Category Archives: Tasting Notes

These are my thoughts about various beers that I taste. Not as thorough as a review, but more than just casual drinking.

Summit Unchained #10: Belgian Style Abbey Ale

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Summit Brewing Company’s Unchained Series hits a milestone today with the release of its tenth beer, Belgian Style Abbey Ale. It’s a Belgian Dubbel style beer brewed by Summit brewer Nate Siats, who also brought us the fifth beer in the series, Imperial Pumpkin Porter. Belgian styles are sometimes hard to pull off for American brewers. Many domestic renditions don’t quite live up to their Belgian models, often ending up too sweet or too boozy. Did Siats do justice to the dubbel? Here’s my notes:

Belgian Style Abbey Ale
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Bread crust and subtle dark fruits; dates. Prominent banana and sugary cotton candy (as I call that Belgian yeast character). Background of pepper and allspice.

Appearance: Clear amber/red with some chill haze early on. Creamy, ivory head with very fine bubbles that was moderately persistent; a ring of creamy foam remains around the edge of the glass all the way to the bottom. Nice lacing on a clean glass.

Flavor: Herbal hops kick things off, but quickly give way to bread crust and melanoidin sweetness. Dates, pears and raisins join in and linger into the finish. Highlight notes of sour fruit, like tart cherries. Moderate cotton-candy Belgian yeast character. Alcohol is apparent, but not hot. Dry and slightly tannic in finish with lingering notes of tea leaves.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium body. Effervescent high carbonation. Warms on the way down.

Overall: I love bread crust malt flavor in beer and that is the predominant flavor in this beer (at least on my palate). You have to let this beer warm just a bit to let that flavor come through. In fact, there is a tight temperature range for this beer; too cold and it comes off harsh and slightly sour, too warm and the flavors become murky. The tannic character that I get in the finish detracts a bit, but overall it’s a nicely balanced beer that is dangerously drinkable in the best Belgian tradition.

This new Summit brew can be sampled starting today at launch events throughout the metro.

Schell’s Stag Series #5: Czech Dark Lager

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Do you know someone who says they don’t like dark beer? Put a blindfold on them and give them a taste of Czech Dark Lager, the newest Stag Series beer from August Schell Brewing Company. Although it’s nearly stout black, this beer has a pilsner-like character with just the slightest hint of roast. They’ll never know what hit ‘em, but they’ll like it when it does.

Czech-style black lagers are seldom seen in this country. I would wager a guess that they are seldom seen outside the Czech Republic. Probably the most famous version is the house beer at the 15th-century brewpub U Fleku in Prague. Not too dissimilar from a German schwarzbier, these lagers are deceptively dark, and the perfect example of why beer color is only a modest indicator of what a beer will taste like. As I am fond of saying, “Dark is not a flavor. Don’t be afraid of the dark.”

Here’s my notes:

Stag Series #5: Czech Dark Lager
August Schell Brewing Co., New Ulm, Minnesota
Style: Czech Dark Lager
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Subtly aromatic. A bit of bready pilsner malt provides a substrate for gentle roasted character. Floral hops just float over the top. Lager freshness.

Appearance: Dark mahogany or garnet. Clear. A modest, rocky, off-white head forms and then falls, remaining as a ring of foam around the edge.

Flavor: Pilsner-like with a kiss of roast. Low levels of bready-sweet pilsner malt. The roasty flavors start out dry, like roasted barley and take on a bit of bittersweet chocolate as it warms with faint woody notes in the background. Bitterness is medium, about to the level of a good Czech pilsner. Floral hop flavors add the finishing touch. It goes out dry with a bit of lingering sweet perfume.

Mouthfeel: Sharp and crisp at first, it takes on a creaminess as it warms a bit. Carbonation is medium to medium-high.

Overall Impression: At nearly 6% the ABV on this is much higher than I thought. Not that 6% is high, but this drinks much lighter. What I love about lagers is their subtle complexity. They don’t hit you over the head. They make you look for it, but reward your effort. This beer does all that. It’s light and easy to drink like a pilsner, but the touch of roast adds an extra layer of depth and intrigue. While I think I still prefer Schell’s Pils, this Czech Dark Lager is definitely worth seeking out.

A Sahti and a Gose from Sam Adams

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Two soon-to-be-released beers in the Sam Adams Single Batch series reach back to lost or nearly-lost beer styles of the old country. Verloren – it means “lost” in German – is a gose (go’ zuh), a style that originated in Saxony, the area around Leipzig, Germany. The style had ceased to be brewed until a small brewpub in Leipzig called Bayerischer Bahnhof resurrected it. Gose is a wheat-based ale, typically brewed with coriander and a touch of salt. A bright, lactic acidity is usually present. It’s a tasty beer and the perfect accompaniment to nearly any thai food. Try gose with Thai beef salad. You will be amazed.

The second upcoming release is Norse Legend, based on a Finnish beer style called Sahti; a beer that in Finland is still brewed today much as it was 500 years ago. Anyone who has talked to me about homebrewing in the past couple of years knows that I am all about the Sahti. Once my friend Mark, a Brit who had been living in Finland, tossed down the gauntlet to make our own sahti I was hooked. We brewed three batches, trying to stay as close to tradition as possible given the realities of my homebrewing rig. We used loads of rye, filtered through juniper twigs, left the beer un-hopped , un-boiled, and un-carbonated, and we fermented it with bread yeast, once smuggling a cube of yeast back from Finland. We even hosted a special episode of Brewing TV to chronicle our process. Our results were mixed, and we never quite achieved the deliciousness of the commercial examples that Mark brought back from Finland, but the exploration was fun and I have gained a real fascination and love for this unusual style.

Sam Adams certainly got my attention with these two unusual beers, but did they pull them off?

Here’s my notes:

Norse Legend
Boston Beer Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Style: Sahti
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle

Aroma: Caramel, bread crust, raisins, and the herbal/spruce character of gin. There are hints of chocolate, but caramel is king. Some subtle fruity esters mingle with aromas of spice, like nutmeg or ginger.

Appearance: Deep mahogany and hazy. A splendiferous stand of creamy, ivory foam falls slowly and remains as a thick cap on the surface all the way to the bottom of the glass.

Flavor: Thick and creamy caramel floods the tastebuds right away. Interesting light fruit flavors like pineapple or sour apple come in long after swallowing and linger. Many flavors return from the aroma; the bread crust is there, raisins, and the piney gin flavor of juniper berries. The berries are there, but where are the twigs? Hint of roastiness and maybe a slight whiff of smoke make an appearance. Bitterness is low and I don’t detect any hop flavor. Noticeable alcohol reinforces the gin-like taste of juniper berries. Loads of fruit mid-palate; berries, orange, melon. Aaahhhh, there’s the twigs. They come in much later as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel: Thick and creamy, Medium-full body. Low carbonation. Warming alcohol.

Overall: This is closer to the commercial examples from Finland than any other American-made sahti I have tried. It’s a nice beer for sipping from a kuksa, a traditional Finnish wooden cup, on a winter’s night above the Arctic Circle – or from a tulip glass on a chilly spring evening in Minnesota. This so far is my favorite from the Single Batch series.

Verloren
Boston Beer Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Style: Gose
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle

Aroma: Coriander and wheat. Light citrusy fruits. There’s an almost savory, herbal quality that makes me think of oregano, but it’s not quite that.

Appearance: Deep golden color, almost amber. Cloudy. The small, off-white head leaves lace on the glass.

Flavor: Very wheaty. Next to wheat, coriander is the predominant flavor, but not overwhelming. It’s all kept in balance. A background saltiness gives a savory sensation and sticks to the back of the tongue on the way out. Some orange citrus notes counter the salt.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: First let me say that I really enjoyed this beer. It’s a refreshing, summery beer that perfectly complemented the chicken bouillabaisse I made for dinner. Taken for what it is, it’s delightful. I don’t like to be a style Nazi, but there is a point at which you have to say “this isn’t what you say it is.” Based on other examples I have tasted and readings on the style, I expect some lactic tartness. That was totally lacking in this beer. The fermentation character seemed very neutral to me. It was like an American wheat beer with coriander and salt.

Summit Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen

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I don’t often drink dunkelweizen. I like dunkelweizen, so I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because there aren’t many of them to be had in the Twin Cities. Those that are available are mostly imports, and German wheat beers, whether light or dark, are best consumed fresh. The long trip across the ocean and then halfway across the continent doesn’t always treat them kindly.

Or perhaps it’s the near-overwhelming diversity of beers available these days. Whether you know too much or you don’t know enough, a trip to the beer store can leave you locked in a paralysis of indecision.  Distracted by all the “bright and sparklies” on the shelf it’s maybe difficult for me to find my way back to the two bottles of dunkelweizen gathering dust amid the pilsners.

Whatever the reason, I just don’t often think about dunkelweizen.

I should think more about dunkelweizen. It’s a great beer to pair with food. Like its lighter sister it is great with salads especially those with more substantial flavors like candied walnuts.  Toasty-caramel melanoidin flavors make for scintillating combinations with the darker flavors of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes with mole or roasted Poblano peppers. Pulled pork anyone? Okay, now I’m craving Tex-Mex and beer, but it’s only 9:30 am…

I really should give dunkelweizen more consideration.

Summit Brewing Company has pushed the style to the front of my crowded brain with the release of Unchained #9 – a dunkelweizen created by brewer Eric Blomquist. So now there are three examples on the shelf. But one of them is made in St. Paul. For those of us in Minnesota, it can’t really get much fresher.

Here’s my notes:

Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Dunkelweizen
Serving Style: 12 oz bottle

Aroma: A balanced blend of banana and clove that leans just a bit more heavily on the spice. Bread and caramel form the base with raisiny fruit filling in the cracks. Overtones of lemon citrus pop out of the glass like the tiny fizz splashes on soda pop. And do I detect the subtlest hint of smoke?

Appearance: Beautiful to look at. It pours dark amber to mahogany; murky and opaque. The long-lasting, fluffy, ivory head falls slowly to thick foam on the surface that lasts all the way to the bottom of the glass. Effervescent bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass.

Flavor: Let it warm up just a bit. Fresh from the fridge it is surprisingly bitter with a citrusy hop-like flavor that sits in the middle of my tongue. As the temperature rises, so does the flavor of melanoidin; like burnt brown sugar. And there are those raisins re-visiting from the aroma. The yeasty banana character steps to the background, allowing clove to come to the fore. The citrus from early on backs off toward the end, but leaves a final calling card at the back of my throat on the way out.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, yet thick and chewy – pillowy. Effervescent – tingly on my tongue.

Overall Impression: A good beer for the kind of weather we’re having; not quite the summery quaff of a hefeweizen, but not as dark, rich and wintery as a weizenbock. It’s a delicate in-between. Let it warm a bit before you start drinking to let the malt character that makes if a dunkelweizen come through. Dark fruit and toasted brown sugar flavors work wonders with the yeast.

Unchained #9 comes out in bars the week of March 5th. Check the Summit website for details of release events. Bottles will appear the week of March 19th.

Odell Footprint

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Footprint, a new single-serve release from Odell Brewing Company, was brewed to recognize all of the ten states in which Odell beers are sold. The concept is interesting; include an ingredient that exemplifies each state. That makes for a lot of ingredients. Any brewer will tell you that a lot of ingredients can be a recipe for disaster.

I myself have participated in just such an experiment. A British/Finnish friend proposed a homebrewing challenge to make Van Rompuy, a beer to represent the European Union. There are twelve stars on the EU flag. We would devise a recipe that would include twelve ingredients, each one representing a country of the EU. Through two iterations of this brew we used hops from Slovenia, yeast from Belgium, malt from England and Germany, Spanish orange peel, Italian wine grapes, and even potatoes from Poland, among too many other things. The first was a bit of a muddled mess. The second was somewhat more successful, but still needed a good bit of tweaking. Perhaps presciently, in both beers Greece ended up setting the whole thing off balance.

Could Odell possibly pull off this same sort of challenge? It’s a complex mix; hops and barley from Colorado and Idaho, wheat from Kansas and Wyoming, prickly pear from Arizona, Minnesota wild rice, New Mexican green chilis, South Dakota honey, and finally oak barrels from Missouri. As if that weren’t enough, this 9.5% monster is blended from different batches; 40% aged in oak barrels, 40% with “natural flavors added,” 10% aged in wine barrels, 5% brewed with honey, and 5% brewed with wild rice. Sounds to me like a cluster-fuck in the making.

Here’s my notes:

Footprint
Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado
Style: ????
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Light, bright, and fruity. Yellow grapefruit pulp with canned peaches. There’s a subtle peppery spice and an even more subtle note of wood. A bit vinous and somewhat saison-like.

Appearance: Dark golden in color, leaning toward amber but not quite making it there. Hazy. The full, fluffy, ivory head stuck around for quite a while before dissipating into a film on the surface.

Flavor: There is a lot going on here. Honeyed malt and canned peaches start things off. Midway through some vinous, white-grape notes come in with a bit of wood in the background. It ends sharply bitter; hitting at the back of the throat on the way out. Throughout are alternating waves of peppery spice, golden raisins, honey, citrus pith, orange peel, and even herbs like thyme and oregano (am I crazy?). Hold it in your mouth and you taste prickly pear (and yes, I do know what prickly pear tastes like). As it warms, fresh oak hangs on after the swallow. The only detraction is alcohol that verges on hot.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, but high attenuation minimizes the heft. Highly effervescent, almost carbonic. Alcohol is definitely warming.

Overall Impression: Mmmmmmmmm…Like a strong saison or a super-spicy tripel. I don’t know that Belgian yeast was used, but that’s the impression the beer gives. It’s complex and layered. There is a s#@$-ton of stuff happening, but it doesn’t come off murky or muddy. My only complaint is that the alcohol is a tad hot and at the end of a bottle it becomes a bit sticky on the palate (I know, who said I should drink a whole bottle of 9.5% ale. But it was good.)

Rolling Meadows Brewery – Lincoln’s Lager

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Driving to Rolling Meadows Brewery you might forget that you are only seven miles from downtown Springfield, Illinois. As you leave town, the four-lane state highway becomes a two-lane and the signs of city life quickly thin out. Leaving the main road, you follow a barely-improved rural road through rolling farm land until it dead-ends at a dirt driveway. The farmstead at the end of that driveway is the home of Rolling Meadows.

The tiny building that houses the brewery looks as though it belongs in the “holler.” I halfway expected Loretta Lynn to step onto the keg and barrel-filled porch singing Coal Miner’s Daughter. Once you step inside it’s a different picture. The building was purpose-built for making beer. What seems to be a tiny, country cabin is in reality a two-story production facility with grain mill, office and tasting table overlooking the brewery in the lower level. It’s got a sleek, modern design that matches the brewery’s branding and labels. The foundation would support a 7-story building.

Rolling Meadows Brewery opened its doors in mid-2011. Founder and Brewer Chris Trudeau is one of a few in the craft-beer world seeking to return brewing to the land (up here closer to the Twin Cities think Dave’s Brewfarm and Olvalde Farm and Brewery). A hop variety that has grown wild on the farm for years is cultivated in a hop yard out back. Herbs and spices used in brewing are tended in a greenhouse. A field next to the brewery will supply wheat for the brewery’s Springfield Wheat hefeweizen.

Rolling Meadows currently has three beers distributed in the immediate Springfield area. Lincoln Lager is an amber, American-style lager. Springfield Wheat is a classic German hefeweizen. Abe’s Ale is a strong-ish, American brown ale brewed with maple syrup, brown sugar, and Belgian candi-sugar. I liked all three, but my favorite was Lincoln’s Lager.

Here’s my notes:

Lincoln’s Lager
Rolling Meadows Brewery, Springfield, Illinois
Style: American Amber Lager
Serving Style: 22 oz. Bottle

Aroma: White bread with the crust on and the lightest touch of graham-cracker. Limes and spice linger somewhere just underneath, not quite cracking the surface, but not quite going un-noticed. A pleasant and delicate balance.

Appearance: Amber and mostly clear, with just the faintest gauze of haze. White head stood up tall and persisted, falling slowly to a rocky layer of foam on the surface. Nice lacing on the glass.

Flavor: Simple and balanced. Slightly malt forward, with bread crust flavors leading the way. But the hops don’t let go easily. I wouldn’t call it boldly bitter, but it does something more than balance the malt with bitterness that lingers and grabs after the swallow. Spicy hops flavor with tart hints of lime citrus play over the top. Crisp and sharp.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Medium carbonation. Maybe a wee bit of astringency.

Overall Impression: Crisp and sharp as a lager should be. Light and drinkable as an American lager should be. Beer nerds may turn up their noses at this one, but I like it. It doesn’t demand your attention, but it does satisfy. At $10 for a 22-ounce bottle I’m not sure it’s worth the price point. It’s very good, but good American-style lagers can be had for far less.

Friek – Odell Brewing Co.

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Friek = Framboise and Kriek. To make this beer the Odell brewers take a wild-fermented Kriek beer, lambic with cherries, and add locally-sourced raspberries just before blending as one would to make a Framboise, lambic with raspberries. Thus, their Kreik becomes a Friek.

Here’s my notes:

Friek
Odell Brewing Co., Ft Collins, Colorado
Style: Fruit Lambic
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Cherry pie with bready crust. A bit of vinegar with leathery, earthy, and horse-blanket wild yeast character. Loads of fresh fruit; tart berries and cherries.

Appearance: Strawberry red and very clear. Low, white head that dissipated quickly, leaving fine lace on the surface. Champagne-like bubbles.

Flavor: Wheaty malt flavors burst through the fruit and the funk, providing some residual sweetness to balance the sour. The fruit comes on strong with tart berry and cherry notes. Acidity is lower than one would expect from the aroma, but it’s plenty tart. The finish is a bit muddy. It could be drier and crisper.

Mouthfeel: Mouth-filling like a wheat beer. Spritzy carbonation that tickles the tongue.

Overall Impression: This is a beautiful beer. It’s fruity, but not sweet. It’s sour, but balanced by wheaty malt. This beer will please sour beer heads and likely be tasty to those who haven’t yet come around.

The Commander Barleywine Ale from Lift Bridge Beer Co.

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On Saturday, Lift Bridge Brewing Company will celebrate the release of The Commander, an English-style barleywine aged in bourbon barrels from the Heaven Hill Distillery. It’s the brewery’s first barleywine, and also the first of what will hopefully be a long string of big-bottle, limited-batch releases.

The beer takes its name from the Commander grain elevator that towers over the city at the edge of the river just south of the lift bridge. The beer is as commanding at the building. At 12.5% ABV, it’s a bruiser of a beer. It’s as big in flavor as it is high in alcohol. Here’s my notes:

The Commander
Lift Bridge Brewing Company, Stillwater, Minnesota
Style: English Barleywine
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Poured into a small snifter, the aromas rise boldly from the glass. Bourbon and wood. Toasted oak and vanilla. Toffee. Lightly sweet with hints of golden raisins and alcohol.

Appearance: Clear. Jewel-like, dark-amber color with ruby highlights. The moderate off-white head dissipated fairly quickly into a fine film on the surface.

Flavor: Toffee, Toffee, Toffee! Brown sugar, vanilla, and bourbon work with the toffee to remind me of the Brach’s Chews I used to enjoy at my grandparents’ house, except that these are laced with alcohol. Wisps of orange citrus, oaky tannins, and still those golden raisins. Cardamom gives a unique fruitiness. Bitterness is moderate, just enough to keep it from being too sweet. It’s helped along by the abundant and boozy alcohol. As it warms it takes on tones of gooey caramel.

Mouthfeel: It makes my lips numb after just a couple of sips. Medium-full body, but well attenuated. Assertively warming.

Overall Impression: There is a lot going on in this beer. Toffee, cardamom fruitiness, bourbon, wood, and vanilla. It goes on and on and gets deeper as it warms. It’s delicious, but maybe a bit young. The flavors strike me as not quite melding. The main detractor is the prominent alcohol. It is quite boozy. My whole mouth was numb by the end of the first glass and the alcohol flavor was getting in the way. I think age will treat this one very, very well. The bottle says to drink it before 2020. That seems about right. Drink one now. Bury another one in the cellar and forget about it. It will be a great discovery years down the road.

The release party is happening at the Lift Bridge brewery in Stillwater on Saturday, November 19th from 3-8 pm. You’ll get to sample the beer, buy a bottle (limit 6), and participate in some fun and games while you’re at it. The website says this beer is so limited that it may not be made available in stores. If you want a bottle, best get your butt to the party. You can read more details about the event on the website.

Stone Brewing Co. Double Bastard

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I have no fancy introductory comments to this one. It’s strong. It’s rich. It’s hoppy. It’s doubly bastardish. Here’s my notes:

Stone Brewing Co. Double Bastard AleDouble Bastard
Stone Brewing Co., San Diego, California
Style: American Strong Ale
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle.

Aroma: Brown sugar and spice. Caramel. Cooling. Grapefruit rind and citrus melding with pine resin.

Appearance: Low, off-white to ivory head that dropped quickly, sustaining only a foamy ring around the edge. Dark amber and clear.

Flavor: Sweet brown-sugar and caramel. Bitterness is high, but so is the malt sweetness. The two nearly balance, with bitterness having only the slightest upper-hand. Citrusy grapefruit and orange peel hops with a faint background of pine tree. Very subtle raisiny, dark-fruit and chocolate flavors. Alcohol is verging on boozy, but stops just short of it.

Mouthfeel: Full body. Moderately-low carbonation. Slightly astringent.

Overall Impression: Certainly a tasty beer, but a one-glass beer for me. On the second glass it started to seem a bit one-note and overbearing. It’s a nice after-dinner beer for a cold Minnesota fall (or winter) night.  It’s good to drink now, but the slight booziness and forward bitterness will fade with some age, meaning it should be great to drink next fall or the one after that.

Deschutes Hop Trip Fresh Hop Pale Ale

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It’s fresh-hop season. Lot’s of these beers out there right now. Hop Trip from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon is one of them. It’s lighter than many, being a pale ale as opposed to the more common  IPA. Here’s my notes:

Fresh Hop Pale AleHop Trip
Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon
Style: Wet hop pale ale
Serving Style: 12 oz bottle

Aroma: Peaches, peaches, peaches. Fresh peaches. Caramel and brown sugar underneath. Peach cobbler anyone?

Appearance: Deep copper color and slightly hazy. Good-sized, white head that persists as a thin film on the surface.

Flavor: Those fresh peaches carry over from the aroma and are joined by dreamsicle orange citrus that transforms into grapefruit at it warms. It has a summery feel. Bitterness is moderate, maybe even restrained. There are hints of the vegetal/garlic thing that I often find in fresh hop beers. The malt has a slightly biscuit bent and balances the bitterness. The finish is quick with light, lingering orange and biscuit.

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: Love the peach flavors that I got from this beer. Generally though, the beer fell a little flat. It was tasty enough, but I wouldn’t necessarily seek it out.