Ninkasi Brewing Company - Maiden The Shade

Welcome back everyone! Been a couple weeks since I blogged about beer so I figured tonight I'd change that. I'm drinking a beer tonight that I only bought because the font on the label is that of Iron Maiden, one of my favorite bands. Nothing wrong with that, right? I didn't think so.

So what am I drinking? Well, if you skipped the blog title, I'm drinking a special release from Ninkasi. I'm drinking their Maiden The Shade. This is a 6.8% abv "Specialty Ale" which from what I can gather, is really just an American IPA. I'm cool with that. Who doesn't love a good IPA? So without further distractions, let's get this one poured and I'll try to make sense and give you my thoughts on Maiden The Shade.

Maiden pours out a really striking golden color. Very radiant gold. This one is pretty hazy, can't really see through the glass. There's about a half finger of a bright white head with a lot of tiny white bubbles. The head doesn't stick around very long but leaves behind a fairly decent lacing. There's a bit of sediment in the glass which is no doubt adding to the haze factor we've got going on. Overall, this is a really nice looking beer. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is some ripe peach, ripe mango like fruits. There's a sweetness here that I wouldn't normally expect from an IPA. Reminds me a lot of honey actually. It definitely cuts the bitter hope aroma you'd usually pick up from an American IPA. There's a little bit of a floral bitterness coming through but this beer is dominated by those peaches, the mango and definitely what I can only describe as honey. Very sweet smelling, not very bitter on the nose. This has me intrigued. Let's see how the Maiden tastes.

Right away, you get the IPA bitterness that's pretty much a guarantee in an American IPA. That carries across the palate from start to finish paving the way for that sweetness I got on the nose. Honey sweetness and some very trace amounts of peach. Sides of the palate you get some subtle sweetness, more of the peach. I get zero citrus on this beer. They used 7 different hops in this but nothing stands out in the way of hops. Just a big blast of bitterness. Maybe Cascade, sorta reminiscent of Sierra Nevada. Maiden finishes really dry leaving a lot of that hop bitterness lingering in it's wake. Sort of destroying anything else that I'd hope was going on.

So overall, Maiden The Shade isn't bad but I don't think it's anything incredible. I would have liked to get something else besides just hop bitterness here. While the beer smells pretty nice and looks amazing, the flavors on this just do nothing for me because really, they're not there for the most part. I think this could be good, maybe more fresh than what I"m drinking. Not sure on the age of this one. It's worth a shot to check out. I know a lot of hop heads would genuinely enjoy this. I'm just left wanting more.

Rating: C+

Ninkasi Brewing Company - Sleigh'r

Hey everyone! Been a long time since I posted a beer blog. Hell, it's been over a month! Quite a bit has gone on. Been real sick for all of November. Still not out of the woods. Also, just haven't been in the mood to blog. Kind of how things go I guess. The "need" to post a blog... sort of kills things sometimes.

But fear not, I'm back tonight with my November BOTM. That's right, I haven't forgotten about this. Tonight I'm drinking the winter seasonal from Ninkasi Brewing Company. Yep, I'm drinking Sleigh'r! Clearly a take on the band SLAYER (one of my personal favorites) and Santa's Sleigh.

This is a 7.2% Dark Double Alt Ale which I think pretty much means, winter warmer. I've been into these quite a bit this winter so I'm looking forward to this one. Hell, I've had it for a month now and just haven't had a chance to crack it open. So without any further delay, let's pop the top and I'll give you my thoughts on SLEIGH'R!!!

The Sleigh'r pours out a really dark mahogany to ruby red when held up to the light. Really nice color on this one. There's about a half finger of a frothy white head, probably not really white but it's not brown or even beige. The head doesn't stick around long, much like Santa... eating his cookies and vanishing. Son of a bitch... oh, sorry. Got side-tracked. This beer looks pretty nice. Let's get the nose.

I'm immediately hit with some winter spices. Nutmeg, a little bit of cinnamon, a little clove, maybe even a hint of coriander. Some sweet caramel and maybe the slightest touch of molasses.  There's some dark fruits here, namely some cherry, even a bit of an apple character. Those are playing off the nutmeg and clove pretty nicely. I'm picking up a bit of banana as well. Maybe a subtle hint of banana bread. This definitely has some hints of sugar cookie. Again, something Santa would definitely enjoy... if he wasn't skipping over my house... ugh, I did it again. Sorry. Sleigh'r smells pretty good, maybe a little more subtle than some of the other winter warmers I've had recently.

Interesting flavors up front on this one. I'm picking up a lot of the cherry and dark fruits, the hint of apple right up front. Sides of the mouth you get the sweetness from the caramel and the richness of the molasses. Middle of the mouth and back end of this beer you get the spices but they are very subtle. You get a nice smack of pine/spruce that I wasn't really getting on the nose. This beer finishes pretty dry and the pine lingers for a while. There's some of the nutmeg and coriander dancing around in the back as well. I'm picking up some alcohol as well, a bit of a rum perhaps. It's not overpowering but I'm definitely picking it up.

So overall, this is pretty good. For a winter type of beer I think it hits all the right notes that one would expect from a winter ale but nothing really jumps out and grabs you. I'd say it's a bit more balanced than a lot of the winter warmers that end up being pine bombs. I like those a lot too. I think this could use a little more malt sweetness, maybe some caramel to sort of cut the back end of this to cut the bitterness. But besides that, I like this and I'd say it's worth checking out, if only for the name along. Come on, SLEIGH'R!!!

Rating: B+

Ninkasi Brewing Company - Tricerahops Double IPA

Evening everyone! Hope you're having a good week. It's actually raining here in San Diego tonight. That has nothing to do with tonight's beer, I just figured it was somewhat newsworthy. It IS San Diego after all, the land of 75 and sunny year round. But enough bragging.

It's a new beer tonight for me. I've never had this one and I'm really looking forward to trying this one. Tonight I'm drinking Tricerahops from Ninkasi Brewing out of Eugene Oregon. Tricerahops is a Double IPA coming in at 8.8% abv. So pretty big DIPA and I'm quite all right with that. So let's get this one opened and I'll let you know my thoughts on the Tricerahops (awesome name btw).

Tricerahops pours out a beautiful golden color, slightly copper maybe with some hints of orange. This beer is crystal clear, no haze whatsoever. There's about a finger to maybe just a tad more than a finger of fluffy white head which dissipates very quickly. There's a nice web-like lacing left behind. A decent amount of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass which is nice to see. Not sure when this was bottled but at least this tells me we're not looking at a flat beer. Always a plus! Let's get the nose.

Big fruit notes. Big pear, peaches, a bit of a sticky peach sweetness. Quite a bit of orange citrus, maybe even a mandarin orange going on here. There's a nice bit of floral shining through behind that initial blast of fruits. There's a good hop bitterness too, smells very fresh, slightly dank but not dank in the garlic/onion sense. Just a big hoppy, bitter beer. Smells wonderful. Let's see how Tricerahops tastes! 

Honestly this follows the nose very well. First thing I notice is a real nice bitter hop character, very floral and slightly earthy. That initial bitterness is followed up by a lot of those fruits; pears, peach, orange citrus, and surprisingly a bit of an apple. Not an overly sweet apple, slightly bitter. Sides of the palate you get the fruits and some sweet caramel kind of notes. Back end of this beer, this finishes incredibly dry. One of the more drying DIPA I can remember having in recent months. No alcohol from that 8.8% at all. Not even a warming sensation as it goes down. Really easy drinking DIPA. 

So overall, I'm really digging the Tricerahops. I went into this not expecting much but I'm definitely surprised by how good and balanced this beer is. It's not a big time hop bomb. The hops are certainly present but not kicking you in the teeth like a majority of DIPA are these days. I'd honestly have never guessed this was a DIPA. It's mellow but in a very pleasing way. I'd recommend this one for sure. Easy drinking, flavorful, reasonably priced. If I had to have a complaint I'd just say it's a little easy on the bitterness for a DIPA. I'm used to the big in your face palate destroyers and this is not one of them. So that's it. That's my only knock and it's minor at that.

Rating: A-

Here's a video of my wife trying Tricerahops. Requested by some of my friends. 

Ninkasi Brewing Company - Vanilla Oatis

Hey guys! It's Sunday night and I'm dreading going into work tomorrow. Yeah, I'd imagine a lot of you are in the same boat. So to ease the pain of working Monday morning I'm drinking a new beer that seems to have just made it's way to my area.

Tonight I'm drinking Vanilla Oatis from Ninkasi Brewing Company out of Eugene Oregon. This is a 7.2% abv Oatmeal Stout brewed with Vanilla. It was a little warm here today in San Diego so it's still not exactly stout weather but I really don't care. Let's get this one open and see how it is.

The Vanilla Oatis pours out pitch black in color which isn't surprising since this is a stout after all. There was about a fingers worth of a beige creamy looking head. The head is sticking around for a long time. In fact, there's still a nice little ring of beige/tan head still on top of the beer like a lid or cap. It's leaving behind a very thick and foamy lacing. This is a very nice looking oatmeal stout. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is the Vanilla. Thankfully this is a beer with Vanilla that ACTUALLY smells like vanilla. It's not in the background, hidden behind a shitload of coffee. This is right there in your face. There's some roasted oat coming through behind the vanilla. I'm picking up some creme brulee like sweetness in here as well. It's not quite like a burned sugar but that richness you get from the creme is coming out in this very nicely. There's some subtle milk chocolate notes in here too. Really impressed by the nose on this one. Very stoked the vanilla is dominant. Only one thing left to do now.

There's an immediate blast of roast, like a roasted oat to be exact. That lends itself to a really nice, creamy mouth feel. Behind that is the vanilla. Very sweet and a perfect compliment to the creamy, roasted oats. Sides of the palate you get more of the vanilla and more of that creme brulee sort of feel. Sort of fluffy, sort of creamy, definitely a bit on the rich side. Back end of this beer sort of explodes into a bitter coffee experiment. This really brings the beer altogether. Definitely makes it more of a vanilla latte than it does a creme brulee. As the flavors linger a bit you get a lot of that bitter coffee, a bit of bitter chocolate, very earthy.

So overall, I'm really digging this beer. I vaguely remember having the regular Oatis years ago and wasn't all that impressed. But this is just really nice. I think where this one stands out is the vanilla. It is really up front and put out there. It's kind of surprising that they really nailed this. Not because Ninkasi is bad or anything, but from my experience a lot of breweries use the vanilla in the background, maybe as an after thought. Just used to that I guess. I'd give this one the nod if you're thinking about picking it up.

Rating: A