Drunk blogging.

As much as I'd like to blog all sorts of insightful things about tonight's tasting, I think I'll wait 'til I'm a bit more sober to do so. I can't believe how long it took me to type that last sentence...

Anyway, it was a great tasting with great food, great beer, and great company! I wish we had these every weekend, although my liver is thankful we don't. Very, very fun. Thanks to Block 15 brewery and Corvallis Brewing Supply for putting these events on.

Update: It's now Tuesday and I'm finally sober, so I've updated most of the beers. Still a couple to go but I'm tired of typing...

Our gracious hosts

And some other guy (the two on the right are the hosts).

The Aftermath

Quite a scene.

Some of the fallen.

They died honorably.

Beer #11

Bourbon barrel quad. Details later, maybe -- I've blogstificated this one before...

Beer #10 and dessert

Koningshoeven, details later.

Three yummeh fellows

Tasty beer is tasty.

Consecration label

Better photo...

Beer #9

Ommegang Abbey Ale Dubbel, details later.

Beer #8 closeup

Just a better picture of the Van Twee beer. Amazingly yummy.

Beer #8 - Van Twee

Van Twee, details later. And oh my god the beer and pasta are fucking amazing.

I mean seriously, that could be the best combination of food and accompanying drink I've every had. Astoundingly yummeh.

Updated with details:
Van Twee, Dubbel/Porter hybrid, 7.5%abv 750ml bottle
De Proefbrouwerig, Belgium and Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, Michigan

From the handout:

Van Twee, or "From Two" is a mash-up of the porter and dubbel styles blended with sour cherry juice from Michigan and brettanomyces in the secondary fermentation. It is a rich, dark beer capped by tan foam. Malty layers of chocolate and coffee trade on the palate with sour brettanomyces bacteria and dark fruit notes.

This was really good. Great combination of the porter's roastiness and the dubbel's sourness and fruit.

Beer #7 -- Eric's Ale

Eric's Ale, details later.

Updated with details:
Lips of Faith Series -- Eric's Ale, 7%abv, 22oz bottle
New Belgium Brewing Company
Fort Collins, Colorado

I'll say it -- New Belgium makes crap beer. This one is an exception, and of course, they don't make it anymore.

From the handout:

Eric's Ale is a combination of a dry, sour beer beer aged up to three years in oak foeders with a semi-sweet, higher alcohol base beer.

This was quite tasty with a nice light sweet/sour balance, and would make a great intro to sour beers for those not ready for the super-sour ones. Of course that's all moot since they'd rather make crap beer for the masses.

Beer #6 -- Le Freak

Le Freak, details later.

Update for the promised details:
Le Freak, Belgian-style IPA, 9.2%abv, 22oz bottle
Green Flash Brewing Company
Vista, California

From the handout:

This Belgian-style IPA is an "outside the box" convergence of beer styles where American Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel. The end result is a zesty brew with enticing American hop and Belgian yeast aromatics that lead you to delicious malts and a complex layering of hop flavors that quench and refresh your palate.

This had a really nice hoppy nose with a little bit of funk, a solid bitterness, creamy mouthfeel and solid alcohol warmth. The flavor and feel of this is a really cool sort of "hoppy/creamy/warm/bitter" spectrum.

Beer #5 -- Consecration

Consecration, details later.

Update with details:

Consecration, Wild Ale, 10%abv, 750ml bottle
Russian River Brewing Company
Santa Rosa, California

From the notes:

Consecration is a dark Belgian style ale aged in American oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, and uses brettanomyces, pediococcus, and lactobicillus.

This had a really great sourness, super malt profile and pleasant spicy finish. Very, very tasty.

Beer #4 -- Damnation

Damnation, details later.

Update -- Here are the details:

Damnation, Belgian-style Strong Golden Ale, 7%abv, 750ml bottle
Russian River Brewing Company
Santa Rosa, California

From the tasting note handout:

This is Russian River's take on the Belgian strong golden ale style with aromas of banana and pear, sweet malt on the palate finishing dry and slightly bitter.

At my table we liked this quite a bit, it had a great complex flavor, with a really nice aroma. I decided that it smelled like "opening a bag of malt while standing in a candy/chocolate shop" -- it had a great sweet malt aroma with some really nice chocolate and candy notes. It did have a solidly dry, bitter finish as well. Very nice.

Beer #3 -- Confluence Wild Ale

Confluence, details later.
Missed the picture of the bottle :(

Update: The details:
Confluence, Wild Ale, 7.4%abv, 750ml bottle
Allagash Brewing Company
Portland, Maine

From the brewery's description:

Allagash Confluence Ale is created with a mixed fermentation; utilizing our house primary Belgian style yeast in combination with our proprietary Brettanomyces strain. The two yeast strains work in tandem creating a marriage between spice and fruit flavors that ultimately leave a lingering silky mouthfeel.

This one had an earthy and citrusy nose that was almost exactly like smelling the two previous beers simultaneously. Another very crisp beer, which was surprisingly light feeling for its 7.4% alcohol content.

Beer #2 -- Ferme de la Ville, Saison

Ferme de la Ville, details later.

Update here are the details:

Ferme de La Ville, Saison, 6.75%abv, on tap at Block 15 Brewery
Corvallis, Oregon

From the tasting note handout:

Each Belgian farmhouse brewer had his or her own take on the style, and Block 15 Nick's is another unique and delicious variation on farm worker's fuel. The pleasant level of citrus from dry hopping and saison yeasty goodness makes for the rare mix of complexity and drinkability.

This was quite earthy and funky in the aroma, but less so in the flavor. Great crisp dry finish.

Beer #1 -- Amadeus Witbier

Amadeus Witbier, details later.

Update: As promised, here are the details:

Amadeus, Witbier, 4.5%abv, 750ml bottle
Les Brasseurs de Gayant
Douai, France

I'm not a "regular" wheat beer fan, the bulk of the large-domestic-brewery-made ones are bland and boring. Belgian (or in this case, French) Witbiers are entirely different.

Here's a bit of the text in the tasting handout about it:

This French witbier (white beer) is brewed according to the traditional techniques perfected by the monks of the Crespin Abbey. With what the brewery calls a "slightly troubled" appearance, its lively body unfolds across the palate with an acidulous and refreshing twang of citrus that makes you wonder why you reach for a can of red, white and blue after mowing the yard.

That's a good description. I definitely noted the citrus twang, and thought it was light crisp and refreshing. It would make a great summer afternoon beer.

Tasting food menu

This shows the food for the tasting -- I'll type up the text so it's more legible when I'm at an actual keyboard.

Update: Here is the actual text of the menu:

Being Belgian #5
April 25, 2010

Brewer's Board
Willamette Valley Cheese Co. Aged Gouda (cow's milk), Brigante Pina cheese (sheep's milk), apple slices, house pickled onions, cornichons and warm rustic bread.

This was the first course. The cheeses were both great, along with the bread and apples. The "cornichons" were some sort of little dill pickle, which were also nice.

Pommes Frites
Twice Fried potatoes, sea salt dusted with mayonaise

These were a great second course, although I liked the thicker cut fries we had a couple of tastings ago better.

Salad
Gathering Together Farms mixed greens, shredded beets, Framboise Vinaigrette.

The third course was a salad made from locally-grown very bitter greens. It was a bit much for me, since I'm not much of salad fan.

Ravioli
Hand made Ravioli stuffed with Smoked Rabbit & Goat Cheese Mousse, with a tart cherry cream sauce & Kriek braised greens

(random capitalization in original)

This was amazing -- the combination of beer and smoked rabbit ravioli was stunningly marvelous. We all tried to get Nick to make it a regular menu item, but he didn't seem thrilled with the idea. Evidently it's a bit labor intensive.

Tarte Au Fromage Blanc
Our own fresh made Fromage Blanc cheese tart studded with Rodenbach Grand Cru soaked figs. Finished with fresh whipped cream & local honey drizzle

Dessert was also quite good. I really liked the Fromage Blanc cheese, and as Nick described the process, it doesn't sound too bad to make at home. I might have to try that some time...

Being Belgian #5

Today is the fifth big Belgian beer tasting that the local brew supply and local brewpub have put on. This photo shows one of the tables before the festivities start. I'll update as I go, as long as my faculties allow anyway...

Update: I was able to snap shots of the beer as I went, but didn't have time for much more than that. I'm going back and adding stuff now.

Unlike the previous four "Being Belgian" tasting, where the bulk of the beers were actually made in Belgium, this tasting was specifically designed to explore Belgian style beers not made in Belgium. It was cool to try the different interpretations that the various breweries came up with.

Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale

22oz bottle, 6.9%abv

Another great beer from the Ninkasi folks in Eugene.

Aroma is a bit fruity, like Chris, but with a nice nuttiness, like me, to balance it.

Flavor is also fruity, but the nuttiness is less prominent.

An assertive bitter finish rounds this off. It may be just a bit too bitter, even for me, an admitted bitter old bastard.

Other than a somewhat harsh finish, a really nice beer.

Workhorse IPA

Laurelwood Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon. 22oz bottle, 7.5%abv.

I almost drank the whole thing before I remembered to blogophize it.

This is a nice IPA -- huge hop nose, solid hop flavor, and a solid bitter finish.

Lots of nice citrus notes in the flavor too, which helps brighten it up a bit. Along with a crisp, light mouthfeel and the assertive bitterness, this helps Workhorse be quite drinkable, and reminds me of the Ninkasi Total Domination. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison of the two.

There's a Laurelwood tasting tomorrow afternoon at a local watering hole, and hopefully the beers they bring will be as good as this one.

Ninkasi Total Domination IPA

22oz bottle. 6.7%abv.

"Total Dom" -- as the locals call it -- is the more drinkable IPA cousin of their Tricerahops double IPA reviewed earlier. This regular IPA is every bit as good, it's just significantly lighter and easier to drink.

The aroma is similarly "420"-esque, just a bit less of it. Flavor is light and crisp balanced toward hops. Malt is there, but is definitely secondary.

Mouthfeel is correspondingly light with a slight creaminess and solid bitter finish.

While I think I like Tricerahops better, Total Domination is definitely the more drinkable of the two, and would be the preferred beer to have a six pack of on a warm summer day.

Pliny the Elder

Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, CA. 500ml bottle, 8%abv.

This is an absolutely awesome beer, one of my many favorites.

Amazing hop aroma, delightfully crisp and balanced flavor with a mild bitter finish.

Its availability is fairly limited and is hard to find. If you see it, buy it. It's worth looking for.

Slaapmutske Triple Nightcap

25.4oz bottle 8.1%abv, Brouwerij Slaapmutske, Melle Belgium.

This is a nice change from all the IPAs I've been drinking. It's got a great malty aroma, with just a hint of hops.

Flavor is similarly malty with some typical Belgian fruitiness, and a slight hint of sourness.

Body is surprisingly crisp and light with a solid hit of hop bitterness to balance out all the malt.

Quite yummy and refreshing. Another great spring beer.

Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA

22oz bottle, 8.8%abv

Ninkasi comes from Eugene, and has become one of my favorite breweries after a rocky start quality-wise a couple of years ago. Tricerahops is a favorite beer of mine, but I've never blogstificated about it.

It's got a great 420-esque hop nose. If the Oskar Gubna posted earlier smells like a freshly opened bag of hops, then Tricerahops smells like a freshly-opened bag of a similar "herb". Not sure what hop variety(ies) they're using for aroma hops, but I like it and would love to find out.

Flavor is also balanced toward hops, but has some great malt sweetness for contrast.

The mouthfeel is slightly rich, with a solid bitterness to balance it out.

Overall, a great, hoppy strong IPA that's very drinkable. If you can find this beer, buy it, you'll like it. And if you don't, it's because you're a heathen with an unrefined palate.

Full Sail Hop Pursuit

Extra Pale Ale, Brewmaster Reserve 2010. 22oz bottle, 6%abv.

This is a refreshing change from the last two double-IPAs. Hop Pursuit is still boldly-hopped, but the underlying beer is significantly lighter.

The aroma is mostly hops, but they aren't overpowering.

Flavor is more balanced, with some sweetness coming through to offset the hop flavor.

Body is crisp and light, with a solidly bitter hop finish.

Very nice beer, it would be perfect for a warm spring day. I wish I had one of those...

Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA

22oz bottle, 11%abv

Yet another great Southern Tier offering. The hop nose isn't is dramatically over-the-top as the Oskar Gubna from the other day, but that's ok. It's still got a metric shit-ton of hop aroma though.

The flavor is quite a bit more complex, with some great fruitiness, a subtle malt sweetness and yet more assertive hops.

Body is somewhat creamy, with a crisp, substantial and lingering bitterness in the finish.

Overall a big beer that is still easily drinkable and refreshing. Very hoppy, in a good way.

Coney Island Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager

Another great lager in the Coney Island series from Shmaltz brewing. I think I've said it before -- I'm not generally a lager fan. The Coney Island lagers are the exception to that.

This one has a great hop nose, with a good bit of malt aroma too. Flavor is balanced, with malt slightly dominant. Finishes with a nice crisp clean bitterness that lingers slightly.

Very tasty, and highly recommended.

Terminal Gravity IPA

This is one of my current favorites. Terminal Gravity is a small brewery in Enterprise, Oregon, in the very Northeastern corner of the state. Their IPA is available in bottles in certain locations, but is mostly only available on tap, as it was here.

Quite yummy, great aroma, perfectly balanced, and not too bitter. Delightful!

Oskar Blues GUBNA Imperial IPA

12oz can, 10%abv

Imperial IPA in a can? Crazy? Crazy good. This is the first of several beers Tracie put in my "pagan spring basket" (at least that's what I'm calling it).

It pours great, with a nice substantial white head that dissipated moderately quickly. Great color and clarity.

What jumps out immediately is the huge hop nose. It's like taking a deep sniff from a freshly opened bag of hops. I've never had a commercial beer with that strong of a fresh hop aroma. Excellent.

Flavor is also quite hoppy, but it's balanced very well by a substantial malt profile.

Body is surprisingly crisp and refreshing for a beer this strong. It's very drinkable and is the kind of beer that could get you in serious trouble on a hot summer day by the water.

Nice beer, I'm looking forward to all the other IPAs in the basket.

Cold and wet day at the beach

Chowder blogging

We headed to the coast for lunch. Awesome chowder at The Chowder Bowl in Newport. Yummeh!

Southern Tier Jahva Imperial Coffee Stout

Imperial Stout brewed with Jamaican coffee. 22oz bottle, 11%abv.

This poured with essentially no head, although the carbonation is fine.

Aroma is mostly sweet malt and solid roastiness.

Flavor is very rich, a bit sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The coffee notes are subtle, which is good. Much like the chocolate stout from Southern Tier, the "special" ingredient is not overpowering, and allows the beer to shine through.

Overall another great beer from Southern Tier.

This may win the internets!

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon as arranged for the Nintendo Entertainment System

Gloriously geeky.