Beverage of the Week - Life & Limb Sierra/Dogfish Collaboration

What's brought the BoW back after a few months hiatus? A 9 out of 9 perfect score, that's what. Find and buy this one ASAP. You're welcome.

Life & Limb is a completely unique collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head. It's a match made in heaven - Sierra specializes in eminently drinkable, balanced ales and have proven master collaborators of late (check out the Anniversary series), while no one does crazy experimentation like Dogfish does it. First released in '09, they've done another extremely limited run and I got my hands on an early-release bottle Friday. So what's in the bottle? It starts with hops grown at Sierra, yeast from both brewer's private strains, and Massachusetts maple syrup. Brew that and add Alaskan birch syrup to ferment in some more carbonation and you have an exquisitely balanced, entirely unique 10% ABV bottle of bliss.

Despite the extreme sugars this starts with, nothing overpowers here. The color is light molasses with a thin head, and you can only pick up the maple syrup on the nose if you pay close attention. There's a light roast coffee and some toffee notes there as well. On the palate it all blends beautifully - hints of chocolate and coffee smoothed with maple - so only the best notes stand out. Despite the high alchohol content this is wonderfully smooth; there's a little booziness on the nose but nothing in the taste to distract from all the flavors. The only thing comparable is Founder's Black Biscuit, another amazing limited run that gets aged in maple syrup casks.  Don't miss this one - production is very limited, expect even the best beer shops to only get a case or two at most, and that will disappear in a few days tops.

Beverage of the Week - New Mexico Breweries

The modern world is a wonderfully small place - Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam and even Rouge can be found most anywhere in the country nowadays. In fact, if you sit stationary enough it's quite easy to think that all there is to be had is everywhere at your fingertips....

Ah, but everywhere you trek out far enough there's another brewery you can't find down the trail. Right before I left Indiana I was growing enamoured with People's and Sun King, which I'm willing to guarantee no one outside the state has ever heard of. New Mexico has offered me a whole new bounty of local, privileged appreciation. This week's BoW is both homage and enticement in case anyone want's to visit...

I. La Cumbre Brewing Co.

It's gotta tell you something when a brewery in an out-of-the-way, industrial neck of town fills every seat on a Tuesday night. This is a place that consistently has 1-2 of their beers on cask and specializes in high-alcohol, high flavor beers. Not for the weak at heart, but certainly aimed at my heart. The recent Three-Legged Dog IPA was a 10%+ monster, with a surprisingly mellow hop flavor. My standard is the Malpais Stout, which is drier than most with burnt chocolate notes, really sitting somewhere between a stout and a Baltic porter in my opinion - it sounds rough, but it's amazingly well balanced. As a bonus, they don't serve food so they can stay dog-friendly. I've taken Chester there a couple times now.

II. Marble Brewing Co.

Located a short hike off the strip downtown, Marble is by far the most consistent brewery in town, if not the most interesting. Their IPA is quite nice - the hop-forward without being overwhelming, the sort of IPA you can dig into several glasses of. They have an Irish style strong red that shows up occasionally and is probably their most interesting offering. I hear the white ale is nice as well, but I'm not a white/wheat guy so no commentary from me. Bottom line is this is not the best brewery in town, but it's pretty good and by far the most widely available (right now, they're the only ones bottling for outside sales). It's my local Sierra Nevada equivalent - always tasty and usually an option when faced with a sea of Macrobrewed Pisswiser.

III. Chama River Brewing Co.

Hands down my favorite brewery in town. Their Sleeping Dog Stout is excellent - a nice balance of dark chocolate and rich coffee, but with the bitter notes smoothed out and light bodied enough that I was actually glad when they stopped the 22oz mugs - I'd almost make it through two before Courtney polished off a 16oz pint. Best of all, they have 3-4 rotating taps with seasonals that are often excellent and always interesting. They had a kick-ass Bourbon aged stout last winter, and recently did a very nice Marzen (which you don't see microbrews doing too often). Top that off with an excellent, top-class dinner menu at the main location, and a dig-able, dog-friendly microbar downtown.

Beverage of the Week: Alaskan Smoked Porter

Given the stupid cold, snowy weather here in New Mexico today, a tribute to one of my all-time favorite beers seems appropriate. Yes, it's undoubtedly tropical here compared to what's knocking on the doors of my friends back east - but trust me, nothing will take the edge off a frigid snowy night (or my incessant whining about the weather) like an Alaskan Smoked Porter.

ASP is a vintage beer, meaning they brew a batch yearly (on Nov 1), date it appropriately, and it will age quite nicely for 5 years or so. Back in New Albany, Richo's kept a small stock going back a few years on their menu with prices appropriately increasing to make sure a few bottles would linger forward from year to year. I still remember the first time I ponied up the 10 or so for a recent bottle - a damn lot of money back when ramen was the nutritional alternative to not eating. The first smoked beer I tried, it's still the standard I judge them by - smoke and musk on the finish, but not overpowering the rich chocolate and barley malt up front....just complimenting, accentuating it. In the past decade smoked beer has become more commonplace, but many just overpower everything with smoked malt until it tastes like a glass of bacon (not that a glass of bacon is all bad, mind you). The longer ASP ages, the more complexities you'll find in it - if you can put off drinking it for that long. I picked up an '09 a couple months back intending to shelve it until '13, but temptation got the better of me last weekend....

I've loved this beer for nearly a decade, way back when I first discovered the joys of porter, but I've only recently gotten to know more about the company behind it and their other products. Alaskan Brewing Company was started by an intrepid Alaskan transplant couple in the 80's, who obviously had way more constitution for snow and bone-cold than I ever will. Back east I'd never seen anything but the smoked porter, but in New Mexico and Colorado others aren't too hard to come by, and while their stout wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped, I must say their pale ale is quite pleasant and unique. And who can't love a brewery whose mission is dedicated not only to improving craft beer, but the local economy as well? Well done.

Beverage(s) of the Week: Double IPAs

The Sparrow has a bunch of double/imperial IPA's on tap this week, and they're doing flights. Yeah, I love everything about the concept of beer flights. Anyway, this meant I got to sample five different beers - which isn't as easy as it sounds, you know - and three of them I'll review today: Sun King's Amarillo the Princess Warrior (wtf?), Bell's HopSlam, and Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA. Double India Pale Ales (DIPAs) are essentially high-alcohol IPAs, often with expanded hopiness (thought these are milder in that respect). Sometimes they're called Imperial IPAs, after Imperial stouts, which have a similar philosophy.

Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA: By now, this could be considered a classic. While DH's stuff disappoints me as often as it excites me, I always respect their creativity and risk taking. You could almost call this boring by their standards, but being continually hopped AND dry hopped, it was certainly and innovator in its day. Not to mention it's a hop-focused beer that actually tries (and succeeds) in balancing that bite, unlike a certain Indiana DIPA which was also in last week's flight. This was actually the first time I'd tried this on tap, and i have to say it's much improved fresh off as opposed to bottled. Light bodied, golden amber in color with citrus notes forward, balancing out the hoppy floral notes. There's a surprising bready maltiness here, but nothing overwhelms and it finishes with a lovely mild bitter hoppy bite. Eminently drinkable - just remember it's 9.0% ABV. 8/9 on tap (7.5/9 bottled).

Bell's HopSlam: Wow. Again, first time I've had this on tap, and while I've always enjoyed this beer, this was impressive. Strawberry. Slightly overripe strawberries. On the nose and the palate - I shit you not. And it's damn smooth over the hops. It's a darker amber, positively lovely all around. It's hard to believe that this is 10% ABV, but I'm going to keep it in mind as I could down several of these in a sitting if I let myself forget what the next morning might feel like....I give it an 8.5/9, maybe even higher...I need to try this again when I haven't been sucking down a bunch of high gravity beers, heh.

Sun King Amarillo the Princess Warrior: Sun King is an up-and-comer out of Indianapolis, and they apparently take craft brewing seriously. This is the second of their beers I've tried, the first being a black IPA which was quite refreshing and unique. This one is named for the Amarillo and Warrior hops involved. Of the three, this is likely the most approachable (though all are mellow for DIPAs). The body is medium to light, hops are forward but not overwhelming, the citrus gives way to more floral notes, and neither malt or hoppy bitterness is overwhelming. Reminds me a lot of Two Hearted, actually, but there's more depth here (and more alcohol, at 9%). 7.5/9, but I probably need to spend some more time getting to know this one, without four other DIPAs clouding my palate.

Beverage of the Week: Founders Black Biscuit

I think I've found a brewing company that loves dark beer as much as I do. I've got all these tingly-inside feelings. I could just titter away like a schoolgirl.

Founders Black Biscuit starts with an imperial stout, which in itself is excellent (though I still prefer Gonzo, myself). That lovely little stout then goes to live in oak barrels, and though there's no horse's-mouth info on Founders' website, the story I've been able to put together is as follows: these barrels start life aging bourbon, travel up to Michigan to create another lovely Founder's beer (Kentucky Breakfast Stout), then they head to New England to age maple syrup for a while, and THEN they come back to age Black Biscuit in the old gypsum caves under Grand Rapids. Tres cool.

This is a pitch-dark, night sky of beer with a burnt-toffee head. The nose tells the tale of those well-traveled barrels, but the best part is everything is underplayed - just hints of maple, bourbon and earthy oak, all calmly mingling. My one complaint about most bourbon stouts - KBS included - is the bourbon is way too thick and coarse on the nose. This doesn't fall into that trap; everything is mild enough to let more delicate notes come through. The palate is very similar, and a love the way the hint of maple ties the dark chocolate, coffee, and bourbon notes together....this is a beer where you can think through all the interesting notes, but ultimately they cohere into one hell of a good beer. Easily an 8.5 out of 9.

Just one thing left to do - I have to find that maple syrup.

BoW a-thon LIVE!: Founders Porter

Okay, so an aside - it seems all the beers I brought home are pretty high gravity. This next one's 6.5%, and it's one of the "lighter" ones. Yeah....prolly not making it through all of them tonight.

Anyway, Founders does it again. These guys from Grand Rapids, Michigan can do dark beer. Their Breakfast Stout is one of my new favorites, and apparently their porter is no slouch either. Somewhere between an oily, super heavy Baltic porter and the coffee-carmel richness of the best English porters, this is officially good stuff.

Roasted barley drowns the nose, but there's a touch of dark chocolate and malt under there as well. The palate really lines up with the nose, with sweet malty barley hint-o'-chocolaty goodness. Some might say that makes it less complex, but I really enjoy my mouth and nose having a simultaneous...well, you get the picture. 8/9, just shy of Sinebrychoff. Yum.

Word to the wise, though - I haven't been terribly impressed with Founders reds or pales and such.

BoW-a-thon LIVE!: Victory Hop Devil Ale

As often happens, I was sitting on the patio at a nearby bar downing an overgrown Bell's Two-Hearted when suddenly inspiration struck. Go to the liquor store, and grab a sixer of singles you haven't tried before. Review them. Live.

(Okay, either I'm not getting through all of them tonight, or the last reviews won't be worth reading...fair enough.)

First off, we have Hop Devil Ale from Victory Brewing Co. out of Downington, PA. The master brewers are German-trained, but you wouldn't know it by their beers - they are quintessentially American style microbrews. Even their pilsner is hoppy. But, I likes me some hops. However, while Hop Devil is an IPA it is surprisingly balanced. There's no missing the hops, but they don't overshadow the rest of the beer either. Maybe it's due to Victory using whole-flower hops. Maybe.

On the nose, Hop Devil is heady and yeasty, with a hint of fressh grass that reaffirms my commitment to IPA's as lawnmower beers. Once again, the hoppy bitterness is there but mild, and there's a lot of citrus fruit. Maybe a bit of grapefruit?

7/9 overall. Certainly nothing breathtakingly unique, but certainly tasty and refreshing.

Beverage of the Week: Left Hand Brewing Co.'s Sawtooth Ale

I remember that when taking my first baby-steps into beerville I always shied away from ESB's. "Bitter" sounded like the flagship style for everything I hadn't yet learned to appreciate about beer. Turns out, though, ESB's are one of the mildest, most drinkable ales you're likely to find - a long way from the "bitter" hop bite of so many American style ales at the time.

Left Hand's Sawtooth is a Colorado ESB that does the British standby style not just justice, but a few favors too. The Sparrow's had it on tap for several weeks, so I've had several opportunities to...evaluate. It's got all the pound-it-down mildness, but added character in the form of a citrus note (seems to be an "American touch") and some other complexities I enjoyed but couldn't quite pick out. That's the key to a great ESB - interesting, but nothing so interesting as to get in the way of smooth, thirst-quenching enjoyment. Yum.

For more on ESB's, check out this NYT article. They agree with my high opinion of Sawtooth, by the way.

BoW - Sierra Nevada Wet-Hopped Harvest Ale 12th Release

Been outta town, so no BOW last week. This one is a new favorite (a wonderful friend gave me a case as a wedding gift). Wet-hopped ales are made with fresh hops, so they're truly seasonal. Their character is utterly unlike the standard "hoppy" beer, as dried hops offer up a much different character. This is a much more mellow bitterness, with far softer floral notes. I loves me a good IPA, but this is surely more "drinkable" - at least in the sense a session beer is more drinkable than an IPA (and note how quickly the case is disappearing...). From SN's website:

Created in 1996, Harvest Ale features Cascade and Centennial hops from the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. These hops are harvested and shipped as “wet” un-dried hops—the same day they are picked—to our brewery in Chico where our brewers eagerly wait to get them into the brew kettle while their oils and resins are still at their peak.

Apparently there are two others in the series - Southern Hemisphere, made with hops from New Zealand, and Chico Estate, with hops grown onsite at the brewery. I haven't seen either of those, but the standard Harvest Ale has the best reviews from what I saw. Get it while you can, if you can.

Beverage of the Week

Here's a thought - I'll give myself an excuse to drink something new every week by reviewing it into the blog-void. Brilliant.

This week's beverage is Goose Island's Imperial IPA. From GI's website:

With our Imperial IPA, we pushed the hop limit to the extreme. We took three of our favorite hops, Tettnang, Simcoe and Cascade and balanced their spiciness with tons of malt… then we added more hops and more malt until this beer was exploding with flavor… you’ll smell the hops from a yard away. What will surprise you is how drinkable it is. Pair it with the saltiest blue cheese you can find.

They're doing a mini-double IPA fest over at The Black Sparrow and offering flights (why don't more places do flights?), so Courtney and I ran the samples last night and this was my favorite. I think their notion of the "hop limit" is different than mine -it's definately not as hop-forward your normal DIPA - but it is hoppy and also has alot of fruity, malty smoothness. Actually, it reminded me of a cross between an IPA and a wheat - suprisingly successful, since I don't care for wheat in the first place. Definately interesting and worth a try if you can find it