SF Beer Week Part 3: Sours and Belgians and Cheese

What could be better than a bar with Russian River tap handles two rows deep? Ommegang and local cheese piggybacked on top of it. I missed the madness Tuesday night, but they still had all of the Russian River beers on tap sans 1 (Erudition ... we shall meet one day soon). There were at least four new to me, along with many of my barrel aged sour favorites. Once the line died down to the "secret room" in the back of the Toronado (I had no idea) where they kept the Ommengang wares, I jumped in to get two of my favorites, Three Philosphers and Grand Cru Rouge, paired with local cheeses.

Three Philosophers
Belgian Quadrupel with Cherries, Three Philosophers is a remarkable limited edition strong ale brewed by Brewery Ommegang in response to a home brewer’s description of his dream beer. Realbeer.com, the internet’s largest beer website, hosted a contest called “Create a Great Beer.” Brewery Ommegang was chosen by Realbeer.com to brew the Belgian-style ale for the winning essayist. Noel Blake, a home brewer from Portland wrote the winning description for what his “dream beer” would be like.
Malts, caramel and slight berries, notably cherries and raspberries. Medium amber color, slightly slick and medium to light body. Toffee, caramel, light pear, orange and cherries. Medium finish, light sweetness but not distracting. 3.7

with Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy Queso De Mano
Very nutty, and creamy, funky and toasty. Rather firm and slightly tangy-bitter finish. Not an awful pairing but would have loved something smoother, nuttiness pairs pretty well though.

Grand Cru Rouge
Flanders Red ale aged for 18 months in oak.
Nose of cherries, malt, tart fruit, plums. Medium to dry mouthfeel, amber to mahogany in color. Strong cherry, citrus, and light malt, toffee and toast. 3.9

with Brie
closest description I could find. Very creamy, light lactic, smooth, milk, light mold and bitterness. Pairs well as more of a counterpart to the strong malt and sour flavors in the beer.

here were a few of the Russian River offerings that were new to me ...

Defenestration
"Hoppy belgian ale"
Nose of strong orange, slight grapefruit and esters, notablely pears. Light body, light orange color. Really strong grapefruit flavor, orange, toast, and apples. Dry finish, lingeringly bitter. This really seems like one of their IPA passed off as a Belgian, maybe with a Abbey yeast strain. 3.8

Damnation #23
Trippel on Oak Chips
Nose of malt, vanilla, pear, light citrus and oak. Light gold to yellow in color, medium to thick mouthfeel. Sweet malts, honey, toast, biscuit, vanilla, oak and light pear esters. Medium finish, slightly sweet, low bitterness. Interesting take, maybe a bit drier and more oak, still slight cloying nature to it. More complex but less enjoyable than the standard Damnation Golden Strong. 3.7

Mortification
Belgian Quadrupel
Nose of dried fruits, caramel, chocolate, cherries, boysenberries, cranberries. Slight must. Medium to full body, deep garnet color. Figs, chocolate, malt, slight cherry, earth and complex melanoidian like aspect. Slightly sweet finish, finishes full. 4.1

along with some old favorites ....

Supplication
Brown ale aged in Pinot Noir wine barrels for one year with sour cherries, Brettanomyces yeast, and Lactobacillus & Pedicoccus bacteria.
Nose of barnyard, oak, cherries and light toffee and toast. Very light mouthfeel, light gold with ruby highlights. Flavor very sour, tart, honey, toast, fruit, pears. Very dry, puckering, lightly bitter finish. One of a kind sour. 4.4

Sanctification
Who's afraid of the "big bad BRET?" We'll tell you who: winemakers! Because of our close proximity to several hundred wineries, we often get winemakers visiting our brewery. (After all, it takes a lot of great beer to make great wine!) Because we use 100% Brettanomyces yeast to ferment Sanctification, most winemakers will only smell the glass, and only a very few will venture to taste the beer. Sanctification is one of the most unique beers you will ever taste! It was fermented with 100% Brettanomyces, rather than the traditional Saccharomyces.
Tart nose, citrus, acidic (is this possible in the nose?), orange, light horse blanket. Very light body, straw colored with gold highlights. Tart, sour, acidic, light wheat and straw notes, orange. Very dry finish, though not incredibly lingering due to the mouthfeel, only light bitterness. 4.2

Compunction
Ale with currants added and aged in oak barrels.
Sour, cherries, figs, raisins, toffee. It has a dry, vinuous character, should age superbly, and the barrel character is quite apparent, slight notes of vanilla, oak, earth. Quite acidic and a lingering sour finish. This one sticks with you. At 10 percent, it has a more viscous character than the others, and is wonderful. 4.4

Beatification
100% Spontaneously Fermented Ale (lambic).
Wow. This is as sour and bubbly as they come. Almost no brett flavor, very dry, grapefruit, tart and hints of wood, pear, apple. This is an incredibly one dimensional ale, and I mean that in a very good way! If you like sour, dry and bubbly, this is the way to go. 4.7

SF Beer Week Part 2: Barrel Beers ... all the way from Maine?

Wonderful evening at the Tornado. Allagash had a stellar lineup of their best offerings. Their White, Trippel, Black, and Four were there, along with more complex barrel aged offerings such as the Curieux, Odyssey, Interlude. Listed below were their four offerings which were new to me, but I love them all!



Fedelta:
Allagash had the honor of hosting De Struise Brouwers Brewmaster Urbain Coutteau and his co-workers Carlo Grootaert, Phil Driessens and Peter Bruin along with the "Homebrew Chef" Sean Paxton of homebrewchef.com on August 29. The Brewers with our Brewmaster, Jason Perkins collaborated on a Belgium Blonde called Fedeltá which means Fidelity in Italian. De Struise had previously brewed a version of this beer at their farm brewery in Belgium. After collaborating strategically over e-mail, phone and in person on brew day, the five brewers were able to put all their hard work into a great brew. Fedeltá, 8.2% Blonde was brewed using a selection of imported Pilsner Malt, Domestic Pale Malt as well as 15% Wheat Malt. American Cascade and Amarillo Hops were also selected resulting in 35 IBU. Also added in the boil was Cane Sugar and Honey. Fedeltá was fermented with our house Belgian-style strain, producing a subtle ester profile. The result is a smooth beer with subtle flavors of spice, honey, and vanilla as well as citrus hop flower notes. Fedeltá will be available in limited markets, draft only in the fall.
Trippel like nose: spice, banana, pepper, slight toast and orange. Light gold, medium body. Flavor is fruity, notes of pear, honey, sugar, vanilla, slight toast and biscuit and earth. 4.0 out of 5

Hugh Malone:
The base of the beer includes English two-row malt and pale crystal malts, establishing an understated sweetness. To give Hugh Malone its hop character we use generous portions of Simcoe hops at three points in the brewing process. To begin with, we use a technique referred to as first wort hopping, in which Simcoe is added to the sweet wort as it enters the kettle. When the wort comes to a boil in the kettle we add Warrior hops, adding another layer to the bitterness of the beer. Later in the brewing process we steep a large amount of Simcoe in the whirlpool to impart a distinct hop aroma. Finally, during secondary fermentation in our conditioning tanks, we dry hop the beer, which instills a hoppy aroma with notes of pine and grapefruit.
Balanced, zesty orange nose, slight earth and vanilla. Deep amber, medium body, slightly hazy. Very smooth flavor, zesty, resin, apple and pear esters, Medium to dry finish, slightly creamy. 4.1

Victoria
To create Victoria Ale, the brewers drew on references to Bucchus, the Thracian god of wine, in the history and artwork of the Victoria Mansion as inspiration for this new beer. One hundred pounds of chardonnay grapes were brought in, crushed on site and added directly to the mash. With a focus on the subtle wine-like character of the grapes, the 9.0% ABV brew boasts a pale copper color, Belgian yeast influence and a medium body with a long finish.
Slightly sweet nose, toast, sourness, white wine. Light body, slightly slick and acdic, light gold color. Flavor is of white grapes, apples, pears, vanilla, light vinegar even. Slightly acidic finish, toast and oak. 4.1

Victor
Similar to Victoria, but red grapes (Chancellor) were used in place of white.
Nose of pear, cider, and slightly generic citrus. Light to medium body, light orange hue, acidic. Notes of cherries, oak, grapes, plums and sherry. Dry, slightly stick and acidic finish. 3.8