Day 51, 2.20.11., Piraat Ale

Here's a weird little beer: Piraat Ale.  With a name like that, I thought this was going to be a bad joke of a beer from some bad joke of a domestic brewery.  No Sir, this beer Sir, is Belgian Sir.

It's an amber/red hazy ale with a nice big white head.  On the nose, there is some spice notes, like clove, coriander, maybe a tiny cardamom hint.  There are some musky aromas too, and over ripe fruit notes of apricot and sour cherry.
The body is fairly big and with a good amount of maltyness.   There's a strong peppery bitterness that shifts into a sour character that lingers looooong on the finish.  Unfortunately it's not (to me) the  appealing kind of sourness, but the kind that compromises the beer's balance. 
It's an ok beer, but not very well refined.  5 out of 10.

Day 50, 2.19.11., Anderson Valley Brewing - Nettied Madge Black IPA

One more from AVBC before we move on, Nettied Madge Black IPA.  This one means well dressed prostitute, my favorite kind.
I've been really into Black IPAs lately.  It's just such a match made in heaven: nice dark roastyness and big hops.  For me, that is pretty much exactly what I want in a beer.  well, quite often anyway.
This one is nice and dark black with good creamy beige head.  On the nose, this beer has a good amount of coffee, and subtle hints of burnt sugar and vanilla.  The last two are way back in there, and then occasionally you get a nice little tiny whiff.  Totally cool. 
The body is not overly heavy, I'd say medium-light, which makes it nice and easy drinking.  but it's big on roasty character and big on hops.  The hop bitterness is really nice and clean.  Nice beer.
7 out of 10.

Day 49, 2.18.11, Anderson Valley Brewing - Wee Geech

Finally had a chance to visit the brewery up there in Boonville, and damn it's awesome.  They have a full-on visitor's center with a bar and maybe 15 taps.  The brewery itself looks pretty sweet.  Although I wasn't there at the right time for the tour, the huge windows in their brewhouse nicely show off their huge copper mash/lauter tuns and kettles.  Cool.  They also have disc golf, which I've never played (since I'm not a filthy, stinky hippy) but now I kinda want to because I realized it fits nicely into my favorite category of sports: Sports-that-are-best-played-while-holding-a-beer.  (see list below)
Back to the beer.

Wee Geech, I'm told, is Boontling for little sex, or a quicky.  I also found out that Poleeko is the Boontling word for Philo, the town up the road from Boonville.  So there you go.

Wee Geech is a pale ale that could cross over into IPA territory.  It's a pale yellow ale with a nice lacy head.  It's got a terrific sharp spicy hop nose and some slightly clovey spice.  Ther's some subtle orange oil.  The light/medium bodied beer has a sharp, mouth drying hop bitterness that lingers so delightfully on the back palate.  I loved this beer.
8 out of 10.





Sports-that-are-best-played-while-holding-a-beer  OR  My-favorite-sports:
-Bocce Ball
-Bowling
-Darts
-Billiards
-Frisbee
-Dominoes
-Croquet
-Horseshoes
-Kayaking
-Kite flying
-Lawn darts
-Lawn chair occupying 

Day 48, 2.17.11, North Coast Brewing - Cask Conditioned Red Seal Ale

We stopped into the pub/tasting room in Fort Bragg's North Coast Brewing Company.  I'm always excited to visit a brewery, because oftentimes they have beers on tap that aren't otherwise available.  Such was not the case with North Coast, as I'd had all twelve of their offerings previously, save one: the cask conditioned version of their flagship red/pale ale, Red Seal.
Our bartender worked her tail off hand pumping glasses and pints for the Sunday lunch rush.  She was also busy pouring 12 item samplers about once every five minutes or so.  We collectively kept her on her toes.  Well done, we appreciate it!
It was forced from it's cask into a glass of nearly solid head, which slowly cascaded into a beautiful copper red beer with a nice dense foamy white head.
There is plenty of malt on the nose, as well as some bitter orange and a touch of hops.
The hops come through much more fully on the palate, and is nicely rounded into a beer with some nice malt body and a fair amount of citric sour character.  I've always thought Red Seal was a decent basic red ale, but I really did  prefer it cask conditioned.  It was just lightly effervescent, but with a nice creamy head and not overly cold.  7 out of 10

Day 47, 2.16.11., Anderson Velley Brewing, Poleeko Gold

A trip up to the Mendocino coast for the weekend resulted in tasting several beers from the area's two micro brew stars, North Coast Brewing and Anderson Valley.  More on North Coast later.
On our way north, we stopped in Point Arena for a little lunch.  As we drove into town, Lesley and I discussed what we wanted for lunch: clam chowder in a bread bowl for her, and a beer for me.  No sooner than we voiced these desires, this is the sign we saw:

Sometimes things work out.

The food was pretty solid pub fare, and the beer selection pretty good, although the selection was nearly exclusively North Coast and Anderson Valley.  They're both good, but up here, they are the only beers you see on any taps.
I tried Poleeko Gold this time, a pale ale from Anderson Valley.  It has a nice nose with hints of grapefruit, sweet maltiness and acidic notes.  The body is on the full side of medium and has good bitterness backed up by just a hint of honey malt.  All that part is nice, but this pint had a definite skunky,  funkyness to it.  Unfortunately it was the kind of defect that comes with not cleaning your taps often enough.  Other than that, it's a nice easy drinking pale ale.  It'd be a good beer when you're planning on drinking a six-pack.  Fair beer.  6 out of 10.

Day 46, 2.15.11., Hitochino - Real Ginger Brew

Ever since the first taste of Hitachino Nest White Ale, I've recommended it whenever I've had a chance.  And anxiously, I've tried all the varieties I can find.

The Real Ginger Beer is a cloudy red amber beer with a creamy white head.  On the nose, you guessed it, big ginger aroma.  It's a spicy ginger too, like those crunchy hard ginger snaps.  The beer has a nice malty body, with more spicy ginger on the palate.  It also has some intense sourness that almost coated my tongue on the finish, a pretty distracting way to end each sip.
All in all this is a really fun delicious beer, but it just was not as amazing as I've come to expect a Hitachino beer to be. (based on the White Ale, and the Espresso Stout I've tasted)
This beer is pretty good.  Worth a shot if you're looking for a beer that's a bit out of the ordinary.
6 out of 10.

Day 45, 2.14.11., Maui Brewing - Coconut Porter

I think it actually tastes better when served like this...

While we're drinking porters, here's another.  Maui Brewing makes this one with toasted coconut, puts it in cans and ships it back to the main land.  I've tried a couple others from Maui Brewing, and have found them pretty good.
This porter is a little heavier than St. Peter's, and has a bit more sweetness.  It poured dark black and pretty viscous.  The head is thick, off-white and quite creamy, just lovely.  On the nose, there's really nice notes of dark roast coffee beans, and hints of sweetness, caramel and maple syrup. 
On the palate, the dark malts are certainly present, and a good bit of hop bitterness is there too.  Some slight sweet notes round out the beer really nicely.  I didn't really identify any of the flavors or aromas as coconut specifically, but it didn't undermine the beer for me.  Quite good.  7 out of 10.

A word on cans:  I love good beer in cans.  Environmentally friendly, easy to pack, good for the beer.  These are some of my favorite canning micro brewerys:
Maui
21st Amendment
Oskar Blues
Big Sky Brewing
Anderson Valley Brewing
Try 'em out.

Day 44, 2.13.11., St. Peter's - Old-Style Porter

Here's a line of beer's that always looks interesting on the store shelves; St. Peter's.  It's a brewery up and running in Suffolk England since 1996.   It comes in a cute little squat bottle with an oval label.  From what I understand, they produce lots of classic styles including stouts, porters, and bitters and then some fruit beers and even a gluten free.  Today I'm giving the Old-Style Porter a try.

Now I will say this, porter is not one of my favorite styles, so it's not one I have a lot of experience with, and therefore don't know a whole lot about.  I consulted Beer Advocate to find that porter is one of the first beers that was 'engineered' to suit the public's taste.  In the late 1700's brewers made a dark, strong ale by blending three beers, including one old stale ale.  Also, dark malts were added to hide imperfections and cloudiness in the beer.
So the results are a dark brown beer, light-ish in body and a solid acid character from the old stale beer.  And based on these quick notes, St. Peter's seems to be right on target.
The Old-Style Porter is deep amber brown with quite a thin bubbly head.  (seems appropriate considering it's 1/3 flat beer)  It's nice and roasty, but easy to drink and medium bodied.  The palate has lots of that roasty character, along with plenty of nice hoppieness, with strong bitter and acidic finish.  A nice little beer. 7 out of 10.

Day 43, 2.12.11, Harvey & Son - Imperial Double Extra Stout - 2003

I was very excited about this beer.  Harvey & Son's  Imperial Double Extra Stout.  I mean it's a four word name containing three descriptors.  It sounded awesome.
It was not awesome.  I only realized just after pulling the cork that this was a 2003 vintage beer, questionable even for a 13% barley wine, but here we have a 9% ABV stout.  It's 8 years old, and just past its prime.
This beer poured inky black, a good start!  But when I saw almost zero head, I was suspicious.  On the nose, dried purple fruit and balsamic vinegar...
I tentatively sipped and was met with aggressive sour cherry character, more vinegar and sherry.  The sherry notes were actually not bad, but they were way to strong, and with everything else going on, it was just undrinkable.  And I tried, I choked down about a third of it before it was pitched in the kitchen sink.
I like where they were headed with this beer, but it was just too far gone.  I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a 2008+ vintage.  So for being absolutely awful and still making me want to try another one, I award 2 out of 10.

Day 42, 2.11.11, Hermitage - Ale of the IMP

Trying a beer today that I've been curious about.  Bev-Mo carries a whole line of beers from Hermitage Brewery, which is the distribution side of Tied House Pub down in San Jose.  It sounds like Tied House does a bunch of contract brewing, and likely I've had stuff that they brew and didn't know it.  One of their projects is Coastal Fog, a brand they make exclusively for Bev-Mo.  I wonder whether the same is true of Hermitage.
This beer is their IMPerial IPA.  (Get it?)  It is cloudy amber in color and has a substantial white foamy head.  On the nose, floral hops are first up, and in a big way.  But it also smells surprisingly malty
The malt doesn't materialize on the palate much though as the hops again take center stage.  They are very spicy and quite bitter.  With the malt flavor falling flat and the beer having really not much of a body to speak of, it's fairly unbalanced.  Not a bad stab at a very hoppy beer, but a bit too aggressive to enjoy.  Even for a hop-head like me.  5 out of 10.

Day 41, 2.10.11., Xingu

Here's a weird beer: Xingu black beer from Brazil.  My general rule of thumb again with the beer of equatorial tropical climates: proceed with caution.  It's certainly black, as promised, and completely opaque too.  It poured into the glass with very little beige head.  I don't think I've ever tried a beer  this dark from a warm climate country.  Good on ya Brazil.
The nose is subtle, but once you let it warm up a bit and then really get your nose in there, it's all mapley and malty.  There's definitely some brûlée sugar aroma too.  The body is rather thin compared to it's color.  There's not much going on in the palate, a little dark malt bite and then a sour fade out... disappointing.  This is another one of those beers that's not bad, it's just not a standout.
It's fine.  An extra point awarded for the Brazilian people attempting a beer other than the standard clear light lager.
6 out of 10.

Day 40, 2.9.11., Innis & Gunn - Scottish Oak Aged Ale

This was a Christmas gift from my wife's Uncle Walter and Aunt Zita.  They travel to Canada quite a bit and picked this up in Vancouver.  Innis & Gunn Scottish Oak Aged Ale is a limited release beer produced in Scotland in celebration of Canada Day, a holiday with a ridiculous sounding name.  It's a partial rye mash beer that is aged in Canadian whiskey barrels. 

The small (12oz-ish) bottle came in it's own little red box (which is probably for the best since they use clear glass).  It's a dark red beer with a little bit of fluffy white head.  On the nose, smoke and caramel lead and give way to hints of vanilla and a bit of dried stone fruits. 
The body to me was fairly light, especially compared to other oak aged beer I've had.  These beers tend to be stouts, and big barley wines.
It's a malty beer though, with the palate offering brown sugar maltyness and a definite oakyness.  There are hints of the rye as well, sharper notes that could be mistaken for the malt bitterness that is also present.  That malt bitterness finishes the palate, lingering after each sip. 
This is an interesting little beer, with a lot going on and some true character.  7 out of 10.

Day 39, 2.8.11., Blanche de Bruxelles

I often think to myself "Gee, I sure like beer, but it just lacks that 'infant taking a piss' character that I so desire".  We, thankfully, there is Blanche de Bruxelles.  This is a witbier made by the Lefebvre Brewery, just outside Brussels (or Bruxelles, you know...).  As I eluded to before, this beer's label features a urinating youth.  Or cherub or something.  It's down there, you figure it out.

But inside the bottle this wit (hefeweizen in German, wheat beer in English) is brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel.  It's light, almost cloudy white.  On the nose, the orange and spice certainly come through very distinctly.  There is no hops to speak of either on the nose or palate, and the main flavors in the beer are fruity and light.  This beer is pretty and easy drinking.  It's a definite front porch beer, a light summer session beer.  (It's just 4.5% ABV)  Not one of my favorite styles, but a decent beer.  It's not much of a standout.  6 out of 10.

I've tried nearly everything at Bloodhound... maybe next time I'll get to enjoy a stone IPA.  I'm fine with that.

Day 38, 2.7.11., 21st Amendment - Lord and Master

Stopped in to 21st Amendment Brewing Company in San Francisco's south of market neighborhood. Come to think of it, 21st is where I had the first beer of this project back on 1.1.11.
Going on now at the brewery is Strong Beer Week, which of course showcases beers in the 8%, 9%+ range.  This day I tried Lord & Master, a beer that the brewers call a 'strong English blonde'.  But to my taste, it seems like more of an amber.  It's a deep amber red and opaque.
This beer has a sweet malt nose with some citrusy orange notes.  And on the palate, it's delightfully bitter with strong, palate drying hop character.  The hops come through nice and spicy which balances nicely against a pretty full bodied beer.  It is 8.7% ABV and 65 IBUs.
The bartender was also kind enough to fill me in on their strong beer week punch card.  Try all the strong beers at 21st and Magnolia and keep the commemorative tulip glass.  One down, eleven to go.
8 out of 10

Day 37, 2.6.11., Russian River Brewing - Pliney the Younger

I have long been a fan of Russian River's über hoppy double IPA Pliny the Elder.  It's something of a  legend among west coast hop-heads like myself.
But once a year, (around this time) Russian River releases a short run of their triple IPA, Pliny the Younger.  I don't know exactly what the quantity produced is, but it's not a lot.  In fact, I'm told that last years entire stock was gone in eight short hours.  So this year, they put the kibosh on growlers (it comes on draft only) and allocated a certain number of kegs daily for a two week run.  So with the confidence that they'd have a glass available upon my arrival, my brother John and I took the one hour drive north to Santa Rosa, just to drink beer.
The Russian River Brewery is a great spot.  A storefront building in Santa Rosa's quaint downtown.  It's not big, with well more than half of the small building devoted to brewing.  As we walked down the block, we could clearly smell the beautiful aroma of barley mashing on the breeze...  lovely. 
Back to the Pliny.  My understanding in that both Plinys get a healthy dose of Simcoe hops in the boil as well as in multiple rounds of dry hopping.  Simcoe is a newish hybrid from the pacific northwest that features fruity apricot notes, floral notes and resiny pine characteristics.  An there is no shortage off all that in the Plinys.
Pliny the Younger is pale golden in color and is fairly clear with nice lacy white head.  It's incredibly bitter (the brewery lists IBUs as 'Gobs') but has nice balance provided by the velvety full malty body.  There's a touch of honey there, and it offsets the bitterness just so nicely.  It's quite a strong beer too, weighing in at 10.25%ABV.
All in all, this beer is VERY similar to my old friend Pliny the Elder, with the big difference between the two being that the Younger simply has more.  More Hops.  More Malt.  More Alcohol.  It's intense, I'll definitely say that.  But I think it's a really pretty beer, with a huge amount of floral flavor and aroma.
I've always considered the Elder to be a pretty strong beer (it's 8% ABV), and fairly intense.  But after comparing the two side by side, Elder almost starts to drink like an easy session sipper.  So mellow and crisp it is next to it's Younger nephew.
Pliny the Younger is certainly something special.  It's a wonderful beer that features hops to the fullest.  It's really fun to drink, and whether by design or not, it's got a hype and mystique around it that makes you feel privileged to hoist a glass.
9 out of 10.

"Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius."

-From the Russian River Brewing website

Day 36, 2.5.11., Lost Abbey - Serpent's Stout

I stopped by to say hey to Charlie over at the Trappist.  He wasn't there, so I had a beer anyway.  The nice young lady behind the bar told me that Serpent's Stout is one of her favorites on the current tap list so I grabbed a glass.
Lost Abbey is a part of Port Brewing, located just north of San Diego.  I think this is the first beer I've tried from them, although I've had a few from Port.
Serpent's stout is an absolutely lovely (Imperial?) stout.  It's rich and creamy and black and opaque with a gorgeous velvety beige head.  The nose is dusty with hints of chocolate and coffee.  If you've ever tried a very high percentage cacao chocolate bar (70%+), you know that chocolaty mouth drying bitterness.  That flavor is all over the body of this beer.  It's 10.5% ABV, but the beer comes off very smooth and leaves you with only a hint of just how much alcohol it contains.  This is just a really nice, well made stout.  I like this beer very much.  8 out of 10.

Day 35, 2.4.11., Wells - Banana Bread Beer

As you know, I really like beer.  As you may not know, I also really like banana bread.  My mom makes killer banana bread.
When I saw this beer on the shelf, I thought 'hmm, I don't want to drink that'.  But of course I bought a bottle to try since I had never tried it before.   I've certainly tried some hefeweizens that have a distinct banana-esc flavor.  Other than that, I don't really think the two (bananas and beer) have any business hanging out.  I fully expected this beer to be bad to the point of undrinkability...

Wells banana bread beer is a crisp, clear Amber ale.  As expected, the nose is fairly fake banana, like Laffy Taffy.  Banana flavor is less prevelant on the palate, where it's there but quite subtle.  It's accompanied by a fair amount of nice spicy hops character.
In addition to the banana and hop flavors, the beer is actually kind of nice and fruity, not specifically banana flavor only, just general fruitieness.  There's some slight malt sweetness, but it serves to keep the hop bite in check. 
Responsible use of banana flavor makes this a decent beer.  It's actually quite a bit  better than I thought it would be. 5 out of 10.       

Day 34, 2.3.11., Baltika - 6 - Porter

Baltika is a beer brand out of Russia, which appears to be a pretty major brand in the former USSR.  I base this assumption on their HILARIOUS website which features the following:

-Hip club beats
-White sand beaches and crystal blue waters
-Jetskis
-Low-rise jeans
-Wet transparent shirts barely covering the breasts of a model

So I can only assume that the Baltika brand is something like the Budweiser of Russia.  With two major differences.  First, Baltika comes in a myriad of styles, from light lagers to this porter to stout.  And they're numbered for your convenience (porter is 6).  Secondly Baltika differs heavily from Budweiser in that it is really very good.
I found the porter to be an almost textbook example of a porter.  It is dark in color yet light in body and has notes of coffee and molasses on the nose.  On the palate is a quite strong malt bitterness, along with roasty notes.  It finishes smooth and dry.  It's just lovely.  A surprisingly high 8 out of 10.

Day 33, 2.2.11., Devil's Canyon - Full Boar scotch ale

This is a new beer that we have on tap at the restaurant where I work.  Devil's Canyon has been brewing in Belmont, CA. (down on the peninsula, south of San Francisco) since 2001.  As with most things located in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties, I've never heard of it.  They make several styles, including a lager which they call a 'California Lager' (Steam Beer?), blonde ale, amber ale, and rye IPA.
And then, of course, the scotch ale.  It's a style I don't know a lot about as far as brewing, but I've certainly tried a few.  It's generally a big, syrupy, malty, red beer with a good amount of alcohol.  And Full Boar definitely fits into these characteristics.

Full Boar is a red beer with a light amount of effervescence creating a light white head.  On the nose, it's all maple, and the body is thick and velvety.  Flavor wise, malt is absolutely the main element.  There's a whole lot of brown sugar and just a hint of smokeyness.  there's about 7.4% ABV, which isn't really enough to emerge on the palate through the strong malt sweetness, and with just 12 IBUs, the only bitterness on this beer comes from a bit of darker malts.
I find Full Boar a bit syrupy sweet for my liking although, it seems like a nice example of the  style.  7 out of 10.

Day 32, 2.1.11, He'brew - Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.

I've tried a few beers from He'brew. Most have been memorable for their humorous packaging which is replete with Jewish puns, and not so memorable for the actual beer in that bottle.
Since brewing a rye beer last month, I've been particularly keen to find other rye beers. And when I saw rye+IPA, I figured it must =amazing. It turned out pretty good.
Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. is a deep amber beer with a thick creamy head. It has a fairly full body which was definitely nice.  
This beer has a strong biting bitterness, and I found that to really be the only way in which the hops came through. (this beer really didn't have much going on on the nose, and the rye took the lead on flavor)  
The rye comes through a little like tannin in wine. It seems a bit earthy and oaky, although it's subtle compared to the hops. It is certainly a character I appreciate, bit it got pretty well lost or obscured by the hop bitterness.
All in all, this is a decent beer. I think it could be better if it allowed rye to be a bigger part of the beer's flavor.
Not bad. 6 out of 10.      

Day 31, 1.31.11, Scaldis

I don't remember buying this bottle, but it was in my fridge and looked interesting so I popped it open.  It's a cute little 8.48 oz bottle.  It makes you look slightly larger than life size when you hold it in your hand.
Scaldis is a Belgian ale, golden orange with a decent amount of creamy white head, and a very slight cloudiness. 
On the nose, this beer has deep, dried fruit aromas like apricot and raisin.  I can smell the alcohol some too.  It weighs in at 12%ABV which also explains the small bottle.  On the palate it's sour and bitter with a syrupy residual sugar thing going on.  It's got some earthy notes and oakyness too.
I don't really like this beer.  It drinks almost like a bad dessert wine, like a  muscat or passito, only not nearly as balanced.  Much too much sugar and not enough malt and body to balance the intense bitterness.
I see where they were going with it though.  It's a super strong beer, and those definitely need to have some residual sweetness, but this is just too much.  5 out of 10.