Beer reviews, news, commentary, and more from a guy who just likes to drink beer!
I check out two final beers in this 4th and final Christmas beer series video. In addition to beers from Bell's Brewery and 10 Barrel Brewing Company, I list some of my top picks from the 8 beers I reviewed in this series.
A pair of big time collaborations are on tap for today's BiR. They are a couple of Imperial Stouts that truly blew me away.
First up is And I Shut My Mouth Imperial Stout, from Columbia's River Rat Brewery and Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, FL. Pouring a very hazy dark brown (though the place I was drinking at was a little low-lit to make a fully accurate determination), I got notes of chocolate and spice, but to me, the prevalent flavor notes were raisins, as well as a fruit cake note. With just the mild amount of booziness, the beer is 9.6% ABV, I could almost reclassify the last note as rum cake or something similar. Some other fruits, such as plums, joined the raisin note. This was a tremendous beer to drink, but was only part of Imperial Stout experience this weekend.
My next collaboration was between Westbrook Brewing Company in Mt. Pleasant, SC and Denmark's eccentric Evil Twin Brewing. They essentially brought their own Imperial Stouts together to form a new Imperial Stout. Evil Twin combined their Imperial Biscotti Break with Westbrook's amazing Mexican Cake, slammed all the words together, and created Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, and I'm about 95% sure I got all those words in the right order. As expected, this Imperial Stout pours near pitch black, and had a pretty tan head. This beer is 10.5% ABV, but that alcohol blends into the flavor profile very well. Flavor notes include lots of chocolate and vanilla, as well as cinnamon and perhaps some brown sugar (perhaps I am detecting this from another type of spice). There was also a bit of coffee on the back end of the drinking experience. Just like the beer above, this was another excellent drinking experience.
Today's Christmas offerings come from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and a mighty beer from Brouwerij St. Bernardus, a brewery I haven't had in about a year (so forgive me when I misremember the Abt 12 late in the video).
Coming Tuesday is one more round of Christmas beers, then a Christmas beer rankings video on Wednesday! But see you tomorrow for Beers in Review!
First up in BiR is a collaboration from New Belgium Brewing Company. This isn't a collab with another brewery, but the latest New Belgium beer to incorporate Ben and Jerry's ice cream! This Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale utilizes a blonde ale base and incorporates the key ingredients from the ice cream into the ale. Those ingredients, the chocolate chip pieces and cookie dough, are very much present as flavor notes, but they generate a surprisingly low amount of sweetness. To be frank, I expected a beer bordering on the sickly-sweet side, and was pleasantly surprised to find such a low level of sweetness present. The chocolate did become more prevalent and just a hint sweeter as the beer warmed, but still nowhere near the point of intolerance. The beer pours a mostly clear, pale yellow color, and has an ABV of 6%. In addition to the ice cream flavor notes, the beer is fairly grainy and light, and thanks to the low sweetness, I found it to be an easy drinker.
Next up is a Rauchbier, or smoked beer, from the local German-style brewers, Bierkeller Columbia. The beer had a deep red hue, and the smoke note ("smoked beer" IS literal) was quite prominent, and got a tad overpowering for me over the course of the glass. Toasty malt notes are also present, along with a mesquite/grilled meat feeling generated by the smoke. Sadly, this beer is not for me. I have greatly enjoyed some of Bierkeller's other offerings, and despite past experiences, I occasionally give Rauchbiers another try. But I just couldn't get into this. I can respect Bierkeller's efforts--I'm sure they nailed exactly for what they were aiming. That target is just not for me. I look forward to my next Bierkeller Braunbier or Kellerbier.
I have a couple of heavy hitters in today's Christmas beer video. They come from Avery Brewing Company and Brouwerij Corsendonk (link to importer). This seriously might be one of my favorite reviews ever.
More Christmas beers to come this weekend! See you then!
The weatherman is calling for a high of 81 degrees tomorrow, so what better time than now to start my Christmas Beer Series! Part 1 features the Christmas and holiday offerings from Spoetzl Brewery and Rogue Ales. Enjoy!
A couple of beers from the darker side of the spectrum in today's BiR.
Leading off is Columbia, SC's own Conquest Brewing Company's Imperial Chocolate-Covered Cherry Porter. Now, this beer sounds like it could be a cloyingly sweet mess of a beer, but Conquest really made this work and delivered a terrific beer. The beer pours virtually pitch black and initially delivers a bit of an earthy note go along with a moderately sweet chocolate note. Now, I was impressed by the relative restraint of the sweetness in this beer--a sweet note is definitely significant, but is not even remotely close to overpowering, even despite the potentially sweet ingredients and a potential for some sweetness coming from the 9.2% ABV. There is just a hint of a cherry note; it was present, but I certainly could have used more, personally. There is a slight bite and maybe a hint of smokiness at the very end of the drinking experience and carrying over into the aftertaste. In addition, it gets a tad boozy as it warms. Really, not surprising given that alcohol level. But this is the best offering I've had from Conquest, and it's not even close.
Next up is a core beer from Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville, NC, their Brown Ale. As expected, this beer has a powerful malt profile, using seven different malt varieties, but the strong hop additions (including Amarillo and Saaz hops) are unique to a brown ale. This Duck-Rabbit offering pours deep brown with cola highlights and has an ABV of 5.6%. I found the hops to push through a little bit with just a hint of hop bite, but the malt backbone and profile still manage to make a strong showing in this beer. It is a rich beer, with some chocolate notes. A caramel hint is also present among toasted malts and just a little bit of nuttiness. Duck-Rabbit deviates from the norm a little bit, but still puts out a very good brown ale.
So, for my third video in roughly 24 hours, I present Hootie's Homegrown Ale from Rock Brothers Brewing Company. Check it out!
Christmas beers start on Tuesday! I have some neat beers stashed away for this! But first, I'll be back tomorrow with a Beers in Review blog post. See you then!
So, tonight I worked on finishing the bottle of beer from this afternoon's review, the Victory Brewing Company Anniversary XX Imperial Pilsner. While working through it, I discovered I had much more to say about the beer than what I said in this afternoon's review. So, here's a quick, 3 1/2-minute video with some further reflection on the Anniversary XX.
This slightly tardy video review features a second beer celebrating Victory Brewing Company's 20th Anniversary. I reviewed the first beer a couple of months ago--you can find that link in the YouTube video description.
Edit, 11:38pm: As it turns out, I had more to say about this beer. Check it out here!
I'll have another video review tomorrow, and my Christmas beer series will begin on Tuesday! See you then!
Hello! It is bright and early on Thursday morning here in American, and so allow me to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! With the holiday, I'm pushing the regularly-scheduled Thursday video review to Friday.
But don't worry. I won't leave you empty-handed on this Thanksgiving! Perhaps you are doing your final of about 17 runs to the grocery store, because you need extra potatoes or forgot to buy cinnamon for the pie, or dinner rolls, or a turkey or something. And just as you head for the register and pray the turkey in the oven hasn't exploded, you realize that you FORGOT TO BUY BEER!
Fear not, loyal readers! I have a couple of handy guides that will help you pair beer with the legendary Thanksgiving feast!
First off, Serious Eats engaged their on-staff Cicerone (certified beer expert) Mike Reis to break down several styles of beer and their Thanksgiving-appropriateness. He even matches up some of the beers with standard individual Thanksgiving dishes.
Earlier this week, the Denver Post sought a number of opinions, including those of Cicerones, brewery owners, and event planners, to find out the best beers for three categories: Pre-dinner sessioning, main course, and dessert.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Be safe and sound, and enjoy the day!
I'll be honest. I've been stockpiling news links for a Six-Pack, but just never got around to writing it. But if I wait, too long, of course, the news becomes woefully outdated. So, with that and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in mind, I give you today's massive news round-up. The Six-Pack of News has officially become an Overstuffed-Turkey!
We start with news of a beer line-up restructuring from Avery Brewing Company. They have decided to cut 7 beers out of their line-up so that they can focus more attention on multiple special release barrel series in 2017.
This is slightly old news, but the Brewers Association, a craft beer trade advocacy group, has backed the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA). This bill with the awkward acronym was first introduced to the U.S. Congress by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), and this bill and its House companion seem to finally be gaining traction in their respective bodies. Since the bill's introduction in 2015, the Brewers Association has maintained talking points and more information for supporters to use to lobby for this bill. More recently, Brew Studs broke down the bill's advantages, which include significant tax relief for small brewers and additional tax and process easements from the Alcohol and Tabacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
Not content to assimilate the craft beer scene into their collective, A-B InBev may be turning its sights on Coca-Cola. This seems to be fairly blatant cash grab on behalf of A-B InBev executives, as reports disclosed in regulatory filings indicate big paydays for the brewer's senior management team if annual revenues cross $100 billion, which a Coca-Cola acquisition would likely achieve. When news of possible acquisition became public early last week, Wall Street didn't react well to the news, pushing A-B InBev's stock lower.
The folks at Vinepair sure like their lists, and this week is no exception, even when they need to twist themselves into pretzels to find a theme. This week's is "Heal Your Family With These 10 Beers", which I think is supposed to be election result-themed, but really just looks like a list of 10 interesting beers.
This is more general alcohol-themed, but Vinepair also provides a fun chart that guides WHAT to drink (beer, wine, liquor) for assorted Thanksgiving situations.
I'm not going to go research this, but it feels like I had seen articles recently bemoaning shortages in certain hops varieties. Regardless, U.S. hop growers are set to have a record year in hop harvesting in 2016. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports U.S. hop production has doubled since 2012.
Chicago brewpub Band of Bohemia became the first-ever brewpub to be awarded a prestigious Michelin star. Read all about it at craftbeer.com!
I had always felt like my home state of Pennsylvania had some bass ackwards beer laws--laws that seem to be finally becoming modernized. But I thought Pennsylvania was bad, the website Good Beer Hunting notes some states' really terrible beer laws--laws that are crippling the potential for small brewers in those states.
Finally, if you're still looking for what to serve as dessert for your Thanksgiving dinner...well, you're kinda up You-Know-What Creek at this point. But a fun option for the future might be beer- and wine-flavored lollipops, as reported on by Simplemost and sold by Lollyphile!
That's the news, everybody! Have a great Thanksgiving!
My latest video review is Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout, from one of A-B InBev's newest little brothers, Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, Georgia. Check out this excellent milk stout!
Leading off today's BiR is Yeoman's Brown Ale from Greenville, South Carolina's Brewery 85. It checks in at 7% ABV (UPDATE: Current batches are 6.4% ABV. I got 7% from the Brewery 85 website.) and 16 IBU, and the beer pours a medium brown color with maybe just a hint of haze. Yeoman's has a decent malt backbone, and a very slight sweetness with caramel notes and a hint of cola in there, as well. I also detected a roasted coffee note, as well as something I couldn't QUITE place. I wanted to say it was something like coconut, or dare I say, artificial coconut. I'm in no way certain that that is what I tasted, and the tasting notes make no mention of coconut, but that is how I'm best interpreting that last flavor note. Despite that last bit, I found this to be a decent brown ale.
(UPDATE, 9:30pm: The folks at Brewery 85 were kind enough to reach out to me via Twitter regarding what I was perceiving as coconut. They pointed out, as is indicated on their website, that additional chocolate and rum flavor notes are typically found in this brown ale, and that may be what I was interpreting as the coconut flavor, somehow. Heck, I may also have been misinterpreting the cola note, as well. -J)
Next up is Service Brewing Company, a Savannah, Georgia-based brewery owned by veterans. Ground Pounder is their year-round core Pale Ale, and named in honor of the infantry soldiers of the Army. Sessionable at 4.6% ABV, the beer pours a nice, hazy orange, and had a solid roughly 2 fingers of head coming out of the can. A massive, bright citrus note was obvious at the start of the drinking experience, though it shortly gave way to peppery notes and just a hint of pine. While there are plenty of flavors generated by the hops, there is almost no bite--just a slight kick at the VERY END of the drinking experience. This is not shocking, given the relatively low 37 IBU (I find that most pales and IPAs tend to clock in at a bare minimum of 40 IBU, though there are exceptions). Just a hint of maltiness rounds out the flavor profile, though both the actual malt and hop presence are both mild enough that I can't really comment on a balance between the two. Still, those hops are creating plenty of nice flavor notes that result in a tasty pale ale.
Today, I bring you the second part of my Trader Joe's beer series! Check out the Hefeweisen and the Winter Brew double bock!
If you missed the first two beers of the series, and want to know more about Trader Joe's beer, click here!
This weekend, I'll be checking out 4 different beers from the Trader Joe's line of beers. I start off with their PLZNR and Bohemian-Style Lager. Check them out below!
About 7 months ago, I checked out The Unknown Brewing Company's 1.5ish Anniversary Ale, which was supposed to be released for their 1st birthday, but wasn't ready on time. In that spirit, I recently got my hands on a bottle of Unknown's 2.5ish. Check out my video review!
This week, Asheville, NC-based Burial Beer Company is celebrating its invasion of South Carolina by holding several events across three of South Carolina's key markets. I'm glad to say the invasion began right here in Columbia, with tap takeovers at local bottle shop Craft and Draft and downtown bar The Whig, with additional availability in the Columbia area.
Last night's Columbia events are being followed by similar takeovers starting tonight in Greenville and Charleston, where events will continue through the weekend.
Having visited Burial Beer in Asheville, I took the opportunity to check out the takeover going on at Craft and Draft. Their tap line-up included 5 Burial beers.
I took the opportunity to check out the two IPAs Burial had on tap, starting with the session IPA (number 3 on the big board).
Burial's Ceremonial Session IPA checks the ABV box for "sessionable" at just 4%. This particular version of Ceremonial was brewed with Eureka hops--it seems they produce various batches using different hop varietals--and pours a hazy straw color, and musters a powerful pine hop aroma. This pine note carries through into the taste, though it's not quite as strong, and blends with some dank notes and a hint of citrus. There is almost no hop bite, just a slight bite in the aftertaste, and the flavors linger for only a brief time after the drinking experience.
The second Burial beer I had at the takeover was the Tuskhorn IPA. This Tuskhorn clocks in at 7.5% ABV, and was made using Citra, Centennial, and Blonde Ella hops. The beer poured an orange-gold color, and was somewhat hazy with just under a finger's worth of lingering pillowy head. Despite being an American IPA, this beer had a powerful hop bite throughout the entire tasting experience, along with tons of pine and citrus notes, including a bit of a lemon and/or lemon candy hint. These massive flavors dissipated fairly quickly in the aftertaste, which I found surprising, given how bold those flavors were.
My congratulations to Burial Beer Company on a successful initial foray into the state of South Carolina. I hope that success carries through for this week's and weekend's events, and long into the future!
Man, three video reviews in a row. These might almost become a habit. In this video I check out a brown ale from RJ Rockers Brewing Company. Check it out with me!
You wouldn't expect much out of something simply called "Premium Beer", such as this offering from the Spoetzl Brewery/Shiner. Then again, maybe you're wrong. Let's find out how it turns out!