*gasp* I know, how dare I. The only Irish brew I should be drinking is Guinness. But, this little gem caught my eye. O'Hara's Irish Stout sounded Irish enough for me to try. Let's get to business.
Poured out, take a wild guess what it looked like? That's right - black. Almost like an Imperial Stout, but not as viscous as one. There was almost no head but a nice tan film left behind and a slight bubble to the brew. It had a nice aroma of hops and the spice of barley. There was also an overall roasted smell to the beer. It tasted slightly creamy to start but the bodied bite from the barley and spices kicked in. The spicy flavor sticks around for a little while while the hops flows in at the end. The texture was a little watery - reminiscent of Guinness. It had a little body but it was a tad thin. The flow was a little sudden between flavors. I don't think there was enough hops in this beer - hops/barley ratio was off.
This beer finished off with a 3.88. Compared to Guinness (Anniversary edition, may I note) which finished off with a 4.2, there is a clear bias with me. But, compared to normal Guinness Draught, I do believe this is a fair comparison. I would be so bold as to say it might be better. I did enjoy it, I just wish it was cheaper. It cost more than Guinness for 2 less beers. Cheaper and it may be a new constant for me.
Appearance - 3.9
Smell - 4
Taste - 4
Texture - 3.6
Overall - 3.88/5
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Presidental Brews
I hope they were all having something good and not Budweiser. I'm not an advocate for the current presidency, but I think it'd be pretty fucking cool to have a brew with the president, personally.
Presidental Brews
Presidental Brews
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu
This is a very interesting brew. I read about this in an article online announcing the up-and-coming summer Dogfish Head brews. I figured, 9000 year old recipe...sounds exotic, probably worth a shot. Was able to pick it up at Shop Rite (the king distributor of all exotic brews, for whatever reason) and Fonnie and I gave it a shot.
Poured out, it produced a very nice, clear, golden color. It actually looked a lot like sparkling apple juice. It had a very full head when I poured out it but it fell quickly. It produced a constant fizz as well. It smelled a lot of grapes - almost wine-like in scent. There was a dash of hops in there, but not too much. Otherwise, this had a very neutral, almost lacking, scent. It tasted quite bitter - almost dry. Along the dry lines, I noted that it tasted a lot like a dry, white wine. There was also a slightly alcoholic taste at the end, but not a whole lot in the lines of beer flavors. We asked the very-neutral-to-beer Sparker to taste it and she agreed it didn't really taste like beer (although she still didn't like it...we will convert her eventually). The texture was a lot like wine. Smooth but a little watery. The only reason it was smooth was because it had little-to-no body and there was nothing to get in the way.
Overall, this was a brew that obviously came from 9000 years ago. Beer didn't turn into the beer we think of today until the medieval times and this is clearly apparent here. This was more reminiscent of wine than brew. It was good, but not a beer that we would purchase again for the intent of drinking beer.
Appearance - 3.9
Smell - 3.7
Taste - 3.9
Texture - 3.7
Overall - 3.8/5
Poured out, it produced a very nice, clear, golden color. It actually looked a lot like sparkling apple juice. It had a very full head when I poured out it but it fell quickly. It produced a constant fizz as well. It smelled a lot of grapes - almost wine-like in scent. There was a dash of hops in there, but not too much. Otherwise, this had a very neutral, almost lacking, scent. It tasted quite bitter - almost dry. Along the dry lines, I noted that it tasted a lot like a dry, white wine. There was also a slightly alcoholic taste at the end, but not a whole lot in the lines of beer flavors. We asked the very-neutral-to-beer Sparker to taste it and she agreed it didn't really taste like beer (although she still didn't like it...we will convert her eventually). The texture was a lot like wine. Smooth but a little watery. The only reason it was smooth was because it had little-to-no body and there was nothing to get in the way.
Overall, this was a brew that obviously came from 9000 years ago. Beer didn't turn into the beer we think of today until the medieval times and this is clearly apparent here. This was more reminiscent of wine than brew. It was good, but not a beer that we would purchase again for the intent of drinking beer.
Appearance - 3.9
Smell - 3.7
Taste - 3.9
Texture - 3.7
Overall - 3.8/5
Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu
This is quite an interesting brew that Deke picked out. Apparently it comes from a 9000 year old recipe that Dogfish Head has gotten their mitts on. This ancient brew pours a nice yellow/golden color with a big white frothy head that quickly fades into nothing. This beer reminds me greatly of sparkling cider when the head dissapears. It is also highly carbonated. The aroma does not have much going on and the only things that I can pick out are white grapes. I can really tell that this is an acient brew once I taste it, it tastes almost nothing like beers that we know and love today. There is an inital alcohol kick and then the taste moves to a wine-like-flavor. A very weird/different one indeed.
Appearance - 3.6
Smell - 3.4
Taste - 3.8
Texture - 3.7
Overall - 3.63/5
Brew Tasting the Ninth
To conserve supply, we decided to only have one, whole beer tonight. It was out of a 750mL so we each got a full beer as opposed to the traditional half-a-beer. Listing after the break.
1) Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu (yup, the 9000 year old recipe)
1) Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu (yup, the 9000 year old recipe)
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