Mike Loves Beer

Name – Crispin Artisanal Reserve Lansdowne
Country – United States
Type – Cider

Here is a little fun fact that many of you may not know.  MikeLovesBeer is also Mike loves ciders.  For quite awhile I have enjoyed a number of ciders but in my over 3 years of blogging I have only review ever reviewed one other cider.  Not exactly sure why I haven’t but it’s not because of a lack of drinking them I can tell you.

So over the weekend my good friend Ed “The Sexiest Man in Craft Beer” Roberts provided me with a couple ciders from Crispin Cider Company that we don’t get down here as of yet.  He really wanted to see what I thought of them so what better time than now to review them for the site.

Today I will be doing the review for their Artisanal Reserve Lansdowne.  The label says that this is made using molasses and and Irish Dry Stout yeast (I wonder who’s).  Ed told me at a recent cider class he taught that this beer was really enjoyed by many.  The label also says server ice cold or over ice.  For picture purposes I opted against the ice, but I’m not opposed to it.

It pours into my nonic pint a very cloudy copper or amber color.  There is absolutely no head at all and that’s kind of to be expected.

The nose is pretty standard in my opinion for a cider.  Lots of scents of apples and freshly peeled skins in there.  I can pick up a bit of molasses but it doesn’t jump out at you.

The taste obviously contains apples with some hints of molasses and brown sugar.  Would seem fit for the fall season if it weren’t still so freaking hot here in Florida.

I wouldn’t say I picked up really any character specific to using the Irish Dry Stout yeast in it.  It seemed like a pretty standard cider with some sweet notes of brown sugar and molasses added to them.  I think Ed built it up a bit in my head and I went in expecting something completely different than I maybe should have.

But tomorrow I will be back reviewing the second bottle that Ed provided me and that is the Artisanal Reserve The Saint from Crispin as well.

Grade - B-

Name – Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA
Country – United States
Type – Black IPA

Very interesting weekend to be the sports fan I am.  The Phillies clinched their 5th straight NL East title.  Penn State barely got by Temple.  And the Eagles lost a back and forth game with the Falcons that sees Michael Vick leave with either a head or neck injury.  I almost need a weekend away from this past weekend.  But beers were had and need to be reviewed.

Today’s review is for Stone’s 15th Anniversary Ale.  It is a hoppy black IPA that they have labeled Escondidian for the town the brewery is located in.  I personally wonder if the Trouble Brewing comic, that pokes a little fun at craft beer, had anything to do with the decision.  Regardless I think we all knew that the 15th anniversary ale would be hoppy.

I poured the beer into my Bruery snifter and it arrives….well…..black.  It has a light brown head that leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass as it subsides.

The nose is full of fresh hops.  I mean it smells straight off the vine.  There are hints of chocolate and roasted malts in there too.

The taste is really a lot of the same.  It is an assault of hops right up front.  Only in the back do I get a mild bit of roasted malt character with some chocolate and coffee notes to boot.  Then the hops come back and finish.  There is quite a bitterness from the hops that lingers around in the aftertaste.

To be honest this is exactly what I expected, a hop forward Black IPA.  Yes the roasted malt characters are there but this is by far the hoppiest Black IPA I’ve ever had.  It is even hoppier than this beers little brother Sublimely Self Righteous.  But I have to assume that’s exactly what Stone was going for.  So thumbs up on that.

I enjoyed the beer but not incredibly.  I always look forward to Stone’s Anniversary Ales and this was no different.  It was just slightly too hoppy for what I wanted.  But I am glad I got to try it.  I’ll just personally stick with SSR if I want a real hop forward Black IPA.  But you should be the judge for yourself.  Go on out and give it a try.

Grade - B+

Name – Petrus Aged Pale
Country – Belgium
Type – Flanders Oud Bruin

Happy days, happy days.  My Phillies have become the first team this year to clinch a playoff berth with yesterday’s win over the Astros.  It is the earliest they have ever done this.  And now their magic number for their 5th straight NL east title is at 4.  Good job guys, I knew you could do it.  So to celebrate I wanted to have a special beer and luckily enough I found one just the other day.

I’ve had Petrus Aged Pale before but it was up north in the state and I could never find it down here despite the brewer making Wittekerke, which is quite easy to find down here.  Well low and behold I finally found it in my local store the other day and just had to pick it up.  It’s classified as a Flanders Oud Bruin and said to be a slightly paler version of the standard Petrus Oud Bruin.

I popped the cap and poured it into my Cigar City snifter and it arrives a very clear orange color.  It has a thin bubbly white head on top but that quickly dissipates into the liquid.

The nose hits you with apple cider vinegar right up front.  There are hints of oak in there as well.

The taste has a nice ACV bite up front that then goes tart.  Sour apples and maybe even a little lemon in there.  It finishes dry and crisp.

Personally I think this is a great sour beer.  The first time I had it I took a bottle over to a friend’s house to share and they seemed like it wasn’t all that great.  Ah what do they know!  This should be a favorite of every sourhead.  But then again I absolutely didn’t like Duchesse and that is a seemingly perfect beer to many sour fans.  Oh well.

So in short if you are a fan of traditional Belgian sours and you can get this, do it.  I can almost guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Grade - A-