I hope everyone made it through the New Year with minimal
damage. I want to take some time to
thank everyone for following me this year.
My posts were pretty sparse but I’m looking forward to picking it up in 2013. Go big or go home, right? I was perusing my tasting notebook and there
are several brews that I failed to post about in 2012. There were a few good ones so I wanted to
take the time to give props to those that stood out. Here we go, all the missed opportunities in
2012 in one epic blog post. Fasten up.
Sam Adams Grumpy Monk:
Poured with a decent rocky head.
The nose is dominated by musty Belgian yeast
character.
Mouthfeel is fairly
thin.
Your palate is immediately hit
with yeast character of the sulphury mediciney variety.
It’s hard to tell what sort of finish there
is and whether there is any hop character because the yeast character is so
overwhelming.
Overall I didn’t really
care for this brew due to the overpowering yeast character.
Sam Adams Verloren:
This brew interested me from the get go.
It was being advertised as a Gose being
brewed with coriander and salt which sounded really “unique”.
At first glance, this brew garnered visions
of
vile witches brew.
My curiosity got the best of me and I had to
try it.
There were strong aromas of wheat
spice dancing around with a bit of coriander in the background.
My initial impression was that it was strange
but nice and very refreshing.
The main
player is a spice character that is delicate but makes the entire brew what it
is.
There was a very slight tart fruit
that hides behind the spice.
There is a
very nice robust “soft” wheat character that is well rounded and fills your
mouth.
The spice, wheat, and fruity tart
character make this brew exceptional.
At
the point I tried this brew I was still experimenting between using my beloved
Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass and my new fangled Spiegelau Stemmed Pilsner
glass.
The Verloren turns out to be the
perfect brew to showcase the virtues of the Spiegelau glass.
It was amazing the difference of the taste of
this brew in the two different vessels.
The
Verloren is one of the brews that stands out in my mind even months later.
Sam Adams Cinder Bock:
This brew is a Rauch Bock (smoked beer) weighing in at 9.4%
ABV.
The nose is subtle smokiness with a
hint of bacon.
There is immediate smoke
character when you take a drink but surprisingly it’s not overpowering.
The character is smooth overall with good
malt sweetness to support smoke.
A hint
of caramel on the finish but the smoke persists throughout the entire
palate.
Not a bad brew at all.
Sam Adams Norse Legend:
The Norse Legend is a Sahti brewed with Juniper clocking in
7% ABV.
The nose is unique with very
dull spice character much like anise and touches of pepper.
The taste is kind of peppery with an almost coriander
quality.
There is a slight tart
character on the finish.
Some
juniper/fruitiness comes through but it’s more in the background.
Stiegl Radler:
I first became interested in lemonade infused brew with
Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy.
There is
another more traditional radler on the market and that is Stiegl.
It is a 50/50 blend of beer and lemon
soda.
The nose is an almost acidic
lemony character.
Mouthfeel is thin for
the most part.
The radler is pretty sweet
through the entire palate but it is balanced by a seltzer water crispness.
It is very soda-poppy but does hit the spot
on a hot summer day.
Sam Adams Porch Rocker:
I compared this head to head with the Stiegl.
The Porch Rocker had much less lemon in the
nose and had some grainy malt aromas.
This brew was much drier than the Stiegel and had a more beer quality to
it.
Both were refreshing.
Weston 1842 Porter:
This is yet another different brew coming out of Weston
Brewing Company.
They continue to try
different stuff and I applaud them.
Keep
up the good work.
The nose is beautiful
roasted malt aromas with chocolate and hints of vanilla.
Very inviting.
The flavor starts with a dull malt character
that transitions into a very coffee-like roastiness.
To further the coffee-like quality a faint
roasted malt bitterness peaks through before a fairly dry finish.
This brew was really good and I was quite
impressed.
This is like a diet version
of some of the bigger coffee stouts that are out now.
Good job Weston!
Weston Rip Van Winkle:
This is another one of the brews that came to my mind when I
think about the past year.
I really liked
this brew.
The Rip Van Winkle poured
with a huge fluffy head.
The nose was
predominately musty German yeast aroma.
There was good malt character that was well rounded.
A bit of caramel peaked through but overall the
character of the brew was not too sweet.
The yeast spiciness is the main player in the finish but was subtle.
Hints of cinnamon began showing up on the
finish as the brew warmed.
Boulevard Stingo:
I was excited to try this one from the time it was
announced.
I love trying beer styles
that I’ve never even heard of before and this was definitely one of them.
A stingo?
It didn’t sound the most appetizing but again my curiosity got the best
of me.
I noticed that people didn’t
really have the same curiosity as I did because I noticed the Stingo on the
liquor store shelves for some time.
Initially I was impressed by the beautiful red complexion.
The nose was a dull sweet malt character with
hints of straw/grass.
The mouthfeel was on
the thin side.
The first observation was
that this brew was very sharp on the palate.
There was a very brief malt sweetness up front with characteristics of
molasses.
It reminded me of a brown ale
for a fraction of a second and then I was confronted with the sourness.
The sourness is well done and is not
overdone.
The drying “stinging”
character follows and lasts into the finish.
The malt character is subtle but present throughout.
If you let your palate rest for a few minutes
before taking another drink, you get an almost smoky character.
Boulevard Reverb Imperial Pilsner:
I am generally not a fan of the imperial pilsner or double
pale ale styles. For whatever reason
these styles always seem WAY too dry for my taste. I was anxious to try the new Boulevard
offering nonetheless. The nose on the
Reverb had a dry grain quality similar to bread but drier. There was no sweetness to speak of in this
brew and it had a sharpness on the palate.
There was some dry grain character, almost a straw character, that makes
up the body of this brew. The “dry”
character that I’m normally not a fan of was nicely done in the Reverb. It was there but it was not overwhelming.
