Stone Sandiego County Session Ale

I manage to travel around South East PA and its neighboring states quite a bit, and I always try to keep my eyes open for interesting beers. Because of this I get to try beers from a fair number of different small breweries, especially one-off batches and specialty beers. One thing I have been encouraged to see over the past year or so is a resurgence in session beers. Session beers as a whole are low alcohol beers, meant to be quaffed in large quantities over the course of an evening spent in a pub with friends; I know a couple of English expatriates who fondly recall drinking half a dozen pints a night on a regular basis, with no ill effects. The most well-known session styles are English Bitters and Milds, both of which have more of a malt focus than most American beers.

However, the basis of the microbrew revolution has, in my opinion, been the concept of “more” in your beer. More alcohol, more bitterness, more taste. While I fully support styles like the Russian Imperial Stout and Double India Pale Ale, I feel that they are a backlash against the tasteless stuff that the mega-breweries push on consumers. The problem with this is that many low alcohol styles have not gained much attention in the US even though many of them are actually very flavorful.

One of these new session beers that I’ve managed to find is the San Diego County Session Ale. This particular beer is a collaboration brew from Stone Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing Company and Kelsey McNair. Kelsey is the winner of the competition portion of the 2010 March Madness American Homebrewer Association (AHA) Rally and Homebrew Competition, which he won with his West Coast Bitter. Stone Brewing Company had offered up the brewing and distribution of the wining beer as the prize, and was represented by Mitch Steele on brew day. The third brewer, Colby Chandler of Ballast Point, was chosen by Kelsey because of his prior experience crafting other hoppy session beers in the San Diego area. The beer was brewed on July 14^th, 2010 and released on August 23^rd, 2010.

The beer poured a clear amber color, but I accidentally let some sediment into the glass, too. About a finger of white head formed but settled out quickly, leaving a little bit of lacing behind. The aroma was citrus with a decidedly grapefruit edge, and some earthy hop notes in the background. The body was moderate with a thin mouthfeel, but with a creamy texture to it that I found to be quite enjoyable; from the feel of it, I think this beer may have been bottled using Nitrogen, or some Beergas mix instead of straight Carbon Dioxide. The taste was quite bitter, but also had a significant sweetness that made it drinkable. Surprisingly, this beer reminded me of a sweeter, less bitter Hop Rod Rye with more of a focus on aroma hopping; overall, it was far a more balanced and pleasant drinking experience.

Unfortunately, this beer will probably be a little past its prime if you still find it on the shelf, as its now over 6 months old. I hope they re-brew it this year as it was quite drinkable; I would love to see something like this on tap in most local bars. If you do see a bottle of this on the shelf, however, it may be worth your time to try as it may age better than I expect.

Price: $3.99

Size: 12 oz

ABV: 4.2%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 3.5/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 3/5

Lost Abbey Devotion

After the past several weeks of drinking Bocks, I decided I wanted something a bit different as a counterpoint to their dark, sweet maltiness. I was thinking something nice and light, but with a punch of hops to wake me up and enough complexity to keep my curiosity piqued. To sate my desire for something interesting I picked up a bottle of Devotion Ale from The Lost Abbey.

The Lost Abbey is the Belgian-style line of beers brewed by Port Brewing Company. The owners of Pizza Port brewpub, Vince and Gina Marsaglia, decided to expand their brewing operation and in 2006 teamed up with their head brewer Tomme Arthur to form Port Brewing Company. The brewery itself in San Marcos, San Diego County, California, is the original site of Stone Brewing Company, which expanded to a larger facility in Escondido, California. Tomme has since won numerous awards, including World Beer Cup 2008 Champion Brewery and Champion Brewer in the small brewing company category.

Port still brews several beers started at Pizza Port, including HOP-15 and Wipeout IPA, but Devotion is a bit different. Devotion is a Belgian Blonde Ale, which is actually one of the more recent styles developed in the region. Blondes were created to compete with the Pilsners that took the world by storm in the mid twentieth century. This style retains some of the complexity commonly associated with Belgians, but is much cleaner so that it appeals to a broader audience. Devotion is brewed using 2 row and 15L Crystal barley malts, with the 2 row providing the basis of fermentable sugars while the Crystal provides the sweet tasting unfermentables; Dextrose, a form of glucose, is also used to spike the alcohol content of this beer. Bitterness is provided by a mix of Northern Brewer and Tettnang hops in addition to CO2 hop extract, and the yeast is a custom blend of three different varieties.

This beer should be served in a tulip or wine glass, and I think it would pair well with a lighter meat like poultry or fish. Good fruit choices would be citrus or sweet fruits like pears. I would also recommend trying the beer with Thai or Indian Curry, as the light malt character and hops would complement the spices quite well.

Devotion Ale poured a nice, clear amber, with two fingers of fluffy white heat with surprisingly coarse texture. The head, however, was quite short lived, dissipating in two or three minutes but leaving behind the excellent lacing characteristic of Belgians. The scent was surprisingly faint, made up mostly of earthy hops but also complex, with hints of spicy citrus and a bit of sour lemon backed up by a low level sweetness. The body was moderate, and the carbonation quite low, giving a nice mouthfeel initially; towards the end of the sip, however, I noticed a dry sensation which I found to be unpleasant. This is quite uncharacteristic of the style, as the blondes are typically highly carbonated, and sometimes even have a creamy mouthfeel. The taste was dominated by earthy hops with hints of orange, and a slightly sweet start that quickly disappeared for a very dry finish. The taste was more hop focused than I expected, but the initial sweetness, dry finish and the orange notes from the yeast are quite common with this style.

Overall, this was a decent beer, and most of my issues with it are either because I don’t particularly like the style, or stem from the very dry sensation it left in my mouth. I’d give it a try with a curry, or some light meat, but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend this beer for casual enjoyment.

Price: $7.99

Size: 750 mL

ABV: 6.25%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 3.5/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 3/5

Aventinus Doppelbock and Eisbock

Last week I reviewed Ayinger’s Celebrator, a doppelbock which fits the wintry weather quite nicely. This week I decided to step it up a notch, and go with an eisenbock. To get a good comparison between the two styles, I picked up both the Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock and the Aventinus Eisenbock from Schneider Weisse brewery.

Bocks as a family of beers are typically dark and malty, with very little in the way of hop bitterness or aroma. The doppelbock is the highest original gravity member of this family, but the eisenbock throws a curveball into the mix; it utilizes freeze distilling. This process is actually more common than might be expected, as it is used to concentrate Bud Ice and Natural Ice. For all it dubious current usage, however, the eisenbock style can provide an even richer, maltier beer, so it’s worth trying.

Schneider Weisse is currently the operator of the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria. The company was founded in 1872 when Georg I. Schneider received the rights to wheat beer production from King Ludwig II. The company rapidly expanded, reviving the dying wheat beer tradition in Germany and purchasing several more wheat beer breweries in Munich, Straubing and Kelheim. The brewery was destroyed during the second world war, but the company rebuilt and continues to be a family business to this day, operated by Georg VI Schneider. It is worth noting that most doppelbocks and eisenbocks are lagers, while both Aventinus beers are ales due to the largely wheat base used.

The Weizen Doppelbock poured a deep, hazy golden copper color. The head was off-white and a quite massive. The texture of the head was quite fine, and also had fairly good lacing. The aroma was quite strong, and lasted for a lot longer than on many other beer styles. The main aroma was of a dark wheat maltiness, but was mixed with some bitter, tart and tangy aromas as well as a slight yeastiness. The taste was a giant, slightly toasted maltiness, which actually reminded me of fresh pumpernickel bread. There was, however, an unexpected tartness to the beer, like a granny smith apple; this wasn’t overly strong, but was definitely there and a bit unexpected. The mouthfeel was quite creamy, assisted by the moderately low carbonation, and the body was moderately heavy, lingering for a bit after each swallow.

The Eisenbock actually had some distinctly different notes from the doppelbock. The color was still the same hazy gold, although much darker than the doppelbock. The head was much darker, smaller and courser than the doppelbock’s, and dissipated quickly with only small amounts of lacing. This head behavior isn’t particularly surprising, given the high alcohol content of the beer. The aroma had some elements of plum, which is to style but was missing from the doppelbock, but also had more spiciness and some roasted notes which quicly dissipated to reveal a hint of chocolate. The carbonation was higher in the eisenbock, but the body was thicker too which led to an almost cloying mouthfeel. The beginning of the taste was surprisingly spicy, which was assisted by some hot, fusel alcohols, which is not unexpected in this style. After the spicy hit, the taste consists of a big, surprisingly dry and complex maltiness; the biggest difference I noticed in the taste was the lack of any of the green apple tartness that I noticed in the doppelbock.

The Aventinus Eisenbock proved to be exactly as expected; a stronger, more concentrated version of the Weizen Doppelbock. I tried paring both beers with toasted miche and cheddar cheese, which worked quite well as the toasted bread complemented the malt while the sharp cheese provided a nice contrast. I also tried a granny smith apple with these, but that did not work very well; it just served to highlight the green apple character I picked up in the doppelbock. Both of these beers were quite good, and I’d recommend trying them if you don’t like bitter beers, or if you really like good bread.

Doppelbock / Eisenbock

Price: $5.99 / %7.99

Size:500mL / 330 mL

ABV: 8.2% / 12%

Appearance: 4.5/4 /5

Aroma: 4/4/5

Flavor: 3.5/4/5

Mouthfeel: 4/4/5

Ayinger Brewery Celebrator

The recent wintery weather has sent me back to an old beer style, the Doppelbock. Doppelbocks are one of the stronger members of the Bock family of dark German beers. There are various stories of how the name Bock originated, but regardless of this the word “bock” can be translated as “billy goat”; consequently many bock labels prominently feature a goat as a bit of an open joke. This week’s beer, Celebrator, goes so far as to have a small plastic goat figurine hung around the neck.

Bocks as a style group are strong, rich malty lagers, which are typically served during special occasions. Doppelbocks are a Bavarian tradition stemming from the monks of St. Francis of Paula, who first brewed the style for consumption during their fast at Lent. The beer was originally even sweeter than modern versions, providing the sustenance the monks needed and earning the style the nickname “liquid bread.”

Celebrator is produced by Ayinger Brewery in Germany. Ayinger is a mid-sized brewery located in the town of Aying about fifteen miles outside of Munich, producing about three million gallons per year. Unfortunately for us, only about ten percent of that product is exported outside of Germany. The brewery has won numerous awards over the years, and this beer in particular was the highest rated Doppelbock at the 2007 World Beer Championships.

The proper glassware for this beer is a mug, although I used a tulip to concentrate the aroma a bit. I paired it with some Collier’s Welsh cheddar (very sharp), a pear and Metropolitan Bakery’s Country Miche. A miche is a form of French sourdough multigrain country bread, and this one had slightly charred character to the crust. The pear was, unsurprisingly, significantly sweeter than the beer, and the sharp cheddar provided a nice, salty counterpoint to the dark sweetness of the beer. Overall, all four elements worked quite well together. I’d also recommend some other strong cheeses like brie (or perhaps a goat cheese?) and a dark meat like a pot roast or turkey leg meat.

Celebrator poured black, although when held up to the light it was quite clear with deep red highlights. One finger of dark brown head formed, with an overall fine texture interspersed with some quite large bubbles. Head retention was quite poor, with the head virtually disappearing after two or three minutes, although a surprising amount of lacing was left. The scent was quite complex, having some dark, sweet notes like plum, however there was a surprising amount of chocolate and roasted character blended with some caramel.

The mouthfeel was initially quite thin, although this appears to be due to the surprisingly low carbonation as it leaves a very thick, viscous texture in the mouth. The taste is quite a different combination from any other type of beer I have encountered. The dominant taste in this style is a big malty sweetness; this is not soda, high fructose corn syrup sweet like most of us Americans are used to, but is quite sweet for a non-refined food. Layered on top of the sweetness was an interesting blend of chocolate and coffee, which changed to a toasty character during the aftertaste. The toasted taste is a bit unusual for this style, being more characteristic of a porter, but I found it to be an interesting highlight in this beer.

Overall, this was a pretty good beer, and is highly recommended by others as an example of the doppelbock. I don’t remember the toasty character from the previous times I’ve had it, so I may have received a bad bottle, but that was the only characteristic that I found out of place. If you are looking for something very different from what you are used to, I’d recommend giving this beer a shot.

Price: $3.99

Size: 330 mL

ABV: 6.7%

Appearance: 4/5

Aroma: 4/5

Flavor: 4/5

Mouthfeel: 4.5/5