The Drunken Polack

Before I even get started with this best of list let me just say that I totally ripped off this idea from The Vice Blogger.  What can I say, the guy inspires me.

So with 2009 coming to an end (good riddance by the way) I looked back on all the beer I drank and said to myself “Damn you’re getting fat” Oh I also said “Damn Dave you drank a lot of great beer”  Some of these beers I didn’t think I drank this year but I went back and sure enough I reviewed them in 09.  Cool thing is though I think 2010 is going to be better.  I’ll explain that later.  So here goes, the top 15 beers I’ve tried this year.

1. Ballast Point Sculpin -If you look back at my ratings you’ll notice that this beer isn’t rated as high as some of the other beers on this list.  That’s because the first time I had this fantastic IPA it wasn’t as fresh as it could be.  It was still great though.  The second and third bottles I had just blew me away and that’s why this is sitting #1 on my list for 2009.  This is the best IPA I’ve had. It’s 100% a West Coast IPA at it’s finest.  Good news is, in 2010 they are bottling this stuff more often.

2. Surly Darkness 08 - There are times in your beer drinking career that you will always remember and when I popped open this brew I instantly knew I was in love.  I remember getting off the couch and running into the bedroom where my girlfriend was.  I tried and tried to get her to try this awesome stout but she just wouldn’t do it.  Oh well, more for me.  This was the best stout I had this year, hands down.  Too bad this years version is just totally different.  Review for that coming in 2010 =)  Thanks to Aaron over at The Captains Chair for hooking me up with this.

3. Russian River Pliny the Younger -So how the hell did I get to try a beer that is only available in draught form and is only available at select spots across the US?  Not to mention when it is available it sells out in less then an hour and is only available once a year?  Pure luck honestly.  I didn’t get to try a lot of it.  Maybe just a few ounces but what I did have is one of the best Double IPAs (They call it a Triple IPA) I’ve ever had.  I remember holding my glass up every time I finished it off hoping they would dump more in it.  Before I knew it the growler was empty and I was a sad boy.  This beer is a pure hop monster.  Hops just sit in your mouth for hours after you have it. Come back soon Younger.

4. Alpine Nelson -This is a beer I received in one of my first beer trades ever.  Nat over at The Beer Rover reviewed it and I knew I had to try it.  He was nice enough to send me a growler of it since it wasn’t bottled yet (is now) and I was blown away by the taste.  It’s a simple IPA but the Nelson Sauvin hops used in this brew are unbelievable.  With it being bottled now it’s a little easier to get this fantastic IPA.

5. Allagash Odyssey - I bought this beer in 2008 but was told to hold off on it and try it a year later.  Glad I did.  Odyssey was the best Belgian Strong Dark Ale I’ve ever had and I don’t think anything has come close to it since.  The complex taste full of oak and vanilla was just perfect.  I can’t wait to try this brew again.

6. Russian River Temptation - Wild Ales are starting to become big in the craft beer.  On beer trading sites everyone seems to want them.  Some of the best Wild Ales made in the US are made by Russian River.  The mixture of tartness, brett, and fruit make this beer  just unbelievable.  I cannot wait to try their other sours and wild ales.

7. Deschutes Abyss -  What can I say? I love and I mean love huge ass stouts.  This is one of them.  Deschutes makes some fine beers but this is my favorite from them.  Bourbon, coffee, licorice, and molasses make this just a big and beautiful beer that will age nicely. 

8. Alpine Expoential Hoppiness -I’ve always heard about this beer.  Just like Nelson, this beer was only available in draught form for the longest time.  Recently it’s been bottled (I have a few coming in the mail, can’t wait) but my first dealings were in growler form.  I visited Alpine while I was on vacation in San Diego.  I went up there hoping that this beer would be available.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw it up on the board!  Score!  This is one of the best Double IPAs I’ve ever had.  It has a nice smokiness to it to go a long with the hops and everything else thrown in.  I had no problems finishing off the growler before I had to take the trip home.

9. Boulevard Brewing Imperial Stout -I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by this stout but I so was.  For some reason I held off on trying this brew for the longest time.  I would open the fridge and never pick it up.  I’m glad I finally did.   It has a lot of the characteristics of Abyss but it’s toned down.  The dried cocca, bourbon, and coffee are perfectly balanced. 

10. De Proef Signature Les Deus Brasseurs Ale brewed with Jason Perkins -This is the only collaboration beer on the list and it totally deserves it.  This is the second in the line, first brewed with Tommy Arthur from Lost Abbey.  I loved that one but this one was just a tad bit better.  The sourness, funk, fruit, and oak make this beer just a pleasure to drink and I almost had it higher on the list.  You can still find this brew on shelves if you look hard enough and it should be aging nicely.  The third in the series is now on the shelves also.  It’s brewed with John Mallett from Bell’s.

Rounding out my top 15
11. Firestone Walker 12
12. Ballast Point Victory at Sea
13. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
14. Cigar City Hunahpus Imperial Stout
15. New Glarus Raspberry Tart

Those who just missed the cut!
Ballast Point Tongue Buckler
The Lost Abbey Bourbon Angel Share
Three Floyds Dreadnaught
Alpine Duet
Founders Harvest Ale
Nogne O Dark Horizon 2.0
Russian River Consecration
New Glarus Wisconsin Red
The Bruery Partridge in a Pear Tree

I mentioned that I think 2010 will be better.  Here are some of the beers I have in my possesion for 2010 – The Lost Abbey Veritas 004, The Bruery Black Tuesday, Russian River Beautification, Olde Hickory Olde Rabbits Foot, Coast Jack Daniels Barrel Aged Blackbeerd Imperial Stout, Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze, Westvleteren 8 and 12, Pelican Pub and Brewery The Perfect Storm, Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock, Ithaca Brute, Boulevard Saison Brett, Firestone 13, Ølfabrikken Porter and many, many more!

So that’s it. Bye bye 2009 and hello 2010. I wish you all a great New Years and make sure you drink some great stuff.

First off sorry for the picture.  For some reason my IPhone likes to act up a little bit.  I took the usual picture of the bottle and glass but for some odd reason the IPhone didn’t want to save it.  So here’s an empty bottle.  This version of Odyssey was bottled in September 2008.

You won’t usually see me review to many Allagash beers.  The reason for that is the high price tag these bottles have.  But if the brew is fantastic,  I really won’t mind spending the extra dough.  This beer fits right into that category.  This is one of the best beers I’ve had in awhile.  Actually it might be one of the best beers I’ve ever had.  Odyssey is categorized as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale and has a rotating release.  My local beer place only received 6 bottles of this stuff.  So it might be hard to get.

This beer pours a dark brown color with ruby red highlights when head up to the light.  There is very little head.  Right off the bad I noticed a bad tid of a sour smell.  The smell also contained a nice oak aroma with vanilla, raisins, plums, and toffee.  It’s a rich, deep smell.  The oak presence is what really did it for me.

The taste of this beer is just amazing.  It’s complex and rich.  The mixture of the oak taste and vanilla is really what makes this beer just so fantastic.  The dark fruits, toffee, and sweet malt.  The mouthfeel is medium bodied, crisp, and a little dry.

I fell in love with this beer on my first sip.  It’s just a nice complex aged beer that I will be paying 17 dollars to try again.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: 17 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.allagash.com
What the company says: Odyssey is the second edition in our Barrel Aged series. It is a dark, 10% ABV wheat beer. We age a portion of the beer in New American Medium Toast Oak, and a portion in stainless steel for more than six months. We then blend the two different portions of beer to taste. Finally we bottle condition, adding additional yeast and Candi sugar.
ABV%: 10.40%
Other beers to try from this brewery:Allagash Tripel, Allagash Four
Other beers to try within the same style: The Lost Abbey 10 Commandments, Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury
Rating: A++

This would be my first beer from New Belgium.  For a while now I’ve been looking forward to trying their beer.  Fat Tire in particular.  It’s pretty well known in the craft beer industry.  But I’ve also heard from a few people that it’s really nothing special.  Well that made me want to try it more honestly.  So one day my girlfiend came home with a surprise.  A bottle of Fat Tire.  It’s not distributed here in Virginia but it is just one state away, North Carolina.  She spotted it in a restaurant she was eating at.  So later that night I vowed to solve the mystery that is Fat Tire!  Ok so it really isn’t a mystery.  Sadly the people were right, the beer just isn’t that great.  But it’s not horrible either.  What it is, is a easy drinking brew.  First thing that came to my mind is that it’s a great beer to give to a person who wants to get into craft beers but isn’t quite ready to tackle those Imperial Stouts or Double IPAs.

Everything in this brew is small.  The smell starts off with bready, biscuit like aromas followed by slight smell of floral citrus hops.  Really nothing more.  The taste is more of the same.  Very small but enjoyable.  Toasted bready malt with clean citrus hops.  The mouthfeel is crisp and nicely carbonated.  A great session beer.  A beer you can really drink all night.

Found: Found in a restruant somewhere in North Carolina thanks to my girlfriend.
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.newbelgium.com
What the company says: Named in honor of our founder Jeff’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer’s home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Jeff found the Belgian approach freeing. Upon his return, Jeff created Fat Tire and Abbey Belgian Ale, (assuming Abbey would be his big gun). He and his wife, Kim traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire’s appeal quickly became evident. People liked everything about it. Except the name. Fat Tire won fans is in its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness.
ABV%: 5.20%
Other beers to try from this brewery: First brew I’ve had from this brewery
Other beers to try within the same style: Troegs Nugget Nectar, Rogue Saint Rogue Red Ale
Rating: B-

For the second beer in this review we go to something a little more extreme.  De Proef Signature Les Deux Brasseurs Ale.  This is the second De Proef collabration beer I’ve had.  The first one with Tomme Arthur from The Lost Abbey was amazing. This one is brewed with Jason Perkins from Allagash.  This one matches the first collaboration beer and might be a tad bit better.  Amazing stuff.  The beer just pops with amazing taste and smell.

As soon as you pop the cork on this beer you’ll notice a little bit of a sourness to it.  Not overpowering.  This is followed by a good bit of funk.  This would once again be the Brett doing its thing.  But what really overtakes everything is the smell of green apples.  I’m sure there are other fruits in this brew but the apples really made the smell for it.  Put everything together and it’s just a lovely aroma.  The taste is even better.  What I didn’t pick up the smell was a nice woody, oak like smell but you do get that in the taste.  There is also a nice small amount of tartness to go along with the sour vinegar like taste.  The funk of the Brett also comes through nicely with the fantastic fruity taste.  Once again the apples come through most.  It’s a complex, fantastic taste.  What also makes it so good is the mouthfeel.  It’s smooth as silk and medium to full bodied.  This brew is limited as it was brewed once but it’s totally worth the 17 dollars I paid for it and would easily put down the money again to have it.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: 17 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.proefbrouwerij.com/
What the company says: Sorry folks, site is in a language I don’t understand.
ABV%: 8.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: De Proef Reserve Signature Ale (w/ Tomme Aurthur), Allagash Odyssey
Other beers to try within the same style: Great Divide Hades Ale, Brooklyn Brewery Local 1
Rating: A+

I’ll get right to the point with this brew.  If it wasn’t for those three little beers called Darkness, Darklord, and The Abyss, this stout would be in my top three favorite stouts out there.  I thought it was that good.  It’s a big, hearty beer and I wanted more of when the bottle was empty.  At pour you get the smell of rich roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, oak, and a good amount of hops.  Very nice smell.  The taste is just fantastic and gets even better as you let the beer warm up.  The taste just becomes deeper.  I noticed the hops in the smell but you’ll notice it even more in the taste.  It gives a nice bitter taste to get along with the chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and roasted malt.  The oaked taste comes through but is small.  The bitterness of the hops overtakes it a bit.  The beer is pitch black and pours a huge white head that leaves a ton of lacing.  The mouthfeel is smooth and sticky.  Medium bodied and goes down way to easy for a 10% abv beer.  Dangerous and tasty.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: $10 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/
What the company says: Their site is in flash.  No copy and paste here folks!
ABV%: 10.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Left Hand Deep Cover Brown Ale, Left Hand Oak Aged Widdershins Barleywine
Other beers to try within the same style: Founders Breakfast Stout, Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
Rating: A

OK so here is part two of the end of the laziness. I can count two reasons for no reviews lately.  One is my conversion from being a PC user to a Mac user.  I did what I said I would never do and that is become one of those people who own a Mac.  Well yeah I’m one of those people now and well I love it.  It’s just taken me a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things and well I think I can get around on a Mac just fine.  Secondly I’ve been in a beer drinking rut lately.  I find myself at places or events that really serve some shitty run of the mill beer.  I’ve been stuck drinking that.  But luckily those days are over for now =)  So what we have here is two beers I really enjoyed drinking.  A quadrupel from Allagash and a Belgian Strong Pale Ale from De Proefbrouwerij out of Belgium. First up is the Quad from Allagash.  I bought this beer a while ago when I went up to Pennsylvania on holiday.  Like always I thought I would never see this beer again but sure enough when I got back home I found it a few miles from my house.  I have to learn patience.  That’s been one of my downfalls these 30 years I’ve been on this earth and I really don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Four Ale is called Four Ale because this beer is brewed with four malts, four hops, four sugars, and four Belgian yeast.  A lot of stuff going on in one brew.  I honestly had no idea this was a Quad until I popped the cork and took my first smell.  I love surprises, especially with beer.  At first smell you’ll get a earthly Belgian yeast smell with dark fruits.  Dates and raisins.  I also detected some candi sugar, caramel, and molasses.  The color on this brew is murky deep brown.  Very little head at all pours from the bottle.  Right off the bat when I noticed that this Quad isn’t as sweet as others I’ve had lately.  It was definitely  more toned down.  Definitely not a bad thing.  With some of the Quads I’ve had lately I felt like I could go into Diabetic shock.  This beer has a nice malty front end with a good amount of raisin, molasses, and caramel.  I also got a nice bit spice throughout. It has a nice earthy taste. Overall a very balanced and easy to drink Quad.  As for the mouthfeel it was a little dry, well carbonated, and crisp.  Medium bodied and just easy to drink.

I’ve enjoyed other Quads a bit more then this one but this is one that is pretty darn easy to drink and enjoy.  A winner from Allagash.  When do they ever make a bad beer?  Never!

Found: State Line Liqour, Elkton, Maryland
Price: 15 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.allagash.com
What the company says: Allagash Four is brewed with four malts, four hops, four sugars and four Belgian yeast strains. During the mashing process, we add Date Sugar to the mash tun. Later, during the boil, we add Light Candi, Dark Candi, and Light Golden Molasses. After primary fermentation with the first strain of yeast, we add more Candi Sugar, and referment the beer with a secondary strain of yeast… that process is then repeated with a third strain of yeast, and finally a fourth for bottle conditioning in the cellar. The Allagash Four Ale is presented in a strikingly decorated bottle, and is truly a unique beer!
ABV%: 10.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Allagash Tripel, Allagash 11th Anniversary Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: The Bruery Partridge in a Pear Tree, St. Bernardus Abt 12
Rating: B+

Beer two is a beer from De Proefbrouwerij out of Belgium. They brewed this beer with the help of Tomme from Port Brewing/Lost Abbey. Honestly I enjoyed this beer more then a lot of the beers I’ve had from Lost Abbey. This beer just hit the spot for me. It’s just lovely and I remember saying those exact words as I took my first sip. Lovely.

This Belgian Strong Pale Ale pours a cloudy amber color with a nice amount of fluffy white head.  The smell on this beer is just plain awesome.  Sour, sweet, peppery, hoppy, and earthy.  The hops aren’t overpowering.  Just right.  It brings a little bit of a funky smell from the brett along with the sourness.  But I think the fruity smell that it gives off is the key here.  Just makes it all come together and makes it a smell that you will want as your air freshener in your car.  Ok maybe I’m going a bit overboard =)

I said the fruitness in the smell was the key, but in the taste its definitely the key and it’s up front here.  A nice mixture of grape, apple, lemon, and melon.  The funk from the smell comes through in the taste and it’s wonderful. A bit of spiciness and sweet maltiness.  There’s a good amount of hops but don’t think bittering hops in a lot of IPAs.  Just think of everything being balanced.  Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied.  Nice soft carbonation.

It’s really hard to describe on this beer on paper.  It’s just mixture of ingredients that are out of this world and put together perfect.  I would easily buy a case of this stuff, go to my non craft beer friends and say here, this is what you are missing out on.

Price: South Bay Drugs, Imperial Beach, CA (Mail Order)
Website: http://www.proefbrouwerij.com/
What the company says: Couldn’t really navigate to anything on their site.
ABV%: 8.50%
Other beers to try from these breweries: This would be my first beer from this brewery
Other beers to try within the same style: North Coast Pranqster, Delirium Tremens, Brooklyn Brewery Local 1
Rating: A+

Found: State Line Liquors Elkton, Maryland
Price: Around 12 dollars a 750ml bottle
Website: http://www.mendobrew.com/
What the company says: To acknowledge this year’s anniversary, our 11th, Allagash’s brewers decided to use a champagne yeast for both the primary and secondary fermentations. This beer was brewed with both Cascade and Northern Brewer hops and copious amounts of Belgian Aromatic Malt to achieve its vibrant garnet color and unique, malty palate. At a hefty 9% ABV, the alcohol in this brew is balanced by a light sweetness, a full-bodied mouth feel and a gentle, lingering hop character.

Just prior to bottling, when there is no carbonation present in the beer, a fresh dose of sugar and yeast is added. After bottling, the beer is aged in our temperature-controlled cellar, where the yeast ferments the sugar and naturally carbonates the beer. This process, known as méthode champenoise, is the same traditional process we use for all of our bottled beers.

The batch of 11th Anniversary Ale was bottled in May of ’06 – 950 cases, six bottles in each case and is the only batch that will be available. Its aroma is redolent of red licorice, nutmeg, wild apple, and hard candy. Its taste is malty with date and fig notes with a finish that is crisp, striking a balance between dry and fruity. We suggest serving this rustic brew at cellar temperature.

What I say: Allagash is finally showing up around me.  I’ve had a few of their brews and everytime I’ve loved them.  When I hit Maryland I found the jackpot.  They had all their stuff but I couldn’t afford them all so I decided to just pick up one in hopes I would see the others one day.  I picked up their 11th Anniversary Ale because I knew it wouldn’t be around forever.  Good choice my part it would turn out because this is a damn fine beer.  This beer pours a cloudy amber color.  The smell is just wonderful.  You’ll get some apple, raisin, and some other fruits thrown in.  With all these fruits in there you might be surprised with the taste.  It’s got a nice alcohol kick to it.  At 9% you will probably be feeling pretty good when you finish this bottle.  But in the taste you’ll get the apple, pears, and some plum.  A very sweet and malty beer.  A good mixture of alcohol with fruit.  Just fantastic.  If you see it, pick it up.  It will not be around forever.

Rating: A

Found: Total Wine
Price: Around 4 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.allagash.com/
What the company says: This golden hued ale is marked by passion fruit and herbal notes in the aroma, with subtle suggestions of banana and honey surfacing from its deep and complex palate. The Tripel’s finish is remarkably long and soothing.

What I say: Once again like I say in many reviews this is my first beer from this brewery. Once again I was not disappointed (I’m having way to many good beers lately) I bought the 750ml bottle and it was a real treat. Poured a huge head with a nice golden color. Nice citrus taste. Pretty strong beer. Actually burned my throat a little bit. First time I’ve had that happen. But we’re not talking 4th degree burns or anything but just a little burn. But still went down nice and was a real treat. 

Rating: B+