WTBC #58 - MN Brews

MN Beer Club, Keepin’ it local

Schell’s Stag Series – Barrel Aged Alt

A: Dark brown slight reddish hue S: Smells of wine barrel has a nose of caramel T: really nice, reminds us of a scotch ale, I’ll give it a B – Colin M: Thinner than usual for alt is the consensus D: Very drinkable, great barrel flavor

3.18

Odell Footprint

So for starters this is the hosts (my) beer and I’ve pulled a Derek of sorts in that I designated MN beer club and brought a Colorado brewery but, there are MN ingredients A: Light golden good amount of head hazy S: like beer T: Delicious, nice wheatish flavors decent barrel flavor M: Good mouthfeel mildly carbonated D: quite high

3.52

Boom Island – Silvius

A: Hazy golden light colored head S: fruity esters T: not a lot of malt back nice hops I’m done.

2.05

Brau Bros – Cherry bean coffee stout

3.10

Flat Earth – Black Helicopter

3.0

Fulton War and Peace

3.75

WTBC # 57 - Sours/Wilds/Flanders

 

Sour/Wild/Duplicate Beer Club

St. Louis Kriek

Derek… brings us one 12.7oz offering. One of these days he’ll get it. Very sweet, like melted jolly rancher sweet. Highly carbonated, to style. Overall, not very drinkable, almost a good thing that we had such small sample sizes.

 2.87

Cuvee des Jacobins

What a refreshing taste of quality! This is a really great Flanders Red, tartness that gets you in the taste buds, high and refreshing carbonation. A wonderfully tasty beer, I recommend this to any of our readers, if there are any.

3.83

La Folie

Another Flanders coming up here, nice coincidence for a direct comparison of the same style except brewed on different sides of the pond. This one is a little drier, slightly less carbonated but still plenty refreshing. Also pick this one up.

3.73

Grand Cru

Nice! Three Flanders’ in a row, lovin’ this. This is a great experiment in beer tasting. This one is the least tart of the three, which I would not have guessed prior to this little lab test. Not as dry as the La Folie, this ends up being a really nice in between.

3.76

Zoetzuur

My head is going to explode! This makes 4 Flanders’ in a row! Wowza! This one is really dry and very tart. Reminds me a lot cranberry bitter tartness. I’m also hearing cherries, which makes sense considering it says its made with cherries on the bottle, not being one for cherry not my favorite of the four thus far.

3.24

La Roja

Well so ends our streak, we’ve moved onto an American Wild Ale, although similar. This one has far less cherry, still a nice tart presence, this one has a distinctive malt presence and a nice sour finish, moderately dry finish.

3.61

The Dissident

A 2010 vintage, a nice surprise from our host with this one, a real beauty. Nice dry finish and rich carbonation. There’s a very light fruit flavor some citrus, and pear notes. This is an awesome beer, again readers, grab this one.

3.86

Saboteur

Infected!

DNF  

Brett Brown Ale

An offering from our own Fitger’s. No label, so this is somewhat mystery beer. This is easily the worst mouthfeel of a beer. No flavor, finishes super watery and no discernable flavor profile.

DNF

What a miserable finish to beer club with such promise.

Bonus Beer

Avant Peche

3.43

WTBC #56

All your Hops are Belong to Us (Hop forward Beer Club)

All your Hops are Belong to Us (Hop forward Beer Club)

Arctic Panzer Wolf (aka Arctic Tank Wolf)

Derek starts the evening out with what may be he most astute observation to date, that this beer Is hoppy but not overly bitter. This is true, the citrus flavor and aroma from this beer is quite divine. Have to say that this is quite a unique hop profile, heavy in citrus and low resiny lingering makes this a clean drinking highly enjoyable beer.

3.70

Double Haul IPA

Our first offering from Kettlehouse brewery. Derek is now regaling us with nostalgic memories of this brewery in his college days, apparently Laura Ingalls Wilder was pouring samples there at some point. Agreed around the room that this is a really tasty brew. Has a nice hop presence and a sweet finish. Now we’re discussing Big Titties XXX, which is the name of the internet network of Jeff’s down stairs neighbors and should result in some increased traffic due to errant google searches.

3.30

Double Simcoe

Holy Guacamole! One of my personal favorites, this is expensive but delicious. This has one hop, Simcoe. The nice piney taste is present and hangs around in its resiny goodness. Jeff deals bikes, this is also a plug and an attempt to increase traffic via Jeff and his dealings.

3.20

Mountain Standard

This one’s a Black Double IPA, have to say I like the variation on the theme. This is nice the roasty flavors over powers the hops. The hop profile is decidedly lacking for an IIPA but that being said it is a quality brew and highly enjoyable. The malts also being more present are great Odells does a mean Black IIPA. It should be noted that this is the only Black IIPA we’ve ever had.

3.10

Jamaica Red Ale

This is no Red Stripe. This has a great hop flavor, hoppier than one might expect for a red, what is present as well is some sugars and malty goodness. This one is is likely at home on da beach with a spliff in hand, jah mon.

3.15

Broogoop

Very Three Floydsish reminds some of our first offering. The hop profile is reminiscent of many of their beers. However there is a distinct aftertaste trying to put a finger on it… Wait perhaps its Mango. Some Chris Catan Style mango. I’m really getting nothing from anyone at this point. There’s a touch of hay and farmhouse-esque flavor happening at the finish, although I have to say decidedly mild. There’s also some sweetness to the finish.

3.45

Voodoo Doughnut

Woodpond, “This tastes like Aunt Jemima’s vagina!” Review over. But really, this has generated the most beer-centered discussion of the evening and it’s a shame that I can’t record more after Pond’s initial comment.

2.45

Dragonfly

Smells like maple and bacon. Weird. This beer has fallen victim to following one of the most bizarre beers ever tasted. Seems like it would be good.

3.0

Porter Beer Club

Porters

Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter

Starting off with Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter this one’s the first offering from this brewery. A: Dark black low amounts of head, little lacing S: Strong chocolate and roast in the nose some mild presence of grain T: Sweet chocolate up front mainly dominates the flavor, there is a hint of roasty coffee which fades quickly and gives way to lingering chocolate M: low carbonation, mouthfeel is on the thicker side and causes flavors to linger slightly D: Fairly high only thing holding this back is its sweetness.

BPA: 2.45

Flat Earth Cygnus X-1

Local brewery A: Dark black light white head quickly dissipates. S: Lots of roasty malt in the nose some slight sweetness T: Follows the nose closely and finishes with a dry sweetness M: medium carbonation nice clean finish D: High , especially considering the price point.

BPA: 3.0

Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter

Turnbull’s drooling A: Dark, again, ivory colored head dissipates quickly S: Roasty, there’s a smell that in indiscernible to me, it is slightly boozy and tart, dark fruit? T: Is roasty and tart, more gain presence upfront, certainly distinguishes itself from the American counter parts. M: Low carbonation nice clean finish with some slight lingering fruit D: High, this one builds on itself and keeps you coming back for more

BPA: 3.37

FFF Alpha Klaus

Onto the big boys A: Guess what color? Yep black. Head is the darkest of the night at dark cream and also sticks around for a while. S: There’s certainly a hop presence in the nose there’s a hint of roast T: Hop forward, considering this is the first time tonight that anyone has said the word “hop” this one is out of style. Turnbull does point out that the bottle reads, “It’s not normal”. No arguing that. M: highest carbonation as well, which is good to clean the palette. D: Medium, the hops interfere with the drinkability as compared the other.

BPA: 3.17

Deschutes XXIII

An annual treat. A: Not even going to type it S: Chocolate, some nibs, and a slight booze nose. T: Follows nose, taste is complex and stout like it’s agreed amongst us . Barrel aging comes into play here as well and imparts a nice flavor and ends with a booze burn M: low carb, and thick taste definitely lingers D: Low but in a good way this was a nice sipper to be enjoyed.

BPA: 3.8

Breckinridge Vanilla Porter

A: I’m going to buy a thesaurus after this and look up black S: Very vanilla in the nose some slight roast T: vanilla sweetness M: med carb, slightly thick and lingering flavor D: High nice and sweet, fairly balanced and low ABV P.S. haven’t done this review justice because I’m playing catch-up to the rest of the group. OK now conversation has deviated, I will say as I drink this more the vanilla flavor gets to be a bit much, it is seemingly artificial and is probably too much a part of this beer that being said it is it’s namesake.

BPA: 2.78

Bonus Beer:

Lagunitas RIS

Written in invisible ink (squeeze a lemon on your screen in order for the entry to appear)

BPA: 3.2

Alaskan Barleywine

A: Dark amber, light cream colored head hangs around for a little bit. S: Pretty hop forward there’s a booze presence and follows with some sweet carmel and/or toffee aroma T: Follows nose hop forward, with strong malt body nice toffee undertones M: Lower carb and thicker mouthfeel D: Med, this one’s a sipper and a fine aging candidate.

BPA: 3.5

Fifty Third Meeting

Due to a stroke of bad luck and technical difficulty with gravity (I dropped my computer) I was not able to attend last night's WTBC meeting. But brother Derek stepped in and stepped up. See above photos a drastic improvement on his last entry.

Fifty Second Meeting

Collaboration Beer Night

Life and Limb

Is a collaboration of Dog Fish Head and Sierra Nevada, and classified as an American Strong Ale. Pours with a light head and a dark black color. Taste is a little oakey, I taste a good amount of licorice, others do not share this view. Mouthfeel is universally agreed to be thick and Mrs. Butterworth’s Maple-syrupy. At 10.2% this one is very drinkable booze is well disguised in a heavy malt profile and licorice (for some of us).

3.05

Allies Win the War!

Collab between 21^st Amendment and Ninkasi. And Turnbull makes the pre-emptive strike on grading and kicks us off with an A and thereby infecting all our minds in advance, nice tactic, this is war. Dark amber, light lingering head. Grammatical error found on the can! A prize to who sends me the error and correction (excluding member that are present at this meeting). Smells of west coast hops, strange considering it is brewed here in MN, and some nice malt. Can says that there are some dates in here, I agree. Nice subtle, fruity, sweetness at the end. M: is on point, not too thick but lingers nicely.

3.17

Ovila – Saision

Collab between Sierra Nevada and Abbey of New Clairvaux , beginning to wonder if SN does any of their own beer… this one is best drank while listening to a Phish song. A: Orange-blonde nice lingering light colored head. S: Is that of hay and other farmhouse odors T: Is fruity and lots of wild yeasty flavor as one would expect M: Thin, nice, refreshing, perfect for summer day D: HIGH

3.10

Blackheart

Collab between 3 Floyds and a tattoo artist in SF (the artist made the label). A: A tangerine orange light dissipating head S: Very citrus nose, T: very citrus taste followed by some Belgian yeast flavors finishes clean and super delicious. M: spot on bold and refreshing at the finish D: HIGH as beans.

3.63

Van Twee

Collab between Bell’s and De Proef. A: Sliver of light at the edges otherwise very dark, SEA MONKIES! And lots of thick head. S: Dark malt and lots of Cherry nose T: Cherry is prominent in flavor as well, finishes nice and tart. Taste is very similar to Bell’s cherry stout, but strong and takes more of a front seat. M: mildy thick nice and lingering cherry flavor which has a sharp finish. D: High

3.37

Signature Ale

Collab between Port Brewing and De Proef. A: Nice golden blonde thick and plentiful head S: Is fruity and a hint of citrus hint of yeast farm scent T: Is hoppy and citrus, likely a Port influence has some nice yeast flavor notes M: Nice and clean, good summer drinking I’d say, and I do say. D: Orange alert

3.05

Collaboration not Litigation

Collab between Avery and Russian River, whooooey expectations are high for this one, two great breweries. A: Rosey golden light lacey head S: hoppy and Belgian yeast T: Citrusy M: don’t remember we’re already onto the next one after a lengthy debate on the finer points of Big Eddy. D: OK or yellow alert, overall a let down considering the contributing breweries.

2.80

Barrel Aged Brrrbon

Not a collab but this is part of a double beer bonus. A: Dark Amber light amount of head S: Smell is promising, oakey and good T: Is brrrrbony, nice depth of barrel M: Thinner than expected from the nose but there is a lingering burn. D: pretty, pretty, pretty good

3.10

TRIPLE BEER BONUS!

Jubel 2010

Deschutes Jubel, a once in a decade ale and Colin has pulled out all stops in this triple beer bonus! A: Dark Ruby quickly dissipating head S: Cereal maybe frosted flakes T: Sweet and malty, some spice M: thick and lingering D: Orange P.S. I am not where near to doing justice to this review, we’ve been side-tracked multiple times and this is a triple beer bonus, give me an effing break. This is a great beer, and IMHO could use some more time, this isn’t agreed by many on the tasting but I still assert that this would be great in another 3 years. Too sweet and and too thick even now for my tastes.

3.68