Tag Archives: oak-aged

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October 29, 2012

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21st Amendment Hop Crisis

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21st Amendment Brewing

San Francisco, CA

Hop Crisis Imperial IPA

9.7% ABV

While 21st Amendment doesn’t distribute to South Carolina – can we fix that soon? Please? – I’ve managed to try all but one of their regularly released beers, and they’ve all been stellar. My wife buys a six-pack of Hell or High Watermelon any time she comes across one, and I’ve been wowed by Monk’s Blood, thought Allies Win the War was unique and impressive and find Fireside Chat (review coming soon) to be one of the best winter warmers I’ve had.

Until now, only one of the brewery’s beers has eluded me: Hop Crisis, their oak-aged imperial IPA. It’s not that it was hard to get; it was more like I was never in the right place at the right time. But fortunately, my birthday weekend in Atlanta yielded a four pack, and the beer lived up to the hype I’d heard surrounding it.

Side note: When a brewery sends press samples of a beer in a box of hops, it’s a good way of making a hophead like myself extremely jealous.

The beer pours a slightly hazy sunset orange topped with a fluffy three-finger head that sticks around for a while. The lacing is really nice and holds fast to the side of the glass, but I was surprised to not see a lot of alcohol legs.

On the nose is a really vibrant citrus note and a bright pine scent. There’s a bit of an orange scent to it as well with a big overtone of tanginess. It’s all sort of subdued and soft with nothing popping really strongly.

The bitterness on the front of the tongue is pretty mild but it does grow a but more across the palate. In the middle of the mouth, you get that lemon and citrus note very strongly. The oak notes are really big on the back and impart a sort of caramel sweetness and maybe even a little cherry tartness. But as it settles, the incredible hop flavor takes over. It’s bright but resinous and really, really piney. Major hop mouth on this one.

I was worried this one wouldn’t live up to the hype for me. The nose was a bit underwhelming, but the flavor was awesome. It’s dank as hell and incredibly oak-forward. As you drink, it all blends together into this piney, oaky penetrating flavor that clings to your mouth. It’s great stuff, but I’d expect nothing less from 21st Amendment.

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September 19, 2012

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Cigar City White Oak Jai Alai

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Cigar City Brewing

Tampa, FL

Jai Alai White Oak Aged IPA

7.5% ABV

A friend of mine brought me a pack of Cigar City‘s Jai Alai IPA last year as a birthday present, and with all the hype surrounding the Tampa-based brewery – it was my first Cigar City beer –  I was ready to be impressed. But unfortunately, I was let down with the final product. The beer wasn’t bad, per se, but I guess I had just built it up in my mind so much that my expectations were too high.

Oh, how a little oak aging can change that.

Cigar City recently released a new batch of Jai Alai aged on white oak. By using that type of oak, the beer is dried out a bit, but it adds a bit of sweetness to the hop profile. I love oak-aged beers, but I was iffy on what it would do to an IPA. All those doubts were gone after the first sip.

The pour is a really hazy deep orange color topped with a finger of a bubbly head that gives way to mild lacing and alcohol legs.

The oak is incredibly noticeable as soon as you start pour the beer. It just wafts out of the glass. It gives off a big sweet woody note backed with a good hop bite. I got hints of scuppernongs, pineapple and oranges. The white oak really does do a great job of adding a crisp yet sweeter note.

The taste starts out simple enough on the palate. There’s a very mild hop bite and a medium mouthfeel, but the oak erupts on the back. It’s extremely dry, with an almost white wine character, but also just the right amount of sweet. Amazing flavor. That Jai Alai taste is there, but with the fruit flavor kicked up a bit. Good piney bitterness, a bit of malt and a definite vanilla quality round it out.

Dogfish Head‘s Burton Baton set the bar for oak-aged IPAs for me, but White Oak Jai Alai comes in a close second. For a lighter single IPA, the white oak is a perfect choice, drying the beer out just enough to impart a sweeter note. The wood is unmistakably present and strong, but as with any good oak-aged beers, it adds to the beers instead of distracting drinkers from everything else going on.

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September 6, 2012

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Founders Backwoods Bastard

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Founders Brewing Co.

Grand Rapids, MI

Backwoods Bastard

10.2% ABV

I’ve waxed poetic before about my love for everything Founders, a love that’s only grown since they’ve popped up in SC again. As I continue to make my way through their catalogue, I tapped into my cellar the other night and opted for a bottle of Backwoods Bastard, birthday gift from last year courtesy of my friend Josh and one of the last few Founders beer I hadn’t tried yet.

This bastard is a 10.2% Scotch ale aged in bourbon barrels. It’s released late every year, perfect for those pre-winter nips you need to keep you warm. (Fun fact: The beer was temporarily banned in Alabama because they weren’t too keen on having “bastard” be on the label.)

The beer pours a murky rust-colored brown color. It sounds gross, but it kind of looks like dirty pond water when you hold it up to the light. It’s topped with half a finger of a thin bubbly head that vanishes quickly. The lacing falls fast, but there are some very strong alcohol legs.

The barrel-aging hits your nostrils hard. There are big oak and bourbon on the nose, along with lots of caramel, toffee and raisins. It’s a very rich, oaky sticky sweet smell with a bit of the peat and smoke you’d expect from a Scotch ale.

The beer is very mellow on the tongue with just a slight carbonation. It glides across the tongue and melts on the back of the throat. The oak is the most present at first, but then the bourbon melts over the palate and gives way to the big sweet notes. There’s a slightly woody finish, but the caramel and raisin notes are the biggest hit on the end.

Scotch ales/wee heavies are one of those styles I used to hate but have grown to really enjoy, and this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve had. Of course, anything from Founders that’s barrel-aged is going to be fantastic, and this is no exception. It’s rich, sweet, smokey, oaky, smooth … oh, just drink it.

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September 3, 2012

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Port Brewing Old Viscosity

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Port Brewing Co.

San Marcos, CA

Old Viscosity Ale Imperial Stout

10.5% ABV

I have a Friday night ritual of sitting out on my porch with a book, a cigar and a beer and just letting all the stress of the past week melt away. It’s a great, relaxing way to end a week and gets me in the right mindset for the weekend.

When it comes to beers, I light to go for something a little heavier that I can sip on for a while. The night before my wedding, I lit up a great Padron “Little Hammer” and enjoyed a bottle of Port‘s Older Viscosity, a 12.% barrel-aged version of their Old Viscosity imperial stout. It was a phenomenal beer, so I decided to dip into my cellar and try Older Viscosity’s little brother (if that’s really an applicable term).

Old Viscosity is one of Port’s year-round beers. At 10.5%, is a big, thick, viscous beer that is a blend of 80% new batch and 20% of a previous batch aged in bourbon barrels. For a year-round beer, they’re not playing around.

The pour is pitch black, a thick and viscous liquid – fittingly – that pour like motor oil. There’s a surprising two fingers of a creamy brown head that leaves gorgeous lacing and alcohol legs. At 10%, I wouldn’t expect a head like that, but the thing is gorgeous.

The first whiff gives you a big roasted coffee note on the nose. There’s some bitter dark chocolate on the back and a very slight oakiness. You also get hints of molasses, licorice, bourbon and  plums. But the dark coffee is what’s most overpowering.

There’s a surprising amount of carbonation and a lighter body for such a thick beer. The taste is a deluge of bitter chocolate and coffee on the back of the tongue that sticks around a good long while. The oak is definitely noticeable on the finish and more so as it warms. The flavor blends characteristics of old ales, porters and barleywines, with an oily dark fruit flavor being the most prominent. It’s definitely boozy and will certainly keep you sipping for a while.

Old Viscosity is a beast of a beer, and on that night was exactly what I was looking for. It’s got a massive taste that demands to be enjoyed and analyzed slowly. I’d even go so far as to recommend you share it instead of downing a bottle all your own. (That’s much easier said than done, though.)

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August 28, 2012

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Lightning Review: Russian River Beatification

Beatification

Russain River Brewing Co.

Santa Rosa, CA

Beatification American Wild Ale

6% ABV

Occasionally, my friend Dan is nice enough to invite me and a few other friends over to his house for some pretty amazing tastings. He’s extremely gracious with his offerings, and the tasting he hosted this past weekend was no exception.

But there was one gem that stood out: Beatification, the spontaneously fermented oak-aged sour from Russian River. The beer is extremely limited and therefor quite a catch, so it was great of Dan to share one of his limited bottles with us. (I’ve tasted the majority of the “-ation” beers from RR thanks to him, so hats off to you, Dan.)

Sadly, I was too excited – and too far in to the tasting –  to bother to take notes, but here’s a lighting review from what I can remember.

The pour is a hazy golden orange with a pillowy white head that leaves some nice lacing.

The nose is incredible. A massive, gargantuan tartness, funk and oak characteristics. Mountains of pear, green apple and white grapes. Very crisp smelling as well.

Absolutely phenomenal taste. It’s got an acidic tartness, a slight oak on the back and a big funky note. The tastes follow the nose: sour apples, pears, grapes, etc. The oak imparts kind of a mustiness that works well to balance the tartness. The finish is very dry and leaves you wanting more.

Lightning wrap-up: Dan’s awesome. This beer’s awesome. If you ever have the chance, drink it.

 

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June 13, 2012

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Terrapin Phlux Capacitor

Terrapin Beer Co.

Athens, GA

Phlux Capacitor Oak-aged American Strong Ale

9.8% ABV

Athens, GA’s Terrapin – my favorite brewery from my home state – regularly cranks out new and adventurous brews through their Side Project series. These one-off batches has cranked out everything from a black saison to a hefeweizen-IPA hybrid, and the series continues to impress with each new brew.

Side Project 16 is Phlux Capacitor, an homage to “Back to the Future,” albeit “incidentally.” This oak-aged take on the American strong ale was originally planned to clock in at 12.1% ABV – 1.21 gigawatts, anyone? – but Spike and company had to settle for 9.8%.

As I said in my lightning Untappd review, Phlux Capacitor gave me wood.

The beer pours a murky, muddy water brown color. It’s slightly lighter brown around the edges, but there’s no light coming through the middle. It’s quite dark and dank. On top is a finger and a half of a foamy head, but it doesn’t last for long. There’s really nice lacing around the edges but only some minor alcohol legs.

The oak note flooded out of the glass as I was pouring. There’s an incredible woody, earthy smell to it, like sticking your head in a wooden box. But it’s all balanced with a really strong sugary sweetness. I also got a very slight hint of raspberry and a slight barleywine note from the dark fruits and molasses.

The oak smell is tenfold in the taste with insane wood notes on the tongue. There’s massive, massive notes of oak and cedar that linger in your mouth forever, as if you’re eating a cedar plank. A slight hop bitterness pinches in on the front of the tongue. There’s not much going on mid palate, but the wood just explodes at the back. But again, the sweeter notes really do a lot to balance it out. It’s got a slightly cloying sweetness to it, with hints of burnt sugar and molasses.

I love oak-aged beers, but this one takes the cake. While stouts and porters do more to round out the flavor and somewhat mask the wood notes, this one had contrasting flavors of oak and sweetness. It sounds strange, but it’s not off-putting. It’s definitely a sipper, and one you might want to share with some friends, but it’s an incredibly unique beer worth checking out.