1001 Beers: Elysian Brewing

1001 Beers: Elysian Brewing The Wise ESB, Avatar Jasmine IPA, & Dragonstooth Stout

I've been to Elysian once before and this second trip, pointed out to me I need another. I want to visit when they do their Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, but that would take some major planning, or moving back to WA... which would not be a bad thing...

I wanted to check out a new location of the three that they have, but I guess that was not in the cards for me. I should have known with all the available parking...



Beer Number 82: The Wise ESB

The first time I came to Elysian, the keg had kicked on this one and I guess they had no more left. Being it is now only a draft beer, I had to pick it up on site... I think I was even more disappointed that they were out of The Trip when I showed up this time... But I did find bottles of The Trip XV and XVI.

Dick Cantwell has created over sixty different beers, on a modest 200-barrel brew system, including six year-round standards, of which The Wise ESB was the very first beer Elysian brewed. They all feature themes taken from Greek mythology, and the reference to wisdom in the ESB's name is an allusion to the Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom, peace, warefare, strategy, handicrafts, and reason.

This beer has won three gold medals at GABF and I find it funny that it is draft only. Talking with another brewery the other night, Here Is The Video Feed, they have had similar success with their ESB but now it is discontinued... Did the Hop War and the push for higher ABV kill this style? It is one I enjoy and I would love to see more of it!



I loved everything about The Wise. It had an amazing nose. Some toffee, malty sweetness, a bit of citrus. Just amazing. On first sips, a beautiful bitterness runs over the beer and you get a creamy texture in the mouthfeel. Some fruit flavors, and just fantastic. They used Chinook in this beer and finished it with Cascade and Centennial. I might want to keep that in mind next time I brew...

Beer Number 83: Avatar Jasmine IPA

The idea of Jasmine IPA was inspired by a comment at an IPA judging panel by the English beer luminary Mark Dorber who noted that a beer had an aroma of "jasmine tea." The notion intrigued Dick Cantwell (who founded the brewery along with David Buhler and Joe Bisacca). He let the idea steep for several years before brewing the beer as a seasonal. "We took it to the Washington Brewers Fest and had a line of about fifty people, many of whom were women, a demographic as you know, not always enamored of beers as bitter as IPA. Still, the guys liked it.

I wish I would have gotten a womans opinion on this one after reading that, but it was not a bad beer at all. It was hard picking up scents of the tea now that my food arrived and it was very mellow as well. Some hop character but nothing too blaringly out there. A nice, subtle bitterness, and smooth flavors throughout. Some caramel and a dry finish. Not for the extreme IPA lover, I would say but not a bad beer, once again.

Beer Number 84: Dragonstooth Stout

This beer... This is the beer I got my growler fill of last time I was here. I decided to pick up a bottle of this one as I was leaving the brewery and to enjoy it at home. This is never a bad idea. You have been warned.

"Dragonstooth was a carryover from a strong oatmeal stout I used to brew at a previous job," says head brewer of Elysian Brewing Dick Cantwell. "As soon as it ran out, people wanted it back. So, when we started Elysian, our newer version became part of the permanent lineup." This version of Dragonstooth was Elysian's second brew, after the Wise ESB, but it wasn't as fierce as the one that stands today.

In this tasting, I picked up a few things that I was not sure I had noticed before. This is for sure, a big and aggressive stout but there is so much flavor and everything to it, that it is magnificent. It opens up a little spicy, probably from the nice dose of roasted barley. Chocolate comes through and I got a bit of a minty character... Odd, right? I get a bit of coffee-ish tones in the finish. All in All, my favorite year round from Elysian.

917 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!

The Trip XI, XII, and Tart Lychee

New Belgium and Elysian Brewery. Ever since I first got into beer, and craft beer, I have loved New Belgium. As you probably already know, I am one of their biggest fanboys... and I love it! I am visiting their brewery in the next few days and it would take death to keep me from getting there and I cannot think of one thing that I would dislike about my visit. I hope they are as super awesome as I expect... though, I am sure I would do something to anybody that helped me out in order to keep my high expectations of New Belgium where I feel they should be. I know I should not love a company this much, but really, they have been nothing but good to me. From my first taste of Fat Tire to my latest taste of Tart Lychee, I cannot think of anything I hate about them. This trip will be heaven for me. If I don't make it... I really don't know what to say... I will probably post me crying for hours and hours. Just saying.

So when it comes to the Collaboration between the two breweries, I wish I got into beer sooner. I was really hopeful when I heard about the Trip Series but I shortly found out they are brewed once and then forgot about for life... How does this make me feel being I heard about it from about the time The Trip V was out but I was not able to make it to the brewery until The Trip IX. Yeah, think about it... but it's alright. I mean, there is a lot of beer that I missed out on but there is so much that I am in love with at this point in time. So here we go. Maybe I just got the best of the world and I will continue to see it as it develops, evolves, and makes the world a better place.




This brings us to The Trip XI. I loved pretty much everything about this beer. It was a great Farmhouse Ale. I look for these things all the time when I am out and about in the beer world but they are still hard to find. So my thoughts? Great earthy nose, farmhouse yeast and sage up front. Sweet, spicy, medium mouthfeel, grassy finish. Getting toward the end of the bottle the flavor was all that much more better. In the beginning I guess I was missing the dregs from the bottom of the bottle but they brought a whole new layer of complexity to the beer. It mellowed out a lot, not that the beer was on edge in any way but I think the Saison feel I was looking for was lost at the bottom. I wish I would have shaken it up a little bit or they sold this in 12oz bottles rather than the 22oz bomber.




The Trip XII I thought was very mellow for todays IPAs. I love it. It's more about the hop balance and the flavors of the adjuncts, i.e. the Pink Peppercorn. I think that the peppercorns are really mellow... not that I really know what a Pink Peppercorn is but it isn't hot like I expected. Very nice. A tad sweet initially but quickly chopped down by hops and a bit of spice. Full bodied for sure. They did not want to skimp on any layer of this beer. I love the low carbonation. Truly excellent in every way.

The next beer here... Yeah, Tart Lychee... I have only heard GREAT things about. I cannot believe that I have kept the bottle this long and have not ran out and bought every bottle in every shop that I have seen. I was really hoping it lived up to my expectations. I hate how everyone around me has been enjoying the shit out of this beer and I have been living in the darkness, so here we go...




This beer is one of those that I see myself, (and others), falling in love with more and more each time they have it. It was a damn good, slightly, sour. The twang it had gave it a character that I have never noticed in a beer before and then the sweetness was very nice and the thing you will remember about this beer. It was a bit juicy, like the fruits you would expect to have on an island. I have no idea what a lychee is or what it taste like but if it is anything like the flavor of this beer, they are a new favorite. Right up there with Kiwi's and Pineapples. The beer had a dry finish but it made me come back for more. Incredible. Everyone is buying these bottles out so I must find some more before it is gone. I love the Lips of Faith series so much so this isn't a surprise but hey. I hope this is on tap when I get to the brewery. Also, La Folie and maybe some other creations that I have yet to have or ones that I missed, though, those are from long years past and I am unsure if they are still brewed.

Cheers!

Elysian Brewing

One of the main things I wanted to do in Washington that was brewery related and that I have been looking forward to for a long time is Getting over to Elysian Brewing and Tasting one of their Trips!

The Trip is a collaboration between New Belgium and Elysian brewing, and being NB is my favorite brewery, I had to get out there and try what ever I could. I wish I would have been able to try all 9 trips, did I forget to mention that they are at nine beers with New Belgium now?, but getting to try one of them would be good enough at this point.

I figured that this brewery was pretty good and established being that they have done some pretty big collaborations. Another one that is going on with them, or has, I don't really know is a collaboration between them and Stone. That really peaked my interest and I had to see what this place was all about.

On our way up there we stopped by this awesome Bottle Shop that just recently installed Taps in the place in order to sell growlers in the shop. I KNOW RIGHT! Washington just passed a new law that allows you to sell any beer, anywhere (well almost), in any glassware. Pretty kick ass if you ask me... and guess what? NO CRV!!! That annoyed the hell out of me in CA. I hated CRV, I mean, seriously? Why?



I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of beer that was in there that it made it so very hard for me to collect a six pack. There were specific beers that I was looking for that I could not find and a ton of local beers that I never even heard of. It was just awesome. I picked up some New Belgium, and some Local brews like Scuttlebutt Hoptopia. When I am back in this area, I have some craft beer research to do.

Once we got to Elysian, all I really wanted was a flight of their brews but since I was pretty hungry too, I figured I should eat. Service was slow but my beer finally came. The thing that I thought was funny is that when my flight was presented to me, it came with a card naming all of the beers that I had got but it was completely inaccurate. They crossed out two of the beers and replaced them with others. This was not an issue for me because I was going to drink whatever they gave me but I just assumed if they were taking the time to give it such a display, they would at least have the correct listing.



Most of the beers I thought were just average, which is the same experience I had of most of the beers I had that are from Washington, (at the time I am writing this I had already had the Scuttlebutt Hoptopia, and that was damn good. As you probably know, I am not a fan of most IPAs but this Imperial IPA was something worth finding and enjoying. I want to find more from this brewery), but maybe I am just looking in all of the wrong places.

The best beer I had from here was the Dragons Tooth Stout. This one was actually damn good. The server told me it was their best selling beer, and even if he was lying to me, I see why. This was my growler fill for the night.



As for The Trip IX, I was really happy with this "Down Under IPA". It was brewed with New Zeland hops and was not like the typical West Coast IPA that everyone brews and loves, which I feel is kind of killing beer... I mean, be innovative and create something instead of trying to be bigger and hoppier than the rest. Some people do it right, and well, so kudos to them. I drink your IPA but not everyone gets it and they should stop... Not every beer in the world should be Imperial this, barrel aged this, Why can't somebody brew a low ABV session anything that can just be enjoyed for what it is... but then again, I guess that is why I homebrew.

Anyway, it was more like what a True IPA would be like. The style was not meant to be drank fresh. The hops were added as preservatives so they mellowed out quite a bit during the voyage to India and it was kept for sometime before drinking... This beer aknowledged that. Very Happy about it. I even think they used Galaxy hops. This was my first experience with them but now I have been seeing them all over the place. I realy hope that they are used well and do not become the new Cascade...