#87 De Ryck

This is another beer that I'll report briefly to include it in the count, but it doesn't deserve much more than that.   It's a Belgian pale ale that comes in an ugly bottle.

Appearance: Red/brown amber.  Light bit of white head.
Nose: Hardly anything.  Subtle dry fruit notes.  A bit of apricot.
Palate: Bland.  Bready.

That's it, not very good.  4 out of 10

#86 Moonlight Brewing - Old Combine

Old Combine comes from Moonlight Brewing is a little brewery up in Santa Rosa which distributes only locally and only in kegs.  They are probably most well known for their popular black lager, Death and Taxes.  Old Combine is another lager of theirs, which is brewed with barley, wheat, oats and rye.
It might make a good session sipper; only 5% ABV, and a pale golden color.
Appearance:  Pale golden.  Hazy.  Thin white head, good lacing.
Nose:  Grassy and floral hops.
Palate:  Spicy rye bite.  Nice light hop bittering.  Big carbonation.  Slight lager yeast sour notes.
This beer has a medium/high body, the only thing that might keep it out of the session category.  I nice beer, but wasn't exceptional to me.
7 out of 10 

#85 De Ranke Noir de Dottignies

Here's a Belgian Dark Ale that's terrific.  De Ranke Noir de Dottignies is made in the village of Dottignies in the southwest of Belgium.  It's a very new brewery, especially by Belgian standards.  They brewed their first batch in 1994.

Appearance:  True to it's name, Black.  Totally opaque with a lingering creamy head.
Nose:  Maple, oak, earthy spice nose.  Notes of licorice and coffee.
Palate:  Malty bitterness and dark sweetness work together for exceptional balance and complexity.  Finishes dry after caramely sweetness on the front palate.  Good hop bitterness to balance.

It was not until I had tasted and decided that I really liked this beer that I realized where I remember De Ranke from.  They produced one of the few other 9 out of 10 ratings in this blog.  And today they get another 9 from me.

#84 Victory - Prima Pils

This is the second beer from Victory that I've ever drunk, as well as the second featured in this blog.  Loyal readers will remember Yakima Glory from late January.  It was a pretty good little pint.  This one I picked up bottled from Beer Revolution.
It's a German style Pils, clocking in at 5.3%ABV. 

Looks: It's bright, electric yellow.  I don't think I'v ever seen a beer quite this color.  It has a big bubbly white head with good lacing.
Smells: Hop aromas are floral and citrusy.
Tastes: Fairly crisp and tingly on the palate, with classic, sour yeasty lager notes.  Velvety mouthfeel with much more body than I'm used to in a pilsner.  

Overall, this beer is good.  But it was a bit too full bodied.  To me a pils should be light crisp and refreshing, characteristics which this one didn't really have.  A pretty good beer, maybe just a bit mis-labeled.
6 out of 10

#83 Oakland Brewing Company - Sticky Zipper Imperial IPA

Also at the festival was Oakland Brewing Company, a brewery on the end of the 'established' spectrum exactly opposite Sierra Nevada.  The crest on their website and business card reads 'est. 2009', but in the past two years, this was certainly the first time I'd had the chance to taste OBC.
The notes I took on this beer are scrawled on the back of the business card, so excuse me if these tasting notes are vague or incomplete.  I wanted to include this beer, not to increase my beer count, but to give young Oakland Brewing Company the shout tout they deserve.  (as If my massive readership will help their bottom line.)

Appearance:  Yellow and hazy, head went unrecorded.
Nose: Dusty and dry hop notes, very intriguing.
Palate: The flavors are fresh and herbal hops, with sharp spicy bitterness and a nice malt body balancing.

As I said, vague.  I plan on seeing about trying it again tonight at Beer Revolution.  Maybe an update/second opinion are in order on this one.
I made a point of scratching out notes on this one though because I remember loving it so well.  I give it an 8 out of 10.  Keep up the great work OBC!

#82 Sierra Nevada - Estate Ale

My brother and dad and I made our way out to the Bay Area Craft Beer Festival.  It was a decent, fledgling festival with lots of good beer from around the area.  They have a good deal of kinks to work out before next time, but they're on the right track.  I'd tasted most of the beers offered at the festival, but came upon a few new gems:

John, Jack & I posing for pics at the festival with a chatty, inebriated wingnut.

Sierra Nevada was not offering tastes of a pale ale in a green bottle, but they were offering their Estate Ale, a beer made exclusively of ingredients produced at Sierra Nevada's Chico estate.

Appearance: Crisp clear amber beer, a modicum of whitish head
Aroma: Subtle floral and spice hop aroma
Palate: Lovely floral flavor, Quite smooth and easy drinking, back palate bitterness, mouthwatering
Sharp bitter notes.

This is certainly a beer that harkens back to the old standby Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  It's a bit sharper in it's hop bitterness than the original, but seemed a more refined, finished beer.  Very good! Highly recommended.
9 out of 10

A triumphant return to beer

Well ladies and gentlemen, here's the math:  I've blogged 81 beers this year.  Unfortunately there have been 144 days this year which puts me 63 beers back...  That is quite... a... few.
But fear not loyal reader (I'm not afraid) I'm still fully behind my goal of tasting and blogging 365 new beers this year.
I could blame my negligence on a lot of 'stuff' that's been going on, (I've been a father now since shortly after the time of my last post.  Total coincidence.) or on 'issues' I've encountered. (My cool black macbook quit and now I have to use my wife's prissy white one.)
But I won't.  I'll be the bigger man and tell you that both blogging and tasting beer are wayyyyy harder than simply hoisting a frosty pint.
The good news is, I have not stopped drinking and taking notes on beers in my down time.  Yes that's right I've got some 20 beers in my quiver waiting to hit the blog.  Still, looks like a long row to hoe.

Things I'm going to do differently now:
-Not worry about the concept of 'one a day'.  Just looking to hit the magic 365 figure (thank god it's not a leap year)
-Normalize my reviewing method in order to make posts quicker and easier to write.
-Start working out.  That really doesn't have a lot to do with the blog, I'm just becoming too much of a couch potato.


Things I've learned about my life vis-à-vis beer:
-Stout is my second favorite style. (after IPA)
-I like porters much more than I thought I did.
-Belgium makes both really great and really bad beer.
-I think Mikkeller is my new favorite brewer.
-Most of the time I type 'berr' and then have to hit backspace two times and try again.
-A good beer is really easy to find.
-A great beer is much harder to find.

I hope you will stick with me as I catch up and strive for 365 in 2011.
-T