Beer: Weihenstephaner Korbinian

Used with permission
Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

Brewery: Braurei Weihenstephan Freising, Germany

Overview: Weihenstephaner Korbinian is a doppelbock brewed at the oldest operating brewery in the world.  The Braurei Weihenstephan has been in operation since 1040, almost one thousand years of brewing beer.

Aroma:Roast, some alcohol, malt sweetness.  Hints of raisins mixed with caramel.  Relatively no hop aroma.

Appearance: Dark brown with small tan head that does not persist long.  Clear, but can appear opaque in the right lighting (biergarten lighting perhaps).  Some light ruby highlights can be barely perceived giving a light glow from light reflected off bottom of glass.

Flavor: Roasted grains and hop bitterness balance out this big beer.  Some flavors of coffee and toasted cocoa.  Finish shows some sweetness and occasional alcohol.  Leaves a delicious roasted aftertaste.  Medium body supports the flavor.

Overall Impression: For a big bock, weighing in at over 7% alcohol, the Korbinian is still a highly drinkable beer, aided in part by the good body and roasted grains that keep any alcohol slickness out of the flavor of the beer.  Very smooth, rich beer with loads of malty sweetness that could sneak up on you after a few.

Vitals:
Style Doppelbock
Price $3.99/1 pt. 0.9 oz bottle
Found In Regional Liquor Store
Alcohol Content 7.4% by volume
Availability Year-round
Bitterness 32 IBU

Next Week Happy Hour Review: Maredsous 10 Tripel

Beer: Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale

Brewery: Buffalo Bill's Brewery Hayward, California

Overview: Buffalo Bill's Brewery is a brewpub that has come to national distribution with its Fall seasonal Pumpkin Ale.  Buffalo Bill's has been expanding their line of fruit and herb spiced beers and recently introduced the Orange Blossom Cream Ale, a traditional American Cream Ale, but with the additions of honey, orange peel, and extract of orange blossom.

Aroma: Strong tart citrus overtones, some light malt sweetness just underneath.  Orange blossom most noticeable, but hints of berry and other fruits blend with it.  Light honey scent may be noticed after tasting and getting some fatigue from the blossom flavor.

Appearance:Clear, straw gold, with quickly dissipating head of large bubbles.  No lasting foam.

Flavor: Light, floral initial flavor, with light body and high carbonation in the mouthfeel.  Some bitter orange flavor, mild spice.  Floral notes of the orange blossom tend to overwhelm any actual fruit flavors.  Notes of leaf cuttings and other greenery.  Very fresh flavor.

Overall Impression: This is a light and easy drinking beer that is definitely best suited for spring or early summer.  However, this is most likely not going to become a staple for me.  I do find the drink refreshing, but the heavy orange blossom flavor does get to be a little overwhelming and even fatigues the palate after half a beer or so.  It does tend to mellow after the first, and perhaps it was my expectation of more citrus and less citrus blossom that needed adjustment.  Still, while this is a very interesting blend and seasonal, other than a quick lawnmower beer, I will most likely set this one aside and wait for Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ales in the fall.

Vitals:
Style Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
Price $7.99/six-pack
Found In Chain Import Store
Alcohol Content 5.2% by volume
Availability Spring/Summer Seasonal
Bitterness 13 IBU

Next Week Happy Hour Review: Weihenstephaner Korbinian

Beer: Delirium Tremens (2009)

Bruxelas - Pub Delirium Tremens by Marcelo Costa
Licensed via Creative Commons

Brewery: Huyghe Brewery Melle/Ghent, Belgium

Overview: Produced in the oldest active brewery in Ghent, Belgium, Delirium Tremens has been referred to as "the best beer in the world" (sometimes even by me).

Aroma: Some rose, orange, peach or apricot flavors, some of the candi sugar, pure sweetness.  As you get to the bottom of the bottle, may find more overwhelming orange in the citrus.

Appearance: Beautiful golden color, with hints of orange.  Effervescent white head.  Clear at first, may have some clouding with sediment as you work through the bottle.

Flavor: Effervescence carries over to mouthfeel, like a champagne. Some bitterness, but balanced.  Alcohol warmth not particularly detected, a rarity among Belgians.  Instead the hops bitterness and some sweetness masks it well.  In the flavor, I get some bitter orange, along with some of the sweetness.  Some spice from clove elements.  Finish is crisp, with strong lingering hop bitterness.  Beer does change in complexity as you work through the bottle and may have some strong malty sweetness, some burnt caramel at times.

Overall Impression: I used to claim this was my "favorite beer in the world" though I am not sure that claim still holds true, I do give it credit for pulling me into the world of the Belgian ales headlong.  I still do love this beer and its seductive ability to trick you with its citrus and slight bitter masking of the underlying alcohol, hiding the warmth that you are likely to find in many other Belgians of this strength.  As you work through a large (1 pt, 9.4 oz) bottle, you will find the beer has a tendency to change slightly, as you notice complexity and previous flavors tire.  I did bust out my own personal Delirium Tremens glass (like the one in the picture) for this tasting, though I was not able to mimic the three to four finger head displayed in the pour.  I love that the cork on the bottle displayed the bottle year (2009), which will, of course, lead me to need to review this beer again in the future.  While I can't for certain say this is still my favorite beer, it is a delight to drink, a good way to get yourself in trouble (fast) if you are not paying attention, and a beer that everyone should try (at least once, or twice if you slammed it down the first time).

Vitals:
Style Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Price $10.99/1 pt, 9.4 oz bottle
Found In Regional Liquor Store
Alcohol Content 8.5% by volume
Availability Year-round

Next Week Happy Hour Review: Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale

Beer: Sapporo Premium

Brewery: Sapporo Breweries, Ltd. Tokyo, Japan (Brewed in Ontario, Canada)

Overview: Sapporo is Japan's oldest beer, and now has a worldwide brewing and distribution network.

Aroma: Strong malty flavor, very little hop aroma.

Appearance: Crystal clear, pale gold. Has a white head and shows moderate carbonation in the rising bubbles.

Flavor: This lager is a very malty beverage.  Some hop bitterness.

Overall Impression: To be honest, Sapporo is not my favorite beer in a light style, perhaps because its full malt flavor is quite a meal in itself.  That said, though, Sapporo is an excellent sidecar to sushi and other light Japanese fare.  The malty flavor helps cut any heat from your wasabi and and is a great example of the Japanese lager interpretations.

Vitals:
Style Japanese Lager (perhaps German Pils?)
Price $7.99/six-pack
Found In Grocery Store Beer Aisle
Alcohol Content 4.9% by volume
Availability Year-round

Next Week Happy Hour Review: Delirium Tremens

Beer: Widmer Brothers Broken Halo IPA

Used with permission
Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.

Brewery: Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon

Overview: Broken Halo IPA is Widmer's standard India Pale Ale offering (as opposed to the Imperial Deadlift IPA).

Aroma: Very clean hops aroma, smells heavily of citrus hops.  Very little malt smell, though a little malty sweet smell does cut through.

Appearance: The beer is a clear, golden color.  It has a white head that quickly dissipates.

Flavor: The nice citrus hops impression from the aroma carries over to the flavor, bringing a grapefruit-like flavor to the beer which tends to hide any additional flavor profile.

Overall Impression: This beer comes across as a drinkable IPA, aimed at bringing the hoppiness to a more mass-marketable brew.  I do enjoy it as a whole, but it really lacks much towards being a standout in the IPA world.  Hopheads will try this out and think it lacks any bitterness whatsoever.  A nice attempt, but not a shining example of what I would want to drink as an IPA.  Rather, this would make a good post-lawnmowing beer, or just one for sitting around the house.  Good introductory beer, though, as an IPA to those that don't normally drink lots of craft brews.

Vitals:
Style India Pale Ale
Price $7.99/six-pack
Found In Grocery Store Beer Aisle
Alcohol Content 6.0% by volume
Availability Year-round
Bitterness 45 IBU

Next Week Happy Hour Review: Sapporo Premium

Site Updates

Just a quick site update - I've reformatted the default beer review template, and the wine review template and I've started to edit existing posts to conform.  Might take me a while to find all the information, but hopefully it will make it easy to read and a quick comparison between them.  I've also removed "ratings" because they're mostly just numbers that are made up, and the words speak to the beverage better.  Beers and wines that I particularly recommend will be listed somehow in an applet of sorts.  Finally, I will be soon trying to schedule regular content (once a week for happy hour, perhaps?) and reformat the blog into a better template.  Oh, and I'll be putting together some pages (eventually).  No promises on when any of that will happen.

Wine: 337 Cabernet

Vineyard: Clay Station Vineyard Monteca, California

Bouquet: Need re-taste to note

Appearance: Ruby coloring

Flavor: Need re-taste to note

Overall Impression: Really good - should purchase this one again. First glass had a weird sweetness on the finish, but after breathing, it got extremely good and had very full and complex flavors.


Vitals:
Vintage: 2007
Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon

Price $12.99
Found In Grocery Store Wine Aisle