishing off their shifts with a few pints of their own, and from what I've heard of the menu, I need to visit a bit earlier sometime so I can try out some of this stuff.

I ended up sampling two of their brews, but next time I go, I think I'll have to grab a flight... I didn't even manage to take good notes (I know, I'm awful), but I got enough of a taste to know that I need to get myself up here more often.

Forest & Main Saison Des Tiers - A blend of oak aged and fresh saison, this sucker had a nice funky tartness going for it, and was exceptionally drinkable. Stone fruits, oak, and funk, nice tart sourness, very well matched stuff. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV on tap (16 oz.) Drank out of a goblet on 9/4/13.

Forest & Main Kinch IPA - While Tired Hands' take on the IPA is distinctly American, Forest & Main seems to lean more British. What I had here would probably still be characterized as an American IPA, but it's not intensely bitter, and it clearly makes use of some European hops in the recipe. The bartender mentioned that this particular batch utilized German Saphir hops, which I believe mix the new world citrus hops character with the more classic noble hop character (spicy, herbal). This, of course, wasn't the only hop used, but that sort of old/new world fusion seems to be the defining character of this IPA, which was really quite pleasant and a very welcome change of pace, as I've been overloading on those bright fruity citrus hops of late. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap (16. oz) Drank out of a nonic pint glass on 9/4/13.

The bartender was also messing around with blends of various stuff, and gave me a little sample of a blend of Kinch and Douteux (a Brett dubbel), which was actually pretty good. It's a bit of a haul to drive up here, but I see myself making the trek again soon (though perhaps not as often as Tired Hands!)

A crazy-high ABV imperial stout brewed by Kjetil "the bearded giant" Jikiun at Nøgne Ø in Norway? Fine, I'll take a flyer on that. Oh, who am I kidding? This was packaged in a triangular prism! With, like, Viking markings and shit! How could I not?

Inspired by Avery Mephistopheles's Stout, this is "a pain in the neck" for Nøgne Ø to brew, owing to the lengthy and unpredictable fermentation needed to reach that high target ABV. They change up the recipe every year and they brew some variants, including Red Horizon, which uses a variety of sake yeasts (Nøgne Ø apparently loves them some sake and makes their own as well). This particular edition of Dark Horizon (their fourth) uses Muscovado sugar and some sort of wacky green coffee beans treated with alfa-amylase (basically an enzyme that helps bread down the coffee). It's clocking in at a healthy 16% ABV, but they've packaged it in an adorable little 8.5 ounce bottle, so let's take on some null sets:

Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 4th Edition - Pours a deep black color with a finger of light brown head. Smells of roasted malt, a little of that coffee, maybe a hint of smoke, lots of vanilla, some chocolate and caramel too. Taste features lots of that roasted malt, plenty of booze right up front, with tons of vanilla and a little caramel too. That booze returns in the finish, which also has a slight bitterness to balance all those malts. As it warms, some fruity, almost port-like notes emerge. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, and reasonably well carbonated. Lots of heat from the booze, and a little stickiness too. A nice sipper though. Overall, this is pretty damn good. Perhaps not the best evar or anything that hyperbolic, but certainly a worthy beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 16% ABV bottled (8.5 ounce capped). Drank out of a snifter on 9/6/13.

I've definitely seen earlier editions around, even somewhat recently, so maybe I'll have to check that out sometime...

When it comes to spirits, I'm a Scotch and Bourbon man. But I'm also a big tent guy, so I'm pretty open to trying something like Brandy... but Apple Brandy? That's not something I see myself seeking out. As such, when Voodoo's Barrel Room Collection came out, I was a little skeptical of the Apple Brandy variants. I've had a couple of Calvados barrel aged beers (basically Apple Brandy originating from a specific region in France), with mixed results (and nothing approaching actual apple flavor). Fortunately, it seems the Voodoo Apple Brandy variants are much better, and my first taste has essentially erased all doubts... this stuff is like sooper boozy apple pie, in liquid form (though this sort of mimicry isn't quite as perfect as Apple Pie Moonshine, it's still close enough in my book).

The base for this one is a tripel style beer made with Belgian yeast and Beet sugar. Supposedly, they add the sugar gradually throughout the fermentation, so as to extend the process in a way that won't overload the yeast. Or something. I've actually never had the base beer, but by all accounts, aging in these Laird's Apple Brandy barrels has done a world of good. Let's find out, shall we?

Voodoo Laird's Apple Brandy Barrel Gran Met - Pours a light brownish orange color with a cap of big bubbled, short lived head. Smell is straight up apple brandy and booze, bready with an almost nutty component, kinda like apple pie. I'm actually really liking the nose here. The taste follows along, tons of apple brandy and booze, it's drinking a lot hotter than 9.5% ABV, and it's not like that's a slacker of an ABV. Very sweet, but the booze sorta keeps that in check, which makes no sense, but I'm going with it. Apple is prominent, but not an off-flavor type of apple, and it's really good. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, a little sticky, lots of alcohol heat, good carbonation. It's not quaffable or anything, but for this booze level, it's actually quite approachable. Overall, this feels a bit like someone poured some brandy into an apple pie, then threw the whole thing into a blender and made a smoothie. Or something. It's not perfect, but it's an interesting and unique beer. I've never had anything like this, and it's really working for me. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV bottled (22 oz green waxed cap bomber). Drank out of a goblet on 8/31/13. Bottled 02-01-13. Bottle #321.

Well, now I'm quite excited that I've got those Laird's Apple Brandy variants of Black Magick and Big Black Voodoo Daddy. I'm curious to see how different the treatment works on a big imperial stout. Jury is still out on the next Voodoo release. There doesn't appear to be a satellite release in Philly this time around, and driving 5 hours to the brewery seems like a stretch. We'll see, I guess.

Maybe this beast would not be so very angry if we didn't dress it up in clown shoes? Alright, so this is a 50/50 blend of Blaecorn Unidragon and Vampire Slayer that is then aged in bourbon barrels. I can't say as though I've been truly blown away by any of Clown Shoes' imperial stouts, but I've enjoyed them all, and I'm always down for the bourbon barrel treatment. In this case, it seems much better integrated than the Porcine Unidragon...

Clown Shoes Very Angry Beast - Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black color with half a finger of tan head. Smells strongly of vanilla, oak, and bourbon, with plenty of caramel and not much in the way of roast. Taste is very sweet, filled with rich caramel, vanilla, oak, and bourbon, with a hint of chocolate, roast and the tiniest inkling of smoke peeking through towards the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, but not as heavy or chewy as some other BA stouts. Balance is spot on, maybe a bit on the sweet side, but still better off than, say, Porcine Unidragon. Overall, this is a very solid BA stout, maybe my favorite offering from Clown Shoes. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 8/30/13. Bottled on 7/18/13.

Somehow, this marks the fourth imperial stout I've had from Clown Shoes, and it's my favorite yet. I've never been a big fan of theirs, but this one did raise an eyebrow or two, so I'll be keeping an eye out for that Cognac barrel aged barleywine they're apparently working on...

Another random impulse buy from the Warren Store during Operation Cheddar. I'd never heard of this before, but when I brought it up to the counter with my bottles of Double Sunshine, I received a knowing nod from another patron who commented on my purchase of "the usual suspects". I asked about this one, but I had trouble getting a read on what he thought on this. After having the beer, I have to admit that I kinda get that. The label sez that "Switchback Ale was developed as a flavor concept, not adhering to any style guidelines", and it sorta drinks like that. Sorta. I found it strongly reminiscent of a pumpkin beer... but without pumpkins or pie spice. Whatever that means.

It's one of those beers that makes me wonder why I even bother posting a rating. As noted in the comments recently, my ratings tend to be relatively high, especially lately. This is partly because, well, who wants to write about mediocre beer? Also, as Rich speculated, there are enough resources out there and I obsessively read enough blogs/twitter feeds to have some intuitive sense of what's going on. This beer kinda threw me for a loop though. I liked it well enough, and it is clearly a very well crafted and interesting beer. I couldn't see it being something I reached for often (if it was regularly available to me)... but writing this post a week later, well, I could see myself cracking one of these every once in a while. I rated it relatively "low" on my scale though. Of course, a B is nothing to sneeze at, and that's not objectively low at all. So take that.

Switchback Ale - Pours a dark amber orange color with a finger of white head. Smells of bready malts, maybe buscuit malt, with some earthy hop notes for good measure. That breadiness may be coming from the yeast too... Taste is also very malt forward, mildly sweet breadiness and biscuit flavors (again, perhaps accentuated by the yeast), just a bit in the way of earthy, herbal hops. Mouthfeel is light bodied, well carbonated, crisp, and relatively dry. Goes down very easy. BA calls this a Pale Ale, but this sorta feels like the base for a pumpkin ale (i.e. no pumpkin or pie spice or anything, but with the malt/hop/yeast bill along those lines). Overall, well crafted and balanced but very subtle. It's making a very nice accompaniment to dinner and it's something I could see trying again, but it's not among those face melting VT beers worth making the trip for (though it's probably worth trying if you're already there, and why wouldn't you be)... It actually seems like it could be a really great alternative to those who want to celebrate the fall weather, but don't like the heavy handed use of pumpkin and spice in so many beers. B

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a willybecher glass on 8/30/13.

Apparently Switchback only started bottling last year (after a decade of keg only brewing), and they seem to be doing well. I'd be curious to try some of their other stuff some day...

Earlier this year, I got fed up with coming up empty on Cantillon hunts, and in a moment of weakness (or strength, if you prefer) I broke down and ordered several bottles straight from the source. I got some of the "normal" varieties, but was also quite pleased to have snagged a Saint Lamvinus and decided to save the best for last. Along the way, I unexpectedly stumbled onto a bottle of Fou' Foune, and I'm really glad I had these two beers in relatively close proximity because they share a lot of character, while still being distinct. Now, for whatever reason, Fou' Foune is hyped to high heaven (even for a Loon), while Saint Lamvinus is merely a prized masterpiece.

If the opinions of a bunch of strangers on the internet are to be believed, these two beers are either of identical quality (both being rated 3.98), or the Fou' Foune is slightly better than its saintly brother (4.62 vs 4.51, which are both obscenely high). They both seem to be pretty rare, though maybe Fou' Foune is moreso. They are both exceptional beers and are very reminiscent of each other. Maybe people like apricots more than grapes, eh? Or, you know, who cares? It's great beer, I'm just going to drink it.

So this is made with merlot and cabernet-franc grapes which are soaked in Bordeaux barrels containing two to three years old lambic. Typical lambics are blended with "young" lambic to ensure the bottle conditioning generates enough carbonation, but the Saint Lamvinous is unblended. In place of young lambic, Cantillon sez they ensure carbonation in the bottle through the "addition of a liquor which starts the fermentation". I suppose we could get into a whole wine versus beer thing at this point, but ultimately, Cantillon is doing its own thing, and they're doing it very well:

Cantillon Saint Lamvinus - Pours a deep ruby color with a finger or two of lightly pink, dense head. Smells of musty funk, oak, cherry, and grapes. Taste is sweet, with the grapes coming through, but not quite reaching Welches levels, if you know what I mean. The funk and light oak presence give it a nice kick that prevents it from being too fruity or too vinous. A nice tart sourness pervades the taste, escalating at the start, peaking in the middle and fading through the finish. Vinegar, cherries, grapes, tart sourness, funk, oak, this is very complex but well integrated. Mouthfeel is lightly bodied, crisp, and dry in the finish. Compulsively drinkable, a little lighter than expected, but still very nice. Overall, this is amazing stuff, easily the equal of Fou' Foune and again, it was a very similar experience, with the major difference being the fruit used... A

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (750 ml capped and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 8/24/13. Bottled 21 November 2012. Best before November 2022.

I've stashed away a bottle or two of duplicates, but have otherwise run out of new Loons. I will, of course, be scouring the earth to get my hands on more (including a potential Iris sighting), so I'm sure you'll see more Cantillon soon.