AleDog

I recently when on a beer tour and one of the things that the tour guide said rang true: “experiment, try different stuff.”

Oddly enough this tour was at Red Hook, which is a pretty damn big brewing company.  Despite the fact that Red Hook is a large brewery the statement got me thinking…I have been somewhat of a snob regarding beer labels, especially since my move to Seattle.

That being said, I decided to take a chance with a Brewery I’ve never seen before, Justice Brewing.  Specifically I tried the StoutHearted, Dry Stout.

To call this beer ‘malty’ is an understatement.  But, honestly I haven’t had many Belgian Stouts in my life, so I will go by flavor alone.  I realize this is somewhat unfair, but as Roddy Piper said “Life’s a bitch and she’s back in heat.”

Again, the beer is very malty, but there are defintely some Belgian tones.  It’s pretty light (ABV 5.9%) for something with the Belgian label, so that takes it down a grade in my book.  Decent, but I don’t love it.

Grade: C+

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This isn’t going to be a beer review, more of a recommendation.  A lot of Winter seasonals are so ridiculously strong it can be hard to find that you can stick with through out the season.  Well I found one this year, and it’s Anderson Valley’s Winter Solstice.  Its fairly sweet, so if that scares you maybe only buy a sixer or one as part of a “Build-your-own.”  I truly can say that I love this beer, and this is the first one in awhile I’ve bought multiple times in season.

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I was in the mood for a nice Belgian Tripel tonight, but as I scanned through the many beers at my favorite beer store (maybe place?) in the world, Sound Brewery’s Tripel Entendre caught my eye.  My neighbor, knowing about my love of beer sent me a bottle of Sound Brewery’s “Monk’s Indiscretion”, which I liked, but didn’t love.  Anyway, I decided it was worth skipping the Chimay and give a more local option a try.

The beer pours darker than a typical tripel, but the smell is much weaker than I am used to when drinking a Belgian.  And really I think that’s the problem, we don’t stand a chance against true Belgian beers.  I don’t know a ton about the science of beer (part of why I write this blog), but there has to be a strain of yeast that they are using in Belgium that sets their beers apart.  I’m not saying this is a bad beer, it just doesn’t really seem like a tripel.  It seems more like a Belgian Strong Ale to me, similar to Russian River’s Damnation or a…( I can’t remember the name of the Belgian Strong Ale I’m thinking of).  Either way, this is a good beer, but not so great when comparing it to Belgian Tripels.

I think it’s tough for American breweries to pull of what the monks do across the pond, but Sound Brewery gives me hope.  The beer is good, but still has some improving to do.

Grade: B-

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I tasted this beer on my honeymoon during the Shipyard Brewery tour (which I highly recommend by the way) and thought this was excellent, though the one ounce taste didn’t justify a review.  When my friend gave me a bottle I was very excited. However, the Shipyard Smashed Blueberry, was not as good as I remembered.  The beer is apparently a hybrid of a porter and scotch ale with the obvious addition of blueberry.  While I could taste the porter, I couldn’t quite catch the scotch ale.  The blueberry flavor and aroma was just about right, but there was a pretty apparent boozy taste that just didn’t seem to fit in.  It was hard to drink the full bomber, maybe I would’ve liked it a bit better if I would’ve had a smaller amount.  I didn’t hate this beer, but after having the Blueberry Java Stout from Oaken Barrel, this underwhelmed.  If you do buy this, plan to split it with a friend. PB.

Grade: C+

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To start, this is definitely one of my favorite beer names.   Hop Czar is a delicious Imperial IPA that is both delicious and strong.  The taste reminds me of  Bell’s Hopslam, which is quite the compliment for anyone outside of the Midwest.  The hop flavor is just about right, though nothing impressive at a listed 87 IBU, and the beer also finishes clean without the bitter aftertaste that some other IPA’s (or IIPA’s) might have.  It’s a little less sweet than others of the same style that I’ve had, but that’s a good thing.  While its a pretty potent beer (7.5% abv), you can’t taste it.  If you are an IPA fan definitely pick up a 6 pack of this ASAP.

Grade: B+

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Well I just moved to a great beer city from Indianapolis (an underrated beer city) so haven’t had a whole lot of free time to update the blog, but that will change.  I hope some of my Indy/midwest friends will throw in some reviews now and then.

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