Monday, December 30, 2013

Sahati Tasting

Spruced farmhouse ale
750ml bottle, 10.7% abv
Ale Apothecary, Bend, Oregon

Pours dark straw in color. Aroma is fruity and pungent. Flavor is fruity with light malt and some great mildly sour funk. Finishes surprisingly crisp for the strength.

Tasty!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Beer Advent Final Day

Of course it's Samichlaus.

Sorry to see the end of the calendar,  but looking forward to enjoying the ones I haven't opened yet.  Thanks again for the great gift, Tracie!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Beer Advent Day 24

I cant believe its Christmas Eve already.

Delirium Noël
Belgian Christmas Ale
Huyghe Brewery, Melle/Ghent, Belgium

Monday, December 23, 2013

Beer Advent Day 23

Flat Tail Third Anniversary Ale

This is from my least favorite local brewery,  so we will see if they can surprise me with a decent beer.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Chillin'

New fermenter setup, with glycol chiller in place. Just need to finish all the plumbing and insulation.

Fermenters and Table

Fan. Cee.

Beer Advent Day 22

MOA Imperial Stout, aged in pinot noir barrels.

I think I've had this one before and if I remember correctly,  it was decent.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Gouden Carolus Noel Tasting

Belgian Christmas ale, 10.5% abv, 750ml bottle
Brewery Het Anker, Mechelen,  Belgium

Pours dark brown with light head.

Aroma is slightly chalky, with lots of dark fruit and candy notes.

Flavor is lightly sweet and quite malty with a big hit of black licorice.

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy with some nice warmth.

Finish is on the warm and sweet side, but not overly so.

A very tasty big classic Christmas ale.

Beer Advent Day 21

Apoth Sahati
Mixed fermentation ale brewed with spruce boughs and aged in wine barrels.

Sounds interesting...

Friday, December 20, 2013

Aberrant Tasting

Organic farmhouse golden ale
Lodgsen Farmhouse Ales, Hood River,  Oregon
750ml bottle, 8% abv

Pours yellow gold and somewhat cloudy with a fluffy white head that dissipates to a thin lingering layer that can be refreshed with a quick swirl.

Aroma is lightly pungent and grassy. Pleasant spicy hints come out a bit later.

Flavor is spicy and light, with moderate malt and some good funk.

Mouthfeel is creamy and a bit astringent with a big hit of bitterness in the very dry finish.

Overall a delicious brew.

Beer Advent Day 20

India wild ale collaboration from Breakside and Gigantic brewing.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Tough Love Tasting

Imperial stout brewed with spices and aged in bourbon barrels
Crux Fermentation Project, Bend, Oregon
12oz bottle, 11.5% abv

Requires a stout (no pun intended) corkscrew to remove the cork under the traditional bottle cap. After opening,  pours thick and black (heyo!) With a thin dark tan head that dissipates quickly.

Aroma is spicy with ginger and molasses, a hint of bourbon and some woody barrel hints.

Flavor is quite similar to the aroma, delightfully spicy and malty, with complex flavors that mingle pleasantly.

Mouthfeel is moderately thick and warming but in no way overpoweringly rich. 

Finishes amazingly crisp and clean.

Overall a really nice big barrel aged stout by some people who know what they're doing.

Beer Advent Day 19

Dry hopped 2013 Saison Dupont

One of my faves!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Beer Advent Day 18

Aberrant organic farmhouse golden ale,  Lodgsen Farmhouse Brewing, Hood River,  Oregon

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Anchor Brewing 2012 Christmas tasting

12oz bottle, 5.5% abv.

Pours black with a light tan head.

Aroma is mostly spruce and spices. Flavor is similarly tree like with a crisp light malt finish.

A dry, spicy and tasty holiday beer that's quite different from other beers I've had this season.

Beer Advent Day 17

Tough Love, barrel aged imperial stout, Crux Fermentation Project,  Bend, Oregon.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Beer Advent Day 14

Gouden Carolus Noel
Belgian holiday ale. This is a good one.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Beer Advent Day 13

Full Sail Top Sail
Bourbon barrel aged imperial porter, 2010 bottling.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Ovila Abbey Quad Tasting

This is tasty. Big malt favor with lots of dark fruit, licorice, and molasses. Warm but clean finish too. Nice.

Beer Advent Day 12

Unibroue Grande Reserve 17, 2011 bottling
Dark Ale on Lees

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Breakside Alan From The Wood Tasting

Not much information on the low tech label.

Pours dark and slightly murky with a light head.

Aroma is strongly woody and alcoholic., with some fruity malt in the background.

Flavor is similar with a big woody presence being prominent and a bunch of warmth.

Mouthful is round and warm, but the finish is pleasantly clean and crisp.

Overall: big and tasty.

Beer Advent Day 11

Ovila Abbey Quad
Ale brewed with plums

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Perfect Crime

Black smoked saison.
Collaboration between Stone, Evil Twin, and Stillwater Artisanal breweries.
12 oz bottle
6.8% about

Pours black with a light head.

Aroma is smokey with some traditional saison spiciness.

Flavor is surprisingly mild, with light malt roastiness,  a hint of smoke and a tiny bit of spice.

Mouthfeel is crisp and light, with a pleasant creaminess. It finishes with some lingering bitterness and astringency.

Overall a nice crisp drinkable beer, that is a noticeable departure from the big beers I've had so far in the calendar.

Beer Advent Day 10

Anchor brewing 2012 Christmas Ale.  Good stuff.

Monday, December 09, 2013

Beer Advent Day 9

Adam From The Wood
Breakside Brewery,  Portland

I've only had a couple beers from this new brewery, so I'm especially intrigued to see what this one is like.

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Jewbelation 13 Tasting

Shmaltz Brewing, Saratoga Springs, NY.  22 oz bottle, 13% abv. 2009 bottle.

Pours dark and opaque,  with a light tannish-brown head.

Aroma is rich and malty with dark fruit and sherry notes.

Flavor is intensely rich and complex,  with chocolate, toffee, coffee, and roasty malt.

Mouthfeel is thick and warming, but finishes surprisingly crisp and balanced.

There's a lot going on with this beer, and it could easily be too much.  Instead, it's really tasty and is aged just about perfectly after four years. 

Yum!

Brrrrrrr

Being this damn cold is not, uh, cool.

Beer Advent Day 8

Last of the Stone vertical series.  I actually had one of these not long ago and it was quite good.

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Oerbier Tasting

Not sure what style this is, as the label is sparse on details. Belgian dark strong perhaps? Maybe I'll look it up... yep. 11.6 oz bottle, 9% abv,  brewed by De Dolle Brouwers,  Esen, Belgium.

It pours dark amber to brown, with a light lingering head. Aroma is malty and fruity with a nice hint of spice. Flavor is fruity rich and warming with some nice light roast and some candi sugar.  The finish is also a bit warm, but has a cleaning bitterness and is nicely balanced.

Really, really tasty overall.

Beer Advent Day 7

A tasty looking collaboration.

Friday, December 06, 2013

Snow Day

7.25 inches and it's still coming down a bit. They closed the University and sent everyone home. Haven't seen weather like this here for a long time. Very pretty.

Update to add:this fun animated snow falling photo.

Beer Advent Day 6

Oerbier (?)

All I can really tell is it's from Belgium,  is 9% and was bottled February 2011.

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Beer Advent Day 5

He"Brew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah: 13 malts,13 hops, 13%.

This should be interesting.

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Beer Advent Day 3

Commons Brewery: 2012 Bourbon Little Brother.  Barrel aged dark strong ale.

Monday, December 02, 2013

Beer Advent Day 2 Tasting

This is strong, with a big fruity presence in both the nose and flavor. There is a hint of sourness to help dry it out, and a bit of bitterness as well. Still balanced on the sweet side,  but warm and not cloying.

That's A Big Pot

Stafford and I are doubling our brewing capacity to 30 gallons.  This is the new sparge water vessel that just showed up.

As you can see, it will also come in handy if we need to resort to cannibalism after the zombie apocalypse.

Beer Advent Day 2

The Bruery: 5 Golden Rings
Belgique style golden ale brewed with pineapple and spices