Wednesday, May 21, 2008
*** New Beer ***
This Japanese beer is an English “Strong” style ale that has been aged in sake casks. Yet another unique tasty brew from the boys at Kiuchi brewery. Amber brown in color with medium head that falls to a thin layer. The aroma is slightly tart with malty / spicy.tones and whiffs of woody oak and cedar. The flavor is less tart than the aroma and the malt is smooth and brown up front. The mid palate gets you with oaky, spicy (light clove and pepper) flavors and finishes with a light tartness.
*** Now In Stock ***
I’m the first to admit that this one falls into the WEIRD beer category but it is good beer none the less. It pours with a bizarre pink / gold color. The beer takes on a slightly tart fruity tone and is reminiscent of strawberries. This is due to the unique process this beer goes through. Below is the description of this process from the importer...
”The brewing process starts with the polishing, washing, soaking and steaming of rice [25% of total grain bill] to break down complex type b-starch molecules into short type a ones. Only type A starch molecules can be converted into sugar by the use of sake yeast. Afterwards, pilsner malt is added to the mashing process. After lautering Hallertauer hops is added in the brewkettle. Further complicating matters, two different yeasts, i.e. ale and sake yeast, must be used as regular beer yeast is not able to convert the rice sugars into alcohol.
A fermentation time of two weeks is followed by a maturation period of four weeks. Hitachino Nestbier Red Rice Ale is filtered, but left unpasteurized.”
Red Rice is a fun unique beer in the dry lager style with a bit of something else to it.
This is a Japanese beer made in the Belgian Wit style. That means it is a crisp flavorful wheat beer made with Orange peal and Coriander. This beer has tons of refreshing flavor without being overpowering. Hitachino make an array of English and Belgian style beers as well as a uniquely Japanese’s “Red Rice Ale”
For those of you out there who are not total beer geeks, this beers name is a pun on humulone. Humulones are the orangey, soft resin in hops that is primarily responsible for the bittering properties of the hops. This Belgain style IPA pours a hazy orange with a dense sticky head. The flavor is fruity, lemony, and spicy like a good Belgian, with a pronounced woody, piney hop hit like a good IPA. Very limited, get it while you can.
This 9% oak aged Imperial IPA pours a deep golden orange color. It has a citrusy hop character with oak and floral tones. Plenty of balancing malt up front with a dry floral hop bitterness at the end. It is one more notch on the awesome beer count for Dogfish Head.
This brew is a Wit style brewed with Pinot Noir Juice, and aged in Pinot barrels and on oak staves. Red orange in color it pours with a white head. The aroma is big with cherry fruitiness. The flavor is sweet with vanilla, oak and orange peel. It has a mild bitter finish with an alcohol spiciness.
I’ve been waiting for this one to come back for some time. This 20% IPA had hops added to it continually for 120 minutes then it was dry hopped every single day for a month. What does this do to a beer? It makes it the biggest hop monster on the planet. The aroma is big flowery, grassy grapefruit hop extravaganza with a bit of sweet fruitiness to boot. The flavor is like chewing on a sweet juicy hop cone. Sweet malt with grape like fruitiness along with a grassy hop flavor and a spicy alcohol hit. When it comes to excess no one does it like Dogfish Head.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
*** New Beers ***
This is a spicy lightly hoppy lager that presents itself as more of a Belgian Blond ale. Golden in color with a big head that falls quickly. The flavor is lightly sweet with a gingery spice and a medium hop bitterness.
This Bier de Garde style has a straightforward earthy quality along with a light body and a golden malt flavor.
Ummmm, hop-elicious. Who cares what this thing looks like; the first thing to hit you as you pour this baby is the resinious, cirtusy pine aroma. It smells like walking into a hop storage cooler. But after that you will notice a big head comes rolling out but does not stay long. The color is deep amber with a brown tint. Now as the more volatile aromas boil off you can notice a fruity orange component as well a hint of crystal malt. The aroma is superb, in fact I am delaying trying a taste just so I can full appreciate its beautiful aroma. The flavors are all about the hops as well. Medium body with a bit grapefruit hop flavor and as that hop hit dies down the flavor moves into a fruity orange and woody hop mélange. Although this has a good hop bitterness it is not overpowering; the malting is just enough to balance the bitterness but not so much as to detract from this awesome hop flavor. For a hop driven beer to get my A+ two thumbs up rating, it has to be complex, balanced, and drinkable. Hop Henge is all that and more.
Not too sure how long this will last this year. I am having to fight for quantities with some of the large chain store here in Portland. The found out how good it was last year and now are doing up 30 case displays in each of their stores. I"ll do what I can to get you your Henge but the supply may end abruptly.
Folks, I think I just got a new favorite barley wine. This one is soooooo intense and malty. I would almost call this one an “Old Ale” instead of a “Barley Wine”. Totally malt driven. Malty, rich and smooth with some fruity tones and more alcohol that the flavor lets on. For More Info… http://www.midnightsunbrewing.com/beer_arcticDevil.php
This is another Belgain style from our Anchorage friends at Midnight Sun. Loosely translated means “The Monks Mistress” This time she is a “Dark Strong” ale. It pours deep brown in color and the head is huge but settles into half inch topping of dense foam. The aroma is perfumey, malty with a whiff of dates. It has a medium body that fills the mouth but is not heavy. A bit of a sharp fruity (raisin) start, it moves into a sweet malty flavor with a hint of caramel. The finish has a spicy alcohol tinge and a slight hop bitterness. The beer maybe sweet and smooth but at 9% she could be a harsh mistress if not treated right. A damn fine beer that will only improve with age.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Online rare beer charity auction
www.LiquidSolutions.biz/auctions This year in conjunction with FredFest 2008 Liquid Solutions is hosting an online auction of rare and vintage beers. All proceeds going to Parkinson's Resources of Oregon, the local affiliate chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation, this in memory of friend and famed beer and Scotch author Michael Jackson. Many breweries and private collectors graciously donated the beers for this worthy cause.
The auctions start at 3:00PM Pacific Friday May 9 and they will be closing starting at May 11 at 3:00PM Pacific then at 5 min. intervals (i.e. Lot FF01 will close at 3:00, FF02 at 3:05…). Below is a list of the beers up for sale
Lot FF01 Midnight Sun
M-1000th Batch 2005 22oz
Conspiracy- Belgian Black 22oz
Arctic Devil 22oz
Berserker Imp. Stout 2007 22oz
Lot FF02 Ale Smith
Old Numbskull 750ml
Grand Cru 750ml
Horny Devil 750ml
Lot FF03 Hair of the Dog
Dave 1994 375ml
Lot FF04 Bottle Works
Anniversary Ale IV La Conner 2003
Anniversary Ale V Elysian Icarus 2004
Aniversary Ale IX Russian River Deviation
Lot FF05 Hair of the Dog
Adam #1 1994 12oz
Lot FF06 Full Sail
Old Boardhead 1998 12oz
Old Boardhead 1999 12oz
Old Boardhead 2001 22oz
Old Boardhead 2002 22oz
Old Boardhead 2003 22oz
Old Boardhead 2004 22oz
Old Boardhead 2005 22oz
Old Boardhead 2006 22oz
Old Boardhead 2007 22oz
Lot FF07 Fish Tale
Leviathan 2002 1.5L
Lot FF08 Hair of the Dog
Dave 1994 375ml
Lot FF09 Pike
Old Bawdy 1996 12oz
Old Bawdy 1997 12oz
Old Bawdy 1998 12oz
Old Bawdy 2006 12oz
Old Bawdy 2007 22oz
Lot FF10 Hair of the Dog
Dave 1994 375ml
Lot FF11
Rodenbach Alexander 1991
Rochefort 10 1999
Lot FF12 Big Time
Old Wooly Barleywine 1991 7oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1994 7oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1995 22oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1996 7oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1997 22oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1998 12oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 1999 7oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 2002 22oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 2003 22oz
Old Wooly Barleywine 2007 22oz
Lot FF13 Hair of the Dog
Dave 1994 375ml
Lot FF13 Hair of the Dog
Lot FF14 Anchor
Michael Jackson's 60th Birthday Beer 1.5L
Lot FF15 Hair of the Dog
Adam #1 1994 12oz
Lot FF16
Eldrich Pope Thomas Hardy’s Ale 1991 12oz
J.W. Lees Harvest 1988 9.6oz
Lot FF17 Westvleteren
Westvleteren 12 1997 11.2oz
Lot FF18 Lost Abbey
Older Viscosity 375ml
Angel’s Share 375ml
Lost and Found 750ml
SPF 45 2003 750ml
Lot FF19 Avery
The Beast 2004 22oz
The Czar 2004 22oz
Ten 2003 22oz
Fourteen 2007 22oz
Lot FF20 Hair of the Dog
Dave 1994 375ml
Lot FF21 Fish Tale
Poseidon 2002 1.5L
Thursday, May 01, 2008
*** New Beers ***
Amber copper in color with a large bubbly head. The aroma is of orange and floral hops. The flavor is grassy up front along with flowery hops. The malting is light with some pale malts peaking through at the end. The finish has a lingering bitterness including some spicy tones. The green Elephant is a massive lupin pachyderm that will please even the biggest hop fan.
Barleywine Dutch style. It pours amber with golden edges. The head is big with a medium persistence. The smell is fresh with a yeasty grape, biscuit malt and grass hop. The flavor has a light toffee sweet malt along with some bread. The hop flavor is low but the yeast fruitiness comes though in the way of orange, apple and a light coriander. Although not the darker brown style of B. wine were all might be used to, this fruity strong import is quite a treat.
Black in the glass with a brown fringe, this beer pours with a creamy tan head. The aroma is of dark chocolate and coffee with sweet toffee. The aromas carry over into the flavor with the chocolate being more of a dry cocoa, and the coffee coming through smoother and rounder than the smell. Sliky and thick with 10% alcohol, this beer should be sipped but is easy to drink and disappears too quickly.
The peaches are added during fermentation when the activity of the yeasts reaches the maximum vigor. The peaches are heated to 200° Celsius in an oven before being added in order to increase the flavor intensity of the wild peaches and eliminate the wild yeasts.
*** Back In Stock ***
Man oh Man when AleSmith brews a beer they do not kid around. This Imperial Stout is something to behold. This 12% jet-black beauty has a nice thick body and lower (appropriate) carbonation level. The flavor is HUGE with big roasted malt and molasses with chocolate and toffee notes. The big fun is the coffee flavors which come from the pounds and pounds of Ryan Brothers’ coffee added to the brew. This is a stout that AleSmith should be very proud of and I’m pretty sure they are.
It pours a nice peach hue with a dense sticky head. Nice pine/citrus/resin hop aroma. Big bitterness mingles in with a medium body and slight doughy malty flavor. The pale malt character comes though as it warms a bit and it takes on a touch of sweetness. A fine and well placed fruity bitter finish makes this an outstanding IPA to remember.
This Belgian style IPA is pale golden yellow in color; it pours a touch hazy with a frothy, well sustained head. The aroma is sweet and orangy with a floral hop and pale malt. The flavor is bitter with an herbal hop flavor, a spicy yeast character with an underlying pale malt flavor. This is a DRY IPA, unlike some Belgian IPAs which end up candy sweet and IPA bitter. It is not overwhelmingly bitter but since it is so dry it does not need a ton of bitterness to be balanced and refreshing. This is one of the best Belgian thirst quenchers and heat beaters I have ever had. A+
This brewery from the Netherlands pours a very dark brown with a thin tan head. The aroma and flavor is sweet with a light roasty and licorice quality and a prune fruity finish. The texture is quite soft and that makes this 8.5% beer very drinkable
English mild is the category this beer best fits into. I don’t have a lot of milds to offer but this is a good example of one. The style is kind of like a darker version of a brown ale. Malty, smooth lower in bitterness and has a touch of roasty/chocolate character. It hails from Oxfordshire England and is from the same people that do the Fiddler’s Elbow and the Old Devil.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
*** New Beers ***
Another oak aged Belgian it is dark dark brown in color with a creamy tan head. Its aroma has a sherry quality with a fruity vinous tone, vanilla and a touch of oak. The flavor has a coffee, cherries, apricot and earthy wood tones. Big prickly carbonation with 12%.
This oak aged brew has an aroma that is big with peach, floral, orange, vanilla, lemon and a grassy herbal hop. The flavor fruity with apple, pear and a peppery spiciness with clove and cardamom. More hops than I expected and big dry finish with high carbonation that has a fluffy pillowy mouth feel.
Deep mahogany red in color pours with two fingers of head. The aroma is grassy and earthy with dark crystal malts. Nice hop bitterness in the front flavor with a light caramel and plum fruitiness.
This Weise bier pours a cloudy yellow with an appropriately massive head. The aroma and flavor is crisp with wheaty lemon and ester banana. Yeasty with a smooth mouth feel just a mention of spice. I really like this one and go back to it time and again.
Light straw in color with a with a tight creamy head. The aroma is mostly of pale malt. Lightly sweet with a fresh noble hop showing. This is a great Helles and what makes a great Helles is the perfect balance of very subtle flavors of malt and hops. No matter what any brewer / marketing dolt does there will never be an imperial Helles it is a contradiction in term and style. The Helles style by definition has a low flavor threshold so it should not be marked down for not being bold or assertive but rather it should be judged for its light, clean lager body and subtle interplay between flavors.
I’m not sure how long “Blue Moon” has been making the “Honey Moon” summer seasonal but this is the first time I have seen it. It is a Belgian wit style made with honey. The funny thing is that their honey version of “Blue Moon” is in fact drier than the regular version. Wheaty with a nice hit or orange peel and the dry finish smacks of a spicy honey. Refreshing, flavorful and well put together.
*** Back In Stock ***
This is the first bottling from Roots brewery. All of us beer geeks here in the Portland area have followed Craig Nichols around town as he has taken brewing jobs working for other people. We were all happy the day he got his own place, which means he finally got to brew what ever he wanted. He not only brews organic beers but his brewing style is such that he always goes a little further or a little off center to come up with brews that have enough character to set themselves apart from the rest. Case in point his Heather Ale, Toasted Coconut Porter, Island Red (with oats) and this “Woody Organic IPA” that has been dry hopped with Magnums. http://www.rootsorganicbrewing.com/index.htm
This IPA has a NW flair, plenty of bitterness, a grassy slightly fruity hop flavor along with all of its Magnum goodness. The malting is dry and slightly nutty. It all pulls together in one heck of a brew.
I think this is a triple of the highest order. Golden with a large fluffy head. Light sweetness with a fruity ester and an ample amount of alcohol. The best part is the slightly higher and brighter hop character this triple has. The finish is crisp with a lemony hop flavor.
This spicy extravaganza is quite a beer to behold. It is an amber/copper colored beer with some red tints to it. The carbonation is big and the head will climb the neck when opened but it is not a gusher. The aroma is complex and intoxicating. From sage to ginger to lightly roast caramel malts this beer’s aroma moves and changes as it sits in the glass. The last smell it settles into is a juicy fruit, clove combo that is not overwhelming and is very complementary to the malt. The flavor starts tart but quickly shifts to apple then a rummy raisin with plum. The finish is a shortly lingering tartness with the aforementioned plum. This is a beer that I would buy and drink now. It has great flavor and complexity but I would be afraid that the tartness would take over in the long run (10 months +)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Auction to start friday 4/25 12:00 Pacific.
Lot 85 one JW Lees Haverst 1987
Lot 86 Three Orval label dated 1996
Go to
http://www.liquidsolutions.biz/auctions/To view lots and register for an auction account.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
*** New Beers ***
Orange gold in color this beer pours with a huge rocky head. The character is of lemon zest, orange, grass, and floral hop. The malt is bready and a little sweet. Spicy and resinous with the nicely funky brettanomyces. Great 8.5% Belgian.
Redish brown in color and pours with a thing head. The aroma is toasty malt and caraway. The flavors are light caramel and chocolate with a piquant rye. The hops are grassy with a bitterness matched well with the rye. This beer is a benefit for Myeloma and Bone Cancer research. For more go to http://www.reunionbeer.com/ for more info about the beer and the cause. To see the sad story what spurred such a noble effort go to http://www.reunionbeer.com/virginia.asp. I defy any parent not to tear up after watching that video. May our drinking this beer bring about a treatment and, God willing, a cure.
Dark amber / brown color with a bubbly medium head. Roasty malts in the aroma with a light fruitiness and a bit of earthiness. The flavor is nutty with an easy malt sweetness. The finish as that light fruitiness (grape??), with a drying bitterness. This beer is an effortlessly enjoyable beers. Not too sweet, good complexity, not overly bitter with a great finish.
Amber in color with slender off white head. Carmel malt nose with a pine hop. The flavor follows the aroma with a good bitter finish. Billed as a “India Style Red Ale” and that describes it quite well.
Light yellow with tight two finger head. Straight forward wheat and orange in aroma with a floral hop. The flavor is wheaty (or course) with a lightly sweet honey and a finish of zest. Nice and refreshing with an effervescent carbonation.
*** New Mead ***
The Poltorak style of mead is made with minimal amounts of water and well aged. In the Gronowy they used grape juice in place of the water. The color is a deep deep amber and part of that color must come from the years it spent in oak. The aroma is sweet with grape up front and a floral honey in the back. The flavor is of vanilla and grape with a profoundly rich smooth caramel / honey finish. There is a light tartness in there as well as some tannins but it is the thick honey character that is the main focus of this exceptional mead. With the big sweetness, thick body and 16%, one would drink this like a port wine that is 3 or 4 ounces at a time and sipped slowly. If you are a fan of the Apis Jadwiga (also a poltorak) this is a must try.
This dwojniak style metheglin (mead with herbs) is one part honey to one part water and aged five years in oak. Golden amber in color the aroma has a slightly woody herbaceous quality as w
