Founder's Devil Dancer

Beer: Founder's Devil Dancer
Brewery Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Beer Style: Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 13%




I was trying to figure out how to start this post about this beer, but Founder's sums it up pretty damn well.

"Founders most complex, most innovative, most feared and yet most revered ale produced. Massive in complexity the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alpha's used to create this monster. More IBU's than any brewery has documented, more than you would believe and dry-hopped for twenty-six days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. Dangerously drinkable and deliciously evil. We dare you to dance with the Devil."

I missed the boat getting a bottle of this last time it came out, but I wasn't going to miss the boat this year. I bought the very first four pack that Party Pak had before it even hit the shelves (at least that is what the guy told me as he handed me a four pack of it from the box on the floor).

Founder's stock is quickly rising in my book. I have yet to have a beer from Founder's that I wasn't a fan of. Even beer styles that I thought I would hate, Founder's changed my mind on those styles. I am particularly thinking of Red Rye, Black Rye, and Rubaeus. Particularly I was thinking that Rubaeus would taste like a teenage malt beverage, but it is a great summer beer that delivers a great raspberry flavor with a solid ale base that is tart and not cloyingly sweet. I dare say that Founders is my second favorite brewery behind Three Floyd's.

The beer pours a rusted orange/amber hue with a thin tan head. There is no lacing to speak of during the beer. The nose on this beer is about as complex as you will find in a beer. I think this smells more like a barleywine than an IIPA. The heaviest scents include the very rich maltiness with heavy tropical fruit, resinous pine, and sweet caramel. There is also a cognac like booze smell coming from this beer. Each time I put my nose into it I get something new! The nose is really well done on this one. The flavor profile is equally as intense. For an IIPA the taste is more malt based on this beer. The malt is the heavy hitter here with flavors of caramel and brown sugar and rum soaked raisins. The hop profile comes in after a few seconds but plays second to the malt profile. The hop profile tastes of fresh grapefruit rind and sticky pine. There is some sharp alcohol flavor as well, but in no ways takes away from this beer but adds another unique quality to this beer. This beer will challenge your palate. I don't think this beer crosses the "boozy" line on the mouthfeel, but I personally don't mind the alcohol on the mouthfeel. This beer is full-bodied and has a velvety texture. I will stop praising this beer when it comes to drinkability though. At 13% you wouldn't last very long with many of these. I had one 12 ounce bottle and that was enough for me for a while.

This beer was amazingly intense and well done. I still think it tasted more like a barleywine than an IIPA, but that is just my take. Another beer that would best enjoyed by "big beer" lovers. This is a little pricey at 15 bucks a four pack, but after having this beer I think it was well worth it.

Cheers!
Matt

Sierra Nevada 2007 Celebration Ale

Beer: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Brewery Location: Chico, CA
Beer Style: American IPA
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 6.8%


I need to get better about my beer buying/consuming/stockpiling of beer. I can't go to the store and not bring something back or refuse a trade for something I haven't had before. Every now and then I find beer that I forgot about, and this is one of those beers. After consuming this I am thinking why the hell was I waiting?

I've said it before but Sierra Nevada is one of my favorite craft breweries. I've been very happy with almost all of their offerings, and they are very easy to find at very reasonable prices.

This beer pours a blazing copper color with two fingers of bubbly white head that collapsed down very quickly, but left a small blanket of head for the entire beer. It left really nice lacing on the walls of my pint glass. The smell is distinctly Sierra Nevada. Their robust use of cascade and chinook hops are not missed on the nose. Scents of ripe citrus fruit along with a certain grassy earthiness that I find appealing. A slight scent of caramel malt is also trying to reach my nose. The taste is a balance of the citrus flavor from the hops and the sweet caramel malt. Upfront is the flavor of the hops and the sweet malt rounds everything out just right. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and slightly above average carbonation that leaves a dry finish on the back of my palate. The drinkablity is nice on this beer and I am glad I got to this winter offering at what is hopefully the end of winter.

I really enjoyed this beer. It is a well made IPA that isn't a hop bomb, but a bold and well balanced beer that would be nice for hop-heads and beer lovers. I will look forward to this beer again next winter or more of this years offering because I am pretty sure Party Pak still has some of this beer left on their shelves.

Cheers!
Matt

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

Beer: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale
Brewery Location: Chico, CA
Beer Style: Barleywine
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 9.6%


Sierra Nevada's seasonal Bigfoot just came out in Indiana a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to stop at Party Pak and pick some up, but just haven't made it. I was afraid that there wouldn't be any left when I got there, but there was plenty left on the shelves, and for a pretty good price. I really enjoy Sierra Nevada's beers and the company itself. Their beers are an extremely reasonable price, always consistent quality, and are one of the most visible craft brewers in America. You can find their pale ale in about any liquor store or grocery store you walk into, and I've found it to be a great gateway beer for people looking to convert.

A barleywine was traditionally the heaviest alcoholic beer that a brewery offered. It gets the name from being highly alcoholic close to that of wine, but since it is made from grain it must carry the moniker of "barley-wine style ale." I am not sure what person was bored enough to draft some type of legislation for that, but I need their job. Double IPA's and barleywines are somewhat similar, but a barleywine will usually be more balanced with a bigger malt presence and a more complex flavor profile. That is not always the case, but those are some of the usual differences.

This beer pours a dark reddish/garnet hue with one finger of white head. The head dissipated very quickly on this, but at 9.6% that can be expected. The nose is classic for Sierra Nevada. Bold hop characteristics showing signs of all of the C-hops with citrus and pine making themselves known on the nose. The taste brings a blast of powerful malt with the bitter hop flavoring right behind it. I taste big flavors of resinous pine, grapefruit, and sweet caramel. The sweet malt and bitter hops are very well done on this brew. At 9.6% the alcohol is present as well, but is in no way cloying at all in the flavor profile. The mouthfeel is big, chewy, and sticky with the alcohol warmth only slightly making itself known. The drinkability is very good on this brew, and I would gladly purchase again.

This is a damn fine example of a barleywine style ale. I bought several from Party Pak, and I am going to cellar a few and see that does to the beer. I have a feeling that more time on this will greatly enhance the flavor profile when the hops mellow out a bit more. This is a good starter beer for people wanting to try the barleywine style ales. It is rather bitter, but this hop-head doesn't mind that at all. Good effort from Sierra Nevada on this one.

Cheers!
Matt

Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock

Beer: Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock
Brewery Location: Kelheim, Germany
Beer Style: Eisbock
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 12.0%

What better way to celebrate when the temperature outside is 15 degrees than with a beer that translates to ice beer!

This style of beer is famous in a district of Bavaria named Kulmbach. An eisbock is made by freezing off a part of the water (distilling of sorts) and creating a more concentrated and flavorful beer. Almost all eisbocks are high in alcohol content, and are usually in the 10% ABV and above range. This is also only the third eisbock that I've ever had. I've had two eisbocks from the Kulmbacher Brauerei, and I was hooked on the style ever since then, but this is my first beer from Aventinus. I need to pick up their more famous Aventinus Weizenbock and try it as well.

This beer pours a very deep, dark, and dirty brown color with a minimal head. I was expecting that with as high an ABV as this beer has. I get big scents of dark fruit, heavy malt, banana, and alcohol. After my first sip I am thinking malt, malt, and more malt. There is a syrupy sweetness in the flavor profile with hints of banana and clove. The wheat flavor makes an appearance as well, but it isn't very pronounced. This beer is medium bodied with a subtle and welcomed alcohol warmth to it. I am surprised how well the alcohol is hidden on this beer. The drinkability is a nice surprise on this beer and went along perfect with cold night outside.

This is a big and malty palate pleaser. I've really enjoyed the three eisbocks I've tried. This beer has a much more pronounced dark fruit flavor and is a bit more syrupy than the others I've tried, but it was in no way cloying at all. Overall it was a pleasure to drink, and I will purchase again.

Cheers!
Matt

Sinebrychoff Porter

Beer: Sinebrychoff Porter
Brewery Location: Kerava, Finland
Beer Style: Baltic Porter
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 7.2%

I've been looking forward to drinking this for a while. Kahn's has two varieties of this on their shelves. The one that I am reviewing I am assuming is from their latest shipment. They also have another variety on this that was brewed back in 2000. It was two dollars more, so I just went with this instead. After looking at the company's product line in America, this may the first and only beer that I have from them.

Pours a deep black with slight ruby highlights when held up to the light. A non-aggressive pour reveals a huge frothy tan head that held tight for about half the beer and left good lacing on the walls of my pint glass. A nice caramel scent first hits my nose, but when I really got a good smell I got complex notes of dark fruits (raisins and plums) with some bitter chocolate and coffee. A very nice nose on this. The flavor profile takes the nose even further. The first sip is rich in complexity with toffee, sweet malt, bitter chocolate, and coffee sharing the workload perfectly on my palate. The mouthfeel is full bodied, but is about as smooth as you are going to find in a porter with medium carbonation and just a slight touch of warming alcohol. I would gladly drink this again, and now I wish I would have bought the 2000 version for a taste as well.

This is my favorite porter of the year thus far. The taste and mouthfeel are just so comforting on this like you were having a bowl of your grandmother's chicken noodle soup. It provides that kind of comfort for me here. I know that Party Pak and Kahns both carry this.

Cheers!
Matt

North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin

Beer: North Coast Old Rasputin
Brewery Location: Fort Bragg, CA
Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 9.0


I've been sitting on one of these bottles for over a year. I bought this beer Christmas of last year. I have no idea how long Party Pak had it on the shelves. I've had this before, but never took the time time to review it. I do have to say that in terms of pricing this is probably the best Russian Imperial stout that you will find for the best price around two dollars a bottle. If you think something else is a better value please let me know.

This beer pours a very deep mahogany. It poured with two fingers of brown head on it, but it quickly collapsed on itself, but it did leave decent lacing on the walls of my glass. Chocolate, espresso, and hops make their appearance in the nose as well as a nice earthy scent. The taste follows the nose quite well with big flavors of chocolate, smokey peat, toffee, roasted malt, and some dark fruit (mostly plums and raisins). The mouthfeel is full bodied with a fantastic silky smoothness coming through. You can tell the warming alcohol is in this beer, but is very subtle and well done. I could drink this beer again and again.

This is a very nice offering from North Coast. It is outstanding for the style and overall a very well made and well balanced beer. This beer is available all year long so pick up one when you see it out.

Cheers!
Matt

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Beer: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Brewery Location: Brooklyn, NY
Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 10.6%


I am not sure how long we have been able to get Brooklyn beers in Indiana, but I am sure glad we are able to get them after having this offering. My very first beer from Brooklyn Brewery was this one tonight.

I have said on several occasions that this is my favorite time of the year for beer, and I saw this at Party Pak and wanted to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed.

Pours a dark brown almost black with soft ruby accents. A small brown head started the beer off, but quickly dissipated and left minimal lacing on the glass. The nose is as expected by the title of the beer. I get alot of bitter chocolate with plenty of roasted malt and coffee. I also can barely smell some alcohol coming through as well. The taste is robust and full of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, and espresso. I also get a good dose of rum soaked raisins as well. I don't get much hop flavoring even though the grain bill says it has fuggle hops for flavoring. The mouthfeel on this beer is my favorite aspect. It is thick and coating, but still somehow remains a certain silky smoothness that is really remarkable. This has a high ABV, but the drinkability is really a nice surprise on this beer.

Overall this beer is above average for the style. This is easily drinkable and inviting with every drink. This must be served at cellar temperature though I think. I am glad this was my first Brooklyn brew. I will be coming back to this brew. I hope Party Pak still has some left when I go back.

Cheers!
Matt

Double Bastard 2007

Beer: Stone's Double Bastard Ale 2007
Brewery Location: Escondido, CA
Beer Style: American Strong Ale
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 10%



I hope that all that read this blog have been introduced to one of the best breweries in the country and that is Stone Brewing Co. They continue to pump out amazing craft beer year after year and several times a year some special brews come out. Their winter release is Double Bastard. Double bastard is a beefed up version of their flagship beer: Arrogant Bastard. I've had a bottle of the 2006 stashed in my beer collection and haven't yet opened it. This year I grabbed multiple bottles and am going to age them over the years and see how the flavor will change for comparison, but I just had to have at least one right away.

I really like Stone's bottles. Great artwork on them and then the silk screening must be fairly costly, but the beer is still at a reasonable price. I picked this up at Party Pak for 7.99 a bottle. Just a few years ago you could pick this up for 4.99, but Stone's bombers still tend to be reasonable around 4.99 to 7.99 a bottle. They were on sale at the Sunflower Market in Broadripple a few weeks ago for 3.99 a bottle.

This beer pours a deep dark mahogany brown with rusted red accents into my chalice. It has a thin tan head that quickly disappeared with little to no lacing to speak of on the glass. The nose is already a workout on the senses. The smell is dominated by sweet malt and dark fruits coming through. The scent of alcohol and pineapple is present as well about mid-chalice. Sugary malt, pine, dark fruit, and a touch of citrus run across my palate. There is a great deal going on with this beer. Rich malted tones and a smoky caramel are the most dominant flavors to me in this beer. I served this beer at cellar temp and still somehow this beer tends to gain more life the warmer it gets. The sweetness of the malt and bitterness of the hops is very well balanced and well made. The taste is in your face the whole time and in no way subtle, but the balance is really a nice surprise. This beer is a very nice sipper and coats the mouth and tongue very well with it's stickiness. After finishing the bomber I don't really want another one right now and I wouldn't drink this beer with a meal most likely. It is very heavy and quite filling. I know the American strong ale category is a bit of made up category to fill a large variety of beers that craft brewers are making, but the flavors on this beer actually reminded me of a good barleywine.

This is a pretty great offering from Stone. It's absolutely a big beer and will be enjoyed by people that like those types of beers. I know some of my non-beer geek friends have told me they have hated some of the beers that I really love, so if you are drinking "fizzy yellow beer" (as Stone would say it) don't start with this beer. Craft beer lovers should pick this up and give it a try.

Cheers!
Matt

Sierra Nevada's Harvest Ale

Beer: Sierra Nevada's 2007 Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
Brewery Location: Chico, CA
Beer Style: American Pale Ale
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 6.7%


I was in Party Pak the other day and picked up a bottle of this years Harvest Ale. This is my first experience with the Harvest Ale, but I like Sierra Nevada and I've heard great things about this, so it was an easy choice. According to the bottle this is the 11th year for this special brew, and they used 8,000 lbs of hops in one day brewing this. I don't really care about them talking about that, because the proof is in the pudding (or in this case the beer).

This beer poured a nice amber/copper hue with a thick dense tan head that was a full three fingers worth. The head had good retention and left a decent amount of lacing on my imperial pint glass. With a name like Harvest Ale you would expect the scent of hops and this beer delivers. This is one of the best smelling APA's I've ever smelled. Strong scents of grapefruit and pine with slight grassy overtones. The scent is very pleasant and never leaves throughout the entire beer. The taste is just like the nose. Flavors classic of an easy drinking IPA with a good malty backbone that balances out the hops very well and doesn't let them overpower the beer. It is a well balanced beer that finished very smooth with very little bittering. Very nice considering the amount of hops that went into this beer. The mouthfeel is very smooth and slightly sticky. It coats the mouth very well and overall is very quaff able. Drinkability also holds very high for this beer. It's fresh, tasty, and it leaves you wanting another one.

This is just a very well made beer. It's crisp and refreshing. It provides so much more flavor than most APA's, but is better made than most IPA's. This is really a very nice beer and should enjoyed if you can find some. Party Pak had plenty when I was there. I just wish this beer would be available all year long, because I would find myself drinking it quite often, and this would probably be my go-to-beer (Sorry Two Hearted). This would be a perfect gateway beer for people that are looking to move on from BMC.

4.4 out of 5
Cheers!
Matt

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Beer: Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
Brewery Location: St. Louis, MO
Beer Style: Pumpkin Ale
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 8.0%


This was the first cold day of the year and I've had this pumpkin ale sitting in the fridge calling my name for a while. I haven't seen Schlafly in town until I think two years ago when I found their several of their offerings at Party Pak. I like seasonal releases quite a bit. It's nice to see a brewery trying something new, or you are just looking forward to that particular beer at that time of year. This is my favorite time of year for beer. There are so many great beers coming out in the next few months.

The beer pours a deep copper hue and it very rich looking with soft amber accented sides. The head poured a solid two fingers at first, but by the time I tried to take a picture of it, it was almost gone already. Leaves no head and no lacing on the glass once settled. The beer has a nice sweet nose on it. Pumpkin and cinnamon come out pretty easily as does nutmeg possibly? I can't really put my finger on that, but a weak nutmeg is what I think. The flavor on this from first sip is the best pumpkin ale I've ever had. Many pumpkin ales just slap you in the face with pumpkin spice and the flavor doesn't meld together at all, but this has a nice pumpkin and honey sweetness upfront with the light spices dancing around on your palate as well. Cinnamon and nutmeg are present in every drink, but it is so well balanced with the beer and pumpkin flavor. The alcohol is non-existent in this beer as well. I honestly cannot pick it up in the slightest and this beer is 8% ABV. The mouthfeel is very light and with low carbination and keeps you wanting another drink. Drink-ability is very high and you could easily put a few of these down on a cold day.

This is a great offering from Schlafly. It is so well balanced and the spices are not the most dominant thing like so many pumpkin ales. Well worth a try if you see it for sale. I happened to pick this up at Party Pak and they had plenty.

4.4 out of 5.
Cheers!
Matt

Edit: There was a flavor I wasn't 100% on and I cheated and looked at their website and it's butternut squash. I don't know about the brewing process for this, but I think it really toned down the pumpkin so it wasn't overpowering.