Friday, December 31, 2010

Site Launch

Welcome to Beer!

This site is dedicated to tasting notes and reviews of premium beer. Beer! is a spinoff of Critical Tastings, and will be the new home of the beer reviews and tasting notes that were formerly featured there. Please poke around, check out some reviews and leave some comments.

FYI - for those of you who are curious, the site background is a gradient that was made from images of Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter, Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA and Pilsner Urquell.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout

Brewery: Clipper City Brewing Co
Location: Baltimore, MD
Style: Imperial Stout
Brewery Website
Rating: B-

Todays tasting is the Peg Leg Imperial Stout from Heavy Seas. The Peg Leg is an opaque ebony color. The head is dark brownish-tan and foamy. The nose has roasted notes along with some wininess.

On the palate there are winy and roast notes up front. There is a notable residual sweetness here. Also notable is some acidity that hints at citrus and berry notes that balance out the roasted character. Some bitterness pairs with the roast and leads to some coffee undertones. There are some faint herbal hops and some pear/apple notes as well. The Peg Leg Imperial Stout has a medium-heavy body and some slight syrupiness. The finish has lingering roast notes and a faint sweet/acid background.

The Peg Leg is an interesting Imperial Stout. There is a bit too much residual sweetness for my tastes. This tastes like the bastard child of an imperial stout and a barleywine, and it kind of misses the mark for me. The roast seems a bit understated and the sweetness and acidity gives me an odd "sweet-tart" impression. The Heavy Seas Peg Leg will probably improve with age as the sweetness mellows, but it falls a bit short in its current incarnation.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2010

Brewery: Sierra Nevada
Location: Chico, CA
Style: IPA
Brewery Website
Rating: A

With the Christmas holiday around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to taste the 2010 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. The Celebration is Sierra Nevada's holiday seasonal, an IPA brewed with fresh hops. The Celebration is golden-amber in color with a good sized, off-white, clumpy head. The nose has plenty of ripe citrus (grapefruit specifically). There are some fresh cut grass aromas in the background as well.

The palate is hit with a steely hops bitterness with a lingering bite. Pine resin and some herbal hops peek through after the initial grapefruit bitterness begins to soften. There are some grassy and rye bread notes as well. A faint residual sweetness and some wheat toast take a while to show up, but are notable as the hops fade. The Celebration Ale has a chewy, medium-to-heavy body with some astringency. The finish is quite long and features lingering bitter hops with herbal and citrus undertones.

Sierra Nevada really nailed it with this year's Celebration. There is a big hoppy kick that is really highlighted well by the fresh grassiness of the fresh hops. The aroma is fantastic, and the heavier body really holds up well to the big hops flavor. Everything translates to a fantastic fireside sipping IPA. Fresh hop IPA's are best when they are consumed fresh, so snap up some Celebration ASAP.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Magic Hat Howl

Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company
Location: South Burlington, VT
Style: Schwarzbier
Brewery Website
Rating: B

Today's tasting is Howl, Magic Hat's winter lager. This dark schwarzbier is completely opaque mahogany in color. The foamy head is brownish-tan in color. The nose detects roasted barley, lager malt, a faint wininess, caramel and peanuts.

On the palate there is a big roasted flavor that has bittersweet cocoa along with roasted peanuts and peanut butter. Lager malt notes are here as well, but are hidden under the roast. There is a bit of hops here with herbal and pine notes. There is a bitter kick, but it seems to be more of the coffee ground variety than a hoppy punch. As things settle down the roasted character evolves a bit leading to some grilled corn/veggies notes. The Howl has a body that is a bit on the heavy side for a lager and has some chewiness. The finish is long with big roasted grain notes.

Magic Hat's Howl is truly a porter in lager's clothing. My only complaint is that the roasted character of this beer is a bit too one-sided. I wish there was a bit more of a hoppy twang to provide some counterbalance. If you like big roasted beers, Howl will definitely feed your fix. The question is whether it suits your taste enough to have you going back for more.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout

Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing
Location: Middlebury, VT
Style: Oatmeal Stout
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Continuing with our run of dark beers brings us to today's review of the Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout. This beer pours up opaque ebony in color with hints of ruby. The head is a deep, brownish-tan color and is nice and foamy. The nose picks up big, roasted barley notes along with earthiness and some mineral notes.

On the palate there is a big roasted malt note. There is also a sharp minerality up front. Some herbal hops notes are here along with a solid bitter bite. Earthy and woody notes are present. There is also a hint of wine and just a touch of sweetness. The Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout is medium-bodied, well-carbonated and has a nice chewiness that really works well with the big flavor here. The finish is rather long with lingering roasted malt notes paired with bitter espresso undertones.

Otter Creek has another damn good beer on their hands with the Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout. While I did find the mineral note on the palate to be a bit overpowering at first, that tends to settle down after a bit. This beer has some big roasted flavors and a nice bite, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a winter sipping beer.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Sierra Nevada Porter

Brewery: Sierra Nevada
Location: Chico, CA
Style: Porter
Brewery Website
Rating: A-

We've been having a bit of a cold snap up my way, and when the cold weather hits I always get a craving for dark beer. I'm following up on my last review of the excellent Anchor Porter with another great porter from Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Nevada Porter pours up a deep mahogany with ruby highlights. There is a bit of sediment just barely detectable as this beer is nearly opaque. The head looks just like creamy rootbeer foam. The nose picks up smoky, roasted, and chocolate malt notes along with a fruity ale-like hoppiness.

On the palate there is a roasted chocolate flavor that is balanced by some fruity notes. There are both herbal and fruity hops notes along with a moderate bitter kick. A slightly juicy wininess plays well with the hops flavors. Smoke and black pepper highlights sit in the background along with some minerality. The Sierra Nevada Porter has a medium body and is quite easy drinking for such a dark beer. The finish has coffee and chocolate notes along with lingering fruity hops.

The Sierra Nevada Porter is a well-balanced and easy drinking porter. To me, it seems like it pulls some of the best qualities of a rich stout and a fruity pale ale and marries them perfectly. Put this one on your short list of dark beers to sip by the fire this winter.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Anchor Porter

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Location: San Francisco, CA
Style: Porter
Brewery Website
Rating: A

In my glass today is the Anchor Porter. The Anchor Porter pours an opaque brownish-black color with some ruby highlights. The nose detects smoke, caramel, banana and some berry-like fruity ester notes.

On the palate the Anchor Porter has a nice roasted note up front reminiscent of roasted almonds. There are some notable complex, fruity notes of berry and banana. Herbal hops sit in the background. Dark toast fades in after a bit. Several minutes after pouring some of the fruity ester notes dissipate and the flavor evolves to that of a rich, fruity dark chocolate. The Anchor Porter is medium-bodied with some slight carbonation on the mouthfeel. The finish is deep-roasted bittersweet chocolate/coffee with a banana highlight.

The Anchor Porter may not have big, over-the-top roasted and smoky flavors, but it has some fantastic complexity that really sets this apart from the typical porter. There are some really interesting fruity notes here. While I found the fruit (the banana note in particular) to be a bit much at first, this beer actually improves after being allowed to breathe for a few minutes. The fruit then mellows out and you are left with what is simply an awesome brew.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barleywine

Brewery: Weyerbacher
Location: Easton, PA
Style: Barleywine
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Today's tasting is the Blithering Idiot barleywine from Weyerbacher. The beer pours with a short, light-tan head that fades fast. It is a cloudy amber-brown color with lots of fine sediment floating in the glass. The nose has a big wine note, along with sweet oatmeal/cereal. There is a faint fruity hops aroma in the background as well.

On the palate the Blithering Idiot has an initial sweet note up from that fades to an off-dry wininess. There is a big warming sensation, which is not surprising at over 11% ABV. There is a fair bitter kick from the hops and some citrusy notes as well. Yeast and brown sugar play complimentary roles. The Blithering Idiot has a fairly heavy body, which along with the high alcohol definitely make this a sipping beer. The finish has lingering cereal sweetness with bitter and citrus hops highlights.

Weyerbacher have a pretty good barleywine on their hands with the Blithering Idiot. The flavors here are pretty standard for a barleywine that is this big. There is still a good deal of residual sweetness here, but the hops do manage to poke their head through a bit. This is a beer that will do well with a year or more of age under its belt.