Back in the swing of things

Oh man. I'm always so excited to come back home and try the bevvy of new beers. I've been settled in for a few weeks, but it still feels all new as I just finished moving into a new house.

And with new houses comes new beer. This time we've got two delicious Dogfish head beers, and one from a new brewery, Great Divide.

Great Divide is a Colorado brewery that I've heard a lot about, but never had the pleasure of getting to try. Specifically, I've heard about their Yeti stout - and what was awaiting me at my favorite local boozery? A big ol' bomber of Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

It pours a viscous black - damn close to molasses. The smell is all coffee. Hooo boy, and then some - the coffee flavor comes from them adding local espresso to the beer itself. The flavor has all my favorite notes - oak, chocolate, roasted malts, espresso beans, mmmmm. It tasted a little like a chocolate covered espresso bean actually, which was delicious. It was a little heavy for summer, but this is a beer I'd go after in any weather.

Namaste, from Dogfish head, is basically the opposite. A take on the Belgian Wit beer, it is extremely light and refreshing, and is a very tasty summer beer. Rather than a bland wit though, it is full of orange and lemongrass flavors. As is typical with wit beers, there is also some wheat flavor. There is also a light citrus hop, but nothing to make the beer anything more than a clean, clear, refreshing beer.

Third, and not last by any means, is dogfish head's festina peche. Now, this is classified as Berliner Weissbier. I'm not wholly certain what that is, but I'm not complaining. The beer pours a nice golden orange, with little to no head but plenty of carbonation. It's easy to confuse this beer for cider or sparkling wine on first taste, but after a few sips you can taste the malty undertones. The flavor is all sour peach, which is delicious in my opinion. Folks seem split on this beer, but it is an absolutely perfect summer beer in my opinion - light, bubbly, and full of fruit flavors without being overly sweet.

I should also note that I got to visit the Dogfish head brewpub in Rehoboth, which was pretty cool. The food was very tasty, and everything was woodgrilled, which was tasty. I also got to sample a few of their beers that I hadn't had in a while. The best of the bunch might actually have been the 60 minute IPA, which is weird because I despise IPAs. However, it was pleasantly cirtusy and very drinkable. All of the beers tasted were good though, so it was sort of the tallest NBA player sort of thing.

Anyway, more beer to come no doubt. Cheers!

This one took way too long

Seriously, it's been a looong time since I've tried more than a few of these beers. I apologize to my loyal reader (there's one out there, right? :-P) but I just haven't found the time to sit down and hash my thoughts out.

We'll start with the best of the bunch - I was at Victoria Gastro Pub, quickly becoming a favorite of mine, debating between an Oyster Stout and a Saison, when I saw that there was an odd beer. It was a Strawberry Weisse, a "short batch" from Smuttynose. It was described as a sour strawberry beer, and I was hooked. I love Smuttynose, and I liked the idea of trying something limited edition.

The beer was fantastic. It poured a rich, ruby red, and was deliciously sour with a nice flavor of strawberries. This was no thin wheat beer with a hint of fruit - it was a punch in the face. To be fair, I desperately love all things sour, so be prepared to deal with a lot of sour. A relatively uncomplicated beer, I was nonetheless wholly impressed by their ability to make a strong and delicious fruit beer. Fruli strawberry can suck it - this is far and away the best fruit beer I've ever had.

Now, I also feel like I've made a mistake somewhere, because apparently I've never written about Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. This seems wrong, as it's quickly become one of my favorites for summer. Nonetheless, I'll give you my impression, and hopefully you'll forgive any accidental doubling.

Their Summerfest is a lager, but this is no bland golden beer. It has a very nice clean, crisp, and refreshing taste with floral and grassy notes, with a pleasantly assertive hop flavor rounding it out. Not too bitter, it's excellent for hot days and lazing around, with an interesting character but light enough to drink more than a few. According to beer advocate, the beer is a Czech Pilsner, but seeing as the bottle calls it a lager, I'm sticking to that.

I also had a chance, oddly enough, to try their Celebration ale. It's a winter beer from them, but apparently it'd been hiding in the back of my friend, The Culinator's, fridge. Classified as an American IPA, I admit to having my doubts. The beer is excellent - darker and spicy, with a nice hop profile. However, it just doesn't taste as bitter as I expect for an IPA. There are also some sweet malts in there as well, making a nicely balanced beer. Tasty and delicious, although misclassified for my money.

Now, the last beer was good, but a little surprising. While at the Perfect Pour, I picked up a mixed pack of Star Hill. On the box was listed the numerous awards each beer had won - multiple medals at the great American beer festival. Needless to say, I was excited.

Star Hill's Amber Ale is good. It's a nice copper red, with flavors of toffee and caramel, as well as some bready malts. Really though, it was pretty boring. I want to reiterate - it wasn't bad. But it wasn't terribly interesting, especially for a medal winning beer. Not a bad session beer, as I had a couple without evening noticing it, but nothing to write home about.