Feature Beer Friday! - Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

And it's time for a Feature Beer Friday!... on Monday. You see, what had happened was, Friday rolled around and Mandi and I made a last minute decision to head down to New Orleans to check out the Super Bowl festivities.  And it turns out, that trumps the BR Beer Scene almost every time.  And usually I have a post or two lined up, but sometimes I let it slide and write these weekly posts the day of.  This was one of those times.  So, my bad, but here's a bonus Feature Beer!  

And to make up for the delay, I'm going to give you our first Feature Beer Friday! to feature Dogfish Head Brewing, specifically their Indian Brown Ale.  This is one of their flagship brews, available year round where DFH is distributed, which doesn't include Louisiana (yet) but does include Texas, Georgia, and Florida.  Indian Brown Ale has been a regular in Dogfish Head's lineup since 1999, and it's labeled a brown ale, but it's really on the strong and hoppy side for the style.  This one weighs in at 7.2% abv, and a healthy 50 IBU, so it's not playing around.  Enough talk though, on to the beer itself...

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), James Lawson (Whiskeybomb.com), and Blake Winchell (Brasseurs A La Maison).

Serving: 12 oz. bottle.

Appearance: Light brown with an off-white head. 

Aroma: I wrote down, "malty, slightly roasted and a little hops."  Jay picked up some fruit and molasses. 

Taste: I thought this one had a great blend of sweet and bitter roast, but not as much hops as expected.  James just said, "solid... why beer is more than Bud Light."  

Mouthfeel: Chewy, Blake and I both noticed the thick body of this one.

Overall: A classic American craft beer, brewed by one of the biggest American craft breweries.  Blake really thought of it more like a hoppy porter, but not hoppy enough to push it into Cascadian Dark Ale territory.  I agree, this one is sort of a defiant of style, pushing the envelope of a brown ale, but not really fitting in better elsewhere either.  And that's perfectly okay by us. 

Overall Rating: 79.25
My Rating: 83

Reviews: Cigar City Brewing - Tampa, FL

Time for a quick look at Cigar City, a brewery out of Tampa, FL that I've had the opportunity to try a few times recently.  Apparently the brewery takes its name from the nickname of Tampa, which was unbeknownst to me until I started trying their beers.  I would have thought Miami was the "Cigar City" of Florida, but nope, it's Tampa.  Go figure... anyway, my neighbor Roy went to Florida on vacation not too long ago and was nice enough to bring back a few different Cigar City beers for me.  Right on, man!  They included three of the regular lineup, the Jai Alai IPA, Maduro Brown Ale, and Cubano Espresso Brown Ale.  

Of the three I have to say that the Jai Alai has been my favorite!  It's a citrus-hopped IPA with a great balance of a little caramel malt.  The brown ales left me a little disappointed... neither were bad but they didn't live up to all the hype.  I really felt like the Cubano Espresso Brown Ale flavors clashed more than they augmented each other and the Maduro had a little bit of an off-putting metallic flavor to it.  I found both beers interesting but neither would be ones I would seek out again.  Well, unless I can try them on tap next time I find myself in Tampa... I have a feeling they would be far better that way! 

They also look to have a pretty impressive line of bombers and specialty beer in addition to these regulars.  I'm by no means giving up on this highly rated brewery, I'll just check out some of their other beers next time.

Review: Abita 25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog

Alright, I've been waiting to try this special beer from Abita (@theabitabeer) since I heard about last Spring... initial rumors were around in early March!  Hopefully it's worth the wait, I guess they had delays in production because I know they wanted it to be put out long before September.

The beer pours (from a 22 oz. bomber) a dark brown color, with hints of red when held up to the light. The head is a couple fingers of off-white bubbly froth that holds its shape for a few minutes and leaves a little lacing on the glass. It's a pretty good looking beer overall.

The aroma is a little sweet at first with the vanilla coming out, but then the roasted malt aromas of the 'Turbodog' base come through. It's not extremely strong or in your face, but I like the flavors melded together.

The taste is a lot more roasted malt goodness than sweet vanilla. I really enjoy it, but that balance on the nose is lost a little here and it's more 'doubledog' than vanilla. I still think it's an above average brown ale but a little more sweet balance and this would be approaching greatness.

The body is middle of the road... maybe even a little thick for the style. It feels good going down and there are no funky aftertastes or anything.

Overall, I think it's a solid B to B+ beer. It's definitely on par with some of Abita's better select offerings and a notch above the regular lineup.

 

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: Too early to say... add your review!

Review: Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot

Now for a quick review of a beer I picked up at Spec's in Houston.  This one is the Wilco Tango Foxtrot imperial brown ale from the Lagunitas Brewing Company (@lagunitasbruhws) checking in at 7.83% alcohol.  I've long been a fan of Lagunitas because they are some of the cheaper bombers to come across when browsing the beer aisles in Spec's.  According to Lagunitas it was intended to be a follow up to their 2009 Correction Ale called the 2010 Recovery Ale, but... well... the economy hasn't really recovered, so they went with the Wilco Tango Foxtrot, a rather obvious play on words/abbreviations.  Good name for a beer, in my opinion! 

For this one I poured from a bomber into a pint glass... it's a clear copper color with about an inch of slightly off-white head. It has great retention with a little lacing.

The first hint on the aroma is mild hops, then a warmth of caramel malts and booze... very nice.  The taste is more of the same... maybe a little less hoppy than the aroma but the malts aren't on top either. The boozy alcohol flavor doesn't come through as much as on the nose.  This is definitely a good example of an imperial brown ale, a style that isn't defined on BeerAdvocate.  I've tried one other imperial brown ale recently, the Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale, and it also impressed me as a malty high alcohol brew.

Feels good on the tongue... pretty damn drinkable for a relatively high abv beer. It's not the best beer ever, but still tasty and one I'd recommend on a beer run to our neighbors to the West.  Pick up this one and some others from Lagunitas and you will not be disappointed.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

Brown Ale

Drinking At The Hammond Smokin' Blues & BBQ Challenge - Part 2

Alright, after checking out that delicious BBQ, it's time for the beers!  Thanks again to Calandro's for sponsoring our BBQ team, including a handful of beers to drink as we let the meat smoke all night.  (I actually reviewed these properly a few days later... but here are the action pics...)

 

The first beer I tried was the He'Brew Genesis Ale from Schmaltz Brewing, which is originally out of California but also contract brews out of New York.  It was an overly hoppy beer for an Amber Ale, but still not bad.   There is definitely a malt warmth to it but the hops dominate the aroma and the taste.  

After that it was on to the Bald Eagle Brown Ale from RJ Rockers out of South Carolina.  I'd never heard of RJ Rockers before spotting a few of their beers at Calandro's but hey, anything is worth trying once.  (When it comes to beer at least...)  I thought it was a very tasty beer, but a bit of a one-trick pony.  It's all malts, all the time.  The flavor is great but I wanted a little something extra in there to mix things up.  This is definitely one I'd share a pitcher with amongst friends though, and one of the more pleasant surprises of the night.

The next two beers I tried both hailed from the Boulder Beer Company (@boulderbeerco
) out of... you guessed it... Boulder, Colorado.  The first one was the Mojo IPA, a good crisp piney IPA that really worked well.  A great flavor to it but some of the ancillary factors (appearance, aroma) were a little lacking.  The second was the Kinda Blue Blueberry Wheat Beer, which was unfortunately a little disappointing as far as blueberry beers go.  It has a wheat-heavy earthy flavor but not a whole lot of blueberry taste to it.  Oh well... still glad I gave it at try!

Finally I broke out another beer from the Schmaltz Brewing Company... this time the He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's Rye India Pale Ale.  Damn, that's a lot of name, and fortunately this one was a lot of beer.  It was a 10% abv imperial IPA brewed with rye malts.  It had more of a barleywine aroma to it than an IIPA, with a strong balance of malt and hops and a sweet molasses feel.  The taste was more of the same... a fantastic beer and certainly a highlight of the contest as far as the beers went!

 

Thanks again to Sammy at Calandro's for helping us out and providing these taste beers to drink while we cooked!  It was a great time with great people.

Smuttynose Brewing - 5 New Reviews

This is one of the last installments from the trip to Gainesville a couple of months ago... 5 different beers from Smuttynose Brewing out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Before this trip to Gainesville I had heard of Smuttynose but never had a chance to give them a try.  They aren't available in Louisiana unfortunately, and also aren't available in Houston which is my second most likely place to find new beers.  Fortunately for me, they had several different varieties in Florida!  

Up first, the Smuttynose "Finest Kind" IPA:

This is a fantastic example of a regular IPA, in my opinion.  The aroma is a little on the weaker side but the taste is bold and in your face.  More of a west-coast piney feel to me, and really easy to drink.  It's a 6.9% brew so you'd feel it after a few but it's not overwhelming.

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

Next up... the Shoals Pale Ale!

American Pale Ales are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles due to their intended blend of hoppiness and malt sweetness.  This example is high on the list when it comes to my favorites of the style.  It's a little hop forward for a pale ale, but still has a good caramel malt sweetness on the sip too.  Easy drinking and at only 5% this could be a fantastic session beer... if only I could get it in a pitcher at the Chimes.  Maybe some day...

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: B+

The third Smuttynose brew I tried was the Big A IPA...

Mmmmmm, another IPA.  This time it's an imperial IPA originally created for Smuttynose's "Big Beer Series" and carried over into their regular rotation.  I wish Abita would take this approach with their select series... take the most popular and put them into regular rotation!  Anyway, back to this beer... it's a good looking bubbly beer with a great hop blend on the nose.  It wavers on the edge between floral and pine notes in my opinion.  The taste is a little more on the pine side and the 9.6% alcohol is hardly noticeable.  A fantastic IIPA and another I would love to have more readily accessible.

My Rating: A

BeerAdvocate: A-

Hitting clean-up for Smuttynose... the Old Brown Dog Ale!

Okay, back to a more tame style, the American Brown Ale.  This flagship brew clocks in at a strong 6.7% abv though so I expect a little more flavor than a more mundane example of the style!  The smell did not disappoint, with note of molasses and toffee and a little roasted note to it.  Even the alcohol comes through a little, which is strange for a brown ale.  The roasted notes come through more in the taste... it's a little thin though. I like the sweet malt flavor on the tip of the tongue as a compliment to the roasted flavors at the end.  It's insanely easy to drink... just a little thin on the mouthfeel.

 

My Rating:  A-

BeerAdvocate: B+

And last but not least... the Smuttynose Robust Porter!

This is another of the Smuttynose flagships... a dark porter with a couple fingers worth of off-white head.  The smell is as expected as well... notes of coffee, roasted malts, and a little dark chocolate come through.  The flavor is a little more substantial than the aroma... the coffee flavors come through the most to me, with a bitter roasted aftertaste. Good mouthfeel, pretty easy to drink for a porter.  I think the problem is that I'm just not really a fan of porters... this is a good example of the style, has good ratings overall but in my opinion it's just an above-average beer and not great. So I guess I lied... this actually is the "least" among these five Smuttynose beers.  It's not BAD, by means, just not quite as tastebud stimulating as the four before it. 

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: A-

And that's it for my foray into the world of Smuttynose Brewing Company... a few that I'd love to try again and a few that I would take a pass on.  Overall the beers were well above average though, so I'd definitely check out any new Smuttynose brews I came across and would highly recommend them to someone with the chance to drink a few.

 

India Pale Ale (IPA)

American Pale Ale

Brown Ale

Porter

Cucapá Obscura - Mexican Craft Beer

Ah, Mexico... we all love to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with a margarita or 4, or perhaps a bucket of Corona longnecks complete with lime wedges?  Or sometimes even step it up to a Dos Equis, which as I elaborated on back in the World Cup series, is far better without the lime.  One thing I've never really thought of when I thought Mexican beer though, is craft beer.  I've known that Mexican craft breweries exist, but until very recently I'd never had the pleasure of trying any of them.  That is, until I saw some Cucapá Obscura on the shelves at Calandro's Saturday evening.  It's labeled as an 'American Brown Ale' which is the same style as Abita Turbodog, so let's see how it compares.

The beer is dark... brown like the style suggests with not much head.  It definitely has a similar appearance to Turbodog.  The aroma is malty, hints of chocolate, slightly metallic. The taste is more of the same... a little muted, but there are definitely roasted malt flavors but still a metallic twinge.  Very thin on the mouth, one of the more watery beers I've tried recently, and I can't say I'd pick up any more of these next time.

This isn't a horrible beer, but for $10.99 per 6-pack I'm going to try something new or go back to Turbodog next time if I'm looking for this style.  I'd be willing to try some other beers from Cucapá Brewing Company but probably not this one.  Even still though, it's good to see some craft beer coming from south of the border, maybe the next one will be better and the next even better.  The general consensus from the beer nerds is that this is better than I'm giving it credit for, so maybe it even will earn a second look sometime.

My review: C-

BeerAdvocate: B-

Picture from the BetterBeerBlog, as I wasn't able to take a good one myself... thanks!

Brown Ale