Stone Lucky Bastard Ale

Style: IPA
Alc./Vol.: 8.5%
Rating: 4.0/5.0

The Stone Lucky Bastard Ale pours an opaque, deep red color with a frothy tan head. This “arrogant” self-tribute to 13 years of Stone is very rich and full-bodied. The first phase of the beer is dominated by some sweet flavors followed by apple, dark fruits, spices and toasted nuts. The palette turns sour towards the end of the sip. The finale is a bit hoppy with a strong alcohol presence. Overall, this is another bold and complexly textured Stone ale. Especially delightful during the holiday season!

Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55

Style: pale ale
Alc./Vol.: 5.1%
Rating: 2.8/5.0

Brooklyn’s Pennant Ale comes to the plate with a rusty orange color along with a medium home plate colored, foamy head. The glass delights the senses initially like a knuckleball with a sweet, floral aroma, but the excitement tapers off from there. With so many excellent beers in their catalog, it’s hard to imagine Brooklyn Brewery couldn’t engineer an above average pale ale. The starting pitcher seems to have been pulled after 2 innings: The body is thin, even a bit on the watery side. The flavor is too sweet with its citrusy overtones and brown sugar hints. The closer is an ending that is round with a rather stale bite to it. Pennant Ale isn’t terrible, but certainly doesn’t live up to it’s siblings in the Brooklyn lineup. There are better pale ales for the Midsummer Classic.

Baltika 6

Style: porter
Alc./Vol.: 7.0%
Rating: 4.3/5.0

Baltika 6 pours pitch black with a beautiful tan head. As you bring the glass to your nose, essences of dark chocolate and malts come forth. The taste matches the aroma – dark chocolaty goodness mixed with a hint of caramel. The beginning delivers some sweetness, but this is soon smoothly overtaken by a hoppy, dry, rum-like finish. The medium body supports the flavors well without being too thick as some stouts can get. Finding Baltika 6 in the USA may be tricky. I happened to locate this bottle at a little Russian market in Paris strangely enough. The bottom line: if you are fortunate enough to stumble upon Baltika 6, grab 2 or 3 since they are truly fantastic!

Orval

Style: Trappist Ale
Alc./Vol.:6.2%
Rating: 4.1/5.0

After a day of touring around Paris, I poured myself a glass of this fine Belgian ale. The beer is deep orange and cloudy in appearance with a thick white head. It starts with a bubbly bite followed by a surge of fruitiness and then descends into a delightfully sour and dry finale. Orval’s sour flavor characteristic is quite prominent and perhaps unusual, but makes for a very interesting beer drinking experience. I haven’t had anything quite like this before and would recommend giving it a try if you manage to find anywhere! France may not brew much in the way of good beer, but its neighbor to the north certainly does!

Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale

Style: pale ale
Alc./Vol.: 4.6%
Rating: 3.5/5.0

A friend of mine suggested I try this beer and was kind enough to pass me one after a church service last Sunday. Yes, my wife did think it was a little strange having a bottle of beer poking out of our baby’s diaper bag on the way home. Anyhow, 3 days later I am prepared to review this beer of brotherly love!

The beer pours a light orange to gold color with a thin white head. I didn’t detect any prominent aroma. The feel is crisp and bubbly with a nice dry finish. There’s a pleasant interplay of cream soda like sweetness and dry hoppiness. The hops are not out front however – they play more of a backing role in this ale, but it works well. Moreover, this beer is very drinkable and smooth. Good for summer parties or any situation where you might be interested in having a few brews and still be able to walk in a straight line. If you can find this beer around, I’d recommend giving it a try. It’s not particularly unique, but manages to hold its own with the fine hop/malt balance.

Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale

Style: pale ale
Alc./Vol.: 6.1%
Rating: 3.8/5.0

This beer pours a clear brassy color topped with a short white head. Smells of fresh hops and a hint of apple. Lots of carbonation here… almost has a champagne-like appearance and mouth-feel. Each sip begins bright and bouncy, followed by a surge of sweetness and tailing with a dry finish. This is a mighty pale ale – some might mistake it for an IPA with its medium body, but it’s not exactly ultra-hoppy. This would make for a great summer beer – light enough that you can have a couple at a cookout, but possessing the character and depth of a stronger IPA. Another great Californian ale!

Dogfish Head Squall IPA

Style: Double IPA
Alc./Vol.: 9%
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This bottle was given to me by some good friends, Gary and Susan, for my 30’th birthday last week. I actually hadn’t heard of Squall IPA before, but as a big fan of Dogfish Head beer in general, I was excited to try it out. The ale is light copper in color and has a deep floral aroma full of hops. Compared to Dogfish’s 90 Minute IPA, the Squall has a more sour fruit taste, less carbonation (due to natural fermentation) and a thicker mouthfeel. In other words, this beer is richer, tastier, and more complex. Given the high alcohol content, one might expect a bit more ‘sting’, but Squall is delightfully smooth. This is one of the more unique IPA’s I’ve had in quite some time: I highly recommend treating yourself!

Delirium Nocturnum

Style: belgian strong ale
Alc./Vol.: 8.5%
Rating: 4.2/5

It’s been over a year since my last post. Other priorities have established themselves including the birth of my daughter, Cambria, and the start of my new rock band, Staring at Clouds. Reviewing beers takes quite a bit of dedication to do on a regular basis. Future posts may still be intermittent, but I hope to have at least one a month in 2011. Let’s see if I can make it happen!

Tonight, we celebrate the end of my wife’s first semester of law exams with Delirium Nocturnum. This ale is unfiltered and dark with a creamy head. Upon sipping you are greeted with some early carbonation, especially some fizziness on to roof of the mouth. The aroma effuses a brewery with all its sweet hoppy glory. The taste is chock full of spices and orange peel. Belgian yeasts almost hint at a tripel style beer. The finish is dry and tangy. The high alcohol content is surprisingly well disguised. In summary, Delirium Nocturnum is a delightful after dinner ale and it couples well with some chocolate!

Samuel Adams Irish Red Ale

Style: red ale
Alc./Vol.: 5.5%
Rating: 3.3/5.0

Sam Adams’ Irish Red Ale possesses a dark, rusty red color coupled with a thin cream head. A soft hop aroma greets the nose followed by flavors of apple and caramel. The body is on the thin side and a bit too watery. However, the tingling, dry finish is quite excellent. The ale’s balance of sweetness in the malts and bitterness in the hops is well executed. Overall, a good beer that feels like it had potential to be even better.

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

Style: Ale
Alc./Vol.: 9.5%
Rating: 3.9/5.0

Stone’s 13th Anniversary Ale is a very robust and intense beverage. Be prepared for extreme hoppiness and a load of unhidden alcohol! It pours a deep dark red with a tan head. Aroma is of the traditional Stone floral hop variety – quite lovely. Roasted nuts and some smokiness provide some character in the flavor. The yeast left  just enough sweetness to make this ale go down smoothly. A very strong, celebratory beer.