Beer Review: Fort George Brewing Co. Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale

Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.5%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

I've gushed quite a bit on here about how much I like Fort George already, but yes, I still love this brewery.

Thoughts:

If I could just get a keg of this beer delivered to my house every month, that'd be just great. I'm not really sure why this has become one of my all time favorites. The general consensus on the internets is that it's good, not great. I just think it's super well-rounded and totally satisfying to all my senses as a beer. It has just the right amount of hops and bitterness for a pale ale, but then the oatmeal, honey and grapefruity sweetness kicks in and smooths it all out a little bit. Bitter, yet bright and refreshing. I have yet to try a pale ale similar to it. And at 5.5%, you can throw back a few without losing your ability to speak clearly.

Rating: 4.75

Beer Review: American Brewing Co. Baltic Porter

Style: Baltic Porter

ABV: 9%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

American Brewing Company, a relatively new brewery located up in Edmonds, WA,  is continually getting lots of rave reviews these days. The labels for all their other beers are all colorful and graphic-heavy, but they went for the "less is more" approach on this special release.

Thoughts: 

The main difference between an American porter and a Baltic porter is the higher booze content. That and Baltics tend to have more roasted brown malt to them. The story behind the style is similar to that of the IPA. In order to make the porters last for shipping across the North Sea, they'd up the alcohol content and malt to cover up any imperfections from storage. Anyways, being a fan of porters, obviously I think Baltic porters are pretty awesome. A common example of the style is Black Boss Porter from Poland, which is widely available, is very cheap and will knock you on your ass. This Baltic Porter from American is much more refined and even has some hints of raisin and vanilla in the aftertaste. Very strong, yet very smooth and drinkable because that's how porters roll. I bought this a few months ago, so I'm not sure how available it is anymore, but I'd definitely buy it again if I saw it.

Rating: 4/5

Beer Review: Stone Brewing Co. Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Bean

Style: American Porter

ABV: 5.9%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

Wow, this is the first Stone Brewing release I've reviewed here? Well, shoot, here we go. Stone was founded in 1996 in San Marcos, CA, and later moved to its current headquarters in Escondido. Stone, volume-wise, has become one of the biggest and most wildly successful craft breweries in North America and is even trying to expand into Europe. They have a (mostly earned) very high opinion of themselves, hence names likes Arrogant Bastard Ale, etc. Beer Advocate worships at their feet pretty much. Because of all this hype, I really find some of their standard releases to be pretty mediocre, especially the Stone IPA, but almost all of their special or seasonal releases deliver on the hype x 10, which brings me to...

Thoughts: 

It had been a little while since the first sip of a beer I'd never tried before made me say, "Holy shit" out loud. I mean, you know I love me some porters and just the words "porter" and "vanilla" in the same sentence practically give me a half-chub (too much? sorry!). But man, this beer is just exquisite. Porters are inherently smooth, but when you add a smokey vanilla flavor to it, you're just the smoothest smooth in smoothtown. The light smokiness keeps it from being too overtly sweet, so it's not just a full-on desert beer, although I would probably take it over just about any chocolate stout I can think of. And finally, the low ABV makes it all the more drinkable. If six-packs of this were available year-round (they're not, sadly), I would not buy many other beers on the regular.

Rating: 4.75/5

Beer Review: Trappistes Rochefort 8

Style: Dubbel

ABV: 9.2%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

Brasserie de Rochefort started brewing way the hell back in 1595 in the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Réme. They pretty much only make 3 beers and this is one of them. Quality over quantity, you guys.

Thoughts: 

So they make the 6, 8 and 10, with the 6 being the lightest and the 10 being the strongest. The 8 seems like a happy medium. Like all Dubbels, this one is nicely carbonated with tons of delicious malt with dark fruit flavors, namely figs. Goes down very smooth and the high ABV is actually pretty well hidden. Rochefort probably wouldn't still be making beer for four centuries if it wasn't some world class shit, so yeah, it's delicious. I hear the 10 is even better, so I'll try that next.

Rating: 4.25/5

Beer Review: Snipes Mountain Brewery Roza Barleywine 2010 Reserve

Style: American Barleywine

ABV: 13%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

Yakima is a real bummer of a place, but at least they've got Snipes Mountain Brewery going for it. Named after prolific cattle herder and pioneer Ben Snipes, Snipes Mountain has quietly established itself as one of Eastern Washington's best breweries with solid standard offerings and recently started branching out with more unique ales and sours.

Thoughts: 

I had this at a Snipes Mountain featured brewery night at the Pine Box. A 2010 vintage barleywine? Uh, yes please. Couldn't say no to that. At 13%, yeah the booze is pretty in your face. The hoppiness had mellowed a bit the aging as you would expect, but it was still present. Very malty with a sweet, fruity aftertaste. Overall, a damn good barleywine and I look forward to trying more brews from Snipes Mountain.

Rating: 4/5

Beer Review: Fremont Brewing Company Summer Ale

The cat hair did not enhance the flavor like I'd hoped

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.2%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

I've already gushed a bunch on here about Fremont Brewing, but seriously I think it might be the best all around brewery in Seattle right now.

Thoughts: 

If you've been reading this blog regularly (hi Cassie!), then you've noticed how many summer ales I've been reviewing. Well, now summer is nearly over and breweries are releasing harvest ales and pumpkin brews already. I mean, I love fall, but oh god it's going dark soon and it's going to last forever. So, I'll end my summer seasonal reviews on a high note here. Fremont's Summer Ale is just fantastic this year. It was good last year, too, but this year's is better somehow. It's light and crisp, but still a bit hoppy and earthy tasting. There's a hint of orange or lemon zest in the aroma, but just barely. It's the kind of beer that makes you want to just float on an innertube in a lake all day and just throw a few back. You can get it on draft for a bit longer, in 22 oz bombers and now in cans.

Rating: 4.75/5 - It's a toss up for me between this one and Victory Summer Love for my favorite summer beer this year

Beer Review: Bison Brewing Company Organic Honey Basil

Style: Herbed ale

ABV: 6%

Fun Fact About the Brewery:

A fully organic brewery from Berkeley, California? Get out of town, right? Founded in 1989 by a bunch of filthy hippies, Bison is one of the few widely distributed organic breweries out there. They seem to specialize in offbeat kinds of brews, like the one I'm reviewing here.

Thoughts: 

I saw this on the shelf and was totally intrigued so I had to snag one in a mixed six pack. It pours a much darker copper hue than I was expecting. The basil aroma is very strong. I mean, basil is one of those herbs where a little bit goes a long way, and I think they may have gone overboard with it here. The honey is present, too, but not quite enough to take the overwhelming bite of the basil out. Also, the ABV seems a bit high to me for a spring/summer kind of ale like this. It just made it feel too heavy overall and not nearly refreshing enough. Not something I'd seek out again, but it's worth trying. I also have a bomber of Bison's Chocolate Stout that's been in my fridge for over a month that I need to bust out. I hear it's one of their best.

Rating: 2.75/5