The “Commercial Description” for this beer reads…
Massively big and delicious, QUAD is an elegant and dark ale. Rich with complexity and flavor, try savoring it after a long day or during a fine dinner. You also might enjoy it as an aperitif or as an accompaniment to a dessert, but QUAD stands alone quite well. We recommend enjoying QUAD in a brandy snifter or wineglass so you can drink in the aroma of this fine elixir.
I thought that is was an excellent beer….
Poured a reddish amber in color with a medium light tan head that stuck around to produce some really nice lacing on the glass. I am glad that this beer is not too cold, as that would mask some of the more subtle dried fruit (raisins and prunes with hints of grapes or apples)aromas that this beer exudes. Malty, almost a brown sugar smell is pretty strong. Flavor is fairly sweet with the malts and brown sugar being the dominant portion. Some of the fruitiness does come through. A bit of alcohol that would probably be mostly masked by a cooler temperature. A truly powerful beer… definitely a “sipper”. I like it…
See my rating at Weyerbacher Quad…
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: RateBeer Rating, Weyerbacher
My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The HopPress… posted on Saturday, June 12th.
I recently reached one of those “important” milestones with my Ratebeer beer collection… my 1,000th beer rating. While I am sure that there are some Ratebeerians that would laugh at such a paltry number of ratings (the “top dog”, rating-wise, on Ratebeer is rapidly approaching 17,000 ratings!), for me the actual process of collecting these ratings is much more important than the number of ratings. Am I thrilled that I attained this milestone… absolutely, but the story and the experience of collecting that rating will always mean much more to me than the fact that it was my 1,000th. I have written before about how serious I am about collecting “experiences” along the way, rather than just simply beers.
Read more…
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: Event, Hop Press, HopPress, RateBeer Rating, Russian River
My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The Hop Press… posted on Saturday, March 13th.
As spring arrives, so do the beers more appropriate to the season; a return of beers more suited to the warmer weather and a transition between the heavy/alcoholic beers of winter and the much lighter beers of summer. Traditionally these spring beers have included some of the broad category German bockbiers, but also include a number of other beers (depending upon which “expert” you choose to believe); Belgian wits and other wheat beers of various types, fruit beers, Saisons and stouts seem to round out everyone’s list.
Read more…
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: Hop Press, HopPress, RateBeer Rating
One of the most interesting beers that I have ever had… the Dogfish description reads…
Similar to a beer brewed in China some 9,000 years ago, Chateau Jiahu used a recipe that included rice, honey, and grape and hawthorn fruits. The formula was obtained from archaeologists who derived it from the residues of pottery jars found in the late Stone Age village of Jiahu in northern China. The residues are the earliest direct evidence of brewed beverages in ancient China.
… and what I thought of it (not bad)…
Pours a clear orange-amber in color with a very small white head and low carbonation. Aroma is not strong, but there is some honey, grapes, green apples and other fruity esters. Flavor is fairly sweet with the grapes and honey dominating the profile. Never had hawthorn (if it has this in it), but there are some flavors that I cannot identify clearly. Some hop bitterness that offsets some of the sweetness. Finish is quite sweet and lingering. I think that it is OK, but it may be a bit too unusual for some folks…
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: Dogfish Head
I really enjoyed this beer at the Three Penny Tap Room the other night… Stoudt’s Double IPA
Poured a pretty golden amber in color with a medium off-white head that produced some very nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is strong of pine resin hopiness. Flavor is also very hoppy with pine, but well muted by a fair amount of malt understructure. Alcohol not really apparent at all. Extremely well done… one of the best DIPAs that I have had.
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: RateBeer Rating, Stoudt's Brewing
I have been drinking a few pumpkin ales lately… ’tis the season for harvest-type ales, of course. I am not usually one for pumpkin beers… typically the spices are just a bit too much for me, but below is a run down of three of my most recent samplings… all of my RateBeer ratings can be found at http://www.ratebeer.com/user/10669/ratings/
Clipper City Brewing Co. – Heavy Seas – “The Great Pumpkin” (ABV 8.0%, 3.2/5.0)
Bottle/22 – Pours a nice “pumpkin” amber in color with a very small whitish head that fades to almost nothing… low carbonation. Aroma is slightly sweet and almost all pumpkin spice (clove, nutmeg, cinnamon,etc.) and nothing else. Flavor is a bit more complex. Some pumpkin, spices (as noted) and a bit of harsh, unpleasant alcohol character. Slightly bitter and astringent at the end. Lingering bitterness with little else.
Shipyard Brewing Company – “Smashed Pumpkin” (ABV 9.0%, 3.6/5.0)
Draft at Great Lost Bear (Portland, ME) – Poured a coppery amber in color with almost no head and very little carbonation. Aroma is malty and sweet with the expected pumpkin pie spices. Flavor is interesting. I am not usually one for pumpkin beer, but this one was actually quite good. What made it for me was the reasonable amount of spices that were used… not overpowering at all. Plenty of malty sweetness with just enough hops to keep it from being too sweet. This one is actually a good pumpkin beer…
Weyerbacher Brewing Co. – “Imperial Pumpkin Ale” (ABV 8.0%, 3.3/5.0)
Bottle/12 – Pours a quite dark orange-amber in color with almost no head and very little carbonation. Aroma is sweet and heavy with “pumpkin” spices… cinnamon. clove, nutmeg, etc. Flavor is not nearly as sweet as I expected, but nearly overpowering with spice. Pumpkin flavor is actually apparent and lends some moderation, along with the hops that sneak in underneath, to the malty sweetness. Finish is slightly bitter and clean… except for the lingering pumpkin spices, which I seem destined to (burp!) relive for a while. Beer is pretty good, actually, but too many spices… a common complaint that I have about this type of beer.
All-in-all I enjoyed all of these beers (I usually do), but the Shipyard “Smashed Pumpkin” really stood out as my favorite. Seek it out… you will not be sorry!!
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: Clipper City, RateBeer Rating, Shipyard, Weyerbacher
One their new “Brewmaster & Limited Edition Series”. Like many quality craft brewers these days, Long Trail has created this growing collection of “premium beers” for those looking for stepped up quality . The series currently includes their “Coffee Stout”, “Double IPA” and this “Imperial Porter”. Now the details…
Pours a very dark black/brown in color with a small tan head that faded to a thin covering over the beer. Some minor lacing on the glass. Aroma is heavy with darkly roasted malts, coffee, toffee/caramel and chocolate. Flavor is a really nicely balanced mix of roasted grains, slightly bitter coffee, creamy caramel and chocolate. Thick and chewy texture. Finish is lingering, medium bitter with dark roasted malts. Alcohol not apparent. This is really good!!
Everything I would have expected from a truly “premium” beer from a quality Vermont brewer. The “Double IPA” was also excellent and I can hardly wait to find the “Coffee Stout”.
written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: Beer Blogs, Long Trail, RateBeer Rating
Pours a nice “pumpkin” amber in color with a very small whitish head that fades to almost nothing… low carbonation. Aroma is slightly sweet and almost all pumpkin spice (clove, nutmeg, cinnamon,etc.) and nothing else. Flavor is a bit more complex. Some pumpkin, spices ( as noted) and a bit of harsh, unpleasant alcohol character. Slightly bitter and astringent at the end. Lingering bitterness with little else.
 Heavy Seas Imperial Pumpkin Ale written by VTHopHead
\\ tags: RateBeer Rating
I just finished a bottle of Weyerbacher Thirteen… their 13th anniversary Imperial Stout. At 13.6% ABV… it’ll *rock* you!! Picked this up at Downeast Beverage during a brief foray to Portland, Maine last week. The details…
Pours a very dark black/brown in color with a medium dark tan head that stuck around to produce some nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is sweet and heavy with dark fruits, coffee and chocolate. Flavor is a bit sweet and fruity (raisins, prunes) to start, but the bitterness of the hops and the dark roasted malts quickly fills in. Lingering sweet and then bitter finish with chocolate and coffee dominating at the very end. Some alcohol, as you might expect with a beer of this strength, but is is not overpowering and fits in pretty well with the rest of the flavor profile. Very complex… Really good…
Definitely worth repeating… yummy!
written by VTHopHead
While I have not been keeping this site up to date lately, I have not stopped drinking/collecting beer. I was excited to make my 850th Ratebeer rating this afternoon… Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Hoppe Imperial Pale Ale.
This beer pours a hazy orange/amber in color with a small white head that quickly fades. Not much carbonation. Aroma is decent mix of citrus/grapefruit hops and slightly sweet maltiness. Flavor is a nicely balanced mix of grassy and citrus hops and a goodly amount of caramel malts. Slight sweet until the hop bitterness kicks in. I liked this one…
See the rest of my Ratebeer ratings at… http://www.ratebeer.com/user/10669/ratings/
written by VTHopHead
|
