Liquid Solutions

Burgundy brown in color with a creamy rocky head. The aroma is fruity and sweet with dates, raisin, vanilla and a touch of banana. The flavor is port like with a warming spicy character, a sweet dark sugar showing and clean dry finish. This brew as long term aging potential and should continue to improve in flavor and complexity for the next 5 to 10.

This beer pours copper / amber in color with a large fluffy head that slowly drops with some good lace. The aroma is a mix of tropical fruit and peaches along with a piquant pepper. The flavor is bready caramel spicy ginger with a hint of clove and a bit of woodiness at the end. Definitely better served on the warmer side of cold as the fruits come forward and the spicy phenols go down. Great complex brew.

Amber gold in color the “Bear” pours with a sticky massive head. The aroma is of grassy and herbal hops than then moves on to sweet honey-ish pale malt. The flavor of this imperial pilsner style brew is of spicy herbal hops along with some hey, lemon zest and caramel. Serve fairly cold to keep the lively carbonation in check and bring the wonderful hops to the forefront.

Pours a deep black with a tan head that settles into a thin layer. The aroma is grassy hops, with toffee, coffee and molasses. Big smooth mouth-feel with the flavors of sweet licorice, roasted black malt, smoky, and creamy chocolate with a medium bitter finish. Great Baltic porter style.

This fig brew pours dark ruby in color with a thin off white head. The aroma is sweet with rich caramel, strong fruity fig and a light spice. The flavor is of earthy hops, fruity fig, doughy malt / yeast, and a maple like sweetness.

Billed as a “Mountainberry Double Wheat” this 1 liter swing top pours a deep red copper with a large frothy head. The aroma is of real berry (not the artificial stuff you find in some fruit beers) and a tart wheat. The flavor is sweet with a grainy malt backing, nice berry without being too much tart wheat and a little peppery finish.

An amber brew with some gold around the edges, it pours with a thing bubbly head. The aroma is mild and of citrus and grass hops with a grainy malt. The flavor is a touch grapefruit; pale malt sweetness and a dry tea hop finish.

Deep ruby / orange in color this esb pours with a thin but dense head. The aroma is of floral hops and a touch of caramel. The flavor is fruity with an easy plum, pear quality. The hop flavor is floral and minty. The malt is a bit sweet and toffeeish with a light nutty hint. The finish is straight up hop bitter. Not the shocking, overwhelming kind but the sit up and take notice kind.

Bronze in color with a thin head. The aroma is of flowers, hay and a touch of honey. The flavor is lemony hops and sweet bready malt.

This Belgian style Canadian brew pours orange/amber in color with a big fluffy head. The aroma is big and estery, yeasty bread, bananas and spice. The flavor is caramel and cake, figs, and currents with some peppery spice and a sweet creamy finish.

Famous, malty, smooth amber ale.

Now in a convenient can, take it to the golf course, rafting, camping, backpacking.

Dogzilla is a black IPA that pours a black/brown with an ample dense head. The hops are big with a piney / citrus aroma and flavor from the abundant Simcoe and cascades. The malt is well on the dry side and has a great roasty finish.

Not sure why the 2007 was so difficult for me to get my hands on this year but I finnally got some. Enjoy!!

Hazzzah!! This classic strong double bock is everything one expects out of this world-renowned brew. Sweet and rummy in aroma with burly dark fruity character. Thick body with a smooth slick mouth feel. Big caramel flavors with raisin and prune flavors to boot. The 14% has a strong presence making this beer only for the stout of heart. Sweet and complex it is a fine desert beer that will only improve for a number of years. I think it is at it best after about five years of aging.

Copper / orange in color with a creamy two fingers of head. Grassy pine hop aroma with just enough malt to back the hoppy bitterness. The flavor as the hop pine as well as a touch of earth and some fruity yeasty character.

Dark brown in color (which is a good thing for a brown ale) and a tan head that is persistent. Malty in aroma with a touch of caramel and toast. The flavor is toffee, coffee and dark crystal malts. Light bitterness to finish with a medium body and a very high drinkability.

Amber in color and more of a amber/pale in style. It pours with a thin head that laces fairly well. The aroma is of smooth caramel. The flavor is bready in the malt and herbal in the hops. There are notes of wood and berries in the finish. The barrel provides some nice subtle complexity without being too much.

Hazy golden with a big carbonation and small tight head. The aroma is earthy, with sweet honey, and malt with ginger and apple. The flavor is yeasty and wild, earthy and tart lemon and ginger. Peppery spiciness with pale malt backing.

A brilliant amber color with a small creamy head. The aroma is of citrus hops. The flavor is pine and tea hops a touch of malt and a good bitter finish.

Copper in color this Scottish style ale pours with a sparse but lacy head. The aroma is sweet with a touch of smoke and candy. The flavor is malty and bready with a little more prickly carbonation than one would expect from a flavor profile such as this.

This Pennsylvanian wit is cloudy yellow with an easy wheat and coriander flavor. Lightly spicy and sweet.

Grassy hops with bit of lemon zest and pale grainy malt. Clean pilsner character with a light easy body.

Amber / red in color this dry hopped red ale pours with a fluffy off white head that settles quickly. The aroma is of resinous hops and toasty biscuit malt. Piney leafy hop flavor up front with a good showing from the malt before the finish ends with a medium bitterness.

This amber/red double IPA pours with a tight medium head that is well sustained. The aroma is big citrusy hops. The flavor is resin and orange in the hop with a light cake / brown bread malting. The finish is bitter and lingers well. A great IPA with some punch.

This UK ESB ranks way up there as one of the classics of the style. It is an amber/ruby color with a creamy substantial head. The aroma has a distinct caramel maltiness with a nice fruity (berry) tone. These aromas carry over into the flavor. Definitely malt driven with a fruity ester. Underlying hop bitterness finishes it off dry yet mild. ESBs are a style that we just can not seem to get right here in the NW, probably because we usually over hop them.

This 9% "Imperial Pale Ale" is copper in color with little head. The aroma is big on tangerine / orange maybe with a little bread in the way of malt. The flavor sweet fruit hops at the start, mid-pallet changed to an aggressive grassy hop and the finish spicy with a medium bitterness and a light body. An outstanding brew that is both tasty and refreshing.

We will be closed at the end of the week. As always I will try and get to as many emails as I can on those days. Also we are still battling the heat. We are managing to stay on top of our order queue but the delivery dates might be shifted a day or two because we have to hold them for the weather.

Bright yellow golden in color with a big foamy head. The aroma is of orange peel and coriander. The beer is almost spot on wit style with great wheat character and plenty of the accompanying spices including just a suggestion of grains of paradise. The fact that this wit is so fresh and so lively it out shines some of most classic examples such as Hoegaarden and Des Roc Blanch Double. The only thing I can say on the down side is it does not seem like they used any unmalted wheat (which is indicative of the style) to make it more tart and a touch cloudy. Then again, in their defense a cloudy tart beer may take many people aback, present company excluded.

If you are into the wild Belgian style Brett ales then this beer is for you. It pours a deep golden color with about an inch or so frothy head. The smell is funk tart with grape skin and dark fruit. Not so much on the barnyard side but it does have a nice leathery component. The flavor has a fruity apricot tartness along with some peppery nutmeg spice. A bit of the dark fruit aroma does carry into the flavor (fig??), which is a bit surprising for its golden hue. Not as crazy as many of its Belgian cousins but fun and more drinkable than some.

Heavy amber/red in color it pours with a creamy beige head. With a hop prominent nose the aroma comes across fruity (berry) and earthy. The flavor is malty up front with brown malt and caramel flavors. It has the tell tale Jolly P. tartness along with a bit of pepper and citrus zest; with an earthy hop bitter finish. The lively carbonation gives it a light fluffy body. The flavors are well match and the drinkability is high.

We are now taking orders for the Stone 12th Anniversary Ale. We should have it in shop on the 9th. Here is what the brewery has to say about it.

“Our Anniversary Ale this year stems from 2 pilot beers that were brewed by members of Team Stone. The first was Jeremy Moynier’s incredibly delicious Oatmeal Stout, and the second was Jake Ratzke’s amazing homebrewed Imperial Stout that had authentic Oaxacan chocolate added to the boil. We loved both beers so much that we decided to combine the recipes to make this year’s Anniversary offering: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. This beer pours deep black with a rich brown head of foam. The aroma is dominated by roast malt and cocoa. Upon tasting, the cocoa (we used unsweetened, unprocessed cacao sourced through our friends at Chuao Chocolatier) really comes through with a deep chocolate flavor and a long lasting bitter finish. The roasted grains used add coffee and licorice accents. It is a thick beer, but not sweet, with the addition of oatmeal in the mash providing a rich, silky mouthfeel that adds to the creamy texture.”

I totally dig this beer. If you think about what you would expect from a Scottish Imperial IPA this beer hits the mark. Ok, when I think of Scottish beer I think of a beer that is malty. This beer is that, it has plenty of sweet pale malt to go along with its respectable hop quantity that is required for an IPA. The hops present themselves in an orange and grassy aroma and flavor. With higher gravity Scottish beers you tend to find some amount of diacetyl. This is a yeast product that imparts a buttery/butterscotch flavor. Now this is not normally found in IPAs but it does make for an enjoyable, unique flavor profile. The other thing I expect out of a Scottish beer is fairly low hop bitterness. That is not to say that Hard Core has low hop bitterness because it would not be an imperial IPA if it had. What I am saying is that the 65 to 75 IBUs balances well with the malt but is not the tongue scrapingly 90+ you find in most American Imperial IPAs. Even if you are a total hophead I think if you honestly evaluate the sensory experience that Hard Core provides, you will come to enjoy it as much as I have.

This Scottish IPA pours a perfect gold with a sudsy head that settles quickly. The aroma is lightly of grassy/citrus hops and pale malt sweetness. The flavor is very dry (not sweet) with a crisp gassy hop bitterness and only a small showing from the malt (very unusual from a Scottish brew) along with a bit a fruitiness from the yeast in the way of peach/pear. Light in body and lower in carbonation and dry finish make this one of the most refreshing IPAs I’ve had in a long time.

Brilliant copper orange color with a frothy head. Plenty of toasty malt in the aroma along with a bit of orange fruitiness. The flavor is malty/bready with grassy hops. The bitterness is mild and there is some nuttiness as well.

These beers are highly limited runs of Brew Dog’s Imperial Stout that they have aged in some phenomenal Scotch (and one sherry) casks. These brews draw a ton of flavor from the casks and will age well for a long time.

Imperial Stout aged in 1987 Macallan sherry casks.

Imperial Stout aged in 1998 Imperial Speyside casks.

Imperial Stout aged in 1991 Glen Moray casks.

Imperial Stout aged in 1970 Glen Grant casks.

Imperial Stout aged in 1989 Caol Islay casks.