Ranger Creek’s Mesquite Smoked Porter

Well it’s Tuesday, and being the predictable, domesticated man boy that I am, I spent  my mid-week day off with some light cleaning, and heavy duty Sid Meyer’s Civilization playing, peppered with a craft beer or two. Today’s review will look at bottle of Ranger Creek’s Mesquite Smoked Porter that’s been sitting in a cool dark place for the last twelve months. 

 Decanting a beer shouldn’t be too hard for me, being a seasoned veteran of the sobriety wars, however this black as night ale created copious amount of cappuccino colored carbonation (alliteration, motherfuckers!) While in most beers I would give this a few jeers, this  ale is bottle conditioned, and I think helps  give a beer a better mouth feel than the standard forced carbonation most commercially produced beer goes through, craft or not. A somewhat more difficult pour is an easy trade-off for a better beer drinking experience.

On the nose there is a nice roasted coffee and dark chocolate essence accentuated with a slight leather and floral aspect. Now, I first had this beer at the first annual Dallas Winter Warmer (you might have seen me use the taster in prior reviews), where I felt the smokiness was just too much. Now I had it at the end of a brewfest, so suffice to say my taste buds and level of inebriation might have caused an overworked palate, or perhaps the year of bottle conditioning has tamed that tiger. But from this bottle, while the smokiness is still upfront, it seems more in balance with the dark roasted malt and subtle hoppiness. While I have had a few smoked porters, this one has a unique, but not unpleasant, light sourness.

 The finish of the Mesquite Smoked Porter is dry and leaves a somewhat floral, dark roasted coffee aftertaste. These flavors seem to concentrate the more this beer is consumed.

This beer would be perfect with a nice plate of chopped brisket, as its smokiness would obviously pair well with the smoked meat, while also standing up to the sweetness and tang of a good barbeque sauce. 

Without the glory that is barbeque, it still holds its own as an enjoyable ale. I would highly suggest this to the Texas craft beer consumer.   

Yazoo Brewing Co. Sly Rye Porter and Hop Project (Batch 67) Review

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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Four Fantastic Things #5: Four wonderful Texas beers (2011)

Hello,

I hope that 2011 was a good year for everyone. For myself, it brought a lot of changes, including some for the better, and others not so much.

In celebration of change, and of my home state, I felt it would be interesting to look back at the new and unique beers that my relocation offered over the past year, and list some of my favorite Lone Star brews (which ironically does not include any beer from Lone Star Brewery).

For those unfamiliar with this series of posts, this is not a “best of,” but just a list of recommended consumables, and is not arranged in a particular order relative to my opinion of quality.

#1 Sailing Santa by Saint Arnold’s Brewery (Houston, TX)

This seasonal bomber from the “first Texas craft brewer” is probably a bit difficult, if not all together impossible, to obtain as I write this review in early February. Combining their also delicious Elisa IPA with their regular Christmas seasonal offering, St. Arnold has created a wonderful example of a complex hoppy beer without overpowering the beverage with hop bitterness.

I thought that I had previously reviewed this beer formally, but it appears I was mistaken. Perhaps, with a little luck, I will be able to get another bomber as 2012 comes to a close.

#2 (512) India Pale Ale (Austin, TX)

This was one of the first beers, upon my return to Texas, to really get me excited about the Texas Craft and Micro beer scene. First sampled at the Ft. Worth Gingerman, the beer is a wonder mélange of citrus hops with a nice, warm malt backend. Exhibiting a strong grapefruit body, it was love at first sip, and depressing to know I can’t find this in bottles as of yet.

#3 Pecker Wrecker by Rahr and Sons Brewery (Ft Worth, TX)

Although I feel that Rahr and Sons’ normal production line, while still quality beer, is not the most impressive to come out of the state, their big beers have been nothing but absolutely wonderful. Usually I bemoan spending 9 bucks on 22 ounces of beer, however Rahr’s offerings have always been worth the extra cost, and are examples of what joy and wonder can be created with excellent know how and quality ingredients.  Pecker Wrecker, an imperial pilsner, has been my favorite of these commitments to fine brewing.

You can read the full review of this hop forward beer here. 

#4 Real Ale Brewing Company’s Coffee Porter (Blanco, TX)

Diverging from the hop-forward beers of the previous three recommendations in this list, Real Ale Brewing Company’s collaborative effort with Katz Coffee Roasters produces a wonderfully complex and full bodied explosion of chocolate malts, coffee, and slight floral hop flavors on the palate.

This is another beer which, while I loved the hell out of it like the above-mentioned Sailing Santa, was consumed during a time that I was neck deep in a wading pool of my own self-doubt and loathing. Expect to see this beer reviewed in greater depth later in 2012. 

Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewery

Hello boys and girls,

I know it’s been a while since I last published a review, but with Pope Crisco leading the National Hockey League in goals, assists, and in plus/minus ratings, he has little time to review beer. You might point out that these are just stats in EA Sports NHL 12, the leading hockey simulation game for the PS3 and Xbox, but I still feel like that’s progress in my life.  I guess that’s pretty sad, when you think about it in the terms of the highlight of a grown man’s life.

Perhaps if I told you that I bought a set of sweet ass Marvel Comics pint glasses that would make me seem more awesome?

No? Oh well.

Aside from video game hockey and super hero laden glassware, I do have an interview tomorrow with a law firm for a paralegal position, so with a little luck and even more charm, I will have a light out from the tunnel of the hell known as employment in a call center as a Customer Service Representative.

Tonight, as a precursor to pizza, more beer, and television watching with my wife, I am drinking Deschutes Brewery’s Black Butte Porter (and thanks to the image of Hulk on the glass, beer drinker The Thing is staying at bay).

The beer pours out a nice, dark, black hue, and easily forms a thick, tan head.  As impressively as the head forms, it quickly dissipates to a dimes width before drinking, and ultimately dies to a slight film while sipping away at the beverage.  Lacing is minimal at best.

The aroma of toffee is strong, with a warm, bready accent. As well slight chocolate note and floral hops are detected.

The first flavor to hit the palate is a sharp coffee like bitterness, but is quickly cut by sweet, malty, chocolate and toffee flavors, creating an easily drinkable, well-balanced beer.

For this style of beer, the only thing I think this brew lacks is body, which I would put on the thin side for a porter.

 Overall the beer is very decent, well balanced, and whets my appetite for more varietals from this brewery.

Prost!

Stone Smoked Porter by Stone Brewing Company

If not having a job has any benefits, it's that it gives me oodles of time to pursue my obsession of intoxication.

Sporting my mighty unemployment beard, I spent a majority of the day today applying for a few jobs, visiting the bank, tweaking my blog and shooting out emails, but mostly watching a travel and drinking show on Hulu.com, “Three Sheets.” Feeling better about not popping a cap at lunchtime, I feel that 4 p.m. is a fine time to start drinking.

Getting ready for a big push of reviews on craft beers brewed in Texas in September, I decided it was time to clear the fridge of any beer brewed outside of the Lone Star State. While making my selection, I found it an easy choice to start with the Stone Smoked Porter, the last of three bombers that were recently obtained from San Diego based Stone Brewing Company.

The beer poured out as dark as the heart of Dick Cheney, with a tan, assertive, head that quickly retreated into the black brew.

The essence of the beer’s aroma was chocolaty with bready warmth that invited this drinker in with the promise of good things.

As the beer hit my tongue a bouquet with a wealth and depth of coffee and chocolate flavors attacked the palate in full force. As my mouth acclimates to the full body character of chocolate and coffee malts, subtle notes of oak and smokiness develop, adding to the already delicious complexity of the beer.

As I finish the rich and dry Stone Smoked Porter, I am left with not just an empty pint glass, but also a palate full of desire for more of Stone Brewing Companies craft beer selections.

Prost!