Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Tremmens

Happy Birthday to me!

Today, in celebration of my birthday, I wanted to get myself something special. While wandering around the local beer distributor in my town, I decided I wanted something with a cork on it. I also decided I wanted something that reeked of celebration with its label. Needless to say, Brouwerij Huyghe served that purpose with its dancing pink elephants on the label.

But how could you say no to dancing pink elephants

This brewery opened in 1654 located in Melle, Belgium. Unfortunately, Belgium is not on my planned stop during my trip to Europe this summer but perhaps I'll be able to visit someday. It's a family run company that has plenty of history in the area. This particular beer I bought was bottled around March 2010 so that puts it at more than a year and a half old. Perfect aging, in my book at least.

The beer poured a pale yellow with a bright white head that took the entire length of the beer to dissipate. The nose was very similar to champagne. It was very bright while being surprisingly mellow considering the ABV is supposed to be 8.5% ABV though it may have been a bit stronger when I got to it. The flavor of the beer was nice. It was well balanced with an almost champagne like quality to the flavor. There was a good citrus quality to it as well. The finish had a little bit of alcohol to it. The bottle ran me $10.49 for 25.9 ounces which is a little pricey but well worth it for my birthday.

Here's hoping you all celebrate yours in a similar manner!

Southern Tier Imperial Pumking Ale

As the last entry in the Great Pumpkin-Off 2011, this beer is a more than proper way to end. Southern Tier Brewing Co. already impressed me with their Hop Sun over the summer so when a fan of the blog recommended this beer I was happy to oblige his request. 

Related, perhaps, to Jack Skellington?

Now I hate to continuously point out the importance of naming a beer and the subsequent way that beer is perceived, but this beer's name is Pumpking Ale. As it can be seen in the picture above, the pumpkin is a crowned and regal looking jack o'lantern. Now unlike other beers that have given themselves important names (see Raison d'Etre), this beer truly is the king of pumpkin beers this year and is my personal favorite of the five I've tried so far.

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The beer poured a nice shade of orange with just a little bit of haze to it. The head was bright white and had good retention to it. The nose of the beer was just like fresh scooped pumpkin. It was sweet and a little nutty but distinctly pumpkin. The flavor matched it perfectly. It was smooth and well balanced in spite of the high ABV of the beer. The finish of the beer left you wanting more and I have never been so sad to have finished a bottle of beer and not have another one to drink. I bought this beer in a 22 oz. bottle and paid around $8 for it. So while it was a little pricey, this beer undoubtedly did not disappoint and certainly had a lot of bang for the buck.

Keegan Ales Brewery

So in honor of a good friend coming to visit me, we decided to visit a local brewery. She wants to get better at tasting beer and, well, I have a blog about beer so who was I to say no. This time we went up to Kingston, NY and visited Keegan Ales. The brewery was founded in 2003 and has garnered much acclaim over the past 8 years. I had already tried their Mother's Milk stout at a party over the summer so I was looking forward to this visit.

We didn't get to go on a tour but you could see the brew room to your right when you walk in so it wasn't a complete bust on that end of things. The brewery has a bar/restaurant attached so we found a table and ordered a sampler tray for each of us.

Sampler tray from lightest to darkest

There were five beers on tap that day and we were given them from lightest to darkest.That was the order we drank them in starting with Old Capital.

Old Capital

Old Capital is an American Blonde Ale and its color gives you just that. It was pale gold with a thin white head. There were a few citrus notes in the nose but was overall very muted. The taste was not dissimilar to a pilsner and was very refreshing. It was clean and crisp to drink with a nice finish. Very drinkable and accessible to anyone.

Hurricane Kitty IPA

Next up on this adventure was Hurricane Kitty's IPA. I'm still not the biggest fan of IPAs in general but this one was still very accessible. The color threw me off a bit seeing as I will probably always presume that an IPA will be pale gold but the copper red was a very pleasant surprise. The head was bright white and had a nice retention to it. The nose had a pleasantly mild hoppiness to it with some pine and citrus notes to it as well. The taste was much heavier on the hops giving the beer an almost pine tree like flavor to it. The flavor lingered in the mouth a bit but overall the beer had a very dry finish it.

Mother's Milk

Mother's Milk was the one I had tried previously so I knew I was going to enjoy this one. The beer was nearly black with a creamy head. The nose on this beer was full of rich chocolate and coffee notes. The beer itself was incredibly smooth to drink and had an almost creamy quality to it. There were plenty of chocolate and coffee notes mirrored from the nose into the flavor of the beer. The finish had a distinct milky flavor to it.

Joe Mama's Milk

Joe Mama's Milk is Keegan Ales' Imperial stout. They added brown sugar to Mother's Milk to increase the alcohol content and did so rather successfully as it weighs in around 8% ABV. This beer was almost nearly black in the pour with a cream colored head. The nose was very similar to that of Mother's Milk in that there was a good amount of chocolate but I found that the coffee notes were quite a bit stronger. I could also smell the brown sugar that had been added. The taste differences were almost undetectable as was the increased alcohol level in this beer from the original stout. The taste lingered a bit and finished with a a very malty flavor.

Oktoberfest

The final beer of the day was their seasonal Oktoberfest beer which was a traditional Märzen style. It was a very dark brown pour with a white head. The nose was malty but had a few brighter hoppy and floral notes to it. The flavor was more hoppy than malty to me despite the color of the beer though I am learning to be better about judging a beer by its color. It had a crisp finish with the floral notes lingering a bit at the end. 

This was undoubtedly a great brewery to go to and hang out. They hold events on the weekend and have bands play. The pricing is reasonable as well. It was $2 a sample putting the sampler at $10. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience that I look forward repeating soon in the future. 

Gilded Otter Dusseldorf Altbier

My younger sister recently celebrated her twenty-first birthday. To help her celebrate, our family went out to dinner at the Gilded Otter. The recommendation came from a number of people and we were all looking forward to it. 

Places like the Otter seem to have an additional burden on them to not only provide quality beer but also quality food. This restaurant did not disappoint in either respect but as this is a blog about beer, I will stick to my beer selection for the evening. They have an impressive selection of beers considering they brew in house and it was difficult to pick out just one but I settled on the Dusselfdorf Altbier. The altbier is a brown ale, which is slowly becoming one of my favorite varieties of beer and promised to be different from the other two styles of brown ale I've reviewed. 

The beer, as seen above, was a brownish gold color and appeared with a thin head of white foam. The nose was a bit muted but had a healthy blend of both malt and hops. There were some notes of breadiness as well. The taste matched the nose in its balance of malt and hops. There was an overall sweetness to the beer that was very interesting and hard to place a real flavor to. The finish was a little bitter but not unpleasantly so. Overall, I was very impressed with this beer. 

My sister and my dad also had beers that I tried, though not nearly enough to write a review, and both were very good as well. My sister had the Clove Valley Pumpkin Ale and my dad had the Huguenot St. American Lager. At $6 a pint, the beer was reasonably priced for the atmosphere and I am most certainly looking forward to going back and trying more of their beers. 

Saranac Pumpkin Ale

Halloween seems all too perfect a time to have the second to last beer in the Great Pumpkin-Off of 2011. Especially given the label for this beer is a Jack O'Lantern. Saranac Pumpkin Ale is one of their seasonal brews that's available in their 12 Beers a Falling or in its own 6 or 12 pack. The brewery is located in Utica, NY and as of right now I'm supposed to go visit it very soon. 

Happy Halloween!

 This particular beer was picked out by a friend for his birthday and the first sampling I did was with him straight from the bottle. I was a little put off by it then so I decided to do a proper sampling of it a few days later, thinking that the bottle somehow changed the way the beer tasted.

The beer poured a deep reddish gold color. There was very little head on the pour and what there was seemed to dissipate very quickly. The nose was very spice heavy with clove being the most notable one of the bunch. The flavor wasn't much different. The clove was downright overpowering. It was difficult to discern a lot of the other spices that were there because of the clove. I also found it difficult to discern the pumpkin at all. The spices lingered on the palate after the beer was finished, tasting almost like burnt spices after awhile.

It depends on personal tastes on this one I suppose and I like cloves as much as the next person, but I strongly feel you should be able to taste the pumpkin in a pumpkin ale. The beer was fairly disappointing but not overall terrible. It certainly left a warmth from all the spices and at $8 a six-pack it is certainly reasonably priced.

Brooklyn Brewery Monster Ale

Now when I started this blog, I was determined to try as many different types of beers as possible. It wasn't going to matter to me how scary or intimidating the name was, I was going to try it. Lately, I know I've been slipping a bit on this but a beer I found on my last trip to the store seems to have upped the ante a bit. 

 Monster Ale is a barleywine style ale from the wonderful Brooklyn Brewery. It's a middle of the road barleywine as far as ABV goes coming in at a sound 10.1%. The strongest beer I'd had up to this point was Unibroue's La Fin du Monde at 9.0% ABV but this "monster" from Brooklyn was a horse of a different color.

The pour was a little disconcerting as no real head appeared but I think that may have been from a lack of a goblet to pour it into as well. The color was a dark gold and what head there was, was white. The nose was a  lot of whiskey notes but there was some fruit evident as well. The taste was strong. There was no mistaking that this beer was strong. It was still very pleasant, exactly like drinking a wine which, as its name suggests, makes it fairly perfectly named. The finish left you wanting more. I was disappointed when my glass was empty and as I only bought one bottle, I had no more Monster Ale. It was about $2 for the bottle but more than worth it. I would highly recommend this beer to people who like a challenge.

Samuel Adams Black Lager

As mentioned in my first Sam Adams post about their Pumpkin Ale, I bought the entire Harvest Collection they put out this year in the 12 pack. I've always enjoyed Sam Adams as I feel their descriptions of their beers on the tops of their labels are spot on and they always put out a quality beer. I have not yet met a Sam Adams beer I do not like and hope to continue on this very happy tradition.

Tonight's selection was the Black Lager from the collection. My uncle and I had been discussing it only a few days before and he told me how wonderful it was so I was, once again, excited to try another new beer. As a rule, I don't read the description of the beer until after I try it, especially with Sam Adams since theirs are right on the bottle.

The beer poured dark, nearly black in color with a few ruby highlights when it was held up to the light. The head was thick and cream colored. The nose of the beer was rich. There were a number of malt notes with highlights of chocolate and just a hint of coffee. The flavor did not disappoint. It was chocolate with a mild sweetness to it. The finish was dry with some of the coffee flavor hanging on. Overall, it was a very good beer, perfect for a cool, fall evening which is what Sam Adams surely intended when they put it in their Harvest Pack.

Hell or High Watermelon

So it turns out, when you start writing about beer, your friends start thinking of you when they try new and/or weird beers. That's how I came across this beer here. I was at a friend's house one evening and she remembered she had something for me. As she ran to get it I remember her saying, "It's really awful but we thought you should try it." That's something to really strive for, in my opinion at least.

It was 21st Amendment Brewery's Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Ale. As we've seen, I do enjoy trying flavored beers. It intrigues me to see how a brewery gets certain flavors into their beers and how well they actually succeed. Watermelon is a particularly tricky fruit which you'd know if you'd had anything artificially flavored like watermelon. Sometimes, it's fantastic...others not so much.

Unfortunately, this beer fell firmly in the latter category. The beer was a straw color that was slightly cloudy which disappointed me a bit as I was hoping there'd be at least a slight pink hue to the beer given the color of the fruit. The nose then gave away what I was in for. It had a sickly, sweet watermelon smell to it that I could barely get past. The flavor was similar to someone dropping a watermelon Jolly Rancher in a beer for only a few moments so that the flavor was just enough to ruin the beer. It was very watery and not very appealing at all. Overall, it was a grand disappointment. As I got the beer as a gift, there was no cost for me.

Freemont's Summer Solstice

With the warm weather we've had here on the East Coast, I thought it would be appropriate to finally review the bottle I bought during my visit to the Fremont Brewery. The only beer that wasn't on tap when I was there was the Summer Solstice and given how impressed I was with all their other offerings I was more than happy to purchase the beer to give it a try when I got home. Transporting it cross-country was a bit tricky but it didn't seem any worse for the wear when I got to it.

The beer was described to me as a tangerine flower in a glass and I can't say I was disappointed in the least. The beer poured a light gold color with just a little bit of haze. The head was bright white and dissipated rather slowly over the course of the beer's consumption. The nose of the beer was very hoppy and I grew hesitant at that since I'm still not well acclimated to very hoppy beers. There was also a great deal of citrus in the nose as well, which promised to save me. Fortunately, it seemed to be just the right amount of hops for me as I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. It was hoppy but the description of a tangerine flower in a glass was spot on. It was very refreshing after a long day at work. The finish was clean with just the tiniest bit of hop flavor lingering. My only wish was that I had another bottle but alas, it was not meant to be. It does encourage me to get back out to Seattle as soon as possible to see what else the Fremont has to offer though.

Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout

The latest in the Great Pumpkin Off is Cape Ann Brewing's Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout. This was the beer I was the most excited about as I had never seen a pumpkin stout before and the idea of a rich, malty stout with spicy pumpkin flavors was intriguing. So, hoping the best, I had saved it for the last of the ones I had originally bought.

The beer poured nearly black with a thin cream colored head. The nose had a lot of spice notes but was overall very malty. I couldn't smell much pumpkin at all. The flavor was very disappointing. It drank very similarly to most every other stout I've had with just a hint of cinnamon present. It was very malty but in this case I almost found that to be a detriment to the beer as I bought it looking for pumpkin. It finished with malts and lingered a bit in the mouth. While I enjoyed the beer as a stout, it was a let down as a contestant in the pumpkin category since it didn't really seem to taste like pumpkins much. I got the beer as a single bottle for about $2 which is more than reasonable considering how much a beer at a bar generally runs.

Samuel Adams Pumpkin Ale

The second beer in the first annual Great Pumpkin-Off is from a larger, more well known brewery. Every year, Sam Adams puts out a Harvest Pack and in the Harvest Pack is their very own Pumpkin Ale. While it may seem like Sam Adams has been around forever, the brewery actually started in 1984.

This was an impressive beer. The color was deep reddish orange, bordering on mahogany with a cream colored head. The head was thick when initially poured but thinned as time passed. The nose was rich with cinnamon and spices along with a good dose of malts. The beer itself had a rich, spicy flavor that was thoroughly reminiscent of pumpkin pie. It was warm and full bodied, which I realize is generally a wine description but it is the best way to really describe this beer.

I would highly recommend this beer to anyone and look forward to trying the rest of the beers in this year's harvest pack. For the 12 pack it ran me $16.49 and there were 6 different types of beer in the 12 pack. The third beer will be the Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout from Cape Ann's Brewing Company.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

In the spirit of the changing of the seasons, I decided to try pumpkin beers. This will be the first of four posts dedicated to these tried and true harbingers of fall. First up is Dogfish Head's oldest brew: Punkin Ale. Now, my first experience with Dogfish Head was less than spectacular and I was more than happy to finally be done with what I had started affectionately calling the "whiskey beer", I had promised a friend that I would send her a delicious pumpkin beer. After a bit of research, and some wandering around a distributor, Punkin Ale seemed to be the best bet to try to win her over to the wonderful world of beer.

Dogfish Head: Take 2

In case you can't read the label in the picture, it says: "A full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkins, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon & nutmeg." Once again, I was immediately on board. A beer brewed with all the best parts of pumpkin pie and none of the crust? This was something I could get behind.

Pie in a glass? 

The beer, despite being a brown ale, was more of a deep orange color which I found to be highly appropriate. There wasn't much head on it when I poured but what was there was a cream color. The smell was not very dissimilar from what you would expect. There was a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg but it was also a good dose of alcohol in it as well. The taste was as if someone infused pumpkin pie into a beer. There was a good amount of spices evident in the flavor and more than enough hints of pumpkin. It was a little thin in the mouth but I feel the high ABV may have something to do with that. The price was $2.99 for the bottle and $10.49 for the 4-pack so it was a bit pricey but worth a try. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and a great beginning to the pumpkin season! Up next: Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale

Sixpoint Sweet Action

Last weekend I went to a restaurant I'd heard about for years on a local radio station, Bacchus Restaurant and Bar. A couple of good friends had gone to a wedding so I met them for lunch. Their sign boasts their beer list as over 400 beers but their website says that they're at about 500 so trying to pick something was a bit daunting. I've been really trying to not be picky but 500 choices and only being allowed one is damn near impossible.

The bartender suggested one of their draft selections, Sixpoint Sweet Action. It's a cream ale and after my delightful experience with Kilkenny's, it seemed to me like an easy decision. The Sixpoint brewery is located down in Brooklyn and has only been around since 2004. After exploring their website a little bit, I noticed that we both share the same Ben Franklin quote so they're also going to be on my list of breweries to continue to try beers from.

Two guest elbows for this blog post

The beer was served in a pint glass. It had a reddish gold color to it with a white head to it that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin ring around the edge. The smell was mildly hoppy with a lot of floral notes to it. The taste had more malt notes too it but still finished mildly hoppy and was flowery overall. While it was a good beer, I felt it was largely unremarkable as far as beers go. 

I don't know that I'd get it again at $5.75 a pint but I'm sure if I could find it at a more reasonable price I'd be more than  happy to drink this beer on a regular basis.

Love letter to Big Sky Brewing Co.'s Moose Drool

Moose Drool

Not exactly something that screams being delicious. Kind of seems like something that would be a last resort when you go into the refrigerator. I was mostly intrigued and only a little wary of the name when my cousin told me about this brew. I did some cursory research before going out to see what I was getting myself into and was a little more scared when I saw it was a brown ale after my experience with Raison D'être. I know they're not nearly the same, for the record, but Raison D'être was based on a Belgian style brown ale so that was what I was basing my experiences off of. 


Needless to say, I was smitten at first sip. This was perhaps the most rich and balanced beer I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Moose Drool is made by Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula, Montana and it is one of my new goals in life to visit there some day because if this beer is any indication, the rest must be brilliant. 

The beer was served on tap and was a dark mahogany color with brilliant ruby highlights. There was very little head on the beer but what was there was white. It did manage to hang around for the whole pint too. The smell was rich and mallty. It wasn't very different from other malty beers in the nose but the biggest difference for me was undoubtedly the taste. It was smooth and velvety but still mildly carbonated in just the right amount. The flavor was rich in dark chocolate tones with coffee highlights and stayed that way through the glass, even as the beer began to warm up a bit. 


The only bad thing about this beer is I can't have it on a regular basis as Big Sky doesn't distribute to New York. I would love to try their other beers that they have listed on their website such as Slow Elk or Cowboy Coffee Porter. It runs about $9.99 a six pack from their online distributors plus shipping and tax. I believe it was about $5 or $6 at the bar for the pint. It was undoubtedly worth it and everyone should try this beer if they're given a chance. It truly is worth drooling over. 


Edit: As informed by my cousin/comment, the bar served Moose Drool at a very manageable $4.50 a pint. Now, if only shipping it were so convenient...

Widmer Hefeweizen

My second day in the Seattle area included a day trip down to Portland. I was incredibly excited because I wanted to go see Powell's books and was actually not really thinking about beers to try while I was there. All of my book shopping and squealing left me hungry though so we ended up trying to find somewhere close by to eat before we headed home. About a block away from Powell's we located Henry's 12th Street Tavern. At first glance, it doesn't quite look like it will live up to its tavern name but one look at the beer list and all fears will be quieted.

There was a third panel too!

As you can see, the beer list was quite extensive (as it continued on to a third panel on the reverse side) and was even separated by types of beer so that you can pick according to the style you want. They have a few specialty beers that are denoted by an asterisk next to the name and are served in a snifter as opposed to a traditional pint glass. It should also be noted that all of these beers are on tap. There are no bottled beers in this tavern. Being in Portland, I wanted to get a beer from Oregon rather than Washington since that was more local and ended up settling on Widmer Hefeweizen, brewed right in Portland itself.

Now, I will never claim to be a beer expert. I know which styles I tend to like and which I tend to stay away from. I had never heard of a hefeweizen before so I did a little searching. Hefeweizen translates to "yeast wheat" which is an unfiltered wheat. From what I read about the traditional German style, it's supposed to smell like bananas and cloves. Widmer Brother's Hefeweizen, however, is an American style Hefeweizen so I feel that is probably why I couldn't smell either.

As you can see from the photo, the beer was a gold/orange color that was cloudy in appearance. The head was thin and white but stayed with the beer throughout the duration. It was served with a lemon which made discerning the actual smell of the beer from the lemon but the beer itself seemed to be mild. There was a definite bready aroma to it but lots of citrus as well. The taste was also fairly citrusy and very smooth. The finish was refreshing and didn't linger much after the drink was gone.

The price was not an issue, I believe it was $6 for my beer. I would highly recommend this beer to people who enjoy things like Blue Moon and would like to try something different. I had the bottled version of it later on in the evening and would strongly recommend to wait to try it as a draft if the option is available over the bottle.

Fremont Brewery

My trip to the Seattle area was phenomenal. The people are fantastic and incredibly friendly. Anyone and everyone will start up a conversation with you. This, in addition to the wonderful beer, was part of the appeal of the Fremont Brewery. It was recommended by a friend of my cousin's, who I was visiting this weekend, but she had never been herself either. Both of us were very impressed.

While we didn't take a tour of the brewery, we arrived during the hours in which they hold their Beer Garden. As you can see from the picture above, they have a long bench table set up with planks of wood propped up on used kegs. You can purchase beer by either draft, growler, keg or bottle. Growlers, however, need to be taken with you as there is a sign asking you do not drink them on the premises. The place was packed when we arrived and there was no room for us to sit but people moved in and out fairly quickly so don't let this discourage you if come and this happens to you. Plus, you can always get a beer while you wait like we did.

Photo taken at the end of the evening, it was much more crowded when we arrived

I asked the bartender what his favorite was because I'm trying to be adventurous and he suggested either the Harvest Ale, which is a saison, that had just be put on draft that day, or the Interurban IPA. I chose the Harvest because I had never had that style of beer before and was eager to try it...and maybe a little because I'm still intimidated by IPAs

Held by my lovely assistant :)

The beer poured a beautiful golden color with very little white head. The head stuck around, clinging to the edge of the glass, the entire time I drank the beer. This beer was a bit of a challenge for me because I am unfamiliar with the style but I was able to figure out the different flavors all on my own. The beer had a faint apple smell to it which pleasantly combined with the hops. The taste was mildly hoppy but still had some of the fruit notes evident. Overall, I'd definitely agree with the bartenders' assessment of the beer coming out wonderfully.

Now, I know I normally only review the one beer, but I was so impressed with the Harvest Ale that I went back and purchased a sampler of the rest of the beers they were offering that evening. The beers offered on draft were Universale Pale Ale, Sister Imperial IPA, Wandering Wheat, Harvest Saison, and Interurban IPA from Fremont and Troll Porter from Hale's Ales as a guest tap.

From left to right: Universale Pale Ale, Hale's Troll Porter, Interurban IPA, Wandering Wheat, Sister Imperial IPA

The first one I tried was the Imperial IPA. It was gold in color with a thin white head. The smell was very crisp and almost piney. It smelled a bit like Christmas trees to me. I think I might just be unfamiliar with this style of beer though. It was intensely hoppy in its flavor which for me was a bit of a turn off but I'm still getting used to hoppy tasting beers. I could make out some citrus notes and the beer had a very crisp, clean finish.

The Sister Imperial IPA

The next one up was the Wandering Wheat which was rather refreshing to me after such a hoppy beer, but again, that's personal preference. The wheat was gold and cloudy in appearance with a thin white head. It had a very mild scent to it with mild wheat and bread notes. A very smooth beer, it had a sweet flavor to it and a nice clean finish. It had a citrus quality to it as well.

Wandering Wheat

The next beer I had was the Interurban IPA. The color was slightly darker than the Imperial IPA with a thin white head. Once again, all I could really smell was pine and hops but it was far milder than the Imperial IPA. The flavor had some citrus notes but also quite a bit of hops to me. It was more enjoyable than the Imperial but still not my favorite of the evening. The finish was clean and crisp and the flavor lingered just a little bit with some hops.

Interurban IPA

The next one on the list was the Universale Pale Ale. Now, I know in the picture above the Troll Porter would appear to be next in line but with all these hoppy beers I wanted a malty one to finish. But, alas, I digress. Visually, this beer was hard to tell apart from the Interurban IPA. They are similarly colored. The flavor, however, was a bit different. While still hoppy, this was a much more accessible beer to those of us who don't enjoy hops. It was citrusy with a mild hops flavor. It had a mild flavor lingering at the end but was very pleasant.

Universale Pale Ale

The final beer of the night was actually not from Fremont's Brewery but from another local Seattle brewery, Hale's Ales. This was their Troll Porter in nitro which is a style I'm growing to really enjoy. The beer poured near black in color with a light tan/beige head that stayed the length of the beer. The smell was coffee and very sweet malts. The taste was rich dark chocolate with some coffee notes. The beer was sweet but not overly so and very smooth with light carbonation due in part to the nitro.

Nitro Troll Porter

Overall, this outing was fantastic. Everything about the experience, the beer, the people, the atmosphere, made it truly enjoyable. The pricing was just right. The Harvest Ale was $4 for the pint with most beers running about the same. Each sampler glass of beer was a dollar which I thought to be more than reasonable. The growlers ran $8 for refills and I'm not sure how much it was to buy a growler from them (anyone with that information feel free to let me know!). I purchased a 22 oz. bottle of their Summer Solstice brew for $3.75 and I'm very excited to try it. For the first night out in the Seattle area, this brewery certainly set the bar very high.

Coming soon: Widmer Brother's Hefeweizen and Big Sky Brewing Co. Moose Drool

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

For those of you who may have missed it, there was a small storm that hit the eastern seaboard of the United States this weekend. My family and I are okay, all in one piece with no major damage. The storm hit Sunday so of course on Monday, it was time go to work.

Unfortunately, my path to work was terrifying, there were sinkholes in the road the size of office desks. My path home for the evening was not so clear so I stayed at a friend's house who happened to live near work. A decision was quickly made that dinner needed to occur so of course, there was some drinking. We went to Max's on Main and since my last few beers have been domestic, I managed to find an import that looked interesting and this one most certainly did not disappoint.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. This beer is vegan and, as seen on their website, brewed by Yorkshire, England's oldest brewery. The well they get their water from is still the original well used by the brewery from 1758. This information, along with fact that I generally enjoy stouts, made me very nearly giddy that the roads home were closed.

This beer, unlike others I have tried, did not disappoint. It poured nearly jet black with a thin, cream colored head that dissipated quickly. The smell was sweet with malt notes and the flavor matched with hints of dark chocolate. The finish had the chocolate lingering along with some hints of coffee. While it was $6 for the bottle, the price is about average for the area when the beer is an import and undoubtedly worth it. I would highly recommend this beer to anyone, even if you don't like stouts because the flavor was so smooth and so rich that it should be tried at least once if given the opportunity.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I know, I know. Two pale ales in a row. I promise this is just a coincidence. It was lying around the house and I figured since I've never tried it before, why not? What harm could possibly be done? It would seem that it has, in fact, officially made me a convert. I have started to truly enjoy hoppy beers. I don't know if it's long term but for now it is definitely a truism.

Tonight's selection is Sierra's Nevada's Pale Ale. Sierra Nevada got started in 1979. Their Pale Ale that I am reviewing is considered to be their most popular, and it's easy to see why. Their brewery is located in Chico, California.

A game of where's the arm perhaps?

In our house, Friday is traditionally pizza, beer and baseball night. Today, however, I would rather not discuss baseball and the pizza was rather unextraordinary. Plus this blog is about beer so I guess we should go with that anyway. The bottle design is beautiful and highly decorative. As I tend to pick out beers, even in my own home, based on this, this is a definite plus.

The bottle cap/opener arrangement brought to you by my dad (featured in this post's first picture)

The beer poured slightly darker than yesterday's Harpoon IPA but still a gold color. There was a reddish tint to it, giving the beer an almost strawberry blonde appearance. The head was thin and bright white. It dissipated quickly with the exception of a thin ring around the edge of the beer's surface. The beer had a rather floral smell to it with a strong citrus flavor to it. This was not quite as bitter, nor as strongly hoppy as the IPA but it's not supposed to be. It was a great beer to try even if it was carbonated like soda which is a little strong for a beer.

The flavor of the beer stuck around long after it was finished in a clean, hoppy finish. The price is a little high when you consider that it's a domestic beer. However, when you consider that it runs about the same price as Yuengling, it isn't too bad and it more than holds up against any other beer out there. It is thoroughly enjoyable and very refreshing, especially in the calm before the storm that is sure to be Hurricane Irene.

Harpoon IPA

Now I know what you're thinking. She doesn't like hoppy beers, why is she drinking an Indian pale ale? It was the special last night, to be honest, and I hadn't had it on tap before so I thought I'd give it another shot. A friend of mine and I went to Friday's for appetizers and drinks last night because I was being stubborn and wasn't hungry for real food.

I would like to say that I wasn't skeptical. I would like to say that I was terribly gung-ho about the opportunity to once again give hoppy beers another chance, but I wasn't. I was being cheap and it ended up being a pale ale. So I got it and was a bit hesitant but fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by my own reaction.

This particular one was made by Harpoon Brewery. This brewery opened in 1986 and currently has two locations, Boston, MA and Windsor, VT. Their IPA is one of seven year round brews made by the company.  According to their website, their IPA is modeled after the original English IPA that was created to bring beer over to America in the unrefrigerated vessels available way back when.

Hops: Perhaps the former bane of my existence? 

I took a few sips, not really believing that I was enjoying this hoppy beer. Who was I? What was wrong with me? No matter what the question was, the answer always seem to come back to "It doesn't matter, this is delicious." The beer was hoppy, as IPAs are. It was a very light beer, that is to say it didn't feel like it was filling me up like some of the other beers I enjoy. The finish was clean though very bitter and hoppy in flavor. It lingered in the mouth much like the Hop Sun but dissipated much faster.  

As the picture shows, though not very well, the beer was very light gold and when poured from the draft it had a nice, bright, white head on it. The price was perfect for what we were doing at $4 for a pint but it was on special that night. I would undoubtedly drink this again, even if it wasn't on special. Does this make me a convert? Not necessarily. Does it make me want to try other hoppy beers and see how I like them? Absolutely. 

Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre

Raison d'être \ˌrā-ˌzōⁿ-ˈdetr^ə\: a French phrase meaning "reason to be" or "reason for existence" 

Now, no matter what you are making, calling your product the reason to be or the reason for existence is a tall order to fill. It is ambitious and puts the bar very high to begin with. The question stops being is this any good and quickly becomes does this live up to its name. 

I found this beer on my most recent journey to my favorite beer store (which at this point I feel deserves a solid mention so the details on the location of this magical land will be at the bottom of the post for those of you located in the Hudson Valley area) I had a difficult time deciding on a beer. I didn't want to start being a one note horse and get the delightful malty beer that was recommended to me by the owner when I bought the Celebrator Dopplebock at my last visit. So I wandered and wandered and my sister finally decided it was time for us to leave so I threw up a Hail Mary. 

I had heard a lot about Dogfish Head and nothing but good things from everyone who spoke of it plus this beer was labelled American Beer of the Year so I figured it was only good journalism to buy it. At this point, I had no idea what the beer's name meant but even so, I was excited to try something new. 

My friend translated it for me and immediately, my outlook on the beer changed. The bar had been raised and  now not only was this the American Beer of the Year but it was reason to be. Who wouldn't be thrilled to try something like this? 


I did my usual research and as it turns out this beer was created to go with a wood-grilled steak according to the brewery. Made with Belgian yeast and brewed with green raisins and Belgian beet sugars, the intention of this beer was to be paired with steak and invoke the feelings of good Bordeaux wines. The brewery's website instructed me to drink it out of a snifter or goblet. Upon going through the glasses available to me, I couldn't find a glass goblet or snifter but there was a plastic one so I poured. The result was disastrous looking so I quickly switched the beer to a pint glass. 
  

Much nicer looking beer, I promise

As can be seen, the beer was a deep reddish-brown color with a good head on it. The head didn't last long but that may have been because of the inappropriate glass I was using. The smell of the beer was very sweet, the grapes and sugar were very apparent and smelled a bit like candy. Now, this beer is 8% ABV which is a lot stronger than most beers that you can get in your grocery store. While I do enjoy strong beers, as with the Dopplebock and, my current personal favorite, La Fin Du Monde, the taste of alcohol in this beer is strong, bordering on unpleasant when it's cold and nearing the taste of whiskey if it sits too long. You can, of course, still taste the grapes and I think if the beer's alcohol content was just a smidge lower, it would be a very enjoyable brew. The price, while not terribly steep, was too much for me to ever consider trying this beer again at $11.99 a six-pack. Overall, I would say this beer does not live up to its name. It set the bar high and it seems as though instead of going over it, it runs right into it. 


 Now for the beer store location:

Beverage Plus II
15 South Street
Warwick, NY 10990-1325  
(845) 986-8855     

Southern Tier's Hop Sun

I bring to you today, a beer that is very unique. It is the summer seasonal beer from the Southern Tier Brewing Company called Hop Sun. It is a relatively young brewery being in operation since 2002, located in Lakewood, NY. Despite it's recent start, it has already garnered national attention and is distributed to many states.

Look at the pretty bottle!

I can't, and won't, take credit for picking out this beer. My sister noticed it on my first trip to my favorite beer store so I bought it. It is listed as an American Wheat Ale on Southern Tier's website but it is unlike any other American Wheat Ale I have tried. The box boasts that it's brewed with three different types of malts but based on its appearance, you wouldn't know it.

Pretty gold color hiding delicious malts? 

This beer doesn't fall into my typical category either. Because while it has a delicious malt taste at the beginning, the finish is all hops. The finish is not too bitter though which is something I find to be characteristic of hoppy beers which is why I think I enjoy it so much. The beer itself is sweet and citrusy with a good amount of carbonation. The head was good with the pour for dissipated fairly quickly. The hops finish lingers in the mouth a long while making the beer last. Aside from the finish, however, you wouldn't be able to tell the color of this beer just by the taste I think.

The price isn't too bad either. For a six pack, I paid $9.99. Taking into consideration this is a seasonal brew, I find the price to be completely reasonable. It's a little more expensive than other similar styles of beer but considering the complexity, I'd say the price increase is well worth it.