10 Barrel Brewing Company - Bluejacket - Stone Brewing Company Suede Imperial Porter

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is 10 Barrel Brewing Company - Bluejacket - Stone Brewing Company Suede Imperial Porter.

From the Stone Brewing Company website: “When Parisi and Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele decided to collaborate, it was essential that they tap a special individual to complete their triad of fermentation domination, and they found just that in Tonya Cornett, the brewmaster at Bend, Oregon's 10 Barrel Brewing Company. Together, they decided on a sturdy yet velvety base of imperial porter and developed a plan to celebrate the bounty of the environs in which it was produced by harvesting avocado honey, jasmine and calendula flowers (some from our very own Stone Farms) and infusing them into the beer to create something complex and uniquely Southern Californian. Consider it craft cross-pollination at its finest.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark mahogany with a thin tan head with nice rings of lacing.

Aroma: Chocolate, coffee, caramel, floral and earthy.  The jasmine really stands out in the nose.

Taste: Roasted malts, coffee and chocolate combined with jasmine and other floral notes, honey and dark fruits.

Overall: At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like the 10 Barrel Brewing Company - Bluejacket - Stone Brewing Company Suede Imperial Porter collaboration, but I did.  This 9.6% ABV offering is unique for sure and since I knew of Stone and 10 Barrel’s quality beers it was easy to pick up.  The ABV is well hidden.  I’d certainly recommend this one for fans of the style and for those looking for a unique beer for the holiday season.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Happy Thanksgiving!

May the good things of life
be yours in abundance
not only at Thanksgiving
but throughout the coming year.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Maui Brewing Company CoCoNut PorTeR

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Maui Brewing Company CoCoNut PorTeR. I find myself day dreaming about Hawai’i with regularity. Being a West Coaster has so many advantages and one of them is being close to The Aloha State. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Maui Brewing Company at the start of this month and I'm glad I did.  I'm reposting this review with new photos since I'm a BIG fan of this brew.

From the Maui Brewing Company website: “Our CoCoNut Porter is a fresh handcrafted robust porter brewed with six varieties of malted barley, hops and hand-toasted coconut. It begins with a malty-toasted coconut aroma followed by a rich, silky feel with tastes of dark malt, chocolate and hints of coffee. It then finishes with flavors of toasted coconut and hoppy spice to balance the finish.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a deep, dark ruby brown with a tan head and nice lacing.

Aroma: Phenomenal. Coconut, chocolate and roasted malts and more coconut. Such a great smelling beer!

Taste: I’m a huge fan of coconut. Roasted dark malts, caramel, coffee and chocolate with a hint of burnt sugar. The toasted coconut flavor isn’t as dominant as the aroma would indicate, but it is there and it is SO good.

Overall: Smooth, rich, creamy and extremely drinkable I believe Maui Brewing Company’s CoCoNut PorTeR is probably one of the best Porters I’ve had in a long time. Certainly something I need to keep on hand for those times when I need to feel a little closer to The 50th State.

Aloha and Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Russian River Brewing Company Temptation Barrel Aged Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Russian River Brewing Company Temptation Barrel Aged Ale - Sour Blonde Ale Aged in Chardonnay Barrels. A lot can be said and is said of Russian River Brewing Company and if what you’ve heard is all positive then you’ve been hearing the truth.

From the Russian River Brewing Company website: “Blonde Ale aged in used Chardonnay barrels from local Sonoma County wineries. It is aged for about 9 to 15 months (depending on the age of the barrel) with lots of brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pediococcus added to each barrel. Medium bodied with hints of oak and Chardonnay, funky brett characteristics, with a nice, long sour finish.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours golden blonde, a touch hazy, with a giant white foamy head and nice lacing left behind.

Aroma: Sour, Belgian yeast, oak, Chardonnay, citrus fruit, apple and a hint of bready malts.

Taste: Sour, fruity, tart and citrusy up front, bready malts, Chardonnay, oak and just a slight sweetness.

Overall: The Chardonnay, the oak barrel and the brett make Russian River Brewing Company Temptation Barrel Aged Ale a must drink for fans of the style and for those wanting to try a sour that’s not over the top sour.  I would suggest this 7.5% ABV offering to anyone looking to ease their way in to the sour realm. As usual Russian River Brewing Company delivers another stellar offering.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Anchor Brewing Company Zymaster Series No. 4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Anchor Brewing Company Zymaster Series No. 4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale. I’m a long-time fan of Anchor Brewing Company and was looking forward to trying this beer.  With so much beer to drink and review it took some time to get to this beer and then to review it.  I’m cutting into my summer vacation beer reviews and most recent Maui trip to bring this local beer review to light.  I plan to weave in and out vacation and local beers over the next few months.  I’m thinking it will take me that long to get each review written and posted.

From the Anchor Brewing Company website: “San Francisco, CA (June 10, 2013) – Today, Anchor Brewing announces the release of the fourth brew in our Zymaster® Series, Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale.

Over 200 years ago, ninety miles up the coast from San Francisco, the Russian American Company built a stockade that became known as Fort Ross. It was home base for Russia’s fur trade and, in the 1820s and ’30s, supplied the Russian colony of New Archangel (now Sitka) with grain from “bread plants” like wheat and barley. The farms were small and the harvesting primitive. Reaping was done with sickles and threshing by driving horses over the sheaves.

Among the native plants at Fort Ross is a perennial evergreen shrub, prized by the local Indians for its healing powers, whose purple flowers bloom from May to early July. The Spanish missionaries called it Yerba Santa or Holy Herb. Our Zymaster® Series No. 4: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale is inspired by the wheat, barley, and Yerba Santa at Fort Ross and the hardy souls who harvested them. Fermented with a local saison-style yeast, this unique brew celebrates the history and flora of Northern California like no other.

Our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale (7.2% ABV) is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale with a California twist. The unique bitterness and earthy spiciness of Yerba Santa, a native California herb, perfectly complement the fruitiness and clove-like flavors created by a local saison-style yeast. And in addition to hops, barley malt, and wheat malt, we used toasted Belgian wheat malt, which gives our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale its distinctive maltiness and burnished bronze color.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a burnt copper color with a large fluffy off-white head and spotty lacing.

Aroma: Sweet malts, yeast funk, citrus, toasted malts, spice and fruit.

Taste: Grainy, bready and sweet malts, Saison yeast funk, clove, coriander, banana, herbal and citrus hop bitterness in the background.

Overall: Enjoyable and crisp, Anchor Brewing Company Zymaster Series No. 4 Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale is delicious.  This 7.2% ABV offering from Anchor Brewing Company delivers.  I wholeheartedly recommend picking up a bottle or two of this to try.  I plan on picking up more of this very well rounded and affordable beer.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Flipside Red IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Flipside Red IPA. I’ve had the opportunity to try this one both on tap and in the bottle and I’ve enjoyed both.

From the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company website:  “A hop-forward fix for the first days of fall - Just when it feels like the dog days will never end, suddenly, the switch is flipped, the air gets cooler and it’s clear that autumn is on the way. Featuring a ruby-red hue and abundant tropical fruit and citrus hop flavors, Flipside Red IPA is the perfect beer for the final flash of summer.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours red with a large off-white head and lots of sticky lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, tropical and floral hops and sweet malts.

Taste: Sweet caramel and bready malts balanced very nicely with citrus and tropical hop bitterness. Nice floral hop aftertaste.

Overall: Not exceedingly hoppy, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Flipside Red IPA is a very nice offering from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  I had my wife try this one (she is not an IPA fan) and she enjoyed it.  I highly recommend this 6.2% ABV offering (if you can still find it). If not, look for it next season and let’s all hope they release this seasonal once again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Buffalo Bill's Brewery Strawberry Ale with Ginger

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Buffalo Bill's Brewery Strawberry Ale with Ginger. This review switches us back to NorCal and to a place VERY close to home.  I have tasting notes and photos for probably 80 beers now and so I will probably end up writing reviews for Summer beers this Winter, but the good news is that when Summer comes again you’ll be ready!

Commercial description: “Strawberry Blonde Ale is the newest addition to the Buffalo Bill’s lineup of seasonal craft beers. Available in the Summer, this beer has a sessionable body, strawberry aroma and flavor which will amaze. A blonde ale brewed with real strawberries and Jamaican ginger.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear pale golden color with nearly no head and no lacing.

Aroma: Candy-like strawberry, pale malt and ginger. Smells super sweet.

Taste: Slightly tart, but sweet strawberry, sweet and bready malts and ginger.

Overall: Crisp ginger and sweet strawberries make Buffalo Bill's Brewery Strawberry Ale with Ginger an interesting, but drinkable beer.  At 5.2% ABV I can see having a six pack around for folks who like fruit beers with a twist. 

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Maui Brewing Company Mana Wheat Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Maui Brewing Company Mana Wheat Ale brewed with Pineapple Juice. I brought home everything that Maui Brewing Company cans from my recent trip to Maui and figured I’d start my reviews of their beers with this one.

From the Maui Brewing Company website: “An unfiltered, freshly handcrafted American-style Wheat infused with Maui Gold Pineapple. Our crisp and refreshing wheat ale is lightly hopped to allow the fruity sweetness of the pineapple to shine. The yeast stays in suspension making the ale traditionally cloudy.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden color with a large white head and thick lacing.

Aroma: Wheat, banana, pineapple and slight clove.

Taste: Great upfront American wheat flavor, sweet pineapple and a slight hop bitterness. The pineapple isn’t overly sweet, but noticeable making this exceptionally tasty.

Overall: Refreshing and extremely drinkable, Maui Brewing Company Mana Wheat Ale is a beer that I plan on asking my local bottle shops to carry.  The nice lady at the brewery said it should be available on the mainland like their other flagship beers. I completely dig this 5.5% ABV beer and would recommend this to anyone who seeks an exceptionally refreshing American wheat beer.  I’d like to have this on hand as it pairs well with so many of the foods I enjoy.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Caldera Brewing Company IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Caldera Brewing Company IPA. Caldera Brewing was my final stop on my EPIC Summer road trip and by the time I got to Ashland my car was PACKED with WAY too much beer, but I had promised the fine folks at HopTech Homebrewing Supplies (my local homebrew store – here) that I’d pick up some beer for them so I HAD to stop (OK, twist my arm) and I ended up buying EVERYTHING they brew.  Here’s my first review of the IPA that I was asked to bring back with me for my friends at HopTech.

From the Caldera Brewing Company website: “An American-style India Pale Ale brewed with plenty of body and an assertive hop profile.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a hazy deep copper color with a huge off-white head and leaves patchy lacing after each sip.

Aroma: Biscuit and sweet caramel malts, pine, citrus and mild floral hops.

Taste: Citrus and pine hops balanced nicely with sweet caramel and biscuit malts.

Overall: Clean and not over the top hoppy, Caldera Brewing Company IPA is solid.  This 6.1% ABV offering is an easy drinking IPA.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel - Belgian-style Ale Brewed with Rice and Thai Basil.

From The Bruery website: “Our Summer seasonal, Trade Winds Tripel is a Belgian-style Golden Ale with a Southeast Asian twist. Instead of using candi sugar (typical for such a beer), we use rice in the mash to lighten the body and increase the gravity, and spice with Thai Basil. The result is an aromatic, digestible and complex beer made for a lazy summer evening.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a light amber color with a large fluffy white head and lots of lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, vanilla, basil, Belgian yeast, sweet and toasted bread.

Taste: Sweet rice, vanilla, Belgian yeast, light malts, citrus, pear, basil and banana.

Overall: Unlike any Tripel I’ve had, The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel has to be tasted to be believed.  I almost avoided it due to the addition of rice and Thai basil, but I’m so glad picked it up. This 8.1% ABV offering is a must try for those who enjoy the style and aren’t afraid of trying something different. This goes into my “must buy again” category for sure.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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