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.

Lansdowne – A New Artisanal Reserve Cider from Crispin

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Last night I had the opportunity to sample a bottle of Lansdowne, the newest Artisanal Reserve cider from Minneapolis headquartered Crispin. This newest addition to the Crispin lineup is named after the Lansdowne Road Stadium, home to Irish rugby until it’s demolition in 2007. Crispin owner Joe Heron is a big rugby fan. The company even sponsors rugby teams.

Irish rugby is not the only thing Irish about this cider. Continuing the experiment started with The Saint, a cider fermented with Belgian ale yeast, Lansdowne is fermented with Irish ale yeast and finished off with organic molasses for a startlingly stout-like effect.

Lansdowne joins Honey Crisp and The Saint in the Artisanal Reserve series and should appear in stores in the next few weeks.

Here’s my notes:

Lansdowne
Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, MN & Colfax, CA
Style: Cider with molasses and Irish ale yeast
Serving Style: 22 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Malty, caramel, and butterscotch. Perhaps even a bit toasty. Fresh apple isn’t timid, but stays slightly in the background. Reminds me of the apple butter my grandma used to make.

Appearance: Light fizz. Murky amber. Remember to rouse the yeast to get the proper effect. Not especially pretty to look at.

Flavor: Autumn. Ripe red apples. Mostly sweet, but has a light, balancing, acidic tartness that prevents it becoming cloying. The molasses comes through strong at the start giving mouth-filling caramel and burnt sugar flavors. Raisins. The yeasty butterscotch from the aroma carries into the flavor, again reminding me of grandma’s apple butter. Big and full-flavored.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and slightly viscous. The thickness is cut by a refreshing, spritzy carbonation. A touch of warming alcohol.

Overall Impression: Upon first smelling this cider I got a mental image of fall-colored leaves blowing in the wind. This cider screams autumn. Big, rich, and sweet with complex caramel, fruit, and butterscotch flavors, it is perfect for the light chill of October in Minnesota. To those who complain that Crispin ciders are too sweet, this one will seem over the top, as the molasses/burnt sugar sweetness is only barely balanced by the apple acidity. Those who are particularly sensitive to buttery diacetyl may not be crazy about this one. I am particularly insensitive to diacetyl and found it quite pleasant. Perhaps my favorite of Crispin’s Artisanal Reserve ciders.

Boulevard Amber Ale

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I love a good American Amber Ale. They are simple beers. They don’t make a lot of demands on you. Yet they are full-flavored and fairly dependably drinkable. Many dismiss them as throwaway beers, the boring bastard stepchild of the big and bitter IPAs and Double IPA’s that beer geeks love to slobber over. To me they are a pub standard. A fallback in times when I don’t want my beer to grab me by the throat and dare me to enjoy it. You might say they are like an American version of the classic English Bitter, beer for drinking and coversating.

Boulevard Brewing Company of Kansas City, Missouri recently added an amber to their lineup, aptly called Amber Ale. They say it’s a “Midwestern version” of this classic style, presumably to set it apart from its highly-hopped cousin the West Coast Amber. Some would say this makes it sound even more boring. But I’m a Midwesterner born and bred. I would say “uncomplicated.”

What ever you want to call it, I got some and I tasted it. Here’s my notes:

Amber Ale
Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri
Style: American Amber Ale
Serving Style: 12 oz. bottle

Aroma: Huge caramel, like a chewy caramel candy. Sweet and sugary with a grainy malt background. Moderate floral hops. Hints of licorice. Not overly complex, but big and rich.

Appearance: Copper/Amber and clear. The moderate off-white head stuck around reasonably well.

Flavor: The flavor follows the aroma, but doesn’t come off quite as rich, in fact it seems unexpectedly thin given the rich, sugary aromas. Caramel. A bit on the sweet side, with grainy malt underpinnings. Moderate bitterness balances the sweet caramel, but it’s not highly hopped like many west coast examples. They do call it a “Midwestern” version. Moderate floral hop flavors. Candy. Rosewater. Notes of orange citrus almost like a classic English bitter. The finish is sweet and lingers on caramel. The finish is where the richness comes through.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium light body. Medium carbonation. Finish leaves a clinging, coating of sweetness on the tongue. Not that this is a bad thing.

Overall Impression: I won’t say that this is the greatest Amber ale I have ever had. I also won’t say that it is a bad one. It’s simple, clean, easy to drink if a tad on the sweet side, and quite enjoyable. At the same time it doesn’t assert itself as anything special either. While I might not go out of my way to get hold of it, I would certainly drink this one again. Another nice pub fallback. I could see this complementing a roast turkey or even a fried pork chop, although you may want something with a bit more hop bite with fried foods.

Summit Unchained Series #4: Belgian Style Golden Ale

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Nothing like starting the day off with a strong Belgian beer.

At least that’s what we said as I and my photographer friend Mark Roberts rolled up to the Summit Brewery at 7:00 AM yesterday morning. Hey, the Founding Fathers started the day with a draught of strong beer or cider, why shouldn’t we. For the record, the thought was also uttered that we may have lost our minds.

But roll up we did, because bright and early on Tuesday morning was the first packaging run for the newest Unchained Series beer, Belgian Style Golden Ale, which is set for official release next week. Brewed with Belgian pilsner malt, Belgian candi sugar, Czech Saaz and Styrian Goldings hops, it clocks in officially at 8.6% ABV (it might actually be a bit stronger than that…sshhhh), making it the strongest beer ever to come out of Summit. It’s a nice breakfast beer.

After watching the first bottles roll off the line to be packed for shipment later that day, we headed out to the hospitality room for a bit of tasting. A sixpack emerged still covered in foam from bottling. Caps were popped, samples were poured, cheers were offered, and sipping ensued. It’s a shame brewer Eric Harper, the man responsible for this golden elixir, had not yet arrived. But I will confess to a certain smug satisfaction at having tasted the finished product before even he did.

Harper did come in at about 7:30 and joined us at the bar for a chat. “I’m excited to have this come out.” he said. “It’s a little weird. It’s been in the fermenter for over six weeks. Up until the time we filtered it, it had more yeast in suspension than even the Hefeweizen does. It really changes the character when you take all that out. Plus when you taste it out of the fermenter you’re drinking kind of yeasty, flat beer. It’s a lot nicer when it’s finished.”

Harper’s choice of style for his Unchained Series beer was influenced by his own tastes. “I like drinking Belgian style beers. If I go out I order a Summit or two, but I really gravitate toward Belgian stuff. Making a Belgian also gave him an opportunity to experiment. “Belgians are particularly creative in their brewing method. They don’t have any limits. Bringing in the candi syrup was fun. We haven’t used anything like that here at Summit, or any kind of adjunct for that matter.”

Asked if he was inspired by a particular Belgian beer, Harper responded, “I wasn’t aiming for a particular beer. We tasted a couple of them around the bar and took things from here and there. I liked the fruity and estery characteristics. We tasted some that were pretty phenolic and hot from the high heat fermentation. I wanted to avoid that.”

Belgian Style Golden Ale will be the first of the Unchained Series beers to be released in a cask conditioned version. According to Harper, “Damian racked some casks of this awhile ago and they have been sitting in the cooler. He’ll re-rack them again to get some of the yeast out. He’s talked about priming with the candi syrup and adding a lot more Stryian Goldings.” Sounds tasty.

Harper has a full week of launch events ahead of him. Unchained #4 will be celebrated at multiple locations every night next week. You can check here for the full listing of events.

But enough chit chat. How’s the beer taste? Here’s my notes:

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

Aroma: Pronounced fruitiness, pear, candied peaches, hints of strawberry. Pepper and licorice. Sweet pilsner malt and sugary Belgian “cotton candy.” Alcohol is apparent.

Appearance: Deep golden color and crystal clear. Raised a substantial, fluffy, and persistent white head.

Flavor: Begins with sweet pilsner malt that extends through to the finish. Alcohol is prominent, particularly at the end, and is accentuated by the dry finish. It’s warming all the way down, but stops just short of hot. Loads of fruit, orange citrus, candied peach, and pears. These increased and developed complexity halfway through the glass as the beer warmed. Peppery and floral hops character balance the sweetness. Moderate bitterness is accentuated by a dry finish. Belgian yeast character remains subdued, a background of banana and “cotton candy.” This beer became much more delicate and complex as it warmed in my glass.

Mouthfeel: High attenuation makes this a medium body beer. High carbonation. Creamy and mouth-filling. Alcohol warming is high.

Overall Impression: Another fine beer from the Unchained Series. Like many American versions of Belgian styles, it lacks some of the subtle complexity and finesse of the best Belgian examples, but is still a worthy effort. The alcohol is a more prominent than I would prefer, but the fruit notes are lovely. It developed in delicacy and depth as it warmed in my glass. I’m drinking this on my patio on a humid 93° evening and it is completely refreshing.

Brewery photos by Mark Roberts.

Van Rompuy ESC – An Emerging Style?

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The Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast in 1956. In the age before satellites, the simultaneous linking of television outlets across all of Europe was a stunning technological achievement that foretold the future of the broadcast industry. It was also the beginning of a wonderfully peculiar and uniquely European institution.

The pan-European celebration of musical nationalism that is the Eurovision Song Contest happens yearly, an annual display of fabulous frippery.  The finals, now beamed across the globe, get music fans everywhere tapping their feet and singing along to a blend of cheesy europop, fantastic costumes, and bizarrely over-the-top staging. While we in the US have our own quirky cultural phenomena (anyone seen Americas Got Talent?), it is hard for me to imagine oddball extravagance on the scale of the Eurovision Song Contest happening here. Lady Gaga’s got nothing on these folks.

So what does the Eurovision Song Contest have to do with beer you ask? Van Rompuy is the answer.  (Read More…)

A Pair from Weyerbacher

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Weyerbacher Brewing Company is one of the latest in a rush of new breweries coming into Minnesota. Out of Easton, Pennsylvania, Weyerbacher specializes in full-bodied, full-flavored ales. Big beers, in short. I sampled their Double Simcoe IPA and Merry Monks Tripel last night for a Weyerbacher double-feature. Here’s my notes:

Double Simcoe IPA
Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, Pennsylvania
Style: Double IPA
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Citrusy hops dominate the aroma with lemon/lime and grapefruit pith. Some earthy, resinous notes hang in there as well. Sweet, syrupy malt forms a base, complemented by stone fruits and alcohol. Nice orange notes come in as the beer warms.

Appearance: Dark amber and clear. The huge, rocky head lingered on and on.

Flavor: Bitterness is the key word for this beer. Sharp bitterness starts it off and finishes it up. The bitterness comes across as a bit astringent. Hop character is mostly citrus with hits of earth and pine resin. A bit grassy, perhaps from dry-hopping. There is a menthol-like cooling effect from the intense bitterness, hop flavor, and alcohol. The grainy sweet and syrupy malt is almost enough to balance, giving brown sugar and light caramel character. The fruitiness from the aroma makes an appearance with the same orange coming through as it warms. Sweet caramel lingers after swallowing.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Somewhat astringent. Definite alcohol warming, although not hot.

Overall Impression: This is certainly one for the hop heads. A bit too bitter for my taste, it struck me as a bit harsh. However, the malt is full and sweet enough to make it drinkable and enjoyable. I do love Simcoe hops.

Merry Monks
Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, Pennsylvania
Style: Belgian Tripel
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: A Belgian fruit basket. Lemons, banana, apricot and other stone fruits. Some sweet malt lurks behind. The typical “cotton candy” of Belgian yeasts. Alcohol and cloves keep the fruits and candy in check.

Appearance: Gigantic, mousse-like white head that lasted nearly to the end of the glass. Golden color with a slight chill haze that disappeared as the beer warmed.

Flavor: Fruit, candy, spice, and sweet pils malt. The malt provides a sweet and slightly bready base. The fruity and spicy character of the yeast gives off masses of banana, stone fruits, and pears. This is countered by spicy hops and yeast-derived black pepper. Alcohol is a bit hot. The finish is very dry with an intense blast of bitterness on the way out.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, but mouth-filling in the way of a German wheat beer. High carbonation. Slightly hot alcohol.

Overall Impression: This is a very nice tripel. Has the dryness and intense bitterness of Westmalle, but with elevated fruitiness. A bit rough around the edges, not quite as refined as some of the Trappist versions of the style, but still quite tasty. I had this with a chicken and kohlrabi soup spiced with cinnamon, coriander, and saffron. It went quite well.

Boulevard Zōn

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If you want a great summer beer you can’t go wrong with a wheat beer. One of the lightest, most refreshing, and maybe tastiest of these is the Belgian Witbier. The white beer style, once popular in various forms all over Europe, nearly died out. The last witbier brewery in Belgium had closed in the 1950s. That changed when Pierre Celis opened the Hoegaarden Brewery in the 1980s and singlehandedly revived this almost lost beer. Now several breweries both in Europe and the United States brew the style.

Witbiers are brewed with a large percentage of unmalted wheat, giving them a fresh cracker and white bread malt flavor and a cloudy appearance. The starch haze is accentuated by yeast that stays suspended in the beer, adding fruity and spicy notes. The real character of a wit comes from the additional flavoring ingredients. The traditional ones are bitter orange peel and coriander, but enterprising brewers have used other spices like chamomile and lavender.

Zōn (Flemish for “sun”) is Boulevard Brewing Company’s summer seasonal interpretation of the style. Here’s my notes:

Zōn
Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Missouri
Style: Belgian Witbier
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: White bread and yeast. Banana and clove character of a German hefeweizen with subtle orange and citrus character. Very light coriander floral way in the background.

Appearance: Light straw-colored and cloudy. Fluffy white head that was moderately persistent.

Flavor: The flavor very much follows the aroma. Bready wheat malt with banana, clove, and yeast flavors rounding it out. Nice orange and lemon citrus notes with only the slightest hint of flowery coriander. Low bitterness. The dry finish lingers lightly on wheat and citrus. Light and refreshing.

Mouthfeel: Light body, but with the mouth-filling richness that wheat and suspended yeast bring to a beer. Spritzy carbonation.

Overall Impression: This is a solid representation of the witbier style. Light and refreshing, it invites another bottle. I like that the coriander character remains subtle, allowing the yeast and orange flavors to shine. I had this with dinner and it brilliantly complemented my garlic scape and asparagus pasta with white wine butter sauce. Really a great pairing.

Cheese & Ale at Cooks of Crocus Hill

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Last night was the Cheese and Ale class at Cooks of Crocus Hill. Fromager Ken Liss and I took guest through a varied course of six beers paired with six artisan cheeses. There were some expected brilliant pairings and some pleasant surprises as well. And as always, there was Ken’s “secret ingredient” that I will talk about later.

As a welcome beer I poured Flat Earth’s Sunburst Ale, an apricot infused Belgian Pale Ale that turned out to be one of the favorites of the night. Other beers were Lagunitas Pils, Saison Dupont, Meantime IPA, Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen Rauchbier, and Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

Ken brought a wide range of cheeses including Brillat Savarin cow’s milk brie, Le Cabrie goat’s milk brie from Wisconsin, Colliers Powerful Cheddar, the Italian sheep’s milk cheese Pecorino Ginepro, Saenkanter aged gouda, and Cashel Blue, a creamy blue cheese from Ireland.

Some of the pairings were obvious. IPA and cheddar are made for one another and the Meantime IPA and the Colliers cheddar was a perfect match. The beer’s fruity and grassy notes complemented herbal/grassy flavors in the cheese while the bitter hops cleared the creamy cheese off the palate. The IPA also paired brilliantly with the blue.

The light pilsner was a perfect match for both the cow’s milk and the goat’s milk brie. Floral saaz hops complemented light floral notes in the cheeses and the pils malt added sweetness to these otherwise salty, creamy bries.

Like IPA and cheddar, porter is made for blue cheese. The Black Butte and the Cashel Blue bore this out as bitter black malt and chocolate notes blended brilliantly with the creamy, pungent, and spicy blue cheese.

The most surprising pairing for me was the Brillat Savarin brie with the Black Butte porter. I would have expected the full-flavored porter to overwhelm the much lighter cheese. Instead, the buttery cheese brought out a creaminess in the beer while the cheese’s saltiness balanced the roasted malt bitterness in the beer such that the cheese not only stood up to the bigger beer but complemented it beautifully.

The match made in heaven for the evening was another pairing with the Brillat Svarin. Paired with the Schlenkerla Rauchbier, this was a match to make the angels sing. The salty brie was perfect with the bacon flavors in the beer. Think canapés with brie and cured meats. Ken’s “secret ingredient” further enhanced this pairing. A bit of smoked salt sprinkled onto the cheese pushed it into cheese and beer bliss. This was another pairing that I would not have expected.

Sam Adams® Latitude 48

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Sam Adams is launching a new beer this summer, an India Pale Ale called Latitude 48. The beer takes its name from the northern hop growing region located around latitude 48°. The press release for the beer touts a blend of German, English, and American hops that create a “distinctive, yet not overpowering, hop character” balanced by a sweet honey malt blend. I am unclear whether this means they used honey or honey malt. [EDIT: They used honey malt, not honey.] Here’s my notes:

Sam Adams Latitude 48
Boston Beer Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Style: India Pale Ale
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Citrus and grassy hops with undertones of sweet berries and pineapple. Lightly sweet and biscuity English-style malt. English yeast fruitiness opens up as the beer warms. Balanced.

Appearance: Amber and crystal clear. Moderate off-white head that persisted only moderately.

Flavor: Kicks off with medium-high bitterness that lingers long into the finish. This bitterness first had a harshness that smoothed out as the beer warmed. Hop flavors present an interesting mix of earthy, floral, and spice, with hints of lemony citrus. Sweet caramel and biscuit malt balances the hops and claims top placement mid-palate. Finish is dry, lingering on hop bitterness and flavor that sticks around long after swallowing.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: An interesting take on a classic English IPA. The malt character and yeast fruitiness definitely reflects the English style. The hops present a blend of European, English, and American flavors that lend the beer some interest. Not the best IPA out there, but definitely one I would be happy to drink again.

Odell Saboteur Brett Barrel Brown Ale

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Odell Brewing Company has a five-barrel pilot brew house that they use to brew test batches and small release beers. One of the things to come out of this brew house is what they call the Single Serve Series. Initially intended only for draft service in their tasting room, some of these beers have been so popular that they decided to do bigger batches and bottle them for markets outside their Fort Collins, Colorado home. I had the opportunity to try one of these recently. Saboteur is a big, drinkable, sour, brown ale that I believe becomes available in the Twin Cities this week. The last time I visited the brewery in Fort Collins, they had just filled a bunch of brand new oak barrels to start a barrel-aging program. I can only imagine that this beer represents what is now being produced in some of  those same barrels. Here’s my notes:

Saboteur
Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado
Style: Brettanomyces Brown Ale
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: A pleasant acidic sourness hits the nose right off, followed by toasty and lightly roasty malt. Some leathery brettanomyces notes. Caramel sweetness comes in as it warms.

Appearance: Dark brown and clear. Appears black. The moderate off-white head persisted moderately.

Flavor: Starts with intense burnt sugar and molasses. Background notes of coffee and chocolate joined by anise and loads of dark dried fruits like raisins, prunes, and cherries. The wild character is almost non-existent at first, but comes in more strongly as the beer warms, displaying leathery barnyard character. After a final shot of bitterness, the sweet finish lingers on raisins and caramel. Rich and sweet.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with moderate carbonation. Light alcohol warming. Rich and mouth filling with some creaminess.

Overall Impression: It took a few sips to take this one in. It is a big and complex beer, much bigger than I expected, with light brettanomyces funk balancing thick, sweet malt. The fruitiness is beautiful. I would have liked a bit more of the wild character. I wonder if this would come out more fully with some age. Additional aging might also allow the brettanomyces to dry it out, something that would benefit this beer.

ODell IPA

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I had the opportunity to sample the IPA from Odell Brewing. This hop-forward, American style IPA is another beer that the brewery will be launching in the Minnesota market next week. Here’s my notes:

IPA
ODell Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado
Style: American IPA
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Bright citrus hops dominate the aroma, leaping out of the bottle before it is even poured. Sharp, crisp, grapefruit and lemon/lime. The hops are backed up by a lightly sweet, grainy malt with hints of caramel.

Appearance: A moderate, rocky, and persistent white head sits atop a medium-amber, crystal-clear jewel of a beer.

Flavor: The flavors follow the aroma. Sharp citrus hops dominate. The assertive bitterness is supported but not quite balanced by simple, sweet, grainy malt. There are hints of light stone-fruits floating around the background. The super dry finish favors bitterness with a lingering citrus pith flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium body and medium carbonation. Light astringency from the assertive hops.

Overall Impression: A solid American IPA that is definitely meant to showcase hops. The hops have a nice brightness to them, but the bitterness is a bit unbalanced for my taste. I kept waiting for more malt to come through as the beer warmed, but it never did. Not bad, but I like more balance and complexity from the malt side of an IPA.