Drinking at Disney Part 2!

HERE is a link to my second post for Beerploma on Drinking at Disney!  We focus on Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Studios.


Enjoy!

Beerploma Bound!

I've been a little quiet on the blog recently due to vacation, family stress, and just a little bit of ennui.  So after talking with Dan from Beerploma, I've decided to join the staff there for my future beer blog posts as a way to kick myself up a notch and try to change things up a bit.  I've been doing this blog for several years and certainly have some dedicated followers that might find this change surprising.  Don't worry, I'm still going to be writing about beer!  My honest reviews of beers and breweries will continue, but under a new name.  I'm also excited about the potential for collaborative blogs and podcasts with Dan and Will in the future.  I think this change will help push me to get out of my current rut.  I'll probably focus more on photography and personal stuff on this blog space for now.

Please check out Beerploma and my first article for them: Up From The Depths: A Lake Monster Brewing Review (and yes that is a Godzilla reference...)

Cheers to a new endeavor!

--Eric

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: 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.