A Whale A Week: Goose Island Backyard Rye

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

Goose Island Backyard Rye 2013

This week we try another special Goose Island beer from the Bourbon County line-up.  I've been drinking BCS since before it was cool (I was in Chicago prior to 2000 and had it at the brewpub) and have been excited to see all the new things the company is doing with the base beer.  Again--perhaps Goose Island is now owned by the evil overlords of beer, but they're still putting out some amazing beers.  This particular version is a Russian Imperial stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with mulberries, marionberries, and boysenberries.  I had to bone up on my fruit knowledge in order to do this write-up. Mulberries look a lot like raspberries, but grow on trees, and come in a variety of colors including white.  Boysenberries apparently are a cross between raspberry, blackberry, American dewberry, and the loganberry (I'm imagining a bramble bush key-party is to blame for this).  This cultivar was first documented in the 1920's and later grew to fame for its soft, tart-sweet maroon colored fruits. The last berry in question is the marionberry: turns out this is a fancy name for a cultivar of the indigenous blackberry from Oregon.  Now that we've refreshed our knowledge of bramble fruits it is time to taste!

This week's tasting panel was made up of: Me (Eric Wentling)--Homebrewer for over 20 years, BJCP National ranked judge, and grower of an out-ofcontrol raspberry bramble patch.  Beau Hammel--Homebrewer of tasty stouts.  Katy Hammel--Excellent wife who was willing to come out late on a work night!  Sarajo Wentling--My other half.  We served this beer into snifter glasses after warming up a bit.  The ladies didn't want to write stuff up--just taste the beers.  Because they are lazy!

Aroma:

Eric: Initially I get an almost artificial sweet-tart candy aroma.  As this blows off I get more real berry mixed with tartness--I pick up raspberry, blueberry mostly.  Some alcohol zip to the beer.  Vanilla and some tannic bite from the barrel (or seeds).  Dark cherry as it warms up.  Not as much roast malt as expected. Hint of chocolate. No hops. 

Beau: Moderate bourbon barrel.  Vanilla, coconut, fruit--generic berries.  Almost get strawberry whipped cream.  Sweet malt.  Cherry candy. 

Appearance:

Eric: Deep brown to an almost black color.  Very fine dark tan head--but it fades almost instantly to the edge of the glass. Opaque.

Beau: Very dark brown.  Opaque.  Very small dark tan head.  Poor head retention.

Flavor:

Eric: Burst of mixed berries and tartness up front.  Black raspberry sweetness.  Tart cherry.  Dark chocolate roast malt.  Sweet but the tart fruit balances the sweetness with some acid.  Warming but not hot.  There is so much going on here!  I keep picking up new flavors--raspberry, blackberry, strawberry.  Some vanilla from barrel and some tannin.  Almost no carbonation present.  Mouthfeel is medium to almost thick.  Finish is semi-sweet with a lingering fruit and tannic bitterness. No hops noted.

Beau: Very well balanced.  Alcohol.  Sweet but not cloying.  Strawberry, cherry candy, deep raspberry flavor.  Booze soaked dried fruit.  Alcohol balances perfectly.

Overall:

Eric: So balanced!  Sweet and slightly tart without being sour or funky.  The berry flavors come through amazingly well.  So good.  5

Beau: This beer is incredible.  Great balance between booze, roast, fruit, and sweet.  5

Katy: Good enough that I won't share my pour with Beau.  4.5

Sarajo: Its berry-riffic!  4.5

Overall Score: 4.75


Photo info:  I took a shot of the label, then superimposed it with a shot of the ripening raspberries in my own backyard bramble from last fall.  

A Whale A Week: Alesmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

Alesmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout 2013

This is my second review of an Alesmith beer for A Whale A Week.  The first was last year for the Vietnamese coffee version of Speedway Stout and you can check it out HERE if you like!  This past summer my wife and I were able to get out to the brewery itself during the American Homebrewer's Conference in San Diego.  The space was in a suburban office park and was actually pretty nondescript overall.  We were both a little disappointed that they had no special release options on tap at all--just the stuff we can get in the bottle in Minnesota now.  Still a fun stop, but not the angelic choir experience I was hoping for.

The barrel aged version of the Speedway Stout is a strong 12% ABV Russian Imperial made with coffee and aged for up to one year in premium bourbon barrels.  The most recent special bottle release sold the bottles for $27 each at the brewery and this one is very tough to find!  There isn't much information on type of coffee or barrels used available.  The version we tried was from a big beer trade I did a few years back and is from 2013.  The beer has a score of 99 on Beer Advocate and 100 on RateBeer.

This week's tasting panel was made up of: Me (Eric Wentling)--Homebrewer for over 20 years, BJCP National ranked judge, home coffee roaster.  Beau Hammel--Homebrewer of tasty stouts.  Katy Hammel--Excellent wife who was willing to come out late on a work night!  Sarajo Wentling--My other half.  We served this beer into snifter glasses after warming up a bit.  The ladies didn't want to write stuff up--just taste the beers.

Aroma:
Eric: Sweet malt.  Toasted coconut.  Light roast coffee.  Vanilla notes (barrel?) Roasted dark malt leading to impression of very dark chocolate.  Aromas are all smooth and meld well together without being out of balance. Some alcohol zip.  No hops.
Beau: Prominent bourbon, vanilla, roasted malt.  Strong burnt coffee.  Brown sugar.  Dried cherries.  Oak really comes out as the beer warms.  Booze is somewhat solvent-like.

Appearance:
Eric: Dark brown in color to nearly black.  Fairly large dark tan head with fine texture that really sticks around.  More than I usually see in such a big ABV beer.
Beau: Caramel colored head (low to medium) with poor retention.  Opaque, very dark.

Flavor:
Eric: Powerful bitter dark chocolate with hints of vanilla right off the bat.  Seems very sweet at first, but ends dry, accentuating the bitter chocolate character.  Strong alcohol warming borders on too hot.  Body medium and somewhat creamy but that dry end makes it feel a little lighter--not as thick as expected.  Mild dark roast coffee notes, but subtle.  Some black cherry as it warms.
Beau: Medium mouthfeel, somewhat hot with a drying finish.  Strong bourbon flavor.  Alcohol comes out.  Tannins.  Roasted malt and chocolate are hiding behind the booze.  Very little hop bitterness.

Overall:
Eric: Pleasant.  The dark chocolate is a winner (especially considering there isn't any chocolate in this beer.)  The coffee is pretty subtle, perhaps faded since 2013, but at least doesn't have that vegetal note that old coffee beers often have.  More complex as it warms up.  I still like the Vietnamese better.  4.25
Beau: Really nice booze/bourbon flavors and complimentary coffee/chocolate/fruit.  Could use a little bit more body.  Dry/tannin finish brings up booze and dominates the other flavors.  4.25
Katy: Mmm, I like it!  4.25
Sarajo: Ohhhh, this is good...  4.25

Overall Score: 4.25
Well this was the most standard score I think we've ever had in this series!  A solid beer.



Photo details: Taking a picture of this shiny bottle with tons of gold reflections was mind-bogglingly hard.  Eventually I got a mediocre shot of it.  Not having the ability or time to go out and shoot some Formula One racing, I got creative instead.  I took a small chalkboard of Sj's and made some white lines, adding the car from our set of Monopoly on this impromptu speedway.

A Whale A Week: Three Floyds Dark Lord 2012

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!

Three Floyds Brewing Dark Lord 2012 Vintage

This week we point our attention to a famous brewery from Indiana, Three Floyds!  Located in the small border town of Munster, the brewery started up way back in 1996.  They have grown and become quite famous for their "Its Not Normal" style beers.  I've had the pleasure of getting to the brewpub where it all started a few times now.  The tour was nothing special, but the beers and the food were fantastic!  Each time I went, there was a big line outside 45 minutes to an hour before they opened, so plan accordingly.  The brewery vibe is very Heavy Metal and irreverent, surely influencing other breweries such as Surly here in Minnesota.  In fact Surly and Three Floyds have done a couple of collaboration beers such as Urine Trouble, Baller Stout, and Blakkr.

Dark Lord is the brewery's most famous beer.  This is a big 15% ABV Russian Imperial stout brewed with coffee (Intelligentsia) and Mexican vanilla.  Available in bottle since 2004, the beer is released only one day of the year--Dark Lord Day--at the brewery.  This day has become an epic event with people camping out and traveling across the country to take part in the festivities and get a few bottles of this rare beer.  My friends Rob and Ron of Limited Release actually recorded the 2012 festivities for their show and I've linked it to the bottom of this post if you want to see what this is all about!  Oh and Rob brought me the bottle we are tasting for this Whale A Week from that excursion.  Thanks Rob!  Dark Lord is rated 95 on Beer Advocate and 100 on RateBeer and is much hoarded and traded.  I first tried a bottle of this shared by Chris German of BSG at a Jack Of All Brews event held in his home brewery--perhaps around 2009?  For me that was one of the best beers I had ever had up to that point and it became my unattainable White Whale--until I got to try it again in 2012!

For this tasting we gathered up the largest group I've ever used in one of these tastings--our entire group of Jack Of All Brews officer's--during our 2016 planning meeting.  Things got a little chaotic!
Eric Wenting: Me! BJCP National ranked judge, homebrewer for over 25 years, stout fiend.  Sarajo Wentling: My tolerant wife.  Tyrone Babione: BJCP judge, writer for BSG.  Annette Babione: BJCP judge, knitter extraordinaire.  Joe Lushine: Homebrewer, guy who hates judging beers.  Shawn Wischmeier: Judge, homebrewer, beer hoarder.  Steven Mathistad: Homebrewer, craft beer lover.  While reading the bottle we saw Cyrillic writing on the bottle and Tyrone managed to translate it visually with a cool app on his phone--we were all blown away by this seemingly magical effect!

We cut off the thick red wax on the bottle with The Hopsecutioner (my battle axe shaped heavy steel opener made by my blacksmith friend Martin Pansch).  The bottle opened with only a small fizzing sound.  The beer was poured into a group of waiting snifter glasses for our expectant crowd.

Aroma: In which our party get ready for an complex and sweet beer.

Eric: Dark, dark chocolate.  Deep dark candied cherry is strong.  Vanilla notes.  Hint of roast.  Very sweet smelling and sugary.  Slight oxidation (papery) as warms up.  Raisins.  No hops.
Annette: Dark Chocolate, cherry, toasty coffee, wood (oak) drifts lazily.  Smells like the syrup you wish you could have on a pile of pancakes.  Hint of soy sauce.
Joe: Malt forward.  Small hint of hops. Soy sauce.
Steven: Slight smokiness.  Raisin.  Wet cardboard.  No hop aroma.
Shawn: Chocolate, raisin, molasses.  Deep malty aroma.  Sherry or port-like aroma--like an aged English barleywine (Thomas Hardy's).
Tyrone: Black strap molasses entices one's nostrils deeper into a dark pit--a siren song beckoning those who have only known the light to disappear into darkness.  Sweet songs of perfumed pit fruits, plums and dark cherries, mask the forbidden.  A slight oxidative note warns of old warlock magic ahead...

Appearance: In which our explorers bemoan the lack of head...

Eric: Deep brown to nearly black in color.  Hint of ruby highlights at edge of glass so it isn't completely opaque.  Very fine light tan head fades quickly to a ghost.
Annette: Black in color.  Opaque.  No head.  Rings around edge with little lacing.
Joe: Opaque.  Hint of red.
Steven: No head.  Very dark brown.
Shawn: Dark, opaque.
Tyrone: Dark brown center--absolute clarity with bright orange halo framing the edges.  No head or noticeable carbonation.

Flavor: In which fruit and fortified wine notes cavort across our palates, and Tyrone gets even weirder...

Eric: Holy chocolate covered cherry!  Bourbon-like vanilla notes.  Very very sweet.  Not much roast to this.  Hint of hop flavors.  Alcohol is present but not hot.  Smooth finish but borders on cloying for me.  Dark cocoa.  Not picking up coffee.  Raisin and dried cranberry as it warms up leading to a tartness and a sherry-like oxidation.  Almost no carbonation accentuates the syrupy thick mouthfeel.
Annette: Chocolate cherry that feels heavy but drinks light.  The choco/cherry syrup coats delightfully.  A light bittering compliments the malt and sweet notes.
Joe: Very sweet.  Low bitterness.  Caramel flavor.  Thick!  Maybe a hint of oxidation.
Steven: Plum.  Very sweet.  Doesn't taste like 15%!
Shawn: Same raisin, molasses, dark malt as aroma.  Sherry-like flavors.  Grain bill a bit too much, even for a RIS.  Bordering too malty, giving a strong, overly malty finish.  Flat profile.
Tyrone: Chewy Fig Newton drops a juicy load in the puckering back pockets of my mouth.  A sweet almost golden raisin-like sweetness comes close to making the intrepid hero torn away--until it washes away in a smooth finish, calling him back to his heroine siren.

Overall: In which we all need some water...

Eric: Smoother than I remember it, but it has been a few years!  Still very sweet. The chocolate covered cherry flavor is unreal and more spectacular than most actual cherry beers I've had.  Almost tastes barrel aged due to the oxidation and vanilla.  I gave this a 4.5, but ended up dropping to 4.25 because the finish was so sweet.
Annette: Delicious!  While this could have gone the way of cough syrup, it instead was a beverage best served over ice cream.  The coffee, chocolate, and cherry notes blend nicely with the hop bittering--mixing perfectly.  4.2
Joe: Good beer.  A little out of balance toward the malt for my taste.  Is a little cloyingly sweet to start but finishes surprisingly dry.  3.5
Steven: Smooth, medium body.  Very enjoyable.  4.25
Shawn: Exceptional balance in ingredients.  Aging improved the beer a lot and gave way to sherry-like character.  Beer has a bit too much specialty malt character, however, to be excellent.  Alcohol warmth is very appropriate.  The aroma was my favorite part of the beer.  4.25
Tyrone: The Dark Lord rises from the syrup molasses swamp.  He trudges through a thicket of crushed and fermented figs, dates and prunes rain from broken branches and trunks; his skin stained with the crushed souls of raisins.  4.75
Sarajo: It fell a little flat for me.  3.5

Overall Score: 4.1

Below is the Limited Release episode for Dark Lord Day 2012!

Photo info: This week I took a close up of the bottle label and superimposed it with Photoshop Elements over a macro shot of a Warhammer chaos warrior miniature I painted back in my teens.  I thought it was "metal" enough!
Also I created a new Whale A Week intro photo using one of my only watercolor paintings (the other one was stupidly given to a girl) from about 1993.

A Whale A Week: Dry Dock Bligh's Barleywine 2013

The lapping of waves against the scarred hull of the ship and the shifting shadows of the sunlight through the sails lulls most into sense of relaxed bliss.  Creaking joists and the incessant rubbing from the rigging ropes keep time with the roll of the deck beneath our hoary bare feet.  Hard and sometimes splintered wood echos quietly underfoot as we sidle across the deck in that classic sailor's waddle.  Ahead is the darkened shade of the hatch to below decks and our prize.  We quietly lower ourselves into the waiting dark, smells of oak, saltwater, dried fish, assail the nose, still better than the unwashed stink of our traveling companions.  There we go.  Aye, our goal is there ahead of us.  Quiet now, for the Captain can not know what we are about...skulking about below in storage when we should be mending sail or swabbing the deck.  There it is, the large keg there on the bottom of the pile.  Inside rests liquid gold, or perhaps more liquid courage--something we will need for the detestable things we must do.  As we fill our wooden cup with this strong and boozy brew we toast silently an end to gathering breadfruit and to that terrible tyrant. We finish, instilled with new vigour, knives pulled and muskets primed.  It is time...


This week we travel (by boat!) to Aurora, Colorado for a rare treat from Dry Dock Brewing Company.  Dry Dock was founded opened in 2005 and has expanded a few times since their humble start as an offshoot of a homebrew shop.

Bligh's Barleywine was the brewery's first barrel aged beer and is a beefed up version of their HMS Bounty Old Ale.  The barleywine is named after the infamous Captain Bligh of the aforementioned HMS Bounty. The first batch came out in 2008 and is released yearly now.  The original recipe was created by co-owner Kevin DeLange and then assistant brewer Jim Denier and the bottles still bear a facsimile of their signatures.  For those who read my blog frequently, or live in the Western Suburbs of Minneapolis, you may recognize the name DeLange:  Kevin's two brothers Peter and Bob recently opened up Waconia Brewing here in the city of the same name!  Small world it seems...  Back to the beer!  The English style barleywine is aged in whiskey barrels for 7 months and released to much applause.  The beer has a 95 score on Beer Advocate and a 99 on Rate Beer.

Bob DeLange brought a bottle of this over to share at a Jack Of All Brews meeting last year and it was quite the hit.  I've been looking forward to doing a write-up on it in a more controlled manner.  We had a Whale A Week alum, Dave Manley over for this one, as well as my usual partner in crime and wife, Sarajo.

Dry Dock Bligh's Barleywine 2013

Aroma: In which Dave makes his O-face...

Eric: Strong toffee, caramelized sugars.  Mild English hopping gives an earthy and light citrus note.  Peanut brittle as warms.  Very sweet and malty smelling.  A bit of paper and tannin as it warms up more.  Not a ton of booze.
Dave: Damn!  Caramel, malt, slight oxidation--the kind that is just right for barleywine.  Love it!  I could just sit and smell this beer, but...I won't...  Not much barrel or bourbon.

Appearance: In which turbid chunks of yeast dance and play...

Eric: Burnished copper to deep amber color.  Despite a careful pour has a lot of yeast floaties in it.  Very wispy off-white head fades quickly to the edge of glass.
Dave: Poured cloudy--like liquid caramel.  Mild carbonation.  Floaties, but I don't mind.

Flavor: No mutiny in our comments here...

Eric: Ohhhhh.  Sweet.  Boozy.  Smooth.  In that order.  Balance is certainly to the sweet side but the hopping balances this enough that the beer isn't cloying.  I get tons of caramel and English toffee.  Mild oak tannin and some sherry notes from either oxidation or barrel.  Marshmallow and vanilla subtle as it warms up.  Slight alcohol warming but not hot at all.  A bit yeasty.  Not a ton of whiskey present.  Mouthfeel medium and mouth coating.  Finish is semi-sweet.
Dave: Malt, slight oxidation.  Creamy/slick mouthfeel--perhaps from the floaties.  Some barrel complexity.  Slightly alcoholic.  Definitely malty sweet.  Slight hops.

Overall: In which Sarajo gives an accurate description of both the beer and her husband...

Eric: A wonderful English barleywine.  I love this style and the whiskey just adds complexity, though fairly subtle compared to some versions--then again this is from 2013 and may have mellowed from fresher.  I'd compare this favorably to Steel Toe Lunker and Pelican Mother of All Storms.  I want to try this one fresh and see what the hopping and booze is like!  4.5
Dave: Enjoyed this quite a bit. 4
Sarajo: Kind of chunky, but sweet and yummy.  4

Overall Score: 4.17

A Whale A Week: Sam Adams Utopias 2013

I had meant to have this one over New Years for a special tasting, but my scheduling failed a bit.  So here we go for a bit later in the month!

Samuel Adams Brewing was truly one of the original craft breweries.  The first bottles of the now ubiquitous Boston Lager were sold in 1985 and (like their namesake) were quite revolutionary for the time.  Over the years the brewery has grown exponentially and depending on who you ask is no longer called a craft brewery.  I started drinking beer with Sam Adams cherry wheat as my gateway to craft beer (I can't stomach it now).  What I will say about the brewery is that they continue to put out a ton of new beers in different styles.  I don't love them all, but they still take risks and try new things.  Founder Jim Koch is still very involved in the homebrew community as well.  The brewery put out one of the first "extreme" beers back in the early 1990's with the 19% ABV Triple Bock--shocking the fledgling craft beer world at the time.

Which brings us to our featured beer: Utopias.  This beer held the record for strongest beer for many years clocking in at around 28% ABV.  Utopias began when the brewery started to blend together and attempt barrel aging of the previously mentioned Triple Bock and the Millenium.  Currently the beer is a blend of beer and maple syrup aged in a mix of bourbon, port, Scotch, and cognac barrels.  Some of the barrels used are up to 19 years old according the web site!  Utopias comes out in very limited batches every 2 years and is one of the most expensive beers out there--usually going for over $200 a bottle.  The resulting precious concoction is very strong and uncarbonated, served from a beautiful ceramic vessel shaped like a copper brewing kettle.

It took me years to get a taste of this elusive beer.  The first time was in 2012, when a sweet little elf left a bottle under the Christmas tree for me.  This was a special off-year bottling that marked the 10 year anniversary of the beer.  I'll be writing that one up later this year!  I then got to partake of a bottle of Moonlight Meadery's Utopian--a strong honey wine aged in used Utopias barrels--that was also stellar.  I was once again shocked to find a new vintage waiting for me under the tree in 2013.  I have a wonderful wife by the way...  This vintage was the first to include some of the sour beer mother (Kosmic Mother Funk) that Samuel Adams has been using in their large bottle Belgian and sour program.  We had the good fortune to run into a group of the brewery's barrel room staff at a small pub in Belgium a few years ago and they told us a bunch about this process while sipping amazing Belgian lambic beers.  Since then they have actually released a special KMF Grand Cru of just that beer--I still need to try it!

As usual for this Whale A Week tasting I invited over some knowledgeable friends to help out.  Our cast of characters was:
Me (Eric Wentling)--BJCP National ranked beer judge, homebrewer for over 20 years.
Kevin Meintsma--Also a beer judge, award winning homebrewer (in fact he got to brew a beer with Mike Hoops at Town Hall this past year!)
Dan Beaubien--Craft beer geek, fellow beer blogger for Beerploma.
Sarajo Wentling--My wife who gets to try all the beers, especially when she buys them for me...

Samuel Adams Utopias 2013

Aroma:
Eric: Port wine, cream sherry, cherry.  Alcohol is strong--like a fortified wine.  Fresh plums.  Sweet and malty.  Vanilla and toasted oak.  Candied orange rind.  Bourbon.
Kevin: SHERRY!  Moderately high vanilla.  Faint oak.  Light aroma of dark ripe cherry.  Vanishing clove.  Moderately boozy.
Dan: Barrel.  Dark fruit.  Vanilla.  Whiskey.  Maple syrup.  Molasses--burnt sugar.

Appearance:
Eric: Deep amber to almost ruby red color.  No head at all and no carbonation.  Thick legs cascade down across the glass edge.  Very clear.
Kevin: No head.  Completely flat.  Very clear.  Dark amber.
Dan: Dark brandyish in color.

Flavor:
Eric: Complex as any beer I've tried.  Initial hit of sweet sugar and dessert wine fades to a tart but sweet marmalade flavor.  Sherry is strong.  Alcohol warming in chest and nasal passages.  Malt sugars, grape, aged cognac.  A bit of sharpness.  Finish is off-sweet and hot.  Raisins as it warms.  No hop flavors. Thick on tongue, alcohol cuts the mouthfeel though at the end.
Kevin: Very hot alcohol.  Burns the front palate--similar to a whiskey in character but highly oxidized with sherry notes.  Very strong wine character.  No hops.  Light tartness--slightly sour.  Moderate oak, raisins and figs in the lingering finish.  Mouthfeel is slick and coating.  Huge alcohol.  Despite thickness, mouthfeel is thin--possibly due to barrel aging.  Alcohol leaves the palate tingling.
Dan: Warming.  Port wine.  Dates, plums, dark cherry.  Sherry-like.

Overall:
Eric: Fairly complex.  Somewhere between an expensive dessert wine and a bourbon or cognac.  A very cool experience for one as jaded as myself!  Having had the 2012 version I like that one more though. The sour Kosmik Mother Funk is notable in this vintage. 4.75
Kevin: This is not a beer.  It's a sherry.  Fairly complex, dried fruit.  Hot boozy flavor and aroma.  Vanilla and wood.  Very drinkable in small amounts. 3.75
Dan: A lot smoother than one would think given the heat in the aroma. 4.75
Sarajo: Makes my chest feel warm.  4.5

Overall Score: 4.44 (Because Kevin is a hater...)

I'm looking forward to writing up the 2012 version, and would love to try the newest 2015 batch as well...

A Whale A Week: Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise

This week we take a break from Russian Imperial stouts with one of world's finest fruit lambics.  The Belgian brewery Cantillon needs no introduction--they're one of the few remaining breweries to use spontaneous fermentation to create wonderfully complex sour beers.  Cantillon is hands-down my favorite brewery that I've visited in all my travels.

Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise 2011

This beer is made like the other fruit lambics at Cantillon--hot wort is pumped up into the rafters of the brewery into a large shallow copper coolship to cool overnight.  Louvres in the rooftop are opened and wild yeast/bacteria/etc. is allowed to settle into the cooling wort.  The following day the cooled liquid is put into previously used barrels and allowed to age and ferment spontaneously over a year or more.  The Rose de Gambrinus is the regular raspberry version of the beer, (and still incredible) but the Lou Pepe version has half again as many raspberries added to increase the fruit flavor.  This beer scores a 100 on Rate Beer and 98 on Beer Advocate.  I have also done Whale tastings for the geueze and kriek versions last year...

As usual for this Whale A Week tasting I invited over some knowledgeable friends to help out.  Our cast of characters was:
Me (Eric Wentling)--BJCP National ranked beer judge, homebrewer for over 20 years, sour-head.
Kevin Meintsma--Also a beer judge, award winning homebrewer (in fact he got to brew a beer with Mike Hoops at Town Hall this past year!)
Dan Beaubien--Craft beer geek, fellow beer blogger for Beerploma.
Sarajo Wentling--My wife who gets to try all the beers because she lets me buy them...

Aroma:
Eric: Powerful fresh raspberry!  Tart and makes my mouth water just smelling this.  Light cherry notes.  Toasted oak.  Strawberry as it warms.  No hops.
Kevin: Tart, light acidic aroma. Raspberry--moderate to high.  Soft strawberry.  Light woody aroma.  Slight hint of yeast and musty aroma as it warms.
Dan: Crisp and clean fruity aroma.  Smells like tart fruit that tickles the nose.

Appearance:
Eric: Excellent clarity.  Bright raspberry red color.  Sparkling and effervescent like champagne.  Fairly large and persistent off-pink head--probably the biggest I've seen on a lambic.  Very fine bubbles.  Gorgeous looking beer.
Kevin: Beautiful strawberry color with cherry highlights.  Superb clarity.  Creamy white head.
Dan: Head with a pinkish hue dissipates rather quickly.  Very appealing red fruit cherry/strawberry deep red color.

Flavor:
Eric: Wow!  Tart up front with "I just loaded my mouth with a handful of fresh raspberries" flavor.  Fades to a dry and puckering finish but not astringent.  Not overly complex at first, but rounded and beautiful.  Bright and makes me think of late summer in the backyard.  Subtle funk and barnyard add complexity as it warms up.  Cherry pit.  Salivary glands working overtime.  Almost thin body accentuated by dryness.
Kevin: Moderately low acidity, tart.  Raspberry is mild by obvious. No hops, bitterness is from acid.  No malt.  Very clean, character is wine-like--similar to a Chenin Blanc.  Light raspberry and cherry notes in the finish.  Light body.  Effervescent with a carbonic bite.  Very dry.  Not astringent or tannic.
Dan: Delicate tartness.  Not as sweet as it smells.  Dryness is more at the end of the sip--really got me salivating.  Sour morphs into sweet, then to a tart vinous finish.  Very complex and delicious.  Mouthfeel is thin and not as effervescent as thought it would be--maybe that is the fruit?

Overall:
Eric: Raspberry is really dominant in this, covering some of the classic Cantillon funk flavors and aromas--but that is just fine!  I could keep drinking this all day if I could afford to get that much of it!  I do like the Lou Pepe Kriek more but this one is still stellar.  Increased complexity as it warms.  5
Kevin: Refreshing, delightful.  Wonderfully complex for such a light beer.  One of my favorite beers of all time.  Amazing for a 4 year old blended beer. Would pair well with a soft creamy cheese.  4.75 (to get to a 5 I would reduce acidity slightly.)
Dan: First time having it and it definitely lives up to its reputation.  4.5
Sarajo: Tastes like Brussels!  5

Overall Score: 4.81

A Whale A Week: Black Tuesday

I've posted a few beers from The Bruery here over the past year including Chocolate Rain and White Chocolate.  The Bruery is an amazing place in California, a short drive from the very dry Disneyland, with a wonderful taproom featuring a plethora of crazy sours, barrel aged beers, and more.  Feel free to check my previous posts for more background and my taproom review.

The Bruery's Black Tuesday 2011 Vintage

Black Tuesday is The Bruery's version of a Russian Imperial stout.  This is a very strong beer, in fact one of the strongest legitimate RIS beers I've had--clocking in at 18.3% ABV!  The beer gets some of its booze from being aged in bourbon barrels.  The beer is named after the famous stock market crash of 1929 and is released the last Tuesday of October each year since 2009.  I've had this wax dipped 750 MLbottle for a few years, stored in a dark and cool cellar to keep it as fresh as possible.  This beer has a 100 rating on RateBeer and a 99 on Beer Advocate.  It is much hoarded and traded among us beer geeks.  The first time I tried this beer it was after a 5 year vertical of Surly Darkness and this booze bomb was our finisher.

As usual for this first 2016 Whale A Week tasting I invited over some knowledgeable friends to help out.  Our cast of characters was:
Me (Eric Wentling)--BJCP National ranked beer judge, homebrewer for over 20 years, beer hoarder.
Kevin Meintsma--Also a beer judge, award winning homebrewer (in fact he got to brew a beer with Mike Hoops at Town Hall this past year!)
Dan Beaubien--Craft beer geek, fellow beer blogger for Beerploma.
Sarajo Wentling--My wife who gets to try all the beers because she lets me buy them...
We started with a trip over to Waconia Brewing for a few samples, then on to the serious job of Whaling!

Aroma: In which we are feeling the effects before we even sip it!

Eric: Demerara sugar. Bourbon and some strong HOT BOOZE!  Smells very sweet.  Mild cocoa--almost a chocolate covered cherry aroma mixed with some vanilla for good measure.  No hops.
Kevin: Boozy!  More booze!  Moderate vanilla.  Moderate oak.  Light clove.  Low sherry from oxidation.  Moderate sweetness.  Hot alcohol.
Dan: Lots of barrel.  Slight molasses.  Very boozy in the nose.  Sweet and hot.  Slight vanilla note.  Chocolate cake?

Appearance: 

Eric: Dark brown in color.  Not opaque.  Ruby color at edge of glass.  Fine but transient tan head.  Some moderate legs on glass.
Kevin: Brown-dark mahogany.  Very clear.  Small head dissipates quickly to a collar.
Dan: Not much head.  Looks like a cup of coffee.

Flavor: In which we drink concentrated sugar...

Eric: Tooth-hurting sweetness up front for me.  Vanilla is very prominent--I can't believe they don't add some.  Flavors of bourbon filled chocolate covered cherry.  Strong alcohol booziness. Some prune or raisin oxidation. Mouth coating but not really creamy--more syrup sweetness.  Marshmallow as it warms up. Burning alcohol finish.
Kevin: "Huuuuuge vanilla!" To quote Donald The Trump.  Rich malt, buttery.  Thick, creamy, very sweet.  Light oak.  Very low tannin.  Somewhat cloying--sweetness and the vanilla stays and stays--like a guest that won't leave.  Spicy hops behind the sweet thick vanilla.
Dan: First sip is very hot and almost cloyingly sweet.  Second sip--molasses and vanilla.  Syrupy chocolate feel--very thick and stays on the tongue to create a molasses aftertaste.

Overall:  In which between the four of us we can only drink half the bottle...

Eric: An impressive beer, but just too sweet.  Not as complex as I'd like--I don't get much of the roast, dark malt complexity from this as I usually do from RIS.  I can't drink much of this due to the booze and sweetness.  Having recently tried Gray Monday, I like that more since the hazelnut adds some character.  4.25
Kevin: Very complex.  Honestly the vanilla is a bit overpowering and unbalances the beer.  It's a bit buttery (diacetyl) but in a pleasant way.  Enjoyable, but I can't drink much of this. Would pair well with a custard, creme brulee, or chocolate torte. 4.5
Dan: Very sweet.  Seems out of balance.  If you like molasses--this is a dream.  I was hoping for more dark chocolate and coffee malt flavor.  3.5
Sarajo: Delicious, but it makes my teeth hurt.  4.25

Overall Score: 4.125

Stay tuned for next week: Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise!


Photo information: This was a composite of three shots--my wallet (with more money it than usual), flames from the gas fire in front of Surly Brewing, and the bottle of Black Tuesday.

A Whale A Week: Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate

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A Whale A Week: Drinking With Cthulhu!

The story begins last year with a visit from my oldest colleague, the famed international explorer and dilettante Bryan Keehl.  Having recently returned from Tunisia via a combination of tramp steamer, rail, and motor-car, he ended up back in the States.  From a small brewery in the heart of the mob-run, flapper-ridden, cesspool of depravity that is Chicago, my good old friend brought me a rare and precious gift.  Secreting it upon his person, he risked the Untouchables and other federal excise men, as well as rival gangs, to bring me a strange and extraordinary bottle.  The brewery (now unable to legally brew during these prohibition dry years) was the first I ever frequented, back in my younger, more adventuresome days.  These days the place is run by an evil and monolithic shadow corporation intent on taking over the entire world's production of beer from its not-so-secret home in Belgium.  For years the brewery has been infiltrated by cultists following the dark arts and subverting the very fabric of the beer world from within.  Oh, but the beer is still tasty--perhaps too tasty to let a little thing like that interfere with my enjoyment of their most select brews!

Goose Island Nuthulhu

The base black and oily liquor for this is a Russian Imperial Stout called Cthulhu after H.P. Lovecraft's ancient and forgotten evil alien god that sleeps fitfully in the ocean depths.

From The Necronomicon in the words of the mad prophet Abdul Alhazred:

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."

This particular noxious concoction is brewed by the shadowy Cthulhu cultists at the Chicago Goose Island Brewpub with hazelnuts, vanilla, and presumably shoggoth ichor extract.  Released in just a tiny batch (400 white wax dipped and unlabeled bottles) it is much sought after by collectors of beer antiquities such as myself.

For this special tasting I took a jaunt deep into the cellar.  With flickering torch in hand I wiped away the cobwebs of ages, half-seen skitterings at the corner of my vision, chitters of unspeakable things echoing in the distance.  Past the recently bricked up portion of the darkest depths of the passage (did I hear a subtle sob and scratching from behind?) I continued to make my way.  Past a rare wine cask, at last, upon a nitre encrusted stone slab, there rested my prize.  Brushing the dusty accumulations and excretions from the bottle, I could see the white crook-necked goose emblazoned upon the solid glass.  Stoppered with thick white wax to prevent decay, the bottle felt heavy in my now somewhat shaky hands.  Moving swiftly I left behind the empty reliquary and made my way back out of the dripping and lime encrusted cellar.

At a heavy scarred wooden table, surrounded by our cabal of adventurous drinkers, I set down the precious bottle.  Brother Rob, cloaked in his customary brown robes, brandished an aged but sharp dagger to cut the protective seal.  Sir Martin provided a hand-forged and weighty iron opener suitable for releasing the liquid from it's long slumber.  Heather, Jess and Sarajo, three fine ladies, bold for their fairer sex, pushed their chalices forward to partake of this potentially dangerous tasting.  Master Hutch loomed over us, keeping guard for any untoward effects released from this mystery.

Appearance: The ancient flagon is opened and eldritch horrors are released into the world of man!

Popped like the seal on a long-closed grave, the hiss of exhalations moan from the bottle--hinting at untold riches or dangers to be had.  Decanted into our waiting cluster of bejeweled goblets and chalices, the vile and viscous inebriant slowly drains from the bottle, black as the pits, with just hints of bloody highlights at the edge of the glass.  Only a slight foam of head rises, but then slowly sinks back down into the cimmerian murk, like a submerging crocodile into the benighted and roiling Nile.

Aroma: A cautious sniff of this liquid leads to outbursts and utterations.

Eric: Strong alcohol wafts from the clear glass goblet.  Earthy coffee from the Dark Continent melds with the aroma of raw cocoa nibs.  The scent of the filbert drifts upon the nose following the sooty melange.  From the darkest jungles of South America, the seed pod of the rare vanilla orchid blossoms as this warms from the heat of my trembling and sweaty hand.
Brother Rob: Smell the hazelnut and tremble my brothers!  Roast and chocolate are strong in this.
Heather: Vanilla bean, nutmeg, and madness!
Jess: More balanced than the other beers we've sampled my friends...

Flavor: The syrupy nectar of Cthulhu tempts us with its untold ancient secrets.

Eric: Refined sugary sweetness.  Hazelnut fairly drips off the tongue, leaving a slick mouthfeel, as if an enormous slug has left behind its trail upon it. Vanilla bean accentuates the sweet taste, lingering long after the sip has finished.  Some warming of the throat hints at strong alcohol hiding behind the sweetened flavors, lurking out of sight but ready to cause dementia and chaos in the incautious drinker.  The finish continues honeyed and toothsome but not quite cloying.
Brother Rob: Lotsa, lotsa vanilla!  A bit of aspartame, this leaves a spicy feeling.  Like a creme brulee from distant France.  Not sure if I get egg yolk, or if the vanilla association leads to these notes.
Heather: Creme brulee.  And Grainnnnnnnnnnsssssss!!
Jess: Smooth...but in the the way that Nutella is smooth.  Full mouth feel.

Overall: The (quite literally) final words on this singular brew.

Eric: The sweetness of this concoction is near overwhelming, but the wild and powerful hazelnut and vanilla flavors make this stand out in my mind as one of the more unique rare beers I've tasted this year.  Better than most of its brethren.  Suitable for warming one on an interstellar journey through long aeons and the cold remoteness of space. A 5 out of 5 I say!  As I sip my final dram, I feel the world shimmer, the fragile veil between our world and...others...gives an audible rip and a vision hits me--an island in the Pacific, rising from the sea, a great octopus headed creature crouched upon its shuddering shores, fish-like eyes seeing into my shattering soul.  Ai, Cthulhu ftagn!!
Brother Rob: (Silent, in demented reverie, he scrawls out a 4.75 in thick ruby ink that can only be his own blood.)
Heather: (Heather is gone, just a number 5 left incised into the wood of the table.)
Jess: (Gibbering madly from the corner where she rocks on her heels, repeating the numerals 4.5 over and over mixed with maniacal laughter and titters.)
Sarajo: (Brandishing Sir Martin's solid opener like a mace, clutching the last few drops of Nuthulu in her glass to her chest.  She eyes my still partially full goblet with an avaricious gleam in her crazed eyes.) "My precious dessert! A 5 for me oh yes! Mine, all mine!"
Sir Martin: (Lies silently upon the floor in a shadowy pool of blood.)
Master Hutch: (Laughs with deep ringing tones, the bloody dagger clutched in one gore-spattered hand.  The one who was to watch over us has betrayed us all...this is why he did not partake of the madness inducing brew!)

Overall Score: Madness!  And a 4.85

Seriously, this was a great beer.  Thanks to Bryan for bringing this back for me.  And thanks to my bold beer adventurers for helping out with the tasting!

Eastlake Tsothoggua!

As an added bonus and to continue the Lovecraftian action, we also tasted the recently released Tsothoggua (also a Cthulhu Mythos creature out of time and space).  I had picked up this bomber bottle at Eastlake Brewery in Minneapolis the previous week.  The beer is also a Russian Imperial and aged with oak and Spanish brandy.

The beer is dark and has a smoky overly roasted (nearly burnt coffee) aroma and flavor.  Hints of dark bitter chocolate are present.  A bit astringent and thin (especially compared with the almost unbearable sweetness of Nuthulhu) but still a solid beer.  Hints of brandy are present, but the oak perhaps takes this too woody and dry.  This is my favorite beer from the brewery.

Eric: 4
Rob: 4
Sj: 3.5
Heather: 3

Overall Score:  Not as much madness!  3.625

If for some strange reason you have come to this point in your life without reading any H.P. Lovecraft prose, you should be ashamed!  I suggest Shadows Over Innsmouth, The Call of Cthulhu, The Rats in the Walls, The Outsider, and The Whisperer in Darkness as some of his best stories.  A local playwright and actor named Tim Uren has done a one man show of The Rats in the Walls for Fringe Festival in the past that was perhaps the finest horror play I've ever seen in live theater.  He hopes to remount it one more time this coming year so keep your ear out for the scratching and skitterings from between the walls...

A Whale A Week: The Bruery White Chocolate

This week we continue a series of rare beers that we tasted a few weeks back in my bar.  We actually started with this beer, then moved to the big bold beers.

The Bruery White Chocolate 2014

Sarajo and I were lucky enough to visit The Bruery in Placentia (not Placenta) California in Fall of 2014.  We were at Disneyland to celebrate our anniversary and made sure to take an afternoon off from animated characters and thrill rides for one of my favorite breweries in the world.  Check HERE for the blog entry on that visit.  While there we sprung the $30 each for a couple bottles of the just released and limited White Chocolate.  This is a wheat wine aged in oak barrels with vanilla beans and TCHO chocolate.  I've had high hopes about this one, especially since the bottle we tried for 2013 ended up being sour and dumped down the drain.  RateBeer gives this beer a 98 and Beer Advocate a 92.

We served this into snifters and let it warm up a bit before tasting.  The beer is 14.3 % and from 2014.  For this session we had me (BJCP judge, homebrewer, stout lover), Jim Stroner (Tin Whiskers Beer-Vangelist, craft beer geek), Dave Manley (homebrewer, learned beer geek), and Sarajo (my wife and fan of non-hoppy beers.)

Aroma: In which we get hopeful of things to come...
Eric: Fairly subtle.  Vanilla grows as it warms up.  Boozy.  Chocolate is very mild.  Hint of tartness.  Some oak tannins.  No hop aroma.
Jim: Chocolate and bourbon.
Dave: Initial wheat tart, then untoasted oak.  White chocolate.  Alcohol.

Appearance: In which we all apparently see a different beer...
Eric: Deep gold in color.  Slight haze to it.  Fine white head persists at edge of glass, but most fades quick.
Jim: Amber.  Cloudy.
Dave: Copper orange.  Slight haze.  Minimal head.

Flavor: In which Eric makes "bitter beer face!"
Eric: Tartness up front.  Wheat malt very pronounced.  Vanilla is strong and comes out once the tartness has faded from the tongue.  Boozy hot alcohol.  Chocolate is difficult to pick out.  Body fairly thin.  No hops.
Jim: White chocolate, vanilla and an unexpected souring.
Dave: Tart.  Wheat.  Boozy. Orange.

Overall: In which we all mix tears into our glasses and ceremoniously pour down the drain...
Eric: Souring.  The sourness clashes and destroys the delicate sweeter vanilla and chocolate flavors.  The sweetness is cut down by the souring and the body is dryer than expected.  Harsh booze and sourness just kills this for me.  I love intentional sours--Flanders Red and Lambics are my favorite beer styles--but this one just seems like a mistake.  Epic fail two years running from one of my top 10 breweries.  $30 I dumped down the drain.  Again.  2.75
Jim: Had potential but the sour was confusing. 2.75
Dave: Not terribly drinkable, if it was an 8 or 9% ABV it could be better.  3
Sarajo: We should have just bought another Atomic Kangaroo...2.75

Overall Score:  2.8


Photo info:  This week I tried to make my own brush with Photoshop Elements by taking a picture of a white chocolate square and scattering them over the bottle pic.  No matter what I did it was partially transparent so this didn't work quite to my liking, but hey--I tried something new!

A Whale A Week: Dark Horse Six Pairs of Legs

Dark Horse Brewing's 6 Pairs Of Legs

This week's A Whale A Week offering is a rare little gem from Dark Horse Brewing in Michigan.  Sj and I were able to visit the brewery two years ago when we were out there for NHC.  We had a great time and loved the cobbled-together-almost-ghetto vibe of the place.  I keep discovering random special beers from these guys and this week's beer one such find.

6 Pairs of Legs is described on the bottle in this bizarre fashion: "Imperial Porter made with Dark Horse Syrup Co. maple syrup, then aged in a bourbon barrel, and then aged in a bourbon barrel that had maple syrup aged in it."  Whew!  That was a mouthful.  So this is a big beer (ABV is not noted on the bottle) with lots of maple syrup involved.  Sounds good to me!  This is a 12 oz bottle dipped in very thick wax.  There were not enough ratings of this beer in RateBeer or Beer Advocate to get a number rating.  I've had the bottle for a couple of years but don't know the vintage on it.  I also have no idea where the name came from...For this tasting we had over Bryan Budahn (a brewer with Schram Vineyards and Brewery), Kristen Budahn (enjoys dark beers like a champ), Sarajo (my lovely wife who refuses to write up these reviews but will still drink the beer), and myself (BJCP judge, homebrewer for over 20 years, super beer geek.)

Aroma: (In which we find that Kristen has some judging chops...)
Eric: Strong maple syrup aroma.  Coffee.  Hint of soy sauce at first, but fades over a couple of seconds.  Bourbon and vanilla.  Cocoa.  Roasted grains.  No hop presence.
Bryan: Booze.  Oak.  Some sweetness.
Kristen: Hints of a very dark chocolate.  Maple.  Bourbon.  Harsh alcohol at first, but this is very pleasant after you smell it over time.  Toasty notes.

Appearance:
Eric: Slightly viscous.  Very small dark tan head with large bubbles.  Fades quickly.  Deep brown in color with ruby highlights against the light.  Good clarity for such a dark beer.
Bryan: Dark brown, hazelnut at the edges of the glass.  Fine bubbles on top with minimal head.
Kristen: Dark, chocolaty brown.  Tan head.  Clear.

Flavor: (In which Kristen again shows up the guys with her palate and descriptions.)
Eric: Sweet and boozy!  Strong bourbon, vanilla, marshmallow.  Finish is sweeter and maple comes out at the end.  Some alcohol warming but not hot.  Dark chocolate.  Hint of coffee.  No hop flavors.  Body is only medium but this is mouth coating.
Bryan: Booze mid-way through.  Nome sweetness.  Some chocolate and toastiness.
Kristen: Bourbon in the finish.  Smooth.  Mapley (new word).  Mild smoky notes.  Warm.  Doesn't finish too sweet--you want to take the next sip.

Overall: (Balance is the key!  And Bryan is a tough grader!)
Eric: This beer reminds me of The Bruery's Black Tuesday, but not as sweet and not as hot.  Well balanced but certainly to the sweet side of things.  Maple was not as strong as I expected but it does add complexity.  I'd pour this on pancakes! 4.5
Bryan: I would buy this again for up to $15 a bottle.  Full mouthfeel but with a dry enough finish to prompt you to take another sip.  Warming without being hot.  I wish there was more! 4
Kristen: Very balanced and easy to drink.  No overpowering flavors.  Good maple and bourbon notes. 4.25
Sarajo: This could get you in trouble! 4.5

Overall Score: 4.31

This was a cool little gem of a beer with almost no buzz behind it.  Well done again Dark Horse!


Photo info:  I took a shot of the bottle before opening, cut it out from background and superimposed it on a shot I took of fall maple leaves from last year.  Not entirely happy with the result, I added a pencil sketch filter and this made the colors pop a little more.

A Whale A Week: Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout

This week we do an interesting taste-off.  Early on in this series of posts we reviewed the Brandy Barrel version of Hunahpu's Imperial Stout HERE.  For this tasting we first tried Marshal Zhukov's Stout--the base RIS that gets the star treatment to make it into Hunahpu's spiced version.  The bottle I had was from 2011 and was donated by my good friend Rob Wengler of Limited Release fame. Following this big beer we drank down Jim's bottle of 2014 Hunahpu's from 2014, lovingly retrieved directly from Hunahpu's Day in Florida that year.

We served these into snifters and let them warm up a bit before tasting.  For this session we had me (BJCP judge, homebrewer, stout lover), Jim Stroner (Tin Whiskers Beer-Vangelist, craft beer geek), Dave Manley (homebrewer, learned beer geek), and Sarajo (my wife and fan of non-hoppy beers.)

Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

This is a big bad Russian Imperial Stout named for one of Russia's greatest generals in WWII.  Jim had tried this at GABF and it was one of his favorite beers of the day.  We all got a load of oxidation in the beer and decided it was well past its prime.  Our average rating was 3 out of 5.  So I should have drunk this sooner and won't blame Cigar City for its less than stellar flavor profile.

Hunahpu's Imperial Stout 2014

Named after a Mayan mythological character who gave cocoa to humans, this beer is a strong RIS aged on cocoa nibs, Madagascar vanilla beans, cinnamon, and pasilla and ancho chili peppers.  This version is not barrel aged.  RateBeer and Beer Advocate give this beer a solid 100 rating.  People wait in lines overnight for the release of this special black nectar.

Aroma:
Eric: Some alcohol right up front. Cocoa, mild chili flavors.  Vanilla increases as this warms up.  Hint of coffee.  Deep and rich aroma that makes me really want to skip writing and just drink up!
Jim: Spice is the first thing I get.
Dave: Cinnamon, cocoa, chili, vanilla, coconut?

Appearance:
Eric: Black as night. Fine deep and dark tan head that fades fairly fast.
Jim: Dark!
Dave: Black, not as viscous as Zhukov's.  Little carbonation, wispy head.

Flavor:
Eric: Intense!!! Mix of cocoa (dry and dark), mild vanilla, cinnamon.  Finishes with a mellow earthy burn.  Booze is present but not overly hot alcohol (just hot from chili!)  Roasted coffee notes in the middle. Body is pretty thick and mouth coating.  Sweet, but balanced by bitterness and spicing to not seem overly cloying.  Seems like this is bourbon barrel aged.  Very little oxidation.
Jim: Cinnamon/spice.  Fruit.  Chilies.  Finished with chocolate and vanilla.
Dave: I can pick out all the parts at different times.  Some heat at the end, but not too much.  Coconut? Tropical?

Overall:
Eric: Amazing beer!  That is all.  5
Jim: A lot going on--well done! 4.5
Dave: Strangely, this is more than the sum of its (many) parts.  I want this on a tropical beach with fish tacos.  4.25
Sarajo: Still just as good!  4.75

Overall Score: 4.625

This is one of my favorite beers of all time.  Not because it is rare (I've had less than splendid things to say about many of these rare beers) but because as Dave said, "It is more than the sum of its parts."  We tasted Prairie Bomb! in a previous week HERE and while that had similar flavoring, it just didn't meld into something as sublime as Hunahpu's.

A Whale A Week: Prairie Bomb!

OK, I fell down on the job and missed 2 weeks.  I've caught up on tasting several beers, but have not had the time to get them written up.  This week we go with one from Oklahoma of all places...P-p-p--prairie Bomb!

Prairie Artisan Ales' Bomb!

I had heard about Prairie Artisan Ales for a while, but we do not get them in Minnesota, so it was a while before I had my first beer from them.  It was Funky Gold Mosaic--and may have been the first mosaic hopped beer I actually liked (I've found a few more since--thanks Brady).  Prairie Artisan is a brewery out of Tulsa, Oklahoma and specializes in saisons, funk, and other unusual styles of beer.  They are certainly well ahead of the craft beer curve for their location!

Bomb!  Is a Russian Imperial Stout aged on Nordaggio's espresso beans, chocolate, vanilla beans, and ancho chilies.  This one is a big 13% ABV and comes in a 12 oz stubby bottle.  RateBeer gives this a solid 100, and Beer Advocate a 99.  I've wanted to try this for a while and was happy when my friend Jim picked this up on a Colorado beer-cation and was willing to share for this tasting.  We served this little beer from the prairie into snifters and let it warm up a bit before tasting.  For this session we had me (BJCP judge, homebrewer, stout lover), Jim Stroner (Tin Whiskers Beer-Vangelist, craft beer geek), Dave Manley (homebrewer, learned beer geek), and Sarajo (my wife and fan of non-hoppy beers.)

Aroma: In which we all pick up on different things
Eric: Complex!  Coffee present, but more roasty malt and bitter chocolate.  Slight vegetal or earthy character that may be the chilies.  Mild vanilla.
Jim: Coffee and cocoa.
Dave: Chocolate/chili peppers.  Nice balance.  Not really much coffee.

Appearance: In which we gaze into the darkness...
Eric: Completely opaque.  Very fine dark tan head that fades quickly.
Jim: Black, maybe a hint of red?
Dave: Black with ruby highlights.  Minimal head.

Flavor: In which we all get a plethora of interesting flavors
Eric: At first I get umami/soy sauce.  That fades to a vanilla and dark chocolate flavor that I like more.  Coffee on the finish, bitter with hint of toffee--like one of those old hard coffee candies my grandma used to give me.  Chili is a subtle burn at the back of the throat and comes off as earthy.  Not a super boozy RIS, but alcohol is present.
Jim: Coffee and roast.  Cocoa on the finish.  Pepper comes out as it warms.
Dave: Get hints of coffee in the flavor, but not aroma.  All additions can be picked out.  Base beer is sorta bland?

Overall: In which I'm the easy grader because I like coffee the most...
Eric: For a beer with so many ingredients this could have been a mess.  Flavors melded well and each item can be tasted.  Tasting with the others we all picked out different flavors or aromas as dominant.  The earthy chili pepper actually cuts my enjoyment of this beer (and I love me some chilies!)  Very interesting but I've enjoyed Hunahpu and Abraxas much more which have similar flavor additions.  4
Jim: Complex beer but pretty much true to its description.  Well done beer, but I'm not a fan of coffee beers. 3
Dave: I think this shows the talent of the brewer.  All blended well, but somehow falls short.  This beer is the sum of its parts. 3.75
Sarajo: It has left a bitter taste in my mouth.  3.5

Overall Score: 3.56



Photo info: I took a shot of the bottle label in decent side light in the basement bar.  I superimposed this with a shot I took in the backyard of some decorative prairie grasses.  I did some color and opacity tweaking to get the final result.

A Whale A Week: Side Project Saison du Fermier

Side Project Brewing's Saison du Fermier

This week we take a step into territory we haven't really covered in this series of beer reviews--Saison!  First a little history of Side Project Brewing.  Brewer/owner Cory King is the head brewer at the amazing Perennial Brewing in St. Louis--not only one of the best breweries in the city, but in the state and even the country.  As a side project he started investing time and money into his own small brewing project focusing entirely on barrel aged and funky beers in small quantities.  He brews these beers at Perennial on his days off and both businesses are entirely separate.  I got to meet with and interview Cory and the Perennial staff almost two years ago and they are a fine bunch of passionate people!  We were there on the day that Cory released this Side Project Saison fermented in Chardonnay barrels with wild yeast that he gathered/ranched from his family farm.  Not knowing what to expect I tried a sample and loved it.  I promptly bought my three bottle limit and dragged them back to Minnesota with me.  Cory told me that he expected them to get better by at least 6 months of age.  Here we are at over a year and I'm excited to taste what lurks in this large bottle... The beer has a 97 rating on Beer Advocate and 99 on RateBeer.

Our cast of characters for this tasting includes: Eric Wentling (me!)--BJCP judge, sour lover, Belgian beer fan, Cory King fan-boy.  Andrew Gieseke--amazing homebrewer specializing in sour and brett beers, brewer of the best grape lambic I've had other than Cantillion.  Janelle Gieseke--Andrew's tolerant wife, beer lover.  Sarajo--my wife who refuses to write out her impressions on my whale tastings to spite me, oh, and sour beer lover...  We had this beer as an appertif after Andrew and Janelle fixed us the best brunch I've ever had.  A fine way to finish an epic coursed meal!

Aroma:
Eric: Mild funk and pineapple.  Earthy, musty, but in a good way.  Complex.  Not sweet smelling but I get some malt.  No hop aroma.  Light tart orange peel.  Elderflowers.  Brighter aroma's as it warms, more mango tropical fruit.
Andrew: Hay, lemon, old wood/oak tannin.  Some dandelion stem and flower petals.  Touch of leather and little fresh cut grass.  Some hops.  Touch of pilsner malt, cracker/biscuit.  Some cellar must.
Janelle: Floral--daisies.

Appearance:
Eric: Bright golden color some haze present.  A huge and persistent head the brilliant white color of a unicorn's hide.  Bubbles super fine and meringue-like.
Andrew: Rocky head.  Hazy and cloudy straw color.  Lots of fizzy carbonation.
Janelle: The color of persimmons (deep yellow.) Cloudy.  Light frothy head.

Flavor:
Eric: Tart and incredibly refreshing right off the bat.  Orange peel mixed with partially unripe pineapple.  Malt present (pilsner?) but not a sweet beer at all.  Body light to medium with high zippy champagne carbonation.  There is some hop bitterness but not much flavor.  No alcohol.  Complex, bright, with a tart acidity.
Andrew: Honey, lemon-lime with floral cuts and dandelion.  A little cracker/biscuit.  Some hop bitterness and a sharp carbonation bite intensified by acidity.  Tons of lemon (lemonhead candy) and pineapple/mango.
Janelle: Light, citrus.  Medium carbonation.  Fresh.  Does not stick to mouth, good palate cleanser.  Slight tartness (brett).  Mainly front of tongue flavor points.

Overall:
Eric: Wonderfully complex.  More sour and tart than typical saisons, but near perfect in my estimation.  Refreshing and crisp.  Much funkier than when I had this fresh at the release.  This has a lambic bent to it.  This is by far the best saison I've ever had the pleasure to drink. 5
Andrew: Super dry, lemon bomb with hints of malt and touch of hop bitterness.  Refreshing crisp thirst-quencher.  Lovely balance of bitterness, floral aromas, and citrus acidity.  Lovely beer. 5
Janelle: Reminds me of spring, refreshing and light. 5
Sarajo: It should be hotter and we should be outside.  We want the funk! 4.75

Overall rating: 4.94

Seriously Cory King is a freaking wizard.  That is all.


Photo info: For those who notice my photo stuff.  This week I took a close up of the bottle label.  Then I superimposed the shadow of a light bulb taken at Iron Tap in Waconia.  I had to do a little tweaking in Photoshop Elements to get the transparency right so the bulb would pop a bit and mirror the bulb on the actual label.

A Whale A Week: Surly Nein

Earlier this year for A Whale A Week I did a series on the Surly Anniversary beers starting with Surly Three.  I know, I know, I'm a Surly Fanboy...but hey they're my local brewery putting our sought-after beers that I can actually find!

A quick recap of what came before:  The Surly Anniversary beers have been quite a mixed bag over the years, but I appreciate the brewers stretching their brewing chops to try new things.  One was a Quad/Doppelbock concoction that I never got to try.  I assume it was good.  Two was a cranberry milk stout that I first tried at a charity benefit--very tasty and tart.  That one made it to a small bottling run, but I've never actually seen one in person.  Three was a braggot made with a huge amount of honey and I reviewed it HERE.  Four was the first of these that I loved from the get-go and is reviewed HERE.  Five was their first sour beer and is reviewed HERE.  Syx was a 15% multi-wood aged monster, and is HERE.  Seviin was a Belgian strong ale finished off with brett and was reviewed HERE.  Eight was a strong oat wine aged in High West Rye Whiskey barrels and is reviewed HERE.  And now...

Surly Nein

I did get to try a preview sample of Nein at All Pints North this year but decided to wait on this post until I had a bottle in my hands.  Nein is a 10% ABV monster Hefeweizen brewed with oak smoked malt, fermented with German Hefe yeast, and aged in charred oak barrels.  Apparently the idea for the beer came after a brewer's trip to Bamberg Germany (take me next time!), the home of smoked beers.  The 750 ML bottle is dipped in yellow wax and has the most intricate bottle art of a Surly beer yet.  The art is done by Erica Williams--a wonderful local Minneapolis artist who also did the Darkness 2014 bottle.  Check out her website HERE for some other awesome organic and ominous art!  Nein beer just came out this month so reviews are still trickling in. Currently it has a score of 87 on Beer Advocate and 97 on RateBeer, but both have under 20 reviews so far.

For this tasting I had over fellow homebrewer and neighbor Steven Mathistad on the spur of the moment.  He's always willing to come over on short notice for beer!  Also, my wife Sarajo and our cat Freya helped out.

Freya scopes out the competition

Aroma:
Eric: Strong smoked malt--oak or hickory aroma.  Subtle bacon on the back of the tongue.  Some herbal and almost fruity esters as swirled and as it warms up.  Hint of Band-aid phenol.  Some alcohol present for sure.  Sweetness.  Some tannin/oak character as well. Hefe yeast character not as strong as expected.
Steven: Slight smoky aroma.  Some roastiness.  Not as much here as I expected to find.

Appearance:
Eric: Deep ruby to amber-brown color.  Clear at edge of glass but difficult to see all the way through this.  Almost no head on mine when poured and dissipated quickly to nothing.
Steven: Dark brown color.  Virtually no head.

Flavor:
Eric: The oak is strong in this one!  Slight malty sweetness at first, but quickly fades to dry middle.  As it warms up I get a hammy flavor mixed with banana...somewhat strange.  Strong smoke and firm bitterness and tannin presence.  Alcohol warming for sure.  Body is medium.  The end is very dry--clean and crisp rather than astringent.  Not sure if bitterness is from hops or from oak and smoke, but I do get a bit of citrus as it warms more.
Steven: Bitter smoky malt flavor.  Not quite a fruity flavor...but close.

Overall:
Eric: Not bad.  Not as complex as I expected from such an unusual combination of ingredients.  I think the intensity of the smoke phenols really overwhelms the German hefe yeast character.  Still a good beer that I'd recommend trying.  I like Surly Smoke much better.  3.75
Steven: Not very complex (lacking in different flavors).  Dry with an even dryer finish.  Not getting much "Hefe" character.  3.75
Sarajo: This made me think of honey baked ham.  3.75

Overall Score: 3.75


Photo info:  Not very complex this week.  Taken on my iPhone, Freya was very interested in her new big cat bartop rival!