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Drake’s is open to the public- go buy some kegs!

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews by femALEist
Sep.25, 2011

Drake’s recently opened their tasting room doors in the East Bay-in San Leandro. They have 24 taps, many barrel-aged beers and decently priced kegs to go. My friend Zoe, Dave and I went a few months back for the first time, as well as last weekend where we picked up a keg- which we already tapped out. The location is literally behind a strip mall that can make it a bit difficult getting to, maneuvering through all the Walmart bound clientele, but as soon as you round the corner- you would never know it was there.

We tried: Sauer Brauer- Sour Cuvee aged in Chardonnay barrels. 8% abv. This pours a deep amber resin. It smells like sour oak, funk and slight berries. It tastes like sour oak, berries, slight acetote, wood and sour funk. Only a touch of acetote but pretty good considering.

Batch 3000. Black Pale Ale. 5.5%. This pours a roasted black. It smells like bitter hops, mango, pine and a touch of malt. It tastes pretty hoppy with a touch of roasted espresso. Pretty tasty.

Drew Berrimore- brandy barrel aged Imperial Stout. 8.75% abv. This pours a dark chocolate. It smells like sour funk, sweet and brandy. It tastes like malt, caramel, a touch tart, apple and some sweet brandy.

The place is quite substantial and even has a few tables so that you can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Just remember to leave your kids and dogs at home because neither of them are allowed. Not a bad way to spend your weekend.

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My first visit to Three Floyds

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Pairings, Beer Scores by femALEist
Sep.25, 2011

Dave and I flew into Chicago for our friend’s wedding and as soon as we landed, we got our rental car and drove straight to Three Floyds. It is really in the middle of industrial Indiana-45 minutes from the airport. We were absolutely starving and just could not wait to get there. We arrived to an industrial park and a cute entrance covered with beautiful flowers and a vegetable garden. Walking in, you have a decent sized 2 room place, a bit reminiscent of Toronado; punk rock blasting in the background, tattooed staff but much cleaner. Maybe more of a blend between San Diego Toronado with a touch of SF Toronado flair. And of course, they had a ton of amazing beers on draft. Not to mention better than decent pub food: octopus confit, mussels, crispy frog legs (poor Kermit), white fish brandade…. Cheers for someone thinking higher and going to the next level with their pub fare!

We ordered: Zombie Dust- 50 IBU’s 6.2% abv. This is an intensely hopped pale ale. It smells like a fist full of hops: pine, sweet mango, citrus and pine resin. It tastes of even more fresh hops but with just a very light aftertaste and lack of bitterness. That would be the only way to know it’s a pale ale. This has such an incredible nose. I want to smell it all day. Incredibly fresh hops.

Artic Panzer Wolf-9% abv. 100 IBU’s. This smells like malt, hops and a bit of twangy funk. It tastes like bitter hops, pine forest, more pine and a touch of caramel malt. It is incredibly bitter.

We ate: Smoked white fish brandade- with pickled sour cherries, parsley, garlic chips on crostini. This definately satisfied my white fish east coast craving. Although it was pureed and seemed a bit more like white fish hummus- which I enjoyed. It was not as greasy as east coast white fish.

Octopus Confit- roasted garlic tahini, cucumbers, ground cherries and mint. The flavors in this were great. The only downside was that the octopus was a little chewy but the flavors were still good together.

Mussels- mustard beurre blanc, pickled Asian pear, celery and rosemary. Amazing: creamy, sweet, slightly spicy and a touch of lemongrass. Seriously, this is THE best sauce I have EVER had with mussels (and I  have eaten a lot of mussels- even in Belgium!). The mussels themselves were a bit small but perhaps I just have not had mussels from Chicago. They tasted great but I just have never had a sauce like this for them- absolutely perfection.

Then we ordered just a few more drinks: Dreadnaught IPA- Impetial IPA. 9.5% abv. This smells a bit lighter than the previous ones with slight hops. It tastes like sweet hops, with a kiss of bitterness and some citrus notes.

Kinder Bier- Belgian style dubbel ale aged in Pinot noir barrels with tart cherries. 10% abv. This smells like slightly soured stewed cherries, red wine, malt and sour oak. It tastes like sour malt mash, deep cherry, touch of sour, banana and a cardomon mixed with oak ending.

Behemoth- 10.5% abv. 80 IBU. A generously hopped barley wine. This smells like bitter, juicy hops, grapefruit and a touch of malt. It tastes like bitter pine, sweet caramel covered citrus and a  touch of resin on the ending. A little thick but tasty.

And in true David+Tiila style, of course we had to bring some back with us on the plane-a few fresh Zombie Dusts will have to do!

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2011 Stone Sour Fest

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, Beer Tasting Events by femALEist
Jul.16, 2011

Get on the bus! At 8:30am on a Sunday, the only bus I would ever get on would be to take me to the Stone Sour Fest…which thankfully, that is where our driver ended up taking us. Nothing like starting off your day at 10am with over 72 different sour beer choices! It gets even better being at Stone, which is in sunny San Diego with a huge outdoor space, lots of grass, lots of tables and decent grub. $45 pass got you 15 tickets for 3 oz pours of fabulous sour beer. Tums anyone????

Being that our group is very friendly and likes to share, we got to try many more than 15 different beers. Out of 73, I tried too many too count and too many to write about plus a few bottles that people also brought to share. Out of their Bottle List I tried:

3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek – One of the best! Sour cherries, funk, barnyard and more funky back of your throat sour pucker.

3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek- (2 tickets). Lots of cherries, huge cherry pit flavors, sour funk and more juicy sour cherries. One of my favorite bottles and at $40 a pop, it’s not cheap but well worth every penny.

The Bruery Sour Stout- Super sour, funk, barnyard.

Cantillion Cuvee des Champions- Only 3 bottles at the event. Our group made a beeline for this bottle and killed it within 10 minutes of the event opening. It was super sour, funky with some musty notes and very tart.

De Proef Zoetzuur Special Reserve Flemish Ale- Raisins, dates, sweet caramel, Belgian Quad.

Hanssens Lambic Experimental Raspberry- I do love this beer. It is also my favorite color I have ever seen in a beer, almost an electric glowing coral- just gorgeous! And it tastes good too, with tons of super tart raspberries. Very cheek puckering sour. Lightyears ahead of their Cassis and about as tart as their Strawberry.

The Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme- Sweet cola, raisins and more dates.

New Belgium Le Terrior. New Belgium really brought it with this beer. A hoppy sour! Pine, hops, pineapple mixed with sour, tart funk- delish!

Our of their Draft List I tried:

Bear republic Barrel Aged Nectarine Grizz- Cherry cola, sour, tart malt.

Bear Republic Prickly Pear Grizz- Pear, malt, burnt espresso, sour. Interesting.

Cascade Nightfall Blackberry- Slight diacetyl in the nose, slight berry juice, tart.

Cascade Port Reserve- Nail polish remover, miso nose, sour malt.

Cascade The Vine- sour muscat grapes, funk, more sour grapes. Mmmm.

Green Flash Grand Mantis 2009- Way too much oak, malt, sour tongue and more oak.

Craftsman Extreme Braggot- Bourbon nose, French oak.

Craftsman Sour Lavender 2010- Loss of lavender, not as good as the 2011.

Craftsman Sour Lavender 2011- Well-balanced for a floral beer with a light lavender sour tart flavor. The nose has much more lavender in it but it is much more toned down and well balanced in flavor.

Grand Teton Sourgrass- Light sour mixed with hoppy goodness.

The Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa- Fruity, lots of raspberry, tart.

The Lost Abbey Sinners Blend 2010- Sour malt, raisins, dates.

Cantillion Lou Pepe Kriek- A fantastic classic sour but much more rare on draft anywhere in the USA. LOTS of fruity sour cherries. Mmmmm sour cherries.

John Martin Bourgogne des Flanders- Watered down mash. Gross.

The Bruery/Cigar City Brewing Marron Acidifie- Sour tart goodness.

The Bruery/Beer City Store The Wanderer- Sour malt, tart funk.

The Bruery Kriek- (2 tickets) Amazing sour, sour and more sour with a touch of sour fruit. It reminds me of Hanseens. The best new sour beer I have not tried before today. They added this one to the list late in the day and I was very satisfied to have gotten some!

Off the list I tried:

Two Brothers Askew- Sour, tart, funk, barnyard.

Freetail Woodicus- Gingerbread, extremely dry and oaky.

Boulevard Smokestack Series Imperial Stout #00022 of 11960. Mmmm  malty, smoky but well balanced.

Barfly Smoked Imperial Stout- Smoked maltiness. Not my thing.

Alpine Millenium IPA- hopped pale. Pretty much sums it up. Nice to get a break and drink some hops with all of those sours.

Lou Pepe Kriek 2004- Sour cherry amazingness.

Worst in show: Ballast Point Sour Wench Blackberry Ale- It literally smelled like vomit. I have never even smelled anything remotely close to how disgusting this beer smelled.

Best in Show- That is always quite difficult with some many amazing classic sour beers. My favorite of the day would have to have been The Bruery Kriek for a new amazing sour. I also love New Belgium Le Terroir, such a great beer as well as anything from 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon. But then again, I am a sour whore for Cantillon and 3 Fonteinen.

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3rd Annual Stone Sourfest Weekend Friday Barrel-Aged Beer Tasting

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, Beer Tasting Events by femALEist
Jul.04, 2011

Dave and I were invited to go down to San Diego for the Stone Sourfest by our good friend  and fellow craft beer geek, Jason Henry. Every year he coordinates an amazing weekend in his parent’s lovely abode overlooking the hills in sunny San Diego. The first night, Jason and his friend Chris Madore (aka Cloudskipper) put together an absolutely incredible barrel-aged beer tasting. Be fore warned: reading the rest of this posting will make you drool and extremely jealous.

We tried a ton of different incredibly rare beers (not in this order):
1-Three Floyds Pappy Van Winkle Dark Lord. 15% abv. Only 484 bottles produced. Imperial stout aged in 23 year old Pappy barrel. This tatsed like sweet caramel, vanilla syrup, sticky buns and a bit of a hot burn. It was a lot sweeter than the Goose Island Bourbon County Rare.

2-Three Floyds Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord with vanilla beans. 15% abv. Only 433 bottles produced. Imperial stout aged in brandy barrels. This tasted like sweet raisins, vanilla, chewy fig newtons and apples.

3- Hair of the Dog Matt Bottleworks X. 12.5% abv. Bottleworks 10th Anniversary beer. Bourbon and apple eau de vie barrel strong ale with smoked malt and candi sugar. This tasted like vanilla, cola, peat and candied malt with a slight touch of band aid.

4-Cisco Dark Woods. 7.7% abv. Syrah and rum barrel sour ale with cranberries. This tasted like sour red wine, cranberries, bark and a super dry finnish.

5- Bullfrog Beekeeper. 7% abv. Cabernet barrel aged sour saison. Sour, tart, slight berry, pomegranate and tons of funk. This was one of my top favorites of the evening.

6- Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. 13% abv. Imperial stout in 23 year Papy Van Winkle barrels. Vanilla, bourbon, vanilla, smooth chocolate. Excellent.

7-Captain Lawrence Chardonnay Barrel Tripel. 10% abv. Belgian tripel. Two cases produced for employees only. Muscat, black tea, Chardonnay, sour tea and funk.

8- Russian River Toronado 20th. 10.4% abv. Blended sour. Barnyard, slight lemon, sour tart funk.

9- Oakshire Hellshire I. 10% abv. Bourbon barrel barleywine. Juniper berries, overly bitter and not drinkable.

10- Southampton Vic. 7.2% abv. Only 240 bottles produced. Red wine barrel porter with brett.

11- Southampton Hommage. Only 240 bottles produced. Red wine barrel aged Belgian ale with brett. Tart, brett, oak, barnyard funk and grapes.

12- Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell. 9.5% abv. Bourbon barrel barleywine. Bourbon, vanilla, soda-like. You can smell the alcohol. It smells like headache.

13- Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel 4th Dementia. 11% abv. Old ale. Bourbon, hops, caramel and raisins. Smooth.

14- Russian River Framboise for a Cure. 5.9% abv. 100% proceeds to breast cancer research. Spontaneously fermented sour ale with raspberries. Sour frozen raspberries, tart funk and more sour.

15- New Belgium Twisted Spoke 15th Anniversary. 7% abv. Sour blend aged in apple whiskey barrels. Sour apple, tart and funky. It seems like a lighter body version of La Folie.

16- Cambridge Brewing Double Happiness. 10.4% abv. Sour lychee beer aged in Chardonnay barrels. Smells like fun dip! Sweet tart, oak, sweet, leaves a bad aftertaste. The nose is much better than the taste.

17- Nebraska Brewing Melange a Trois. 10.2% abv. 2010 GABF Bronze, wood and barrel-aged category. Chardonnay barrel Belgian strong.

18- Midnight Sun Open Container. 6% abv. Brewed for City Beer’s 5th Anniversary project. Chardonnay barrel aged spontaneously fermented sour ale. Fabulous nose. Apricots, peaches, Chardonnay. It tastes like Haribo Gummy Peaches!

19- Smuttynose Ry(e)An Ale. 8% abv. Brewed exclusively for Julio’s Liquors. Rye and bourbon barrel aged strong ale (Sazerac, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses). Bourbon, vanilla, slightly sweet with a touch of hops. A little light ending but pretty fantastic.

20- Cantillon Blabaer 2007. 5% abv. Lambic with blueberries. Sour, tart blueberries, funk barnyard. Delish.

21- Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition. 12% abv. Woodford Reserve barrel Imperial stout. Bourbon, vanilla, roasted malt, touch of espresso.

22- Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze Selectie C (vintage 2000). 6% abv. Japan-only blend from Armand’s ‘most sour’ barrels back to 1997. AMAZING. Tart, lemon, barnyard funk and more sour tart.

23- Russian River Oaked Damnation Batch 23. 11% abv. Oak chipped tripel. Oak, caramel, stewed raisins and barnyard funk.

24- Fifty Fifty Rouge Baril Baltique. 6.8% abv. Brewed for City Beer’s 5th Anniversary project. French oak cabernet sauvignon barrel aged Baltic porter. Cola, bitter chocolate, touch of spicy hops, bitter espresso and burnt malt.

25-Eden Ice Cider Northern Spy. 10% abv. French oak barrel aged single varietal ice cider. Apple cider, apple sauce, minerals.

26- Bruery Bottleworks XII. 8% abv. Bottleworks 12th Anniversary beer. Sour mash imperial witbier aged in red wine barrels with raspberries. Sour funk mixed with Belgian banana, tart barnyard, funky-cold-madina.

27-McKenzie Saison Vautour du Bois (sour version). 6.5% abv. Only 372 bottles produced. Sour, bitter hops in the back of your throat, bark and more dry bitter hops.

28-Upright Sole Composition Special Herbs. 6% abv. Only 166 bottles produced. Gruit aged in Old Tom gin barrels. Sour green apples, tart, touch of Juniper berries on the finnish and sharp bitterness.

29- Hangar 24 Barrel Roll Series Immelmann BA Porter. 10.6% abv. Bourbon barrel imperial porter with cocoa nibs and vanilla bean. Vanilla, cocoa nibs, a little light and then a touch of bourbon.

30- Russian River Craft Brewer’s Conference Symposium Sour Brown. 6.2% abv. Fermented with Sierra Nevada Kellerweiss yeast and aged in Fritz Maytag’s red wine barrels. Sour,a  touch flat, a touch raisins. Not great.

31- Nebraska Brewing Reserve Barrel Aged Hop God. 10.1% abv. Chardonnay barrel aged Belgian IPA. Chardonnay, sweet grapes, touch of pine hops. Not too smooth and incredibly bitter.

32- De La Senne Wadesda #1. 8.5% abv. Jambe de Boise triple blended with Cantillon lambic. Sour lambic, touch of lemon, grapes. VERY TASTY.

33- Jolly Pumpkin Bambic. 5.3% abv. Only 180 of the 750ml bottles produced. Blend of Bam Biere and lambicus. Sour, lemon tart, barnyard funk and creamy.

34- Bruery 100% barrel aged batch 1 Levud’s. 11% abv. First beer brewed by the Bruery. Bourbon barrel aged Belgian Golden. Bourbon, pear, slight starfruit, creamy sweet banana, caramel mixed with banana flambe.

35- Cascade Vlad the Imperial Ale. 10.6^ Ale aged in wine and bourbon oak barrels. Tart funk, grape, oak.

36- Paul Sangster‘s IPA Some like it very Hoppy. 380 IBU’s. Sweet hops, mango, pine, dry goodness very sweet.

37- Eric‘s Flander’s Red aged in Cabernet barrels. 6.5% abv. Sour, tart, red wine, slight funk.

 

 

 

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A sour weekend full of 50 year old Gueuze

Filed Under: Beer Pairings, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores by femALEist
Jul.04, 2011

Nothing spells relaxing like a weekend trip up to Mendocino. Cabin, hot tub, view of the Pacific nothing could top that. Well, maybe some 50 year old Gueuze and some great Cantillion cheese to go with it!

Dave and I tried a few different beers this weekend.

First up: De oude Cam- Oude Geuze. Jan 2009. This pours the lightest of the 3. It has a bit more yellow but still amber. It smells like sour funk. It tastes like super tart funk. Not much oak, just pure sour tart deliciousness.

Drie Fonteinen- Oude Geuze Vintage 12/9/2005. This pours a warmer sienna amber. It smells like deeper funk, oak, wood and sour

tart horse blanket. It tastes like black tea, funk, musty basement and sour oak. A bit more complex than the De Oude Cam but not as straight up sour.

Hanssens Lambic 45-55 years old circa 1960. This pours a deep amber it smells like apple, grapes and red wine and a touch of cider. It tastes like apple cider, oak, funk with wine like characteristics. It is still very tart but more cider tart and a touch of carbonated but considering the age, it is pretty baller. Just look at the cork on that thing! It was moldy except for the part that was touching the beer.

Temptation Vertical-the poor man’s Gueuze vertical! Served with cheese made from Cantillion Geuze and gueuze Cantillion in Gelee from Cantillion itself and Morgan’s pickled grapes. I brought the Cantillion back from Belgium myself over Christmas.

Temptation 3- this pours a deeper orange than the other 2. It smells like sour funk, slightly tart banana, and white wine. It tastes like sour, oak and tart chardonay. It seems like their is more flavor in the nose than the taste.

Temptation 4- this pours a medium yellow amber. It smells like super tart and funky oak. It tastes like sour, tart oak and slight white wine characteristics.

Temptation 5- this pours the lightest yellow of these 3. It smells like sour tart, apple and very slight banana funk. It tastes like sour tart with apple chardonay.

Batch 4 was by far my favorite!

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A trip to the East Coast

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Beer Scores by femALEist
Jun.22, 2011

Nothing makes me happier then when I go home to the east coast and I get to try some beers that are not readily available out here. My first stop was at Monk’s Cafe in Philly. I was very happy because I got to try (and bring home 2 bottles) of Cantillon Monk’s Cafe Cuvee Gueuze.

This pours a golden amber. It smells of sour funk. Nothing too crazy. It tastes a touch flat, and I mean a touch with sour pucker up front, a squeeze of lemon and a nice sour funky ending. I paired it with mussels cooked in Cantillon Gueuze with garlic and
parsley. They served it with fries with bourbon mayo. OMG bourbon mayo? Yes please! They smelled like garlic and gueuze.

I then hung around and tried a bottle of vintage De Cam Oude Lambiek. It pours a cloudy amber. It smells like horse blanket and lemon. Tastes very sour pucker lemon, funk, oak and more sour pucker lemon. A bit musty and good.

Heading back to Maryland, I was able to pick up a few bottles on my way back.

Weyerbacher Heresy. Imperial Stout aged in oak barrels. 8% abv. This
pours a dark coffee with milk shake foam. It smells like bourbon, vanilla and burnt sugar it tastes like bourbon, vanilla, maple, burnt sugar and more bourbon. Pretty heavy but flavorful. Not sticky, a bit bitter and less sweet.

Weyerbacher Insanity. Ale aged in oak barrels. 11.1% abv. This pours a dark chocolate. It smells like burnt malt, espresso and chocolate. It has a nice balance to it.

Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. RIP. East India Style Porter. A recreation of a beer originally brewed in London on Dec 6, 1855. This pours a dark red mahogony. It smells like malty, vanilla, burnt coffee with a touch of hops. It tastes like burnt espresso, bitter hops, coffee and citrus.

Thomas Hardy 1968-Bottle C 07473. July 1968. This pours a murky swamp  water. It smells like bourbon, raisins and dates. It tastes like watered down bourbon, vanilla, a bit of roasted meat/bouillabaisse raisins and a touch of bourbon ending. Way better than I expected and not bad for a 43 year old beer.

Thomas Hardy 1997- This pours a red teak. It smells like like raisns and dates. It tastes very light compared to the 1968. It seems like a different recipe. It has raisins, cola, dates and vanilla.

I happen to meet a very interesting woman along my way: Melinda Byrd. She is a very talented artist and an extremely talented home-brewer. I was lucky enough to try some of her tasty brews:

Melinda Byrd’s Bourbon barrel aged Quad de Garde. Made with dry malt extract.  This pours a cloudy amber with a touch of creamy foam. It smells like banana, coriander, belgian yeast, spice and a touch of bourbon. It  tastes like vanilla, bourbon, caramel and banana. It tastes like a wonderful banana flambé.

Melinda Byrd’s Bourbon barrel aged Belgian Strong Dark Abt 12 batch #2.

It pours a semi clear red mahogany. It smells like bourbon soaked  raisins, dates, banana and Belgian yeast. It tastes like bourbon, vanilla, a touchof burnt caramel, dates and banana. It was very tasty and extremely good.

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A birthday bash for Jason at Mission Gastro Club

Filed Under: Beer Pairings, Beer Reviews, Beer Tasting Events by femALEist
Jun.18, 2011

May 19, 2011. Our friend Jason Henry’s birthday was held at Eric and Neil’s lovely abode Mission Gastroclub style. It was amazing as to be expected. The food was amazing, the beer was great and of course, in true beer geek style a bottleshare ensued.

Eric started us off with a beer from Lagunitas: New Dogtown. Neil paired it with: salted cod fritters, pickled enoki and pickled cauliflower, sour dough bread from Mission Pie and pickled garlic. Pickled, sourness and bite from the sharp mustard balances out with the touch of hops from New Dogtown.

We then were given a glass of Upright Four and Four Play. Four Play uses the same base beer but is aged in wine barrels with cherries and sour bacteria. It pours a beautiful cloudy strawberry peach. It had notes of sour cherries, oak, tart and light wine. Four was paired with burrata doughnut, arugula pistou, mâché, pearl inion, tomato marmalade, candied walnuts. A little bit of funk from the beer complimented the fried creamy, sweet, nuttiness. Amazing!

Then we were lucky enough to try a taste of Drie Founteinen Tuverbol. It smells like sour green apples. Tastes like sweet, cider-y than apple sourness.

Another bottle shared: Our Barrel Ale by Anchor Brewing. It pours a red teak. It smells like vanilla, sweet maple sugar and stewed raisins. Tastes is not so sweet. More chewy raisins and sweet prunes. Really nice flavor.

For the next dish we were given a Double Wit. A beer brewed by Eric and paired with pan roasted sablefish, arctic char sashimi, English peas and potato millefeuille. The  double wit is beautiful with chewy and sticky banana. The savory, butter, meaty flavors gets vamped up a bit with the banana funk of the wit.

Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan, co-owners of Almanac Beer Company, brought along a Turkish Apricot. From Jesse. Sweet apricots, more apricots and then some more apricots.

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co- flaming fury – aged in apple brandy barrels. Pours a golden cloudiness. Smells of slight brandy and slightly sour oak. It tastes a touch sweet and sour with a nice apple brandiness. Delish.

Stone: 10th Anniversary IPA paired with strawberry margarita sorbet, cookie crumble
and nastirsium flowers 4 1/2 years old but you still get the hops in this beer. The IPA overpowers the fruit on this dessert a bit. A delicious beer that has aged nicely.

Bourbon barrel aged Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout. Smells like bourbon, vanilla and dark chocolate. Tastes like chocolate and bourbon.

Chocolate pot de creme, spring cherries and Cuvee de birthday (a blend of all of the flat lost abbey barrel aged beers from the last few years including santas little helper, angels share and older viscosity dumped into a 5 gallon soda keg and force carbonated). Seems like there’s no head in the beer, but it could use some ham cream. It smells like raisins and stewed prunes. It tastes like vanilla, bourbon, stewed raisins and prunes and sweet caramel. The sweet deep chocolate followed by the crunchy cocoa nips with the richness of the borbon and chocolate stout= heaven.

Captain Lawrence Rosso. Sour tart oak much oak. Tart and more oak. Not a bad way to end a great evening. Happy Birthday Jason!

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Oysters and Oyster Stouts- the perfect marriage of flavor

Filed Under: Beer Pairings, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, New Zealand Beer by femALEist
May.11, 2011

For those of you who do not know, Dave and I are huge fans of oysters. We can both literally eat our weight in oysters. Since it was Dave’s birthday yesterday, I went and got a dozen of Drake’s oysters and shucked those suckers myself….a perfect time to break out 2 oyster stouts!

I brought home a three boys Oyster Stout from New Zealand the last time I was there (which was about 1 year ago). This beer is not one you age, but we have not had oysters at home for a while. It is 6.2% abv and Batch No 1152. On the bottle it reads: Doctors once prescribed stout as a revitalizing tonic, while brewers enhanced their potency with additional ingredients, like oysters, which had desirable properties of their own. It also has written on it: Living Beer: store cool and in the dark, which I thought was pretty cool.

We also tried the 2011 Symposium Oyster stout from the 2011 CBC. 6.5% abv. This was a gift from Brian Yaeger, who was not able to take all of his scrumptious beer back to Portland with him. This beer was brewed and bottled at  Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in collaboration with Marin Brewing Co and Magnolia Pub and Brewery. They used the meat, liquor and shells of 1000 local Sweetwater oysters from the Hog Island Oysters Company  to brew this stout.

Onto the pairings: Three Boys Oyster Stout. New Zealand. This pours a dark chocolate brown. It smells like roasted chicory and coffee. It tastes very much like minerals  and caramel. On the lighter side. This was a great pairing as the oysters were a bit light in flavor and enhanced the mineral-ness in the beer. Pretty interesting considering we aged a session beer for over a year.

2011 Symposium Oyster from Magnolia, Marin and Iron Springs. This pours a dark chocolate. It smells like sweet caramel and roasted coffee. No hint of any oysters in the nose. However, it tastes like malt and a HUGE oyster ending explosion. It literally tastes like a malty oyster. It is the most oyster flavor I have ever had in a stout. BUT it lacked in the pairing. I could not taste the fresh oyster anymore since the flavor in the beer overpowered.

Overall, always a fun pairing. I always wonder why it is so hard to actually find oyster stouts in the Bay Area, especially since there are SO many oyster places!

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3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek 2006 & 2010

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Beer Scores by femALEist
Apr.02, 2011

It was Dave’s and my 4 year wedding anniversary last week. We went out to dinner, spent the weekend together and opened up a few nice bottles to celebrate. Being that we were in the sour mood from The Trappist, we decided to open up a 2006 & 2010 3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek and have a little cheese fondue. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening.

3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek 2006 & 2010:

The April 28, 2010 bottle pours a dark cherry red. It smells like pounds of sour stewed cherries and slight funk. It tastes like pounds of sour pucker cherries. It is an incredible sour that just pickles your cheeks. It is really delicious and worth the $37.

The March 22,2006 version pours a much lighter strawberry red with a touch of brown. It smells like stewed cherries, a touch of cinnamon, spices and a touch less pungently sour. It tastes like cherry pie: stewed juicy cherries, cherry pit, cinnamon and a touch of a sour  pucker. It is definately not as sour as the 2010, but it is a bit more complex.

Not a bad side by side comparison.

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The Trappist had Cantillon on tap during CBC

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, Beer Tasting Events by femALEist
Mar.30, 2011

Are they going to still have it on tap? What time will they pour? We have to get out there as soon as you are done with work! These were the common comments heard when discussing The Trappist last Friday. Dave and I made it out there by 5:45 to find that yes, Cantillon was already flowing and had been flowing since they opened. We even managed to get a table. We had friends there who were there since 3 pm just enjoying sour beer after sour beer…lucky bastards!

First up: Lou Pepe Kriek by Cantillon $10 for a 25cl pour. Mmm sour cherries! I am happy now :)

St Lamvinous- made with red wine grapes by Cantillon for $10. A bit more tannin that tart. The Lou Pepe is much more tart. A definite black tea-like character. It is a beautiful deep plum color. Nothing wrong with double fisting Cantillon. Nothing wrong at all.

Boon Lambic Foeder #10. Single vintage 3 year aged Lambic. Only 100 kegs produced. 10% abv. This pours a cloudy hay-amber. It smells like sour wheat, fruity peach and sourness. It tastes a touch spicy, a touch lactic and a bit like a flat soda. Huge oak. Very complex. Slightly more sweet as you sip it.

Revelation Cat Pineau DES Charentes Lambik. 2 year old unblended lambic aged in fortified wine barrels. This is from the only keg in the US. 7.5% abv. This pours a orange amber. It smells like sweet fruit with a touch of sour strawberry. It tastes like sour barnyard funk, a touch of chewy leather and a bit of apricot. I like it better that the Boone but it doesn’t compare to any of the Cantillons.

Cantillon Fou Foune. Going from a Boone to this, really makes the apricot jump out. Hugely delicious fresh apricot fruit. Amazing. This was WAY better than the 2009 Fou Foune on draft at Monk’s Kettle. This beer was not meant to be aged!

We lingered as long as we could, had a few more rounds of Cantillon, an awesome cheese plate (for only $12) and some pickled veggies…we then left to check out what Rosemunde’s had left in the Mission…

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