all the same song

Beer Review 0362: New Belgium Ranger IPA

New Belgium Brewing have a new beer on the market called Rampant, an Imperial IPA. We’ll be reviewing that tomorrow, but today, we’re going to give their Ranger IPA a look. I can’t think of why I’m only reviewing this 362 reviews in; I’ve had this beer many times and buy it as one of my mainstays several times a year.

New Belgium began production in 1991 after Jeff Lebesch biked through Europe and was inspired by all of the good beer over there. Upon returning, he started New Belgium in Fort Collins, Colorado; they became the first brewery to be powered by wind, showing they have an environmental conscience — and they offer ownership stake to anyone that has been employed by the brewery for one year.

Jeff’s wife, Kim Jordan, is New Belgium’s CEO. She was the company’s first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer, and financial planner. Whew!

Ranger IPA was introduced in 2010, and the beer celebrates New Belgium’s team of representatives that sell the beer across the United States (they call them Beer Rangers). Using Chinook, Simcoe, and Cascade hops, Ranger hits 70 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) and comes in at 6.5% ABV (alcohol by volume).

Ranger IPA pours a large, fluffy, bright white head that retains nicely. The beer is classic IPA color, a rich, golden hue that has just a smidgen of hop haze. The body is clear, free of particles and sediment, allowing carbonation bubbles to really make a snowstorm show in the glass. Lacing was perfect, leaving behind one solid, thick sheet.

The aromatics are fairly typical for an IPA; heavy grapefruit and pine up front, but this one has a solid grassy component that becomes more focal as the beer warms. There’s a small note of tropical fruits, undoubtedly from the Simcoe, to polish the hop bill off; the malts are lightly present with some bready/grainy notes. Nothing overly impressive here but solid.

Ranger greets the taste buds with a punch right away, but not of bitterness; instead, there’s ample lemon, lime, and grapefruit. Some dark, almost dank pine opens the palate up to some caramel malt and then… lots of bitterness. The bitterness continues to amp up on the finish, leaving the mouth with a grassy flavor, some grapefruit rind, and crushed aspirin. The bitterness level is almost too much, and it is quite drying, but it doesn’t go beyond excessive levels. This beer is medium-bodied, with a medium, gritty mouthfeel thanks to the lively carbonation.

Ranger is a perfectly drinkable offering from New Belgium, and honestly one of their best. Not only is this brew good looking, it’s good tasting and is a solid regular star in my fridge.

New Belgium Ranger IPA, 92 points. Price: $7.99 US for a six pack.

Beer Review 0348: Olde Hickory Redeemer Imperial IPA

Olde Hickory Brewery is located in Hickory, North Carolina, and was founded by Steven Lyerly and Jason Yates in 1994. They started making beer on a seven barrel system, and the small batch mindset continues to this day, with batches being 800 gallons or less at a time. In fact, Olde Hickory are so small, the majority of their beers have hand stamped best by dates on the bottles, including Redeemer IPA.

Redeemer is a limited release, Imperial IPA, coming in at 10% ABV (alcohol by volume). Olde Hickory says this beer is the result of ordering a “few hundred pounds too many hops.” Using Columbus, Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade, and Zythos, the west coast is the inspiration for this big brew, and the bottle showcases a hop cone at the gates of heaven, awaiting to get in.

The pour produced an unimpressive small head, but that’s to be expected given the high alcohol involved. The head, which was more of a thin cover, was soapy and bright white, and fizzled away within a minute of being in the glass. The color was an impressive bright tangerine orange, and it was opaque thanks to the extremely cloudy body. While there were no particles or sediment floating in this beer, it was obviously unfiltered; and despite the minimal head, lacing was good, leaving lots of thin patches of suds behind. (Toward the end of the bottle, the sediment chunks showed up, and were quite large.)

The nose is your typical west coast style Imperial IPA: a big punch of grapefruit and pine, some nice lemongrass, and a touch of hot garlic. A big wave of caramel malt lends sweetness. Redeemer isn’t complex in aroma; it’s a hop bomb with some sweet malt backing, and the alcohol is hidden very well.

On the taste, we’ve got fresh grapefruit and pine, which combines with lemon and orange peel to give a solid hop kaboom. The malts are caramel and candy corn, producing an initially sweet brew, but toward the swallow, this becomes moderately to heavily bitter, ushering in notes of dark pine and salty crackers. The finish has grapefruit pith and is especially dank, and delivers a noticeable alcohol bite. Redeemer is full-bodied with a medium mouthfeel, foamy and drying.

Olde Hickory have made a very good example of a west coast Imperial IPA, and I’m proud to have it brewed here in North Carolina. Without question, this is the best double IPA made in NC that I’ve had to date, excluding Deviant Dale’s (Oskar Blues, which now has a facility in Brevard, NC. I rated Deviant Dale’s 94 points). I was surprised by the excellent balance of sweetness at the beginning of the taste versus the expected bitterness on the finish. Good stuff.

Olde Hickory Redeemer Imperial IPA, 92 points. Price: $9.99 US for one 22 oz. bomber size bottle.

Beer Review 0330: Southern Tier Choklat Imperial Stout

Southern Tier Brewing Company have been in the beer business since 2002, when founders Phineas DeMink and Allen Yahn started the brewery with the goal of reviving small batch brewing. At first, this goal was a reality — using equipment gained from the purchase of Old Saddleback Brewing Company, various beers were distributed in and around the Lakewood, New York area. The distribution circle quickly expanded to New York City, and then to the entire New York State. Small batch, not so much.

That’s what happens when you make good beer. The rest, as they say, is history. Since 2009, the brewery has continually expanded, and the bottling line at Southern Tier can crank out 10,000 bottles per hour. The company’s brews are now distributed in about half of the United States and several foreign countries.

Part of their Blackwater Series, Choklat Imperial Stout takes inspiration from a beverage known as xocoatl (cho-co-atle), an ancient Mayan drink made with, of course, chocolate. Chocolate played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events, with priests serving chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies, and offering up cacao seeds as offerings to the gods.

I don’t think Southern Tier’s intentions are quite that serious, but hey, chocolate in beer can be a serious thing. Coming in at 10% ABV (alcohol by volume), which is serious strength — this brew is made with two types of hops, four varieties of malt, and bittersweet Belgian chocolate. Choklat sees release once per year, in November.

The pour yielded a small, dark tan head, soapy in texture and fast diminishing. The beer was a very dark brown, just like dark chocolate, and was opaque but did have lighter brown edges. The body appeared to be clear and free of particles and sediment, and lacing was sparse, only leaving behind a couple strands of suds here and there.

The nose reminded me very much of creamy chocolate brownies; the actual chocolate itself was in between milk and dark; it also reminded me of microwave fudge. This beer is quite sweet and does offer a bit more than just chocolate: there’s also some caramel, toffee, and burnt sugar. As it warms, a large note of vanilla started to come out, and the unmistakable scent of marshmallows. Nice.

The initial sip offers a big hit of dark chocolate that contains just the right amount of sweetness to not be cloying. Middle of the mouth sees the drink open up and produce some dark fruits, like raisins. The finish brings on another blast of creamy dark chocolate, some burnt toast, and a mild cherry. As the beer warmed, the vanilla found on the nose came out even more, and so did the marshmallow. Let it warm even further to room temperature, and the chocolate takes on a Nestle Quik syrup-like quality. I found Choklat to be full-bodied with a foamy, medium mouthfeel, and the finish was bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter. The 10% ABV rears its head after the swallow, warming the throat and chest.

Without a doubt, Southern Tier have made a nice chocolate beer. However, I’ve had other beers that weren’t advertised as chocolate bombs that tasted more like chocolate, and had an even creamier or pleasant texture. Still, there’s something to be said for the subtle complexities going on in this beer, and I think it’s worth a try — I think you’ll either find it very good or you’ll want to go buy five cases.

Southern Tier Choklat Imperial Stout, 92 points. Price: $8.99 US for one 22 oz. bomber size bottle.

Beer Review 0325: Bell’s Smitten Golden Rye Ale

Well, there seems to be a pattern going on when it comes to spring beers: a lot of breweries are using this time of year to release a beer brewed with rye, an adjunct to beer, but a good adjunct.

Bell’s Brewery (Comstock, Michigan) fashions Smitten Golden Rye Ale as a beer that will “help brighten those gray winter days and help warm your heart.” The recipe for the beer comes from one of Larry Bell’s (the founder) oldest recipes, and the brew began life as part of a series of rye beers at their Eccentric Cafe.

At 6% ABV (alcohol by volume), Smitten uses rye malt and Pacific Northwest hops. It’s release marks the first time Bell’s has added a regular bottle to its lineup since 2010, when Oarsman Ale went year-round (83 points for Oarsman).

Pouring issued a bright white, average size head that had good retention and a soapy texture. The beer was just as described on the bottle — golden in color, with a hazy body that had a light amount of sediment floating around. The lacing was very nice, as is typical for most rye beers, and some thick patches were left clinging to the glass.

First thing on the nose were the hops, and Smitten features a nice complex hop aroma: lots of citrus, especially lemon and orange, are up front, coupled with background players of pine and grapefruit. The rye is there, too; it gives the beer a subtle spicy/peppery kick that when combined with the hops, becomes almost like dish soap. There’s a fair amount of grain, and the scent is quite astringent. Nice and inviting.

On the taste, this Pale Ale is quite hoppy on the initial sip, offering up flavors of lemon and grapefruit rind. It gives way quickly to an ample dosage of rye malt, which brings on some bitterness and a peppery spice. The finish starts out mildly bitter and the rye dries out the palate, leading to more complex hop flavors of grapefruit flesh, lemon, and grass. I noticed the more I sipped, the more bitter this beer got — it was never overwhelming, but while I marked ‘light’ on my tasting sheet for bitterness, by the end of my glass, it was more like ‘moderate.’ Smitten is medium-bodied, with a medium mouthfeel that is creamy when swished.

Overall, this is a solid, no-frills offering from Bell’s. The hop treatment here is nice, and the rye indeed adds to the quality of the beer instead of being an annoying distraction. I can definitely see this being a friendly six-pack for the winter thaw. Check it out if you can.

Bell’s Smitten Golden Rye Ale, 92 points. Price: $1.99 US for one twelve ounce bottle.

Beer Review 0316: Westbrook Cap’n Skoon’s Ballistic Stout

I took a trip down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the New Year holiday, and an out of town trip naturally means a visit to a couple of local bottle shops for beers I can’t get back home. Westbrook Brewing Company makes beer in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. I picked up four bottles of their brew for review, and I’ll be going through those all this week.

While Westbrook’s website doesn’t divulge much history about the brewery, they are pretty new to the scene, having first produced beer in late 2010. The founder, Ed Westbrook, started with a local home brewing club, earning the name “Prolific Ed” because he brought 5-10 different home brews to the club each month. After graduating Furman University with a degree in computer science and later Clemson University with a MBA, Ed had the idea to start a brewery.

Planning began in 2009, and Mr. Westbrook hired an experienced brewmaster to run the show, given that he had no commercial brewery experience. Currently, Westbrook list two year-round brews and a host of seasonal/special offerings; in fact, they have so many of these type beers that I couldn’t find either of their regularly scheduled programming. Every beer I came home with is either seasonal or special release.

Celebrating their second anniversary as a brewery, Westbrook brewed the beer I have up for review today — Cap’n Skoon’s Ballistic Stout. Here’s the weird thing: this beer was fermented with a German lager yeast, and the brewery says it is a “roasty imperial black lager,” but they’re calling it an Imperial Stout. Yeah, beats me. Apparently, Cap’n Skoon is some kind of fictional character, although an Internet search turns up nothing. This beer is a big one, coming in at 10% ABV (alcohol by volume).

Release from the bottle gave an average size, dark brown head, creamy and soapy, which lasted atop a pitch black beer. This is Imperial Stout to a tee — there wasn’t any light to be found, not even around the edges. I noticed it poured muddy, and I have no idea about particles or sediment, because the brew was so dark. Lacing was very nice, leaving this beer with a perfect score in appearance.

On the nose, there’s plenty of coffee and dark chocolate; then, there’s also a sour grape found in some Imperial Stouts. While not detestable, the grape doesn’t really compliment the rich coffee and chocolate. Thankfully, all is not lost because the grape does open the drink up to some dark fruit aromas, such as prune, raisin, and plum. What we have here is kind of standard and not really exciting.

The taste is impressive — it starts with a sweet coffee, then opens to more of a dark chocolate that layers up from light to dark; darker when you touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Middle of the mouth rushes in a general roast with a suggestion of smoke, all the while a gentle alcohol gives this a stiff mouthfeel. The finish sees the roast tame and usher in more dark chocolate, strong black coffee, and ultimately concluding with a bittersweet flavor with a gentle drying quality. Ballistic Stout is full-bodied, with a thick and creamy mouthfeel, and while there is alcohol present, it only adds to the flavors.

I’m not quite sure what the German lager yeast does here, but this is a tasty beer; the best Westbrook beer I got on my trip to Myrtle Beach. Naturally, this one gets better as it warms. Westbrook seems like a solid brewery with a great future ahead. I wish I could try more of their offerings; next time I’m in South Carolina, I’ll be sure to pick up more. Try this Imperial Stout if you can.

Westbrook Cap’n Skoon’s Ballistic Stout, 92 points. Price: $10.29 US for one 22 oz. bomber size bottle.