Beer Diary #10 - Mike

16 October 08 - Location: Home
Rice with green curry pairing

First up, thanks to Worth Your Attention for the curry recipe. I've used it over and over again and it always leaves me happy and wanting more.


Alaskan Summer Ale (Kolsch Style) - Golden and lively/fizzy, with a light and sweet malty taste. The beer cuts but also compliments the salty spicyness of the green curry. The earthly flavors of the peas, beans, and mushrooms blend well with the malt. As I got to the bottom of the glass, banana elements started to appear. This is a real knockout of a beer, by the way, with flavors and a mouthfeel that keep delivering.

Odell Easy Street Wheat - Brewmaster's Table calls for a witbier to match mild curries, and this is the best I can do on short notice. A creamy mouthfeel and extremely light taste cut the spicyness of the curry. I should have sampled this beer before the Alaskan, as the flavors are definitely a bit more muted here. Gina noted an acidity up front and a full smooth mouthfeel on the back.

If you're going to try this pairing, I'd stick with a highly rated Kolsh-style beer.


20 October 08 - Location: Home
Ska Brewing (Durango, CO) Buster Nut Brown Ale - This is a beer I'd seen around back in the St. Louis area, and Ska was a brewery that I was hoping to check out while we were out in Colorado. But Durango is way out there, so instead of visiting the brewery I picked up a few samples while we were at LiquorMart in Boulder.

This beer pours a deep dark reddish brown with a head befitting the Guinness glass I just happened to pour the beer into. Big sweet malty notes from the nose lead to a creamy mouthfeel and sweet roasty malt flavors. The beer starts full flavored and finishes chewy, but it seems like the beer is more mouthfeel than flavor. Not a bad beer by any means, but it takes a little more flavor to set my heart aflutter.


31 October 08 - Location: Home
Deschutes Obsidian Stout - Pours a deep dark black, with a lumpy white head. A grainy malt and slightly sweet nose leads to a creamy and extremely smooth beer. Well balanced, with chocolate and malt elements, finishing with the bitterness you might find in the darkest chocolates. There's also a hint of flowery sweetness to this beer. Very enjoyable, very drinkable. I should have bought more.

8 November 08 - Location: Brugge Brasserie
Pivo Defendu - A strong Belgian Pale. This beer has the magic dark fruit house Brugge nose, with a hint of alcohol. Dark fruit, smooth and agreeable, and a slightly bitter finish. What is it about Brugge? You can walk in, eat a meal, have one beer, and be ready to head home, call it a day... and the whole experience is completely positive. Am I alone on this? Brugge is like a magic mind numbing drug. And I'll have some more.

By the way - Pivo Defendu? Jim did some research.

Pivo = czech word for "beer"
Defendu = french word for "forbidden," as in "le fruit defendu" (forbidden fruit)

9 November 08 - Location: Home
Founder's Backwoods Bastard - A body that resembles sweet tea with a thin head hosts a tempered bourbon nose - a bourbon presence that isn't overwhelming, but is definitely the defining characteristic. A strong but not boozy bourbon flavor on front, which grows more as the beer works its way around the palate. Silky mouthfeel - and as the beer warms its bourbon presence only grows. This beer is basically creamy smooth bourbon. Nice. Should age well.

KOTBR #57 - GABF - The Take-Home Game

A trip to Colorado isn't complete without a trip to the liquor stores of Colorado. Our recent trip to Great American Beer Festival and the breweries around Denver has led to a kitchen overflowing with craft beer; Not a problem, but an opportunity.


Believe it or not, calling together the Knights for a Saturday sampling of all sorts of unavailable-in-Indiana beer doesn't guarantee a crowd. But four of us are truly dedicated, so we met at my current home (a van on the banks of the White River on Indy's southside) for a revisit of the GABF experience.


Deschutes The Dissident 2008 Reserve Flanders Style Brown Ale

Mike: With the tart sour nose on this beer, my first instinct was to think "get ready to pucker". But the "brown" elements of this beer keep it from going off the super-tart deep end. Creamy and chewy, this is a beer that works the back third of the tongue. 4.25 Mugs

Chris: Sour lemon nose, sour patch kids hit, but only center of tongue. Sour apple, sour lemon - not normally the biggest fan of sour, but this is GOOD. 4.33 mugs

Matt: Much thanks to Mike and Gina for letting me try this brew.
Appearance: Dissident pours a mahogany brown color with tons of tiny carbonation bubbles, and a small thin head.
Smell: Cherries and blackberries and other orchard fruit with plenty of wild scents coming from the brett, but not quite "horsebarn" in smell
Taste: Tart cherries and blackberries come out very strong with a certain grape quality lingering in the background. I get more apples in the flavor profile as the beer warms a bit. This is delicious.

I loved this beer and was imagining how to pair this beer with food. I would love to get ahold of more of this beer. This is my highest rating ever as a KOTBR, and I stand by it! 4.7 Mugs

Gina: Tart and appple. GOOD GOOD GOOD. 4.5 Mugs

Deschutes The Dissident Total Score: 4.44 Mugs



Lagunitas Brewing Co. We're Only In It For the Money 40th Anniversary Zappa beer

Mike: Trying to figure out the name of this beer was almost more rewarding that drinking it. A Belgian Tripel with a burnt sugar candied fruit nose, the first drink wasn't rewarding enough to warrant a return to the glass. It wasn't that the beer was particularly bad, it just wasn't good. I couldn't get that burnt sugar taste out of my mouth/head. 2.43 Mugs

Chris: Buttery, butterscotch up front, cotton candy, bubblegum, burned sugar. 3.2 Mugs

Matt: Appearance: Pours and Amber orange with decent staying power
Smell: Overpowering of bubblegum and Candy sugar sweetness
Taste: The sweetness carries over in the taste with more orchard fruit like apples and grapes, but the syrupy sugar sweetness is quite overpowering in this offering.

I love a good tripel, but this doesn't cross the threshold into my favorite tripel territory. 2.5 Mugs (+.1%)

Gina: I got more hints of pine than candy or fruit from this. 3 Mugs

Lagunitas We're Only In It For The Money Total Score: 2.78 Mugs



Ska Brewing Decadent Imperial IPA

Mike: A wax sealed bottle that once opened gave an earthy sort of dirty taste. Oddly enough, this beer seemed almost freezer burnt. Although the bottle says "Imperial IPA", we didn't get an IPA elements. Weird. And a letdown. 1.75 Mugs.

Chris: Apricot, piney (subtle) smell, tastes fruitier than any DIPA I've had. Sweet, almost too sweet, hops not present enough for DIPA. 2.33 Mugs

Matt: Appearance: Pours a deep and very clear golden hue with a minimal head
Smell: There wasn't really much in the way of hop aroma for an imperial IPA, but I do get some slight apricot and apples with only a touch of caramel malt
Taste: I was looking for a hop explosion that never came on this beer, and this doesn't represent what a IIPA should taste like. I get apricot and hot fussel alcohol in the flavor profile, some fruity esters and only a small touch of piney hop bite on the back end.

I don't know if this was a bad bottle, but there wasn't anything really to speak of in the hop department, and the hot fussel alcohol didn't jive with me or my palate. 2.8 Mugs

Gina: Something about this reminded me of pizza. Maybe like basil or rosemary? It didn't pack quite the punch I would expect from an IIPA. 2.6 Mugs

Ska Decadent Imperial IPA Total Score: 2.37 Mugs



Russian River Blind Pig

Mike: I broke all sorts of Russian River laws getting this one home - I took it from a cooler and put it in a box in a warm car. The bottle specifically notes that heat and light are the enemies of hops - though I've had plenty of beers that have survived worse. A peppery and hoppy nose, a golden body, bitter, peppery, soapy. Considering Russian River's reputation, I expected more. 3.2 Mugs

Chris: Very piney smell, pine hops taste with a nice touch of citrus. I love the hops, but is this balanced? Hoppity hops...seriously, only for hopheads. 3.6 Mugs

Matt: Appearance: Nice clear golden hue with a rather fluffy white head
Smell: Lots of ripe citrus fruit and pink grapefruit rind with a good shot of pine stickiness. Daddy likey!
Taste: Citrus fruit are again center stage with ripe tangerines, oranges, and lemon zest. There is a slight "soapy" quality to this beer as well that isn't really doing it for me at the moment.

If the "soapy" quality I was tasting could be taken away this would be one of my favorite IPAs to drink. The nose was very nice and the flavor profile started out really nice, but really lost points once I picked up those other flavors. 3.3 Mugs

Gina: I mostly get the aforementioned soap and pine flavors, which usually would be a negative. This time, however, they work well together and I quite like it. 3.22 Mugs.

Russian River Blind Pig Total Score: 3.33 Mugs