Drink that drank

I've kinda been getting behind on reviews so let's get straight to it.

The Beer: Old Ruffian
The Brewer: Great Divide
The Style: Barleywine
ABV: 10.2%

Finally getting around to tasting this one. It's been staring at me for a couple of weeks now. Waiting. Watching. Well guess what, it's drink time so quit giving me the guilt trip, ok?

A note on the style: Barleywines tend to be strong beers that can be cellared and aged for several years to get a more mellow character. Brewers will often label the bottles with what year the vintage is. I confess that I've never had the patience to do this myself but I have directly compared different years at tastings and there is quite a difference. It also tends to taste best at room temp or just below.

Pours a rich mahogany, very appealing. A touch of fruit and pine in the nose mixed in with alcohol. Mouthfeel is quite hoppy, characteristic of American vs English versions, but well balanced. Fruit comes through as well. This is a sipper, but very drinkable! I'd love to have this on a night at the coast.

Weekend Adventures

Our lease ends next month and my wife and I took the opportunity to look for a house. We're in town right now with a lot of things right in the neighborhood and within walking distance, including work, but we want a little more peace and quiet along with space for art and music. It's been a while since I've actively looked, mostly because of how close I am to work, but this weekend reminded me of how time consuming it can be.

The trick with Portland is to find the right balance of location, cost and space. There were a couple of candidates but after checking out neighborhoods and discussing logistics I think we're gonna stay here one more year. Aiming to get a car a little later this year and nothing that I saw this weekend really compelled me to apply funds for moving costs; in a way it's putting the cart before the horse. But it was a good exercise and I'm looking forward to what we can find next year.

Cause for celebration

So yeah, tax returns came out much better than expected. If all goes well with a few other things we can get a new car this summer. Useful for, you know, traveling and getting from a to b. So this and the fact that it's been a little while makes me think it's time for a beer review. All on a Tuesday night even!



The Beer: Iniquity
The Brewer: Southern Tier
The Style: Black Ale
ABV: 9%

This is kind of an interesting one as it's representative of a new developing style. Technically it's a black ale, but so generously hopped it could be thought of as an IPA. A dark IPA, which is kind of a dichotomy and yet is the same thing that makes it so interesting. The basic idea is to make an IPA using roasted malts, hence the dark color and distinct character. Several brewers have been rolling with this for a little while here in the Northwest and there is even some debate about the name. You might see this style listed as Cascadian Dark Ale, Black IPA, India Black Ale, etc. Hooray for experimentation!

Pour is...pretty dark (big surprise, right?). The nose is as you might expect based on my description above. Both the hops and the roasted malt comes through, mixing together quite nicely. Mouthfeel is right between a porter and a stout, with a bit of hops coming through in the finish but relatively subtle. Alcohol is barely there, impressive for its strength, although quite possible to get into trouble with a few pints. I know I've been focusing on Southern Tier quite a bit but they really do put out excellent beers.

Still have some more in the testing labs, hoping to get to the Old Ruffian this weekend. And then it will be off to the beer store for another round.

Cloudy Days

Warmer weather can get here right about now. Failing that, I'll settle for some more sunshine. Everything is looking so...blah. If it was raining, at least that would be something, but monotonous gray sky limbo world is not so fun after weeks of the same.

Now that I have that out of the way, I've decided to try a Belgian that my wife picked up. She's having some friends over for movie night so this gives me an evening project before getting back into the work week.

The Beer: The Sixth Glass
The Brewer: Boulevard Brewing
The Style: Belgian Quadrupel
ABV: 10.5%

The fact this this is a quad is enough to pique my interest. Strength is often described in Belgian styles by including "dubbel" or "trippel" in the name. Quads are a little more rare, something you might see around the holiday season, warmth and cheer and all that. Did I mention my wife has good taste? Ok, let's get on with the tasting!

Pours an attractive deep reddish-brown color, with a good amount of carbonation and head. The nose - oh man, so many things going on! Dark fruit, figs and raisins come to mind, along with the alcohol coming through. A bit of spice as well. The brewery must smell amazing when they're whipping this up. All this comes through in the mouthfeel, with alcohol warming coming through in the finish, yet very balanced considering it's strength. I would classify this as a great winter warmer, something to share by a fireplace with snow on the ground outside.

Testing Labs

New lineup waiting to be tested:

Let's see, what do we have here... A pale ale, dark ipa, belgian, barleywine, and an ipa brewed with yerba mate tea. My wife surprised me with the pale earlier in the week which works out because I wanted to include some session beers along with the big high alcohol brews. A good variety, methinks. Now I just have to decide which one I want first.

As a side note, most beers that I pick up are new to me. I tend to pick them based on a brewery that impressed me with another style I've tried or word of mouth. I'm lucky enough to live in a market where you can get a great selection at the closest corner or grocery store but for the largest selection I'll go to http://belmont-station.com/, which happens to be close by. I'll often check what's going on and what's new before I stop in; this is how I chose the Double Jack from Firestone Walker (which I wasn't disappointed by). Also looking forward to warmer weather and going out to some of the breweries in the area, hopefully bringing some friends along, comparing notes and having a good time.

ps: you can click on the pictures to get a higher resolution version.