Beer in My Belly

This is a blog about the beer that i drink and my attempts to keep up with the beer critics of today by assigning arbitrary tastes and smells to the beer. It has also become a place where I rant about my opinions on the craft beer world. Cheers and Beers!

[beerinmybelly]

Cab Barrel Aged Albricot (Deciduous Brewing Company)

Style: Fruited pLambic Aged In Cabernet Sauvignon Barrels

4.9% ABV

From: Newmarket, NH

Brewery’s Note: “Our interpretation of a 4.9% abv pLamic (pure culture) aged on apricots. This version was fruited heaviest of all, then aged in Estate Cabernet (American oak) barrels from Korbin Kameron wines before undertaking even more apricots before bottling.”

[So… apparently, my glass wasn’t clean. Went through the same cleansing process I always do, but hey, sometimes you fuck up. With that in mind, my appearance review is kinda moot, and keep the uncleanliness in mind for everything else. I’ll talk a little about color though.]

It’s orange, perhaps a tad rosier than other Albricotian-variants. Clear, clean and nice. It’s a cup of beauty. On the nose, the beer smells of rounded fruit that opens slowly into juicy wonderfulness. Apricot gets a woody, vanilla accent that almost gives it a rich, fruit cake turn, while the slight chalky acidity adds an almost-bitter variant. It’s not the juice bomb of O.G. Albricot, but the complexity is stepped up. A minerally wash builds as it warms, melded with a fresh fruit skin scent that seems to take on a little bit of tea-ish bitters. It is a lovely, stately smelling beer. On the tongue, the beer tastes citric tart upfront, but that is smoothed in a wash of apricot juice and slight lactic acidity that builds with the citrus. The finish blends tea-ish bitters with oak tannin, slight barrel vanilla, and minerally skin with all the nuances of apricot fruit. It’s more delicate that the O.G., but like the smell, the complexity is stepped up, with lovely barrel accent that lasts into the aftertaste. In the mouth, the beer feels a touch heavier than other variants, sitting in the medium bandwidth, with a slicker, slight-chewiness, and a lovely structure coming from the barrel. Carb is middling and paired with the acidity, the beer becomes bright and refreshing, while still carrying some heavier complexity and nuance. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left with a thicker spittle, nearly phlegmy, which coats the tongue in a weighty film while the rest of the mouth tingles with fresh fruit and bitters. Overall, this is yet another beautiful beer, stepping up the complexity of Deciduous’s pLambics with beautiful barrel touches. I’m a Deciduous fan boy, and this is one of their better ones. In comparison to the O.G. Albricot, this is really a different beer, so it’s harder to compare. Where the original was a juice bomb, this beer is layered, complex, barreled, and really lovely. They are both excellent, and live on similar levels. You should try them both!

[beerinmybelly]

Curiosity Twenty Nine (Tree House Brewing Company)

Style: American Double IPA

7.9% ABV

From: Monson, MA

Brewery Note: “Our curiosity continues with an intensely kettle and dry hopped Double IPA featuring a combination of Simcoe & Amarillo! The base of Twenty Nine is straightforward to allow the unique and intriguing characteristics of our house yeast to play with a big punch of Simcoe & Amarillo. We experience flavors and aromas of apricot, peach, grapefruit, and a very distinctive note of juicy tangerine. This beer is a beautiful example that given a similar set of ingredients, process and yeast vastly influence the character and presentation of a finished beer. Despite its focused and intense flavors, this Curiosity is supremely pillowy. A delectable treat, indeed.”

The beer pours like white grapefruit juice: Hazy, pulpy, turbid, and a pale yellow. Yet it sits in the glass a little oranger. It’s a New England IPA in full opacity, but I don’t directly see any big floaties dancing around. Instead, it has a lot of murky particulate, like OJ from concentrate that’s still slightly de-thawing. The beer pours with a pretty, slightly-off-white head of creamy bubbles which wither to a thin chapeaux but leave a lovely spatterwork of dotted lacing on the glass. It looks like a hazy, dazy new age IPA, but it doesn’t have the ugly chunk of some.

On the nose, the beer is bright citrus fruit layered with tropical offerings. Think grapefruit, tangelo, and boozy OJ, with a little bit of stone fruit (under-ripe nectarine), and just the faintest tingle of chives to add a little gritty grass to the nose. Faint cereal bread wafts into the nostrils on the edges. The cans at a week old (refrigerated the whole time), and I’ve been sipping others throughout the week. As is often the case with hop bombs of this caliber, I do think the tropical juiciness has stepped off a touch, but it’s by no means lesser. The slight mango and apricot notes have simply molded into other fruit. It’s a big juicy hop-bomb, but with a more citrus/booze/ice tilt, and a little less thickness to the scent. On the tongue, the beer tastes softly bitter, with a bitter grass closer and mild sweetness between juicy fruit, citrus, and mango. Acidity is middling, gently lapping at citric and piney bite, and melding with the bitters while alcohol does squirm and softly burn in the mid-sip. It’s an Orange Julius smoothie with a slight ice burn, and a lot of grass added to balance out the sweetness. It’s citrus heavy orange juice with a little booze burn and a bitter, grassy underlining that balances the whole sip out. In the mouth, the beer is soft and pillowy, yet with a citric bitter bite on the back that snaps across the palate and leaves a river of saliva. This saliva dries and sticks to the sides of the tongue, even as more saliva pours out. The mouth is left hop-sticky, dryish, and happy. The beer is crisp yet pillowy, with a mild carb that really just keeps it light and gets out of the way. The one nick I have against the mouthfeel comes from the booze that slowly turns to bite on the close of the sip, and throws off the lovely pillow-with-bitters feel that the beer provides. Overall, this is lovely hop-juice that is but a blip in great Hop River of Tree House. It has some lovely elements, but they’ve done better. Still, it’s good shit. If you have some, enjoy it, if you don’t, check your local market and there should be something close. Hoppy beer is ethereal. It’s there and gone. Enjoy the stuff you can get the freshest.

[beerinmybelly]

Transition (Tree House Brewing Company)

Style: Autumn Country Beer

6.5% ABV

From: Monson, MA

Brewery Note: “Brewed with rye, dark malts, raw wheat, and oats, Transition is the first in a series of seasonally inspired country beers. Fermented with our unique Belgian yeast strain and seasoned for 3 months in oak. Transition has notes of sweet caramel tempered by judicious earthy spice. Naturally conditioned and further developed in the bottle, Transition is characterful and finishes a hint of tartness and soft acidity. All our Brettanomyces Country beers are lively, and effervescent. ”

The beer pours a ruddy, ruby color. It sits nearly opaque outside the light, but when held to a glass it is a cloudy, rustic beauty. A small, creamy head of slightly yellowed, pebbly bubbles forms above the beer. It’s ‘rustic’ (whatever that means) yet clear and vibrant in color, and really a lovely glass of ale. When the beer’s head dwindles, it leaves lovely, webbed strands of thinner, tight night, and wonderful lacing. On the nose, the beer smells of fresh citrus juice – grapefruit and lemon – with the warm scent of soft, baked, sweet bread. It’s fresh and clean, and somewhat reminiscent of Brother Soigne, which is a lovely thing in my book (given the other mixed-ferm bottles I tried at Tree House, I think this is a characteristic of their culture). Slight caramel bakes its way through with just the faintest whiff of lingering cinnamon, which really adds a warmer, ‘autumnal’ turn to this citrusy ale. On the tongue, the beer tastes bright with citrus similar to the nose, fresh, and nuanced with washes of minerally brine and fruit sweetness that slowly fades to faint, fresh baked bread on the finish, sopping in the mineral water and Perrier that it has become. Even with the bright, fresh citrus juice wash of the beer, the balance is exquisite, like juice with a wash of delicious salt water, only better. In the mouth, the beer feels clean, fresh, and medium-light bodied, with a bright acidity and mildly effervescent carb that help it to snap across the tongue. It’s lovely, fresh, and the mouth is left with a pool of spittle welling across it and welling in the gum lines, yet feeling fresh. Overall, this beer is phenomenal. We all know Tree House does good beer. The internet is full of their applause, yet Mixed Fermentation isn’t quite what they are known for – yet, this beer (and the 5ish that came before it) prove it’s definitely their game. Tree House is on a Hill Farmsteadian quest for fresh citrus in beer, and they are doing a great job of it. I’m not sure how to approach this beer as far as categories go. I think it is intended as an American Mixed Fermentation Farmhouse Ale, and it falls well in the lines of Brother Soigne, SaisonHands, and Sylph. It carries the salinity and minerality that I really enjoy in a beer, and it carries it well. This is a great beer.

[beerinmybelly]

Transition (Tree House Brewing Company)

Style: Autumn Country Beer

6.5% ABV

From: Monson, MA

Brewery Note: “Brewed with rye, dark malts, raw wheat, and oats, Transition is the first in a series of seasonally inspired country beers. Fermented with our unique Belgian yeast strain and seasoned for 3 months in oak. Transition has notes of sweet caramel tempered by judicious earthy spice. Naturally conditioned and further developed in the bottle, Transition is characterful and finishes a hint of tartness and soft acidity. All our Brettanomyces Country beers are lively, and effervescent. ”

The beer pours a ruddy, ruby color. It sits nearly opaque outside the light, but when held to a glass it is a cloudy, rustic beauty. A small, creamy head of slightly yellowed, pebbly bubbles forms above the beer. It’s ‘rustic’ (whatever that means) yet clear and vibrant in color, and really a lovely glass of ale. When the beer’s head dwindles, it leaves lovely, webbed strands of thinner, tight night, and wonderful lacing. On the nose, the beer smells of fresh citrus juice – grapefruit and lemon – with the warm scent of soft, baked, sweet bread. It’s fresh and clean, and somewhat reminiscent of Brother Soigne, which is a lovely thing in my book (given the other mixed-ferm bottles I tried at Tree House, I think this is a characteristic of their culture). Slight caramel bakes its way through with just the faintest whiff of lingering cinnamon, which really adds a warmer, ‘autumnal’ turn to this citrusy ale. On the tongue, the beer tastes bright with citrus similar to the nose, fresh, and nuanced with washes of minerally brine and fruit sweetness that slowly fades to faint, fresh baked bread on the finish, sopping in the mineral water and Perrier that it has become. Even with the bright, fresh citrus juice wash of the beer, the balance is exquisite, like juice with a wash of delicious salt water, only better. In the mouth, the beer feels clean, fresh, and medium-light bodied, with a bright acidity and mildly effervescent carb that help it to snap across the tongue. It’s lovely, fresh, and the mouth is left with a pool of spittle welling across it and welling in the gum lines, yet feeling fresh. Overall, this beer is phenomenal. We all know Tree House does good beer. The internet is full of their applause, yet Mixed Fermentation isn’t quite what they are known for – yet, this beer (and the 5ish that came before it) prove it’s definitely their game. Tree House is on a Hill Farmsteadian quest for fresh citrus in beer, and they are doing a great job of it. I’m not sure how to approach this beer as far as categories go. I think it is intended as an American Mixed Fermentation Farmhouse Ale, and it falls well in the lines of Brother Soigne, SaisonHands, and Sylph. It carries the salinity and minerality that I really enjoy in a beer, and it carries it well. This is a great beer.

[beerinmybelly]

Barrel Aged Ten Fidy (Oskar Blues Brewing Company)

Style: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

12.9% ABV

75 IBU’s

Brewery’s Note: “Aged through four seasons and from a blend of the top Bourbons around, this Ten Fidy has morphed into a monster of cranked up flavor. Espresso, burnt sugar, rich chocolate, caramel notes are now driving alongside the vanilla, oak, bourbon from the barrel and been smoothed out during maturation. Even at 12.9% (75 IBUs) it is cool and drinkable, letting each sip add more and more complexity.”

The beer pours out like rich coffee. Not really in the motor oil strain that others tout, this beer appears tight and svelte, despite its clear heft. It pours with a deep, dark, mocha head of tightly knit bubbles, which part to leave a faint scrim behind alongside light dots of lacing. The beer is black as midnight in the light but does have some chocolatier hints to its coloring. On the nose, the beer smells mighty fine. Brownie batter, fudge, vanilla, smooth booze, molasses, nougat, toffee, they all wash over the nose in heavy waves. It’s decadent and sweet, but well-rounded, with some lovely laps of slight booze and barrel. It’s super fudgy-chocolatey, and fluffernutter nuance does start to peak through, too. In summation, it’s a decadent, chocolatey treat on the nose, which is really impressive given this is just a (I say this tongue in cheek) ‘plain old barrel aged stout.’ It smells great. On the tongue, the beer tastes nearly as decadent as it smells. Sweet, nuanced malts bring chocolate, bread, and toffee across the tongue, while belly warming booze balances and restrains the decadence, creating a tight, balanced sip as slight bitterness gnaws at the edges and finish with herbs, tannin, and bitter-booze. It’s almost walnuty on the aftertaste, though some of the heat and caramel chocolate does linger. As it warms, I do start to sense some subtle funkiness, offering laps of Ragu and slight acidity beneath, which is odd from such an on-point brewery. Still, that sits below the chocolate, decadent, boozy richness. In the mouth, the beer feels, thick, chewy, and sultry in the mouth. There is a bite and mild burn from the booze, but this is still a fairly fat beer that manages to carry girth in the mouth. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left a little dry from the booze, but dense saliva still sheens over the tongue. The mouth is left rather clean. Overall, the scent is amazing, the mouthfeel is quite lovely, but the taste loses some points. The off-flavors build as it warms. The beer has some wonderfully decadent and amazing flavors, and is big and burly enough to cover most of its ‘meh flavors’ but the come out more and more. It’s tasty and decadent, turning the base beer into a richer, sweeter, more complex flavor, but those weird, savoryish flavor sits on the end and aftertaste and keeps this from the mastery that could be. Oscar Blues is one of those breweries that has mastered quality and tastiness and mass-produced it, but this is their first large-scale barrel aging effort, and something seems to have gone slightly wrong. It’s a good beer, but don’t sit on it.

[beerinmybelly]

Lizard of Koz (Founders Brewing Company)

Style: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout brewed with Blueberries, Chocolate, and Vanilla

10.5% ABV

From: Grand Rapids, MI

Brewery’s Note; “This one is near and dear to our hearts. Brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki wanted to make the birthday of his little sister, Liz, a special one. So he did what he does best and brewed a stout using a few of her favorite ingredients: fresh Michigan blueberries, rich chocolate, and vanilla aged in bourbon barrels to round out those beautiful flavors. Liz was floored and we think you will be too.”

The Lizard pours out a deep, dark chocolate color. It pours out a rich, cappuccino and toffee head of airier bubbles. As the head fades, a drizzly, spotty lacing leaves an archipelago of bubbles across the glass, and when you splash the beer against the glass, thick sheets of distortion run syrupy curtains up the sides. The beer is opaque in body, and definitely hefty, yet thinner than I would expect from this decadent adjunct stout. On the nose, the beer smells of rich chocolate stout laced with a tart, dark berry tang. Soft, caramelized brown bread soaked in sweet bourbon sits in the background and suggests KBS on the nose, while a smooth vanilla syrup moves around everything else. It’s sweet, and offers everything the bottle promised, though I wish the barrel was a little more integrated into the nose. As it warms, the floral sweet nature of the berries starts to come out more. It sort of smells like a Dunkin Donut’s coffee with a lot of blueberry syrup added in. It’s nice, sweet, and opulent, if not a little excessive. On the tongue, the beer’s tastes is sticky, blueberry-syrup sweet. There is a rounded berry acidity that still manages to be slightly sour while pulling the berry sweetness ever forward on the tongue. Let there be no doubt, this is a ‘beatus beer. In small amounts, it’s a decadent berry-syrup sip with chocolate stout nuance and a slight vanilla close and finish. Bitter barrel and booze are complete after-thoughts, with the bitter barrel showing weakly on the finish, and the booze hiding beneath the cloying waves of berry opulence. The sweetness lingers on the tongue in thick, noxious waves that really slow down the drink, and make it hard. In the mouth, the beer is fat and flabby, with a middling syrupiness that manages to cling in sticky waves on the finish, leaving the mouth sweet and cloying with a light sticky spittle wetting everything on the tongue. Overall: beatus, cloying, unbalanced, no nuance, none of the balanced deliciousness of Founder’s other stouts. Founders does good stouts. They’re big, they sold out, yadda yadda, they’re always solid and delicious, but this is a miss from the Backstage Series. Too sweet, too muddled, too much without remembering the beer underneath.

[Side Note: The beer does make a wonderful ingredient for dessert breads, though, and is definitely a delicious addition to baking.]

[beerinmybelly]

Beezlebub (The Alchemist)

Style: Imperial Stout/Imperial Black Ale

8.0% ABV

From: Stowe, VT

Brewery’s Note: “Beelzebub is an American Imperial Stout. The intensely smooth and rich roasted flavor is complemented by the unmistakable presence of hops. The bitterness is held in check, preserving the flavors of dark chocolate. This ale is aggressively dry hopped with Citra to cut through it all. Hail Santa.”

Beezlebub pours like motor oil or the blackest of hot chocolates. It pours with a huge, dark head, like the whipped froth of the blackest of mochas. The head leaves a patchy froth of lacing that creates a root system across the glass. It sits as pure midnight, black and opaque, with a thick, oozing body that seems to exceed its ABV. On the nose, the beer smells of smooth, roasty stout, with soft splashes of charcoal, Hershey’s Syrup, and rich chocolate malts. The backbone of the nose lies in a juicy, sticky pine and citrus burst faintly akin to Heady. It’s got a bitter hop scent, but as it warms there’s a slight maple syrup decadence to it that really ups the complexity even more. Its smells of a hoppy and roasty, yet clean American Stout at its pinnacle. On the tongue the beer tastes of sweet chocolate and citrus, with balanced roasty coffee bitterness that slowly builds into rich, piney hop bitters, leaving a sticky smack in the mouth reminiscent of an ‘old school IPA.’ Acidity is (as it should be) mild in this beer, but distinctly present in the bright hoppy citrus on the start with subtle coffee acidity and minerally graphite also entering around that time. It’s hoppy, yet distinctly stout-like at the start of the sip. While this is semantics, I do feel like it falls more into the imperial Black Ale realm the more I drink of it, though far more on the hoppy porter/stout side of the Black Ale divide in direct opposition to what the Alchemist’s El Jefe represents (I love referencing myself… Not sure I still 100% agree with that post, but eh…). The beer carries balanced chocolate malt flavors that take a touch towards richness at the beginning of the sip before they are swallowed in the roast and hop bitter finish and the lingering resiny smack that I see as so distinctly ‘old school IPA’-like that it has me feeling nostalgic (shit, it’s been awhile since I had an old school IPA…). In the mouth, it feels medium plus bodied, with a fuller, bright carb and slight acidity that leads into a sticky, resiny lingering on the tongue. The mouth is left bitter-dry and sticky, yet there’s lingering char bitters alongside the hops. Overall, for me personally, this is definitely on the hefty side of Imperial Black Ales, but with some superb stout nuance. Some sips, I even miss the hops and get this creamy, easy-sipping American Stout. The Alchemist makes amazing beer. The bajillion beer geeks that wait in line each day can attest to this, so there are no real surprises in Beezlebub, just come cravings hops in your stout and you will not be displeased.

[beerinmybelly]

Barrel Aged Xibalba (Wicked Weed Brewing Company)

[Note: I’m really behind on these blog posts… Like I haven’t posted since September or something like that. I’m sorry. I’m not dead. I’m just off re-examining life and doing life stuff. This review should have come out around Halloween. I apologize for the out of place imagery and out of season style.]

Style: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale with Cacao Nibs, Chilies, Spices

9.5% ABV

Bottled On: August 30, 2016

From: Asheville, NC

Brewery’s Note: “We meant to create something civilized. Honestly, we did. Under midnight skies, we imbued him with the velvety darkness of the cacao, the smoldering fire of chilies, the power of pumpkin, and the nuance of spices. However, our combination created an other-worldly beast, one whose intensity we could only hope to contain. We fearfully crammed him into our bourbon oak chambers. We heard him scream throughout the nights, and lay awake in terror as the barrels creaked. One moonlit night, our worst fears were realized, Xibalba burst forth, his power and strength surging beyond imagination. We fled in horror as he ransacked the temple, the subtle sent of bourbon add spiced laying a civilized backdrop to the utter carnage.”

The beer pours a murky, mud-red/black with a small, insubstantial scrim-ring of tiny, khaki bubbles. In the light, you could call it maroon or mahogany. When agitated the beer forms a lovely, tight, soda-pop head of bubbles, but this swiftly fizzles and fades. The body is opaque, but little wisps of light come through, suggesting a very hazy beer. Its viscosity seems oddly thin and agile when you swirl the glass, like whiskey on the rocks after a good hour and a half of slow sipping. It’s not the most beautiful of beers, though it does carry some charms. There is some elegance and stateliness to the beer, but its seeming thinness is at odds with what I expected. On the nose, the beer smells deeply of cacao nibs baked in a brown bread. There’s a light, nougaty sweetness, hints of peanut and cashew, and even a slight spicy turn that seems to mingle the chilies with the boozy bourbon. There is a caramel and toffee lingering on the edges, and as the beer warms it becomes sticky sweet, like a Milkyway spiced with faint chilies and booze. On the tongue, the beer tastes candy and chocolate sweet with a soft tampering close of boozey heat, spicy heat, and just the lightest trace of bitterness somewhere between oak tannin and bitter nut-skin. Flavors are slight Milkyway with generic nuts, brown bread with slight graham cracker nuance, caramel malts, and a finish of muddled spices mixing chili, bourbon, and pumpkin pie that close into a building bitterness of soft oak tannin and spice bitters. The more I drink, the bitterness builds and becomes a little more harmful to the sip, but the sweetness and candied complexity of front end are rather nice. This does not taste as I would think or hope it to, though.  A pumpkin ale drinker may be a little upset. In the mouth, the beer feels watery and thin, with a mildly medium body and a slick, thin, watery mouthfeel and little to no carb. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left a little sharp and slightly sheened with spit, yet dry and bitter-spice burned. Overall, I’m underwhelmed with this one. Between the weak watery body and the building spice bitterness, along with the lack of ‘traditional pumpkin flavors’ leaves this beer in a weird zone. It has some nice parts as far as beer goes, but its parts do not mesh, and the beer is left muddled and harsh on the tongue. Wicked Weed has a tremendous portfolio of beers, but this one is a rare miss for them in my book.

[beerinmybelly]

Nelson Sylph (Deciduous Brewing Company)

Style: Dry-Hopped Mixed Fermentation Farmhouse Ale

From: Newmarket, NH

Brewery’s Facebook Note: “Sylph is on its third batch now and we feel the mixed culture has really performed as we had hoped she would. Showcasing a vivid, fruit forward profile with zero fruit additions. We’ve also started denoting the labels of Sylph on our back logo with batch numbers. This, batch #3, is the first we are doing like this./Nelson Sylph is our second take on a dry hopped version of Sylph. The Nelson Sauvin have brought their signature white grape notes to the party in full force. We feel these play exceptionally well with the more tropical base of v3 Sylph.”

The beer pours the beautiful, yellowy color of previous Sylphs. Hazy body, big crackly white head, quicker fade, and a deeper opacity despite the light color. It looks pretty and proper for the farmhouse lineage, perhaps a tad more ‘rustic’ than earlier batches of Sylph. On the nose, the beer is hugely expressive of both the base beer and the beautifully grapey Nelson Sauvin hops. Lemon seltzer spritzed with grass and tropical citrus juice gives way to perfumy white wine in the Moscato range, yet tampered by the light minerality that the base beer brings. Compared with Mosaic Sylph, the nose is more delicate, allowing for the base beer to really integrate and nuance the hop profile. There is faint, faint bread, a little bit of cattiness, and even some ‘green-herbal’ scents like you get when you crush a hop pellet. Where Mosaic’s nose was a brute, Nelson’s is a gentle, subtle lover that manages to romance the Sylph quite nicely. On the tongue, the beer tastes nicely balanced, drawing fruity sweetness lightly alongside citric and lactic acidity, with mild, herby bitterness drawing around the edges of the tongue and even dipping towards savory and salty side caverns while the faintest presence of booze spices alongside acidic spice on the finish. Balance is beautiful and complex in this beer, allowing the Nelson Sauvin to layer slight Sauv Blanc gooseberry alongside Moscato-like grape juice and a wonderful finish of bitter, mintier herbs that manage an English Hops/Cascade Hops closing profile. Still, the beer’s lemon and apricot acidity manage to carry some of the grapey flavors into a meaty finish that is both savory, sweet, and softly bitter. A quick rundown of flavor: Fresh, tart farmhouse ale slips into bright, winey flavors between a sauvignon blanc and a light Moscato, finishing more in the ‘hoppy beer zone’ with herbal bitters and fresh mintiness. In the mouth, the beer feels on the light side of medium and effervescent, with a clean crackle and snap that has become characteristic of Deciduous’s Farmhousey and pLambic offerings. It’s crisp and refreshing, yet has some lingering weight and stick, presumably from the hop oils. When it leaves, the mouth is left pretty neutral, save for the slow oozing torrent of saliva in the middle of the tongue. There is a little bit of hop stickiness, but that is more in line with a dry-hopped wild ale (Sepal) than with something like a double IPA. Overall, Deciduous continues to stride their bottled offerings forward in fresh and exciting leaps and bounds. Nelson Sylph is not a drastic departure from much of the rest of their portfolio, but it is tasty, nuanced, and a delight to drink. I’m holding Albricot as my gold-standard for them at this point, and this beer doesn’t quite top that standard, but it does provide yet another delicious bottle to their impressive repertoire.

[beerinmybelly]

Imperial Stout (Samuel Smith Brewery)

Style: Russian Imperial Stout

7% ABV

Ingredients: Water, malted barley, roasted malt, cane sugar, yeast, hops.

Brewery’s Note: “This distinctive type of beer was originally brewed to withstand the abuses of shipping in foul weather to Imperial Russia. It was a favourite of Russian nobility whose taste for the finest food and drink was world famous./ A rich flavourful brew; deep chocolate in colour with a roasted barley nose and flavour that is a complexity of malt, hops, alcohol and yeast. Fermented in ‘stone Yorkshire squares’. Best served at about 15°C.”

The beer pours rich, chocolatey black. It’s opaque, with a middling girth to its body, but a certain svelteness in comparison with the fatty pantheon of its American brethren (offspring?). It pours with a lovely, tight crown of light-khaki bubbles that dwindle to a healthy, fat scrim. On the nose, the beer smells of rich, dark chocolate, brown bread crust, light roast coffee, and some nuttiness that toes the line of nutter butter. It’s simple, rich, bready, and beautiful on the nose, all in a stately, English fashion. On the tongue, the beer tastes bready and chocolatey sweet, with a light nuance of Hershey’s syrup paired with a touch of burnt char, peanuts, instant coffee, and just a light, belly warming heat from booze on the finish. A bitterness rides throughout the sip, distinctly British with an herbal, leafy bite, crescendoing slightly on the finish and lasting into the aftertaste in perfect balance to the sweet loveliness of the beer. Acidity is very mild, suggesting prunes and plums on the middle of the sip. Balance is absolute in this beer, allowing for a huge drinkability to go along with a surprisingly rich flavor. In the mouth, the beer feels medium-plus bodied, with definite syrupy smoothness alongside a middling carb that provides a nice crackle. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left slightly neutral-crisp with a very light slick of sticky saliva on the tongue. Still, a heavier syrupiness lingers on the tongue, reminding you that you’ve sipped a weightier beer. It’s weird that this beer seems so small by today’s standards. We live in a world where imperial stouts are barrel aged, and always clock-in above 10% ABV, yet Samuel Smith – the kings of ‘classic English beer’ – have continued to brew this beautiful example of a clean, (I hate to put it this way, but it’s the easiest way to…) simple, and just a pleasure to sip Imperial Stout. Samuel Smith brews classics, this is no different.

[beerinmybelly]

Orval (Brasserie D’Orval)

Style: Brett-Spiked Belgian Pale Ale

6.9% ABV

Bottled On: 09/25/2014

Brewery Notes: “Orval beer is a high fermentation beer. The ageing process adds a fruity note, which strikes a subtle balance between the beer’s full-bodied yet complex flavour and bitterness./ The beer was first brewed in 1931 and owes its unparalleled taste to the quality of the water, the hops and the yeast used. The brewery has selected very aromatic and unique hop varieties, which hark back to the first brewmaster of Orval, who hailed from Bavaria. The beer’s aromas are very pronounced while maintaining the right level of bitterness thanks to the English method of dry hopping./ The various stages of fermentation – combined fermentation with the original yeast and with wild yeast, followed by fermentation in the bottle – mean the beer must age for some time and requires numerous quality controls.”

The beer pours a deep, cloudy bronze with a full and sizzling head of pebbled, sand-colored bubbles. This bottle is a little older, and the bottle did froth a little once the cap was off. I poured in everything – yeasties and all, so the hazy and opaque murk of the beer is not surprising. Still, it looks a little dark and a little old. The lacing leaves a fluffy, slick wall of gorgeous, creamy bubbles that really accentuates the beer’s beauty. When splashed against the sides of the glass, the beer leaves an ooze that distorts the edges of the glass in a shimmery mirage. It looks, old, distinguished, a little faded, but lovely all the same. On the nose, there is a deep puff of spicy, horsey bretta. Grass, slight sweet banana bread, sweat, and fading herb-hops graze over the nostrils as the funky bretta layers lovely scents across the nose. On the tongue, the beer tastes spicy bitter with a soft middle lapping of bready sweetness, a very faint touch of fruity banana, a touch of earthiness and minerality in the mid sip, and a very faint pop of citrus acidity in the middle and finish of the sip while the spiciness tingles and turns peppery. The flavor is somewhere near grassy funk with a splash of watery banana peel in milk. Just a touch of citrusy lemon juice, and then pepper and phenols roll across the tongue in glorious procession. In the mouth, the beer is medium bodied and very well attenuated. The carb is full, fluffy, and just a touch snappy, while the overall feel of the beer a wonderful blend of creamy smooth breadiness with a snap and crackle of bitterness that balances everything into a beautiful crispness. When the beer leaves the mouth is left slightly sticky with a slight shlock of spittle that forms on the top of the tongue. It’s dry and bitter smacking. Overall, this is Orval the OG bretta beer and one that brewers will swear up and down by. It is beautiful, gentle, drinkable, flavorful, and so much more. I’m honestly not sure if I’ve ever had a young bottle (yes, I know that’s sacrilege) but the beer has such endless age-ability, flavor, and fun. This carries nearly everything that a beer geek could want it. I’m just some jerk with a blog, and my opinion means diddlysquat when you look at the legacy of this beer. ‘Nuff said, you should drink it.

[beerinmybelly]

Albricot (Deciduous Brewing Company)

Style: pLambic with Apricots /Apricot American Wild Ale

4.9% ABV

From: Newmarket, NH

Brewery’s Note: “Our interpretation of a 4.9% abv pLambic (pure culture) aged on a heaping helping of apricots. This version is double fruited and unblended. ”

This beer pours a murky yellow with brown and bronzing tinges, similar in overall look to Auranja (I’m assuming the base pLambic is fairly similar, if not the same), but a little darker. A small chapeaux of eggshell white bubbles form with the pour, but quickly split to form a fat, tubed ring of creamy fizz. Lacing is slick, slim, and quickly gone from the glass. The beer’s body is hazy and nearly opaque, yet translucent in as far as some color seems to escape through from the other side of the glass, and no particulate can be seen floating. The beer seems on the thinner side in body, lacking some of the juicy girth of other apricot beers I have sampled. It looks fine and beerish, but I’d say this beer’s best qualities are not found in its looks. It’s what’s on the inside that counts… On the nose, the beer has just a huge bouquet of apricot; I’m talking massive juice, minerally flesh, and even a little skin getting up in the nostrils. None of the burnt rubber that I often get from apricot ales is present in this beer’s nose, it is just whole fruit for days. Below the massive and complex fruit profile, the base beer offers light, chalky lactic tart scents along with subtler citrus vibes, but the apricot is the star of this beer’s nose and it performs with all of its body parts. This is the best smelling apricot beer I’ve had, and I would love to tell you readers what more I’m smelling from it, but I’m regrettably finding my vocabulary lacking here. Suffice to say, it smells like the best parts of an apricot. On the tongue, the beer tastes a little more tart beer-forward, but that apricot is still front and center with all its parts. Tartness opens the sip, nearly citric in nature, and this is met quickly by gooey apricot juice that blends with the minerally flesh notes that take dips towards brinyiness while never crossing the line. There is peaches (apricots?) and cream sweetness on the middle sip, but this is balanced by lemony acidity that takes dips into slight lactic chalk. The finish finds drying, tannic fruit skin providing a soft tea-like bitterness that clenches the taste into a tight, beautifully executed crescendo of the tart, minerally, and juicy components. No one component outweighs the other two, and the mouth is left with a beautiful balance that really lets the fruit complexity play out on the tongue. This tastes superb! On the tongue, the beer feels on the lightest side of medium, but with a full, crisp carb that crackles with slight effervescence while never growing fierce on the tongue. Instead, the carb balances out the acidity and tannic quench of the fruit skin, aiding the beer in its masterful dance of balance. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left sleek and wet. Saliva pours out, while a slightly minty freshness dances towards the very middle of the tongue, and slight astringency takes a few nips on the sides. Overall, this is one of if not my favorite takes on an apricot mixed fermentation beer. Its balance of HUGE fruit character to tart beer, along with its balance of the tastes found within an apricot, really stand out on the tongue and make it a true pleasure to sip. It’s a bit like biting into a tree ripe apricot. Its clean and crisp, yet juicy taste that rolls off the tongue. At this point, I’m just a Deciduous fan boy I guess. They continue to knock their beers out of the park, with each new iteration building off of the previous sum of their works. In comparison with Auraja, the acidity remains rather high in this beer, but the fruit integration is again superb, leaning slightly more towards juice with this iteration, but building more upon the full balance of the fruit. This is delicious and I cannot wait to get my hands on the other variants.

[beerinmybelly]

Fluxus 2016 (Allagash Brewing Company)

Style: Saison Ale Brewed with Ginger and Aged in Oak Gin Barrels

8.5% ABV

Grains: Allagash 2-row Malted Barley Blend, Malted Rye, Malted Wheat

Hops: Northern Brewer, Tettnang, and Perle

Spices/Other: Ginger

Brewery’s Note: “We brew Fluxus every year to commemorate the anniversary of our first beer sold in July 1995. The name Fluxus is Latin for continuous change. Every year, Fluxus is brewed with a different recipe./ This year’s Fluxus is brewed with our base malt, malted rye, and malted wheat, then hopped with noble hops before fresh ginger root is added in the whirlpool. Following fermentation, the beer is partially aged in oak gin barrels previously used for Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin. The result is a highly aromatic saison with overtones of ginger and botanicals, a hint of vanilla in the flavor, and a vibrant finish.”

The beer pours into the glass a clear and crystalline yellow, settling into a more turgid-looking, greenish-yellow. It sits with a full and frothy head of creamy, white bubbles that slowly dwindle to a small head, leaving a root-work and ant colony of lacing spattered in thicker, dry tufts across the glass. The beer is nearly entirely opaque in body, despite its light coloring. It takes to a golden, cereal color in the light, with nothing floating in the body, but only the faintest murk of the other side escaping through. It’s a pretty glass of saison for sure, in keeping with Allagash’s repertoire of pretty beers. On the nose, the beer smells lightly of floral and minty botanicals, yet it is the classic esters and phenols of the Allagash Saison that seem to most dominantly greet the nose. It’s spicy, perhaps bringing a little ginger tinge into play, though I sense this more as a light mint coming from the barrels. The nose is delicate, spicy and floral, but not “highly aromatic” as the description says. It seems more like a subtle variant of Allagash’s superb saison, and less so a unique aroma. As it warms, some variation grows in the nose, drawing subtle mallow similar to what I found in Beer’d Brewing’s Gin Barrel Double IPA. It is pepper spicy, subtly fruity with pear and a touch of apricot, rounded by faint oak vanilla, and nuanced by a faint touch of floral herbs, but it is still strongly reminiscent of their classic saison’s nose.  On the tongue, the beer tastes markedly different. Where the nose was subtle with nuance, the taste is up-front with a burst of fresh and spicy ginger that is balanced by the creamy, wheaty-malt sweetness. This takes on fruity undertones and is then spiced by interwoven booze and followed by a succulent finish of nectar, under-ripe peach, and sweet ginger. The taste’s sweetness is restrained and well rounded, but certainly fuller than in the Allagash Saison, while the fruity nature of the ginger and esters are wonderfully tempered by rich, spicy alcohol with perhaps a touch of noble hops. Bitterness smacks the back end alongside sweet peach and ginger; the hops and booze dry the palate despite the fruity finish, while the subtle oak tannin grips onto the tongue like green tea and lingers in the mouth beside slightly baked bread and vanilla mallow. In the mouthfeel, the oak seems more present, providing a smoothed structure to the beer and holding in the fiercer flavors so that they meld into something quite lovely. The body is nearly full, yet the drinkability remains higher due to a carb that manages to lighten the palate while still allowing a slight syrupy smoothness to the beverage. When the beer leaves, my mouth is left wet, slightly sticky, and faintly scratchy from the booze/bitter burn. All in all, however, the mouth feels thoroughly ready for another sip. Overall, while the nose was faint and subtle, and not quite as advertised (though still delicate and nice), the taste was a beautiful balance of the different ingredients. This is another gorgeous beer from Allagash. I truly love their non-mixed fermentation approach to farmhouse ales. These beers are crisp, delicate, delicious, perfect for pairing, and a pleasure to sip. This beer could age for another half a year to a year to mellow some of the hotter spice from the booze, but it’s delicious as is, and is begging for some richer foods to balance out its flavors. This is delicious.

[beerinmybelly]

2016 Arquebus (Cambridge Brewing Company)

Style: French Oak Barrel Aged American Barleywine w/honey and Semillon grapes

12.0% ABV

OG: 1.130/32.5*P

FG: 1.130/32.5*P

From: Cambridge, MA

Brewery’s Note: “Well, in our continuing quest to change the way people think about enjoying beer and beer styles, we have created a barleymalt-based interpretation of a dessert wine, meant to be sipped on those sultry summer evenings on our patio. It is also brewed with local New England honey, plus Semillon wine grapes./ Our 2016 release is full-bodied yet light and drinkable, and smooth in texture despite its heroic 12%abv. Arquebus’ deep golden mien contains complex notes of peach and apricot fruit, loads of wildflower honey, and sweet white wine grapes. Subtle oak character combines with a soft, tannin-hinted, wine-like finish. Malolactic fermentation in the barrel adds a hint of soft acidity to balance the sweetness of this beer’s finish./ Aged in French oak Tokaji barrels, the residual flavors contributed by the wood offer a mellowness of character not provided by stainless steel fermentation, as controlled oxidation deepens its color, enhances its rich texture, and concentrates notes of fruit.”

This beer pours a regal, pale gold with a small cap of eggshell white bubbles that dwindle to a fluffy scrim. When splashed against the sides of the glass, it leaves fat sheets of clinging legs alongside a thin curtain of quickly receding lacing. The beer appears fat and sluicing, yet with a nimbler physique hiding beneath the heavier notes. The beer’s body is clear and clean, but nearly opaque, with a deep rich coloring and haze blocking out the other side of the glass. The beer looks stately and pristine in the glass. It’s a pretty cup-of. On the nose, the beer smells of slightly oxidized, fruity imperial red ale, yet in more complex and delicate layers. I get wafts of sweet Moscato and Welch’s white grape juice. Alongside that comes the tinge of a boozier mead, and lurking beneath it all is soft toffee, mallow, and warm oak with a touch of nuttiness. It’s like a boozy Moscato blended with a gently oxidized, heftier red ale. As it warms, slight spice, a touch of wet cereal grains, some candied apricot and mango, and just layers of subtle complexity. This beer is not full throttle in the nose, especially for its build, it instead layers complexity upon subtly upon complexity. On the tongue, the beer tastes softly sweet building into stickier caramel and toffee malt sweetness, this is rounded by bitter and spicy booze that touches upon slight heat. Subtle vinous acidity oozes through the edges of the sip, perhaps with a touch of lemon meringue, and loads of Moscato. The bitter and spicy flavor build into the backbone of the juicy, sweet Moscato taste with just the faintest touch of minerally salinity. There is the faint wisp of fresh baked white bread in the exhale, and the sense of sweet honey is unanimous throughout the sip, too. It is taking me awhile to pick apart each and every intricacy of this beer as there seems to be so much built into such a laser-focused and balanced beer. The Moscato/white dessert wine flavor is the biggest flavor, tampered by a sultry honey undertone, and the backbone of the flavor is delicate, boozy pale barleywine with fruity and spicy fermented overtones. In the mouth, the beer feels dense and full, yet with a boozy bitter bite that really keeps the sip balanced and integrated. It’s sultry, smooth, and yet with a rougher outer covering. A true pleasure to sip. Overall, as with all Cambridge Brewing Company beverages, this is skillfully executed, delicious, and wonderful late summer sipper. Complex, full of its adjunct flavor, yet wholly a beer as a whole.

[beerinmybelly]

Pollination (North Country Hard Cider)

Style: Semi-Dry Cyser

7.8% ABV

Cidery’s Note: “Pollination is an heirloom cider fermented with orchard blossom honey from Cooper Farms in West Paris, Maine. It’s 7.8% abv, semi-dry, complex and delicious, with the perfect amount of rich honey flavor.”

The cider pours out clear, clean, and brightly colored, somewhere between straw yellow and gold. A slight fizzle of scrim forms as a ring around the glass and then fades, but no carb bubbles are seen in the pristine body of the cider. On the nose, this beverage smells of musty apples, with a touch of apple brandy booziness touching slight spice alongside rich, sweet honey. Floral apple blossom dances between cellar-must and spicy booze to deliver a fresh, warming nose that remains crisp and summery despite its snap. On the tongue, the beer tastes initially delicately sweet and floral with beautiful honey that slowly snaps into semi-dry cider fruit sweetness. That sweetness carries through to a faintly honeyed finish. Bitterness builds slowly from the start of the sip with tannic skin that draws slight herb and baker’s spices and then slowly bakes the flavor into a warm finish that suggests slight alcoholic heat. Acidity plays a background role from the first sip into the finish. Slight lemon without the fruit sweetness brings a touch of brightness to the close. The flavor is of sweet, floral, delicate honey that builds into freshly cut apple before slowly baking the apple with spice, skin, and a little brandy. In the mouth, the cider feels medium bodied with a fuller pull and a touch of syrup from the rich honey. There is a faint carb that tingles and snaps, allowing brightness and the acidity to move across the tongue. It’s fresh, yet drying on the finish, bringing a semi-sweet feel despite the dryer influence of the cider flavors. Overall, this cider reflects the clean, crisp, simple cider that North Country has been delivering on point, but this steps up the complexity into a sipping cider, lush with honey yet fresh and boozy. I especially like the approachable apple brandy notes, and the fresh cider flavors manage to touch upon both the sweet New England style and the dry Farmhouse takes on the cider world (as far as my inexperienced cider-palate can see). I like this stuff a lot, and it is the perfect drink to welcome in the warm transition to fall.

[beerinmybelly]

Apricot Love (Urban Family Brewing Company)

Style: American Fruited Mixed Fermentation Farmhouse Ale with Apricots

6.3% ABV

From: Seattle. WA

Brewery’s Note: “Farmhouse ale brewed with over 50 pounds per barrel of fresh apricots and fermented without indigenous cultures – Apricot Love is a natural manifestation of our love for beer and fruit.”

The beer pours a hazy, sunburst yellow with a small, tightly packed head of pearly white bubbles. The head leaves thicker strands of fluffy lacing on the sides of the glass. The beer’s body is cloudy and nearly opaque, seemingly thin with a little bit of turbidity from the apricot in the beer. On the nose, the beer smells of deep, minerally stone fruit flesh. There are touches of juicy richness, and perhaps a touch of sweet acorn squash, but really the apricot leads the nose. It does turn a little towards burnt rubber, which I get a lot with apricot fruited ales, but it’s not too potent here, and the minerally and sweet nature of the fruit really plays through. There’s also a light salinity, a touch of lime and lemon acidity, and even slight wheat toast. It’s a rich nose that unfurls more as you shove your nose in it. On the tongue, the beer tastes of deep, sweet apricot fruit. The fruity sweetness is the driving force here, and while it ekes to slightly overpowering at times, it never hits cloying. There is a minerality to the sip that plays throughout, coming forward most dominantly in the finish to suggest gose-like brine. Acidity is light and mostly fruit-driven, perhaps with a touch of lactic pop; it is most present in the start and back end, but drops away in the middle to allow rich sweetness and minerality. It’s juicy, yet balanced with mineral wash and perhaps a touch of fruit-tannin bitterness that seems to build on the tongue as I sip. The burnt rubber plays a background role, coming out most in the middle of the sip, but falling quickly away beside the battle of juicy apricot and rich minerally fruit. In the mouth, the beer is on the light side of medium, and quite attenuated, despite the extra girth and heft that the fruit brings. Carb is middling and fresh, providing a nice cream that tangoes around the subtle malt in the beer. Mouthfeel is creamy, and slightly oozing with juice, yet snappy, too. When the beer leaves, the mouth is left sticky and it feels like some of the fruit pulp remains as a cream on the tongue, slowly oozing away. The mouth is wet and slight, yet the sides of the mouth feel drier and fresh. Overall, this is a juicy apricot bomb. It handles the apricot better very well, building cream and the lovely minerality of the fruit into the sip. My one big complaint is the slight burnt rubber flavor, but that honestly drops away as you drink, leaving it more as a micro-flaw in a delicious beer. I personally want a little more bitterness or citrus interplay in the beer, just to liven the tongue a little more, but this is truly delicious. Juicy apricot in a lovely, balanced beer. A great intro to the Urban Family for me.

[beerinmybelly]

Crossfade (Oxbow Brewing Company)

Style: Blended Mixed Fermentation Hoppy Farmhouse Ale

5% ABV

December 2015

From: Newcastle/Portland, ME

Brewery’s Note: “Crossfade is a blend of hop-forward saisons. The presence of wild yeasts increase the complexity and longevity of this blonde farmhouse ale.”

This bottle pours out a frothy, radiant yellow with chalky highlights. A head of sudsy, eggshell white that dwindles to a soapy cap. The beer’s body is clear and clean with a definite haze. This glass looks like a beautiful cup of farmhouse ale. Lacing is slick and sudsy with nice strands braking off from full sheets in lovely tentacles. On the nose, the beer smells of beautiful citrus with subtle loam, slight cheese rind, and damp mushrooms. Hay blends with healthy doses of lemon and tangerine, slight herbal spice, and a little bit of pine. Faint cider, lemongrass, warm bready malts open slowly as the glass sits. On the tongue, the beer tastes citrus sweet, and with a touch of bread and oak sugar. The citrus gives a faint touch of acidity that moves in between the sweet citrus, but bitterness moves in beautifully on the close with a great blend of herb with bitter citrus and just a touch of tannic oak and tea bitterness. The bitterness builds beautifully, interplaying with the slight acidity and sweetness, slowly growing to a dry, piney finish. The taste starts like a dry-hopped sour, fruit juice with slight mango and lemon juice, but then it slowly falls herbal and piney with big pith and citrus. As it warms, the oak and fungal funk build to lovely levels. It starts funky, dry-hopped sour citrus and tropical fruit forward, but then really builds beautiful bitterness into a drying and tasty finish. It’s like a true IPA finish, yet with a more old world, herbal bent. On the mouth, the beer feels on the thinner side of medium bodied with a middling carb that gives lovely effervescences and a snap of bitterness that builds to almost resinous on the finish, leaving a sticky sheen on the tongue. Spittle is pouring over the tongue as the beer finishes, yet the mouth grows dry despite the torrent of spittle. Overall, this beer is a beautiful hoppy convergence of barrel-aged farmhouse ales, dry-hopped sours, and an IPA finish. In many ways, this feels like a hoppier evolution of Etoile Du Maine. It’s definitely more hop forward, but with that same nice barrel nuance that really builds long-lasting complexity into the sip. Oxbow has been doing funky things in the woods for 5 years now, and this is a beautiful continuation of their ever rising claims to fame. This is delicious, and despite the half year of age, those hops are still bright and wonderful in the mouth, meshing bitters and citrus and all the yum.