Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing

Let me apologize right up front to those of you on the East coast, because you can't get this beer unless you travel to the left coast, or find someone nice enough to do that for you and bring one back in their luggage (how I acquired one).  Even though it's limited where you can get this, I still had to review it, because Russian River Brewing's Pliny the Elder has really become the Godfather of American double IPAs.

First things first, what is an American double IPA?  Well, as is often the case, we Americans just couldn't leave well enough alone.  IPAs (India Pale Ales) were originally brewed as a beer that could survive the long sailing time from Europe to India (or further).  They rely on the fact that hops are a natural preservative.   Add more hops to your beer and it will stay drinkable longer.  Also, hops add so much of the flavor to beer and in an IPA, they are front and center.  Like any ingredient, the exact variety of hops can lend various different flavors to a beer...spicy bitterness, fruits, pine, etc.  I won't claim to be able to pick out some of the specific flavors, but if you can't pick out the wonderful, hoppy bitterness, you need to get your taste buds checked.  What a double IPA comes down to is just a hopped up IPA.  They generally have higher alcohol content and they definitely have a LOT more of that  excellent hop bite.  There are also triple IPAs, which, as you can guess, are even more intense.

Just a note here...I am a hop-head.  I love that hoppy bitterness...the stronger the better!  I love it when my beer bites back and leaves my taste buds begging for mercy.  Sure, a few intensely hopped beers and your taste buds are useless for the rest of the night, but I don't drink to get drunk.  I drink beer for the flavor.

On to this particular version...Pliny the Elder.  Pliny is 8% a.b.v. and 100 IBUs (International Bitterness Units).  More IBUs = more bitter beer.  Some say that an IBU of 100 is about the limit of what you can taste, but I don't subscribe to that school of thought.  This beer is certainly up there on the IBU scale though.  The bottle label has some great advice for these types of beers. "Respect your Elder: keep cold, drink fresh, do not age!  Pliny the Elder is a historical figure, don't make the beer inside this bottle one!  Not a barley wine, do not age!  Age your cheese, not your Pliny!  Respect hops, consume fresh!  Does not improve with age!  Hoppy beers are not meant to be aged!  Keep away from heat!  If you must, sit on eggs, not on Pliny!  Do not save for a rainy day!  Pliny is for savoring, not saving!  Consume Pliny fresh, or not at all!"  But wait, I thought you said IPAs were meant for long travels?  Yes, but they don't taste the same at the end.  That wonderful bitterness dissipates over time, removing the reason for drinking them!  Barley wines, stouts and various other ales can often age beautifully, smoothing out and subtly changing the flavor, but not an IPA.  It would just be a waste of beer and time.

As you can see in the picture, this beer pours a beautiful golden hue with a frothy white head.  The head doesn't linger forever, but there are some nice remnants hanging around for quite awhile.  The smell is, in a word, intense!  The beer has a very strong grapefruit smell.  Don't worry, that's not a bad thing...just one of those flavors that hops can add.  Simcoe hops have that strong grapefruit smell and taste, but I can't say for sure what they used here.  The grapefruit comes through in the taste here as well.  Make no mistake, if you're not a fan of strong, hoppy beers, this isn't for you.  If you are, though, this is one of the best examples of a double IPA out there anywhere.  One of the great things about this beer is that, at least for me, I don't feel like I completely destroyed my taste buds.  While drinking it, it was as intense as I like, and it is just an amazingly full flavor, but it fades nicely away.  It's balanced (as balanced as a double IPA can be) and drinkable, which isn't often the case with this style.  Beer Advocate has it rated as the #3 beer in the world...yes, the world.  While I don't agree with that, it's best example of a double IPA I've ever had. 

This beer easily gets an A+ from me.  There's nothing bad to say about it, except for the lack of it anywhere where I can buy beer.  If you end up in CA or some of the neighboring states out there, and you see Pliny the Elder either on tap or in the bottle, drink up!  You won't be disappointed!

Quercus Vitis Humulus from Otter Creek

Let me start by pointing out how many times I had to check the label of the Otter Creek Brewing's Quercus Vitis Humulus bottle to make sure I spelled it correctly.  I'm still not positive it's right.  Oh well, on to the beer.

This beer will henceforth be known as QVH for simplicity's sake.  The abbreviation though is where the simplicity ends.  QVH is a part of their Imperial Series and with good reason.  This is a big beer.  This is a beer that makes you sit up and take notice...and immediately become a bit confused trying to figure out what you're tasting.

The description on the label calls this a "French-Oak-Aged Ale brewed with French Grape Juice, Fermented with Champagne Yeast."  Yeah, this is a unique one.  I originally tried this at the brewery in Middlebury, VT.  I obviously liked it, because I came home with two bottles of this (plus several other excellent Otter Creek beers) and sometime recently procured yet another bottle.  It still confuses me a bit though, and that is part of why I love beer.  Subtle temperature changes or different food I've eaten or who knows what else have made it taste a bit different each time.  I think I uncovered a bit more tonight though.

QVH pours a nice golden color with a moderate, slightly off-white head that disappeared after a few minutes.  The smell is that of a powerful, big beer...barley-wine-esque.  As a matter of fact, it began life as a barley-wine.  For the uninitiated, barley-wines are a style of heavy hitting ale.  They tend to have high alcohol contents and a richer, more viscous feel and taste to them.  This fits the alcohol bill at 12% a.b.v.  It also has that familiar viscous feel to it, but in a way I'm not completely used to with these types of beers.  I can only guess that there is some difference introduced by the fact that they brew a barley-wine, then add grape juice, then ferment it again with champagne yeast.  I won't begin to guess at exactly what is going on in there, but Otter Creek got something right here for sure.

Sure, it's a big beer, it's high a.b.v., it's viscous.  So what.  How does it taste?  This beer isn't very bitter at all to my taste buds, but it sure is rich.  I was sitting with a friend, enjoying this brew, and think I figured out what the underlying current is in this beer...it's that grape juice.  It's there, but in a much more concentrated form than you're normally used to.  It adds sweetness and texture at the same time, with  some subtle grape flavors for good measure.  But, don't think that it tastes like grapes.  This is first and foremost a beer, albeit a beer with kind of a flashy personality.

I'm going to give this beer a B+.  I've had better barley-wines, but the grape juice gives it something the others don't have.  This is a very solid beer from Otter Creek.  For something a bit more mainstream and more easily found, definitely try their Copper Ale, Alpine Black IPA and Stovepipe Porter.

PorkSlap Pale Ale: Farmhouse Ale

For awhile now, there has been a slowly growing trend among some small brewers...cans.  Yes, I know you can get the big macro-brews in cans, so what's the big deal?  Well, that's just it.  Cans had always been for the big boys.  Bottles signified higher-class beer.  Crappy beer comes in cans, right?  Right?  Not anymore!

There are quite a few beers out there now in cans.  Today I'm introducing you to PorkSlap Pale Ale from Butternuts Beer & Ale.  I admit it, I'm a sucker for marketing.  Look at the can and say the name.  I saw it at The Drinkery in Londonderry, NH and just had to get it.  Various friends had mentioned it in the past as well, so it was time for me to give it a try.

PorkSlap pours a gorgeous amber color.  The soft white head disappeared almost as quickly as it showed up.  And then I smelled it.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad smell...it smelled just fine.  I just couldn't identify what it smelled like.  So I tasted it.  Nope, still couldn't identify the smell or taste.  I admit it, I had to look this one up.  Ginger!  OK, it all makes sense now.  This actually isn't the first pale ale with ginger I've had.  It lends a nice, refreshing crispness to the beer, as well as an unexpected taste.   As for the hops, this is pretty standard for a pale ale.  The hops are there, but they're not overpowering. 

So, what do I think of this beer?  It's interesting.  It seems like it would be great on a hot summer day.  I won't lie.  It's not very high up on my list of pale ales.  That being said though, the novelty of the can with the pigs and the ginger in the beer make this one worth trying.  Who knows, you might absolutely love it!  As for me, I'm giving it a B-.

Founders Porter: Dark, Rich & Sexy

Yes, my fellow beer lovers, I'm reviewing another porter tonight.  Why?  Well, it's twofold.  One, I was in the mood to drink another porter.  Two, in my last post I had mentioned that I had only tasted a couple porters better than Firestone's porter.  Not to totally ruin the surprise, but this is one of them.

Founders Porter is, not surprisingly, brewed by Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids Michigan.  If you're not already familiar with them, I suggest you get acquainted.  My favorite brewer, Founders, doesn't make a bad beer, as far as I am aware.  They have a knack for taking a good beer and pushing it just a bit further.  As this blog goes along, you will no doubt see more reviews of their beers.  I picked up this little bottle of joy at Julio's Liquors in Westborough, MA. As far as I know, it's not distributed currently in NH, where I live, so I have to travel a short distance to MA for their beers.  It's worth the gas money, trust me.

So, the beer itself.  Right on the bottle, it says Dark, Rich & Sexy.  There you have it, the review is done.

Oh, you want more information?  Fine.  Let's start with the visuals.  When they say dark, they really mean black.  Light seems unable to pass through this beer.  In my book, that's a good thing.  There is a towering dark tan head that slowly shrunk down to a manageable size and now seems content to just stick around through the whole drinking adventure.   

What does it smell like?  Well, in the previous review I said that porter smelled like a porter should.  This one...even more so.  You can smell a bit of chocolate, but the main smells are those wonderful roasted malts.  I would enjoy a candle that smelled like this...or maybe cologne.

The taste is downright incredible.  You taste the chocolate.  You get a mouthful of rich, roasted malt.  You get a healthy, balancing bite of hops.  Make no mistake, this is a "big" beer.  With the 6.5% a.b.v. and the huge flavor, you're not going to be downing bottle after bottle after bottle of this (OK, maybe a couple).  This is absolutely a beer to be enjoyed slowly while sitting around with friends, contemplating the troubles of the world...or perhaps discussing the best way for Wile E. Coyote to finally catch that pesky roadrunner.  If you can convince yourself to slowly savor this, pay attention to how it changes as it slowly warms up.  When it starts cold, it's a very crisp porter, but as it warms, it really smooths out and ups the flavors a notch.  This, kids, is why some beers are best served at cellar temperature (50-55ish) and not tooth shatteringly cold.  Don't be afraid of beer that is merely cool, not cold.

However you look at it, Founders Porter is possibly the best porter out there today.  At least it's the best I've had.  Don't worry though, I won't give up trying more in search of something even better.  Founders Porter gets a solid A in my book.  Find it, try it and enjoy it.  Cheers!

Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter: Inaugural Beer Review

OK, it's time to really get the party started here.  For weeks, I've been contemplating what exact form this blog would take.  Well, you know what?  It's going to take whatever form it so pleases on any given day.  It may end up sort of random, but hey, I need to play to my strengths.  As I stated in my first actual post, this is supposed to be sort of an everyman's (everywoman's too, obviously) blog.  I love beer...I adore it.  I think it is one of the most incredible and varied drinks in the world.  I'm drawn to a huge range of styles.  I go to beer fests centered around weird beers.  I talk beer with my friends.  I'm a certified beer geek.  In reality though, I don't always quite fit the beer geek mold that produces a lot of the people at, for example, the beer fests.  I don't have one of those ultra-refined palates that can pick out these ultra subtle flavors in a drink.  In fact, I wonder if a lot of the people out there are just making it up.  But, that's neither here nor there.  I don't like using the terms nose and mouth-feel.  My goal is to describe the beers in a way that anyone can understand.  I want you to be able to give it a very quick read and walk away thinking either yes, I want to try it or no, that one's not for me.

Here we go...

Tonight I cracked open a 22oz. FireStone Walker's Reserve Porter that I purchased at The Drinkery in Londonderry, NH.  If you're not readily familiar with porters, they were first brewed in England in the early to mid 1700's.  At their most basic, they're a more robust version of a brown ale and not as big and strong as a stout.  Porters are, in fact, the precursors to stouts.  Stouts were first called stout porters due to being a stronger variant of a normal, run of the mill porter.  They eventually dropped the porter part and just called them stouts.  I won't describe them much more than I have, because, in my experience, porters can be chocolatey, smokey, hoppy, coffee-ey and more.

So, how does Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter fit into the world of porters?  Quite well, I would say.  It's a nice deep brown color with maybe some tinges of red at the edges of the glass.  Sitting on top is a huge, fluffy, tan head that sticks around for a surprisingly long time.  The smell is just as I think a porter should smell.  Yes, to some of you that makes no sense.  If you like porters though, it should make some sense.  This has a nice, balanced roasty smell with a bit of coffee and chocolate.  How about the taste?  Well, read my description of the smell and change it to taste.  This really is an incredibly drinkable porter.  It's only 5.8% a.b.v., so it's not going to knock your socks off.  It has a nice balanced maltiness/roastiness/coffeeness (hey, it's my blog...I can make up words if I want to).

The last part of the taste I have yet to mention is the hoppiness.  For you beer beginners, hops are a flower that is used in the brewing of beer.  Depending on the variety, it can contribute any number of different flavors and/or bitterness/bite.  For full disclosure, I will state that I am a hop-head.  I like very strong, very bitter beers.  I'll always try to describe the hops somewhat objectively though.  This porter, like the rest of the tastes, has a very balanced hoppiness.  There is enough there to give you a little bitterness to fight back against the sweetness of the malts, but it's not intrusive in the least.

Well, in case you can't tell, my overall view on FireStone Walker's Reserve Porter is quite positive.  When it comes to porters, you certainly won't go wrong with this one.  With this being my first FireStone beer, I will definitely go off in search of others.  They seem to know what they're doing.

Do I need to give it a grade?  I know some people want to see cold, hard numbers and figures.  Fine.  I've give this a solid A-.  I've only had a couple porters that I enjoyed more than this one.

Till next time...cheers!