Winter Beers: Final

Wow, the holiday season sure has a way of making you very busy.  I have a backlog of stuff I wanted to talk about, but I've just not really been on top of writing about it.  Sort of feel like I have seen most of what I want to know about beer.

On the plus side I have more to talk about about things other than drinking beer and rating it.  Like making it!  So after a little thought I have decided that I should push to write things specifically about Northwestern beers if I am rating a beer.  There are after all several rating sites and lots of blogs all over the place that cover this in depth.  I think talking about breweries and beers of specifically the Northwest will be more productive (occasionally will talk about special releases from California and maybe Colorado or something similar).

Thought that I would at least finish up the Winter Beers:

in no particular order, I'd say the top 5 winter beers we've had this year are:


Deschutes Jubelale


This beer has a very warming feel to it; has a lot of the malty and carmel flavors similar to what you'd find in a Scotch Ale.  I had it in bottle, on cask, and on tap.  Cask was great, but they were all good.  Nice dark ruby color and a little thicker feeling than I thought it would be.

This beer is so very perfect for what I want in a winter beer
Jubleale

Boundary Bay Cabin Fever


This has a very similar taste and profile to Jubelale, but it is much stronger feeling.  Definitely a little bit of alcohol taste in there, this WILL warm you up.  I prefer the Jubelale, but Sam prefers this one.
Boundary Bay's site

Alaskan Brewing Co. Winter 


I had already discussed this one in an earlier post, but the reason I like this is the Spruce tips and the overall mellow factor this beer has.

Winter Ale

Hopworks Abominable 


Another one I already mentioned; the label on this one is very cool though.  Not to be confused with Fremont Brewery's Abominable, which I actually don't think I have tried.  More on the aggressive side.
Hopworks

Three Skulls Poison 


Just thought I'd throw this is there, it was totally a random event that led us to ordering this.  I think they were out of Arrogant Bastard.  Had it on tap at the Pillagers' Pub in Seattle (Greenwood) on New Years.  It was pretty awesome, very strong in ABV, yet had a nice, not overpowering flavor.
Three Skulls

Ninkasi Sleigh'r


Yeah, okay this is actually number 6, it's an honorable mention I suppose...  but I really liked this one.  Definitely check it out, because it is very different.


List of all the other winter ales we tried:

Laughing Dog Coldnose - like I said, would not recommend
Red Hook Winter Hook - inot bad, but I liked the others more
New Belgium 2 Below - similar to Winter Hook
Elysian Bifröst - while I found it quite good, it's actually more like a winter IPA; so if you want a really hoppy winter beer then for sure grab this
Rogue Mogul Madness - this one is good, but I don't see why they charge so much for it.  Not worth the extra cash in my opinion.

Freshly Hopped Beers

We really like fresh hop beers now.  I'm a big fan myself because they are typically reminiscent of a IPA's hoppiness, but are generally more subdued without losing the flavor thanks to what we'd call 'wet-hopping' (adding the hops in when they are fresh; ie. not dried out).  We've had the Mirror Pond version and just recently we got a bottle of Deschutes' Hop Trip, as the name implies it is hoppy.  The picture on the label is a rendition of the trucks that haul the hops to their brewery nearby.  The Hop Trip's claim to fame is less than 4 hours from harvest to being a part of the brewing process.

How does it fare?  Quite well actually and it's a shame that these are only seasonal.  They also will very likely not age well, this is a beer that is most definitely best when had as fresh as possible.  We found it to have more of a malty flavor than FH Mirror Pond, more akin to a very hoppy amber ale.  Nice and dark color with a great smell off the head.  Layers of hops hit you from the smell, the taste, and the aftertaste.  Flavors of grapefuit are definitely there. Did I mention the hops?

Deschutes officially labels it as an American Pale Ale, 5.4% ABV, and a very low 38 IBUs.

Also... keep in mind that most IPAs are around 60 or 70 IBUs.  I will definitely try to pick up this beer the second it comes out next year, honestly I'd say it beats out pumpkin beers for harvest season.

- Nathan

Hop Trip website

Deschutes Reserve Series

This is what I've managed to collect from Deschutes' Reserve Series:

• 2009 The Abyss
• 2011 Black Butte Porter (23rd Anniversary)
• 2011 The Stoic

The beer in the picture is The Stoic, it was EXCELLENT.  The others are being held onto for now.

Click to see full version!

Deschutes Tasting

There was a Deschutes brewery tasting hosted a few weeks back at Enoteca in Post Fall, ID.

Sampling included:

• Deschutes / Boulevard White IPA #2
• Mirror Pond Fresh Hopped Ale
• Inversion IPA
• Hop in the Dark
• Obsidian Stout
• The Stoic

We started off with the Boulevard Collaboration #2; a white IPA.  This particular beer actually has the same recipe as Deschutes' Conflux #2, but is brewed in Oregon whereas Collaboration  is brewed in the midwest. A white IPA could be described as a mash-up of a White Belgian Wheat and an India Pale Ale.

As you should be able to see in the picture, these are cloudy very pale beers.  Spice and the mellow wheat flavor match nicely with the light bitterness and floral finish of the hops.  Despite having exact copies of the recipes there was a distinctly different impression on the two.  Deschutes' brought a smoother, hoppier approach with the spice and hops leaving a lasting impression.  Boulevard had more of an upfront flavor, slightly more carbonated as well as being significantly cloudier and lighter in color.  Flavors on both were orange, coriander, citrus, and yeast.

Hops used were Bravo, Citra, Cascade, and Centennial.  Malt Profile: Pilsner, wheat, and oats.

8% ABV and a respectable 60 IBUs

As for the Mirror Pond Ale, it also shares a recipe.  Unchanged from the standard Mirror Pond, the hops are added to the brewing process within 24 hours.  Not only is the flavor surprisingly different, it also seems to change the fermentation with the regular having more (we were able to try them side by side).

We both thought the smell was both stronger and superior, offering up a "wetter" taste.  Sort of a dank plant-like or grassy flavor. Hard to describe, but it adds a lot of substance to the brew.

The Inversion IPA is great.  It is a more balanced IPA, with a high amount of hops without being overpowering.  A caramel malt taste up front is chased by the floral aspect from the hops.  This is an excellent IPA for someone looking to try IPAs that prefers darker beers or ambers.

Having Hop in the Dark again was fun, I just keep wanting to come back to it.  Sam said it's "coffee with full bodied in-your-face flavor>"

To top off the night, we sampled The Stoic.  A quadruple belgian ale.  These are made by brewing and barrel aging four different ales, then combining them before bottling.  The Stoic offers up a sweet and rich smell, thick (but not too thick) body, and a pinot noir and pomegranate flavor that rises to the top and lingers in the mouth.  Despite being 11% ABV there is no alchohol flavor to be had.  I thought it tasted like the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving.

Definitely one to drink slow and savor, this beer reminds me of drinking a barley wine.  Perhaps the easiest beer for a wine drinker to transition to?  Deep and inviting, pick up a bottle if you can find it.  Would likely age well.

What was our favorite?  I'd say Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond Pale Ale, we had a chance to have it on tap at a bar a week or so later and really liked it.  It's best I think around 45 degrees.

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/

http://www.boulevard.com/

Schweitzer Summer Fest

Some pictures from the Schweitzer summer festival.  Late August.  It was very, very hot up there.  They didn't have nearly enough stuff on tap and most of the servers had no idea what they were serving.  Sadly, the Lagunitas Red and another beer or two ran out before I even got to try it.

The first beer I had at Schweitzer was the Brew Free or Die IPA by 21st Amendment brewery; it was an incredibly thick drink, I didn't know anything could trump a stout.  I've heard the term syrupy thrown around and I think this might be it, it wasn't really a bad thing though.  To describe the drink, it was hoppy (ie, you can taste the hops) upfront with a nice warm carmel malt flavor lingering in between followed up by a floral and hoppy aftertaste.  The drink actually brags about using 6 hops, if there's one thing that Californian beers don't like doing, it's being modest.  I would drink this again.

The second beer was the Deschutes Hop in the Dark; a 'Cascadian Dark Ale.'  It's an IPA brewed with Cascadian hops and roasted grains.  A Dark or Black IPA, this is a really recent style of brew that became really popular in 2010 and 2011, not sure when the first one was made.  Hop in the Dark is a strong beer at 6.9%, which is pretty typical IPA territory.  It's also not that bitter; Deschutes lists it as 60 IBU.
I can't say I've made up my mind with these.  It has all the bitterness of an IPA, but it's harder to find the floral or herbiness you usually get with an IPA.  Certainly not citrus.  An incredibly complex and high quality beer, but I just don't think it's for me (at least for now).  Will definitely be trying dark IPAs from time to time, they really have that best of both worlds mentality.

Brew Free or Die info

Hop in the Dark info