Porter time

I do love the dark beers, so this week Im trying another porter. This is the Walkers Reserve Porter, from Firestone Walker Brewery in California.

It starts off a beautiful opaque coffee color, with plenty of foam and a tan colored head. The aroma is a bit weak, but you can definitely smell the sweet malt and fuggle hops. The first sip comes across smooth and drinkable. Its lightly sweet, with plenty of body, almost like a milk stout. You get some deep toasted coffee flavors along with hints of date and walnuts. The hops are a nice counterpoint, but not overpowering, just enough to give it some sour bite at the end. I could easily put down a couple of these.

Scoring:

Look: 5 - opaque black

Aroma: 3

Taste: 4 - sweet and drinkable

Feel: 4 - plenty of body

Classic Porter

If you know me, you know I like the dark beers. Today we have the Porter from Butte Creek Brewing in Montana. The bottle says its organic too.
It's a great color for a porter, deep chocolate brown with a solid creamy head. The aroma has lots of malt, and hints of brown sugar, chocolate, and fuggle hops. The first taste has plenty of malty flavor, but what catches me right away is the watery mouthfeel. I had expected more body from a porter, this struck me as thin. The flavor is still excellent, with deep coffee and bitter hops all the way through. Very drinkable.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - classic opaque brown
Aroma: 3 - malty
Taste: 3 - layers of porter
Feel: 2 - watery
Total: 3

Spring beer

With Spring come the bock beers! Traditionally, bocks were brewed by monks to drink during Lent. They were required to fast during this time, so they would make stronger, richer beers to give them calories. This is a classic, the Spaten Optimator Doppelbock from Munich. Beers ending in "ator" are typically strong sweet bocks.
It pours a deep dark coffee color, with a light head. The aroma is sweet and malty, even a bit medicinal, and you can tell the alcohol content is high. I get notes of raisin and even banana in there. The flavor pours across your tongue, very strong and heady, with lots of sweetness. The medicine flavors come out, but not overly strong, and you get some fruity notes in there too. The aftertaste is more alcohol than hops, which isnt necissarily a bad thing.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - deep coffee
Aroma: 3 - sweet
Taste: 2 - a bit too medicinal for me
Feel: 4 - thick
Total: 3.25

Field Trip!

Today finds us in Columbia, Missouri, about 90 minutes from St Louis. The city has two brewpubs right downtown, and a coworker recommended we stop at the Flat Branch Pub and Brewery. This place has been open since 1994, making beer and food on the premisis.
It has a cool converted warehouse feel, and a large outdoor patio. The food is excellent, especially for a pub. Homemade bread, fish and chips battered in their own beer, and a darn tasty artichoke dip. I highly recommend the cheese bratwurst, its made in house as well, with their own beer.

But the REAL reason we're here is for the beer, right?
This place is known for some fine products, but the most famous is their green chili beer. Yes, chili. So of course I had to try it.
It looks like a nice pale ale, with a good golden brown color and a decent amount of head. The aroma is surprizing. Think fresh veggies. Its like cutting open a green pepper, with some sweet matly undertones, and a little hop spice.
The flavor is surprizingly good. While the initial sip caught me as a bit watery, you get a good light ale flavor, with some subtle maltiness. The pepper flavor takes over in the middle, not highly spicy, but more like fresh green peppers. The light heat kicks in on the aftertaste, with some hops; not overpowering but enough to let you know you're drinking something special. Overall a fine light summer beer.

Scoring:
Look: 3 - fine solid golden brown
Aroma: 4 - fresh green peppers
Taste: 4 - peppers and beer!
Feel: 2 - a bit watery
Total: 3.25

More Spring Seasonal

Spring does bring some delicious beer styles, like bocks; but an IPA is not a beer you normally associate with Spring. The Pyramid Brewing Company has gone one farther, making an Imperial IPA for their Spring seasonal beer this year. Lately, American brewers have used the word "imperial" to mean a stronger, heavier version of a regular style. This one weighs in at 8.5% alcohol, a tad bit higher than you'd expect from an IPA, but nowhere near the 10-11% of some other 'imperial' beers.
This one pours a deep gold color, with plenty of carbonation and nice head. The aroma is clean and fresh, and does put you in mind of spring. Nice hop aroma there, you get some floral and spice notes. The flavor... wow, is HOPPY. The bitter and spice really takes over from the first sip, almost too much at times. There is a good strong body underneath to support it, and some lingering sweet maltiness there too. Certainly not one you can drink quickly, but worth a try.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - deep gold/orange
Aroma: 3 - spring!
Taste: 2 - overpoweringly hoppy
Feel: 4 - tons of body
Total: 3.25

Spring is here!

...and with it, comes Spring seasonal beers. Today its the Vinyl Lager, from the Magic Hat Brewery in Vermont.
This doesn't look like your normal lager, and it doesnt taste like one either. Its a medium brown color, relatively clear, with a good amount of carbonation. The aroma has the sweet maltiness you expect of a lager, but also a bold nuttiness and a good dose of hop spice. The flavor, in a word, is nutty. It actually comes across more like a bock than a lager, which I suppose is good for a Spring seasonal beer. Theres a good malty undertone with flavors of sour apple, but the nuttiness takes center stage, and really carries this beer. The aftertaste has some residual sweetness and a bit of hop kick, well balanced. Certainly worth getting a six pack.
Scoring:
Look: 3 - med brown
Aroma: 4 - sweet and nutty
Flavor: 4 - NUTS and malt
Feel: 3 - refreshing
Total: 3.5

Beer for a Cause

Good beer that also supports a good cause? I'll drink to that!
This week I discovered the SOS "Save Our Shore" Pilsner from Abita Brewery in Louisana. Ive admired their beers before, and this one is special. All proceeds go to coastal restoration for the gulf oil spill of last summer.
This is a bottle conditioned wheat pilsner, thus the golden and cloudy look. The aroma is refreshing and clean, with some nice hop spiciness and a good sweet malty undertone. The first taste, in a word, is creamy. Lagers typically have a smooth, slippery mouthfeel, but this takes it to another level, and tickles your tongue with creaminess. The flavor is lightly sweet and citrusy, plenty of body, and hints of peach, orange, and spice. The sterling hops give it a good touch of bitterness on the back end, not overpowering but enough to let you know this beer means business.
At 7% alcohol, its enough to make you happy too!
Scoring
Look: 4 - cloudy gold
Aroma: 3 - sweet and spicy
Taste: 4 - balanced malt and bitter
Feel: 5+ - creamy!
Total: 4