From The Beer Deck

August LG

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:21:00 -0400

Lawrence Gazette 2011 August

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Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Hellhound On My Ale | “Ale...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:27:00 -0400

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Hellhound On My Ale | “Ale Brewed With Lemons”

These days, I make annual pilgrimages to Rehoboth Beach, or at least the alehouses if I’m in the D.C. area, to get my fill of the Dogfish Head experience. I love everything about the brewpub, and I’d have to, to make a six-hours-driving day trip. I get a little crazed the beginning of every September waiting for Punkin Ale to finally drop. It is the only beer I buy by the case even if I don’t have to. (I may add Troegs Nugget Nectar to this list this year.)

My introduction to Dogfish Head was Raison D’Etre of all things. It was probably 2002, and I wasn’t ready. It’s hard for me to believe in fact that I’ve been a Dogfish devotee only since 2007, when I finally got it at the tasting table at the inaugural Philly Craft Beer Festival.

I’m not a pure dittohead though. As much as I love 90-Minute and Squall and Burton Baton is as indifferent as I feel toward Festina Peche, Aprihop, Midas Touch, Palo Santo Marron, Sah’Tea and Namaste. Asked to pick Bell’s Two Hearted Ale or the 60-Minute IPA, I’d probably go with the Bell’s. Some of the wine bottle beers - Red and White, Black and Blue, Fort … I’m not even sure I’ve tried at all.

But I’m still a big fan. Even if I don’t end up liking a new DFH beer, I’m almost always interested in trying it. So it was with Hellhound On My Ale, billed as an Ale Brewed With Lemons. It probably took me about 10 visits to 8 or 9 stores before I found a bottle, but fortunately, I’ve had good luck with the quality of the beers I’ve bought there, and had reason to believe even though it had been on the shelf awhile, it would taste fairly close to what the brewers intended.

The flavor is familiar. If you’ve had 90-Minute IPA, Squall or Burton Baton, you’re not in for any big surprises. And the lemon is evident. With hops so ready to provide a citrus burst in every big IPA, it seems a bit gratuitous to throw some lemons in there, so even though there is a story behind it - which you can read about at www.dogfish.com - I’m not sure that’s a reason to do it.

The tartness the lemons added, for me, brought the beer down a notch. I think you have to be very careful with lemon flavor. What you want lemon to do is make something lighter and more refreshing. If lemon should start to overpower a concoction, one starts to think of dishwashing liquid. And if your brain does go down that path, even for a moment, it’s tough to see any detours from there.

It’s a fine beer. You can trust Dogfish Head as always. But for a big IPA, I’ll stick with the 90-Minute or Burton Baton.

Central Waters Brewing Company | Illumination | Double IPA There...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:03:00 -0400

Central Waters Brewing Company | Illumination | Double IPA

There are the times when I march into the beer store with something in mind, find it, and go straight to the register without any hesitation. At high-volume stores, this earns me a bemused/bewildered look. What kind of idiot pays $8.99 a pop for a beer they’ve never heard of, that no one else ever wants?

At craft-beer-friendlier stores, it’s usually a conversation starter. “If you like that, have you had this?” Because with craft beer, there’s always something else someone wants you to have tried. “Have you had Centennial IPA from Founders? Yeah? Well what about the Kalamazoo Stout from Bell’s then, have you tried that? No? Great beer.”

Most of the time, I’m nowhere near that decisive. I’m usually on the lookout for something rare or new, and all too often I go all the way to the store just to find out it’s not there. So I end up in a vortex of indecision, furiously checking out the ratings of the options on my phone, and if I’m in Pennsylvania, agonizing over the nearly impossible task of committing to a case of beer at once.

I think there are times when I’ve come out from the dusty back racks of a store with two bombers and a four-pack in hand, and the clerk has been startled to realize I’m still there, 30 minutes after I walked in. I set out for Bella Vista Distributors in Philly on Memorial Day, hoping to score a case of Shark Attack from Port Brewing Co. I could have called ahead, sure, but there is something to be said for going in blind and being pleasantly surprised … and not much to recommend the way the typical call to a distributor goes.

YOU: Hi, did you get in any CanuckdeBruijn Cockle-Bumbleberry Ale?

DISTRIBUTOR CLERK: (Laughs, hangs up.)

There was no Shark Attack. No Wipeout. Obviously, no Hop-15. No misplaced and forgotten cases of Avery The Maharaja. And while Bella Vista is a cozy home to Hopheads, the choices I was left with were by no means clear. When I saw the case of Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, I should have made the call right there and been done with it. Hop Stoopid is probably the cheapest quality IIPA out there: the case of bombers was less than $50.

I was now in the mood for something new, though. I pondered and researched my options: Dark Horse Crooked Tree (not a double). Coronado Idiot. Boulder Mojo Risin’.

I decided to go with the Central Waters Illumination. I’d never had a Central Waters brew of any kind. It was fairly well rated on ratebeer, but not crazy high. I was excited at the possibility of taking home 24 delicious bottles of beer. So, long after most other patrons had come and gone, the clerks who wanted to be grilling and chilling rather than working eying me warily, I carried my case up to the register.

They do enough craft beer volume that you get really very little banter there at all. I bought a case of Speedway Stout there once, and that was expensive enough to raise an eyebrow. But not very high - I mean they sell cases and cases of the stuff.

Illumination is a decent beer. It’s not bad. There’s pineapple and orange and grapefruit in there. It has all the qualities I love in a good IIPA. It also has some characteristics I do not love. It’s too muddled and too malty for me. I think it has the bitterness to compete, but I don’t think it’s crisp enough, refined enough.

Illumination is nevertheless enjoyable, a fun taste experience, and very drinkable. I wish I could have tried just a six-pack, and it’ll be a while before the fridge is cleared out for something new to take its place. But that’s a problem with Pennsylvania, not the beer.

The Lost Abbey (Port Brewing) | Avant Garde | Bière De Garde Was...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:42:00 -0400

The Lost Abbey (Port Brewing) | Avant Garde | Bière De Garde

Was racing the rain to get the photo in. And to photograph our leaky roof. The contractor wanted to know how many pipes we had that needed tarring, as well as the slope of the roof. “It’s steep,” I told him. “Could be as much a 25, 30 degrees.” There was a pause on the other end of the line. “That is steep,” he said. He hasn’t called back since I e-mailed him the photo.

I poured the Avant Garde into a wine glass that has a tulip-ish shape, as you can see. Persistent head, very little lacing. I would call it a yeasty, floral, grassy aroma. Flavor was crisp and refreshing, hoppy and highly carbonated. I liked that the aroma did not quit. There was a bitter finish, but it was sweet on the tongue. Substantial mouthfeel. Good stuff. 8/4/8/4/17 = 4.1.

Avery Brewing Company | The Reverend | Abt/Quad I enjoyed my...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:13:00 -0400

Avery Brewing Company | The Reverend | Abt/Quad

I enjoyed my first Fathers Day. The Boy was in a generally good mood and the weather was nice enough. My wonderful present from Amy and The Boy was T-shirts from six brewpubs we have visited together: Bell’s, Victory, Rogue, Great Lakes, Portsmouth, and the rather inconspicuous Bobcat Cafe in Bristol, Vt.

I marked the occasion with a Southern Tier Mokah (not pictured), which I’ve had before and enjoyed. The first time I had it was up at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill in Burlington, Vt., not long before I learned Amy was pregnant, and I was beguiled. That day, I found it to be a smooth and supersweet chocolate and coffee bomb of a stout. I sought out a few bottles throughout the rest of last summer and the experience was just as good.

This version, which I believe was from the 2011 batch, had more hops (maybe because it’s newer) and quite a bit more going on - not all of it good. It was slightly sour and maybe a bit unnatural tasting - there was perfume from the hops, but also a chemical flavor. I still enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as last year.

The Reverend, which is pictured, is from the day before. It was tasty without being complex. The flavors were sour cherries and Robitussin. Things didn’t change much over the course of the bomber. It was a bit vegetal as well, with some metal and some funk, but just a little. I gave it a 6/4/7/3/14 = 3.4 at www.ratebeer.com.

Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant Lancaster | Hopstinger | India...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:43:00 -0400

Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant Lancaster | Hopstinger | India Pale Ale

That trip started out promisingly. The thrilling itinerary:

Aug. 30: Leave home. Lancaster outlet shopping; Iron Hill Lancaster for lunch; drive to Columbus Ohio

Aug. 31: Morning outlet shopping; Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds afternoon game at Great American Ballpark; dinner in Indianapolis (as it turned out, we just went to The Cheesecake Factory); nightcap at Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette, Ind.

Sept. 1: Shopping during the day in the Chicago suburbs; dinner at Three Floyds.

Sept. 2: See post below.

Sept. 3: We weren’t done! Got up relatively early in time to make afternoon Tigers game at Comerica Park, then got to Cleveland in time to have dinner at Great Lakes Brewing Co. For those who are counting, that’s five Brewpubs in five days.

Sept. 4: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, lunch at Skyline Chili (so I could say I’ve done it); stayed overnight in the middle of nowhere off I-80 in Pennsylvania. Northwest Pennsylvania is about as remote as anywhere I’ve been, which includes western North Dakota.

Sept. 5: With no real plans, we stopped a few places for Amy to shop, and I had a couple beers at Selin’s Grove Brewing Company in Selinsgrove, Pa., better known as the home of Susquehanna University. Incredibly, we weren’t done, as we had dinner at Lancaster Brewing Company in Lancaster, all the places in Harrisburg being closed at the time we were driving by. Seven brewpubs in six days. I actually go to LBC for the white chicken chili, not the beer, though naturally I had one.

The pic above is a glass of Hopstinger, a beer they brew occasionally at Iron Hill Lancaster. The name is a nod to honey, one of the beer’s ingredients, but for me it was a delicious IPA bursting with pine and citrus flavors. One of the best Iron Hill brews.

Bell’s Brewery | Hopslam Ale | Imperial IPA Sept. 2, 2009...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:28:00 -0400

Bell’s Brewery | Hopslam Ale | Imperial IPA

Sept. 2, 2009 was a crazy day in a fast-paced vacation. On Sept. 1, we had dined at the Three Floyds brewpub in Munster, Ind., and I’d come away with a trunkful of beer, including Alpha King and Dreadnaught. That made it a really good trip already. We could have driven straight home and been big winners.

But the next morning, we got up early at our hotel in the Illinois suburbs, drove into Chicago, ate lunch at Frontera Grill, went to the Art Institute of Chicago and spent the afternoon there, then drove to Michigan City, Ind. where we did some outlet shopping in the shadow of a nuclear power plant.

Then we continued on to Kalamazoo. We stopped at a hotel only to realize it was one of the places we’d considered, but ultimately not decided to stay at. Got back in the car and drove to the hotel where we actually had reservations, checked in, then drove into town, past a stream of Western Michigan University students who were going to some kind of football rally, to the brewpub/dedicated beer bar/whatever.

Would have been happy enough to have some Two-Hearted Ale and maybe some things I could find on tap but not in bottles, but was pleasantly surprised to find they had brewed up a batch of Hopslam, which I was led to believe at the time was odd for September. Now I’m not so sure.

As delicious as the beer was, it was easily the unfriendliest brewpub we’ve been to. There was a familiarity evident among many of the patrons and staff, and there is something to be said for a bar that is better for the locals than the beer tourists. Maybe we looked strung out and strange popping in after 9 p.m. in our Frontera Grill outfits (khakis). But if I had never asked for beer, I never would have been offered beer. It’s now how I would run a restaurant, but obviously they’re doing well enough that they can set their own standards. That said, the beer was delicious and because of that I would go back - point for Bell’s, one supposes.

Cigar City Brewing | Warmer Winter Winter Warmer | Old...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 10:07:00 -0400

Cigar City Brewing | Warmer Winter Winter Warmer | Old Ale

Vintage 2009, enjoyed January 2010. Currently ranked the second best beer I’ve ever tried on www.ratebeer.com, where it’s classified as a barleywine. This is what I wrote at the time:

Nice and dark and rich - looks like its name. Rich tan bubbly head descends to a ring that stays. Strawberries, vanilla and bourbon barrels, chocolate, floral notes, alcohol. First sip is silky, enveloping, substantial. Bitter, sweet, complex. Smell the hops more now. Quite sweet, a little sour, lemon, grassy. Some roasty toasty malts now. Lacing in small round patches of bubbles, surface still a swirl of clouds. Orange aromas now, and back to vanilla. This is one of the smoothest, velvetiest beers I’ve ever had.