Vertical tasting of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, Stone RIS, Bell’s Expedition and more

October 15, 2012
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Have you ever been a part of a vertical tasting? It’s not your average craft beer party, for certain, and sometimes, it turns out to be an epic experience. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I say ‘vertical tasting’ let me catch you up. It’s when you take a beer, of several vintages and try some from each year to compare how they taste. For example, maybe you have a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and you want to try them all side by side, well, that’s a vertical.

So, back to the tasting I attended this weekend. Put on by the guy better known in the BeerAdvocate community as UrbanCaver, the lineup going in looked beyond ridiculous. After all, it was to celebrate his birthday, so, why not? Below are some pictures, listings and tasting notes from a great event.

Trappistes Rochefort 10

Vintages tried: 2009, 2010, 2011

Tasting notes: I arrived a tad late for the first batch but tasted each one. There was something strange about the 2010 in my opinion, but the 2009 tasted great. The freshest of the group was good as well, but I’d say the 2009 was the clear winner.

Bell’s Expedition Stout

Vintages tried: 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Tasting notes: The 2007 was smooth, balanced and just delicious. I also like the 2008 and 2009. To be honest, I liked them all, but the 5 year point seemed to be the sweet spot. That is until a generous attendee surprised us all with a 2002 bottle. It’s hard for me to recommend you sit on Expedition Stout for 10 years, but if you can do it….wow! The 2002 wins the award here for me, with the 07′ coming in second. All that said, a tremendous beer at any age.

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine

Vintages tried: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, Bourbon Barrel 2010, 2011, Belgo

Tasting notes: I’ll say upfront, I’m not a huge fan of this beer to start with, but a few stood out very clearly. The 2010 Bourbon Barrel aged one was great, but has a distinct advantage, of course. Of the regular ones, I think my favorite was 2006 and 2007, which seemed to have smoothed out nicely over time, I felt like the 2005 was past it’s prime. The Belgo just isn’t my thing, regardless of age.

Chimay Bleue (Grande Réserve)

Vintages tried: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Tasting notes: The 2007 was from a magnum and in my opinion was the best. I got some different complex flavors that didn’t show up in the others. The 2008 was really bad, but we suspect it was cellared improperly. The 09, 10, 11 and 12 were solid, but nothing about any of them stood out above the rest.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Vintages tried: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, Belgo

Tasting notes: Talk about consistency! The Stone RIS has it down when it comes to that. As much as I enjoyed the older vintages, the fresher stuff was just as good and made it really tough to choose a favorite amongst this group. The only one I just didn’t like was the Belgo, guess anything with Belgo in it is a stay away for me.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Vintages tried: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Tasting notes: This was a beast, as you might imagine. With ABV’s ranging from 18 up to over 20% it was tasted in very small doses. As you might expect with something of this gravity, the older vintages are the best and I liked the 2004 and 2005 the most. They are still hot and don’t resemble an IPA, but were much smoother than the others and tasted more like a good barleywine. The 2008 was just awful, and tasted like drinking bad perfume while the 2009 was more like hop syrup. I think the 3-4 year range for this beer is it’s super awkward stage. The fresher vintages were decent, but not much had changed from the 2010, 11 or 12 yet.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Vintages tried: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Tasting notes: At this point I was getting pretty fatigued but the Palo Santo was too fantastic to skip. Similar to the Stone RIS, the consistency on this was impressive. I didn’t have a clear winner but if I had to choose it would probably be the 2009. There was just something about that one that stood out a little more to me. Palo Santo fresh however might be the best beer on the list overall, just amazing.

Did we try too many beers? Probably. That being said, it was a really fun experience and I’m glad I got to participate. If I had to choose one of the beers we tried to recommend to cellar it would be the Bell’s Expedition Stout. I was really impressed with how well the 2002 stood up and how tasty the 2007 was. The beer that was best fresh was the Dogfish Head Palo Santo. I liked the vintages but there wasn’t enough about them to make me want to lay it down for a considerable amount of time. And as I mentioned the consistency award goes to Stone RIS. I’d love to try one with 8-10 years on it at some point to see how it changes but the ones we tried were all consistently good.

What is the best craft beer vertical you have ever tasted?

(Also, I’m inviting some of the other tasting participants to comment here as I’m sure I remembered something wrong or they might just disagree with me)

Breweries of Europe Poster by Pop Chart Lab

September 28, 2012
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This Breweries of Europe poster by Pop Chart Lab would make anyone’s home look a little classier while still showing your love of beer.

The world’s most comprehensive mapping of the breweries and abbeys of the European continent, this print measures in at over seven square feet and features nearly 1,000 breweries, from craft to macro and everything in between. 39″ x 27″ Each poster is signed and numbered by the artists, from an edition of 1000. (via)

Deschutes Brewery launches Deschutes River Recordings

September 20, 2012
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They are already one of the better craft breweries around, but Deschutes just won some major points with music lovers as well. The Bend, Oregon based brewery, which sits on the banks of the Deschutes River, is already known for their great beers like Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale, their Mirror Pond Pale Ale and of course their Black Butte Porter.

But instead of curating great beer, Deschutes recently decided to become curators of great music as well. Here is how they started Deschutes River Recordings.

- The brewery issued a call to its fans through Facebook, Twitter and email lists to choose songs with a river theme through an online voting process.

- Next, the brewery teamed up with indie artists to record the selected songs. The musicians traveled to Central Oregon and recorded the music “streamside high-wire: live, unadorned, far from a studio safety net”, resulting in a completely unique sound blending acoustic tunes with the sounds of nature.

- A partnership with Pitchfork.com was created to host the films and links to MP3s on their Pitchfork.tv site.

- Fans can download the songs for free, and are able to make a donation if they desire. Proceeds from downloads of this new music benefit the Deschutes River Conservancy, which is working to preserve streamflows and the health of the river in Central Oregon.

Pretty great right?

Well it gets better because the choices of artists is off to a great start. For the first video, they enlisted Eric Johnson of band Fruit Bats, and he performed this video

This is just part one in a three-part series with two more recordings coming up in the next few weeks, featuring Laura Gibson and also Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper.

This is what happens when you combine experimental craft beer, indie music and a love for a river.

For more info and to download the MP3, visit:

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/river-recordings

[Cincinnati] Stone Enjoy By 9.21.12 IPA coming to Ohio

September 17, 2012
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Like many of you, I love a great Stone IPA. Their Ruination 10th Anniversary was a pure gem and the 16th Anniversary wasn’t bad either. Well, about a month ago, they announced a beer that not only sounded great, but had some tight restrictions when it comes to consumption. Here is the official word from Stone.

While freshness is a key component of many beers – especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs – we’ve taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We’ve not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you’re getting this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short window, we made sure that the Enjoy By date isn’t randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the label, to be overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and consumers. Instead, we’ve sent a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA.

I got an email this weekend letting me know that ‘Enjoy By’ is finally heading to Ohio, and while I have no idea what parts of Ohio, if it’s not here soon, like really soon, it’s gonna be past the 9/21 deadline. And actually, if you visit the official page for the beer, you come across this image.

Well, I did a little digging after seeing that and apparently Ohio gets in on the next batch, which will be called ‘Enjoy By 11.09.12′ with the early October release date like you see above.

Here are the hoppy details…

Hopping, as might be expected, was over the top. First, the brew was mash hopped with Calypso, a beautiful fruity hop that we also used in our Stone 16th Anniversary IPA, after which we kettle hopped with a very small dose of Super Galena hop extract for bittering. Then, using a technique . . . that some in homebrew circles call “hop bursting,” we loaded up very heavily on the flavor hops at the end of the boil and in the whirlpool. Simcoe, Delta, Target and Amarillo were used in the late kettle hop. Motueka, Citra, and Cascade were used for the whirlpool hop. As you can clearly tell, this beer was super hoppy even before we dry-hopped it, but then we went for it . . . dry-hopping with 1lb per barrel EACH of New Zealand Nelson Sauvin and Australian Galaxy.

Review: Three Floyds Rye Da Tiger

September 17, 2012
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When it comes to double anything from Three Floyds, it’s hard to go wrong. So when I heard that their excellent Rye’d Da Lightning was getting a ‘double’ version released, I was pretty anxious to try it. Well, I ran across a few bombers this week and had to pick them up to try.

First of all, this might be the best Three Floyds bottle art I’ve seen, and that is saying something. After all, bottles like Dark Lord, Zombie Dust, and Dreadnaught are already fantastic lables. But I think Rye Da Tiger’s label trumps them all. After all, it’s a crazy dude riding what appears to be Battle Cat from Masters Of The Universe fame (at least to me).

So, the beer. Well, it’s certainly recommended. It hits you with a big dose of citrusy hops, which I think might be Citra, right off the bat. I’ll tell you, I spend almost as much time smelling Three Floyds beers as I do drinking them… almost.

It’s no shock that this has many similarities to Rye’d da Lightning, but the rye seems a little less obvious, being covered up by those amazing hops and the citrus bouquet.

And the alcohol is a total mystery to me on this one, I took down bomber and felt like I could have a little more, so it was either under 9% or I was just expecting more. Either way, very smooth.

And did I mention that Nick Floyd…yeah one of the 3, calls it his favorite?

It’s my favorite because it hasn’t been made yet. It will be a double rye IPA that comes out this summer: big, giant, caramel, rye, flower with kumquat aroma with hops from New Zealand.

If you can get your hands on some, you should.

Brewing Beer On The Go?

August 27, 2012
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Well, count me in the camp of skeptical about this beer oddity, but apparently, it is now possible to brew beer on the go. Are you camping and refuse to bring a cooler because bottled beer just isn’t fresh enough? Planning to move into the mountains and not bring homebrewing ingredients? Well then we have the solution for you!

Well, Pat’s Backcountry Beverages does, at least. The Alaskan based business is now pushing a ‘Carbonator Bottle’ that allows you have a six pack in your pocket…sorta. The portable beer option require users to empty a beer concentrate from a sachet into a special bottle, add water and shake. That’s it!

I know what you’re thinking though and I agree with you, this probably tastes like absolute crap. Still, kinda crazy right?

Thanks to PSFK for the heads up.