I really should learn my lesson about how aft the best laid schemes of mice and men gang agley.
Before I went to New Orleans and revelled in the delights of Koutská Desítka, I had this grand plan to do a blog post Advent calendar of locally available, though not necessarily locally brewed, Christmas beers. I admit I pre-gamed the few days when I was in Louisiana, but when I got back I had a craving for Josephbrau Winter Brew from Trader Joe's, and that kick has lingered for the last couple of weeks.
Of the beers on my Advent Calendar list that I did try, there were two distinct highlights, and one absolute drain pour - something I haven't done in quite some time. Let's get the drain pour out of the way first...
I have to say it looked the part when I poured it out, dark copper with some orange edges, a long lasting, rocky, ivory head, it really is a pretty beer. And then it all went down hill. Barely any aroma other than a very generic maltiness, and while the aroma was generic, the flavour was unpleasant. Burnt toast and a metallic tang was basically all that was there, perhaps a trace of grassy hops, but really nothing much. Yep, it was a drain pour, and so that's where it went. It was the first time I have tried this beer so maybe I got a bum bottle, but having been unimpressed by Breckenridge before, I am in no rush to find out.
Onward and upward...
Deschutes, nominally a "local" brewery as they have some kind of operations just down the road in Roanoke, are becoming a trusted brewery in the Velkyal cosmos, especially their simply magisterial Black Butte Porter. In common with the Breckenridge Christmas Ale, this was my first ever Jubelale. Again it is a very pretty beer, a deeply festive red, topped with an inch of beige, so appealing. Yay, an aroma, well several. Candy sugar, toffee, spices, nutmeg in particular, and a hint of caramel, think caramelised nuts and you're close. Wow, what a big bready malt character Judelale has going, then take that bread and smother it with Biscoff spread, yum, yum yum, oh and don't forget the gorgeous spicy notes, assuming from the hops. What a great beer, beautifully integrated, delicate yet strong, seriously a wonderful beer, whatever the time of year.
Sierra Nevada simply do not get enough credit for their aptitude with lager beer, and Winter Warmer Lager join the increasing ranks of SN lagers that I will be keeping an eye open for. This one pours a deep, burnished garnet, topped off with a light tan head that quickly becomes a schmeer of foam. There is lots of fruit on the nose, mainly plums. Also in there is grassy hops, a trace of spice, like cinnamon, and a bit of toffee sweetness. I am assuming that the beer used a fair proportion of Munich malt as that classic sweetness that you get with Munich is there in spades, it's not caramelly, but it's sweet. There was also a bit of burnt sugar, cookies, and no much in the way of hop flavour at all. This is definitely a beer for sitting by the fire and enjoying with some winter pudding. Seriously lovely lager.
Showing posts with label deschutes brewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deschutes brewing. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Several Jars of Porter
A couple of months back a friend, and colleague at the company that is my day job, of mine was in Oxford for work. Naturally I asked him if it would be possible for him to bring me back a bottle or two on Oxford beer. After a week of seething jealousy as him sent me messages from places like the King's Arms, he came back to Central Virginia with a bottle of Shotover Brewing's Oxford Black Porter, which spawned a plan to do a tasting of as many porters as I could lay my hands on.
Originally the plan had been to find as many British porters as possible, but then I decided to broaden that out to include US made porters as long as they didn't have weird shit ingredients - I really fail to understand why craft brewers insist on putting extraneous shit in their dark beers (or in their beer at all to be honest).
Thus after Thanksgiving I had collected the following porters for my tasting:
Fuller's London Porter
Shotover Brewing Oxford Black
Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
Deschute's Black Butte Porter
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Port City Porter
Originally the plan had been to find as many British porters as possible, but then I decided to broaden that out to include US made porters as long as they didn't have weird shit ingredients - I really fail to understand why craft brewers insist on putting extraneous shit in their dark beers (or in their beer at all to be honest).
Thus after Thanksgiving I had collected the following porters for my tasting:
- Fuller's London Porter
- Shotover Brewing Oxford Black
- Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
- Deschutes Black Butte Porter
- Great Lakes Brewing Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
- Port City Brewing Porter
Fuller's London Porter
- Sight - dark chestnut brown, light tan head
- Smell - chocolate, caramelised sugar, roasty
- Taste - toast, cocoa, molasses
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Notes - very smooth, complex, moreish
Shotover Brewing Oxford Black
- Sight - dark brown, red edges, off white head
- Smell - spicy, slightly phenolic, touch of band-aid
- Taste - lightly roasty, bready, trace of rubberiness
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 1/5
- Notes - bit thin, muddle of flavours
Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
- Sight - rich dark brown, red edges, loose tan head
- Smell - light coffee, cinnamon, molasses, slight tobacco
- Taste - dark brown sugar, some coffee, roasty notes
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Notes - dry, slightly lactic finish, great balance
Deschute's Black Butte Porter
- Sight - rich dark chestnut, crimson edges, tan head
- Smell - molasses, bittersweet chocolate, burnt sugar
- Taste - bittersweet chocolate, slight roast
- Sweet - 3/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Notes - medium bodied, great balance, moreishly drinkable
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
- Sight - deep brown, light tan head, dissipates quickly
- Smell - bitter chocolate, molasses, light roast coffee
- Taste - bready, nutty, cafe creme
- Sweet - 3/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Notes - beautifully balanced, medium-full body, ideal for fireside in winter
Port City Porter
- Sight - very dark, almost black, ruby edges, tan head that ligners
- Smell - burnt sugar, light treacle, coffee, chocolate
- Taste - sweet molasses, chocolate spread on toast, spicy
- Sweet - 3/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Notes - rich, unctuous brew, really well integrated
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