Twenty Fourth Meeting

Editor's Note: Once again, I missed beer club, but this time it was due to working late prior to my voyage to San Diego Beer Week. Guest blogster Belfry aka "Henry David" Thero wrote this post


11/9/10 WTBC - Barelywine [Unedited Freudian slip by Belfry, wine lover extraordinaire]

Rogue - Old Crustacean 2008 11.5%

Grolsh swing-top seal and capped. Strong alcohol smell and taste even after two years! Coast the throat with a nice lingering taste. The free range coastal water is very present, giving it a nice briny zing presumably from the crustaceans caught while harvesting the costal water. Booooozy and pretty darn tasty. Quality beer but a 4oz pour is about the maximum tasting in one sitting.

BPA 3.31


Anchor - Old Foghorn 8.8%

Markedly different, much more drinkable that the previous offering. Far sweeter, excellent mouthfeel(Joe would know). Reminds some people of mexican time-share vacation homes, might be the label’s flora. There’s a more pronounced hop flavor with this one. Suggested pairing: pretzels. More drinkable, yes repetitive but i was asked to write it again, but a little on the thin side for what we expected in a barleywine.

BPA 3.08


Colin’s Home Brewed Barleywine, potential name Mysterious Missale approx. 9-11% Brewed in Feb. 2010

Darker caramel color lingering head, nice lacing on the glass,very nice carbonation level. Very drinkable, nice balance of sweet and booze, This just in: Joe has never checked the blog, giving me and any other blogger for WTBC to freely comment on his character with no danger of retaliation. Colin’s beer has a nice caramel finish with a mild alcohol burn, highly regarded here tonight,for sure contends with our other tastings so far.

BPA 3.4


Avery Hog Heaven 9.2%

Lots of little sea monkeys, perhaps a new breed of mini-monkeys or a young spawn of regular sized monkeys. Very hoppy, has been a combination of all thus far, hoppy like anchor, sweet like Mysterious Missale, and slightly less boozy than the Rogue. It borders on being a strong ale to our pallets. Seems to be pretty favored.

BPA 3.47


Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale Black Barley Wine 10.2%

Pours black with some light at the edges, and a healthy amount of head. Super smooth, nice roasted malt flavor, MIke is revealing his climb to the top of Corburn’s something about starting as a bagger of tea, we didn’t ask about the details, sound like he get some great perks though. Derek saw some really nice sausage at the wedge co-op. At this point it is safe to say that the high barley content of these beers(Average Barley Volume or ABV) is affecting people’s ability to stay on topic. This doesn’t however have the pronounced caramel finish that most have had tonight, and a generally thinner mouthfeel. Everyone seems to have favorable leaning prior to ratings.

BPA 3.72


Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot 11.1%

Right up Michael’s alley as its’ name is conducive to slurring. Much stronger caramel and tastes of Belgian yeasts, alcohol is very hidden, almost undetectable for 11%. This is also our 7th tasting for whatever that’s worth. Aprecerate. That about says it all, the review of this beer has fallen victim to its’ own success as a great beer with a well disguised ABV(alcohol by volume).

BPA 3.41


Rogue - Old Crustacean 2008 11.5%

No this is not a typo, “brother” Derek has brought a duplicate which we decided to bookend for tonight’s tasting in the name of science. For some reason the alcohol is far less present than when we tried this EXACT SAME BEER at the beginning of our tasting. If ANY of you readers out there have a science background I beg you please tell us why this is there is likely a nobel prize at the end of this study, no promises.
Scores in () were given at the beginning of the evening
Derek 3.3 (3.3)
Brent 3.3 (3.0)
Colin 3.3 (3.3)
Joe 3.3 (3.3)
Dan 3.7 (3.3)
Mike 3.3 (3.3)
Ryan 3.3 (3.7)
BPA 3.35