joefoley/beer

2009-03-09T07:25:00.001-07:00

in hopes of throwing this blog a bone as i start updating the other ones again, here's a sampling of beers we've tried recently and enjoyed...

lagunitas hop stoopid
lagunitas ruben & the jets
allagash black
allagash interlude
allagash curieux (ok, i've had this one before, but it's so tasty i'll include it anyway)
unibroue 17
unibroue quatrecentenaire
harpoon leviathan (baltic porter)
alaskan baltic porter
dogfish head red & white
ennis & gunn
mountainer brewing company brown ale

there are some more that i can't remember right now

homebrew update...

2008-06-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

there's been lots of beer brewing going on recently, but i won't be getting much of it. a couple of months back polly (my sister) and ryan (her fiance) asked if we could help them brew beer to give away as a wedding favor, like we did for our wedding last year. well, we're right in the middle of the brewing now... 3 batches are in the fermenter, waiting to be bottled. we did northern brewer kits and did the fat tire clone, paterbier, and wit. so far they're all looking good.

the oak² (belgian dubbel) is on tap in the basement now and getting good reviews but the other tap is idle at the moment. the pilsner kicked and with all of the other brewing thats been going on i've only just had time to brew a batch of wit (wit some rosehips added to see how that tastes) to replace it. i'm going to try and get it on tap in time for july 4, but it'll still be mighty young at that point. next up i've got an oktoberfest (for baby's first oktoberfest this fall) ready to brew and a brown ale kit on order to follow the oak²

Baladin Xanuyu

2008-05-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

Name: Baladin Xanuyu
Brewery: Birra Baladin
Location: Piozzo, Italy
Style: Oak Aged

winey, flat, oaked
sweet, thick
brewed using the solara system (method for making sherry)
apple, oxidized
syrup (maple), caramel, very unique

BB Dexi

2008-05-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Name: BB Dexi
Brewery: Barley
Location: Maracalagonis, Italy
Style: Barleywine

vinegary, woody, vanilla... an italian barleywine brewed with boiled down sryup from grape must

Palanfrina

2008-05-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Name: Panalfrina
Brewery: Brew Pub Troll
Location: Vernante, Italy
Style: Chestnut Beer

deep, earthy, slightly sweet. 9% but easy drinking. whiskey, smoked, chestnut-y

Malthus Birolla

2008-05-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Name: Malthus Birolla
Brewery: Birrifico di Como
Location: Como, Italy
Style: Chestnut, Smoked

honey & smoked chestnuts, very, very smoky, but the nuttiness of the chestnuts still comes through. the smoke comes from the smoked chestnuts, not smoked malt. dry

Strada San Felice

2008-05-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Name: Strada San Felice
Brewery: Birrifico Grado Plato
Location: Chieri, Italy
Style: Chestnut Beer

low earthy aroma; dark; nutty, dry, earthy; slight sweetness at finish. hints of smoke, very smooth

Nora 2005

2008-05-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Name: Nora (2005)
Brewery: Birra Baladin
Location: Piozzo, Italy
Style: Sour Beer

Sour & Bitter (in a very balanced way), confectionary nose. intriguing. ginger, orange, myhrr

Cassisona

2008-05-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Name: Cassisona
Brewery: Birrifico Italiano
Location: Lurago Marinone, Italy
Style: Fruit/Sour Beer

cloudy with honey & toffee overtones. tart nose. fruity with tiny champagne-like soft bubbles. deserty, slightly sweet with a very nice level of fruityness. slight sourness, lactic acid. blackcurrant.

Nuova Mattina

2008-05-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Name: Nuova Mattina
Brewery: Birrifico del Ducato
Location: Roncole Verdi Busseto, Italy

earthy, licorice, potpourri, cough syrup (medicinal). herbal/botanical bitterness. very dry, very italian.

Seson

2008-05-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Name: Seson
Brewery: Piccolo Birrifico
Location: Apricale, Italy
Style: Saison

an italian take on a saison. very dry with slightly earthy tones. slight bitterness. ok

Flurette

2008-05-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Birrifico Italiano
Name: Flurette
Location: Lurago Marinone, Italy

Light, slightly tart, confectionary. 3.8% and exhibits a bit of thinness in the body. flavored with fruits, flowers, rosehips... flavor slightly like sweet tarts. sourness is from fruits & flowers (not "soured" in any way)

dogfish head burton baton

2008-04-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Dogfish Head
Location: Milton, Delaware
Name: Burton Baton
Style: Oak Aged Strong Ale/Double IPA Blend

a blend of 90-minute IPA and an oak-aged strong ale. the 90-minute presence is obvious at first inspection. the hop profile, though less dominant, is clearly 90-minute. the body is similar, but slightly more caramely and sweeter, with a slight astringency. poured in a snifter and inhaled deeply the nose is awash in vanilla, oak, and marzipan. the vanilla in the body adds a nice depth to behind the 90-minute hops.

2008-04-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

out of date again... the stout is in the kegerator now and serving up nicely. light & drinkable it's got a bit of coffee, roasted malt, and smoky peat flavor. people that've tried it seem to really like this beer. work is going on the rest of the room. wall cabinets are up, shelves are built, and construction on the corner cabinet is moving right along. should get that one done (except for finishing) and possibly installed this weeknd which will mean i can install the rest of the base cabinets along as well.

homebrew update

2008-03-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

quick update... the stout moved to a secondary today. tastes good (pretty much just like guiness) and it's just waiting for keg space to open up. i'd hoped to have it on tap by st. patrick's day but that looks unlikely. i need to see how much of the supa-fat is left in the keg.

checked on the oak² (oaked dubbel) and it's changed a lot since the first tasting. the bananna/clove flavor is diminished, but there's still a lot of spice, and now there's a lot of vanilla and, well, oak like flavors. we'll he how it does carbonated, i think it'll be nice once it's done. racked it off the oak chips so that the oak flavor doesn't completely overwealm everything and then i need to decide whether to bottle it or keg it. originally i was going to put it in growlers and bottle condition, but then at the last taste i starting thinking about kegging, since it had such a great flavor. with the oak i think it needs the extra development that it'll get from bottle conditioning, but it'd take a while to kill a keg of dubbel.

dry stout...

2008-03-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

forgot to post about my partial mash stout... made this last weekend. i used a northern brewer partial mash kit that's not on their website anymore plus a pound of peated malt for a little extra something (or because i can't leave well enough alone). it's been in the primary for a little over a week, so i think it's time to move it to the secondary tonight. the oaked dubbel is probably also due to be taken off the oak chips and either bottled (in growlers) of put into a clean secondary to wait for a keg to open up.

got wood?

2008-02-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

a little beer work tonight... moved the dubbel over to a secondary and gave it and the pils some american oak chips.

took a taste of the pils before i added the oak and the green apple & cidery flavors that i got when moving it to the secondary a couple of weeks ago when transfering it over from the primary are gone. now it's got a nice dry malty body with good european hop bitterness and a slight 'blue cheese' hop nose from the saphir dry hop. once it's got little sharpness from carbonation it'll be a nice refreshing lager. final gravity is sitting at 1.012 (ABV: 4.7%) right now. it'll sit on the oak chips for a couple of days and move to a keg to spend a couple of weeks lagering.

the dubbel was really nice... some wit-esque spicyness from the corriander and estery & clove from the yeast and relatively warm fermentation (i fermented it right next to a heating vent). the combination gives an interesting chocolate bananna flavor. the extra sugar has given it an extra kick, but since it's fermented out completely it's left the beer dry (FG 1.010; ABV 8%) but with a soft mouthfeel. the dubbel will probably sit on oak for a week or two and then get bottled in growlers to sit for a while.

next up: a dry irish stout that'll get kegged.

oak2 dubbel

2008-01-25T00:30:00.000-08:00

brewed a dubbel last night. started with a northern brewer kit then twisted it around a bit with some extra sugar (1 lb of dark moskovado from mauritius) and an ounce of corriander seed. the extra sugar (on top of the 1 lb of dark candi sugar) kicked the OG up from 1.060 to 1.070, so we've got a potential of an 8+% brew. i'm going to leave this one to age for a while -- no need rushing a big beer like this.

the session wasn't without problems. the yeast pak was looking a little anemic when i started (and took 2 days to get to even the half puff it got to) and then when i chill the beer i realized that the hose was frozen so i ended up putting the beer outside the kitchen door in the cold for a couple of hours, then adding it to the rest of the cold water i had. tried a new (and improvised) aeration technique in hopes of compensating for the lackadaisical yeast pouch and fermentation has kicked off, but it's not looking all that vigorous yet. i think i may order a 2nd pouch of yeast just to be on the safe side.

steep until water reaches 154 C:

- 0.25 lbs. Dingemans Caramunich
- 0.25 lbs. Dingemans Special B

bring to boil then add:

- 6.3 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
- 1 lbs. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract
- 1 lbs. Dark Belgian Candi Sugar
- 1 lbs. Dark Moskovado Sugar

return to boil then add:

- 1 oz. Styrian Goldings (for 60 min)
- Servomyces & Whirlfloc (10 min)
- 1 oz. Saaz (for 1 min)

remove from heat then add:

- 1 oz. Corriander seed (crushed)

chill then:

- strain (to remove hops & coriander) into fermenter
- add Wyeast #1214 Belgian Ale Yeast
- ferment 7-10 days

transfer to secondary:

- 2 oz. American oak chips

to be continued...

homebrew notes...

2008-01-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

now the supa-fat is properly carbonated the true flavor is shining through. a bit more depth than the first tastings... more malt, a little more fruity, but still a fairly brutally bitter bite to it. holds it's head nicely. the beer is a little cloudy, but that's probably because i didn't do a proper secondary on it, just a long primary.

transfered the pilsener over to a secondary tonight. it's got a pretty good green apple, cidery flavor right now -- more than i've ever had before -- but that may well just be a byproduct of the lager yeast that i'm not used to and the fact that it's still pretty young. it'll sit in a warmer part of the basement (~60F) for the weekend and then head back into the cold on monday for a little conditioning before it goes into the fridge to lager. dosed it up with an ounce of saphir as a dry hop.

also finished the tap handles tonight... the threaded inserts didn't go in quite as well as hoped, but they still look pretty good on the taps.

keg time...

2008-01-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

the draft system is up & running down in the beer room (henceforth the elephant & castle)... the supa-fat is on tap, but all those admiral hops have given it a whole load of kick. it's more along the lines of a stone IPA... hoppy (mostly on the bittering end) & dry.

i'm still getting the hang of the force carbonating thing, but after realizing the other day that i'd shut off the valve on the tank for 2 days, i think it should be in good shape now.

now that i've got the fridge to lager in, and the winter has the basement nice and cold i've got a czech pils underway. optimum temperature range is 48-58 F and last night the fermenter was at 51. perfect. a few more days in there, the into the secondary where it'll slight warmup for a diacetl rest before going back into the cold and then into a keg to lager in the fridge. i'm trying to find some Saaz to throw in the secondary for a little extra aroma kick, but no luck so far (damn hop shortage).

Santa's Butt: Christmas Beer 2007 #2

2007-12-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Ridgeway Brewing
Location: Oxfordshire, England
Name: Santa's Butt
Style: Winter Porter

Dark garnett/ruby color; Dark, full and malty sweetness; Coffee and smoked notes.

Bad Elf: Christmas 2007 Beer #1

2007-12-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Ridgeway Brewing
Location: Oxfordshire, England
Name: Bad Elf
Style: Winter's Ale

light golden amber color. sweet malt nose, but drinks semi-dry with some pronounced but easy hop bitterness. easy drinking but deceivingly strong.

Three Floyds Dark Lord

2007-12-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Three Floyds
Location: Munster, Indiana
Name: Dark Lord
Style: Russian Imperial Stout

Got a chance to try this last sunday night at paradiso when the bartender whipped out a bottle given to him by the brewers (they get tattoo'd across the street at jinx proof) for a couple of us to try. dark and syrupy without being cloying. sweet with notes of strong fresh coffee and chocolate. a truly unique experience that i'm glad i had. it's not a beer to drink all the time, but it's make a nice beer to sip instead of dessert after a meal.

supa-phat

2007-11-30T08:51:00.001-08:00

brewing all of the wedding beer (and experimenting with those recipes) got me really back into a brewing mood and wanting to experiment more, instead of just brewing kits.

i started a new batch of beer last night, that's a modified version of northern brewer's phat tire kit (a clone of new belgium's fat tire). i figured i might as well take a stab at it while new belgium's actual fat tire yeast is available from wyeast.

i wanted to up the hop profile a bit, but with the current hop-shortage, i couldn't get my hands on any of the hops i really wanted. i was able to get some organic UK admiral, and since they did a nice job in the organic IPA, i ordered those along with the kit.

original hop schedule:

1 oz liberty - 60 minutes
.5oz crystal - 15 minutes
.5oz crystal - 5 minutes

modified hop schedule:

1 oz liberty - 60 minutes
1 oz admiral - 60 minutes
1 oz admiral - 15 minutes
1 oz crystal - 3 minutes (not intentional, i just missed the 5 minute mark)

since the admiral packs a big alpha acid punch (14.7 % to the liberty's 4.4%) i added a 1 lb of extra light Munton's DME that i had lying around to the boil to kick up the malt a bit.

it's in the fermenter now and it'll be the first beer that i keg once i get the kegerator sorted out, so we'll won't have quite as long to wait and see how the supa-phat turns out.

Caracole

2007-10-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Basserie Caracole
Location: Falmignoul, Belgium
Name: Caracole
Style: Belgian Amber Ale

Has a sweet fruity nose and a sweet but soft body with a slight smoky aftertaste. Has a slight bitterness and just a hint of hop in the finish.

Gotten Flemish Ale

2007-10-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brouwerij St. Bernardus (Pierre Celis Signature)
Location: Belgium
Name: Grotten Flemish Ale
Style: Flemish Ale

Part of the Pierre Celis Signature line of brews. Has a slight acidic sourness on a sweet base, littl hoppiness. The Flemish ale is very tasty with a great rich mouthfeel. Strong flavor with a slight alcoholic warmth.

the wedding beer saga continues...

2007-10-04T08:58:00.001-07:00

two batches of wedding beer have now been bottled, with two more to follow early next week. so far the oktoberfest and organic IPA are bottled, the organic porter is in the secondary, and the honey wheat is waiting to be transfered.

the test batch of oktoberfest turned out really well. the dry hop with saaz and tettnanger gave it a really deep hoppy quality that reminded me of the scheider-brooklyner hopfenweiss (not to be confused with the brooklyner-schneider hopfenweiss, which i'll hopefully get a chance to try this weekend). i'm assuming it's because both were dry hopped with german hops . i took a couple of growlers along this weekend for post-bachelor party consumption, and they seemed to go over pretty well.

the 2nd batch of the oktoberfest (the one for the wedding) was dry-hopped with saaz and saphir and has a brighter and livelier hop character. it'll be interesting to see how it tastes after a few weeks in the bottle.

the organic ipa spent some time getting to know some organic goldings (pellet) and cascade (whole leaf, grown by matt) hops in the secondary. it's lost a little of the 'fresh-hop' flavor that it had when we transfered it and the bitterness has kicked up a bit. still very tasty.

we're probably going to end up with around 160 bottles for the wedding, and i'm hoping we'll have some left over. i might see if someone wants to take a couple of bottles along to the bootleggers bliss in my stead, since we'll be getting back from the honeymoon that day.

Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse

2007-09-30T19:47:00.001-07:00

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Name: Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse
Style: Weissbier

Heaven on draft. Strong fresh floral hop aroma with an equally powered smack down of hopalicious mouth biting brilliance.

2007-09-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

poor languishing beer blog... the best of intentions have not been matched with action.

i've been brewing up some wedding favor beer. the first two batches went into the secondary tonight: an organic IPA and an oktoberfest. the oktoberfest was first and my little sample was quite pleasant, but the organic IPA may possibly be the best beer i've brewed. right now it's dry hopping with some organic goldings and some very fresh homegrown cascade from matt's garden. tommorow we've got an organic porter to brew and next week a batch of honey wheat.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe

2007-08-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Weyerbacher Brewing Company
Location: Easton, Pennsylvannia
Name: Double Simcoe
Style: Imperial IPA

Big malty body, coppery/diacetyl flavors. packed with simcoe hops for a pleasant bitterness and kick you in the mouth hop flavor and aroma. hops & malt are well balanced and combine to make a very tasty double/imperial IPA

Weyerbacher Hop Infusion IPA

2007-08-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Weyerbacher Brewing Company
Location: Easton, Pennsylvannia
Name: Hop Infusion IPA
Style: IPA

medium malt body, low bitterness, nice floral hoppy flavor & aroma. easy to drink and very pleasant. light copper/diacetyl flavor, but markedly less than the double simcoe. tastes, as named, like it's been infused with hops.

pubs...

2007-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

back from vacation... the beer reviews are going to be slow coming, since i left my journal at the house and france and will have to get it posted back. for now here are a few of my favorites of the dozen or more pubs we tried in london...

the market porter - 9 Stoney Street, Borough, London SE1

our first pub of the trip, the market porter was also the only one to which we made multiple visits, mostly, because of the number and variety of real ales on tap. located on a corner just outside borough market this pub was filled on all three visits with a lively mix of tourists, locals, market shoppers, market workers -- it's allowed to open from 6 to 8 in the morning so the market workers finishing work at that our can get a pint -- and, since i wasn't the only patron making notes on the beer, a smattering of beer geeks.

the main room is large, and dominated by a big wooden bar with seating around the walls. lots of wood paneling, but it's light and plenty of windows help keep the space light. a small back room has some more seating and i think there was a dining room as well. unfortunately the notes for the beers we had there are in the book that i left in france.

the anglesea arms - 15 Selwood Terrace, South Kensington, London SW7

quiet and unpretentious on a residential street in kensington. during our one night stopover on the way back from france we stumbled on this pub while walking back to our hotel. we were heading back to pick up our bags and head to the airport and looking for some fish & chips. running short on time we saw the anglesesa across the street decided to stop in and have a look at the menu.

we found an airy bar with big windows, plenty of soft worn wood, chintz wallpaper that looked like it could have been pasted up by william morris himself, and a crowd that looked like they were mostly lunchtime regulars. as we sat drinking a pint of hogsback bitter and waiting for our fish & chips the bar staff confirmed our suspicions by greeting almost every entrant to the premises by name.

there was a good selection of real ales: a couple of adnams, brakspear special, and hogsback bitter and a selection of drafts. the fake menu chalkboards that we'd seen at so many pubs were missing, the daily menu printed on plain paper waiting for us under the ashtray. the beers were good -- some of our favorites of the trip in fact -- and the fish and chips weren't bad either.

the duke of cambridge - 30 St Peters Street, Islington, London N1

another accidental discovery, we stumbled across this pub while walking around angel with my cousin dan and his girlfriend laura, and stopped in for a couple of pints before getting dinner to kill some time and catch up. a big, light, and airy room on a corner with massive glass windows on two sides. serves a selection of organic beers and organic food. simples wooden tables with chairs and benches make for a great place to sit on a summer afternoon. website

more to come...

Brakspear Special

2007-06-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brakspear Brewing Company
Location: Wychwood, England
Name: Special
Pub: Anglesea Arms

Blue cheese (hop?) nose, soft & malty with a fruity finish. slightly sweet

Hogsback Bitter

2007-06-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Hogsback Brewery
Location: Tongham, Surrey, England
Name: Bitter
Style: Bitter
Pub: Anglesea Arms

light w/ slightly caramely and smoky notes. pleasant hopiness. very nice, one of the best (as an everyday drinker) of the trip.

Oerbier

2007-06-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Brewery: DeDolle Brouwers
Location: Esen, Belguim
Name: Oerbier
Style: Belgian Strong Ale

strong sour cherry aroma, dark reddish brown color; cherry notes in the body with very slight tartness over a light malty profile.

St. Amand French Country Ale

2007-06-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brasserie Castelain
Location: Beinfontaine, France
Name: St. Amand French Country Ale
Style: Biere de Garde

clear, light brown copper color. head is full of big bubbles that disperses quickly. treacle and golden syrup notes over malt in the aroma. soft mouthfeel and light malty body. slightly astringent with caramel notes. earthy.

real ale...

2007-06-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

tommorow, heather and i leave for a weeks' vacation. we're starting with a long weekend in london, so look out for lots of real ale and pub reviews, and then flying down to the south of france for a little family reunion and a birthday party. probably won't be too many beer reviews coming out of that part of the trip.

also, i'm still working on transcribing old entries from the beer journal i kept for part of last year. i'm putting them in with the date listed in the journal, so look back to the older posts for those...

Foret

2007-06-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
Location: Tourpes, Belgium
Name: Foret
Style: Saison

Organically produced Belgian saison from the brewers of the classic Saison Dupont. golden and slightly hazy with a strong light-cream to white head. strong orange and clove nose leads into a warm and lemony body. slightly bitter/astringent but not hoppy. very similar to it's non-organic cousin, but with a slightly rougher and less polished (more authentic for a saison perhaps?) flavor.

Harpoon Refsvindinge Private Stock

2007-06-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Windsor Brewing Company (Harpoon)
Location: Windsor, VT
Name: Harpoon 100 Barrel Series; Refsvindinge Private Stock
Style: Danish Farmhouse Ale

A very nice limited edition farmhouse ale, warm amber color; rich, malty, and caramely flavor; warm and pleasant mouthfeel with a light finish, slightly alcoholic taste. pleasantly low bitterness, similar to northern french farmhouse/biere-de-garde beers but slightly lighter and with less agressive carmel.

intro...

2007-06-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

last year, while i was visting heather in philly every other weekend and spending a lot of time at eulogy trying a lot of new beers i started a beer journal. after a while i stopped keeping it up. this online version is an attempt to get it restarted. let's see how it goes. to kick things off, i'm going to pull some beer reviews from my main blog...

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA

2007-05-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Thornbridge Brewery
Location: Ashford in the Water, England
Name: Jaipur IPA
Style: IPA

hoppy aroma, mild flavor. sweet, delicate, flowery, hoppy body.

Scires

2007-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Birrifico Italiano
Location: Montegioco, Italy
Name: Scires
Style: Sour Cherry Ale

deep red color, 40 lbs/cherries per 2 kegs. mild sourness, very easy to drink.

Trappist Achel Extra

2007-05-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brouwerij de Achelse Kluis
Location: Achel, Belguim
Name: Achel Extra
Style: Belgian Brown Ale

deep flavor, malty w/fruity notes. coffee, fig, raisins. dry.

Russian River Supplication

2007-05-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Russian River
Location: Santa Rosa, California
Name: Supplication
Style: Belgian Sour Brown Ale

alcohol and fruit aroma. soured with bretanomyces and lactobaccilus and more, aged in pinot barrels. very sour and fruity, sour cherries, very pleasant.

DeuS

2007-05-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brouwerij Bosteels
Location: Buggenhout, Belgium
Name: DeuS
Style: Belgian Strong Golden Ale

very little aroma, but what's there is slightly spicy/herby. meaty apple-y, super ultra dry. cherry and ginger aftertaste. made in the methode champenoise.

Brooklyn Local 1

2007-05-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Name: Local 1
Style: Belgian Strong Golden Ale

light sparkly fruit aroma, brewed with pilsner malt and sugar from mauritius. light and slightly spicy but watch out it's a belgian strong golden ale and packs at punch at 9% abv

Thirez Blonde

2007-05-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brasserie Thirez
Location: Esquelbecq, France
Name: Thirez Blonde

herbal, fruity, dry, apples

Saison D'Epautre

2007-05-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brasserie de Blaugies
Location: Blaugies, Belgium
Name: Saison D'Epautre
Style: Saison

slightly sour with fruity aroma, earty, malty, dry

Weihestaphen 1809

2007-05-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Weihestaphen
Name: 1809
Location: Weihestaphen, Germany
Style: Berliner Weiss

yikes! sour and sharp, lemony. based on a recipe from 1809 this is much less sour than contemporary berliner weiss and this beer is not flavored with any syrup, as most others are. tart and refreshing.

Schneider Wiesen Edel-Weiss

2007-05-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Schneider
Location: Munich, Germany
Name: Wiesen Edel-Weiss
Style: Hefeweiss

light and fruity aroma; low phenols, hoppy for a weissbier (uses american cascade hops). lighter, sharper, and crisper tasting that most weissbiers.

Mahr's Ungespudetsbier

2007-05-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Mahr's
Name: Ungespudetsbier
Location: Bamburg, Germany

strong honey aroma; honey flavor but more subdued than expected, slightly yeasty and floury. low carbonation: ungespundetsbier literally means "un-bunged" as the casks are opened after refermentation and much of the carbonation is lost.

New Glarus Copper Tank Weissbier

2007-05-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

Brewery: New Glarus Brewing Company
Location: New Glarus, Wisconsin
Name: Copper Tank Weissbier

warm copper color, warm & round mouthfeel. strong caramelized bananna with hints of chocolate and vanilla...

St. Bernardus Prior 8

2006-06-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Brouwerij St. Bernardus
Location: Belgium
Name: Prior 8
Style: Belgian Dubbel

complex, slightly sweet, slightly hoppy, spicy, malty, nice drinking beer

Hair of the Dog Golden Rose

2006-06-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Brewery: Hair of the Dog
Location: Portland, Oregon
Name: Golden Rose
Style: Belgian Tripel

dry and bitter; starts with a kick; overall - rough and unappealing

St. Bernardus Trippel

2006-04-01T20:57:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Browerij St. Bernardus
Location: Belgium
Name: Trippel
Style: Belgian Trippel

light; slightly spicy; refreshing; easy drinker

Rochefort 10

2006-04-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Trappistes Rochefort
Location: Abbeye Notre-Dame de Ste-Remy, Rochefort, Belgium
Name: Rochefort 10
Style: Belgian Trippel

dark brown body, fruity (raspberry) nose; strong body without being overwhelming; bitter and malty notes; after the head subsides there's a marked caramel aroma and flavor. just right!

Abbeye des Rocs Grand Cru

2006-04-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Brasserie de l'Abbeye des Rocs
Location: Montignies, Belgium
Name: Grand Cru
Style: Belgian Brown Ale

Spicy citrusy aroma, caramel citrus undertones, spicy (clove, cinamon) notes, not sweet, little hops

Troegs Nugget Nectar

2006-03-31T20:49:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Troegs
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Name: Nugget Nectar (2006)
Style: American IPA

VERY fresh hop aroma, like putting your nose in a bag of fresh hops! tasty, hoppy, balanced bitterness and malt.

Troegs Nut Brown

2006-03-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Troegs
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Name: Nut Brown Ale
Style: Brown Ale

slightly sweet, smoot, nutty and spicy (numeg?). low bitterness & little hop flavor. tasty winter (cold weather) session beer.

Brains Bread of Heaven

2006-02-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Brains
Location: Cardiff, Wales
Name: Bread of Heaven
Style: Bitter

great bitter on beer engine (ok, i'd had a few by this point and was running out of adjectives).

Abbot Ale

2006-02-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Greene King
Location: Bury St. Edmonds, England
Name: Abbot Ale
Style: Extra Special Bitter

on beer engine - light, smooth, and phenolic. easy drinking, slightly sharper taste than US canned (pub-draft) variety.

Charles Wells Bombardier

2006-02-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Charles Wells
Location: Bedford, England
Name: Bombardier
Style: Bitter (Real Ale)

on beer engine, smooth, slightly bitter, low carbonation

Nethergate Monk's Habit

2006-02-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Nethergate Brewery
Location: Pentlow, Suffolk, England
Name: Monk's Habit
Style: Bitter

Soft and malty ale with low carbonation, not too hoppy, good session beer

Rochefort 8

2006-02-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Trappistes Rochefort
Location: Abbeye Notre-Dame de Ste-Remy, Rochefort, Belgium
Name: Rochefort 8
Style: Belgian Dubbel

Dark and full bodied with medium sweetness and clove and raisin notes. Sweeter than the 10.

Hacker Pschorr Munich Lager

2006-02-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Hacker-Pschorr
Location: Munich, Germany
Name: Munich Lager
Style: Munich Lager

soft malty body, low hops, more flavor than pilsner, slightly yeasty

La Rulles Tripel

2006-02-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Brasserie La Rulles
Location: Belgium
Name: Tripel
Style: Belgian Tripel

Nose of confectionary sugar, lacy sweet with bitter finish, dry

Leffe Brune

2006-02-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Abbye de Leffe
Location: Leuven, Belgium
Name: Leffe Brune
Style: Belgian Brown Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Dark brown belgian dubbel (?), slightly sweet, slightly acidic, fruity (raisin, cherry, raspberry), easy drinker.

Fullers ESB

2006-02-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Fullers
Location: London, England
Name: ESB
Style: Extra Special Bitter

caramel nose and flavor; slightly hoppy; soft rounded feel

Heavy Seas Uber Pils

2006-02-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Clipper City
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Name: Heavy Seas Uber Pils
Style: Pilsner

served on beer engine; yeasty nose, soft malty body, a great american take on a pilsner.

Unibroue Maudite

2006-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Unibroue
Location: Chambly, Quebec, Canada
Name: Maudite
Style: Strong Red Ale

complex and spicy, dark amber color; dry but with notes of cinamon, raisin, brown sugar, and clove; slightly hoppy

Kasteelbier du Chateau Triple

2006-02-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Location: Ingelmunster, Belgium
Name: Kasteelbier du Chateau Triple
Style: Belgian Tripel

light tripel with slightly medicinal taste; sweet with bitter aftertaste

Saison Dupont

2006-02-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
Location: Tourpes, Belgium
Name: Saison Dupont
Style: Saison

Sweet and Spicy [when i originally wrote this in 2006 i wrote it was too sweet for my taste, but now Saison Dupont is one of my favorite everyday beers]. hints of cinamon and clove.

2007 update: in spite of growing popularity and availability this beer remains one of the exemplars of the belgian saison style farmhouse/brasserie ale.

Magic Hat #9

2006-02-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Magic Hat
Location: South Berlington, Vermont
Name: #9
Style: Flavored IPA

light & tasty, nice malt flavors tinged with apricot.

Winterhook

2006-02-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Red Hook Ale Brewery
Location: Woodinville, WA
Name: Winterhook
Style: Winter Ale

dark hoppy "winter" ale

Rogue Chipotle Ale

2006-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

Brewery: Rogue
Location: Newport, OR
Name: Chipotle Ale
Style: Flavored Ale

hoppy/caramel w/spicy finish; good but not great