Beer Review: Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Speedway Stout

Reviewing the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Speedway Stout from the AleSmith Brewing Company out of San Diego, California

Score: 93

February 2014 vintage bottle served in a Ghandi Bot snifter and enjoyed on 08/15/14.

Appearance: Pours a jet black color with a finger and a half of khaki head that settles to a thin coating. Very good lacing and retention. Looks pretty much exactly like you would expect and desire a stout to look like. 4.75/5

Smell: Nutty, slightly grassy coffee with a light roastiness and a very pronounced chocolate character. A little bit of dark fruit too, which crescendos as the beer warms up. Quite lovely. 4.5/5

Taste: There is a lot more dark fruit in the taste than in the nose, which hits right away and lingers past the finish. Frankly, the taste is mostly about the dark fruit. Alcohol spiciness on the midpalate. Chocolate and a kiss of teriyaki sauce on the backhalf and finish, with some nuttiness and a wee bit of roast (much less than the nose) upfront. Solid integration. Tasty, but not on par with the likes of Kopi Coffee Speedway or Vietnamese Coffee Speedway. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus bodied, low carbonation. No acidity, mild bitterness and not much sweetness. Well-balanced save for the booziness, which is somewhat unexpected given my experiences with other iterations of Coffee Speedway, but perhaps, at the same time, this should not be too unexpected given that this beer is 12% ABV. 4.25/5

Overall: A quality stout and definite improvement over the base beer that just does not live up to the standard of excellence established by other iterations of this beer. Kopi Coffee Speedway is still king in my book, animal cruelty concerns notwithstanding.

Cost: $30 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Veritas 010

Reviewing Veritas 010, a blended sour ale aged in french oak barrels with peaches from The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California.

Score: 88

2011 vintage bottle served in a Lost Abbey teku and enjoyed on 07/27/14, alongside Yellow Bus and Fuzzy.

Appearance: Pours a murky peach/yellow-orange color with a thin fizz of head that totally settles. No lacing or retention. 3/5

Smell: Peach vinegar, white wine and oak. Has that traditional American wild ale nose underlying, with a hint of nail polish coming through as it warms up. 3.25/5

Taste: Nice tartness and mild vinegar character, with a balanced acidity that is not too intense. A little wine flavor on the finish. Tastes like Upland Peach, but milder and better balanced. Ample and lasting peach flavor, though it is not a "fresh peach" flavor. Much smoother than the nose led on 4.25/5




Mouthfeel: Light bodied, modest acidity. Good carbonation. A little underlying sweetness, good tartness and a dry finish. 4/5

Overall: Thankfully, this tasted better than it smelled. If you liked Upland Peach, then I imagine that you would likely enjoy this beer. Solid overall, but nowhere near the quality of Yellow Bus (or Fuzzy, for that matter). It is even less like Yellow Bus than Veritas 012 is unlike Cable Car Kriek in my opinion.

Cost: $40 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: R&D Wild Peach

Reviewing the R&D Wild Peach, a sour brown ale with Michigan peaches that was spontaneously fermented and aged on oak from the New Glarus Brewing Company out of New Glarus, Wisconsin. This beer is a blend of beer that was brewed in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Score: 97

Blend of 2011, 2012 and 2014 beer bottled in August 2014. Served in a Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery tulip and enjoyed on 08/11/14.

Appearance: Watch out, this one gushes! Pours a murky, brownish red color with nice edge-to-center fade and 3 fingers of tan foamy head that settles to a thick ring around the glass with clumps of foam and what appear to be residual fruit shavings/dregs atop the brew. Solid lacing, very good retention. 4/5

Smell: Fresh peaches, peach syrup and peach jelly in spades! Behind that is graham cracker, brown sugar, oak, a little lemon and a dash of vanilla. Faint hint of brett and hay hidden in the background. This beer smells like a peach cobbler. 5/5

Taste: Peach syrup and fresh peach galore in the taste as well, though it does not taste like a peach cobbler. Behind the big wall of fresh peach is oak, sweet malt, brett and a light barnyard funk. Finishes with a mild bourbon flavor with ample peach syrup and a little bit of brett also lingering. There is a lot more funk on the taste than there was in the nose, but it is still relatively subtle and mixes well with the rest of the flavor profile. Really well balanced, mixing sweetness with a light sourness and a bit of young funk. As it warms, the peach lingers longer. Mmmm. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Viscous for a sour, effervescent and appropriately carbonated. The sourness level here is very mild, but the carbonation level renders it lively on the tongue nonetheless. Dry finish. 4.75/5

Overall: I was skeptical of what a bourbon aged brown ale with peaches would smell and taste like, but New Glarus hit the mark on this one. The nose is absolutely sublime. This beer is not sour like very sour blackberry, but why should it have to be? It is a different base beer entirely. Think Peche 'n Brett with more peach and a little bourbon.

Cost: $8 for a 500 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Yellow Bus

Reviewing the infamous Yellow Bus , a "yellow sour" (American wild ale) with white peaches from The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, California. Although unsigned, the bottle has been verified as authentic.

Score: 98

2008 vintage bottle served in a Lost Abbey teku and enjoyed on 07/27/14 alongside Veritas 010.

Appearance: The beer pours a cloudy yellow-orange peach color that is a darker hue than the Veritas 010, with a thin later of head that settles to a ring around the glass. Has a lovely fade with an orange-ish center (this is sadly not particularly apparent in my photo). No lacing or retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Peach/peach syrup, oak, tannins and vanilla. So lovely. A hint of must and stone fruit. Has a little zesty, mildly jammy character. Quite remarkable, though not quite the best sour peach nose I have encountered to date. Lovely mix of aromatics here. 5/5

Taste: Peach, peach, peach, mineral water, a hint of stone fruit and a kiss of oak. So lovely. It's 90% peach, with a little jellied sweetness, wine, oak and other faint underlying complexities that make you doubt this is Lost Abbey. Do not get me wrong, Tomme makes some delicious sours, but subtly has never been his calling card. Finishes with lasting peach flavor. Just a hint of vinegar. More acidity/sourness if you let it sit on the tongue more. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied, spot on carbonation. More "pop" from the cork than there was with Veritas 010. Soft tartness with a little sweetness. Virtually no acidity and has the delicateness of the best Belgian lambic, which is quite unlike Veritas 010. Excellent balance. 5/5

Overall: A remarkable ghost whale; one of the better white whales out there that I have sampled to date. It is not a unique beer so much as it is a masterfully brewed and balanced one. I would put this a half step above Fuzzy in quality, noting that it is six or so years old and thus likely faded from its peak. I personally would take a bottle like Black & Wild over this if given a choice, but this bottle did not disappoint.

Cost: Unknown (was never a bottle sold to the public).

Beer Review: Coffee Abraxas

Reviewing the Coffee Abraxas from Perennial Artisan Ales out of St. Louis, Missouri.

Score: 43

Fall 2013 vintage bottle served in an Abraxas glass and enjoyed on 07/25/14, alongside batch 1 and batch 2 Barrel Aged Abraxas.

Appearance: Pours a shiny, inky black color with a finger of head of mocha colored head. Good lacing and retention. Nice oily legs and browning from the swirl too. 4.25/5

Smell: Lots of green pepper, with subtler notes of cinnamon, milk chocolate and very faint coffee behind it. This nose has a lot of vegetal similarity, in a bad way, with Sump and regular Barrel Aged Sump; maybe it has something to do with the coffee blend used? The green pepper character is pretty unpleasant, but the residual aroma of cinnamon and milk chocolate is nice and saves this aroma from being a complete disaster. 2/5

Taste: Has a sharp green pepper flavor upfront with a little tang and fruitiness on the back half. Definitely some minor off flavors present here. There's a mix of milk chocolate and old coffee on the back half, with a kiss of cinnamon on the midpalate. Poor flavor integration here, which is a shame given the balanced master piece of regular Abraxas and Barrel Aged Abraxas. A tinge of booze too. The green pepper character in the taste, like the nose, is quite unpleasant, but it is not undrinkable. The beer finishes with a faint milk chocolate flavor that sticks around a bit. 2/5

Mouthfeel: Thin bodied, low-medium carbonation. Given the viscous body of regular Abraxas and Barrel Aged Abraxas, this is a huge disappointment. Vegetal flavor, but otherwise balanced with a touch of residual sweetness on the finish. 1.5/5

Overall: This beer was much roastier and chocolatey on tap (and it had none of the green pepper character) the night before FOBAB compared to this bottle. I have sampled much fresher pours from two other bottles, and my experience with those bottles was roughly comparable to this one. I think the coffee character here was entirely too vegetal, and that it overshadowed and overpowered the characters that make Abraxas special. I would certainly give this beer another whirl if I saw it on tap, but I would not seek out another pour from a bottle.

Cost: $30 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Rue D'Floyd (The Bruery version)

Reviewing Rue D'Floyd, an imperial porter aged in bourbon barrels with cherries, coffee and vanilla beans added brewed by The Bruery out of Placentia, California in collaboration with Three Floyd's Brewing Company out of Munster, Indiana. This beer was unintentionally infected with lactobacillus, meaning that it is apt to develop off/unintended flavors over time. The Bruery, in their mea culpa email about the infection, asserted that it would be best by June 30, 2014 (i.e., no infection flaws apparent if drank by then).

Score: 93

March 2014 vintage bottle served in a 2011 Surly Darkness chalice and enjoyed on 07/19/14.

Appearance: Pours a dark chocolate color with a thin layer of khaki head that settles to a thick ring around the glass. Okay lacing, average retention. 4/5

Smell: Vanilla bean ice cream, coffee, brown sugar, light roast, bourbon, cherry and a hint of chocolate. The cherry (and bourbon) is much more pronounced in the nose of The Bruery brewed version of this beer than the Three Floyd's brewed version, but it is still pretty subdued overall. The aromatic mix is nice, and the vanilla is quite lovely, but it is not quite as marvelously integrated as the Three Floyd's version was. 4.5/5

Taste: Bourbon-forward flavor followed by ample chocolate (much more so than the nose). Oaky vanilla on the finish. Not getting much cherry right out of the fridge, but as it warms up, a little bit of restrained cherry flavor comes through on the back half. Long-lasting finish of bourbon and oak. A bit of alcohol heat and more sweetness comes across than I recall in the Three Floyd's version. No off flavors present in this bottle as of late July 2014. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Similar mouthfeel to the Three Floyd's version, but with more alcohol heat. Full bodied, minimal carbonation. Viscous, chewy and a little creamy mouthfeel. Sweeter than I recall the Three Floyd's version being. 4.75/5

Overall: Very good, but it's not quite the robust beast that the Three Floyd's brewed version was -- whether that be because of slight differences in the brewing process or the coffee element or otherwise.

Cost: $20 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Nocturn Chrysalis

Reviewing the Nocturn Chrysalis from the Jester King Craft Brewery out of Austin, Texas.

Score:91

May 2014 vintage bottle served in a stemmed Jester King beer glass and enjoyed on 07/17/14.

Appearance: Pours a blackberry pulp color akin to New Glarus R&D Very Sour Blackberry, with a thin layer of light purple head that quickly settles to a thick ring around the glass. Solid lacing, great retention. 4.25/5

Smell: Blackberry jam and lacto primarily, with notes of lemon, oak and vanilla. Well integrated and pleasant nose. The nose is not quite "blackberry yogurt," but the comparison is apt nonetheless. 4.25/5

Taste: Has a sour bite upfront with oak and blackberry, followed by a surprisingly faint lacto flavor. Finishes with a dry, lemon juice-like, slightly acidic sourness without much flavor. No real linger on this beer. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, appropriately carbonated. Dry finish, good sourness. Good balance, with a nice, light acidity. Could use a little sweetness. 4/5

Overall: This beer is good, but nowhere near the level of quality relative to other Jester King fruited sour projects such as Atrial Rubicite and Omniscience & Proselytism. I think this beer might be a bit too overattenuated. The sourness and blackberry flavor is nice, but the lack of sweetness from the fruit sugars holds this one back from being great.

Cost: $15 for a 500 ml bottle.