Hello fine beer boys and girls,
After a long week transitioning from an eight hour night
shift to a ten hour day shift, enjoying the company of a police officer as he
preached the virtues of moderate use of my gas pedal, and a host of other persistent
headaches and obligations, my weekend is here. On the television in the
background, the Dallas Stars just put a puck past the Anaheim Ducks goal tender,
and I have popped the first of a couple bottles of beer from the Yazoo Brewing
Company that I picked up on a trip to Nashville in 2012.
Starting with the Sly Rye Porter, an American porter brewed
with rye malt (I really wish they would be more transparent with their names)
the beer pours a nice, dark hue that is just brown enough to make it slightly discernible
from diesel fuel. A somewhat thin, perhaps a quarter’s thickness, head forms
with a somewhat aggressive pour, and resembles the coffee that I enjoy each
morning with a healthy amount of cream.
Welcoming the drinker, a nose of chocolate, roasted malts is
apparent, adding nice java bitterness amidst hints of honey and cotton candy. This
aroma does not deceive the palate’s experience, as the flavor of the ale rides
on the same sweet, dark roasted coffee and chocolate body, however the addition
of the rye adds a little bit of spice that cuts what could otherwise be
overpowering sugariness.
The beer is a good, solid, and quite drinkable porter. It
lives up to my expectation of what a porter should be, and adds a little
something else. It might not make me say wow, but it is a beer I would drink
again if it were a local option.
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Well, the Stars are up 2-0 over the Ducks as the second
period is about to begin, and I am about to go up another beer for the evening,
with Hop Project, also from the Nash-Vegas Yazoo Brewing Co.
The Hop Project line is a series of American IPAs that claim
a never repeating recipe for each batch. The information on the bottle can be
used to identify the batch number, and in conjunction with the blog found on
the company’s website, a drinker can get information on the hop additions of
the batch that they are enjoying. The bottle I have tonight is from batch 67,
which includes (per the aforementioned blog) Motueka hops from New Zealand.
Decanting the brew, the beverage pours a nice umber color,
with a cloud like head. Tilting the pint glass back, a wonderful lacing is
exhibited. Visually, it is a feast for the eyes.
Placing my nose above the rim of my glass I am greeted with
the very pronounced smell of floral hops so strong that I feel like I am deep
in the pine forests of East Texas. Amidst the aroma of perfumed vegetation,
there is an underlying candy sweetness similar to that I nose noticed when
enjoying the porter earlier this evening.
On the palate, the
pine hop essence continues its trip from nose to gullet with a sharp, aggressive
assault on the tongue, without being overly bitter, but still floral in nature.
Matching the bold hop notes, a syrupy sweetness backs up the first wave of rhizome
flavors. These flavor combination, along with the thick, sticky mouthfeel of
the ale, give me the impression of drinking a strongly brewed herbal sweet tea.
Having experienced the Hop Project, I can’t determine how I
really feel about the ale. It is somewhat pleasant, and unique for the style,
but a far cry from something I could say that I like well enough to recommend.
Well, I am about ready to stop tasting beer and start drinking beer as Anaheim has put the
biscuit past Lehtonen, and made it a single goal game.
Happy drinking!
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