Cascade Brewing - Vlad the Imp Aler

We still have a few weeks left in it, but I think it's safe to say that this has been a pretty great year for me, beer-wise. I've been able to try some ridiculous beers this year, courtesy of traveling and being friends with awesome people. It's also been a great year for beer distribution in that I've seen a humongous improvement in the quantity and quality of beer on beer shelves in San Diego within just one year. Luckily, one of those improvements has been that beers from one of my favorite breweries, Cascade, have become a bit easier to find. The other night, I was able to try one I've been dying to try for a while now, Vlad the Imp Aler.

With Vlad the Imp Aler, Cascade gives us aspiring homebrewers yet another easily reproducible beer. All you have to do is brew a Blond Quad (yeah, I don't know what that is either, but it's been blowing my mind ever since I saw it on the label), a Spiced Tripel and a Spiced Blond, blend them and then age them in a mix of bourbon and wine barrels for two years. No biggie. Let's see how this one turned out.

Vlad the Imp Aler (fantastic name, by the way, Cascade) pours a slightly hazed amber color with a fizzing, thin off-white head. It drops off pretty quickly, leaving just the hazed liquid topped with a fine white ring. If the looks of this one underwhelmed at all, that's soon forgotten as the smell fires on all cylinders. There's a hearty mix of white wine and bourbon, all laced with with some tart and heavy fruit notes. Red cherry and white grape are dominant here, with just a hint of oak in the background.

The taste opens with a nice hit of sourness, drenched in a fruit-laden sweetness. Meaty red cherry notes mix with some Tripel spice, white grape, raisin skins and some candi sugar. The bourbon doesn't really show up until the finish, and even then it's just a trace, coupled with some red cherry skin tartness and a pleasant dryness from the alcohol. For me, the sweetness was a bit much for me to call this my favorite offering from Cascade. Still, I am very glad I finally got my hands on this. Here's hoping next year will bring a lot more Cascade down here.

Final Grade: A-

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129

Hair of the Dog Brewing Company - Fred From the Wood

It's been a while since I reviewed a Hair of the Dog beer, which is a shame because I really enjoy their beers. The problem is that only 5 of their beers make it down here on a consistent basis (Blue Dot, Adam, Fred, Ruth and Doggie Claws) so I was pretty much maxed out. However, Beverages 4 Less recently received a shipment of one of Hair of the Dog's smaller release beers, Fred From the Wood, and I was able to pick one up. I wanted to do this review as a side by side with regular Fred, but unfortunately Fred had some carbonation/oxidation issues so I won't be reviewing that one today. Luckily, Fred From the Wood greeted me with a nice fizz when I popped the cap and we were off.

Fred From the Wood pours a hazed chestnut color with a pretty beefy one-finger tan head that shows good retention. This beer is a version of regular Fred that's been aged for over half a year in new medium toast oak barrels and you really get that the second your nose gets close to the glass. I've had a good amount of beers that were aged in barrels and I've never found anything close to the intensity of the smell of oak in this beer. It smells fresh cut, spicy and toasty and I loved it. As the beer warmed a bit, the oak faded, giving way to some caramel, toffee, banana bread and toasted brown sugar.

The taste opens with a nice, spicy hit of oak that lingers over the palate for a while, letting other flavors join it without really giving up the spotlight. Cinnamon, toffee, light leather and tobacco all mingled with the oak nicely before a finish that showed a bit of cocoa. I never really considered myself to be a fan of oak aged beers that didn't involve a spirit of some sort, but this beer is phenomenal. Hats off to Hair of the Dog for this one.

Final Grade- A

Top 250 Beers Tasted:

Cascade Brewing - Sang Noir

It's been a while since I ticked another Top 100 Beer off the list, so I figured it was time to delve into the cellar and pull one out. The beer I chose is a beer that I picked up a few months ago- Sang Noir.

If you live outside of Oregon, you probably have never heard of Cascade Brewing, yet alone tried any of their beers. That said, among sour beer fans, Cascade beers are some of the most coveted in the country. I'm a huge fan of sour beers, but coming across any of Cascade's beers proved pretty difficult for me for a while. Finally, I got an email from Bottlecraft saying that they had just received a shipment of Cascade. I hurried down the next day and was lucky enough to scoop up a bottle of the highly coveted Sang Noir.

To say the brewing process of Sang Noir is extensive is a bit of an understatement. Simply throwing a beer in bourbon barrels and then bottling it isn't enough for them. Sang Noir, for example, is "a blend of red and double red beers that were aged in bourbon and Pinot Noir barrels for 12- 24 months then blended with barrel aged Bing and Sour Pie cherries." Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other brewery that throws their beer through a process like that. Let's review this puppy. At number 69 on the Top 100 List: Sang Noir.

Sang Noir pours a deep chestnut color with some ruby tinges when held to light. The head, a dense and foamy mass of khaki colored bubbles, forms quickly and takes a while to settle, leaving thick streaks of lacing down the glass. The smell was absolutely amazing. A touch of bourbon upfront quickly gave way to huge aromas of ripe red cherries, caramel and vanilla. Some pinot noir barrel was apparent in the background. I could have spent hours just smelling this beer, but it smelled way too good to not taste right away.

The taste opens with a nice lactic sourness, full of sour cherries, cherry skin and pit and vanilla. A touch of bourbon came through in the middle before a long and ever changing finish. On the finish, I picked up pinot noir barrel, red delicious apple and some nice tannins. I'm not sure what to compare this beer to, but it's awesome. The closest beer out there that I've tried might be Supplication, but this just may be better. This is a first class sour and one of the better beers I've ever tried.

Final Grade: A+

Top 100 Beers Tasted: 40