Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron

For those who haven't tried anything by Dogfish Head, you are missing out.  Their 60 and 90-minute IPAs are phenomenal examples of the kind of ingenuity present in American brewing.  My local store, Point Grey Beer & Wine Cellar, has a great selection of DFH products (including their multiple-award winning Raison D'Etre), including a number of single bottles.  Last week, I was looking for North Coast's Rasputin XII Anniversary Stout (whiskey barrel-aged stout), but they hadn't received a shipment yet.  The clerk instead pointed me toward DFH's Palo Santo Marron, a particularly malty beer brewed in Palo Santo wood barrels (as the label says, "We've got wood.  Now you do too.").  DFH's website says that the wood is used in South American vineyards to impart a very special flavour, and there is definitely something special about this brew.  Those of you familiar with other DFH beers know that they border on the extreme in terms of taste (sometimes my mouth feels numb after a 90-Minute IPA).  Palo Santo is no exception.

I'm not entirely sure if I can taste the wood in this beer, but the alcohol is particularly strong (12%).  The feel is thick and syrupy like a good stout, but the malt tastes less black and more browned (Marron does mean brown in Spanish).  I found it hard to taste the caramel and vanilla supposedly given by the wood barrels, but I did get a significant feeling of spiciness.  Beers like Palo Santo are a great find if you enjoy trying something new and bold, but if you just want to get enjoyment out of your beer, you're better off with a traditional brown ale.  I happened to enjoy it, but there's no way that I could drink more than a bottle.  I'd suggest pairing it with some food; DFH's website suggests steak, chorizo, farmhouse cheddar, or cajun.  I made a simple meal of spicy udon stirfry and a salad with anjou pears and aged canadian cheddar.

12%ABV
12oz. Bottle
Around $5 at specialty liquor stores

aroma: malt, coffee, alcohol

Colour: deep black with dark tan head

Mouthfeel: thick, syrupy

Taste: dark malt aftertaste, spicy/alcohol, intense,

R&B's Hoppelganger IPA

It started snowing in Vancouver today, with a possible 15 centimeters tonight.  To celebrate the fact that  don't have any exams for a week and the first real snow of the season, I thought I'd try something I've been eyeballing for a while: R&B's Hoppelganger IPA.  Apart from a cool seasonal label and a reasonable price (under $5), this beer is from one of the better Vancouver breweries, with a traditional English brewhouse right here in Brewery Creek.

Hoppelganger takes a good selection of northwest hops and creates a very smooth, drinkable IPA.  I didn't really find anything in this beer that I couldn't find in other local brews, but Hoppelganger represents a good middle of the road ale.  If you want to introduce someone to IPAs or just enjoy one on a budget, Hoppelganger might just be your beer.  Grab one at your local BC Liquor (sorry, American friends).

5%ABV
650mL bottle
Under $5

Colour: light reddish amber, foamy off-white head

Aroma: light hoppy, floral

Mouthfeel: slightly creamy, light carbonation

Flavour: bitter, light hops (for an IPA), floral, smooth

Drinkability: good, smooth, middle of the road

Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale

I haven't been a beer fan for all that long, and sometimes I feel like I'm getting in over my head.  I've been to the Portland dive bar where I didn't recognize a single tap handle (thanks to Mike Harper for the recommendations that night).  I've also spoken with homebrewers whose knowledge of beer chemistry makes me look like a high school dropout.   And, sometimes, I try a beer that I don't really know if I like or not.  Iniquity Black Ale is one of those beers.  The name is exceedingly appropriate; Southern Tier Brewing Co. has taken an Imperial IPA and blackened it to the colour of a Los Angeles night sky (think: no stars).  One of the things that strikes me about this beer is the attention to detail on the label: 21* plato, 2-row pale malt, debittered black malt, and a list of hops that makes me giddy with anticipation.  Quite frankly, I still don't know what plato is (although, as a philosophy major, I sincerely respect the name).  I did a quick Google search and found out that the Plato Scale is a brewer's way of measuring sugar content in beer.  Aparently 21* is quite high.  Who knew?

Anyway, it seems clear that Southern Tier knows what they're doing in terms of beer.  From the heavy buzz I've got going on after just a couple of glasses, I will tend to agree with them.  Sometimes, however, beer expertise leads you down some crazy roads (I'm thinking of a weissbier I had that smelled strongly of sulfur).  After I opened the bottle, I noticed a strong scent from about two feet away.  When I leaned in for a sniff, however, the aroma was light and hoppy, with a mild buttery scent.  This is the reason that I was confused when I first tasted Iniquity; you immediately get the feeling that you left the steaks on the grill for too long.  In terms of taste, I'd have to describe Iniquity as a mix between an IPA and a stout; still a strong hop presence, but that is somewhat overshadowed by the strong burnt malt taste and moderately high alcohol content.  What's even more interesting is they haven't added any of the normal flavours you expect in a stout; there's no coffee, chocolate, dark cherry. . .

In terms of drinkability, this beer is a bit of a hit-or-miss.  If you're a fan of both dark stouts and IPAs, you will want to give this beer a try.  If you prefer clean, crisp flavours, however, you might want to try something with a little less "avant garde" ingenuity.  I loved the first glass, but had a hard time finishing the whole bottle.  At a moderate 9% ABV, this beer will get you nice and toasty off a bottle, but not so much that you'll never want to drink it again.  I bought it for $7.50 in my local store (remember, these are BC prices).  If you consider yourself an intense craft beer lover, it's worth a try, but if you savor drinkability over all else, stick with something a little more traditional.

http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/

Colour: black, deep reddish brown notes, thick tan head

Aroma: hops, sweet malty, buttery

mouthfeel: thick, creamy, foamy, more carbonated than a thick stout

taste: burnt, alcohol, stouty, hoppy

drinakbility: really intense.  If you like stouts, IPAs, burnt tastes, you will probably like this, but not for the faint of heart.  I had trouble finishing the whole 650ml bottle, but loved the first glass.

Phillips Grow Hop Chinook Variety Fresh Hop Bitter

This week, I headed down to Point Grey Wine and Beer Cellar to check out their selection.  One of the interesting things about British Columbia is that the gov't-owned BC Liquor stores seem to have forced private purveyors of alcohol into a higher price and quality range.  Most private stores here in Vancouver offer far better selection than similar stores in the States, but, as always in Canada, you pay for it.  For craft beer lovers, PGW&BC (nice abbreviation, eh?) offers a great selection of local brew, plus some of their favorites from around the world (including a wonderful Trappist selection).

The clerk on duty asked me about the type of beer I like (always a good sign).  This launched a discussion of the difference between wet and dry hopping and the type of beer brewed locally.  I'll try to sum up the difference:
Hops were originally added to beer because alongside their smell and flavour, they had a mild antimicrobial effect.  There are actually two types of hops: bittering and aroma.  Bittering hops contain a higher level of alpha acids and contribute to the beer's bitter flavour.  Aroma hops have a higher beta acid level and contribute more to a beer's smell.  In dry-hop brews, the hops are dried and refrigerated after harvest.  In wet-hop beers,  hops are added to the brewing process hours after harvest.  The freshness of wet hops makes the beer more aromatic, often bringing out piney or floral scents from the oils present in fresh hops.

The hop harvest in 2009 was abundant and, as a result, many PNW breweries released new wet-hop brews featuring locally-grown hops.  In the US, most hops are either grown in the Yakima or Willamette Valleys of Washington and Oregon, respectively.  I had one wet-hop beer right after the harvest in September, Driftwood's Sartori Harvest IPA.  The complex flavours of that beer had left me craving more, so I managed to talk the clerk into one of the last bottles of Phillips' GrowHop.  This bitter uses fresh Chinook hops grown in the US.  In terms of aroma, wet-hop beers can't be beat; GrowHop features strong floral and pine scents as well as a distinctive melon smell.

The beer is a deep copper colour with thin head (maybe a couple of centimetres).  Upon my first sip, I was surprised at how creamy this bitter was, but how crisp at the same time.  I didn't have much time to contemplate this, as I was quickly overwhelmed by the strong mix of pine and melon flavour.  In terms of drinkability, this beer is perfect for fall.  Its strong bitterness would pair well with spicy foods and strong cheeses (like a good Canadian cheddar).  The crispness would make it easy enough to drink in warm weather, but I'm willing to bet it would be delicious at any temperature.

Unfortunately, unless you've already secured a bottle, this beer won't be around again until the next harvest (late September).  make sure you set aside some time in late 2010 to try this excellent offering by Phillips.
ABV: 5.0%
Price: $6.50
Size: 650mL bottle

Red Racer IPA

It's always encouraging to find up-and coming breweries, and Central City Brewing Co. has become exactly that with their line of Red Racer beers.  Operating out of Surrey, BC, their line features some of the best craft brew you can get in a can.  Yes, that's correct, Red Racer comes in aluminum cans - which may be enough to deter some beer enthusiasts for fear of drinking the likes of Kokanee or Miller Lite.  The reality, of course, is that Central City is offering some of the most intriguing beer in Canada (their Imperial IPA was recently named the best beer in Canada by the Campaign for Real Ale).  Brewmasters have recently begun spouting the merits of aluminum cans (preservability, lower bottling costs), and this IPA should show you that you don't lose an ounce of flavor when drinking out of a can.

Now, a word about IPAs.  IPA stands for India Pale Ale, which may surprise you, considering that IPAs were originally brewed in England.  During the late 18th century, English merchants conducting business in India had beer shipped over from England.  Unfortunately, the beer would often spoil in the process.  Eventually, one brewery found out that adding an enormous amount of hops to a traditional pale ale (so named because of the pale color produced by only lightly-toasted malt), beer could be transported over farther distances without spoiling.  The merchants loved this new "India Pale Ale" so much that it became a British staple.  Today, IPAs are considered a staple of good craft breweries, renowned for the complexity of their flavor as well as the differentiation between regions that the hops are grown in.

Now that we've gotten the history portion of the lecture out of the way, let's talk about Central City's Red Racer IPA.  The beer comes in a 6-pack of 355ml cans for about $12 at your local BC liquor.  The can features a beautiful cartoon redhead riding a red fixie (that's a fixed-gear bicycle for you indoorsy types) in a rather risqué manner.

In terms of flavor, you will be blown away by the amount of hops you can taste in this beer.  The near absence of malt flavour allows you to taste every last hop flower.  Actual beer experts tell me that they can taste the region the hops were grown in most beers (a talent which I, sadly, have yet to develop).  In this beer, I can taste the piney, bitter flavour of hops grown in the PNW (that's Pacific Northwest for those of you not fortunate enough to live here).

All in all, this beer should get you excited for the coming can revolution.  Cans offer brewers the ability to store beer for longer periods of time and offer their product at a lower price.  You can also take this to tons of places where bottles aren't allowed, say, the beach or public swimming pool.  Let's hope that other craft breweries follow suit.

www.centralcitybrewing.com

Driftwood Ale

For my first post, I've chosen something I've had my eye on since I moved to Vancouver- Driftwood Ale.  There's something delightfully modern about Driftwood's labels; thick lines, simple illustrations and lots of black/white contrast give you something to look at while enjoying the fruits of one of BC's premier craft breweries. (also, note the hilarious ingredient icons on the left side; water, barley malt, hops and yeast.)

Driftwood Ale's light amber colour shouldn't fool you into thinking that they've skimped on flavour.  To the contrary, this ale has all the strong hop and dry malt notes that I've come to expect from BC craft brews.  It's labeled an ale, but could easily pass for an IPA or Pale.  A hint of fruit gives this beer excellent composition, contrasting fragrant German hops with their cotton candy malt notes.  Driftwood's website, http://driftwoodbeer.com/ , recommends pairing this beer with bitter green salads, Gruyere, or shellfish.  I'd recommend drinking it on its own; anyone who's had a good hoppy ale before knows that you won't be tasting much of anything after drinking it.

Driftwood Ale can be found for under $5 at most BC Liquor stores.  At 5% alc./vol., it's not going to throw you off the deep end, but it will definitely knock your socks off in the taste department.  Expect a visit to the Driftwood Brewery in the future.