I've Struck Black Gold!

As I mentioned last week, I was in Hood River, OR visiting Full Sail Brewing for Zwickelmania last Saturday, and while I was there I picked up a bottle of their Black Gold. Black Gold is an imperial stout that has been aged in bourbon barrels for a year. I first tried Black Gold on-tap at the Full Sail pub, and its taste is what spurred my purchase. So, let’s get into this Black Gold.

Full Sail has a rather extensive piece on Black Gold that you can find on their website here.

Black Gold comes in at an alc./vol. of 11.4%, which is to be expected considering the aging process. It poured without a head, which I’ve noticed to be something consistent with other stouts that have been aged in bourbon barrels. Whether or not that is an effect of the aging process, I don’t know, Black Gold poured without one. The look is black as abyss, as space, as any other comparison you want to make. This beer is black. Head - 8, Look - 14. G and I both had the same initial reaction to the smell, which was whiskey. There is a heavy aroma of bourbon. The smoky oak aroma resonates with hints of alcohol and chocolate. All in all there’s a lot going on with the smell, great complexity. Smell - 23.

The first sip left an explosion of flavors in my mouth, which was mostly of bourbon, dark malt, and chocolate. The bourbon, the smoky oak qualities, resonates heavily throughout the stout, but there’s still a smoothness that both G and I felt balanced some of the harshness out. The aftertaste for me was dry and smoky with heavy roasted malt and cocoa flavors; it was a little harsh for me. G, on the other hand, found it be very smooth. Palate - 8.5, Aftertaste - 8. The overall flavor of this beer is strong, there’s a lot of complexity, and it’s not afraid to be what it is. I love whiskey, as I’ve mention before it is one of my favorite liquors, and to have such a strong presence in a stout is something unique. I haven’t had a beer that has such strong whiskey characteristics as well as such strong stout characteristics. The only beer similar to this is the Ola Dubh that I review last Wednesday. The smoky flavor pairs perfectly with the strong chocolate presence, but there is still a creaminess to this ale that almost has hints of vanilla associated with it. Flavor - 27.

If you can find a bottle of Full Sail’s Black Gold, I strongly recommend buying it. This is a great aged stout from a great brewery. When I was there last weekend that mentioned that they are getting ready to, or have already began to age an imperial porter in some bourbon barrels. Do yourself a favor and get some Black Gold, and then keep an eye out for the aged imperial porter over the next year. With an Overall Flavor of 43.5/50 the Beer Fusion gives Full Sail’s Black Gold

Rating: 88.5/100

Scottish Screwtap Wednesday: Harviestoun Old Engine Oil and Ola Dubh

This is our last Scottish Screwtap Wednesday, and we have a couple interesting screwtaps to review tonight from Harviestoun Brewery. So, without any further wait - let’s get right into it.

Our first screwtap is Harviestoun’s Old Engine Oil. And, much like you would expect from the name, it’s a dark ale. It comes in at a 6% alc/vol., which I would have liked it to be a little higher. The Old Engine Oil pours a semi thick and creamy head with a light chocolate color that grabs hold of the glass. The look is simple - black as old engine oil. I wonder how they got the name? Head - 10, Look - 15. The smell is heavy with dark roasted malts and light chocolate notes. There’s a slight sweetness to the smell, which I found surprising, but it’s only subtle behind the heavy roast. Smell - 22.

The aesthetics of this beer were so good that I was really excited to take a sip, but as I took that sip I was a little disappointed. This screwtap was not as thick as I would have expected - judging by the color and smell. There was a strong bitter presence that was from the roast, not a hop bitterness, and the texture in my mouth was very light and watery. I wanted more texture. The aftertaste was of heavy roasted black malts that left a bitter dry taste, which is something I like if it’s from hops, but not from malt. The best I can describe the bitterness as is if you burned popcorn and then thinking of a slightly lighter aftertaste than that. Palate - 5, Aftertaste - 5. Again, I expected a greater full flavor from this beer, especially judging by the smell. I don’t like bitterness from the malt to be too overwhelming, and the main flavor of this ale is just that. There is a light carbonation with chocolate hitting you in the initial flavors. Not as complex as it led on to be. Flavor - 15.

I really wasn’t a fan of this screwtap, and I won’t buy this again. I would have really liked a higher alcohol content, because with that I hope it would have gained some interesting flavors besides - burnt malt. If you love, I mean love malt, and dark dark malt at that - this beer is really for you. I on the other hand am not a fan, so I’ll be staying away from Old Engine Oil. With an Overall Flavor of 25/50 the Beer Fusion gives this beautiful looking Harviestoun Brewery’s Old Engine Oil...

Rating: 72/100

The next screwtap got me even more excited than the Old Engine Oil (spoiler! I like this beer), because it was aged in Scotch barrels. For those who know me, my favorite liquors are whiskey and vodka, and I’m not one to mix drinks. I like my whiskey either with one ice cube, splash of water or neat, and my vodka with ice and club soda. But, we’re not here to talk about my liquor preferences we are here to talk about Ola Dubh 2008, which means “Black Oil”. And, yes this is an aged Old Engine Oil, you know that beer I just said I didn’t like. Ola Dubh comes in at 8% alc/vol. - perfect.

The head pours dark and heavy with carbonation and creamy feel, but quickly dissipates. The carbonation looks great on this beer, and, as for color, it’s black, black, black with no breaking in color from the light.  Head - 6, Look -15. The smell is of delicious smoky malt aroma, which resembles good Scotch, and ends with alcohol notes and a light chocolate presence. Smell - 24.

I was a little hesitant after the Old Engine Oil to try this with an open mind, but the first sip provided a full flavor explosion. Immediately, there was a strong oak presence as well as the strong smoky characteristics of a good scotch. The dark malt seemed to be slightly balanced with the scotch influence. The aftertaste was somewhat creamy with bitter notes, but the bitterness to this finish was more balanced. Palate - 8, Aftertaste - 8.  The flavor was dark and smooth, but the smoky scotch influence fills out the missing flavors. There seemed to be light vanilla notes that lent to a somewhat creamy taste to combat the dark bitter roasted malt. This beer did a good job of expanding on my palate, which provided taste through the beginning, middle, and end. Flavor - 24.

This is what I wanted Old Engine Oil to be! When I think Scottish beer now, I will think of two things Brew Dog and Ola Dubh. I will buy this beer again, and I hope that the positives don’t change to much from year to year, being that this was the 2008 batch, and if they do that they remain positive. Not much more to say, but give this beer a drink. With an Overall Flavor of 40/50 the Beer Fusion gives Harviestoun Ola Dubh...

Rating: 85/100

Yeti and Zwickelmania Recap Tease

I just got back today from Hood River, where I spent most of Saturday. For those of you following me on Twitter, you already know that I was visiting a couple of the Hood River breweries, and enjoying Zwickelmania. Unfortunately, G and I both worked Saturday morning, which made it impossible to make it to more than one Zwickelmania tour. In fact, we got into Hood River about 5 minutes after the last Full Sail tour started, but after explaining how far we drove and such they let us join the tour in progress. We didn’t stay after the tour for a drink because it was too crowded. So, we went down the street to Double Mountain Brewery. The beer there was fantastic, and I think G has a new favorite beer - their Hop Lava. After we had a couple brews at Double Mountain, we returned to Full Sail for beer and food. As we were leaving Full Sail we both felt as if Double Mountain was calling us back and we spent a couple hours there, drinking, enjoying the scene, and listening to the live music they had. With all that said, I wanted to touch on Zwickelmania and the Hood River trip before we get into this week’s review. The podcast is also being edited and should be up next week, and the following podcast will be an in-depth recap of the Hood River experience. So, without further a-due this week’s beer is Great Divide Brewing’s Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

Friday night, the night before the Hood River excursion, G, coworker Will, and his brother Cory came over for some beers - with the Yeti being the featured beer. While Will and Cory had some of the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti, G and I did the reviewing. Stohn also was able to find this beer and sent me his thoughts and scores. Great Divide Brewing gives this little blurb about this unique Yeti,

Espresso Oak Aged Yeti is a new addition to the Yeti clan. A generous infusion of espresso adds yet another layer of complexity to this beer, combining with the vanilla oak character, intense roasty maltiness and bold hop profile to create a whole new breed of mythical creature. It’s official: You can now have Yeti with breakfast.  9.5% ABV

This Yeti poured a thick creamy dark brown/chocolate head that stuck around for a while. The head alone looked delicious, like a dessert. This beer is dark as night. G mentioned how he doesn’t like to see through his stouts, and because of that found the color perfect. Head - 9, Look - 15. Coffee, coffee, coffee is what stood out instantly when I took a whiff of this beer. Behind the coffee are nice chocolate notes followed by hints of oak, alcohol, and hops. The hops get kind of masked with the coffee, but the slight citrus aroma I’m guessing is the hops, because I’ve never had the coffee used in this beer before to think different. Stohn mentioned how the smell made him feel like he was about to drink a dessert, so the decadence of this beer was experienced throughout. My only complaint about the smell is that it wasn’t aromatic as I would have liked - you really have to get your nose in the glass to pick out the different aromas. Smell - 21.

The first sip kind of kicks you in the face, because it isn’t what you expect based on the smell. I expected more sweetness upfront with the coffee cutting into it, but instead the coffee hits hard with the bitterness of the hops and a very light subtle chocolate presence. G’s first reaction was “Aug”, this was not what he expected. Stohn and I had similar thoughts on the taste, and both of us were surprised by the bitterness, but we really liking it. The aftertaste is bitter and dry, with the dryness coming from the heavy coffee flavor. The aftertaste for G was not what he thinks a stout should taste like, but this beer is an assault on what you expect a stout to taste like. Stohn also had his critics of the aftertaste - finding it a little much. I found the overall aftertaste to get better as I continued to drink, and ended up really liking it.  Palate - 8, Aftertaste - 7. The overall flavor and complexity of this beer is definitely on the bitter side, which is a little surprising for a coffee stout, but that’s what makes this beer unique. The hops pair well with the coffee, and the taste of dark roasted malt provides the subtle chocolate tastes. Stohn tasted vanilla and some fruity notes, but those didn’t stand out to G or me. I would have liked for the intensity of the coffee to be a little less, or a stronger chocolate presence. Stohn and I both really enjoyed this beer, but for G he found it to be “good not great”. Flavor - 26.

Espresso Oak Aged Yeti is one of the most unique imperial stouts I’ve had, mostly due to its hop bitterness. I’ve had some coffee stouts with bitterness, but the bitterness was very much from the coffee not from the hops (judging by the IBU rate). But, that’s what I like about this beer - its hoppiness. It’s also one of the best coffee stouts I’ve had, but like I mentioned earlier, I would have liked to taste more chocolate and/or less coffee. Either way this is a great beer that I recommend picking up at the store, but be warned it is a little pricey, so if you don’t like dark hoppy beers or strong coffee presences you might want to look elsewhere. With an Overall Flavor of 41/50 the Beer Fusion gives Great Divide Brewing’s Espresso Oak Aged Yeti

Rating:  86/100

Scottish Screwtap Wednesday: Traquair House Ale

The Scottish Screwtap this week is Traquair House Ale. The month of February has turned out to be a very busy working month, and I’m doing my best to get reviews written and posted on time. This screwtap is the second to last screwtap of the month, and next week I will be revealing the new region for Wednesday reviews. So, without further excuses and a due I give you Traquair’s House Ale.

Traquair House Ale is 7.2% alc./vol. with unknown IBUs, which doesn't matter for this ale anyway. The screwtap poured a small quickly dissipating off-white head that lingered long enough for a picture. The color was much better, a very dark brown beer that barely lets light through. Head - 2, Look - 15. The smell was delicious, smelling of dark black malt and chocolate. There was a light sweetness to the smell that reminded me of raisins, but the malt was the strong aroma of this beer. Smell - 20.

The smell of this screwtap got me excited, it smelled similar to Iron Horse’s Irish Death as well as similar to Great Divide’s Yeti (review of this to come), so with the aroma as delicious smelling as it was the taste has to be, at the least, comparable. Right? Sadly, no. The initial taste was much lighter than expected, but the dark malt and chocolate were still present, and were really the only flavors - which was very good. The aftertaste was once again light and had dark chocolate notes with a slight bitterness. Overall I would have liked more from the aftertaste. Palate - 6, Aftertaste - 5. The carbonation of this ale was light, and the malt stood out, but didn’t provide a full flavor. The smell contained more than the actual flavor. There is nothing unique about this ale. Flavor - 17.

Overall this ale wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t special. As I’ve mentioned before, I like beers to make a statement, or, at the least, stand strongly in their style, but this ale seems to be lacking character. I wanted more flavor, a full flavor, and more thickness. This is an okay dark beer to drink and have a chat with, but at the end of the day I’ll take a Guinness for conversation and leave this beer for whom ever. I don't see myself buying this beer in the future. With an Overall Flavor of 28/50 the Beer Fusion gives Traquair’s House Ale a rating of:

Rating: 65/100

I Double Dog Ale You!

I spent the whole of my weekend playing in a tennis tournament. The thing with tennis tournaments for me is that they initially seem like a fun idea, but by the time Saturday hits I’m usual ready to be done. The problem is there isn’t a large enough field of players for my level to warrant a regular draw, so everyone plays everyone in a round robin. Now, I’m a pretty good player, I’m rated NTRP 4.5, and play Open tournaments, and if you don’t know what that means that’s fine - just realize that it equals very physical intense matches. So, what the hell does this have to do with this week’s beer? For me, everything. By the end of playing Saturday I needed a beer badly, and what better beer to refresh, relax, and revitalize me than Flying Dog’s Double Dog Double Pale Ale.

Flying Dog Brewery is out of Frederick, Maryland and have this nice little ditty about their Double Dog Double Pale Ale,

Back by popular demand, our original "Wild Dog Release" is back, and this time it's for good. Double Dog Double Pale Ale is a generously hopped ale with a deep red color and pours with a nice frothy head. The abundance of hops will conjure some provocative aromas with hints of raisins and citrus.

This Double Dog Double Pale Ale sports an 11.5% alc./vol. and 85 IBUs. The Double Dog pours a small yet thick head, which is light brown and grabs hold of the glass. G thought the beer looks very similar to a red, and I thought it looked a dark amber/honey with red tints, but both of us found it rather cloudy. Head - 7.5, Look - 15. Being from Washington the smell reminded me of something very specific, which is Fuji apples. The sweet tart smell of a fresh Fuji apple stood out to me, and hints of alcohol and some malt were secondary. G noticed a bit more of a hop smell. Smell - 21.5.

This beer hits the tongue like a strong west coast IPA, ie hops! The hops hit with a sweetness that both G and I noticed, but once again the Fuji apples appeared. The initial flavor was strong hops that gave bitter notes with a sweetness that I can only compare to a ripe Fuji apple. I found the aftertaste to be a strong dry bitter hop taste, where as G didn’t find it as strong. Not much else to the aftertaste, I would have liked something a little more. Palate - 9, Aftertaste - 8.5. G found an interesting flavor that I’m sure others will be able to relate, but I have no idea what Mexican table chocolate tastes like. Besides the hops, G found Mexican table chocolate to be one of the main flavors in this brew. I’m sounding like a broken record, but, once again, the hops play a huge roll at the beginning and end of this drink. The middle has a nice sweetness with a light malt, which gives a full body flavor to this beer. Flavor - 25. 

Flying Dog Brewery’s Double Dog Double Pale Ale is a nice strong ale that delivers. The raisins didn’t stand out to me, but what I tasted as Fuji apples, another might taste as raisins. This is not a beer I would drink more than one in a sitting, not because of the alcohol, but because of the complex full flavor. This Double Dog is a beer I will buy again, and having been my first Flying Dog experience I’m excited to try other ales by them. With an Overall Flavor of 42.5/50 the Beer Fusion gives Flying Dog Brewery’s Double Dog Double Pale Ale a rating of

Rating: 86.5/100

Scottish Screwtap Wednesday: Belhaven's Wee Heavy

Ah, so it’s Scottish Screwtap Wednesday once again, and today I’ll be reviewing Belhaven’s Wee Heavy. This is going to be a shorter review, and I think that fits well with the brew. Belhaven has this to say about their Wee Heavy:

It may have come from a right old recipe but Wee Heavy fits the bill today as much as it ever has. It is a classic Scottish heavy but has a lightness of flavour and a great reddish colour in the glass. Cracking stuff if we do say so ourselves.

You might notice the seemingly free usage of “u” in “flavour” and “colour”, but the Queen’s English gives this Scottish screwtap some authenticity. That’s if coming from Scotland wasn’t enough. Wee Heavy is a 6.5% alc./vol. brew, which in my mind is a perfect casual drinking percentage. The head pours an off-white color with a creamy texture that slowly dissipates. I would have liked a little more volume to the head. The look is more dark amber than red, but there’s definitely red tints in it.  The color is fantastic. Head - 7, Look - 15.  The smell is malty, sweet, and the sweetness seems to be coming from the yeast. The overall smell is lighter than I would have liked. Smell - 17.

The first sip was full of a rich malty flavor that was incredibly smooth and easy to drink with a slight underlying bitterness. The aftertaste was nearly nonexistent, but the hops provided a light bitterness to the finish. Palate - 7, Aftertaste - 4. The initial flavor of this beer is strong and malty, but that quickly goes away in the middle of the drink. The middle has a strong water presence, which tastes very clean, but I would have liked  either a stronger dark malt presence or more hops. The carbonation makes it very refreshing, but again I was hoping for more complexity. This brew hits upfront with a lot, and then leaves you wanting more from it. Taste - 19.

This is a great beer to sit back in a pub or with some friends and watch sports and relax with. The lack of complexity makes it very approachable, but for the craft beer drinker that wants a little more full flavor this will be disappointing. Again, I like the crisp clean taste, but for a beer to have so much flavor upfront and really nothing at the finish - leaves me wanting more. But, not more of the beer, but more substance, more complexity. I might buy this beer again if I want something light and crisp, but It won’t be on my list again anytime soon. With an Overall Flavor of 30/50 Beer Fusion gives Belhaven’s Wee Heavy:

Rating: 69/100

Gettin' A Little Sumpin' Wild

This last week was a long workweek for me, but thankfully I had something to look forward to, which was beer tasting. I finished work on Friday and headed over to G’s house for some much need beer, pizza, and wings (we do things right). Besides this week’s beer, we had a couple growlers, but before we started on the growlers we made sure to give the week’s beer a proper review. I bought this beer about a month ago, and I’ve been waiting to review it (don’t ask me why I waited), but Lagunitas’ A Little Sumpin’ Wild was well worth the wait.

Lagunitas has this to say about their “Little Sumpin’”,

Another Big Sister of the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.... Loads of Malted Wheat for a Curious Malt Foundation and a Light Color, But Our Belgian Yeast Leaves a Huge Flavor and Complexishness.

Now, when you go to Lagunitas’ website you’ll notice the alcohol is listed as 7.85, but the bottle I had stated it was 8.85%. The IBUs for this ale are 72.51, so a rather hoppy beer. The bottle made an effort to indicate that this beer is brewed with a wild Westmalle yeast strain, hence A Little Sumpin’ Wild. This beer pours a thick creamy white head that lingers well; G described it as “perfect”. G found it to be somewhat cloudy bubbly golden brown ale, but I didn’t really find it cloudy. It looked to me to be a strong golden color with strong carbonation. Either way it was a great looking beer. Head -10, Look - 12. The smell was very similar to an IPA. It had a strong hop presence with citrus notes, and a balancing act of sweet and sour was going on aromatically - with grapefruit notes.  Smell - 21.5.

The overall aesthetic characters were driving me wild, and once this beer hit my tongue I was not disappointed. The hops and carbonation hit hard, they are the first flavors that come out, but they quickly subsided and left a sweet fruity taste with sour notes. The aftertaste was similar to an IPA, a dry bitter finish, but this beer also kept some of its sweetness. So, the aftertaste left you with a mild dried fruit taste after the hops subsided. G didn’t get as much flavor in the aftertaste as I did, but he got a smoother and sweeter aftertaste than I. Palate - 10, Aftertaste - 9. The full flavor of this beer is one that I’ve only been getting lately from Trappist style beers. Now, this isn’t to say that this beer has any flavor similarities to Trappist stye beers, but that it has a clear beginning, middle, and finish. As already mentioned, the initial taste is carbonation and hops with citrus notes, and then the beer feels as if it expands in your mouth bringing the hops into a marriage with a mild sour fruitiness (tastes similar to grapefruit) which I am thinking is coming from the wild yeast. Next, there’s a balancing tart flavor that continues into the aftertaste of bitterness and dried fruit. Flavor - 27.5.

What I really like about this beer is how mellow its fruitiness is. I really think the yeast is bringing all of these complex fruit notes to this beer. I cheated and saw that this beer is categorized as a Belgium Strong Ale, which I’m assuming is solely due to the fact that it used a Belgium strain of yeast. But, this beer seems closer to an IPA than anything else; a strange complex boundary pushing IPA. If you like something with a bite, hops, and a “wild” complexity - A Little Sumpin’ Wild is for you. With an Overall Flavor of 46.5/50 Beer Fusion gives Lagunitas’ A Little Sumpin’ Wild:

Rating: 90/100

Scottish Screwtap Wednesday: BrewDog's Dogma

So, It’s February now, and that means spring is approaching (for much of the country that seems like a myth) and Valentine’s Day, which I know is every guys favorite holiday. I, however, am thinking less about spring and Valentine’s Day, and more about Scottish Beer. That’s right folks, today is the start of a full month of Scottish Beer. I really enjoyed the alliteration (though barely present) in Belgium Beer Wednesday, so I went searching online for some Scottish slang. My result was perfect for all the bottled beer I will be trying from Scotland this month - screwtap. I would now like to officially welcome in Scottish Screwtap Wednesday (yes, I know the alliteration is a stretch hear, but humor me).  

The screwtap this Wednesday is from BrewDog, and it’s their Dogma, which is made with honey,gaurana, poppy seeds and kola nuts. Before I get into it, I want to mention that the Dogma that G and I tried was aged a year, and with that out of the way let’s get into it. You can check out BrewDog’s info on their site, but unfortunately it looks like this beer is no longer being produced.

Dogma is a 7.8% alc./vol., and pours a creamy off white head that doesn’t hold. As G put it, “it doesn’t matter”, and for the uniqueness of this beer I think that’s true. G found it to look similar to ice tea, and we both found it very cloudy. I, however, found the look to be more of a dark honey/amber color with no visible carbonation. Head - 6, Look - 12. The smell was heavy on the gaurana and had an oily hint, which I attributed to the kola nuts. G found the gaurana to be the overpowering smell, but he described it as being “different”. Smell - 24.

The first sip nearly left me speechless, I thought Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch was a peculiar brew from left field, Dogma takes the cake. It has a dry, but not hoppy taste, There’s a definite nut and poppy seed presences with malty undertones attributed to the honey. G found it smooth, and we both noticed that there was no carbonation. G described the aftertaste as “bitter and fruity”, whereas I noticed more of a honey and malt taste. Palate - 8, Aftertaste - 7. G wasn’t an overall fan of the flavor, because he found it rather fruity. I think the biggest issue and positive with this beer is its complexity. There are a lot of flavors going on here, which creates a variety of tastes. The gaurana gave me a definite boost mixed with the alcohol, and its presence was there in the taste, but this screwtap left me scratching my head trying to nail down a specific set of flavors consistent with each sip. Flavor - 25, Overall Flavor - 40/50.

The part about this beer is it doesn’t want to be defined, it was to be rebellious and go agains the norm. It truly fits with the philosophy of BrewDog, because this beer is a punk. It’s a great beer to have for a boost before going out at night, but not something you want to sit back and enjoy. It’s a party beer for the craft drinkers. If you see this beer at a store pick it up, and have some fun with it. Beer Fusion gives BrewDog’s Dogma:

Rating: 82/100