Liquid Solutions

These auctions are not run like Ebay so there are bidding and timing issues that you should know about before hand.

The FAQ can be found here
auctionsfaq.blogspot.com

The auction site is at
www.liquidsolutions.biz/auctions.asp

Two 12oz bottles of Hair of the Dog Fred #1 vintage 1994
Starting bid of $39.90
Start 10/31/2008 12:00pm Pacific
End 11/04/2008 7:00pm Pacific

Six 12oz bottles of Full Sail Old Boardhead vintage 1999
Starting bid $36.00
Start 10/31/2008 12:00pm Pacific
End 11/04/2008 7:10pm Pacific

One 750ml bottle of Dupont Avec Les Bon Veux vintage 2002
One 750ml bottle Dupont Saison vintage 2001

Two 12oz bottles of Hair of the Dog Fred #1 vintage 1994
Starting bid of $39.90
Start 10/31/2008 12:00pm Pacific
End 11/04/2008 7:30pm Pacific

It"s back, get while the getting is good!!! Hair of the Dog “Blue Dot Double India Pale Ale”. It pours a golden orange color, the head and carbonation are low but as this was just bottled I’m sure both will increase very soon. The nose is citrusy with tangerine and grapefruit with a touch of caramel. The flavor is HUGE and hoppy without being too bitter.

The drinkability is great and it should age well given that it has plenty of malt to make things interesting as the hops mellow with age. I plan to put a few down and see where it goes.

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.

Golden amber in color this pale pours with a lacy white head. The aroma is of biscuit malt and floral hop with a touch of citrus. The flavor is bready with a hint of caramel. The hops are jasmine and grapefruit with a light but crisp bitter in the finish.

This one is one of the best offerings from Allagash. This quadruple is big and tasty. It pour a mahogany color and has a big sticky head. Spicy in the nose with hints of clove, pepper, and bread. The flavor is toasty with plum and apricot fruitiness. It finishes dry with a hit of coriander. Nice and warming at 10% this Belgian style ale will not disappoint.

Billed as an Imperial Oktoberfest, I was initially skeptical about it. I figured they would just get the alcohol higher and over hop it but that was just not the case. They did a fine job of pulling off an 9.3% Oktoberfest. A copper beauty that poured with a big head. The malt was big up front with a touch of fruitiness and the flavor moved on to an ample but not over done spicy noble hop character. The body was a little big for an Okt. but its not that surprising considering the amount of malt it takes to get to 9%. The finish is very clean as any good lager should be. A+

We had a short time that the Ola Dubh 30 was out of stock. We received more so if you didn't get in on the first shipment it is now ready to go.

Ola Dubh (or ‘Black Oil’) is a collaboration between Harviestoun Brewery and Highland Park. It is based on Harviestoun’s award-winning Old Engine Oil. With more than a stylistic nod to the classic Imperial Porters (and Stouts) of the nineteenth century, this deliciously rich, dark, 8% a.b.v. beer is the first ale to be aged in malt whisky casks from a named distillery and, with traceable casks and numbered bottles with genuine provenance. This one being aged in Highland Park “30 Year Old” casks.

Retaining the appearance of used motor oil from which the beer gets its name, it is deep dark brown, dense and oily. On the nose there are notes of true oil and cocoa as well as faint smoke and heathery peat from the whisky casks. Although lighter in body that its appearance suggests, Ola Dubh is pithy, oily, salty and bitter on the palate. The (flavor) is exceptional; burnt and bitter notes with an interplay of late hop characters, orange oil, fruity tartness and then delicate, fragrant smoke.

Start with a big 8% IPA hopped with all New Zeeland hops and you have a base for an exceptional and unique (at least in the U.S.) brew that stands tall on its own. But brew that IPA and age it in top notch Islay Scotch casks and you end up with a weird, satisfying, combination of hop flavor, peaty Scotch goodness and a bitter finish that can stand up to all that peat. Although this brew might not be for everyone, it is for those of you who are into big IPAs or have a propensity for peated Scotch.

This imperial stout has been aged in 1966 Port Dundas Scotch whisky casks. Not only does has it retained all of its gloriously roasted and chocolate flavors from the stout; it also has brought on the wonderful vanilla, floral, whisky flavors from the cask. It is subtle, mellow and complex.

This oatmeal stout is breakfast in a bottle. Coffee and oats predominate the flavor along with some chocolate and mild hop bitterness. It is a strait forward stout that provides a few well-defended flavors and a high degree of drinkability with a full (but not thick) body.

This Norwegian sour ale has been aged in oak barrels. The color is a cloudy brown with a thin white head. The aroma is tart with oak and a touch of dark fruit. The flavor is very tart with a woody earthy quality and a candy finish. The mouth feel is light and spritzy from the carbonation but the finish is not as dry as one would expect.

This Belgian spiced amber pours with an ample bright white head. It is made with Pilsner Malt, Caramel malt, Hallertauer, East Kent Goldings, Dark & white candi sugar, vanilla & coriander. This gives it a smooth mellow smokey character with a light body and crisp cirtusy hit from the coriander.

This 10% Belgian IPA pours a deep gold color with a large rocky head. The aroma is big in the pine – resin hops from the dry hopped Amarillos. The flavor is grassy and citrusy from the Goldings, and Cascade hops as well as the lemon balm. The valerian they have added gives it a dusty earth quality at the finish that makes it like nothing you have had before.

*** Alaskan Smoked Porter 2008 Now Available ***

Alaskan Smoked Porter 2008 22oz:


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.

Dark copper in color this imperial IPA / Fresh Hop has a big earthy and floral hop aroma with a hint of smoke and a thin but dense head. The flavor has that “Fresh from the vine” quality and a bit of sweet toffee malt. The finish is all hop with a lemon and grass character with a bitterness to match.

This is one hell of a barley wine. This beer pours a tawny brown with a good head. It has a malt and fruitiness like a Full Sail Old Broardhead but more hop presence than a Rogue Old Crustacean. You get a malty caramel hit up front with a light fruitiness then a powerfully bitter hop finish. It states a 90 IBU rating but this beer has more apparent bitterness than most 100 IBU beers I’ve tasted. The big hops and the 10% alcohol will allow this barley wine to age beautifully for 10 years plus.

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.

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.

Sorry about the down time that occurred last week. We had the same database issue crop up again and we took the site down for the better part of a day to get things resolved. Unfortunately it happened right after the newsletter was being distributed and that meant many of you tried but were unable to access the site. I am sorry about that but we needed the extra time to fix the problem, restore the database and do extensive testing to make sure that it will not happen again. Things are working fine now and I am confident this will not reoccur.
Matt

Ola Dubh (or ‘Black Oil’) is a collaboration between Harviestoun Brewery and Highland Park, Distiller of the Year*. It is based on Harviestoun’s award-winning Old Engine Oil. With more than a stylistic nod to the classic Imperial Porters (and Stouts) of the nineteenth century, this deliciously rich, dark, 8% a.b.v. beer is the first ale to be aged in malt whisky casks from a named distillery and, with traceable casks and numbered bottles with genuine provenance.

Ola Dubh will initially be available in three different expressions; the initial release will be of small batches aged in casks formerly used to mature Highland Park 12 Year Old, Highland Park 16 Year Old and Highland Park 30 Year Old. Further variants are planned for the future. Ola Dubh is, in the words of beer a cionado Owen D.L. Barstow: “The most interesting new British beer I have tried in years.”

Retaining the appearance of used motor oil from which the beer gets its name, it is deep dark brown, dense and oily. On the nose there are notes of true oil and cocoa as well as faint smoke and heathery peat from the whisky casks. Although lighter in body that its appearance suggests, Ola Dubh is pithy, oily, salty and bitter on the palate. The (flavor) is exceptional; burnt and bitter notes with an interplay of late hop characters, orange oil, fruity tartness and then delicate, fragrant smoke.

Harvistoun Ola Dubh 30 Year 330ml:


This Ola Dubh was aged in Highland Park "30 Year Old" Scotch casks. Notes about the Scotch:Highland Park 30 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky was named Import Malt Whisky of the Year 2005 by Malt Advocate; it displays complex aromatic spices with notes of dark orange chocolate.

Harvistoun Ola Dubh 16 Year 330ml:



This one being aged in Highland Park “16 Year Old” casks. Some notes on the Scotch: Highland Park 16 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky received the accolade Best in Class at the International Wine & Spirits Competition 2006; it extends a finish which is rich, long, smoky and medium sweet.

Harvistoun Ola Dubh 12 Year 330ml:



This one being aged in Highland Park “12 Year Old” casks. Some notes about the Scotch: Highland Park 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky was awarded a Double Gold medal at San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2007; it lends balance, smoothness and subtle smoke.

Barley BB 10 375ml 375ml:


(Excerpts from importer)
Ingredients: Pale malt, caramel malt, Pilsner malt, Sapa of Cannonau {Boiled wort of Cannonau red wine grapes}, white candi sugar, orange peel, Cascasde, Kent Golding
Alc/vol: 10.0%

Notes from Lorenzo Dabove: “Our new skillful craft brewers, without an old tradition to follow, are totally free to brew experimental beers using unusual ingredients often strictly linked to their area. This is the case of young Sardinian engineer Nicola Perra who for this extraordinary BB10 uses even sapa (boiled wort) of a renowned local wine called Cannonau.

A natural “vinosity” accompanies us along the trip, from the warm and sumptuos scent of caramel, cocoa, dried plum, morello cherry and “strawberry” grapes to the palate rich of complex avors such as caramel, chocolate, liquorice, and plums with notes of sweet dried fruits such as gs and sultana. A typical winter warmer to enjoy before going to sleep but it could be perfect with famous piedmontese boiled meats, with a savory Sardinian sheep’s cheese or with a chocolate or ricotta dessert.”

This is an exceptional Finnish Baltic style porter. Big rich and strong this one has a larger roasty character than most porters. It ages well and would be a good addition to any beer cellar.

Ingredients: malts (Vienna, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel) , hops (Hallertau, Saaz)

This rye IPA beer has a deep amber color and pours with a great foamy head. The aroma is piney hop with a touch of grapefruit along with a nice spicy rye note. The mouth feel is big and creamy but the hops are bitter and assertive. The flavor is big hops and piquant rye.

Brown to auburn in color with a medium head. This double bock has a spicy cinnamon, bready, aroma that has hints of fruit (plum/pear). The flavor is of toasty brown malt, honey, with a slight fruitiness. It is not as sweet as it sounds, the flavor is all about the malt and yeast and the hopping is low (per style) which means the malt comes shining though.

For all of you who are waiting for Russian River’s Pliney the Elder, I got three more cases in as well as some Blind Pig. They won’t last long.

Deep golden with a bit of haze. The head pours thick and foamy. Its persistence is good and there is even a touch of lace. The aroma is of floral and resinous hops. The flavor has an oily, fruity hop note that is nectarine and pine with a tickle of caramel and nut in the malt. The finish has a good lingering bitterness but the main focus of this beer is the hop flavor. Not as bitter as many double IPAs but more flavorful than most. This is one of the heist rated double IPAs out there. I whish I had more of these to offer you so please bare with the inevitable “Out Of Stock”s we will see.

The “Blind Pig” is R.R.’s standard IPA. Even though it is aggressively bitter there is more than enough flavor to tie it all together very well. It pours a clear golden with a big dense head. The aroma is all out hops with enormous lemon, pine and tangy fruit. The flavor is bitter up front with a big pine and lemon flavor with some apricot, bergamot, and grapefruit thrown in. The finish is big, lingering hop bitter. This is an aggressive IPA but like I said the flavors tie together very well and make it a damn fine IPA.

This biere de garde style pours a hazy copper color. The head is large but settles down to a thin layer but leaves some nice lacing as it does. The aroma is fruity with notes of current and spice with some earthiness to boot. The flavor is malty caramel with sweet fruit esters and spicy herbal hops. The finish is dry with the earthy / funky tones one expects from a biere de garde.

This saison is a beautiful bright gold color. Its carbonation is high but the head is small and bubbly. The aroma is lemony and minty. An easy tartness up front with a light pale malt flavor. The hops are herbal and have a good bitterness for a saison. There is a light earthiness at the finish and the mouth feel is light and pillowy from the high carbonation.

Triple in style this Belgian pours a yellow orange color with a big fluffy head. The aroma is big, sweet, and fruity. Peaches, apple and pear work their way in as well as some banana. The hop aroma is grassy. The flavor is sweet with a mélange fruit along with a herbal hop that finished with a mild bitterness.

A Belgian stout that pours black with a big frothy tan head. Creamy chocolate and toffee with fruity plum in both the aroma and flavor. Roasty and sweet along with the smooth and velvety texture makes tasty and very drinkable.

This Champagne style lager is brewed in Belgium and pours a pale golden color. It has a great head that leaves plenty of lace. The aroma is clean and very floral with powdery grains. The flavor is sweet pale malt and honey with the hops coming through as floral and herbaceous with a hint of bitter.

This light yellow lager from India pours with little head. The aroma is grainy malt and floral hops. The flavor is lightly sweet with corn and biscuit flavors. The hops are a touch fruity with just a twinge of bitterness at the finish.

A clear golden color, this beer pours fizzy with what ends up as a thin head. The aroma is sweet with a bit of citrus hops and gain / corn. The flavor is tart lemony hops with a crisp dry finish.

Pours a bright amber orange color. The head is tight but thin. The aroma is defiantly pumpkin with a hint of pie spice. The flavor has a tart pumpkin note up front then it moves into the toasty malt and then the spices come in gentle at the end. Another great organic brew from the boys at Bison.

This mahogany colored brew pours with an inch of creamy foam. Beardy caramel malts dominant the aroma along with the piney hops. The flavor is fruity (plum fig) with a bit of candy sweetness and the aforementioned resinous hops.

As you have probably already guessed this beer is Laotian. It is a very clean crisp lager that would go perfectly with spicy food or hot weather. Nice easygoing lager that has more flavor than some of the other beers from that part of the world. If you occasionally go for Tsingtao, Singha, or even Tennent’s you should try this.

Case sales only.

I want to thank everyone for their patients during the recent upheaval. The database is working fine now and orders are coming in without a hitch. We still have some issues with some brands and them switching wholesalers but those should be tied up by the end of the week.

On a more light hearted note I had lunch with the guys from “Brew Dog” today (along with their wholesaler and importer) and we should see some new exciting barrel aged brews from the boys from Scotland very soon so stay tuned for those. Below are the beers I mentioned in the last newsletter. Enjoy!

Cheers!!
Matt

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+

Brown orange in color with piney citrus hop aromas and flavor. The malt is smooth and sweet that works with the stiff plentiful bitterness.

This Norwegian double IPA is orange / copper in color is a sudsy head that settles into a thin layer. The aroma is of lemony / tangerine hops with a floral bent. The flavor is lightly sweet with caramel and a touch of brown sugar (no it is not as sweet as those descriptors might make you believe but that is what I taste) with a tangy spicy bitter finish from the hops. Although this great 9 %er is quite bitter, it has a compelling drinkability.

This is an ambitious coconut porter. Dark brown with big chocolate, caramel with an upstanding roastiness aromas and flavor. The coconut comes in big in the aroma and light in the flavor along with big vanilla. The finish is a bit odd with a vegetative quality that is a mix of the coconut and hops.

This is an ambitious coconut porter. Dark brown with big chocolate, caramel with an upstanding roastiness aromas and flavor. The coconut comes in big in the aroma and light in the flavor along with big vanilla. The finish is a bit odd with a vegetative quality that is a mix of the coconut and hops.

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.

Yellow orange in color with a tight three finger head that leave a good lace. The aroma is fruity with tart lemon and spice. Malty sweet with a big zest and citrus juice with a spicy dryness and an earthy hop finish.

Flemish Primitive “Spoon Whacker”
Dusty yellow in color this beer like the Surly has massive carbonation that results in a voluminous head. Big but not overpowering Brett aroma with a sweet flowery perfume. Nice tart flavor with touch of sugary sweetness that rounds out with a light hop bitterness and dry lemony tart finish.

Dusty yellow in color this beer like the Surly has massive carbonation which results in a voluminous head. Big but not overpowering Brett aroma with a sweet flowery perfume. Nice tart flavor with touch of sugary sweetness that rounds out with a light hop bitterness and dry lemony tart finish.

This beer is a good German lager but it is a little different than most Oktoberfests. It pours golden yellow with a slight orange tinge to it. The aroma is sweet and malty and has a nice body to it. The flavor is malty and a touch grainy with a hop finish that is a bit grassy and a bit spicy.

To create this astounding and unique fruit beer, the Cantillon brewers buy apricots from a vineyard in Bordeaux and pour them into casks of aged lambic. Over three to four months, the fruit dissolves and ferments, and is infused into the beer. The result is a wonderful peachy-apricot aroma and taste, combined with the tart, earthy flavor of honest, wild-yeast fermented lambic beer.

Damn!! We just had two hits to the status quo and they are causing major havoc here at Liquid Solutions, wholesaler changes and a crash of our product database.

First off we are having a massive shakeup in the wholesale market up here. One of the largest beer wholesalers is purchasing another large wholesaler; one wholesaler is going out of business and a new multi state wholesaler in coming into the market. As a result many brands are changing wholesalers. When a brand changes wholesalers there is a transition period that can last a week to a few months while all the details are worked out and the inventory is brought back online. Most of these changes we can deal with and you should not see any delays in orders. Such is NOT the case with Big Sky Brewing (Moose Drool). They are currently in transition and should be back in stock soon. We have many orders that were supposed to go out last week with Big Sky products on them but they have been delayed. Their beers should arrive here this week and those orders will be shipped as soon as possible. I am sorry for the delays but there is little I can do. The upside to this is that our available product selection will go up once things settle in.

Second, we had a major database failure over the weekend. I found this out about 5:30 this morning (10-6) when I tried to log in and pull my reorder reports. The good news is that it does not affect any existing orders and does not include ANY customer data. The product database was heavily corrupted and we are currently working on restoring the data. This obviously has a major impact on all aspects of the Liquid Solutions website. The site is currently inoperable as there is no active product database. Please bear with us as we work to get this remedied.

To end this post with some good news, I just got in some cool new brews. Once the system is back up and running you can look forward to…..

HaandBryggeriet “Double Dram” double IPA
Deschutes “Hop Trip” fresh hop ale
Hale’s “O’Brian’s Harvest Ale” fresh hop ale
Nogne O “Klin Kokos” coconut porter
Deschutes “Jubelale” winter
Aktien “Oktoberfest”
De Proef “Flemish Primitive (Rat Rider)” wild ale
Baird “Temple Garden Yuzu Ale” fruit ale.
Cantillon “Fou’ Fone” apricot lambic

Hopefully by the time you read this the system will be back up and running. Again thank you for your patience and understanding.

Matt