60/100) Renegade Brewing Co

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.

Consilium, Hiatus, Redacted

Renegade. The name implies a going against the grain. Perhaps that is why they delight in the use of a variety of hops and even have a triple IPA. Since I've already established that IPAs are not really my thing, it's best if you don't hear my thoughts on that one. My thoughts on that one can remain Redacted while I take my own Consilium and enjoy a brief Hiatus.

Consilium) was an unusual pale ale. A bit of citrus hid behind a lot of grainy, biscuity touches. The more I had the more prominent it became, until the bitterness built up on the linger enough to null my tastebuds. Conscilium is Latin for advice or suggestion. I'm not sure if this would be my most suggested beer. I'm conflicted as to whether I want another. ☆☆☆

Hiatus) was a combination coffee and oatmeal stout, making it either breakfast-in-a-can or a solid afternoon pick-me-up. I'd lean more towards the later, because the harshness and raw coffee could kick one back into gear with ease. While the flavors are mostly rolling waves of coffee, the oatmeal smooths out the middle with a silky mouth feel. If you like coffee beers, put this one your list to try. If you're not, treat yourself to a nice Hiatus, anyway. ☆☆☆

Redacted) I'm not sure you could make a better Rye India Pale ale than this one. It was clean. It was citrusy, and it had the right peppery backdrop from the rye. Even the mouth feel was appropriately light and refreshing. Still, if you are not a hop head, steering clear of this one would be understandable. ☆☆☆☆

59/100) Samuel Smith Fruit 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.

Apricot, Strawberry, Raspberry

Here's a bit of foresahadowing for you. If you plan placing aged responsibility on these bottles by cellaring them, you may regret it. These organic fruit ales all sour with time. If that's not your thing, drink them as fresh as you can. The fruit flavors will have the appropriate levels of sweetness and refrain from causing you to pucker up.

Apricot) This fruit beer was not quite soured but was not as fresh as the first time I had it. The apricot taste might be competition for Pyramid's Apricot Ale. Short of comparing their apricotty freshness alongside each other, I'm not sure I can say which is better. However, both are good, certainly. ☆☆☆☆

Strawberry) The strawberry flavors run the border for artificial and fresh. I know. I know. It is Samuel Smith's, and therefore they used real strawberry juice. The end result was just that borderline. I still enjoyed it and think on days when I feel I can't splurge for a Fruli, this might make for a lighter alternative. ☆☆☆

Raspberry) Zing! This ale with raspberry fruit juice will do just that to you. Having had this before, I can tell you though that is somewhat of a bad sign. My bottle clearly has been sitting a bit too long and either got too warm or too much light exposure. However, as one who likes sour beers, the result was nice. For those of you that want a sweeter stronger raspberry flavor profile, drink this one soon after purchasing. For those of you who love tart summer-ready pucker up flavor profiles, let it sit in the bottle for about six months. You won't regret it. ☆☆☆

58/100) Deschutes Stoic Mirror

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.

the Stoic, NOT the Stoic, Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror, on the wall, who's the most stoic of them all? NOT the Stoic, of course.

Near as I can tell, Deschutes alternates making the Stoic and NOT the Stoic from year to year. Ingredient-wise, both are identical in process and amount of time spent being aged in different types of barrels. However, NOT the Stoic has molasses. I would love Deschutes to begin releasing both each year so that verticals could be planned out to really put the two different Stoics next to each other. Both benefit from aging, after all.

Stoic 2015) This Belgian-style quad was surprisingly light and tart. The finish was smooth and clean as well. A bit light for a quad in my opinion, and apparently, the opinion of many others. The story behind the coming of NOT the Stoic was that many complained about the Stoic so Deschutes whipped out the "NOT" version to show everyone what's for. Or at least, that's what I heard. ☆☆☆

NOT the Stoic 2014) The contrast in color between the two is amazing. The Stoic was a light, honeyed gold. This one was a dark amber. The whole thing was darker, even the flavors. Rich, sweet, and full of that molasses sweetness, this quad was significantly more of what I want in a drink than the Stoic. ☆☆☆☆

Mirror Mirror) on the wall, are barleywines allowed to be this good at all? I detect no booziness from this one at all, and the flavors are nice and full of caramel. This one is darn close to being the fairest in the land. The reason behind the name Mirror Mirror is that it is made from a double batch of Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale that has been aged in Oregon Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, and Malbec barrels, Don't sick your huntsman on anyone to get this beer, but please don't miss out either! The smoothness is unprecedented and the burnished touch from the wine barrels couldn't have been better planned. ☆☆☆☆☆

57/100) Smokestack Saisons and Wheatwine

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.

Saison, Saison Brett, Wheat Wine Style Ale

For this week, I had some more Smokestack beers. I love the variety and the quality of this series. This grouping focuses mostly on the presence of tartness in the more sour styles of beer, and secondarily, on some experimentation with aging.

Saison) This collaboration disappointed me. As a representative of the saison-style, this beer was too light and uninspiring. It was not undrinkable or unpleasant. It just did nothing wrong, but in doing so, it didn't surprise or delight. It was just okay. ☆☆

Saison-Brett 2014) The title identifies exactly what this was. This beer was a sour farmhouse-style with brettanomyces (an infamous strain of yeast responsible for funk that requires its own special "infected" tank for production). The balance of this of this beer was great.. My teeth weren't left singing from the tartness, and a decent amount of funky flavors precluded a fairly dry finish. I have already picked up bottles of the 2015 release. Yes, it was that good. ☆☆☆☆☆

Harvest Dance)
When I brought out my bottle of last year's Harvest Dance to share, my friend revealed he had one from 2009. We ended up doing an impromptu vertical, and it was totally worth it. The distance in time between the two is nearly five years, and the aged one didn't suffer for it at all. We actually wonder if their might have been a recipe change between the two releases. Age can hardly account for that level of a color difference, or can it?

2014) was very effervescent with licorice and fruit esters along the finish. The mouth feel was also light and rather thin just like the head of the pour. This wheat wine sang smoothly, and I rather enjoyed it even as it paled in comparison to its elder. ☆☆☆☆

2009) aged beautifully. I wish I could give a solid description of the flavors in a way that you might appreciate. The colors are darker than the 2014, and the mouth feel was so much more full bodied. Caramels and licorice played upon my tongue as friends, leaving behind lingering memories of a dance that ought to have never ended. ☆☆☆☆☆

My only regret is not socking away bottles of last year's Harvest Dance. I think a "Do not open until 2019" seal would have been very appropriate.

56/100) Winter Guinness

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.

Kilkenny, Winter Spirit, Generous Ale, Guinness Draught

The only sad thing about this post is that winter has past. So, Hello, Christmas in July!
These Irish beers came as an eight pack with two of each can. The only way to get the middle two was to buy this special package, so I did.

Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale) In short, this beer is what Fat Tire on nitro would taste like. In long (which is not proper English, nor as funny as I originally thought), this amber has a widget in it that allows for an infusion of nitro upon opening the can. The flavors are light and the nitrogen causes the aftertaste to be mostly creamy and watery. The result is enjoyable. ☆☆☆

Winter Spirit) Winter spirits have a cold demeanor and prefer to ignore others. As the moon wanes, and the darkness settles in, they come with lessons that few survive. Wait. We're not talking about ghosts? I'm sorry. That's right. We were having a beer. I'm not sure how to describe this one. The initial is really light, but there's a lot of bitter cookie-like flavors in the finish. I'm not quite sold, but I did like it.  ☆☆☆

Generous Ale) Generously spiced, this beer was. Nuttier, earthier malts, and an almost spicy finish characterizes this winter warmer. I don't usually go for this style of beer, but I rather liked this one. Too bad I can't get a generous portion of it, in the form of a six-pack. ☆☆☆☆

Guinness Draught) As my experience increases with the variety of beers the world has to offer, I find that Guinness still holds a special place in my heart. However, I also find myself surprised at it. Before it used to be one of the more hearty, rich beers that I had. Even though it does have a lot of flavor on the finish, the me of now finds it watery with a light mouth feel. Still. It beats a lager any day. ☆☆☆☆

55/100) New Belgium Basic

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.

Fat Tire, Slow Ride, Blue Paddle, Snapshot, Somersault

New Belgium. I realized recently that I've tried more of their Lips of Faith series than I had of their staples. In order to rectify that mistake, I picked up one of their Folly 12-packs. Even though I am going back to the basics, I had to have at least one hard-to-get beer. The Folly comes with a special seasonal that only comes in that pack. It would be unfortunate if you didn't like any of New Belgium's beers except that seasonal, because you'd have to get eight beers you don't want just to get four you do.

Fat Tire) A solid amber that for some reason a lot of people like. Me too. I'm pretty sure that if you are reading this blog you don't need to be told about this beer. It's amber goodness and with a touch of nuttiness, and the flagship beer for one of our nation's largest craft breweries. ☆☆☆☆

Slow Ride) As the name implies, it was an easy drinking IPA with slightly subdued amount of hoppy bitterness. Plop into your sofa and cruise through a lovely summer movie as you enjoy this beverage. The picture does depict a sofa with wheels after all. I wasn't hugely taken with it, but it delivered exactly what it said it would. ☆☆☆

Blue Paddle) I still need to find what I think a pilsner is supposed to taste like. This was not what I wanted in a beer. This light beer was refreshing with almost no sourness or bitterness. I enjoyed it, but wasn't wowed. That's all. ☆☆☆

Snapshot) This pale wheat ale has just a touch of tang to its finish. The few hints of wheat present in the finish were masked pretty thoroughly by the hops. As I imbibed more, the wheat got buried even further. I consider this beer confused because it's not a smooth pale, and it only gives a glimpse - or snapshot - of the wheat. ☆☆

Somersault) It's oddly tart and reminds me of a spring day. A spring day where I'm enjoying it but my allergies have acted up. I enjoy it initially, but the more I have of it, like the longer I spend outside on such a day, the less I can enjoy it. I don't want to dislike it, but those first good sips vanished as I had more. ☆☆☆

On a side note, there have been intense trademark issues with the Slow Ride IPA. For those of you interested, I will play tour guide. Here:
http://www.newbelgium.com/slowride/trademarkcomplaint.aspx

54/100) Goose Island (Guys)

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.

Gillian, Halia, Pepe Nero

Goose Island's farmhouse beers tend to have personal sounding names. I'm not sure of the origins behind these choices, but I realized after taking the above picture that I had grouped all the guys together. Regardless, whatever saison/farmhouse base Goose Island uses for these beers is top-notch. Also, all three of these were 2013 bottles, so a touch of aging has been applied.

Gillian) I got a lot of peppery notes on this one, and there were strawberries in the finish. They hide  and weren't there with every sip, but they were fresh and pleasant. The notes reminded me of the syrupy aroma found on sticky fingers following freshly picking a batch of the fruit. The effervescence is strong but not overwhelming. ☆☆☆☆

Halia) There was a light tartness, and just a breath of peaches that lingered on the finish. Like Gillian had strawberry touches, Halia's peach notes may have been the inspiration for the bottle's color scheme. What little bitterness or sourness was in this beer fades on the finish. ☆☆☆☆

Pepe Nero) Smelled lightly of chocolate and caramel but was the harshest and most unusual of the three. In fact, if there was a category for a stout saison or the like, this would be it. It had a lot of the same background saison flavors the other two have, but the malts dominated the up front flavors. ☆☆☆☆