Unibroue -- Ephemere Apple

Unibroue's Ephemere Apple is a witbier beer brewed with apple must, coriander, and curacao peels.

The ABV is 5.5% and the beer hails from Canada.

Review:
This beer pours a hazy straw color and carries a thick, tall white head. The aroma is dominated by apples and bubblegum from the apple must and the yeast respectively. The taste has elements of spicy coriander that dance around, and sour apples on the edges of your tongue. The high carbonation and unfiltered beer combine to produce a creamy mouthfeel while still retaining a nice snappy finish. For the most part, this beer just tastes like somebody put some apple juice in my Belgian witbier.

(Side Note: According to Ratebeer and Beer Advocate, there are multiple versions of Ephemere with different fruit flavors.)

Overall Impression:
This is the first fruit beer I've rated. The reason I've waited this long is because I generally don't seek out fruit beers. I like beer, and I like fermented fruit drinks, but a fermented fruit/beer drink is is a rare commodity in my fridge.
However, for what this beer is attempting to be, it is a success. 

Grade: B






Barrel man says,
"pinky up" drink.

(bottle purchased Whole Foods.)

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. -- Ovila Dubbel

Sierra Nevada's Ovila Dubbel is a collaboration with The Abby of New Clairvaux, 

in Vina, California-- only 20 miles from SN Brewery. 

A portion of Proceeds go to the restoration of New Clairvaux's medieval Spanish building. 

 7.5% ABV and only bottled in 750 ml. bottles.

Review:

You know, rating Sierra Nevada beers is getting to be a little boring and tedious. Beer after beer are made without flaws in bottling, carbonation, maturation, shipping conditions, recipe formation, or sanitation. There execution is almost flawless! To make things a little more interesting, I wish that I'd get a bad bottle once in a while--not bad beer though! Heaven forbid!-- But maybe just an upside-down label, or a bottle with the wrong cap... just a little something to criticize...

You want to know what this tastes like? Read the BJCP guidelines for the style HERE. The guys at BJCP should adjust the Belgian Dubble category description to say, "tastes like Sierra Nevada Ovila." I mean, take a look... 

Aroma: "Complex, rich malty sweetness; malt may have hints of chocolate, caramel and/or toast"--Check.

Appearance: "Dark amber to copper... reddish depth of color... Large... long-lasting creamy head."--Nailed. 

Flavor: "Rich, complex medium to medium-full malty... palate yet finishes moderately dry."--Yep.

Mouthfeel: "Medium-full body. Medium-high carbonation... Low alcohol warmth."--Ding, ding. 

Overall Impression: "A deep reddish, moderately strong, malty, complex Belgian ale."--Checkmate.

(Side Note: The project that the monks at New Clairvaux are working on is fascinating. Check out websites HERE and HERE to get an idea.)

Overall Impression: 

This is a textbook Belgian Dubbel. If you like Dubbels, go get one and try it! The only way I can criticize this beer is to say that it doesn't have the overwhelming yeasty esters that some people crave (not me, just some people). For those out there who don't know what I am talking about, I'll give this analogy: In the world of orange juice, this beer would be fresh-squeezed OJ. Other Dubbels that people crave would be more akin to Sunny Delight. 

Grade: A

(bottle purchased at The Liquor Collection)

Suntory Brewing -- "The Premium Malt's"

Suntory's "The Premium Malt's" draft beer is a lager was (according to the website) "...created to fulfill this desire of Ryozo Yamamoto, the man behind its development."

If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.

 5.5% ABV

Review:
I think that the best thing about this beer was that it made me visit Suntory's website. Please, if you are reading this, you've gotta check out the site if only for the picture of the stern-faced brewers with the caption, "Today, this perfect beer, created in pursuit of taste and flavor, continues to challenge new heights." Being that it is perfect and all, what new heights can it possibly challenge? Only the website creator knows...
But, on to the beer!

This beer pours clear and golden, like Martinelli's apple juice. The head starts tall, but quickly subsides to a small but constant height. This reflects the relatively high carbonation level.  The aroma has obvious sulfur compounds and a slight malt nose. No hop aroma. The taste is malty and sweet with a decent grassy hop character. I don't know if I would say that it is balanced, exactly. It is surprisingly sweet until about 2.5 seconds after you swallow, at which time the hops kick in. Unfortunately, the nice grassy hop character is accompanied with a grittiness on the edges of the tongue that is a bit unpleasant.

(Side note: Suntory is a huge conglomerate of companies and is much better known for their distillates.)

Overall Impression:
This beer reminds me of a cheaper malt liquor. I suppose it compares favorably to some of the Baltika lagers on the market, but honestly, for a beer that claims to be "perfect," it leaves me desiring more balance and better flavor.
Maybe I should try their "Relax" beer

BONUS YOUTUBE CLIP HERE!  Are they laughing because he drinks loudly? Who knows!

Grade: C

(This beer purchased at Marukai.)

Kulmbacher Brauerei -- Eisbock

Kulmbacher Brauerei's Eisbock claims to be the original eisbock.

 This is a very deceptive 9.2% ABV

Review:
The story goes that an apprentice at Kulmbacher Brewery left some casks of beer out in a snowstorm, and when finally discovered, a portion of water in the beer was frozen leaving the unfrozen alcohol (alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water) in a concentrated condition. Personally, I doubt that they were the first to accidentally freeze beer. I've accidentally frozen beer a half a dozen times, and I have the sticky dregs in my freezer to prove it! Nonetheless, they probably were the first to decide to market frozen beer from a blown-out keg.
--Yeah, yeah, I can hear you all saying, "But, the beer! The beer!"
Ok, so, the aroma is heavy on the dark cherries and has a light chocolate roasty aspect. If you swirl the glass, you get some serious whipping cream notes. The color is of a dark Koa wood (the picture above is misleading. It needed some back-lighting.) The initial taste is dominated by an apple cider flavor, but there is some butterscotch/toffee flavor in the background. The aftertaste has an, ahem, interesting medicinal quality similar to cough syrup mixed with coriander. Other tasters noted equal sweet and burnt notes in the aftertaste with a hint of anise.

(Side note: The process of freezing beer to concentrate the alcohol is what BrewDog used in their Tactical Nuclear Penguin that was the world's strongest "beer" for a short time -- 32% ABV.)

Overall Impression:
I've liked all the Eisbocks I've had... until I had this bottle. Because I've had this specific brand before, I have to say that it was probably an old bottle and that it may not be representative of the brewing skills of this company. Still, while the blame may be more on the distributors or the retailers for not rotating their stock, I've got to, "play it as it lies." Sorry, Kulmbacher.

Grade: C

(This beer purchased at Whole Foods)

Cervejaria Sudbrack Ltda. -- Eisenbahn Vigorosa

Cervejaria Sudbrack Ltda.'s "Eisenbahn Vigorosa" is an "Unfiltered Wheat Doublebock," (A.K.A. Weizenbock) with "notes of toasted whole-grain bread, bananas, and chocolate."

The ABV on this is a proud 8% and the beer hails from Brazil!

Review:
*Special tasting alert! I tried this with my brother, Bryan, and so the notes are compiled from both our comments.*

Getting a beer from Brazil is a real treat. The last one I had was Xingu and that was years ago. This beer was nothing like that one...
The the beer pours with little head, and although this beer is dark, it is obvious that it is unfiltered. There is quite a bit of cloudiness apparent at the edge of the glass. The color is either a red/brown rye beer color, or mahogany, depending on who you ask. The aroma has notes of apricot, plums, peaches, cherries, and orange. As for the taste, well, we picked up notes of orange candy, roasted barley and chocolate, cherries, fruit punch and dark candy sugar.

(Side Note: Eisenbahn seems to mean something about trains / train stations. Eisenbahn Vigorosa is only available in the great USA, so drink up if you like Weizenbocks.)

Overall Impression:
The beer is fine. If you like malty goodness, or sweet beers that are 8%,  this is for you. Between my brother and myself, there was no split. We both gave it a B.

Grade: B

(bottle purchased Whole Foods.)

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. -- Glissade

 

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s "Glissade" is a Golden Bock, "with restrained sweetness... balanced against delicate aromas of spicy and floral European hops." 

The ABV on this is 6.4% and it claims 42 IBU's.

Review:
I could be wrong, but I don't think that "Golden Bock" is a recognized style. Therefore, I am left to assume that this beer would fall under the jurisdiction of a Hellesbock or Maibock category. Both of these categories call for a lighter color and more hoppy profile than your everyday Bock, and they are commonly brewed for the spring time. Glissade seems to fit this mold.
Looking at the above photo, you can see that this beer is a nice orange/gold color with a small head. The flavor starts a bit sweet but quickly sours across the tongue. More correctly stated, it begins malty but finishes hoppy with a grassy/citrus punch. There is a small amount of malt husk character present, but it is not distracting. As far as medium strength lagers go, this is fairly complex... Upon further tastings, there is a certain dry pepper flavor to the hops and some sulfur notes become evident.

(Side Note: Glissade is a term that can be used in three ways. In this instance it is referring to the practice of sliding down a steep snowy mountain either by putting your weight on your heels and alternating your weight back and forth in a sort of improvised "boot-skiing" fashion, or riding on your butt and feet down the mountain. -- I'll bet you're wondering what this has to do with beer, well, read the description at Sierra Nevada to find out.)

Overall Impression:
Last year, before I was blogging, I had this beer and it was different. Reviewing my notes, it had a much larger head and no yeast notes. This year it lacks the same malt presence that I found so magical in 2010. It is still good, but I admit, I am a touch disappointed that the flavor couldn't quite meet the high expectations set last year.

Grade: B

(bottle purchased The Liquor Collection.)

EKU Pils

Kulmbacher Brauerei's "Pils" claims to have "flawless balance" while being "light and refreshing, rich and deeply satisfying."

It weighs in at 5% ABV.

Review: Although this beer gets B average ratings on the Beer Advocate website, the Great Brewer's website states that in a blind taste test in 2008, Germans chose this beer as the best German Pilsner. After tasting this beer I must say I align more closely with the Great Brewer's opinion.
The very first whiff of aroma screams of pilsner malt. For me, this is always a plus within the Pilsner category as I feel it adds to the drinking experience. The straw color was crystal clear and the pleasant head had good retention. The body was light/thin, (as German Pilsners should be) but there was a nice light pilsner maltiness. The slight bite from the hops balances the grain. Basically, this has all of the enjoyable characteristics of a German Pilsner.

(Side Note: This brewery was created in 1872, only 30 years after the first Pilsner was brewed in the Czech republic.)

Overall Impression: This ain't one of those green bottle beers that has suffered its way across the pond, getting skunked all along the way. This is crisp, clean, light, flavorful and delightful. American brewers should strive to make their Pilsners taste more like this beer! As the bottle says, "perfect for everyday drinking!"

Grade: A-

This bottle was purchased at Whole Foods.