Mike's Beer of the ....Month

Beer Information

Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Company

Beer Name: Love Child #1/Love Child #2

Beer Style: American Wild Ale

Abv.: 12.5% / 9.6%

Serving Glassware: Flute, Tulip

Serving Temp.: 45-50 deg. F.(BeerAdvocate)

Packaging: 750 mL bottle

Price: ~$20

Availability: N/A



LC #1



Mike's Ratings: LC #1 (1-5)

Overall Grade: A-

Appearance: 4

Aroma: 4

Taste: 4.5

Mouthfeel: 4.5

BeerAdvocate Avg.: A-

Appearance - Fire-like darker orange/amber colored beer with minimal head that fades quickly. Completely translucent with no sediment or particles floating around.

Aroma - Not as sour as expected (much less sour than LC #2) with some noticeable bourbon flavor and a stronger malt presence (than LC #2). Minor fig/grape nuances play in the background.

Taste - Much more bourbon flavor, as suggested by the aroma, that provides some heat to this sour brew. Sourness is there, but not overpowering, and fails to conceal the alcohol although it unexpectedly works nicely with it (12.5% is tough to hide regardless). The darker fruits are more dominant here as well: fig, grape, and maybe some plum.

Mouthfeel - The lingering bourbon character meshes well with the slight sourness and malty backbone. These three elements are what carry over into the aftertaste.

Overall - This is a very impressive and unique beer. I don't know of any other brews that attempt to coordinate bourbon and sourness and I'm happy to say that Boulevard has done it well. Neither aspect is dominant, and although this beer isn't as sour as most wild ales, it provides the perfect amount of sourness to augment the levels of bourbon present. I wish this beer wasn't only made once.



LC #2

 Mike's Ratings: LC #2 (1-5)

Overall Grade: A

Appearance: 3

Aroma: 4.5

Taste: 4.5

Mouthfeel: 4.5

BeerAdvocate Avg.: B+

Appearance - Dark orange/brownish appearance with about a 1/2" of head that remains for most of the session. Unlike LC #1, this beer is opaque with a good amount of sediment preventing light from shining through.

Aroma - Sourness is upfront and dominant with a wave of fresh fruit (mainly cherries). These two aromas compliment each other well. 

Taste - Foreshadowed by the aroma, extremely sour/bitter with cherries and maybe some green apple. This is much more sour than LC #1 and there is no bourbon or alcohol detectable here. Some vinegar is present as well.

Mouthfeel - As with most wild ales, the sourness is the only aspect that remains in the aftertaste.

Overall - This is a fantastic wild ale (definitely one of the best I've had). This is a true staple for the style and I wish it were more easily obtained!

Mike's Beer of the Week

Beer Information

Brewery: Maine Brewing Company

Beer Name: Mean Old Tom

Beer Style: American Stout

Abv.: 6.5%

Serving Glassware: Snifter, Tulip, Pint

Serving Temp.: 45-50 deg. F.(BeerAdvocate)

Packaging: 16.9 oz bottles

Price: ~$7

Availability: N/A

Pairings: Eggs, Bacon, Pop Tarts

Mike's Ratings (1-5)

Overall Grade: A

Appearance: 4.5

Aroma: 4.5

Taste: 4.5

Mouthfeel: 4.5

Drinkability: 4.5

BeerAdvocate Avg.: B

Mike's Description

Appearance - Black coffee appearance with minimal head and no retention. With the dark color, it's hard to tell if there's any sediment, but this brew appears to be thoroughly translucent.

Aroma - Pure coffee bean aroma with some sweetness from the vanilla beans. Slight milk chocolate esters compliment the coffee character delivering for an aroma that provides as advertised.

Taste - Pretty much spot on with the aroma here...the coffee facet carries a little more load though. The vanilla beans are less noticeable, but they clearly provide that "something's missing" present in many stouts out there.

Mouthfeel - Very full bodied beer that I would have assumed to be classified as a coffee stout, but good either way. The coffee bean taste holds firm into the aftertaste.

Overall - Very good beer that delivers as promised and I'd definitely purchase it again. Even though this beer isn't classified as a coffee beer, it still might take the cake for my favorite coffee beer (even over the BBC Coffeehouse Porter).

Mike's Beer of the Week

Beer Information

Brewery: Cambridge Brewing Company

Beer Name: Sgt. Pepper

Beer Style: Saison

Abv.: 6.0%

Serving Glassware: Chalice, Pint, Wine Glass

Serving Temp.: 45-50 deg. F.(BeerAdvocate)

Packaging: 22 oz bottles

Price: ~$6

Availability: Limited

Pairings: Salad (Caesar), Seafood (Shrimp, Lobster, Haddock)

untappd.com

Mike's Ratings (1-5)

Overall Grade: B

Appearance: 3.5

Aroma: 4

Taste: 3.5

Mouthfeel: 4

Drinkability: 4

BeerAdvocate Avg.: B

Mike's Description
Bottled Feb. 2012. Poured from a bomber into a wine glass. Paired with chicken caesar salad.
 

Appearance - Copper/bronze color with no sediment, which is surprising for a farmhouse ale. About a quarter-inch of head that fades fast leaving little/no lace on the wine glass. Most saisons tend to have a frothy head.

Aroma - The Belgian yeast is prevalent as is the peppercorn, which is promised in the name and description on the bottle. Floral notes are there along with some faint rye malt aromas.

Taste - The Belgian yeast is still there, but it is almost overwhelmed by the peppercorn, which I suppose should be expected with a name like Sgt. Pepper. The floral character is very faint here and there is no hop presence (any bitterness is completely hidden by the spicy pepper taste). This pairs extremely well with the peppery caesar dressing.

Mouthfeel - All spiciness in the aftertaste for this relatively light-bodied beer. Not too carbonated for a saison.

Overall - A very drinkable and distinct saison that I would definitely buy again (especially for the price). As I mentioned before, it pairs well with caesar salad and I can imagine that it would go together with any other light summer meal. The peppercorn compliments the Belgian yeast and spices as well.

Mike's Beer of the Week

Beer Information

Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Company

Beer Name: Rye-on-Rye

Beer Style: Rye Beer

Abv.: 11.0%

Serving Glassware: Snifter

Serving Temp.: 45-50 deg. F.

Packaging: 750 mL bottles

Price: ~$15

Availability: Limited

Pairings: Smoky/BBQ flavored meat (steak, jerky)

www.pinetarpress.com

Mike's Ratings (1-5)

Overall Grade: A+

Appearance:5

Aroma: 5

Taste: 5

Mouthfeel: 5

Drinkability: 5

BeerAdvocate Avg.: A

Mike's Description

Appearance - Dark orange and amber color with a half inch of head. Translucent, almost ruby-like appearance.

Aroma - Rye whiskey aroma is dominant, as it should be and it is complemented by a very slight burn from the alcohol. Some sweeter fruits come through here as well such as raisin and fig.

Taste - Delivered as promised, strong rye whiskey character with a strong rye bread (caraway seed) backbone. Slight alcohol burn, but nothing deterring. I expected to be overwhelmed by too much of a rye flavor, but this isn't the case; the two rye types go well together. No hop character, but a sweet malt profile to hold everything in place.

Mouthfeel - Spicy and warm rye aftertaste that properly tops off this full-bodied rye brew.

Overall - This is easily my favorite beer of the year because of its amazingness and that it promises exactly what it provides. 5's across the board.

Mike's Beer of the Week

Beer Information

Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewing Company

Beer Name: 75 Minute

Beer Style: IPA

Abv.: 7.5%

Serving Glassware: Tulip, Pint

Serving Temp.: 45-50 deg. F. (not on cask)

Packaging: 750 mL bottles

Price: ~$10

Availability: Seasonal (new)

Pairings: Grilled BBQ chicken and zucchini (thanks steve!)

thebeerdrinkerskitchen.files.wordpress.com

Mike's Ratings (1-5)

Overall Grade: A

Appearance: 4

Aroma: 4.5

Taste: 4.5

Mouthfeel: 4.5

Drinkability: 4.5

BeerAdvocate Avg.: A-

Mike's Description

Appearance - About 5 inches of frothy white head...ya I'll wait until that settles down a bit... orange/golden brew with some opacity. Pretty intimidating for a single IPA.

Aroma - Floral esters with some lighter fruity notes such as peach, lemon, and apple. The hop presence is definitely there, but in a distinct way... there isn't a lot of bitterness, but the hops utilized are more citrusy and floral.

Taste - Now that there's about 2 inches of head left... very citrusy. There is definitely hop bitterness, but again it isn't overwhelming. The lighter fruits that I mentioned are even more dominant here. Either the hops used in this beer aren't intended to give off an overly bitter flavor or the malts balance the bitterness out... not sure of the answer. Very tasty though.

Mouthfeel - The lemon zest lasts the longest for me. Definitely a medium-bodied beer that does a fantastic job of hiding the alcohol.

Overall - This beer definitely has the DFH signature "funk" about it, but it's not what you would expect (a hybrid of 60 & 90 minute). By far my favorite of their IPA/DIPA series (120 minute not included...I still don't believe that beer is a DIPA...).