The Beerd

Less Talk. More Beer.

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A Trio of Brews from Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Colorado)

Where in the hell have I been? Has it truly been two weeks since my last post here on The Beerd? How am I supposed to drink beer from all 50 states at this rate?

I've got no real excuse, to be honest. I've been working, but no more than usual. I've still been drinking plenty of great beer, so there's no lack of material. Which means that it all boils down to one thing: laziness. 

To make it up to all 17 people reading this, I'm going to review not one, not two, but three beautiful beers from Crooked Stave out of Denver, Colorado.

This is one of those breweries who has been on my radar for a while, although I didn't know a whole lot about them. I think my first fascination with them began when I noticed that they didn't label themselves a "brewery" but an "Artisan Beer Project." That title lends itself to something pretty special (or pretty pretentious, depending on your outlook).

I managed to get my hands on three bottles of Crooked Stave brews through a trade. One night, while trying to find something to drink, I randomly grabbed a bottle out of a box, not knowing what I was grabbing (the bottle caps on these are plain black). 

The beer that fate dealt me was Crooked Stave's Vielle Artisinal Saison.

And it was glorious.

This beer was truly one of the most perfect examples of a saison that I've ever tasted. A bit of funk, a bit of tart, some wonderful citrus notes. It was oaky due to it being barrel-aged in old casks, with just a touch of hop. I can't think of another saison that has blown me away the way that this one did. It was going to be hard for Crooked Stave to top this one.

Details: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver, CO) Vieille Artisinal Saison 4.2% ABV | 20 IBU Source: 12 oz bottle

A few days later, I decided to see what else Crooked Stave had in store, so I tried their Surette Provision Saison.

When I say that this one didn't quite live up to the previous Saison that I'd tried, it comes out as an insult against this beer. But the truth is that this is still one of the better examples of the styles that I've ever had. If you take a look at their ratings on RateBeer, you'll see Vieille sitting at a 98 while this one is just below it at a 97. They truly are that good, and they truly are that close in quality, with the Vieille just barely taking the edge.

I can't quite put my finger on what it does that puts it on top for me though. Many of the notes are similar: barnyard funk, oak, citrus. I suppose it's only the dry-hop process that puts the Vieille slightly on top over the Surette. If you were only able to get your hands on one of these beers, I'd recommend the Vieille, but if you come across a Surette, don't you dare pass it by. It is truly delightful. It's crisp and refreshing and tart and wonderfully dry. I wish I had more of these to get me through the next few weeks of this hot South Carolina summer, but alas, I only had one bottle so I'll have to move on to something else, and forever wish that Crooked Stave would start distributing to my state.

Details:  Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver, CO) Surette Provision Saison 6.2% ABV | 20 IBU Source: 12 oz bottle

On the same night that I tried the Surette, I opened a second bottle of Crooked Stave, their Hop Savant. This was the one that I was most leery about. Of course, at this point, I was fully trusting Crooked Stave's ability to craft a great beer, but this one was listed as a Pale Ale, not my favorite style of beer. In the short life of this blog, I've well-documented my dislike of the overuse of hops.

And although this beer definitely had the hoppy characteristics of a pale ale, it was unlike any pale ale that I'd ever tasted. It is, after all, a pale ale brewed with 100% Brettanomyces. And while I'm no hop head, I am quite the Brett head (is that a thing?).

It's got some nice floralness from the hops, but mixed with the funk from the Brett, the beer becomes incredibly well-balanced. This was my least favorite of the three beers, but again, an incredible beer from Crooked Stave.

This is a brewery who is doing things that no one else seems to be doing. They've got a specific focus -- barrel-aged farmhouse ales -- and they've mastered the art of the style. I'm looking forward to hunting down more of their brews.

Details: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver, CO) Hop Savant 6.7% ABV  Source: 12 oz bottle 

[lesstalkmorebeer]

The Shakoolie: Your Shower Beer Companion

When I saw Brian from Untamed Beer's video review of the Shakoolie -- essentially a koozie with velcro on it that you can put up in your shower -- I thought it was a joke product. 

Nope! Turns out it's real and you can buy one for yourself at Shakoolie.com for $9.99. What are you waiting for?

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Crucial Booze Hacks for the Accomplished Drinker

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Picking the Perfect Craft Beer with CNN's Nathan Berrong

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Wait, what? Alcoholic root beer aged in bourbon barrels? and it's only $5 for a four-pack? Can someone in Wisconsin get one of these to me so I don't die having lived an unfulfilled life?

[brewgiehowser]

For first time in 30 years, woman named Homebrewer of the Year for winning light lager

The last time a woman was named Homebrewer of the Year at the AHA National Homebrew Competition, Ronald Reagan was president, Toto won a Grammy and M.A.S.H. aired its final episode

Wow, that’s crazy. Congrats to Annie Johnson who earned Homebrewer of the Year Award for her Lite American Lager.

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"Normal People" = Your boring friends who wanna drink a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita.

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Zymurgy Magazine Announces the 2013 Best Commercial Craft Beers In America

So sure, you can browse the Top 50 at RateBeer.com or the Top 250 at BeerAdvocate, but good luck getting a lot of those top rated beers are your local craft store. 

That's where Zymurgy magazine comes in. Zymurgy, a magazine that's run by the American Homebrewers Association, has for the last eleven years, surveyed their readers on their favorite American craft beers. The catch here is that their selections are, for the most part, ones that are pretty readily available. While their number one beer isn't available nation-wide (few of the beers are), if you're in California, it's pretty easy to grab off of any shelf. 

So, without further ado, here are the beers they've selected as the top:

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder

2. Bell's Two Hearted Ale

3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

4. Bell's Hopslam Ale

5. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

6. Founders Breakfast Stout

7. Arrogant Bastard Ale

8. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

T9. Lagunitas Sucks

T9. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

T9. Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA

What do you guys think of the top beers? A lot of hop representation here, right?

[lesstalkmorebeer]

Game of Thrones Beer Is Coming (Again)

Back in December, Brewery Ommegang announced that they'd release a Game of Thrones-themed beer to coincide with the season three premiere of the HBO series. That beer, the Iron Throne Ale, came around and yes, I bought one and drank it whilst watching the premiere.

And now, they've announced the second beer in the on-going series, this time to be released in the fall just in time for us to all start wondering "When the hell is Game of Thrones coming back?", only to realize that we'll have another six months of waiting. In the meantime, we can revisit the series on blu-ray while drinking the new Take The Black Stout.

A description of the brew, from My Beer Buzz: 

A stout as dark as the winters that once engulfed Westeros, as robust as the men who swear their oaths at the Weirwood Tree., chocolate & caramel sweetness are balanced by hop bitterness, roasty woodsy notes and an earthy finish.

I, for one am looking forward to it. The first Ommegang GoT beer was solid, as are many of the releases from the brewery, so I'll be picking up a couple of these when they're released in a few months.

And so concludes our TV-related beer news for the day. Probably.

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In a recent study by The Washington Post, it was reported that drinking sugary sodas will make kidney stones more likely.

Well, duh.

But hidden within the report is this little tidbit:

On the other hand, some other beverages lowered risk for kidney stones when consumed once a day compared with once a week: Risk fell 26 percent for caffeinated coffee, 16 percent for decaffeinated coffee, 11 percent for tea, 31 percent for red wine and 33 percent for white wine, 41 percent for beer and 12 percent for orange juice.

That's right, kids! A beer-a-day keeps the doctor away! So drink up!

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Breaking Bad Beer Is Going to Be a Real Thing

It is, unfortunately, not based on Hank's homebrew, Schraderbrau.

What it is going to be is an India Black Ale going by the name of "Heisenberg's Dark," and is being released by New Mexico-based Marble Brewery.

And that's about all of the info that I can find on it. When it's coming out is a mystery right now, but I can almost guarantee it'll be out before the series finale at the end of the summer.

Marble Brewery's stuff doesn't appear to be available outside of New Mexico, so if anyone in the area has any more info (or can send me some!), let me know. It'd be a killer addition to my United States of Beer project.

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Day Late & A Dollar Short: My Sorta Recap of the Stone Most Arrogant Bash

Back in October 2012, my favorite beer bar, Barley's Taproom here in Greenville, South Carolina, was named Stone Brewing's Most Arrogant Bar in the USA.

Part of the prize in winning that title was being given a Most Arrogant Bash, a party with some pretty incredible Stone brews, many of which have only been available in very limited quantities at beer festivals, some of which were not even that easy to get. Also in attendance at the Bash was Stone's founder/CEO Greg Koch.

I can't give you a full recap of the events of the evening of the Bash, which took place on Thursday, June 13th, because I was at work that evening and only made it to Barley's afterwards. While I missed much of the festivities, such as Koch awarding the Most Arrogant Bar plaque to Barley's, I did arrive in time to try quite a few of the beers (only Stone's 12th Anniversary beer was tapped out by time I got there).

When I arrived, a friend who works in the bar walked up to me with a 10 oz tasting of one of the beers, a version of Stone's Imperial Russian Stout aged in Templeton Rye Barrels. It was almost as though he read my mind, since it was the first that I was planning on ordering anyway. It was just as delicious as it sounds, and set the bar pretty high for the rest of the evening. And the rest of the evening lived up to it. Here's a complete list of what I tasted that night (thank God for tasting flights):

Imperial Russian Stout (aged in Templeton Rye Barrels)

2013 Old Guardian (on nitro)

Smoked Porter

Ken Schmidt/Iron Fist/Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout

2011 Imperial Russian Stout

Suitable for Cave Aging (Imperial Smoked Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels)

04.04.04 Vertical Epic

2013 Old Guardian (aged in American & French Oak)

Double Dry-Hopped Ruination

Ruination (Tropical Heat Edition, with mangoes & habaneros)

Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

Mixtape Ale Vol. 5 - The Winking Lizard Blend

Whew! It was quite a night, filled with some really delicious beers. The highlights of the evening were the aforementioned Templeton Rye-aged IRS, the Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout and the Mixtape Vol. 5, the later two I went back to Barley's a couple of days later to try again when I found out that they were part of the leftovers from the evening. They both blew me away and are some of the tastiest beers that I've ever had.

The Mixtape was one that I was particularly impressed with. I wasn't really familiar with Stone's Mixtape series. This is a series that Stone began five years ago when Greg Koch decided to blend and barrel age a couple of existing Stone beers.

Vol. 5 in the series is one of the most complex beers that I've ever tasted. It's a blend of Stone's Cali-Belgique (a Belgian IPA), an unreleased Belgian Pale Ale aged in white wine barrels and Stone's LeVariation Ale, a version of their Levitation Ale fermented with the yeast strand utilized for Cali-Belgique. Then this whole blend was aged in red wine barrels and dry-hopped with East Kent Golding Hopes. Like I said, it's a complex beer, but extremely well-done and incredibly well-balanced. For a non-hophead like me to call this one of the best beers that I've ever had is a testament to its quality. I wish it were easier to come by, but quite frankly, I'll probably never come across it again.

And now, this week (until June 30th), Barley's is once again trying to win a title from Stone, this time as the Most Bitter Bar. All week, they're tapping a variety of hoppy Stone brews, with some fun variations of well-known beers (such as a version of Cali-Belgique brewed with Bananas Foster Coffee Beans). No bar has ever won both Most Arrogant and Most Bitter Bar, but Barley's is doing their damndest to be the first, and I think they've got a pretty good chance.

The excellent blog Drink. Blog. Repeat., which covers the South Carolina beer scene, has a great three part interview with Greg Koch that you can read here: part one / part two / part three.

[live-tofind-out]

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::rimshot::

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Cigar City Brewing's Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout (Florida)

June 15, 2013

In my original manifest for this blog, I laid out a goal to drink one beer from each state. This is a pretty tough task since there's a lot of stuff that just doesn't make it to my neck of the woods.

Enter: the beer trade

I've just completed my first round of beer trading and I'm well on my way to being a beer trade addict. Coming home to find a package, only to open it up and discover that it's full of rare, delicious beer is incredible. It's like Christmas morning every time.

With my very first beer trade, I managed to get ahold of a couple of bottles of Cigar City Brewing's Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout. This wasn't my first experience with beers from Cigar City. Thanks to some friends with Florida connections, I've had a handful of their brews, and I've become a big fan of theirs.

But nothing quite prepared me for this. Holy crap, what a beer.

I poured this stuff out and immediately noticed the complete lack of light going through it. It's like a black hole, sucking up every bit of light that tries to come anywhere near it. I've never seen a beer so dark. It pours out thick and pitch black, like motor oil. 

There was very little head retention on this, just a tiny whisp of tan. I'm not sure if this was due to the beer being shipped and losing something along the way or if that's typical for the beer. It certainly didn't feel like it was missing any effervescence. The mouthfeel was smooth and creamy, one of the best aspects of the beer.

Taste-wise, you're getting some of those elements that you expect from a stout: coffee & chocolate, but neither overpowers the other. This is an extremely well-balanced beer. Those notes are perfectly mixed with a semi-sweetness that isn't overblown like it can be in some stouts and the beer finishes surprisingly dry. The alcohol is damn near undetectable, quite the achievement in an 11% imperial stout. I managed to polish off an entire 750ml bottle in one sitting, all by my lonesome. And my God, as I re-read that sentence, does that ever sound depressing*.

I slowly seem to be becoming a stout guy, I think. There's something about them that I really love. For the longest time, I've thought that stouts are a type of beer that, although good, should be reserved for a certain time and place, and that time and place definitely wasn't South Carolina in the middle of the summer.

But anytime and anywhere works when it comes to this stout. It's absolutely incredible and a stout that all others will forever be judged by.

Now, if I can just get my hands on some Hunahpu...

Details: 

Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)

Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

11% ABV | 80 IBU

Source: 750ml bottle

*I was also watching original episodes of Star Trek at the time. I wanted to share that just so that you can get a full picture of just how exciting my life is. 

[jester-clay]