Friday Beer O'clock Selections

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January 2011

 

Brooklyn Brown Ale - Friday Beer O'Clock Selections 1-21-2011

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This week's Friday Beer O'Clock Selection is Brooklyn Brown Ale brewed in Brookly, New York by a brewery known as ... wait for it ... Brooklyn Brewery!  I've also heard that they sell bridges, but have not been able to confirm that fact.

ABV: 5.6%

Appearance:

Poured with a rich dark brown color with amber highlights and formed a loose two finger brown-ish head. The head didn't last very long, but managed to retain a decent collar. Lacing covers the sides well, but dosn't hold very well. Turbidity appears to be pretty clear but the color gives it an opaqueness that makes it hard to see much. There is some carbonated bubbling, but hard to see.

Aroma:

Aromas are delicious and pretty much what I expect from a good brown ale. Lots of rich malts, molases, chocolate, brown sugar, coffee, and rounding off with some hops. All working together nicely.

Taste:

YES! Just as the aromas suggest. Flavors are very well balanced here, in my opinion, and all come together nicely moving from front to back. A collection of roasted and caramel malts, coffee and chocolate with a mellow bitter hopiness in the finish.

Feel:

In large, this is a smooth brew with medium to medium-heavy body. Carbonation is just right for my taste with a dry finish.

Drinkability:

I rate this pretty high on the drinkability chart. Great flavor and mouth. Hearty but refreshing. It makes a great session beer at 5.6% ABV, and would be appropriate in any season.

Overall:

Thumbs up from me. In fact, I believe I'm going to add this to my favorites list. I have a feeling this would be great with a nice steak or a rack of babyback ribs.

Tried this one yourself or have another Brown Ale Suggestion? Leave a comment and share.

 

Filed under  //   Ale   Brooklyn Brewery   Brown Ale   Recommended  
Posted January 21, 2011 by Ed Stafford 
 

Southern Tier Cuvee, Series Three - Friday Beer O'Clock Selections 1-14-2011

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This week's Friday Beer O'Clock Selection was admitidly influenced by the packaging. A nice boxed package with fancy graphics and fonts... lesson learned? Never judge a book by it's cover, or a beer by it's fancy packaging. However, in my defense, the selections this week on the shelves were a bit limited.

Today's selection brings us Southern Tier's Oak Aged Ale Cuvee, Series Three.

ABV: 11%

Appearance: Poured into a mug with a nice clear but dark amber-red color, forming an UN-impressive fizzy head and leaving spotty lacing.

Aroma: Off the bat, this is very sweet smelling with vanilla, caramel, and sweet plum, pineapple and malts coming out on top. Strange, but the aroma reminds me of sweet 'n sour chinese chicken.

Taste: Very sweet alcohol with malts right up front. In the middle, vanilla, toffee and caramel come out and in the back, a VERY slight hopiness and oak, all finishing with an overall sweetness. There is a noticible alcohol ether throughout.

Feel: It has a definate bite of alcohol that warms the gut. Body is on the heavy side with a smooth syrupy texture and low carbonation. So far, the best part of this brew.

Drinkability: No points scored here either. Far too sweet with noticible alcohol. It's not too bad for a warm sipper in snifter or wine goblet, but definately not suitable for a mug.

Overall: I had high hopes for this, but in the end, was a little dissapointed and having trouble finishing the glassfull. Similar in many ways to the Samichlaus reviewed a while back which also didn't win me over. After getting past the expectations I had, It's not a complete loss, but I'm not recommending this one, especially at the price it gets.

Maybe I missed something, but if you've tried this one and don't agree with this review, now is your chance to speak up.

Filed under  //   Ale   cuvee   southern tier  
Posted January 14, 2011 by Ed Stafford 
 

Unibroue's "Terrible" - Friday Beer O'Clock Selection 1-7-2011

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After a three week hiatus, Friday Beer O’Clock Selections are back!!! Seriously, I need to talk to whoever is in charge of scheduling these major holidays to make sure they don’t fall on a Friday in the future. That really puts a kink in Friday Beer O’Clock Selections.

With that out of the way, after three weeks of waiting, I am finally here to tell you that this week’s selection is Terrible! Yup, that’s right. I said Terrible!! Or as they say in Canada, “La Terrible”, Unibroue’s winner of 11 international gold medals.

ABV: 10.5%

Appearance:
Poured into a mug with a very dark opaque color, like a black abyss, forming a huge light brown head with spotty, but consistent lacing. For the record, the recommended serving glass is a chalice, the mug was all I had available.

Aroma:
First up is a roasted sense of malted chocolate or dark cocoa with molasses and brown sugar,  followed by dark fruity and spiced aromas.

Taste:
Right away, there is a sense of good balance. Starting in front with sweet tart fruits. More sweet fruity tartiness than the aroma implies. The middle,leading to the back reveals more of the cocoa and spice expected from the aroma, with a dark fruity finish that rounds out the complexity of this brew with characteristics of a wine.

Feel:
A nice smooth lighter-side-of-medium body with a wet finish. Moderate carbonation reminds you that this is a beer and not some expensive wine. Some warmth is presented by the alcohol, but well blended.

Drinkability:
A well rounded brew with fantastic drinkability. Fun complexity, surprisingly refreshing, great flavors and smooth. Proceed with caution, at 10.5% ABV, you could easily find yourself “accidentally” inebriated.

Validation: My wife was quoted -
“This isin’t terrible .. it’s freaking delicious” … “How can anyone name a beer this good “terrible”?

There you have it folks. What do you think?

 

Filed under  //   Ale   Recommended   abby-style   unibroue  
Posted January 7, 2011 by Ed Stafford