Beer Review: He'Brew Jewbelation Fifteen

Thanks to 2beerguys beer blog for the pic.

Happy Chanukah...Hannukah...Channuh ah forget it.  Happy Holidays!  After a delicious sushi dinner (a gift from my parents) I decided to open up a bottle of Jewbelation Fifteen to celebrate the season and the fact that my vacation started today.  For the uninitiated, He'Brew (Shmaltz Brewing Co) has put out an anniversary beer each year to celebrate their existence.  I ran into this series last year when they put out a holiday gift pack including Anniversary Ales 8-14 and a barrel-aged "Vertical" beer.  Each year, they add one more type of malt and hops and raise the ABV one percent.  So this year the beer is 15% ABV with 15 malts and 15 hops.

Appearance:  Pours a deep, dark brown with a thin tan head that dissipates quickly.  Looks a lot like Coke.

Aroma: This beer has a complex array of aromas that I need some help identifying.  I can get some brown sugar/molasses flavors, plus vanilla, raisins and a ton of malty character.

Taste:  Malt and brown sugar jump out at first with caramel notes and a bit of alcohol at the end.  There's also a bready character that must come from one of the fifteen malts. 

Mouthfeel:  Kind of heavy and syrupy with light carbonation.  The sweetness lingers and nicely balances out the small alcohol burn.

Overall:  Pretty solid beer considering the amount of ingredients at play.  The 15% ABV is hidden nicely and the sweetness doesn't become too cloying even after sitting out for a while.  I bet this beer would be great in two years when the sugar dies down a bit and some of the other qualities shine through.  B+



Beer Advocate has 19 reviews that average to an 89.  That's pretty good, right?  2beerguys.com enjoyed this one during their holiday beer extravaganza.  Better Beer Blog agrees with my assessment.  Seems like a solid beer to warm you up on these cold (60 degree) Washington DC evenings.

Review: Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet Below Decks Barleywine Style Ale Aged in Cabernet Barrels

Photo from jameshartle.blogspot.com

It's Sunday, football's on, the sky is overcast, and breakfast was a few hours ago. Nothing better than cozying up with a tasty interesting beer to make the Giants/Redskins game a little less painful to watch.

Heavy Seas' Mutiny Fleet is a showcase of unusual beers with 8%+ ABV. Their website indicates that these beers are designed for aging, and many are an extremely limited release in 22 oz bottles and some draft. This particular barleywine style was aged in cabernet barrels (the one I'm drinking) and bourbon barrels. Our local beer sherpa only got one or two cases of this little beauty, so we decided to pick up a $7.99 bottle.

Appearance: The beer has a rich, thick dark brown color that reminds me of molasses; this is definitely one of the unfiltered brews of the Mutiny Fleet. My glass doesn't have any head as the photo indicates.

Aroma: My first whiff of this beer had me saying, "Whoa." I get a delicious dark, chocolatey, fruity aroma, and I can already detect the presence of the cabernet just in the smell. I can definitely tell that this is a high alcohol beer, I even get a little bit of alcohol burn in my nose while smelling it.

Taste: As I drink this beer, I can't help thinking of chocolate covered cherries, the kind with the liqueur filling, because I do get a bit of alcohol burn at the end. However, the tasting experience is not too sweet, and it's a delightfully different and interesting beer drinking experience. I feel like I'm drinking a Christmas treat.

Photo from carouselcandies.com.

Mouthfeel: I'm usually a in favor of the notion that more carbonation is always better, but the carbonation on this beer is understated, and I still like it. It compliments the unique flavor without overshadowing, and it's a nice tasting experience overall.

Overall: This is a bad ass beer, but the fruity aroma and dessert-like flavor still make this beer accessible. It could probably get overwhelming in large quantities, but that's probably why this beer is relatively rare; it's not meant for large quantities. At $7.99 a bottle, I would say this is a great deal. I would not recommend pairing it with a meal; perhaps it might pair well with some goat cheese and crackers, but this beer is probably better when experienced by itself. A-

This beer scored an 86/100 on Beer Advocate, earning it a 'good' (80-89 points) rating (as opposed to 'world class' (95-100), 'exceptional' (90-94), 'average' (70-79), or 'poor' (<79)). Worth a try if you can find it.

Beer Review - La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado

We've hit a huge lull in brewing beer together lately.  Such is life.  Meg and I will be tasting Merry Krampus early this week to determine how the beer is aging.  Dan and I have discussed plans for our next beer - an IPA, which may or may not be brewed next week.

In the meantime, I've been buying up some interesting beers and I want to share my thoughts.  Although I usually drink my delicious beers and forget to write tasting notes, I happen to be drinking a beer and watching an unwatchable Bears-Broncos football game.

I decided to open up the Stone, Bruery, Elysian collaboration La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado (The Heavenly Pumpkin of Citracado) that's been sitting in my beer fridge for a couple of weeks.  The bottle bills it as an "ale brewed with pumpkin, yams, toasted fenugreek, lemon verbena & birch bark".  Ok then. 

Appearance: Dark amber color that looks black when it's not held up to the light.  My delicious-looking pour included a thick, beige head that dissipated after a few minutes.

Aroma:  There's an overwhelming aroma of spicy pine needles with citrus undertones.  Pumpkin? Nope.  Yams?  Again, no.

Taste:  Lemon zest with a spicy hop presence hits me right away.  The spice follows through on the aftertaste and mixes with a woodsy feel.

Mouthfeel:  I could use a bit more carbonation in this one.  It might allow some of the other flavors to come through more.  The sweetness of this beer become cloying as it warms.  I like that the hop spice lingers but it doesn't quite balance out.

Overall:  This is not a pumpkin beer in any sense that I've ever seen or tasted.  I do wish that the yams and pumpkin would shine more in this one instead of the other spices.  I enjoy analyzing it more than I enjoy drinking it.  That can't be good, can it?  I wouldn't buy this one again.  C-

Beer Advocate has it at a B with 96 reviews.  One reviewer called the taste "lime mixed with a pine tree" and I tend to agree with that. Brewbound.com liked it quite a bit, saying they were "wowed" by the first sip.  Dailybeerreview.com had the same experience as I did - too many flavors that don't mix well.  This beer is one of those that are divisive, some think it's great, others hate it.