#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

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.