Thirty Years Young

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Series: Fritz and Ken's Ale

This stout is the first of a 4 beer series and is a collaboration between Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada. As the bottle says:

"Fritz Maytag, owner of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company, is regarded as the godfather of the craft brewing movement. Fritz agreed to guest brew this very special ale with us in honor of our 30 ^th anniversary. As a nod to the robust black ales that seduced both Fritz and Ken in the early years, we bring you this Pioneers Stout, a rich and roasted ale, perfect for aging, and worthy of your finest snifter. Enjoy!"

This beer really lives up to its claims. It is one of the best hoppy stouts I have ever tired and it gives my all-time favorite beer, Rogue's 2008 Imperial Stout, a run for its money.

When poured it is a thick, very dark brown with a nice-sized dark tan head. The smell is very bitter, fruity, and a little hoppy. There is a slight coffee scent too, but not too much to make me step back (I hate coffee).

The flavor is well balanced; there aren't the overpowering chocolate or coffee notes that plague many stouts. The flavor is a bitter chocolate, but also has a subtle hops flavor and smokiness and it all wraps up with some notes of coffee. The complexity is nice and all of the flavors blend smoothly; like I said, not one of them overwhelms any of the others.

This beer was so nice that I bought a few bottles and put them away to age for a few years.

QUICK TASTE

Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary: Fritz and Ken's Ale
Chico, CA

ABV% 9.20

Imperial Stout

Appearance: Dark brown, dark tan head

Aromatics: Fruity, hoppy and little coffee

Taste: Hoppy, Bitter Chocolate, Smokey and Roasted

Notes: Very Interesting and Complex Stout, saved a few bottles for aging

92

Volun-beer-ing?

So this Saturday I took some time to do some community service and do some volunteering.... at the East Atlanta Beer Festival! Man... that had to be one of the better decisions of my life!

To give a quick history, the EABF (http://www.eastatlantabeerfest.com) is an annual festival (now 7 years old) in the awesome neighborhood of East Atlanta Village. People from all over (seriously, I met people who came from 2 hours away, if not more!) congregate in EAV to enjoy a beautiful day and LOTS of beer - 130+ breweries! There is also music, food, and lots of schwag.

The great thing about it for me was being around so many beer-loving individuals. It was commonplace for me to overhear conversations about hop varietals or comparisons between the finish of one brown ale to the next; it was truly a beer-lover's heaven.

The other great thing, is that as a volunteer, I got in free and could still enjoy all of the delicious beers I wanted (and that I did, no doubt about that!). Moreso, volunteering was quite fun. I worked at the entry gate during the second shift (3-6PM) with a friend of mine, where we counted people entering and also handed out replacement tasting cups. That was great, because we started having people (none of whom were sober) tell us how they broke their cups and some stories were funny as hell. My favorite may have been the girl who had the cup in her cleavage, and was then "forced" to chest bump her best friend, thereby smashing said cleavage cup. The story was not all that amazing, though it helped that she was very, very attractive and the way it was told and her insistence on it not being her fault was just hilarious.

So, that said, to all my fellow EABFers... Thanks for a great time and see y'all next year!

8-4-1 Expedition

A Redhook Limited Release...

As I was about to leave my apartment to trek down to studio about a week ago, I decided to bring a beer or two along with me to drink while I sat at the computer and worked on my final project. One of my most recent purchases was the 8-4-1 Expedition Limited Release from Redhook Brewery (Portsmouth, NH). While at Hop City I was intrigued by the frosted brown bottle and the manly, refined label so I figured I'd pick one up. It cost me about 6 or 7 dollars, so I was crossing my fingers for something decent, but I also knew I could be taking a chance - especially because I've never been overly impressed with Redhook's offerings.  

It poured an deep amber color without any very prominent aromas, both things that I found suspect for something touted as an Imperial Brown.

The taste was, thankfully, much more satisfying than my original judgment. It was suuuuuper smooth and pleasantly malty with a little tiny hoppy zip right in the middle. There was also an undertone of a taste that seemed to be a sweet-ish woody flavor (likely the Cherry that is mentioned on the label). The finish is not strong by any means, but solid nonetheless; its a slightly sticky and roasty taste that sits in the mouth indefinitely, letting you keep swallowing the flavors over and over again.

NOTE!
All of these prior paragraphs were written within 5 minutes of opening the beer. The Expedition is a 9.5% ABV and that was originally quite well hidden (dangerously, sneak-up-behind-you-and-intoxicate-you-more-than-you-planned so). However, as the beer warmed up sitting by my computer (granted, I'll admit that I probably let it warm more than I should have), the alcohol became more and more apparent with an almost medicinal quality that was not all that great.

All in all a decent offering from Redhook... just don't let it get too warm. It could probably benefit from some aging as well, but I rarely have the patience to age anything more than a month.

-Andrew


QUICK TASTE
Redhook Ale Brewery, 8-4-1 Expedition
Portsmouth, NH

ABV 9.5%

According to Redhook: Imperial Brown Ale
According to BeerAdvocate: American Strong Ale

Appearance: Pours with a creamy looking 2 finger head. Good rising bubbles. Rich amber color

Aromatics: Faintly sweet, mellow roasty scents... nothing sticks out in particular though, not all too aromatic

Taste: Smooth and malty with a brief note of hoppiness - possibly some of the cherry-wood flavor(?). The finish is not strong, though its got a solid roasted flavor with a tiny hint of honey... and it sticks around for a while. At 9.5 ABV it generally hides it very well. This is a beer that could (and sorta did) easily sneak up because it is quite drinkable. Starts smooth and enjoyable, though, as it warms the alcohol becomes more apparent at the finish - and not appetizingly so.

Notes: Not a bad beer despite some odd flavor combos, but not loud enough for an IMPERIAL brown ale (other than the ABV).

83/100

Burton Baton: The Bastard of Beer

(Ok, I cant take credit for the name, but its just too perfect. Why mess with perfection? http://beeradvocate.com/articles/626)

The reason the name works is because it is not one "pure" beer. It is actually two beers brewed separately, then blended and aged together (almost like cigar tobacco). In this case, its an English-style old ale and an Imperial IPA (Dogfish 90 min).

I've had this beer a few times before, but its been a while and I've grown as a beer drinker a lot since then, so I was excited to sit down and try this beer again. We had it on tap at Zeno's and I may have drank half the sixtol on my own, I think got it every time I wasn't working.

Each 10 ounce I got was dark brown with a hint of orange, with a finger or so of tan head. The smell was caramel and sweet malts. The taste was oak and vanilla mixed with an sweet Double IPA. The Burton had a very smooth finish, and its the taste of the DFH 90min that lingers and is the last flavor to leave your palate.

For some reason I feel that the beer tasted better from the tap than a bottle. Usually I feel that people who think beer tastes better out of a keg are full of it, but this time, I had to swallow my pride and agree.


QUICK TASTE

Burton Baton
Milton, DE

ABV% 10.00

Imperial IPA aged in oak

Appearance: Dark brown color, less red then a typical IPA

Aromatics: Malty, Oaky

Taste: Sweet malts, vanilla, smooth, and at the back end you can taste the 90 min

Notes: Interesting beer, good name, sweeter then I normally prefer, but very good!

90