Samichlaus Classic 2009 Vintage

Beer Log: Right now

State: Chilling out with the Misses watching The Soup

Got this one a couple years ago and aged it ever since. Been looking forward to this one for quite some time.

Samichlaus Classic 2009 vintage

Ruby color and I can smell the malt and alcohol from here. Nose has lots of caramel, cherries. Oh that's a like the sweetest beer ever. Lots of brown sugar, some cherries, bourbon. I'm thinking purple grapes. Kind of reminds me of those sweet liquors you get the club. It goes down pretty easily as well. This is like the ultra doppelbock. I get some of the peppery alcohol as well on your breath. Dammit I need to get a house with a back porch so I can get some cigars with this puppy. 4 stars. Not bad for the boys from Schloss Eggenberg. Looking forward to trying some more of their beer in the future.

We're not Hitchhiking anymore... We're RIDING!

All this travel. It doens't even feel like I've been moving around that much until I write it all down on this blog. Oh well.

Beer Log: February 28, 2009
State: At the House

Abita Andygator
Oh the beer travels. I got this 22 ouncer the last time I was in Louisiana. I'm really rooting for Abita to up the game. Their seasonals have been pretty bland in my opinion. This one is actually a doppelbock. I could retype how they came up with the name of this beer, but I think they could do it better than me. Light straw colored doppelbock, oh behave. Kinda sour and fruity nose coming from a strong offwhite head. It kinda has that light oktoberfest Munich malt caramel nose, and it's kinda lager veggie nose. Maybe not exactly true to style with that caramel, but whatever. Head is taking its SWEET time going down. After waiting it out, I get a nice robust sweetness on my tongue. I was expecting a little sourness in the flavor but it didn't show up. This thing feel great on the tongue. It tastes very German, like a Spaten, not the Optimator but their other brews. It has just enough strength to be a DB but could pass for an Oktoberfest in a different bottle. How about you take the Shiner 99 (a great Helles Lager) and up the caramel a few notches. And since I love Shiner 99, the Gator gets 4 Stars.

Troeg's Amber Ale
Barrelling through our beers picked up from travelling, I got this Troegs when last in Maryland. Smell has a floral hops with some alcohol. Copper color with a weak white head. Upon tasting, I get a flash of hops in a velvety body that reminds me of French bread. The aftertaste is a biting hop (maybe Cascade-ish) but doesn't last very long. 3 Stars. The hop aftertaste lasts longer the more you drink it.





I wonder how you pronounce "troeg" anyway. The "O" in the name has the two dots over it. I wonder if it's like my favorite cartoon character Ren Hoek. Either way, who couldn't use a little SPACE MADNESS!







While we're here, let me slide in one more Troegs I had on March 3.

Troegs Nugget Nectar
State: Eating spicy spaghetti.
This is a slightly red amber color. And OH smell those hops. Flowery and citrusy nose with a great caramel malt backbone. Tasting it and OH WOW! Nice hops strength but no bite. Awesome. Nice plum and caramel on the back end of the tongue. It finishes uber-clean. Slight aftertaste of hops, 4 Star. There is some beady, and it is just plain super hoppy. It reminds me of the Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner.

Some Winter Beers

Beer log: February 3, 2009

I got a few beers from a friend from merry old England. I always find that the English have an excellent sophistication. I sit here watching the Tudors and I do find wonder in their formality and exquisite manners. Anyway…

Ridgeway Santa’s Butt
Gotta love the name of this British ale. Clear and ruby brown with a tan head when I poured it vigorously. Smells of chocolate and caramel. Tastes a little chocolate, just a little sweet and plain. It has a thinner body and kinda boring. Low 3 Star.

Back to the New World
Fordham Doppelbock
Dark brown and clear. Tan strong head. It smells kind of English muffiny and alcoholy. Nice rich sweet flavor. Low carbonation and hops. Almost like light syrup. Nice high alcohol. High 3 Star.


Beer Log: February 19, 2009

A few more winter seasonals
Heavy Seas Winter Bock (Hang Ten)
I think the 10 is for the alcohol content. Now we’re getting somewhere! Got to love Clipper City, they have more brands than some microbreweries have beer.
Deep amber color. Very fruity with a chocolate nose. Almost lambicky (if that’s such a word), but not as sour. It has some body to it. I’m gettinig some great malt and nuttiness in the second slug. 4 Stars overall.

Today (April 27, 2009) I still have some Winter beers to go through. Bocks trump Winter warmers in my book, but Bock traditionally are a spring beer. I still haven’t ranked my best winter seasonals. I may have to break it up into Christmas Beer, Winter Beers, and Winter Warmers. Just to be fair.

Dogfish Head Raisson D’extra
The Fish are just belting out all kinds of creative styles of beer, and my wife will stop at nothing until we’ve had them all. Now they have another Raisson out there, an extra one. Strong fruity and rasin nose (go figure). It’s like grape juice, but not like wine. Cloudy with a UT burnt orange, weak tan head. Big fruit/malt flavor with alcohol finish. Lots of plumness going on. A little high on the carbonation, like it’s bottle conditioned. Tastes similar to the first raisson. Forgot to write in a ratinig.

Shiner 100th Anniversary

Finally back in Houston. We had a great time at the Inaug. and I'll do a post about it along with some beers I had while out there. But I feel like commemorating what we have witnessed, and what's better than Shiner Commemorator, the 100th anniversary beer from Spoetzl.

Beer Log: Right now.

State: chillin, just ate some rice with butter, watching Wheel of Fortune.

Shiner Commemorator

Smells a little bready, a little malty. Red copper color with a quick dissipating white head. I get a little chocolate and syrup on there as well. Taste is a decent amount of malt and bread. The second draught reveals a bit more of the dark malts, like syrup and whatnot, but not as strong as the doppelbocks I've had in the past. It does taste pretty good and just gets sweeter the more you drink it. Medium to high carbonation with a low hop presence. The finish is pretty fast as well. 3 Stars. It could be the alcohol, but the more you drink it, the more you like it.

I was hoping that Shiner would have hit the bricks with that 100th Anniversary. I think it would have been so badass if they just came out with a Belgian Tripel or something. They normally stick with the German and Czech style beers. Of the 5 anniversary beers, I'll have to say this one could be my favorite followed closely by the Helles Lager, Shiner 99. Congrats to Spoetzl and the good folks in Shiner, TX. Here's to another 100 years!