12 Beers of X-Mas: Wittekerke Winter White

January 1st, 2015

Happy new year! Tonight I’m celebrating with the Wittekerke Winter White Ale, brewed by Brouwerij De Brabandere in Bavikhove, Belgium.Wittekerke Winter White Ale This winter seasonal is the double version of the regular Wittekerke witbier.

Tonight’s Winter White is pleasantly hazy, a pale gold color with a creamy bright white head. The aroma is richly malty with biscuits, almonds and a bit of honey. Light tropical fruit and a clove spiciness hint at the yeast strain, while a little grassy hop character rounds out the nose.

The flavor is alternately sweet and spicy. Bready malt leads but is quickly met by coriander and allspice. The malt sweetness grows and is joined by an herbal hop bitterness. The rich effervescence brings out the clove spice once again. As the flavors begin to fade the alcohol warming intensifies, so despite the malt-forward nature the finish is light and dry.

The spice character of this beer is elusive, hiding behind a luscious malt and wheat flavor. Cloves, coriander, cinnamon and bitter orange dance with the significant alcohol character to create a serious complexity, yet it remains quite drinkable. I wish the head left a bit more of a lacing on the glass.

+Wittekerke Winter White Ale

4.1 (4-8-8-4-17)

12 Beers of X-Mas: Bell’s Winter White

December 31st, 2014

From Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, Michigan, I’m tasting the Winter White Ale. This is a wheat beer in the style of a true Belgian witbier, made spicy not by the addition of spices but rather by a dominant yeast strain.

Bell's Winter White AleThe Winter White pours a solidly hazy golden straw color. The bone white head looks creamy but falls away quickly. The nose is generously spicy with cloves, a hint of citric orange, and a rich toasty malt character.

The taste follows similarly, with a significant but not sharp clove flavor backed by biscuity maltiness. A bit of an herbal hop bitterness balances the malt quite well. The malt sweetness fades just a bit quicker than the yeast spiciness and the hops, leaving a tantalizing tingle on the tongue.

This beer is dangerously drinkable. Remarkably balanced, with an understated complexity and clean refreshing character that leaves you asking for another sip. It pairs well with spicy food. With a little more substance to the head and the flavor this would be the perfect beer.

+Bell’s Winter White Ale

4.0 (3-8-7-5-17)

12 Beers of X-Mas: Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve

December 30th, 2014

This evening I will have some of Santa’s Private Reserve Ale brewed by Rogue Ales out of Newport, Oregon. The bottle says cryptically “snowflakes glisten”, a hint at this bottle’s easter egg which you’ll discover if you drink it on a dark winter’s night.

Santa’s Reserve is a red ale, a slightly beefier version of the Saint Rogue Red, which, incidentally, I’ve never really been a fan of. Rogue Santa's Private Reserve AleIt pours a dark coppery red with a fair amount of tan head. Unfortunately the head is a bit swiss cheesy and doesn’t last very long. The aroma is rich with a strong hoppy character and a full maltiness. The hops come across as tropical fruit: pineapples and papaya with a hint of earthy pine, while the malt manifests as biscuits and toast.

This beer is initially bitter, with a spruce and pine hop flavor. The bitterness fades a bit revealing just a bit of caramel sweetness, which itself yields again to the spruce hop flavor. This herbal hop character lingers on the tip of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. If there were a bit more alcohol warming it would balance quite nicely, but as it is the herbal bitterness is just a bit too strong.

I quite like the nose on this one, but I’m afraid that the flavor doesn’t quite live up to the promise. Nevertheless, this is a drinkable winter warmer to enjoy on the cold, dark nights ahead.

+/-Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve Ale

3.3 (3-8-6-3-13)

12 Beers of X-Mas: New Belgium Accumulation

December 21st, 2014

New Belgium AccumulationFrom New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, tonight I’m tasting Accumulation, a white IPA.

Accumulation pours a lightly hazy pale blonde color. The head is bone white and a little spongey. The aroma is quite mild, just a bit of herbal hops and a light bready maltiness.

An interesting herbal hop bitterness leads the flavor, but fades somewhat into a mellow herbal flavor that doesn’t last long. A malty sweetness lasts, turning a bit cloying. The body is full, a little much given how mild this beer is.

+/-New Belgium Accumulation

3.3 (3-6-7-3-14)

12 Beers of X-Mas: Dupont Avec les Bons Vœux

December 18th, 2014

With good wishes from Brasserie Dupont in Tourpes, Belgium, comes the classic holiday saison Avec les Bons Vœux. Originally brewed as a new year’s gift for select clients, this dry-hopped farmhouse ale is now widely available. Each winter I consider it Dupont’s personal gift to me.

Avec les bons VœuxThe head on the Bons Vœux is so lively and thick that it’s a challenge to pour. The quite creamy and long-lasting head sits atop an unfiltered, opalescent beer the color of gold. A dry hoppy aroma greets you at first, with a bit of barnyard mustiness as well. Biscuity malt character follows, balancing the herbal hop nose. This is one of those delicate and complex aromas you can easily get lost in.

The flavor walks the knife’s edge between dry hoppy and sweet malty. An herbal bitterness is balanced by bready sweetness. The clean malt character grows into a strong alcohol warming, betraying the almost ten percent alcohol. A strong effervescence keeps the heat from growing too biting and brings out the piney and herbal hop flavor.

The Bons Vœux is a pinnacle of understated complexity.

++Avec les Bons Vœux de la Brasserie Dupont

4.2 (5-9-7-4-17)

12 Beers of X-Mas: Tröegs Mad Elf Ale

December 16th, 2014

To kick off this year’s Twelve Beers of X-Mas, I’m tasting The Mad Elf Ale, a beer described as cheerful and jolly, which seems appropriate.Tröegs The Mad Elf Ale The Mad Elf, a specialty ale brewed with honey and cherries, is made by Tröegs Brewing Company in Hershey, Pennsylvania, my friend Nate’s favorite brewery.

The cherries impart a strong ruby red color to this beer. The head is a creamy off-white, but it doesn’t last very long. The aroma is quite subtle, just a bit of caramel and toast and a hint of cherry. As it warms a little more comes out, though it remains quite mild.

The flavor is remarkably light and clean, particularly for an 11% ale. I suspect it’s brewed with a Belgian strain of yeast, as there’s a clove spice and fruit character reminiscent of many Belgian ales. Following that is a bit of caramel malt and a light cherry tartness, rounded out by a strong alcohol warming. Like the nose, the flavor grows as The Mad Elf warms, so I’d suggest serving it on the warmer side, towards 55 degrees Farenheit or so. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, with a bit of a lasting sweetness. The cloves and alcohol linger as well, so it’s never quite cloying.

Overall The Mad Elf is a flavorful but easy drinking winter warmer. Enjoy it by the fire (or in my case, the space heater).

+Tröegs Mad Elf Ale

3.8 (3-7-8-4-16)

Cervecería Colón

November 24th, 2012

This is the first of a three post series reflecting on my beer experiences from my recent trip to the Galápagos Islands.

During my layover at the Bogotá airport, I stopped at the only place serving beer: the Orleans Bar and Grill. They were out of the pilsner, but I was able to try the red and black lagers from Cervecería Colón.

Colón NegraI tried the black lager first. Colón Negra pours a crystal clear mahogany. The thick, off-white head is a little spongey, yet lasting. Malt leads the nose, dark caramel notes joined by hazelnuts and roasted almonds.

A taste of the Negra is light intially. The malt and roasted almond character fades quickly to a cloying sweetness. The lingering palate is somewhat characterless.

Colón Roja is likewise crystal clear, and is a bright copper color. There is some white head and almost no nose. A bit of clean bread-and-toast maltiness is intriguing, elusive, like gossamer.

Colón RojaThe flavor is also malty and clean, but seems a bit simpler. A hop bitterness appears, which I described in my notes as “sanded-down”, though I don’t know now exactly what I meant. It is accompanied by the faintest fruity herbal hop flavor. The Roja’s light and refreshing palate make it easy drinking, but don’t discount its character.

On the way back through I stopped by the Orleans again. This time they were out of not just the pilsner, but also the red.

+Colón Roja

3.5 (3-7-6-4-15)

+/-Colón Negra

2.9 (4-7-5-2-11)

Des Moines’s Newest Brewery

August 18th, 2012

Anchoring the end of Walnut, where it meets 16th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, sits the Fitch soap company building. Like many structures around the western gateway, this building dates to the roaring twenties when industrial Des Moines was booming, but has sat empty for many decades. That is, until R.J. Tursi decided it was the perfect location to open his Exile Brewing Company.

Exile is cut from a slightly different cloth than Court Avenue or Raccoon River, Exile’s older siblings. While those well-established eateries have more of the traditional brewpub look, Exile meshes in modern design elements, though all three occupy rehabbed space. For more details as well as pictures of the dining areas, check out the coverage in the Reggie.

On the brewery side everything seems scaled to grow. A new four vessel 30 barrel Specific Mechanical brewhouse gives Exile the ability to brew multiple batches. Assuming they can get the staff and make the sales, they will be able to produce beer essentially continuously.Exile Brewhouse One bottleneck will be the cellar, as Exile currently has only three fermentation tanks, though at a 60 barrel capacity each they’re certainly nothing to sneeze at.

They also have six lager tanks in the massive cooler, as well as a brite tank. Another bottleneck will be serving. Since Exile has no dedicated serving tanks, every drop will be kegged. Much of it will be sold off-premise at bars and restaurants around town, in a similar strategy as CABCo has been adopting recently. However Exile has a much larger capacity, and plenty of room to grow.

Exile CellarAt the time of my visit they did not yet have their own beer available, with one exception: they had a Maibock which was contract brewed at the Gordon Biersch facility in Kansas City. However, they have been madly brewing the past week and a half, and they should have a few locally-produced beers available soon. Among those will be a Munich gold lager, a honey lager and a hefeweissen.

The head brewer is John Woodford, a recent Iowa State grad. Though he has a degree from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, he has no professional brewing experience, so he seems like a strange choice for head of a new brewery. But the proof is in the pudding, so I’ll have to wait to judge until they have beer on offer that was brewed under his supervision.

The Maibock is a pale coppery amber with an opalescent haze. There is a bit of off-white head, but not much. The nose is malty and sweet, with notes of biscuits, toast and nuts. I’d like there to be more pronounced hop character, as that is one of the defining characteristics of a maibock.

The flavor is likewise sweet and bready. A bit of noble hops come out early but quickly fade. The sweetness is cloying, lingering far too long. If the hops were more assertive, that might not be as much of an issue. As it stands it’s tasty, but it’s hard to drink more than one.

+/-Exile Maibock

3.2 (3-7-7-2-14)

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

March 21st, 2012

While in Twentynine Palms, California, my father and I had dinner at the wonderful Bistro Twenty Nine. The food was tasty and they had a wide draft beer selection, including Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon.

This opalescent golden gamboge ale has a lasting off-white head. The hop aroma is rich with citric fruit and sage. Floral hops and some caramel malt round out the moderately complex nose.

The hop bitterness is immediate, strong yet velvety. Floral and some fruity hop flavors are followed by not quite enough toasty malt flavor. The palate is initially substantial, but remains lively and lightens quickly.

I’ve never lived anywhere I could get Deschutes regularly, but if I did I could see having Mirror Pond in my fridge a lot of the time.

+Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

3.9 (4-7-7-5-16)

SOPA Blackout

January 18th, 2012

Hello, dear reader. While generally I do like to be political, I try to avoid all of that here. This is a beer blog. But on one particular issue I can no longer stay neutral.

Today, in support of the protest of SOPA and PIPA, I’ll Have a Beer will be blacked out for 24 hours.

Please contact your Senator or Congressman to ensure that this attack on civil liberties is put to a stop.