G&T Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Union and Trinity are still there, but, given that we really went for the seafood in Newport, I didn't go to either so I'll reserve comment. Ratebeer doesn't give either high marks (though Union appears to be better known for their food), but that site seems to be overly critical. If I ever make it back there, which I probably will since it's only 3 hours from me (closer than Boston), I'll make a better beer trip. I also want to hit up a beer store in Springfield, MA, which has a much larger selection of California and Belgian beers than I can get in Albany. Specifically, Struise and Lost Abbey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I finally cracked the Stingo so here are my thoughts. The aroma is here is very malty, but has a distinct belgian yeast aroma. In fact, I would say this has more in common with Orval than an English Ale. Nevertheless, there is a hoppy presence which carries a citrus note to clean some of the malty, yeasty aromas up. The flavor profile is malty with caramel and some tropical fruit. A very interesting combination for an English Ale. I also get some vanilla which likely comes from the barrel aging. This also has an very rich, creamy mouthfeel akin to the cave aged Hennepin or Fantome. There's terrific depth here. A very enjoyable beer to savor. And there is no question this is more similar to a Belgian than an English Ale. Which is probably why I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'm glad you liked the Stingo once you opened it, and I figured you would. Going back ti my very first post in this thread, I wrapped my Stingo tasting this way: • Yes, if you are an open-minded fan of English craft beers, particularly old ales. • Yes, if you are a fan of Belgian brews on the tart side. • Yes, if you can stomach dropping $13 on a bottle of beer (ouch) • No, if lactic or acid notes are at odds with what you expect beer should taste like For me, a good gauge is often the "would I crack another one" test. If I had another one on hand (and at $13 a pop I do not), I would be uncapping and pouring it right now. I know I haven't fully digested all the flavors going on in this one, and it warrants another spin. Unfortunately, I have not shelled out for another one of these since that fist tasting, but now I want to. It sounds like you got a lot less of the vinuous tartness than I did, but you did note a healthy citric flavor. I think maybe I jsut wasn't anticipating just how Belgian in character this one was going to be, but it sounds like we both put this one firmly in the "yes" column. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 08:48 PM) I'm glad you liked the Stingo once you opened it, and I figured you would. Going back ti my very first post in this thread, I wrapped my Stingo tasting this way: Unfortunately, I have not shelled out for another one of these since that fist tasting, but now I want to. It sounds like you got a lot less of the vinuous tartness than I did, but you did note a healthy citric flavor. I think maybe I jsut wasn't anticipating just how Belgian in character this one was going to be, but it sounds like we both put this one firmly in the "yes" column. I don't think I've had enough sours to really pick out a lot of those flavors. But I have a lot more fruit than expected. It's unfortunate that it's so expensive because I doubt I'll have it again, but I know a lot of talent goes into a beer like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 QUOTE (G&T @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:02 PM) I don't think I've had enough sours to really pick out a lot of those flavors. But I have a lot more fruit than expected. It's unfortunate that it's so expensive because I doubt I'll have it again, but I know a lot of talent goes into a beer like this. Don't sell your critical tasting skills short, I agree with most of your description on this one for sure. And certainly price has been a factor in not picking up another one of these for me as well. I just cracked big bottle of Cigar City's Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale that is superb. A dense brown meringue head with tons of staying power gives evidence to the oats in the grain bill, as does the rich, thick mouthfeel. Dark, caramel-copper brown color and an appearance that has just a bit of cloudiness to it that may either be yeast or chill haze but doesn't bother me in the least. Nose is rich, chocolate-malt with a hint of spice. Rich caramel maltiness, with coffee and chocolate notes on the bottom, topped off by some dried fruit flavors (mostly cherry and apricot) in the upper sweet flavor range. Slight spicy complexity from the rye follows with a pleasant graininess from malt and rye, and very subdued hop presence. This beer is something close to what you'd get if an American brown ale married a dark doppelbock but then they found out they both had recessive porter genes, and then they had an offspring beer that deftly combined the best attributes of all those styles. This is a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 That sounds real good for the cold days coming at us here in the northeast. I'm a sucker for oatmeal stouts. But I've been turned off of brown ales recently. Too many are just malt bombs that really have no redeeming quality. I'm going to Montreal for Thanksgiving for a couple days. I'm hoping to hit up the Dieu Du Ciel Brewery while I'm there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AssHatSoxFan Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Just cracked the first of the 4 pack of Sam Adams Imperial White. Let me say this was almost too strong. It had the typical witbier flavor then the 10.3% ABV hit me. Definitely a different experience but not exactly a bier I will have in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (AssHatSoxFan @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 08:46 PM) Just cracked the first of the 4 pack of Sam Adams Imperial White. Let me say this was almost too strong. It had the typical witbier flavor then the 10.3% ABV hit me. Definitely a different experience but not exactly a bier I will have in the future Agreed. I tried it when it first came out, and I thought it was a mess. My notes tell me that I was impressed with the aroma, but the flavor was dominated by alcohol. I wouldn't drink it again. It's not an easy style to make while hiding that level of alcohol. However, the imperial stout they make was actually pretty decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I had exactly the same impression when I tried the Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner last year. Nice aroma and a brilliant appearance, but WAAAAY too much alcohol and it ruined an otherwise very interesting beer. Some styles are not meant to be so high alpha, and some of these made-up frankenstyles take things to extremes and it just doesn't come together in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Finally had the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale yesterday. Decent and enjoyable, with more depth and even a little hop character compared to the Post Road version I tried the week before. Basically, it does what I think a fall seasonal brew is supposed to do — move more into the malty, spicy, fuller-bodied, and marginally higher strength area to be enjoyed for a brief time before the winter beers start rolling out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 07:41 AM) Finally had the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale yesterday. Decent and enjoyable, with more depth and even a little hop character compared to the Post Road version I tried the week before. Basically, it does what I think a fall seasonal brew is supposed to do — move more into the malty, spicy, fuller-bodied, and marginally higher strength area to be enjoyed for a brief time before the winter beers start rolling out. I had it on tap last week. It was less "pumpkin" than I remembered, but was a very nicely balanced, malty beer with enough spice to keep it interesting. If anything, it was a better all around beer than I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AssHatSoxFan Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I'm not a big pumpkin beer fan, I really enjoy the winter beers that will be coming out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (AssHatSoxFan @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 09:16 AM) I'm not a big pumpkin beer fan, I really enjoy the winter beers that will be coming out soon. I enjoy the pumpkin ales when they show up, and they are ephemeral enough that you don't overdose on them before they're gone for another year. If I had to choose between them and Bavarian marzens and festbiers, the festbiers would win it in a walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 It's a fine time to be hitting up the weizenbocks. The beers that made me love beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (G&T @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 10:07 AM) It's a fine time to be hitting up the weizenbocks. The beers that made me love beer. Do you have a favorite? For Bavarian, I'm a traditionalist partial to Aventinius, but Hopf or Weihenstephaner do the trick as well. For American interpretations, I think Great Lakes is the best of the couple I've tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Aventinus is probably the best in the world. The price is up to $5 a bottle now though, so I haven't had it in a while. That beer showed me how incredible beer could be. It was one of my first "highly rated" beers and I had no clue what to expect other than liking hefes. I was completely blown away. My go to is Victory Moonglow. This season's doesn't seem as rich as last year's. Last year I would have put it only slightly behind Aventinus, but this year's doesn't reach the same level. Nevertheless, the price is still right, and the beer is solid. Weihenstephaner Vitus is good though the flavors seems a bit muted, but I'll have to retry it. I can't get Great Lakes unless I head to Western NY. I'll only had the Brooklyn-Schneider collaboration once, and I found it smokey. That tends to happen to wheats. It was probably a bad batch, but it has kept me away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 The Brooklyn-Schneider team effort is incredibly intriguing. I've had the Hopfen-Weisse and I thought it was great. I don't recall a lot of smoky notes, but rauchbiers and steinbiers are wonderful things in my opinion so I probably wouldn't/didn't find it objectionable. I've only made one trip to Great Lakes (besst walleye dinner I ever had), and they happened to be pouring the weizenbock otherwise I'd probably never have encountered it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Any suggestions for rauchbiers? Never had one, though it appears to be a style that's coming into vogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (G&T @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 12:40 PM) Any suggestions for rauchbiers? Never had one, though it appears to be a style that's coming into vogue. There three true Bamberg rauchbiers available in the US that I know of are Aecht Schlenkerla (three different styles), Kaiserdom (much better than the BeerAdvocate rating suggests), and http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/913/2960(haven't had it). Steinbiers are another beast with a very similar smoky-malty flavor profile. They are "stone beers" — traditionally produced in wooden brew kettles that cannot be directly fired, so instead heated rocks are dumped into the kettle of near-boiling water as depicted by the awesome label: The heated rocks isomerize the hops (probably the main reason beer is boiled in the brewing process), but they also caramelize some of the sugars which gives the rich malt/smoke/caramel flavors. This differs from traditional rauchbier where the smokiness comes from traditional fire-kilning of the malt. A few hundred years ago, smokiness would have been part of the flavor profile of most all beers. Many years ago I was fortunate enough to have the sole US importer of Rauchenfels steinbier located in my Florida town, and my wife and I became addicted to the stuff at a local Bavarian restaurant. Sadly, both the importer and the restaurant are long-gone, and I haven't found a bottle of Rauchenfels since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Oh Happy Day! My dealer beer shopkeeper kjust called me to let me know that she really did score a case of Sierra Chico Estate Harvest Ale!!! I know where I'm heading as soon as I'm done at work today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Legends here at U of I is dangerous on Tuesday nights, $2 all drafts. Some I have had: Woodchuck Cider (delicious) 312 (my favorite beer on campus) Magic Hat Guiness Blue Moon I guzzle down 312 and Woodchuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanOfCorn Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 02:34 PM) Oh Happy Day! My dealer beer shopkeeper kjust called me to let me know that she really did score a case of Sierra Chico Estate Harvest Ale!!! I know where I'm heading as soon as I'm done at work today. Rehab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 By the way, my post was not saying any of those things are top-notch, but compared to everything else on campus they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 03:43 PM) By the way, my post was not saying any of those things are top-notch, but compared to everything else on campus they are To the contrary, I like most of what you posted. And Guinness is the definition of a world-class beer. I haven't had the 312 but I think Goose Island's stuff in general is quite drinkable. American pale wheat is not one of my favorite beer styles, but they beat a Miller Light any day. Agreed on the Woodchuck — they don't make a cider I dislike, although the Granny Smith is a bit tart. The pear cider and the dark oak aged cider in bottles is amazingly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Oct 22, 2009 -> 03:43 PM) Rehab? Rehab is for quitters. Edited October 22, 2009 by FlaSoxxJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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