90/100) Toppling Goliath Five

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Dorothy's. pseudoSue, Golden Nugget, 1492, Rover Truck

I have to praise Toppling Goliath for their bottle art. The colors are bright and vivid. Parts of each bottle glimmer and reflect while the designs just pop out at you. In addition, the labels can be removed easily and placed on other things like stickers. And that is just the outside of the bottle...

Dorothy's New World Lager) Okay... Okay... I really don't like lagers. I know some people that do, but if a lager from even Toppling Goliath can't get my attention, I should probably throw in the towel. But wait, my rant may be for nothing. This beer is a California common lager which means that it undergoes a warmer brewing process than the typical lager. It still doesn't mean that I loved it, but for its style, it is pretty good. ☆☆☆

pseudoSue) or "tropical jungle dinosaur sweat" is amazing. Sweet and full of tropical hop flavors.

That all said, I've recently been told by a friend that these 12oz pseudoSue bottles are brewed in Florida and not actually at Toppling Goliath Brewing in Decorah, IA. I am not sure even to go about confirming this, but the bomber (750ml) bottles of pseudoSue come from the brewery. Which at the very least, might explain why the bombers sell out as soon as they arrive somewhere. They plan to switch to cans here soon. ☆☆☆☆

Golden Nugget) I hate to criticize a Toppling Goliath beer, but I really don't understand the lack of gold luster on the bottle. I understand, of course, that the name is taken from the nugget hops used, but I just want some of that to come through in the art. Regardless, this is a solid IPA. Pine. Evergreen. All those deciduous tree sap flavors come through on a slippery sliding slope of smooth washing green hops. I don't love IPAs because I prefer the malty punch of a DIPA or TrIPA, but I still rather like this one. ☆☆☆☆

1492) In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, or in this case 100% Columbus hops make the 1492. Consider this beer a way for you to experience that hop variety at is epitome. Initially, I didn't like this beer, but it grew on me. The dank almost medicinal touch to this IPA floats soft on the palate. As with all of these TGB brews, the finish was smooth and the beer just plain easy, good drinking. ☆☆☆☆

Rover Truck) The dark one in this bunch. This Rover Truck bleeds oil black dark beer goodness. A rather straightforward oatmeal stout, if you ask me, but I love the rough, roasted feel to the finish. ☆☆☆

89/100) Crooked Stave

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Progenitor, Wild Sage, Hop Savant

Crooked Stave has been placed on my list of must visit breweries. They excel at sours. The ones I have showcased here are largely hop-emphasizing sours. Crooked Stave shines even brighter when fruit has entered the fray though. So, be on the look out for those as well!

Progenitor) Bubbly and grapefruity with a lot of raw sour. I love this. It's so crystal smooth at refrigerator temp. I get a little lemongrass mixed with a touch of lemon heads. Also, true to it's description, this progenitor had a hoppy buzz just on the fringes of its finish and linger. The kind of zest that makes it lively. ☆☆☆☆☆

Colorado Wild Sage) This was amazing. I think I have a new favorite beer. It was exactly what it says. The initial impacts with the lemony liquid sunshine from the runaway Brett. Then as you approach the finish, the sage blossoms spice up the finish with a sharp astringency. The combination of the sour and sage is a double punch for your taste buds. I highly recommend this one. ☆☆☆☆☆

Hop Savant - Centennial) A brett pale ale that was dry-hopped with Centennial hops. For contrast, I also tried the galaxy hops version alongside this. They kept the Brett straightforward and clean so that the hops could play. The centennial version has that good citrus punch and the galaxy version kept its distinct fruity, passionfruit like overtones. Yum! ☆☆☆☆

2017 update: Crooked Stave no longer identifies the hop variety used on their Hop Savant near as I can tell.

88/100) Dragon's Milk Reserve

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Coffee & Chocolate, Raspberries, Toasted Chiles, Triple Mash

New Holland has a penchant for fantasy. They've got their Mad Hatter IPAs and references all over the place from Journey to the West all the way to Ichibod Crane. I am particularly fond of their variations on Dragon's Milk. They use a milk stout as the base for these barrel-aged beers. As you will see though, that base gives them a lot of play, especially with - as one might expect - the high potency of these beers.

With Coffee & Chocolate) Exactly what it claims. Rich with coffee and thick with chocolate, this beer is a tough one to quaff. There's just a touch too much coffee for me on the nose, but the chocolate hangs out on the finish making this one a pleasant one to sip. ☆☆☆☆

With Raspberries) Too syrupy and sweet for me, but I can't deny that the raspberry makes its presence known. Not much else to say about it. ☆☆☆

With Toasted Chiles) Slightly smoked, very sweet, and subtly warming on the finish. This beer was great for taking away the nip of a cold day. Since I don't usually go for spicy beers, I was pleasantly surprised to find this one very enjoyable. Aging it will likely cut away the heat so best to drink it soon, if it is already at the right burn level for you. ☆☆☆☆

Triple Mash) What does Triple mash mean? Well, it means they tripled the grain content of the mash. The end result is a potent 14% Abv. Sip this one. For the love of all that is good, sip this amazing beer. It's super sweet, super dense, and super smooth. Also, it will likely only get better with age, so I've socked some away for later years. ☆☆☆☆☆

87/100) Confluence Virtuous Endeavor

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Dubbel, Tripel, Quadrupel

Confluence out of Des Moines Iowa has dropped this set of Belgian classics. The Virtuous Endeavor Series embodies the tradition of Trappist brewing with some robust old world methods touched up by a very modern brewery.

Dubbel) Not as thick as I would have liked, but definitely thicker than a typical beer. The sugar really plays in this one making it a far sweeter Dubbel than usual. ☆☆☆☆

Tripel) This one had a much more grainy mouth feel, which was very appropriate for the style. Sweet and soft, I liked this one a lot, except for the finish. A booziness dominated the finish. Perhaps with time, it could have been aged out, but for now, this Tripel was just too "hot." ☆☆☆

Quadrupel) Amazingly sweet. I thought the Dubbel was sweet, but this one was even more so. Unfortunately, my group pretty much decided this one didn't live up to its style, coming across more as a Strong Dark Ale instead of a Quad. The distinction is hard to make, but when you compare it with a Rochefort 10 or a Gulden Draak Quadrupel, maybe you too can see the difference. Still, regardless of that possibly pedantic or at least quibbling matter, this beer was very enjoyable. ☆☆☆☆

86/100) Unusual "German" Sours

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

I didn't know Germany had sour beers, I thought at was more of a Belgian thing, so I grabbed these three thinking they were all from Germany. Clearly I knew nothing about them before trying them, because the third one on the right is actually a collaboration beer between Belgium and Canada.

Methusalem Johannisburger) Musty black currant juice. I really don't need to say much more than that. It's okay. Extremely light for a sour, not that I am a good litmus test for that. ☆☆☆

Methusalem Holunderheimer) Elderberry with a mysterious smoked touch. Smells like an alt, and is also rather light for a sour. I can barely get any sort of tartness on it, but I guess it is still there. Not a huge fan of this one, though I can say that finish grew on me. ☆☆☆

Shieve Tabarnak #2) An odd-ball Belgian beer. Smells fuzzy and farmhouse like, and the taste is similar to licking an herb garden. Flavors of mint, oregano, parsley, and dandelion all blossom on the taste buds. Perhaps we could call it a saison? Also, unbeknownest to me at the time of purchase, the name is a cuss word. The word "Shieve" means crooked and is a an allusion to a famous architect that I've never heard of. The "Tabarnak," as you might expect, is a bastardization of the word "Tabernacle," and together the words mean something naughty. I'd rather not have supported such juvenile naming practices. Oh well. Decent beer despite that. ☆☆☆

85/100) Green Flash

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Le Freak, Road Warrior, Double Stout

Green Flash hails from California. I know next to nothing about them beyond that, except they excel at IPA beer types.

Le Freak) is a rather aptly named beer. It's a "first-ever" hybrid that has dual fermentation using two different strains. The end result is a conundrum at best. This becomes both Belgian and American in style leaving us with a Belgium-style Imperial India Pale Ale. And it was potent.

The flavors are a bit similar to grapefruit rind with that distinct IPA bitterness on the finish. The background though was where it got playful with some tropical touches. I think they were along the lines of apricot and papaya. ☆☆☆

Road Warrior) I first had this right before I went to see Mad Max: Fury Road. No Joke. It seemed appropriate at the time. Despite how much I don't seem to like hoppy bitter beers, I really like this one. The hops used are still of the bitter variety near as I can tell, but the rye and higher ABV offset that with a lovely peppery bite. ☆☆☆☆

Double Stout) So extremely malty. The goal from the sounds of it was to to make an equally super malty decently hoppy beer. The bitterness is nerfed completely though. Actually it reminds me of a creamier double porter. I really like it but there's something in the finish that isn't perfectly pleasant. I can't say it's acrid or how it reminds me somehow of astringency, but it's an roast flavor that's a bit off. ☆☆☆

84/100) Hard Root Beers

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Coney Island, Not your Father's, Row Hard

Hard Root Beers seem to recently have blown up. At my local grocery store, I can find at least five varieties. Hearing good things about Not Your Father's Root Beer, I decided to check out some others as well. Coney Island Brewing co is a subsidiary of Boston Beer Co, while near as I can tell Small Town Brewery (of Not Your Father's) is independent and Root Sellers is a subset of Weston Brewing Company. I looked into that because their sudden boost in distribution struck me as odd.

Coney Island Hard Root Beer) Is this root beer? It's much sweeter than the others and has lots of vanilla. The finish even has anise (read black licorice) like flavors in it. Other than that, it's very root beer like, but too sweet for my taste buds. ☆☆☆

Not Your Father's Root Beer) This one is like Sprecher's Hard Root Beer, but the raw sarsaparilla finish is a bit more subdued. I got a bit more syrup on this one than the others as well, but I think it was my favorite. ☆☆☆☆

Row Hard Root Beer) A strongly medicinal, herbal hard root beer. The molasses also comes through a bit more pronounced. I didn't really like this one much, but my brother thought it was the best of the three. ☆☆☆

83/100) Mikkeller Breakfasts

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Beer Geek Breakfast, Beer Hop Breakfast, Rauch Geek Breakfast

Beer for breakfast? What else did you think coffee stouts were for? A while back, I brought up Founder's Breakfast Stout before I really knew much about the style. (Founder's Beers) An Oatmeal coffee stout is characterized by a strong, coffee-like malt character with a silky smooth mouth feel. However, Mikkeller, a brewery out of Norway, has make some Breakfast stouts for the beer geek. Suffice to say they went crazy with it. With each of these "Breakfasts,"their potency made it hard to drink more than a few ounces. I could not imagine drinking a full pint of any of them.

Beer Geek Breakfast) Do you need a shot of espresso in the morning? This would work. It is so rich and dark that even light will not penetrate its heavy malts. In fact, when I poured it out, the sediment from the bottom of the bottle came out in large chunks. I'm not sure if that was a good thing, but I drank it anyway. The main flavor was coffee, and I mean straight up coffee right down to the finishing bitter astringency. There was barely any sweetness and very little I could consider chocolate, but the burst of bitter didn't linger. Since I'm not a huge coffee person, I didn't love this one, but you might! ☆☆☆

Beer Hop Breakfast) This was my clear favorite of these three because it reminded me of New Holland's Dragon's Milk Reserve Series Triple Mash. The Beer Hop Breakfast just has a bit more hoppiness, a lot more coffee, and about half the ABV. The hop character came through in the finish as a soft twang, and a sweetness made this beer quite easy to drink. Just like the Beer Geek Breakfast, this beer poured black and filled my nose with a strong coffee beans. ☆☆☆☆

Rauch Geek Breakfast) Rauch means smoked, and in this case, the malts and oatmeal(I presume!) both were smoked before being processed into wort. At some point then, a heaping dose of coffee was added to the mix. In my opinion, the two flavors were both good, but just didn't work well together. In in the initial, the rich, astringent coffee dominates while the finish contained all the smoke. I enjoy smoked beers, but something about this one's finish lacked for me. I think it was that there was no malt sweetness to balance out the smokiness. ☆☆☆

Special) Concoctions Round 2 Finish

Happy New Year!

I bet you forgot about those concoctions I made back at the end of June. Concoctions Round 2

I nearly did. I just remembered the 28th, and lo and behold, that's exactly six months later.

In examining the bottles everything seemed generally fine with them. The liquids had changed colors and then upon opening the first, I realized the blue of the glass threw off my perceptions. I started with #4 Bing Cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy. The cherries appeared almost ghostly through the glass.

Ghost Cherries? 

#4 Bing cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy) I pulled a cherry out and the color had been sucked out of it. It reminded me more of a split olive than a cherry. The actual taste of the brandy hadn't been changed much by the cherries, and after putting the concoction alongside some fresh Christian Brother's Brandy, I can say that it hasn't been improved. The resulting cherry brandy liquor gained faint cherry touches that only muddled the crispness of the brandy. Still good, just not an improvement on the original product.

Just looks like an olive

#6 Dragonfruit and Cut Spike Vodka + #7 Dragonfruit and Suzume Shochu)

Next I got into the two Dragon's Fruit mixtures. Or rather I cracked them open and proceed to recover from the smell. I did eventually end up tasting them, but much to my regret, both of these failed. I should have opened them a lot earlier. Decay or mold or something had set into the fruit matter and each smelled like someone's potted plant had been rendered six feet under someone's armpits.

Looks can be deceiving. These dragon fruits never hatched.

I might try and do some short interval experiments with dragon's fruit in the future, but six months was too long.

#3 Coconut and Blackheart Rum 

Floaties from the coconut. 

First of all, the odd floaties forming a raft on top of the rum worried me, but the aroma had the right punch to it. Isolating some of the raft, I determined the bits were coconut oil that had congealed. Thankfully nothing threatening and something that actually tasted yummy.

The coconut sucked the color out of the Blackheart

The coconut gave a sweet and robust fresh coconut flavor to the backdrop that didn't compete with the cherry like aspects of the blackheart rum. However, the coconut pieces absorbed the color from the rum leaving it to appear almost clear in comparison to the heavy caramel of the original.

Ignoring the coloring reduction, I call this one a success.

#1 Coconut (light) and Cut Spike Rum + #2 Coconut (heavy) and Cut Spike Rum)

Left to Right: Heavy Coconut and Light Coconut

Having done this already before (Umeshu-inspired Concoctions), I have to say that it turned out the same. Despite one having nearly double the coconut in it, I think I wouldn't be able to discern which was which in a blind taste test. This confuses me since one should have been more potent than the other. However, I can load as much coconut into the mixture as a I want because my guess is that time acts as an equalizer in conjunction with the limitations of the absorption of the alcohol.

Here's the brief rundown of these six:

#1 Coconut (light) and Cut Spike Rum) Good ☆☆☆

#2 Coconut (heavy) and Cut Spike Rum) Also good ☆☆☆

#3 Coconut and Blackheart Rum) Super enjoy ☆☆☆☆

#4 Bing cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy) Okay ☆☆

#6 Dragonfruit and Cut Spike Vodka) Unsurvivable ☆

#7 Dragonfruit and Suzume Shochu) For my enemies ☆

Thanks for reading, and I hope your New Year is wonderful!

82/100) Buffalo Sweat (All 4)

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Buffalo Sweat, Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat,
Bourbon Barrel Aged Buffalo Sweat, Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat with Cinnamon

Happy New Year!

Buffalo sweat is probably not the most enticing name on the surface, but beers have certainly had stranger names (Can I get a Moose Drool?). However, even names as strange as this can tell a lot. The buffalo reference of this beer helps allude to its Midwest origins, the land of prairies and open fields. Specifically, Tallgrass Brewing Co out of Manhattan Kansas makes this line of oatmeal stouts. I couldn't resist a side-by-side so I tried all four alongside each other.

Buffalo Sweat) I always get a slight tinny backdrop to this one when I have it from the can. Try it on tap if you can, it's great. Regardless of that, the upfront flavors are the warm subdued roasted flavors you'd expect from a good oatmeal stout, and the mouth feel is appropriately silky. The only place it lacks is the finish where it rather tapers off into a light wateriness. Still, it's quite enjoyable. ☆☆☆

Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat) Normal buffalo sweat reveals how good of a base it can be with this one. The vanilla bean touch rounds out this beer by giving the finish character. Otherwise, the initial and mid are the same as the last. While I think the vanilla is a bit too light, I do really enjoy this beer and am glad it doesn't over power the taste buds. ☆☆☆☆

Bourbon Barrel Aged Buffalo Sweat) I said that normal Buffalo Sweat lacked a strong finish. Barrel-aging it changed that. It's uncanny how similar these three were on the initial and mid, but this one shone on the finish. The bourbon barrel rounded it out and made it what I would almost consider a perfect beer. It's aged, yes, but it was still a light 5.8% ABV. Somehow Tallgrass aged a beer and didn't skyrocket the ABV into the double digits. For that alone, I'd applaud them, but this beer itself deserves applause. It's soft, silky, and full of flavor. I will keep this beer stocked at home so that I can enjoy it any time. ☆☆☆☆☆

Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat with Cinnamon) Yes, that is the beer's name. While a bit ridiculously long, the name lets you know exactly what you're getting. Personally, I would have gone for "Cinnamon Roll Buffalo Sweat" as a name because this breakfast in a can was just that. The vanilla and cinnamon roll into the finish in a direct mimicry of cinnamon roll frosting. The cinnamon while nice at first became too overpowering for me. Great to sample, but hard to just drink a whole can in one sitting. Otherwise still excellent. ☆☆☆☆