This beer is Ten Fidy imperial stout but aged in bourbon whiskey barrels. It is roasty, with a little licorice, rich espresso, leather. It has molasses sweetness and the bourbon is very apparent. The flavors are rich with subtle hints of chocolate. This beery is a little oaky with a touch of caramel.
I had this great beer on draft in Longmont, Colorado at the Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel tap room on November 5, 2011.
My second day in Denver was not a packed as the first day but I still made it to a few different places. I started out the day at Falling Rock Tap Room for the tapping of the Mutinous Battle Chai followed by the Friday night GABF session and ending my evening at Euclid Hall for a late night dinner. Continue reading
My first day in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival was quite full with a stop at Harry’s Bar for a double IPA, Euclid Hall for food and some excellent beer, a visit to Great Divide Brewing, GABF exhibit and tasting hall, and finally a post-party at Freshcraft for a late dinner and excellent beer.
Mama’s Little Yella Pils is the latest addition to the canned beer offerings of Oskar Blues and their first canned lager. It was released earlier in 2009 just in time for the warm weather of summer. Speaking of summer this is a refreshing, crisp, malty beer that is perfect for warm weather.
This name of this beer is very likely an allusion to lyrics in the song Mother’s Little Helper by the Rolling Stones. The first verse of the song is as follows, with the reference underlined:
What a drag it is getting old
Kids are different today,
I hear evry mother say
Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though shes not really ill
Theres a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of a mothers little helper
And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day
The brewery describes Mama’s Little Yella Pils as follows:
Our new canned good is a delicious, small-batch version of the beer that made Pilsen, Czechoslovakia famous. Mama’s is made with hearty amounts of pale malt, German specialty malts, and traditional (Saaz) and 21st century Bavarian hops. It’s the perfect antidote for the watered-down, cornfed versions of pilsner clogging America’s shelves. Our first canned lager, it’s also fermented at cool temperatures with a German yeast.
This pilsner is certainly not watered down. It has a nice malty flavor and a great hops bouquet making it a well crafted beer perfect for summer or to be paired with salty cuisine like pizza, burgers, or Japanese food.
Where I Found It. Generously provided by the brewery.
Serving Type. Served out of a can into a glass.
Date reviewed. August 27, 2009
Appearance. Mama’s Little Yella Pils is Crystal clear to slightly hazy in clarity. It is wonderfully bright yellow with a touch of golden-yellow color. The standard foamy white head lasts an average amount of time on top of the beer.
Smell. The hop bouquet is slightly coppery or metallic but also pleasant, earthy, and just a hint of spiciness. The Saaz and German hops really stand out nicely in this beer. The hop bouquet is accompanied by a malt aroma that is grainy with a light sweet malts.
Taste. There is a smooth bitterness to Mama’s LIttle Yella Pils that is well balanced by the grainy sweet malt flavor. The sweetness in the malt combined with the earthy hops gives a flavor that is almost like a diluted honey. The hops are earthy and the bitterness builds up just a little bit over time. A great combination of flavors and complexity for a pilsner.
Mouthfeel. This is a medium or medium-light bodied beer. The carbonation level is just right and makes this a refreshing malty beverage. It is crisp and smooth with a hop bitterness that adds to the refreshment of this beer.
Drinkability. Mama’ Little Yella Pils is a smooth and easy to drink beer. A perfect beer for a warm summer day to accompany BBQ or grilled meat. It has a great thirst quenching characteristic.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
Lips of Faith beers by New Belgium Brewing Company are special releases that are available around St. Valentine’s day. They describe these beers as “funky” and “fruitful” and Dark Kriek is no exception. It is a big sour cherry ale with lot’s of complexity and flavor. New Belgium describes the Lips of Faith releases as follows:
For many years we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day at New Belgium Brewing by creating a special small batch beer for our family and friends. These beers tend to be a little funky, fruitful and straight from the heart. This year we decided to share the love.
On the same page, they describe Dark Kriek as follows:
New Belgium Brewing’s Dark Kriek is a limited edition Belgian kriek or cherry beer. Much darker than a traditional kriek with a dash of sour cherry up front, our Dark Kriek is actually a blend of two beers. We start with a light, dry, tannic beer aged two years in oak barrels and combine this with a heavier, dark ale and cherries to create one smooth cherry blast of love.
Although I enjoyed this beer, especially after it warmed up to probably about 50ºF, it is not for the casual beer drinker and it is not a sweet and sour lambic like Lindemans’ lambics.
Where I Found It. I found a 22 oz. bottle of this special release beer at BevMo in Sacramento, CA.
Serving Type. I poured from the bottle into a glass.
Appearance. Dark Kreik has a frothy head that lasts a long time. The head has an eggnog-like color with a touch of pink from the cherries. The beer has a dark amber-red color that reminds me of redwood or mahogany. Although very dark, this beer is crystal clear.
Smell. The aroma has a a dark, roasty malt quality like that of a barley wine. It is, however, just a touch yeasty smelling. The bouquet has a rich fruit sourness like that of dark cherry and cassis. This sour bouquet is the prevalent smell in the beer especially as the beer warms up to an appropriate drinking temperature.
Taste. When consumed too cold, Lips of Faith Dark Kreik tastes sour and the other interesting flavors are subdued. After this beer warms up a bit, the flavors are much more pronounced. This beer is sour like a sour lambic ale but unlike other lambic ales like Lindemans’ kriek, this beer is not fruity sweet. Instead, it has a roasted malt sweetness that is more like the molasses sweetness that you might find in a barley wine. The fruit flavor is not lost in the sourness but is enhanced by the other flavors to create a nice dark cherry flavor.
Mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is what I like least about this beer. It was thick and syrupy with some chalkiness probably caused by tanins.
Drinkability. Dark Kreik is a interesting, complex, and tasty beer to try. It is a strong beer with unique flavors and sourness but is not a session beer. A 22 oz. bottle of this beer is perfect to share with somebody else. With that said, I would pick up this beer again, if it were available.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
I picked up a 4 pack of Gordon Beer after tasting it during SF Beer Week at the Jug Shop Canned Craft Beers event. It left such an impression during the event that I had to take some more home to do a full review with pictures. Update (6/23/2011): Oskar Blues has renamed Gordon Beer to G’Knight Imperial Ale. At the time of writing this review, the beer was still called Gordon Ale.
While visiting Southern California recently I met up with Ryan, a good friend of mine from college, and we headed to the Yard House in Pasadena, CA. If you are not familiar with the Yard House, it is a chain of bar and grill restaurants in Southern California where they have on the order of 100 different beers on tap. If you go, I suggest surveying the tap handles while you wait for your table. Upon leaving I discovered that there were a few offerings that were not listed on the menu.
One of the beers that I selected was Avery White Rascal from Avery Brewing out of Boulder, CO. Avery is a brewery that has been coming up in some of the beer reviews on other blogs and so I thought I would try some of their brew. White Rascal is a traditional Belgian style witbier brewed with two-row malt, Belgian wheat, Czech Saaz hops, corriander, and Curacao orange peel.
Avery Brewing provides the following description of White Rascal on their website:
A truly authentic Belgian style wheat or “white” ale, this Rascal is unfiltered (yup, that’s yeast on the bottom) and cleverly spiced with coriander and Curacao orange peel producing a refreshingly fruity thirst quencher.
Where I Found It. I found this beer on tap at the Yard House in Pasadena, CA.
Serving Type. This beer was served on-tap into a pint glass.
Appearance. White Rascal has a nice white frothy head that lingers in the form of a thin layer of foam on the top of your beer until the last drop. It is pale yellow-white in color and cloudy in appearance, both are attributes to be expected from a Belgian witbier.
Smell. The aroma of this beer has the expected Belgian yeast smell but it is slightly subdued and not overwhelming. The aroma has a smooth ripe banana smell and light accompaniment of cloves. It has a hint of citrus and and sweet grains.
Taste. White Rascal has a light grain-like sweetness that can be described as refreshing and not sugary. There is just the lightest hint of bitterness, with only 10 IBUs, and it is enough to balance the light maltiness in the beer. The orange peels come through with a some citrus flavor in the finish.
Mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is that of a light-bodied beer with just the right amount of carbonation. It was just a touch watery tasting and based on the final gravity I’m surprised it is not more watery tasting. The original gravity is listed as 1.050 and the alcohol content is 5.6% so, based on calculations, this makes the final gravity 1.007.
Drinkability. Just like many beers of this style, White Rascal is a very drinkable beer appropriate not only for warm weather but also for a slightly chilly evening. Although I prefer Flying Dog’s Woody Creek White, this beer comes in at a close second and I would drink it again and again.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
Beer 47 in a Tumblr
