Tag Archives: New Belgium

Musings On Aging Beers

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I am just going to touch on this subject today but do plan on coming back to it in the future. I have recently started opening up my beer cellar, which consists mostly of barley wines and imperial stouts. So far, in the past year or so, I have tried about 40 vintage beers. The only one I have found a noticeable flaw in was an 09 Stone Old Guardian in February 2012. This was in no way Stone’s fault and likely due to poor storage (which could be a variety of things, the beer may have had a rough trip back from Florida, the closet was certainly not at the ideal temperature and from what I have heard, sometimes this stuff just happens). Either way, the beer tasted a lot like cardboard which would make sense as the beer was fairly light in color and probably developed a significant amount of aldehyde. Fortunately, everything other vintage beer I have tried turned out much as I suspected. I noticed a particularly large difference between years in Lagunitas products such as Old Gnarlywine. These aged barley wines were good but in every case including a side by side of Firestone Walker’s Abacus and Sucaba, I preferred the fresh version. Perhaps, I am just not a huge fan of the sherry like flavors that tend to develop with them. With that said, I have had some phenomenal aged imperial stouts such as Bell’s Expedition Stout that blew me away after sitting a few years. I have also had some extremely pleasant experiences with aged sour browns such a four year old New Belgium La Folie. Ultimately, I am leaning towards drinking beers fresh, but vintage beers can be a nice treat. I have also heard that Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg’s Samichlaus has legendary aging capabilities. Here is a slightly more in depth look at some of the basic chemical processes that tend to go with aging of beer http://www.professorbeer.com/articles/oxidative_staling_beer.html

Now that you know what to expect, experiment and enjoy! Please add any thoughts and I do plan on returning to this subject as I learn more!

Beers To Look Forward To This March!

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March 2012 is looking to be an excellent month for beer! Here are a few beers you should consider this month.

1) Sierra Nevada Hoptimum: Hotimum was one of the best Double IPAs I have ever had and this years 100 IBU bomb shell is looking even better. The 2012 Hoptimum will be filled with Citra, Simcoe, Chinook hops as well as a new proprietary hop variety developed by Sierra Nevada. Look for it in the next few weeks if it is not already out in your area.

2) Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout: This famous whiskey barrel aged stout needs no introduction. It is great, if you have not tried it, you need to and if you have tried it, you need more! This should arrive in vary limited quantities in stores by the end of the month.

3) Sierra Nevada Bigfoot: The folks at Sierra Nevada have been working very hard lately as it is also time for the annual release of Bigfoot! This big, hoppy barley wine is delicious now and will improve for several years. Its reasonable price, age-ability and yearly release makes it an excellent choice for vertical tastings.

4) Dogfish Head Urkontinent: This extremely unique Dogfish collaboration with Google (yes, I said Google) is being tentatively bottled right now. I was not able to find concrete release date information and it does not matter if you are in Missouri, because this beer wont be…Still, this beer should be worth hunting town or trading for. Here is a video about its construction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiFewPyLlQA&feature=youtu.be

4) Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot: Their website gives a release date of late February for this beer. I know it has not arrived in Missouri yet. Still, like nearly everything Lagunita’s produces should be deliciously hoppy and big. The Wilco Tango Foxtrot will also have a strong malt component to balance this imperial brown ale.

5) Schlafly Irish Style-Extra Stout: If you are looking for a great domestic beer to drink for St. Patrick’s Day, this is the beer for you. This foreign export stout is well balanced, slightly bitter, dark and tasty.

6) Lagunitas Imperial Red: This red ale is exceptionally complex and contains a lot of green hops balanced by enough malt to keep everything together. If you ignore the fact that Irish beers were traditionally not heavily hopped, it is another good choice for St. Patrick’s Day.

7) New Belgium Dig: A great spring session beer. Dig uses both Sorachi Ace and Nelson Sauvin hops in conjunction with some American varieties such as Cascade to produce a zesty pale ale.

8 ) Odell Red Ale: The Odell Red is another American take on the red ale style. It is piney and citrus-y with a mild, sweet malt to back it up.

9) Firestone Walker Sucaba: Formerly known as Abacus, the Sucaba is a beer beyond description. In fact, the 2011 Abacus is one of my favorite beers of all time. While I have not yet tried the Sucaba, I expect it to hold up to its forebearers. Think toffee, vanilla, caramel and so much more. Extremely complex and delicious.

My Favorite Beers of 2011

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I know this list is entirely subjective. Sadly, there were many new beers that deserve to make this list that I was not fortunate enough to try and many that I simply forgot (it has been a very eventful year). Still 2011 was an excellent year for beer in my world and these are some of my favorites. Hopefully, 2012 has some tricks to compete! The list is in no particular order and I am trying to focus on beers that were new to 2011 (or at least new to bottles, if I am mistaken on some, I apologize), so classics such as Bell’s Hopslam and Chimay Grand Reserve are excluded.

1) Anchorage Brewing Company: Bitter Monk with a description like this “Belgian style double IPA with Brettanomyces. this ale is aged in french oak chardonnay barrels. Brewed with Apollo, Citra, and Simcoe hops. Dry hopped in the barrel with Citra hops. Triple fermented- First in the tank with a Belgian yeast, second in french oak chardonnay barrels with brett, and finally in the bottle with a third yeast for natural carbonation.” how can it be bad? The complex, funky taste lived up to the hype.

2) Mikkeller: Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Brut This is the perfect beer to drink on New Years or anytime for that matter. It is truly fantastic, lots of funk, a little white wine and citrous, just fantastic. It is expensive for a beer, but $20 is still cheap compared to a good champagne.

3) Jolly Pumpkin: Lupulo De Hielo This Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club exclusive is one of many reason I will continue to utilize that excellent service. This beer is crisp, funky and complex. Like many of Jolly Pumpkin’s offerings, world class all the way.

4) Boulevard: Collaboration No. 2 – White IPA This beer was the result of a collaboration with Deschutes Brewery. This beer retains some of the lightness and spice of a wit yet boasts some strong citrousy hops. In three words, it is beautiful.

5) New Belgium: Le Terroir Released for the first time in bottles this spring. This beer is astonishingly refreshing, tart and fruity.

6) Firestone Walker: Firestone 15-Aniversary Ale I am not sure where to begin on this one, this is an extremely complex blend of amazing beers. There are layers upon layers of delicious flavors, including toffee, bourbon, coffee, dark fruits and the list goes on.

7) Lagunitas: Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale Do not let the clever, self depreciating name fool you. This American double IPA is astounding. It contains about everything I could ever hope for from an IPA and I have all but forgotten about Brown Shugga. I can not wait for “Leftovers”.

8 ) Founders: Canadian Breakfast Stout Bottled for the first time in 2011. This maple barrel aged version of the already stellar Kentucky Breakfast Stout is a real treat, if you can find it.

9) Avery: Rumpkin This beer is huge clocking in at 15.9%. It is also very sweet and boozy, but unique, complex and delicious.

10) Firestone Walker: 2011 Abacus I have not had previous incarnations of the Abacus, but this English Style barley wine is one of my favorite beers of all time. The 2011 Abacus is decadent, smooth and so complex it is perfect for long contemplation.

A few very unique honorable mentions include, Rogue Bacon Maple Ale, Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life and Limb, Odell Friek and New Belgium Kick.

New Belgium Frambozen (Review)

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Since, I included this beer on my “Ten (fairly common) Beers You Should be Drinking This November!” post and it is one of my favorite winter seasonals, I figure it is only fitting that I give it a right and proper review as well. This very sessionable beer pours a deep reddish brown with a slightly pink head. Frambozen has a light raspberry aroma balanced by some hops and alcohol, the raspberries really come out after it warms up a bit. The taste is very much the same, some tart raspberries but by no means overwhelming, if anything the raspberry influence could be increased. I like it a lot, I think the Frambozen is highly drinkable and just all around nice for the time of year, this mellow beer will pair nicely with many seasonal foods. For a rating, I give the Frambozen an 84 on the Tim’s Tasty Scale, it is not extraordinary but over all I think it is very nice. It pairs extremely well with some rich gooey brownies.

Old Chicago, Springfield, MO (Review)

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My girlfriend, Nadia, and I went to the Old Chicago in Springfield, MO last night. This large restaurant chain brags about their 110 beers, unfortunately many of these beers are dominated by things such as Miller, Old Style, Budweiser and so forth. Considering I had fairly low expectations, Old Chicago’s beer selection was adequate. It is completely dominated by the big three,the Springfield location has Sierra Nevada Pale, New Belgium 1554 and Rogue Dead Guy on draft. They also have some solid bottles such as Chimay and Schlafly APA. The food was very good, try the Thai Pie, it is unique and exceptional. The spicy spinach dip was also delicious. And Caprese salad is pretty hard to mess up. I also enjoyed the atmosphere. The bar has Buzztime Trivia and I cannot complain about the two dollar drafts they were serving me. All in all, it was a pretty decent spot, it is a large chain, but has a beer selection that is better than most places in town, a pleasant atmosphere (sports bar) and some pretty good food. If I had to rate it I would give it an 80.

Also, Boulevard is bottling their Bourbon-Barrel Quad today, which should hit the shelves in December and make a nice addition to that month’s lineup.

Ten (fairly common) Beers You Should be Drinking This November!

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The marzens and pumpkin beers have for the most part departed, leaving us with an even more eclectic bunch of seasonal offerings. Traditionally, this time of year is dominated by malt heavy offerings, coffee stouts and spiced beers. While it is still early in the month, I thought I would highlight a few good beers that should not be extremely rare and may (or may not) be overlooked. Not all of the beers I have included are seasonals, some are just plain good.

1) Bell’s Cherry Stout
Thick, warm, chocolaty stout balanced by tart Montmorency cherries. What more do I need to say?

2) Founder’s Breakfast Stout
An oatmeal stout brewed with coffee and chocolate. Perfectly balanced and absolutely amazing.

3) Odell’s Mountain Standard Double Black IPA
An amazing blend of toasty malts and citrusy hops.

4) St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
Dark fruits and spices, if that isn’t Christmas, I don’t know what is!

5) Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
A rich, refreshing, dry hopped IPA, perfect for those holiday parties!

6) New Belgium Frambozen
It is not out yet, but should arrive anytime. This brown ale is brewed with fresh raspberries and very tough to beat on thanksgiving.

7) Baltika No. 6 Porter
While this Baltic Porter is not a seasonal, its soft roast-y flavors and slight sweetness are perfect for this season.

8 ) Avery Old Jubilation
This malty strong ale pairs well with cold nights and many of the traditional seasonal fare.

9) Schneider-Weisse Adventinus
This wheat doppelbock is available year round and considered by many to be one of the best beers in the world. The complex malt profile highlighted by the wheat and yeast make this an excellent sipper on cold nights.

10) Bell’s Java Stout
I hate to include the same brewery twice on the same list, but man, this is a nice beer to wake up or warm up to.

Happy Halloween

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—Originally Posted on http://beerandboardgames.blogspot.com 10/31/2011—

Have a great holiday, whether you are drinking La Parcella or Steel Reserve! I think I will go with the New Belgium Kick when I get off of work….But J. K. Scrumpy keeps calling…. As far as costumes go, my work schedule is responsible for me “phoning it in” this year, so I purchased a goofy Santa Beard/Glasses combo and covered the beard in grenadine to make it look like Santa has been eating some pretty disturbing things, or earning his “red wings”…. Another inappropriate Halloween costume idea that some individual may be interested is a pregnant woman, with a sack filled with red jello or something and a baby doll that can be opened up to splatter all over the floor. I think it would be a very classy costume. Anyway, I hope your Halloween was good and just wanted to leave you with that mental image in your head….