The Righteous Brews!

13th Century Grut Bier

Brewery: Schlossbrauerei

Region: Freising, Germany

Style: Grut Bier

I'm a firm believer in trying new things, especially things that serve as a testament to prior centuries. This may be old cooking styles, eating irregular parts of animals, and in this case, drinking an 800 year old form of beer that I had not yet come across. This beer is a recipe that existed before the German Purity laws (Reinheitsgebot) were implemented that requires all beer to be brewed with only 4 ingredients; Hops, Barley, Yeast and Water, but you probably already knew that. This beer contains copious amounts of spice ingredients including Bay leaves, ginger, rosemary, and caraway. The beer is light in color and packed obnoxiously with sediment and spice at the bottom. At first sip, my instant exclamation internally was "Thank god for purity laws!!". The beer is flat, spicy with a punch of bay leaves shitting all over everything. The beer is then reinforced by a weak sourness that adds a bit more stress to your already cringing face. This beer was like a history lesson in a bottle. If I had to guess what beer tasted like for hundreds of years before modern brewing techniques, revised recipes and standards of cleanliness, it would be this. I hated this beer so much that I didn't finish it, I poured it out and watched the thick layer of sediment pour out. This beer would serve better as a marinate recipe with its spice combinations than a beverage that regular people are supposed to enjoy. 

Anchorage Bitter Monk Double Belgian IPA

Brewery: Anchorage brewing Company

Region: Anchorage, Alaska

Style: Belgian Double IPA

Every once in a while a beer comes along that gets you giddy with excitement, like meeting a girl that has every personal quality you seek, that is just as good as you have heard or wished for, despite its high cost, haha. This beer was recommended to me both by friends and beer store employees. I've recently been on an insatiable Belgian IPA hype, and this beer takes the cake as reigning supreme over all others beers in its style that compare like peasants to its iron fist of impenetrable perfection. The beer is golden in color, a bit hazy with a solid head. The beer has strong citrus notes but these are different than other belgian or IPA qualities. While most others are bright and tangy, this hits more in the mid range of sweetness. At first i thought it was the first time my palette was experiencing apple notes, but it developed to more tropical fruits that shy away from orange or grapefruit. This is like lemon that isnt sour, with a dry and spicy breadiness from the hops filling the flavour out and hammer-smashing your face full of balance and satisfaction. It's an expensive indulgence, like any fine woman would be, but this beer is the full package. A fabulous beer indeed

La Biere Du Boucanier

Brewery: Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Region: Ertvelde, Belgium

Style: Belgian Strong Ale

The guy who was working at a bottle shop in Pacific heights threw this bottle in for free after I dropped a chunk of change on some bottles. This beer ended up being my second favorite of the bunch (roughly 10 bottles). The beer was dark with a creamy head. This beer had a lot of what I look for in Belgian beers that is rare, a hefty malt foundation. Many beers from Belgium as i've mentioned before, are too clovy or heavy on yeast, like taking a bite of bread that was too large to digest. This beer was high in alcohol, without it corrupting the palette, sweet and full bodied. Perhaps the finish is what makes this beer shine, its smooth and sweet like that of brown sugar, which is a much less bold quality than many beers that finish with dark fruit complexions. It comes in a tasteful little ceramic bottle and is worth picking up again!!

Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable

Brewery: Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel

Region: Montreal, Quebec

Style: India Pale Ale

This brewery is something of a wonder. This brewery just may be the only one that I have found to be worth scouring the earth for. I had a belgian pale ale from DDC in Vancouver for the first time and it blew my mind. These beers are incredibly hard to come by (at least in the Bay Area) with only about 2 places I've seen carrying one or two of any variety. DDC is a testament to how the Quebecois are KILLING it these days with their predominately belgian style brews.  This IPA is different from a Pliny or a Sculpin as it is dark, has a two and half finger creamy head and more interesting complexities than the everyday IPA. The beer has the pine and citrus qualities there, but they dont punch you in the face on the first sip. The flavours are modest, the bitterness is modest yet still asserting as an IPA no doubt. This beer is heavily balanced by a healthy malt presence that might be the best addition to any IPA i've ever had. Why more IPA's dont thicken their bitter qualities up I'll never understand. This is a unique IPA for someone who perhaps isnt ready for hammer-smash-hops kind of beer, yet would be adored by someone with a complex palette. Bravo!

Uerige Doppelsticke

Brewery: Uerige

Region: Dusseldorf Germany

Style: Double Alt beer.

Sticke beer has never really been something that I was vastly familiar with. Though most beer shops have the standard repertoire of german beers, (Erdinger, Ayinger, Weihenstephaner etc..) this shop (Ales Unlimited in pac heights) featured this beer and the employee working recommended it for those who enjoy something dark and heavy on the malts. I drank this beer quite cold, which Im thinking now was a bad idea as it may be better a bit closer to chilled instead of cold. The aroma is intense, heavy caramel, toffee and bit of cocoa in the mix. The taste is strong, burnt caramel, dark fruits (raisons), and some dark chocolate. The malts do not provide a heavy body or balanced nature to the beer. The beer is sharp similar to a Schneider Eisbock, and has some unpleasant qualities. This beer Is something you sip lightly, perhaps paired with food that is rich and sweet. While I understand this beer is meant to rub elbows with many styles of Barley-wine, I just cant get into the flavour profiles in this beer. The beer to me is sharp, pungent, and obnoxiously bold. Worth picking up for 4 bucks, but I would never buy it again. 

Brewery: Ballast Point

Region: San Diego, CA

Style: India Pale Ale

Its when I have beers like this that make me wonder how I ever went through life hating hoppy beers. As a guy who started out in the german lager class of beers, the acquisition of a pallet that was sympathetic to bitter beers was grim. This beer is rather expensive, costing around 13 or 14 bucks at bevmo. This beer is my second favorite IPA after Pliny the Elder hands down. It pours a light amber color. The aroma is that of pine and citrus, with a creamy mouthfeel similar to that of Pliny but not quite as thick tasting. The hop presence os balanced, the malt flavours balance out any bitter unpleasantness.  The finish is refreshing but slightly watery, but nothing condemning. I feel like perhaps the biggest thing working against this beer is the fact that I consciously and subconsciously compare it to Pliny. I think this would be the best IPA I'd ever had if I wasn't such an ardent Pliny loyalist. This beer is perfect for IPA fans and might just make a believer out of you. 

Brewery: The Lost Abbey

Region: San Marcos, California

Style: Quadruppel

Brewery: Unibroue

Region: Quebec, Canada

Style: Belgian Abbey Tripel

In previous posts I've expressed my picky nature when it comes to Belgian wheat beer. The most ironic observation that I've come realize, is that many of the best belgian style beers that i've enjoyed are not actually from the country itself, it seems these days that the French Canadians are beating the dutch at their own brewing game. Unibroue I would argue is Canada's best brewery, fiercely competing with Brewery Dieu Du Ciel for Quebecois supremacy. Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde is Unibroue's shining star. This beer is heavy on the banana and spicy clove elements which turns some drinkers off, but its just done so well here. The flavours are balanced, refreshing and smooth with prominent citrus and yeast notes. The aroma and taste go hand in hand, I'd only say the beer smells a bit more fruity and light than the flavour actually is. This beer luckily is readily available even at grocery stores like Safeway now and at every BevMo I've seen. This brewery shines with every beer their make the Trois Pistoles and the Maudite are two of my other favorites. This beer is accessible and likable to those with all ranges of palettes. I'd recommend picking it up and anything else made by Unibroue. Délicieux Unibroue!

Brewery: MateVeza (Made by Medecino Brewing Company)

Region: San Francisco, Ca

Style: Schwarzbier (Black Lager)

Its interesting how color and brewing style can have so many variations. I was first introduced to Schawrzbier through Kostrizer's brew that's inexpensive in the bottle and slightly more salvageable on tap at this German restaurant I work at. Though dark, this beer and others like it are rather light in flavor. The beer pours straight black, with a minimal tan head, resembling a stout or porter in the glass. The smell and taste are both pretty one dimensional. I get notes of roasted coffee beans and thats about it. The beer is brewed with Yerba Matte herbal tea, but I cant really pick it up on my palette. I wasnt exactly surprised when I was trying this that I wouldnt be stoked about it. I have yet to find a Schawrzbier that I like.

Brewery: North Coast Brewery

Region: Fort Bragg, Northern California

Style: Saison

NorCal these days is known for its ales, predominantly its hop-abundant and bitter variations that has come to define its own brand or culture. Many Belgian style wheat ales in my opinion fall short of impressive, whether they are of European origin or American tributes to traditional brewing styles. I'm not much a fan of yeast-heavy and citrus heavy flavor profiles of these hazy golden beers that many people swear by. This beer on the other hand was different. I picked this up at a "Cervezaria" by Dolores Park in the Mission District. The guy working there swore by it as one of his favorite beers, so I took a risk and picked it up. The beer poured with a fluffy white head with quite a bit of lacing around the edge of the glass. The flavor profiles included citrus, and a nice bit of spiciness probably coming from the yeast. Where this beer shines is that its lighter and still flavorful. The heavy breadiness of many beers in this style isnt what is driving the flavors, so that thickness after finishing isnt killing the experience. What could be altered was the rather heavy alcohol taste towards the finish that is one of my least favorite qualities in a beer. The alcohol should create the foundation and chemistry to drive the flavors and qualities of the beer, but when all the flavors are pleasant in the beginning, an "over-alcoholic" finish can kill everything. I would go as far to say the beer is killed, but this could quite possibly be a perfect "cheaper-option" Saison if they can clear that up. For the price and for my fortunate bias against its style, this beer is worth trying, perhaps if your palette is more basic and you arent ready to appreciate a Unibroue or Dieu Di Ciel.

Brewery: Weihenstephaner

Region: Freisig Germany

Style: Doppelbock

Like the Erdinger I wrote about earlier, this dark beer shines out of its ability to be full-bodied, flavorful yet not overbearing. Also like Erdinger, the beers that form the ranks among brewing styles from the brewery do not exactly impress me besides one or two exceptions. The Korbinian is one of the few beers from this over-hyped "Germany's oldest brewery" that actually impresses me. This beer is best enjoyed on tap, which I have the luxury of enjoying regularly at the German restaurant I work at. The beer is poured dark redish/amber colored with a less than overbearing head. The smells bring notes of sweetness, perhaps dark fruits like plum or chocolate raisins. There is a hint of black liquorice almost. This beer shares many common qualities of Doppelbocks, I taste caramel, roasted malt, and earthy notes that almost have a burnt qualities. The carbonation settles around the edges of the tongue and is smooth in the finish, just before some of the heaviness or unpleasantness might have surfaced. This is one of the better Doppelbocks you will find.

Brewery: Napa Smith Brewery

Region: Northern California

Style: Red Ale

The intriguing thing about this beer is not that I discovered it by accident at this diner/beer bar on Powell street here in San Francisco, but that it is so poorly reviewed on nearly every site I've seen earning garbage reviews on nearly all fronts. This beer has become one of my favorites and has truly shown that sometimes the reviews are not always going to point you in the right direction. While I'm not keen on many red ales, this beer is unique. It pours a reddish orange with a barely off white head. The strong hop aroma is a bit more earthy than that of the Pliny I described before but the hoppiness is complimented by an almost caramely/toffee like sweetness that hits the palette in the same spot as the hops, yet aren't as up front as the beer first hits the tongue. The sweetness is driven by a strong malt aroma. The rest of the snobs can hate all they want, I enjoy this beer greatly and haven't had any negative responses to the numerous friends I’ve had try it. This isn't a beer you should necessarily scour the earth for, but you can pick it up at BevMo for a few bucks and is a perfect beer for a beginners palette.