Pre-SAVOR Day 1

Luck would have it, I get to go to SAVOR!
My first experience with this event was over 2 years ago while sitting in the living room of our senior house, cleverly called "The Dump." We were watching one of the first episodes of brewmasters on the Discovery Channel. It was the premier release of Dogfish Head's "Bitch's Brew" at the Savor event. I told myself I had to go someday.
Well that day is today.

A recap of yesterday:
I got to the Airport around 8:00am for a 9:55 take-off connection to Washington DC, whereupon I would have a 3 hour layover before another flight to NY which would get me in around 4:00.
At 9:15 the lady called me up to the podium and asked why I was hopping around so much? Why don't I just take a direct flight to Newark? Well, hell ya! I said. It left at 11:00 and we arrived at the Newark airport at 1:15.
Following trips on several units of transport, I checked in at the ACE Hotel (the rooms are very hip and cool) and hit the roads for some miles. Did a loop and a half around central park for nearly 11 miles. Got back to the hotel, showered, and met Fred in the lobby for a drink before taking off for the night's events.
Irony would have it,
We waited for a cab for a few minutes, and one drives up. And who gets out? Sam Calgione of DFH. He greeted Fred like old friends, and we shook hands.
This trip is going great so far.
We took our cab to a place called Spuytan Duyval, a beer bar in Brooklyn with an old apothecary atmosphere with old wooden saloon-like decour and jars of vegetables and fruit lining the backbar. Their tap-list was dominated by beers I could hardly pronounce...Aside for the New Holland Tap-takeover we were having.
We hung out there for a couple hours for Fred's debut book signing (an awesome book by the way: The Beervangelist's Guide to the Galaxy)
Ate some dinner from a local place called Fette Sau. I actually ate ribs... But trusted Greg on where they came from.
We left around 9:15 to head over to the Brewer's Pre-SAVOR-party at Brooklyn Brewing Co. Where faces like Charlie Papazian were in attendance. Had some great beer, and mingled with fellow industry folk. They had a couple food-trucks lined up outside (in the rain). I had a bunch of veggie pitas and their Greek feta fries.
Around 10:45 or so they gave last call and we downed our last beers and pitas and headed to a place called Barcade, a large bar with, you guessed it....a lot of arcade games. The taplist was pretty fantastic too. I ordered a Festina Peche (Berliner research), of which would be my last beer of the night. Water followed. By 1:00 I was ready to go. Fred and I and another fellow industry guy left to head back to Manhattan.


I brought my shitty camera, but only got a few photos before it just stopped working, I'll post what I have when I get the chance.

Cheers!

East India Pale Ale

Thanks to Joe Wietlispach for delivering this beer to me following a long day of canning before leaving for NY. I reviewed this on a Wednesday night following a day at the brewery filtering Pale.

Appearance: Golden amber with a strong filtered clarity. Head is basically non-existent, only residing as a very fine thin filmed ring caressing the inner lip of the glass. Carbonation is certainly apparent.

Aroma: Pungent and yeasty smelling followed by a robust bouquet of floral and noble hops. a light biscuit backbone enforces a bit of a fruity essence that continues to parallel the rich hop profile.

Taste: Foretaste is strong and bubbly, leaving only the hops much of the exposure. Strong, floral and even a bit grassy, the alpha acids dominate the palate from start to finish. Ironically, the malt truly isn't acknowledged until the very end, once the bitterness dissipates. One can only then begin to draw forth biscuit and pale two-row. Dry, bitter and floral are probably the best characteristics of this beer. Even a bit of vininess can be drawn out at the end. I'd put it similar to under-ripened plums. Aftertaste is a bit grassy and as the beer warms up, there is a bit of an alcohol flavor as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel: Strong bubbly texture with an overwhelmingly light mouthfeel, that one wouldn't assume would parallel such a strong flavor. Bite to the tip of the tongue
Overall Impression: I'd classify this, yes, as a Pale ale-lager, but could pass for a darker cousin of the pilsner.  Well hopped, while still maintaining a fruity profile of an ale yeast.


86/100

Brooklyn Lager

Thanks to Joe Weitlispach for giving me this beer last week. Ironically I was able to first to try this in Brooklyn this past weekend during the Pre-reception gathering of the wedding of my cousin Erin and her fiance Daniel. Nevertheless I felt I was due to review it as the can has been sitting in the fridge.

Appearance: Rustic amber with a persistently rising carbonation from the base of the glass. The head is extremely well sustained and off white in color. I leaves behind a dry lacing. Relatively clear.
Aroma: Initial impression is immediately oxidation - wet cardboard. There is for sure a bit of a phenolic undertone as well, reminiscent of electrical tape. However, underneath there are notes of caramel and a balance of leafy hops.
Taste: The flavor definitely leaves the off-flavors to a lesser degree on the palate, but I do notice a bit of an underattenuated dough-ball flavor right in the foretaste of the malt. The finish does leave somewhat of the phenolic bandage flavor, but also in conjunction with a leafy dry hop bitterness (though somewhat stale).. For sure on the sweet side of the lager category. Especially as the beer dries, the caramel bill begins to be more exposed. The hops remain the same. Neutral in the form of crisp leafy bitterness. A bit acidic in the stomach.
Mouthfeel: Even from the color, initial perception lead me to think heavier than the normal light American lager. The carbonation did nothing to help, though as it was on the lower side, perhaps giving more room for the hops to be more pronounced. Finish is dry and aftertaste is prolonged.
Overall Impression: Not really my cup-O-beer, but aside from the potential off flavors, the beer does have a good balance to it, and surely more flavor than Miller/Coors. Interestingly, many of these flavors were absent from the beer I tried in Brooklyn. It may go to show, if the beer can't handle the trip, maybe it's meant to stay local...
You are better off trying beer on their stellar end: Black Chocolate Stout


68/100

Black Chocolate Stout (2010)

Thanks to Tom Bergman for recommending this to me while working at Binny's Beverage Depot. At $7 a 4 pack for some tasty chocolate 10% ABV stout, I couldn't pass. Tasted with homemade salsa following a 10 miler midafternoon.

Appearance: Poured a thick syrupy dark brown into a goblet-like glass to exhibit a black charcoal color. There wasn't much head at all. carbonation and any transparency was non-existent. Some light brown around the edges.
Aroma: Rich and chocolaty with a mix of roasted malt and carameled barley. The scent of this beer maintained some Liqueur like qualities but lacked a finishing booziness. Some maple and molasses. Overall the beer is very aromatic and pleasing to the nostrils.
Taste: The beer starts ordinarily sweet until it reaches the back of the tongue where it explodes in a roasted malt and chocolate flavor. To complement, there is a splash of alcohol (nothing that feels remotely 10%) to carry through a drying flavor. Gradually as the beer warms, it emits a toasted cocoa and vanilla character. Some mild coffee undertones emerge as well, but nothing to overwhelm the smooth sweetness that rounds out the finish of the beer. Finally I begin to taste a subtle fruitiness as a product of the yeast that clashes with the general adjuncts and grain ingredients. Delectably flavorful and complex.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with light carbonation that if it were more would offset the feel and make this beer feel overwhelmingly light and airy. Fortunately this isn't the case, while the beer takes a drying turn at the end with the alcoholic taste.
Overall Impression:  As this stout warms, a lot of the flavors become more pronounced and more alcohol hits the palate.  Personally, I (Jen) like it better cold when malt chocolate enveloped the palate and there wasn't as much of boozy taste in the flavor. 


Tim - 90/100
Jen - 89/100

Brooklyn Winter Ale

Tasted with Vlad before nutrition class.

Appearance: Bronzed amber with a nice clarity. Almost no head. Upon pour there was quite an accumulated on the side of the glass, but dissipates after a while.
Aroma: Very earthy and smoked at the finish. Maybe from the marris otter malt. Starts carameled and sweet but then transitions into a smoked wood almost burnt smell.
Taste: Musty tasting and like the aroma, smoky. The expectation of spices common to most winter ales would inevitably disappoint those looking. The smokiness hits the back palate and leaves a gaseous taste in the aftertaste, which is all too deterring. Almost salty tasting. Prolonged aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Well textured with a medium body. Micro-bubble carbonation makes for a brief bite to the tip of the tongue, but immediately transitions into a smooth and soft texture
Overall Impression: "Do not drink it by itself" – Vlad. Definitely to be accompanied with some food, primarily an animal based product of steamed vegetables. Not a common winter ale, more of a cross between a smoked Baltic and a light helles beer, free of any usual spicing and malt flavors.

65/100

Brooklyn Monster Barleywine

Thanks to Tom for trading me this. Tasted with Logan Beausoleil in accompaniment of an assortment of micro snifters following a days excursion to the Beeradvocate Goose Island meeting. Though we weren't actually a part of it, we were still there drinking beer along side them.

Appearance: Deep mahogany red with a white creamed ring. The beer has some haze to it along with a visible rising fizz.

Aroma: Very sweet and brown or corn sugar aroma. The beer sweetness also imparts a peach or pear. Under attenuation of the light sugars. Some fruity - fructose sweetness.

Taste: Very sweet for a barley wine. More fruit sweetness and esters of pears and peaches. Caramel malt intermixed. A nice alcoholic back burn in the throat. Some vinous and winey character. Tart finish. Some ethanol and almost toffee'd caramel sugar. Perhaps some vanilla undertones permeate as well, but it is difficult to distinguish over the fruit backbone. Tart roasted dates.
Mouthfeel: More of a thinner body followed by a low fizzed texture. Easy and drinkable.
Overall Impression: Nice. This is one of the first barleywines I think I could actually enjoy more than once, or even enjoy in the first place for that matter. It was very estery and sweet and not in the slightest aggressive on either fronts. Granted this is probably a barleywine that would taste better fresh than aged because there wasn't much of a bitter hop profile that would mellow with time.


88/100