Another Top Shelf Thursday is in the books, & if there’s
something that’s almost as fun as drinking the beers, it’s writing about them
in the next-day wrap-up. Now, we know
that the right beer can be just as romantic as any other beverage, but for our Valentine’s-themed
tasting we decided to exploit the popular perception of wine as befitting the
holiday. And everyone knows that
chocolate goes with Valentine’s Day, so for our “Wine & Chocolate” tasting
we selected a flight of ten beers that tied in with either wine or chocolate.
The first course was the Chocolate Porter from Hangar 24
Brewing in Redlands, California, made with two types of chocolate malt, cocoa
nibs, & aged on vanilla beans following fermentation. It hid its 8% ABV well & was surprisingly
light-bodied, with a coffee edge & some West Coast hop character. DuClaw’s Double Naked Fish smelled great, hitting with a
rich aroma of chocolate & raspberries, like a truffle. The imperial stout base went down smooth
& was very drinkable at 7.6% ABV. The third & final “chocolate” beer threw folks for a bit
of a loop. Maracaibo Especial, a brown
ale from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales made with cacao nibs, cinnamon, &
orange peel, packed a funky & tart punch from the brewery’s practice of
open fermenting & barrel-aging all of their beers.
Moving into wine territory, we poured the first of two
wine/beer “hybrids” from renowned experimenters Dogfish Head: Noble Rot. This beer combines a saison/farmhouse ale
with two types of grape must – pinot gris & a viognier that came into
contact with a botrytis, a benevolent fungus that lends complexity to the grape
(“noble rot”). This beer was pale gold,
very transparent, & was reminiscent of a Riesling in its aroma & flavor. Their Chateau Jiahu was based on a 9,000-year-old
recipe discovered from archaeological exploration near Jiahu in China. The updated recipe uses rice syrup, hawthorn
berries, honey, & grapes, & is fermented with a sake yeast, once again
blurring the boundaries between beer & wine.
While bourbon barrel-aging has become part of many brewers’
repertoires, aging in wine barrels is far less common, which is what gave the
next two beers – both from gypsy brewer Evil Twin – their distinct
characters. Evil Twin used Chardonnay
barrels to age both its 9th Symphony, a strong Belgian blonde ale
with “notes” (ha-ha) of banana & a slightly tart finish; & Disco Beer,
a double IPA with a very fruity, sweet, almost cake-like flavor that was still
backed by a bracing bitterness. It was
very interesting to see how similar barrels could create such different flavors
in two distinct styles of beer.
Our third “wine” grouping was based around a style born of
wine-envy: barleywines. From Blue Point
Brewing in Long Island, Old Howling Bastard had a very sweet & caramel malt
profile, with notes of spice, peppermint, & a prominent hop bitterness that
definitely planted this traditionally English beer firmly in American
soil. This was a no-frills American
barleywine, packed with flavor & complexity. Victory’s Oak Horizontal was no slouch
either, their Old Horizontal aged in bourbon barrels. The barrels added a resiny, tannic element to
the already strong malt profile, again with a subtler but notable hop presence.
Capping things off was the “champagne” course: Brooklyn Black
Ops, an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels & bottled with champagne
yeast. Black Ops is in the pantheon of
American imperial stouts, & while some had tried it before, everyone left
satisfied by this masterful beer.
One point of interest that wove throughout the flight this
evening was the variation & diversity that beer can achieve, even with a
common thread like the theme presented this evening. We tasted the sweet, the bitter, the sour,
the subtle, the bold, the brights brights, & the darkest darks, all
connected through this wonderfully complex beverage. These tastings continue to be a really fun
time, for folks to meet, make new friends, try new beers, & marvel at
something so simple yet so complex. Beer
can truly romance you.
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