Taproom Talk

For 27 years the brewers of Sierra Nevada have produced some amazingly good beers. Topping the list is their monumental Celebration Ale, which ages like a fine wine (for a 10th of the price); what’s more, their aptly dubbed Anniversary Ale joins this grand list of epic beers with its pleasantly hoppy signature IPA bite complemented by a fine citrus and slight piney taste. Its hop nose with subtle malts and few bubbles producing a fine lacing invites the beer drinker to taste what is arguably the handiwork of poets. This beer has a wonderful hoppy backdrop that actually comes alive over time; indeed, drinking this beer at slightly colder than room temperature yields a wonderful drinking experience that leaves you searching for another bottle (after another) to imbibe.

The Anniversary Ale is a grand achievement for a fabulous assortment of beers produced by a team of brewers capable of epic feats. Brew on! I will drink and be merry!

There is absolutely nothing as satisfying as drinking a cold beer while barbecuing in the summer sun. Of course, that does make the assumption the beer you happen to be imbibing is worthy; thankfully for me, tonight’s libation was none other than the Long Trail’s Blackbeary Wheat. Without a doubt, this is a fine beer worthy of a beer snob.

The Blackbeary is a light ale (wow, only 4% ABV!) with a champaign nose that is ever so inviting, especially given its apple juice-like color without any lacing. It is quite bubbly and also imparts a cider nose (even though this is anything but a hard cider) to reveal is a wonderfully light pilsner taste with a delicate sweetness that provides an amazingly pleasant first impression that lasts the entire time. Let me be clear here: this beer is excellent. It’s too bad I only had one in my possession as I could have easily had 5 or 6 to go with tonight’s dinner!

It seems the Unibroue brewery in Quebec, Canada just can’t brew a bad beer. In fact, from what we’ve tasted, these cats simply make phenomenal beer. Take for instance the Ephemere, which is a light ale brewed with apple juice. You read that right — apple beer, which as you already know, has impressed this snob before.

Indeed, while the last tasting was a Belgian showing, this fine Canadian brew boasts a bubbly body, light in color, with no lacing present and a floral nose of Granny Smith apples complemented by a slight hoppiness. The taste is absolutely wonderful as it smoothly blends citrus-ness with subtle spice– this beer is so good you’ll end up drinking it before you can fully appreciate its refined, elegant taste. The finish is slightly tart, like that of a juicy apple and it leaves you ready to sip again.

The only disappointing aspect of this beer is that it didn’t last long enough for me to study it. Being light on ABV helps too as you can drink this fine ale as a dessert, but it isn’t too sweet to complement a dinner, snack, breakfast, lunch, you name it. This beer is excellent– just make sure you buy a few.

I wouldn’t normally try a beer dubbed a “Hummer” but I’ve enjoyed the few beers I’ve thus far tried from the Sweet Water Brewing Company. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the sweetly citrus-ish taste this wonderful beer provides. Indeed, it pours a cloudy orange-gold hue to reveal a nice light lacing with few bubbles and has an elegant white ale nose not unlike a good Belgian of similar style. The finish is refreshing with subtle lemon hints.

I definitely like the fruity overtones this fine beer imparts as it reminds me of a nice summer’s day relaxing on the beach. With a reasonable alcohol content of 5.1%, this American interpretation of a Belgian White ale with a slight lemon taste is a knock out– give the Hummer a try. In fact, give a few a try! They surely won’t be a bummer.

The Magic Hat Brewery’s Roxy Rolles sat in my refrigerator for days upon days tempting me every time I fetched various victuals (other than the beverage that thus sustains this humanoid and is the reason for the very existence of this fine blog). Nevertheless, I finally partook of the said libation and found myself once again awe struck with the fabulous inebriants the crazy cats up in Vermont manage to cultivate.

The Roxy imparts a wonderful hoppy aroma wafting from a dark amber color with slight white lacing complemented by few bubbles. The nose is captivatingly hoppy with a strong hop taste paired with an exotic spiciness that is highly reminiscent of a well brewed IPA. The ale’s finish is a pleasant bitter hoppy one that begs for another quaff (and another after that as well). I was pleasantly surprised by this beer and plan to have a few more in short order.

Indeed, the Roxy is fine beverage worthy of a barley sandwich snob such as myself. This is a seasonal brew, so when one rolls into your beer shop, pick up a few!

The Quebecois tell a legend of a team of most likely terribly drunk lumberjacks who made a deal with Satan himself to fly home in their canoes so as to make it home for Christmas. While this sounds more related to the infamous 1980’s John Candy and Steve Martin classic “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” it rather relates to one heck of an Ale. As I’ve mused before, the Quebecois can brew some of the best beer in the world and Unibroue’s Maudite bottle refermented ale is probably one of the best beers I’ve imbibed in quite a long time.

This fine ale has a wonderful spicy nose with malt overtones and a subtle hopiness that begs you to take one fine sip after another in a slow manner so as to make every moment count. It pours with a slight white lacing and has a few bubbles and imparts a cloudy mahogany hue due to its bottle conditioning. The Maudite’s taste is best described as damned excellent– a true nectar of the gods. Technically speaking, the taste is highly reminiscent of a Belgian blonde ale with an elegant spiciness complemented by sweet malts. Indeed, this is an excellent beer!! One of the best ones I’ve had in a long time.

So what about drunken lumberjacks and John Candy? Well, apparently, Maudite means “the damned one” to the Quebecois and thus, I dare say that just as I discovered Santa could brew a fine beer, apparently so can the devil himself. I just wonder if one of the lumberjacks also woke up with his hands between two pillows during the harrowing journey home.

I noticed it said 2004 on metal wire cover over the cork (yes I said cork) and when I popped said cork I was met by one of the most enchanting and inexplicable aromas. Pouring this murky elixir in my Unibroue: La Fin Du Monde glass the bottle chortled and belched a Blug, blug, blug like the laugh of an evil troll.

The first smell was like a freshly sliced Red Apple. I was suprised, but the beer has the tart and ever so slightly acidic bite not unlike hard cider. This dark ale on lees is 10.5%

Thanks to Wiki some light was shed on exactly what lees is. US winemakers use the term mud. Lees refers to deposits of dead yeast or residual yeast and other particles that precipitate, or are carried by the action of “fining”, to the bottom of a vat of wine after fermentation and aging. “The detritus of fermentation, consisting of dead yeast and fruit debris.”

Although this is a dark beer, and a strong beer, it’s not overwhelming.

The Old Speckled Hen pours a golden amber color with a nice white head that imbues few bubbles and a sweet malt nose. Its taste has caramel undertones and a peculiar bitterness that imparts a nice finish and has a taste reminiscent of that of a date. The Hen is an easy drink as its alcohol content is low and its taste has a nice sweetness to it but it lacks depth.

I’ve had a number of English Pale Ales and this one doesn’t have such a unique taste that I’d seek it out again. Don’t get me wrong– that bitterness in the finish is pleasing, but I’d much rather imbibe an American Pale Ale as their hopiness confers a more unique taste.

The Hobgoblin Ale is undoubtedly one of the coolest looking beer labels around– in fact, that’s what caused me to consider picking up a few the other day. But, like a book, which cannot be judged by its cover, one should also judge a beer for its character only.

The Hobgoblin pours a nice dark brown color and reveals a wonderfully thick head that dissipated slowly over the course of a tasting. Its nose revealed sweet malts with an essence of dates, which had me quite excited to take a taste. Indeed, the ale’s taste was initially quite nice as there is an elegant hoppy bitterness; however, that’s about all there is. The finish is noticeably absent and aside from a nice hoppy mouth feel, there isn’t much more to this beer. Perhaps the combination of a slick label and wonderful nose had me quite excited for a bold taste, but there isn’t anything there.

The Hobgoblin makes for an excellent label and emparts a pleasant nose, however, its taste is rather bland and frankly, underwhelming. If you see one in a store, pick it up and take a look, but put it back and grab a case of Ridgeway Bitter for something with a distinctive character.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to venture to beautiful Asheville, NC where I happened upon mixed case of the Highland Brewing company’s beers. Of course, you may remember that in April of 2005, I reviewed the Tasgall Ale and henceforth declared that the Tasgall “is a unique beer that has me excited to taste others from this company.” So it should be of no surprise that I eagerly bought the mixed case (which didn’t include the Tasgall, unfortunately) and trucked the whole lot home.

Highland’s Gaelic Ale pours with a reddish hue and has a light head that slowly dissipates to reveal a wonderfully sweet malty nose with hop hints. The Gaelic imparts a well balanced clean malt taste that has hints of hops and a pleasant clean finish. I noted that there are few bubbles in the body and I was particularly impressed with the slick finish of this beer; however, I will say that this particular beer lacks the distinctiveness of their Tasgall. That’s not to say this isn’t a beer worthy of a snob’s notice, it’s just that this isn’t something you’ll find yourself asking for if there is, say, a Liberty Ale on tap.

All in all, this is a good showing for Highland, but if one’s bar is set by the Tasgall, then you’ll understand why the Gaelic falls a bit short.