Follow me:

    Coton

    October 21, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    Leave a comment

    Name – Coton
    Country – United States
    Type – Old Ale

    Patton Oswalt has a great bit where he talks about celebrating birthdays.  He doesn’t believe you should get to celebrate every birthday because not every age has some milestone.  But he does say you get to celebrate for the years between 1 and 10.  And Patton is a wise man so I take what he says quite seriously.  So with that in mind I have decided to celebrate with someone that is celebrating one of those said birthdays and that is one of my favorite breweries, The Bruery.

    This year is the Bruery’s second birthday, so by Oswalt standards they can celebrate.  But you see the Bruery is the one giving the gifts instead of receiving them.  And this year they have gifted us with Coton.

    Last year for their first birthday the young brewery brewed an old ale called Papier.  And this year they brewed the same recipe again but to make it different they blended it with some of the Papier that had been aging in bourbon barrels for the last year.  And they intend on doing this each year with brewing a new batch and blending it with the previous year aged in barrels.  So in theory getting a blended vertical each year.  Pretty cool huh?

    Well let’s get down to the real reason for this article, Coton.

    I poured it into my ever awesome Bruery tulip glass and it came out of the bottle a very dark red color.  There are some brown aspects to it but it is most certainly red.  The head is a sandy colored tan that didn’t stick around all that long.

    Oh man there is so much going on in the nose here.  The first thing I pick up is raisins but there is also a strong vanilla presence as well.  You can find some oaky qualities but it doesn’t stand out that strongly.  Oh and you can definitely pick up the sweetness and booze of the bourbon in here.  While not overpowering it is present enough to remind you that it is there.

    The first sip is incredible!  Everything from the nose is here in the taste.  Your raisins and other dark fruits blend beautifully with the oakiness that is more present in the taste than it was in the nose.  Sweet vanilla and bourbon give it a nice backing that doesn’t punch you in the face with booze but gives a nice warming effect.  I sometime forgot that this is a 14% beer.

    So again the Bruery makes a beer to be proud of.  I’m so glad I have a second bottle of this that I intend on cellaring away for a while.  Hopefully I can fight the urge to have it again soon.

    Happy Birthday Bruery!  Thank you for the awesome gift of Coton.  Keep doing what you guys do so well.

    Grade – A

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen

    October 19, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    4 Comments

    Name – Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen
    Country – Germany
    Type – Marzen

    I love the marzens during the fall.  You can have your pumpkin beers but just give me a nice sweet, malty Oktoberfest beer and I will enjoy my fall months just fine.

    A couple years ago I found my favorite, and typical go to, marzen in Spaten Oktoberfest.  Hell I have the remnants of a 12 pack in my fridge right now.  So I was excited to try another one of the big named German brewer’s marzens.  For today’s review I drink Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen.

    I poured the bottle into my Spaten Oktoberfest glass to find a clear orangish/amber colored liquid.  A big bubbly white head formed on top and decided to stick around for a good while.  It even left some lacing on the glass as a reminder that it was there.

    The nose is greeted with sweet malts as you would expect.  There is a grainy backing in the smell as well to round it out nicely.

    First sip is very nice.  Sweet malts and caramel.  A bready character adds to the body.  It then has some traces of spices on the back.  It finishes clean and crisp.

    So what is there to say about Ayinger’s version?  I freaking love it!  I still love you Spaten but Ayinger is now my favorite marzen.  This beer is just so smooth and full of flavor.  I wish the Oktoberfest in Lake Worth had this on tap instead of the *cringe* Beck’s Oktoberfest.

    So this should from what I understand be a pretty easy to find beer for most, especially the folks in South Florida.  So go out and buy this and enjoy it with some schnitzel, potato pancakes and a person you love.  Because this beer is one you should love as well.

    Grade – A

    Share
    Leave a comment

    Saison Du BUFF

    October 18, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    Leave a comment

    Name – Saison Du BUFF
    Country – United States
    Type – Saison

    Collaborations are often talked about topics in craft beer and 2010 has had no shortage of them.  A lot of people are talking about all the collaborations that Sierra Nevada did this year for their 30th Anniversary but I think one in particular caught the community’s attention even more.

    Three of the countries most on the rise breweries decided to get together and make a beer.  Not once, but three times.  Once at each brewer’s facilities.  Those brewers were Stone, Dogfish Head and Victory.  The result is today’s beer, Saison Du Buff.  And I will be having the first of the three versions, the one made at Stone’s brewery.

    I poured the beer into my Bruery tulip glass.  Yes I could have used my Dogfish Head snifter but I just think saisons look so much nicer in a tulip.  It is a very cloudy golden straw yellow color.  There is big bubbly white head that is left and it does take a bit of time to subside.

    The herbs and spices really come out in the nose.  I can pick up the rosemary definitely in there.  I get some citrus hints along with the yeast.

    The taste is again pretty herbal and spicy but they are not in your face.  They all blend well with a citrus taste and makes it a very refreshing beer.  And as with most saisons you get a slight yeasty funk to it.  But you know it’s the good kind of funk.

    All in all this is a pretty good beer from three awesome brewers.  I find it especially cool because none of them really have a saison in their normal lineups besides maybe Victory with Helios.  So they did a style that they don’t commonly work with.  And the challenge paid off.

    I know we didn’t get this down here in South Florida despite having distribution for all three breweries.  Each version was limited.  I got mine in Colorado.  But if you can get your hands on one and enjoy your saisons then go ahead and get this.

    Grade – B

    Share
    Leave a comment