Mike Loves Beer

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend it with some good people.  Even if that includes family you maybe don’t like so much.  I spent much of the day with my family and that is usually pretty good.  My dad and I watched football then we ate enough food to put back on all the Biggest Losers weight.  But after that I went to spend some time with friends.

My friend and podcasting partner Phil in crime invited myself and my girlfriend over to his house for a very, very small sour tasting unlike any other.  Along with our friend Tony, we each supplied a bottle of an uber rare sour beer.  Just take a look at the picture.

If you can’t tell by the picture this is Isabelle Proximus, Veritas 006 and Duck Duck Gooze.  All of which Lost Abbey had a hand in oddly enough.  These all are sought after and rare sours and I was just happy to be sharing these with good friends.

Just some short thoughts, Isabelle was everything that I had hoped it would be.  Beautiful American style sour that I could just drink all day long.  Duck Duck I’ve had before and it’s always a delight to have.  A lot like a traditional Belgian version in almost every way.  And the Veritas, well we had some issues with that but not taste related.

I went to open the bottle and was taking off the cage with the cage broke and the cork just shot out of the bottle.  While I got over the shock of that about 5 – 10 seconds later Old Faithful started to arise from the depths of the inside.  Of course a mess ensued but we got it under control rather quickly to where we didn’t lose a lot of it.

The Veritas was like a really well aged Framboise.  Tons of very tart and acidic raspberries in the taste.  Just delicious.

Well I just wanted to share with you what I did for my Thanksgiving.  I hope yours was just as good and spent with just as good company.

Name – Consecration
Country – United States
Type – American Wild Ale

You deserve to treat yourself to something nice every once and a while.  And last night I did exactly that.

With work taking it’s toll on me lately I felt I needed to reach into my mini beer fridge and pull out something special.  So I reached for something that we don’t get in South Florida and is widely considered a treat to most beer geeks out there.  I grabbed my bottle of Russian River Consecration Batch 003.

Never one to lie to my fans, I’ve had this beer before in a small sample and absolutely loved it.  I got this bottle in a trade and was comping at the bit to pop the cork off of it.  I’m surprised by my actual patience that I have had this for a number of months now and have not opened it until now.  But again I felt I deserved it.

I carefully opened the cage and popped the cork in the sink just in case this one decided to do it’s best Old Faithful impersonation.  Luckily there was no gushing so I poured it into my Bruery tulip glass.  The color is a very clear, deep ruby red.  There is a thin tan head but it is gone before I can even take a picture.  My dad mentioned it fizzed away like soda.

I didn’t get a whole lot in the nose to be honest.  The main things I picked up were vinegar and alcohol.

Now the taste was much more bold.  Sour cherries are the primary taste in there.  I get a rather acidic feeling in the taste as well.  Slight oxidation but not bad at all.  The taste got even better as it warmed up.

This beer is one of those that you just wish you could save and have anytime you want but you know if you only have one bottle you can’t do that.  I don’t regret opening this one and savoring it.  It is a magnificent brew.

If you find yourself in California or Philadelphia (the places Russian River distributes to) and you see a bottle of this and you like sour beers then get it.  Trust me you will not be disappointed.

Grade - A

Name – Damnation
Country – United States
Type – Belgian Strong Pale Ale

Appearance – Pours a very cloudy straw yellow color with a big fluffy white head.

Smell – Sweet malts and yeast with some peppery like spices.  Slightly boozy in the nose.

Taste – Sweet fruit, I get some banana in it.  Some lemony characteristics.  Yeasty like a typical Belgian.  Slight alcohol burn.

This is a much talked about one from Russian River.  Well a lot of their beers are talked about a lot.  But I saw it and decided to pick up a bottle when in PA.  I’m starting to realize I’m not that big of a fan of the golden Belgian styled beers.  It’s not that I think they are bad.  It’s just that a lot of them taste the same to me.  I prefer the darker Belgians and the funky ones.  This one is slightly different but still kind falls there.  I think for the style it is better than others I have had but I probably won’t go out of my way to get it again.

Sorry about the pictures.  I just couldn’t get any good ones to come out right.

Overall Grade – B-