Frambozen, New Belgium Brewing

Well I'm happy to say this review is one that I had originally not planned on writing. I have been searching for Frambozen since I found out it was ready to be shipped out. I checked New Belgium's website and was under the assumption that this brew would not be making it to the fine state of Illinois this year. Fortunately, as fate would have it, I journeyed into one of the liquor stores that I rarely visit and as I was searching the shelves for something good, the last six pack of Frambozen caught my eye. I was very excited because it's a beer I've been wanting to try for a while, and until I found it at this liquor store I had pretty much given up on trying it this season.

Frambozen pours a dark red, almost ruby color. Its a very warm and inviting color, very appropriate in my opinion for a Christmas beer. There is about a finger and a half of tan head and disappears pretty quickly and leaves a thin layer across the top of the beer. This is a little lacing on the side of the glass.

The scent this beer gives off is a mixture of malt and raspberries. There is a hint of sweetness from the malt and a predominant sour note from the raspberries. I thought that I smelled a little alcohol in the mix, but was unsure since this brew is only about 6.5% ABV. I also caught a subtle hint of earthy hops as I searched a little deeper. The raspberries really dominate the bouquet of this beer though.

I thought that this beer had a really interesting taste to it. The idea of a raspberry beer that is not a wheat beer is in itself an interesting concept. I was intrigued to see how the caramel malts would interact with the raspberries. I was very skeptical if I would even be able to make out more than a hint of the raspberries. My first sip of this brew was full of that raspberry sourness that I had smelled at first. The sweetness from the caramel malt is briefly present at the beginning of the sip before your palette is overwhelmed with the sweet/sour bite of the raspberries. I think enough caramel malt was used so that it balanced the sour of the raspberries to the point where it was a pleasant sour that one would get from one of the more mild Belgian sours. This beer definitely reminded of a sour with a sharper bite that didn't completely dominate the palette. Near the end of the sip the sourness mellowed out into the level of sweetness mixed with sourness that one would get from eating a raspberry without sugar.

This beer had a medium mouth feel, with a lot of carbonation present. The aftertaste was a mix of malt with sourness. I think the after taste is the only place where this beer kind of let me down. I felt like the flavors kind of separated after the sip was done, and I was left with this awkward malty/sour taste that transitioned into a malty taste after the sourness wore off. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just kind of strange and didn't reflect the rest of the drinking experience.

Overall, I enjoyed this beer. I think I may have over hyped it a little bit but it was definitely an interesting beer. I thought the use of the raspberries in a brown ale was very unique and made for an interesting combination of flavors and tastes. I would definitely recommend trying this brew if you can find it but I also wouldn't over hype it like I did.

Anchor Brewing, Anchor Porter

I know I'm still taking a lot of time in between posts, but in my defense it is the holiday season and I'm busy shopping, eating, celebrating birthdays, etc, etc. I've stocked up on some solid beers so I should be churning out more posts more frequently now. On a positive note the Binny's by my house has finally joined the 21st century and decided to start selling a "creat your own six pack" option which is great news for this blog because it means I will be able to try a greater variety of beers instead of having to buy one sixer at a time.

Today's beer, Anchor Porter, is one that I've been really excited to drink all week. Anchor is a classic brewery in the world of American Craft Beer, and while I'd still consider myself new to them I have tried enough of their beers to know they when it comes to beer, Anchor doesn't mess around.

This beer pours a very dark brown, almost black color. I noticed the head parfaited a little bit with about a finger of tan and white colored head. The head lasted as a prominent film throughout the tasting. There was a heavy amount of lacing on the glass.

Anchor Porter had a very sweet scent. It smelled like chocolate with a tiny hint of roast as I continued to smell it. The sweetness was accompanied by a smooth and pleasant maltiness.

The first taste of this beer was incredibly smooth. The sweetness from the smell translated beautifully into the taste. The sweetness from the malt was the predominant taste in this beer but as you near the end of the taste the roastiness from the chocolate malt surfaces. This is a subtle bite about midway through the taste that gives the beer some bite to counteract the sweetness.

This beer had a medium body, as well as a lot of carbonation. When I swished it around, I got a little bit of chewiness but it lasted briefly. This beer had a sweet aftertaste with a hint of roast that balanced out the sweetness very nicely, and didn't linger very long. It's hard to say a porter is crisp but this beer had a very strong flavor, yet didn't overwhelm the palette. It was an incredibly easy to drink porter. Anyone who is skeptical of dark beer should definitely give this beer a whirl, because it's not your average run-of-the-mill porter.

Overall I would have to say that this is one of the best porters I have had in my short time as a craft beer enthusiast. It was very easy to drink, and I really liked how the sweetness and the bitterness from the chocolate malt and hops balanced each other out almost perfectly. This is a beer I will be telling everyone to at least try once. As for me, I've found a new favorite beer.

Avery Brewing, Imperial Stout

I'm sad to say that I have been so busy these last couple of weeks that I really haven't been able to keep up with this blog. I've tried a lot of really good beers and I'm kicking myself because I haven't taken the time to write about them. I'm going to do a much better job keeping up with this thing from here on out. There's too much good beer out there and I've taken it upon myself to make sure that the few people who read this blog hear about it.

I decided to celebrate my comeback with a monster beer. That is, The Czar from Avery Brewing. This beer is a part of their Dictator Series that I wan in love with early in November when I reviewed the The Kaiser. This beer is as big, if not bigger, than the Kaiser. It definitely knocked me for a loop. I was expecting a big, flavorful, powerful beer and that's exactly what I got. This beer also taught me to follow the rule of "the darker the beer, the warmer it should be served." As the beer warmed the best developed more and more, which was really cool to experience.

This beer pours a very dark brown color, and sits opaque in the glass. Initially it had about one finger of head, but this fell back into the beer pretty quickly. There were some signs of carbonation along the side of the glass, and a light film on top of the beer the whole time I was drinking. It left a lot of lace on the sides of the glass throughout the tasting.

The scent of this beer was pretty interesting. I got some subtle hints of chocolate and coffee. It had a very prominent sweet quality to it, and underneath the sweetness there's a tiny bit of alcohol that I could smell. The label mentions toffee and molasses and I got a little bit of those flavors as well as the malty sweetness.

My first few tastes of this beer were very underwhelming and I was a little concerned for a little while. I had put this beer in the fridge and in hindsight I wish I would have chosen to not chill it at all. When i first tasted this beer I could taste the chocolate malt, alcohol, and molasses and that was it. And the flavors I could taste were very subtle. So I let the beer sit for 20 minutes and came back and could taste a lot more. I got hints of coffee, toffee, and the molasses was a lot more prominent. I felt like the malts stood out more as well. I was even able to enjoy the slight bite from the hops as I sipped. This beer should definitely be enjoyed at room temperature, or slightly chilled. The beginning of the taste has a strong sweetness to it mixed with alcohol and some slight fruitiness. There is a little bite in the middle from the hops that evens out the sweetness perfectly and the finish is coffee with a hint of alcohol. The alcohol is impossible to avoid in this beer, as it sits at 10.5% ABV and has a 1.104 original gravity. The alcohol is by no means unpleasant though. It's just unavoidable so if you don't like that flavor in your beer this isn't the brew for you.

This beer had an incredibly heavy body. There wasn't a whole lot of carbonation and when I drank it I found it to be almost chewy. The mouth feel was very interesting. I felt like this beer was thicker than others, it was very hard to freely swish this beer around in my mouth. It definitely lacked the watery characteristics that a lot of other beers usually have. Its the first time I could significantly notice the heaviness of the body. The aftertaste of this beer was really nice, especially considering how heavy it was. The alcohol didn't linger at all. It finished with a nice coffee taste that wasn't overpowering by any means. I actually enjoyed its lingering quality.

Overall I thought this beer was awesome, especially after I had it when it warmed. I felt like the heavy body was kind of weird, but as I finished the bottle I got used to it and it really wasn't a big issue. It just caught me off guard initially. If you're into imperial stouts, I would definitely pick this one up. I plan to grab a bottle and cellar it for a couple years and hopefully by then this blog blows up and by then everyone will read a blog post on the cellared bottle. But I digress, go get yourself a bottle of this bad boy. It's a great winter beer and if you enjoy stouts get yourself an early Christmas present.

I plan to write many more posts for December. It would be blasphemous not to. I plan to do an ultimate review of King Henry from Goose Island on Christmas Day. Thats their bourbon barrel barley wine and its supposed to be insane. It better be for 25 bucks a bottle. I hope every one has a very happy holiday season, and make sure to check back soon for a new post.