1001 Beers: Celebration Ale 2013

It is that time of year again and there are very few beers I wait to see released. Why don't I just let you know what they are for the fun of things.

La Folie
Celebration Ale
Double Bastard

A short list, but hey. I know what I am looking for. A few others are making their way there but we will see how that goes. I have only had the others once or twice, so lets see if they become regulars... even though some have rotating recipes.

I have had a few Celebration Ales Before. Sierra Nevada knows exactly what they are doing with it. So, here is 2011, 2012, and now we get to have 2012 and 2013.



I decided to save a 6 pack every year and only open one bottle from the collection as a vertical year after year. This is going to be my second year and I am so happy with the results so far.



The 2013 Celebration Ale had an opaque reddish orange hue with a tan to orangish head. Quickly building, and long lasting. Quite a bit of citrus and piney notes in the nose. Quite resiny. Light bready and caramel scents do come through as well. I think this year the hop character may have been a little subdued as opposed to last year, but not to say it was lacking any hop character this year. All of the piney hop character sticks to the back of your throat, bready and caramel notes come through and citrus notes peak in to say hello. Some sweetness as it warms. A nice full bodied ale. One you should not pass up.



Since I drank it back to back with a 2012, and I have notes from 2012, I can kind of do a comparison. Though taste from a year of drinking beers can have some effect. It had the same appearance as before. I thought the head a little longer lasting but I guess that could just be a relative adjustment. A lot more of the bready and caramel character came through after a year but it was still quite piney in the finish. I got a lot more citrus as it warmed.

When comparing notes from fresh to fresh, year to year, it seems that this years beer is more piney and resiny this year compared to last which had more clean and crisp flavors and had a big, bright, floral hoppiness. I don't think a bad change came about this year or even last years version aged, but it will be great to see how things continue to change. Another look at Beer Number 3!

Cheers!

1001 Beers: Smoked Porter

Beer Number 96: Alaskan Smoked Porter

Alaskan Smoked Porter is a one of the very first craft beers I have ever had. I would say it was very advanced for what I was into back then and I really had no idea what I was drinking. I just saw a bottle of it at FredMeyer and decided to pick it up... along with variety packs of everything that the store had... Yes, it was that early in my beer days.

I got this bottle in a trade. I had no idea when I was going to open it up, and after hearing that it ages well for years and years, I figured I might hold onto it for a long time. There have been recent tastings as old as 1993, I want to say. I'd have to find the website or Alaskans official statement on that for a festival not too long ago. But, after hearing that Alaskan Brewing was going to be the Spotlight Interview a few weeks back for Craft Beer Nation, I decided what better time to open it?

To view that Spotlight interview with a few members of Alaskan Brewing, click here.

When U.S. brewers began to experiment with smoked beers in the 1980s, they didn't look to Germany's Rauchbiers for inspiration, but instead to the American past. The most famous reslt is Alaskan Smoke Porter. Brewery founders Geoff and Marcy Larson discovered that Alaskan breweries at the end of the 19th century brewed porter using colored malts that they kilned themselves over wood fires. The wood would surely have been alder, the only true hardwood in southeast Alaska and used for centuries by Native Americans to smoke fish.

I think that last note is very key. I've eaten quite a bit of Smoke Salmon living back in Seattle, so it was a flavor I knew well. And this beer, really had that character. From the nose to the flavor, Smoked Salmon was on my brain. Very heavy on the nose, woody, dry and all of that carried on as well. There was a subtle bitterness, though the overall mouthfeel was smooth and creamy. I kind of thought I was getting a little bit of an oily character, but maybe that was just me thinking about eating the Smoked Salmon... I don't know. For sure a beer to try

905 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

Deschutes: Black Butte XXIV

Black Butte XXIV is a beer of celebration. Not just 24 years of Deschutes, but also a personal moment for me. I brewed a beer for this day, and I originally wanted to drink my Black Butte XXIII being Black Butte is my favorite porter and I have been holding onto it for sometime. The reason I went with XXIV is because, well, it all happened on the 24th.

The anniversary issues of this beer are all different recipes and aged in whiskey barrels after fermentation. I believe the first year they did this was 2008, for Black Butte XX. Not like the bottle of Black Butte XX I drank, but the actual anniversary edition. I cannot be sure. I probably should have just wrote them to find out, but I am just thinking of it now. Anyway, I would like to introduce you to, "The Baby Of The Grain"! Though, she completely hated being surrounded by Belgian Pils and Cluster Hops.



While maybe I should have opened a New Belgium La Folie or some other Flanders Red because that is the style of beer I brewed, I really wanted to drink the Black Butte. Ever since moving from the Pacific Northwest, I have really missed this brewery. I never thought it would be so hard to get beer from them. This is super crazy. I am holding onto a bottle of The Dissident, The Stoic, Conflux #1, and The Abyss 2011 on top of the other Black Butte, but I am missing out on a lot of their other beers.

Here is, "A 'Few' Extra Ingredients", Deschutes write up about the process of making this beer. There is a whole lot of intersting stuff in there and worth a read.

This edition of the beer was brewed with, "artisanal dark chocolate nibs, deglet dates, and mission figs". They claimed it could be their best edition yet, but we will see. On the bottle it had a best after date of 07/23/13, but I was not going to wait for that... Maybe I should check my XXIII and see if that one has a best after date.



This beer had a lot going on, but that is to be expected of it. It poured a deep, dark, oilesque black and formed a small brown head around the top. No light was getting through this beast at all. On the nose you get those figs that they threw in there. A very strong experience. A lot of sweetness and light hints of chocolate. Saying you could not pick up alcohol in this one either, would be a complete lie. This one clocked in at 11%.

This is where they make their money. I feel there were literally figs in my mouth. There was a weird overlying flavor that I cannot exactly define what it was but it was there throughout the whole beer and it lingered on and on and on. Maybe those dates that were highlighted in this beer. Some hints of coffee, chocolate, sweet, and syrupy. This beer coats your entire mouth and surprisingly enough, you cannot taste that 11% burn at all, though it did have some bourbon like characters.

I loved this beer a lot. So much good and no bad. Just what I have come to expect from their birthday beers and the year round edition of it as well. They feel it is their best edition yet, I am not sure. XXIII made me weep and call home crying about how I never wanted to drink another beer. I still have a bottle of it so once it's open, I guess I will see. Though, I do not see this taking the throne. I hope I can get a bottle of the XXV once it is released as well as the Class of '88 beers since it is about that time. I wonder what those hold in store for us.

Cheers!

1001 Beers: La Folie

Beer Number 27: New Belgium La Folie

I don't even know where to start. This is one of my favorite beers ever! I wish could have tasted earlier bottles of this, you know, before my first taste of 2010 especially since I found out that they used to be corked! I always love the bottle art on the Lips of Faith series as well. I want to collect them just for that. It sounds like I am not the only one excited about this brew either!

New Belgium releases a variety of beers that draw their flavor and character from wooden barrels, but La Folie was the star the moment it was first released.

Not long after the began at New Belgium in 1996, brewmaster Peter Bouckaert bought twelve used wine barrels. He purchased a variety of Brettanomyces and other wild yeast, then found others along the way--harvesting what returned in old kegs of other New Belgium beers, for instance. Bouckaert tasted the beer every fourteen days, and the tastings became among the best attended at the brewery. When the time came to bottle the first batch in 2000, employees from the brewery enthusiastically pitched in.

The first batches of La Folie were sold only at the brewery, before being released to a broader market. When it comes to bottling this sour ale, employees from throughout the brewery still show up to help.

Now I don't know the exact pronunciation of this beer but it is damn delicious. I'm down to my last bottle of this one... Though, maybe I should have found more bottles before I killed my supply :'(



2011 La Folie

So, I remember having this one after it first came out and a few times since then but I do not remember it being this SOUR!!! I love it :D There is a generous vinegar sensation that just fills the palate but nice cherries just sneaking in and giving you something to rub up against the faint tones of citrus and funk. This is the beer I want to be drinking. Like all the time. I am seriously considering buying at least six bottles of 2013, finding it in a bar and only drinking it there until I feel compelled to open my first bottle... That could be only 1 week though... Maybe I better come up with a better plan...

974 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

La Citrueille Celeste De Citracado

La Citrueille Celeste De Citracado




An interesting beer for sure, and a very interesting collaboration. I always wondered how Stone decided which breweries they were going to work with, especially since they always work with two others. All the other breweries I can think of, when they do a collaboration, only work with one brewery. So it got me to thinking. It turns out this one makes complete sense! Stone decided to brew with Patrick Rue and Tyler King of The Bruery and Dick Cantwell of Elysian Brewing.

So besides The Bruery being a kick ass company I haven't really made the connection with them but the beer has more meaning toward them. The name of this beer breaks down to, "The Heavenly Pumpkin of Citracado", ... whatever that really means but they seemed to have spelled "Citrueille" wrong. "Citrouille" is French for pumpkin and I guess that has a link to The Bruery because this was done purposely in honor of Patrick Rue. They also suggested the link of using yams in this beer, along with other ingredients. I have the Stone label, but apparently there are two others. One to represent each brewery. Elysian and my favorite, The Bruery. This one is just funny.

Now, I don't know many other brewers that know a ton about brewing with pumpkins than The Elysian Brewing Company. I guess Mitch Steele at Stone doesn't either. Every year they host The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival and I think that is exactly what they were going for. A great background in brewing and the brewers to match. The pumpkins were grown over at the Stone Farms, which apparently just got an upgrade.

Well, I guess I already broke the first rule of this beer. The whole "Drink Fresh" thing, I just threw out of the window. But I had this beer once it was first released. This is my second bottle. It just happens to be about 9 months later... I notice the differences but I wish I took better tasting notes the first time around. I thought it was more enjoyable aged. I really liked it fresh, if that helps to put it into perspective.

It was almost pitch black on first look but when you put it up into the light, a deep ruby color graced the glass. It poured a tan head and smelled a little bit of lemon and, can you smell pumpkin in a beer? The sweetness is this beer leaves in your mouth is magnificent. The yams and pumpkin do this beer good. It drinks really light but it sits at 5%. Maybe that has something to do with it. A nice low carb, Damn Good... even though it is not fresh.

I hope I can make it to the Pumpkin Fest this year... even though I am all the way on the other side of the country. Though, it is home. Maybe a visit to the family is in order... and to see what Elysian brews this year.

Cheers!

Sierra Nevada

Wow... Just Wow...



I don't really know what to say about this place. It was a beyond amazing experience coming here. I really wish that I would have gotten into town earlier or was able to stay another day here but yeah. I really wanted to do the tour and see everything hidden in that place, especially since I didn't get into Beer Camp :'(

The restaurant and tasting room were fricken ridiculous. It was like a 5 Star Restaurant... or at least what I image one to be like. It totally fits the brewery but I was expecting something a lot different. I don't really know, but not what I saw. It was sooooooo nice... and I was amazed by the beer.



As if you did not know that already. I got to taste several beers I have been looking for and found one of the worlds most secret, amazing tasting porters. I understand that the Pale is their Flagship beer, but people should really find this Porter. I used to only drink their Pale and Torpedo, being they are also more widely available than any of their other beers. In my area anyway. I finally got to taste Life And Limb and retried Big Foot 2011. I really have to find bottles of L&L and get a 6er of Big Foot 2012 to taste against my 2011 and future batches.

I thought it was pretty damn cool too that the whole parking lot was filled with Solar Panels. The lot also looked into their hop fields. I wanted to just run through them but I figured hopping the fence would have been more trouble than it was worth. I cannot wait to go back there again. I got my growler filled with their Porter and next time I go, I want to ride my bike.