Last Night’s Reviews

Posted by Jim on Jan 22nd, 2010
2010
Jan 22

My first Pitch the Pint night at the Lion’s Pride was an excellent experience.  The place was virtually empty, which surprised Nissa and I, but it meant that we could kick back and have an hours long conversation about beer with Leigh and Ryan (our gracious hosts for the evening) and close down the bar.  We left with a few glasses, which was very generous, and got to tour the behind the scenes areas (VIP access!).  It was a really special night, and other great memory I’ll associate this excellent beer bar.

I reviewed three beers over the course of the evening. They aren’t very wordy, but I only wanted to jot down quick tasting notes so I could get back to the conversation.

d’Achouffe Le Chouffe

A / 4.35
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4

Reviewed from my notes. Poured from a bottle into a Le Chouffe goblet. It’s a golden orange beer with a thin white head. It’s translucent and has lots of carbonation bubbles visible within. It has a very nice earthy yeast aroma; there may be a hint of fruit in it as well. It has a great grassy, wheat like taste. There is a hint of alcohol in the finish. It’s spiced to perfection. It has a heavier body than I expected, and a plenty of carbonation. It’s a bit strong, but very good to drink. An excellent beer.

d’Achouffe N’Ice Chouffe

B+ / 3.8
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

Reviewed from my notes. Served in a La Chouffe goblet. It has a medium brown color, opaque, with a thin skim of grey bubbles. I couldn’t detect much aroma, but it was served pretty cold. It has a slightly sweet flavor, with some caramel notes. There is a lot of carbonation and a medium body. Overall, a pretty interesting beer that was fun to drink, but I don’t think I’d order too many. I’m glad I got it on tap instead of in a bottle.

De Glazen Toren Jan de Lichte

A / 4.4
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

Reviewed from my notes. Served in a tulip glass. The beer is colored somewhere between gold and orange. It has a nice, thick white foam head. There isn’t much carbonation visible in the glass. There is a slight earthy yeast aroma. You can taste orange and coriander as well as some candy sugar sweetness in the finish. It is an interesting mix of flavors, complex like a glass of champagne. It has a less-than-medium body and a near perfect mouth coating (just enough to leave you wanting another sip). This beer is highly drinkable. I could stick with this all night. Everything by De Glazen Toren is so good!

There was some great stuff on tap last night that we didn’t get to try.  Good thing we’ll be back in Brunswick on Saturday!

21rst at 76

Posted by Jim on Dec 4th, 2009
2009
Dec 4

Tomorrow is Repeal Day, the 76th anniversary of the ratification of the 21rst amendment, which repealed the 18th and made alcohol legal once again!  One way I’m honoring that great act is by buying and consuming some exceptional beers.

I made a trip to Downeast Beverage yesterday afternoon, whilst waiting for 4 pm to roll around and for Novare Res to open its doors.  I really shouldn’t go here alone, especially with a fat wallet, as I always see so many beers I want to purchase, and I usually end up buying most of what I want.  I limited myself to four bottles, all of which look to be exceptional.  I picked up a 750 ml of Fantome Noel, which is the third different Fantome selection I’ve added to my cellar since the fall.  It’s such a great brewery, I feel really lucky that I am able to find so many different Fantome products in Maine.

I also bought myself a bottle of Weyerbacher XIII, their anniversary beer from 2008.  I already had a bottle of the Twelve and the fourteen should still be on store shelves; once I pick one up, I’ll have a bit of a vertical going.  That’s pretty exciting!

Lastly, I bought two 12 oz bottles of J.W. Lees Harvest Ale.  One is from 2007, which I’ll save until 2017 so Nissa and I can drink it on our tenth wedding anniversary.  The other bottle is the port cask aged variety and it dates from 2005.  This is my favorite style of the cask aged series.  I’ll probably drink it soon, maybe for Christmas or New Years.

Tomorrow, on Repeal Day, Nissa and I will be traveling to a home in Biddeford to take part in the first meeting of the Southern Maine Beer Drinkers Group, a collection of beer enthusiasts who met on Beer Advocate.  There will be some exceptional beers on offer tomorrow.  I’ll do a full write up of what I got try after the meeting.

Finally, tonight is the First Friday Art Walk in Portland.  I’ll be headed out to the Two Point Gallery to meet the folks behind Rum Riot Brewing Company.  There isn’t much information on this group (at least not that I could find), but apparently they only offer there beers in two ways: on draught at a specific gallery on First Friday or in a bottle/growler by contacting the brewery directly.  I hope that their beer is good, as I’d love to think I’ve discovered a new source of excellent beer from right here in the Portland area.  If you get a chance, make your way to 564 Congress at 5pm and join me for a beer you most likely have never tried before.  Plus, it’s free!

Cellar Time

Posted by Jim on Mar 25th, 2009
2009
Mar 25

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gathered myself quite a tasty beer collection to cellar.  It’s small right now, but I’ve got ambitions of eeping a good supply of quiality beers on hand.  My dream is to one day never need to go to the store when Nissa and I feel like having a good beer, we can just go downstairs and select something.  Here’s what I have on hand now (links go to the Beer Advocate pages for each beer):

Also, in our fridge we have a second bottle of Black Albert and a 750ml of Ommegang Abbey Ale, both of which will be consumed soon.  I’ve never had the Black Albert before, so I’m quite excited to try it.

I’m hoping to add a few more bottles to the collection in the next few days (maybe after payday).  Downeast Beverage has bottles of Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA and Raison d’Extra, and a J. W. Lees Harvest Ale brewed in 2002.  Yum!  I also think my collection needs some Cadillac Mountain Stout 22oz bottles; you can’t have too much of that beer.

In other beer news, Jeff should be finishing his Novare Uprising card sometime Friday ro Saturday.  Good work Jeff!