Beer Flash: Avery Brewing Co.'s "Collaboration Not Litigation" ale

Saw this on the shelf at Irving Wines and Spirits, and upon suggestion of owner Jesse, I picked it up. It's an 8.9% ABV ale from Avery Brewing Co. The history is kind of interesting - apparently, both Russian River Brewing Co. and Avery have a beer called "Salvation." But, instead of litigating in a courtroom showdown to see who owned the rights to that name, the two beer dudes decided to combine the beers into one delicious ale. I enjoyed it - there was a nice combination of malts and spices. Lighter than I expected. Reminds me of a lighter version of Peak Organic's King Crimson, with all the sweet maltiness retained. Wasn't bad for $9.99 per 220z bomber.

Fremont Brewing Co. - "The Sister" and "The Brother" IPAs

Today's post is a twofer - Fremont Brewing Co. out of Seattle has released two limited-edition imperial IPAs, siblings if you will, "The Brother" and "The Sister." Both are similar in terms of ingredients and brewing styles, and as such, I'm going to do a horizontal tasting, and review them side-by-side.

A "horizontal tasting" is a term used to describe a sampling of two or more kinds of beer or wine for the means of comparing them. A "vertical tasting," on the other hand, is when one reviews two more examples of the same beer or wine across several years. So, for example, you could buy two bottles of wine (a 2014 and a 2015 vintage of the same kind) and review them side-by side, noting the differences and similarity. You can do the same with beer, too - Stone Brewing Co.'s "Vertical Epic" is aged beer that was released once a year on the "repeat days" (ex. 01/01/01, 02/02/02, through 12/12/12.) Each beer is slightly different and meant to be aged. But on the release of the 12/12/12, the last beer released, Stone's brewers opened up all examples for a 12-part vertical tasting. Amazing!

Let's get to our mini-tasting, though. Both beers are imperial IPAs, each clocking in at 8.5% ABV.

As you can see, they look almost identical. Both pour a hazy orange, almost caramel, with tan-colored foam on each. Only The Brother had any lacing on the glass after the foam dissipated.

With The Brother, there's an unusual amount of sediment in the can and in the glass. A quick call to Fremont's brewhouse confirms that sediment in this beer is not expected or normal. Hmmm. Sediment is not usually a bad sign; there's often a small amount of particulates in the bottom of craft beers. But there seemed to be an inordinate amount in here, which could mean several things. But that never stopped old Jimmy!

I ended up trying The Sister first (by way of coin toss.) It's very hoppy from the start, with a sweet floral feeling to it that's really nice. There's definitely a bitter edge, especially in the aftertaste, with a little bubble of carbonation. Still delicious though.

The Brother is actually noticeably different from The Sister. Whereas The Sister is mostly strong, floral, slightly bitter flavors, The Brother ends up being deeper with a hint of fruit and hops. The Brother reminds me of the Dogfish Head 120 in terms of color and flavor, although the alcohol is half of the 120. It finishes well, and looks like the amount of sediment didn't really affect the beer one way or another.

In all, an interesting horizontal tasting. Some imperial IPAs have massive hoppy flavors and some are a little more bitter, and it was cool to see two similar styles of IPAs compared side-by-side. I bet these would be great on draft, as well.

 

Nat Sherman - Metropolitan Banker robusto gordo (Dominican Republic)

Here's another cigar review for you all - it's called the "Metropolitan Banker," another entry in the Nat Sherman line of fine cigars. This is the other half of a two-cigar combo that my brother got me for my birthday, the first of which you may recall I reviewed this past summer. This one measures 5" long by 70 ring gauge, or just over an inch in diameter. It's quite the cigar.

I like the color of the leaf - it's a Connecticut shade tobacco wrapper. The format is not something I usually have - as you can see, it's a rather big cigar that would demand at least an hour or and hour +15 to truly enjoy. Here's a nickel for scale:

The first light was a bit tough - it seemed to be pretty tightly-wrapped and didn't light or draw terribly well. But, I eventually got it going, and as you can see, it has a dirty grey ash. The cigar burned evenly for the most part after that.

 I was a little underwhelmed by the taste, but came to appreciate it as time went on. According to various online cigar merchants who sell it, it's billed as a "medium-/full-bodied" cigar with a "creamy" flavor. I'm not entirely sure I agree with that - the cigar is generally straightforward in taste, with a primarily grassy taste that is very mild.

The first part reminds me of a halfway point between a Thompson Tusker and a Cuvee Blanc, the latter of which has a distinct mineral taste missing in the Metropolitan Banker. The second half is drier and harsher but still has that Thompson Tusker feel. The flavor profile turned to medium, not mild, but still grassy with a strong taste of straw on tongue after smoking. It's not creamy,  as described, but grassy. And unlike the Cuvee Blanc, the Met Banker has no mineral tastes.

Despite the issues with the draw, it's a smoke I'd try again. I always enjoy having premium cigars, and Nat Shermans are certainly worth trying. The format was a lot of fun, and perhaps this cigar would have benefited from more time in the humidor.

Beer Flash: Tampa Bay Brewing Co.'s "Old Elephant Foot" IPA

Today's beer is one of several various Tampa beers sent to me by good friend and fellow beer lover Matt LeVarge. I used to hang out with Matt in middle school, spending afternoons in his basement listening to Sublime and watching South Park. Fast forward 15 years, he's moved to Tampa and I to Washington, DC, and now we're trading beers from thousands of miles away. Go figure.

Here we have the "Old Elephant Foot" from Tampa Bay Brewing Co. It pours yellow-ish, super foamy and bright, with a nice wheaty aroma. It not as hoppy as it could be, but I'm totally OK with that. It's got a very citrusy taste, but interestingly enough, not in the usual floral hops-kind of way. It's citrusy in a orange juice way. It tastes like orange juice and beer mixed, which isn't bad at all.  It's billed as a "West Coast IPA" but I doubt that. They should call it a "Florida IPA" - fresh, juicy, and hoppy with just the right about of citrus flavor. Good stuff!

Lagunitas Brewing Co. - "Hairy Eyeball" ale

Today's beer is from Petaluma-based Lagunitas Brewing Company. I've long been a fan of Lagunitas, with having reviewed the crown jewel of their line, the Cappuccino Stout, last year. I picked up this beer at Costco, where it was being sold for the low low price if $4.99 (normally $9.99 at Whole Foods.) I guess that's wholesale pricing for ya.

It'sa 9.4% ABV American strong ale billed as a "roasty, toasty, malty, hangover-halting beer." Well, I don't know if I'd be drinking anything other than water for a hangover, but that's beside the point. Let's try the Hairy Eyeball.

Pours a gorgeous reddish-brown, and puffs up to a buff-colored head. It's also very aromatic - strong scents of alcohol, vanilla, and maple. I'm really digging it.

The head subsides into the cool amoeba-pattern which lasts a few minutes. It appears reddish-brown in the glass, with lots of little carbonation bubbles in there. Candled, it's root beer color.

I was pleasantly surprised at the taste. It was smooth, almost milky, with almost no hops to speak of and a strong caramel taste that reminded me a lot of Peak Organic's "King Crimson." I'm disappointed the vanilla doesn't carry over, but in total, there's a three-way mixture of delicious flavors that I can discern; top-quality malts, dark fruit tastes, and caramel. The taste is somewhat surprising, but not in a bad way. I wasn't expecting the vibrancy of flavors. It's very pleasing, smooth mouthfeel, and very approachable. So, yeah, great stuff. I'll definitely be buying this to have on hand!

Cellar & Stove - French rack of lamb / 2Fly 2009 shiraz (Australia)

Today's post is another where I (help) make dinner and then serve a paired wine with it. Having abandoned the name "Dinner and a Movie," seeing as the past few of these so-called "Dinner and a Movie" segments have not actually included a movie, the segment is now called "Cellar & Stove." Also, I dare not tarnish the memory of that mid-nineties television gem Dinner and a Movie, starring chef Claude Mann and comedic duo Paul Gilmartin and Annabelle Gurwitch. Ah, TBS. 

Recently I was visiting my folks in Connecticut, and so naturally we had to make a fancy dinner. Tonight's dish, created with the expertise of Jayne Collins, my aunt (and mobile web dev extraordinaire!) is herb-crusted Frenched racks of lamb, served with roasted garlic mashed red potatoes and cauliflower roasted in a lemon mustard sauce. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? So we'll need an equally-amazing wine.

Since we're working with lots of tangy flavors here - mustard, garlic, and lemon - I'm looking for a wine that's ripe and full-bodied, to stand up to those citrus / mustard flavors, but also isn't exceptionally sharp or tannic, to not interfere with the appreciation of said flavors. And since I know that Australian syrah (or shiraz) is a medium- to full-bodied red, with some tangy capabilities, I chose a 2009 bottle of shiraz from 2Fly Vineyards from the cellar.

So now that we have our wine, it's time to make food. The first step was to brown the lamb racks. While that's happening, Jayne made an herb paste of parsley, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. 

Next step, once those are browned, is to anoint the lamb in the herb mixture.

And then we roasted the racks for 25 minutes total. While the lamb was roasting - the wine was breathing. Tonight's wine, as mentioned, is a 2009 Australian shiraz from 2Fly Vineyards, which was one of my first reviews ever! Let's dive in. 

It pours rather nicely, with no real aroma to speak of. It's garnet-colored in the glass with a nice color when candled. 

I like the flavors of dark fruit with no alcohol tastes present. The flavors were muted, especially on the finish where it was almost hard to get any flavor. According to my review from December 2012, the wine was "deep and plummy but not overly tart or dry." Well, not much has changed in terms of the latter two; today's wine isn't tart or dry at all. It has a pleasant texture. But back in '12, the flavors were "deep and plummy...peppery and ripe." I think certainly this wine has shown its age in that regard. I wouldn't call today's wine "deep" but it does retain some of those plum / dark fruit tastes.

What's great about drinking this wine now is that I can see how it's aged for over the past few years. Most wines I buy, I can only get one bottle - and so I think this may be the first time I have reviewed an identical vintage twice, with comparisons over the years. And in that vein, I think I wouldn't have waited so long to have it. I kinda miss that up-front fruitiness that the 2012 tasting held, and although the 2015 tasting was good, it didn't have that same peppery ripeness that I was hoping for. Still - it was a delicious pairing and I would love to investigate Aussie red wines in the future.

Montecristo - "Espada" aged toro grande

Yesterday, I caught up with friends Jon, Jill and Nathaniel at Shelley's Back Room tavern on F Street. Beforehand, Nathaniel and I stopped off at W. Curtis Draper Tobacconist right nearby to peruse the selection (which is rather extensive.) I saw a few I liked, looking to savor a nice large-format smoke over some single-malt at Shelley's. This cigar jumped out at me big-time! It's a special Montecristo I have never seen before, and the price was right ($15.50.)

Called the "Espada," my research has shown it's a collaboration cigar between Montecristo and famous tobacconist Nestor Plascencia. The cigar itself is all Nicaraguan, with aged longfillers from Jalapa, Condega, and Ometepe wrapped up in an aged 2010 Habano wrapper. It's billed as a medium-bodied smoke, but I'm wagering it's going to be stronger based on those blends.

Lit up nicely, and burned evenly throughout the smoke without having to relight it once. The flavors were actually milder than I expected, with the chief taste a woodsy sweetness with a hint of grass. The cigar smoked evenly with a dark grey ash, as mentioned, and turned sharp and acrid with a little less than 3 inches left. I'd buy this smoke again - it's a little expensive retail, but it was delicious and paired perfectly with my whiskey of choice, Balvenie 14-year Carribean Cask, as pictured above. 

Deschutes Brewing Co. - "Fresh Squeezed" India pale ale

I saw this recently on draft at D'Vines, and at the urging of my brother, I grabbed a 64oz fill-up. It's a 6.40 % ABV fresh hop IPA from Deschutes, perfect for this spate of warmer weather we've been having in our nation's capital.

The beer pours amber colored, with a very puffy white foam than clings to the glass. It's bright and clear when candled. There's also lots of bubbles in there.

It had a nice sharp citrus hops aroma, which I liked a lot. Initially, the taste is as I expected - hoppy with some citrus tastes, a little spice, and some fruitiness. But, the twist here is that the finish is very, very malty. It didn't have that hoppy burst I was expecting at the end, but instead sort of died away quietly with flavors of malt and spice.

Not bad. I'm glad I had it fresh on draft, and I like the flavors, which end up coming from - in large part - the amount of Mosaic and Citra hops they stuff into it. If we're talking fresh-hop citrus IPAs, I think Lonerider's "Hops You Rode In On" is more my speed, but I still found the "Fresh Squeezed" to be delicious.

Beer Flash: Founder's Breakfast Stout

Just a quick post about Founder's Breakfast Stout, which I got on draft at D'Vines. It's an 8.3% ABV double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout that is incidentally one of the only beers rated a pure 100/100 on BeerAdvocate. This means that both the user community and BeerAdvocate founders Jason and Todd Alstrom have rated it a perfect score.

I had it at Shirlington in the fall, and saw it on the draft menu at D'Vines. I ended up getting the last of the keg!

It pours slowly, and ends up being nice and deep with strong alcohol flavors up front. Not too chocolaty or sweet but is very smooth, uncommonly so. I'm most impressed at the careful balancing of flavors here - it makes for a remarkably drinkable stout that would be great for the novice beer drinker. Very delicious!

Boston Brewing Co. - Sam Adams "Tetravis" quadruppel

I first came across this a few years ago when I was at Costco - they were selling a mixed 3-pack of these for $25. They're part of the Sam Adams' "Barrel Room Collection," a line of barrel-aged beers made in the Belgian monastic tradition of blending and aging. Never before having had them, I bought the 3-pack. Today's is called "Tetravis" and is a 10.2% ABV Belgian quad, In case you missed my explanation of what a "quad" (or, more accurately, quadruppel) is, look no further than this post from 2013.

According to their website, the brewery developed a special strain of yeast called "Kosmic Mother Funk," which is used in all of the Barrel Room Collection beers. The beers are then aged in Eastern European oak barrels that once was used to age Italian brandy.

Photo taken from the Barrel Room Collection website

Aging beer in barrels is nothing new, and in fact, most aged alcohol uses barrels. Whiskey, wine, beer, brandy, cordials and cognacs all use barrels of various woods for the aging process. And there's also a big market, especially for brewers, to buy second-hand barrels that have already had alcohol aged in them. The spirits formerly aging in them have imbued the barrels with certain properties which the brewers clearly want to exploit. So, in our case, the Barrel Room Collection brewers wanted to take advantage of the properties of that specific oak as well as the brandy.

So on to today's beer. I really like the shape of the bottle, which is topped with a muselet-and-champagne-cork top. Drinking this makes me feel like I ought to be in a castle somewhere. But be careful with the cork; it's under pressure and could injure you if you point it at your eyeballs or other mechanics of nature, so to speak.

The beer pours a nut-brown eye, with some white foam bubbling up and a light nose of yeast. Here's a GIF of the action:

I decided to let this one sit for a few minutes to open up. It's got a nice deep brown color, and candles to a really neat electric caramel color. It's fizzier than I expected.

Ater the first couple sips, and a few minutes warming up, it has powerful up-front yeast and wood flavors with sugary spice tastes. It develops into an interesting dark-roast malt flavor that wraps up with a nice finish of raisin and clove. The beer is sweet, thick and heady with a pleasant aftertaste.

It was cool to try something off-the-beaten-path, especially from a macrobrew like Sam Adams. They're so widely-distributed with dozens of varieties that it was cool to come across something a little more craft-y.

Stone Brewing Co. - "Old Guardian 2015 Off-Year Release" barleywine

It's that time of year, folks - Stone has released the latest iteration of their Old Guardian barleywine series. For those of you unfamiliar - barleywine is a kind of ale made with barley originally brewed in England a few hundred years ago. Despite the name, it's a strong ale, usually made with the strength of a wine (roughly 8 - 14 % ABV) Today's is 11% ABV.

I happen to love barleywine, and review it quite often on this blog: here, and here, also here,  aaand here. So when I saw this in the store, naturally I had to grab a couple - 5 to be exact. Stone releases two Old Guardians a year - the Classic Release, then an off-year release. They only had one Classic Release on sale, which I bought, but many Extra Hoppy odd-year releases, 4 of which I bought. These will cellar well and so I'll have samples for years to come, and will likely peak in a few years, around which time their ABV is roughly 16 - 17%. I have Old Guardian bottles in my cellar dating back to 2010.

Since we had a snowy day today (which saw me trudging, nonetheless, through a beautiful-yet-frigid US Capitol campus), I figured once I slogged home and finished shoveling, it was time for something strong. Enter the Old Guardian 2015 Extra Hoppy barleywine. Kept extra cold by submersion in the snow for a while.

Pours swiftly, with a nice reddish-brown color and a puffy tan head that clings to the sides to the glass.

Wow - what a strong and pungent aroma: clean, aged hops notes with and undercurrent of something I can't quite place. Interesting.

The taste is equally perplexing. It's got the usual malty caramel tastes of a barleywine, but is accompanied by the hoppy dryness of a strong IPA. It's an interesting mix, definitely off the beaten path, a serious blend of IPA-like bitterness and barleywine strength. I like it, and is a diversion from the typical OG barleywine offering. It drinks less like a barleywine and more like a very strong double IPA, which is kind of interesting. I did end up liking it, and I think it is a little more sessionable than its predecessors - something which I favor. I'm interested to see how this beer will turn out in 2016 and beyond - all the way to 2019.

Wine Flash: 2007 Tenuta Sant'Antonio cabernet sauvignon (Italy)

Tonight's wine is another relic from the cellar - it's a 2007 cabernet sauvignon from Italy's Tenuta Sant'Antonio vineyards, located in the Valipolicella winemaking region east of Lake Garda. We served it with homemade barbecue spare ribs (in the slow cooker) and some glazed carrots.

It had a faint aroma of alcohol with no other discernible flavors. It's a dark red in the glass. At first blush, there's a soft alcohol taste with some cassin tastes.  That flavors sort of drops off after a second or two, with a finish of dark fruit skin with an aftertaste of fruit juice (I mean, it was fruit juice one upon a time!) Definitely a nice wine. A little mellow for my tastes, definitely a product of spending 8 years in the cellar, but delicious nonetheless.