Beer Brief #44 - War & Peace

Brewery - Fulton Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Beer - War & Peace

Style - Russian Imperial Stout aged on Peace Coffee's Guatemalan Organic Dark Roast

ABV - 9.5%

Color - Thick black with dark brown around the edges and a tan head

Aroma - Molasses, chocolate, coffee, a waft of fruit - maybe blackberry?

Flavor - Brief toffee, tiny bit of raisin, dark chocolate, full coffee roastiness, dark berry, earthy bitterness

Verdict - This is now one of my favorite coffee beers! The coffee was integrated nearly perfectly in my opinion by making it's presence well known while still remaining balanced enough that the imperial stout character comes through clearly. Then, there's the added bonus of the luxuriously creamy mouthfeel...

Beer Brief #43 - Love Child No. 3

Brewery - Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri

Beer - Love Child No. 3

Style - Bourbon barrel-aged wild ale

ABV - 9.5%

IBUs - 13

Color - Cloudy copper with a creamy off-white head

Aroma - Earthy, tobacco, woody spice, vanilla, a bit of cherry

Flavor - Caramel and vanilla briefly, cranberry tartness with earthy funk, dry finish with pithy citrus peel bitterness

Verdict - I really enjoy this brew. It has a perfect amount of tartness to go with the sweetish start and lovely funk, and maintains a nice balance that doesn't become overpowering (at least not for me).

Beer Brief #42 - John Henry West Indies Pale Ale

Brewery - Cold Spring Brewing Company, Cold Spring, MN

Beer - John Henry West Indies Pale Ale

Style - West Indies Pale Ale (whatever that is) aged on dark rum oak spirals

ABV - 9.4%

Color - Dark brown with hints of ruby, minimal light tan head

Aroma - Brown sugar, honey, light fruit, bit of alcohol, pineapple?

Flavor - Caramel, vanilla, raisin, touch of rum, more light fruit, hint of smoke, balancing bitterness

Verdict - I am very impressed by this brew. There is an almost indescribable fruitiness that goes well with the malty sweetness. All the flavor complexity is delicious and fun to analyze. I'll probably have to get this again...

Beer Brief #41 - Ode to a Russian Shipwright (2011 Vintage)

Brewery - Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company, Rollingstone, MN

Beer - Ode to a Russian Shipwright - 2011 Vintage

Style - Imperial Stout Porter brewed with spruce tips

ABV - ??? Nothing listed, I've heard around 8%

Color - Opaque black, doesn't even let any light pass through the edges, thick tan head

Aroma - Rye toast, bit of roast, hint of chocolate, acidity, pine, earthy

Flavor - Toffee, prune, coffee, slighty nutty, blueberry, lingering bitterness

Verdict - I remember enjoying this brew very much when I first tried it. Now with some age on this bottle, I think it might be even better than when it was fresh! Very good stuff!

Beer Brief #40 - Before the Dawn

Brewery - Steel Toe Brewing Company, Saint Louis Park, MN

Beer - Before the Dawn

Style - Black Barleywine aged in rye whiskey barrels

ABV - 13.7%

Color - Black with dark brown near the edges of the glass, small amount of tan head

Aroma - Very rich, brown sugar, molasses, chocolate, dark dried fruit, port, hint of booziness

Flavor - Almost a mirror image of the aroma, plus a bit of coffee roastiness and notable bitterness

Verdict - This beer is fantastic! The big, rich, dark flavors and aroma are complex and extremely enjoyable. The only real sign of the ABV is the warmth at the back of my throat. I missed the boat when Steel Toe released Before the Dawn last year. I was lucky enough to receive this brew as a gift from a good friend. It has almost a year of age in the bottle, so I don't know what it tasted like when it was first bottled. A big thanks to you, my friend. You know who you are...

Beer Brief #39 - Brimstone

Brewery - Boom Island Brewing Company, Minneapolis, MN

Beer - Brimstone

Style - Tripel

ABV - 9.5%

Color - Yellowish gold with a long-lasting eggshell white head

Aroma - Honey, lemongrass, peach, cotton candy, herbal spice

Flavor - Matches very well with the aroma along with a touch of bubble gum and black pepper, dry and warming alcohol presence

Verdict - I am very impressed with this tripel. I had tried Boom Island's first 2 beers at a beer festival just after they opened a while ago and wasn't sure about them. However, this beer is definitely a winner in my book. I believe that means I need to revisit those first two brews, as well as try their others for the first time. I really, really like this beer! Keep up the good work, Boom Island.

Societe Brewing Company Visit

Wow. It appears that I've let time slip away over the last few weeks. Sorry about that. I do still want to share my last brewery stop in San Diego, though. It's a good thing I liked this last brewery so much – makes it that much easier to remember...

Societe Brewing Company was not on my pre-planned list of San Diego breweries to visit. This stop was thanks to yet another wonderful suggestion from an employee at different brewery. Stone Brewing's Lead Indoctrination Specialist, Phil Macnitt, was kind enough to suggest this small, young brewery.

I walked into Societe on a Thursday evening and sat down at the bar. They had a very large taproom area with a clear, open view back to all the brewing equipment. I mentioned that Phil from Stone had sent me to sample all their delicious brews, then a well-versed employee named Steve was kind enough to guide me through all of their current beers.

Here are the beers in the order I tried them: The Harlot (Belgian pale ale), The Debutante (Belgian brown ale), The Apprentice (American IPA), The Pupil (American IPA), The Pugilist (Irish dry stout), The Butcher (Russian imperial stout). They were all excellent brews, but my favorites were The Debutante and The Butcher. Those two were absolutely amazing!

While I was sampling, Steve and I discussed the beers amongst other things. Apparently, the brewery was not quite a year old yet, but was doing very well. They had a lot of space to add fermenters and increase capacity. But the thing he was most excited about was their barrel-aging program. He pointed out their room full of beer encased in barrels of all sorts, and told me some of the brewer's plans for beers to come out of them.

After listening to all the enthusiasm swirling around those barrels, I think I may have to get back down to San Diego and revisit Societe. Not to mention how much I loved the 6 brews I sampled...