This beer is epic, no doubt about it. This will probably become my new favorite belgian quad once it hits KC's streets, even surpassing chimay blue, which says alot for me...
It pours a nice golden color with a lack of head that seems to be just right for something with this high of ABV (12%). It has a nice nose of darkfruits with what seems to be peach.
The taste follows the nose very closely, but it hides the booze very well. It tastes more of plums than figs and raisins, however they are still there, but the fruit seems far more fresh fruit than wrinkle fruit... Yes i said wrinkle fruit. The flavor profile stays consistant from start to finish, but it does finish cleaner than alot of its counterparts due to the fresher fruitness of the beer.
I am curious to see this beer right out of the bottle and not on tap at their brew pub... PS, this beer goes perfectly with their pork belly burger with jalapeño and candied yellow tomatoes... If your in portland, pair the two, its worth it... Trust me.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Deschutes - Stoic
Dogfish Head - Palo Santo
This beer is huge, tastes kinda woody... This is one that honestly i dont believe i can give an honest review till it has aged for atleast a year.
Ok so its decent, but its just too boozy and woody as a fresh brew to really be good. It has slight darkfruit and cherry undertones, along with the woody acidity and some slight coffee bitterness.
It is just a meh for the time being unfortunately...
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Yay for deschutes
So today for lunch we stopped at Deschutes brew pub for lunch... Awesome. Got some burgers, my wife got some cascade ale and i got some in house brown ale. Both were excelent. I cant wait for the likes of cascade to make it to KC, great hop flavor, but sans hop bite. It is kind of a tease in a way with out being the slightest bit bitter, but the flavor is huge. Great hop flavor, great citrus, with a slight wheatiness to it. Sadly i wont be able to get the brown ale in KC as its brewed in the restaurant, but i can live with that, it was good, but no better than 75st breweries and i can get that by the growler...
I wish i had taken some pics, but my stomach was taking control at the moment, but it is definitely a place i could go back to.
I love you boulevard, but...
So today is day one of my wife and I's vacation in portland, and jesus am i tired...
We headed to whole foods to get some snacks to have in the hotel room for the week and i decided to sneek off to the beer fridge to see what they got. First off, they still have the straight up saison up here that was replaced over a year ago by tank 7. I would have figured whole foods would not allow product to sit around this long... Second, boulevard products are less expensive up here than in KC. Wait, what? Yes thats right, only by a buck and change, but still less expensive.
Ok, so i understand a giant like whole foods can buy product in much larger quantities (hence still having the saison) thus getting it at a lesser price, but i still dont understand how i can live a matter of miles away from the brewery and pay more than someone halfway across the country... Mind boggling...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Arcadia Ales - Cerial killer
Ok so I wanted to post my old cereal killer review a long time ago but I didnt think it was right not reveiwing a fresh brew at the same time. Being that the original review was 2 years aged, it just didn't seem right. So here its the fresh review.
Right out of the bottle out had very little head, and poured a raisin brown that was slightly less hazy than the 2 year vintage. It has a large honey and dark fruit noise to it.
Just like the 2 year vintage, this beer is big in body. Yet still doesn't match the huge ness of the aged variety. The fruit is much less subdued as you would expect, much more up front. On the tongue it has a huge malt and prune/raisin flavor backbone, as through the finish out fades into more of a honey flavor. I find this odd, as I would figure the honey flavor would be not add strong. Having tasted the aged version first, of course, skews this a bit though.
All in all, a fantastic beer, and excellent example of the barley wine category, but if you have the will power, it is worth the wait to age this. Far smother, far richer, far huger, and gets you far drunker...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Southern Tier - Pumking
Ok so this is my first pumpkin ale, sacrelidge I know, but it was something I just never felt I would like... I figure if im gonna try a new genre of beer I might as well try one that every one thinks is good.
As it turns out I just dont like it. Dont get me wrong the flavor is great, it is just not my idea of what I like in a brew. It has a huge creamy body, for such a clear beer I found this to be very suprising.
The taste is nothing short of liquid pumpkin pie, but that is exactly why I dont like it. I dont like pumpkin pie... I like pumpkin flavor, but not a big fan of the horrible debacle that is the pumpkin pie.
Ok so next will be new belgium kick, which from what I understand is on the opposite side of the pumpkin spectrum... Only time shall tell on whether or not the turtle will find a pumpkin beer that changes his mind over whether or not pumpkin belongs in any of his brews.
New Belgium Brewery - Kick
Ok so my last experience with pumkin ale was not a great one, just wasnt my bag.
Thankfully this time it is my bag... Ok, so this time it is really my bag.
It pours a good pumpkin orange that is very clear, but has a slight haze to it. Maybe I am just a master pourer (not the case), but it pours with little to no head. Its got a slightly spicy and sour nose to it.
Ok so now to the important part taste! Ok so right off the bat it has a huge cranberry sour kick, bite and pucker. Cold it has a gigantic cranberry taste, but as it warms up the pumpkin really comes into its element. It still has a harshly clean sour bite, but the pumpkin and cranberry start to balance each other out the warmer it gets. Finish on this beer is excelent, crisp clean and slightly sour.
All in all I like this beer alot, like could be a go to if it was available year round. All in all, this gets 4 out of 5 shells, er stars. I would give it a half more star if this wasnt seasonal...