Beer:30... 21st Amendment Lower DeBoom Barleywine.

Yesterday I took out my wife for her birthday lunch at our favorite restaurant in our little burg, Padrino (Check them out here. Not only is their food top notch, but their beer list is one of the best in the Cincinnati area. Anyway, once inside the restaurant, I glanced at the taps and spotted something that I had not seen before. Enter 21st Amendment's Lower DeBoom Barleywine:

If you remember, I first noticed 21st Amendment with their winter seasonal, Fireside Chat (Review here). Definitely a tasty brew, which got me interested in the brand. This beer, however, was completely off of my radar. Here is why:

This beer is part of their "Big Can" series, which basically is a keg only, three times a year or so release of a limited, small batch beer. Luckily, Padrino scored a keg of this monster, here are my thoughts...

The beer pours into your snifter like most barleywines, with a ruby hue, topped off with a decent sized, almost creamy head. Flavor wise, this barleywine delivers. Nice fruity flavors blend with malt goodness and hints of toffee, finishing with a nice bit of alcohol. Easier to drink than Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, or Anchor Brewing's Old Foghorn. Not knocking those two beers, but this beer is special. The flavors blend so nicely, and more start to show themselves once your glass has warmed a bit. I found myself wanting a second glass, but since it was my wife's birthday lunch I had to refrain, luckily for me since this beer is around 10.5% ABV.

This has been a solid barleywine from 21st Amendment, and one of the best that I have had. This beer ranks up their with Great Divide's Old Ruffian for me when it comes to the style. I will be heading back to Padrino to have some more of this delight. Well done!

Cheers!

Beer:30... Anchor Brewing Old Foghorn.

In life, beers come and go. Every now and again you will find a beer that you are absolutely crazy about, then all of a sudden it is no longer available. The shelf life for some brews is unfortunately just too short. Luckily, that is not the case with this beer. Anchor's Old Foghorn has been around since 1975, and was the "first modern American barleywine." I have wanted to try this for a while, lets pull the anchor and set sail...

This beer pours like your typical barleywine, showing up to play in a nice, amber/ruby appearance, with an off white head that bubbles to the top. It doesn't stick around for very long, with little lacing, if any left on the glass. When you tip the glass up for a drink, the pleasant aroma of fruit mixed with the smell of alcohol hit your nose. It smells good, but it is not as strong of a smell as some other recent barleywines that I have tasted. Moving on to the taste, it is very different than most that I have ever had. The carbonation is very different, and after some reading, it is very different. To achieve this type of carbonation, Anchor uses a natural process, unfortunately called "bunging," to give the beer a champagne type carbonation. Interesting, but it fits very well. Horrible name though. Anyway, this gives the beer a special occasion feeling, which makes it a pleasure to drink. More of a sipping beer, the flavors are a nice mix of sweet fruits, a bit of malt bitterness, and finishing with a nice, almost bourbon alcohol feel. Overall, this is not your run of the mill barleywine, a very good choice if you are into the style.

The only downfall that I believe that this beer has though, is it's price. I know, a quality product demands a premium price. I understand that. But at around $17 for a six pack, that price makes it hard to swallow, especially with quite a few comparable barleywines at much cheaper prices. As far as barleywines go, this one is a classic, with almost a legendary status, so for that reason it will be my special occasion barleywine. Well done Anchor!

Cheers!

Beer:30... Cincinnati Beer Week Collaboration Barleywine Ale.

I will be the first to admit that certain beers get me excited. There is nothing like a quality beer, and nowadays there are many different brands and styles to choose from. Something magical happens though, when multiple brands come together to produce a limited, special brew for a special time. Thanks to this being Cincinnati Beer Week, that time is now.

Cincinnati Beer Week is a celebration of the libation. Running from Feb. 2nd to the 9th, many local venues and local breweries are participating to make this inaugural year a week to remember. And what would a beer week be without a special beer? So in the true fashion of collaboration, all of the major players in the Cincinnati beer arena came together with the common goal, to make a beer for this special week. Enter the Barleywine Ale:

Today I was lucky enough to stop by the Mt. Carmel Brewing Company on my way to drop off my wife's lunch at her workplace. I will admit, if you are not paying attention, you will drive right by the brewhouse. It was very cool to see where one of my favorite brands was made, and to chat a bit with some of the nice folks there. After filling my growler, and picking up a pint glass, I was out the door to head home.

Barleywines are interesting beers, and this one is no exception. Poured out of the growler into my glass, it gives you the ruby coloration that Barleywines are known for. Once in the glass, the smell of this beer is gorgeous, hitting you with sweet fruit, some citrus, and balanced with the smell of hops. The smell reminded me of Great Divide's Old Ruffian a tiny bit, due to the hops. When the beer hits the taste buds though, all of those scents come together to make an amazing flavor. The beer has a sweet taste, which flows nicely with the hop bitterness, a bit of vanilla in there, and the alcohol finishes it up quite nicely with a warming sensation. I have not found an alcohol content on this one yet, but I am sure that it is quite high. This beer finishes, and makes you wish you had another. Luckily, I bought a 64oz. growler.

So take all of the craft beer companies in one city, put them into a room, and give them the goal to make a beer for one week, the inaugural Beer Week. For some reason, I keep getting the mental picture of the council scene from the "Lord of the Rings" where all of the factions are deciding what to do/how to get rid of the ring. Except all of the members in the roundtable are beer Gandalfs, super wise to the craft of beer making, and the quest at hand is a Barleywine quest. Be sure to look for this beer in your own travels, especially during this special week here in the Cincinnati area. I will be buying some more, and I suggest you do too before it is all gone.

Now if only I could find a bottle or two to put away in my cellar...

Be sure to check out these links:
Cincinnati Beer Week
Christian Moerlein
Listermann Brewing
Mt. Carmel Brewing
Red Ear Brewing
Rivertown Brewing
Rock Bottom Brewery

Cheers, and happy Beer Week!

Beer:30... Great Divide Old Ruffian.

There are a lot of beer companies that I have had and then forgotten about. Sometimes, you are at a bar and there is a special beer on tap, so you have a glass and it's the most amazing beer that you have ever tasted. A lot of times, it fades to the back of the mind due to other circumstances, ex. events, conversation, too much to drink, etc. Sometimes you pick up a random bottle or two of a far off distant company, enjoy the beer, and then forget all about it. That happened to me with this company, Great Divide Brewing. Not that the beer was forgettable, just that I could not remember the company name...

My first dance with Great Divide came in the form of their Oak Aged Yeti imperial stout. An amazing beer that was big in flavor, that always stuck in the back of my mind. The problem was I could not remember who made it, I could only remember the clever name of it, due to me being a Sasquatch enthusiast. Sure I could have looked it up, but sometimes I am a bit lazy I guess. Anyway, while scanning the beer isle at my local grocer, I spied with my little eye this dandy of a brew:

Old Ruffian barleywine style ale.

Barleywines are one of my all time favorite styles of beer. My very first taste into the complex world was from Brooklyn Brewing with their Monster Ale, back in 2003. From then on, I have searched out for more and more barleywine ales to quench my thirst. Enter this beer...

At first taste, the familiar flavors of a barleywine hit you, but this beer hits you with a hint of hops. The label of the beer says a "huge hop character," but I would not go that far. When I think of huge hops in a barleywine, I immediately think of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot ale, which punches you in the taste buds with hop flavor. With GD's Old Ruffian, the hops are more subdued, which makes this beer more drinkable in my opinion. I should point out though, when I say "subdued," that is only in comparison to SN's Bigfoot. The beer does boast 90 IBUs, which definitely puts it in the "hoppy" category.

The major difference of this barleywine compared to others that I have had though, is it is more balanced, drinkable, and smooth. All of the ingredients in this beer work well together, each one complimenting the other. I would go as far as calling it a more refined Bigfoot ale. That is in no way a knock on either beers, but at first taste, side by side, Old Ruffian will be easier and more enjoyable to drink. This is now the beer I am going to recommend to folks when they want to try out the style. Hands down, best barleywine that I have ever tasted.

Now that this beer is under my belt, I don't believe that I will be forgetting the Great Divide name any time soon. And also, for style points, I need to pick up one of these:

Well done, now I need to go on a beer run...



Cycling jersey photo from Great Divide's site.

Just Riding Along... Day 10.

10 days of riding. Tonight was probably the hardest to get on the bike, due to the temperature hanging around the mid 20s, and me being chilled all day. Very low motivation to get out and ride. But, what fun would that be?

Continuing with the night rides, I finished off the week with a ten mile ride along the Little Miami path. Beautiful, clear night for riding, with the moon almost full. Lots of light from the moon, and with the Magicshine, the path was like riding in the daylight.

I am amazed more and more at the quality of the Magicshine. For it's relatively low entry fee, it is quite amazing. And to top it off, the battery life is not too bad either. Great deal if you happen to be looking for a bicycle light!

Relaxing into the night with a 2011 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, ride before work tomorrow morning...

Bigfoot!!!

Enjoying a 2010 Bigfoot! Absolutely amazing how different this beer is once it has aged for a year. Once the bottle was opened, the sweet smell of a Barleywine style hit me in the face, much stronger than last year. I am pumped to finally have a beer cellar!

Killer Penguin....

Rarely does this blog ever get the chance to cover two topics at once, but today is the day. Enter Boulder Beer Company's Killer Penguin Barleywine. It is only fitting that I work with penguins. Hence the 2 birds with one stone. Beer and birds. The name of this blog. I digress.

Again, enter the Killer Penguin. Boulder Beer made an interesting beer with this one. For a barleywine, it is very mellow. I wouldn't go as far to call it bland, but the flavors are very subtle. There is a good fruit flavor, with a hint of hops, but this beer goes down very, very easy. I think I could get into trouble with this beer, as easy as it is to drink. Did I mention it is 10% ABV? Yeah, a few of these and things start to look different.





Again, this beer is easy to drink, and I would guess that in a year or two that it would be amazing. That said, I am planning on picking up a couple more bottles to cellar for the long term, just to compare. It is no Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Rogue Old Crustacean, or even Stone Old Guardian, but it is way smoother than and easier to drink than all of the other barleywines that I have had. In a couple years, we shall see how killer this penguin can be.