Firestone Walker Tasting Event at Teresa's Next Door in Wayne, PA

by Jeff Pilcicki (@thebeerhaunt)

A little while back my good friend Jeff visited a local tap bars for this event. Jeff has the suburban Philly scene covered for us. You should follow him on Twitter!

Of all the breweries that distribute near, but not to Pennsylvania, Firestone Walker has long been at the top of my list of breweries I'd like to see enter my fine state. Of course, Deschutes would top that list, but as they have yet to cross the Mississippi River, that's not likely to happen anytime soon (but hey, we'd welcome you!). Firestone Walker has distributed nearby for a while, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania was finally added to their repertoire on April 11, just over a month ago.

On April 12th, just the second day of distribution in the state, I attended a low key launch event at Teresa's Next Door Bar in Wayne, PA, one of the better bars I frequent. Teresa's is sometimes referred to as "Suburban Monks", as it specializes in high quality Belgian and American beers, as well as phenomenal food menu. Because I work during the day, I wasn't able to arrive until 4:30 in the afternoon, missing David Walker's appearance, and arrived during a lull in the crowd. 

I sat down and ordered the sampler - Walkers Reserve, Double Jack and Abacus.

I liked the way they notated the beers.  Circles on the paper with letters inside corresponding to the beers on the right

Sadly, in my excitement, I forgot to document each beer as it was consumed, but the image above shows remnants of lacing on the glass of Double Jack, as well as a half full Walker's Reserve. In my haste, I also picked a bad sequence to drink these beers. I began with the Abacus, a 13% barley wine probably my favorite, but also the most flavorful, palate killing beer of the day.  There's a boozy warmth to this beer, one that any drinker looking forward to the bourbon barrel aged treat will enjoy. It's not overpowering, but lets you know that it means business. The bourbon taste takes over up front with a caramel taste, and subsides to the dark fruit and sweet but mellow malt profile in the finish. A phenomenal beer that's great now, but will only improve with age.

Double Jack came next, 9.5% double IPA - Firestone Walker is two for two. Citrus hop based IPA loaded with hops and a full bodied beer. Despite that, I wouldn't consider it a hop bomb - incredibly balanced, but big.

Finally,the Walkers Reserve was just about everything you could ask for in a porter. A chocolate and coffee taste up front with a strong roasted malt finish.  Not as carbonated as some porters I've had make it feel fuller in body, and finishing with some oak and vanilla notes. 

After those three beers, I asked the bartender about the '14' - their 14th anniversary beer, a 12.5% strong ale. He said they only had bottles and they weren't for take out. I ordered a second Double Jack, as I wasn't about to drink a bottle of '14', as well as a sandwich called 'Meat Porn' an incredibly juicy aged Kobe Beef Burger. 

Unfortunately, the bartender wasn't exactly clear to me when he told me they only had bottles of '14' - what I later found out was that they were SERVING it from the bottle, $7 for an 8oz pour. Of course, had I known that, I would have ordered it. I took a break with a water while I mulled it over.  ...And ordered a '14', of course. I think a review on beeradvocate.com sums it up well "this is part quad, part stout and part barleywine.' Unfortunately, I don't have tasting notes on this beer, but let me tell you, if I fall into a chance to buy a bottle, I will not pass it up.  '14' is a beer that smacks the drinker in the face, but in the most delightful way possible.

Ahh. Heaven.  

At this point, I had made a few friends sitting at the bar, what one is bound to do after a few hours of drinking alone at a neighborhood bar. So I deviated from Firestone Walker and went a different direction… By ordering a Pliny the Elder,which turned into two, and a long nap when I arrived home.

I'd like to thank Jeff for this piece. I look forward to more reviews in the future. Make sure to follow him on Twitter @thebeerhaunt

Beer Review: Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse

My sister-in-law brought over this bottle of Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse last weekend to share with my wife an I This is my second time with this brew, first of this bottling. Hopfen-Weisse is a more hop forward weizenbock collaboration between Brooklyn Brewing Company in New York and  G. Schneider & Son Brewery in Kelheim, Germany. I'm still somewhat new to the weizenbock style. I really enjoyed the German bottling of this collaboration a few months ago. Let's see if the New York version holds up.
 
I poured this from a 750ml bottle into a Weyerbacher tulip. It appears hazy straw gold with a tall big bubble white head, light lacing with about a 1/4" of the head retained through the tasting. It smells of light creamy lemon citrus, fieldy spices with some sharp bitter hop notes. The flavor profile begins with huge spicy hops up front. As it settles in there are some very light watery citrus flavors. This left me a bit disappointed. The middle on the German bottling mimicked this same aroma almost exactly. The US version fell flat. It finishes with a long bitter aftertaste.

This is a good beer. However, I prefer the other bottling to this one. I'm fairly certain that the other version was done in Germany and this one here in the States. The German one had a much creamier, almost lemon meringue flavor to it that was much more dessert like. This very is much thinner and hop forward. It's a decent and somewhat refreshing brew that is perfect for a Spring-time picnic.

Beer Review: Heavy Seas Plank I

Max's in Baltimore this afternoon was the venue for the release of Heavy Seas newest offering, a wood plank aged English style old ale called Plank I. For a little background on this brew project check out my blog post from April 5th here. This brew was previously available at a small brewery event a little while back. As far as I can tell this would be the first event outside of the brewery for which Plank I was made available.

I got in right around 5PM and there was about twenty or so folks were around the bar. A cask had been tapped and I could see several dark pints being enjoyed. Hugh Sisson and many familiar faces from the brewery were present and enjoying the brew. My buddy Greg popped in just a few minutes after I did. Two seats secured at the front corner of the bar. Excellent. Over the next hour the bar filled in with many more familiar faces, more brewers and some local beer bloggers. All is well.

There were two versions available, a straight up tap version and a dry hopped cask version. I will first share my notes on the base version then I will point out the differences in the hopped cask version

Plank I came to me in a pint class and appeared hazy ruby brown with a tan half-finger head and sticky lacing. There's not much head retained through the tasting. It smells bright and sweet with resinous wood notes with some light bitter notes around the edge.

The tasting begins. It's big, malty and sweet up front as expected. There are some very nice vanilla notes that pop up towards the middle. A mild fruity sweetness set in. As it opens up some coffee notes appear as well as some more woody earthy notes. There is an obvious heavy dark malt presence. The wood notes are just enough to be noticed, not overpowering. With wood aged beers I prefer more wood flavors, but those tend to be very heavy on the palate. This actually feels pretty refreshing, I could have several with out ruining my flavor-catchers. It finishes lightly bitter and doesn't stick around very long.

Cask of Plank I with a bag of hops in side. No C02 here!

The cask version had a more prominent vanilla presence in the nose and flavor profile. The hop addition made this a more well rounded and balanced beer in my opinion, but some of the wood notes are not as present. It almost didn't have the feel of a wood aged beer. The aroma is slightly more hoppy and the finish is much more bitter.

This is a very easy beer to put back. Surprisingly there is no alcohol presence, and at 8% this is an achievement. I enjoyed this beer. While it's not quite up there with the best in the style in my opinion, it's certainly a very good first offering in the project series. It's missing something, but I'm not sure what. I look forward to the bottled version which we should be able to find on shelves locally very soon.

Thanks again to our friends at Max's for supporting local craft brewer's and for the great folks at Heavy Seas/Clipper City for continuing to create fine craft brews!

I'd like to give a quick shout out to our new friends from Charlotte with whom we shared some thoughts and good beer. Cheers!

Enjoy the Dogfish Head 90!

Beer Review: Samuel Adams Utopias

It doesn't get much classier than this. 

My good friend Greg shared some Samuel Adams Utopias with me yesterday afternoon. I would like to extend a huge congratulations to Greg and his wife Julia on the recent arrival of their baby boy! For this special occasion Greg purchased one of the most expensive bottles of beer he and I will likely ever sample. I can't express how grateful I am to him for sharing some with me. 

Many craft beer snobs shit on the Samuel Adams line of beers, simply because they produce a lot of beer. But, they are still a craft micro-brewery that produces a variety of styles that are consistently good quality representations of their respective styles. While many of their brews I am not a fan of, a few of them I really enjoy. 

To understand Utopias, you have to go back and read about and try the Triple Bock. I had only heard the legend of this brew back when it came out in the mid-90s. I had heard that it was illegal in several states, that it would make you go blind and that it was somehow magical. The bottom line is that the folks in Boston had created a non-distilled 17.5% ABV strong ale that was unlike anything anybody had ever tasted. Last Summer Greg and I shared a bottle of this historic brew, we believe it was from the 1995 batch, about 15 years old at the time of the tasting. That beer is still very raw and unrefined. It's brute force in a bottle with a whole lot of odd flavors. It's a unique experience that every craft beer historian should experience at some point in their life. I've still got some left if you'd like to come by for a taste.

Utopias is the much more refined younger brother and the natural evolution of the Tripel Bock. It's much higher in alcohol content, clocking in at a whopping 27% alcohol by volume. As far as I can tell it's the highest alcohol content found in a non-distilled liquid. Insanity I tell you.

I was very excited to see the bottle on his counter. Greg and I sat and stared at it for a good ten minutes before opening. It came in a brown cardboard shipping box. The bottle itself is pretty freakin' cool looking. Copper metallic finish, in the shape of and with the details of a vintage copper fermenting tank. There are two small functioning doors that open up to reveal an etching of the familiar Sam Adams image.

Utopias pours crystal clear and deep ruby red. It almost sparkles in the light. It coats the glass like a good bourbon and with no carbonation bubbles or head.

The aroma is amazing. It smells of raisins, dark cherries, figs, prunes, sweet malt syrup, burnt brown sugar with some light wood notes and some alcohol. The flavors present in the mouth mirror that of the nose. Tart cherries, figs, raisins are prominent. At times it's so complexly sweet that it's almost savory. Some vanilla and woody notes pop up from time to time. There are several levels of flavor that develop as it opens up. I picked up some syrupy malt sweetness followed by waves of dark fruit and then back again. It tastes chewy at times, making my mouth water. It feels medium in body with huge alcohol warmth.

This is a very complex and enjoyable drink. It's tough to describe it as a beer. The experience is similar to sherry or port tasting. It's a very unique and palate challenging sipper. I get a lot of flavor hints from the Tripel Bock that I spoke of earlier.

At $170-$200 a bottle in my area it'd be a stretch to even consider this a once-a-year treat. If you couldn't pick up my opinion of this experience already, here it is: Utopias is simply stunning. If you don't want to splurge for a bottle, find a bar that's willing to do a sample tasting, likely for around $20. Or, better yet, split a bottle with a bunch of your beer geek friends. You need to experience this at least once in your life. Trust me.

Beer Review: Pub Dog Bourbon Barrel Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

'tis a pity

I picked up a single 16.9 oz. bottle DOG Brewing's Pub Dog Bourbon Barrel Chocolate Oatmeal Stout at Cindy's in Elkridge, MD a few weeks ago. It had been in the cellar, but I decided to open in Friday night. I figured that if it was as good as I hoped that I could easily get more to keep on hand. 

I poured this into a snifter and shared the bottle with my wife and her sister. It came out dark brown with a very fine head and little to no lacing. The head is retained at the edges throughout the tasting. The aroma is very lightly roasted malt and with a hint of chocolate.

Up front it tastes very tart. It's jumbled up with some hints of dark chocolate. The tartness continues through the tasting, almost like it was aged in bad red wine barrels. Not a hint of bourbon or wood. There is not much character or depth to the flavor profile at all. I am saddened by this. 

This beer just flat-out misses the mark. This should be a much more robust beer with well defined and harmonious flavors of chocolate, wood and bourbon. I doubt I'd buy this one again unless some serious tweaking is done to it. It's kind of like a sour porter, not much of a stout feel to it. I hate to post a bad review, but it needs to be said. Do not buy this beer, it's a waste of money. Hell, even if I was offered a free one, I might pass on it.

Beer Review: Silver City Whoop Pass Double IPA

Got this bottle of Silver City Whoop Pass Double IPA from my buddy Jeff in Seattle a while back. It's been in the fridge for a few weeks. Bottle isn't date stamped at all. This is my first from Silver City. I've had a good problem recently, lots of great IPAs sitting in the fridge that need to be drank soon!

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a Weyerbacher tulip. I shared this bottle with my wife, also a fan of the double IPA style. It came out hazy copper red with an off-white one-finger head and a huge amount of lacing. The head is retained through the tasting. There are some steady carbonation streams for the first five minutes or so.

It smells creamy caramel and malty sweet with some slight hop bitter notes. It tastes up front are of bold and earthy hops. It settles in creamy and malty sweet with a long thin bitter finish down the middle of the tongue. It feels thin to medium with some slight alcohol warmth.

This is a nice double IPA. Its pretty hop forward and has the dark and strong feel of some others in the style like Firestone Walker Double Jack. This doesn't feel as balanced and refined as it should be. It's almost as aggressive as Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA and it's a little on the "raw power" side. 

Thanks again to Jeff for supplying me with so many West coast goodies. I can't wait to see what he's got in store for me next.

Beer Review: Köstritzer Schwarzbier

I had Köstritzer Schwarzbier on tap at Metropolitan in Baltimore. I'm not usually a fan of the German black beer style, so I'll stay as objective as possible. I don't see this one on tap often so I figured that I should get it. I also don't jump into the German brews very often. 

It came to me deep black with a small creamy white head. A small amount of head stays through the tasting with lots of lacing. It smells earthy with some dark roasted malt notes. Smells of a rainy damp and dirty garden. It tastes bitter and roasty up front. The middle is a very rich and mildly sweet and it finishes bitter.

This beer has some serious character to it. I enjoyed it quite a bit as a once in a while tangent from my usual pours. As expected it's got a more carbonated and crisp feel than a stout with some umph in the flavor department. But, do not confuse this with a stout as it's a completely different style. This is very close to what some American brewers have done with the the "black IPA" style, though I prefer to just label them as American black ales. So, schwarzbiers are a much less hop-forward version of those. Or better yet, our black ales are a more hoppy versions of schwarzbiers. No real surprises here.