Some Beers I've Had

I keep meaning to post the beers I've had over the past several days, but I have been unable to keep up with this blog, which is better than I can say about several of my other blogs.

Anyway, here are some highlights over the past few days. You can also check my RateBeer account for other reviews.
I had new Belgium's take on the IPA, Ranger. The aroma hit me in the face with Simcoe and Amarillo, but the beer was super bitter and dry. That and it had this lingering New Belgium presence that I blame on their yeast. It never seems to show its head in their bigger, barrel-aged beers, but it rears its ugly head here. This is a fine beer, very sessionable. It's just not going to be my first or third choice at the bar.I hit a local joint called Broadway Brewery before a rock show the other night. Word had it that they had tapped a DIPA. So, I thought I'd give them a try. The beer had a great nose of Centennial and Willamette (I think), but it was very, very green. It tasted like your homebrew 3-4 weeks before you should drink it. Hopefully, it will stay around for a while or the brewery will get a chance to brew it again. Like the brewpub/restaurant, it just needs time to improve with age.


I made some burgers with a Founders Porter (which I finished while preparing dinner). The burgers were juicier and richer thanks to the beer. I don't know that this beer made a difference, but they were good burgers. I'll certainly remember to add three tablespoons of dark beer to my next batch of burgers. Also, along with the porter burgers, I smeared on some delicious stout mustard made with Schlafly's Extra Irish Stout. The combination was perfect and I look forward to trying it again.

Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot 2010 hit shelves this week. I promptly bought a sixer and chilled a '09 for comparison. Due to circumstances out of my control, I had to split the two beers over two nights. Assuming that it's the aging, the '09 was say more complex and fuller than the '10 version. It's nice to know that aging some of those beers is paying off.


Tonight, Schalfly, O'Fallon, and New Albanian collaborated for an oak-aged smoked rye pale ale. Someone best described it as more interesting than good. The rye pale ale part was good and as solid as anything else I've tried, but the smoke just didn't fit. Someone smelled Jack Daniels, but I chalk that up to the rye and smoke. Smoke doesn't work with everything. However, this beer did pair well with the Vietnamese hot wings Uprise Bakery was serving with the beer.

Friends and I also split an Avery dunganA double IPA. Aside from the odd bleach smell and taste from the glasses, the beer is fresh, crisp, and citrusy. It was a nice finish to the past several days of beer drinking.

CBE vs BA 100

Possibly due to the holiday and the fact I live in a college town, last night's Columbia Beer Enthusiast gathering at Sycamore was somewhat small. This was surprising in that the tasting involved only beers on Beer Advocate's top 100 list(s). Granted, the list at BA is lacking a few great beers, but overall it is pretty solid from top to bottom.

The list is fluid as beers are rated daily. One of the beers I brought (Hoppin' Frog's B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal Stout) was ranked at 99 on the American list as of last night, but it did spend time off the list last week. Thankfully, no one minded having to drink such a lowly beer.

I'll detail what we drank below. We started with the lowest ranking beer and moved down the list. I'm not that concerned with rankings. You can look those up if you wish. Here's what we drank...

My contribution to the evening's collection of beers.

Hoppin' Frog's B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal Stout - This was a great place to begin. Someone pointed out that it was too sweet and could stand to age. I love a beer that's very drinkable but you can tell that it will only get better with age, like many beers on this list.

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter - Too bad this beer was sandwiched between two mammoth imperial stouts. It was a good porter nonetheless. Great Lakes doesn't blow me away, but they always make a solid brew.

Old Rasputin Russian XII - This was as good as I remembered it from the summer: boozy, a touch of cola, so good.

Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout - This one was up for debate. Sanford (of Sycamore) tapped a a keg of this beer (supposedly). Many thought it tasted more like the regular Yeti. I thought it didn't taste like either. I thought I tasted some funk, but I could be wrong. I certainly would finish a pint if you ordered it for me.

Stone Ruination IPA - This was the beer that exposed me to the wonders of craft brewing, my gateway beer. It's always so good. Either because of some aging or the fact that we jut polished off some pretty intense stouts, this one was mellower than usual. No complaints though.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy - This is a great imperial stout that brings the bitter better than most and is mellower in a can than the syrup usually found in a imperial stout bottle.

Duvel - Spicy...and I think it was skunked. The bottle said that it was pretty new, but it tasted off. Some guys were polite, but I thought it was a case of a bad bottle. I'm pretty sure Duvel didn't taste this way to me before.

Boulevard Saison Brett - It's nice that a MO beer made the list and the tasting. This beer is so much better done than the other saisons I've had over the past couple of years. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it comes from here.

Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye - I love the balance and hop presence of this beer. That said, I'm sort of surprised that it's on this list and so high (40's-50's). It's good, but there aren't beers more deserving than this? Maybe it's such a good representation of the style that it rates high. I've noticed that a lot of brews that defy classification do not make appearances on either top-100 list.

New Glarus Raspberry Tart - What a great way to cleanse the pallet near the mid-point of the tasting. This beer was sweet and not as tart as expected, but it really did the trick. I used to proclaim that I didn't like fruity beers, but I think I'm beginning to sound like all those beer novices who say they don't like hoppy beers. They usually just have to find the right one.

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red - OK. Two fruity beers from New Glarus in a row? My palet was ready to bring back the malt and hop at this point. Again, this was another excellent fruit beer I didn't expect.


Surly Furious - Simcoe. That ammonia/grapefruit aroma and flavor you sometimes get from your favorite beer? That's simcoe. This beer comes correct with it. Furious indeed.

St. Bernardus 12 - This is my Thanksgiving beer. Give me malt, spice, coffee(?), and a touch of funk to match my smoked turkey. I was more than happy to get started on the week's festivities early with this one.

Russian River Consecration - Wine drinkers can suck it! This beer is pretty awesome. However, I have two problems with Russian River. First, this is a finely crafted beer with even finer artwork on the labels. Why be so lazy as to cover said label with comic sans? COMIC SANS!!! Second, these beers are too pricey. This 750 mL bottle was $25 and the next 12 oz.(?) bottle below was in the $13 range. Why pay those prices when you can get a bomber of New Belgium's La Folie at Arena for the same as Temptation?

Russian River Temptation - Now that I'm done bashing Russian River, I should write about the beer. Consecration and Temptation are two of the most balanced sour beers one can find (if you can find it). This one is more sour than the first, but it's wine in a beer glass. I mean that in a good way.

Founders Breakfast Stout - This beer is pure coffee, but it's done well. The day this became available in MO was the day this place became a little less miserable.

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA - Mangoes are my favorite fruit. Why wouldn't you want a beer that taste like mangoes?

Stone Russian Imperial Stout - This is the mother-ship of all Russian imperials. Interesting how much Stone is consumed in our little beer community despite their refusal to distribute here. I'm not sure they have to legally sell in Missouri. We all are too willing to ship their beer or drive to every corner in order fill that gap in our cellars. Either way, this is always welcome at the table.

Bell's Hopslam - I now have a new appreciation for Hopslam. I was always convinced that it needed to be consumed ASAP in order to enjoy the freshness of the hops. The fear is that the hoppiness will fade with time, leaving the beer undrinkable - especially at $19 a sixer. Last night proved me wrong. One of the beers shared last night was cellared and the other was kept in the fridge for the past nine or ten months. I was lucky enough to swipe a sample of each. The cellared beer was very mellow, like a light barley wine. The cold bottle was able to hold onto quite a bit of the grapefruit present in a fresh bottle, but it too was mellower. I will definitely do my best to save a six-pack the next time Hopslam hits town.

Rochefort 10 - "Always good; malty." That's all I had written at this point in the tasting. I think you'll understand why.

Alesmith Speedway Stout - I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it grew on me. Where most stouts pair chocolate with coffee, this one brought the orange zest to the party. There aren't many better combos with chocolate than orange.

Ballast Point Sculpin - Grapefruit and simcoe. I'm sensing a trend in the realm of IPA's and DIPA's.

Abyss - This chocolaty imperial stout actually had some spice but didn't overwhelm you with syrup.

Pannepot Old Fisherman's Ale - Sweet and tart, this beer was lost as it made a solo flight around the table of fallen beer enthusiasts. I was told it's nothing like the real thing. I wouldn't have known the difference at this point in the evening.

Overall, it was maybe the best tasting we've had in the first 18 months of the Columbia Beer Enthusiasts. I enjoyed it immensely, maybe too much. Now, where's my vitamin B?

The Beer I Drank Yesterday

I asked a friend to come over in order to drink my Stone 13th anniversary ale. (Thank you KT.)

That's the Stone on the left, a holy hop bomb that just got better as it warmed. This is how craft beers used to taste to me when I mostly drank Sam Adams and Guinness.

(At this point, I broke out the potato chips so that we could taste something other than the hop assault we just experienced.)

Next was a Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter...more like an imperial stout. Chocolaty, coffee-infused but smooth like a porter should be.

After that, I broke out a surprise in the Stone/Brew Dog/Cambridge collaboration Juxtaposition Black Pilsner. It was black, but I don't know that it was a pilsner. Certainly, it had the crispness of a pilsner and a definite hop presence, but that's where the comparison ends. This was one of those drinking experiences where you just get a little bit of everything: chocolate, raisins (yes, raisins), bananas, [enter beer cliche here], etc. This is maybe the singe greatest beers I've had since...well, maybe since the first beer of the evening. It was good though.

Founders supplied our final two beers, keeping us well within the hops vector. The Harvest Ale is a wet-hopped bastard of a beer. The IBU and ABv numbers are not that impressive, but the beer punches you in the pucker with citrusy hops. We followed that with another great beer from Founders: the DIPA Double Trouble.

There's not much else to say after a tasting like this. Just know that we enjoyed every drop.

Get It Together: Breakfast Stout and Breakfast for Dinner

It was Friday. We didn't feel like going out. We didn't feel like cooking dinner. In this case, the best choices include calling for pizza or making breakfast for dinner (BFD). We went with the latter.

While making our famous pumpkin pancakes (half a can of pumpkin puree and spices tossed into a batch of pancake batter), I contemplated my beer options. This is not an easy pairing. I know that some people drink cheap beer by the pitcher for kegs and eggs events, but I wanted something more appropriate.

Just as I was about to give up and open a beer while I cooked, I remembered the Founders Breakfast Stout I just slipped into the fridge. Although I still content that beer and breakfast do not readily go together, this pairing seemed somewhat fun if not extraordinary.

The bitterness of the beer and the maple syrup left me with an iron-y taste in my mouth; the bacon's smokiness battled the beer throughout; and eggs just don't go with beer. This combo was not ideal.

However, the gooey, pumpkiny pancakes did pair well with the beer on two levels. I like pumpkin and yams with dark chocolate. This beer brings the chocolate. Then there is the roasty-ness of the beer's coffee profile. There is nothing better than washing down buttery pancakes with some coffee.

The pairing was a stretch, but at least it was fun to try. The next time I might make a hardier pancake to go with my breakfast stout for BFD.

Beers: June 29-July 5

New Belgium Lips of Faith Dandelion Ale
R and I actually escaped the kid for a drink at Sycamore. While R sipped on a Manhattan, I ordered this specialty beer from New Belgium. I really appreciate that Sycamore brings in such hard-to-find beers as this one. However, the beer was unremarkable. It was refreshing and sweet though, just nothing special.

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Ale
I had a rock show later Monday evening. I always like to have a beer at a show. It helps me unwind a little and enjoy the music. The problem is that most venues don't carry much in the way of good craft brews. For this mid-summer concert, I went with a local favorite. Boulevard Wheat is not a mind-blowing beer, but it's a good go-to session beer.

Mikkeller Single Hop Simcoe IPA
I bottled my own single-hopped IPA this week. It reminded me that this beer was sitting in the stash. I just love the grapefruit in the simcoe hop. I wonder why more breweries don't feature this hop more often? I guess it could be difficulty in pairing with the right malt, scarcity, cost, or a combination of the three. Whatever it is, this beer is good. I just wish I had more than one bottle.

Caldera IPA
How can you dislike a west coast IPA in a can?

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale
I ordered a Founders Centennial at the 'Tag Friday evening for happy hour. They were out. So, Barry, the bartender, offered me the Old Curmudgeon. Normally, that's not a likely substitute, but Barry offered it up for free since I often bring a lot of business to the 'Tag. I accepted.

Avery IPA
One of my favorite pairings in this town is the "Blue Steak Wrap" at Addison's with an Avery IPA. I've had both twice and I don't think I'll change.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron Brown Ale
This high ABV gem paired perfectly with a homemade blueberry pie. The heaviness of the pie is balanced nicely with the beer's caramel sweetness. The extra alcohol doesn't hurt.

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale
Another great pairing of the weekend happened when my parents brought me a couple of Booches burgers. I joined the burgers with this hoppy, caramely brown ale. The extra alcohol cut the grease. Too bad Dogfish Head doesn't distribute here.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
The neighbors had a little cookout. I brought the Racer 5 as a solid IPA stand-by. So hoppy and balanced. Mmmmm.

Bell's Oberon Wheat Ale
It's not summer without Oberon. Lately, I've been leaving out the orange peel and it's been worth it. On fruit in beers, I was wrong.

My Three-Hearted Ale
I had the second-to-last beer of my first batch. Look for a eulogy of some sort. The worst part is that I don't want anyone else to have the last one. I should have kept two.

Hair of the Dog Fred Barley Wine
Posted about this one with some lamb kebabs and mint sauce. Despite the absent carbonation, this beer was so, so good.

I Feel Like the Governor of South Carolina

Between work, school, and vacation, I have severely neglected my blogs. It's as if I was lost on the Appalachian Trail or in Argentina visiting my mistress or some shit like that.

So, in the spirit of keeping things updated, I thought I'd fill you in on what was missed. Will I chronicle every beer I had over the past two weeks? No. But here are some highlights...


I was able to make out to Sycamore a couple of nights in a row for some good beers. I sampled an '09 Matilda from the folks at Goose Island. This was a great Belgian style strong pale ale. I had an Orval later in the week and the Goose Island pale compared favorably. The second night at Sycamore rewarded me with a Founders Red's Rye Ale which is an excellent example as to why ryes might be the next big thing in beer. I also enjoyed some Southern Tier Choklat as my buddy's wife ordered a bomber she needed to split with us.

In between those two visits to Sycamore, I did fit in a Brother David's Tripel from Anderson Valley. While this beer is not the best example of the style, it do go well with the gyro and spinach pie I picked up from International Cafe.


My blogging friend from NYC returned the favor and sent me some great beers. I have yet to taste any of them. We actually left on vacation (more on that below) the day after the shipment arrived. So, in my stash sits a Brooklyn Local #1, Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Hair of the Dog's Fred, Weyerbacher Twelve, and a '08 Goose Island Matilda. My plan is to hit the Matilda first as I just had the '09 version recently at Sycamore.


As I mentioned before, we traveled to North Carolina for a vacation. No, we did not spend a week in Asheville. Rather, we spent our time on the Outer Banks which was great, sans the few beer options. My father-in-law and his wife very graciously rented a cottage on the beach for his two kids and their families. Luckily, there was plenty of beer as both my fil and brother-in-law are homebrewers big beer enthusiasts. I was the only one to bring his own. They both liked it a lot. My fil commented that it was pretty good for a rookie.


Aside from my homebrew, we feasted on Magic Hat #9 (still not sure about fruit beers), various selections from Trader Joe's, and some Dogfish Head. The DfH came from a grocery store R and I discovered. They had both 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA's. I couldn't pass that up. This salvaged what could have been a somewhat disappointing week in beer. That is, until we discovered Harrika's Brew Haus.

The Brew Haus featured beer, tea, and related collectibles. (And next door was their wine and cheese house.) It was a restoration/gift shop/craft beer/party house/tea room kind of place. The beer selection was first-rate. They even had a couple of beers on tap. I chose the Harpoon Summer Beer since I really didn't need another Fat Tire. (Apparently, New Belgium was a newish addition.) If you ever are in the Emerald Isle area, you must stop by this little joint at least for a drink. Due to limited space in my suitcase and limited time to drink, I just picked up Weyerbacher's Insanity and Heresy as well as a Dogfish Head Palo Santo Maron.


So, there you have it. I'm caught up. Sure, I drank a Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale and an O'Fallon Five Day IPA, but that was basically the meat of my two week hiatus from this blog. There's more to come as I have a dinner with a Belgium strong dark ale and a blind tasting on which to report. Cheers!

Beers: June 1-7, 2009

Here are the beers I had this week...

Schlafly Kolsch
I was in STL for a beer event at The Wine & Cheese Place. After doing some shopping, I had time to kill. I chose to do this at a nearby pub. I went with the Kolsch from Schlafly. It was light, crisp, and refreshing. That was all I needed.

Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
So, the first beer tried at said beer event was this fine scotch ale. Usually, scotch ales don't hold enough scotch nor ale to meet my needs. This beer is the exception and should be the example for others to follow.

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale
Right next to the Dirty Bastard, they poured me this old ale. That's a heavy beginning to a tasting if you ask me. The event was for MOBev folk. I won a drawing with STL Hops that allowed me to sit in. The Founders rep explained that the vanilla flavor in this beer comes from the tea bags of oat chips they throw into the fermenters.

Founders Centennial IPA
This beer is named for the hops that go into the brew. Founders have slowed their production rather than use another hop while supplies are low. I had one of these the week before and it tasted off. Thankfully, Wednesday's sample did not disappoint.

Founders Red's Rye
Rye might be the new sour. Ryes are popping up everywhere. This one is one of the best I've had. Although it is a relatively new beer, it is quickly becoming Founders' best seller.

Founders Porter
I have a hard time liking porters. You get the coffee and chocolate notes associated with some stouts, but it's really subtle. Some beer snobs call this "smooth". I just think it's a bland style. Founders blew me away with this aggressive porter. This is by far the best porter I've had.

Founders Double Trouble Imperial IPA
I am a hop head. I'll admit it. So, I can't get enough of double IPA's. DT is a fine example of a Midwestern hop bomb that stands up to the big boys out west.

Founders Cerise
I really don't like fruit beers. Normally, I would never try Cerise, but it was offered at the Founders event. So, I tried it and was really impressed. I promptly bought a four-pack before leaving STL, knowing that R would like this beer on a hot Missouri day. That day arrived today, and she was impressed.
Coney Island Sword Swallower
I brought this over for a friend while we watched infant twins, a three-year-old, and Lu. This is the hoppiest lager I've ever had. It almost feels like a hoppy pale ale, not a lager.

My Three-Hearted Ale
Due to the name and style, most folks think this kit from Northern Brewer is a clone of Bell's Two-Hearted Ale. While I'll admit to similarities in the bitterness of the hops and that my execution as a brewer is suspect, this beer barely resembles Bell's IPA. For one thing, the amber coloring is nothing like the golden glow of one less heart. Also, the floral aroma at the nose is a little green compared to the original. Either way, I like my first attempt at brewing and will brew again.

Sam Adams Long Shot Double IPA
I actually had a class on Friday night and Saturday morning in STL. When class was over, I headed over to a friend's for the night and brought along some beverages. Since I don't like to keep IPA's (or doubles) around for too long, I grabbed this beer along with a Founders and one of my home-brews. I love this beer and am sad it's gone. There are no more Sam Adams Long Shot Double IPA's in my stash. It is a sad day.

Arcadia Hop Rocket
Once I returned home on Saturday, I needed a beer. I've comitted to drinking up some IPA's in order not to miss out on their hoppy goodness. This was a purchase in STL earlier in the week. Though Hop Rocket tastes like a typical double IPA, it did add a little spice that was not expected. I will savor the other three bottles in this pack for sure.

Stone Ruination IPA
Mom brought me some beer. Ruination is my favorite. Judging from the taste, this one's been on the shelf for a while. I may have to drink this sixer of Ruination quicker than others. Oh well.

Caldera IPA
My Saturday was an all-IPA event. We attended some friends' tenth wedding anniversary party. It was a nice night and the hosts provided their guests with some excellent refreshment. Caldera IPA (the one in the can) was available at the bar. I had two.

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard
After a long Sunday afternoon in the garden weeding, I rewarded myself with another beer delivered by my mother. The Founders event made me aware of the vanilla brought on by the oak chips. I love the AB, but the vanilla just makes it another beer. So aggressive, so complex. I am so lucky to have ten more bottles of Stone brews (not counting bombers of imperial stouts and barley wines) in my stash.

Avery Brabant
I was wary of this wild ale brewed in Zinfandel barrels. The nose smelled funky, but the rest of the beer showed no signs of the sourness found in something like La Folie. This beer is way more complex than most sours I've had.

My thoughts on the week: This was a jam-packed week of beer-drinking. The Founders event made it look as though I had a shit-ton of beer, but most of those pours were maybe a couple of ounces. Normally, I don't have a Stone beer, but this week I had two. There were a lot of IPA's and DIPA's, plus a sour. This was a good start for this little project. I can't wait to see what I drink next week.

Breweries Sampled: Schlafly, Founders, Northern Brewer, Sam Adams, Arcadia, Stone, Avery, Caldera, Schmaltz/He'Brew