I learned after I picked this one up that it is actually an imperialized version of Laurelwood’s Green Elephant IPA. Had I known I would have grabbed one of each, since I haven’t had the standard version. In any case, this comes from Laurelwood’s, “Imperial Series Limited Release,” and was hopped with Cascade, Ahtanum and Amarillo hop varieties (I’ve never heard of Ahtanum hops, which either means I’m utterly uninformed (likely) or they made it up). Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | 
Tasting Notes | Tagged: Green Mammoth, Imperial IPA, Laurelwood, Organic | 
Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
Ladies and gentlemen, as I was listening to NPR this morning (technically JPR, the State of Jefferson’s public radio station), I was amazed to hear the following bit of trivia. The barrels have been tallied and the results are in: Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery, has surpassed the Boston Beer Company (maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, among many other beers) as the largest American beer maker. This title, long held by Anheuser-Busch (makers of the beer-like beverages Budweiser, Bud Light, and the much anticipated Bud Light Platinum) until they were sold to the Belgian beverage giant InBev a few years ago (which is clearly a waste of characters for me to repeat if you’ve ever read this blog before*), and more recently locked down by our friends in Boston, has finally been brought home to Pottsville, PA. Credit for breaking this story of course goes to the Allentown Morning Call (Lehigh Valley’s Newspaper).
I’d tell you more about Pottsville and Allentown (you know how I love geography lessons), but Wikipedia is currently blacked out to protest legislation that would significantly curtail freedom of information on the internet, and I’m utterly helpless without Wikipedia. Call your congressman. Seriously. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | Brews in the News | Tagged: America, Boston Beer Company, D. G. Yuengling & Son, King of Beers, PA, Pennsylvania, Pottsville, U.S., U.S.A., Yuengling | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagi ftagn. – In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
The translation of this phrase, scrawled on the bottom of the bottle by the half-caste hands of the conjurors responsible for brewing this vile and misbegotten fluid, was obtained in extremis from the captured members of two distinct ritual cults separated by thousands of leagues of earth and ocean. During his studies of the writings of Professor George Gammell Angell while at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, Professor Phineas Humulus Lager identified these cults as the Esquimau wizards of Slovakia, and the degenerate swamp-priests of Louisiana (this prior to his running mad and being confined to the Sanitorium of Saint Benedict of Nursia in Providence, Rhode Island).
Editor’s note: If you would like to skip the story you can scroll down to the actual tasting note at the end.
27 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3 hops, Captured By Porches Brewing Company, Cthulhu, Miskatonic Dark Rye, Miskatonic University, Oregon, Saint Helens | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
“Plays Well With Others” -Beerford’s Pre-School Teacher
I was merrily shopping away at my local bottle shop when I ran across a new collaboration brew that excited me to an embarrassing level. Turns out that Stone Brewing, Elysian Brewing and The Bruery have collectively created a beer together called La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado. I actually haven’t consumed it yet (I’m saving it for something special), but this beer reminded me that collaboration really seems to be all the rage these days. Though I’m pretty psyched to see these breweries working together, I think we can do better. So, fellow Aleheads, let’s see if we can improve on this near-perfection: Tell us what two breweries would you like to see create a collaboration together? Further, please describe (and, of course, name) the beer you would like to see them create.
No further rules. Go get it. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Beerford's Conundra | Tagged: Bear Republic Brewing, boulevard brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Collaboration, Dogfish Head, Elysian Brewing, Founders Brewing, Jester King Brewing, La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado, Lagunitas Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, Notch Brewing, Port Brewing, Russian River Brewing, Saint Arnold Brewing, Stone Brewing, The Bruery, Toronado San Francisco | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
The Fort George Brewery & Public House is located in beautiful Astoria, Oregon. This is of course the picturesque little coastal town made famous when it was the setting for The Goonies, a fantastic movie and one of the four things Oregon has ever successfully exported to the outside world (the others are of course craft beer, Steve Prefontaine, and lumber [hi Slouch]). It is also the farthest you can possibly get in Oregon from Ontario, the town made famous when I reviewed Beer Valley’s Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale last week. I know how much you all appreciate geographical diversity in our tasting notes, and I always give our readers what they want! I’ve recently become a fan of Fort George’s Vortex IPA, both because it’s a very solid beer and because it comes in 16 oz cans (perfect for tailgating). I first caught sight of the Cavatica Stout just last week; it was apparently released in cans on Nov. 16th. Cavatica is a genus of spiders, a type of beastie of which I generally disapprove (except for Charlotte, who was an Araneus Cavaticus, or barn spider). However the can has illustrations and descriptions of five species within this genus which are clever enough that I will reproduce them here:
Oh, that crazy Commander
6 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Astoria, barn spiders, Cavatica Stout, Charlotte's Web, Fort George Brewing, Oregon, Spiders, Steve Prefontaine, The Goonies | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
Have you ever heard of Ontario, OR? Unless you’ve spent most of your life living in the eastern half of Oregon, I suspect the answer is no. I’ve driven through Ontario a few times during my oddly-numerous cross-country road trip (though Brother Barley sadly missed stopping for gas there during our epic 50-hour non-stop cross-country road trip, as we were heading from Boston to Seattle for a pong game and so ended up eventually entering Oregon from the north), but have never had occasion to spend any time there. Ontario is about as far east as you can go in Oregon. It’s snug on the Snake River, which serves as the border between Oregon and Idaho. In fact, Ontario is closer to Boise, ID than any significant city in Oregon. But to get to the point (I’m not really sure why I decided to give you a geography lesson), Ontario is home to the Beer Valley Brewing company. Regardless of the fact that Beer Valley is about as close to the middle of nowhere as a brewery can get, I’m fairly excited to get to know them a little better. If my first exposure to their beer is indicative of the quality of the rest of their offerings, I’m delighted to be able to claim them on behalf the Beaver State. I’d heard a few rumblings about their beers in the past, so was intrigued when I saw this one show up in my local bottle shop. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Beer Valley, Beer Valley Brewing, Imperial Pale Ale, Leafer Madness, Leafer Madness IPA, Ontario, Oregon, The Commander is a Pounder | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
I’ve been looking out for this beer for a bit, as I heard it was coming down the pipeline a couple months ago. I ended up buying a four-pack of bombers in order to get my first taste, though that wasn’t exactly a hardship since the other three beers were Sleigh’r (dark double alt), Believer (double red), and Total Domination (IPA). I’m also definitely a Ninkasi fan; their Tricerahops is one of the most drinkable Imperial IPAs out there, and their Maiden the Shade “Summer IPA” is one of my favorite seasonals from any brewery in any season.
The Commander is a Pounder
The Commander is a Pounder
The Commander is a Pounder.
4 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Imperial Stout, Ninkasi Brewing, Ninkasi Imperiale, The Commander is a Pounder | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
They Really Are All Session Beers
This conundrum is another from the depths of the depraved mind of our very own Slouch Sixpack. My recent post about the dangerous drinkability of The Stoic, a tasty quadrupel from Deschutes, spawned a behind-the-scenes chat* about high-ABV beers that are nonetheless highly drinkable. It’s a rare imperial stout that I want more than one, or at best two of in a given evening (ignoring Barley’s recent obsession with seeing how many Ten FIDYs he can fit into a beer bong). But there are certainly a few of them out there, along with the odd DIPA, barleywine, or various other beastly beer styles. So in today’s conundrum we will explore the realm of bad decisions and questionable expenditures: Fellas, what is the most drinkable high-ABV beer you’ve come across? Read the rest of this entry »
13 Comments | Beerford's Conundra | Tagged: Bell's HopSlam, Chelsea Brewing 1000 Gyle Imperial Mild, Deschutes The Abyss, Deschutes The Stoic, He'Brew Lenny's Bittersweet RIPA, High ABV Beers, Kulmbacher EKU 28, Lavery Imperial French-Style Ale, Pounder, Session Beers, The Commander | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
As you have all likely figured out by now I live in the land of milk and honey. No wait, that’s not right. The land of breweries and strip clubs. You probably thought I was going to make that a humorous trio and say that that one’s not true either, but it actually is. Portland, OR has more breweries and more strip clubs per-capita than any other city in the United States. I’ll leave discussion of the strip clubs to another sort of blog and instead share with you another delightful fact: Portland sits on the Columbia river, the dividing line between the largest hop-producing state in the nation (Washington) and the second largest hop-producing state in the nation (Oregon). What with our abundance of creative and passionate brewing operations and our surplus of locally grown hops (OK, there’s no such thing as a hop surplus), it stands to reason that many of those brewers would take advantage and create some unique fresh-hopped* beers during hop harvest season for all us lucky locals to enjoy. And damn do they!
*I use the terms ‘fresh hopped’ and ‘wet hopped’ interchangeably. I think I’m right about that. I think.
7 Comments | Beerxperiences, WTF | Tagged: Fresh hop, Hood River Hops Fest, hop harvest, Hopworks Give Me Liberty, Laurelwood Cavalry, Migration 69 Pound Perle, Silver Moon Hoppopotamus, wet hop | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
The Stoic is Deschutes Brewing’s newest beer in their Reserve Series lineup (which includes such impressive brews as The Abyss and Black Butte XXIII). To quote directly from the website’s description: A prized, potent, Belgian-style Quad of stirring depth and complexity. Four nuanced fermentations. Aged, sequestered, in select rye whiskey & wine casks. Ergo a stoically brewed quad, with the spellbinding complexity of its medieval ancestors. Interestingly, they don’t mention that it’s brewed with pomegranate on the website (though they do on the beer’s label). I’ve been lucky enough to sample this both on tap (at Magoo’s in Salem, OR in a pint glass [oddly]) and from a bottle (at home in a Chimay chalice). My review will reflect the latter, though the experience was not materially different. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3.5 Hops, Deschutes Brewery, Quad, quadrupel, The Stoic | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
In a shocking twist, it appears that garden slugs don’t have the highly educated palates that we’ve all assumed that they possess.
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/21/living/garden-slugs-prefer-budweiser-over-foreign-brands/
After a great deal of experimentation (in fact, and odd and obsessive amount of experimentation), Bangor Daily News columnist Kathryn Olmstead has scientifically proven that slugs prefer Budweiser to any other form of beer (other than all the ones she didn’t test). Her results are based on a number of blind taste tests in various plots in her home garden. Read the rest of this entry »
10 Comments | Brews in the News | Tagged: Budweiser, Corona, Guinness, Moosehead, Rolling Rock, slugs, sophisticated palate | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With [hops] the vines that round the thatch-eves run – John Keats
BEERFORD MCBREWIN’
With the summer coming to a close (the start of college football season = the end of summer in Beerford’s world), it’s time to get the ol’ conundrum up off the couch, get him showered off, and put him back to work. And what better way to celebrate the end of summer (other than watching college football) than to review our favorite summer seasonals? There isn’t any particular specific category encompassing summer seasonals, but in my experience they tend to generally be light (not ‘lite’) ales with an acidic or drying finish and often a slightly citrusy hop presence. Of course at least half the summer beers out there are nowhere near my description, which is part of what makes this conundrum fun. And so, to welcome you all back to Beerford’s Conundra, I’m asking the Aleheads to tell us what was your favorite summer seasonal from 2011?
Extra credit can be earned by also telling us about your least favorite (or just weirdest) summer seasonal. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | WTF | Tagged: AleSmith, Anderson Valley, Beerford's Conundra, Bell's, Berkshire, Craft Beer, Dale's Pale Ale, Great Divide Brewing, Leinenkugel, Moylan's, Odell, Pemi, Sierra Nevada Beer Camp, Sixpoint, summer seasonals, urban chestnut brewing, Victory | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
OK, let’s get the obvious part out of the way. Being an Alehead is incredible. It’s the best thing ever. Aleheads get to bore unwary patrons of the tap rooms and bottle shops we frequent with extended dissertations on the positives and negatives of various beer styles (while often hoping desperately that the bore-ee doesn’t realize that we probably don’t actually know what we’re talking about). We get to spend inappropriate and irresponsible portions of their salaries on beer. Once in a while we may get to visit a favorite brewery, or even chat with a brew master (which, in the land of the Aleheads, is essentially like having a one-on-one conversation with god herself). Finding a group of fellow Aleheads to tool around with makes the experience all that much better, because we can nerd out over email with a bunch of people who actually want to talk about the same shit we do. Though obviously we only read their emails so we can reply with something better/funnier/more clever/more impressive (one-upsmanship is a major Alehead characteristic). But, faithful readers, I come to you today with a cautionary message. It is right to aspire to be an Alehead (or even an alehead). It will enrich your life in myriad ways. However I believe it is time to disabuse you of the notion that being an Alehead is all sunshine and pumpkin pie. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, being an Alehead sometimes requires great sacrifices. And sometimes, just sometimes, it completely sucks.
16 Comments | WTF | Tagged: bitterness, Craft Beer, craft cider, Mead, rants, the hangover | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
This past weekend (one I’d been anticipating for quite some time), I had the privilege of attending the 24th annual Oregon Brewers Festival. Held in Portland’s beautiful Waterfront Park along the Willamette River on the last full weekend in July (weekend meaning Thurs-Sun), this festival is the crown jewel of the Northwest’s beer festival calendar. This year 84 breweries were present and accounted for from all over the country, though of course Western (and particularly Northwestern) breweries made up the lion’s share of the attendees. Naturally, Portland being the beer culture Mecca that it is, 84 slots wasn’t enough to satisfy everyone. Fortunately Belmont Station, a stellar bottle shop I’ve mentioned before, threw its own Fringe Fest tasting event for some excellent Oregon breweries who weren’t present at OBF. Sadly I didn’t make it to that this year, but here’s hoping I plan better next summer! Regardless, I couldn’t possibly complain that I was in any way deprived considering the incredible roster of beers that were available to sample at the big event.
13 Comments | Beer Festivals | Tagged: beer festivals, Belmont Station, Boundary Bay Double Dry Hopped Glacier Pale Ale, Craft Beer, Elysian Idiot Sauvin, Full Sail Jimvar, Great Divide Rumble, Hopworks Evelyn's Imperial Sunshine, Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild, Maui Mana Wheat, Natian CuDA, Ninkasi Helles Belles, Oregon Brewers Festival, Pike Monk's Uncle Tripel, Rock Bottom Zombie Flanders, Surly Hell, Woo Girls | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
I’ve long felt that the role of the cow in craft brewing has been under-appreciated. The milk stouts of Britain (the most famous of which is probably Mackeson), which were once marketed to nursing mothers as nutrition supplements, come by much of their sweetness and body from lactose, a sugar derived from milk. Cream ales, on the other hand, involve cream in name only, and do not contain dairy products (though some are brewed with a certain percentage of corn in the mash, and in the U.S. cattle eat tons of corn, so they’re basically just skipping the middle man. Er, cow.). The tang in many of the sour beers we all know and love (lambics & weisse beers, to name a couple) comes in part from lactobacillus delbrueckii fermenting various sugars (primarily lactose) into lactic acid. And on the insane end of the scale, the Boston Beer Company famously brewed a beer that actually included beef hearts in the recipe. Still not enough for ya? No worries, Japan’s got you covered with their beer/milk combination beverage, dubbed (appropriately?) bilk. In fact, denizens of the North Caucasus region in Eastern Europe even go one better and produce a beverage entirely of fermented milk called kefir, though with no grain at all in the recipe I think it’s hard to argue that that’s actually beer. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Best/Worst | Tagged: Beer Ice Cream, Beer Labels, Bilk, Black Bull, Bulls, Butternuts Brewing, Cows, Cream, Kefir, Lactic Acid, Lactobacillus, Lancaster Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, Milk, New Glarus, New Glarus Brewing, Northcote Brewing, Southern Tier Brewing, Terrapin Brewing, Three Floyds Brewing, Top Ten | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
I came across this beer on one of the ‘rotating taps’ at a decent tap house I sometimes frequent. I haven’t had much Mad River beer in the past, so I didn’t come in with any particular preconceived notions about the potential quality of the brew. I have been somewhat going out of my way lately to sample a broad selection of Cascadian Dark Ales (or, if you prefer, American Black Ales or Black IPAs), as I think it’s a style that’s beginning to come into its own. So obviously I couldn’t resist grabbing a pint to see what might be going on with this one. Incidentally, I believe this used to be Mad River’s winter seasonal, but to the best of my knowledge it’s now in year-round production.
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11 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 2.5 Hops, Mad River Brewing, Serious Madness | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
The Black Butte “Birthday Reserve” Imperial Porter is one of Deschutes Brewing’s most anticipated releases every year. It is an imperial version of their already excellent Black Butte Porter, one of my favorite porters out there. Adding to the anticipation this year, last year’s batch was cancelled when it was discovered that the chocolate nibs had not fully dissolved, leaving a floating layer of sediment (can sediment float? anyway, you get what I mean) in each of the bottles. A very small amount was available on tap at their brewpubs, but I didn’t manage to visit on the right night so I didn’t get to sample it (though I think the Professor may have managed to get a taste). As you can imagine I was pretty excited to have a chance to grab a glass when I stopped in at the Bend brewpub this weekend. I also grabbed a few bottles to stick in my cellar, as those are recommended to age for a year before they’re at optimum awesomeness. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 4 Hops, Black Butte XXIII, Deschutes Brewery, Imperial Porter | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
On a recent trip through Oregon’s Willamette Valley I found myself with a little extra time, and couldn’t resist making a quick side trip to the Block 15 Brewery in Corvallis. Stuck between Portland and Eugene (and a few miles off of I-5), Corvallis doesn’t often get a lot of attention as a beer Mecca, but between Block 15, Flat Tail, and the burgeoning Oregon Trail Brewing crew it deserves some attention. I’d first come across Block 15′s beer back in December at a winter brewfest in Portland, and very much enjoyed their Figgy Pudding (their winter offering, a strong ale brewed with molasses, conditioned with figs, and spiced with cinnamon and cloves). This time around I decided to go with something a bit lighter, and was not at all disappointed. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3.5 Hops, Block 15, Corvallis, Wandlepad | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
In recent years many craft breweries have been at the forefront of the green/sustainability/renewable movement. The Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR, an Aleheads favorite, has been providing spent hops and grain to, among others, the local Borlen Cattle Company for use as cattle feed, and then purchasing the beef for use in their brewpubs. This prevents about 6,200 tons of spent grain and hops from going to waste (and that doesn’t even include their Portland brewpub). Spent hops are also provided to local organic farmers for use as fertilizer, and spent yeast and other “high strength waste” go to fertilize local alfalfa growing operations (a staple grass grown for livestock feed), preventing them from going to the local waste water treatment plant and keeping a great deal of CO2 and methane out of the air. They even make their pizza crusts from their own spent grain! Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Brews in the News | Tagged: Biodigestion, Magic Hat, Purpose Energy, Renewable energy, Venture Capital | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
Our dearly beloved Slouch Sixpack sent me a link the other day that he suggested would make an interesting Conundrum topic. I hope that, by now, you can imagine my surprise when it turned out to actually be a tenable idea.
In this day and age, it seems like new beer styles are being invented almost daily. New ingredients, new technology, and the incessant demand for novelty from Aleheads the world over have created an unprecedented culture of innovation in the brewing world.
But, of course, not all roads have been traveled as of yet. There are still uncharted waters and unexplored frontiers when it comes to beer styles. So I ask the Aleheads…if you owned your own ale factory and had no restrictions:
What new or tweaked beer style would you like to see created?* Read the rest of this entry »
9 Comments | Beerford's Conundra | Tagged: Canabeer, Extra Special Rarified Bitter, Imperial Indian Red Lager, Zero-Calorie Beer | Permalink
Posted by Beerford McBrewin'
