Tag Archives: Belgian Strong Ale

Avery Salvation & 8-Wired iStout

  By Admin | April 12, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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Another week, another Thursday bier tasting.

This week we started with Brad’s bottle of Avery Salvation from Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colorado. This is a Belgian Strong Ale that the brewer describes as having “luscious apricot and peach aromas delicately interwoven with spicy suggestions of nutmeg and cinnamon”. The ABV is 9%.

Salvation

This bier’s appearance is clear golden with a pale head that leaves behind some nice lacing. The aroma is peach, apricot, marmalade, pear, hint of wet hay. It has a reasonable body, slightly syrupy mouthfeel, and is sweet on the palate with a little bitterness in the finish. The taste is stone fruits, honey, citrus.

This was enjoyable, and seemed almost like a Belgian Tripel to me.

I brought along a bottle of 8 Wired iStout, an Imperial Stout from 8 Wired Brewing in Blenheim, New Zealand. They describe it as “Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavours which are balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold freshness from the hops”. The ABV is 10.5%

iStout

This bier pours a thick, syrupy black with a chocolate head. The aroma is liquorice, chocolate, coffee, oak, vanilla, star anise, black sugar, dates, raisins. It has an oily mouthfeel, is well balanced on the palate and has a good level of complexity. The finish is slightly dry with a touch of bitterness. The taste is chocolate, roast coffee, molasses, oak.

The aroma made me salivate, and I very much enjoyed this bier. It stands up well in the very competitive style of Imperial Stout, and is definitely the best beer I have seen so far out of New Zealand.

Sound Brewery Dubbel Entendre & Scaldis Prestige

  By Admin | April 8, 2012 - 11:00 pm |
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Another random bier tasting, this time done while helping my friend Brad do some home brewing.

His contribution was a bottle of Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre, brewed by Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, Washington. The brewer describes this Abbey Dubbel as having “Comforting aromas of chocolate malt and dark toffee, with a hint of banana and stone fruits. A dark abbey style ale with a subtle rich maltiness and a dry, spicy finish.”. ABV is 8%.

Sound Brewery Dubbel Entendre

This bier pours a clear brown with a reasonable pale head. The aroma is banana, chocolate, raisins, damp wood. It has a medium body, malty with a slight tang in the aftertaste. Flavours are chocolate, toffee, dates, banana, cloves.

Despite being a little thinner on the palate than I was expecting, it was very enjoyable, one of the best “new world” dubbels I have encountered.

From my collection I brought along a bottle of Scaldis (Bush) Prestige. This is a Belgian Strong Ale brewed by Brasserie Dubuisson in Pipaix, Belgium, who say “Aging in oak barrels for 6 months gives this beer an uncommon smoothness and richness”. ABV is 13%.

Scaldis Prestige

This bier pours a cloudy orange/amber with a small pale head that dissipates quickly and noticeable carbonation. The aroma is peach, cider vinegar, rhubarb, caramel. It has a good body, slightly syrupy mouthfeel and is sweet on the palate with a slight tang in the aftertaste. The taste is caramel, dates, plum, apricot, orange marmalade.

Quite a delightful bier, definitely a good bier to share with a few friends of an evening.

Biercraft Brunch

  By Admin | April 8, 2012 - 12:00 pm |
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What’s better than brunch? A brunch with bier at BierCraft!

After considerable deliberation I selected a Mc Chouffe as my brunch bier. This is a Belgian Strong Ale brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe in Achouffe, Belgium. ABV is 8%.

Mc Chouffe

This bier pours a good cloudy brown with a decent beige head. The aroma is raisins, figs, honey, jasmine. It is full bodied, sweet on the palate with a long, slightly floral finish. Taste is honey, dates, figs, caramel.

I very much enjoyed this bier, and because it was on the sweet side it paired very well with my meal – the Oktoberfest Breakfast.

Oktoberfest Breakfast

The Oktoberfest Breakfast consists of pancake-batter wrapped sausages, scrambled eggs, potatoes, and of course maple syrup. Everything about this was delicious and it definitely makes for a good bier-accompanied brunch.

Murrays Punk Monk & Avery New World Porter

  By Admin | April 5, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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I do a bit of a bier tasting each Thursday night with my friend Brad. We each bring a bottle of something interesting, pour a measure and then spend a considerable amount of time (much to my wife’s exasperation) in quiet contemplation of the bier’s appearance, aroma and taste.

The first bier was my contribution, Murrays Punk Monk from Murrays Craft Brewing in Australia. According to the bottle, it is “a hybrid of a few Belgian styles: influenced by Saisons, Belgian Blonde Ales, with a nod to Belgian Tripels”. ABV is 7.5%

Murrays Punk Monk

This bier pours a hazy yellow with a small pale head. The aroma is citrus, coriander, fresh cut grass, cilantro, jasmine. Light and flowery on the palate, on the sweet side with a bit of hop bite in the aftertaste. Taste is apricot, orange marmalade, heather honey, hint of grapefruit.

Although it wasn’t bad, and it did manage to have capture a lot of Belgian characteristics, this bier is trying to be too many Belgian styles all at once – is has an identity crisis that confused my taste buds.

The second bier of the evening was Avery New World Porter, from Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado. The label describes it as “a traditional black porter, with a surprise twist – it’s dry hopped!”

I somehow forgot to take a picture of this one, sorry.

It pours a good solid black with a small beige head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is the first hint that something unusual is happening – noticeably hoppy, cut grass, wet hair. Taste is smoky, with pine, no particular other distinguishing flavours. The palate is bitter hops which linger in the aftertaste.

To me this seems a lot more like a Black IPA than a Porter. There was no distinctive chocolate or malt character and not a hint of sweetness. It suffers from usual tendency of the “New World” to over-hop biers of every style.