Beer #167 - Adoration Special Winter Ale - Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY

Ommegang specializes in Belgium style ales, providing consistent American brewed ales that adhere to the distinctive standards that make Belgian style ales so unique and so tasty. Their winter ale, a dark ale, is spiced with cardamom, coriander, mace, grains of paradise and sweet orange peel. Pop the cork and let it breathe and breathe in the wonderful aroma...

It pours a cloudy brown with a big tight head.

The aroma holds scents of vanilla, cardamom, and general spice with fragrances of yeast.

It is a full ale with immediate pronounced sweet spice. Coriander, orange peel and alcohol tang develop in the body. The spice gives way to effervescent sweetness on the tongue. Orange peel intensifies in the finish where the alcohol tones mix with the yeast flavors to complete a complex and strong sipper.

The aftertaste holds the orange peel sweetness with a spice that rounds off quickly. Yeast and slight bitterness lingers at the very end.

A delicious way to make the winter ales linger - if we have to deal with a few more months of the rain here in Portland, the thought is eased by the knowledge that Ommegang is out there, at your local beer store, making the dark days more quaffable, one sip at a time.

Cheers!

Beer #159 - Local, 1 Brooklyn Brewing Company, Brooklyn New York

This beer has been waiting for me to drink it for awhile, the time finally came!

It pours golden with a white foamy head.

The aroma is strongly yeast with citrus hop and white pepper.

It starts light, sparkly on the tongue. The body reveals yeast spiciness with a hop bouquet. It is lively on the tongue and that holds through the finish with hop freshness on the tongue.

The aftertaste is mild hop with a lingering spice.

A refreshing and sharp ale!

Back Burner Barleywine, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood New York

The bottle of "Back Burner Imperial Barley Wine Style Ale" that I had in my reserves was brewed early 2008. I kept it around to see how it would age and recently had the chance to enjoy the result of my patience.

It pours a hazy caramel with a caramel tinted tight head.

The aroma is burnt sugar and caramel right off, but not overly sweet smelling. Instead there are molasses tones coupled with mild hop.

It has a creamy full body and an unexpected spice on the palate/mid tongue where a peppery liveliness reveals itself. Molasses arrives at the back of the mouth with the burnt sugar. The very end results in more sweetness and the peppery spice lingers in the mouth.

The aftertaste reveals bitterness and malt that carries the spiciness. It's not as thick as expected, keeping the palate from getting overwhelmed.

Enjoyable aged or "as-is", it's a wonderful beer!

Cheers!

Oat, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood New York

Our next Christmas in July beer was one I sampled a bit ago - the Oat, an Imperial Oatmeal Stout from Southern Tier brewing. This is an August release, so look for it soon!

It pours opaque with a tight caramel head.

The aroma is big malt with thick molasses and sweet with burnt sugar.

It is a thick full body, sticky molasses right off. At 11%, the alcohol is fairly transparent. It is sugary but has a mild oak that puts some backing on the sweetness and keeps it from being overly sugar dominated.

The aftertaste is thick big molasses - the sweetness is completely rounded off by oak and alcohol - it is definitely a sipper. Enjoy from the 22oz bottle in a snifter. A slow drinker in the late evening, perhaps lounging on the hammock!

Cheers!

Tripel, Southern Tier Brewing, Lakewood New York

Our next beer comes from a brewery that continues to prove itself. The Southern Tier Brewery, located in Lakewood, NY, has had their beers reviewed a few times on this blog, to much satisfaction. Their Tripel Style Belgian Triple Ale is fermented 3 times - twice in the brewery and once in the bottle. Let's give it a try....

It pours a brilliant amber with a thin tight head.

Big yeast aroma with mild citrus - with mild orange peel and hop.

It begins with yeast and in the medium body, there is a hop bitterness that builds through the finish. Mild citrus holds in the body along with some general spice. It is silky smooth a little thick like honey, but it has big alcohol tones in the end.

The aftertaste is held with yeast, bitterness and alcohol.

It is 9% and available in 22 oz bottles. It is a bit hard to find, I did see a few at Bottleworks in Seattle. If you come across any of their beers - DO NOT HESITATE - buy and enjoy!

Cheers!

Hoppe Imperial Extra Pale Ale, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood New York

This will be my last post for a bit - I am going out in the field once again....Heading north to brew! This will be my second time - last year I made a porter. The jury's out as of yet as to which style will be this years adventure, but I'm thinking something hopped up. We'll see....

Southern Tier has continued to impress me with their line of beers. Unfortunately, they are few and far between on the West Coast here. I did find a few at Bottleworks in Seattle though, so that encourages me that we are not cut-off from their brews. Todays sample is a minimalistic beer, let's try it out....

It pours a golden amber with a big head.

The aroma is big hop and yeast. It is very fresh and retains a super light white pepper fragrance.

It has a medium body - the bitterness builds in the body then finishes very bitter. Yeast and slight white pepper are noticeable in the finish as well. It is a flavorful fresh brew that is quite drinkable - especially if you are into the hoppy ones!

The aftertaste is mostly bitterness that lingers with a nice earthy tone.

At 10% this is a big beer. I definitely recommend it - it has regular availability in 22 oz bottles.

Cheers!

Monster Ale 2007, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn New York

Barley wine - winter - happy.
I like the barley wine style of ales and am excited to try out Brooklyn Brewery's offering, the Monster Ale. As the website mentions, it is 10.1% with Scottish Floor-Malted Maris Otter and English Two-Row Malts; along with Willamette, Cascade and American Fuggle hops. It is aged four months... Now for it's due respect....

It pours a hazy amber with a tight head.

The aroma is sweet and a bit oaky - with a distinct alcohol.

The taste:
Cold: It has a full body with a lot of the oak flavor in there. It is sweet at the end with a little roastiness, as well.
As it warms: Oak/alcohol become more apparent, it becomes a little more thicker and the aftertaste is more dominant.

The aftertaste is complex with sweet malt and an earthy characteristic. It has a little tang and some brown sugar tones, as well.

This is a great barely wine. It is a wonderful sipper for the colder of cold nights. It's a little tough to find, but definitely worth seeking out!

Cheers!

Imperial Pumking, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood NY

Ah yes, the eerily excellent Imperail Pumking ale!

Pours a brilliant copper.

The smell is spicy - a full aroma. There is brown sugar, caramel and I detect a very dominate oatmeal cookie smell with the slight cinnamon.

It is smooth and velvety - a full body. It is packed with flavor - thick caramel with pumpkin. The brown sugar is there along with that oatmeal cookie flavor. It has a general spice, but doesn't overwhelm the flavor, by any means.

It lingers nicely, leaving a spice flavor in the mouth.

This is a delicious way to end the pumpkin beer season! Southern Tier beers are available all over the East Coast and most recently, I discovered they are available at Bottleworks in Seattle, WA - for those in the area. Excellent beers! I have several more on reserve that we will be tasting soon!

From the bottle: 9%.

Malt: 2-row, caramel (remember from our beer lesson #1 that 2-row are popular in Europe & tend to be more starchy than the 6-row in the US)

Kettle Hops: Magnum

Aroma Hops: Sterling

with pureed pumpkin!

There is also a nice history of Puca (a mystical Celtic creature) which ties into the Halloween spirit - printed on the bottle.

Cheers!

Unearthly Imperial IPA, Southern Tier Brewing Company

And now to New York where we will take company with the Southern Tier Brewing Company based in Lakewood. Their Unearthly IPA is advertised as their most aggressive beer yet and being the hop-head that I am, this beer just might slake my need for the bitter....I recently sat down with my friend Kevin to give this brew a try.

It pours a clearish amber with a good head.

The smell is extreme hop - with just slight aroma of honey.

The taste is crisp without too much body. Kevin offered up this suggestion: Ironbar. I'm not sure how often the guy has chewed on iron but I can see his point. Instead of an very flowery taste, it has the copper tones that I've talked about in earlier posts. It is more balanced than I was expecting. It's still extreme, but balances out it the mouth for a lip-smacking aftertaste. We enjoyed it at the picnic table in the yard on a warm afternoon. It is a delicious beer, which is found all over the Northeast. I haven't found it yet on the West coast, but remain hopeful.

The specs are detailed on the Southern Tier Bottles:

11.0%

with:

2-row pale malt

cara-pils malt

red wheat

kettle hops: chinook & cascade

hop back: styrian golding

dry hopped: cascade, centenial & cascade