Avery Review #16 - Oud Floris

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 29, 2012

…And we’re on the home stretch of The Avery Project with Review #16, a.k.a. Avery Barrel-Aged Series Beer #12, a.k.a. Avery Oud Floris.  These last few reviews will go relatively quickly.  After today’s review I have one more already written, I have two other Avery beers in the fridge and the plan for #20 is to head to the Taproom sometime before Election Day to do that one – which should give you a hint as to what #20 will be.

But back to the beer: the Oud Floris is a blend of brown ale aged in four different barrels – 67% in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, 17% in Bourbon barrels, 8% in Rum barrels and 8% in Chardonnay barrels.

I went into this one very excited – the Flanders Oud Bruin is a style I have enjoyed greatly in New Belgium’s La Folie and Monk’s Café.  Plus, I was in the mood for something nice and sour when I cracked this beer open.  My true excitement, though, was from the variety of barrels involved in process and I was hoping to pick out unique and distinctive flavors from each of the four barrels.  Here’s what I found:

Location: B Town Wine & Spirits

Cost: $7.99/12 oz. bottle

ABV: 9.39%

IBUs: NA

Brewery Location: Boulder, Colorado

Style: Flanders Oud Bruin

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.09 – Excellent

My Beer Advocate Rating: D+/2.43 – Poor

Current Number of Reviews on Beer Advocate: 17

Brewery Description: Avery Oud Floris

Bottled:  June 14, 2012

APPEARANCE:  (3.5 out of 5) Deep, dark brown throughout, but when held up to the light a much lighter brown (think the color of the old, light brown M&Ms) comes in at the top of the glass.  A small head disappears as fast as the beer is poured, leaving a bright, off-white ring of foam around the edges of the glass.  Bubbles are flying up the sides of the glass, giving this beer a very lively look.  There is some lacing, but very minimal.

SMELL:  (4 out of 5) Funky.  There is a lot going on in the nose here, but in a very subtle way.  Some vanilla, a little oak, a hint of grapes, tart cherry and maybe even a little nuttiness waft up from the glass.  The aroma is pleasant and light, but also contains warning signs of an intensely sour beer.

TASTE:  (2 out of 5) Jesus.  This is like a sour punch in the mouth.  Tart cherry is the only thing I can taste at first.  It completely dominates the beer in a way I have never experienced.  It’s like Brian Urlacher nearly single-handedly bringing the Chicago Bears back from a 21-point deficit against the Arizona Cardinals in the second half in 2006, or Michael Jordan…well, anytime ever…that dominating.

After a few sips though, some other flavors emerge (or at least the palate is so desperate for them to do so that it imagines them).  Vinegar is second to the cherry and a good dose of wood in the form of vanilla and oak.  The caramel and spicy flavors of a typical Flanders Oud Bruin seem to have just been decimated.  Also, sadly, the bourbon and rum barrel flavors are nearly non-existent (save the hint of vanilla). 

MOUTHFEEL:  (1.5 out of 5) A little carbonation and a shit-ton of pucker is the only way to describe the feel of the Oud Floris.  This is not an easy beer to drink.  I never say this, but I’m going to have a hard time getting this one down.

OVERALL:  (2 out of 5) I love big, bold and aggressive beers.  I love gigantic double IPAs, huge Imperial Stouts and ridiculously sour beers, but this might have been the first sour beer I have tasted that has gone too far.  Call my palate undeveloped and immature, but I can’t taste all four barrels that this was aged in, which is an enormous disappointment. 

I have very, very rarely said this about a beer, but it is over the top.  Too much.  I would have loved to taste the subtle flavors of bourbon and rum barrels alongside the funk of wine barrels.  I had so much hope for this brew, but it ultimately let me down.  I think the only option here is to take my second bottle and age it for two, maybe three years and see what happens.

Now, with this all said, I think it is worth noting that there are plenty of people out there who disagree with me on this one, and for some extreme sour fans who I can see how this would work.  I also think that this missed the mark, not because of a lack of effort on Avery’s part, but because they tried to do something different and this time it simply didn’t work.  Maybe 67% on the cabernet was too much.   

As with many of their beers (and all of them in the Barrel-Aged Series), however, it was brewed as an experiment.  There are few breweries out there willing to take the same risks that Avery does.  Dogfish Head comes to mind immediately and as almost anyone who is a fan of the Milton, Delaware brewery can tell you, sometimes their crazy ideas simply don’t pan out.  When you take risks like this and do something completely out of the box you win some and you lose some.  95% of the time Avery wins, but I have to place this one in that rare 5% category.

Beer and Space Part 2

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 25, 2012

Yesterday I set out on a little adventure through Colorado.  After writing this post, in which I discussed the idea that the actual physical space in which a beer is consumed makes a big difference in how that beer is perceived by the drinker.

I set out to have a beer at two different breweries.  My first destination was Dostal Alley in Central City, CO.  I picked this location out specifically because of the crowded nature and lack of space I had read about in Dostal Alley's reviews.  Several people had written about it being cramped and difficult to find the room to relax.

When I arrived I was sorely disappointed.  There seemed to be plenty of room!  I was there during a slower time, of course, but still the tables didn't seem too close together and the small, downstairs bar was empty.  The upstairs bar, however, was what I had read about and this was the main bar.  As a bar/brewpub/casino, the upstairs bar had video poker machines built into the bar and I began my adventure there.

The machines were not as tightly packed together as I had suspected, there was plenty of room for your beer.  However, it was fairly annoying to have the machine right there.  The room was full of bright sunlight, though, and it had nice, high ceilings and felt very open.  The interesting thing was that of the four other people at this big, long bar (which had about 14-15 seats) only one was actually playing the machine.

In terms of simply enjoying my beer, it was not all that difficult.  In fact, after sampling the brown ale and the IPA I decided to go with their Gulpin Gold House Special IPA and it was quite good; a nice, grassy, hoppy and assertive IPA.

The only real problem with the machines at the bar was that they made eating there a little annoying.  After ordering an appetizer I chose to move to the downstairs bar to finish it along with the rest of my beer.  I was the only person sitting there, which gave me the opportunity to learn a little more about the beer from the bartender and to spread out a bit.

So, yes, the weird bar setup did negatively impact my experience upstairs, but not in the same way I had imagined.  I wished that it had actually been as cramped as I suspected it would be.

Anyhow, on to another brewery.  I finished up my one beer in Central City and then made the nearly hour-long drive to Golden, Colorado - home of Golden City Brewery.  Golden City likes to call themselves the second largest brewery in Golden, but despite the literal truth of this statement, there is nothing large about it at all.

The tasting room is in the coach house of the owner's personal residence (which is also where the small batch brewing takes place).  When I opened the door to walk in, I hit someone in the back who was sitting at one of the few tables in what probably used to be someone's living room.  He had to stand up in order for me to get inside.  And then I had to walk sideways between two tables to get to the counter where there were no bar stools, or even room to stand.  I ordered a flight, which included 5 of their 7 beers (two were out) and I carefully carried the tray to the lone open table - a 2-person booth in the corner.

Once I sat down, I had some space to spread out.  I set the small menu which described the beers next to my tray and sipped as I read.  This was clearly a cramped room, but as I sat there I noticed that the small space was not having a negative impact on me.  This felt like home.  Cozy.  And with a room full of warm bodies it was a comfortable escape from the sleet and snow that was just beginning to fall outside.

So as it turns out, not every small, tightly packed drinking area is so bad.  That said, there is a large beer garden outside Golden City Brewery, which on a summer day would be the perfect place to enjoy a brew or two, but for this cold, dark wintery afternoon, cozy was the way to go.

With the snow coming down and night setting in I felt like it was time to head back to Boulder.  After downing a pint of water I headed back north and reflected on the space issue (and just how crazy I must be to have driven 90 miles over the course of three and a half hours just to get a couple beers).  And after thinking long and hard about IT, what it came down to was an old adage; the size doesn't really matter, it's just how you use it.

Beer and Space

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 24, 2012

Today, I am free.

The bad news is that the weather isn’t cooperating, so my plans to grab a sandwich, head up into the mountains and go for a hike have been thwarted. 

The good news, however, is that I am still free to enjoy Colorado.  It’s funny how when the threat of work isn’t directly hanging over your head, the bad news doesn’t impact you so much.  Anyhow, the new plan is to find a new brewery – one that I have never been to before – and go check it out.  Of course, here in Boulder, I have pretty much covered everything.  Same goes for Ft. Collins.  And as for Denver, well, I’m just not feeling Denver today (although there are certainly plenty of days when I do).

Anyhow, during my search for a new brewery, I came across some reviews for Dostal Alley in Central City, Colorado.  The reviews are not all that positive.  The beer seems to get average scores, but a common thread running through the reviews is that the place is simply too small and cluttered to actually enjoy your beer.  One reviewer mentioned that if you “can ignore the casino games built into the bartop” it is actually a pretty cool place.  Another complained that what disappointed him most was the fact that there was “no room to relax and have a beer.”

Now I really want to go to Founders in Grand Rapids, MI

This got me thinking…just as the freedom of time can impact someone’s outlook, how much does the freedom of the space that you are in impact your enjoyment of a good beer?  And as I began thinking about it, I realized that I do need a good deal of room to spread out in order to get the most out of my beer. 

Now, I have had some amazing tasting experiences in crowded places.  I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of GABF last week, I have had plenty of great beers at Avery’s Taproom during a crowded happy hour and of course, the few too many Uncle Jacob’s Stouts I threw down at Avery’s 19^th Anniversary Party were amazing, if not consumed with dozens of elbows constantly threatening to spill my beer.  With that said, I believe that I would have enjoyed all of these scenarios a lot more had I been given some more elbow room…and more time for that matter. 

As I think back on it, most of my truly great beer tasting experiences have been in non-rushed, quieter situations where I have had the physical space that I sometimes feel is necessary to think.  Maybe I’m just claustrophobic and haven’t quite come to terms with that yet, but I don’t freak out when I’m jammed in a tiny elevator with a bunch of other people and, as I mentioned above, I have actually enjoyed a lot of tightly squeezed drinking experiences.  So is enough physical space truly a key piece of the equation in drinking a good beer?

I think it might be.

Thinking back on some of my favorite beer moments – a quiet night at Steamworks Brewpub in downtown Durango, a bright, sunny afternoon in Ska’s spacious and very open-feeling tap room, a cold, but sunny winter afternoon in which Emily and I were the only two people in Three Floyds’ tasting room.  There are dozens of others I could mention here, but I do think space matters.

So, now that I have the time to do it, I think the only thing to do is to go and find out for sure...ya know, for science.  A beer at two different breweries with a strong focus on my surroundings should give me some more of an idea.  Of course the quality of the brew is likely to differ drastically, but the point is to go out and truly focus on how much my physical surroundings actually impact my enjoyment of the beer.  And on that note, I’ll be back soon…

Barleywine Review #12 - Tröegs Flying Mouflan Barleywine

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 10, 2012

Tröegs Flying Mouflan Ale is the next beer up in The Barleywine Project.  The twelfth beer on The List was not easy to get my hands on, but I obtained it as a part of the same trade that brought me the beer for our last review here at 20 Beers in 20Nights.  Yes, I had to give up a couple Russian River bottles, a few Crooked Stave bottles and a bottle of Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood, but I was well compensated.

So here are the stats for the Flying Mouflan:

Location: Home

Cost: Trade

ABV: 9.3%

IBUs: “100-ish”

Brewery Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Style: American Barleywine

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.14

My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.5

Current Number of Reviews on Beer Advocate/Rank in the Top 20: 515/9^th

Description: Tröegs Flying Mouflan Ale

Bottled On: 2012 Vintage

APPEARANCE:  (3.5 out of 5) The actual beer here is not terribly good looking.  The color is a few shades darker than the standard deep mahogany that so many others on The List have been, but it is also cloudy and murky.  It isn’t bad, just not the best, and for lack of a better word, very quiet looking.  Weird word, I know, but that is what comes to mind right off the bat.  The head, however, makes up for the color not being stellar.  Off-white and very uniform, it rests quietly (yep, had to use it again) and regally on top of the murk beneath.  A fair amount of patchy lacing also graces the backside of the glass.

SMELL:  (5 out of 5) One sniff of the cap when it was popped revealed a boat load of brown sugary malts and when I stuck my nose in the glass it was more of the same.  The brown sugar then gives way to some banana, chocolate, cinnamon, clove and other spices.  Caramel and a bit of breadiness are also present.  This is the prototypical Barleywine smell.  I don’t think it can get any better.

TASTE:  (4.5 out of 5) Many Barleywines that have smelled sweet and malty like this one have ended up being very citrusy and bitter.  I have enjoyed that contrast a lot, but before I take a sip, I think it is worth noting that as I would not have expected citrus prior to beginning this project.  I have tasted enough now to know that that is a distinct possibility, but let’s see…

Yep.  The citrus is strong here in the forms of lemon and orange.  The catch with The Flying Mouflan, however, is that the citrus is not the flavor that greats the tongue, rather it provides the strong and bitter finish. The orange seems to be the segue from the brown sugar, caramel and the much-more-chocolaty-than-expected front end to the lemon and grapefruity tale end.  Some roasted malt flavors also linger throughout the finish providing a bit of a smoky aftertaste.

MOUTHFEEL:  (4 out of 5) I would categorize this beer as smooth and silky, but with a mild sparkle, just enough to tickle the tongue and make it feel playful.  Given the murky and solemn appearance of this beer I was not expecting to use an adjective like playful to describe it, but the darkness was probably obscuring a lot of action beneath the surface. 

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) I’ve been spoiled recently.  The Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine was phenomenal yet Tröegs’ Barleywine effort is no let down at all.  Back-to-back homeruns in my opinion.  The Flying Mouflan smells exactly like a Barleywine should and the taste lives up to the aromatic billing.  This is a classic and very well-done Barleywine. 

On a separate note, as I have been known to do, I am drinking this bottle with a plate of prosciutto di parma, blue cheese and crackers.  Not exactly knowing what to expect from the beer, I chose two of my old blue cheese standbys, Point Reyes Blue and Oregonzola Blue from Rogue Creamery.  While the Point Reyes normally edges out the Oregonzola in my book, the Rogue selection is a near perfect pairing with this Barleywine.  It is the less sweet and tangy of the two, which works perfectly with the dry and bitter finish of the beer. 

Barleywine Review #11 - Central Water Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau    

Oct. 5, 2012

Finally!  The Barleywine Project is back!  And we’re kicking off the second half of this project with a Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine, a beer I have been waiting a long time to get my hands on.

For those of you who have been counting, yes, it has been a little over four months since The Barleywine Project’s last post, but we knew back then that it was going to be a while before I was able to track down another one.  Summer isn’t exactly Barleywine season and all the low-hanging fruit out here in Colorado had already been picked.  So, there wasn’t much hope for a new review.

After a long summer of no Barleywine, however, I was ready.  I wanted to taste another one of those big, sweet (but still hoppy), deliciously bready concoctions again…and I wanted to write about it.  So, I managed to make a trade with a fellow beer enthusiast in New Jersey.  He sent me a few great Barleywines along with one of the elusive beers for me in this project – the Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine.

I have really been looking forward to this one and I was thrilled to track down two bottles of it, so let’s crack this thing open and get it in the glass, but first…some stats:

Location: Home

Cost: Some Russian River and a Bottle of Fred from the Wood

ABV: 11.5%

IBUs: NA

Brewery Location: Amherst, Wisconsin

Style: American Barleywine

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.26

My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.83

Current Number of Reviews on Beer Advocate/Rank in the Top 20: 410/13^th

Description: Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

Bottled On: 2012 Vintage

…And one more note, before we bust this beer open – this is the highest rated beer on Beer Advocate on The List for this project.  It is ranked No. 6 in the American Barleywine category and trails only a few very, very small batches in its category.  OK, enough is enough, let’s pour:

APPEARANCE:  (4.5 out of 5) A pretty aggressive pour yielded a full finger of head resting on top of a typical-mahogany colored Barleywine.  I read plenty of reviews prior to cracking this one open that the head retention was fairly weak, but it wasn’t too bad in this case.  Hundreds of tiny bubbles rush up to the surface around the edges of the glass, trying to feed the head before it slowly fades away.

In addition to the surprising head retention, the lacing on this beer is pretty decent as well.  It isn’t great, but some nice web-like lacing stretches from the bottom to the top of the glass.  This is not something I expected out of a barrel aged monster like this.

SMELL:  (4.5 out of 5) The smell emanating from the bottle was much stronger that that coming out of the glass, which was quite surprising.  Either way, there is a wonderfully complex aroma here.  A blend of cherries, vanilla and wood provide the most substance here, but hints of caramel and citrusy hops are also present.  Excellent smell, could be a touch stronger though.

TASTE:  (5 out of 5) The cherry from the nose is still very strong in the taste.  Other dark fruits and wood, along with a big helping of vanilla create a flavor profile just as complex as the nose.  The middle of each sip brings a slight hop balance to balance the sweeter fruit up front.  As the tail end approaches, however, the bourbon flavors come on strong with more vanilla, more wood and a pretty strong boozy heat.  Caramel, chocolate and a bit of bread also make an appearance, but one aspect that is missing (or maybe just overpowered) is banana, which is so typical is American-style Barleywines.  It doesn’t need it at all, just an observation.  All in all, this is truly an exception beer in terms of flavor.

MOUTHFEEL:  (4.5 out of 5) This beer is the definition of full-bodied; rich, thick, creamy and chewy.  Despite its malty sweetness up front, there is a little pucker from the hop bitterness from the middle to end of the sip.  Just as the aroma and flavor, the mouthfeel here is very complex.

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) This is a remarkably well-done beer.  Despite the very wide array of intense flavors from the malt to the hops to the barrel, nothing tips the balance.  What a treat; it makes me want to try some Doggie Claws right next to it, but I have to say, I think Central Waters is the new leader for me in The Barleywine Project.  Delicious. Actually, ridiculously delicious.

By the way, the decision to allow this one to warm up before pouring it was a very good one.  I imagine that above cellar temperature a lot of the complexity would have been lost.