Summer Beervana #5 - Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

Farmhouse ales might - when all the history is sorted through - be the origin of all beer. Through some of those grains from your field into a barrel with some spices or flowers or fruit rinds, let it sit til the magic of yeast takes place, and glug glug glug on something delicious. Often crisp and dry from vigorous and thorough fermentation, slightly fruity and spicy, and occasionally funky, farmhouse ales are kind of a big deal at OMG Beer! I've tried for years to convince people that saisons are in fact, craft-awesome. Boulevard's Tank 7 goes a long long way toward doing the work for me. Slightly tart, with a hint of tropical fruits dominated by pepper and other spices, extremely dry and crisp finish. Second time Boulevard's made Beervana this summer, and I'm really happy they're in Chicago with their Smokestack series offerings.

Summer Beervana #2: Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Name: Chocolate Ale
Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale (more a catch-all than a real style)
Brewed in: Kansas City, Missouri
Origin: USA
ABV: 9.1%
Serving Glass - Snifter (draft) at The Twisted Spoke
OMG Beer Rating: 9.6

This beer is as literal as you can get, when it comes to the name describing what it is. It's straight up chocolate in beer form, as much so as Southern Tier's Chokolat. Reminded me a lot of milk chocolate, but the body of this beer is lighter than you'd expect from a chocolate ale. The flavor is full on chocolate forward, with hints of spicy hops, caramel, and nuts behind that, adding a subtle complexity to what at first appears to be a simple concept.

Summer Beervana #1: New Holland

New Holland Brewing: Oh, you guys (to NH and to my readers). I have visited this brewery quite a few times, camping on the Lake Michigan shore. I always forget about Hatter Days, which is 6/10, instead of 10/6 (the hat of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland says 10/6). This year, there were quite a few festivities last Friday, celebrating the Mad Hatter. Lots of bars, lots of variations on New Hollands Mad Hatter IPA. Tried two variations yesterday, at Four Moon Tavern, in Roscoe Village.

Mad Hatter Black IPA - "Blackened" version of Mad Hatter. Black malt, often used in porters and some stouts, adds a nice roasted grain flavor, lots of color, and a nice sweetness to Mad Hatter. Dry-hopped, a bitter citrus-y aroma and flavor hovers over the beer. I'd love this one with bbq.

Mad Hatter Farmhouse IPA - think of this like a belgian IPA. saison-ish qualities with Mad Hatter hop levels. The belgian yeast really emphasize a spicy flavor that dominates over anything citrus. Not a lot of malt backbone to this, but not an overly bitter beer either. Balanced, belgian inflected IPA.

Also floating around: Rye Mad Hatter, Imperial Mad Hatter, Oak Aged Mad Hatter, Sour Hatter

I must also mention New Holland's ENVIOUS. An annual beer in their Cellar series, this might be my favorite fruit beer ever. It's got a powerful malty body, is fermented with pears and then aged in oak with local raspberries. The two fruits meld together with a caramel and toasted bread sweetness. Not cloying at all, just delicious. Disturbingly disliked on Beer Advocate, put your trust in OMG Beer! and try one ASAP.

January Round-up, Beervana 2011 #1

A very hectic January that led to a lot of beer notes and not a lot of beer reviews posted. Here's a round-up of favorites from the month, with some review notes.

Smuttynose IPA, 6.9% ABV - bitter yet refreshing citrusy hop bomb. There's a hint of pine as well, and some fruity esters in this cloudy unfiltered IPA. Currently my favorite IPA from the east coast. There's a hint of booziness I don't think a regular IPA should have.

Smuttynose Porter, 5.7% ABV - Smooth and creamy, leaning sweet for my kind of porter. Big suggestion of roasted coffee beans and chocolate. Very stout-like, with a hefty full body and a darker fruitiness. Sometimes with a beer like this I wonder what's the point of stouts.

Goose Island Dominique, 8.5%ABV - For those into an accidental Matilda experiment, think belgian style pale ale, already fruity and spicy, aged in bourbon barrels, and soured! This is a fantastic, slightly fuller body and sour version of Matilda that I prefer to the original.

Arcadia Loch Down Scotch Ale, 8.0% ABV - Before this brand got renamed, I really dug it as a solid example of the style. I can't tell you if it really got better since it was 6 months between trying the old and the new, but it has a cool new label, and is still a delicious example of the Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy style. I'd add to that style description that there's often a hint of dark fruit flavor as well from the heavy level of dark caramel malts and dark roasted grains.

Bell's Hopslam, 10.0% ABV - one of the most outstanding Imperial IPAs of the year. I don't know how much the recipe changes per year, but the honey this year is just the right amount of sweet balance to a fantastic beer. I had this the same day I had an Imperial IPA that will get highlighted in Beervana #2 and the two combined blew my mind (quite literally). The Alstrom Bros review on Beer Advocate says it well, give us more.

Flossmoor: Rail Splitter IPA and Intercontinental Pale Lager

Winter Beervana #3

Scaldis Noel, also known as Bush de Noel - Brasserie Dubuisson Freres, 12% ABV. Didn't feel like a 12% beer, but definitely a little boozy, though well wrapped up in flavors of caramel and dark fruits. I feel like I've said that a lot about all these holiday belgians, but this is one of the best I had. Easy to sip, very enjoyable.

Noel de Silenrieux - Brasserie de Silenrieux, 9%ABV. aroma of figs, peaches, plums, and a hint of spice. sweet maple syrup aftertaste. The alcohol is well wrapped in the flavors, but you can tell it is there. You want that in holiday beer, which is like a portable replacement for a fireplace. Unlike the Scaldis, the flavor of the beer is more subtle than the aromas, perhaps leaving some disappointed. Did go quite nicely with some sausage, rye bread, and slightly sweet beer mustard.

The Quest for Beervana, #6 - The Beers of Summer, pt. 1

Chicago's summer allows for no rest. We cram every last bit of festival and outdoor event into 3 months, because come November, we're all already suffering from seasonal affective disorder. Here's a list of some of our favorites from summer drinking (think mid-May to August).

North Coast Old Stock Ale - a yearly release that ages well, OMG Beer recommends getting a 4 pack, having one now, one in 6 months after you hide it in a cool dark place, and then the other 2 after a year or more, sharing them with a friend. Friends deserve good beer. 9.2% ABV

Great Lakes Eliot Ness - Vienna lager. The best we've had.
&
Metropolitan Dynamo Copper Lager - see review.

Left Hand Sawtooth Ale (on nitro tap @ Smallbar Division in Chicago) - normally, a tasty bitter. Out of a nitro tap, it gives new live to the British pub beer legacy. This is what those british pales and bitters should be like, but never are after being shipped here across the sea, poorly cared for, and so on.

Half Acre Gossamer (in cans!) -

THE IPAS OF TEXAS - It will be hard to recall each individually, but these beers were all delicious finds on a short trip to Texas. All the breweries made some pretty spectacular beer as a whole, but it was IPA after IPA on a hot weekend with an IPA fanatic friend.

St. Arnold - Houston brewery
(512) - Austin Independence - Austin brewery with a fantastic tasting event the first saturday of every month.
Franconia - small, newish brewery
Live Oak - more Austin. fantastic hefeweizen as well.
Real Ale - The Full Moon Pale Rye once got brewed by OMG Beer!, big hit. Blanco, TX, in the hill country.

Revolution Brewing: my first trip to Revolution led to two more, because this place is delicious. Both beers were great full flavored examples of their style.

Bottom Up Wit - delicious and refreshing wit with coriander and orange peel.

Coup de Grace Saison - spicy goodness, maybe allspice, excellent carbonation per the style, and an excellent blend of sweet maltiness and spicy hops, in a low-mid bodied beer.

The Quest for Beervana, 2010 #4 - Notes of Two Recent Brews

Traquair House Ale
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
Origin: Scotland
ABV: 7.2%
Serving Glass: Pint Glass
OMG Beer Rating: 9.0

Brown, with red highlights, a light white head that faded quickly, not a lot of bubbles.
Smells of: chocolate, toffee, maybe even butterscotch, hint of apple or pear.
Taste: leans sweet, smooth and creamy, with a hint of the butterscotch. Alcohol warmth as you finish the sip. A fruitiness lingers in the aftertaste, as does some of the chocolate.
Mouthfeel: full bodied and low carbonation keep it smooth, and it almost coats your tongue as you finish each sip.

Modus Hoperandi IPA
Ska Brewing, can

Orange-red in color, nice fluffy off-white inch ior more head that sticks to the glass
Aroma is hops forward, pine and grapefruit, with a hint of a malt body
Taste: hops, very light malty structure to the flavor, but really just accentuates the hops with a touch of sweetness on the tongue, which fades to bitterness
Mouthfeel: really great. Its light, but not in a flavorless way, more in a surprisingly smooth, creamy way.

The Quest for Beervana, 2010, #2

A few new beers OMG tried at bars, and found worthy of note. Try them and tell us what you think!

New Belgium Brewing Company, Lips of Faith Series, Dark Heather Saison - fruity saison, not a huge hint as to the darkness (or perhaps the night's drinking swallowed it up)

Brasserie Lefebvre Barber Winter Ale - licorice, plum, raisin. fantastically unique flavors, hint of alcohol too.

Three Floyds Brian Boru Red Ale - Irish red maltiness meets the american hop profile you expect from Three Floyds.

Orkney Brewing's Skullsplitter Scotch Ale - considered a world class scotch ale by the Alstrom Bros of Beer Advocate, but after a Tyranena Dirty Old Man, slightly disappointing.

The Quest for Beervana, 2010, #1: Two Sour Ales, Two IPAs at the Map Room in Chicago

The Map Room offers over 200 of the world’s finest beers, approximately 30+ on tap, representing about 30+ styles of beer (perhaps OMG needs to start the 30/30 club). The quote of the night, delivered at OMG Headquarters during the hazy morning hours: “There’s no such thing as a person that doesn’t like beer, just people who’ve yet to find the right beer.” Sometimes, even in the dead of winter and with snow on the way, a touch of sour, funky fruity beer transports you to a different place, maybe a field of strawberries in Flanders, or a monastery cellar.

Bocker Cuvee des Jacobins (Brouwerij Bocker, 5.5% Flanders Red) - won the sour battle for the night, with plenty of complexity underneath its sour aroma and bite

Hanssens Oudbeitjie Lambic (Hannsens Artisanaal, 6% Lambic)– initially interesting, the funkiness eventually overpowered and the strawberries remained too subtle and overwhelmed. Not usually one to say this, but a slightly sweeter malt bill would have helped too.

IPAs don’t go out of season, and here at OMG, we’re getting ready to brew our spring IPA. For ideas, we sampled two arguably west coast interpretations.

Port Wipeout IPA (Port Brewing, 7% American IPA) - a hoppy west coast IPA from the San Diego area. Bitter grapefruit and pine flavors. A touch of malt holds the beer together, but this beer is about hops. Fantastic.

New Belgium Ranger IPA (New Belgium Brewing, 6.5% American IPA) - though arguably still a west coast IPA, there's more malt here, for a slightly more balanced flavor compared to the Wipeout. A touch darker as well, almost reddish. One of the few American styles offered by New Belgium, but a fantastic addition to their lineup.