Characteristics: Brown and slightly cloudy with red highlights; light-to-medium body and carbonation; intense sourness from start to finish, in the crab-apple and balsamic vinegar categories, with minimal discernable hops or malt traits.
Minor Gripes: The 22-ounce bottle doesn't always lend itself to a careful pour -- so the yeast that settled in the bottom of the bottle can come rushing out at the end. And there doesn't seem to be any reason for a 6% ABV.
Bottom Line: Sadly, I feel defeated by this beer. I've enjoyed Flanders Sour Ales before, but La Folie seems to ask (and answer) the question of whether it's possible to be too sour. Maybe they could have skipped that last year of fermentation...
Rating: 4.75 / 10
]]>Characteristics: Brownish-black, opaque color; almost no head or carbonation; exceptionally thick body; flavors that range from vanilla to the best burnt caramel ever to a more pedestrian creme brulee to slightly-burnt toast to charcoal-filtered alcohol. (Did you get the idea that there's a major charred element to this one?)
Minor Gripes: I was disappointed at the utter lack of carbonation in my two bottle. Some head, some bubbles would have helped lighten up the body and mouth-feel. A champagne-style bottle with a cork would be far more appropriate, especially since Goose Island claims this one can be aged for up to five years. And I'm not sure that this needs to be a 13% ABV.
Bottom Line: The Bourbon County Stout is not for everyone... imagine that a boilermaker were a shot of Beam dumped into a flat, fully-settled Guinness. But if you like rich, complex, hearty beverages, this one is well worth your time (and the cost -- $7-ish for a 12-ounce bottle).
Rating: 6 / 10
]]>Characteristics: Dark blackish-brown color, nearly opaque; low carbonation and minimal head; thick body that's almost syrupy at times; fairly consistent mix of coffee and chocolate malt flavors, with coffee and slight hoppiness coming out in the finish and vanilla emerging as the beer warms up.
Minor Gripes: None. Amazingly, the beer is consistent across all temperatures.
Bottom Line: This beer is awfully close to the platonic ideal of a coffee stout/porter(*). If you like your iced coffee to be black and thick, this could be your next favorite beer.
Rating: 8 / 10
]]> (*) I realize Wikipedia isn't exactly an authoritative source, but this article does seem relevant... the commentary on oatmeal stouts is particularly tough (if helpful from a "truth in advertising" perspective).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stout
That said, I will continue to distinguish based on what titles the brewer uses, and by overall heaviness/style when in doubt (e.g. nobody's calling Guinness or Beamish a "porter" any time soon).
]]>Characteristics: Cloudy copper color, medium carbonation and head, medium-to-heavy body, grapefruit flavors (but not Cascade hops!) dominate over a sweet, slightly malty middle section before transmogrifying into an American Pale Ale (a/k/a hop-infested) finish.
Minor Gripes: For the weight of this beer, grapefruit isn't necessarily the balancing note I would have chosen. Tough to pair with anything but a lighter weight American Pale Ale. Also hints at a high ABV content that couldn't be confirmed or denied from the tap handle.
Bottom Line: Certainly a creative beer, but not always successful. Grapefruit burps and that late hoppy shift are not welcome. Worth sampling, though, especially if you're looking for a heavyweight counterpart to all those brews trying to outperform Sierra Nevada.
Rating: 4.5 / 10 (before any bonus points for creativity and local focus)
]]>Characteristics: Deep black-brown, nearly opaque color; medium carbonation; minimal head; heavy body; smooth opening has smoky notes that go malty sweet in middle and finishes with that dry Fuggles hop tang and some coffee overtones.
Minor Gripes: This is the rare specialty beer that is better on the colder end of the spectrum between "fridge" and "room temp." Since this really is a beet to savor, and I don't have a wine bucket, the fragility is tricky.
Bottom Line: I'm torn about St. Peter's Cream Stout. The initial "molten ice cream" experience quickly dissipates into an unbalanced mix. If you keep it cool, it's a richly rewarding stout.
Rating: 6 / 10 at the right temp, 4.5 / 10 when it gets too warm.
Characteristics: Warm-gold color; light body with light-to-medium carbonation; a consistent straw-grass flavor dominates throughout, with some yeast and a slight squashy taste at the finish.
Not-so-minor Gripes: Pumpkinhead is extremely thin and carries zero flavor when cold -- it starts out somewhere around a light American lager. It opens up a little over time, but there's ultimately not much to find. The progression or evolution in the flavor is very slight over the course of a swallow or a full glass.
Bottom Line: I prefer my pumpkin beers to be a little heftier, with cinnamon and nutmeg hints (though not as thick as a winter ale). Pumpkinhead is too thin, like a Pale Ale that trades out some hops and adds some raw pumpkin to the mash tun. It's better than the Shipyard Blueberry (which was too sweet for me) but not the pumpkin brew I'd recommend.
Rating: 4 / 10
]]>Characteristics: Dark black-brown color that is completely opaque; heavy body with low to medium carbonation; opens smooth with a slight bubbly bite before moving into dense roasted chocolate malts with an espresso finish. There's also a hit-and-miss sugar element through the middle.
Minor Gripes: Black Bavarian doesn't have enough balance once it warms up a little -- I'm guessing it was engineered to be rich and flavorful when consumed ice-cold. And the 6% ABV sneaks up a little.
Bottom Line: Although Black Bavarian is a lager, it's closest in spirit and flavor to a deep porter as opposed to a schwarzbier. It's not a session beer, but it's a good change of pace and one that's not often available where I live these days.
Rating: 6 / 10
]]>
Characteristics: Pale yellow color, medium carbonation and head, starts with a little bite of carbonation and hops before settling in to a mild yeasty middle and then the tell-tale sorghum tanginess in the finish.
Minor Gripes: Best when served cold, just like the Leinie's or Stella it's replacing -- that's when the sorghum is least noticeable. Its distribution also seems to be spotty outside the standard Lakefront channels. Two weeks after we found it at a Whole Foods in NYC, it went out of stock with its slot in the case given away.
Bottom Line: New Grist is the GF beer for those who (A) miss drinking lagers, and (B) might enjoy multiple beverages in an evening. (I can't bring myself to use the classic Schaefer phrasing today.) New Grist is also the first of the GF brews I've sampled that I would drink even if I weren't looking to reduce my gluten exposure. The Green's belgian-style offerings are good, but New Grist does a better job balancing out the endemic sorghum tanginess.
Rating: 5.75 / 10
]]>