Beer Review: Upland Blackberry Lambic (2010 vintage)

Reviewing the 2010 vintage of Blackberry Lambic from Upland Brewing Company out of Bloomington, Indiana.

Score: 91

Brewed 04/02/09 and bottled 10/11/10. Served in an Upland snifter glass (proper glasware!) and enjoyed on 07/03/13.

Appearance: This bottle was an absolutely volcanic gusher, and we lost nearly a quarter of the bottle. Blackberry color with tons of floaty fruit chunks. I enjoy pulpy juice, so why not pulpy beer? Thin layer of persistent head. Excellent lacing and retention. 4.25/5

Smell: Jammy blackberries, lactoey yogurt, hint of fruity yeast. Not very complex. 4/5

Taste: More blackberry flavor and substantially less lactoey yogurt on the palate. Averagely tart; nowhere near as tart as either Kiwi Lambic or Raspberry Lambic. Jammy flavors and Belgian-y qualities (fruitness and yeast, primarily) towards the finish. What tartness there is is best described as "zesty" and layers. As this brew warms up, more yogurt flavor comes through. I was honestly hoping for more tartness and more blackberry, but this is still tasty. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied, average tartness. Good carbonation for style/profile. 4/5

Overall: Having had Kiwi Lambic and Raspberry Lambic previously, I found Blackberry Lambic massively disappointing in relative terms, but tasty in absolute terms. I wish there was much more tartness and less lactoey yogurt. The Belgian style base was much more prominent than I was expecting

Cost: $20 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Melange 8

Reviewing Melange 8 from The Bruery out of Placentia, California.

Score: 84

2013 vintage bottle served in an Upland snifter glass and enjoyed on 07/03/13.
Appearance: The color of the beer is a yellowish-green-brown caramel color that kind of looks like a melange of the colors on the label. Pours a thin ring around the glass of off-white head. Poor lacing, OK retention. 2.75/5

Smell: Coffee is the first thing I notice upfront, but it is ultimately not the most prominent or lasting element of the aroma. Immediately after the coffee is sweet caramel, sweet vanilla, toffee and a little oakiness. Nice medley of sweet aromas with some coffee to balance. The coffee is not very roasty, but it is appealingly pleasant. 4/5

Taste: Tastes just like it smells with substantially less coffee and more sugary sweetness. Quite malty. Some alcohol warmth and a little booziness too. At first, I thought the barrel and malty sweet flavors made for a nice mix, but the sweetness really layers and grows on you in a negative way. This beer quickly borderlines cloying. 3.25/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, quite low carbonation. Unnecessarily sweet, but this is The Bruery. Sticky on palate. 3.75/5

Overall: Even by The Bruery's standards, this beer was a sweet mess. There was not nearly enough roasty/bitter coffee to offset the overbearing sweetness of the brew, and none of the people present when this bottle was opened could finish more than a few ounces before giving up. It is not a bad beer, but it's one that gets undrinkably sweet as it layers, and nearly a third of this bottle was ultimately donated to the drain at the end of the night. If you own a bottle, I would recommend trading it away. I wish I had my forty bucks back.

Cost: $40 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts

Reviewing the Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts, a collaboration between DryHop Brewers and Begyle Brewing Company. Both breweries are located in Chicago, Illinois.

Score: 90

Tap pour served in a taster glass as part of a beer flight at the DryHop Brewers Brewpub on 06/28/13.

Appearance: Deep chestnut brown color. Ring around glass of head served. Okay lacing, above average retention. 3.75/5

Smell: Hops, citrus, hint of grassiness and hot chocolate mix. Nice mix of "oddball" flavors that do not generally pair well together done well, but this brew is not the most complex on the nose. Smells like you would expect a black IPA to smell. 4/5

Taste: Smokiness and roasty-forward malt, which was totally unexpected from the nose. More traditional IPA-like outside of the smokey and roastiness. No chocolate. Not "hop" intensive, "pale ale" degree of bitterness. Slightly base finish with the lasting smokey roastiness. Tasty and different. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Greater than light bodied, spot on carbonation. Dry finish. 4/5

Overall: A very solid beer with a somewhat unique taste. Nothing earth shattering here, but this brew is pleasant and enjoyable. I would order a full glass, but I would not go out of my way to seek this brew out.

Cost: $5 for a pint.

Beer Review: Shark Meets Hipster

Reviewing the Shark Meets Hipster from DryHop Brewers out of Lakeview in Chicago, Illinois.

Score: 93

Tap pour served in a taster glass as part of a beer flight at the DryHop Brewers Brewpub on 06/28/13.

Appearance: Dull and cloudy tangerine color with a thin layer of froth served. Excellent lacing and cling/retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Dulled tropical notes primarily mixed with aromas of grain sweetness. Mango, tangerine and citrus juice aromas that are vaguely reminisce of the Three Floyds and De Struise collaboration To Live A Rich Life (aka Shark Pants) without the Belgian twist. Hint of sticky, danky hops. 4.25/5

Taste: Tastes like a much more bitter and infinitely more tropically juicy Gumball Head. Less juicy intense IPA-like than the nose led on, and more bitter. Very dry and "leafy" green hops but not "piney." The bitterness lays heavy and lingers on the tongue, but does not "bite" so to speak. I find this aspect quite intriguing. There is a nice sweet juicy malt backbone. Some orange rind flavor too, a touch of passion fruit and tangerine. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Light-plus bodied, low carbonation. Quite bitter and oily on the tongue. 4.25/5

Overall: A delicious brew that is nice and "bitterly hoppy." I like how the lighter sweet juicy citrus characters add balance and the complexity twist of the wheat beer base. This is a beer I would order a full pint of. Cheers!

Cost: $5 for a 16 oz pour and $6 for a 32 oz (counter-pressured) growler fill.

Beer Review: M Belgian-Style Barleywine

Reviewing the infamous and elusive M Begian-Style Barleywine from the Midnight Sun Brewing Company out of Anchorage, Alaska. This is Midnight Sun's 10th anniversary beer and 1,000th batch produced. This barleywine has a massive malt bill, used four different strains of yeast to ferment (two were of Belgian origin, hence the "Belgian-Style"), and was aged in bourbon barrels.

Score: 96

May 2005 vintage bottle served in a snifter glass and enjoyed at Dark Lord Day 2013 on 04/27/13. HUGE thanks to Shawn Raymond, the generosity king of all kings, for this glorious hookup! This is likely going to be the biggest whale I ever slay, and I cannot begin to thank you enough for the opportunity. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Pours a traditional toffee brown barleywine color with a wispy coating and thick ring of tan-beige head. Good lacing and retention for the pour size. 4/5

Smell: Surprised to find no real oxidation here. The dark fruit presence is greater than anticipated, with ample caramel to boot. Bourbon-oak, vanilla, and molasses too. Incredibly enticing; an interesting medley of flavors. 4.75/5

Taste: Taste follows the nose, but the vanilla character seems more prominent. Incredibly smooth, perfectly balanced. Just a hint of positive fruity oxidation, which plays nicely into the dark fruit character. There is a little bit of raw chocolate or cocoa powder-like flavor too. Some non-sweet molasses flavor as well. I do not detect any oak, and the bourbon quality was pretty subtle overall save for the vanilla. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: I felt the viscocity and carbonation were appropriate, but one of the trade offs of analyzing a small pour is the mouthfeel. If you want to get a few good tastes, you cannot take a single sip large enough to get any solid impression about the mouthfeel. The flavor balance was excellent, and I did not find this barleywine to be too fruity or sweet even with eight years of age. 4/5

Overall: An excellent beer, and one of the top barleywines that I have had the opportunity to tick. However, that said, this beer is not one of the ten best overall beers I had ever had and it certainly is not worth the $1,500 the last one sold for on eBay.

Cost: $10 or $15 for a 22 oz (bomber) bottle at the brewery at the time of the release, the most recently sold bottle that I know of sold for over $1,500.

Beer Review: Duck Duck Gooze (2009 vintage, batch 1)

Reviewing batch 1 (the 2009 vintage) of the infamous Duck Duck Gooze from The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California. Shout out to Jonathan Feldman for bringing this bottle!

Score: 100

2009 vintage bottle served in an hard plastic wine chalice and enjoyed on 05/18/13 side-by-side with a bottle of 2012 Cable Car as part of our Chicago Craft Beer Week whales tasting. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Similar color to, but a little lighter and more "bright" than, the Cable Car (orangey-golden in color). Only a thin ring of head around glass off the pour. Surprisingly good lacing and retention (Cable Car absolutely lacked both). 5/5

Smell: Tart apples, pear, hint of mango. Super sour nose. 5

Taste: Incredibly tart peach, apple, mango, lemon and some vinegar. Lacto too, but not in a funky way. A light amount of pine as well. 5/5

Mouthfeel: A little more body than Cable Car (which was light-medium bodied) with a perfect level of carbonation as well. More tart than Cable Car too, with a tongue tingling zestiness that was like drinking liquid warhead candy. Just as dry as Cable Car on the finish. 5/5

Overall: Even better than Cable Car. This is one I wish I had a case (or ten) of. I love how "clean" and sour this was, without being heavy on the funk. This is one of the best beers I have had the opportunity to sample. Prost!

Cost: $40 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Cable Car (2012 vintage)

Reviewing the 2012 vintage of the infamous Cable Car from The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California. Major thank you to Kevin Fujii and Tyler Shaughnessy for helping me acquire this brew!

Score: 99

2012 vintage bottle served in an Upland snifter and enjoyed on 05/18/13 side-by-side with a bottle of 2010 Duck Duck Goose as part of our Chicago Craft Beer Week whales tasting. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Pours a dull golden-orange color with a thin layer of fizzy head that settles to a ring around the glass. No lacing or retention. Average golden ale-like appearance 3.5/5

Smell: Lactobacillus, vinegar, lemon, mango and a hint of tart apples. Has an imitation "Cantillon dust"-like aroma that I absolutely dig. Light fruitiness. Acidic nose. White grape too. 5/5

Taste: Mango, lemon, lacto and acidic grape. Very tart and dry. 5/5

Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied, perfect carbonation. Big in flavor, quite tart. Juicy on the palate, dry on the finish. 5/5

Overall: Absolutely love this beer. It's bold, zesty and tart, while not being very funky. In this regard, it is my ideal sour. It could be more complex, but this brew absolutely delivers in what it brings to the table

Cost: $40 for a 750 ml bottle.