Last week, Greenville’s Quest and Athens, GA’s Terrapin teamed up to brew a special collaboration beer in honor of the upcoming inaugural Greenville Craft Beer Week. On Tuesday, more details about said brew were released.
Tag Archives: Terrapin
Quest, Terrapin collaboration coming in April
If you’ve ever talked with Quest‘s Don Richardson, you know he’s got quite the number of brewing notches on his belt. During the past couple of decades, he’s honed his skills at a number of breweries across the country, including Athens, GA’s Terrapin. Some of the equipment currently used by Quest even came from Terrapin. So it should come as no surprise that the two breweries would collaborate on a beer eventually.
Christmas Beers Bring Christmas Cheer
What would the holidays be without alcohol? Copious and copious amounts of alcohol in all forms to help you get through the insanity of family, shopping, holiday parties and the like. Fortunately, there are plenty of holiday appropriate beers to help you get through it all. Here’s what I enjoyed during this week.
After having our own mini Christmas at our new home, my wife and I drove back to my parent’s house in Georgia to celebrate Christmas with them. I have the good fortune of having an easy-going, non-dysfunctional family, so I don’t need a lot of alcohol to help me cope. But that didn’t stop me from bringing along a bottle of St. Bernardus’ Christmas Ale to enjoy and share with loved ones.
At 10%, the spiced Belgian strong dark ale does plenty to keep you warm and toasty. A malty nose brings hints of cocoa, plums, caramel, black pepper, cloves and that classic Belgian yeastiness. A similarly complex taste follows, with a strong effervescent quality leading off flavors of berries, plums, cocoa powder, leather, tobacco, sweet bread, cinnamon and other spices. St. Bernardus always impresses me, but it also impressed my younger brother – a newly 21-year-old frat boy – and my dad, whose tastes lean toward “dark, heavy stuff.” It was a good way to warm up on Christmas Eve.
After returning home to Columbia on Christmas Day, my wife and I tucked in to some holiday selections from my cellar. We started with a 2009 bottle of Samichlaus Classic, a 14% doppelbock from Austria that previously held the title of strongest beer in the world.
At 14%, there’s just a slight hint of booziness on the nose, accompanied by a big, sweet malt character, hints of rum-soaked raisins, caramel, figs and a bit of maple syrup and just a slight alcohol burn on the back. The alcohol certainly hits you more on the taste, but it fades quickly into this sweet, rich, full-bodied blend of caramel, toffee, butterscotch, figs and a big malty sweetness with an almost hard candy quality. The sweetness is definitely cut well by the alcohol, which you can feel warming in your chest after a few sips.
As we settled in for the annual Doctor Who Christmas special, I popped a bottle of the 2011 Santa’s Little Helper imperial stout from Port. Last Christmas, I enjoyed the bourbon barrel-aged version but help on to the standard version for this year.
The coal-black 10% imperial stout presented with aromas of bittersweet chocolate, a touch of booze and a little bit of licorice, all underneath a cozy cover of big roasted coffee and espresso. Those roasted malts impart a big bitterness on the front of the tongue followed with a bitter coffee finish. There was a ton of espresso, dark chocolate, roasted malts and cocoa on it, but it’s not overly chocolatey or sweet at all. There may have been a slight infection in my bottle as there was this strange almost cough syrup quality on the finish. There was a phenolic burn on the back, kind of like the sweeter alcohol finish from NyQuil. It didn’t turn me off at all, and it honestly kind of worked with the bitterness.
The third of four Christmases this year was spent at my mother-in-law’s house on Wednesday. With all due respect to my in-laws, they are a bit more … eccentric than my family, and two little ones running around only add to the insanity. That’s why I was happy to walk in to the middle of a holiday beer tasting orchestrated by my sister-in-law, which included the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, Rogue‘s Santa’s Private Reserve Ale, Grand Teton‘s Coming Home Ale 2012 and, for dessert, some Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout. I also got sent home with bottles of each, as well as a Rogue Farms Single Malt Ale and a Westbrook Dark Helmet. Add that to the two six-packs of SweetWater Festive Ale my brother got me and the SweetWater IPA and Terrapin Liquid Bliss “reinbeers” from my mom, and this was quite a holiday helping.
Whatever you celebrated this season, and whatever you’ll celebrate in the weeks to come, may your world be filled with delicious brews and good times. Cheers to all, and to all a good night.
Terrapin Liquid Bliss
Terrapin Beer Co.
Athens, GA
Liquid Bliss Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter
6.7% ABV
There are few combinations in this world I find more perfect than chocolate and peanut butter. The combination of sweet and savory is a perfect blend, in my opinion, whether it’s in cakes or candy or whatever. Chocolate and peanut butter do it for me every time.
So of course I was excited when Terrapin announced Liquid Bliss, the 18th entry in its one-off Side Project series. Using a porter base, peanut butter, boiled peanuts and cocoa nibs are added with a variety of malts and U.S. Goldings hops. All signs pointed to it being a rich, creamy chocolate and peanut butter bomb, which, of course, was a great prospect.
But reviews of the beer tempered my expectations. While some were surprised by it and others trashed it, the consensus was it fell into the “Not what I was expecting” category. That was applicable to my take on it, but that’s not a bad thing.
The pour is very deep brown with just a little bit of light coming through the top of the glass. The head was about two fingers deep and really frothy, but it settled quickly. Mild lacing and weak alcohol legs.
The chocolate sweetness is the most noticeable part of the nose. It’s more like cocoa powder than a creamy chocolate smell, but it is pretty rich. There is definitely that roasted peanut butter smell. It’s sweet and just hinted at. Not overpowering, which was a nice surprise.
There’s a bit of bitterness on the front of the tongue coupled with slight carbonation throughout the mouth. The mouthfeel is very smooth and rich. The chocolate is heavy in the middle of the mouth with an almost chocolate milk smoothness and richness. On the back, you definitely get the peanut butter as well. Like the nose, it’s there and the flavor is nice, but it’s not crazy strong. With each sip, the peanut butter becomes stronger and more noticeable. It’s kind of that lingering creaminess you get from eating a spoon of PB.
Like a lot of people, I expected a richer, more flavorful beer. But what Liquid Bliss ended up being was a more nuanced approach. I was a disappointed at first but had done a 180 by the time I finished the bottle. In the end, I’m glad it wasn’t the blast of sweetness I was expecting, as it forced you to search out and analyze the flavors within a little more.
Terrapin/New Holland Social Potion
I spent the past weekend in Atlanta to celebrate my birthday, which just so happened to coincide with the kickoff of Atlanta Beer Week. My wife, our friend Josh and myself spent two days traversing the metro area checking out different events and trying new and different brews.
One beer I was determined to try before heading back home was Social Potion, a collaboration between New Holland and Athens, GA’s own Terrapin. To celebrate New Holland’s launch in the Peach State, the Michigan-based brewery teamed up with the folks at Terrapin to create a 7% weizenbock brewed with Michigan wheat, black currants and pink peppercorns. And to add another special touch, the beer was being poured only in Georgia during ABW and in Michigan.
It took about three days to track the beer down, but we eventually found it at Roux on Canton, a small Cajun-influenced bar and restaurant near Josh’s house in Roswell. It was certainly worth the effort to track down.
As expected with a weizenbock, Social Potion pours a hazy, murky dirty-water brown. There were two good fingers worth of a billowy head on top and they stuck around for a while. The lacing and alcohol were both really nice.
The wheat was the strongest note on the nose. Behind that were the sweet dark flavors of the currants and just a very slight pepper note as well. All the ingredients are all there in the aroma.
On the front of the tongue was just a very slight tart bitterness followed with a good bite of carbonation across the palate. It’s tingly with a rich and very smooth mouthfeel from the wheat. On the back was a rich flavor of toffee and a rich tart and sticky sweetness from the currants. The peppercorns pop up again on the finish and linger a bit on the back of the throat. A really great beer all around.
This was the last beer I had on my trip to Atlanta and was a great note to end the weekend on. I’m glad folks in Atlanta get to try all the great beers from New Holland, and any time someone teams up with Terrapin, the results are pretty great.
Terrapin/Shmaltz Reunion Ale 2012
Terrapin Beer Co. – Athens, GA
Shmaltz Brewing Co. – Saratoga Springs, NY/San Francisco, CA
Reunion Ale ’12 Brown Ale
8% ABV
For the past few years, the folks Terrapin have released their annual Reunion Ale as part memorial, part fundraiser in honor of their friend Virginia MacLean. In 2007, MacLean lost her battle with Multiple Myeloma, a type of bone cancer, and every year the Athens-based brewery releases a different beer to help raise funds for the Institute of Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research.
Each year produces a different batch, with the 2009 batch being a lemon grass witbier and 2010 a Belgian-style scotch ale. In 2011, Terrapin turned Reunion Ale into a collaboration with Shmaltz to create a brown ale brewed with cocoa nibs, vanilla and chili peppers.
The 2011 batch was the perfect blend of sweet, savory and spicy. The cocoa added a dryness to balance the rich sweetness of the vanilla, and the peppers added a great kick on the end. The beer turned out to be so popular that they tweaked the recipe a bit – replacing the chili peppers with cinnamon – and re-released it for the 2012 batch. (Note: Each brewery produces its own batch, and this particular one was from Shmaltz.)
The beer pours a very dark brown verging on a black. There’s a huge foamy brownish head on top, nearly four fingers worth. For an 8 percent beer, it doesn’t leave much lacing or alcohol legs to speak of.
On the nose, the spiciness from the cinnamon is very prevalent. There’s definitely that classic bready brown ale smell but with much more of a noticeable bite. The dryness of the cocoa and the sweetness of the vanilla are also very strong. It’s kind of got a French toast quality to it. Smells pretty delicious.
The mouthfeel is very creamy. On the back of the throat, the dryness of the cocoa really shines at first. Coats the tongue in a sweet but dry taste, like eating a spoonful of cocoa powder. The cinnamon pops as it settles a little more and the finish is a mildly sweet vanilla. The flavors come in waves, with each of the main ingredients getting its own pronounced moment, and it all blends together really well.
The 2012 batch is very similar to the 2011 batch, but with more of a sweetness to it than a spiciness. The flavor profile is a perfect mix: not too dry, not too sweet, not too overpowering in any one field. The brown ale base is a good canvas for the rest of the flavors and doesn’t intrude much on the other ingredients. I can’t comment on how it compares to Terrapin’s batch – I’m assuming not much – but overall, it’s just a balanced, well-made and really enjoyable beer.
Also, it’s for a good cause. That’s reason enough to buy a bottle from each brewery.
Terrapin Samurai Krunkles
Terrapin Beer Co.
Athens, GA
Samurai Krunkles IPA
7.1% ABV
Terrapin has consistently stepped up its game when it comes to its Krunkles IPA entries in the Side Project Series. Capt’n Krunkles (Vol. 10) was a 7.5% black IPA brewed with 2 lbs. of hops per barrel, and Indiana Krunkles (Vol. 15) was a 6.7% wheat IPA, merging the hoppiness of a West Coast-style IPA with the sweet malt notes of a traditional German hefeweizen. The latter was one of the more unique IPAs I’ve had in recent memory, so the series has been a hit for me.
Krunkles is back again with Samurai Krunkles, a 7.1% East Coast-style IPA brewed with ginger, green tea and jasmine rice. I was sold on using green tea in IPAs since I first tried the Stone/Baird/Ishii collaboration in which it was used. The flavor stands out, but the spiciness blends well with the hop profile.
The pour is a clear, deep orange with yellow around the edges and a slight haze. The finger of foamy head on top does sticks around and imparts some very nice lacing and some good alcohol legs.
The nose is somewhat astringent, coupled with a big lemon and green tea quality. There’s a real nice and surprising bit of melon and orange one the nose as well, and just a very light hop note. It’s masked very slightly by the ginger, which along with the green tea gives the beer a really nice herbal quality.
The taste is pretty mellow on the front and middle of the palate, but there’s a good full mouthfeel from the rice. The ginger really pops on the back of the tongue and it settles into the green tea on the finish. The green tea does impart a really nice lemon and citrus character, but no tartness. There’s grapefruit and pine and a little sweetness as well. It’s a bit of a weird combination, but they blend well.
Samurai Krunkles has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, and even some drain pours from what I’ve heard. That’s a shame, because this again is a really unique take on an IPA. If you don’t like green tea or ginger, you won’t like it, but if you do, the herbal bouquet, melon-y sweetness and bright citrus character are a really good mix and compliment each other very well.
