Is Troegs Finally Answering My Prayers?

Troegs brewery exclusive "Scratch Series" of one-off beers has become an instant hit among beer drinkers. Different from a lot of other brewery exclusive lines, Troegs actually bottles these brews and has them available for purchase in their general store. Every so often one makes its way into normal rotation, ie Flying Mouflan and Perpetual IPA. Recently the brewer put it to its fans to choose the next Scratch Series beer to become a regular and so far it's sounding like good news for me. From their Facebook page:

 Voting for the “Scratch Redux” contest is now officially closed. While the clear winner of the Facebook poll was Scratch #58 – Triple Mango IPA, we also had a few ballot boxes set up throughout the brewery, so those votes will be tallied over the next few days. We will announce the winner in the near future. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for no hanging chads or General Store re-counts! Thanks to everyone who participated in our inaugural Scratch Beer election. Which beer will emerge as the winner?

Scratch #58, or Triple Mango IPA, absolutely blew my mind. This beer was absolutely incredible and I knew it could very quickly and easily become one of my favorites. Unfortunately for me, this was one Scratch Series beer that was not bottled. The recipe was the result of a homebrew contest in which the brewers picked their favorite to make as the newest Scratch Series beer. Unbeknownst to them, the incredible amount of hops and mango the recipe called for would create a tremendous amount of sludge therefore reducing the end volume of beer. Less beer = not bottling, not growler fills, only available on tap at the brewery.

I have been thinking of this beer ever since and even planning to homebrew a batch myself just to get another taste. Hopefully at some point in the next few months I'll be buying this one by the caseload. When an official announcement is made, I will definitely post an update.

Drink On,

Dan

Beer Review: Going Against The Grain

Firestone Walker is quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries. They seem to do everything well. I've been snatching up everything I see from them and keep coming away satisfied. When I found Velvet Merlin I was very excited; a highly regarded oatmeal stout from a brewery with a reputation of dominance? How could I possibly go wrong?

Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin - 5.5% ABV
Stout/Oatmeal Stout
Fall Seasonal
12oz bottle poured into a goblet
Bottled 01/08/13

Appearance - Black with a thick, super creamy tan head. Good retention and lacing.

Aroma - Smell is chocolate, tobacco, smoke and cola.

Taste - Cola, a lot of smoke and an unusual bitterness on the finish. As it warms up the flavors unfold a little more; chocolate, coffee and some nice hop flavors and a really smokey finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium body, well carbonated and an extremely dry finish.

Overall - I was so excited to have this one and so disappointed when I did. The smokiness was way over the top and distracted from the other flavors. It looked absolutely beautiful when I poured it and it just let me down from there. It did definitely get better as it warmed up but it still just wasn't for me.
Overall 2/5 Style 3/5

Drink On,

Dan

Beer Review: Double Platinum

Today we discuss another beer club brew -- Starr Hill Double Platinum. The Charlottesville, Va brewer just recently began distribution to PA so I have almost no experience with them. The only other beer I have had from them is their Jomo Lager which was pretty standard but almost expectedly so. That being said, I am always up for trying something new, especially in the IPA family.

Starr Hill Double Platinum - 8.5% ABV

Imperial IPA

Rotating Availability

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass

Bottled 10/11/12 (pretty cool, right?)

Appearance - Amber with a thin white head. Decent retention and great lacing.

Aroma - Lots of hops, very citrusy -- grapefruit, oranges

Taste - Flavor is nice. Lots of hops but with some balance. Oranges, grapefruit and a good bitterness that lingers beyond the finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium body, average carbonation and a bit of a tingle from the hops.

Overall - I'm not going to lie, my inner beer snob came out a bit and I was a little leery when I saw that it was a twist off cap, but I'm glad I reserved any true judgement until after tasting. This was a really nice beer, good hop flavors and a great hoppy nose. This is why beer club is so perfect, who knows when I would have had this otherwise? It's possible this could be even better a little closer to the bottling date, but I was very satisfied with this one. 

Overall 3.5/5 Style 3/5

Just a little additional anecdote, one thing that was tough for me about this one is it's classification as an Imperial IPA. With boundaries constantly being pushed and styles always evolving I think it may be time to expand the IPA and Stout categories specifically by creating a third tier. Meaning their should be IPA, Imperial IPA and Double Imperial IPA or something to that effect. I plan on doing a bit of research about this and putting up my argument sometime in the near future. Until then

Drink On,

Dan

Beer Review: A Truly Off-Centered Ale

Sam Calagione is as innovative and fearless as they come. He never stops looking for new techniques, new ingredients and new ways to update or improve old recipes and traditional styles. When I picked up a bottle of one of their barley wines -- Immort Ale -- I knew that any preconceived notions I had about what to expect should be immediately dismissed.

Dogfish Head Immort Ale - 11% ABV
Barley Wine
Rotating Availability
12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass
Bottled 01/13

Appearance - Clear, reddish brown with an off-white head that lingers.

Aroma - Smells sweet; oak, vanilla, maple and smoke.

Taste - Up front it's all smoke, almost overwhelmingly so. A lot of sweetness underneath -- vanilla and berries. As it warms the flavors balance out a little better and it's much more enjoyable. There is almost no alcohol in the flavor which is surprising since it's 11% and only 2 months from bottling.

Mouthfeel - Fuller body, well carbonated and slightly warming.

Overall - I am a bit torn on this one. I really enjoy a lot of the flavors here but the heavy smokiness is just a bit much for me. I do like a bit of peaty/smokey flavor but this was really extreme and I feel like it should have been more of a complimentary flavor than the standout. That being said it was still pretty cool and definitely unique. I certainly won't be buying this every time I see it, but I will go back to it again at some point and might age a few to see how it changes.
Overall 3/5 Style 2/5

Drink On,

Dan

The Next Big (Or Small) Thing

It looks as if the next big thing in craft beer is going to be small. Low ABV or "session" beers are looking to become the next major trend in the craft beer scene. For some time now I have been of the mindset that bigger is almost always better. Now I'm certainly not turning my back on big beers, but I have been becoming more and more seduced by the low ABV offerings with surprisingly high flavor that more and more breweries have been putting out.

Like everything else the definitions are a bit debatable, but generally big beers are over 8% and session beers are under 5%. One of the main reason I have leaned towards bigger beers is because of the immense flavor that they tend to have. In my experience, most beers that I've had that are under 6% don't pack that flavorful punch that their big brothers do but recently this theory has been turned on its ear.

Session beers are by no means a new style, but it seems that there is a new emphasis on these little guys that are so often overlooked. With the weather getting warmer for most of us, I give you the top 5 session beers I'm drinking right now that you should be too.

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout - 3.9%
Dry Stout
Winter Seasonal

21st Amendment Bitter American - 4.4%
American Pale Ale
Year Round

Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL - 5%
Premium Lager
Year Round

Victory Swing Session Saison - 4.5%
Saison
Spring Seasonal

Founders All Day IPA - 4.7%
IPA
Year Round

If you see these beers, grab them. The flavor will make you do a double take at the tiny little number next to ABV and that tiny little number will make you feel better about putting down 3 or 4....or 7. Now if only I could find all of these in cans to sneak onto the golf course....

Drink On,

Dan

Beer Review: Drinking History

Jack McAuliffe is a name that most people don't recognize. He is the founder of New Albion Brewing, also not very well known, and one of the most important figures in the craft beer revolution. Unfortunately Jack's brewery lasted a very short time (1976-1982) but he is considered the first craft brewer and the man that paved the way for everyone else. His New Albion Ale is considered to be the first modern day American craft beer.

From what I can gather, it seems the story behind this is that in the early 90's Jim Koch -- Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) -- purchased the New Albion trademark in an effort to keep it preserved. This next part might be a craft beer urban legend but it sounds great. With a commercial trademark, you have to use it commercially to maintain it -- essentially, if you don't use it, you lose it. So Jim Koch teamed with Jack McAuliffe to recreate the brew, using the original recipe, including the original New Albion yeast strain which has been preserved at UC-Davis. Showing even more proof that he's all about the beer, all profits from this beer are going to Jack McAuliffe. Without further ado, let's get into the beer.

Samuel Adams/New Albion Ale - 6% ABV
American Pale Ale
Special Release
12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass
Best before 07/13

Appearance - Bright yellow with a thick, fluffy white head. Good retention and nice lacing.

Aroma - Smells hoppy. Lemons, grass, grapefruit.

Taste - Malty, sweet, peppery, a touch of hops and a slightly bitter finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium body, slick and oily, average carbonation.

Overall - By today's standards this is a pretty basic, pretty standard American pale ale but I can see how this would have been an extreme beer in the mid to late 70's. While it is somewhat plain, it is very well done. If this was a new beer just coming on to the market today I wouldn't give it a second thought, that being said its pretty damn cool to drink a piece of craft beer history. Like so many others, when I thought of "the beginning" I primarily thought of Fritz Maytag. If nothing else, this beer has enlightened me, and for that, I thank you Jim Koch.
Overall 3/5 Style 3/5

Beer Review: Oak Horizontal

Victory Brewing Company has been growing so rapidly that they have had to put several of their seasonal releases on hiatus due to the size of their brewery and the demand for their flagship brews. They have opened a new brewery in Parkesburg, Pa to handle most of the regular stuff which has allowed them to bring back these old favorites and use the original brewery in Downingtown to experiment -- new beers and special releases.

The winter seasonal Old Horizontal, affectionately referred to as Old Ho, has made it's grand reappearance in the form of Oak Horizontal -- a bourbon barrel aged version of the fan favorite. This year Oak Horizontal is the only version we're getting, but look for the original Old Ho winter 2013.

Victory Oak Horizontal - 10.5% ABV
Barley Wine
Special Release
750 ml bottle poured into a tulip
Bottled 12/12

Appearance - Pours a deep, rich mahogany with a creamy off white head.

Aroma - Smell is raisins, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel.

Taste - Lots of bourbon, vanilla, oak, toffee. Sweet, boozy and delicious.

Mouthfeel - Thick, good carbonation, warming.

Overall - Wow this is a great beer, bourbon barrel aging at its finest. Victory took a fantastic beer and made it even better. I sincerely hope that they bring this back at some point, it's just so good.
Overall 5/5 Style 5/5

Drink On,

Dan