Beers in Review: Asheville-Best of Bhramari and Twin Leaf

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Tonight continues the look back at the beers of Asheville, North Carolina. We'll be covering two different breweries in this entry.

Starting off is Bhramari Brewhouse, a newcomer to the Asheville scene that is essentially split in two: a standard restaurant and a much more stripped-down taproom and patio, where you can drink within feet of the tanks. Everything here was a little bit off the beaten path, in a good way. One of our drinking experiences was their Carolina Common Ale served both "as is" and infused with apples and star anise. The straight Common uses locally-sourced malt, just like the Highland IPL I tried in Monday's video review. It pours pretty orange color, and was fairly sweet (many of their beers were on the sweet side) with caramel notes and a bit of grain and toasted malt. The infused Common was also quite sweet and yielded a caramel apple flavor, along with a mild black licorice kick (from the anise). On my palate, the entire flavor profile kind of melded into cherries and strawberries at the very finish. Again, these beers were pretty sweet, but just stayed on the tolerable side.

The Night Sauce Stout was a big hit with both my parents and myself. Super tasty with lots of chocolate and a hint of coffee. I also caught notes of roastiness and caramel and just a bit of black pepper as well. Complex and tasty, this was a great stout.

We also tried their Lorelai American IPA. Sadly, I don't have a many notes on this beer, except that it was a bit of a tropical fruit bomb. I enjoyed it, but my dad, who is quite the hop-head, did not. There was also a Black Goze that combined the coffee notes of a porter or stout with the lemon-sourness of a Goze. It didn't work for my personal palate, but I expect they hit their own target perfectly.

Our next stop was Twin Leaf Brewery. They weren't doing flights, which was just fine, as after several beers each at Bhramari and Wicked Weed (discussed previously), we were more than happy to throttle back a bit. I spent most of the time teaching my mother about Cards Against Humanity, so I may have created a monster there. I had their White Noise Witbier. I found this to be a really well-executed wheat beer. It was crisp and clean, with clove, wheat, and even some spicy notes. There was also just a hint of citrus, probably orange. Again, really solid in style.

Beers in Review: Asheville-Best of Wicked Weed

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If you've seen the two recent videos I released, you got an overview of my recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina, home of countless craft breweries and beer bars. The next few or several) Beers in Review posts will include more in-depth reviews or descriptions of some of the more notable beers from the trip. We'll start off with three from our first brewery stop, Wicked Weed Brewing.

First is Wicked Weed's flagship IPA, Pernicious. A recent medalist at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival, this beer brings forward a vast array of flavors. There were moderate tropical fruit and perhaps dark fruit notes (which may have all been running together), along with some pine and resin hints as well. There was also maybe just a little bit of dankness. This was a really tasty beer with a wide and wild variety of hop flavor notes.

Next is their beer tribute to Prince, an "experimental ale" called The Artist Formerly Known As. Owing to its experimental style designation, it is an ale brewed using purple rice, which can have a nutty taste, and assorted Indian spices. It pours a "turmeric orange" (their description--I expect turmeric is one of those Indian spices). Admittedly, I don't have an extensive knowledge of Indian cuisine, but the ale left me with an overall impression of curry powder. Some of the flavor notes include spiciness, woodiness, and a slight sweetness. A unique beer, unlike anything I've had before.

Finally from Wicked Weed, Hop Burglar, poured on Nitro. I've tried describing what this means before, but Wicked Weed gives a great description on their website:

“The addition of Nitrogren to a beer gives way to much smaller bubbles, creating a smoother, creamier experience. It also creates a beautiful cascading head that makes our brewers’ mouths water.”

It gets a tad flowery at the end, but the point is well-made. Pouring a pretty orange color, my overall impression of this beer was that it's a hybrid of a Pale Ale and an ESB, an English-style malty, bitter, ale. The Nitrogen use may be playing a role in this--occasionally you will see similar beers to this on Nitro. Fruity notes are present-a result of the use of blood orange and grapefruit. Most notably, this is a well-balanced beer, with both hop and malt notes shining through.

 

Beers in Review: Another post where I have to spell "hazelnut"

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More from the weekend, plus a minor programming note at the end. Let's check out some beers.

The first two beers are some of the less-available beers from Lagunitas Brewing Company. First is their CitruSinensis, a Pale Ale brewed with blood oranges. The ale poured a gold color, had a light to medium body, and I found this beer to be really juicy in terms of a mouthfeel, almost as if biting into a perfectly ripe orange or other fruit, where the juices run down the corners of your mouth. There was a little bit of grape or white wine flavor initially, but this quickly gave way to plenty of citrus, most notably the blood orange, of course. Citrusy hops tended to make their presence felt as the ale warmed. This was a tasty beer with a unique mouthfeel.

Next from Lagunitas was their brand-new Aunt Sally, a hoppy sour ale. It pours a pale golden color, and this particular glass had lots of carbonation, almost making it look like champagne in the glass. The flavors in this beer are straight forward: citrusy hop notes combined with plenty of lemon and other sour flavors. The citrusy hops generate a bit of hop bitterness, especially towards the end of the sip.

To kind of stay on-style after the Aunt Sally, I had Kirsch Gose by Victory Brewing Company. A cherry gose, it represents those cherries visually by pouring a pretty rose color. Sour cherries with mild sweetness made up with flavor profile, and the gose had a crisp, dry mouthfeel and finish. A really tasty gose.

Finally, Hazelnut Brown Nectar from Rogue Ales. It pours a medium shade of brown, is a bit hazy, and has a medium body. Tasty and straight forward in flavor, one of the most notable things that came to my mind when I pursued flavors was "chocolate cake". It is nutty and chocolaty and sweet (but not too sweet) with tons of flavor. An enjoyable drinking experience.

As a programming note, I will be spending the weekend in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the major craft beer cities in the US. I will be tweeting throughout the trip on the blog Twitter account. Also expect multiple articles and maybe even a video on the breweries of Asheville next week!

Video Review: River Rat Hazelnut Brown Ale

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So, I sat down with my beer and my new HD webcam, and filmed my review of River Rat Brewery's Hazelnut Brown. Then, I went back and discovered I had no sound because I screwed up the webcam set-up. I went back and redid the review summary-style, so at least we all got something out of it. Enjoy! It really didn't turn out too bad, considering.

Also, I've had to write "Hazelnut" about 40 times in the last hour, and I've had to check the spelling every time.

Beers in Review: Best Beer Week Ever!

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Today I have three beers that are all over the place, style-wise, and are some of the most dynamic beers I've ever tried. This will include one of a few upcoming beers from Lagunitas, thanks to the magic of a local tap takeover.

But before we get into that, let's start with Fuego del Otono by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. It pours a deep, dark golden color, and while listed as a saison or beire de garde, at its soul this is a funky sour ale. Lemon notes are present, as is a hint of grapefruit. The root of this beer is a mighty Belgian funkiness that persists throughout the entire sip and even strengthens as it warms. I also got an aftertaste of lemon rind. I enjoyed this beer, but after about 3/4ths of a glass the warming funkiness combined with the sour notes overwhelmed me a bit.

Next up is Sumatra Mountain Brown from Founders Brewing Company. "Sumatra" is referring to the Indonesian island that provides a considerable amount of the coffee we drink today. Pouring a very dark brown with a light tan head, I drew a roasted coffee aroma (the descriptors that came to my mind were "mighty" or "hefty", reflecting how powerful that aroma was). This beer has plenty of roasty and earthy flavors along with straight up coffee, especially in the aftertaste and when breathing out after drinking. I also detected a mild amount of chocolate and some moderate coffee bitterness. A tremendous beer.

Finally, The Waldos' Special Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company. This is a TRIPLE IPA that pours a deep gold leaning towards copper color and has a good amount of body. Lagunitas describes it as the "dankest and hoppiest beer" they brew, and it delivers. Powerful aromas of dank grapefruit and grapefruit rind. Flavors are similar, but also include a little bit of dark fruit, and a little bit of hop bite as well as a citrus hop aftertaste. Considering the ABV (11.5%), the booziness stays in the background fairly well, only pushing forward a little bit as it warms up.

It's a fairly rare occurrence to have such a trio of high quality and highly regarded beers in the span of a week. This may have been my best beer week ever.

Beer in Review: Church Street Scottish Redux

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It is never my intention to deliberately criticize beers and breweries without reason. I don't pretend to be a beer expert (there's a reason I named this blog "Pourly Reviewed"), but I call it as I see it. But I'm also not going to dismiss a beer or brewery out-of-hand after one bad beer--there are so many factors that are unintentional or out of a brewer's control that such quick judgment is unfair. Indeed, I've heard much more experienced beer drinkers/reviewers than I say they will give a beer 4 or 5 tries before rendering a truly final verdict on a beer.

All of this leads to Church Street Brewing Company's Tale of the Shony Scottish Ale, a beer I reviewed yesterday, only to be unfortunately plagued by a bad bottle. Out of respect to the brewery and what little audience I have, I felt it was important to retry this beer as quickly as possible to give it a fair shot a redemption--while I and others unfortunately do it, no brewery should be solely judged on one bottle of beer.

I'm starting to talk in circles, so let us revisit this Scottish Ale.

I am happy to say that today's bottle is FAR better than yesterday's, and I expect it is much more in line with Church Street's goal. The beer pours a nice, hazy brown color, and caramel dominates both the aroma and the initial flavors, along with a good bit of roasty malt. Further on, a good amount of sweetness of dark fruit and toffee and maybe a hint of cola, as well. The finish is quite dry, and leaves a little dark fruity aftertaste that dissipates quickly.

All in all, EVERY facet of this beer--aroma, beginning, middle, end of tasting, aftertaste--fared FAR BETTER with today's bottle than yesterday. I am glad to have a better representation of this Scottish Ale.

Beers in Review: Three at random

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I didn't have much of an intro for today's post, but that was before Squarespace (my web and blogging platform) deleted the first two beers from my in-progress post. I wrote the first two earlier tonight, and when I came back to write the 3rd, poof! I had already deleted my notes, so the Oasis and the RJ Rockers are both from memory. Please bare with me.

Leading off is the Pale Ale from Oasis Brewing Company. This Pale Ale pours a nearly crystal-clear gold color, and does a great job of malt/hop balance. The first half of the beer is quite malty and has some fruity notes, as well. This leads into a nice, citrus hop profile in the 2nd half of the beer. There is no bitterness from the hops whatsoever. Just citrusy goodness. This Pale Ale was a bit surprising in make-up and brings unique qualities to the style.

Next is the flagship beer from RJ Rockers Brewing Company that is well-made for South Carolina summers. Their Son of a Peach wheat ale pours exactly as advertised: peachy-orange and hazy. Similarly, the flavors overall are on point, with sweet, fruity notes leading the way throughout the sip. The sweet peach note is mild but prominent--they do a nice job of having the fruit notes present without overpowering the beer, as can be common in fruit beers. Additional notes include a hint of graininess as well as something a bit bitter or funky at the very end, though it's not really off-putting.

Finally, Tale of the Shony Scottish Ale from Church Street Brewing Company. I'm sorry to say that this beer was...problematic. It poured a pretty brown color with some red hues, but this beer, or at least this bottle, has issues. I'm typically not one to pull a ton of aroma, but in lifting the glass up to my nose, I got a ton of artificial butter to butterscotch notes, which suggests this beer is overrun by diacetyl. Now, diacetyl is a by-product of standard fermentation practices, and the buttery note can be considered an acceptable part of certain beer styles. But it should not overwhelm the beer, and I'm fairly certain that in this style, it should be minimal/non-existent. For example, Church Street themselves say the beer should have "notes of sweet caramel and mellow roast", and based on the style, I might also expect some other sweet food notes and a hint of alcohol/booziness. Unfortunately, except for a mild cola note, this beer is overrun by the buttery note and a pretty nasty aftertaste. I have a couple more bottles of this beer, as well as a couple of their Hefeweizen (though, none cold), and I hope they are better drinking experiences than this bottle was.

Beers in Review: Two from NoDa, one from Coast

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Let's dive right in.

A have a pair of beers from NoDa Brewing Company. First up is the Ramble on Red, pouring a reddish-copper hue. Leading off, flavor-wise, were some bready malts and some fruity notes. I also detected a little bit of funkiness and some mild hop bitterness. Overall, I found it quite straight-forward, flavor-wise.

Next up from NoDa is the Woody and Wilcox IPA. Similarly straight-forward in flavor, there were some pine hop notes at the start leading to some citrus and just a hint of dankness as well. A very hop-forward beer, it tends to bring a lot of hop bitterness that carries through the entire sip.

For the final beer of this post, I just poured Coast Brewing Company's Dead Arm APA (American Pale Ale). The Dead Arm pours a hazy lemon-gold color with a decent amount of fluffy, white head. The first sip yields a complex hop variety--dank and piney hops lead off but very quickly lead into juicy, fruity notes, most notably apricot. Some citrus notes are also hanging around, mostly orange and slight grapefruit. There's maybe a little bit of a white wine hit there, but it's very faint. The end brings some mild bitterness, nothing too off-putting, along with some spiciness. I was delightfully surprised by the flavor complexities in this beer. It is a well done APA.

Beers in Review: Two favorites

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We've reached the month of May, which means summer is approaching (or here, as in Columbia, SC). That makes it the perfect time to write about two of my favorite beers. One is a summer seasonal wheat ale, while the other is a year-round wheat beer crossed with some interesting global flavors. Frankly, I'm stunned I hadn't written about these beers yet, especially the year-round offering (considering I've only been writing since the fall).

First up, the seasonal from Bell's Brewery, Oberon Ale, which for me is pretty much THE example of what a wheat ale should be. The ale pours a hazy, orange peel color and has a light body. The "orange peel" concept continues into the taste for me, as I detected both citrus like orange and lemon as well as citrus peel flavors. There are also some grain or wheat notes, along with some mild spices and a very mild hint of bitterness. Oberon tends to be available for a longer period of time than most summer seasonals; it is reportedly available from April to August. As one of the ideal summer wheats, it's one I'll enjoy that entire time. This is a true go-to beer.

Next is one of the first truly unique beers I ever tasted, Westbrook Brewing Company's White Thai witbier. A little lighter than the Oberon, more a straw color, but also pretty hazy and light in body. This beer has a crisp, tart opening with some sweet orange and lemon citrus notes. Very quickly, the "Thai" portion of "White Thai" asserts itself, as notes of ginger and lemongrass become prominent, with some other spices in the background. The ginger and spices carry through the rest of the sip and even into the aftertaste. A wonderfully complex and very different type of witbier.

Beers in Review: In which we define "palate wrecker"

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Three very different beers on tap for review today. We'll get into what the post title means in a bit.

Leading off is the Shot Down Chocolate Stout from Fort Collins Brewery. As expected, the stout is a dark brown to cola color (the brewery calls it "light black", which made me laugh a bit). I normally struggle to pull a lot out of the aroma, but lots of roasty and toasty notes were detectable in the Shot Down. The roast and toast continue in the flavors, along with the expected present-but-not-overpowering chocolate. There were also hints of smoke and coffee, and as I drank, I discovered the cocoa and chocolate notes tended to hang around on the palate after drinking.

Next up is a small batch single IPA from Weyerbacher Brewing Company simply known as IPA #1. Pouring a pretty gold color, 4 different hops used in the making of this IPA result in a massive and complex hop flavor profile. Dank and funky along with some tropical notes all powered to the front of the sip, and I also detected some herbal notes further on in the sip. The bitter notes are very prominent and linger after drinking. To me, this is what's known as a "palate wrecker": a beer where the flavors are so overwhelming that you can't really have any more beers and expect to get any accurate flavors from them. Some IPAs with strong hop profiles, such as this Weyerbacher IPA #1, can fall into this category (and one such IPA is actually called "Palate Wrecker"). You just hope it doesn't fall at the beginning of a drinking session, like it did for me. I enjoyed this beer, but I found my taste buds overwhelmed after the fact.

Finally, a live tasting of Sierra Nevada's wheat ale, called Kellerweis. It pours a fairly clear pale gold color, and had about a quarter-inch of pure white head (foam) that has mostly dissipated after sitting about 10 minutes, though a surface layer still exists. Upon the first sip, sweet flavors, including mild grape and lots of spice notes are heavily present. Cloves, among the spices, is at the forefront, as is common in many hefeweisens/wheat ales. Notes of banana are also present nearing the end of the sip, along with some bready and mealy notes. This is a fairly well-executed example of the hefeweisen style.

Sunday Funday on the Columbia Brew Bus (with a brand new brewery!)

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So, as anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, Sunday is pretty regularly a blogging day for me. Needless to say, that didn't happen, as I participated in the Columbia Brew Bus's monthly Sunday Funday brewery tour. As an additional bonus, this was CBB's first tour to include the newly-opened Twisted Spur Brewery and Restaurant. More on them later. The tour started at 2pm with pick-up in downtown Columbia, providing transportation to Columbia's 3 commercial breweries--Conquest, River Rat, and Swamp Cabbage, before finishing up at Twisted Spur. At each location, we were provided with 4-4oz samples of each brewery's beer, along with the option to purchase additional pints and also beer to go (growlers or bottles) at cost. Per the guys running the tour, it seemed like this tour is targeted for about 4 hours total, but we blew well past that, not leaving Twisted Spur until 8pm. This was not a problem for me, but just be prepared for some extra time, especially if they continue to include a 4th touring location.

As I've had and written about the first three breweries in this blog previously, I will write about the breweries themselves while only mentioning highlights of the beers I had. This was my first time ever at Conquest and Swamp Cabbage, and my first time spending any meaningful time at River Rat. It was nice, in part, to finally learn where Conquest and Swamp Cabbage are located.

Our first stop was Conquest. They are located in an industrial building (all of these commercial breweries are located in industrial areas near the university's Williams-Brice Stadium) with a very nice bar area along with additional seating and space adjacent to their production area, as well as some outdoor space with picnic tables. The most notable of their four beers were the Coffee IPA, which I reviewed previously, and their Drinking Class Ale. This beer is in the style of an ESB (Extra Special Bitter), but uses some different ingredients for a very different taste. I can't describe it much, really (nice job from a beer blogger, right?), except to say it was very enjoyable but tasted unlike any ESB I've had before.

River Rat Brewery has a decent bar and sitting room, along with a decent amount of grassy outdoor space. They seem to be the most social of the commercial breweries--public areas away from the production space, frequent events like yesterday's charity cornhole tournament (though the other breweries are doing their share of events), and plenty of overall social space. The beer highlight was their collaboration with developing Greenville, SC brewery Birds Fly South, called Touch of Grey. This was listed as an Oatmeal IPA with citrusy notes, but the first thing I was getting was piney and dank hop notes. Now, make no mistake, the citrus was sneaky, always hanging around, but never quite the main feature of the flavor profile. It had very little bitterness, which was nice for a warm Columbia day.

The third brewery was Swamp Cabbage, which has a couple of small sitting areas featuring small bar, along with a very nice deck and open outdoor space beside the production area. A couple of the beers I had had before, of course, but their Peach Pale Ale was a new one for me. The peach flavor was present but generally pretty mild and the beer had a bit of a bitter finish. The SC Stout was also quite good, but the Peach Pale was a better match to the warm day.

Finally, we ended up at Twisted Spur for the final beer flights and some food. I just had an appetizer--chips with blue cheese, cheese sauce, bacon, and balsamic vinegar--and it was very good. In fact, our group of 20 ordered a considerable amount of the menu, and enjoyed most or all of it. Getting to the beers, first was their Southern Belle Blonde, which had a hint of white grape along with some mild crackery notes and a bit of a floral finish. Next was the Dead Head Red, a nicely balanced beer that is a little more hop-forward than most reds. It had mild malt and fruit notes with a decent bite. Third was their Hefeweisen, a very solid execution of the style, with notes of bananas, cloves and other spices along with maybe a hint of bread. Finally, we had the IPA, which hint several nice hop notes with very little bite. Overall, all of these beers were solid executions of their styles, and I look forward to seeing what else they can do as they get more comfortable with their venture (the space has only been open for a week).

With this, the Brew Bus returned us to our original location. Given the potential amount of beer that one can drink on these Brew Bus tours, I strongly urge consideration of a cab or Uber to and from the meet-up point. This was my first Columbia Brew Bus tour, and I would certainly be interested in doing one again in the future. Thanks, guys!

Beers in Review: Doing one live

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I have just one last saved up from the weekend to write about, but since I want to give you all your money's worth, I'll add one live tasting to wrap up the post. The things I do for you people.

From the weekend, Magic Hat Brewing Company has released their summer seasonal, Stealing Time. A wheat ale with ginger, I'm glad to say the balance of the ginger is one of several positive characteristics of this beer. As expected for a summer, it has a light gold color and a pretty light body. Overall, I found the ale to be quite tasty. It was pretty sweet, but also contained some grainy notes. The ginger flavor and bite was noticeable but not overpowering, as is so easy to do. The result was a nice balance between the less intense wheat ale characteristics and the ginger notes. A really nice execution and a tasty beer.

For the live tasting, and staying in a summery mood, I have the Hauch von Himmel Hefeweizen from from Church Street Brewing Company in Illinois. I considered doing this for tomorrow's video review, but I didn't want to have to deal with saying/butchering "Hauch von Himmel" a lot, so this live tasting works out better. The hefe pours a pretty gold-to-ripe-peach color, and is pretty hazy. Upon taking a sip, the first impressions are of fruit, but it's not super-sweet, like it could be with such flavors. There is also an interesting sour note, almost pushing into a sour ale, but not quite. There is some very mild clove and other spices, and maybe just a hint of graininess. All of this is going on as it stays in my mouth, but I find it all resolves into a tart white wine note at the very end. There is a whole lot going on with this beer, and I'm glad I have a couple more to enjoy as the weather warms up.

Beers in Review: Two Foothills and a Red Hare

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Three beers on tap for this review. Let's get to it!

There are a couple of beers from Foothills Brewing to discuss, leading off with the Hoppyum IPA. This beer is semi-clear and golden in color with maybe a hint of ruby red grapefruit color. The first flavor that was pressed on me was a powerful piney hop presence that eventually led to some citrus notes and a hint of nuttiness. There was also a strong initial hop bite, but this dissipated in the flavor quite quickly. Overall, I find this beer tends to push more into the English- or American-style IPA than the more traditional IPA.

Next from Foothills is their Carolina Blonde. The target idea here is achieving that quintessential summer day beer--a concept we've discussed with other breweries/beers in the past. The execution is pretty spot on. Officially a cream ale, the Blonde pours a somewhat hazy gold color, and is generally low in body. Generally mild but quite noticeable flavors include a light fruity sweetness along with perhaps some bready or crackery notes. I also detected a little bit of grape or more likely grape skin flavor as well. The beer is not super crisp, but a slightly citrusy bite at the very end helps bring the "summer beer" concept together from beginning to end.

The last review for this entry is Red Hare Brewing Company's Watership Brown. It has a deep brown color, a medium-high body, and a lot of nice things going on with it. Malty flavors take the lead, including a delicious malted chocolate milkshake-style taste, along with some caramel sweetness and a slight bitterness. There was also an almost boozy note (or perhaps something chemical?) at the end, which surprised me (the ABV is 7.2%). I feel I should note that I have had some mild taste issues with this establishment's tap system in the past, so I can't conclusively decide (and in fact, highly doubt) that this was a beer flaw. Overall, my impression was 3/4 a really great beer, 1/4 something weird at the end. Regardless of issues, this is a beer I would have again in the future, and I will need to try to find this again and publish a follow-up.

Beers in Review: And now for something(s) completely different

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Thanks, John.

Today's review features a couple of beers that are completely different that what you will find in the standard beer scene. But we'll start with a very solid Scotch Ale.

Frog Level Brewing Company's Hopscotch Ale brings a whole lot of flavors together really well. A brown to copper color, and having lots of body, the Hopscotch hits first with plenty of malty and smoky sensations. I then encountered some mild earthiness along with some sweetness of dark fruits and a little bit of booziness you would expect from a Scotch Ale. Some caramel and toffee hints are also present, though far less prominent. Though this is kind of a more standard beer than the next two that will be reviewed, this beer is really tasty and enjoyable. Great stuff.

Next up is Cismontane Brewing Company's beer-wine hybrid, called The Mesa. The Mesa is 75% Pilsner, 25% Riesling white wine, and processed to highlight "the flavors that beer and wine have in common." (from their website) The brew pours a white wine-esque pale yellow color, and doesn't have much body. There are a whole lot of flavors going on here, starting with initial winey grape notes along with a hint of floral. There were also some grainy hints and an overall pretty sweet flavor profile, which I am told is pretty common with Rieslings. My general description of the Mesa: wine in taste (though, it is more than that), beer in make-up/mouthfeel.

Finally, 1 Brazillion Dollars from Against the Grain Brewery in collaboration with Morada Cia Etilica in Brazil (hence, the punny name). This is a bourbon barrel-aged smoked wheat wine, a style resulting in a high alcohol content and tons of flavor. The wheat wine pours a medium brown, darker than expected, and doesn't have a whole lot of body. Most notably, despite this high alcohol content, and I had initially been told it was 11% ABV, while the AtG website says 9%, the booziness is pretty well controlled. Flavors include some dark sweetness of caramel and toffee along with some smoky notes. There was a slight hint of bitterness towards the very end of the sip as well.

Beers in Review: Near and far

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A quartet of beers ranging from local to international are on tap tonight. Let's start with the international, shall we?

From Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium I had the Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Belgian-style Flemish red ale. It pours a matching reddish-brown color, and not much body, but this ale was loaded with fruit flavors. This is a result of maturation in oak casks prior to bottling. The fruit experiences were quite diverse: pear or apple, maybe cherry, with a massive sweetness. It was almost too sweet for my taste. In addition, Flemish reds typically have some sour attributes to them, and here they were more a complementary feature--not overly strong like I find in most sours. I expect this might be a result of having a legit Belgian Flemish as opposed to American attempts at the sour style.

Next up is the closest-made beer, American Kolsch Story by River Rat Brewery. It pours a pale straw color, and serves as a solid hot summer day beer. Initial impressions had bready and crackery notes early on in the sip. This gradually lead to hints of traditional German beer sweetness. It also led to a bit of a bitter finish, which was a bit surprising.

Next up is Oasis Brewing Company and their Scarab Red Ale. A pretty solid ale overall, I first got notes of graininess and even possibly corn. There was also a whole bunch of initial malty sweetness that dissipated pretty quickly after drinking. Again, solid, pretty tasty, but nothing spectacular.

Finally, what was supposed to be an Anniversary beer for Unknown Brewing Company, but it wasn't quite done on time. The result is 1.5-ish, an ale aged in Cabernet barrels with strawberries and vanilla beans. We'll get to all that shortly. The ale pours a cloudy bronze color and has a lot of body. As you might guess from the brief description above, the flavor profile has a whole lot going on. The Cabernet barrels shine through with strong initial red wine notes, leading to a kind of strawberry sundae thing going on from the strawberry and vanilla bean infusion. There was lots of sweetness (but not overpoweringly so, like the Duchesse above nearly was--note these were enjoyed on different nights) and even a little bit of funkiness. A hint of sourness rounded out this wonderful flavor experience of this ale. I had sat on 1.5-ish for a while before drinking it for no particular reason. Truly, I wish I'd drank it sooner and bought 4 more bottles. A really great drinking experience.