The Following is my review for the unfortunately and/or awesoomely named Boogoop. This is the 4th in their series of "-goop" collaborative beers, and the one in particular I was most interested in trying.
Mikkeller and Three Floyds
Boogoop
Buckwheat Barleywine
10.4% abv
*full disclosure* I, Hopscura, being a resident of southern California, haven’t had access to Three Floyds beers in the past. I’m well aware of their reputation of oneof the best and most well known craft breweries in the country. This collab is the first I’ll taste of theirs. I realize a collaborative brew isn’t necessarily the best introduction to a single brewery, but this is all I’ve got. As for the other guy, well . . . Lets just say Once you go Black, you never want another fucking stout again. I know thats not totally true, even for me, but I digress.
Finger of tanish head over a deep, cloudy caramel. Resembles a very heavy DIPA. Nose of some strong hops kinda surprised me a bit. Haven’t really read much about this one goin into it. Glad I decided to go with it relatively fresh. Very wheaty in the nose as well, lots of sweetness. The best way I could describe it would be akin to candied soba. Kinda strange, even as I type this, I cant quite believe it. Front of the tongue, nice bite of pine/rind hoppyness, (reminds me a bit of when you first open a fresh bag of hops. I love that, and love it more when it translates so nicely into a beer). Beautifully sharp and pretty fresh. This melds into that soba-sweetness, and finishes with wheat undertones and a little alcohol burn. They couldve easily said this was a Dipa and I would’ve believed them, but also wondered what the hell all that soba taste was doing in there.
Buckwheatwine it is!
I really dig this. Its beautiful fresh, and would recommend consuming it soon. However, if I could afford more, I’d age one just to see where it goes. I’m talking at least 2-3 years or something. I feel like the massive amount of hops almost takes away from the rather interesting soba profile going on in the depths here. Dangerous, because its over 10% and I could easily knock back the whole bottle before I know it. Doesnt drink like the sipper I was expecting. Mouthfeel is that of creamy Dipa. I was about to say it makes me think of an imperial Hef, but I realized thats basically what this is. A pleasant, easy drinking, very interesting beer from everyones favorite Danish Gypsy (oh, and those other guys . . .)
- 88.66/100
Pairing!:
This is Gotsu Totsu Kotsu, a Samurai Metal band (and named after an actual Samurai). Don't know what Samurai metal sounds like? Its apparently got the occasional farty-bass, DM cookie-monster-on-adderall vocals, and the desire to kill you. Seriously, I think these guys might want me dead, and i kinda like it. I probably wouldn't be able to understand the lyrics even if I spoke Japanese, but I'll just assume its about epic battles and decapitating the listener or some shit.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Hopscura's Top Beers o' th' Year!
Ahem.
I'm well aware of how incredibly lazy I've been. No posts through the entirety of December, and I'm a week late on my endoftheyear list. Whatevah.
The restrictions on this list being that I tried it as some point this year, be it at a festival, tasting, bottle or tap. Most of these will most likely be bottles, presented in no specific order (other than this is the order I thought of them)
Without further adieu . . .
Life and limb -
10%, sierra nevada/ dogfishhead
This unassuming beautiful dark ale really caught me by surprise. It was a gift from a firend of mine. At first, I didnt really read much about it, but he had only told me it was put out last year and sold out before he could get more. I hadnt even remembered it being on shelves. Turns out they more than tripled this batch, giving me time to buy another one for the cellar. Dark fruits, a crazy drinkable mouth, and a beautiful woody sweetnss from the maple/birch syrups and wood aging. Complex layers of subtlty making you return to the glass, trying to figure out whatll pop out more next. A comnundrum of a beer I kept talking about and thinking about long after I drank it.
Firestone walker
parabola
12.5
One of the real sought after biggins in its 2nd year of production, with the classic firestone notes of toasted coconut, bitter baking chocolate, espresso, and hints of tobacco, with huge dark fruits. Its all over and rather cohesive, all in one. It touches on everything I personally have come to love in big stouts, and this’ll be one ill be picking up for years to come. Having had one of these makes me glad I’ve still got a couple more stashed away.
Coronado barrelaged barleywine
11%
I first had this at Tonys Darts away on tap at their release party for the beer. You can read all about that by scrolling down a bit. Anyway, I’ve recently had it out of the botle, and man has it evolved. Significantly more wood and vanilla coming out of it. Lush textures. I immediately decided id be picking up another for a later occasion. A wonderuflly put together beer. I’m quite excited to see what other big offerings these guys will come out with in the future.
Kern river brewing
Citra
Single hop Double ipa
AND
Stone/blabla.blablalba
Japanese green tea ipa
8% and 7%, respectively
These were both similar and yet distinctly beautful in their own ways. I'm grouping them together because I happen to associate them together in my mind on account of 1) I had them within relatively close period of time of one another and 2) they both had a rather distinctly dried apricot flavor to them. The citra moreso from the hops, the greentea ipa from a combonation of the hops and tea tha emphisized this particular standout note. Both beautifully crafted. Stone put out quite a few collaborations this year, this was definitely one of the best (and for charity, no less!). If they were to rebrew a collab, I'd push hard for this.
As for Citra, I feel this is one of Kerns best beers. It absolutely blows my mind all the flavors one can achieve with a single hop (dried apricot, mango, pine. *drool*). Beautifully crafted, well put together, the best single hop beer ive had all year.
Dogfishhead
Burton baton
10
This dipa/old ale is a perfect blend of wood aging, hoppy and huge malt that makes so much sense, I tend to wonder why this isnt its own, more widely produced style. 2012 will see this out into regular production, instead of the former bi-yearly schedule it was originally on. Hallafuckinglujah. I go back to this one as often as I can. It sells out often, and not too surprisingly, either.
Schmaltz
Genesis 15:15
Barrel aged barleywine with fig, pomegranate, dates and grapes added.
13.4%abv
I had this on tap at Mohawk Bend in Hollywood. GoodfuckingGod that I dont believe in, this is good. I honestly didn’t taste too much of the noted various fruit ingredients, with the exception of the fig. Dark fruits, bit of chocolate, vanilla, wood. Wonderfully rounded, beautifully complex. Not too sweet, either. I let this warm to nearly room temp (the willpower that took me a bit), and really, I cant really find a single complaint about this. I’ve yet to try this out the bottle, as im cellaring the very few that I could pick up. If this isn’t in your top for the year as well, you either haven’t had it or are probably drinking a budlight right now.
Stone
El camino un real black ale
(2010 vintage)
A friend of mine split this one with me (thanks Adam). He apparently bought up practically every one of these that existed in the valley. This has aged exceptionally well, with pronounced notes of fig, fennel, peppercorn, smoke, and more bloody figs. A huge treat, really captures the idea of more ‘foodie’ ingredients in beers that’ve been popping up rather often as of recent.
(also, there was word from a stone employee I'm acquainted with that said they were given virgin oak aged quingenti millilitre bottles of this for xmas. *envy*/*drool*)
Dogfish head
bitches brew
9%
(2010 vintage)
Yet another one that I had been sitting on for a while. The chocolate and depth of flavor really comes through with a fair amount of time put on it. They say that honey almost entirely ferments out of it, but I can still taste it in what I’d say was nearly every sip. Truly deserving of the ‘like a milkshake’ comparison that I personally feel is thrown around a bit too much when it comes to stouts. Yet another wonderful blend from the DFH crew.
New Belgium
Lips of Faith Clutch
9%
I’m apparently really into blends this year. This 80/20 stout/ sour was a personal favorite of the occasionally hit-or-miss series of Lips of Faith. Call me a wuss, but finishing a bomber of something as sour as Consecration or Red Poppy sounds like a bit of a daunting task for me. This, however, wasn’t nearly the insane tartness that I had expected as with many of the more popular sours out there. The tart finish was backed by a smooth chocolate and heft that carried it through to a smooth finish.
Stone 15th anniversary escondidian imperial black ipa
I’ve already expounded my love for all things black dipa (and, for fucks sake, not CDA) in a past vid. I’ll just say that If you’ve had this, you know what I’m talking about. Horay vagueness!
Avery Brewing.
Samael
Oak aged barleywine.
16.230498203498 or whatever
Fuck. Forgive me for leaning toward the ‘wood aged’ and ‘big beer’ catagories, but this is well worth mentioning. It’s really hard to pass this sucker up. I feel like its pretty essential to understand the oldschool style of old ales (and original brewing methods of storing ales in wood), along with the huge, crazy newschool brewing practices that avery does so well.
(as a side note, this years Meph didn’t impress me too much whilst fresh. Samael blew me away. Aging a few of both, highly recommended you do the same)
North Coast Old Stock Ale
11.9%abv
Old ale
This has really become my go-to for quite some time now. I’ve been going back to this one practially any time I see it on the shelf, and have a 4-packs worth callaring as I type this. It’s truly a very deep, beautiful beer. Huge, yet reasonably affordable at 10$/4-pack.
Notes of black cherry become more prominant as it warms up. It's quite hard to stop at one, but I've been known to milk a single bottle for over an hour.
Dogfish head world wide stout
Somewhere between 15 and 18%
On tap at library alehouse
Again, something I’ve featured rather prominantly on here, but the mention of which is well worth repeating. This is an amazing, huge stout I’ll be seeking out whenever I can. Really wish this appeared more often on the west coast. Bit of a shame, really. It’s the whole gamut of huge stout flavors: chocolate, roast, soysauce, tobacco, balsamic, bla bla bla. Just amazing.
Let me know if you agree, or think im dead wrong, or think im a joke, or want to tell me a joke.
Maybe this isn't the most varied list, but it's mine.
Cheers and horns up and stuff.
I'm well aware of how incredibly lazy I've been. No posts through the entirety of December, and I'm a week late on my endoftheyear list. Whatevah.
The restrictions on this list being that I tried it as some point this year, be it at a festival, tasting, bottle or tap. Most of these will most likely be bottles, presented in no specific order (other than this is the order I thought of them)
Without further adieu . . .
Life and limb -
10%, sierra nevada/ dogfishhead
This unassuming beautiful dark ale really caught me by surprise. It was a gift from a firend of mine. At first, I didnt really read much about it, but he had only told me it was put out last year and sold out before he could get more. I hadnt even remembered it being on shelves. Turns out they more than tripled this batch, giving me time to buy another one for the cellar. Dark fruits, a crazy drinkable mouth, and a beautiful woody sweetnss from the maple/birch syrups and wood aging. Complex layers of subtlty making you return to the glass, trying to figure out whatll pop out more next. A comnundrum of a beer I kept talking about and thinking about long after I drank it.
Firestone walker
parabola
12.5
One of the real sought after biggins in its 2nd year of production, with the classic firestone notes of toasted coconut, bitter baking chocolate, espresso, and hints of tobacco, with huge dark fruits. Its all over and rather cohesive, all in one. It touches on everything I personally have come to love in big stouts, and this’ll be one ill be picking up for years to come. Having had one of these makes me glad I’ve still got a couple more stashed away.
Coronado barrelaged barleywine
11%
I first had this at Tonys Darts away on tap at their release party for the beer. You can read all about that by scrolling down a bit. Anyway, I’ve recently had it out of the botle, and man has it evolved. Significantly more wood and vanilla coming out of it. Lush textures. I immediately decided id be picking up another for a later occasion. A wonderuflly put together beer. I’m quite excited to see what other big offerings these guys will come out with in the future.
Kern river brewing
Citra
Single hop Double ipa
AND
Stone/blabla.blablalba
Japanese green tea ipa
8% and 7%, respectively
These were both similar and yet distinctly beautful in their own ways. I'm grouping them together because I happen to associate them together in my mind on account of 1) I had them within relatively close period of time of one another and 2) they both had a rather distinctly dried apricot flavor to them. The citra moreso from the hops, the greentea ipa from a combonation of the hops and tea tha emphisized this particular standout note. Both beautifully crafted. Stone put out quite a few collaborations this year, this was definitely one of the best (and for charity, no less!). If they were to rebrew a collab, I'd push hard for this.
As for Citra, I feel this is one of Kerns best beers. It absolutely blows my mind all the flavors one can achieve with a single hop (dried apricot, mango, pine. *drool*). Beautifully crafted, well put together, the best single hop beer ive had all year.
Dogfishhead
Burton baton
10
This dipa/old ale is a perfect blend of wood aging, hoppy and huge malt that makes so much sense, I tend to wonder why this isnt its own, more widely produced style. 2012 will see this out into regular production, instead of the former bi-yearly schedule it was originally on. Hallafuckinglujah. I go back to this one as often as I can. It sells out often, and not too surprisingly, either.
Schmaltz
Genesis 15:15
Barrel aged barleywine with fig, pomegranate, dates and grapes added.
13.4%abv
I had this on tap at Mohawk Bend in Hollywood. GoodfuckingGod that I dont believe in, this is good. I honestly didn’t taste too much of the noted various fruit ingredients, with the exception of the fig. Dark fruits, bit of chocolate, vanilla, wood. Wonderfully rounded, beautifully complex. Not too sweet, either. I let this warm to nearly room temp (the willpower that took me a bit), and really, I cant really find a single complaint about this. I’ve yet to try this out the bottle, as im cellaring the very few that I could pick up. If this isn’t in your top for the year as well, you either haven’t had it or are probably drinking a budlight right now.
Stone
El camino un real black ale
(2010 vintage)
A friend of mine split this one with me (thanks Adam). He apparently bought up practically every one of these that existed in the valley. This has aged exceptionally well, with pronounced notes of fig, fennel, peppercorn, smoke, and more bloody figs. A huge treat, really captures the idea of more ‘foodie’ ingredients in beers that’ve been popping up rather often as of recent.
(also, there was word from a stone employee I'm acquainted with that said they were given virgin oak aged quingenti millilitre bottles of this for xmas. *envy*/*drool*)
Dogfish head
bitches brew
9%
(2010 vintage)
Yet another one that I had been sitting on for a while. The chocolate and depth of flavor really comes through with a fair amount of time put on it. They say that honey almost entirely ferments out of it, but I can still taste it in what I’d say was nearly every sip. Truly deserving of the ‘like a milkshake’ comparison that I personally feel is thrown around a bit too much when it comes to stouts. Yet another wonderful blend from the DFH crew.
New Belgium
Lips of Faith Clutch
9%
I’m apparently really into blends this year. This 80/20 stout/ sour was a personal favorite of the occasionally hit-or-miss series of Lips of Faith. Call me a wuss, but finishing a bomber of something as sour as Consecration or Red Poppy sounds like a bit of a daunting task for me. This, however, wasn’t nearly the insane tartness that I had expected as with many of the more popular sours out there. The tart finish was backed by a smooth chocolate and heft that carried it through to a smooth finish.
Stone 15th anniversary escondidian imperial black ipa
I’ve already expounded my love for all things black dipa (and, for fucks sake, not CDA) in a past vid. I’ll just say that If you’ve had this, you know what I’m talking about. Horay vagueness!
Avery Brewing.
Samael
Oak aged barleywine.
16.230498203498 or whatever
Fuck. Forgive me for leaning toward the ‘wood aged’ and ‘big beer’ catagories, but this is well worth mentioning. It’s really hard to pass this sucker up. I feel like its pretty essential to understand the oldschool style of old ales (and original brewing methods of storing ales in wood), along with the huge, crazy newschool brewing practices that avery does so well.
(as a side note, this years Meph didn’t impress me too much whilst fresh. Samael blew me away. Aging a few of both, highly recommended you do the same)
North Coast Old Stock Ale
11.9%abv
Old ale
This has really become my go-to for quite some time now. I’ve been going back to this one practially any time I see it on the shelf, and have a 4-packs worth callaring as I type this. It’s truly a very deep, beautiful beer. Huge, yet reasonably affordable at 10$/4-pack.
Notes of black cherry become more prominant as it warms up. It's quite hard to stop at one, but I've been known to milk a single bottle for over an hour.
Dogfish head world wide stout
Somewhere between 15 and 18%
On tap at library alehouse
Again, something I’ve featured rather prominantly on here, but the mention of which is well worth repeating. This is an amazing, huge stout I’ll be seeking out whenever I can. Really wish this appeared more often on the west coast. Bit of a shame, really. It’s the whole gamut of huge stout flavors: chocolate, roast, soysauce, tobacco, balsamic, bla bla bla. Just amazing.
Let me know if you agree, or think im dead wrong, or think im a joke, or want to tell me a joke.
Maybe this isn't the most varied list, but it's mine.
Cheers and horns up and stuff.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Golden Road Brewing's Point The Way IPA Review
My review of a local favorite thats steadily gaining a cult following, paired with a local band that admits to beating a dead horse
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Video Review of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout (10.5% abv)
Just saw new batches of this hit shelves again recently. Highly encouraged to pick it up when/if you see it.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Video Review of Stone's 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black Ipa
Bit of a nod to post-metal and powerviolence thrown in there for good measure.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Avery's The Beast Grand Cru Video Review
First in a series of reviews in the more-interesting-than-print medium of video. Czech it!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Field Research: Coronado Brewing Night at Tonys Darts Away
My night out at Tony's Darts Away in Burbank got off to a rather good start before I even touched the door knob. Upon arrival, outside the bar was a man wearing a Coronado Brewing shirt. Given the nature of the event, I didn't find it too out of line to ask 'Hey man, you with the brewery?'. His name was Clint, and he happens to be the marketing director of Coronado.
"Oh man, if one of you guys gimme a cigarette, your first drinks on me." My girlfriend Danica gladly obliged him, and after a bit of raving about how much I love Idiot IPA, and Clints ravings of how they're debuting the new barleywine that I MUST try, we headed in and followed Clint to the bar area. He promptly ordered Danica and I snifters of the new brew. I nearly salivated with anticipation.
Here's where its worth mentioning that One of my absolute favorite styles is Barleywine. My girlfriend, however, not so much. Also worth mentioning that she still finished her glass (albeit chased somewhat by their Orange Ave Wit).
From Notes:
Coronado Brewing
Brandy Barrel Aged Barleywine Ale
11%
Ale brewed with orange blossom honey, aged in Brandy Barrels for 6 months
Appearance is generally a dark brown/ ruby hues with a thin offwhite head. The perticular snifter at tonys is a bit small to get a reall sniff of, but I managed to get some rather bright notes of fig and plum, along with a noticeable sweetness. Taste is big molasses, candied dried fruit all over the place, with subtle hints of light citrus shining through. Rather syrupy, really coats the mouth and tongue. Alcohol is there, but not assaulting. A beautifully done beer. Well composed, was expecting something a bit hoppier from these guys, but this seems to be a balanced blend of a bit of tradition mixed with a bit of modern practice.
And bonus:
Orange Ave Wit
5.2%
ale brewed with coriander, orange peel, and orange blossom honey.
Light yellow appearance with a bit of a cloudy complexion. Nose mostly of spices, wheat, and some interesting floral characteristics. Taste is orange peel, wheat, spices (coriander predominantly, but also the other random stuff thats kinda kicked up by the belgian yeast), and a rather interesting note of jasmine tea. The jasmine claim was corroborated by both the girlfriend, as well as Coronado's president, Rick. "Orange Ave is my go-to. I drink that almost daily"
With that sentiment, I completely understand what theyre trying to do with this one. A bright, flavorful, sessionable beer.
After we finished our respective beers, we once again joined Clint outside from a smoke, with Rick joining us as well this time. We talked a bit about cellaring, and the beer industry as a business. We also reflected on how fucking awesome Brewmasters was, and theories of what really led to the demise of the most landmark show to happen to the craft brewing world.
It was sometime around here that Rick and Clint came upon some sort of agreement that I deserved to have a bottle of their coveted, brandspankin new, not-yet-commercially-available barleywine. I damn near lost my goddamn mind. Its a beautiful label, with the Coronado mermaid amidst a special foiled label. Its kind of reminiscent of how pokemon cards had all their regular matte cards and the special ones had the foil backround. Its kinda like that, made that much better considering it was a first edition (it literally says Batch #1 on the bottle) and I can drink it. I was handed the bottle with the sentiment that it'll age rather well. I told them that I only had the intention of cellaring it for quite a while.
An amazing night, with great beer from a great brewery, at a great bar with great people. I feel like a smug bastard. Truth be told, I kinda am.
1st EditionCharizard Brandy Barrel Aged Barleywine Ale from Coronado Brewing, bitches.
Don't think this means I won't be buying a couple of these once they hit shelves though. This stuff is damn good.
"Oh man, if one of you guys gimme a cigarette, your first drinks on me." My girlfriend Danica gladly obliged him, and after a bit of raving about how much I love Idiot IPA, and Clints ravings of how they're debuting the new barleywine that I MUST try, we headed in and followed Clint to the bar area. He promptly ordered Danica and I snifters of the new brew. I nearly salivated with anticipation.
Here's where its worth mentioning that One of my absolute favorite styles is Barleywine. My girlfriend, however, not so much. Also worth mentioning that she still finished her glass (albeit chased somewhat by their Orange Ave Wit).
From Notes:
Coronado Brewing
Brandy Barrel Aged Barleywine Ale
11%
Ale brewed with orange blossom honey, aged in Brandy Barrels for 6 months
Appearance is generally a dark brown/ ruby hues with a thin offwhite head. The perticular snifter at tonys is a bit small to get a reall sniff of, but I managed to get some rather bright notes of fig and plum, along with a noticeable sweetness. Taste is big molasses, candied dried fruit all over the place, with subtle hints of light citrus shining through. Rather syrupy, really coats the mouth and tongue. Alcohol is there, but not assaulting. A beautifully done beer. Well composed, was expecting something a bit hoppier from these guys, but this seems to be a balanced blend of a bit of tradition mixed with a bit of modern practice.
And bonus:
Orange Ave Wit
5.2%
ale brewed with coriander, orange peel, and orange blossom honey.
Light yellow appearance with a bit of a cloudy complexion. Nose mostly of spices, wheat, and some interesting floral characteristics. Taste is orange peel, wheat, spices (coriander predominantly, but also the other random stuff thats kinda kicked up by the belgian yeast), and a rather interesting note of jasmine tea. The jasmine claim was corroborated by both the girlfriend, as well as Coronado's president, Rick. "Orange Ave is my go-to. I drink that almost daily"
With that sentiment, I completely understand what theyre trying to do with this one. A bright, flavorful, sessionable beer.
After we finished our respective beers, we once again joined Clint outside from a smoke, with Rick joining us as well this time. We talked a bit about cellaring, and the beer industry as a business. We also reflected on how fucking awesome Brewmasters was, and theories of what really led to the demise of the most landmark show to happen to the craft brewing world.
It was sometime around here that Rick and Clint came upon some sort of agreement that I deserved to have a bottle of their coveted, brandspankin new, not-yet-commercially-available barleywine. I damn near lost my goddamn mind. Its a beautiful label, with the Coronado mermaid amidst a special foiled label. Its kind of reminiscent of how pokemon cards had all their regular matte cards and the special ones had the foil backround. Its kinda like that, made that much better considering it was a first edition (it literally says Batch #1 on the bottle) and I can drink it. I was handed the bottle with the sentiment that it'll age rather well. I told them that I only had the intention of cellaring it for quite a while.
An amazing night, with great beer from a great brewery, at a great bar with great people. I feel like a smug bastard. Truth be told, I kinda am.
1st Edition
Don't think this means I won't be buying a couple of these once they hit shelves though. This stuff is damn good.
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