Follow me:

    Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Our Brewers Reserve Grand Cru

    December 22, 2010
    / Beer News /
    Leave a comment

    Name – Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Our Brewers Reserve Grand Cru
    Country – United States
    Type – American Strong Ale

    I’m in the blend kind of mood aren’t I?  Yesterday we had Lukcy Basasrtd from Stone that is a blend of their Bastard beers.  Today we have the final beer in the 30th Anniversary series from Sierra Nevada.

    This blend contains three of the most popular brews from Sierra Nevada.  It has a bourbon oak barrel aged version of Bigfoot along with Celebration and their famous Pale Ale.  Then once they are all blended together the beer is dry hopped for an extra hoppy bite.

    So how will this one fair against what I think is a pretty damn good series from Sierra Nevada?  Let us see.

    It pours into my Cigar City snifter a mostly clear red color with a nice sandy colored head.

    The nose has a lot of citrus hop aromas too it with a underlying scent of caramel.  I’m struggling to pick up any of the barrel in the nose.

    The taste unleashes more hop character at you with some mild roasted and caramel malt flavors.  I start to get some taste of the barrel here and it has a bit of an alcohol bite to it.  It becomes even more so as it warms up.

    I will say that I had this on tap at the Funky Buddha recently and was floored by it.  But out of bottle it didn’t seem the same.  The bottled brew seemed hoppier than sweet from the malts.  I don’t really know what would cause such a difference in a beer that is probably the same age but just in different containers.

    Either way it is still a good beer but I liked it much more on draft.  I will still probably get another bottle to sit on for some special occasion as the label mentions, and as I’m doing with the Jack and Ken’s Ale that I thought was incredible.  If you see this beer on tap you absolutely must try it though.  I say get a bottle as well but draft is a can’t miss.

    Grade – B+

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Lukcy Basartd

    December 21, 2010
    / Beer News /
    Leave a comment

    Name – Lukcy Basartd
    Country – United States
    Type – American Strong Ale

    Wow it feels like forever since I’ve posted on my dear old blog.  But I took a few days off for the weekend to celebrate my birthday that was yesterday.  Yes I get a whole weekend, don’t you?  And now I am back right before the holiday.

    Now before you say to me, “Mike you totally butchered the spelling of this beer.”  I know I was never the best speller in my days but believe me that’s how it’s spelled on the bottle.  But it is indeed pronounce Lucky Bastard.

    This beer is in celebration of 13 years of Stone Brewing Co making Arrogant Bastard Ale.  It is a blend of the 3 different version of Bastard; Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard and Oaked Arrogant Bastard.

    So I pour the beer into my nifty Stone pint glass and it comes out a nice, hazy red color.  A good sized off white head sits atop the brew and leaves some lacing on the glass but I have to admit I was expecting more.  AB leaves a ton of lacing on the glass that it is drank from so I expected some of the same here.

    The beer bursts with citrus, piney and earthy hop aromas that the parent beers are known for having.  I get a bready like smell in there as well but was a bit surprised but the lack of oak I picked up in the nose.  I really didn’t smell any at all.

    The taste is as you would expect with the bold hop tastes again.  I get more bread like taste and hint of caramel in there.  Then finally I am able to get some of the oak.  It is subtle and not completely in your face.  And to be honest I’m glad it was that way.

    You can definitely tell that this is made by Stone and you might even just think it’s a treatment of AB if just given a blind tasting of it.  So much of this beer tastes just like the beer that it celebrates.  And as a fan of the original I can’t really say much bad about this beer.

    I really did enjoy and will try to pick up another bottle while I can since this is only a one time release.  So if you like yourself some Arrogant Bastard then you better go grab some of this while you can.

    Grade – A

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Oat

    December 16, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    2 Comments

    Name – Oat
    Country – United States
    Type – American Imperial Stout

    My first craft beer I ever had was Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout years ago.  From that point on I have been hooked to craft beer and that beer in particular hold a very special place on my pallet.  It was unlike anything I ever imagined a beer could be like.  The body of the beer from the oats and the subtle taste of them just took me to far off lands I didn’t think actually existed.

    It is a number of years later now but we have been finally been graced with a beer I have been eagerly awaiting.  When Southern Tier hit South Florida early in 2010 I took it upon myself to read more about them.  And when I saw that they have a fall/winter seasonal beer called Oat I figuratively jumped out of my seat.

    A couple weeks ago the bottles started hitting the shelves and the kegs hitting the lines of some select bars.  I grabbed a bottle and it was time to see what Southern Tier pushed out.

    It poured into my nonic pint glass a mostly black color.  But there were some deep red highlights along the edges of the glass.  A nice sized light brown head sat atop the brew.

    The nose was subtle but you got what you needed.  Cocoa and roasted malts were the main driving force.  A little bit of the alcohol peaked out in the nose as well.

    The taste is more cocoa along with a lactose flavor as well.  There is a slight bitterness to it but it seems to be from chocolate or coffee more so than hops.  The body is full and creamy as you would hope with the style.

    I made a bold claim on Twitter the other night when I was drinking this beer.  I called Southern Tier the “Kings of the Stout.”  But this Blackwater Series is incredibly good.  From Choklat to Mokah to Creme Brule and now to Oat (yes I left out Jahvah since I’m not a coffee stout fan) they just continue to hit the seems off the ball with these stouts.

    So if you want yourself a very good oatmeal stout for this winter season I can’t recommend enough to pick this beer up.  Let it warm up a bit and have it by the fire.  Well I guess if you have a fire place.

    Grade – A-

    Share
    Leave a comment