Foley Brothers Brewing - "Ginger Wheat" ale

Today's beer comes to us from Brandon, a small town in Rutland County, Vermont. Meet Foley Brothers' "Ginger Wheat." Despite the Foley Brothers name, this beer is brewed under contract by Neshore River Company, also of Brandon, VT.

It's a 5.9% ABV wheat ale made with ginger - a cool proposition indeed. It pours hazy orange, with no aroma whatsoever. It puffs up a thin, white head that dies down almost immediately. The aroma is practically nonexistent.

This beer's biggest positive trait is the freshness. It's bright, not yeasty at all, with a thin wheat flavor all the way through. I can't detect the ginger, which is too bad since Heritage's "American Expedition" ginger wheat knocks it out of the park. Today's beer is lighter than the American Expedition, clearer and as a result thinner on taste. I'm not going to recommend this simply because you can get better examples of this flavor profile for cheaper elsewhere.

Tabacleria Drew Estate: ACID "Extra Ordinary Larry" (Nicaragua)

Got this smoke in a Drew Estate ACID sampler tin a few months back. After a couple of months of humidifying, my brother Dan and I each smoked our respective cigars on my last night in Seattle. Behold the "Extra Ordinary Larry."

It's a 6 x 60 maduro cigar part of their purple "Juggernaut" line, billed as medium-strength. I like the pigtail cap (the curly tail of tobacco at the top) and the shaggy, unfinished foot (the tuft of tobacco at the bottom of the cigar.) Both are stylistic concerns, just for fun, although the shaggy foot makes it a little easier to light up, since there's more material close to the flame. The pigtail cap you can twist off, which I did, so you don't really need a cigar cutter. Sort of has that paisano feel; no fancy cutter needed...just grab one out of your peasant work shirt, twist it off, and start smoking.

Anyways - lit 'er up, took a minute or so but got it going. It had a tough draw in places - for the most part, OK. I puffed and puffed, waiting for the infused oils and spices to show themselves...but no such luck. It burnt evenly, for the most part, with a grey mottled ash as you can see below:

I was a little surprised at how natural this tasted. I was expecting something a little more infused, with a more pronounced flavor, since it's part of the purple Juggernaut line. But it lacks some of the aggressive flavors of the ACID line. The tobacco flavors were there, and there was a little bit of dark earthiness at the end, but so far it's one of Drew's least flavorful cigars, in my opinion, It works well as a base natural smoke, and the tobacco is of high quality, I just wasn't feeling the infusions this time.

Sound Brewery - "Ursus Spelaeus" imperial stout

I grabbed this last week at Edison City Alehouse in South Tacoma, WA. It's Sound Brewery's "Ursus Spelaeus", a 10.00% ABV Belgian-style imperial stout. I was intrigued by the use of Belgian yeast in an imperial stout, and being the adventurous fellow I am, I figured I'd give it a shot. By the way, Ursus spelaeus is the Latin binomial nomenclature for the cave bear, a now-extinct species of ice-age mammal:

The beer (not to be confused with the bear) is a deep brown color, almost black, and has a dark tan head. Which also describes the bear.

Hmmm, the beer is straightforward and good. It's sweet and a little sour, mostly dark tastes, not really Belgian as far as I can tell. It's a little sugary, mostly on the way out, with some pleasing fresh aftertastes. It tastes similar to some other imperial stouts I have had, with the notable exception of no roasted malt / toasted tastes.

This beer cost $10.60 at Edison. So after drinking it, I'm not sure it's something I'd stock up on. I like the strength of it, and it drinks below its weight (meaning it doesn't taste like it's 10 points) but in terms of taste and flavor profile, it's a pretty straightforward beer with little to complicate it. That can be good, if it's what you're looking for. That being said,  it's also around $11, so there's that cost-benefit consideration as well. Personally, I'm not sure I'd pay that money for what's in the bottle. Still - good to try, I wonder how this would be on cask or draft or nitro.

Field Trip: Fort George Brewing Company (Astoria, Oregon)

The name "Fort George" may be familiar to some of you who have read my blog. Over the past few years, my brother has sent me a handful of beers by Fort George, some of which I have reviewed on this blog: "Java the Hop" IPA and "Quick Wit" witbier. On my vacation, after spending a few days hiking the rainforest and glacier valleys of the Olympic Peninsula, we drove 200 miles south to Astoria to check out Fort George. They have a huge building situated a few blocks south of the waterfront in Astoria.

The inside is divided into a few different areas, with the main bar downstairs, a bakery sharing the other half of the footprint, and upstairs their restaurant portion. Off to the right of this picture there's a small outbuilding, which houses their specialty taproom and a place for lawn games.

The view from the first floor bar.

Here's the downstairs bar menu. I've tried quite a few of the presented offerings in cans, but nothing on draft.

Fortunately, one of the bartenders poured us some samples:

Here we had four of their most popular beers - the "Beta 9.0" (4.5% ABV IPA), the "Plazm" (a 6.5% ABV farmhouse ale), the "Divinity" (5.1% ABV fruit ale) and the "Nut Red" (5.1% ABV red ale.) I wasn't looking to review them individually, just to enjoy the spread. Although I did learn that the adjacent taproom had a wider variety of beers on tap, including a few that looked really interesting,  so we ducked in to see what they had. I saw on their menu they had a stout made with truffles; so naturally I had to try that. The bartender came over and asked us what we wanted - he kindly poured us a row of 8 oz schooners:

From left to right, they are:

• "Truffle Shuffle Stout" - a 7.3% ABV stout made with truffle mushrooms. It was tasty, but I couldn't necessarily taste the truffles. But then again, truffle is a delicate flavor, and expensive, so there probably wasn't a huge bunch of truffles tossed in. Anyways - smooth, tasty, with notes of chicory.
• "Anne, Are You Oak Aged?" - I think this was the one that did me in for the night. It's probably the most unusual beer I've ever tried, and it was amazing! It's a 9.7% ABV scotch ale / wee heavy aged in bourbon barrels. It tastes more like a cross between an ale and a pinot noir, to be honest. It's very strong, sweet, and has a syrupy mouthfeel. Very warming and heavy, and definitely high gravity. 
• "Spruce Budd" - a 4.9% ABV ale made with absolutely no hops, only 2-row malt and spruce tips. Kinda reminds me of the Yards' "Tavern Spruce" but lighter and less herbal. Still tasty, would be interested in getting it in cans someday. It's like a Christmas soda - clearer than expected.
• "Eat a Peach" - 6.8% ABV kettle soured peach beer. Powerfully fruity, only a little sour, and good, because it's light. Like a sparkling white wine in terms of sugarey-ness. Great for a summer's day.

I think that was enough for one day! I had a great time at the brewery and the bar staff were all super nice. I can't speak highly enough of the atmosphere. Everyone who works there was very welcoming, happy to pour samples, and were attentive enough without being annoying. They have really good people at Fort George and I'll be sure to come back next time I'm in Astoria. I also grabbed a few bombers of their specialty, brewery-only beer - more to come on that later!

Buoy Beer Company - "Imperial Rainbow" petit saison

An hour or so after we pulled in to Astoria, we ended up at Buoy Beer Co., located right on the Astoria waterfront. They had a good selection of beers, but the one that spoke to me the most was the "Imperial Rainbow," a 5.00% ABV petit saison.

A petit saison is a low-gravity beer much in the same style as a farmhouse ale. This one was clean, surprisingly un-yeasty, and smooth with some muted citrus notes on the way out. Surprisingly crisp, too - most saisons are dank and yeasty and cloudy. This one, as you can see, is clearer and thinner than many of the saisons you might find. I ended up ordering some of the best fried cheese curds I've ever had.

As I was enjoying my beer and cheese curds, I noticed a chalkboard above the taps with a whole seriers of names and numbers on it. Asking about it, I learned it was the "futures board," where someone can leave some money for a certain person or group of people as a way to entice folks to come back to the brewery. I left $10 - $5 to anyone with the last name Liska, and $5 to any Dickinson student or alum who visits the brewery. Dickinsonians in Oregon - you know what to do!

Cigar Flash: Drew Estate's ACID "1400cc"

Dan and I went to Rialto Beach to watch the amazing sunset over the Pacific. Our cigar of choice was a Drew Estate "1400cc" off their ACID line. I've had it before - it's mellow and straightforward with nice herbal and spice tones. It's infused, which means the cigar makers added some all-natural essential oils at various times in the process. Infused cigars aren't flavored per se. It was a great choice - we sat on a huge driftwood log and had our smokes. 

Beer Flash: Ninkasi's "Vanilla Oatis" stout

Greetings from La Push, WA! Today and tomorrow we're staying in La Push, with tomorrow spent hiking with my brother Dan in the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic Range. Today we did Hurricane Ridge:

And, of course, after a long day of driving and hiking, we came back to the cabin (Wi-Fi enabled naturally) for a beer. We brought along a few in the cooler, and chose Ninkasi's "Vanilla Oatis," a 7.00% ABV oatmeal stout made with whole vanilla beans. It was surprisingly strong and powerful, with some vanilla extract flavors coupled with a strong alcoholic stout flavor. I would have wagered it was a 9% ABV or more. I was, however, a little disappointed since I was hoping it would have been smoother. But - still good, and tastes great after a long day of hiking.

Field Trip: Chateau Ste Michelle Winery (Woodinville, WA)

No wine tour of the Pacific Northwest is complete without a visit to Woodinville, WA's Chateau Ste Michelle winery. Chateau Ste Michelle's wines can be found across the US in great quantity; this blog has seen two reviews of CSM white wines over the years (and a few more to come!) But today, I'm checking out the place for myself.

The winery itself is located northeast of Seattle situated on large, rambling grounds. There's a long drive that leads past some vine rows up to the main house. Those cool double doors are the main lobby doors, with the tasting room and tour areas inside. There's also a special club room for frequent visitors. Out on the lawn, they have spaces for concerts. They also have a few outbuildings which can be rented out for various special events.

My brother Dan and I took the main winery tour, checking out their bottling procedure. I'm told they work 20 hours a day, bottling tens of thousands of cases per week. All their grapes are grown in eastern Washington, and only the white wines are bottled at this particular place - their reds are bottled in their Canoe Ridge facility in Walla Walla, WA. After the tour, my brother Dan and I then sat for a private, 45-minute wine and food pairing in their opulent wine library:

That's Susan, our knowledgeable wine guide for the day. Susan did a great job setting this up for us and had the answer to every question we had. The wine library had some vintage bottles going back 20 years. There's a big dining room table in the middle, where they already had special tasting setups provided for us.

Today we're going to be sampling 5 different wines, paired with 5 different snacks. Each pairing has been expertly matched for optimum flavors. There also was water crackers and water to cleanse our palettes. All in all a nice set up! Here's the tasting menu for today:

1. 2010 "Luxe" Columbia Valley - Chardonnay

2. 2014 Indian Wells - Chardonnay

3. 2012 "Austral" blend - Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre

4. 2010 Cold Creek - Cabernet Sauvignon

5. 2013 "Ethos" Horse Heaven Late Harvest - Reisling

They were arranged so nicely! I'll talk a little more about each one, but first I need to explain how Susan, our guide for the afternoon, wanted us to taste:

The idea was for us to try each wine, in clockwise succession, and to enjoy each of them before moving on to the next one. They are laid out in a specific and intentional manner. And then, after each had been tried, we were supposed to drink the remainder in each glass, following the same succession as before, but trying each food item in succession. So by the end, you'll have tried each wine by itself AND each food item with each wine.

The food items were all wonderful - some cheese, including the truly sublime Rogue's Smoky Blue; some truffle salt popcorn, and a piece of Lindt pineapple dark chocolate. The pairings are all made from scratch by CSM experts, to best complement the wines they have.

We started with the "Luxe," which is a Chardonnay made in the methode champenoise, a French technique that requires sparkling wine to be fermented a second time in the bottle. This particular label is only available here at the winery, and not sold outside of the grounds. I enjoyed it - it was crisp, smooth, cool with apple and grape sugars. Nice effervescent pop. I'm not a huge fan of whites, but CSM has me warming up to them for sure!

Next up was 2014 Indian Wells chardonnay, a nice and smooth white with warm notes and peach flavors. Not a lot of sugar, but still had a tropical flavor.

Third was the "Austral," a local winery-only blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. As you may recall, these grapes are some of my favorites, so I was particularly interested in that. It wasn't my favorite, but I respect the earthiness and spiciness of the wine.

The next wine is probably my favorite of all of them. It's a 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, made in CSM's Cold Creek vineyard (which isn't cold, or near a creek, but an arid climate.) This climate produces some of the most aggressive wines they have. This wine shows its age - which is a great thing. The wine was mellow, approachable, and super lush with heavy mouthfeel and black fruit. I appreciated the age of it and the refined feeling. It pairs amazingly with the Rogue smoky blue cheese and the pineapple chocolate. Amazing stuff!

I was blown away by the last wine. It's their Late Harvest Riesling, with a really strong honey aroma in the glass. I mean, strong. But the awesome thing is, the flavor was much more muted and refined than the aroma would suggest. It was hazy, cool, deep and delicious with honey and apricot flavors all the way through. If it wasn't $40 a bottle, I would have grabbed a few.

We wrapped up and Susan took us to another tasting area, where she kindly brought us glasses of any wines we wanted. Dan and I tried their dry Gewurztraminer, their Syrah, their Cabernet, and a glass of their (fine!) port.

In all, what a great time we had. I really can't thank Chateau Ste Michelle, and Susan, enough for putting on such a great tasting for just the two of us. I also loved the selections in the gift shop, and bought three bottles of special, winery-only wine to have later. One of them, a 2011 "Impressive" blend, will be my Christmas day bottle of wine. More to come on that later - they have to be shipped especially to my DC apartment so I won't be able to try them until I get back in September. If you're ever in Woodinville or Seattle area, make it a point to go to Chateau Ste Michelle - it's not to be missed.

Field Trip: Edison City Alehouse (South Tacoma, WA)

Yesterday I traveled south to South Tacoma, WA, to Edison City Alehouse, where I met up with Robbie Bessey, one of the head honchos. Robbie graciously let me hang around the shop for a few hours to get a greater appreciation for the daily operations of a small beer shop - of course I will be sampling beer the whole day, and reviewing that as well.

This is the shop. It's located in a former tobacco shop on South Lawrence Street in the 'burbs of South Tacoma. Tacoma is a historical railway town; it was the junction of many rail lines out West. Back in the day, the area that the shop is in was nicknamed "Edison City" when Thomas Edison came to town. Now it's part of South Tacoma, separated from Tacoma proper.

I like the color scheme. There are a few tables out front with umbrellas as you can see. Upstairs, there's an apartment. Inside, the shop is an open floor plan (pretty much) with two distinct sections - one, the beer cooler section...

...and the other, the bar and tap area. They have a good selection of beers in bottles, lots of local stuff. They also have a nice selection of cider, and some sodas as well. I like the clean, uncluttered look of the retail portion. It's bright, clean, and the selection can be browsed easily. 

Here's the bar area. In Washington state, bottle shops can also sell beer on tap, which I wish DC could do. There's a digital board with the on-tap beers on it; they are sourced from Untappd and are live. The sliding glass door leads to an office / storage area, which once was a walk-in humidor.

I like the whole set up. It's unassuming, comfortable, and welcoming. There's enough space for people to spread out (with a bar counter running the length of the exterior wall, with power plugs for laptops.) There's a central bar counter as well, and behind the cooler area is a kitchen where they have a variety of sandwiches, fresh made to order. The shop is open to people of all ages, so a couple with young kids could come here for a sandwich and a soda if they like.

As Robbie settled in, I perused the selection. Their draft is list is not crazy huge, but extensive enough, and covering the broad range of beers one may want to order. For my first glass, he and I split a rather nice bottle of 2014-vintage "Beltane" saison made by Port Townsend, WA-based Propolis Brewing.

It's a super local beer from a tiny brewery - Robbie says the only have a single-barrel system. It's got a metal crimp cap and underneath, a cork! 

It pours a light amber color and had nice aromatic white foam. It's a tangy, crisp and smooth 7.5% ABV saison with nice apple sugar tastes. Very refreshing.

As we had our beers, I spoke with Robbie briefly about the shop and its future plans. It's pretty new, only about 6 months old, and they are still working towards getting the place set up to their liking. A big challenge for the shop is distribution - since it's a smaller shop, just starting out, they're working towards getting the wide varieties of beer they want. Problem is, a lot of distributors have minimum purchase requirements, and so for a small shop, it might be hard to meet those quotas easily. Robbie also likes trying at least one of every thing they sell, to make better recommendations, so they're currently working towards getting a more comprehensive selection. Stuff like this takes time, I am told, and it's just another hurdle that smaller beer shops have to contend with.

Next beer is Crux Fermentation Project's "Session IPA," a delicious 4.5% ABV saison out of Bend, OR. Check out that double bubble coming out of the bottle neck!

It just hit the spot - crisp, easy drinking and full of hops. I chose something light not just because it was before noon, but I also was going to go to another Seattle brewery to review it later that day, and needed to pace myself. Speaking of lunch - as I mentioned, they serve sandwiches, so I ordered a "South Side" sandwich - salami, smoked ham, provolone cheese, whole basil with olive garlic tapenade on sourdough. Super tasty!

Robbie is also a fan of sour beers, and having never tried a proper sour beer, I figured this would be the time and place to do it. Sour beers are the latest fad in beer, and according to Robbie, they're rather hard to make. It's a time consuming process that requires special yeast and an eye for detail, and brewers need to be on their game to put out a quality sour. I asked Robbie to pick me out one from the shop to drink, and he came back with this:

It's Cascade Brewing Co.'s "Figaro," a 2013-vintage oak-aged Northwest-style sour made with figs and lemon peel. According to Robbie, Edison is the only place in the state of Washington that sells it. Robbie had to drive down to Oregon himself to pick these up. 

I was very surprised. The beer definitely had a tang to it, and was super sour with a little bit of unobtrusive carbonation. It had strong apple sugar flavors, but in a muddled cider kind of way (unlike the crisp and floral saison.) There's a bit of sweetness on the end, but the sour flavors still dominated, in the best way possible. After another hour or so of chatting and taking a walk, I remembered I had to catch a bus north to my next brewery appointment. I wrapped up, paid my tab, and headed out.

It was really cool to learn more about operating a beer shop and looking at it from a business angle as well as a beer angle. Knowing what beers are available, what beers people want, and balancing distributor's requirements is just one of many considerations that go into running your own pub. When sitting back with our favorite saison, we often don't think about the challenges present in operating a small, independent brew shop. In a region like Seattle, where there are probably hundreds of breweries, brewpubs, and bars, it can be tough to operate with  all the competition and overhead. But Edison is well on its way, and if I lived in the area, I'd make it a regular hangout. As I mentioned it's a really nice laid-back place without a pretentious atmosphere or oppressive culture, and very much suited for enjoying a beer without being hurried along by some officious bartender. They also know their stuff here, so a big shout out to Robbie for opening his doors for me - if you're ever in South Tacoma, swing by Edison. It's worth a visit!

Beer Flash: Browar Witnica's "Black Boss" Baltic porter [Poland]

Today's beer comes to us from Poland - it's Browar Witnica's "Black Boss" Baltic porter, a 9.4% ABV beer on my "to drink" list for some time. It's imported direct from Poland by Arko LLC, based in New Britain, CT, where my grandmother has lived for the past 56 years. Small world! 

It pours a root beer color, and a dark red when candled. My brother Dan calls it the "poor man's Cavatica Stout" and I think the flavors line up at least on principle. It's rather strong, sweet and malty with that unrefined taste reminiscent of some cheaper beers like Rainier. In fact, this is intentional - according to beer aficionado and contre-fixie Fritz Rice, it's "the cheapest drunk you'll ever need." And I can see why - the strength and uncomplicated nature of the beer makes for a straightforward and powerful porter meant for quaffing.  However, as a distinction, this is the best value drunk you'll ever need. You can get cheaper solutions for your sobriety, but for this price point and overall bang-for-your-buck, it's great. 

Anyways - good beer, albeit rough around the edges. Not something I'd bring to a party or a family dinner, but great for a Meridian Hill park picnic. Great for drinking out of a paper bag at a bus stop. 

Stone Brewing Co.: "Ruinten" triple IPA

Today's beer is a special release from Stone, to commemorate their 10th anniversary. It's a 10.8% ABV triple IPA. You may be familiar with their "Ruination" IPA, which they call a "liquid poem to the glory of the hop." This is their anniversary blend, where they cranked up their IPA to 11. Personally, I've ever seen a triple IPA before. But if the description "a mosh pit of hops" is any indication, it's going to be rad. According to the back of the bottle, over 5 lbs of hops go into each barrel. Day-um. It's also super-fresh...it was bottled on 6/22/15.

Pours out fast, with a nice amber color. Some white foam, but not a lot, and what's there dies down quickly.

Smells slightly hoppy; but doesn't throw a big aroma, which is a little surprising given the amount of advertising they do on the bottle. It's relatively clear when candled, with a nice light amber color.

Holy cow. This beer is way thicker than it seems. It pours super fast, but in the mouth it's sluggish and a little syrupy. It's aggressively hoppy, for sure, but the consistency of it blocks out a lot of the "hop burn." Hop burn is a term I made up just now to describe the sensation of a very hoppy, highly carbonated, bitter beer. The consistency of the Ruinten luckily prohibits that feeling. It's smooth, syrupy, with some floral and malt flavors playing second fiddle to the bunker-buster hop flavors. However, it goes down well, no bad finish, and the aftertaste is a nice bitter hop flavor that lingers for some time.

Another good thing about this beer is that it drinks below its weight. It doesn't feel like it's almost 11 points. This can be good or bad, depending on your point of view. But overall this was a good beer for hop heads, with a nice texture and good flavors.

Cellar & Stove: Chipotle Adobo Mac 'n Cheese + 2013 "Trentatre" Italian red blend

For another installment of my "Cellar & Stove" series, I'm going to pair a red wine with some homemade mac n' cheese. Instead of the easy box stuff, I'm making chipotle adobo mac n' cheese with black beans and arbol chiles from scratch, served with oven-roasted green beans and paired with an Italian red blend. Now, most of the prep work for the mac n' cheese is straightforward and not worth discussing here: mixing of spices, boiling pasta, etc. I ended up using some arbol chiles, garlic powder, black pepper, a little vinegar, and some olive oil for the adobo sauce. While the chiles were steeping in the sauce, and the pasta is cooking, let's talk wine.

The cheese and adobo sauce, before it reduced. 

In thinking of a wine to pair with dinner, I took the usual factors into account - the texture of the food and the flavor combinations. Since I knew the meal was going to be creamy and a bit spicy, I wanted to choose a wine that would be able to complement the flavors while also countering the creamy and oily nature of the food. I settled on the "Trentatre" rosso. It's a blend divided into three equal parts: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all hailing from the Apulia (Puglia) region in southern Italy. When I toured Italy with my father in 2004, Montepulciano was our wine of choice for dinner.

I stuck the bottle in the fridge for a few minutes, and then let it open to the air before pouring. This way it drops the temperature down to around 50 degrees F, and then when the wine is opened, as it warms up and opens up to the air, the flavors develop. The whole process, from the moment it goes into the fridge to when I take the first sip, depends on the wine but is usually around 30 minutes.

There's some strong blackberry aromas on the nose, with some alcohol esters (the ester propyl hexanoate for you chemistry nerds out there.)  Esters are a chemical compound caused by a variety of possible reactions; both wine and blackberries share the same ester. Interesting aroma on the wine, but nothing new or surprising.

I first noticed the fruit tastes. The wine has nice dark fruit flavors with some blackcurrant skin flavors which add a very desirable dry tartness on the tongue immediately on the finish. It's surprisingly strong and smooth, pleasantly dry, with some of the tartness flavors dropping off after swallowing. The aftertaste is deep and crisp, and the dryness and tartness of the wine contrasted nicely with the spiciness and creaminess of the mac n' cheese. The great part about this pairing is that the wine cuts through the cheesy goodness to balance out those flavors. A good pairing, for sure, and next time I might use different cheeses but I'll still seek out this kind of red blend for the pairing. Another great success!

Beer Flash: Kiuchi Brewery - "Hitachino Nest" white ale (Japan)

Just a quick post to show what I've been drinking: it's a 5.5% ABV white ale from Japan called the "Hitachino Nest." It's pretty thin, low gravity, but pleasingly mellow. Clean and crisp with a little tartness on the aftertaste, with low amounts of the typical white ale yeast or spice.

It's good, I don't know if it's $5.99 good, but it's fun to try a Japanese beer again and certainly a good beer for summer. The crispness and lack of yeasty aftertastes is a nice diversion, and it's something I could drink as a session ale at a BBQ.