DC Beer Week 2011 (#DCBW11) was a week filled with phenomenal events, beer, and people. I am just going to post the list, along with reviews of pics, of all the great beers I enjoyed this week. To single out one would be unfair to the others!

1. Dogfish Head
1. 120 Minute
1. Hazy yellow pour with about a finger of white head. Lot of bubbles rising to the top. Grass. This basically smells like grass. Perhaps some malts in the background, some booze certainly. I don’t get slammed by hops like I was expecting. Amazingly a couple of my friends who don’t drink craft beer (past a 60 or 90 minute here and there) really like the taste. It gets some bonus points there. A huge hit of hops to start, but it fades quickly to malts and a big hit of booze. Very sweet. Tons of grapefruit. Most grapefruit I have ever tasted in a beer. Bit of a burn of alcohol at the end. Sips like a nice Bourbon honestly. Nicely carbonated, light in body. I thought this was great. Really glad I got to try it. Can’t wait to see how it ages.
2. Word Wide Stout
1.  Dark pour with a small mocha head. Decent retention and lacing. Smell is heavy on the malts, chocolate, a slight booziness, and barley. Also I’m getting some dark fruits and molasses. Really interesting smell. Taste is of barley, roasted malts, and warming alcohol. Chocolate/Coffee flavor finishes it up to balance the intensity up front. The alcohol is a little too dominant for me. Lots of heavy flavors in this one. I don’t think that more than a glass or so should be consumed at once. Lots going on here, take it slow and enjoy them!
3. Heaven and Hell Black and Tan
1. Black pour, a little lighter than WWS. Hardly any head remains. Boozy smell. Seems like the majority of the smell is 120, even though I thought it had more WWS in it. Grassy hops, some malts, and a ton of booze. The taste really follows everything else I’m seeing. While WWS makes its presence known, 120 Minute really shines through. Getting similar hops, grapefruit, and booze profile as 120, with the heaviness and slight maltiness from the WWS. Heavier than 120, nicely carbonated. Thought this was great. Better than WWS, not on the level of 120.
2. Great Lakes @ Churchkey DC
1. De Molen Hel and Verdoemenis
1. Motor oil thick pour without any head or lacing. Deep chocolate smell, roasted malts and some booze. A ton of chocolate on the taste as well. Creamy, rich chocolate. Mix that in with roasted malts, some coffee, and a hint of booze and you get a great taste. Really heavy body. Thick and creamy. Low carbonation. Great beer. Been waiting to try this for a while and it did not
   disappoint.
2. Mikkeller Barrel Aged Black Hole: White Wine
1. This was a mess, did not taste good.
3. Wild Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter
1. Balked at buying a bottle of this, man was it good though. Well balanced, full body.
4. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Cask Dry Hopped w/ Cascade Hops
5. Harpoon Summer Beer
6. Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA Cask Dry Hopped w/ Bravo Hops
3. De Struise Brouwers
1. Black Damnation
1. 2010 Vintage I believe: 50% Black Albert and 50% H&V. I just had H&V on tap at Churchkey DC today, continuing that trend with this! I’ve had Black Albert, which was infected, but Batch 0 was really good. Thick brown pour with a huge brown head. The thick, billowing, head leaves a ton of lacing and a nice cap on top of the brew. Beautiful smell. Chocolate, a lot of coffee and roastiness, oak, tobacco, hints of alcohol. Sweet, roasted, balanced, phenomenal. The taste begins with oak and char, then the coffee takes over in a big way. Wow the coffee has a great flavor. Chocolate and some dark fruits lead the beer into a dry finish, with coffee lingering around for a while. Only hints of alcohol are noted, which is amazing considering the ABV. The flavor is balanced phenomenally. Really this blend brings out the best in both beers blended to create it. Thick, heavy, creamy, a bit low on carbonation. Just a great beer, I wish I could have more of it!
2. Struise Rosse
1. Lot B, Best before September, 2011. Noticeable sediment at the bottom of the glass. Wonder how old this is? Hazy golden brown pour with a huge white head. Bubbly and thick, the head sticks around for a while and laces down my De Struise goblet nicely. Belgian yeast and candied sugar on the smell for sure, which surprised me being it’s listed as an American Amber/Red Ale (a style I typically avoid). Caramel maltiness sits in the background. Wow the amber ale taste is there certainly. Dry hops and some musty Belgian-ness are present as well. Candied sugar and some dark fruits are around as well in the background. Light and carbonated well. Very dry with a bit of booziness. I thought this was really good. My friends brought it back from Amsterdam for me, not sure if I’d have him pick it up again though.
3. Elliot Brew
1. Lot A 4 15. Deep golden brown pour with a billowing off-white head, beautiful lacing. Bubbly, creamy, impressive. I can tell I poured a bit of sediment into the glass, rookie mistake. Sweet fruity hops, booze, malty backbone, candi sugar all come to mind when I catch a whiff. Wow it smells so sweet, certainly doesn’t smell like a hop bomb. I believe this is relatively old, so I expected the hops to have faded a bit. Still, this tastes a bit strange. A ton of booze, malts, piney hops hit you in a big way in the middle and carry throughout the finish. Grapefruits all over the place. Not greatly balanced, but it also isn’t terribly so. A bit watery, medium carbonation, alcohol is definitely noted. Underwhelming, forgettable. Wish I had it fresh!
4. Sint Amatus 12
1. Lot B 09 15. Vintage: 2010. Reddish brown pour with an impressive light brown head. Very thick, the head laces in chunks down the sides of my De Struise Goblet. The smell on this is extremely interesting. Booze, Belgian Yeast, Candi Sugar, Plums, Dark Fruits, Brown Sugar. Definitely complex. You get the dry taste up front I’ve come to expect from quads. Brown Sugar, Molasses. Followed by Booze and Dark Fruits. Raisins and Plums to me. The fruits stick around on the backend and blend nicely with lingering booze to finish the beer off well. Warming alcohol feeling as you drink. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated. I was excited to get this beer, excited when I first poured/smelled it, and the taste came through. Very happy with this offering. Solid all around.
4. Schneider Aventinus 2003 @ Pizza Paradiso
1. I got the rare opportunity at Pizza Paradiso in DuPont Circle, DC to try Schenider Aventinus aged from 2003. This was one of the first beers to get me into craft beer, long before I joined this website! I was very excited to try this. $15 for 500ml, wrapped much like a present! Deep brown pour with an initial big white head. It recedes quickly to basically nothing after taking a few pictures. Boozy, dark fruits, lots of grapes on the smell. Hints of the original remain. The taste has certainly changed. But it matches the smell pretty well. Dry, boozy, grapes, remnants of candied sugar, very sweet taste, as it is fresh. Extremely mellowed. Not a lot of cloves or bananas are left. Light, low carbonation. Warming boozy feeling as the drink fades from the palate. Really interesting to see how it held up over 8 years. I’d say pretty well!
5. Great Lakes @ Meridian Pint
1. I went to this event basically solely for the Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout, which they didn’t end up getting in time, while I understand these sorts of things happen…I wish I had seen some heads up before I had already sat down at the bar.
1. Commodore Perry IPA
1. Bubbly white pour with a nice white head. Fruity hops, very sweet smell. Lots of citrus, perhaps some pine. Wow this is a fruity tasting beer. Hops dry out the backend a bit. A light maltiness. Not a lot of balance, just all citrus/grapefruit. Nicely carbonated, light body, alcohol hardly noted. Went down great on a nice hot day.
6. Shmaltz Rare and Obscure @ Churchkey DC
1. Heavy Seas Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Siren Noire Cask
1. Black pour with a wispy bubbly white head. Not a lot of retention or lacing. Very light, the bourbon is certainly notable. Problem is that’s all I get. No roastiness or stout characteristics. Perhaps some vanilla. Follows the smell. Vanilla, bourbon, water. Not a lot going on. Medium bodied, low carbonation. Disappointed. Just not enough taste.
2. Shmaltz Reunion ’11: A Beer For Hope
1. Foamy light brown head with a lot of lacing. Retention on my friend’s glass is a lot better than mine. Malty. Chocolate. Really doesn’t smell like it has been aged in everything it says it has been aged in. The malts from the smell come first, followed by the coco nibs and at the very backend the chile peppers. Heavy body. Medium to low carbonation. Very dry overall. Pretty good. Not great but good.
3. Vertical Jewbelation (Sazerac Rye Barrels)
1. Black pour with a small white head and nice lacing. The smell starts with a blast of whiskey and mellows with chocolate and roasted malts. The taste begins with chocolate and improves to the whiskey. Man the taste is strong. Malts, molasses, hints of alcohol, chocolate, whiskey. All nicely balanced. Perhaps some coffee on the backend. Heavy, low on carbonation and a twinge of alcohol. Impressed. Really liked how the whiskey pulled it all together.
4. Barrel-Aged Messiah (Sazerac Rye Barrels)
5. Barrel-Aged Origin (Sazerac Rye Barrels)
1. Light brown pour, sort of see through, without head. Sweet smell filled with fruits, mostly pomegranate. Wow, the taste has a big hit of alcohol. Fruits , whiskey. Strong. Nicely carbonated. medium bodied, boozy. This was way too strong. Expected more balanced taste.

I really can’t introduce this beer better than the Firestone Walker Press Release announcing it. You’ll remember me talking about the brewery when I reviewed Parabola in Week 24. Both beers came in boxes, quite fancy, and involved an intense aging process. This beer is a blend, consisting of 31% Double Double Barrel Ale, 29% Sticky Monkey, 27% Parabola, 7% Velvet Merkin, 3% Good Foot, 3% Black Xantus.

Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of brewing beer in oak barrels. In the fall of 2006, we released a limited edition oak-aged strong ale called 10 to commemorate our 10th anniversary. The experience was greater than any of us could have ever imagined. We now present 14, our fifth release in what has become an autumnal rite at our brewery.

Our 14th Year!
This beer is a celebration of another amazing brewing year! The FW family continues to grow along with the depth of our offerings. Our excellent team broke all of the records again this year making not only the largest volume but the largest varieties of beers the brewery has ever made. 2010 goes down as the year Parabola and Velvet (Merkin) Merlin were bottled as single components, Solace was born as our summer seasonal, Bavarian Hefe yeast thrived in the cellar and Double Jack was brewed for distribution outside of California! We also celebrated our 3rd World Beer Cup Championship in 2010 —winning the most awards of any brewery in the world’s largest international competition. Later in the year we stormed Denver and took home 6 medals at the 2010 GABF including the Gold for Pale Ale, Gold for Barrel aged beers (the Velvet Merkin included in this blend) and Gold for American Amber Ales. Most recently, our brewery took a gold medal in Germany at the prestigious European Beer Star awards … We are blessed with an amazing team and excellent fortune —I am truly the proudest brewmaster in the land!

The Winemakers
We were once again honored to draw in five of the best winemakers from the Paso Robles region. The blend was created in a single evening session followed by a few subsequent winemaker visits during the actual barrel blending days. Matt Trevisan (www.linnecalodo.com) helped us again this year and continues to be one of my favorite Paso wine makers. His creativity and out of the box thinking never ceases to amaze me (along with his ping pong skills). Kevin Sass (www.justinwine.com) made his first appearance on the blending team this year. Kevin has been a great friend to the brewery providing some excellent wine barrels to our program including barrels for the Lil’ Opal project. Brock Waterman (www.Brochelle.com) is a brewer turned winemaker living on the Central Coast. Brock’s wines are bold and well executed. My very good friend Steve Martell (www.kaleidoswine.com) joined us for the fifth straight year and once again proved that he has a keen nose for both wine and suds. Eric Jensen (www.bookerwines.com) who developed the amazing Booker vineyard and winery on Paso’s west side was a vocal part of the blending this year and his blend pushed us to the final cut. Along with the wine makers, Tom Griffin who provides many of our barrels, BA Army General Justin Crossley (www.thebrewingnetwork.com) and Arie Litman sat in on the winemaker session. For the first time our owners, Adam and David, sat the session and watched the magic unfold. Special thanks go out to Jim Crooks and George Numair, for organizing the sessions and keeping the notes. This was our most organized and well executed blending session to date.

The Finished Piece
As a finished beer, 14 is brimming with amazing flavors and textures. DDBA leads the blend lending American toasted oak, English caramel toffee and light leather nuances. Newcomer, Sticky Monkey, folds in the taste of brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and ripe figs. Parabola brings the familiar flavors of bitter dark chocolate and cherry pit. Velvet Merkin carries silky bourbon soaked chocolate cake goodness to the party while a touch of Black Xantus teases coffee and tobacco. Last, but not least, Good Foot brings the hops… hints of citrus zest and tangerine, which adds a pop to the aroma and nice finish to this big, sexy brew. 14 is best enjoyed in a half filled brandy snifter or wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. If left in a cool dark place, I suspect this beer will age well. It was an absolute pleasure making it and I truly hope you enjoy our fifth oak–aged blend! The journey continues.

This beer was released 9 months ago, and most of the beers blended spent plenty of time in barrels before hand. Truly a long time in the making! Brown pour, not particularly thick coming out of the bottle, but boy does it look so in the glass. A small white head grows up after a hard pour. Not a lot of lacing. Damn this beer smells good. Lots of Bourbon Stout notes coming up, but it’s all based on what seems like a nice amount of hops. Truly one of the most complex smelling beers I’ve come across. Chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, oak, hops, a sweetness I can’t quite place, some alcohol. Smelling this beer really sets the bar high, hope the taste holds up! Oh it does. My word it does. As complex as the smell is, this has to rival it. It starts off light, a hit of malts, some chocolate, hops, followed by a growing sensation of Bourbon Barrel Stout. It’s like Parabola, but better if you can imagine that. Once the Bourbon flavors start I get vanilla, wood, bigger chocolate taste, a hint of booze, and the bourbon. The very back end, showing up a while after the beer has left the palate, is dry, almost like some coffee is sticking around just long enough to say hello. All mellowed and blending perfectly. This is what I dream certain beers will taste like with a few years on them. Heavy body, a little bit of creaminess, but not thick like a melted bar of chocolate. Carbonation is fine, not a lot, but not too little. A bit of a dry finish, the booze isn’t offensive at all. Honestly one of the best beers I have ever had. I can’t believe this qualifies as an American Strong Ale. Hell I’d give this almost straight 5s as an Imperial Stout.

Breakfast, it’s what’s for dinner! Beer, it’s what’s for breakfast!

I was first introduced to this beer when a group of friends and I were at Zeno’s Pub in State College. One looked at the tap list and quickly ordered us all a round of what he called “The Bacon Beer”. Skeptically I delved in…and was blown away. I picked up a bottle recently and wanted to try it with breakfast food. I’d say the experience was a good one!

Translucent brown pour with a small white head. Lacing is wonderful. Light roasted malts start the smell off before BAM bacon. Roasted hints, meat and wood mostly. Much like the smell, slight caramel malts start the taste off before the roasted rauchbier taste hits you. Honestly the most powerfully flavored rauchbier I’ve ever encountered. On the lighter side of medium bodied. Carbonation is good. I was blown away by this when I had it almost 10 months ago, but now that I’ve had it a few more times and delved into the style a bit, I’m sure this is top notch.

It pairs wonderfully with the eggs, bacon, and toast. While the flavor of the beer tastes a lot like bacon, the malts really add a new flavor profile to the meal. I won’t make this a habit (for obvious reasons) but I will certainly consider revisiting it!

Week 31: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, originally uploaded by RussWbeck.

On August 2nd, 2010 I first created my account on BeerAdvocate. Here are my stats from the first 12 months of enjoying craft beer!

• 275 Reviews (0.75 Beers/day)
• 117 Breweries
• 59 Beer Styles
• 26 States
• 10 Countries
• 242 Bottles
• 17 On-Tap
• 9 Growlers
• 4 Cans
• 3 Cask

The highest score I gave (out of 5) was Cigar City Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout with a 4.75

The lowest was The Bruery Coton with 1.75

Here’s to another full year of beer!

You’ll remember my post about Black Butte XXI a while back, this is a similar concept. The difference is this is two years later and the brewery has had a few more tries to make it great. From the brewery’s website:

XXIII. So where to next? What’s 2011′s rich, imperial take on Black Butte Porter? Just for kicks, you dream. Orange zest perhaps? From Spanish Oranges. Seville, to be exact. And Chocolate nibs. Pampered nibs from the artisanal alchemists at Theo. Maybe some chilies? Pasilla Negra only, please. That would be crazy wouldn’t it? Welcome to crazy. Get it while you can.

I was able to land this beer from a friend who just so happened to be traveling in Seattle, Washington. Quite lucky!

Under the cap it says “Bravely Done”. I guess uncapping a wax sealed bottle does take a bit of bravery, that is if you can do it without spilling any! Decently dark brown pour with a wispy light brown head. The retention isn’t great, but the lacing is. The smell is of deep roasted malts, dark chocolate, hints of bourbon, and some orange and other spices mixed in. Smell seems a bit disjointed, but complex and wonderful. The flavor really develops well, but you can certainly tell some time would mellow these flavors out and really make this a phenomenal beer. The chocolate comes first, in a big hit roasted malts, coffee, and bourbon all come at you at once. It cools down about with the orange, and finishes with a dryness from the chilies and roastiness. The flavor is extremely complex. Dark, heavy, carbonated well. Only hints of booze here and there. Great beer that will become truly amazing with age. Need to get my hands on another.

Welcome to my blog, thanks for stopping by. The focus of this is to document my adventures in the world of craft beer. You can find me on BeerAdvocate as well. The blog as a whole can be found by scrolling down below this sticky post

For 2011, I decided to try my hand at 52 Beers in 52 Weeks. I do a post on a special beer I try each week, take a picture and review it. It can be found here: 52 Beers in 52 Weeks

I am also randomly doing posts as I pull beers out of the cellar, or get to try certain beers that have been aged. Those posts are compiled here: Cellar

Anything else that pops into my head I will post here: Other

I am putting together ideas of posts to do in 2012, I might do something like a different style for every month, or just keep the 52 Beers in 52 Days thing going, and suggestions are appreciated. You can reach me on twitter (@russwbeck) or at russwbeck (at) gmail.com. Thanks again!