Black & Brew

Tasted Monday morning while running through my daily/multi-weekly website-roll (inclusive of: A number of beer blogs, The New York Times, Marks Daily Apple, Log A Run and Pro Brewer. Thanks to Joe Weitlispach for giving me a bottle of this a couple weeks ago

Appearance: The pour was thick and produced little carbonation in the process. However several seconds following a thick frothy beige head blossomed in full stature. Minutes later only to dissipate into a dense frothy film across the surface of the beer. The color is muddy, yet with clarity around the edges. General appearance is quite still looking.
Aroma: Rich chocolate malt and roasted barley. The coffee is present, but by no means is overpowering. Malt forward. Toasty and very inviting.
Taste: Certainly a strong coffee flavor is present throughout. Nevertheless, I find that the malt is a lot more subtle than the aroma led one to think. The foretaste is light, but some toasted malt is there. By the midtaste the coffee sets in and takes over the entire palate. Some sweetness remains, but coffee and over-roasted cocoa bean add a very potent bitterness that really dries and puckers the roof of the mouth. Big roastiness, while a burnt (and slightly sweet) flavor remains for a long drawn aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Thick creamy texture with a bubbly, yet soft version of carbonation. At times I thought the beer was a bit watery, but while examining the feel in and of itself, there is surely a thick mouthfeel about it. The finish is dry with a note of alcohol to round out the end.
Overall Impression: I'd like to see more sweetness in this one, perhaps by underattenuating it, or adding some lactose. Big roastiness with a caffeine dose to match (I'm pretty sensitive to it). Definitely for your coffee drinkers. I wonder what stout they used for this beer?


83/100

Old Fezziwig Ale

Thanks to Joe Weitlispach for giving me this beer to do a review. It came from a Winter seasonal case that included the Samuel Adams Winter Lager, Chocolate, Black and Brew, Old Fezziwig, a porter and one other. I got to review this on Thursday evening while listening to Blind Pilot's One Red Thread (if you know me, you know this song...) and after going to practice with the team (2nd day back to running after getting hit by a car three weeks ago). Snifter served.

Appearance: The pour was pristinely clear and as it entered the glass, sprouted a bubbly beige head worth at least 1/2". Some carbonated bubbles cling to the edges of the glass. Up to the light, there beer is glowing red with a touch of crimson.
Aroma: Malt forward and sweet. Notes of caramel and chocolate complimented with a brief fruitiness. Even a subtle tinge of orange peel is a notable undertone at the very end of the scent. While I cannot distinguishably say I can pick out the cinnamon is there, but the ginger is.
Taste: Huge caramel malt bill with numerous other adjunct specialty grains. One could easily draw out cocoa, biscuit, toasted bread and toffee. Much of this resides in the middle while toward the end, a roastiness develops rounding out a slightly acidic flavor, but remaining sweet and enjoyable. a roasted nut flavor is pronounced throughout as the beer becomes warm. I do not get much cinnamon or orange peel in the taste, which means they were most likely added end or post-boil. By the end of the beer and when the palate has adjusted, I get more chocolate in the end.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and slightly tacky. The carbonation takes a short time to be acknowledged, but it does come through with a micro-bubbled bite on the tongue. Mouthfeel is slick yet bubbly.
Overall Impression: I'd simply call this an ideal Nut-brown ale. Complete with a big malt backbone, while the hops remain completely neutral, yet enough to slightly dry the palate. Spices come through primarily in the aroma (Cinnamon, Ginger and Orange peel). The malt profile is so complex that any taster can debate the make-up of this beer. A party pleaser.


88/100

Bonfire Rauchbier

Thanks to Jaron and Louis for bringing this beer over a couple weeks ago. Tasted Saturday afternoon after a morning spent at the farmers market seeking out ingredients for the weekend brew. I'm thinking a Pumpkin harvest with Brown sugar, Acorn Squash and Honey with a bit of ginger, and a lavender mead?

Appearance: Glowing red/amber with a thick head on top, that is, actually amazingly well sustained, especially the ring that clings to the glass. Lacing is wet. Carbonation is very strong with a persistent stream rising from the base of the glass. Clarity is optimal, though still a 9/10
Aroma: A subtle sourness predominated before a minute smokiness with a background of cane sugar as well as raspberries and other tart fruit. The yeast must have had a higher fermentation temperature, as well with the accompaniment of smoked malt.
Taste: Sweet foretaste of basic two row, honey and caramel malts. Rich notes of licorice as well as the obvious smoked barley throughout, but especially at the finish. Definitely a fruitiness present even in the taste, and amplified in the end as the smoked malt adds a bit of sourness to the mash I suppose.Finish revolves around a toasted flavor with not much bitterness except what comes from the tart smokiness.
Mouthfeel: Higher carbonation fills the mouth with bubbles and froth that further expand creating a fuller feeling, yet refreshing beer. Finish is dry crisp and fruity.
Overall Impression: Interesting incorporation of flavors. I guess to make a mass produced beer such as this the fruitiness doesn't hurt to balance out an otherwise firecamp flavor that would deter the un-experimental customer.


76/100

Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Thanks to Jaron and Louis for giving me this beer a couple days ago. Tasted it Friday morning after a brief 11 miler with some 44th street hill repeats. Apologies for the slack on posting, but work has consumed me with 28hrs in the last 2 days...

Appearance: Bright and clear with a rich red coloring to it. Minimal head except for the off white foam ring that settles around the glass. Interspersed carbonation rises from the depths. A beautiful looking beer!
Aroma: Full of earthy squash and autumnal spices at the front. Toasted malt and ginger/cinnamon stand out.
Taste: My first impression was there was a lot more fruit flavoring in the beer than other pumpkin ales. No brown sugar. Then, as my palate adjusted, more of a gingerbread and biscuit malt barley arose to capture the malt bill. Still fruit remained prominent. Spices weren’t overly done but still a noticeable cinnamon, cardamon and ginger were present, yet perfectly incorporated to play on the initial malt sweetness. The finish is bubbly and clean without much of an aftertaste aside for an undertoned earthy sweetness from the pumpkin.
Mouthfeel: Lighter to medium body with a nice carbonation that hits the back of the throat. The texture makes for a very refreshing and crisp autumn ale.
Overall Impression: Really something to look for, or at least I will be. I think this is the perfect beer to start off the fall season due to its light balanced complexities, yet boasting the earthy pumpkin with nothing over done. Fantastic!

90/100

East-West Kolsch

The second beer I was able to review from El Bait Shop. It was only $3 and we were curious to try it. I rarely do Sam Adams, but I know I need to review more to appeal to the mass public.

Appearance: Golden with a swirling white head and a bubbly consistency. The beer is very clear with a highly apparent carbonation bubbling up from the bottom. Surface is very active.
Aroma: Very lacking but perhaps notes of grainy and wheat. Some yeastiness, and mild bready sweetness.
Taste: Foretaste is clean and sweet, though much of it is balanced b the very neutral hops at the finish. Some corn-like aspects as well as bready/yeast astringency if you are really determined to think about it. Floralness. Pilsner malt.
Mouthfeel: Clean and refreshing as well as light and extremely drinkable. The finish is nice and dry, but just enough to quench the thirst. Highly palatable
Overall Impression: I think of this beer as the perfect summer quencher. Not only this beer, but this style. Like the recent NYTimes article, I agree that Sam Adams serves a good purpose in reviving good beer. This is the closest beer I see to getting down the drinkability measure in the craft beer industry.

85/100

Summer Ale

Thanks to Nick Danzy for giving me this beer the other night. I haven't really had the opportunity/or the interest to try Samuel Adams, partly due to their dominance, but also because their shelf frequency and variety. Nevertheless, I will attempt to seek out those that seem peculiar. Tasted following a homemade Chinese dinner.

Appearance: Light golden color with a bit of chill haze. The head is white and fluffy initially. It settles into a thick entire film across the top of the beer. Carbonation looks to be high, where it expels itself anywhere there may be a notch or scratch in the side of the glass, producing a uniformed trail of bubbles. Lacing is poor, as it simple sinks with wet consistency back into the beer
Aroma: Wheat and under fermented, premalted grains. A mild biscuit backbone covers the forefront of the beers sweet bill. It then gives way into a bready and citrus base. Cinnamon and clove appear in the middle, while it finishes with the so called "grains of paradise." Some coriander is apparent.
Taste: Bready in the initial taste. Really lacks a basic malt profile, but still maintains a residual sweetness that is characteristically lemon and woodsy. Wheat undertones appear in the midtaste while again clove and the breadiness of "grains of paradise" reside in the end. The finish is drying a full of wood tannin. Reminds me of cardamon and with a peppery flavor. Dry and wheaty, yet some yeast pungency is present among the initial bready and wheat malt sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation takes a background in this beer, while it still helps to maintain the persistent crispness of the beer. Light to medium body with a bit of stickiness, but a more dominant tannined dryness in the finish, more than likely from the addition of spices.
Overall Impression: Not the usual wheat. Though I am very well un-acquainted with Samuel Adams, I couldn't be more impressed with the manner by which they go about producing interesting, out-of-the-ordinary beers like this one. It maintains a very subtle spiciness that may go unnoticed by the average beer drinker, but to the more advanced, it holds a unique and invigorating flavor.


81/100

Chocolate Bock

Grabbed this immediately from the dollar bottle section at Binny's once Tom placed it there. I had heard a couple good things about it from the customers, so I wanted to give my first Sam Adams a shot (No Lies).

Appearance: Extremely dark in color, almost black. Still maintains some element of translucence when held to the light, admitting a dark brown color. Head was very minimal, but was still able to produce adequate lacing the deeper into the glass one went. Had a tan foamed ring.
Aroma: Pungent malt and lager smell to it, like a bock. But the sweetness of chocolate made an interesting combination. For some reason or another, it smelled like a cross between stale bread and wet dog. The chocolate was there, certainly, but there was an off earthy carrion smell to it that I wasn't familiar with.
Taste: From the taste, I really couldn't find anything that would have remotely resembled that off flavoring. It created a simplistic chocolate sweetness with a background malt caramel flavor. A sweet pungent taste to finish, leaving the mouth with the all too common aftertaste resembling what's perceived after finishing a 70% dark chocolate bar. Definitely on the sweeter side. Some dryness felt to the tip of the tongue.
Mouthfeel: Thicker body, but the overall texture is well intended and drinkable. Still maintains an element of refreshing flavor with an initial perception of crisp, but some reason alternates towards coating the mouth with a residual layer of stickiness.
Overall Impression: A sweeter bock, but nothing I wouldn't get upset about. For this one I searched out beer advocate and saw that it wasn't rated as highly than I expected, and having seen a recent post from Beervana, I totally agree that we've become too uptight about style guidelines and neglect to admit that we have a good beer on our hands, whether it adheres to the style or not. All standards out the window, and apart from the strange aroma, this is certainly not a bad beer.


84/100

Octoberfest

Another tasting from Brew Ha Ha.  Tasted again almost a year later. Not much has changed except for the early decision that this is thus far my favorite Octoberfest of the season...though it is still young. Thanks to Joshua Schipp for donating this to the blog

Appearance: Strong bronzed amber hue with a cream foam head ring. Some carbonation visible. Clarity is maximal. It glows upon it's background.

Aroma: Potent lager aroma.The beer exhibits a strong caramel/toasted malt smell. Under this initial layer, one may also discover some biscuit aroma as well as rich toasted barley. A little bit grainy, but masked by bready undertones. A unique octoberfest-only spicing rounds out the beer at the very end of the nose.

Taste: A smooth, refreshing ale that packs in a tasty punch. Fruitiness mid tongue reminiscent of apricots, but I'm discovering some malt character combined with some squash/pumpkins as well. There is some yeasty/sour taste that finished this one off. No bitterness whatsoever, or so as one can perceive. Finishes clean but not crisp, more of a delicate, phased out aftertaste. As the beer warms, more emphasis is placed on the toasted malt and the complex sugars derived from the Munich malts. Hop presence is melded with a cinnamon and spicing finish, though not necessarily drying.

Mouthfeel: Heavier body than most lagers, carbonation is nice as it enters the palate, but no sooner does it then spike the tongue in an almost aggressive manner. Smooth upon the finish after the spike, however

Overall Impression: Goes down pretty easily, a very drinkable beer for the season. Crisp and clean. One of my first Sam Adams. Sorry for the shorter post. The beers I rate at beer fests are difficult to get much detail.

T1 (9/19/10): 84/100
T2 (9/5/11): 85/100 (following a tasting the Bell's Octoberfest)