Ballast Point Brewing Company is the latest West Coast brewery to be available here in central NC. So far, I've only seen two of their beers on-tap in the area, but both of them have been oak-aged, so that's certainly a good thing! Their Brandy-barrel aged Navigator Dopplebock was the best Dopplebock I have ever had. I also got to try their Bourbon-barrel aged Black Marlin porter, however, as it was the day of the World Beer Festival, Woody's City Market was serving all of their beers in plastic cups. Needless to say, even in a plastic cup, this one was very enjoyable. I hope to make it back there to try it from a glass. This review, however, is of their Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter. I have to say, Porters have always been some of my favorite beer. When I ordered my first homebrew kit in 2006 and got to pick the style of my first batch to be included in the cost, I chose Robust Porter with no hesitation. I even added some iced coffee to the batch and had it turn out great! This was in early April, however, and I quickly learned that my taste for dark beers, along with the taste of most other craft beer drinkers, tends to diminish as Summer takes hold and the temperatures rise. It's now more than a week into May of 2009 and here in NC, we didn't even get a Spring this year, it skipped straight into summer about a month ago. Surprisingly to me, my taste for dark beer has yet to be affected. The beer was poured from a 22oz bomber into a Duvel snifter a nearly opaque black with a nice lasting frothy light tan head that leaves great lacing on the glass. Aroma is fresh ground coffee up-front with plenty of brown malts, cocoa and a hint of vanilla. The taste is a nice blend of fresh coffee and brown malts and chocolate, quite intriguing as many coffee porter's don't tend to pull the balance off like most coffee stouts, this one is certainly an exception! The beer is medium bodied with the 10% ABV very well hidden. I have to say, Ballast Point makes some very unique and enjoyable beers! I'm glad that they're available in this area and look forward to trying more of their great brews!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Beer Review: Ballast Point Victory At Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter
Ballast Point Brewing Company is the latest West Coast brewery to be available here in central NC. So far, I've only seen two of their beers on-tap in the area, but both of them have been oak-aged, so that's certainly a good thing! Their Brandy-barrel aged Navigator Dopplebock was the best Dopplebock I have ever had. I also got to try their Bourbon-barrel aged Black Marlin porter, however, as it was the day of the World Beer Festival, Woody's City Market was serving all of their beers in plastic cups. Needless to say, even in a plastic cup, this one was very enjoyable. I hope to make it back there to try it from a glass. This review, however, is of their Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter. I have to say, Porters have always been some of my favorite beer. When I ordered my first homebrew kit in 2006 and got to pick the style of my first batch to be included in the cost, I chose Robust Porter with no hesitation. I even added some iced coffee to the batch and had it turn out great! This was in early April, however, and I quickly learned that my taste for dark beers, along with the taste of most other craft beer drinkers, tends to diminish as Summer takes hold and the temperatures rise. It's now more than a week into May of 2009 and here in NC, we didn't even get a Spring this year, it skipped straight into summer about a month ago. Surprisingly to me, my taste for dark beer has yet to be affected. The beer was poured from a 22oz bomber into a Duvel snifter a nearly opaque black with a nice lasting frothy light tan head that leaves great lacing on the glass. Aroma is fresh ground coffee up-front with plenty of brown malts, cocoa and a hint of vanilla. The taste is a nice blend of fresh coffee and brown malts and chocolate, quite intriguing as many coffee porter's don't tend to pull the balance off like most coffee stouts, this one is certainly an exception! The beer is medium bodied with the 10% ABV very well hidden. I have to say, Ballast Point makes some very unique and enjoyable beers! I'm glad that they're available in this area and look forward to trying more of their great brews!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Beer Review: Wedge Belgian Abbey
Asheville had emerged over the past several years as one of the top Craft Beer towns of the South East. Last Autumn Wedge brewing opened becoming the sixth brewery in Buncombe county. So far, three of their beers have been released in 1 Liter swing-top bottles; Golem, a Belgian style Strong Pale Ale, Super Saison, and today's subject, Belgian Abbey Ale, a Dubel. I poured this one into a Duvel snifter a crisp dark copper with a nice lasting khaki head that leaves great lacing on the glass. Aroma is a nice amount of dried fruits, caramel and a touch of molasses. The taste is a nice complex blend of dried fruits and caramel malts with a nice lingering touch of Belgian spice. The beer is medium bodied with light carbonation and it's 7.6% alcohol content very well hidden, this one is quite refreshing. So far I have been fairly impressed with the beers I've had from Wedge. The first beer I had from them was a truly wonderful Raspberry Imperial Stout that successfully treaded the fine line of raspberry and traditional Stout flavors that many brewers cross too far one way or another in flavored beers. They also make a very tasty IPA as well as a smooth refreshing Pale Ale. While I was personally a little disapointed by Golem, I did still find it enjoyable, and many others who have had it seem to love it. I must say, I was truly impressed with this Abbey Ale. Dubels are not one of my favorite Belgian styles, but I do enjoy properly brewed ones when the mood hits, and not many American Breweres get the style right. I'm very pleased to say that Wedge did, and I look forward to drinking this one again!
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