Wrapping up from California

So California is turning out to be everything I hoped it would be and more. The craft beer consciousness out on the west coast seems to be much more apparent, vibrant, and alive then the south east. I've been able to drink some incredible beers otherwise unavailable to me in my local Total Wines or local beer shops. I haven't been visit any breweries, which is somewhat disappointing, but getting the whole family out the door, which is 7 of us, plus various extended family members coming and going, has been more then a daunting task. 

I'll be heading home January 2nd and have a little bit of time left to down some beer, but I thought I'd post a short list of some of my favorite beers I've had out here, thus far.

1.Mikkeller It's Alright
2.Black Butte  Porter (draft)
3.Pliny (draft)
4.Sculpin (draft)
5. Bourbon Barrel Seamonster (draft)
6. Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown
7. Lost Abbey Red Poppy
8. Bruery Levud's 
9. Consecration (draft)

Follow me on Twitter @EvilTwinCP to see what I'm drinking today. When I get back I'm gonna need to take a short break from the beer and bad food. This trip has worn me down a lot.

Cheerz,
Casey 

California

So I'm heading out to California tomorrow and it should be one for the books. I've never been out that far west so I'm pretty jazzed to check it out. I've been able to locate a bar/store or two that has:
1.Pliny
2.Sculpin
3.Speedway Stout (which I've heard isn't that hard to find)

I'll be updating while I'm out there via Twitter and Facebook, so be on the look out. When I get back into town, which is January 2nd, I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about. 

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Years. Everyone play it safe and us a DD.

Oh, follow me on Twitter @EvilTwinCP, if you so desire.

Cheerz,
Casey

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Brewer : St. Bernardus (Belgium)
Style : Belgian Strong Ale
ABV :  10%

So the raining has just started to pour and I need to get out of the house in about half an hour to get some shopping done and go to LHP to partake in my parents Christmas party. This month has been super busy for me. A lot of  traveling and beer drinking. One more trip that I'm really looking forward to is going to California next week for 10 days to spend Christmas with my girlfriends family. Being right on the beach should be a trip and a half, plus all the benefits of having that west coast beer right at my fingertips. Hopefully I can snag a few things off my want list:
1.Alesmith Speedway Stout
2.Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
3.Lost Abbey, many varities
4.Russian River

I've been told that Alesmith is everywhere so I shouldn't have a hard time with that, and I've been able to locate a bar that  has Pliny on tap as well as Sculpin. Let's just pray to the beer gods that those kegs don't get tapped before I get there. 

Enough rambling about vacations and such, on with today's review. 
Last night I broke out a bottle of St.Bernardus Christmas Ale at a Christmas party hosted by some friends. None of my friends there were "beer lovers" like me, but in good spirit and fashion of the Christmas season I figured it was the right setting to share this beer with everyone, plus I always like  to see people's reactions when I bust out a beer that's not the  norm. 
Like many St.Bernardus beers this one was highly dominated by the yeast. Dark and cloudy with a thick head. A lot of fruity characters in the aroma, mostly dried fruits such as apricots and raisins, but it also had some bready qualities as well. The body wasn't over the  top, it didn't exhaust my palate, but it wasn't light either, somewhere right in the  middle. A lot of the flavors were yeasty and fruity, as the aroma suggested, and most everyone seemed to enjoy it.

On a side note: Maybe I can sneak in a guest blogger for next weeks entries. I'm curious to see if my sister Natalie would be up for the challenge.

Grade A

 

Mikkeller Czech Pilsner

Brewer : Mikkeller (Denmark)
Style : Pilsner
ABV : 4.6%

I'm gonna keep this review somewhat short and sweet because I have to head out the door in a little bit  and I'm feeling a little  under the weather. That damn cold front got the best of me and now I'm  feeling it's wrath. 

This one is from the great  people, or person I  should  say, over at Mikkeller. I wouldn't say that  I'm a fan a pilsners but being a big fan boy of Mikkeller I  just have to  try everything they make. The color on this one was somewhat light, with yellowish gold tints and a thick foamy head. I didn't pour much into the glass because I had other beers to  sample that  night and frankly I didn't want to fly on the  plane the next day hungover. The aroma was peppery with a touch of lemon zest. The flavors were a cool blend of honey and spice,  but nothing too overpowering. The carbonation seemed fairly on point here and all the flavors seemed to blend really well together. 

Always a good time when I get to taste another Mikkeller beer. Many more to come I'm sure.

Grade B+

 

Dogfish Saison de Buff

Brewer : Dogfish Head Brewery (Delaware)
Style : Saison
ABV : 6.8%

So I was running on the treadmill today in the gym, watching the TV's not really paying attention, and I happened to noticed this credit card commercial that was showing how this brewer was starting a business and blah blah blah. It got me thinking a little bit. Is craft beers and craft brewing going mainstream these days? With the success of Brewmasters hitting the airwaves, and the easy going personality of Sam Caligone as the poster boy for craft beer, I can't see it not growing and becoming more popular in the coming years. Trust me, there's nothing I want to see more then my father, who is an advent light beer drinker, pick up a six pack, of say, Dogfish 60 minute IPA and enjoy every sip of it. I wouldn't say that I want to see the "Big Three" (Bud Light,Coors Light,Miller Light) be destroyed, because I still enjoy a Coors Light every now and then, but what I would like to see is more and more beer drinkers try a craft beer and ask themselves why it took so long to try something different. Hopefully we in the craft beer community can convert beer drinkers to expand there palates and try something new, one beer at a time.

So Dogfish....that was the real meaning of this post.  I think that I've tried more of their beers then any other brewery, I think it's around 30 at this point. They were one of the first breweries to get me excited about craft beer, so they hold a special place in my heart. So I'm always excited to try something new, or new to me, from them. Saison de Buff is one such beer. 

After the pour into my glass I noticed how light the color was.  A little bit  of  yellow and gold, but with a hazy, cloudy center. The head was a little thicker then most, which got me excited, and I quickly went in to expect the aroma. Spicy with a good amount of citrus in there. The flavor was spicy and citrusy as well, but with a lemon zest and a  good malt backing. The beer wasn't heavy in the slightest. Very easy to drink and enjoy to the very end. My only regret was that  I didn't buy more of this. 

Grade A

Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

Brewer : Ballast Point Brewing Co. (California)
Style : Amber Ale
ABV : 5%

So Ballast Point has made it's way to South Florida, thank the beer gods, and of course I like some buffoon wait till I'm  in a different state to pick one up. Perhaps somewhere in the depths of my subconscious I think that some beer will taste better in a different setting other then Florida. Who knows, I sure as hell don't. 

I don't typically reach for amber ales all that often, but I couldn't pass on this one, simply because of  the fish on the front. It made me reminisce of a time when I was just a wee lad, way before a beer had touched my lips. My father's big event for some father-son bonding time would always be to take my brother and I to Lake Okeechobee to go fishing. I wasn't opposed to fishing,  but the 2 hour drive and the waking up at 4am sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. However this beer didn't. 


It had a nice amber color with red tints. The foam really seemed to  collect fast on this one, getting almost to the tippy top of my glass, and I had only poured half a glass for myself. The aroma was full hops and malts, while the flavor had a slight tart flare to it. The body wasn't too hard to  handle, as I could see myself drinking multiple bottles of this. I'll have to remember to grab a few to drink next time I go fishing.


Grade B

 

Sweetwater Festive Ale

Brewer : Sweetwater Brewing Co. (Georgia)
Style : Spice/Herb
ABV : 8.6%

So it's a little colder here in Florida then in other parts of the country, which I always find a little odd. No matter how cold it gets you'll always find some fool who's down here on vacation and needs to jump into the ocean. I'm all for it. It gives me something to chuckle about while I stroll down A1A. After the dip into that cold dip into the ocean you'll need to warm up with something. How about a winter warmer? Warms you right to the core and then some. 

Sweetwater Festive Ale is a good example of what a winter warmer should shoot for, even though in my biased ways I'm reluctant to say that Cigar City holds the title of my favorite winter warmer, but that's a different discussion all together. 
Sweetwater has made quite a good beer with this one. Dark in color, black with very little transparency, as you can see in the photo. Sort of low carbonation with virtually no foam, but the flavors were still very abundant. Spicy with a kick of ginger. Sort of like walking into a ginger bread house, literally. A lot of the same spicy flavors are very prevalent on the palate, but didn't bore me after the first few sips. All the  flavors seemed pretty well balanced. 

It's a great Christmas beer to share with friends and family, but wait till after dinner. More of a dessert drink.

Ginger, if you read this, pick  up a bottle of this in Atlanta. 

Grade B

 

PIsgah Vortex 1

Brewer : Pisgah Brewing Co. (North Carolina)
Style : DIPA
ABV : 10.8%

Sometimes after I pass on a beer, in a store or at a bar, I feel like I didn't do my homework on that beer prior to the encounter. I guess that  comes from not reading up on that many threads on beer websites or magazines. That being said let's get right down to brass tax here (as good old Hunter S. Thompson would say)

I was in North Carolina recently and I had countless Pisgah beers at my disposal. I was lucky enough to try some(Vortex 1,Vortex 2,Valdez), but I felt pretty dumb when I got back to FL and realized that Pisgah  beers are in pretty high demand, as BeerAdvocate states on their website. I suppose it was just me being a coward and not wanting to risk any bottles getting destroyed in my suitcase on the flight home. I suppose better safe then sorry, but I still would have loved to bring some home to either share or trade. Maybe my friend Alan up on Asheville can send me some? I mean what are friends for right? Anyway, on to the review.

This was the 2nd beer I tried while I was in Asheville. It had a dark copper pour  with a good sized head to it, which had pretty good retention to it. What did it smell like? Surprise surprise hops of course,  but it also had a good amount of citrus in there as well. The flavor wasn't dominated but any one ingredient. Hops and citrus flavors were prevalent first then followed by the  malts. Everything seemed well balanced and I can see why this beer would be highly sought after by beer lovers. 

Grade A

 

Unibroue Quelque Chose

Brewer : Unibroue (Canada)
Style : Fruit Beer
ABV : 8%

"Don't fruit the beer" Remember those Miller Light commercials where all types of guys were sitting around a table discussing "Man Laws". One happened to be the fact that a "real" man should never put a lime or lemon in his beer, such as when drinking a Corona. But what if the fruit is already in the beer? What then?
Does it make you less of a man if you like a beer with fruit flavors? Personally, as a big Pumpkin beer fan, I don't really see any problem with it. It's when you start adding limes and lemons to a beer that makes my question whether or not your a man. Hopefully this doesn't spark a huge outrage amongst anyone who might read this and I receive a whack to the head by some thug wearing a mask who's hiding in the shadows just outside my apartment. Sometimes fruit can be good.
Case in point. On my most recent vacation my friend Alan said that he had picked up some beer for us to try. He's been trying to find out what type of beer his wife would like, since he generally goes for the really hoppy stuff and her palate isn't quite to that point yet. So he picked up a bottle of Unibroue Quelque Chose figuring that it would be a neutral beer that anyone could drink since of the fruit flavors. Well turns out that she didn't really enjoy it all that much, which was sort of a bummer, but I on the other hand enjoyed it very much. 
The fruit is definitely more prevalent then the hops or the malts on this one. The cherries really come through more then any other fruit, even though there are others such as apricots and raisins. It has a nice touch of tartness to it as well, that made me think of nice sour/wild ale. There wasn't much carbonation to it. Poured it right into my glass, no tilting, and nothing seemed to happen. But I can't judge a beer on it's carbonation alone. The color was a mix between a muddy brown and dark purple. I  suppose that had a lot to do with the cherries being added to the mix. 
All said and done I enjoyed it and thought that it was an interesting beer. I might actually recommend it to anyone who is looking to branch over into the craft beer world. Something you and your girlfriend or wife can sip on comfortably. 

Grade B

 

Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2010 / RIP John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell

 Before I begin I want to give a quick shot out to the memory of John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell who were tragically killed on this day the 8th of December. Both were very talented musicians and I hold a special place in my heart for Dimebag who was one of the main reasons I picked up the guitar in the first place.


Brewer : Mikkeller (Denmark)
Style : Belgian Strong Ale
ABV : 10.9%

I have to give a big shot out to the "Sexiest man in craft beer" Ed Roberts for keeping me in the loop on what Mikkeller beers are currently in stock at Total Wine. When he informed me  that this one hit the shelves I dropped everything I was doing and ran over to pick  up a bottle. 
I'm done with pumpkin beers, for now anyway, so let the  Christmas beerdom begin. 

I had the pleasure of sharing this bottle with a good friend of mine from New York who was down for Thanksgiving. It had a very dark pour with a bubbly foam head that was bigger then average. It had a lot of spice going on in the aroma, almost like taking whiff of a gingerbread house. Good amount of cinnamon and nutmeg really came through in the flavor as well. The body was a little bit on the heavy side, but still very drinkable. 

I normally take it as a good sign when my friends ask me "can you buy this down here?" after the first couple sips. Hopefully I can score some older bottles of this to see how it ages. 

Grade A

Olde Rabbit's Foot

Brewer : Foothills,Duck Rabbit,Olde Hickory Collaboration (North Carolina)
Style : Russian Imperial Stout
ABV : 10.13%


I knew that going to Asheville,NC was going to be a great trip. Great beer people and great stores, but did I expect to land any "whales"? Probably not, but I was super excited when I came across Olde Rabbit's Foot. Long Story short I walked into a local wine/beer store called Appalachian Vintner, which came highly recommend by my fellow beer friend Alan, and I started talking to one of the employees, who's name I forget, but he was really friendly and knew a lot about beer. I talked to him about stouts and he asked if I had tried Sexual Chocolate. I told him that I had a bottle waiting in my cellar to try, so he suggested I try a special stout that he had in the back that wasn't even in the system.  I figure it was just from his personal collection. Well he pulled out this baby and quickly informed me that it was a Russian Imperial stout blend from 3 local brewers (Foothills,Duck Rabbit,Olde Hickory). I was sold instantly. 

It was a great sipping beer to  say the least. Weather was cold and this one warmed me to the soul. It had a lot of coffee bean in the aroma, as well as bourbon and oaky characters. It was a thick old boy, almost syrup like, with  a jet black finish. A thin brownish head arose and endured for quite some time. I expected there to be somewhat low carbonation, such like a Zukhov, but it had a good amount of carbonation, which I was pleasantly surprised by. 

I don't think that I had a better stout while I was in Asheville, a lot of good sours, but not a better stout. I feel really lucky to have tried it.

Grade A

 

Asheville Trip in retrospect

I know that I've really been slacking on updating the blog, but I've just been really busy lately with traveling a bunch, and it seems as there's no end in sight, for the next few weeks that is.
I recently returned from Asheville,NC, which was simply amazing. I've been to a lot of towns and cities in my time, but Asheville seems to be more geared towards beer then any other town I've visited. That might be a little bit a stretch but the town and whole atmosphere in general is just great. I reminded me a lot of Colorado, but with smaller mountains. Traveling anywhere requires 4 wheel drive and a jacket. It got quite cold when I was there, it even snowed a bit that last day I was there, which for a Floridian is always a treat to see. 
I got to try A LOT OF BEER and met some really cool beer people along the way. In the 3 days I was there I got to try about 40 different beers. I paced myself and consumed a lot of water along the way so I was coherent the whole time and never really caught a buzz at any point. 

I'll be back again tomorrow with a fresh review of some beer I tried up in Asheville, but before I go I'll leave you with the list of beers I got to try and some pictures.

ASHEVILLE BREWING CO.
1.Stuntman Ale
2.Ninja Porter
3.Christmas Jam
4.Asheville Amber
5.Shiva IPA

6.Great Gatsby Abbey
7.Highland Cold Mountain
8.Foothills Torch Pils

LEXINGTON BREWING CO.
9.Lab White Ale
10.Hefenweizen
11.IPA
12.Oktoberfest
13.Dunkel
14.Chocolate Stout

15.SKA Nut Brown Ale
16.Lips of Faith Kriek
17.Lips of Faith Eric's Ale
18. French Broad 13 rebels
19.Lips of Faith Biere De Mars
20.Pisgah Valdez
21.Pisgah Vortex 2
22.Unibroue Quelque Chose
23.Pisgah Vortex 1
24.Sweetwater Festive Ale 2010
25.Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale
26.Mikkeller Warrior IPA
27.Mikkeller East Kent IPA
28.Mikkeller Czech Pils
29.Founders Porter
30.Dogfish Saison De Buff
31.Thirsty Dog Siberian Night
32.Olde Rabbit's Foot
33.Founders Backwoods Bastard
34.Lips of Faith La Folie
35.Lump of Coal
36.Founders Centennial IPA
37.Mikkeller Ris a la M'ale
38.Heavy Seas Smoke on the Water
39.Emelisse Espresso
40.Duck Rabbit Milk Stout
41. Brewdog 5am Saint

Taps at 12 Bones BBQ

 Most of my haul

 Flight at Asheville Brewing Co.

 My view from outside our house

 Frisbee Golf was intense

 Snow on the day we left