Dogfish Head/ Stone/ Victory's Saison du Buff

A few months ago I was up in Springfield, VA for a concert (Streetlight Manifesto). Springfield is a weird town, and I was really early, so I was trying to find something to do. Beer shopping was a natural first choice. So I popped into the local whole foods and along with some great brews I found something unexpected. A collaboration between Dogfish Head, Stone, and Victory: Saison du Buff. Three great breweries, so obviously I was intrigued. Problem was, these bottles were from last year and I wasn't sure how well this style ages since it is not one I drink on a regular basis. I took the risk and snatched up a few bottles. I shared all but one before I had this blog (taking no notes, sadly), and opened my last one tonight. So disclaimer, this interpretation is of a 2012 bottle, and I have never had it fresh.

This golden yellow nectar poured with a thick, two or three finger white head. Now, when I say thick, I mean I literally tossed a bottle cap on it and it didn't think about sinking through the head.Sweet, citrus notes on the nose along with some interesting spices. I am not too familiar with this style so I struggle to describe the flavor. Nice, light spices are forward followed by sweet, tangy lemon notes. Wrapped up with a little something that tastes like it came out of my spice rack (It does have thyme, rosemary, sage, AND parsley in it) along with just a little bitterness. I imagine those forward spice notes are provided by the above listed herbs. I am not sure how different this brew is now compared to fresh, but I really enjoyed it. This particular bottle is Dogfish's version of the brew, but apparently all three breweries release it. I am curious if there are any differences between the bottles. Guess I'll just have to get a hold of all three and find out! Cheers!

Old Dominion's Double D IPA

I have said it before and I'll say it again: Packaging Sells! The craft beer industry is exploding, and that's a great thing! Unfortunately with all these available craft beers, the wall of new beers to try can be a bit overwhelming. If I am not in the store for something specific, it is often the labels that catch my eyes. Needless to say, Old Dominion's Double D...um.... eh hem... caught my eye. Thank goodness for great packaging though, because this is pretty tasty.

Double D pours a clear gold with a thick, one finger off-white head. A great combination of pine and citrus notes on the nose. When you sip this brew, give it time in your mouth so you can get the full gambit of flavors. You get a quick tang of malty sweetness, followed by citrus hop goodness. It finishes strong with big, bitter pine hop flavors. All in all, I really enjoyed the balance of this brew. It runs the spectrum of the expected Imperial
IPA flavors, and at 9% ABV and 90 IBU's, it can hang with the best!

Brooklyn Brine/ Dogfish Head Hop Pickle

Tuesdays are racquetball nights. If you have never played racquetball before, let me assure you it is not a game you want to have a beer before playing. I felt like blogging, though, because I was sitting right at 499 page views! Then I remembered a beer featured treat that I had in the fridge. Ladies and gents, meet Hop Pickles!

The name Dogfish Head means two main things to me: Creativity and Quality. So when I heard they were working with Brooklyn Brine to make pickles, I was more than curious. So I bit the bullet on this mildly pricey jar of pickles and jumped on in! What I got I did not expect though. The hops are certainly there (they are made with 60 Minute IPA) but the kicker is the spice! I didn't read it on the jar so the habenero really caught me off guard. I loved it. The hops, tangy pickle, and pepper combo is great, and though I can't afford to top every sandwich with these, they are a nice treat that I recommend everyone try.

Young Veterans Brewing Company Grand Opener!

Today was an awesome day. Not only did we announce the gender of my first child (It's a boy!), but we had a new brewery join the ranks in Hampton Roads. We are lucky enough to have several small breweries in this area, but one more is always welcome. Two former military men opened this brewery and they have used their military heritage to base their brews off of. Winning two Battle of the Beers in this area before even opening, I had big hopes for these guys. I most certainly was not disappointed.

The first beer I had to try was the winner of both Battle of the Beers, Jet Noise IPA. Jet Noise had a nice, white head and pours a hazy gold. Big hops come to the nose on this one. The real treat of this brew, however, is how the flavors smoothly transition from citrus hops to big bitter flavors. This is certainly a beer that is meant to be enjoyed fresh and I am glad I came out early enough to get to try it.

Next up was another brew with limited availability: Night Vision Stout. I am pretty sure it is not possible to have a darker brew than this one, and the dark chocolate colored head really contributed to the appearance. One with of this brew reveals big coffee notes. These coffee notes follow through in the flavor. There was a nice balance of roasted malts and coffee flavors. I felt like I could pour a glass of this in the morning with my eggs and toast. Can't wait to grab some of this brew on a cold winter day and warm up the evening.

Next brew in line to taste was also the most creatively named: Semper Fi PA. Clear gold and and with a nice white head, I only took a couple sips out of my buddy's cup on this one. With my quick judgment of this brew I noticed its big floral nose and the big bitter hop taste. Sorry, not a very detailed description on this one, but trust me when I say it is worth a try.

I followed up with a pale ale called Even Keel. Pale ales are not particular favorites of mine, and though this brew was certainly well made, it is my least favorite of the bunch.Another hazy yellow brew with a white head. Fruity yeast notes on the nose that follow through lightly in the flavor. Slightly buttery after taste that is common of the style. Once again, not my favorite brew, but that is because of the style and certainly not because of the quality of brewing.

The last brew of the night was my absolute favorite, which is Pineapple Grenade. As with any hefeweizen, this beer poured a typical hazy yellow with a white head. Nice wheat notes on the nose as well as great citrus odors. The pineapple is huge in this brew. The forefront is all pineapple, followed up by some fruity wheat notes. I had to take some of this home, so I had a growler filled and brought it home to the neighbors. It was a hit!

In closing, I have to say that I am totally stoked for these guys. They took the time to get their brews right before opening, and it shows. Keep up the good work gentlemen, we will be waiting for the next big thing!

Sierra Nevada's Flipside

Sierra Nevada is a go-to brand for me. If I want to try something new with very little fear of being disappointed, I check out what's up in the Sierra Nevada section of my Total Wine. So while browsing for a lower alcohol content (should put lower in quotations, it is 6.3%) beer to sip on for my anniversary, I came across Sierra Nevada's Flipside Red IPA. 

Flipside pours a clear, dark red with a thick, one finger, tan head. Big floral hops on the nose here. Before even tasting it I knew I was going to get more than I expected from this one. For some reason I was thinking more red ale, less IPA. Ha. Wrong! My first sip revealed big, fresh hop flavor. Balancing out the bitterness of the hops are the slightly sweet fruit backings of a red ale. This is an great in between seasons brew, and at about $8 for a six pack, you won't have to break the bank to enjoy it. Between this and Ithaca's Cascazilla, I think I have found a style that is quickly becoming one of my new favorites: Red IPA. Cheers!

DuClaw's Serum Double IPA

There are many reasons I decide to pick a beer out of the mass selection that is available. Sometimes it is the notoriety of the beer. Others the packaging or bottle label catch my eye, or perhaps I enjoyed the name of the brew. Seldom is there a beer where the bottle cap is the final attribute that makes me buy a beer. DuClaw's Serum was one of those beers.

I was picking out a build your own 6-pack at Total Wine, filling it with IPAs that I had not tried, when I picked up Serum. To be honest, I had heard about DuClaw before, but I hadn't tried one before. I don't know if all their caps say this, but when I read the words "Craft Be Cherished. Rules Be Damned." on the cap, I was sold. How craft beer/ punk rock is that? I'm all about breweries that push the limits of a beer and I am always down to try new things. Though there was nothing extremely out of the ordinary with this double IPA, I was not disappointed in my choice.

Poured into my IPA glass, Serum is a hazy dark gold beer with a big bubbled, one finger head. Piney, floral hops are on the nose along with a some big malt smells. Those sweet malts are very big in the flavor. They are at the forefront of this beer, but are not so powerful that they are overwhelming. Citrus hops follow the malts, and then big time bitterness wraps it up. Though not hugely set apart from the crowd, Serum's showcasing of all my favorite features of DIPAs makes it a brew that my IPA glass will contain again soon.

A Day of Pumpkin Ales!

Labor day weekend is often considered as the unofficial end of summer. So with that, I decided to celebrate with an all out pumpkin ale tasting. So I pulled out my mason jar mug and used the all powerful Google to compile a list of the most celebrated pumpkin ales that were available in my area, and this is the group I came up with...

First up this evening was New Belgium's Pumpkick. This beer was a nice, bright gold with an off white head. Nothing special on the nose here, just typical ale notes of alcohol and malts. If you have ever had New Belgium's signature Fat Tire ale, you have pretty much had this beer. Slight (and I mean VERY slight) hints of pumpkin and cranberry tartness. Not a bad beer by any means, but nothing terribly impressive.

Next up was Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale. Talk about a big difference. This beer poured a nice, hazy brown with a white head. Cinnamon and spices were very prevalent on the nose. Spices are very forward in the flavor of this ale, followed by light hints of sweet pumpkin and malts. This beer was absolutely fantastic. Incredibly warming and with just the right balance of sweetness and spice. I have heard by many that this is the best of all the pumpkin ales, and I certainly can see why they feel that way.

Next in line was Dogfish Head's Punkin. Now, I am quick to admit that I had my hopes up for this one. I love Dogfish Head and all that they do. This, however, was not my favorite of the evening. Pouring a clear, golden brown with a one finger off white head, the spices on the nose were much fresher smelling than the previous brews. Those spices hit hard forward in the taste; perhaps a little too much for my liking. The pumpkin was a subtle aftertaste followed by sweet malts. The Dogfish quality is certainly still there in this brew, but it just did not appeal to me.

Next up was Cisco Brewers Inc's Pumple Drumkin. This came highly recommended by both the folks of the interwebs and the fine folks who sell these brews at the local beer stores. Golden brown with an off white head, I had a hard time placing the nose on this one. There was a slight pumpkin odor, but not much else here the I can describe. The flavors were very sweet and malty. Not much pumpkin here, but there was a little bit of a spice follow up. All in all, unfortunately I appreciated the pumpkins on the bottle label much more than I did in the beer.

Okay, so here comes one that I had way hyped up. Southern Tier's Pumking is a bit of a legend around here. In the past years it has not always been easy to get a hold of, and I have always been told it was the best pumpkin beer around. This beer pours a nice, clear orange with a two finger, off white head. A quick whiff made me think someone was baking a pumpkin pie. The taste is exactly what the odor would imply. It does not taste like beer. It tastes like a delicious pumpkin pie that has been put in a bottle. The big pumpkin flavor is followed a sweet, spicy tang. Though a little sweet to have more then one glass, I see why this can be hard to find. It tastes awesome.

Smuttynose's Pumpkin Ale was next in line; a very hazy, orange beer with a two finger off white head. A nice blend of sweet pumpkin and spices come on the nose. The spices are the highlight of the flavor of this beer. They are very forward with only a slight hint of pumpkin. Sweet malts wrap this quality brew up. Though quite tasty, nothing made this beer stand out from the group.

Next up was one of my favorite brews of the evening, Alewerks's Pumpkin Ale. From Williamsburg, just 45 minutes West of here, this brew pours a clear brown with a thin, off white head. Wafting this one reveals big, sweet pumpkin odors on the nose. This is another big, very spicy pumpkin pie flavored beer. This is followed up with a fantastic spicy finish. The balance of the sweet pumpkin flavor and the spiciness is something that was lacking in the other brews.

Rounding out the evening was Southampton's Pumpkin Ale. Pouring a clear brown with a one finger head, the nose on this one suggests I was about to have another sweet brew. Big, super sweet pumpkin notes flood the nose. This is why I was so surprised by the flavor. Instead of a sweet brew, I found fresh pumpkin flavors, not nearly as sugary as the nose suggested. Followed up with subtle spices, this was another great beer with very nice balance.

Pumpkin beers was not a style I had previously delved into. When I first started drinking craft beers, I had tried one and my new, tame palate was not ready for the strange intensity in it. Now that my tastes have evolved, I am glad I revisited the style. They are fantastic brews and a great welcoming for the Fall season.