Thoughts on Beer

Samuel Adams Winter Classics Variety Pack

Samuel Adams has once again announced the arrival of winter with the release of this year’s Winter Classics Variety Pack.

In the pack, there are 2 bottles each of:

Boston Lager

Holiday Porter

Black and Brew Coffee Stout

Chocolate Bock

Winter Lager

Old Fezziwig Ale

Again this year, Samuel Adams has kept the spices low to ensure drinkable, non-cloying beers. Chocolate Bock is back, and I hope it’s only a matter of time before they make it available in 6/12-packs.  This year’s addition to the mix pack is the Black and Brew Coffee Stout, which replaces White Ale in the pack.  I had my first experience with Samuel Adams’ coffee stout several years ago (2008) when it went up against the Blackberry Witbier in the Beer Lover’s Choice where, sadly, it lost, even though it received my vote.

Have you tried the Winter Classics Variety Pack for 2011? Which ones in the pack do you like? Which ones don’t you like?

New Belgium Clutch

New Belgium has introduced several new beers to the Lips of Faith series.  One you may remember I mentioned tasting at the Iowa City Brewfest was a sour brown ale, Clutch.  I had the chance to try it in a more controlled environment over the weekend.

With the first taste, Clutch has a nice roasted chocolate and coffee flavor, and leaves a slightly sour, not over-the-top, taste in the back of your tongue.  The finish also has a slight coffee flavor.  I thought it was a great beer that’s very drinkable, and reminds me of New Belgium’s 1554 with slight sourness.

Have you tried Clutch?  What was your experience?

Boulevard Collaboration #2

I had a chance to sample the Boulevard Smokestack Collaboration #2 – White IPA, a collaboration with the Deschutes Brewery in Oregon, over the weekend and I found it to be a great beer.  Imagine a Belgian style wit beer with more hop bitterness.

At first sip, it definitely tasted like a witbier, with nice spicy fruitiness.  As the beer hits the back of your tongue, it goes into more of the piney, herbal, stronger American hop flavor.  The hop-forward flavor wasn’t overpowering, and balanced out nicely with the witbier spice and citrus notes.

Overall, I loved how the White IPA started like a wit but then finished with a nice and firm, but not overpowering, hop bitterness. It was a very good beer, and I hope this collaboration sticks around or happens again.  It’s great to see breweries pushing styles out of the way to make a great beer.

Did you try the Collaboration #2?  What did you think?

New Belgium Grand Cru Abbey Ale

After sampling New Belgium’s Super Cru, I decided to try New Belgium‘s ode to another one of their original beers, the Abbey Ale, in the form of a Grand Cru Abbey Ale.  This tribute has more malt, to increase the strength, but the additional sugars keep the body low.

The beer had a nice sweet aroma.  In the taste, there were some plum and fig flavors with the aftertaste having hints of plums and raisins.  There was a little bit of alcohol warming in the finish, but overall was a nice light finish.  It was a nice strong abbey ale, and a good tribute to the Abbey Ale.

Have you tried the Grand Cru Abbey Ale?  What was your take?

New Belgium Super Cru

During the dog days of summer, I’m always looking for strong beers that go down well when it’s hot out.  I recently tried the new offering from New Belgium, Super Cru.

Super Cru is a strong Belgian ale that was formulated with the same malts as their flagship beer, Fat Tire, but double the quantity.  It also included Asian pear juice to strengthen it even more and to lighten the body.

Initially, it had a very fruity aroma.  With each sip, it slightly tasted like Fat Tire, but the Asian pear juice did lighten it up.  The pear juice was very forward in the flavor, and it changed the complexity of the beer.  It was a good Belgian strong ale that was light enough to enjoy during the sweltering summer months.

Have you had Super Cru?  What was your take?

Schlafly Biere de Garde

The last few weeks, I have been traveling around, going out to New Jersey then down to Saint Louis.  Because we drove to each place, it gave me the opportunity to bring back some beer not available in Iowa, such as some from Oskar Blues, Avery, and Schlafly.

One of the beers I brought back from Saint Louis was Schlafly’s Biere de Garde.  I’ve had many different saison farmhouse ales, but this is one of the only biere de gardes I’ve had.  Without trying to sound too simple, saisons tend to be a bit lower in alcohol with a bit more hop flavor.

This beer was a very nice farmhouse ale.  It smelled very fruity with a bit of Belgian funkiness.  The flavor had a nice malty backbone with just a little but of hop flavor.  This was a great find, and I’m glad I had the chance to try one.

Have you had the Schlafly Biere de Garde?  What did you think?