Thursday, April 18, 2013

Beer Review: Birra Etrusca Bronze

Dogfish Head has a long running Ancient Ale series. Sam digs up some ancient beer recipe from Egypt or Scandinavia or South America, visits the country or region to get a feel of it's history, native ingredients and culture and works with scientists and historians to try and best recreate what our ancient ancestors imbibed in their day. For me this is one of the coolest things going in the beer industry today, even if many dismiss it as a novelty. This is, at least at this point, by far the closest we will come to actually physically sharing a piece of history from thousands of years ago. Birra Etrusca Bronze is the resurrection of a recipe from Italy circa 800 BC! That's right, 1200 years old; how can this not make you excited to try it?

Dogfish Head Birra Etrusca Bronze - 8.5% ABV
Traditional Ale/Herbed/Spiced Beer
Limited Release
750 mL Dogfish Head Bomber poured into a tulip
Bottled 01/12

Appearance - Clear copper, almost honey-like color with a quickly diminishing nearly white head.

Aroma - Smells very sweet -- fruit, honey and almost a bit like candy hearts. Smells like Belgian yeast.

Taste - Similar base flavors to a Belgian style ale. Very sweet and mellow, lots of fruit flavors and LOTS of honey. Pomegranate, apples, lemon and honey. Really tasty.

Mouthfeel - Slightly thinner body and good carbonation. A slight dryness and effervescence similar to champagne.

Overall - I actually really like this. It's very different but really tasty. I'd definitely buy this again. If this is what they were drinking in Italy in 800 BC, they were some excellent brewers and a lucky group of consumers.
Overall 4/5 Style 4/5

Drink On,

Dan

Monday, April 8, 2013

Beer Review: '72 Imperial

Colorado is quickly becoming California's biggest competition for best beer state in the western US. Obviously Cali has size on its side, but Colorado is turning out some world class beer from a growing number of breweries. One of these breweries is Breckenridge Brewery. Some of their stuff is just ok but some is pretty great and this one came in a super cool painted bottle with a pretty cool name too.

Breckenridge '72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout - 7.2% ABV
Milk/Sweet Stout
Rotating Availability
12 oz bottle poured into a pub glass
Bottled 2013

Appearance - Black with a thick, creamy, beige head. Good retention, good lacing.

Aroma - Lots of coffee, chocolate and a bit of cola.

Taste - Chocolate, coffee and a bit of vanilla.

Mouthfeel - Super creamy, thick and rich, velvety, average carbonation.

Overall - This was a very pleasant surprise. I went in with zero expectations and came away very impressed. This was like a dessert in a bottle, absolutely decadent. Can't wait to have it again.
Overall 4/5 Style 4/5

Drink On,

Dan

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Beer Review: Thrones!

It's finally back. After an uncomfortable long break, the hit HBO series "Game of Thrones" has returned for a third season. As if this wasn't great enough, HBO has come together with Brewery Ommegang to create a series of Game of Thrones inspired beers. The first of these beers, Iron Throne, was released a couple of weeks ago. Plenty of time to secure some for the season premiere.

Brewery Ommegang Iron Throne - 6.5% ABV
Belgian Ale
Special Release
750 mL bomber poured into a trappist glass
Bottled 02/15/13

Appearance - Pours a cloudy, dull yellow with a big, thick, fluffy white head. Very slowly dissipates to a tiny white film; just a bit of lacing.

Aroma - As expected, traditional Belgian characteristics -- spices and fruit.

Flavor - Starts out very predictable -- light, refreshing, spicey -- but then a strong lemon flavor comes in on the backend that is really excellent. This was a nice surprise and a wonderful compliment to the standard Belgian flavor profile.

Mouthfeel - Pretty full bodied, a bit unexpectedly so, lots of carbonation and pretty dry.

Overall - I'm normally not a big fan of the style; they remind me too much of Belgian tripels, of which I'm also not a big fan, but this one was a very pleasant surprise. An excellent companion for the series opener.

Drink On,

Dan

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Unfortunate Update

Looks like I kind of jumped the gun with the whole Tröegs Triple Mango IPA news. Most of what I posted was true but I was blinded by excitement as it appears it may not be a regular or seasonal offering, just a second run of the fantastic brew. The verbiage was slightly ambiguous, but after reading it again it sounds like it will just be making a second appearance as a Scratch Series release. Hopefully it's at least a much bigger batch and I can grab a case or two of it.

On a more positive note, Tröegs is bringing back one of their most coveted beer series, Splinter. The Splinter Series is a top secret barrel aging program that has yielded some of the most sought after beers on the market. Splinter Gold, a Belgian tripel aged in white wine barrels with brettanomyces, undergoes a two year aging process to change this from a tripel to an American wild ale. Having never had any of the Splinter Series beers, I am anxiously awaiting Splinter Gold's release which should be sometime in the next few months. I'll post all the details here as soon as I learn them.

Drink On,

Dan