This Month's Featured Beers - February 2012
DOM = Domestic Beer Club; INT = International Beer Club; VAR = Domestic International Variety Beer Club; RBC = Rare Beer Club
Please Note: Although we will make every attempt to ship the products listed, occasionally we may need to substitute them with equally outstanding beers. If you strongly desire to receive those listed, please contact us at 800-625-8238 so that we may note your account accordingly.
The product descriptions below are excerpts from our monthly newsletter. Click here to view it in its entirety.
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Granite City Brewing Company (Monroe, WI)
While it may be labeled with just the term “pale ale,” this brew is, more specifically, an India pale ale. Expect a rich amber color on the pour with a moderate haze and a nice cap of creamy foam. The malt presence is fairly strong on the nose, but it’s the hop profile that jumps out more, as we would expect from an IPA. Look for floral notes with a leafy edge along with citrus aromas, including grapefruit and perhaps even a hint of lime. On the palate we found the malt core to be quite toasty, with caramel notes and a nutty character. The malts are not bashful, providing a good platform to support the hop bitterness and flavors, which come across herbal and a bit earthy with a nice citric character. Firm hop bitterness and a mineral edge keep things quite dry, especially in the finish where the bitterness hangs on for a while. We found the Duke to be fairly light bodied, quaffable, and an excellent companion to a BBQ bacon and cheddar burger. The brewery also suggests BBQ roast pork chops or a buffalo chicken sandwich. Sounds good to us!
Serving Temperature: 40-47°F
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3 %
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 63.9
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass or Mug
Malts: 2-Row Base, Carastan, Carafoam, Crystal 135-165
Hops: Apollo, Willamette, Cascade
Expect a deep, brownish red color on this attractive craft lager. Take a whiff and…yep, it smells like a bock, and a rich one at that. The nose on this brew is very malt-centric with notes of sweet, rich caramel, toasted brown bread, and a bit of toffee. Hops add a touch of earthiness. Quite sweet on the palate, expect big caramel notes with brown sugar, cocoa, and a fairly bold fruity character reminiscent of fig and raisin. Expect a very smooth and creamy medium body with fine, light carbonation. Per the style, hops are restrained in both bitterness and flavor/aroma to allow full expression of the malts, but they do show up enough to offer a mild counterpoint, with an earthy, lightly woody aspect. Finishes a tad nutty but quite clean. Bocks go well with nutty, earthy cheeses and a variety of German foods; we’re particularly fond of the malty sweetness as a foil to a nice spicy bockwurst. Prost!
Serving Temperature: 45-52°F
Alcohol by Volume: 4.58%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 18.0
Suggested Glassware: Mug, Pilsner Glass, or Stange
Malts: 2-Row Base, Light Munich, Caramunich Type 3, Chocolate
Hops: Apollo, German Tettnanger
Lancaster Brewing Company (Lancaster, PA)
A traditional British style, milk stouts have unfermentable lactose sugar added for an extra dimension of sweetness in an otherwise dry brew. Lancaster’s version is among the best we’ve sampled in the last few years. Expect a nearly black pour, capped by a rich, attractive brown head. On the nose there’s a definite roasty, char-like black malt center with hints of coffee and very dark chocolate accompanied by scorched nuttiness, a somewhat woody character, and a bit of lactic creaminess. Expect these aromas to come through on the palate, with heavily toasted bread crust and more than a hint of smoke. Perhaps most notable, however, is the lactose sugar sweetness that builds from the opening, through the mid-palate, and into the finish as it provides an effective foil to the very dry black malt notes and adds a creamy character to the body. We like milk stouts with chocolate cake a la mode, drizzled with caramel or chocolate sauce. The interplay between the cake and ice cream reminds us of the interplay within the beer. Enjoy!
Serving Temperature: 48-55°F
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 22.0
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass or Mug
Malts: 2-Row Barley, Caramel, Chocolate, Black, Roasted Barley, Lactose
Hops: Cascade, Goldings
Lancaster has taken an interesting approach with this pale ale, using not only barley malts, but rye, oats, and wheat, as well. It pours a clear, fairly deep amber-copper color with an off-white head that drops some lace down the side of the glass. Expect a somewhat grainy, toasty, and lightly bready malt aroma overlaid by mild-to-moderate grassy, spicy hop notes and an intriguing touch of tropical fruit. We found the malt sweetness and hop bitterness fairly well balanced on the palate. Look for a toasty and crackery malt expression with a distinct spicy rye note and a certain earthy tone. This brew is dry-hopped with Saaz, a Czech varietal well-known for its spicy, herbal, and somewhat earthy character. It’s a somewhat unusual approach for an American-style pale ale, but so is the whole four grain malt bill, and it compliments the malt character well. Cheers!
Serving Temperature: 40-47°F
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 28.0
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass or Mug
Malts: 2-Row Barley, Rye, Oats, Wheat, Munich 20
Hops: Willamette, Fuggles, Saaz
Hofbrauhaus Wolters—Braunschweig (Brunswick), Lower Saxony, Germany
It’s worth noting before we begin that it is acceptable to spell the name of this style of beer as “pilsner” or “pilsener.” The style originated in Pilsen, Czech Republic, but of course the Czechs spell Pilsen as “Plzeň,” so perhaps we should consider another spelling: “plzener.” Oh well, enough of that – on to the beer. On the pour, Wolters Pilsener presents a crystal clear, bright straw color with a fluffy bright white head. On the nose expect pale, crackery malt aromas, notes of hay, and a grassy and lightly floral noble hop character. In the mouth we found this brew light bodied and crisp with a nice soft bite from the carbonation. The mildly floral and grassy hop aromas come through on the palate too, in perfect balance with the light pale malt sweetness hinting toward white bread dough. We found it went great with grilled chicken sandwiches covered in pepper jack cheese, bacon, and tomato. Enjoy!
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Alcohol by Volume: 4.7%
Suggested Glassware: Pilsner Glass
Wolters Fest-Bier pours a light coppery-amber color with a large, pillowy, head from an aggressive pour. On the nose, look for notes of lightly toasted bread, biscuits, mild Munich malts, and a touch of honey sweetness. Overlaying the malts are some herbal and grassy noble hop aromas, providing a very German character, along with a touch of fruit hinting toward apple flesh. On the palate, the beer comes across fairly round and medium bodied. Expect flavors of sweet bready malts, light caramel, hints of paper, a somewhat dusty and earthy lager yeast quality, and a very mild tart note in the finish. This is a perfect beer for a beer festival; some versions of the festbier style lean more toward what we would think of as a classic märzen, with a fuller-bodied caramel malt character and very strong bready notes, but Wolters brews their Fest-Bier a bit lighter with a somewhat more pronounced noble hop profile of grassy, herbal, spiciness that is emblematic of so many great German beers. The creamy, finely-carbonated, medium body of this brew is a delight, and kept us coming back for more. Enjoy with some brats or knockwurst and sauerkraut, or a hearty stew. Prost!
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Alcohol by Volume: 5.4%
Suggested Glassware: Mug or Stein
Anchorage Brewing Company—Anchorage, Alaska
You’ve heard of (regular) IPA, Double IPA (or Imperial IPA), and maybe even Black IPA, Belgian IPA or Double Black IPA. But what’s a “White IPA”? That’s a good question, and it’s not yet all that clearly defined—more of a work in progress. The basic idea (thus far) behind so called White IPAs is a Belgian-style spiced wheat beer (a wit) that is aggressively hopped and has an above average alcohol volume. With the creation of new beer styles comes this sort of emergent period where things are pretty wide open to interpretation—so, let’s see where brewer Gabe Fletcher takes us with his take on “White IPA”… He’s certainly pulled out all the stops in this remarkable brew, with ingredients/influences from four different continents: Australian Galaxy hops, Indian coriander and black peppercorns, North American wheat, fresh kumquats from Asia, and fermented and aged in French oak foudres with a Belgian wit yeast.
Galaxy White IPA pours a pale butterscotch color, nicely hazed and just what we expect in a witbier. Also present is the characteristic brilliantly white head that a wit ought to possess. The aroma is quite alluring—intensely citrus-forward, with a blast of aromatic hops. Expect notes of fresh lemons and oranges, as well as grapefruit-and-pine hoppiness. It’s a pretty intense hoppiness; all the more impressive is the fact that it’s coming from a single variety (Galaxy). We’d have thought it was a Pacific Northwest variety, especially since this beer is brewed in Alaska, but no, these hops are from down under. Spare no expense, right? Also look for suggestions of passionfruit, which Galaxy hops are known for, but it’s pretty tough to say if that’s just the hops, or also the fresh kumquats. We’re not sure either if the subtle tartness on the nose is exclusively from the wheat, the Brett, the kumquats, or some interplay between all three, but there is a nice, fresh, citrusy tartness suggested in the aroma. The Brettanomyces is also casting off just a touch of pineapple. The beer is young right now, so the funky characteristics from the Brett will increase with time. We also got quite a bit of the coriander coming through as well. Quite a complex aroma, but let us say that for all that’s going on in this beer, it’s just beautifully melded together. On paper, this gathering of ingredients may seem like some mad scientist-brewer’s wild-eyed experiment, and it certainly could be (the winters are very long in Alaska), but that aside, the fusion is gentle and reveals an impressive artistry.
For all its soft, suppleness on the nose, the flavor has plenty of Alaskan ruffian to it. Expect plenty of citrus notes, with a touch of sourness coming from the interplay of the wheat (sour), hops (citrus) and kumquats (sweet citrus and bitterness), all giving the impression of lemons. But like a proper IPA, there’s quite a hefty bitterness. In this case, the bitter notes are coming not only from the hops, but also the kumquats (think orange rind) and the herbs and spices. The finish is quite lengthy, and if you give the palate time to try to recover between sips (it won’t, by the way, this is pretty much a palate thrasher), that’s when the black peppercorns show up, leaving a distinctive tingle that really does taste like freshly cracked black pepper.
Galaxy White IPA is a brand new beer, so we haven’t had any aged samples, but the Brettanomyces and wine yeast used for bottle conditioning this brew will go to work, “funking” things up and even drying it with age. The hops will fade too, so we’re expecting this beer to really change with time in the bottle. Having been matured in French oak foudres (which are large casks, bigger than standard barrels, usually used for maturing, storing or transporting wine), the influence of the oak is a bit tough to pull out of the beer when young (look for a faintly spicy woodiness amidst the citrus peel notes). But the oak notes are likely to blossom as the beer ages and the currently vibrant hoppiness subsides. We’ve kept a few bottles for ourselves as we will definitely be checking in on this beer every six months for at least the next two years (if we don’t drink it all in the next few weeks… damn this stuff is good). We’re happy to debut it for our members, who will receive it 3-4 weeks before it can be found outside of Alaska, in limited distribution. Cheers!
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Alcohol by Volume: 7.0%
Style: Spiced White IPA
Suggested Glassware: Tulip, Goblet, Oversized Wine Glass
Sly Fox Brewing Company—Royersford, Pennsylvania
“In mythology, Ichor was the rarified element which flowed through the veins of the gods, making them superior to mere mortals. In reality, Ichor is an extraordinary Belgian-style Quadruple which allows mortals of discriminating taste to enjoy an experience of almost godly perfection.”
Ichor is an Abbot style Quadruple brewed with German Pils and Roast malts, Belgian Candi Sugar, and German Tradition hops. Expect it to pour a burgundy brown color, capped by a frothy, off white head. There is a slight, initial waft of Belgian-style farmhouse funk, supplemented by notes of gingerbread, pumpernickel, Irish cream, cookie dough, plums, raisins and date nut bread. Look for a bit of candied orange peel as well, not to mention some citrus/over-ripened orange notes. Notes from the aroma develop in the flavor profile, but are a bit inhibited by an undercurrent of alcohol, and also colored a bit with some tasty chocolate notes and even a touch of coffee. As Ichor warms, expect some leathery notes to emerge. This beer really just keeps on giving and giving as it comes up in temperature, evoking raisins and oranges soaked in liquor (a liquor that is somewhere between añejo tequila and dark rum), with an ever present brown sugar note. With flourishes of sour/granny smith apples as well, there’s a bit of something for everyone. There are some unexpected flashes of vanilla in the finish, suggesting some oak aging, but this beer has not seen any wood at all. Also look for suggestions of coriander and cardamom. The Belgian yeast has really worked its magic on this brew. The finish also suggests grapes, especially as it warms, as well as toffee. Wraps up with a faint spicy heat (peppery, probably from the alcohol). Some euro-pastries going on here too: think croissant with a bit of chocolate spread. Even with plenty of sweetness in this beer, the brewers have managed to balance things quite nicely with a hop profile that bitters things up a bit in the finish. The sweetness prevails, but it was a noble effort on the part of the hops. Overall, this is a big, tasty beer that melds tradition with modern craft brewing creativity. It gets a little hot here and there—but hell, whaddya expect—it’s 20 proof—not to mention being the blood of the gods! While it is certainly ready to drink now, this beer will only improve with careful aging. As a bottle-conditioned beer of stature, Ichor will hold up well in the bottle for at least 3 years. Maturation will occur from 3 to 48+ months. We have enjoyed it fresh, and, at 1, 2 and 4 years old, but we’re told if treated right (stored at consistent, cellar temperatures) it will provide a nice treat for up to 10 years. Consider picking up enough bottles now to allow yourself the opportunity to do a “vault check” at 1, 2 and 3+ year intervals. You won’t be disappointed.
Serving Temperature: 48-55° F
Alcohol by Volume: 10.0%
Style: Belgian Abbot Quadruple
Suggested Glassware: Tulip or Snifter
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