Great Divide Hibernation Ale

There's always been a particular flavor that lets me know I am drinking a Great Divide brew. I't's not a hoppy thing but more in the yeast and malt. It's a good thing. And this years Hibernation has that. It's a rich, malty English style Ale with chocolaty up front flavors. A roasted coffee taste is there as well as in the nose. And Like any good holiday brew there's a wee bit of cinnamon. It's a bit heavy, which I like, but really delicious. It has an almost warming affect. But that could just be me and the stock bubbling away next to me. There's a bit of hops when you give a whiff and a bit more when you sip. But you gotta concentrate on it. I could see this beer aging well for a year or two. It's rich enough and seems to have enough sugars to pull it off.

I highly recommend this winter warmer.

cheers

D

West Flanders, Boulder

A brewery on the Pearl St Mall is not exactly my ideal location. For one parking sucks. It's not like parking in SF kind of suck but it can be a routine. Plus any place serving alcohol on the mall can get CROWDED. Regardless, I had to try one of the newer additions to breweries in Boulder. It is beer after all. And this place is where BJ's used to be. My hope was the beer wouldn't be as bad as BJ's.

I made my way down the first night of the playoffs to watch the Giants. Yes, it was crowded as hell and the staff, like most in Boulder, were young and not very helpful. Like when I asked one of the waiters about the type of hops in one of their beers I got a "...we don't give out that info." Oh please. It's f***ing beer not an Ever-Lasting-Gobstopper! So that was a bad start. On to the beer...

As usual I will only review the brews I liked.

Third Kingdon IPA (6.7%)
This was a good intro and got my hopes up. It's a nice 'n dank IPA that has a good balance between the malt and hops with a bit of chewiness to it thanks to it being un-filtered. And like any good IPA it has a citrus hit that really made it for me. The color is perfect for an IPA. All in all a good beer with great malt flavor that cuts through all the dank.

TBD ESB
This was a classic ESB that reminded me of having a fresh Red Hook in Seattle in '91. It's a classic style ESB with a smooth and nutty taste that I really enjoyed. It didn't blow the doors off but a good brew nonetheless. The malt is nice and dry that lends itself to the beer quite nicely. The carbonation was one as well.

Conniption Pale Ale
This was pretty classic. A nice Pale Ale with a hit of hoppy dankness that works pretty well. It has a bitter touch to it with a touch of sweetness. Like any good hoppy ale I like it was the citrus notes that really got me to like this one.

All in all West Flanders serves up some pretty good beers. I was disappointed in the Belgians hence no reviews. Either way I enjoyed a few good pints and I hope they can step up to the plate a bit more and really  work on those Belgians. Especially the strong ones.

cheers

D

The Meddler

I have to say, Odells has been putting out some fine barreled brews as of late (see my last post) and The Meddler is a prime example of what they are up to. My first experience with an Oud style beer was Avery's Oud Floris which is exceptionally good. The Meddler follows as a damn fine example of how barreling and the residual yeast and bacteria in the barrel can affect the taste in so many good ways. The aroma is deep and rich with a bit or raisins and hazelnuts along with an almost peachy waft to it. The taste is pretty much the same but with that wonderful sour hit that I and so many love. The flavor is a bit sweet, sour, with back notes of caramel that really made me feel I was quaffing a damn good deal of a brew at around $15 a pop. The malt stands out with a touch of hops which is pretty characteristic of an Oud Bruin. The flavors of vanilla I particularly enjoyed as it rounded out the sourness and paired perfectly with the malt that is present in a good brown.

I strongly suggest you grab one of these beauties. I have one in the cellar and plan on getting one or two more to age. If I have the strength to keep it down in the basement.

cheers

D

Deconstructing Odell's "Deconstruction"

The cork shot like a bat out of hell and  the sound was of a fine champagne. Ok, a bit over doing it on the dramatics but holy s**t is this a good ale. As I write this the damn bottle is two feet away from me and I can smell the aromas wafting my way. I couldn't wait to get my hands on another one of these bottles just so I could blog about it. I had one last night while I made a pizza dinner for the family. Which included my dear-sainted mother whom knows her wine and naturally knows a good ale. She shared a bit with me in between her glasses of Chardonnay and she actually gasped after a sip or two. Mom's know best right? To call this a Beer sounds almost insulting as being too general. It's a barrel aged Golden Ale that...fuggit. I'll just say what it says on the bottle:

"A Golden Ale created by blending the final recipe with it's own barrel aged pilot-beers fermented with wild yeasts and lacto. Each individual barrel contributes a unique flavor from the wood chosen and the cultures resident to achieve subtle complexities that develop over time"

If this gets better over time I can't imagine how good it will be in a year, two years time. It pours like a perfect Belgian and quickly gives off aromas of a fine Chardonnay that married a smooth Saison and then had a 5 Barrel for a child. The esters are very pronounced and leave a fruity flavor of pineapple and apricot as it fades in your mouth. Damn, that aroma keeps filling up the space around me with a confidence that says "You want some of this beer guy?! Then here you go!" And like any good wine it just gets better as you let it breathe. When first opened it's the aroma more than the taste that impresses. 15 minutes later it evolves into a whole new beer. Tart stone fruit, a touch of caramel, hops, citrus, and even a bit of champagne. Like many breweries you can taste flavors of other beers they make. As stated on the bottle I quoted above there is pilot-beers in there to nudge it into the O'Dell direction of flavor. But it's pretty subtle. It has a character all on it's own. The malt is very well balanced with the tartness the wild yeast gave it. And the barreling gives it a sophistication that stands out all the while balancing the aforementioned flavors.

Granted it's a sour beer of sorts so if your not into that kinda thing then move on to another post. But if you are into sours do yourself a favor and grab this beauty while it's available. At roughly $14.99 a bottle it ain't cheap. But damn worth it.

cheers

D

Great Divide Belgian Style Yeti Imperial Stout (2011)

Last year I grabbed a bottle of this brew in hopes I would let it age for a while. The in-laws came in to town, from Petaluma, and I kind of got into a 'mode' of beer sharing. This was one of the first we dug into. I am not sure on how many Yeti's are out there these days. It's gotta be over a dozen. Right? This bottle was a 2011 bottled in July. The pour was what you would expect from any good Imperial Stout. Nice head, freakishly dark, and inviting. The smell was what really grabbed me. It has that nostalgic stout whiff but a hint of Belgian yeast which brightened it up a bit. Coffe came through and some chocolate. Again, like a classic good stout.

The taste, again nostalgic, was of a familiar stout that one loves and rememb ers from times past. But the capper is that Belgian hit that lingers on the finish. To the point where banana comes through granted you really pay attention and geek out and pay attention. Dates, raisins and also a bit of balck licorice. It only gets better as it warms up too. But not too warm...

git it

D

Funkwerks 'Scepter' Golden Ale

The wife and I just came home from Oskars. Not the Weasel but the resteraunt (Liquids and Solids). I imbibed on the Funkwerks Belgian IPA which was absolutely delicious. But this post is not about that. On the way home we promised to grab a bomber of Racer 5, which is great and cheap, but as fate would happen on the front range I noticed a new Funkwerks selection I have not tried. In fact, from what the dude told me at the liquor store they just released it to the masses. As of today...or something like that.

Like most Funkwerks concotions this is pretty damn smooth. With a nice hit of malt up front, which can be unusual with 'funk' brews, it really balances out. It's a good looking Ale, barrel aged with a cellar longevity of 3 years according to the bottle. Regardless, it's a Belgian beauty that has the expected spice and a smooth mouth feel that hits home. It's a biggin' too at 9.3% but with no heat or boozy taste whatsoever. It's always a bit of BS when I review beers that can cellar for time due to the fact I don't know what it will taste like 3 years from now. But then again it's what I have now and it may be what you grab for the night. And I highly recommend it.

git it

D

A day of Belgians at Mt. Sun

I won't go into how long we have been eating and imbibing at Mt Sun but let's just say many years. We know the owners and managers well enough to say hi and have conversations with. Whether at a Phish show or the brewery itself. Good folks who play by their own rules. I like that. On to the Belgians....

Currently Mt Sun has a handful of Belgians to choose from. This is not really like them to do so. But since new Brewer Jeff Ramirez from Ironworks in PA took over, things seem to be changing a bit for the better in terms of spreading their wings a bit. Don't worry, it's still the beloved hippie brewery serving delicious beers and food. Just more adventurous it seems. When I spoke to Jeff about the newer brett brews soon to come he said they brew offisite at a warehouse off of Arapahoe. So I think they may keep the Belgians coming considering Jeff's taste for these types ans styles. Good on him.

The first taste was the Ciel Lumineux Belgian Ale. Considering Mt Sun doesn't filter their beers too much this one was an exception. It looked and tasted almost pils like. It is a nice beer that is dry with all of the Belgian ale flavors one has come to expect here in the US. Hints of coriander, a bit of funk, spicy, etc. Or what the day manager called '...that wet horse blanket smell'. I can dig it. Anyway, the aroma didn't have much which the flavor made up for in this nice Belgian Ale.

The Bavarian Wheat had huge funk when whiffing along with some citrus notes. It looks like cloudy champagne which as you might guess it's un-filtered. The flavors are nutty, of all things, and a bit sour. But not too much. I think it's the smoothness of it all that made me like this one. But like many beers so un-filtered I wouldn't spend a night drinking this one. Live yeast can wreak havoc on ones innards. If you catch my drift.

Pater's Belgian Ale is perfect in appearance for what it is. Deep golden colors, perfect carbonation, and an impressive bleach white creamy head that you could float a quarter on. Love that. I'll dmit though I didn't get much aroma off of it. The taste is very biscuit-y with the mouth feel of an English Ale. Delicious. The hop presence is really mellow which makes it more of a malt lovers type. And it's damn easy to drink which I always like. I would love to see this in a firkin. Unfortunately Mt Sun doesn't do firkins. Well, they should. Just sayin'.

This last one is loved by the Mt Sun crew so I ad some high expectations going into it. It was good...but not great. Which of course is fine. It's just that it was chatted up quite a bit. Regardless, the Rouge de Brugges Belgian Red is nutty and malty with a beautiful red amber color that just makes you want to drink it by sight alone. It's fairly dry, almost to dry for my taste, with a slight note of blackberries. Actually, it had slight flavors of their Blackberry Wheat. Hmmmm. I think this one hs much potential but could use a bit more of everything. There I said it.

And then there's the FYIPA......

cheers

D