Thoughts on Beer

New Belgium Frambozen

I have to say, it took me a while to review New Belgium‘s Frambozen.  One time I enjoyed it, where it was slightly tart, and then the next bottle I didn’t like it at all.  It seemed to be a bit of a beer enigma.  Over the course of the six pack, I found it was better chilled and poured into a goblet-type glass.

The beer started off slightly tart.  It had a brown-ruby color and has a slight scent of raspberries.  As it traveled through the mouth, it had a fairly light mouthfeel and had a bit of tartness.  It finished fairly clean, but left a hint of raspberry behind.

The overall impression of this wasn’t great because, to me, it seemed to be stuck between two styles – malty brown and tart raspberry.

What did you think of Frambozen?

Samuel Adams Revolutionary Rye

As part of the American Originals Variety Pack, Samuel Adams released the winner of the 2010 Sam Adams’ Beer Lover’s Choice contest, Revolutionary Rye.

With this beer, I didn’t quite know what to expect because rye beers run the gambit of beer styles.  Initially, this smelled like bread and a bit like spicy hops.  It tasted a bit malty, but there was a lot of flavor from a pine-like hop variety.  It left quite a bit of bitterness in the finish.  I think if you enjoy IPA‘s, you might like this beer since it reminded me of a less-bitter crisp IPA.

Have you tried the Revolutionary Rye?  What was your take?

Samuels Adams American Originals Spring Variety Pack

Now that the calendar has turned the page to 2011, breweries are beginning to release the spring seasonal packs (except Leinenkugel’s, who thought Dec. 1 was late enough in the winter season).

The spring seasonals are a great way to start to shed the strong, malty beers of winter and begin to enjoy the lighter beers the new year brings. Samuel Adams repackaged their Spring Brewmaster’s Variety Pack by removing the Honey Porter, Black Lager, and Boston Ale, and renaming the pack the “American Originals” along with adding a few new beers.

In the pack, there are 2 bottles each of:

• Boston Lager
• Scotch Ale
• Noble Pils
• White Ale
• Irish Red
• Revolutionary Rye (winner of the 2010 Sam Adams’ Beer Lover’s Choice)

So far, the pack looks good, with the Irish Red being one of my top 10 beers.  The Revolutionary Rye looks interesting, so look for a review of it soon.

Have you tried the American Originals Spring Variety Pack?  What did you think?  Which ones did you like?  Which ones didn’t you like?

Infinium

On New Year’s, I had the chance to try Infinium, the collaboration between Samuel Adams and the Weihenstephan Brewery, the oldest known brewery in the world. These two breweries worked for over several years to create a new type of beer, adhering to the Reinheitsgebot, or German purity law that states beer can be made of only four ingredients: malt, hops, water, and yeast.  They claimed it to be like a champagne, but it’s not at all like the champagne of beers…

To sum up this beer, it closely resembled a highly carbonated Belgian trippel .  What makes it more fascinating though is most trippels tend to use candi sugars in the beer to increase the strength of the beer while reducing the body.  Infinium uses only malt to push this to a 10.3% beer.

This beer smells very fruity, like a trippel with more carbonation.  It tastes like a mix of a Belgian trippel and a Belgian dubbel (because of the bigger malt flavor), and the extra carbonation leaves a big tingling sensation.  It finishes slightly sweet with a dry finish.  I thought it was a good beer that has its place in the beer world, but, in my opinion, at $18, there are more cost effective Belgian beers available.

Did you have some Infinium over New Year’s?  What did you think?

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Stout

Over the holidays, I had the chance to have one of Sierra Nevada’s 30th Anniversary collaboration beers, the Fritz and Ken’s Stout, from the mind of Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing and Fritz Maytag.  Fritz is the great-grandson of the founder of the Maytag Corporation, headquartered in Newton, Iowa (which is also the hometown of Madhouse Brewing).  He essentially saved American craft beer in 1965 when he purchased the Steam Beer Brewing Company in San Francisco, now the maker of Anchor Steam.  The brewery was about to close its doors when Fritz bought the company and saved it, along with craft brewing in the process.

This beer was actually purchased about a year ago, but has been in cellar temperatures (around 50 degrees) since then.

I must say that this beer was worth the wait.  It poured very dark, with a tan head.  It smelled like roasted coffee and chocolate.  When I tasted it, I was very impressed.  It was a very nice, thick stout with a bunch of mouthfeel.  I felt it was almost porter-like because it was very thick, smooth, and chocolatey.

It was a great beer, and I am very disappointed that I didn’t save more.

Did you try the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken’s Stout?  What was your take?