Beer Taste Feb. 8th 2007

Hello everybody. The beer taste for this weeks Thursday Night Flight Nite went pretty well however there were a few contributing factors that were working against us. Because of the limited parking due to the Taste of the Valley promotion (Not to mention the 35 person union meeting in the banquet hall) and the lack of advertisement on my part, I feel that the turnout was moderate at best. I did see a few new faces and I hope everybody enjoyed themselves. Chef Tim King put together some handmade soft pretzels, potato chips, tortilla chips, and a Blackout Stout cheese dipping sauce. But, enough about the schematics of the taste, let's get to the beer!

First we started with Victory Whirlwind Wit Ale. This Belgian Wit is a seasonal selection from the Pennsylvania brewery. While they are better known for their hoppier beers (one of my favorites being the Hopdevil), the Whirlwind proved to be elegantly full flavored yet very easy drinking with only 5% ABV. This is the type of beer I would definitely grab on a hot Summer day. I suppose that is why Victory releases this beer in the the Spring to gear up for Summertime. Light and cloudy in color, both spicy and subtle on the palate, with just the slightest hint of citrus on the finish. This softly fermented ale has a gentle nose and a rounded refreshing tongue. It's a great interpretation of the classic, Belgian 'white beer' style. Try pairing this beer with a quiche lorraine or a blackened whitefish with saffron rice. For more information about Victory and their beers go to: www.victorybeer.com

We followed the witbier with a Bavarian interpretation of a wheat-based beer. For this selection we poured Ayinger (Dunkle) Ur-Weisse from the Brauerei Aying (pronounced eye-ing). Athough residing in Bavaria (the land of beer and mega-breweries), Aying takes a microbrew approach at their beermaking crafting award winning beers from locally-grown barley and wheat. Amber in color, semi-dry in palate, very fruity, and a long clean finish. This is a complex beer with suggestions of pear, apple, and clove with a hint of smoke in the finish. Light and refreshing with a full complexity of flavors this beer could be drank year round in any occasion. The 17-ounce bottle provides ample beer for those who only care for one serving. This is a great food beer adding extra sustinance to any meal. I suggest pairing this beer with Polish sausage and saurkraut or barbecued salmon with herb roasted baby red potatoes.

The third beer covered at the taste is a widely known Belgian golden ale called Duvel. Duvel is one of the larger mainsteam producers of beer in Belgium yet its quality never shifts. While Duvel is a newer brewery in the
grand scheme of European breweries (Founded in 1923) it's precision brewing methods hold up to many of the elder European staples including the Trappist style beers. Duvel gets it's gentle flavor and golden color from the pale barley and light kilning used in the malting process. Yeast sediment is not uncommon in this bottle of this beer. To ensure everybody drinks their beers in the most ideal way Duvel has included pouring and serving suggestions on the back of the bottle (imagine Budweiser or Miller trying to pull off something like that). If the directions are followed it's quite easy to pull off a picture perfect Duvel pour and still leave some much coveted starter for those of us who are homebrewers. This beer is a slightly hazy golden color with a spicy and aromatic smell. A very complex and tasty brew with tones of apple and almond, with a slight hint of hoppy notes and a distinct spiciness in the finish. Even at 8.5% ABV this goes down very easily. Try pairing up this beer with a citrus glazed roasted French hen and blanched asparagus or a beer battered cod fish fry with potato salad. Duvel aslo offers a pretty cool flash based website at: www.duvelusa.com

Keeping with the Belgian theme the next beer presented was Westmalle Triple. Brewed by the Trappist Monks in the monestary Westmalle (one of six monestaries that still brew beer and thus can label their beer Trappist) just outside of Antwerp, this tripel is hazy gold color with a slightly greenish hue.The aromas are of sweet, toasty malt, citrusy, earthy yeast. A smooth, well-carbonated entry leads to a sweet, tart, medium-to-full bodied beer with tangy malt and full flavored clean finish. Both the nose and palte are not overbearing peaking out at a 9% ABV. Compared to the dubble the triple is more elegant and refined not to mention easier to drink and pair with food. This beer is crisp, highly drinkable, and a classic representation of the abbey trippel style. Try pairing this Trappist ale with a crown rib roast with potatoes and carrots or a roasted shallot pate with seasoned crustini.

Next was the most unique beer of the taste from Rogue Brewery. Imperial Pilsner, part of the Morimoto Signature Series, was selected by internationally acclaimed Chef Masaharu Morimoto from Iron Chef. The Iron Chef chose only all natural ingredients for his signature pilsner. Imperial Pilsner is golden in color with a dry hop floral aroma, upfront mellow soft fruit flavors, and intense hop bitterness supported by a big malty backbone peaking out at a huge 8.8% ABV. Unlike the common pilsner the Morimoto finishes with less of a bitey finish that Czech pilsner drinkers look for. This was a great representation of a Japanese interpretation of the timeless easy drinking classic style. Morimoto series (Soba and Black Obi Soba also available) all come in painted swing-top ceramic 750ml bottles that would be a excellent addition to any beer bottle collection. Try this with an Chiashi bowl and some miso soup or a diced green apple, walnut, and avacado salad drizzled lightly with ranch dressing. For more information on Rogue and their products refer to: www.rogue.com

Next, and perhaps my favorite this week, was Anderson Valley Hop Ottin' IPA. Anderson Valley IPA is as hoppy as they come and not for the light hearted. This ale has a delicious citrus aroma, and an intense hoppy bite. Amber in color and deeply structured herbal flavors make this IPA is a hop lover's dream. Did I mention it was hoppy at all? Immense flavors and a nose you could smell across the room make this beer a sipper. The brewery itself has somewhat of a interesting draw, hosting an 18-hole disc golf course and horse drawn delivery carts. The fun loving attitude of the brewmaster Ken Allen is clearly evident in this beer right down to the little unique messages under each bottle cap. Try matching this beer up with a blue cheese rubbed filet or a hearty beef stew. Check out the fun website that even includes a dictionary of Boontling, an old english slang language: www.avbc.com

Heading in the darker direction, we tasted Samuel Smiths Russian Imperial Stout. Russian imperial stout was originally brewed in Great Britain to satisfy the Czarist courts, who were great connoisseurs of Champagne, caviar and the art of the table. Because it was transported across the freezing Baltic, Russian imperial stout was brewed with a high level of alcohol (a hefty 7% ABV). All Samuel Smith beers are vegan products, registered with The Vegan Society. Rich, flavorful, deep chocolate color, scented and roasted barley nose. The deep mocha color suggests a nice complexity of malt, hops, alcohol and yeast. The palate has notes of smoke, licorice, chocolate and a wonderful balance and harmony. Pair this beer with a peppercorn crusted ribeye or NY sytle cheesecake topped with cherries. A stout similar to this was used in the cheese sauce prepared for the taste.

To finish we poured Lindeman's Framboise (Raspberry). Lindeman's makes several fruit based beers; Pomme (apple), Cassis (black currant), Kriek (cherry), and peche (peach) with the raspberry being the most common. These beers experience wild fermentation which is a process that uses natural yeast found in the air. Framboise is ruby red in color with a light effervescence. The nose hints at tones of raspberry, cherry, and cranberry. This is a fruit forward beer, with intense red fruit flavors and a hint of chocolate in the slightly tart finish. A beer with this kind of fruit intensity and deep complexity make it easy for a wine drinker to switch to beer. Easily matched with any chocolate dessert I would almost venture into making salad dressings and sauces from the reduction of this product. This beer goes great with rosemary rubbed lamb chops and green beans or save it for dessert with a triple layer chocolate mousse cake.

Thanks for staying with me through this review and I hope you found it interesting and helpful. Most of the future posts won't be this long because I usually only present five wines in a taste. If there is anything I can do to make this blog more enjoyable or you simply want to comment on things that I have written please post your thoughts. See you all on Thursday and remember to keep an open mind and an open eye.

Just a reminder that this Saturday at the Avalon Inn in Howland the Children's Hospital Fundraising Wine Taste is going on. Both John Webster and I have volunteered to be guest pourers for the event. Tickets are $50 but I can assure the food and wine are worth way more than that, not to mention it's for a good cause. So come on out and enjoy some quality wine and food.