Deschutes Brewery - Green Monster

As anyone who has ever brewed, cooked or pretty much done anything else in life knows, things don't always go the way you planned. In brewing especially, there are so many factors that can screw the final product up that it's surprising that more sub-par batches don't make their way into society. But here's the weird thing with beer: Sometimes when beer goes "bad," it turns into something good. Case in point- Deschutes' new beer- Green Monster.

Green Monster was originally brewed for some other purpose in the Deschutes brewery over three years ago. But at some point in the process, the brewers realized it had turned. Rather than spoiling the batch, they decided to see what would happen if they threw it into Pinot Noir barrels with some Brettanomyces for a while. Three years later, they decided it was time to release the monster to the public.

Green Monster pours a deep and muddy brown color with a half-finger sandy colored head. Each sip left some prolonged tracks of lace down the glass. The smell is reminiscent of an Oud Bruin (think New Belgium's La Folie) with a rich sour cherry aroma leading off. Beneath it are layers of raisin, pinot noir, leather and some light oak.

The taste is very wine-like with a great lingering sourness. Pinot noir, sour black cherry, underripe red apple all show up in the middle with some leather and creamy vanilla flavors showing on the finish. This beer delivers tons of ripe fruit flavor while also giving a nice punch of sourness. This was my first sour from Deschutes and you can definitely consider me impressed. Deschutes should screw up more often if beers like this are the result.

Final Grade: A

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129

Stone Brewing Company - Suede Imperial Porter

Stone got off to kind of a slow start with their collaborations this year, only releasing one between January and mid-year (though their Dayman Coffee IPA was a very good "one"). Then the mid-year point hit and Stone dropped not one, not two, but THREE collaboration beers within a pretty short period of time. I've been a pretty big fan of Stone's past collaborations, so I was relieved to see that they were still happening. But I suppose the bigger question was: Are they any good? To me, both the Woot Stout and the R&R IPA were misses (not horrible beers, but not as good as they could have been). Let's check out the newest one, Suede, and see if it can get things back on track.

Suede is a collaboration with Washington D.C.'s soon-to-be-open Bluejacket Brewing and Bend, Oregon's 10 Barrel Brewing (both of which have female head brewers, which is cool to see). For Suede, the brewers decided to make an imperial porter brewed with local avocado honey, jasmine and calendula flowers (AKA Marigolds). Sounds promising. On to the beer!

Suede Imperial Porter pours a thinnish-looking medium brown color that turns nearly black once it settles in the glass. A one finger light brown head forms immediately, but fades pretty fast. I was looking forward to getting a lot of floral aromas out of this one, but I let this beer sit for nearly an hour and could still barely coax any kind of smell out of it. Strange... What I could pick out was a lightly sweet aroma reminiscent of honey alongside some lightly toasted wheat bread, toasted malt and a distant floral note. Definitely a bit underwhelming.

The flavor opens with some lightly roasted malt alongside some honey-soaked rye bread. It stays like that for a while, never really veering into other flavors, until a finish that gets...weird. All of a sudden, the flavor tails off into a creamy, lingering bitter flavor that I can only describe as "straight flower petal." If you've ever eaten a rose petal, the sensation is really similar to what I was getting from this beer. It's velvety and sticky at the same time, and there's a slightly oily bitterness that clings to your tongue like crazy. It's definitely different and kind of a cool sensation, but the flavor never really gets better, which is a shame. On the positive side, the mouthfeel is spot on. You would never suspect this beer of being close to 10%. But making it through the entire bottle may be difficult for other reasons. I just couldn't do it. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say that this is my least favorite of this year's collaborations. It's in no way a "bad" beer, but it left a lot to be desired. Let's hope the next collaboration is a little better.


Final Grade:C+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129

Mikkeller ApS - Beer Geek Brunch Weasel

By now, I think most people have heard of Kopi Luwak coffee. In case you haven't, here's the scoop: It's coffee made from weasel poo. More specifically, it's coffee that is made from beans harvested from the droppings of the Asian Palm Civet. The idea behind it (theoretically) is that the civets instinctively choose the choicest coffee beans to eat and the digestive tracts of the animals imparts a unique flavor on the beans and removes unwelcome impurities. Because of the obviously difficult (and I'm sure unpleasant) extraction, scarcity of Asian Palm Civets, rarity of the product (sound familiar, beer fans?), and flat out weirdness of it all, Kopi Luwak coffee can fetch up to $30 for a single cup.


While I'd love to try an actual cup of Kopi Luwak (or it's Vietnamese counterpart, ca phe chon, which I actually prefer because the name literally translates to "Civet Feces Coffee"), I'm not sure that I've reached the point where spending $30 for a cup of coffee is really feasible. However, there's another way to try the coffee and it might just be more enjoyable than the real thing: beer. A number of breweries have experimented with Kopi Luwak coffee in beer. One of the first was the Danish gypsy brewery, Mikkeller. Their Beer Geek Brunch Weasel beer is currently sitting at #141 on the Top 250 List, so let's see what all the fuss is about.

Beer Geek Brunch Weasel pours a viscous black color with an intensely thick chestnut colored head. The retention was solid and each sip left some nice tracks of lace down my glass. I was expecting loads of tasty coffee in this beer and the smell was just that. Right away, I was met with loads of rich espresso and dark roasted coffee notes. Dark chocolate, fudge and some leafy hops lingered in the background.

The coffee hit with full force again in the flavor, with a rich and creamy hit of espresso leading the charge. The coffee really overpowers everything else in this beer. And normally that would be a problem, but when the coffee flavor is this good, it's a very, very good thing. This coffee is far from one dimensional, with mingling notes of dark chocolate, blackberry and a touch of char. I couldn't get enough of it. The finish mixed things up a bit, with some burnt coffee grounds and a touch of earthy hops. Overall, this was a fantastic beer. Maybe someday I'll get to try actual Kopi Luwak, but for now, I'm completely content with drinking this. Keep doing your thing, civets. You make some damn tasty beer.

Final Grade: A

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129

DC Brau Brewing Company - On the Wings of Armageddon

There's been a lot of bad news coming out of the nation's capital over the last few days: The government can't get the whole "running the country" thing together, thousands of workers are wondering when they're going to get their next paycheck AND the freaking panda cam at the National Zoo has been shut down. Things are obviously far worse than any of us could have imagined. DC has gotten a lot wrong lately and has taken a beating (and rightly so). But maybe it's time to mention one of the bright spots of DC- beer.


When I went to DC a few months ago, there was one beer I had to try there- DC Brau's On the Wings of Armageddon. Since its inception, it's been constantly thrown into the "Best IPA in Existence" conversation on beeradvocate. If something starts getting labeled "Pliny Killer," I have to see what it's about. Unfortunately, DC Brau was between batches of OTWOA when we were in the city, so there was none to be found. Luckily, my friend Brian does a good amount of business in DC and was able to get some from a coworker out there. Good guy that he is, he shared some with me this past weekend. At #136, On the Wings of Armageddon.

On the Wings of Armageddon pours a hazed golden color with a one finger cream colored head. The smell was right up my alley, with tons of mango, pine and grapefruit. A slightly bready backbone was evident behind the hops, but didn't detract from the amazing smell at all. On the Wings of Armageddon uses one hop variety- Falconer's Flight. I'm not sure I've ever had this varietal before, but if it tends to smell like this, I'm gonna have to get to know it a lot better.

The taste opens big, with a huge pine resin jolt right away. But it never becomes too bitter as some leafy hops, mint, grapefruit pith and mango soon join the party and level out all the pine. The finish is drawn out, resiny and pretty much the stuff of any hop head's dreams. It's a big beer at just over 9%, but it never starts to feel heavy. I really enjoyed every sip of it. A huge thanks to Brian for snagging this beer and a big high five to DC Brau for this one. You guys definitely have your act together over there, even if the government doesn't.

Final Grade: A

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 128

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:

The Bruery - Melange No.3

In case you didn't know this already, I'm a pretty big fan of The Bruery. This year has been my first year as a Reserve Society member (which gives you access to awesome limited beers and events) and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to stay one for as long as the Reserve Society exists. Every beer they release sounds better than the last, and the beers they've hinted at being in the lineup next year sound amazeballs (rum barrel-aged Black Tuesday, anyone?). Anyways, while savoring yet another fantastic new beer in The Bruery's lineup a few weeks ago, it dawned on me that I hadn't reviewed some of The Bruery's classics. Melange No. 3 would be one of the first to fall into that category.

Melange No. 3 has been part of The Bruery's lineup for a few years now and is undoubtedly (to me, at least) one of the better beers they make. It's also unique in that it's a blend of three of The Bruery's other beers (White Oak Sap, their Anniversary beer (this year, it was Bois), and the infamous Black Tuesday). Because of the beastly ABVs of its three components (led by Black Tuesday's 18% ABV), it should come as no surprise that this is a big boy. A 15.5% big boy. So let's put on our big boy pants and check this one out. At #66- Melange No. 3.

Melange No. 3 pours a deep cola color, similar to The Bruery's anniversary beers. Because of the high ABV, I was pleasantly surprised to see a fairly large tan head form off the pour. It didn't last long, however, as after a minute, nearly all of it had been sucked back into the viscous liquid. The aroma is deep and sweet, with toffee, vanilla, bourbon, caramel, a hint of coconut and some toasted brown sugar.

The taste opens sweet, similar to the smell, with a big dollop of molasses, burnt caramel and milk chocolate covered raisin. There's some dark fruit in there as well, with black cherries being the first thing that came to mind. The middle shows some chocolate and sweet bourbon before diving into a finish of toasted oak and brown sugar. There's a hint of warmness on the swallow and the mouthfeel is a touch thick, but other than that, the massive amount of alcohol in here is very well concealed. I'm going to have to get a lot more of this. Melange No. 3 is an absolute keeper.

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 126

Smuttynose Brewing Company - Smuttynose Rhye IPA

I was trying to choose which beer in my fridge to drink last night when something hit me. And no, it wasn't an apple to the head which would make me choose a Redd's Apple Ale. It was the realization that as little as a year ago, most of the bottles in my fridge wouldn't have been there because they weren't being sold in San Diego yet. From Portland's Gigantic to Denver's Crooked Stave to Oklahom's Prairie, we've gotten a lot fantastic new breweries on the shelves in San Diego in a very short period of time. I ended up choosing a beer from yet another new brewery new to the shelves out here (and one I've been wanting here for a long time)- Smuttynose.

Smuttynose Rhye IPA is described by the brewery as being a variation of their Finestkind IPA that uses a healthy dose of rye malt and a bigger dose of dry hopping. Off the pour, the beer shows a beautiful clear amber color with brilliant gold highlights. A one finger cream colored head leaves a curtain of lace against the glass after each sip. I wasn't blown away by the smell, but it held intriguing notes of tropical and citrusy hops along with a nice and spicy rye note. I also picked up some mango, grapefruit and caramel.

The taste opens with a hint of pine, but it's held down by a thick blanket of caramel and toffee malt flavors. The rye shows up near the middle along with some malt breadiness before a finish of peppery cracked rye and light pine resin. This beer didn't knock my socks off, but it's a really tasty rye IPA. It's awesome to see Smuttynose on the shelves here and I can only hope that we'll see a lot more of their beer very soon.

Final Grade: A-

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 127