Iron Hill Oak Aged Quad

I bought this bottle of Iron Hill Oak Aged Quad nearly two years ago I think. Originally, I bought it because my friends and I were going to do a quad tasting but that never actually happened. Oh well. So, I finally just decided to drink it myself this past weekend.

First, notice there aren't any bubbles at all in that glass. This was nearly completely still even more flat than Kevin's ODD barleywine from the other day. But, I didn't let it deter me! Super complex nose, almost port like. Chocolate, caramel, raisins, and plums. It also smelled thick, probably because it was kind of syrupy looking and pretty sweet. And yes, I said it smelled thick, deal with it even if that makes zero sense.

The first sip still reminded me a lot of port. Big cherry up front followed by tons of caramel, chocolate, molasses, and raisins. The cherry lingered in the aftertaste too. Considering this was 12.5%, I didn't get any alcohol which is just crazy. Don't get me wrong, the beer was boozy, it just didn't have any burn. It may have been flat and syrupy, but I still thought it was really good. A little bit of carbonation would have brought it to another level I expect. Wonder if it had any when it was first bottled. Who knows, I guess.

Also, with the holidays coming up my posts will be sporadic at best for the next two weeks or so. Look for normal posting starting again on January 3rd. I'll probably put up one or two over the holidays but we'll see.

The Bruery Five Golden Rings

Last Friday, Kite & Key had a holiday beer spectacular with a thorough list of christmas beers. I saw they put on The Bruery Five Golden Rings, the newest beer in their 12 days of Christmas, and was happy to see it still available yesterday for my weekly visit.

Got nutmeg or cinnamon in the nose without much else. First sip, the major thing I got was a pineapple sweetness, though more like sugary fruit juice than real pineapple, and then a little spice in the middle. As it warmed up and I got used to the fruit sweetness, I started noticing a little of the Belgian yeast strain used to brew it in the form of a little clove and mild banana. Never got much of the spices though other than in the nose. The beer definitely grows on you but for some the pineapple sweetness would probably be a bit much. My friend Craig thought so at least. I mostly liked it and thought it was at least unique for a Christmas beer even if it won't appeal to everyone.

Kevin Mudrick's Odd Barleywine

I recently saw Kevin at an Allagash event at Tria and he was kind enough to give me four bottles of his homebrew. I've had his stuff once before and it was really good even compared to professional stuff so I was excited to check it out. The first one I decided to open was his Odd, a barleywine. Or at least I think he named it Odd, it's what was on the cap at least!

Complex and boozy nose. Not hot or alcoholic at all, just kind of sweet and well boozy. Also figs, apples, prunes, and raisins. Impressive really. As far as carbonation, he warned me it was "Tomme Arthur" style meaning incredibly low. Honestly it was almost still which didn't put me off even though it made it quite thick. My first sip wasn't quite as impressive as the nose unfortunately. Similar flavors existed up front, but the back end was a little empty for some reason.

This sort of reminded me of a beer that was getting a little old but he said it was only from about six months ago. There was still a lot of caramel, raisin, and brown sugar and they weren't boozy at all, they just didn't last very long in each sip. If those flavors were more prevalent through every sip this would have been quite awesome but even so it was still pretty good. He has a version of this mixed with a flemish red or something that I bet is good. Hopefully the latter fills in the light emptiness from this. Looking forward to trying his oaked imperial stout some time this week!

Update: Kevin has informed me ODD is an acronym and stands for Old Draft Dodger. He may have told me that when he gave me the beer too but I clearly forgot. That makes a lot more sense though I liked the idea of naming the beer Odd.

Another Trip to Tired Hands

This visit to Tired Hands actually occurred way back before Thanksgiving but I half forgot about these notes and half just hadn't gotten around to writing about it. But today I make up for it! I made this visit so soon after the previous one for two reasons: to fill a growler and to try the new Westy 13. Since it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, man was it busy. I got the last seat at the bar and showed up only a few minutes after it opened. Funny but totally great for them.

So since it was new and special, I started with the Westy 13, a quad.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga at Kite & Key

With the ongoing expansion of their brewery last year, Lagunitas wasn't able to brew Brown Shugga. Since it's a 10% barleywine, it just took up too much space in their limited number of fermenters for too long for them to be able to afford it. However, the expansion is finished now so it made its triumphant return this year!

Grapefruit hoppy nose. Body followed, sort of, with the grapefruit hoppiness starting things off. Quickly following was a big brown sugar sweetness and that's where this becomes kind of different than other american barleywines. The finish was sort of a mix of the two with sweetness and bitterness playing next to each other. At first they don't mix well and it was a little odd, but as you drink more and the hops faded into the background, the sweetness came to the front. It's a pretty interesting barleywine, that's for sure, and worth trying. It can be a bit polarizing as some think it's too sweet, but I thought it was pretty tasty.

Boulevard 2011 Saison Brett

Other than a couple of 12oz bottles, the Boulevard Saison Brett is the last beer I brought back from Houston. When I bought it, I had a choice of 2011 or 2012 and decided to go with the year old version. I figured with this style and Boulevard's reputation, it would be a bit more interesting with a year of age on it.

Minty and herbal nose with a light fruitiness. Like tropical fruit almost with a bit of lemon. Thicker body than I expected, actually, but not in a bad way, just different than is usual for the style. Spicy, herbal, minty body but lacking the fruitiness of the nose. Still, very tasty. Lightly bitter in the finish with a little more of the herbal edge in the aftertaste.

This was quite good, very refreshing and clean tasting. Nice with the latkes and some other food we had that night. It's why I'm so frustrated when I have a mediocre Boulevard beer since I know they can make such good ones. Oh well, I'll just have to keep trying them all and hope the quality is high.

Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza

I wasn't able to get to the Kite & Key on Sunday for their latest Savage Sixtel Sunday, but when I showed up on Monday everything was actually still available. Lucky for me! Through a huge effort of will, I managed not to order the Goose Island Bourbon County even though I really wanted to because, well, I still have like 18 bottles at home. Kind of silly to get it on draft or at least that's what my wife keeps telling me. I'm not so sure she's right since it's awesome, but this time I listened. Instead I got a glass of Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza.

Tart plum and raisin flavors are the name of the game. All of Jolly Pumpkin's stuff is spontaneously fermented which is why most of their stuff has some basic tartness to it. Sort of clashing flavors though. Like a soured brown ale with a little roast, some bitterness, and finishing with a big tartness and some sour. The latter just didn't mix well with the former in my opinion though they got a bit better as I got used to them all.

It's a problem I've had with other Jolly Pumpkin beers where the tartness just doesn't sit well with the base. Oh well, the issue is definitely on my end since other people seem to really like their stuff. Maybe one day I'll find one I like more.

Beers with Friends

My friends and I had been trying to get together for this bottle share for quite a few months, but one of them has a job that makes it a bit tough to schedule. However, he finally had a Monday off and so messaged us that it was time. As it happened I was walking home from Sabrina's, kind of drunk already, so of course I said totally! I was originally planning on not even drinking the Monday before Thanksgiving but oh well, sacrifices must be made right?

We started off with one of the better beers of the night, Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. This is a special version of Bourbon County, aged in barrels for two years instead of the eight months or so. It did sell for quite a bit more per bottle (about $40 vs $12 for two regular bourbon county).

Squatters Outer Darkness

I'm working on the longer post about a bottle share I had with some friends, but it's going to take me forever so I'll fill in the gaps with some smaller posts. Over the weekend, I drank a bottle of Squatters Outer Darkness, an imperial stout. I picked it up in Houston in early November along with a few other things.

First, let me say the bottle is super cool looking. It looks really cool in this picture, really capturing the flaming eyes peering out of the label. Neat stuff. Great nose on it. Chocolate, roast, and that slightly salty soy sauce character that I find real interesting in stouts. In the body, chocolate and an earthy hop character are the two main points with an underlying roastiness throughout. After the first few sips, I realized the saltiness in the nose may have been a result of the earthy hops mixing with the chocolate. Either way, pretty tasty with lots of different flavors. Glad I picked this one up.

Fun at Dock Street

Just before Thanksgiving, Dock Street had their annual bottle release (I think it can be called annual since they have had it for a few years now). This year they had quite a few different styles for sale including a couple of old gems. Probably the last year for the Barrel Aged Barleywine and Barrel Aged Prince Myshkin though as they finally may have exhausted their cellar reserves. We'll see next year if that's true!

After ordering bottles for myself and a couple friends that put in orders, I got a glass of their newest batch of Barleywine.