Review: Sierra Nevada 2011 Bigfoot Barleywine

Okay, time for a quick review of the 2011 Bigfoot Barleywine from one of the craft brewing standard-bearers, Sierra Nevada.  Established in 1980, Sierra Nevada (@sierranevada) is one of the oldest and now largest craft breweries in the United States.  They typically brew very hop-forward beers which is typical of a California brewery.  I've mentioned them several times on here, including reviews of their 30th Anniversary Grand Cru and 30th Anniversary Barleywine. I picked up a 6-pack of these guys from Cuban Liquor on Perkins, but any good beer store should have it if it's still in stock.

For this review, I have the 2011 version of their Bigfoot Barleywine, poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Homer Brewing goblet.  It's a reddish orange color, like a bright sunset with a small white head. Good retention and creamy pooling on top of the beer.

The aroma is pretty weak though, mostly faint hops with a little spice to it.  The taste is mostly hoppy, befitting a Sierra Nevada brew. It's primarily piney but there is a subtle sweet floral hint to it. The malts are pretty faint but there. Barely.

The mouthfeel is about as expected, with a bitter hoppy aftertaste. I like it, but it's too hoppy for my kind of barleywine. I'm excited to save a few for aging and see how the hop-forward brew ages.  I expect it to mellow out a good bit and only get better.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: A-

Barleywine

Reviews: Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 & 16

Now for a couple of Scottish beers from the Harviestoun Brewery in Alva, Scotland.  The "Ola Dubh" series is one of their most well known lines of beer and it's the product of a special relationship between the Harviestoun Brewery and the Highland Park distillery.  A few years ago I wrote about the Ola Dubh 30, which is aged in 30-year old Highland Park scotch barrels. The name "Ola Dubh" translates to "black oil" and as you'll see, they earn that name.

 

For this round, I picked up the Ola Dubh 12, and Ola Dubh 16, aged in Highland Park casks representing that particular length of aging.  I found these beers at the new (relatively) Cuban Liquor store on Perkins, and decided to give them a taste.

First for the 12... it's very dark, and impenetrable when held up to a light. It has a very small off-white head with a little retention but not excessive.  It really does live up to the "black oil" moniker when it comes to the appearance.

The aroma is very rich, dark fruit and caramel and booze, and a little chocolate in there as well. The taste has a lot more smoky scotch flavor than the aroma. There is not as much caramel or dark fruit, but it's still good. I like that it's different from the aroma.

I'm really a fan of this one, different, unique, delicious.  I'd drink it again, but let's see how the 16 compares...

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

 

 

 

Up next, the same series, just aged in the 16-year Highland Park barrels... for this one I poured it into a snifter from my friends at the Homer Brewery.

It's a really dark brown, on the verge of black with a minimal head.  It seems slightly lighter than the 12.

The aroma is strong with molasses and raisins and a little boozy burn riding on a hint of caramel and vanilla.  The scotchy smokiness comes out more in the flavor, covering up some of the sweetness of the aroma with a smoky, roasted overtone. Very nice!

It starts out kinda thin but then starts to feel a little sticky. An odd mouthfeel but not a bad one. I think I like it slightly better than the 12.  (Indeed I gave this one a 4.25 overall score compared to a 4.15 for the 12-year version!)

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

And going back and checking my score for the Special 30 Reserve... also an A-!  Although that review was from late 2009 and my palate has changed since then, I gave that one a 4.08 so slightly below the 12 and 16.  Very interesting, although what I really get a sense of is that it's the type of scotch in the barrel that makes the biggest difference, not how long the scotch was in the barrel prior to using for beer.

Very interesting beers, so check them out if you have the chance!

American Craft Beer Week - Recap

Alright, it's been a busy week of traveling and beer drinking for me, but I wanted to drop in and run down a few of the highlights from American Craft Beer Week!

Beer drinking venues: 5 (I know, slacking a bit for a full week!)

States I drank in: 2

Cities I drank in: 3

New beer drinking venues: 2

New beers tried:  24

Best Louisiana beer: Bayou Teche XXX Grenade

New brewery discovered: No Label Brewing

Best beer period: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Best new place: The Petrol Station in Houston

Best brewery tour: Tin Roof Brewery

Best food truck fare: Kicker's BBQ Brisket Fries

Best craft beer in a can: Ska Modus Hoperandi IPA at The Ginger Man Pub

Most heavily rotated taps: The Petrol Station, they rotated three new beers in while we were there drinking... at lunchtime.

Best Canadian craft beer: Dieu Du Ciel Equinoxe Du Printemps

Best post-drinking steak night: St. Charles Tavern

Kickball games played during the week: 4

Biggest disappointment: Not having a time machine to be more places at once!

Biggest disappointment for real: Missing out on Parish Brewing at The Avenue Pub

Biggest anti-disappointment: Finally getting to check out The Petrol Station, very cool bar.

All in all it was a great week of craft beer and good friends.  My liver needs a few days off, but I'll be back at it before too long!

Ska Brewing Modus Hoperandi IPA at The Ginger Man Pub

The Petrol Station

American Craft Beer Week In Full Swing!

Hey everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying a fantastic American Craft Beer Week so far, and if you haven't partaken in any of the festivities it's certainly not too late.

As for me, I kicked off the week a little early with a guest appearance on Jay's Bite And Booze Radio Show.  I've also been to the Tin Roof Brewing Company for a couple of their open houses, plus spent last night trying new beers with good friends at The Avenue Pub in New Orleans while Jay and I interviewed The Beer Buddha for our upcoming radio show called "Raise A Glass."  Yeah, another radio show!  I added 5 new beers to my 365 in 2011 list while at The Avenue Pub, my favorite was almost certainly the Dieu Du Ciel Equinoxe Du Primtemps (which I'm pretty sure means Spring Equinox) although the coconut heavy Bayou Teche XXX Grenade was also awesome.  I also tried a Raftman from Unibroue, the Dieu Du Ciel Recousse, and the Brookyln EIPA.  All fine beers but the first two really stood out.

Bayou Teche XXX Grenade and Dieu Du Ciel Recousse Altbier

Tonight I'll be at The Gingerman Pub in Houston with Mandi and a few Houston friends checking out what's going on across the state line for this beer celebration.  No matter where you are though, there are sure to be lots of good beers on tap at the local watering hole.  I know Tin Roof in Baton Rouge will be having an open house tonight from 5-7 with free beer samples and a brewery tour.  And The Avenue Pub will be celebrating more tonight leading up to their huge tasting tomorrow afternoon.  I wish I could make it, but I can't be everywhere at once.  And for that, my liver thanks me.

Cheers!

Samuel Smith Beer Dinner At The Londoner

Recently I had the pleasure of an invite to the Samuel Smith beer dinner at The Londoner.  I had been there once before with my friend Carlye to check out the food and drink, but do I seem like the kind of guy that turns down an invite for even more food and drink?  Yeah, I didn't think so.

This time around it was a 5-course dinner, each paired with a different Samuel Smith beer.  I've written about Samuel Smith many times, and even added a new one to my 365 in 2011 quest at the Top Of The Hops Festival in Lafayette.  With that in mind, I wasn't expecting anything new in this tasting, but sure enough, the dessert course called for the Samuel Smith Organic Raspberry Ale... well alright alright alright.

After a drink appetizer of a Moylan's Kilt Lifter, their best beer on tap in my opinion, it was time for the real show to begin.  Our appetizer course was a plate of pan-seared crab cakes paired with a Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale... one of their classics.  The crab cakes were topped with a buerre blanc sauce made from the ale, so it paired nicely.

Up next, the salad course... nothing too special here except I enjoyed the fried crawfish tails.  can't really go wrong with those.  It was paired with the Samuel Smith regular lager.

The soup course was up third... a smoked gouda and Taddy Porter soup that was the highlight of the meal for me.  As expected it was paired with the Taddy Porter.

 

For the main course, braised pork shank and Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, one of their iconic beers.  It has nearly the came complexion as the Taddy Porter, but whereas the porter has more of a smoked flavor the oatmeal stout really retains some nice chocolate tones with a definitively oatmeal flavor.

Up last, the dessert, a chocolate lava cake with fresh raspberries, and the only new beer to me on the menu.  This of course was the Samuel Smith Organic Raspberry Ale.  The guys at the dinner said they were originally planning on going with the strawberry ale, but a few cases of the raspberry came available at the last minute.  Sounds good to me, we get enough strawberry beers down here between Abita and Covington.  The Raspberry Ale was very sweet, almost TOO sweet, but paired well with the chocolate and matching fruit flavors of the dessert.  Not bad, and hit the spot for a little post-meal sweet-tooth.

 And that concluded this dinner... and this blog post.  It was a tasty evening, lots of good food and good beer.  Not the best beer dinner I've ever attended but I certainly left satisfied and I can't ask for much more than that!

It's American Craft Beer Week!

Hello everyone, and a happy American Craft Beer Week to all of you!  The celebration officially kicks off today, although I know some bars started a little early. 

If you're looking for a good way to try some new craft beer in Baton Rouge, the first place I'd recommend is the Tin Roof Brewery.  They will be having an open house every day this week from 5 to 7, with free beer samples to anyone who wants to come by.  In addition, the Food Truck Roundup will be at the brewery on Wednesday for an even larger open house and tasty bites to compliment the beer.

The Londoner will also be hosting special tastings all week as they celebrate craft beer's best week of the year.  Tonight will feature Moylan's and Saint Arnold, on Tuesday they will have special taps of Sierra Nevada and Stone, Wednesday is all Lazy Magnolia and Covington, Thursday is Abita and Harpoon, Friday is Rogue and Magic Hat, Saturday is Flying Dog and Schmlatz Brewing, and they finish it off on Sunday with some NOLA, Sam Adams, and Brooklyn beers.  I'd be most excited about the Stone and Schmaltz offerings, but I'm afraid I'm not going to have time to swing by at all.

The best place to celebrate American Craft Beer Week is definitely The Avenue Pub in New Orleans.  I know it's not always easy to just head down there and drink a few, but if you have a chance this week or this weekend, it's the place to go.  They will have special releases every night and that's on top of an already outstanding craft beer lineup.  They have also put together a list of other locations hosting Craft Beer events, so check it out! 

And if all else fails, just buy some craft beers at the local store, and enjoy with some friends!

Cheers!

The BR Beer Scene - On The Radio!

Hey everyone!

I encourage you all to tune in to Talk 107.3 from 10-11 tomorrow morning for the Bite And Booze Radio Show.  The show this week will be all about American Craft Beer Week, and will feature Charles Caldwell and William McGehee from Tin Roof Brewing, Andrew Godley from Parish Brewing, Polly Watts from The Avenue Pub in New Orleans, and CJ Webre from Calandro's Supermarket.  Plus, I'll be in studio with Jay for a portion of show asking questions and talking about craft beers!  Thanks to Jay for having me on and I'm looking forward to it.