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Hi everyone!
Tonight I was at the Craft Beer Store and found me some of my favorite beer from whence I liveth on the west coast! I have many a fond memory of drinking this beer in abundance, uhhh, I mean that because I was in Oregon that the supply of this beer was abundant! Let's not confuse that with me imbibing in overabundance. That almost NEVER happened! Well, I'm 90% positive that it almost never happened.
Anyhoo, this baby is an American Porter which is a reincarnation of the English Style porters but like all things American, go "murrica", it has been improved on! Well, in this case she has been!
Ah, east meets west. PBC and Deschutes. I could see a collaboration there!
I poured this black beaut-y at about 55 degrees F into a standard pint and she poured such a lovely dark brown to black with a full one finger creamy khaki head that lasts as a thick ring and thin cap and leaves leopard skin lacing on the glass. SEXY!
I'm not even going to read what those folks on BA are saying. The first guy on there mentions strong citrus. LOL
Sorry, I don't smell any citrus but what I do smell is roasted and chocolate malts with hints of vanilla, a bready yeast and some hop acidity. It's freaking brilliant! As a matter of fact, I take that back, after sounding like an ass in lambasting the citrus comment, one could make out that hop acidity as that! I'm a turd.
I taste heaven in a glass. Toasted chocolate malts and vanilla dance with a very mild wood smoke flavor and bready yeastness and finish finally with a mild and earthy dry hop taste that begs your elbow to again bend and bring that glass to your lips, your tongue and drink in this black beauty.
Now let me talk about how sweet her body is! She is a medium to full bodied beer thinner than some but with creamy sweet hips making her much easier to drink than some that would kill you with candy and she has kept a bit of the dry sense of English humor as an homage. I'm in love. Playful yet not bubbly, what else could you want in a dark lady like her?
I had to excuse myself for a minute there and have a cigarette. Overall, I would recommend her to everyone, but would be totally jealous and want to keep her for my own as she is a world class beauty! Solid and dependable. I have missed my Black Butte-y!
I hope this makes you guys and girls want to get out there and try a new beer because it can be so enlightening!
-Wiss
Hey Everyone!
Today was a total success for the May Fair in Mayfair and for Lucky 13 Homebrew club as we signed up ten potential new members and brewed an Innocuous Pale Ale as well! We had a great time and made lots of new friends!
Tonight's addition to the Evil Genius Week is an Eye PA! It's an American IPA which is a spinoff of the classic English IPA (India Pale Ale) which back in the day was heavily hopped to keep the beer from spoiling on the long voyage by sailing vessel to the Indian colonies where the hierarchy of the English Army would enjoy a stronger more delicious version of the beer and the army grunts would get a watered down version. American versions of the IPA are more liberal with the hops (citrus tasting varieties are popular) and or maltiness with perhaps fuller bodies.
On first glance you can see how carbonated this beer was. It, like last night's fare, was explosive out to the bottle.
I poured this beer at about 60 degrees and it was and exceptionally beautiful and clear amber colour with well over 3 fingers of head which settles to a full finger for the entire drink and leaves a nice sticky lacing on the glass.
The aroma is very hop forward floral and citrusy with a strong mix of pale malt sweetness and honey. This has to be one of the best smelling beers that I have ever had!
The taste is really mellow and sweet to begin with and handsomely the bittering hops take the lead by time the sip is finished. It's very well balanced with some notes of citrus and pepper.
The mouthfeel is a bit hot from carbonation which is noticeable on the tip of the tongue immediately but then it smooths out but leaves you hanging a little as it is a bit thin. The finish is fairly dry but not overly so.
This beer has some excellent points and some that seem like they need work. The aroma is just off the wall gorgeous, the flavour a bit average and the body too thin and carbonated. It is exceedingly sessionable though and truthfully, I would seek this out again, especially on tap as the carbonation might be different. This is a good beer!
If I could make all the beer drinking world love craft beer, then my job here is done.
-Wiss
Hey everyone, welcome to craft beer! I hope that you stay a while!
Tonight's choice is considered an oatmeal stout by Beer Advocate and called a chocolate stout by Evil Genius. Oatmeal stouts are considered to be exceptionally smooth from the oats and perhaps a bit sweeter with various degrees of bitter and roasted notes.
This is going to be good!
"I'm just a WARM beer drinker!" -some adulterated country song
I poured this beer at a warm room temperature as I got sidetracked and forgot to place it in the fridge, but I am happy that I did as WOW it is giving off some fine aromas! It poured thick and black with a huge frothy brown head (from the warm temperature) that settled to a one finger cap of creamy goodness and a sticky wall of lacing on the pint glass.
Aromas- Chocolate malt, roasted coffee, vanilla, and maybe what can be described as oatmeal (I dunno, it really does smell like it) and not much in the way of hops.
Tastes like chocoalte malts, roasted malts both sweet and slightly bitter intermingle with a mild sourness, light milky vanilla and very mild piney hops which finish her off.
The body is a little lighter than I would have thought but still fairly full and smooth with an even mix of sweet and sour. Definitely different than I am used to! Intriguing and excellent! There is also a tad bit more carbonation that I would have figured but it works well with the mild sour. There is a little of a slippery feeling on my tongue and a peppery finish. Alcohol is a little apparent and it is slightly dry between sips.
Overall I really like this beer! It's not like any that I have had before and may not be exactly an oatmeal stout in the way that it's pretty hot with carbonation, thinner than most and slightly sour. Personally I give it a solid 4.25 out of 5. I'm not sure that it reflects the style totally for the above reasons but it's damn good! Style wise, 4.0 out of 5. I would recommend this for sure. It's not a crossover beer from the big boy lagers, but excellent!
You have to try this beer! For if you want to try something new like your partner says, try this one! It's new! ha ha ha!
-Wiss
Hi everyone!
This is probably going to be my shortest review ever. Lots to do in preparation of a Fair that the homebrew club is doing a homebrew exhibit for.
Ok this is a dunkelweizen and it's pretty much a dark version of a hefeweizen with some fruit characters to it and a little bit more in the way of malt. Sounds delicious, eh?
I poured it too cold, in a hurry. It is a dark mahagony and hazy with very little in the way of a head or lacing.
Aromas are of dark malts, caramel, clove and dark fruit. Very little hops if any.
The flavour is pretty much the same. Some mild hops finish it off but it's mostly a sweet beer. Not exceedingly balanced.
Mouthfeel is sweet and full with very low carbonation.
Overall, I would call this beer good! I would recommend it to try. I would like to see what it's like on draught and warmer but it's a little flat. I give it a 3.5 out of 5.
Do it!
-Wiss
Hello everyone!
Sorry for missing last night but I was attending the semi-finals of the Philly Beer Geek competition as part of Philly Beer Week at the Manyunk brewery where I enjoyed 3 fine beers. Question, what is the difference according to ancient usages of beer and ale. A free t-shirt to the first to answer without using google.
At Manyunk Brewery I enjoyed their double IPA (a bit hoppier than the ones I really enjoy), a Polish Wheat beer brewed by Steve Mashington and the head brewer of Manyunk especially for the Beer Geek compo (pretty dang smokey, but not over the top and really enjoyable) and a low ABV scotch ale from Manyunk which was delicious and roasty! Six participants out of the 19 move on to the final round to be held June 6. There were trivia rounds, short answer rounds, replace beer words for movie quote rounds and flamboyancy displays. It was pretty cool and inventive to say the least.
Tonight for a belated Mother's Day, Keith and I took my Mom out to Pizzeria Uno's where I over ate on pizza, of course, and had a very large glass of a Wee Heavy called Dirty Bastard from Founders Brewery.
It poured a really dark but clear mahogany with a great lasting head and nice lacing.
The aromas were hard to make out as it was served waaay too cold probably at below 40 degrees F but I could make out some caramel malt sweetness, little hops and a wee bit o'bread.
Truthfully, the flavours were straightforward as well. Malts. Lots of malt sweetness, dark fruits, bread and finally mild bittering hops to finish it off. Alcohol was faintly apparent and there was a bit of buttery to it as well.
The mouthfeel was fairly full in body and the sweetness was a little too much for me. It wasn't as balanced as I would like, but I am not an expert on Scotch Ale. They are supposed to be high in dextrins so that would account for the sweet.
Overall, it was most likely very befitting of the style I will have to score it pretty high because of so. Personally, I thought it was too sweet. But this isn't personal, it's BEER! Solid 4 out of 5!
Get out there and try it. Or try something else. Just try! Try again!
-Wiss
Hi Everyone!
I have a mini week of a local PA brewery called Evil Genius and tonight's fare is an American Amber Ale which is pretty much a generic description of any ale that is less than a dark. Amber in color and malty but balanced with a variety of hops and some fruit flavours brewers can pretty much do what they want to this beer. Let's have a look see...
I poured this beer from a bottle at about 50 degrees F and it poured a hazy amber color with a khaki one finger head that fades to a solid ring and thin cap with a fairly sticky checkerboard lacing pattern.
The aroma is pretty malt forward some toasted mostly caramel with definite hints of fruits including apple and some mild floral hops. There is perhaps a small amount of diacetyl mixed with wine or something a bit odd, but not unpleasant, I just can't put my finger on it and it gets more pronounced with temperature. Buttery for sure.
You know, my aroma description pretty much describes the taste. Those flavours all mix pretty evenly and then fade at the end to a bit of dry hops and I will admit, the transition is pretty cool! It ends lightly peppery and dry and really makes me want another sip (if it weren't for the diacetyl).
It has a good medium body and a smooth mouthfeel slightly hot from carbonation and a dry finish. Fairly well done. Enjoyable and easy to drink.
Overall, I would say that I like this beer and would recommend it, but the buttery bits put me off. I may have gotten a skunked bottle as it is really cloudy and does not clear up with temperature rise. I haven't read any diacetyl comments in anyone elses reviews. Like I said, it does not make this beer bad and I still like it, but I would like to try it again just to see. No date on the bottle to make any assumptions. Overall, with the buttery, I'm going to give it a solid 3.5 anyway. I like it.
Hey, you never know what other beer tastes like unless you put down that remote, get out of your lunge chair and head on over to that "yuppy store with all the expensive beers" and try a real beer.
-Wiss
Hello everyone!
On this fine Mother's Day which was started in Philadelphia by Anna Jarvis and first observed in 1908 and supported by John Wanamaker which sort of makes sense as he wanted to sell something. LOL
Anyway, tonight is my last night of Stouts week and I am ending it with a really nice pilsner. The German style pilsner was first brewed in Bohemia and this lager is fairly hoppy for a lager with a rich head and good lacing.
I am very glad that I opened this beer tonight as I was about to skip the blog as I'm pretty tired. OMG this is a good pilsner!
It poured from the bottle a clear golden straw color with a nice white one finger head consisting of tiny bubbles and leaves a bunch of ancient African art stick figures on the side of the glass for lacing! COOOOL!
I was hit with an aroma of both sweet pale malt, earthy hops and white bread! YUM!
The flavour is pretty much the same way. It starts of pale malty sweet and releases some mild fruity notes as it moves across your tongue mixing with some bread then finally letting loose some really mild earthy and piney hops ending only mildly dry and peppery. WOW!
The mouthfeel is light creamy sweet moderate body and a bit of carbonation at first.
Overall I am going to say that this is my new favorite pilsner. It's really good and I highly recommend it to anyone! 5 out of 5! World Class!
You gotta try this beer. Put it on your bucket list!
-Wiss
