Day 81, 3.22.11., Tournay Black - Belgian Stout

While stouts are quickly becoming one of my new favorite styles, Belgium is quickly becoming the nation of origin I'm most drinking.  So a Belgian stout ought to be perfect, right?
In other news, Lesley likes to buy me presents and she always picks good stuff.  Her newest find: a handsome new tasting glass!  Talk about a great wife.
Anyway, Tournay looks like the perfect stout.  It's black as night and has a fat foamy beige head.
The nose and palate of this beer are both extremely subtle.  on the nose, just a hint of ground coffee and dark roasty malty notes.  There's a tiny sherry aroma, and a fleeting bit of maple.
As I sip, I get a bit of brown sugar and a nice (albeit subtle again) bitter balance to the sugary malty body.
My second beef with this stout, after its lack of assertiveness in aroma and flavor, is the fact that it is quite thin.  It drinks more like a porter than a real stout.  All in all, it turned out a fairly disappointing beer for me.
7.6% ABV.  5 out of 10.

Day 80, 3.21.11., Goose Island - Demolition Golden Ale

Here is the last bottle of Goose Island I'll probably ever drink.  Let me explain.  Anheuser-Busch/InBev may be the beer Antichrist, and as of March 28th* they are also the new majority stake holders in Goose Island Brewing.  And as a general rule I don't contribute to A-B/InBev's coffers by spending my hard earned beer money on their crap.  And regardless of how good Goose Island's beer is or will be, I just can't support the whole thing.  [Rant now concluded]
I should say that I have really liked the three or so beers I've tried from Goose Island.
Demolition is a Belgian style golden ale.  It certainly IS golden and totally clear with a thinish head without a whole lot of lacing.
The nose offers dusty honey and floral notes, backed up by sour fruit, cherry especially. 
On the palate, the hops come across with a nice spice and a nice bitterness.  There are also some lemony citrus notes and floral hop flavor.  It's 7.2% ABV and 40 IBU.
I thought the beer was quite good.  The news about A-B/InBev left a bad taste in my mouth though.
7 out of 10.

*I know that this blog is dated 3.21.11., but it was actually written on 4.17.11., since I'm still so far behind in my blogging.

Day 79, 3.20.11., Westoek

Westoek is a Belgian Triple.  I don't know much about it, but I found it in a bottle and then I drank it.
It's cloudy and golden amber, and although it nearly leaped out of the bottle when I uncapped it, I found the head a little thin and fairly bubbly, especially for a Belgian ale.  The nose is slightly lambic-y with the sourish nose of brettanomyces making a strong presence.  The aromas are also musky with peppery and spice notes.  And if that's not enough, there are fruity hints as well; subtle banana and overripe apricot.
The palate is crisp and very effervescent, with bitter orange and sweet spice and cardamom.  I was a little surprised though.  Compared to the aroma, the flavor is almost boringly simple. 
Good not great.
7 out of 10.

Day 78, 3.19.11, Lagunitas - Hairy Eyeball

I think I can say I've loved 88% of the beers I've had from Lagunitas.  The Hairy Eyeball is a seasonal New Year release.  It's a beer that the brewers say 'defies style'.  I'd say it's a big brown, scotch ale-ish, barley wine-ish ale.  Beer Advocate calls it an American strong ale.

It's a copper/red amber ale With a big, thick and creamy off-white head.  It's got a really great nose with a lot of complexity going on.  There's dried plum and honey, as well as the aroma of white flowers.  I think it's a really pretty smelling beer.  In a god way.
As far as palate goes, it's definitely the most malt driven beer I've had from Lagunitas.  Those guys are certainly hop heads.  But this one is big and malty.  There's a hint of alcohol on the palate and just a touch of hop bitterness.
The body offers a butter or velvety texture, and the palate finishes with a little more honey and some sour orange.
So my track record with Lagunitas improves with this beer.  I'd say we're up to 90 or 91%.  Nice.
9% ABV.  8 out of 10.

Day 77, 3.18.11, Alaska Brewing - IPA

For whatever reason, I've long classified Alaska Brewing as one of those just ok micro brews. Maybe the fact that I can get the amber ale at Safeway is a turn off. Although I can get Lagunitas IPA there too. So maybe I'm being an elitist asshole.
At any rate I never really pay Alaska any attention. It gets no respect, no regard. But now that I've tried the IPA, will I change my tune?
Its a golden yellow beer, clear and crisp with a white creamy head. It has some lovely aromas of herbal hops,paired with musty, dusty earth. The body is in the medium to light range, and it offers a nice crisp finish.
As for flavor, the bitterness is subtle and resiny; not overbearing.  there are some really nice fresh floral herbal hop notes. Overall, I think it's a rather muted IPA, but perhaps I'm swayed by all the doubles and imperials I've sipped lately. It's actually a nice easy drinking IPA. I was pleasanly surprised.
7 out of 10

Day 76, 3.17.11., BrewDog - 5A.M. Saint

Iconoclastic amber ale, that's what the bottle told me. And I'm not to proud to say that I did look up the word 'iconoclastic' in order to better undrstand this beer. I can only assume that the point the BrewDog guys were attempting to make is that this beer topples the status quo of amber ales. And I think it could be argued that they have succeded in doing so. Only, I don't think it'll spur major change in religious tradition.
Don't even know where to turn for the 5A.M. Saint reference.
This really is an incredible amber ale though. It's amber brown with a big fluffy white head with good lacing.
The nose offers hints of plum and floral hop. There are ever some subtle hints of earth. A honey sweetness rounds out the aromas just perfectly.
On the palate, sweet malt character meets nice hop character for a balance that I feel is the brewers Holy Grail. It's lighter bodied than it appears too, with a nice mouthwatering finish.
A really tremendous easy drinking beer. And in an era when high alcohol and intense characteristics are king among brewers like BrewDog, it's a really nice change of pace to pick up a beer like 5A.M. Saint.
5.5%ABV, 9 out of 10.

Day 75, 3.16.11., Firestone Walker - Double Jack

Here's another that Derek insisted I try.  Twist my arm.
Firestone Walker hails from Paso Robles, Ca.  They've been operating since 1996 and they make some terrific beer.  The Double Jack is FW's Imperial IPA.
The beer is pale golden and crystal clear.  It has a thick white head with good lacing.  The aroma is all hop, with floral and spicy notes.
On the palate there are lemon and orange notes. There's a little hop flavor and a LOT of hop bitterness.  The body is big enough to balance out the big bitter punch.  There is also a definite detectable alcohol flavor; not surprising with an ABV of 9.5%
I think this is a good strong IPA, but I don't find it especially well rounded.
7 out of 10.

Day 74, 3.15.11., Pike Brewing - Naughty Nellie

In the past five years or so, I've really fallen in love with the Emerald City, Seattle Washington.  Every time I go there, I find something else great about it and every time, I make a stop at Pike Brewing and have a pint or three.  The setting can't be better, right among the Pike Street Market where downtown Seattle meets the Puget Sound.  And the beer?  Well it's real good.
Today I've got a 22 of Naughty Nellie.  The bottle calls it a golden artisan ale.  I call it a really tasty light and easy drinking ale with some real character.  It's just 5.5% ABV, and It's been one of the easiest tall bottles for me to finish in a while.
It's just as the label says, golden in color and slightly hazy.  It has a thin white head that dissipates fairly quickly.  The nose of this beer is absolutely lovely and the tasting notes of this beer sound more like a wine than a beer.  There are notes of white grape and honey as well as white flowers.  
On the palate, there is more honey offset by a subtle hop bitterness.  It's quite mild and mellow.  Definitely easy drinking, in fact, the palate falls a little flat after the intriguing nose. 
Really nice drinkin' beer.
8 out of 10

Day 73, 3.14.11., Monteith's - Black Beer

Lesley and I went to dinner the other night at ZuZu in Napa.  It's a tapas place.  We thought it was quite good, although the server was kinda weird.  But I drank a couple of beers there too.  The second one I had was my good old friend Saison Dupont.  But before that, I tried a beer from down New Zealand way.  It's called Monteith's Black Beer.

In the glass, this beer is... well... black.  It has a creamy lingering head and dark roasty malt aromas.  The palate is mild and lightly bittered.  It's medium bodied and has a really lovely velvety smooth mouth feel.
I don't think this is an overly complex beer but it's a very good easy drinking dark session beer.

7 out of 10

Day 72, 3.13.11., Uncommon Brewers - Baltic Porter

Here's another micro beer in a can.  Uncommon Brewers are located in Santa Cruz and list three beers on their website's list of brews.  I tried a can of the Baltic Porter.
In the glass it looks a lot like a stout. It's dark black and has a thick, creamy, beige head.
On the nose I picked up on a little smoke, a good amount of coffee beans, and a subtle hint of licorice.  Come to find out, the beer is brewed with licorice root and star anise.  Cool.  I like when my palate is confirmed.
The palate has strong hop character and bitterness.  Backing that is a good amount of brown sugar and some malty bitterness.  It's topped off though with that classic roasty dark malt character.
The body of the beer I found a little too thin.
I originally gave the Baltic Porter a six of ten, but then I realized it was too cold.  Once it warmed up to about 55º, the flavors were much more cohesive.
7 out of 10

Day 71, 3.12.11., Mikkeller - I Hardcore You

If you follow this blog closely, you'll know I've taken a real shine to Mikkeller.  Now, Mikkeller has joined up with BrewDog for an Imperial IPA.  So if you also know about my love for IPAs and my growing interest in BrewDog, then you and I will agree that I Hardcore You may just be my personal beer trifecta!   

(Since I have yet to blog a beer from BrewDog, here is 107 words on them: 
BrewDog is a Scottish brewery started by two 24 year old dudes in 2006.  They make myriad beers mostly in classic styles, but with innovations and twists that are more often seen out here in the Pacific Coast brewing world, than in the more traditional European model.  For instance, the first time I heard of BrewDog was in Portland on my bachelor party trip when my brothers and buddies and I tried their Paradox bourbon cask aged imperial stout.  I remember it was awesome, intense and way over priced at the fancy restaurant we had dinner at.  Don't remember much more.  What?  It was my bachelor party.)

I have to say though, that this one was a little disappointing.  The problem is not that the beer is not good, it is good, but I've come to expect amazing from Mikkeller.  
This beer is golden red and fairly clear.  It's pretty thick and viscous.  It has Big bold resiny hop aroma and flavor and strong bitterness.  I called this one a 7 of 10.  Here's why: it's quite unbalanced.  The only balance to the big hop punch was the full body.  But there is really not much maltyness or sweetness.  
I still love Mikkeller but this, I thought, was not their best.

Day 70, 3.11.11., Avery duganA IPA

Derek came up from San Diego and brought me some beers. This was one That he ranted and raved about, so I was excited to try it; Avery duganA IPA.
It's orange and cloudy with a thick foamy head. Not surprisingly, the nose on this IPA is all about hops. The hop aroma is the dry hop type, that is fresh and flowery and green. Dry hopping, by the way, is the process of adding hops tothe finished wort (unfermented, sweet beer)after the boil process is complete and allowing the hop character to infuse cold into the beer. It's a process that is common among IPAs and the hop aroma in duganA is precisely the goal of dry hopping. And although I don't know for certain that dry hopping is involved in this beer, my spidey sense tells me it is. Back to the beer.
The nose also has notes of bitter orange and some dank wet pine notes too.
The palate is full of Bitter, sticky hop flavor. It's a full bodied beer with lots of
piney resiny hoppieness. This beer has bitterness on top of bitterness.
In my mind, IPAs come in two types: the fresh, floral, herbal, crisp, light kind and the sticky, resiny, thick, piney kind. This one is definitely the second one.
8.5% ABV 93 IBU
7 out of 10

Day 69, 3.10.11., 21st Amendment - Monk's Blood

Here's a special release from 21st Amendment.  Monks Blood is a Belgian dark ale brewed with candi sugar, vanilla, figs and cinnamon and aged in oak.  I picked up a can for my ferry ride a while back... Yeah, I've got a backlog of beers to tell you about.  Stay tuned.
Anyway, back to the Monk's Blood.  This is a big old dark Belgian with a full creamy body and a bubbly beige head.  It's a beautiful dark chocolate brown.
On the nose, the fig sure comes through with nice notes of dried dark fruit and some earthy hints.
This beer has a very nice malty sweetness offset by a good hop character.  The oak comes through as well along with more nice earthy notes.  It culminates with a nice lingering mouthwatering finish.
This is really an intriguing beer with a lot of interesting stuff going on.  Solid, interesting beers in cans coming from 21st as usual.  worth a try!
8.3% ABV, 34 IBU
7 out of 10.