Today is awesome

Currently at Drake's drinking a flight of their barrel aged beers. This round is The Good Shit, Brette Davis Eyes, Barrel Aged Drakonic, Dre's IPA, and Jack n' Jolly 2009.

All are delicious, but if I had to pick faves they would be Brette Davis, and the Drakonic. Cheers!

Review #14 Green Flash Brewing Co.: Barleywine

Barleywine.  Whenever I drink one it transports me to one of two places.  The first is being 18 years old (hey kids, don't drink until you are 21) and drinking my first '96 Samuel Adam's Triple Bock.  The second and most prominent is the same stool I have occupied right beside Katie at the Toronado's Barleywine Fest during SF Beer Week for the past four years.  Great memories, great beers.  If I see a Barleywine when I am out, I will almost always order it first thing, usually to the astonishment of the waiter, bartender, and patrons.  "Starting with the hard stuff, eh?"  Yes, but I am starting with great memories, and a beer that takes a great deal to make well.  

This lovely bottle was everything I wanted it to be.  The pour was reddish copper, with a creamy head that explodes with aromas of toffee, herbs, hops, pine, mango and pineapple, malt, and a slight hint of vanilla.  The mouth feel is syrupy, and lightly carbonated.  It drinks very balanced between the hop resins, intensely sweetened malts, caramel, and the slight alcohol burn. 

Yo son, is this the bombdiggity?:   At $6.99 in NYC, this is absolutely, 100%, beyond a doubt, star-studded, sloth eating a tasty leaf (?) joy!  Short on money, but want something complex that will get your buzz on?  Train soda or economic pre-game beer?  Blah, blah, blah.  It is not the best barleywine out there, but for the price; it's the right barleywine for you.  And me.

TNP. Tactical Nuclear Pigeon #1: Lagunitas Imperial Stout

By now most everyone who even drinks craft beer occasionally has heard of Brew Dog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismark.  These beers are ice bocks, a process of distillation, not fermentation which is technically illegal in the U.S.  I won't bore you with semantics, just google it; there is plenty to read.  The gist is: water freezes at  32 degrees Farenheit, and ethanol (the stuff that gets you drunk) freezes at -173 degrees.  By freezing the water in a beer, you can remove it and have a higher alcohol product left over.  Pretty sweet eh?  This process is not illegal anywhere else, and even though it is illegal to produce an ice bock in the U.S., it is perfectly legal to import one for sale.  I know, go figure.

This production method is pretty labor intensive for breweries who usually need to transport the beer to big freezers at places like ice cream factories (like Brew Dog does) multiple times between removing the frozen water.  This fact, consumer demand, and shipping can drive prices through the roof.  It will cost you about $90 to get a bottle of the penguin delivered to your door here in the States.  Not to mention, it's not always available and you might have to wait.  I am impatient, and I don't normally want to spend $90 on one beer, so I got really bummed for a while until I remembered something:

I HAVE A FREEZER AND ACCESS TO TONS OF GREAT BEERS!

So I decided that once a week, I will take one of my favorite strong beers, freeze it, strain it, drink it, and then let you know what I think.  I will call it Tactical Nuclear Pigeon, because I will never have enough money to see a penguin in its natural habitat, but seeing pigeons is pretty much free.

Enough P.S. on to the beer.  First up:

Lagunitas Imperial Stout.  I chose this beer because it is delicious on its own, and it's only $4.99 for a bomber here in NYC.  It still weighs in with an original 9.6% ABV, which I planned to increase dramatically. 

My original plan was to freeze it in the bottle with the cap off, but then I realized it would overflow or explode, so I opted for a large plastic container.  I covered it loosely with the lid, and let it go in the freezer for 24 hours. 

What I got was three ounces of a very strong, concentrated version of the original beer.  A little more oily in mouthfeel, and with about 25% of the alcohol burn I expected.  It still retained all of the delicious molasses, caramel, and maltiness of the original brew.  Plus, it got me kinda tipsy, even though I was nursing it.

I realized a few mistakes from this original experiment, which I will correct next week to get an even better yield, but suffice to say: the pigeon is in the house, and here to stay! 

Review # 13 Eel River Brewing Company: Triple Exultation

Hey!  It's another Old Ale!  This one is Certified Organic to boot!  The folks at Eel River have won a number of awards for this fine beer, so when better to review it than right after Founder's Curmudgeon?

I really dig this beer and have bought on many occasions.  It pours a hazy amber color with a cream colored head that lasts a good while.  The nose of this beer is mostly what you would expect from an Old Ale, prunes or raisins, molasses, and malt.  But wait, whats that?  Are those hops I smell?  Yessir they certainly are.  Unlike most Old Ales the nice folks at Eel River have jacked up the IBU's in this guy to 100, adding some nice, although faint citrus aromas.

It has a very malty start with a sweet hop finish, notes of wood, tobacco,  molasses, caramel, and the above mentioned fruits.  The first few sips will create a slight alcohol tingle, as this bad boy clocks in at 9.7% ABV, but it diminishes quickly as the rest of the flavors do the talking.

What do I do?:  Drink it, silly!  If you are a fan of Old Ales, IPAs, or a tasty cheap buzz, this should be high up on your list.  It is widely distributed so there shouldn't be much trouble finding it at one of the quality craft beer stores in your hood.

Review # 12 Founder's Brewery: Curmudgeon Old Ale

When new stuff from Founder's comes into work I get pretty excited.  We have been lucky to get our hands on most of the seasonals this year, and none of them have been a disappointment.  In fact, living here in New York, I have been able to try about a dozen of their offerings on taps and in bottles around the area and I can honestly say that they do not make a bad beer.  Going a little further than that, I feel that every beer I have tried of theirs is at or near the top of its category. 

Founder's wants you to think of olde thyme fishing ports, old fisherman, and the pubs they frequented when drinking this beer.  I will tell you what, if this is the beer of fishermen, sign me up for a job!

This Old Ale pours a wonderful amber color with a very tiny head.  The nose is malty with notes of molasses, butterscotch, raisins or prunes, and a hint of vanilla.  It is easy to drink despite its alcohol content (9.8% ABV) with a smooth, soft mouth feel.  The malt and molasses continues in tasting, and just when you might think it's too sweet, there is a nice mild hop kick (50 IBU's) that balances out the sweetness perfectly.  There is a slight flavor of the oak aging present in the finish right before you taste just a little bit of the alcohol on the back of your tongue.  A wonderful drinking experience. 

OK, really fan boy? :  Yes, really.  Easily one of the best Old Ales I have ever had.  If you like Old Ales, Strong Ales, or Barleywine, you are going to love this brew.  If you don't, I would still give anything with a Founder's label on it a try if you come across it.

Review # 11 Samuel Adams: Summer Ale

I will start by saying this:  I am not a Sam Adams hater.  There is a lot of talk about Sammy being the biggest craft brewery and getting too big for their britches.  So what?  They have delivered decent beers to America as a small company for years, and have been successful in doing so.  If they make two million and one barrels, should they have to lose their "craft beer" label.  Not in my opinion.  As long as they still produce the same beer with the same quality ingredients, what is the problem with a business growing and appealing to more people, especially as the craft beer movement keeps gaining strength?  Samuel Adam's has always made a consistent product, that appeals to people across all markets, and in turn introduces many people to craft beer who would normally not drink it.  Not to mention the fact that their successful year-round brews and seasonal beers allow them to make things like Utopia, Triple Bock, and sponsor a home brewer contest where winners get to have their beers produced by Sam and distributed to the entire country.  Not so evil, eh?

So what are you trying to say Kenny?:  I don't like this beer.  It lacks character, body, and flavor.  While this does make it surprisingly easy to drink, it does no justice for the price tag.  I might call it the Miller Lite of Summer beers.   Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up.

Review#10 Lagunitas: Wilco Tango Foxtrot

I am going to say something here that I have probably said 100 times at work in the last three months:  This is my favorite limited/seasonal release of this year so far.  There are many close seconds, but each time I grab one of these I remind myself of just how much I love this beer.

For me, this beer achieves the perfect balance between hops and malt, which is kind of unusual for the folks at Lagunitas.  It pours brownish red, with a white head that disappears very quickly.  There are hints of sweet malt, toffee, caramel, some hops, yeast, raisins and berries in the nose.  Most of these take a back seat in the taste when the malt kicks in with a hint of sweetness and the hops come around every now and again to give your taste buds a little wallop.  It finishes a little dry with just the slightest bit of bitters, and makes you want another swig.

Just thinking about it makes me want one right now.

It's not a lightweight either, as its 7.83% ABV will attest too.  And priced between $4-5 for a 22 oz. bottle, its also not a drain on your wallet.

So do you really like this beer?:  Hell yes I do!  I would recommend this beer to anyone, even if you are new to craft beer, or have never had one, this could be a great starting point.  I would just like to know one thing from Lagunitas; Why The Fuck isn't this available year round?  I guess I will just have to stock up, or just wait until October when my other Lagunitas favorite, Brown Shugga' becomes available.