Cigar City Brewing Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Cigar City Brewing Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout.

From the Cigar City Brewing website: “This Russian Imperial Stout is dedicated to Georgy Zhukov, arguably one of the finest generals of World War II. Opaque black in color, with notes of espresso, chocolate, dark toffee and hints of blackstrap molasses. The English hop varietals provide a subtle herbal dryness, and finishes with a hearty slap of roasty espresso. Pair Marshal Zhukov’s with Mushroom Solyanka, dark chocolate, cherries and ground wars in Russia.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours jet black with a few dark brown bubbles and nice lacing.

Aroma: Chocolate, roasted malts, molasses, espresso, dark fruits, vanilla and toffee.

Taste: Sweet chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, molasses, espresso, dark fruits  with  slight toffee and vanilla flavors.

Overall: Thick, smooth and creamy, Cigar City Brewing Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout is excellent. This 11% ABV beast is well worth picking up if you can locate it next time it comes around.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Victory Brewing Company DirtWolf Double IPA

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Victory Brewing Company DirtWolf Double IPA. I picked this bottle up at The Wine Club in San Jose (here). They have a small craft beer section, but they have an incredible selection.  If you're anywhere near The Wine Club go visit them and tell 'em Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Victory Brewing Company website: “Darkly heroic, Humulus Lupulus (hops) have empowered brews with bite and character since the 11th century.  DirtWolf is a tribute to these untamed vines which rise from the earth with the voracity of a “wolf among sheep.” Hops have made an assertive comeback in American craft brewing.  Revel in the best U.S. varieties of hops, in their natural, whole flower form, as they bring a vital, pungent reality to the soul of a wild element in our dangerously satisfying DirtWolf Double IPA.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a dense white head and excellent lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, tropical and floral hop scents with light bready malt sweetness in the nose.

Taste: Citrus, pineapple, mango – very tropical and balanced with a bready and sweet malt base with a spicy note in the finish.

Overall: Bold and flavorful, Victory Brewing Company DirtWolf Double IPA is excellent.  This 8.7% ABV offering is one I will certainly drink again. Delicious!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Crux Fermentation Project Freakcake Barrel-Aged Oud Bruin Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Crux Fermentation Project Freakcake Barrel-Aged Oud Bruin Ale - Ale Brewed With Spices And With Dried Fruit Added - Bottled Nov 29 '13 - 2013 Banished Series.

From the Crux Fermentation Project website: “We've taught an old brown new tricks. The brunette hue is derived from roasted Belgian aromatic malts, and fruity esters are augmented by lemon and orange zest. For a further twist, Brettanomyces induced secondary fermentation flecked with sour cherries, raisins, cranberries, figs, dates, and currants for a mildly acidic ale. Enjoy this gift now, or for even freakier, age it somewhere dark for the ultimate re-gift.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a hazy dark reddish brown with a cream colored head and spotty lacing.

Aroma: Dark and sweet fruits, oak, vanilla, boozy and sour.

Taste: Sweet and tart dark fruits, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee and oak.

Overall: Complex and certainly a sipper, is Crux Fermentation Project Freakcake Barrel-Aged Oud Bruin Ale is enjoyable.  I have a few of these 10.5% ABV offerings cellared – both in and out of refrigeration to see how they age.  I’m a big fan of this brewery and this beer!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Red Brick Brewing Company 3 Bagger Belgian Style Tripel Ale Aged In Rum Barrels

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Red Brick Brewing Company 3 Bagger Belgian Style Tripel Ale Aged In Rum Barrels.

From the Red Brick Brewing Company website: “It could have been a single, but it’s so much more. This rum barrel aged Belgian Tripel is named for the 3 Bagger -- the true team player, the go-getter, the unabashed risk-taker -- the one who knows when to stretch something good into something even better. Call it experience, call it skill or call it pure animal instinct, the three-bagger knows when his time has come and rises to the occasion. Take your turn with this well balanced golden straw colored ale, which is full of complex fruity esters, dark rum, vanilla and oak flavors.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours almost clear golden amber with a thin slightly off-white head and good lacing.

Aroma: Dark fruits, bready malts, rum, banana, vanilla, brown sugar and slight oak.

Taste: Dark fruits, rum, caramel and bready malts, banana, vanilla, brown sugar and faint oak.

Overall: A touch boozy, but extremely drinkable, Red Brick Brewing Company 3 Bagger Belgian Style Tripel Ale is a solid.  This 9.5% ABV offering is smooth and sip worthy.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Pizza Port Brewing Company Swami's IPA

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Pizza Port Brewing Company Swami's IPA.  I picked this bottle up at The Wine Club in San Jose (here). They have a small craft beer section, but they have an incredible selection.  If you're anywhere near The Wine Club go visit them and tell 'em Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Pizza Port Brewing Company website: “Swami’s IPA is a special beer to the Pizza Port family as it was the first IPA brewed in our original location over 20 years ago in Solano Beach. With a more traditional hop profile, this beer is the quintessential example of a West Coast IPA as it showcases the fresh bitterness of citrus and pine. Swami’s is named after one of the most famous surf breaks in San Diego county, which, as perfectly depicted on the can, is always crowded with surfers and paddle boarders alike.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a huge slightly off-white head and loads of lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, tropical fruits, pine, pale and caramel malts.

Taste: Juicy citrus up front followed by pine, tropical fruits, hints of melon and caramel malt.

Overall: A solid West Coast IPA, Pizza Port Brewing Company Swami's IPA is delicious! This 6.8% ABV offering is very well balanced, flavorful and incredibly easy to drink.  Will certainly pick this up again!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Weyerbacher Brewing Company Blasphemy Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Weyerbacher Brewing Company Blasphemy Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale Aged in Whiskey Barrels.

From the Weyerbacher Brewing Company website: “Blasphemy, 11.8% ABV, is our QUAD aged in bourbon barrels which gives it gentle vanilla notes that complement rather than supersede the complex qualities that already make QUAD such an incredible beer.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear ruby brown color with a large tan head and lots of lacing.

Aroma: Sweet caramel, dark fruits, bourbon, vanilla, oak, brown sugar and a slight Belgian yeast and banana scent.

Taste: Dark fruits, brown sugar, vanilla, oak, molasses, bourbon, sweet malts, candi sugar, toffee and banana.

Overall: Sweet and tasty (and bottled on my birthday), Weyerbacher Brewing Company Blasphemy Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale is delicious.  I enjoyed this 11.8% ABV offering so much that I traded to obtain another bottle for cellaring.  I’m hoping it cellars well as I plan to drink this a few years from now on my birthday.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Happy New Year!

Here's a toast to the future,

A toast to the past, 

And a toast to our friends, far and near. 

May the future be pleasant; 

The past a bright dream; 

May our friends remain faithful and dear.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey