Beer Review: Bete Blanche Tripel by Elysian Brewing

  As I said late last week, this blog will be about beer only. Well, here we go: this review will be about Elysian Brewing Company's Bete Blanche Tripel. Elysian Brewing Company is based out of Seattle, Washington, has been brewing beer since 1995, at the genesis of the craft beer revolution of the mid to late 1990s. This offering, a Belgian Style Tripel, is a new arrival to my store and occupation space, the Wine Library. The cool art of the label had me hooked. Okay, not really, but the big ingredient on the label sure as hell did: Belgian Candy Sugar. Belgian Candy Sugar? That's right, this a tripel with some sweetness. Keep in mind, most Belgian brews will have some sort of a sweet component, whether it be dried figs, brown sugar, or molasses, in small hints. This one is no different.
  At first pour, the color is a faint orange-yellow, kind of like a sun-beaten pile of hay. Now the nose. There is some malty sweetness on the nose, as well as some lightly roasted wheat and grains. The taste, as I explained earlier, will have some sweetness. But that sweetness blends in with the wheat and grain mouthfeel of this beer. It doesn't overpower, it blends right in, adding a caramel like oomph to that wheat and grain. In turn, the wheat and grain combination helps keep that sugar in check. Let's not forget the hops also corral the sweet wheat of this beer, and gives it a balanced finish like no other tripel I have ever had.
  Now on to food pairings. This tripel is best with cheese like St. Andre (rich and creamy), or spicy Cajun cuisine(to balance the sweetness). Another note about this brew: it is a spring seasonal.
  Elysian Brewing has become a cult brewery out west, and now their travels eastward will solidify that status and make it legendary. I am currently eyeing their Immortal IPA, which also looks like a winner. Hell, looking at their website, everyone of those beers seem legendary. It looks like I have favorite new West Coast brewery. For more information on the brewery, check it out at : www.elysianbrewing.com

New direction for this blog

Hello, all! It has been awhile since I posted, and this blog is under going some changes. It will now be strictly a beer blog, and nothing but. I will be not only speaking of beers, but reviewing pubs and bars as well. Bars and pubs and breweries, step it up. I will be watching and tasting.

Dogfish Head 75IPA worth it?

   This past week, Dogfish Head brewery released an "inbetweener."  In between 60-Minute and 90-Minute, there lies this beer review: 75 Minute IPA. Yup, on the label with Groucho Marx (Originally, it was Johnny Cash, but the Cash estate put forth papers). It also says it is brewed with maple syrup. Interesting. okay, let me take this further.
   The color is a little on the light side, sort of like a yellow-orange-tan. At first sniff, it has those DFH style dry hop style all over it, but you smell a little whiff of some maple bark goodness. As I sipped it, I can taste slight hints of the maple connecting with the citrus of the hops, thus having a little syrupy pickup to the citrus flavor and characteristics of the hops. Kind of close to having some tasting characteristics of a berliner weisse, but not quite.
   Would I drink this beer again? Sure. But will I really recommend it? It is a hard sell that's for sure. Why? Some more advanced palates may be turned off by the maple-enhanced hops. Others will clamor for the less intense 60-Minute or the more citrusy but bigger 90-Minute, or the super-charged power of the dry 120-Minute. Dogfish Head is known for taking odd and exotic ingredients to make some very impressive brews (SahTea, Theobroma), and not so impressive (Ta Henket). Also, like many craft brewers,  they take the time hear and read feedback. To this, I say the 75-Minute IPA is a high risk maneuver.

Gluten free beer head to head

  Every beer drinker knows what happens down the line after drinking tons of beer. No, I am not speaking of  cirroshis, or public drunkenness or a bad hangover, I speak of coeliac disease. When you acquire coeliac disease, your body cannot process wheat protein properly, so you have adjust to a gluten-free diet to maintain overall health and continuance of your life span. That also means you have to cut beer. Yes, it is a pain and a hassle to give up your favorite intoxicant loaded with dextrose, oak, fruit, brettanomyces, or other heavenly ingredients. Well,not really.
   You can still drink beer, just make sure it is truly gluten free. Well, this special beer review deals with that. I bought two beers from work today: Estrella Damm Daura, and Dogfish Head Brewery's newest offering, Tweasonale. Let me start off with the Estrella Damm Daura.
    The Daura is Estrella's gluten-free offering. An award winning brew all the way from Spain, this one collected a whole boatload of medals. Besides that, this beer is quite refreshing loaded with flavor. It pours clearly and neat, kind of like a light canary yellow. At first sniff (yes, sniff!), you can smell hints of malt and grains. Weird, but when you drink it, it hits you. At first you think, "There is some wheat in here!" Not quite. It tastes like there is some wheat in there, but as any discerning beer drinker knows, wheat isn't the only grain there is. I taste some oats here, and it is very subtle. The maltiness is also low key, but well balance and the complexity dies down as you sip. No wonder this beer won its awards, Estrella managed to make a filling and refreshing without compromising flavor or taste. No plastic aftertaste either (Red Bridge anyone?).
   The second beer here is Dogfish Head's Tweasonale. First off, funky labeling! Kinds of reminds me of something out of a Little Feat album. Anyway, this one has a lot more flavor than the Daura. At first sniff, you smell honey, strawberries, and raspberries. Sweet? Not really, but it does have some tartness. No, it is not a geuze (how fucking cool would a gluten-free geuze be?), but that tartness adds another dimension to how light, crisp and refreshing this beer  is. That also gives this beer a slight advantage over Daura, but Daura is a little more rustic and deep. As far as food compliments go, for the Daura, gluten-free pasta with sauce works. For Tweasonale, some soft light cheeses would work for that tartness.
  Conclusion: Gluten-free does not suck. It takes some getting used to. If you want to live and nice, healthy life, does what you must and be careful. There are a lot of options of gluten-free beer out there, so use caution. To your health.

More information: www.estrelladamm.com
                             www.dogfish.com

Resin- Another Sixpoint Brewery smash!

Hey! This is my first beer review in a while, and it's a good one. The beer in question is Resin, Sixpoint Brewery's Double IPA offering. I'll tell you all this, the can packs a serious hop wallop! Upon pouring it into a snifter glass, the aroma was one of a piney, grassy, citrusy nature, mellowed out by the malt. Upon first sip, their is enough bitterness to wake up the palate, but also enough hoppiness and malty character to balance it out. It goes down very smoothly and refreshing. This beer, according to Everett (gourmet manager), comes close enough towards the hoppy complexity of Dogfish 90 Minute, and as I was sipping it through, he was justified in his statement. This is one very good beer, and brings the goods (hop balance, great complexity). It is another winner from Sixpoint Brewey (www.sixpoint.com). Food pairings: Burger and fries, fish and chips, light Mexican fare.

Beer for brunch? Why the hell not!

    As I take a mini-break from Holiday Hell and Brimstone, I want to relate to you the lovely brunch I went to this past Sunday. I took a trip across the river to the world famous Blind Tiger Alehouse (281 Bleecker Street in Manhattan). This was a Founder's Brunch, where of course, the beers on special were from Founder's, a brewery from Michigan (that deserves all of their accolades). Anyway, I ordered pancakes, eggs overeasy and sausage, and washed it down with three beers, two from Founders, and one from Dieu Du Ciel (a brewery from Canada) .
   The first beer I had was the Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout. Now I see (and taste) what employees and customers have been raving about. This stout is loaded with rich cocoa, smoky maple, and sweet molasses. It went down so smooth and neat, it actually enhanced the syrup on my pancakes (battered with Brooklyn Weisse BTW).
  The second beer I had with brunch was CBS' heavier older brother, the Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon Stout. I've had this beer before, with its intense richness, the sweet spice of the bourbon, deep color and smooth stout flavor. Much, much bigger and creamier than CBS, Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon Stout just beckons you to take a ride.
  Lastly, Dieu Du Ciel's Solstice D'Hiver helped finish brunch off right. A barleywine style, this little motherfucker packed a punch. Full of herbs, spices (vanilla for one), sweet elements (raisins, honey), this one was the best beer I have ever had from this brewery. The color, with its dark brown tone, just gives you the impression of being a stout, but one sip will leave you feeling otherwise. Brunch was great, Blind Tiger as always, fantastic (see ya 12/31!), and interesting patrons and their conversations keep me open and inclusive. Just the way a Sunday should always be.

P.S.  For those interested about more information about the beers I reviewed and the Blind Tiger Alehouse, here you go:
Founder's Brewery: www.foundersbrewing.com
Dieu Du Ciel: www.dieuduciel.com
Blind Tiger Alehouse : 281 Bleecker Street, New York, New York www.blindtigeralehouse.com

Double Shot of Wolaver's - beer review

  I am a little behind on blogging due to this crazy, shortened holiday week, but here is a beer review. This time, I will focus on Wolaver's beers. Wolaver's is a subsidiary of Otter Creek Brewing, based in Vermont. This is OCB's organic beer line (even though beer in itself is an organic product), which uses fresh, additive-free ingredients which fall under fair trade guidelines. Now, on to the beer.
  The first one I will review is the Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. Based on Graham's suggestion, I decided to buy a six pack. Let me tell you all this: intense! Really! Upon your first sip, you will definitely taste the coffee's freshness, but also, a lot of spice and bite. You want fresh coffee? Drink this beer, but sip it slowly. The coffee in this beer is big and spicy, and you will also get that on the nose. As you sip, the coffee will then get a little bit of a hazelnut/vanilla combination on the palate, with a nice smoky finish at the end, thus eliminating any trace of sweetness. Then again, aren't porters known for their spicy, smoky character? Food pairings: Roasted or smoked meats, salty or smoked cheeses.
  Based on the above paragraph, I decided to go ahead and pick the Oatmeal Stout. Very delicious. The organics work much better and are more balanced on the palate than the Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. The oatmeal does stick out, but blends in with the hops and malts along with hints of milk and  flax seeds (yes, flax seeds), giving me a well-rounded beer. Smoother and creamier with being overpowering, this Oatmeal Stout is definitely worth an encore. Cheers! Food pairings: Cheesecake, double chocolate cake, or hell, oatmeal cookies.
  For more info on these beers, head on to Wolaver's Facebook page, as their website is under construction, or go to Beer Advocate and read some reviews. For more on Fair Trade products, go to www.fairtradeusa.org/
 NOTE: For those who read my first review on Great Divide's beers, I stupidly forgot to mention their website. It is : www.greatdivide.com