Beer Review: Avery & Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation Ale Vintage 2008

Haven't seen you in three years.

My Amish friend Josh brought this bottle of Collaboration Not Litigation to share with my wife and I. Josh rarely brings over anything besides chips, plates and napkins. So, we were pleasantly surprised that he brought this along with several other choice goodies. This beer has a very cool story behind it. Google it! Two breweries, same name, different beer. Mix 'em. Boom! (said as Frank Caliendo as John Madden). I had this back when it was fresh in 2008. Very interested in trying it again nearly three years later.

It pours hazy ruby brown with an off-white head and sticky lacing. There is not much head retained through the tasting, but some sticky lacing hangs around. It smells yeasty, fruity, bready sweet with light roasty and chocolate notes. It tastes of gingerbread and roasted coffee up front with a fruity tart middle and a long sweet and sour finish. It feels thin for the flavor and color profile. I was expecting a big sticky chewy beer. Not at all. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. It's just different. 

As I remembered it, Collaboration is a very enjoyable beer. It's somewhat heavy on the palate due to complex sweet and sour elements. But, the 8+% alcohol content is very well hidden. Thanks again to Josh for bringing this fine brew over and spending the evening with Erin and I.

Beer Review: JW Lees Harvest Ale 1999 Vintage

12 years have done you odd

To me J.W. Lees Harvest Ale is the gold standard for English barley wines. Between my buddy Greg and I we've got several vintages in our collections. Up to this point my favorite has been the 2002 vintage. For this special occasion Greg brought over his oldest bottle, 1999. Hell yeah. Nothing like drinking a fine beverage that was brewed before I was of legal drinking age. Let's see what a 12 year nap has done. By the way, I need to say that I hate that American brewers have to label their versions as "barley-wine style ales". Dumb laws.


It pours deep ruby red and very murky. It's got a light tan head and thin lacing that hangs around for a while. It smells of peppermint. Wait, what? Yeah, peppermint. I was certainly not expecting that. In addition to the mint it smells mildly earthy with a menthol/alcohol black licorice aura.


Tastes of rooty mint, anise and mild chewy fruity juicy goodness. Some malty fruit and black licorice through the finish. It's feels medium in body and lacks the warmth that usually accompanies a brew of more than 11% alcohol content


The '99 Lees is a very enjoyable and unique beer. This vintage is quite different than the others I've had. The peppermint and menthol notes set it apart from the rest. This experience makes me want to try barley wines of older vintages and from other makers. 


I had the pleasure of attending a vintage barley wine dinner back in February for my birthday. Tasting over 20 fine brews, but I did not take notes. Some of the brews I apparently sampled that day included a '98 & '99 Thomas Hardy and '93 & '96 Lees. That was a fine evening. 


So, cheers to a cellar filled with some choice old brews!

Beer Review: Nøgne Sweet Horizon

Well, hello.

My buddy Greg was generous enough to share this bottle of Sweet Horizon with me last weekend. This was my first experience with any brews from Nøgne. I don't know much about their beer or their brewery, so naturally I went in to this tasting not knowing what to expect.

Sweet Horizon pours dark, dark brown, with a thin tan-ish head and no lacing to speak of. The aroma just about knocked me out of my chair. And that's not because we'd had several craft goodies prior to this one. No, really. It smells divine. The aromas include waffle syrup, some oak notes, smoky and roasty notes and strong alcohol. There's a lot going on here.

After we finished staring at this one and smelling it for several minutes I took my first taste. It's malty sweet and tart like cherries up front. As it settles in some coffee roast notes with a smoky and savory feel. The beer finish tastes of sweet cocoa covered cherries. Throughout the sipping you are totally aware of it's 14% alcohol content.

This beer is an excellent sipper. A 2-3 oz. pour is perfect, so this bottle can be comfortably shared with 3-4 craft beer fans. I found Sweet Horizon to be wonderfully complex and very enjoyable. As the canister says, this beer isn't to be served with dessert. It IS dessert.

Here are some close up shots of the bottle and tin:

Beer Review: North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve

It's a Celebration!

My buddy Greg shared this bottle of North Coast's Old Stock Cellar Reserve with me to celebrate a special occasion. Cellar Reserve is a bourbon barrel aged version of their 2009 vintage Old Stock Ale. We're huge fans of old ales and bourbon barrel aging. This is a pricey one at about $25 a bottle.


Poured in to a Duvel tulip it appears murky dark brownish red with a very thin white head and lots of carbonation streams. I was really shocked by this being that it's two years old. Bottle conditioning maybe? From a distance this looks a lot like cola.

It smells woody, of bourbon, caramel sweet with some strong alcohol notes. Whoa, boy. The flavors are savory with some obvious wood and bourbon flavors. The middle rounds out with a rich caramel sweetness with a hint of tartness. Surprisingly this beer finishes very clean with not much of an aftertaste. This felt thin in body for the style. You will warm up as drinking this as the alcohol is very present. I think some nap time will do this one good.

Overall I'd have to say that this was a very nice treat. This is a special beer as it's unique in flavor for the style. It's easy to sip and I'm sure it'll develop and mellow out even more over time. The only real downside here is the price.


Some up close bottle pictures:

          

 

Beer Review: Sly Fox Odyssey Imperial IPA

Another treat from PA.

I bought a bottle of Sly Fox Brewing Company's Odyssey Imperial IPA a few weeks back with I was up in the Philly area. Remember that epic beer weekend? Here's the run down if you missed it. At about $6 for a 22 oz bottle the price was right. I enjoy the style and we don't get this back home. Here we go.

Poured in to a Dogfish Head signature glass. Appears hazy light copper with a thin and firm fine bubbled white head, small dotted lacing and minimal carbonation streams. The head thins out and dissipates a bit, but stays through the end of the tasting. Odyssey smells of spicy hops, almost floral and perfumy. There is some malt sweetness present in the nose as well.

Upon the first sips I'm greeted with huge spicy and bitter hop flavors. Tastes kind of like what I imagine candied grapefruit would taste like. The malt sweet and richness is less present in the flavor profile than in the aroma. It finishes with subtle hop bitterness with an aftertaste that doesn't stick around for more than a few seconds.

This tastes and feels like an above average double IPA. It's not a total hop or booze bomb, which is nice. At 8.4% ABV I was expecting this to taste a tad on the boozy side. But Sly Fox did a decent job of balancing out the flavors in this beer, though it leans a bit more towards the hoppy side as expected. I'd get this again in a few years, but it's nothing I'd go crazy to find.

Beer Review: The Bruery Saison De Lente

Saison De Lente

I split this bottle of Saison De Lente from The Bruery with my wife and our friends Greg & Julia with an excellent dinner of beef tenderloin, asparagus and roasted red potatoes. This was my second time with this brew, first time from a bottle. It's been on my radar for some time now but I've always avoided it due to the price. Saw it last week in PA for $9. I bit. We enjoyed several bottles of their Autumn Maple back in the Fall. Mmm....looking forward to that again this year.

Mine poured in to a Duvel tulip and appeared cloudy bright gold with huge foamy white head that stays for a long time. It leaves behind sticky lacing and some good steady carbonation streams. The aroma is beautifully  presented with lemon and pepper notes, some clove notes as well. The flavors match the aroma profile. Delicate peppery spice up front, creamy lemon citrus in the middle that finishes crisp and tart. The flavors here are strong but not overpowering at all. Saison de Lente is perfect balanced.

This beer encompasses all that I love in a saison. It's clean, crisp and has some awesome spice and yeast flavors. It's extremely easy to drink and is not a palate killer but stands up to strong flavored food. This style in general is a favorite of mine. I would definitely buy this beer again, but I wouldn't pay much more than $10 for a bottle. I'd say that Saison De Lente is one of the finest American made saisons currently on the market. At it's current price point for my area this will remain a special occasion treat rather than a cellar/fridge regular.

I love the label art for this beer, and all of their beers for that matter. Here's a close up.

Do you see the bunnies?

Beer Review: Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout

Tres!

I picked up two 12 oz. bottles of Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout at Blue Dog Family Tavern in Chalfont, PA last weekend. I feel like I haven't seen this one store shelves near me. I think I remember seeing it or reading about it in DRAFT magazine. Seemed interesting and the price was right.

Poured from the bottle in to a snifter. Appears pitch black, with a dark tan purple laced head that scoots to the edge rather quickly. It smells of sweet blueberries, roasted coffee, dark chocolate and cherries. All expected aromas are present and accounted for. It tastes exactly like it smells but with a bitter and tart finish. Tart fruit flavors are very much up front, almost to a fault. But ,when you choose to get in to a blueberry stout you have to expect that. It feels thin to medium in body and is very easy to sip.

This was a nice sweet treat. Tres is certainly a unique and fairly well crafted beer. This is a beer that I'd pick up from time to time if I saw it. It would be nice to keep on hand for when you have the taste for it.