KCM Spirit Reviews Podcast # 1

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Review 197: Founders Sweet Repute

Review 197

1/6/14

Founders Sweet Repute: 12.6% abv

Background: We should all be familiar with Founders at this point, being one of the more prolific breweries in Michigan. Founders has had major success with their Backstage Series, which is a series of experimental beers which have been bottled in 750 mL bottles for public consumption. This is a great way to promote new beers and experimental styles. The last review we did of an experimental beer was Bolt Cutter, Founders’ 15^th Anniversary Barleywine. This time around, we are reviewing Sweet Repute, a wheatwine aged in ex-bourbon ex-maple syrup barrels. That sentence alone should raise your eyebrows. Needless to say, the combination sounds like a recipe for syrupy sweet disaster. There is only one way to find out!

Nose: The nose starts off with a strong presence of wheat, oak, and bourbon. That does a pretty good job of describing this beer. This definitely has some notes of fruitiness, with sweet orange citrus, melon, and tropical fruits right off the bat. There is a subtlety of raisons that comes across, with an even more compelling sense of dry vermouth. The nose is rather tangy. There was noticeable pineapple, with some hoppy bitterness as well. Honey adds some sweetness to the nose. As the beer warms up, the yeasty, bready character becomes more dominant. Overall, the nose is dominantly sweet and fruity, with a definite callout to its grassroots.

Arrival: The arrival is a great introduction into this beer, with a mixture of flavors which play as montage to the aforementioned nose. There is a large number of different sensations, including the bready, wheat-like character, along with a complex fruitiness as well. The arrival shows off a unique taste of lemon-lime soda, with a crisp refreshing mouth-feel.

Body: The body has a thicker mouth-feel, with a sense of honey and fruits dominating the body. The bourbon oak really comes through here. There is a lot of honey and sweetness in the body, in a very sugary, syrupy texture. There is a substantial amount of malt in the body as well.

Finish: The finish concludes with multiple complexities. There is a dry hoppiness that dominates, with a sweet bourbon and honey in the finish. There is a little bit maple in the finish, but it really doesn’t shine through, which we feel is a good thing. Instead, there is slightly more molasses to be found in the finish. There is a good amount of fruitiness in the finish, but it does not over-dominate the beer. There is also a strange taste of bubble gum noticeable from the body into the finish.

Final Comments:  Sweet Repute dances a line of sweetness and complexity, offering a ton of full, thick flavors, but never providing an over-dominance of sweet flavors. Between the wheat malt, the maple/bourbon barrels, and the high proof, it seemed inevitable that this would be overbearingly sweet. Instead, it mixes thick, sweet flavors with a balanced, interesting hoppiness and dryness. Don’t get us wrong, this is no IPA. It just handles itself in a very composed manner. KCM thoroughly enjoyed this beer, even though the maple got lost in the cluster of flavors for most of the event. It is also worth mentioning that although this and New Holland Pilgrim’s Dole (R #7) are distinctively different, you would not lose much by going with New Holland’s wheatwine.

Why you’d buy it: You like limited release beers of a sweeter style and high proof.

Why you wouldn’t: You can’t find it, and it is more expensive than Pilgrim’s Dole.

Score: 9.25/10

Review 183: Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

Review 183

11/15/13

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout: 10.5% abv

Background: Oskar Blues, a Colorado brewery started in 1997, has just released their seasonal imperial stout for this season, and it is making an impact (on my wallet). Oskar Blues is a cool brewery, because they were the first American brewery to can their beers, and they’re still doing it. Ten Fidy, is a stout made with two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oat and hops, and it is rated at 98 IBUs (International Bitterness Units). Oskar Blues even says that the amount of malt is ENORMOUS. Well now, this sounds like my kind of beer already.

Nose: Immediately, a chocolaty maltiness comes through the nose prominently. The nose actually has some fudge in it, along with a good amount of frothy cream right on the top of the glass. There is actually a heavy whipped cream-like smell right in the glass, with a slight yeast complementing the dark, smooth notes. The nose here isn’t horribly complex, but does resemble a classic stout, offering up a pleasant balance in the flavors. There is a bit of vanilla ice cream smell coming through, with dried fruits and slight anise becoming noticeable as the beer warms up. There is a definite sweetness to the nose, but neither the sweetness nor the richness over-dominates the meek aroma of the beer.

Arrival: The arrival of this beer lets you know you’re dealing with a blast of malt without hesitation. The malt tastes roasty and nutty, but it’s almost like a light roast. There is a subtle earthy, raw barley grain note that sits in the background of the arrival as well. The arrival is still characteristically creamy and smooth, with a strong presence of chocolate and vanilla bean. With a little bit of agitation, the arrival shows off some vanilla-dominant root beer flavors.  After the beer warms up, there is a slight bit of hops that starts to play into the beer, but it isn’t very overbearing. There is a slight presence of apple and berries that comes through in the arrival, but it is a soft, implied note.

Body: The body is where a hoppiness in the beer starts to peak. The absolutely fantastic thing about this beer is that, even at the peak of the hops, the balance of malt and hops is so harmonically coordinated, it doesn’t stand out at all in the medley of flavors. The vanilla is big here, but with the texture and creaminess, this can most accurately be described as a root beer float. The fruit from before bleeds into the body and trickles off as the beer progresses on the palate.

Finish: The finish, contributing a huge amount of flavor, is such a pleasurable experience. This is a truly quality crafted beer. Besides the balance, the chocolate flavor doesn’t just taste like Hershey’s chocolate. It tastes like high quality authentic German chocolate straight out of the chocolate factory. The maltiness, creaminess, and vanilla are balanced near perfectly with the gentle, controlled, perfectly implemented hops. The malt in the finish is artfully crafted as well. There is a dry yeastiness that finishes off the beer.

Final Comments:  Oskar Blues, as far as I’m concerned, just started coming out of the woodwork here in Michigan this year. The first product of theirs that drew my attention was Dale’s Pale Ale. I actually drink the Old Chub Scotch Ale on a regular basis. When this beer came out, I was very interested in seeing what it had to bring to the extremely crowded stout table, while many others have just criticized it for its steep price ($17/4). Ten Fidy, besides its admittedly embarrassing name, is one of the most delicious, traditional style American stouts I’ve had thus far. It is not what one would call unique, and it is definitely malt heavy in comparison to other stouts. Regardless of the price, I would recommend this one to anybody, although it is not the most complex beer on the shelves by any stretch of the imagination. Still, Oskar Blues is doing something right in my mind, and I am convinced they’re here to stay.

Why you’d buy it: You want a malt monster stout with incredible balance.

Why you wouldn’t: You can’t afford a beer that costs $17 for four 12 ounce cans.

Score: 9.25/10

Review 178: Stone Vertical Epic Series 121212 Ale

Review 178

9/18/13

Stone Vertical Epic Series 12 Ale: 9% abv

Background: The final chapter! There won’t be a sequel? Or will this be like Star War and start all over again? Well, without ruining the surprise, I sure as Hell hope so. This is a series of experimental beers produced by our bitter friends, Stone. The project started in 2002, when the first beer was brewed. The idea was to make aging-friendly beers that could be compared year after year. So every year, a new beer has been produced. This one, produced on 12/12/12 was the last batch to be made in the Vertical Epic series. The bottle impressively states that the beer is an “Ale brewed with spices”. Sounds very simple, if you ask me. Well it isn’t. The spices in this beer are incredible, and before this beer disappears, you should try it.

Nose: The nose is immediately greeting you with spiced notes of allspice, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, and gingerbread. There are some molasses and apple flavors that come out early on, with a small hint of fresh mint. There is vanilla and caramel present in the nose, with some cocoa as well. As the beer opens up, there are more dynamic notes of caramel apple and spices. There is an old oaky flavor that becomes prevalent the more you dig into the nose. There is some orange and a little bit of wood lacquer that shows up in the smell. This is absolutely a master class on what balance should be. We are really going crazy for this nose. Let’s hope the rest of the beer doesn’t disappoint.

Arrival: The arrival is favorably spicy, with features of apple, vanilla and allspice being major components. There is also some clove and nutmeg that comes through. The clove becomes more present in the body, but starts making its feature here. There is a slight instance of pear present, with fruitiness present. There is also a good pumpkin and pumpkin spice note blending into the body.

Body: The body is dominant in cloves, with dry pepper bitterness and some hoppiness. The apple and pear are still present, with wood and vanilla taking the center stage not shortly after. The cadence is great in the body, and builds from the arrival with not too much effort. The pumpkin spice comes through strong here, and lasts through the finish. The body has a great medium mouth-feel.

Finish: In the finish, there are dark chocolate notes, spicy notes of allspice and clove, and vanilla present right. Pumpkin, apple, pear and other brilliant notes are still apparent in this rarely epic finish, and it isn’t failing to entertain us more and more. The spiciness, with some subtle bitterness comes through on the finish and tapers off at the right pace, without losing balance at any point.

Final Comments:  Well I hope I didn’t give away too much in the background section (I’m usually better about that then I was today). This beer is incredible. It isn’t an easy task to throw a bunch of spices into a brew and expect something good to come out of it. The spices can either over-dominate the beer or underwhelm your expectations. This one didn’t do either of those. The balance of spice complexity and character with different sweetness and earthy tones really contributed to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don’t normally swoon over a beer, but I just have never tasted anything like this to date. I don’t think this is a Friday-night at college kind of beer, mind you, but for an experience, it is almost unsurpassable at a reasonable price.

Why you’d buy it: Because you read my review.

Why you wouldn’t: You hate things that taste good.

Score: 9.75/10

Review 170: Deschutes The Dissident

Review 170

7/22/13

Deschutes The Dissident: 11.4% abv

Background: Well, here we are with another special review. A coworker of mine donated this beer to our cause and for that we are greatly appreciative. We of course took advantage of that by writing a review on it. Deschutes Brewery doesn’t show up in Michigan, but that doesn’t mean they’re the new kids on the block. Deschutes was founded in 1988 in Bend, Oregon. They distribute to 18 states, and are the 11^th largest brewery in the U.S. Now we’re talking. Founder Gary Fish named the brewery after the nearby river, which can be well noted on their emblem. This particular beer is the Dissident, 2013 vintage, which is a Flanders-styled brown ale, sour and tart in character. This is a wild yeast beer and according to Deschutes, they use Brettanomyces (a type of yeast often known as the “Brett”) as their catalyst. Deschutes claims this to be a brewing “challenge”, as it is fermented in isolation in pinot noir and cabernet barrels with a lot of favoritism and special treatment. We recall that cherries were part of the mix too, here. So this is obviously a complex and well-cared for beer. The fun question is next. What does it taste like?

Nose: The nose starts off with a good mixture of spices and fruits, with some anise, cinnamon, gingerbread, allspice, and some red grape flavors. There is a slight hint of dark cherries, but it certainly isn’t as prominent as one would think. The fruitiness includes tart green apple, with some yogurt-like creaminess and some confectionary sugar notes that come through. It is a sweet, mellow sweet smell that lulls you into an arguably questionable sense of security. There is a very sweet red wine character that comes through, probably due to the cab and pinot aging.

Arrival: The arrival starts of tart with some sweet lemon flavor to it, with definite cherry tartness up front. To compliment these two flavors, there is a sense of tart green apple to bring up the arrival even more. There is almost a carbonated lemon-lime soda flavor that comes through as well. There isn’t much sense of grain or oak, but it does pack the initial tartness of a sour candy. There is a very faint hint of agave in the arrival present, which adds to the syrup-like sweetness.

Body: The agave that was found in the arrival slips into the body with some presence, along with the tart fruit notes, but gives way to some spicy notes that were found in the arrival as well. There are some notes of cherry and blackberry that come through, with slight hints of red wine and dark grapes. There is a little bitterness and a subtle creaminess that come through in the body, with just a small subtlety of pepper. There is a little bit of Christmas spice character that goes along with this beer, but it is very minute.

Finish: There is, from the nose, a sense of sweet red wine without any sense of dryness to it. There is a really dominant sense of creaminess in the finish, which is in good contrast to the fruity character that resides in the beer. The tart apples, cherries, blackberries, and other flavors reminiscence of a Sangiovese. The finish is about medium in length and not terribly complex, but it does finish off smoothly, and convinces you that you are not actually drinking an 11% beer. Don’t let it fool you though. That will end you up in a ditch.

Final Comments:  We’ve had a small number of sour beers in our time, and by far, this strikes me as one of the more unique, complex ones. That being said, it isn’t mind blowing, and the finish definitely loses some of zest that the nose and arrival mounted up. It isn’t hard to drink, but I can see how if you like hoppy beers, this could really get to be a bit sweet over time. This strikes me as a cordial-type beer, and is a great thing to share with friends. It does show incredible promise that sour beers don’t have to taste just like grape juice (I’m looking at you La Roja), and with a little more complexity and less tartness dominating the flavor, this could truly be a home run type beer. We enjoyed the spiciness and unique qualities that aren’t normally found in beers of this style. As far as Deschutes goes, this is a great first impression of them and we look forward to the opportunity to try more of their beers.

Why you’d buy it: This beer is a great learning experience and you don’t mind a mixture of sweetness, tartness, and mild spices

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like tartness

Score: 8.5/10

Review 165: New Holland Michigan Hatter

Review 165

6/9/13

New Holland Michigan Hatter: ?% abv

Background: Well, we’ve been doing great on not having information for our reviews. This would fall into that realm, because we don’t have a clue what the abv on this beer is. Now, our friendly neighbors at New Holland are very much a hit or miss brewery, producing some really kickass beers. On the other end of the spectrum, it would be safe to say they have made some pretty disappointing beers as well. We would like to word it differently, but we don’t sugarcoat any of this. So imagine where that puts this beer…The Michigan Hatter, sits in the Hatter range as an IPA which contains exclusively Michigan Cascade hops. Sounds like a novel idea from a drinker’s perspective, right? Let’s find out.

Nose: The nose starts off with a sense of sweetness, complemented by an obvious hoppiness. There are fruity notes of baked plantain, pears and cantaloupe. There is a note of vanilla, some honeysuckle floral notes and some pine-like notes, probably derived from the hops. There is an acidic note of lemon that comes through, rather sweet and not terribly tart. After letting the beer open up, there is a note of wheat that comes through in the undertones of the aromas.

Arrival: The arrival to this beer is pretty eventless, so far as we can tell. It can almost be depicted as watery, which a light hops influence. It has a sort of bitter, quinine soda-water type flavor to it.

Body: There is a relatively short body, with suggestions of wheat, hops, pine and pear. It still has an extremely light mouth-feel with hardly much flavor.

Finish: The finish is rather short, which sums up the experience of the entire beer. The finish is powerfully grainy with yeast and wheat taking over. There is still some pine and hoppiness coming through.

Final Comments:  So, halfway through this review, we kind of gave up on any sort of thorough depiction of this thing. The reason being is we didn’t at all like this. The complexity, after the nose, was lost upon us and replaced with sheer blandness, and even so much as poor flavor. This is not an expensive beer, which is good considering how much we didn’t drink of it. The best description we could produce for this beer is hops-flavored soda water. It sits right above some of those well-beloved lager friends our macrobreweries are literally spewing out, minus the maltiness that remains present in a lager. Nothing good to say about this one. Sorry.

Why you’d buy it:.You wouldn’t.

Why you wouldn’t:  Everything.

Score: 5.0/10

Review 164: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Review 164

6/5/13

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA: 15-20% abv

Background: Dogfish Head, a prolific microbrewery that has done a great job making beers, and making them memorable. This beer stands as no exception to the rule. You might notice a peculiar “typo” on the header of this review. That is not a typo; we aren’t quite sure what this batch of 120 Minute IPA is in terms of abv, but rumor has it that it sits around 18% abv, making it the highest alcohol content beer we’ve ever tried. What is the 120 minute about then? The beer is boiled for 120 minutes while being hopped with high-alpha American hops, whatever that means. They claim that this is the ultimate beer for hopheads, and we were pretty compelled by such a claim. Don’t be intimidated though, it isn’t what you’d think it to be.

Nose: Well, since you know this is the most alcoholic beer we’ve reviewed, you might suspect the nose to be a boozy event. Nevermind the thick, rich aromas, the flavors you’ll find include definite apple flavors coming through, with yeast flavors and bitterness and coming through. The booze notes don’t come through like we initially expected, but to compromise for that, there is some citrus flavor coming through. After more smelling, we felt the apple note came through very powerfully. The nose is crisp, attributed to the apple flavor, which begins to overpower the nose with its prominence. There is a small suggestion of pineapple to go along with the fruity notes. This nose will remind you of more of a pale ale than an imperial IPA, but we are determined to find more in the taste.

Arrival: The arrival is surprisingly light, with a suggestion of alcohol taste coming through. You’ll get a hint of sweetness, which might suggest that this beer isn’t what you’d expect out of an IPA. The arrival starts with a thin, flavorless entrance. It continues onto a lemon candy, slightly pine-like, and sweet arrival.

Body: The body is sort of eventless in the sense that it doesn’t hold much flavor or content. It is tart and runs off quickly. There is a slight suggestion of hops, pine, and pineapple, with some apple crispness coming through. There is a sourness that comes through in the body, partially due to the flavor of sour green apple that comes through on bigger gulps. There is a slight suggestion of bubblegum, attributed to an odd sugar characteristic that holds through on the body.

Finish: The finish is dry, long and crisp. There is a refreshing, mint-like flavor that comes through as the beer finishes. There is still some lemon-candy, sugary sweetness, almost akin to a modestly tart rock candy. There is still an odd sense of bubblegum, which we find as a playful oddity in this beer’s profile. There is something almost bread-like about the finish, which reminds you of a tough Italian white bread, which compliments but does not overpower the sweetness of the beer.

Final Comments:  You might say there are some compelling notes present in this beer, but it certainly has a bit of an identity crisis. This doesn’t fit like an IPA, coming closer to a barleywine flavor style, probably due to its high alcohol content. This is to be expected, but it does make a person question why they are buying an IPA in the first place. Another fallacy is that this beer claims to be for the ultimate hophead, and we are going to say it is not. Not even remotely, in fact. This beer is for somebody looking for an interesting way to get drunk, albeit they’ll enjoy the taste while getting there. Finally, the price doesn’t encourage purchase. This definitely weighs in as a novelty item, and what Dogfish Head should do is strive to bring out more complexity and hoppiness to the beer, so people feel like they’re actually buying an IPA.

Why you’d buy it: You just won a  lot of money by gambling, and want to show off that you have nothing better to do with it.

Why you wouldn’t:  There are better barleywines out there for less cost, and there are better IPAs out there for less cost.

Score: 8.0/10

Review 161: Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Review 161

5/20/13

Stone Imperial Russian Stout: 10.6% abv

Background: We have done a number of Stone beers in our time. Stone is a big California brewery which produces hugely bitter and dry beers. It is an embodiment of the West Coast style of brewing. Stone is pretty highly revered, but it doesn’t mean all of their beers are good. This is a Russian Imperial Stout that is not a mainstay in their lineup, and we were quite interested by this offering.  Russian stouts, initially designed to impress the Czar, were high in alcohol and had very malty character to them. They can tend to be dry and low to moderate in carbonation. What we are more interested in is this particular Russian. With the bitter nature of Stone beers, we’re wondering how much like a stout is

Nose: Well you might expect to smell some chocolate, coffee, and vanilla in the beer. And you won’t be surprised to find you smell that. There is a crisp apple-like smell coming through, making the aroma pleasant and not overly rich. You can sense a sort of molasses and raison-esque sweetness coming to the forefront as the beer opens up as well. You will eventually settle upon some dry maltiness, coupled with the fruitiness. Besides apples and raisons, one can start to get a slightly tart smell coming through, which is slightly reminiscent to a tangerine. There is a strong note of black licorice that comes through, and starts to over-dominate the smell. At the end of the nose, you will get a short, acidic tartness which we felt was close to dark cherries. Overall, this is a light, but surprisingly interesting nose.

Arrival: The arrival, if you know Stone beers, might be deceiving. This ends up being a fairly sweet and modestly tart arrival. The beginning is sharp and sour. The sour note is interesting and very much not what we expected. This sourness actually lasts through the arrival and into the body. This can be related to apples and lime citrus, followed by some dry fruits like cherry and raisons. You will find in the spiciness some black pepper and just a ting of rye grain as well.

Body: The body brings out a huge amount of maltiness, with coupled notes of molasses and raisons, crisp fruits, and the residual tartness lingering from the arrival. As it gets to the end of the body, there is some slight spiciness. Here, you start to get some creaminess and milk chocolate flavors cropping up.

Finish: The finish, holding some espresso and grapefruit bitterness in the flavor, ends in complete contrast to the rest of the beer. There is some crisp apple tartness, coupled with some moderate spice and followed by gingerbread and creaminess. This beer has a medium long finish with a prominent coffee aftertaste. It still contains the tartness from before, only it takes on a different light now. There is also a subtle taste of anise in the finish to go along with what we smelled in the beginning.

Final Comments:  This is an interesting beer. This lacks the power of a traditional imperial stout, as well as the richness. It seems like there should have been a little more backbone to this beer. This is a very crisp, refreshing stout. There was a defined transition between the arrival, body and finish which makes for an interesting and engaging experience. At KCM, we seem savor the moments where we find a beer that changes in flavor over time. This is a lot different than what we expected from a Stone beer. It is not nearly as overbearing as we thought it would be in the bitter character, which is a welcoming contrast to the full range of beers they offer.

Why you’d buy it: You want to try a less fruity, rich stout with plenty of flavor.

Why you wouldn’t: You are afraid of a little bitterness, or you like the bourbon-seasoned richness of a bourbon barrel aged stout.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 159: J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale Aged in Lagavulin Cask

Review 159

5/3/13

J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale Matured in Lagavulin Casks: 11.5% abv

Background: If you have stayed up to date on our reviews, you will know what this is all about. If you have not, just look down (you don’t have to look far) to Review 158. What you will find is that J.W. Lee’s is a brewery within the U.K. area. This is a barleywine called Harvest Ale, and the last review had the barleywine being aged in refill sherry casks. This beer was so interesting, we simply couldn’t wait to bring on the second variation of this that we had in our stocks. That could be a good or bad thing, because we had high expectations for this beer; rightly so, because this particular beer is being aged in old Lagavulin single malt Scotch barrels. Now, we haven’t reviewed Lagavulin, so I did want to take a minute to remind us what Lagavulin is. Lagavulin is a single malt Scotch made in Islay, which although not foregone, does make it a very peaty whisky. This is what interested us, especially since we thought the last Harvest Ale did contain a lot of peat and tobacco influence in it.

Nose: This starts off as a malty and wheat-like nose, with a slightly more peaty influence than the sherry-casked beer. It is also definitively woody. There is also sense of tobacco here. This beer smells old, not from a maturation standpoint, but as if it was slightly musty and briny. You will find, as a more prominent note, citrus flavors of orange and lemon. If you dig into the smell enough, you will find a sort of chemical aroma, close to wood lacquer. This sounds relatively off-putting, but it isn’t over dominant and we couldn’t find a better way to describe this smell. There is even a small portion of popery SP in it.

Arrival: There is a yeasty, malty arrival to this, more akin to the notion of a barleywine. It is decently sweet, with earthy, grainy tones coming to the forefront. There are still some thick, sweet flavors of honey that go along with the malt, with slight vanilla overtones as well. With a full glass at a chilled temperature, there is an enhanced smokiness to the arrival here.

Body: This part of the beer can be well described as a bridge between the two flavor profiles of the beer, from beginning to end. There is a stronger amount of apple cider here in the body, with some orange citrus as well. While chilled, one can find some vanilla in the body that accompanies the sweetness.

Finish: There is an optimum amount of peat in the end of the body, with the finish brandishing tons of malt flavors. There is, unlike in the sherry edition, some hops and grapefruit notes coming through as well. There are flavors of overly-ripened orange with some sour tang to be tasted. To add to the list of fruit notes that can be found in the beer, pear is also found in the finish as well. As the beer settles on the pallet, a reminiscent flavor of peat can be traced back from the taste.

Final Comments: I would like to propose that this version of Harvest Ale is not nearly as compelling as the last one we tried, which was a shock to us, and it should be a shock. Peated whisky can be some of the most complex, richly flavored, and ostentatious whisky available in the market (not meant in a bad way). So why in the world would this rich, heavy flavor not carry over into the beer like the sherry cask did? Some may propose that the sherry is more sweet and rich, and this will provide a larger sweetness to the flavor. We weren't satisfied with that, so we came up with a different theory. The theory is this: the Lagavulin cask is a highly “name” branded thing. It is like the Lamborghini of the cask world, if you will. Unlike an equivalent bourbon cask, this cask could be reused a number of times before Lagavulin needed to get rid of it. So to buy one from them would cost a fortune. What probably happened with J.W. Lee’s is they ended up getting a cask that was deemed “too worn” from Lagavulin and used that to age the beer. At this point, the oak would have a difficult time pulling flavor from the cask. J.W. Lee’s might also be a more gun shy in over-aging the beer in this barrel, so it would result in an early pull. The end result of this is a disappointingly less compelling beer, although it is adequately tasty and complex. 

Why you’d buy it: You are a Lagavulin fan and freak out at anything with the word printed on it.

Why you wouldn’t: The complexity, nor the namesake, does not warrant the amount of money they ask for the beer, and will leave you partially disappointed.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 158: J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks

Review 158

5/3/13

J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks: 11.5% abv

Background: J.W. Lee’s is an independent brewery owned by a family in Manchester. That is a pretty interesting point, because we haven’t reviewed a lot of authentic U.K. beers. They were founded in 1828, and now are on their sixth generation of family ownership. They also own a number of hotels as well.  This brewery tends to show off cask-aged ales, so that seems to be the focus. These guys produce quite a few beers, but as it tends to be in the European brewers, their beers tend to be very low percentage. This one, on the other hand, is not low at all, being at 11.5%. This is a Harvest Ale. This is actually considered a barleywine, which will explain why some of the flavors of malt come out more. This particular special release is aged in sherry barrels, which by itself is not very well seen in brewing today. We were very excited to see what this did to a beer.

Nose: Starting off as a fairly neat nose, one can relate the slight fruitiness of this beer to a Belgian style, but the uniqueness takes over from here. There are some notes of subtle raison, nuttiness, and slight malt. There are sweet notes of caramel and honey which front the nose, charging forward with ornaments of molasses following behind. If I had to guess, I would say this was aged in an Oloroso sherry barrel, although the size is hard to approximate. It adds a sort of obscure wine-like character to the beer. Not only does this beer look like apple cider, but you do get some notes of apple cider as well. The nuttiness, as the beer starts to open up, resembles toasted nuts; maybe not almonds per say, but none the less a toasted smell. We even started to sense some notes of dried oak, albeit not an aggressive smell, and a unique bit of plum as well, with even a hint of dark cherry.  

Arrival: The arrival, after smelling this beer for a few minutes, will knock you down. It has a sweet sherry and nuttiness at the beginning. There is some honey and maltiness in the arrival, but it is a pretty tightly packed, solid flavor. The arrival will start sweet at a slightly chilled temperature, and the sherry sweetness spills over into the body quite well. You will catch those apple cider notes in the arrival here as well. There is definitely some raison quality to this arrival. This might appear to be overly sweet when the beer reaches room temperature.

Body: To completely contradict the arrival, you will find interesting notes of peat and tobacco dominate the palate. It is not at all like the arrival, and leaves you a little astonished at what you just tasted. There are some burnt paper qualities to it. There is still some sweet raison to it, rich flavors of honey and the smoke becomes pretty powerful. This will calm down after the beer warms up though. The smoke flavors get pushed back to the finish as the beer transitions in temperature.

Finish: There is a little more peat in the finish than in the body, but you still get some prominent malt notes, along with the strong flavor of burnt tobacco. There is a strong amount of nuttiness to the beer, with the residual feelings of Oloroso and raisons. After the beer warms up to room temperature, the tobacco is right in the finish and kills the complexity.

Final Comments: This is probably one of the most complex beers we’ve ever had, with a dynamic influence from the temperature change. This has a great diversity, and the nose will tease you into thinking this would be simple and sweet, but it isn’t. This beer does model the sweetness of sherry, but takes on some prominent notes of other flavors as well, making this one of the most education beers we’ve ever had to drink.

Why you’d buy it: You don’t mind spending money, and want to try something completely different.

Why you wouldn’t: You are bitter and hateful and frown upon everything happy and good.

Score: 9.75/10

Review 156: Stone Old Guardian Barleywine Oak-Smoked

Review 156

4/22/13

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine Oak-Smoked: 11.4% abv

Background: Old Guardian, as we have established in the past, is a Cali microbrewery that has just celebrated their 16^th anniversary. Apparently, a tradition they have set up in recent years is to release a special edition beer on every odd year. This one has German oak-smoked barley thrown into the mix, in a “healthy dose” as Stone phrases it. They do this in parallel with the regular release of Old Guardian, so you can feel free to get both and see how the difference in ingredients changes the flavor. Since we’ve already tried Old Guardian, we were compelled to do just that. Look what we found!

Nose: The nose comes across as being aggressively malty, with interesting mellow notes of woody character. There are some subtle nutmeg flavors to the nose, with mild vanilla as well. As far as fruitiness goes, there is a mild cantaloupe and strawberry presence there with some baked apples and cinnamon complimenting the flavor. The nose is not very prominent, and does not depict any brutality that is so common-place with bitter Stone beers. There is a savory, maple character in the nose as well.

Arrival: The arrival starts out with a blast of bitterness and sweetness, battling to get the center of attention. The arrival starts off with a big fruity, malty flavor. There are contributions of vanilla, berries, and light citrus notes of lemon as well. The arrival is the most mild part of the beer, contributing a vast range of sweetness and a foreboding, yet minuscule bitterness as a precursor to the intensity to come.

Body:  The body is composed of ripe fruits like bananas and ripe berries, and Moscato grapes. The body contains some notes of sweet agave, but is counteracted by some dry black pepper notes. There is a dry grain, and something reminiscent to Belgian Trippel ale. The body starts a developed yeastiness which resembles sourdough.  There is some raison-like quality to the body, almost close to a Fino Sherry character.

Finish: The oak-smoked barley plays a big part here, showing the oak in center stage as a large flavor contributor. Raw oak, bitter oak, with a long woody aftertaste. There is still a large contribution of malt to the finish as well, trying to impose a failing sweetness to the fading flavor. There is a definite hops and grapefruit bitterness in the finish as well. There is a slightly underplayed strawberry note that gets buried by the bitterness of the finish, not unlike the complexities we found in the regular Old Guardian. There is also a hint of the smoked flavor that comes through in the finish, although not nearly as dominant as you might expect.

Final Comments:  The nose might seem underwhelming, not presenting a large foreshadowing to the beer. The taste, on the other hand, has a dynamic, malty, flavor. This transforms, rather rapidly, into a West Coast, bitter dominant finish which stays with you for quite some time. This is an influential beer, but what makes it the most impressive is when it’s compared to the regular Old Guardian Barleywine. The biggest similarity is the signature bitterness in the finish, but in other ways, this Old Guardian is much different than the original. Surprisingly, we can’t say it’s just “more smokey”, because this oak-smoking of the barley has really brought about some unique and sweet flavors that you wouldn’t really call akin to a campfire. This is no peat-smoking equivalent. It is a different animal, and we like it.

Why you’d buy it: This is a very interesting experiment from the regular Old Guardian.

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like bitterness or intensity.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 153: Short's Hopstache

Review 153

4/2/13

Short’s Hopstache: 6.0% abv

Background: For a second, let’s take a look at the history of Short’s Brewing Company. In Bellaire, Michigan, a brewer by the name of Joe Short purchased an empty hardware store. In the first year, there was only 178 barrels of production. In 2008, Short’s capacity increased to 8,000 to 10,000 barrels per annum. Here ends the history of Short’s Brewing Company. Short’s says they intend to stay small and focus on the Michigan area, producing quality mom and pop style beers. This is a pretty young brewery, but you can bet they have seen more popularity in the last few years.

Nose: The nose contains substantial notes of lemon, lime, and grapefruit, obviously. It has a tart, green apple note in it with a hoppy presence and a definitively floral and earthy, although it is well balanced in this manner. It also contains a little bit of a fresh grass smell to it. This is a pretty fresh nose which opens up the welcoming arms to spring, despite the fact that Michigan refuses to acknowledge this invitation. 

Arrival: Well there’s a lot of grapefruit here. There is slight apple note, and some interesting wheat grain there. There is a mild citrus in the arrival, but otherwise this is a pretty weak arrival. There is nothing really all that special about this arrival. There are also no mustaches.

Body: Besides having grapefruit, there is a small introduction of hops, but this becomes more prevalent in the finish. Otherwise, the body is also horribly anticlimactic, lacking any sort of event to it. We were sorely disappointed in the complexity, although the balance is satisfactory.

Finish: You guessed it: hops and grapefruit. There is a hint of grain in the finish as well, as you get a sense for a dry, bitter ending. Sweet lemon is also in here as well. It is a medium length finish, and the beer comes off very refreshing. It certainly comes off as a summer beer by any standards.

Final Comments: As we said before, this beer shouldn’t take you more than three big gulps to finish, as this is no Stone IPA. There are no mustaches to be found in this entire beer, and frankly, with the standard set by microbrewery IPAs, this does not match their intensity or complexity. We look for something more out of an IPA, and this should sit in a Pale Ale shelf.

Why you’d buy it: Because everybody else is.

Why you wouldn’t: You want to drink an IPA

Score: 7.0/10

Review 146: Right Brain CEO Stout

Review 146

3/5/13

Right Brain CEO Stout: 5.5% abv

Background: Right Brain is the brewery we’re talking about today. Why? Because we reviewed it, that’s why. The guy who owns Right Brain Brewery will tell you a nice story about how he named his brewery. The gentleman in question to a test in high school to determine whether or not he was a “right-brained” thinker or not, and his teacher told him he took it wrong, seeing as he was the only one in the class who was right-brained. So he named his brewery to spite his teacher. Right Brain Brewery is in Traverse City, and they will tell you that they don’t have a boring beer they make. KCM accepts the challenge.

Nose: Coffee, vanilla, woody, chocolate/fudge, malt, brown sugar, mild grain and earthy notes

Arrival: Slightly bitter, earthy coffee, cocoa, light, slight tartness, blackberries, wheaty

Body: Wheat, malt, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, slightly watery

Finish: Vanilla, coffee, wheat, cocoa, slight berry sweetness

Final Comments: There was unanimous decision that there is nothing exciting about this beer among our panel. It isn’t an imperial stout, but a nice 6% stout doesn’t have to be watery. This one is, and it is a shame. The arrival starts off with some interesting characteristics to it, albeit a little on the translucent side, but by the time the body comes on, your hopes for an engaging, exciting experience jam packed with flavor have disappeared. There is a hint of unique flavor coming through in the beer, but to our frustration they’re overshadowed by the holey nature of water in the flavor. That’s not to say you won’t enjoy this beer, it’s just that we can think of a few beers for the same price that are so much bigger in flavor.

Why you’d buy it: You like sticking it to the man, which in this case is the founder’s high school teacher.

Why you wouldn’t: Dragon’s Milk

Score: 7.5/10