Follow me:

    Cigar City Either and Or

    January 6, 2011
    / Beer Review /
    Leave a comment

    Trying different things can be scary.  You are never sure how doing something new is going to turn out.  It can always end in a massive failure and most importantly someone could get hurt if you aren’t careful.

    So today I am trying something different for my beer write up.  So right now I am going to say this may not go well.  It may get really off course and someone may get hurt (who exactly is going to get hurt from this I have no clue but I have to put it out there).

    What I’m going to try is a duel review.  I am taking my tastings of Cigar City’s collaborative Black IPAs called Either and Or and going to try to review them both.

    Sure this may sound like child’s play to some but to me child’s play involves a doll that was taken over by the soul of serial killer and started killing people.  See how that can be scary when one’s mind set is thinking about child’s play?  But I digress.

    Either and Or were made in collaboration with three breweries collectively.  Those were Cigar City, Hill Farmstead out of Vermont and Grassroots Brewing from Denmark.  They are both Black IPAs (I don’t care what you say I like that name over Cascadian Dark Ale) and both a tad over 11% ABV.  I know you might be thinking why did they make two of the same style.  Are they different?  Well hold your horses I’m getting there, let’s enjoy this experience I am creating here.

    I really enjoy the way the bottles were released.  There was no six packs, only singles of each beer.  And Cigar City stated how they wished the bottles to sit side by side in the displays.  The artwork on the labels are very similar with slight reversals of the black and whites on each one.  It’s simple and effective.

    Now as for the beers themselves, they both poured jet black into my snifter.  The differences in the visuals was that Either’s tan head was very thin and gone extremely quickly.  It left no lacing and the beer itself looked flat once the head was gone.  Or on the other hand had a head that stuck around a bit longer.  Not really any lacing but didn’t give the no carbonation look.

    Either

    Either’s nose was rather faint in my opinion.  I got some roasted malts along with hints of licorice, cedar and soy sauce.  But none really stuck out.  Or stuck out much more with some dank hop aromas with underlying smokey characters and a bit of cedar.

    Now for the taste of Either it had a really earthy hop base to it that again had some licorice and roasted malt characters to it.  The hop taste became even more prevalent as the brew warmed up.  Or was pretty hoppy from the start with a little roasty, a little smokey and a little woody in there.  Yeah that probably doesn’t sound right.  But Or really had a lot going on.

    Or

    Okay now a couple deep breathes.  Is everyone alright?  Anyone get hurt.  I’ve check myself over and I seem fine.  Well that wasn’t so bad now was it?

    Well in the end both beers were very good but I had a liking for Or a good bit more.  There just seemed to be a lot going on in it and it sort of punched you in the face with all of them.  Figuratively of course.  But wouldn’t it be crazy if a beer literally punch you in the face?  I think I would have rethink a lot about life if that happened.

    But overall this was a cool little project that those three breweries put together.  Cheers to all of your for thinking outside the box.  If you can get your hands on Cigar City stuff and you see these I say it’s definitely worth it to try them.  So treat yourself.

    Either Grade – B
    Or Grade – A-

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Wake Up Dead

    January 5, 2011
    / Beer Review /
    Leave a comment

    Name – Wake Up Dead
    Country – United States
    Type – American Imperial Stout

    I’ve talked before how some breweries have a punk rock mentality with the way they do things.  If their are breweries that are punk rock then Left Hand Brewing are metal.

    It started last year with the release of Fade to Black and continues this year with the new Wake Up Dead Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.  Of course this is a tip of the hat to the classic Megadeath song for those that didn’t know.  And you couple the name with some outstanding label artwork and you have a very metal beer I would say just from the looks.

    But like many metal bands is there any substance beyond the look of metal?  Well I guess we shall see.

    I crack open the bottle and pour it into my nonic pint glass.  It comes out a very, very dark brown color.  If you hold it up to the light it isn’t quite black.  There are some really nice deep red hues along the edge of the glass.  And it is topped off by a sandy colored head.

    I was surprised that the nose wasn’t very strong.  I got some subtle hints of wood and cherries but that was about it.

    The taste seemed packed full of the barrel taste, wood and some vanilla.  It is pretty sweet all the way through.  And there is a roasty character to it but the wood just takes over.  I don’t say this all too often but I think this brew is a bit hot.

    It is by no means undrinkable but I really think this beer will benefit from some age.

    I don’t know if this is just a reboot of the Barrel Aged Imperial Stout that Left Hand used to make.  I had that a little while back and enjoyed the 2009 version.  So if it is then I can already say it benefits greatly from some age.  And if anyone wants to confirm or deny that for myself and my readers please do so.

    So does the beer look metal?  Yes it does.  Awesome name and incredible label art.  Is the brew itself metal.  It might be with time.  Just like any starting out band they can have the look down and even have a buddy that knows Photoshop make them up a sweet logo but practice will make them a good band.  Give this beer some time and it very well may turn into something good.

    Grade – B-

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Don’t Try

    January 3, 2011
    / Beer Review /
    2 Comments

    Name – Don’t Try
    Country – United States
    Type – American Amber/Red Ale

    Let me take you all on a try back in time.  It wasn’t all that long ago either.  The date is September 25th of the year 2010.  The event is the Funky Buddha’s Grand Brewery Opening.  At this event I got to try so many of the Buddha’s great new beers.  But one in particular stuck out in my mind.  It was an almost 8% amber ale called Don’t Try.

    I loved every time that someone would come up to me and ask me what I was drinking.  I would reply back simply “Don’t Try.”  And they would in turn tell me, “Okay I won’t but just tell me what it’s called.”  It was like a beer edition of Who’s On First.  But this is a beer that I really did want them to try.

    Unfortunately for myself and many others that loved the beer it wouldn’t be brewed again until very recently.  And on New Years Eve I was able to secure myself a growler of the beer that was my one night stand that I couldn’t get over.

    I opened up the growler and watched the cloudy orangish brew accumulate at the bottom of my Funky Buddha snifter.  It had a nice sized white head that disappeared pretty quickly but left some decent lacing along the glass.

    The nose hits you with lots of citrus hops and a bold apricot type smell.  You get a tea like smell to it as well and that’s not surprising as they did use tea in the brew.

    The taste is really a lot of the same hoppy flavors of apricot and citrus with a nice sweet backing.  The bitterness I pick up seems almost more from the tea than the hops.

    Kevin from the Buddha told me that this version was slightly different from the original.  And I could see some differences.  Firstly the clarity seemed a lot cloudier than what I remember.  This may be because my growler was the tail end of one keg mixed with the beginning of a new one.

    I could also taste and smell the tea in the beer more so than at the grand opening.  I did not think this was a bad thing though as I feel it gives the beer more character.

    But really this beer is still an awesome beer.  Lots of hops, great balance in sweetness and the tea just adds something different.  And at 8% ABV you don’t even pick up the alcohol in there.  So this is one to beware of as it drinks like a session beer but can sneak up on you.

    I’ve had a number of the Funky Buddha’s beers.  Many of them are pretty damn good but this one is my favorite.  I almost thought it was the one that got away when they told me they may not brew it again for long time.  But man am I happy they did it again.  I get to have Don’t Try in my life again.

    And please do go try Don’t Try.

    Grade – A

    CORRECTION: I have been informed that the Funky Buddha actually did not use tea in the brewing of this beer but have used it in the past on other brews.

    Share
    Leave a comment