Sunday, May 8, 2011

Winter and then some

Hey everyone! Ok, enough of that, let's get drunk!

Saranac Season's Best Nut Brown Lager
5.30% ABV
The Matt Brewing Company
Vienna Lager

The name alone is a mouthful, but what about the beer? This is a nice dark brown/amber beer from one of my favorite lines, Saranac, brought to us by the Matt Brewing Company. The clean and crisp aroma on this bad boy is joined by some darker smells, mostly coffee and maybe a bit of sweetness (caramel?). The taste is a bit deceiving though... when I think of "nut brown" beers, I think of Leinenkugel's Nut Brown (probably my favorite winter beer...) and this beer, while a good try on Saranac's part, just doesn't cut it. It's a little bit nutty, but overall the malts do it in- far too malty for my taste which is a problem Saranac brand beers often have. The sweetness (caramel) and toastiness (coffee) are there, but the "nut" flavor is not.

While I'm a bit disappointed with this one, don't get me wrong- it's an excellent winter beer. Nice and dark in color with great carbonation, head, roasted flavor and aroma, this is an all around good brew.

Alpine Black IPA
6.00% ABV
Otter Creek Brewing Company/Wolaver's
American Black Ale

This is advertised (at least in name) as an Indian Pale Ale, but from the dark brown to boarder-line black color, this beer is anything but pale (and the asshole that works in the Title Department should get fired). The aroma (if you can make it through the head, anyways- tons of head on this one with good carbonation to boot) is a great mix between roasted malts and citrusy (grapefruit) hops, with a little bit of sweetness mixed in. The roasted smell transfers over to the taste, which is joined with some chocolate and coffee. The hops add to the sweetness of this all around good, creamy beer.

This one took me by surprise. I didn't know what to expect when I saw "Black" and "IPA" but now that I've given it a taste, I think it's a great combination. Drinking this brew is like drinking a chocolatey IPA- an excellent winter beer in my book.

Lagunitas IPA

6.20% ABV
Lagunitas Brewing Company
American IPA

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the first Lagunitas beer I had, but ever since that first sip I've been hooked. I want to say it was raspberry or honey or something strange like that (I know it had a purple label - help me out in the comments if you know what I'm talking about), but I thought the beer, let alone the label, was unique and, more importantly, really fucking good.

Today I got my hands on the IPA- I've had the amazing Pale Ale, so I'm pretty excited for this beer. Light copper in color, this beer comes with a lot of head and even more hops. It has a sweet grapefruit/citrus/caramel smell with a strong malt aroma, stronger than most IPAs I've tried- the maltyness gives it a heavy, but sugary smell. Honestly, when I first got a whiff of this beer, my first thought was "Oh, it smells like Pop Rocks." The sweet taste is almost all hops/grapefruit with a very bitter back to it. This beer has a sweet smell and a sweet-to-bitter taste that I really enjoyed.

Old Scratch Amber Lager
5.50% ABV
Flying Dog Brewery
American Red/Amber Lager

This is the first beer I've tried from a brewery that I've heard a lot about. Located in Maryland, the Flying Dog Brewery is kind of like the hipster in the beer world (well, maybe that title goes to PBR, but FDB is a close second). From labels that grab your attention to funky names, this is a beer that everyone sees and goes "what the fuck? What is that?" I had to try it.

Being an American Amber Lager, the color on this brew is just what you would expect- neon green. The head doesn't stick around long, but the carbonation and flavor do. I couldn't get much of a smell out of this thing, some malt with maybe a bit of a metallic-nuttiness thrown in- bitter but also nutty, I guess. It has a strange bitterness to it, almost like the hops and malt work against each other. Not too sure how I feel about this one- it was good, but nothing really stood out for me. The after-taste is bready, which is different and I really enjoy the color. I'd have to say the best part of this beer (besides the 5.05% ABV) is the label...

I'm looking forward to trying more of these because this did not live up to the sweet label. Lame...

Winter Beers Galore

I'm not completely sure what my favorite part of drinking winter beer is, but the bump in the alcohol content probably has something to do with it. Today, I'll be reviewing four brews with a higher than usual alcohol content. I know, I live a hard life...

Blueberry Oatmeal Stout
7.5% ABV
Buffalo Bill's Brewery
American Double/Imperial Stout

This seems like one of the most appealing beers of all time. Of ALL. TIME. BLUEBERRY OATMEAL STOUT!? And it's 7.5% alcohol? Good Lord, who would make such a beer?

That's where Buffalo Bill's Brewery steps in.

BBB made one of, if not the best Pumpkin Ales that has ever been made (and not just that I've tasted... the beer was that good) and I couldn't wait to get my hands on another one of its craft beers. I saw this brew and couldn't resist- it just sounded too good. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down :(

It pours a really dark brown to almost black color, while the nose of this beer is almost all blueberry- it's funny really, there's not much else to the aroma but fruit and maybe a bit of malty roasted chocolate on the end. The taste, however, is pretty different from what I expected. Yes, this is an Imperial Stout and No, I didn't think it was going to taste like blueberry a whole bunch, but there was almost no blueberry taste at all. What a mindfuck, huh? It has an excellent maltyness to it and the chocolate from the nose is still there, but the blueberry is so timid it's almost not detectable.

Good carbonation, great smell (artificial but still appealing), great look, but average taste that was maybe even a bit flat. I thought for an Imperial it would be a bit heavier, and even more so because it's an OATMEAL STOUT. I wasn't completely let down with the beer in general, but after drinking something as good as BBB's Pumpkin Ale, I might think twice before buying another of their brews.

Christmas Ale
7.5% ABV
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Winter Warmer

I go by the belief that Great Lakes can do no wrong. They've never let me down with a beer... EVER, and I honestly mean that. From Lake Erie Monster to Nosferatu to Burning River Pale Ale, GL does beer right. It's one of my favorite breweries, if not my favorite, and its Christmas Ale is something I look forward to each winter. I'll explain why...

Firstly, like most of Great Lake's seasonals, this is a limited beer. It's available from the middle of November until the end of December and that's it. Not quite as limited as the Nosferatu (which is like two weeks at the most), but this is a brew that is tough to get your hands on. Next, this beer is full of flavor. The taste is an insane combination between chocolate (that's what I get, at least), honey, cinnamon, allspice and ginger. You can taste all of those ingredients in each sip, along with some great roasted malts and some hops (it's GL after all). Don't get me wrong though- this isn't necessarily a sweet beer. It has just enough sweetness and malt to it to be a successful winter warmer.

There's a lot of the honey and brown sugar along with some chocolatey malt in the nose, with a little bit more sweetness added in. The color of this brew is a clear brownish amber with a white head that doesn't stick around very long. This is a beer that I could drink over and over, which is why I got two six-packs instead of just one. If you have the chance, get this beer. If not, you're really missing out- get out there and find it you asshole!

Anchor Christmas Ale (2010)
5.50% ABV
Anchor Brewing Company
Winter Warmer


Anchor Brewing Company does a pretty neat thing every winter. Instead of coming out with the same old beer, they revamp their recipe and create an entire new festive brew. This years was great, definitely better than last years which I remember dumping down the drain for the most part... yuck.

At first, this beer is dark brown in color, but if held to the light, you can see that this beer has a reddish hue to it- pretty festive, eh? It's almost like if someone put a bit of red food coloring in a glass of Coca-cola. The smell and taste are neck and neck- heavy malt, cloves, nutmeg, borderline fruit (berries?) and cinnamon greet you with every sip- a great combination in my book. It has a bit of a bitter finish, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. After the sweet smell and initial taste, the bitterness is almost wanted. This is a very drinkable beer.

Would I buy this beer again? Yes. Do I have hope for a great 2011 edition of the Christmas Ale? Absolutely.

Dundee Festive Ale
6.20% ABV
Genesee Brewing Company
Winter Warmer

I love Dundee beers (Irish Red Lager is their best by far), so I was pretty excited to grab a six pack of this and go to town

This beer pours kind of a murky orange with not much head to it. The aroma is pretty good, caramel with toffee, but there's none of the spice from the other Winter Warmers I've tried- kind of strange. The flavor is just like the aroma; this is a sweet beer with a bumped up alcohol content and you can really taste that on the back end. Some spice shows up, but it's not very much.



Over all, I wasn't very impressed with this beer. I did try it on tap at a local bar, and I must say it was much better than the bottle (it always is, isn't it?). This is a beer I would suggest to people who are trying to get into drinking Winter Warmers, as it's pretty mild for the style.