Random Tuesday Tasting Part 2

Continuing yesterday's post, there are four more beers left from the Random Tuesday Tasting. After the Olde Burnside cool ranch beer, we opened a bottle of Marin Barrel Aged Old Dipsea Barleywine.

You may not have heard of Marin's here on the east coast, but they are connected to Moylan's which sends a few beers over here. It's more well known on the west coast though. Slight bourbon nose with a bit of tartness. Not sure on the latter flavor but I wrote it down so who knows. Lots of bourbon followed, some barrel, but not much barleywine. Nice looking beer but the base just wasn't strong enough to hold up to the bourbon.

Random Tuesday Tasting Part 1

A couple weeks ago, I went over a friend's house with another buddy to hang out and split some beers. Considering it was a Tuesday we weren't planning on opening too much but, well, things didn't really work out that way and we ended up opening 8 different beers. Since eight at once would be too much, I'm going to talk about four of them today and then the rest tomorrow just to avoid boring you all.

We started with the Allagash Tenth Anniversary, an imperial witbier that's about 5 years old at this point.

Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary

I was sent this a while ago from a friend out in San Diego and finally got around to opening it. The 22nd Anniversary is a vanilla imperial stout with 25% aged in bourbon barrels. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Sweet bourbon nose, some oak and a bit of roast. While pouring, the body looked thin, but it turned out to be pretty thick which was good. My initial thought was that it was tasty yet quite sweet. Definitely not one for people who don't like sugary beers. I got a little roast, a tiny bit of vanilla and some hints of alcohol. Enjoyed this one quite a bit. Of course, I love sweet things a ton so that isn't terribly surprising. Showed how even a bit of barrel aging can affect the flavors too.

Bear Republic Heritage Ale

Stopped by Kite & Key earlier this week and ordered a Bear Republic Heritage Ale, a scotch ale.

Nice malty, bready nose. Sweet and inviting. Started with a burst of caramel sweetness which was followed by malt and toffee. The sweetness never became cloying which was good. This was just a really flavorful scotch ale and really hit the spot. Glad I chose it.

Yards 2009 Olde Bartholomew

I haven't been as great about getting to Kite & Key every week and then even writing about it when I do visit. But, oh well. A few weeks ago I went and was able to get a glass of Yards 2009 Olde Bartholomew which was left over from an event held there a few days earlier.

Sorry about the picture, still getting dark early. Sweet plum and caramel nose. Started with some plum, some caramel, and dark fruit and finished with some slight bitterness from the hops. Even after two years, I still got some alcohol notes but not a lot. I liked it decently enough though the two years on it may have helped with that. I have some fresh bottles so we'll see whether this year's is as good as the 2009.

A Beer Four All Seasons

Yesterday, I was invited to a press tasting for the collaboration between Dock Street and the Four Seasons hotel. The overall series is named "A Beer Four All Seasons" as there will be four beers this year, one basically in each season. The gist is that the Four Seasons is providing the ingredients and various ideas and then Dock Street works with them to create something unique. For the first beer, they created a Truffled Old Ale, an old ale aged in Chardonnay barrels and then blended with black truffles. Sounds bizarre, yes, but it turned out to be tasty.

When I got the invite I honestly didn't know what to expect as I've never been to anything resembling a press event. I arrived at the hotel and walked back to the Swann Lounge where they were holding the event. I didn't recognize anyone at first, but then saw Bryan Kolesar and Lew Bryson so at least I knew a couple people. After a few minutes, they started opening some bottles for us to try.

Nodding Head Ice Capades

Every second Saturday, Nodding Head holds a special event following some sort of theme. This month their event was Ice Capades where they took a few of their beers and ice distilled them. In doing so the beers get stronger because they have a higher concentration of alcohol and the flavors can change or intensify as a result. The process mostly involves filling a keg about three quarters full, putting it on its side in a freezer for a couple days, then draining the unfrozen beer. The reason it gets frozen on its side is so when the keg gets flipped back upright, the tap isn't blocked so the beer will actually come out since the ice won't be blocking it. Pretty smart really.

Baladin Isaac

I realized earlier that I totally forgot to write about this one. At this point I've lost my notes but I remember a little. Baladin Isaac was bought for me in Italy by my sister in law and her husband. And, yes, they bought it because it's close to my last name.

Isaac is listed as a witbier on BeerAdvocate, but it differed from the style because of the additions to it. I remember being surprised at the amount of spice and flavor with the wheat base being pretty mild. Some fruitiness was also present. All in all, I was quite pleased and surprised with this one. Le Baladin, a brewery out of Italy, can be found in the US though it's probably expensive since most Italian beers are priced pretty high for a few reasons. Glad I got to try this though disappointed in myself for tossing my notes before writing about it. Oh well.

DuClaw Naked Fish

I had picked this one up in Virginia since we don't get DuClaw in Philly. Naked Fish is a chocolate, raspberry stout.

Really strong and inviting nose. Lots of chocolate and raspberry, basically like those chocolates with raspberry filling in them, you know? Unfortunately the taste didn't follow anywhere near as strongly though it was still pretty pleasant. Mostly a little chocolate and then a light raspberry flavor in the finish. The body was a little thin but as a regular stout it wasn't terribly surprising. All in all, pretty tasty though the flavor could have been slightly stronger.

Ommegang Seduction

Seduction is the newest addition to Ommegang's lineup, replacing Chocolate Indulgence. It was brewed with Callebaut chocolate and Liefman's kriek.

Roasty nose with some slight, dry chocolate notes. Didn't get any cherry. Decent body. Slight tartness, some bitterness and then finished with the same chocolate flavor from the nose and some Belgian notes. Not bad. As I drank more, the chocolate and tartness grew making it a bit more interesting. The only real issue I had with it was that it's a little expensive but oh well.