Beer Name: Super Conductor
Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Beer Style: DIPA
ABV: 8.8%
Size: 16.9 oz. bottle
Beer Advocate: 90
RateBeer: 98
More fruits of a recent trip Bub and I took to Kentucky. This hoppy DIPA comes all the way to our tasting table from New Zealand. An interesting foray into the world of NZ beers and hops. Watch it and you will see how my dog has great comedic timing. In the words of Maxwell Smart “Missed it by that much.”
Beer Name: Sour Cherry Porter
Brewery: Rivertown Brewing Co.
Beer Style: The name says it all.
ABV: 9%
Size: 22 oz. bottle
Beer Advocate: 86
RateBeer: 87
Drinking gets you drunk… and we film ourselves drinking… it was only a matter of time until we did one of these reviews where we were a little drunk. Enjoy our review of a sour made right here in the heart of it all, Rivertown’s Old Sour Cherry Porter.
Beer Name: Total Domination
Brewery: Ninkasi Brewing
Beer Style: Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout
ABV: 6.7%
Size: 22 oz. bottle (available in 12oz too)
Beer Advocate: 84
RateBeer: 95
We at Ohio Beer like to spread our wings and fly sometimes, these flights – whether they are ours or FedEx’s – sometimes bring with them beers from distant realms like this guy from Oregon. Watch it. Also for those checking it is 65 IBU. 
Beer Name: Saison du BUFF
Brewery: Dogfish Head / Stone / Victory
Beer Style: Saison
ABV: 6.8% / 7.7% / 6.8%
Size: 12 oz. bottle
Beer Advocate: 87 / 87 / 86
RateBeer: 95 / 97 / 93
The dedicated, loyal reader of the works of this beer blogger surely has noted my affection for the collaborative experiments of many craft brewers. If you are one of these intelligent folk, it must come as little shock that when three of the bigger boys in Craft came together and agreed on an idea for a beer that they would then take back to their respective kettles to brew independently, that it might peak my curiosity; well if you thought that, then bully for you. The first time they released these beers I was never able to snag all three at the same time (one would always come up missing before the third one made it home), so when I saw them all in one place, at one time, I snatched them up so I could sit and compare. The following is my thoughts, enjoy:
If you look at the picture to the left, you might be able to tell that all three of these beers look nearly identical. The Dogfish Head is a bit more cloudy, but since it is bottle conditioned that might just be a little sediment that sneaked its way into the glass. Stone’s might be the lightest in color, but it would take a very detailed and thorough packet of color swatches to be sure. All of the glasses are full of an ale that is golden in color and topped with a half-finger of head after pouring. From the looks of them, they seem to remain nicely carbonated after they settle.
On smelling, Victory’s contained sweet with notes of fresh herbs, mostly sage, and maybe some some fresh-cut grass. While the Dogfish was a little less sweet and there was a barely noticeable increased sage presence on the nose. Also, as might be expected, the Stone offering had the most hop-forward smell – more cut grass and less sweetness, but there was still a lot of sage smell fighting its way through as well. If the nose does in-fact “know,” then my initial reaction would be that I think I would like the Stone the most, as a noted hop addict.
And now for the best part … the drinking. The Victory beer starts off sweet, but the sage still there; it has that dry barnyard finish that you get in so many saisons. The Victory is also the most smooth making it what I would consider the most easily drinkable of the three. Dogfish’s is much more heavy on the herbs, especially the sage (tons of sage, but not too much); there may be a touch more of an alcohol taste and less of the sweet. Unfortunately, the increased sage masks the barnyard flavor I got off the Victory, which would be great here. Finally on to the Stone. As the nose alluded to, there is much more of a grassy/citrus hop flavor on this one. The hops add a nice complexity to the finish of this beer; it finishes more like a low-hopped APA than what I usually expect from a traditional saison. The stone doesn’t have as much sage or earthy flavor as the other two do – this may be due to the increased hop flavors – but you still know it is a saison. All three are nearly identical on mouth feel having nice carbonation level light on the surfaces of the mouth.
Final notes: I loved doing this tasting, and I would do it again no question. What made it so great was that while each beer was very similar, they all were complex enough to be very different at the same time. It also was cool to me that they all remained true to what you would expect from each brewer. The Stone was the most hop forward, the Dogfish Head was the weirdest and most non-normal-beer-ingredient forward, and the Victory was the most accessible, drinkable of the group. Really a great concept that was executed wonderfully.
Ratings:
Sessionability: 3-pack / 4-pack / 5-pack. (Dogfish/Stone/Victory) The large amount of sage in the Dogfish prevents this from being more drinkable, but both the Stone and the Victory are very drinkable. The Victory is the smoothest so I rated it a bit higher than the Stone.
Overall: 4 pack / 5-pack /4 pack (Dogfish/Stone/Victory). The more pronounced hops flavor and aroma made the Stone my favorite (the nose does know after all), but they all were very good in different ways.
Would Best Be Consumed: If you are lucky like me and can drink all three at the same time do it; it was fun. But if you can’t, try it with some soft cheese; I think you’ll like it.
Beer Name: Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout ’12
Brewery: Widmer Brothers
Beer Style: Title says it all
ABV: 9.3%
IBU: 70
Size: 22 oz. bottle (It cost me $12.99)
Beer Advocate: 79
RateBeer: 92
One of my favorite things about craft beers, is that it is sometimes you get your hands on a beer that has never been made before and one that might not be made again. Drinking it becomes an experience simply about having a new experience. Like skydiving, bungee jumping, or college experimentation (fill in your own blank), you may or may not love the experience, but you at least get the good feeling that comes with expanding your horizons. I picked up one of these first-time beers, Widmer Brothers’ Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout ’12, and even though I was a bit hesitant, I pushed myself out the open door and plummeted into a new experience.
This beer is a Russian imperial stout that is “fruited” during fermentation with raspberries. The beer poured very dark, almost black with a half a finger of milk chocolate colored head and small bubbles that left thin lacing on the glass. It smelled like a Russian imperial – the roasty chocolate and coffee take the lead, but there might be a hint of the raspberry floating around. If you did not tell me there were raspberries in the beer, I don’t think I would have had any idea going off of the aroma alone. The raspberry tastes come though a bit more than the smell, but the dark chocolate flavor is the power player here. Notes of coffee and some caramel sweetness can also be found. It finishes dry with a lingering raspberry flavor.
Overall, this was an interesting one, not quite everything I had hoped for but better than I initially expected. All-in-all it was worth a try, but I don’t think, if given other unknown options, I would buy it again. Full disclosure: My wife enjoyed this much more than I did, but she is a huge fan of dark chocolate and raspberry together.
Ratings:
Sessionability: 1-pack. Interesting, but after I split the bottle with my wife I had had enough.
Overall: 4-pack. There is nothing wrong with this beer; it is interesting and complex, but when matched up with other imperial stouts it is not the cream of the crop.
Would Best Be Consumed: We enjoyed this with some sweet Belgian waffles with warm Nutella, and I would recommend it.
Beer Name: Helles
Brewery: Moerlein Lager House
Beer Style: Helles
ABV: 5.2%
Size: 12 oz. bottle
Beer Advocate: 78
RateBeer: 32
I have a bunch of vacation days remaining this year, so I took a couple to celebrate my mom’s birthday this past weekend. Unfortunately my dad wasn’t feeling well, so they had to leave earlier than expected, which left me with an entire day at home with nothing do to…the perfect opportunity to drink some beers.
I found this beer in the back of my fridge…and sadly I cannot even remember when I purchased it. I’m sure it was sometime over the summer, but I’m not entirely sure when…so I wanted to be sure and drink it before it wasn’t good anymore.
Moerlein states lists their Helles as “Brewed to the same standards that made Moerlein the first American beer to certifiably pass the Reinheitsgebot Purity Law, this Münchner-styled Helles is a remarkably balanced lager featuring a lightly toasted, yet defined malt character, and a touch of hops for a clean finish.” While I didn’t get much of the “lightly toasted” taste, I really don’t think any of this is an exaggeration at all.
The Helles poured very smooth and left little head behind. It smelled exactly as I would expect a true Helles to smell – very light and sweet. Helles is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite style of beer, because I tend to like lighter beers that have a clean/crisp/refreshing flavor with little aftertaste or bitterness on the back-end. This Helles delivered exactly that…though there was a little more bitter taste on the back-end than I expected, it was still very pleasant.
Without a doubt this would make a good cookout/tailgating beer. It is something you can drink all day and it will easily quench your thirst. If you like Helles style beers, give this one a go. I’m sure I’ll pick it up again in the future.
Ratings:
Sessionability: 6-pack. You could easily drink these all day in the summer.
Overall: 4-pack. Good, not great. While I enjoyed it, and will likely pick it up again in the future when I’m craving a Helles style beer, I wasn’t “blown away” by it.
Would Best Be Consumed: Anytime.
Beer Name: War
Brewery: Rivertown Brewing Co. (Cincy)
Beer style: Smoked Red Ale
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: N/A
Size: 12 oz ($2.99)
Beer Advocate Score: N/A
Ratebeer: N/A
I am starting to embrace this whole “end of days” thing. Seriously, I am a ginger who has no soul. With no soul, I don’t have to worry about being saved because you cannot save what never existed. I am just going to kick back, drink beers, and count down until the rapture. Unlike most, I think the rapture is pretty rad. See, basically the rapture will be all the non-believers left back here on Earth while all the goody-goodies go to heaven. All the soulless gingers, beer-drinking buddies, and loose women will be left behind to rage without getting dirty looks for a Tuesday hangover. YES!
All this talk of the apocalypse has me craving a beer. Good thing Rivertown has decided to do an apocalypse series of ales. For further details, go check out my review of the first release, Pestilence. The second beer in the apocalypse series represents the rider “War,” and is a smoked (Get it? Smoking war embers!) Irish red ale.
I will first say that two of my least favorite beer styles are smoked and red ales, but for the sake of research I sucked it up. The beer pours easily and forms a small white head. It smells nice with lots of smoke, oak, and cherry notes. At first taste, I got serious smoke notes and thought, “Here we go again with the campfire in my mouth.” But this beer doesn’t taste like a campfire. The smoke gives way to a nice barley backbone while the smoke lingers in the background. Extremely light carbonation helps to deliver a faint cherry sour that balances well with the smoke. The beer has a medium mouthfeel and very light lacing.
Ratings
Sessionability: 1-pack. Lots a flavor; you will need a change-up.
Overall: 4-pack. I am not a fan of smoked or red ales, but I enjoyed this.
Would Best Be Consumed: With some KC Gold BBQ; the sweet would do wonders with the smoke.
Beer Name: George Killian’s Irish Red
Brewery: Unibev Ltd. (Coors)
Beer style: Red Lager
ABV:4.9%
IBU: N/A
Size: 12 oz. Bottle
Beer Advocate Score: 71
In this weeks “Beer on a Budget” video, I review Killian’s
Ratings:
Sessionability: 4-pack.
Overall: 4-pack
Would Best Be Consumed: Out by the bonfire on a chilly fall night, with some s’mores