Denogginator Dopplebock Lager, Paper City Brewery, Holyoke MA

Another from my reserves.... The Denogginator Dopplebock Lager from Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, MA. Unfortunately, I never made it to this brewery despite it's closeness to Boston, but their beers were available at liquor stores around the Boston area (Marty's in Allston for me) or occasionally on tap at the Sunset, which I highly recommend if traveling to Boston. It's a small brewery so it's doubtful if one could find these beers outside the Northeast. Their Dopplebock is a limited release.

So let's talk beer...

It pours nearly opaque, a very dark caramel color with just a bit of light passing through it. It has a medium head.

The smell is malty sweetness. There is also a mild alcohol smell that lingers.

The taste is strong and sweet. It has a full body and is roasty. It has a sort of sugary sweetness to it. It dominates the palate.

The aftertaste is malty and strong. A nice roastiness stays in the mouth. It is a sipper and I enjoyed it late in the yard last night. A good talking beer.

Dopplebock literally means double bock. A few sources point to it's origins as being Bavarian. We'll talk more about Lagers and their process soon. For now, drink up!

Cheers!

Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, Elysian Brewery

Alas, it is truly fall. But I face the end of summer bravely with the prospect of the arrival of pumpkin beer (not to mention I've seen the first of the Christmas beers arriving in stores!). Pumpkin beers are a favorite of my wife, so she is adding her perspective in our beer of the day.

The Night Owl pours dark amber without much head.

The smell is definitely pumpkin...like pumpkin pie, with prominent clove and cinnamon.

The taste is obviously very pumpkin and cinnamon. Although this is not to be taken for granted. I've had some that are not a prominent in their pumpkin-ness. The first taste is sweet, but finishes with spice. It is a light body. Holding it for a moment, their is a bit of clove.

The aftertaste is refreshing with a nice spiciness. In all it reminds me of autumn, one of my favorite seasons...It is truly a solid Pumpkin Ale and I strongly recommend it!

From the bottle: "Ale brewed with pumpkin, pumpkin seeds & fermented with spices." Brewed with over 7lbs of pumpkins per barrel and "spiced in conditioning with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice."

It is 5.9%. I found it in a grocery store in Bellingham, WA (on a recent trip to my hometown) but I think it is available in most large stores and beer stores - at least on the Western side of the Country. It comes in a 22z bottle. For those of you so inclined, I strongly recommend visiting the delicious Elysian Brewery in Seattle.

C-Note Imperial Pale, New Old Lompoc

Since moving to Portland, I have discovered that I have some great neighbors. One of these is the New Old Lompoc, which is a stone's throw down 23rd Ave. On a recent trip, I sampled their C-Note Imperial Pale and enjoyed it with my wife on their patio. An excellent place to drink.

It pours a thick amber with a very foamy head. It is cloudier than a typical IPA, I anticipate hops!

The smell is surprisingly subtle. I was expecting a full aroma of hops, but am greeted instead with a mild hop on the flowery side.

The taste is full bodied, with pronounced bitterness at the end. It definitely slakes my need for hop. I am impressed, then I start reading about....It has seven hops. Yes, seven: Crystal, Cluster, Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus and Challenger hops. This explains it's unique flavor, a hop flavor I've never had before. They advertise this beer as "Huge!" and I'll agree. It's a big beer that walks one toward the end of the sidewalk for Hop extremity. I'm not sure I've found that definitive apex of where hoppy becomes painful, but this is a solid beer at that end of the spectrum.

The aftertaste is of strong hops and bitterness. Despite being such a big beer, I argue that it goes down very easy. Although bitter, I think even those not so inclined toward extreme hop will be interested in this beer. It is a buffet of hops and worth the try!

New Old Lompoc beer is available at their brewery at 1616 NW 23rd Ave here in Portland!

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

Oak Aged IPA, Upstream Brewing Company

On a recent trip northward, I brought along a bottle I bought in Nebraska to try with my father-in-law. This beer hails from the Upstream Brewery in Omaha. If ever even near Nebraska, there are two breweries worth the stop over, both in Omaha - one is the Upstream and the other is the Nebraska Brewery - more on that another time. Upstream is a great brewpub in the Old Market. My wife and I had a pre-lunch pint there and it was a decent bar. I'm not that into sports, but they had a small television and the Olympics were going - so I can say I got to see ping-pong finally. Now, let's talk beer.

Upstream has beer-to-go and I plucked the Oak Aged IPA from the fridge. This is a limited batch with hand-printed numbers on the labels. We tried #137 of 621.

It pours a creamy amber color with a big head. It has an unfiltered appearance and looks very thick.

The oak is apparent in the smell. The floral hoppy aroma is very pronounced.

It has a very full body, and of course is quite hoppy. There is a slight thickness to it and the bitterness starts mild, but builds over sipping. It is lively and has a mild spiciness to it.

The aftertaste is oaky and a little bitter. An excellent hop flavor remains in the mouth.

It is 6.0%, but unfortunately the IBU's were not printed on the bottle. It was brewed in November 2007 and bottled in May 2008.

Other than the brewpub, I'm not sure where Upstream beers can be found. If anyone has an update on this, please let me know. Also, I am very curious about their other beers, especially the specialty bottled series, so if you have tried one, I'd love to hear a review.

In all the Oak Aged IPA was an excellent sipper after some delicious homemade Thai food and complemented a re-watch of Blade Runner, which I hadn't seen for a long time!

Cheers!

Ipswich IPA, Mercury Brewing Company

And I'm back. Tonight's beer hails from the Mercury Brewing Company in Ipswich, MA. The Ipswich IPA is available throughout the Northeast, but alas - no luck finding it out here...yet. I will keep a lookout though and if anyone finds it here on the West Coast, let me know because I am stoked on this IPA.

It pours a nice copper color with a medium head.

The smell is definitively hoppy, with a slight citrus and without sounding pretentious, I really did taste orange peel.

The taste is a full-body malt. It is a very thirst quenching and refreshing beer. It is a little thick, and slightly strong, so the taste holds it's own. It is not overly hoppy, but rather well balanced with the malt. From the website, I learned that U.S. and Belgian malts are used with Cascade and Warrior hops. Roasted barley is also used, which I think helps with the balancing of the beer and creating the full body.

The aftertaste is slightly bitter, but not-overly hoppy. Again, it finishes very well-balanced. A great evening beer. I had it with a veggie burger and black beans and it went well (especially with the spicy beans.)

It is 6.3 % with 60 IBUs.

Pelican Heiferweizen, Pelican Brewery

Now we venture into new territory with the Pelican Brewery Heiferweizen. I've raved in an earlier blog about their brewery in Pacific City and this is a bottle I brought home from that trip.

It pours a golden hue without much head. It is foggy and unfiltered.

Smell is interesting. It has a decidedly yeasty smell and there is white pepper and citrus in there as well.

The taste is very balanced but with some distinct accents of coriander and orange. As with other hef's, I taste dry banana. It is mildly spicy with a dry finish.

The aftertaste is clean and dry. It is a thirst quencher and I recommend it as a nice afternoon beer, as I enjoyed it. Laying on the hammock watching the foot traffic of 23rd Place roll by.

Thanks to Carly for writing in! I will remember to recommend where one can find these tasty brews. There were a few 22 oz bottles left at the brewery when I was there, but their website announces it will "Be Back Next Summer". The only Pelican beers I've seen in grocery stores around here, so far, has been their IPA.

Cheers!