Tried and true followers will remember Cantillon from my post on Zwanze Day in week 37, I decided to revisit the highly sought after brewery after seeing their beer on the bottle list at Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. Cantillon is so well known for their ability to create the best of the best in terms of Lambics, which go without saying that they make good Krieks and Gueuze as well. The brewery pays so close attention to detail and the history of brewing these quirky, sometimes scoffed at, beers, and the dedication shows.

Out of the bottle we have a clear red pour with a fizzy pink head. Much larger head than I was expecting. No lacing but decent retention. My server poured the beer, and set the bottle down before clearing the bottle, meaning my second pour was much more cloudy as the pour unsettled the yeast residing on the bottom of the bottle. More seasoned Lambic pourers keep the bottle on it’s side after the first pour to avoid this occurrence. It has a very sour smell with hints of cherries. While it is very funky, the acidity takes over.  Following the smell the taste is much more acidic than funky and the cherries fall in the background, providing balance. Very delicious. While the acidity is the forefront, it is not overbearing. The funk and cherries balance it out very nicely and leave a tart aftertaste, which hangs on well after the beer has left the palate. Light and carbonated very well. Extremely dry finish. Very tart. This is very, very good. Balanced, tart, funky, easy drinking. I can understand why these are so hard to come by.

I go back to one of my favorite breweries this week: Voodoo. Since I visited the brewery in week 2o/21, and reviewed their delicious stouts in week 10, Voodoo has continued to put out some wonderful offering in extremely limited quantities. I was quite surprised to wander into Zeno’s Pub this week, during homecoming back at Penn State, to find a bunch of Trapped Under Eisbocks still in the fridge! Thinking I had missed out altogether on this one, I jumped at the chance.

The beer pours a clear, but dark, mahogany with hints of red and a nicely sized white head. Retention is great. It follows with a very deep and rich smell. Perhaps raisins, a sweetness from the cherries, dark fruits. Very much like a bock, huge malt notes, but the aging and cherries really end up making a mark on this complex and balanced smell. The taste is not as in your face as I was expecting. The cherry taste is not a strong part of the beer, and tartness is certainly not anywhere to be found. Deep, sweet, dark fruits, malts, and booze are the main flavors. I was hoping the cherries would lend more flavor to this, but they weren’t missed entirely as they curb the taste with a nice sweetness on the end. Mix all that in with hints of vanilla, while remaining relatively on the lighter side, and you have one delicious Eisbock. Light in body and a lower carbonation. You really can’t tell this beast is 14%. It is dangerously drinkable, and even my non-beer drinking friends who I gave a taste to really enjoyed it. I didn’t want to put it down until it was all gone. Excellent creation by Voodoo, keep on keeping on guys.

According to Wikipedia: Brouwerij Westvleteren was founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in the Belgian municipality of Vleteren. Trappist monks from the Catsberg monastery, located in France, founded the St Sixtus monastery in 1831 and began brewing in 1838. The brewery was the only Trappist one to retain the copper vessels throughout the wars—the other breweries had the copper salvaged by the Germans for their war efforts. In WWI this was primarily due to the abbey not being occupied by the Germans, but instead was caring for wounded allied troops. In 1931, the abbey began selling beer to the general public, having only served beer to guests and visitors up until that time. In 1946, the St. Bernardus brewery in nearby Watou was granted a license to brew beer under the St Sixtus name. This agreement ended in 1992; St. Bernardus still brews beers of similar styles, but under their own name. The brewery currently employs three secular workers for various manual labor tasks, however the primary brewing is done by the monks only. It is the only Trappist brewery where the monks still do all of the brewing. Of the 26 Cistercians who reside at the abbey, five monks run the brewery, with an additional five who assist during bottling.

Thanks to a friend traveling in Amsterdam, I got the rare opportunity to try the #1 Beer in the World, Westvleteren 12.

Murky brown/purple pour with noticeable sediment. Very much like the 8, a thick off white to light brown head forms a nice cap atop the brew. Huge hit of dark fruits on the smell, more plums and the like than the caramel malts and raisins present on the 8. Boozy and malty. My word this is good. The flavor of the dark fruits is nothing short of spectacular. Robust, bold, big flavors. Malts, booze, fruits, all balanced together absolutely perfectly. Full body. Nicely carbonated. Dry finish. The mouthfeel really keeps you sipping on this one. No doubt one of the best beers I’ve ever had. I just can’t put the glass down. So drinkable, so delicious, basically perfect.

Stone Brewing Company is one of the premier United States breweries, and is well recognized across the globe. It was founded in 1996 by the now quite famous Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in San Marcos, CA. They sold a keg of Stone Pale Ale on July 26, 1996 and never looked back. After moving to Escondido, CA in December of 2005, Stone saw Port Brewing Company/The Lost Abbey move into their old facility. Opened in November of 2006, the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens is a MUST SEE for any craft beer enthusiast, and is consider the top beer location in the United States.

One of their more recent releases, the Imperial Russian Stout (IRS) is the beer of focus for this week. I was lucky enough to come across a 2010 version of it a few months before the 2011 was released. So I placed it in the cellar and waited. I’m glad I did! I always enjoy trying a beer to its aged self, to see if future aging would prove fruitful. Also, the Stone webstore had IRS glasses for sale, figuring it would make for a good picture, I ordered two and enjoyed the beer it was made to be enjoyed. Let’s see how the IRS held up.

They look exactly the same. Light-er brown pours with a big light brown head. Retention is great and the lacing down the side of my Stone IRS glasses is very nice. A ton of malts on the aroma for both versions, but the 2010 has a stronger malt nutiness. The 2011 is full of chocolate instead. A very light hoppiness coming through on both. The 2011 has a bit more of a balanced smell. Although neither are mind boggling. The taste of the 2011 is much more robust than the 2010, which seems to have thinned out a bit. Tons of chocolate, subtle maltiness, some roasty flavors and a dry finish. Full and heavy body. Like I said before the 2010 is a bit more thin. They are both carbonated very well. I sadly thought this was going to be better. The 2011 is clearly the better of the two, but neither are over the top delicious. They are both solid, and I would recommend them to anyone, but top notch? No.

Cigar City is a brewery everyone should be used to by now, this is my 3rd post from the brewery! You can also read about Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (Week 16) and their collaboration with Mikkeller, Nielsbohrium (Week 29). I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about Cigar City the brewery, as I have been too focused on their beer. But I found a great article written by the creator of the brewery, Joe Redner:

My path toward opening a brewery began in 1994 when I traveled to Portland, Oregon, for a wedding. Prior to this trip to the hops-laden land of the Pacific Northwest, I’d only dabbled with the few craft beers and imports available to me in Florida. I’d certainly never had freshly-brewed craft beer. In Portland, my taste buds were exposed to beers I’d never imagined and to freshness and craftsmanship I’d never tasted. I became a beer lover during that trip.

In the years that followed, I began to plan my vacations and travels around beer destinations, always on the lookout for new beer experiences. Years later, I took up home brewing. In 2004, I started writing a column about beer for the St. Petersburg Times which allowed me to spread the good word about American craft beer to a mostly non-beer-focused audience.

In the back of my mind, I dreamed of bringing the vibrancy and creativity I’d discovered in the craft beer scenes of other regions to Tampa. There was no single “aha” moment for me. I just started taking small steps toward making the dream a reality. In the beginning, it consisted of getting an idea for what startup costs might be. Then, I began figuring costs for raw ingredients, rent, build-outs and salaries. Later came the year-long search for startup money.

Back when my dream was still just a dream, I concluded that my hometown of Tampa hadn’t always done the best job exporting its unique history and culture. I wanted to educate people about the town I loved as much as I grew to love craft beer. I made up my mind that spreading the word about Tampa and its Cuban-American heritage and its past as the world’s leading producer of cigars would be an integral part of what I’d do at Cigar City Brewing. With that pretty basic mission statement – make interesting beers and share Tampa’s history – I finally sold my first batch of commercially-brewed beer in March of 2009.

As for the beer, and the names we’ve all come to love from Cigar City: This Russian Imperial Stout is named for Gregory Zhukov. He was a WWII General and a man bold enough to appreciate the rich, complex flavors of a beer brewed to fortify a body through the Russian winter. And now the review. My God. The darkest, thickest head I have ever seen. Period, more than Hunahpu. Dark brown in color to almost black. Creamy, lacing beautiful as it finally recedes down the glass. It leaves a cap not unlike whipped cream to introduce you to the beer. Are those hops I smell? Certainly some, mixed in with coffee. Molasses, coffee, smoke, and a ton of chocolate. No alcohol is noted at all. The chocolate really dominates the beginning of this beer’s taste, followed by the molasses and smoke. At this point in my mind I’m thinking about how sweet this beer is, that was not to last. You get nailed with coffee, roastiness, and a bone dry finish. Thick, creamy, extremely heavy. Carbonated well. No hint of the 11% ABV. This beer is simply phenomenal. I wonder what age will do to it, but I have to figure the coffee would step back the the chocolate would take an even larger part of the beer, if not thin out a bit. Very, very good fresh.

Living near a major city like Washington DC, I have unique opportunities like the one that occurred this week. Cantillon’s Zwanze Day. The description from the website is quite lengthy, but certainly worth a read:

Since lambic is a type of beer produced through spontaneous fermentation, its characteristics will by definition vary from one batch to another. On top of this, the types of barrels, fruits and hops used during production can sometimes cause the beer to mature in new and unexpected ways.
For this reason, I have for several years been experimenting with my lambics and trying out new kinds of blends, barrel woods and fruits.

Some of these beers, such as Blabaer, Goldackerl or Don Quichotte, are intended for sale outside Belgium while others are produced exclusively for consumption at the brewery.

It’s interesting to note that even for brewers the inner workings of lambic continue to have a mysterious side to them, with on occasion surprising results. The kind of experimentation I do is important to me because it allows me to learn more about my beer and look at it from different angles. Following on from this, to make a distinction between these experimental beers and Cantillon Brewery’s other products, in 2008 I made the decision to call this beer Zwanze.

Taken from the Dutch dialect spoken in Brussels, the word «zwanze» describes the typical humour of the city’s inhabitants, which is characterised by a finely-balanced mix of self-deprecation and exaggeration. I quite like the idea of my lambic «Made in Brussels» having the same jovial and slightly derisive spirit as the people of Belgium’s Capital City, and of it also taking a light-hearted look at these blends, which I admit can seem a bit strange at times.

In 2008, I blended 20-month-old lambic with rhubarb and was happy to see that the beer’s acidic taste struck a very nice balance with the plant’s tartness. The following year, we decided to cold-soak elderberry flowers and the resulting product was so different from other lambic-based beers that we decided to start producing it under the name Mamouche.

The 2010 vintage of Zwanze was a white beer developed together with Yvan Debaets. It was a top-fermented product but, because of the specific bacteriological environment of a lambic brewery, the beer was certainly naturally inoculated and as such it was in fact a mixed fermentation beer.

In keeping with our approach to brewing and selling beer, as well as out of respect for the product and the attitude implied with the name Zwanze, we don’t want these vintages to become marketing tools designed exclusively to make a few bucks. A case in point: Zwanze 2010 was bottled with numbered stickers, and after one bottle had been sold at the brewery for 6 euros another one ended up on eBay less than a week later with a price tag of 80 euros. Because of my dedication to my work as a brewer and out of respect for the product itself, it is very important to me for prices to stay reasonable. Unfortunately, there are those out there who couldn’t care less about spontaneous fermentation beer but who do care a lot about making easy money. For this reason, it has been decided that not a single bottle of Zwanze 2011 will be sold by Cantillon Brewery.

The story behind Zwanze 2011 is one of friendship between a brewer of organic lambic and an «organic» winegrower, Olivier Lemasson. In a lot of ways, working with lambic is similar to winemaking, and so we in fact have much in common with viticulturists who use a biodynamic approach to agriculture. Although our products are different, we speak the same language: that of devotion to our respective trades, natural methods and harmony with nature. Olivier Lemasson, who produces Vins Contés, is an organic viticulturist in the French region of Val de Loire who works with what are often long-forgotten local grape varieties.

In 2010 we tried something new by blending lambic with Pineau d’Aunis. The result was quite surprising and wine-like with specific accents of fruit, pepper and other spices, both as regards smell and taste. With Olivier’s approval, and despite a substandard harvest due to poor weather conditions, we recreated the same beer for Zwanze 2011. I subjected it to some very limited cold hopping using Bramling Cross hops, which yields a slightly bitter fruitiness. My friend Rob Todd of the Allagash Brewing Company calls it the «kiss of the hops», and I’ve decided to use this fantastic expression. The balance struck between the lambic, the grapes and the delicate bitter fruitiness is surprising yet very pleasant.

As a side note, in 2010 I had called the first experimental batch Pinot d’Aunis Lambic while making use of the term Pinot in the sense of the Pinot gris, noir or blanc grape varieties. Despite the fact that this incorrect use of the name stayed on the brewery’s blackboard for several months for everyone to see, nobody ever made a comment to the effect that the right term was actually Pineau. Ultimately, I only discovered that I had made a mistake while looking for information on the wines produced by another renowned biodynamic winegrower named René Mosse. But on the other hand, since we are talking about Zwanze, so in other words a good joke, I think I’ll stick with the name Pinot d’Aunis and hope that the purists will find it in their hearts to forgive me.

So to recap, there will not be any bottles of Zwanze put on sale so as to avoid any overpricing. On top of this, contrary to what was done with the Zwanze in previous years (with 80% of the production going into bottles), 2/3 of the Zwanze production for 2011 has been put into barrels. The goal here is to try to make certain that Cantillon enthusiasts everywhere will have a chance to taste the beer while short-circuiting those whose just want to make a fast buck.

In order to create an ephemeral event for this ephemeral beer, I decided to have all these barrels opened and enjoyed on the same day, when possible at the same time, by our friends throughout the world in places like Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the United States, Japan, Canada, France and Belgium.

Churchkey in DC was one of only 20 bars in the world to get a keg, and it was to be tapped at 3pm. Alongside 2011, they had bottles of 2010, and Cantillon Iris all for sale. I enjoyed a couple ounces of each!

Zwanze 2010

Hazy yellow pour with a small white head. Very little head remains. Acidic smell full of barnyard funk. I liken it to a sour saison with cherries underneath. The acidity and funk start the taste off, followed subtly by the cherries. The cherries finish it off cleanly, nice and tart. Light, acidic, a tad under carbonated. Dry throughout, especially on the finish. Very funky, the cherries were only noted in the background. The funky saison really took over. I really enjoyed it overall, but wanted the fruit flavor to be a bit more forward.

Zwanze 2011

Clear red/pink pour with no head. The smell is far more fruity than the 2010. Grapes, cherries, hints of funk underneath and much less acidic than 2010 overall. Very fruity taste for a Lambic. Grapes and cherries really take this beer over, it is a very interesting taste. Very dry, under carbonated, light and drinkable. This was a lot better than the 2010. The taste is more full, great balance. Solid.

Iris

Very hazy yellow pour with a nicely sized white head. A nice cap of which remains atop the beer as I drink. The smell is very balanced. Acidic, funky, some cherries. None seem to overpower the others. Seems to be a bigger taste than the Zwanze’s. Like the smell, it is balanced, both the funk and the fruit play together nicely. Light to medium body, carbonated well. Not very dry overall. While the flavors are bigger, I still preferred the Zwanze’s. This was a very well balanced and a very good beer.

I got very lucky and was able to manage a couple bottles of Goose Island’s 5000th Batch, which was brewed as a porter. The bottle is so interesting, a re-used label with Batch 5000 and the date smacked on by a computer…and that’s it. There is really not a lot of detail out about this beer, so I’d like to give a description, but none exists!

Goose Island as a brewery started in Chicago in 1988, and has grown rapidly ever since. Recently, the brewery was bought out by inbev (the company that owns, among other breweries, Budweiser), but they insist they are sticking to their roots under the new ownership.

As for the beer, it pours brown with a creamy light brown head. The lacing on the glass is very nice. Huge notes of chocolate and roasted malts on the smell. A bit creamy with underlying hops. A lot of very dark chocolate really dominates the taste. Molasses provides some balance to the strong hit of chocolate, and a smokiness finishes the beer off. A very interesting tasting beer, but the chocolate is a bit too harsh for my tastes. Heavy, not as light as most porters I’ve come across. Very dry throughout. No hints of booze. The flavor on this beer was so strong that it put me off a bit, the drinkability is not very high. Perhaps if the chocolate and molasses blended a bit better with other flavors, this could have been great.

When this week rolled around, I knew I had something special on hand. The recipe below, for a Rodenbach Grand Cru Cherry Pie really caught my eye, and I immediately went out to acquire the supplies.

Looks delicious right? Well getting the supplies turn out to be a bit more difficult than I expected. Apparently Cherry Preserves are not easy to come by, and Rodenbach Grand Cru is not readily available. I made a judgement call and went with Duchesse de Bourgogne (another Flanders Red Ale, that I decided would provide the same tart cherry flavors the Grand Cru would otherwise lend).

Following the recipe, I allowed the cherries to sit and absorb a bit of the Flanders Red overnight. Seeing that the bottle was already popped, I decided to sample a bit myself! Below are the pics, and a review

The beer pours a clear red to brown pour with a small light brown head. The very bubbly head really does not last long. Hints of vinegar, and a lot of tart cherries waft from the glass. Having just combined the beer in the dough recipe and soaking some tart cherries in it, the cherry smell really comes out well for me. It has been a long time since I had this beer last (on tap at Zeno’s Pub), and wow my palate has certainly evolved. The vinegar/sour flavor adds a nice accent to the very tart cherries. The lip smuckering taste really keeps you coming back for more. Light and carbonated well. The dryness of the beer coats your mouth with flavor as you drink. Great beer. Can’t wait to see how the pie turns out. Flavorful, tart, delicious.

I assembled the pie and readied it for the oven!

How delicious do those cherries look?

Above the pre-baking and below the post!

And now to top it all off with some whipped cream, open up a bottle of Hanssens Oude Kriek, and enjoy a boatload of tart, mind boggling-ly good, calorie filled cherry pie

The beer pours a nice, clear, red without any head. Looks to have a low amount of carbonation. Very tart smell, the vinegar and barnyard funk are strong but not dominant. A ton of cherries are noticed, sweet, wonderful cherries. The taste is extremely acidic, but the tart cherries and funk aren’t to be outdone. Very intricate taste that keeps you coming back. Acidic, low carbonation, not terribly drinkable. A sipping, after dinner beer for sure. This was great, paired nicely with the pie. Couldn’t do more than a glass though.

The pie was delicious. Tart, sweet, decadent, delicious. I would love to make this again.

This has been an interesting week in the nation’s capital (earthquake, aftershocks, hurricane). A group of friends and I decided to enjoy the weather with a few great brews. Here are the pictures and what reviews I did!

Founders Blushing Monk (My Favorite)

This beer pours crazily red with a beautiful pink head. It basically smells like raspberries. Everyone at this tasting compares this to wine, grape soda, or raspberry jam. The taste is so fruity. The most raspberries I have ever tasted in a beer. No alcohol, nothing else, only raspberries. And man do they taste good. Really surprised me. Medium body, tinge of carbonation, warming alcohol feeling. Crisp and clean finish. Phenomenal beer. I can see why this is only a limited release though, they had to use every raspberry in the midwest!

Cigar City Jai Alai Cedar Aged IPA – Humidor Series

Yellow-brown clear pour with a wispy white head. Very bubbly. Malts, cedar, oak all prominent on the smell. Hoppiness in the background. Doesn’t specifically smell like an IPA. The taste of the malts blend nicely with the cedar and oak flavors. The hops are there, and add a bit of fruit, but the hit of hops is small. Light body, carbonation is low. Alcohol is not noted at all. This was a big strange. Not bad, certainly an interesting taste. Don’t think I’d have it again.

Bruery Saison de Lente

Clear yellow pour, noticeable sediment. Head explodes out of the beer, as do bubbles from the bottom of the glass. The smell is very faint. Spicy, hints of brett. The taste follows the smell, sort of faint. Spicy, light fruits to starts, followed by Brett. Dry finish. Light, bubbly, well carbonated. Great drinking beer. This was forgettable. But needed in amongst a couple big beers.

Sly Fox Christmas Ale 2009

This beer exploded out of the bottles. Head foaming out all over the counter. Clearer brown pour, hints of red and a big white head. The winter warmer spices have remained and seems to have mellowed nicely. Cinnamon and booze are most noted. A bit medicinal.  I was worried this had turned for the worse, but I don’t think it has now that I try it. Cinnamon, booze, caramel malts. Not as over the top as most winter warmers I’ve had, much more mellow and developed.  The carbonation is honestly a bit high, which surprised me. The alcohol is surprisingly noticed for it only being 6.5%. Not terribly drinkable. I’m glad I got to try this. It was very interesting, on to the 2010 version next!

Sly Fox Christmas Ale 2010

This beer flowed out of the bottle much like 2009 did, but not as intense. Bubbly off white head, nice lacing, brown pour. The smell is much more strong than the 2009. Winter Warmer spices, caramel malts, and hints of booze. The taste, while not as developed as the 2009, is better. The spices start the beer off, followed by a maltiness before the taste just falls off. Light, carbonated much better than the 2009. Less boozy. Better in every faucet compared to the 2009. Don’t think I’d get a 2011 version though.

Ommegang Adoration

Brown pour, relatively see through. White head, not a lot of lacing. Smells of spice, cinnamon, coriander, caramel malts. A bit too strong. Light, typical winter warmer tasting notes. I really don’t like how this whole style essentially tastes the same. I don’t really like it, so read these reviews with that in your mind. Spicy, hot on the backend. Light, carbonated well. A bit tart. Just another beer to remind me to not buy beers in this style anymore. It was good, and I can see why other people would like them, but I just don’t.

Breury Trade Winds Tripel

Ithaca TWELVE

Deep brownish red pour with an off white head. Hardly any retention or lacing. Dark fruits, plums, grapes on the smell. Tons of candied sugar and perhaps some grain, all built on a backbone of booze. The taste starts with the dark fruits and involves into candied sugar and booze. Leaves a strange taste on the back of the mouth. The beer coats the mouth, is medium bodied, and full of alcohol. Not all that balanced.  Only average. Considering I just got to try a bunch of De Struise quads, this falls short.

Blue Moon Grand Cru (Overall Worst)

Infected. Awful. Mess.

Otto’s Jolly Roger Imperial Stout (Best Surprise)

Pitch black pour with a very nicely sized brown head. Hardly any lacing, retention is good. Full of coffee smells, molasses, roasted malts. Really good smell, deep and balanced. The taste is sweet. Molasses, light roasted malts then a big hit of coffee. Cocoa throughout the taste, with a slight smokey hint. Nicely balanced, no singular big flavor. Heavy body, carbonated well. Dry finish, hardly any hint of the booze. Love this beer. Otto’s is a solid brewery, and this is a solid beer. Can’t wait to see how this ages, maybe they’ll drop some into bourbon barrels?

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. (Overall Favorite)

This was viewed as the overall best beer, I didn’t think so, and don’t rate it as high as it probably should be because I think it’s going to improve greatly with some age on it. The alcohol and bourbon are just too hot fresh. Pitch black pour with a really dark brown head. I only wish the head stuck around longer. A very thin ring remains after a few minutes. A pretty sweet smell overall. Bourbon and whiskey mixed in with chocolate. Smells like a heavy beer for sure. Perhaps some vanilla and definitely some alcohol underneath. My very first reaction from the taste is: Wow this is hot right now, needs some time. The chocolate comes out first and is obliterated by huge hits of bourbon, oak, vanilla, and a ton of booze. The finish is dark chocolate mixed with booze that last well into the next sip. Heavy body and a nice amount of carbonation. The drinkability, however, isn’t terribly high. Sweet and hot, not a great combination. Disappointed here. Would love to have one with a year or so on it, have to head back to the store!

Bruery Cuir

Light brown pour without much head. Bourbon, malts, raisins, sugar, and dark fruits all mix together on the smell. Leather, tobacco, dark malts, bourbon. Really interesting taste. I HATED Papier, this is better. A little more balanced. Still not anything great though. Medium heavy body. Nice amount of carbonation. Lots of booze. Good beer. 14.5% is not noticed on that level, but it is noticed. Wouldn’t pay the money again for this beer.

“The Aftermath”

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.