ANCHOR PORTER - ON CASK!

Have you tried ANCHOR BREWING's ANCHOR PORTER yet? Well, it's been around since 1972 - so let's get cracking! I myself hadn't had it in quite a few years, but a pal called attention to a casked version of it @ the local watering hole the other night, and he said that I'd dig it. I dug it. In this uncarbonated, smoothened form, ANCHOR PORTER's delicious chocolate notes turn into this creamy whipped delight, accented with hops and coffee tastes. It's all one can do to keep from gulping, but no one's going to blame you for doing so. It's the rare bar that serves anything on cask, so if you see this one being poured this way, I urge you to make them pull you two or more pints of it. And somebody let me know what you think about it in bottles and on "normal" draft. I swear it's been so long I've forgotten if I like it that way. On cask, though - wow. 8/10.

RARER AND SOUR-R THAN YOU’LL EVER BE

Got a second shot to experience that RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING so-limited-you-can-only-get-it-in-two-places beer that the brewery made up for THE TORONADO bar’s 20th anniversary. If you can believe it, they decided to call it TORONADO TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY ALE. Knowing what you know about Russian River, I’m going to let you guess at what kind of beer it was. An English mild? Nope. An American amber? Uhn-uh. How about a raspberry wheat beer? I’m afraid not, ladies. No, this one is a whopper of a sour, wild ale, defying categorization as so many of these champions’ beers do. It might be going for $20 per bottle at the brewery – no kidding! – but I was lucky enough to get one on tap at the Toronado itself last week. Dark red and glowing, this beer was served in the appropriate Belgian glassware, and the first thing that hits you is the tartness. It hints of maple syrup, and there’s no mistaking the oakiness in this either. I have to say, the more oaked beers I try, the more I like them, so either it’s my palate adjusting or the brewers out there are adjusting to me. Perhaps I was initially off-put by the sourness, but as this thing warmed, it really started to fulfill. It had hints of cherries, and was just as wine-like as it was beer-like. At the end of the glass, I emerged victorious, and thusly, so did Russian River (as always). 7/10.

DUVEL – WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP ETC.

I’ve written before of “the reckoning”, the pinpoint-able day in my life when I gave myself unto craft beer. Perhaps the second-most important day in my conversion occurred the next year (1990), while I was traveling in Eastern Europe with my Dad. We stopped at a pub in Budapest, then newly liberated from the godless Communists, and started ordering beers with strange, European-sounding names. The one we settled on, and drank the rest of the evening, was DUVEL. Upon my return home, I raved about it to everyone who’d listen – how complex it was, how it had a “bite” that American beers didn’t have, and how generally warm & flush it made me feel (this was undoubtedly due to the high alcohol, a concept that I was then unfamiliar with in beer, outside of the odd King Cobra or Olde English). For a few years I thought it was a Czech beer, until I learned it was in fact Belgian. This begat interest in Belgian beers, and the rest is history.

I had my first DUVEL in a few years, maybe even in the 21st century, just the other night. I didn’t like it at all. It was about as “macro” a Belgian beer as I’d ever had. Undoubtedly many will point to its enormous mass distribution around the globe, but I’m pretty sure it was a major player 17 years ago when I first had it as well. It’s likely that what knocked me for a loop back then is pretty standard and straightforward now. While it has a real pillowy fluffiness to it, if you can call it that, it is also very pilsner-like, and that spicy “bite” I fell for now tastes really, really off, totally unbecoming of either a pilsner or an ale. I’d have preferred the smoothness of a European pils, but this strange hybrid they’ve got going almost made my eyes water. I know it’s a legendary beer, but I can’t imagine trying DUVEL again anytime soon. There are far too many unconsumed Belgians out there. And yes, I know I’m in a decided minority on this matter. 4/10.

PANTY-PEELING BELGIAN LOVE FROM THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN

The curse of the Internet manifested itself in an exceptionally expensive order I placed with Liquid Solutions a few weeks ago; wanting to try beers from the four corners of the globe that I can’t get in my parts, I clicked and I clicked and I clicked some more, and only THEN calculated shipping. At that point it was too late, as my thirst was too great. I clicked “Submit Order”, and figured I’d give blood, try to get on a focus group, or do some late-night telemarketing to make up for the shipping charges. First beer out of the gate for me is this EPLUCHE-CULOTTE from Alaska’s MIDNIGHT SUN BREWING. Here’s what this brewery of the great white north has to say about their Belgian-style tripel:

Voluptuous yet elegant, Epluche-culotte Trippel exudes its free spirit with orangey-amber color topped with a creamy white head. The aroma is sweet, spicy and earthy. The addition of Curacao (bitter) orange peel and whole coriander infuse color, citrus and spice while a special Belgian yeast strain imparts other enticing flavors and aromas during fermentation. Bottle conditioning creates the right effervescence for a perfectly heady experience. In the style of a Belgian Trippel, Epluche-culotte is delicious yet spirited. Originally named Extreme Polar White Bier, it got nicknamed "Panty Peeler". We say it in French: E'pluche-culotte. The joyride awaits.

Did it peel my panties? It did not. EPLUCHE-CULOTTE, though, is a very good North American representation of this style. It has a light-orange glow to it, and gives off a mild sourness that really made this interesting. Tastes of apples and apricots are present, and the carbonation is medium-to-heavy. Not as yeasty as a typical Belgian tripel, or for that matter, a UNIBROUE beer like LA FIN DU MONDE. I think that I could drink this again with much pleasure, but I’d rather try the next 10-15 tripels on my list, and only then return to MIDNIGHT SUN’s. Great to finally have a beer from these folks, though – I’d heard nothing but great things. 7/10.

OH YOU WHITE RASCAL

It was a mere month ago when I thought I’d decided that the best witbier in North America was ALLAGASH WHITE. Perhaps it still is – but not in my book. That’s because I had my first WHITE RASCAL last week, the witbier from AVERY BREWING in Colorado, and I think it’s absolutely phenomenal. This amazingly clean, crisp-tasting wit is what I’m looking for in this style of beer, one that is characterized by hints of orange and coriander, and that straddles the fence between refreshing and complex. WHITE RASCAL is far lighter in color than even the light-orange ALLAGASH WHITE; a light yellow that you might even call a “white” beer. Similar to Hoegaardan, actually. It’s thin-bodied for sure, and is an easy gulper if you’re not careful. BE careful, because if you’re not you’ll miss a lot of action in this one. Light wheat tastes, some “grassiness”, and that ever-present citrus juju that lingers on the tongue. I totally loved it, and look forward to a face off with that Allagash again soon, as they’re both outstanding. 9.5/10.

ALPINE’S “PURE HOPPINESS” – A BIG WHOPPER FROM THE DESERT

This intense (and intensely rare) double IPA has been getting the big-ups from all comers of late, and to hear the Pacific Brew News gang in conversation about this one is to hear three grown men reduced to putty in this mighty beer’s hands. While they might find ways of getting down to Alpine, California to grab some – about an hour outside of San Diego, due east toward the hot SoCal desert – me, I had to beg my sister to bring me up a bottle, and she did so only because it was my birthday. (She brought me two, though – thanks Julie). ALPINE BREWING is developing a bit of a cult around their beers, with this one leading the recruitment efforts. I had to check my notes – I’d never had a serious tasting of an Alpine beer before, but I did have some in successive years at the Boonville Beer Festival. In 2006, it was something called “Willy Vanilly” (a vanilla pale ale, if I remember correctly), and in May of this year it was – whoa – PURE HOPPINESS. How about that? I called it “very good”. After enjoying a 22-oz. bottle of this last week, I’m prepared to back up that assertion.

PURE HOPPINESS has the fortune of straddling both the world of the tongue-bruising, intensely-hoppy Double IPA, and the world of the well-balanced, refreshing IPA. How they do it is their business, but it makes for a far more enjoyable beverage than I guess I’d counted on. (I was preparing myself for a PLINY THE ELDER-style beatdown). Much more thin than I expected, with less body than its Imperial IPA brethren. I like how well the 7.5% ABV is kept from being anything near overpowering, and how even with all these hops, Pure Hoppiness manages to be a balanced, very approachable microbrew. I’d serve it to family, friends, and the odd drunk off the street, not just my beer dork pals. Perhaps it’s a bit less remarkable than I expected. I do know that I have another bottle than will help me decide. For now, let’s go with 7.5/10.

BUFFALO BILL RIDES AGAIN

The pumpkin ales have hit the shelves in a big way this month, and that means it’s time to procure and gulp the annual six-pack of BUFFALO BILL’S PUMPKIN ALE. For years it was the only game in town come October here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but this year it has been joined by SHIPYARD PUMPKINHEAD ALE and BLUE MOON PUMPKIN ALE. As a Buffalo Bill’s partisan, I’m definitely taking sides – or at least I was before this year’s batch. I’m wondering if the 2007 edition of this longstanding mouth-pleaser is somehow reformulated? I certainly can’t remember this one ever tasting so thin, so comparatively lifeless vs. previous, uh, “vintages”. This is all relative, of course – the Buffalo Bill’s folks know how to get that unique Fall harvest taste into every bottle, and have a wonderful concoction of spices, sweets and moderately-carbonated malty tastes that they’ve been rolling out since god was a child. But this year I’m missing the richness and the warmth I’m used to, and I guess it kinda makes me a little sad on the inside. It’s still good, but only 6.5/10 good, not the 8/10 we gave it last year. On to the competitors!

TRAQUAIR JACOBITE - ANOTHER RINGER FROM SCOTLAND

I guess I sort of scoffed when I’d read bout the superiority of Scottish ales a couple of years ago, before I’d actually had any. Now I’m beginning to think that the Scotch Ale or “Wee Heavy”, as some call it, is one of the most interesting beer styles out there. My most recent foray into the style was the excellent FOUNDER’S DIRTY BASTARD ALE, but one direct from the mother country that I loved (though technically it’s a “gruit”, whatever that is) was EBULUM ELDERBERRY BLACK ALE. Both were outstanding. Now I’m on the Scotland train. Climb aboard with me, and let’s discuss TRAQUAIR JACOBITE ale, my most recent foray into the land of Nessie, The Prats and The Rezillos.

TRAQUAIR JACOBITE was recently hyped big time on one of my daily blog reads, I just can’t remember which. So I put it on “the list”. It seems to be available at your better beer importers. It’s a deep, dark ale, one that immediately hits you with this really cool “maple”-like taste. I liked its richness – this is one you could drink for a good hour by a fire, so get ready to stock up for winter. It has tastes of figs as well as that maple resonance, and I really liked that I could barely taste the alcohol, despite it being a fairly bold 8% ABV. It really tasted like something you’d WANT to pay $5.99 a bottle for, as I did. It’s another ringer from Scotland, and I’m going with a 7.5/10.

UERIGE’S “DOPPELSTICKE” – A TASTE OF THE OLD ALTSTADT

In the early part of the 21st century I took two work-related trips to Dusseldorf, Germany, and fell pretty hard for altbier, the city’s contribution to native, homegrown beer styles. You can read about my epiphany right here. Alt, as I came to find, is a hoppy, very lightly carbonated version of a traditional English old ale, but of course is barely, if it all, informed by its English counterparts - being a native Dusseldorfian style that goes back centuries. Someone once told me that Dusseldorf and Cologne actually went to war long ago over their cities’ respective beer styles (Alt vs. Kolsch), but I have a hard time believing that one. If there’s a book about this epic war, I can tell you that I’d be zapping my credit card over to Amazon in about five minutes. So let me know!

This UERIGE DOPPELSTICKE is my first taste of German alt in the US of A. DOPPELSTICKE is a beer that ZUM UERIGE, where I spent most of my alt-drinking time whilst in Dusseldorf, exports solely to the United States, perhaps because we love the big-ass, high-ABV, hoppy beers or something. This one’s 8.5%, and is essentially a “double” version of the 6% STICKE beer, the one served seasonally throughout the city’s taverns in the Altstadt (old city). I can tell you right now I’m buying this one again, because it’s outstanding. DOPPELSTICKE is a malty, slightly sweet ale, with really pronounced tastes of burnt toffee and perhaps of raisins. It has a refreshing, clean taste, almost totally cleansed of carbonation – which is something I remember well from its German cousins at the brewery. It also poured with a big, white, fluffy head, and though I’m sure it had been in a bottle for the better part of a year, it tasted like it just came out of a cask. Wonderful, more like a Belgian dubbel than I’d ever thought before. 8.5/10!

FLYING DOG’S “DOUBLE DOG” – IS THE ERA OF THE IMPERIAL IPA ON THE WANE?

You know, for a guy who has on occasion called his favorite style of beer the “American Double IPA”, I’m getting pretty downright bored with the latest crop of American Double IPAs. Now that everyone and his brewmaster brother has one, it’s getting harder & harder to find standouts beyond the heroes that popped out the past 1-3 years: HOPSICKLE, MOYLANDER DOUBLE IPA, RACER 5, HOP SUEY, DEVIL DANCER and a few others. Oh, and the Single/Double/Triple IPA/Pale Ale moniker is pretty much meaningless to me, as I’m sure it is to you. A bitter, highly-hopped beer is now in everyone’s stable, and it’s getting more & more difficult to differentiate them, even when they’re called “Pale Ales”. I’m not saying this is unexpected – just think about the English Special Bitter, for instance – or the American Amber. They all kinda taste somewhat the same. It’s a great taste to be sure, but perhaps the thrill is on the wane.

No big knock on DOUBLE DOG PALE ALE from the FLYING DOG BREWERY of Denver, Colorado, but this big, hoppy beer tastes like the rest of ‘em. It’s a strong, high-ABV (10.5%) hop bomb. Pours a deep orange, and smells like citrus and pine. It’s effervescent and fairly carbonated. Two of them should have you giving your keys away, and a nice teeth-brushing might be in order as well. It’s good, just like the other ones. 6/10.

THREE BEERS SO GOOD I FORGOT TO RATE THEM

So I had my “birthday party” this past weekend, and decided turning __ at San Francisco’s CITY BEER STORE was as good a place as any; better, in fact! Well, in all the mirth, merrymaking, good conversation and fine elixirs being proffered, I neglected my professional duties to Hedonist Beer Jive readers, and forgot to jot down my ratings of each and every beer I tried. I only got as far as MOONLIGHT’S SUBLIMMMINAL ALE, and that’s because no one except for my wife had shown up to the party yet. She of course loves a man who pecks his beer ratings into his phone’s keypad as he finishes his last gulps – it’s really images like that that I believe keep her standing by her man.

I tried three beers immediately after that Moonlight ale that were outstanding, two of which that I have reason to believe might even be approaching “10”s. I will need to try them again to be sure, but just be forewarned. We don’t give out the big kahuna too often. I won’t describe them much in this forum, since I can’t, but in all three cases I believe I’ve found beers that are way, waaay beyond average, and that I can recommend without hesitation. First was STONE BREWING’s 11TH ANNIVERSARY ALE, which if you can believe it is a black Double IPA. Yeah, I know. I gotta learn some more about this one; luckily these are around and in stores, and I loved it. Not a 10, perhaps, but quite good. The party really started rolling when CS brought a 22-oz. bottle of SAINT VINCENT’S DUBBEL from CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWING, located in Pleasantville, NY. Much ado was paid to this bottle as it was being carted in, as we can’t get said brewery out here, and apparently this particular bottle was smuggled in a suitcase by a relative. Yay! I recall a dark, rich Belgian-style beer, and I recall pontificating about how much I adored it. I’m going to find a way to get a bottle to California again. Anyone want to trade?

Final beer of the night was a wallet-buster, but hey, I wasn’t paying this night, right? The Belgian brewer DE PROEF teamed up with Tomme Arthur from PORT BREWING to create a stupendous (and stupendously-priced at $14) beer called SIGNATURE ALE, worth every last penny of what someone else spent. Even the non-beer dorks at the table were gasping at how good this one was. I’m going to find another bottle of it; drink it; and report back to you on my findings. That’s it – I’m another year older and three beers wiser. Check this space for related hijinks and shenanigans in the very near future.

BELGIAN MANIA DESCENDS ON THE BAY AREA

The Belgian beer boom looks set to explode in a big way the next couple of months in the San Francisco Bay Area. All of a sudden we’ve got not one but TWO Belgian-inspired beer bars coming in the next few weeks, and both are located stumbling distance from BART, the region’s public transportation system a.k.a subway. First up is a very cool-looking (drove by it last week) storefront called THE TRAPPIST, opening in the old section of Oakland. They are already claiming that they’ll be selling a stupendous array of Trappist- and trappist-inspired Belgian beers, including, I kid you not, WESTVLETEREN 12. No really, take a look at this menu. Bring your big boy wallet and your big boy pants before heading out here. From the outside, they look almost done, so hopefully it’s only a matter of days.

I was greeted with an advertisement this afternoon in the new CELEBRATOR for an upcoming San Francisco establishment called THE MONK’S KETTLE, located in the throbbing heart of the Mission District at 16th & Albion. That would lead me to believe that it’s taking over the longtime drunkard’s bar THE ALBION, later DELIRIUM COCKTAILS, and not a moment too soon. The ad mentions 25 beers on tap and 100+ bottles, and that they’ll be up and running in November. Unreal. I can actually walk to this place, as long as I’m game for a 3-mile uphill walk home after a few goblets of ale. It wouldn’t be the first time. Check this space for opening-week reports once I get the “go-live” information on both.

MOONLIGHT’S SUBLIMINAL “SUBLIMIMMNAL ALE”

This new offering from Brian Hunt of MOONLIGHT BREWING is his “fresh hop” ale, right in time for the fresh hop harvest season. At least that’s what I understand. My take on any of these fresh hop ales that you encounter on tap is that you’d better grab them while you can; we’re talking about a several-week shelf life, at least if you want to get the taste benefits of the hop being a young green pea in a pod rather than a wizened bittering agent. SUBLIMMMINAL ALE certainly has a different taste than your run-of-the-mill pale ale or IPA. It took some getting used to. It’s very hoppy for sure; what I found a bit surprising was how thick and “chewy” the beer was, sort of like a rich, orange-colored English beer that just happened to be hopped to the gills. I’m no expert on types of hops, but SUBLIMMMINAL ALE’s variety either was a hop I wasn’t familiar with or this fresh hop thing really does have something to be said for it. Get it on tap in California if you’re out here and you see it, otherwise banish it from your mind thusly. 7/10.

GETTING FRIENDLY WITH GREEN FLASH

My favorite podcast and chief resource for beer news is the craft beer empire being built by the PACIFIC BREW NEWS folks (Rick Sellers in particular). When they say a beer is a standout, you can believe that it probably is, because these guys are well-versed in all styles, and never make the leap into touting extreme beers for their own sake. A couple shows ago they were raving about GREEN FLASH IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE, and were comparing it very, very positively to highly-hopped standouts like Moylan’s Hopsickle, Russian River’s Pliny The Elder and Alpine Brewing’s Pure Hoppiness (which I’ve never had, but am trying to get my San Diego-based sister to find for me). I’ve reviewed a couple of Green Flash beers in this very forum the past few weeks, but this is one I’d yet to try until I encountered it on tap the other night at Pacific Coast Brewing in Oakland, CA. This is the story of that beer.

They served said IMPERIAL IPA in a Belgian-style goblet, which was sort of the brewpub’s way of marking this one as “special”, I s’pose. Or a commentary on the recent US-Belgian cross-pollination in brewing methods. Or maybe they ran out of pint glasses. Anyway, this beer initially hits the nose with a really strong burst of hops and a “floral bouquet”, if you will. Like other well-constructed Double IPAs, you smell it well before you taste it, and the quality is apparent from the word go. I liked its bitterness, probably in the upper 25% for “bitter”ing among IPAs I’ve tasted, and probably well past a point that would be comfortable for most novice beer drinkers. GREEN FLASH IMPERIAL IPA didn’t really do a ton to distinguish itself (to my taste, this particular night) as one of the greats, but there’s likely a little bit of IPA overload implicit in that statement. As Rick and the gang at PBN always point out, we’re so friggin’ spoiled here in California when it comes to India Pale Ale, that it’s almost blasphemy to shrug one’s shoulder’s at a beer this well-constructed. I’ll go with 7/10, and look for a 22-oz. bomber of this in the stores in the near future.

HACKER-PSCHORR OKTOBERFEST

I find it hard to get too riled up about Oktoberfest. There’s no teutonic blood in the family, and the thought of spending a day in a beer garden getting all beaned-up on lagers is a happy memory of my early twenties. Still, I’ll try the odd marzen when October rolls around. Last weekend it was HACKER-PSCHORR OKTOBERFEST, a refreshing, but ultimately disappointing addition to the canon (albeit one that’s been being served across Europe and the globe since 1417). I found it difficult to muster a whole lot of excitement for this bready, flat-tasting lager. It reminded me of a orange-colored, liquid box of crackers, one that your kindly aunt & uncle brought over from their trip to Bavaria but that might have been left in a suitcase from the trip last year & just discovered during pre-packing this year. I couldn’t get into it, I’m afraid, and even lederhosen and an oompah band would have a hard time getting my 5/10 rating up to a 6. But hey, the pumpkin beers are here!

QUICK TAKE: BEAR REPUBLIC’S “SAMMY’S STRONG ALE”

I’ve got this post I want to write called “In Praise of Racer 5”, and I’ll get to it one of these days. I get to drink BEAR REPUBLIC BREWING’s RACER 5 IPA on a pretty frequent basis, as it’s the best beer on tap at a San Francisco rock club I tend to go to monthly called the Hemlock Tavern; it also seems to be showing up with more frequency in refrigerators around these parts as well. Bear Republic have mastered the IPA, but how do they stack up on the “Strong Ale” front, hunh? Well, what is an American strong ale anyway? Here’s what Beer Advocate has to say about it:

Catch all style category for beers from 7.0 percent alcohol by volume and above, Some may even be as high as 25% abv. Characteristics will greatly vary, some have similarities to Barley-wines and Old Ales. Barrel aging is certainly not out of the question.

Interestingly, they put Bear Republic’s SAMMY’S STRONG ALE in this non-category, then go on to say it’s 6.7% alcohol. So let’s call it a “buff ale” instead. Whatever ya call it, it’s pretty good. I had one on tap this past Tuesday night. It poured a light amber, and is almost entirely defined by its rich, deep malts and zesty but restrained hops. I actually pegged it as a souped-up ESB as I was drinking it. It certainly is bitter, but also smooth and grainy. It’s a lot of things, to be frank, and one of ‘em is good. 7/10.

PORT BREWING’S “HOP 15” – EVEN A GIANT MAY STUMBLE

Everyone knows these days about PORT BREWING, one of the 21st century giants of American craft brewing. They’ve duly earned their stripes over the past several years with some of the most well-tended, experimental and robust beers in the world, starting with their PIZZA PORT beers, spinning off into the incredible PORT BREWING beers, to say nothing of the world-beating LOST ABBEY lineup. Whew. My favorites out of the big and growing bunch are Lost Abbey’s DEVOTION ALE, which is a blonde ale that’ll knock yer socks off yer ass; the Pizza Port HOP SUEY, a citrus-packed IPA to die for; and Lost Abbey’s AVANT GARDE, which right now stands to date as the finest example of the biere de garde style I’ve ever ingested. Any beer they release, you’d better pick up. Except for one.

I believe that to err is human and even divine, and that our humanity is best revealed by our mistakes, and our willingness to learn from them. Therefore I see the proverbial glass as half-full when I tell you that PORT BREWING’s new HOP 15 is a rare miss. In fact, it’s quite a severe disappointment, considering these fellas’ track record. HOP 15 burst onto the Double IPA scene a few months ago, and the initial word I got was that it was a good ‘un. Well if you believe me and not them, let me tell you that it’s not. It truly was not what I expected. HOP 15 is an over-hopped, 10 percent ABV bitter-bomb, one that truly is – and it saddens me to say this – a “Double IPA by the numbers”, albeit one that is too piney, and far too sweet. Of course, there’s no accounting for taste, but this reminds me of something you’d get from either an “extreme” homebrewer or a fledgling brewery (maybe one from Hawaii or Arkansas) – not something from a California goliath. Frailty is revealed, and imperfections are brought to the surface, thus illuminating the more beautiful portions of the repertoire. I’m going with 5.5/10 for HOP 15.

HEDONIST BEER JIVE’S GREATEST HITS

Beer, My Health and My Belly
The Day I Discovered Real Beer
A Note About our Ratings System
Three IPAs in a Big Week for IPAs
Hey! Who Skunked my Beer?
The Absurd Microscene of the “Brewery Bands”
Holiday Beer Drink-Off
Stone Shoots An Airball
Interview: Craig Wathen from City Beer Store
Interview: Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing
Interview: Rick Sellers from Pacific Brew News
Moylan’s Hopsickle – There Goes a Tenner
The Great Summer Wheat-Off
Best Pilsner on the Planet?
The Toronado Barleywine Fest, 3 oz. at a Time
Alcohol & Me
San Francisco, Meet Port Brewing
Final 2006 Holiday Beer Rankings
Don’t Anger This Thirsty Bear
Drinking in Olde New York

SMALL BREWER OF THE YEAR: TELEGRAPH BREWING

I love bestowing awards, like I’m some sorta expert or something. And calling someone brewer of the year in late September – why, there’s an entire quarter left of beer exploration! Yet let me tell you why Santa Barbara, CA’s TELEGRAPH BREWING are easily the ones to beat this year, and why they should get ready to come collect the hardware at our headquarters on January 1st. I thought that perhaps the CALIFORNIA ALE of theirs that I told you about last month was a fluke; a wonderful, moderately experimental brew that probably just happened to be their best, the jewel in the crown as they say. I now know this to not be true. They have at least TWO jewels, and believe you me, I’m going to find out if there are any more, by hook or crook.

What’s got me all worked up? TELEGRAPH BREWING’s GOLDEN WHEAT ALE, that’s what. The best – certainly the most interesting – wheat beer I’ve had all year. A lightly tart, very cloudy/unfiltered wheat ale, one that certainly ups the lemon zest and clove-like tastes to take this into the realm of the greats. It is moderately bready, but the overwhelming mouthfeel is this total “zing” – fresh, alive and robust, like a fizzing tart dissolving on your tongue. Haven’t heard of Telegraph Brewing? Well, join the soon-to-be dwindling club. They are a small brewer in Santa Barbara, one that’s not even been live for two years yet. They’re only open for a few hours on a couple of days, and the only way you’re going to find their wares is to travel down there (consult this list for a good rundown of who sells it and who is serving it). Those two 22-oz. bottles I went out of my way to find in Santa Barbara last month were among the best investments I’ve made since those 20,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. And now they’re gone. And now I must have more. Telegraph Brewing’s GOLDEN WHEAT ALE – 8.5/10!

MY FIRST MAUDITE

Continuing my intrepid exploration of the beers of Quebec’s UNIBROUE, I had my first bottle of the heralded MAUDITE two evenings ago, and I reveled in every second of it. This fantastic beer is just an incredible combination of warm, tangy yeasts and intense spices, almost like you’d find in a winter beer. Somehow this pumpkin-colored, Belgian-style dark ale manages to go down quite smoothly, while dazzling with some earthy, peppery flavors that balance out the 8% alcohol sweetness and those winter spices I was telling; you about. It’s the best Unibroue beer I’ve had since the revelation that was LA FIN DU MONDE. I’ll admit that when I first started considering buying these, I was actually off-put by the beautiful labels, rather than attracted. I have this ingrained suspicion of form-over-substance, and reckoned that what they were spending on artwork was probably being proportionally taken from the beer. Well, I learned myself but good when I started reading about how wonderful the Unibroue beers were, and then started buying them myself. I’m pretty sure they’re available pretty much everywhere good beer is sold, not just in the US but Europe as well. Maudite is tremendous; we’re giving it a big 9/10.

TWO TAP-ONLY TONGUE-TINGLERS FROM DRAKE’S

I’ll hand it to San Leandro, CA’s DRAKE’S BREWING – they don’t stand in one place for very long. Every quarter bold, experimental new beers from them start hitting the pubs & bars (and sometimes shelves) of the San Francisco Bay Area, and at the very least, they’re always interesting. Last quarter they came out with the single hoppiest beer I’ve ever tasted, HOP SALAD (and it was great); last year there was another hardcore amped-up IPA out there called the DENOGGINIZER that was excellent as well. Other Drake’s products have been middling at best: the HEFEWEIZEN, the BLONDE ALE, and the JOLLY ROGER. We’re trying ‘em all, because that’s what we do here.

You wouldn’t even know about DRAKE’S and the envelopes they are pushing if not for beer blogs and the occasional review that makes it to Beer Advocate. They have a website that, far from touting all these crrrrrazy creations, has not been updated since April 2004, which is totally mystifying to me. In this day & age, particularly in the experimental craft brew niche they’re playing in, the web is the main lever dorks like me pull to find out about new beer, with word of mouth, blind sampling, beer festivals and beer magazines probably being the others. Let me therefore tell you about two they’ve come up with in later 2007, a big 42 months since their last site update. I tried them both on tap at Barclay’s in Oakland, CA last week. First up was #1500 IMPERIAL PALE ALE. I believe it’s the first time I’ve heard the term “Imperial” applied to a pale ale, which many folks would therefore turn around & call an IPA or a double IPA. Let’s call it a souped-up, hoppy pale ale, shall we? I took some notes: “Strong. Bitter. Like an IPA. A little off”. (that’s what it says). I recall that it didn’t have the citrus/floral taste of a typical west coast IPA, but it certainly had the hops, and it just didn’t have that certain I-don’t-know-what that I was looking for – but it was still pretty good. 6.5/10.

Next was this quarter’s DENOGGINIZER or HOP SALAD – another xtreme IPA from Darke’s. This formulation is called RODGER’S LAST STAND, and Barclay’s would only serve it in half pints, such were its high-alcohol dangers and seductive charms. Barclay’s called it a Triple IPA. Well. My friend Chris called it right off the bat and said, “this is kinda like a port wine”, and I agree. It had some real wine-like characteristics, unlike its other IPA cousins. Much more thin-bodied than a typical beer, very still and clear and almost totally lacking carbonation. I wrote “hoppy but ephemeral”, and I guess what I meant when I wrote that (though you never can tell), is that it may have been totally agro with the hops, but they didn’t linger on the aftertaste the way that Hop Salad did. I think I sort of liked it, but again, not like those others. 6.5/10.

ATTENTION SPRINT CUSTOMERS: BEERNUTZ

I was dorking around in the “downloads” section of Sprint’s WAP portal – oh, for people outside of the wireless industry, which is a place I haven’t been in 13 years, that’s what you see when you’re paying for a data plan and click the “web” link on your phone – and I came across something that called to me like a fair-haired, porcelain-skinned siren on the rocks on Anthemusa: BEERNUTZ. BEERNUTZ is a downloadable application devoted to craft beer, and it runs on a subscription basis for $1.99/month. That’s quite a bit lower than most “apps” you can buy through your phone – about the price of a ringtone every month. On first blush, it’s a pretty good place to waste some time on a bus, on a break, or when you’re supposed to watching your kid at the playground. There are sections devoted to reviews (a strong lean toward both Belgians and Colorado-based beers, leading me to believe this may in fact emanate from Colorado), beer style guides, beer news, instructions of pairing beer with food, beer news, an events calendar, and quite a bit more. It’s written by a fella or fellas who take the tasting of beer pretty seriously; i.e. lots of description & evaluation of the beer from all angles, including the dreaded “lacing on the glass” angle. Example beers that they review & rate include those from GREAT DIVIDE, UNIBROUE, AVERY, LEFT HAND, OMMEGANG and more. For the most part you get a pretty good sense of their tastes, and their tastes are quite good.

Some things to improve on: frequency of updates; I just checked BEERNUTZ on September 24th, and their “Events” section lists stuff coming up on September 8th. That’s the death knell of any wireless application that requires the user to proactively come back on their own initiative – the content had better be fresh or forget about it. Hey guys, you want to syndicate Hedonist Beer Jive, I’m all for it. Also, “weird beer news” is about as lame as it gets. For some reason “beer” = “funny” for so many writers out there, so you get a disproportionate amount of blog postings about some European who took a bath in beer, a beer some knucklehead made for dogs, etc. We don’t need it in our lives, and we most certainly don’t need it on the friggin’ phone. I think a buck ninety-nine for BEERNUTZ is a fine deal for Sprint customers, and with a little more in the way of updates, it’ll be a mighty fine time waster for me in the months to come.

GREEN FLASH NUT BROWN ALE – A BREWERY REDEEMED

Very happy to get some of this GREEN FLASH NUT BROWN ALE down the ‘ol gullet the other night. It was served on tap at Barclay’s in Oakland, CA, and it serves as a nice counterweight to the unappealing EXTRA PALE ALE I tried a couple of weeks ago. This one is really delicious, and is everything a 2007 west coast American version of an English brown ale should be. Picture a brown ale that is totally alive and prickly with carbonation – and you like it. Picture a brown ale that is far more bitter than you’re used to – and you like that too. Picture caramel tastes, and some hoppiness not out of place in an “imperial red”, and yes, you like that too. Now picture a brown ale being quaffed and enjoyed with relish, and then rated 8/10 by your seventh-favorite beer blog. You like that.

LET’S GO.....DRINKING IN KANSAS CITY (PART 2: BOULEVARD BREWING)

If you’re lucky or unlucky enough to have to travel as part of your job, you’re undoubtedly had to negotiate the minefield of whether or not to hang out with your co-workers after the work day is complete. You’re both stuck in a strange, unfamiliar city, you both need to eat dinner (and maybe drink), and yet you barely know each other and despite just having spent the entire day together working. Sometimes one of you (say, ME) is male and married, and the other of you is female and unmarried, or vice-versa. Sometime you totally dig hanging out with each other (and it’s a no-brainer to hang out), sometimes you can’t stand each other, and most times you’re just indifferent. I once traveled all the time with a guy, a real over-talkative, super-Christian, nerdy dude, and I had to concoct all sorts of ouch-my-stomach-hurts-and-I’m-so-tired excuses to get out of dinner together, and I would then take a cab to the opposite end of town so I could have dinner without being spotted and thereby violating the traveling-together code of ethics. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? Most of the time I’m just fine with my companions, and I’ll do what I can to corral them to a local brewery if they show even the slightest interest.

Anyway, I’m new at my current job, and my two very cool female Kansas City co-travelers & I negotiated the aforementioned minefield by having a simple after-work drink last week in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Overland Park, Kansas. One, who actually is a local in those parts, picked a watering hole called PJ McGillicuddy’s or something like that, and not wanting to show my beer-dork cards too early, I happily went along. 10 beers later, I…..no, not really. I was able to scare up a beer I’d never had from BOULEVARD BREWING, who are the undisputed heavyweights of the Kansas City brewing scene. Their beer is everywhere, kinda like Anchor Stream is everywhere in San Francisco. My pick was their PALE ALE, and it was a very malty, refreshing after-work beverage. This beer is what “pale ale” used to be in the 1990s – a fairly undistinguished, lighter, and far-less-hopped beer than the hoppy, intense pale ales you especially get on the West Coast. Pale Ales to me used to be “starter ales”, now they are right up there with IPAs and Belgian-Style ales as part of the main show. This one was good: 6.5/10.

So there I was at 6:30pm with a night in the Kansas City area all to myself. Co-workers had to go back to their hotels & homes to “work” or something. I decided, “what the hell, let’s go see the last-place KANSAS CITY ROYALS in their own yard!”, and drove out to the ballpark. There, awaiting my arrival, were two more examples of BOULEVARD BREWING’s prowess. First up was their UNFILTERED WHEAT. I had this beer with a spicy ballpark chicken sandwich, and unfortunately, like the food, it too was a bit on the spicy, won’t-go-down-easy side. I found this beer had a real aggro bite, and yeah, it was a totally unfiltered, cloudy whirlwind of wheat, but I didn’t find it to be all that refreshing or conducive to the occasion. I’m going with 5.5/10, and maybe next time I’ll try it in different environs. Good thing the night was saved by the outstanding BOULEVARD LUNAR ALE. Yeah-hup for this one!! Loved it. A reddish-brown ale, really almost like an “Imperial Amber” to my taste, one that reminded me of a more bitter BOONT AMBER (though it’s only 13 IBUs). Beer Advocate calls it an “American Dark Wheat Ale”, and readers have it rated down at the low end of the spectrum. Say what? In any event, this was an aggressive, malt-forward, delicious amber ale, and I looked for it in vain the next day to take home with me. If you’re in the “Show-Me” state anytime soon, ask ‘em to show you some of this. 8.5/10.

DE REGENBOOG ‘T SMISJE KERST

I was pretty dazzled by a DE REGENBOOG beer earlier in the year – the ‘T SMISJE DUBBEL – so I paid my first (!) visit to San Francisco’s HEALTHY SPIRITS, a fantastic corner store in the Castro/Duboce triangle district with an entire wall full of rare Belgian beer in coolers. I found a DE REGENBOOG ‘T SMISJE KERST, which HBJ correspondent “Scott” tagged as the one to get from this fine Belgian brewer. Good call, Scott. They’ve got it advertised as a winter ale, albeit one that appears to be available year-round (I drank mine this past week, in mid-September). To me, it’s very barleywine-like, with alcohol topping out at a scale-tipping 11%. Good thing it’s a runt-sized bottle. The great thing about this beer is how little you notice the high ABV; there’s a real malty heaviness and a sweetness like you wouldn’t believe, which is maybe the only hint you get that it’s heavily dosed. I was getting some real pleasing tastes of figs, raisins and plums. It’s not a thick beer by any means – malty, sure, but “bodied” just about where you’d like it to be. I pronounce it a 7/10. Hey, is it holiday beer season yet? Anywhere?

LET’S GO……DRINKING IN KANSAS CITY (PART 1: McCOY’S PUBLIC HOUSE)

As fate would have it, my job took me to Kansas City, Missouri last week, and I frantically did the thing that all right-thinking beer drinkers do when confronted with an unfamiliar city: I looked up the town breweries & pubs, then Mapquested directions from the airport. The one that Beer Advocate’s “Beerfly” resource seemed to indicate would be my best bet was called the 75TH STREET BREWERY. Upon landing, armed with my sheet of directions, that’s just where I headed, only to get ensnared in a Mapquestian nightmare of wrong turns, one-way streets, and no-handed driving with the overhead rental car light on. Chastened and frustrated (and very hungry & thirsty), I pulled into a neighborhood I’d been in once before called Westport, and lo & behold, right in front of me was McCOY’S PUBLIC HOUSE, a name I recognized from my half-hearted research. When I realized they brewed their own beer, well, “dinner was served”, as they say.

After asking for a table for one, I was seated next to a table – I kid you not – packed with six burly, beefy, corn-fed Midwestern cops in full uniform, right out of central casting. No one else was seated in my section – just me & the cops. Would you fault me for therefore ordering the lowest-ABV beer on the menu before getting my bearings? Good thing I did, as McCOY’S THOMPSON’S DRY STOUT was a really refreshing, smoky-tasting stout that I found to be quite a bit above my expectations. A little thin, perhaps, but this was counterbalanced with some delicious roasted malts that, like I said, has a crisp “smoked” taste that worked well. Good on ya, McCOY’S! 7/10.

So those cops didn’t skedaddle anywhere, but they also weren’t actively checking my alcohol intake either, and were busy talkin’ about the Monday Night Football game then being projected on the big screens. Knowing that I’d get totally lost on my way to Overland Park, Kansas (my ultimate destination), I kept my tastings to a mere 10-oz. glass, and proceeded to order the NEWCOMB’S IPA. I declare with not a small amount of perverse pride that this is quite simply the single worst IPA I’ve ever tasted, and a beer that now sets a record for lowest-rated beer in the history of Hedonist Beer Jive. The “pride” I felt was probably more akin to relief, as it proved to me that not every beer I drink falls into the milquetoast “good to great” 6-to-9 range, and that there are still poorly-executed craft beers out there. They’re not all great – how about that? My taste buds still work! NEWCOMB’S IPA was bitter beyond belief, with no balance whatsoever. Like a stuffed mouthful of dry, hurtful hops, worse than any homebrew I’ve had. Ever. 2.5/10, and I couldn’t finish it. Should have had a “RED LIGHT RASBERRY” instead – seriously.

So as long as you stay away from that thing, McCOY’S is pretty all right. Service could have been better, but they were playing parts of “Exile On Main Street” while I dined on a very satisfying turkey burger & fries. A little THOMPSON’S DRY STOUT to go with that & you’re all set. When in Kansas City and totally, hopelessly lost, look ‘em up!

IT’S NOT YOU, MOONLIGHT – IT’S ME

This beer obsession has taken me hither and yon across the universe of fine ales over the past 17+ years, but traversing the land of the lager has been difficult. Several reasons for this – 1.) Lagers usually aren’t made nor served by most microbreweries, save for a token pilsner, and 2.) I generally don’t like ‘em. Naturally, I’m not alone here – lagers are the lost stepchild of the craft beer movement, despite their ubiquity in terms of US sales, though it’s somewhat embarrassing for me to focus so heavily on ales when lagers have served mankind so well for so long. There are even lagers that I love – HACKER-PSCHOR DUNKEL WEISS and MOONLIGHT REALITY CZECK made the vaunted “Hedonist Beer Jive 25” – and I’d like to get involved with a few more good ones. (Correction - noted by Loren in the comments below - Hacker-Pschor Dunkel Weiss is an ale, not a lager. Damn it, Loren!) To that end, we tried our old friends from MOONLIGHT BREWING’s LUNATIC LAGER the other night. The brewery calls it a European Export-style lager, and continues with “A crisp Germanic-style light lager beer, lively hop and yeast flavors yet subtle”. I call it clean, crisp and altogether boring as hell. But then that’s me. I’m not into a clean-n-crisp-n-boring light lager. I wish I could pretend otherwise. Like its Bay Area-based cousin TRUMER PILS, this LUNATIC LAGER is most likely a fine representative of its style, and certainly would go over easy at the sports bar over the course of a good hockey game. I’d tap it over the usual suspects in a second. That said – 5.5/10. It’s not you, Moonlight – it’s me.

ALLAGASH WHITE, THE NEW NORTH AMERICAN WITBIER STANDARD

Do you keep a list of “must-try” beers? Do you wish you did? Well, I do, because I’m a obsessive-compulsive doofus. If you want to join me in said endeavor, I suggest you get ALLGASH WHITE on your list. It was sitting on mine, and the other night it popped up on the we-have-it-on-tap list at Berkeley, CA’s JUPITER, the same night we tried that GREEN FLASH EXTRA PALE ALE we didn’t cotton to so much. But that was in the future; ALLAGASH WHITE (from Portland, Maine’s ALLAGASH BREWING) was the first beer of the evening, and man was it a good one – just like all the blogs & such had said it would be. I liked it better than the UNIBROUE BLANCHE DE CHAMBLY and the RUSSIAN RIVER LITTLE WHITE LIE we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and scanning through the ratings this 8.5/10 champion is the best wit/white beer I’ve had from my continent. Hooray!

This beer not only has really a noticeable taste of orange, it pours a completely opaque & stunning orange color as well. It does not, to my taste, have that bitter, peppery flavoring/mouthfeel that many witbiers do, in fact it’s quite a bit lighter and more “fluffy” in that sense. I don’t remember there being much of a head on it, and it’s not very yeast-heavy to the tongue. It’s not a strain to drink it fairly quickly, in other words, but hanging back and really enjoying it is definitely the recommended way to go, as it’s well-constructed like few beers are, and definitely a big cut above the norm. Loved it. Again, 8.5/10, and available in big bottles at your local specialty beermeister.

WHEN AVERY MET RUSSIAN RIVER, AND THE WORLD BLURRED

I copied & pasted this pic from the Brookston Beer Bulletin, as I didn't take any of my own - thanks!

Perhaps you’ve heard the tale of how AVERY BREWING of Colorado and RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING of California both made a beer called SALVATION, and in mock indignation decided to “collaborate” rather than “litigate” this budding controversy, thereby producing an excellent beer called COLLABORATION, NOT LITIGATION. It’s essentially a mash-up of the two SALVATIONS, and not only is it excellent, it’s still available & I believe even being made again this year. Then I get the good word just a few weeks ago that AVERY have secured distribution of their outstanding beers in Northern California, and lo & behold, brewmaster and owner Adam Avery shows up on the west coast two weeks ago for a series of events designed to promote the arrival of his beers in these parts. Cue the sound of rabid beer dorks quickly yanking money from their wallets.

One such event appealed to this particular beer dork, and that was a beer dinner hosted by “THE BEER CHEF”, pitting the beers of AVERY vs. their old doppelganger RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING in a knock-down, drag-out drink off. If you’re thinking, “only two of the US’s finest brewers!”, that’s exactly what I was thinking too when I ponied up the (cough) $85 admission fee. I’ll get a few things out of the way first: the food was very good, the joie de vivre and camaraderie shared by RR’s Vinnie Cilurzio and Avery’s Adam Avery was fun (I think these fellas might have been nipping each others’ beers when backs were turned, and as such pretty much spent the second half of the dinner constantly “on mic”, roasting each other, the beer chef and the world at large), and for eighty-five large, the amount of top-quality beer served was staggering and more than generous. This wasn’t ordinary beer, as both breweries tend toward high-ABV monsters, often soured or aged or generally tweaked-with to produce some true marvels. Many have been discussed in this forum before, so lemme tell you what we had:

RUSSIAN RIVER BLIND PIG IPA
AVERY IPA
AVERY SALVATION
RUSSIAN RIVER SALVATION
AVERY MAHARAJA
RUSSIAN RIVER DAMNATION, BATCH 23
AVERY FOURTEEN
RUSSIAN RIVER TORONADO ANNIVERSARY ALE
COLLABORATION, NOT LITIGATION

The first two IPAs were served to all comers before dinner even began, and it was “Drink as much as you like”, and in all the excitement that’s (alas) just what I did. The big a-ha moment out of that was just how much I loved the RUSSIAN RIVER BLIND PIG IPA. What a wonderful beverage. It was my second time having it, and I really dug it last time, but it was so citrusy & well-balanced & out-and-out delicious I had to get a second pint of it, and proclaimed it a 9.5/10 to the entire room whilst standing on a chair with a lampshade on & my pants unbuttoned. Whoops. AVERY IPA was a good solid IPA, but on this round it was “the Santa Rosa kid” taking the lion’s share of the IPA points.

After that it all gets a little less clear. I do know that I enjoyed everything, and I mean everything. One beer in particular really made the grade, and that was AVERY’S 2007 anniversary ale, FOURTEEN. Lots of oohing and ahhing around the table as that one was being consumed, and thankfully I had secured a bomber of this earlier in the week and have it waiting for me at home one of these days. Another surprise was just how drinkable & delicious the “ultra-aged” and oaked DAMNATION, BATCH 23 from Russian River was. The word on the street was that it was really, really oaked-tasting, and that doesn’t usually square with me. Thankfully this one did, and again, the bottles are out there and I got lucky enough to grab one, so after I, uh, “age” this one for a bit I’ll drink it with a critical tongue, and tell you about it if you’d like.

A friend tells me that he knew my night was over when I noisily demanded to be passed the water pitcher from the rest of the table and got nowhere, and then just closed my eyes in frustration for a ‘lil catnap. The next day was a little ragged, and as someone who basically never has hangovers & curses himself for weeks when he does – well, let’s just say that I’d firmly decided to end the beer geekdom, this blog, and all drinking whatsoever for about 24 hours after this event. But "that’s what you get when you play with the big kids". I’ll know better next time. In the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to procure the beers of either of these heavyweights in your area, by all means make a point of doing so, and pay special attention to that AVERY FOURTEEN while it’s around. That’s it – I’m going back to my ice water pitcher now.

QUICK TAKE: TRIPEL KARMELIET

TRIPLE KARMELIET is a Belgian tripel dating back to some time prior to my birth – well, 1679 to be precise. I guess it’s somewhat hard to imagine beer this delicious and well-crafted being produced in the 17th century, and naturally the modern mind goes totally skeptical that the olde version would taste anything like today’s. I suppose one can never know, but just this connection to near-ancient brewing methods is one of the many reasons Belgian beer is so special. TRIPEL KARMELIET has a very strong and intense taste, quite bready, almost as if a batch of sourdough got into the vats and gummed up the works for a while before someone – maybe a monk – noticed. This happy accident, in my imaginary world of beermaking, produced a very tasteful and unforgiving beer; unforgiving in the sense that you don’t want to slam this one down at a kegger; you’ll just look & feel stupid. Its carbonation alone, which I found to be pretty high, would preclude such activities. Nope, enjoy it in the comforts of home with, oh jeez I don’t know – how about a steak and some “pomme frites”? I’ll restock this one again sometime in the near future. 7.5/10.

GREEN FLASH CRAPS A MULLIGAN

You know and I know that GREEN FLASH BREWING, a San Diego upstart of the last few years that's helped to further that city's deserved brewing reputation, is capable of great things. I thoroughly enjoyed their barleywine earlier in the year, and though I have yet to try them, all the kool kidz tell me that the Imperial IPA and the regular-ol'-IPA are to die for. I believe it. So why does their EXTRA PALE ALE taste like aspirin? I tried to quaff a pint of this the other night at Jupiter in Berkeley, CA, and it was as if I was trying some unbalanced homebrew that a rookie like me might try. This, like the last beer we reviewed, also goes for the English style, which means it's bound to be a more dry, crisp and malty beer than an American pale ale, which is often bursting with citrus and moderate hops. But no matter, I say. If it doesn't taste good, it doesn't taste good. All breweries are allowed a bogey from time to time - I'm thinking this might be GREEN FLASH's. 4/10.

LAGUNITAS' "KILL UGLY RADIO" - FRANK'S MILD YEARS

Man, that LAGUNITAS "FREAK OUT!" double IPA was really something, wasn't it? Released as an anniversary tribute last year to Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention's first album, it also happened to be one of the most bold & refreshing highly-hopped beers I’ve ever had, and it was mildly distressing around our house when we found out it was a one-time-only deal. So here’s Lagunitas trying to keep the Zappa magic rolling a little longer, this time with another highly-hopped IPA called KILL UGLY RADIO. You think Frank would approve? Didn’t that fella not even drink? You think Dweezil, Moon Unit and the GTOs got comped with a few bottles? Anyway, I excitedly tore this bottle open yesterday, and enjoyed it I suppose, inasmuch as I always enjoy a finely-constructed India Pale Ale. This one, I must say, is a little more “plain jane” compared to Lagunitas’ MAXIMUS or the FREAK OUT. It’s a very piney taste, missing a lot of expected citrus & missing any aroma whatsoever to boot, and malt tastes are nearly nonexistent. Hops and pine, pine and hops - yet not overwhelming in any sense, at least to those who make it their supremely dorkified passion to seek out all of these west coat IPAs. I learned it actually uses west coast hops, but I almost reckoned that this was a tribute to "the English Style" as I was enjoying it. Hunh. I suspect that it’s not even a double IPA, but is instead a single – whatever that means, right, hombre? 6.5/10.

THE NIGHT OF THE WHITE BEERS

In the not-too-distant future I plan to tell the tale of last Friday’s AVERY BREWING vs. RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING beer dinner I attended, a bacchanalian evening of heavy food and amazing, world-beating high-alcohol beer. I took a vow of beer celibacy for five big days following said event. If you were there, you probably did too. No, this post today is about a recent evening in which I paired two white beers, aka witbiers, against each other in a no holds-barred drink off. Both “won”, but of course I was the biggest winner of all.

First up was RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING’s entrant, LITTLE WHITE LIE, enjoyed on tap at Lanesplitter Pizza in Berkeley, CA. Now what’s interesting about this tasting was that, 1 year after my first encounter with the beer, my enthusiasm for this one dipped a full two points, from the 9/10 we bestowed upon it last time to the 7/10 I’m going with now. Who can say why. I’ll say that this is a witbier with a little bit of the funk about it; i.e. compared to most examples of the form, this one’s more of a sipper than a gulper. Totally opaque, very yeasty tasting, and with heartier, almost dough-like mouthfeel. I didn’t have the over-the-top rapturous experience with it I had last time, and yet it was quite delicious nonetheless. My take-away is that the witbier formula was deliberately tampered with here to make something slightly strange & unique. “What a surprise” from our friends at Russian River.

Later that evening, back in the safety of the home, I gave myself up to BLANCHE DE CHAMBLY, a product of the UNIBROUE corporation. This lovely beer was blessed with a truly eye-watering orange/lemon smell, and was just as cloudy and unfiltered-tasting as the Little White Lie. Again, quite yeasty, with a lot of thickness as well. Truth be told, the carbonation produced numerous gaseous escapes from my throat. Good thing that family was away for the evening. It’s not a Bondsian knock out of the park, but I gave it a 7.5/10, about what I’d expect from UNIBROUE, unlike the last one I had from them. Advantage UNIBROUE by a nose.

MEANTIME COFFEE PORTER - SMOOTH & NONDESCRIPT

There was this funny 'lil bottle of MEANTIME COFFEE PORTER sitting on a shelf recently, all the way from England it said, and having read some good word about these guys I thought it might merit a try. The one that's apparantly worth busting a nut for from these guys is their IPA, but I've yet to see that around, so this tiny 11.2-oz. bottle was it for me. I'd say it was an enjoyable brew, one that was far less "exciting" than I expected in the sense that the coffee flavors, which were most certainly present, were still so muted & pushed to the background that this was closer to your standard-issue English porter than I'd reckoned. Certainly not a bad thing, as it was a smooth ride with a deceptive alcohol kick (6%, about 1-1.5% higher than most beers of its ilk). I drank it late, close to the sleeping hour, and had no problem drifting off. Remember that RED HOOK/STARBUCKS disaster from over a decade ago, a 22-oz. bomber that was half coffee, half Red Hook? I promise you'll like this one better. 7/10.

THE HEDONIST BEER JIVE 25 – revised 9/4/07

The finest beers in the world, all in one ranked, ordered place for your shopping list:

1. MOYLAN’S – Hopsickle (Double IPA)
2. ANDERSON VALLEY – Boont Amber (American Amber/Red Ale)
3. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT – Trappistes Rochefort 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)
4. THREE FLOYDS - Alpha King (American Pale Ale)
5. AVERY BREWING – The Reverend (Quadrupel)
6. MOONLIGHT – Reality Czeck (Czech Pilsner)
7. STONE BREWING – IPA (IPA)
8. MOONLIGHT – 2006 Toast Malt Liquor (American Amber/Red Lager)
9. HACKER-PSCHORR – Dunkel Weiss (Dunkel Weizen)
10. LOST ABBEY - Devotion Ale (Belgian-Style Blonde)
11. RUSSIAN RIVER – Damnation (Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale)

12. BEAR REPUBLIC - Racer 5 (IPA)
13. DARK HORSE - Tres Blueberry Stout (American Stout)

14. MARIN BREWING - Tripel Dipsea (Tripel)
15. MOYLAN’S – IPA (IPA)
16. LANGUNITAS – Freak Out! (IPA)
17. RUSSIAN RIVER – Rejection (Belgian Black Ale)
18. FIRESTONE WALKER – 10 (Barleywine)
19. DRAKE’S – Denogginizer (Double IPA)
20. DESCHUTES – 2006 Jubel Ale (Winter Warmer)
21. LOST ABBEY – Avant Garde (Biere De Garde)
22. NORTH COAST – Old Stock 2004 (Old Ale)
23. PORT BREWING – Hop Suey (Double IPA)
24. RUSSIAN RIVER - O.V.L. Stout (American Stout)
25. FIRESTONE WALKER - Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)