Deschutes Brewery - Class Of '88 Barley Wine Ale

What's up everyone? It's time for another beer review here at Tastes Like Beer and I'm going with one of my favorite styles. What's that?

BARLEYWINES!!!

That's right. Tonight, I'm drinking a collaboration beer between Deschutes, Rogue, and North Coast Brewing. This is the Class of 88' Barley Wine Ale. It's an American style barleywine that comes in with an abv of 10.2%. So let's quit bullshitting and get this poured. I'm looking forward to this one.

Class of 88 pours out a really nice golden orange color with a solid white finger of head. It's sticking around a bit but as it dissipates it leaves behind a pretty thick lacing that looks a lot like sea foam. There's a lot of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There's quite a bit of chill haze but you can definitely see through this beer. It actually reminds me quite a bit of an Imperial IPA. Let's get the nose.

Very interesting nose. First thing I'm picking up is a bubble gum flavor. That's followed up quite a bit by a banana character. Very surprised to get this in an barley wine. I'm getting some peach flavors, sort of syrupy, and sweet. I do get quite a bit of alcohol on the nose as well. For a barley wine and 10.2% I'm not too surprised but usually I've found it to be a bit more masked. There's maybe some caramel notes coming out as well. I'm not getting a lot of hop bitterness. Let's see how it tastes.

First thing I'm getting is a bit of hop bitterness. I didn't get it on the nose but it's here first thing. I'm picking up that peach character and it follows the nose quite well. It's very syrupy and sweet. It helps bring the hop bitterness into the middle of the mouth well. Then things get sort of strange. I pick up an immediate bit of alcohol. That's followed by a somewhat off putting banana character. I know it was there in the nose but it's just weird. It's very strong in the middle and back part of the mouth. And that's really it.

Overall, this beer is just... well, it's bad. I don't know that I'd consider this a barleywine. I can't really place this beer. It's got this belgian bubble gum yeast ester that really just takes it to a different level. I don't know if this is maybe just a bad bottle or what. The label describes it a bit differently than I'm tasting. I'm just sort of stumped by it.

Rating: D

Brewery Ommegang - Seduction

Hey everyone! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend, specifically, your Saturday night. I know I am. Nothing too crazy, but it's been an enjoyable day. So to treat myself, I decided to open a new beer. 

Tonight I'm drinking Seduction by Brewery Ommegang which is a 6.8% abv Belgian... style porter, or Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Online I see it listed one way, and on the bottle another. Now, I should get this out there now, but this is my very first Ommegang beer. I've never bought one, never tried one, never... well, never had it. So why Ommegang?

Well long story short, my mother in law is from New York as is Ommegang, and she decided to get crafty with my wife the other weekend. They used a few corks from different wines/beers and I told her that there was a New York brewery that had a pretty cool cork. So, a few bucks later and here we are. But enough story. Let's get Seduction poured and see how I like it.

Seduction pours out a really nice mahogany color that once in the glass is incredibly dark. It's not pure black but you definitely can't see through the beer. There was about a finger to a finger and a half of an off white, sort of tan, foamy head with a lot of tight bubbles. The head doesn't stick around for very long at all and really doesn't leave behind much of a lace. Overall, it looks like a typical porter. Nothing too crazy. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is some sweet chocolate. Definitely reminds me of a good Belgian chocolate. It's sweet and creamy. I'm picking up a little bit of dark fruits, some figs, maybe a little bit of a plum character, and the slightest hint of cherries. I'm getting some ripe banana in here as well, most likely from the yeast. There's a little bit of caramel as well. There's some underlying dark roasts, dark malt type characters coming through, maybe even a dark chocolate or coffee character. Nothing is more pronounced than anything else except for maybe that initial sweet chocolate. Let's see how Seduction tastes.

So first thing I pick up is a little bit of that chocolate and maybe a little hint of banana. Not a lot going on right away. Middle of the mouth you get the sweet chocolate and some of the dark fruits. A little bit of that cherry character comes through. It's a very creamy beer with a fairly medium mouth feel. Back end on this beer is where you get those roasted malts, the darker chocolate maybe even a bit of that coffee character. I'm not getting a lot of that Belgian yeast that I was expecting. I actually think that might help some of the chocolate and cherry notes to pop a bit more.

Overall, Seduction is pretty much just OK at best. There's nothing in this beer that stands out and really makes you take notice. I think this is an average porter but it definitely doesn't make me think it's a Belgian strong dark ale. In fact, if someone poured this for me and I tasted it blind, I don't necessarily think I'd say it's a Belgian. I don't think I'd ever buy it again and I don't know that I'd really suggest going out of your way to check it out. 

Rating: C

Clown Shoes - Chocolate Sombrero

Hey all! It's Wednesday night and I'm a little bored. So what better way to cure boredom and get a good buzz going, than crack open something new and review it?

Tonight I'm drinking another beer from Clown Shoes out of Ipswich, MA, this is their Chocolate Sombrero which is a 9% stout that they are dubbing a "Mexican Style Chocolate Stout". This sounds good just from the name and being from San Diego, I'm no stranger to Mexican chocolate. I'm a big fan. The kicker on this beer is they brewed it with ancho chile, cinnamon, and some vanilla extract. So on top of all the roasted malts and chocolate malts, we get some ancho and cinnamon with a touch of vanilla. Enough rambling, let's get Chocolate wasted!

Chocolate Sombrero pours out a very dark brown to black color with about a finger of a somewhat creamy head. Admittedly, I didn't pour very vigorously so I only ended up with about a fingers worth. It's pretty damn dark though maybe with the slightest bit of mahogany down around the bottom of the glass. Bad lighting though probably doesn't help much here. Overall, this looks like a standard stout. Let's get the nose.

So first thing I notice is a sweet vanilla smell from that extract. That's followed up immediately by a combination of cinnamon and ancho chile. There's some pepper skin in here too. I've had some chile/cinnamon stouts before and this one definitely smells the best so far. I'm getting some sweeter chocolates in here as well. Definitely reminds me of that mexican chocolate. Rich and a bit spicy. But really the pepper in this is the thing I'm getting more of as I go back for more. This is a very interesting smelling stout. Let's see if the Chocolate Sombrero delivers like it does in the nose.

First thing I get is some chocolate and vanilla. It's incredibly smooth and creamy. As the chocolate fades a bit the vanilla carries on into the middle of the mouth where I'm picking up that cinnamon and some ancho chiles. There's more of that mexican chocolate coming through here too. The spice of this beer is really bringing out the chocolate. Back of the tongue there's a slight bit of heat from the ancho. It's actually very nice. There's quite a bit of roast here too. A bit of roasted dark malts and chocolate really stand out on the back end.

As I let the flavors from Chocolate Sombrero linger in my mouth the chile and cinnamon spice really dance around the tongue. It's almost like I ate a red hot if anyone remembers those little candies. It's very nice. The pepper skin sort of linger along the sides of the mouth as well.

So overall, this beer is really solid. I'm not a big fan of beers that are brewed with Chiles, but this is fantastic. The way the ancho and cinnamon play off the chocolate and vanilla so seamlessly is great and really makes this beer worth it. If you can get this I'd recommend it. It's not mind blowing, but just incredibly good.

Rating: A (and seriously, these labels on the Clown Shoes beers are fucking awesome!)

Lagunitas Brewing Company - Lagunitas Sucks - Brown Shugga' Substitute Ale

What's up everyone? It's Wednesday night. My hockey team lost tonight. It's sort of a shitty day all around. I'm cheering myself up with a beer that I've had a couple times recently but I just haven't remembered to review it. So I figured tonight was a perfect night for that.

Tonight I'm drinking Lagunitas Sucks - Brown Shugga Substitute Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company out of Petaluma, CA.

That name is way too long, so we're just going to say "Sucks" or "Lagunitas Sucks"... which for the record, they do not. They're an awesome brewery that pretty much can't be beat for the price to quality ratio. I might be saying that wrong, but you get the idea. So let's get the Sucks poured and see how it stands up to the other offerings from Lagunitas.

Sucks comes in at 7.85% abv and pours out a clear golden yellow. There was about a 2 finger foamy white head that stuck around for a bit leaving behind a semi decent sticky white foam like lacing. There's a semi decent cascade of carbonation bubbles streaming up from the bottom of the glass. Not a ton like some of the other Lagunitas beers, but I've found with a lot of the danker IPA, that cascade effect isn't as prevalent. This looks like a pretty standard DIPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is big grapefruit. Just massive amounts of grapefruit juice and zest. Right behind that is a massive amount of the dank onion and garlic bitterness. I mean, this smells like a freshly chopped onion and some freshly peeled garlic. There's a slight bit of caramel sweetness as well that sort of sits in the background of all this dank hop smell. But yeah, I keep going back to try and get something else but I'm just blown away by that dank onion and garlic. It's completely overpowering that initial waft of grapefruit. Let's see if this tastes as dank as it smells.

Wow, sure enough I'm immediately picking up a grapefruit citrus character but that is immediately beat down by dank onion and garlic. It's really strong in this beer. Maybe stronger than I've experienced in a DIPA. It's super fresh tasting though which I think really makes it more enjoyable. If this were "old" I'd imagine the onion and garlic would be awful. As dank as those hops are, they don't linger like the smell. The dankness gets replaced in the middle/back end of mouth by a really nice citrus sweetness. Grapefruit and some tangerine characters with a bit of zest thrown in. It's very well balanced. Sucks finishes pretty dry and overall is just a really good tasting DIPA.

So overall, Sucks is a fantastic beer. It's incredibly balanced especially considering it goes from citrus to dank to citrus and really just flows perfectly. You get a nice variety of hop profile within a single sip of beer. Lagunitas really knows what they're doing with their beers. I've never had a bad Lagunitas beer. With that said, as dank as this is, I'm not a big fan of the dank hops. But, that's just me. This is a world class DIPA and should be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys hops.

Rating: A (very solid)

Karl Strauss Brewing Company - Wreck Alley Imperial Stout

 

What's up everybody? It's Saturday night. Been watching some hockey today and overall, it's been a damn solid Saturday. So, what better way to cap the night off than with a good beer? 

Tonight I'm drinking Karl Strauss Wreck Alley Imperial Stout. This is part of Karl's Imperial Collection and comes in at 9.5% abv. I think I had this a couple years ago and if I'm remembering correctly, I liked it quite a bit. So enough talk, let's open this one up and get to drinking.

The Wreck Alley pours out very dark. It's not quite pitch black. I'm getting the slightest bit of a dark brown at the bottom of the glass. My light source isn't the best so I'm saying it's dark brown. There was about a finger and a half of a creamy off white head. As the head dissipates back into itself it leaves behind a really solid lacing. This looks like a really nice Imperial Stout. Let's get the nose on the Wreck Alley.

Wow. Big coffee. Big Vanilla. A lot of caramel in this as well. It's really sweet smelling but not overly so. I'm getting some bread like characters. Sweet breads, maybe like a pastry of some kind. There's some nice chocolate in this as well. A nice mix of some cocoa nibs, dark chocolate, milk chocolate. There's a slight dark fruit character, red raisins and a little bit of plum. But yeah, the big star of this is coffee and vanilla. Really nice. Let's see how Wreck Alley tastes.

Right away you get the coffee. It's really nice. That's followed up immediately by that vanilla, caramel and toffee kind of character. It's very creamy up front and sweet. Middle of the mouth you get more of that creamy mouth feel and that initial espresso roast kind of flavor. You get some of the cocoa in the middle of the mouth as well. It's all mixing together well in the mouth. The vanilla and coffee work so well together. Back end of this you get a lot more of that espresso roast and dark chocolate. There's maybe even a slight tobacco character on the back end as well. This is a really solid tasting beer.

So overall, Wreck Alley is really good. This is definitely much better than I remember it being. It really shines on taste. It smells really nice but for as good as it smells it just tastes much better. Everything blends together really well. 

Karl Strauss was the brewery that got me into craft beer so to see they're still making amazing beers is really good to see. If you can find this in your area I'd recommend it. Good mouth feel, good flavors, really easy drinking. 9.5% you don't taste it at all. So yeah, pick it up if you see it. Cheers!

Rating: A

Anderson Valley - Bourbon Barrel Stout

Thursday night. We're almost ready to party. I mean, almost ready to get some work done tomorrow.... Nah, who am I kidding? Tonight I'm drinking my April Beer of the Month.... in May.

 I know, I'm late again. But hey, it's only 2 days. No big deal. 

My April Beer of the Month is a new beer, or at least new to me, from Anderson Valley in Boonville, CA. This is their Bourbon Barrel Stout which comes in at 6.9% abv. According to the label this is a Malt beverage aged in Wild Turkey Bourbon barrels. So of course, it's aged in bourbon barrels meaning, we're incredibly interested in this beer. Let's get into it and see if this beer is worth checking out.

The Bourbon Barrel Stout poured out pretty damn dark. I don't really see any color coming through or any colors around the bottom of the glass. This looks pitch black. There was a fluffy two finger head that was light brown/tan in color. The head didn't stick around very long and once it dissipated it didn't leave behind much lacing. Maybe a little but it's minimal at best. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is a sweet vanilla. It's very nice. I'm getting some milk chocolate and some sweet caramel/toffee. According to the website they only aged this for 3 months in the barrels. So the complexity of the barrel characters might not be as pronounced as say a beer that's been aged for a year (Dark Days by Iron Fist). I'm not picking up a lot of roasted notes or espresso. Maybe they will show up in the taste. Overall, this is pretty sweet smelling and very inviting. No alcohol on the nose whatsoever (6.9% would be shocking really). Let's see how the BBS tastes.

Wow. So right away I'm getting a nice hit of Wild Turkey. Very bourbon-like even with a subtle burn. Lots of vanilla and sweetness. There's a slight breadiness, almost like a fresh baked bread. More vanilla, more of that Wild Turkey. I'm picking up a little bit of a coconut character most likely from the barrel. There's a slight roastiness on the back end. Not quite like an espresso but maybe a medium roast coffee. It's subtle and definitely lingers a bit. I'm getting more of that milk chocolate as well. This is a creamy beer and the oats definitely play off the Wild Turkey nicely. The Wild Turkey really shines in this beer. As I let it warm a bit more I'm getting more roasted coffee throughout the back end. It's definitely a bit better as it warms up.

So overall, this is pretty good. When I first tasted it I wasn't overly impressed. I didn't get a lot of flavors. As I let it warm a little bit the beer definitely came to life. I definitely get a lot of the Wild Turkey bourbon which is nice. If you're going to advertise that, make it shine. For 6.9% this is very easy to drink. It's medium to light bodied probably closer to light but not Rogue ales light. I'd say give this a try if you can find it. It's not bad. I wouldn't go out of my way to find it and for the price ($11) I'd say it's a little pricey.

On a side note, Anderson Valley is an awesome brewery, completely solar powered. Any brewery that runs entirely off solar or wind gets a thumbs up in my book. And to be honest, the other AVBC beers are good too. Check those out if you get them in your area.

Rating: B

Black Market Brewing Co - Rye IPA

Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying their weeks. I know I am. Why you ask? Because it's time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those of you in the dark about this, it's the playoffs for the NHL. You don't know what the NHL is? Please leave my page.

No really. Go ahead. I'll wait.

OK! Now that they're gone let's get into another beer review. Tonight I'm drinking Rye IPA by Black Market Brewing Co out of Temecula, CA. Where the hell is Temecula? It's about an hour north of where I'm located, about an hour and a half north of San Diego. So yeah, it's somewhat local. Let's get into this one guys (and gals)!

The Rye IPA is 7.5% abv and poured out a really nice copper/amber color. There was a real nice 3 fingers of a rocky/fluffy white head with a ton of tiny white bubbles. The head stuck around for a few minutes and left behind a so-so lacing on the glass. This looks like a pretty standard IPA. No complaints there. Let's get the nose on the Rye IPA.

First thing I get on the nose is citrus. I know that's vague. Specifically, smells a lot like a tangerine. It's very sweet smelling initially. I'm picking up some of the rye. It's a little spicy and plays off the citrus very nicely. I'm getting quite a bit of a sweet malt character. Some sweet breads as well. As I go back a couple more times I'm picking up more tropical fruits. Lots of pineapple, papaya and some Mango. This is a really nice smelling IPA and that Rye is really peaking my interest. Enough talk, let's do some drinking.

Right away I'm noticing quite a bit of carbonation. So at least we've got carbonation! Immediately I pick up the Rye character and a nice hop bitterness. The rye is massive in this beer. Makes sense though, it is called Rye IPA. I'm picking up a lot of sweet malt characters. Quite a bit of caramel in the middle of the mouth. Not getting as much of the citrus as I got on the nose. I am however, picking up a bit of a peach character towards the sides of the mouth into the back end. It's sticky and a bit sugary. This beer finishes nice and dry. The mouth feel is medium. It's just a solid IPA with a nice Rye character throughout.

So overall, I like this beer quite a bit. This is the 3rd beer I've had from Black Market and so far, I've yet to be let down. This is a really easy drinking IPA. The Rye is really nice in this beer playing off those citrus notes we picked up on the nose and the hop bitterness we got right away from the initial taste. I'd suggest giving this one a try. It's solid. It's not mind blowing or ground breaking but an easy drinking, very enjoyable IPA. Definitely not like the typical So. Cal hop bombs. A nice change of pace.

Rating: B, bordering B+