Tuesday, October 30, 2007
*** New Beers ***
Olfabrikken “100 Gram India Pale Ale”
Dark amber in color with a frothy head with lasting retention. Resiny earthy hop aroma and a big piney hops and light caramel. The bitterness is pronounced that start early and keeps going throughout the flavor profile. The whole 100 gram thing is their hop additions during the boil. 100 grams at 15min, 200 at 30, 300 at 45 and on and on. Kind of like the Dogfish Head 90 and 120 min IPA. This Imperial IPA has a great spectrum of flavors and bitterness brought on by the hops. 8.5% and hopalicious.
This MASSIVE imperial stout pours a heavy black with a brown / dark tan head. The aroma is of dark fruit (prune, figs, and raisin) with coco and coffee. The flavor is chocolate liquor, espresso and those dark fruits. Yes the 16% comes though as a fumy alcohol presents and spicy quality. IMHO Worldwide stout has nothing on this one.
This barley is both tasty and more unique than most. It is very dark brown and has a light roasty aroma and a big grassy hop aroma. The flavor is of dark malt not as strong dark as a stout but roasty like a very dark brown ale. The hops are strong and bitter and will make this dark barley wine age very well. As dark, yummy and bitter this beer is I plan to put several down in my seller.
Redish in color with a creamy off white head. The aroma is malty up front with big fruity hop with grapefruit and orange. The flavor is piney with a semi sweet malt. Well balanced and a very well made American style IPA from Norway.
Peachy orange in color with a thin layer of foam. The aroma is of hay, pepper, sweet sage and flowers. The flavor is yeasty with floral hops and slightly sharp coriander like acidity. Bitter dry finish makes this a good saison with nice complexity.
This Mikkeller pours a copper color with a thick bubbly head. Lemony herbal hop aroma with a touch of malt. The flavor is pale malt soft citrus hoppiness with a lingering bitter finish.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
*** Winter Beers Round 3 ***
Golden yellow in color this Belgian beauty pours with a large rock head that stick well to the side of your glass. The aroma is sweet and of tart tropical fruit. Pale malt and honey flavors dominate with sweet candy and mango flavors lingering. Spicy hops finish it out with just a little bit of an alcohol presence. Complex, and flavorful this one will keep you sipping and finding new nuance for some time. Now it comes in the perfect party size of 3 liters.
Pale amber in color and full bodied with a rich flavor imparted by Pale and Honey malt and assertively friendly hop character. The hop profile is 100% Yakima Chinook hops for bittering, flavor and aroma. One of the hoppiest winter seasonals you’ll find.
A beautifully done spiced brown ale. It pours a deep chestnut brown. The head is of a descent size and lasts fairly long but does finally settle into a thin topping. The three spices are ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. The ginger and nutmeg come through on the aroma but all three are well represented in the flavor. The malt has a touch of caramel and dark roasted malts to it and there is a bit of a bready character as well. All in all, a fine spiced ale.
This has always been one of those seasonal beers that I really look forward to. The balance between the roasty malt and the east Kent Golding hops is superb. Its 7% is respectable but not so high that you couldn’t have a few. All in all a great NW winter ale.
Dark red/brown in color this beer pours with a medium head that settles quickly into a thin layer. The aroma is malty with dark cherry and dark plum. The flavor sweet with a touch of spicy hop and the above mentioned fruit. A classic staple of the winter beer scene here in Oregon.
Full body with a smooth mouth-feel, caramel malt sweetness with a fruity ester flavor. Nice spicy hop flavor without being overdone. It’s a great addition to our winter beer lineup.
*** New Beers ***
Midnight Sun “Obliteration II”
This hop-rage of a beer is fueled by Summit, Crystal, Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo and goes up to 100 IBU and 8.3%. It pours a dark copper and has a huge spicy, citrus hop aroma. The flavor is tongue numbingly bitter and everything else you expect out of a great double IPA.
As usual Full Sail comes out with another fine vintage of Old Boardhead. Amber/orange in color with a small but tight head. Light fruity hop aroma with whiffs of caramel and cake. Soft and malty up front than moves into the fruity hop flavors and finish quite bitter. At the time of this review the IBUs come shining through in the finish; this will calm down quickly in the next few months and settle into a more rounded finish. At 9% and easy smooth, this braley wine will age for a good 5 years plus and is yummily accessible now.
This beer pours a slightly hazy golden color with a fluffy white head. The aroma is lemony with a touch of pepper and ginger. The flavor is spicy clove, hay and a solid pale malt base. The finish is crisp and dry. It is a good showing of the farmhouse style and of course Wolaver’s is organic to boot.
If you have tried the Dogfish Head “Raison D’etre”, think that only more so. Where Dogfish uses green raisin Regenboog uses sultans. Where Dogfish uses beet sugar Regenboog uses honey. Guido has a sharp fruity character with a smooth deep honey sweetness. The head is big and rocky, and the aroma sweet and raisony.
Although there are more and more IPAs out of Belgium, to me there is a qualitative difference between those and the Hommel ale. The new IPS seem to be American inspired because the hop profile tends to be more on the heavy bitter with a more grassy citrus flavor. I do not know this for a fact but I would bet that the copious amount of hops it this beer come from the Poperinge area and has more of a flowery, resiny, almost cumin like flavor. To me this is a Belgian original that might just turn the head of the most jaded hophead.
Ok, due to their large distribution area I am not inclined to take on Sierra Nevada products but to be honest I have never got to try their Harvest ale so I just had to get a couple of cases. I’m glad I did. The 2007 vintage is deep amber in color with a big rocky head that laces well. The aroma is resiny and citrusy with a whiff of grass. It has a full mouth feel and the malt comes through as caramel but it is the hop flavor that is what works. Not big on the bitter but the pine and grapefruit hops are well placed and the minor floral and spice hop tones peek though time and again. When chilled the finish is rather dry but as it warms up the caramel malt shows up more and more at the end.
This 55 IBU pale ale is a perfect copper color and pours with plenty of carbonation but thin head. Made with “WET” hops, not dried like most hops. The hops are picked and overnighted to Denver where they make this bitter, grassy, citrusy brew. Malt only has a small-to-nonexistent part in this totally hop driven brew. If you’re not a hophead don’t bother, if you are, than snatch up this bitter beauty while it lasts.
Golden / orange in color, this beer pours with a big billowy head. Tropical fruits, lime, and pale malts come through in the aroma. Lightly sweet and grainy up front with estery fruit and very little in the way of hop bitterness. The creamy texture and sweet flavor make this beer a real treat and easy to drink.
This pale lager is very clean with a touch of sweetness. The light crisp finish balances it well and no corn, vegetable or skunk like you find in many import lagers. If you are looking for something refreshing this fits the bill.
*** Back In Stock ***
This dark brown coffee porter pours with a nice tan head. The aromas are of roasted barley, chocolate and a ton of coffee. The malt aromas carry over into the flavor along with light hop bitterness and once again a ton of coffee. For those of you who love coffee or just want to have a beer with breakfast, this is the one.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
*** New Beers ***
Man or man this is one of the darkest blackest Imperials I’ve had. Pitch black with a tan head, the carbonation level is rather low but with the high malt and 11% alcohol that is understandable and appreciated. The aroma is of bread, highly roasted malt and bitter chocolate. The flavor is aggressively roasty with a touch of astringency from all of the black patton malt, coffee and a touch of piney hops. The flavor intensity is high and for those who enjoy the stoutest of stouts this one fits the bill. If it were a touch drier I could easily peg this as a Russian Imperial but as it stands I would say that this 11% beauty is an imperial stout of the highest qulity. I can not wait to see what else these guys make.
Alaskan Smoked Porter is credited with helping revive the German rauchbier style, or smoke-flavored beers, in the United States. The most award-winning beer in the history of the Great American Beer Festival, Alaskan Smoked Porter has a dark, robust body and pronounced smoky flavor. This unique beer is produced in limited vintages each year and may be aged in the bottle much like fine wine. It ages very well and will continue to mellow and increase in complexity for some time. For those of you who love the hops, you will probably like it better young, for the rest of us aging it for a year or two smoothes and mellows it.
Is this an Imperial IPA or is it a pale Barley Wine???? Well to be honest I do not know (or care). At 10.5% and 85 IBUs it is strong bitter and very tasty. It pours a pale amber brown with a tight head that sticks around for a while. The aroma is heavy pale malts with a pine hop and a touch of apple. It has a medium to heavy body that is cut through with a stiff hop bitterness. The flavor although heavy on the hops and bitterness one can not ignore the big malt that weaves its way around all of the hop components. Even at 85 IBUs this level of malt can not be ignored. This is a good thing as it does provide some balance and what I see (taste) as a great aging potential. Enjoy this one now and for years to come out of the cellar
*** Winter Beers Round 2 ***
Dark brown with ruby tints and a small but tan head. The aroma is nutty and sweet with a whiff of fruit. The flavor is malty up front along with some hazelnuts and figs thrown in. The body is light but is still warming going down. Classic English winter warmer style.
Another yearly fav of mine. Dark brown in color, dark malt aromas along with chocolate and caramel. Flavors dominated by roasty malt, chocolate and bitter sweet tones. Very good, as usual. Early in the release the hops are bright and have a pine / juniper flavor. This mellows out as the season progresses.
This malty, roasty beer is just what you need on these colder nights. Made with Munich, caramel, and roasted barley along with a touch of wheat makes for a dark brown rich winter ale. They throw in a healthy does of hops to pull it all together into a well-balanced winter warmer.
*** New Cider ***
This beautiful ruby red cider is slightly effervescent with an easy prickle on the tongue. The aroma is a perfumy mix of apple and cranberry. The flavor is slightly sweet but the tartness from the cranberries quickly takes over and leaves you with a dry finish and a light body. The flavors blend well and have a nice balance between the apple and cranberry. Enough of each to complement each other without dominating. It is refreshing cold but sumptuous mulled hot with just a touch of clove and some cinnamon.
*** Back In Stock ***
Yet another fine beer coming Italy. There seem to be more and more Italians worth hunting down and this is one of them. This fruit beer is subtle and sublime. Not the heavy handed fruit beers we see made in this country. Even though I am a big black current fan and never shy away from drinking pure fermented current juice the token level of fruit in this beer works very well. It pours dusty yellow with a bit of a blush red. Its aroma is malty with a mineral/citrusy tone. The flavor is lightly sweet with a hint of spiciness and the fruit just peaks through to add an extra layer of flavor.
Golden with an amber tint, sweet in aroma with notes of coriander and tropical fruit. The flavor is sweet with spices but does have a nice hop finish to keep it from being too sweet. It has a great Belgian quality to it with the malt selection and the highly estery yeast. At 12% you do know there is a bit of alcohol at work here but nothing that really gets in the way. A bit of aging should mellow that out even more.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
*** Beer Flash!! ***
Alaskan Smoked Porter 2007 just arrived and is as awesome as ever.
Alaskan Smoked Porter is credited with helping revive the German rauchbier style, or smoke-flavored beers, in the United States. The most award-winning beer in the history of the Great American Beer Festival, Alaskan Smoked Porter has a dark, robust body and pronounced smoky flavor. This unique beer is produced in limited vintages each year and may be aged in the bottle much like fine wine. It ages very well and will continue to mellow and increase in complexity for some time. For those of you who love the hops, you will probably like it better young, for the rest of us aging it for a year or two smoothes and mellows it.
Also See Below for Shirts:
Alaskan Smoked T-Shirt Med
Alaskan Smoked T-Shirt Lrg
Alaskan Smoked T-Shirt XL
Alaskan Smoked T-Shirt XXL
Friday, October 12, 2007
Lot 71: 2 Each: 2000, 2001, 2003 SN Celebration
Lot 72: 3-pack 1996 Kulmbacher Eisbock
*** Featured Wine ***
*** New Beers ***
Dark brown in color with red tints around the edges. It pours with a large dense head that has some staying power. The nose is big and sweet, and toasty. The flavor is chewy brown malt, caramel and brown sugar, plum fruit, smokiness, and a touch of spice. This one is definitely on the heavier side of Doppelbock with complexity and style to go along with it
Golden orange in color, this IPA has a fresh aroma of pine and floral hops along with bready malt with a bit of caramel. The flavor is of resinous and grapefruit hops and a malting that is a touch sweet and hints of biscuits. It has enough bitterness to be a true Northwester but not so much to be harsh.
This organic porter pours a dark mahogany with a medium creamy head. The aroma is primarily of coffee with hints of chocolate, and dark fruit. The flavor is roasty that moves into a light chocolate and finishes with an herbal hop flavor and bitterness.
Yet another fine beer from Laurelwood. This Golden Ale pours appropriately enough a bright gold. The head is a bit thin but does manage some lacing. The aroma is of honey malt and of leafy grassy hops. The flavor is well balanced with a slight graininess, grassy hop and easy bitterness at the end. The smooth body and well balanced flavors make this an A+ golden.
Very very dark, this stout has very dense tan head. Good coffee aroma with a touch of bitter sweet chocolate. The flavor leaves no doubt that this is a straight up stout. Heavy black malts with mocha flavors and just this side of sweet. Low in the ops but that ok because this stout has enough going on.
Gose is a German style of wheat beer that is brewed with salt. This beer is brewed with coriander as well. The aroma is grainy with a grass like wheatiness. The coriander comes through as a slightly perfumy tartness. The flavor is tart from the wheat and the coriander gives it an almost sour quality. The high carbonation makes it prickly on the tongue and highly refreshing. In quality it is much like a Belgian wit (white) beer but this German relies heavily on the wheat flavor and has none of the orange peel.
For those of you who miss having a true German Berliner style beer here it is. Wheaty, lactic tartness and plenty of carbonation. It’s ready to stand up to a little woodruff or raspberry syrup.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
*** Winter Brews ROUND 1 ***
Now to me, this is what winter beers are all about. Out of all the winter beers I look forward to this one the most. It has a big malty fruity flavor that just does it for me. Not too hoppy, a light bitterness to finish well but nothing overpowering. The 8% alcohol is smooth but will warm the cockles of your heart. Best served only slightly chilled so as to bring out the smooth malt and play that against the fruity character. This beer actually ages very well. On first sip you might not think that a beer like this can go long term but after about 8 months the malt starts to intensify and instead of it playing against the fruit character, it actually starts to accentuate the fruit and you end up with a more intense beer. I have to give props to Golden Valley for producing a winter beer like no other.
This 7.5% pours golden orange. With the massive amount of wheat that goes into this beer, it delivers the voluminous persistent head that laces well. The aroma is wheaty, grainy, and grassy with a touch of banana and whiff of spice. The flavor follows the aroma and includes a herbal hop flavor and a touch of bitterness. This is one big hefe that is the first in there “Brewer’s Reserve” line.
Wassail is dark brown / mahogany in color. It pours with a medium head but it settles down to a thin layer. Rich with a malty fruity character and a light resin hop finish that accentuates more of the malt.
Yes, it’s true, if Santa was going to knock back a pint it would be one of these. Deep garnet in color it pours with a rather thin head. The aroma is mainly of piney resinous hop with a little crystal malt. The flavor is lightly bready, caramel malt with plenty of piney hop bitterness (44 IBU). Every year I try and convince my kids that Santa is lactose intolerant and would much rather have a beer like this with his cookies than a pint of 2%.
Alaskan Winter Ale is an English Olde Ale, a style that is brewed in the fall and winter as a winter warmer. This copper-colored ale balances the sweet floral aroma and taste of Sitka spruce tips with the clean crisp finish of noble hops. Spruce tips have a long tradition in Southeast Alaska, being used in beer by explorer Captain James Cook to prevent vitamin C deficiency among his crew during his explorations in the 1700s and being used today to flavor teas, syrups, jellies and Alaskan Winter Ale.
This “Old Ale” is brewed in July and aged until October. This gives it a deep malty smooth character with big roasty tones and a well-developed and complex hop presence due to the aging and subsequent dry hopping.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
*** Too Much Security ***
In an attempt to make our ordering process even more secure that it already is, it seem we made it impossible for many of you to even place an order. The ordering system had been mired down for a few days before we caught the issue. If you have been trying to place an order and have not been able to get to the "Place Order" tab rest assured the issue has been resolved and the new added security is in place and working fine. Below is a list of what was on the latest newsletter, if you had been trying to order them please try again.
Bridgeport “Hop Harvest”
Deschutes “Hop Trip”
Hale’s “OBriens Harvest Ale”
Baron “Pilsner”
Baron “Schwarzbier”
Baron “Oktoberfest”
Six Rivers “Bluff Creek Pale Ale”
Six Rivers “IPA”
Central Coast “Chai Cream”
Central Coast “Scotch Ale”
Central Coast “Honey Wheat”
Many apologies for the inconvenience.
Matt Maples
President
Liquid Solutions Inc.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
*** Auctions ***
Sorry no auctions this week.
One of the best harvest ales around. Made with plenty of fresh Willamette valley hop, this Pale ale pours a golden amber color and has the aroma and flavor of lemon, flowers, and just a touch of grass. Not too bitter but with tons of hop flavor and aroma and by that I mean the aromas come pouring out the bottle when opened and the flavors are forceful and aggressive without being harsh. A+
Hales Harvest Ale 12oz:
Brown orange in color with piney citrus hop aromas and flavor. The malt is smooth and sweet that works with the stiff plentiful bitterness.
Since many of you have been reading my beer reviews for some time most of you know that although I can appreciate a well made lager there are few that I turn to on a regular basis. They usually just don’t do it for me. But the Baron Pilsner is destine to show up in my home beer fridge and be put to good use. Yellow gold in color it pours with a nice head that settles quickly. The aroma has spicy hops and is lightly sweet from pale malt. The mouthfeel is creamy and the flavor is a touch sweet like many German style pils and the hops are flowery and spicy. The bitterness is absolutely PERFECT. This is probably why I like this one so much, the bitterness is a fine match to the malt sweetness without being over the top or at all hash. It’s a well made, flavorful, FRESH pilsner, A+.
German style Schwarzbier (black beer) is rather hard to come by in these parts. Schwarzbier is a lager style and should have “black beer” flavors with a light body and clean finish just like any good lager. The Baron Schwarzbier fits that to a “T”. It pours black with a dark brown tint. The aroma is of light molasses and coffee and the flavor is roasty with the fore mentioned molasses and coffee along with a floral hop and a cleansing bitterness at the finish.
This Oktoberfest pours a dark copper with little head. The aroma is of fruity hop, biscuit and amber malts. The flavors start with the fruity hop (tangerine???) then moves to light crystal malt character that is replaced by an easy hop bitterness that finishes dry. Effortless drinkability with plenty of flavor.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
*** It’s that time of year. ***
Yes it is the time of year for new beers. About this time each year the amount of new beer that comes in gets to be staggering. I am going to try to make the newsletter more of a manageable size of five to ten new items for each one. This means that there will be more newsletters for the next few months. So please bear with me and we will be back to once a week as soon as things calm down.
Here in the NW it is hop harvest time and we will start seeing the “Harvest”, “Fresh Hop”, and “Green Hop” beers come in. These brews use green hops from the farm (not dried) and tend to lend more aromatics and hop flavors. Enjoy.
*** New Beers ***
This Harvest Ale is all about the aromas and flavors of the hop. It pours amber with yellow tints. The aroma is hoppy orange with light pine and resin whiffs. The base is toasty, smooth, and lightly malty to start. It then moves to a well constructed hop bitterness (nothing over powering) that accentuates the juicy piney citrus hop flavors that also include that sap-like vegative flavor one gets when using green (not dried) hops. If you are looking for a hop bitter powerhouse, this is not it. If you are looking for a beer with a big complex hop profile, Hop Harvest is the beer for you.
This amber/orange brew pour with a big head that falls quickly. The aroma is of ginger and orange. The flavor is fruity/spicy to start, with lemon and peppery ginger. The finish is lightly bitter with a slight lingering sweetness.
Malty and smokey in aroma with hints of caramel and chocolate with peat smoked malt coming through at the end.
This golden brew poured with a nice wheat head. The aroma is tart and wheaty. The flavor is lightly bitter with a lemony hop and tart wheat character. The honey asserts its self at the end but is not heavy sweet.
This copper IPA has a woody biscuit aroma and a flavor that is deep toffee in malt with a medium hop bitterness that comes in late on the pallet.
This pale pours a lightly hazy copper color with a thin head. The aroma is of crystal malts and flowery hops. The flavor is hop bitter up front with a light amber malt finish.
