The Sounds Inside My Mind

Westmalle Trappist Dubbel

4.28/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Since I don’t own a Westmalle glass, I’ve poured my cellar temperature 33cl bottle into a Chimay chalice.

The beer is nearly opaque. It has a brown color with ruby highlights. A decent amount of pinkish tan foam rests on top. Swirling the beer leaves a good amount lacing.

Smelling the beer reveals Belgian candi sugar and some dark fruits, like plum and fig. The Trappist yeast provides some spiciness, but it is mild.

Dark, complex malts characterize this beer. It’s earthy, nutty and like the aroma has some flavors of plum and fig. This bottle is labeled best by 27.05.12, so it’s close to two years old and I believe it may have become slightly oxidized. It is still quite tasty though.

The beer leaves behind decent coating that is very flavorful. Carbonation levels are average and it has a full body. My lips feel ever so slightly sticky.

I really like this beer a lot. It’s a fine example of a true Belgian Abbey dubbel. If you’ve never had this beer, you are missing out!

Founders Backwoods Bastard
4.38/5
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A bottle that’s been stored in my chilly basement is poured into a pint glass.

The beer is translucent and colored a dark, dull shade of ruby. It is nearly brown. A light brown foam head rests on top. It’s a thin head but it clings to the walls of the glass rather well.

There is a good amount of bourbon in the aroma. This scent compliments the peat, oak and roasted malts in the base beer. It is rounded out by s light sweetness. The bourbon may be a bit heavy, but overall its an appealing aroma.

Where the bourbon in the nose was strong, its more subtle when I taste the beer. Typical Wee Heavy flavors dominate. Toffee and plum provide some sweetness. Oak and peat are strong flavors. As I swallow, alcohol and bourbon are present, but it doesn’t burn. In fact, it isn’t even as warming as I expected the beer to be. Impressive.

This is a big beer with decent carbonation, but it isn’t very sticky. I can feel a slight film at the corners of my mouth, but that’s it for the lips. There isn’t so much of a coat in my mouth, more like a memory of the flavors.

This is a well done strong Scotch ale. Aging in bourbon barrels just makes it more impressive. Highly recommended to fans of the style or bourbon barrel aging…and everyone else.

2012 is one month old, and I have read 11 books.  This represents some great progress towards my goal of reading 15 novels-length works and 15 graphic novels and/or children’s books.  Here is the breakdown so far:

Novel-length

• Zombie by J. R. Angelella
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
• The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg et al
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Graphic Novels & Children’s Books

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik
• The Homeland Directive by Robert Venditti
• The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes
• Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstien
• Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness by Donn Fendler
• The Bipollo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

My current reading selection is Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, which will end up being book number one for February.  I also checked Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem out from the library; I will read it once I’m finished with Ms. Vowell.

21rst Amendment Allies Win the War!
4.43/5
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A cellar temperature can is poured into a pint glass. A big creamy tan head rests atop a clear, dark ruby liquid. Lots of carbonation can be seen within.

A very pleasing aroma can be smelled from this beer. I picked up on it as soon as I began pouring. There’s the aroma of caramelized sugar and toffee. Some light grassy hops round it out.

The beer has a fine toffee flavor. It is slightly sweet, but also has a good level of hops to balance things out.

The beer is full bodied, but isn’t overly sticky or too strongly carbonated.

I really like this beer. I find it to be a great example of the style. I didn’t even know this beer existed a few days ago! It’s another great beer from 21rst Amendment! Recommended.

Cottrell Brewing Mystic Bridge IPA

4.43/5
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
I received this bottle as part of a mystery 6 pick my wife picked up at a local Whole Foods; included were some Brooklyn, Dogfish and Mission Street beers, plus this one, the only one in the pack I had never tried. The bottle has been chilling in my cellar. It is marked best by April (I’ll assume in 2012).

The beer is translucent and colored dark copper. A large off white foam head fills the top portion of my pint glass. As it settles, lots of lacing is left behind. There is some visible carbonation within the glass, but it is hard to see.

The beer has a big, earthy hop aroma. I could smell the hops as soon as I opened the bottle; it only became more strong as I poured. The hops come across as somewhat oily. The are notes of grass and forests, but there isn’t a strong pine presence.

This is a tasty IPA. Hops are strong and present throughout each sip, but they aren’t overpowering. This is a hoppy IPA, but nowhere near DIPA levels. Some sweetness is also present, but it works well with the hops. Lots of earthy flavors are present, mirroring the aroma.

The beer isn’t very sticky. The hops are a little oily and provide a lot of tingling sensations. Coating is small, but does have some good hop flavors.

I like this IPA. Since it was a beer I was unfamiliar with, I will say that I am both surprised and impressed. I will have to drink this one again.

Continuing a tradition started last year, Nissa and I split a bottle of a limited release Allagash beer.  Tonight’s selection was the New Belgium collaboration Vrienden.

Allagash/New Belgium Vrienden (Portland Version) – 4.43/5

look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This bottle has been in my cellar since the day it was released at the Allagash Brewery. I’m serving it in an Allagash flute at a chilly temperature.

The beer has a very light copper color; it’s nearly tan. There is a great number of tiny bubbles rising within the beer. A rather large white foam head rests on top. It has settled some—leaving behind a few rings of foamy lace—but it still over a finger in thickness.

Vrienden has a grassy farmhouse funk aroma. I believe some of the grassiness comes from the hops, but I imagine that at least a portion is from the dandelion greens added to the brew. The funkiness is mild, but prevalent enough to let you know that you are in for a beer that lives on the wild side.

This beer comes across as very tart. Lots of grass and floral flavors are tasted first. Powdered sugar sweetness comes in next, but it is quickly overshadowed but the tart flavors. The tartness has a slight citrus quality to it (like a lemon), but there isn’t any of the grapefruit flavors you find in some hoppy beers. It provides a welcome fruitiness to the beer without making it taste like a fruit beer.

This beer has a fuller body and plenty of carbonation—the bottle opened with a resounding POP. A touch of stickiness is left on the lips; the coating left within my mouth is also sticky. It is a thin coat and is holds onto some of the tart flavors. Some puckering is felt by the beer; but as a drink more of it, the physical reaction grows less strong with each sip.

This is another impressive wild ale from Allagash. I’m a little sad that I only have one bottle of this left, but I bet there are still a few kegs of Vrienden sitting in the brewery. I would certainly order a glass if I saw it offered.

Even though 2012 will be a shorter year than normal, I still want to make a resolution to read more in the next year.  During the South Portland Public Library‘s summer reading program, I was able to average 1 book read per week for the entire summer.  This is the highest concentration of books read that I have ever attained, and it inspired me to try to pare down my To Read list over the next year.  Since you are supposed to set goals that you can attain, I hope to read 15 novel-length books in the next year, as well as 15 novellas, graphic novels or children’s books.  I also want to read at least one complete series of graphic novels (which won’t be counted in the aforementioned 15).  I’ve created a Goodreads list with some of the books I plan to read as part of this goal; you can find it here. Speaking of Goodreads—if you are a member,why not add me as a friend?

I’m also looking for any suggestions you have for books I should check out.  Leave a comment with your recommendations!

Bull Jagger Portland Lager

B+ / 3.85
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I picked a bottle of this up at Oak Hill Beverage today and popped it right into the fridge. There’s no date on the bottle, but since this beer premiered on shelves earlier this week, I know it’s fresh. Being the new brewery in the Riverside Industrial Park, I’m pouring this beer into a logo pint glass of their neighbor Allagash.

The beer is translucent yellow with some orange tones. Plenty of carbonation bubbles cling to the sides of my glass. The head is egg shell colored and about a finger thick. It has settled down to a modest layer of foam that caps the liquid. Swirling the beer coats the glass with a tiny film and some patchy foam.

The aroma has some fruity and grassy hops. Some pale and grainy malts are also present.

This lager has a solid flavor profile. A slight sweetness has hints of toffee. The hops are grassy and provide a basic level of bitterness that compliments the style nicely. A good balance of the sweet and bitter flavors linger on after I swallow; they provide a earthiness that is a nice ending.

This beer certainly has a fuller body than any mass produced lager that comes in a can. A good level of carbonation plays games on my tongue and really foams up if I swish the beer around in my mouth. The coating is a little stickier than I’d like, as are my lips, but this is a minor complaint.

I enjoy this beer. I hope it succeeds, as Southern Maine breweries who make golden beers exclusively don’t have the best track record (any remember Sparhawk or Growstown?). Brewing in accordance to the German Purity Law is an admirable goal. I’m excited to see what else Bull Jagger can create. There are some fine products coming out of the Riverton Industrial Park; Portland Lager fits in with them nicely.

Today is my 32nd Birthday!  To celebrate, I’ve pulled a 2 year old bottle of Atlantic Brewing‘s Anniversary Old Ale, Foonf Zane Auld Ale.  No one on BA has reviewed this since it was released back in 2009…until tonight.

Atlantic Brewing Foonf Zane Auld Ale

B+ / 3.93
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I’ve had this bottle in my cellar since July 2009. I’ve poured it into a Delirium Noël snifter.

The beer has a dark ruby color. The head was a small layer of an and pinkish bubbles and foam. It settled quickly to a skim. Swirling the glass leaves an oily slick behind on the walls of the glass. Patchy foam slides down the walls and back into the beer.

Still a strong sweet aroma to this beer. Crystal sugar, toffee and plum scents are all present. A little bit of residual alcohol is mixed in as well.

This old ale has a typical dry, peaty flavor. Toffee flavors are present, but not as strong as in the nose. Malt syrup flavors are present in the back end. There is only a touch of alcohol in the finish.

This beer isn’t very sticky, but it does leave a decent coating on the inside of my mouth. Carbonation is low.

This is an enjoyable old ale. It seems to have aged well, although it has been a long time since I had it fresh—before I started reviewing beers. If you find yourself up in Maine and see a bottle, it would be a good one to bring home and drink later, once you’ve started missing Maine.

In some related news, Nissa got me three books on homebrewing as birthday gifts.  An introductory reference book published by the Brewers Association, a book of advanced homebrewing techniques, and a book about growing your own hops and malt grains!

Today’s Toothpaste for Dinner comic hits home.