CulturAle Press

Travel Book for Beer Lovers

Beer Reviews

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Aging Beers: Clown Shoes @ Mercury Rexx Imperial Red Ale    At Three Years From our “Vault” (Mercury Brewing, Ipswich, Mass.)

Date:  February 13, 2018

The Story—  Mercury Brewing in Ipswich, Mass., has brewed a number of beers for a number of contract brewers since it replaced the Ipswich Brewing Company in 1999. The road has not always been a smooth one and sometimes it’s been hard to tell if a misstep is the result planning or brewing.   They’ve brewed with enough success to continue to attract hopeful entrepreneurs, however.

Happily, we’ve found than many of their strong beers cellar very well.   Harpoon acquired Clown Shoes a year and a half ago and we’re guessing they’ll be good for the brand.   But this is an old regime Clown Shoes that has held up surprisingly well.   We thought it was one of Mercury’s best at the time– A huge rich intensely chocolate malt with the bourbon vanilla pounding on the door until it breaks in with a rush of boozy heat.

The Beer—  The diminished head is not unusual even at three years.  It’s big, rich, boozy and woody.  It’s very slightly oxidized, but it isn’t unpleasant and some of that may be just oldish barrel flavors.    Chewy rich and boozy,  the Bourbon Barrels still hold their own.  Some chocolate and toast emerges into the finish.   It really hasn’t changed all that much — maybe a bit more paint thinner to the alcohol.  Boozy then, boozy now.  Ellie’s notes: big bourbon, some chocolate, really hot; so much bourbon so little beer.  a sipper if you frame your brain to bourbon rather than beer.

Value —  Fair.  We paid $17.99 for this three years ago.   It was a nice sipper this month, but for the money, we could have had two other nice sippers.   The Clown Shoes prices varied widely.  Choose carefully and there are bargains to be had.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

Clown Shoes,Mercury,Ipswich,Imperial Red Ale, Rexx,Cellaring beer,aging beer,strong red ale

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Aging Beers #12: Stone Stochasticity Project Master of Disguise Imperial Golden Stout  At Three Years From our “Vault”

Date:  February 12, 2018

The Story—  Almost all breweries strike out at one time or another — especially if they’re inclined to take some risks.   The big regional crafts must hold their collective breaths when they brew a good sized batch of a new style.

Stone doesn’t strike out often, but we called them out for their Master of Disguise when we tried it fresh three years ago.  Besides, what the heck is a “Golden Stout?”   Like a phoenix, however, it’s risen from the ashes of mediocrity after three years to become a fine sipping beer.   When fresh it showed massive pale malts with the coffee and chocolate only playing roles of modest condiments.   At three years they’ve moved up to a center stage role and made the beer far more complex and interesting.

The lesson for aging here is– if you don’t like an unusual style from a brewery you know brews well and consistently, try setting it down for a few years and see what happens.   We put this aside because we didn’t want another bottle of it at the time and were richly rewarded.

The Beer—  It shows its age with a minimal head, A big aroma sports lots of cocoa and some booze.   Malt plays a subordinate role now, but that’s OK — conflicting flavors have agreed to share a bench nicely.   It’s even more boozy though, and somewhat edgy, with a sharp alcohol-influenced metal.  Grass and something close to sugar detract from the smoothness.  Coffee, much of it sweet, is an odd dance partner, but enhances what’s left of the malt.    E was swamped by the coffee, and booze, but the cocoa and the coffee continuing on roasted malt finally end in coffee grounds and the range of flavors cuts some of the alcoholic heat.

Value —  Good.  Especially now.   If you have a store that offers a good range of the Stone beers, you’ll find several that are very fairly priced.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

 

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Aging Beers #11:  Boulder 35th Anniversary Ale Imperial IPA.  At  Four Years From our “Vault”

Date:  February 11, 2018

The Story—  The first thing you learn about cellaring beers is to drink the hoppy ones quick.   Later you learn that like most maxims about beer and brewing, that’s sometimes good advice and sometimes terrible advice.   We’ve mentioned here that we knew people who would snap up a recent release of our Hop Pocket Ale…and then stick the case in the basement for several months to let the hops recede.  We preferred it fresh, but well understood the appeal of the slightly more subdued version.

 

One of the best beers we ever had from Boulder was its 35th Anniversary Imperial IPA.  When we tasted it in 2014, it blew us away, and if I had known we had another bottle of it, it wouldn’t have been in a box of discovery we found in January of this year.  It always had a serious component of cocoa, but fresh it also showed some herbal hops.  The balance was superb.

The Beer—   Who knew you could subtract those evident hops and have a beer that was different, but as good four years later?.   Chocolate and herbs waltz with cocoa and the chocolate seems to grow richer as the cocoa holds.  A deep rich fudge emerges from real, rather than extract, chocolates and chocolate malts.   A bit of bourbon shows more clearly now, but it still rides well under the chocolates.  A hint of cherries as it drinks may be just echoes of the chocolate and wood.  Ellie found more heat in the whiskey and thought a bit of the wood showed some tartness, but for her the sugars smoothed it out nicely.  As it rests and warms, the booze does grow, but it also shows a range of fruits while the rich chocolate holds its own. Good fresh; just as good and maybe more interesting aged.

Value — Very good.   The 22 ounce bottle sold for about ten bucks in 2014.   I wish I had bought a case.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

 

 

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Aging Beers #10: Starr Hill Little Red Roostarr Coffee Cream Stout  At Five Years From our “Vault” – Crozet, Virginia

Date:  February 10, 2018

The Story—  Mark Thompson was a brewing pioneer who learned his craft in a number of breweries across the country before founding Starr Hill in Charlottesville (it’s now in Crozet).   He won national recognition for his beers everywhere he brewed as well as becoming something of a inspirational-speaker / celebrity at the brickskeller tasting series in Washington, DC.   Other brewers would beg the host not to schedule them after Mark’s performances.

He also oversaw the rise of one of Virginia’s most influential regional breweries in the first “craft wave” of the early 2000s.   He “retired” from the brewery in 2015, but returned last year to found the Brewing Tree brewery in Afton, Virginia, not too far from his original creative roots.

We didn’t intend to cellar this beer, but we’re glad we did.   Mark was still brewing in 2013 when this bottle rolled off the line and this was a very nice beer when we tasted it then.   Soft malt with some floral hops with some early coffee- chocolate with bakers chocolate in the finish – with none of the gimmicky chocolate extract tastes that plague chocolate beers today.   In five years, it’s mellowed nicely — so much of what can ruin a cellared beer is biological and very good quality control can put quite a few beers in play after half a decade that you would not expect to be rewarding.   This is one of them.

The Beer—  TONS of chocolate with nicely embedded coffee and even some coffee grounds late.  A bit of tang and fruit.  Flattish, but that’s forgivable at 5 years out.  Herbal and rich with few signs of decay, though Ellie picked up something of a whiskey edge and some wood.  Some roast grows as it drinks.  As good as it was five years ago, the the flavors may be better integrated now and it seems a bit drier.  We’re guessing that it might have peaked at about three years, and if I find another bottle, we’ll drink it right away, but, wow, this is a very good beer right now.

Well done Mark!

Value —  Very good.    This was under $10 for a 22 ounce bottle.   Try to find a beer this good at that price now!

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

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Aging Beers: Cisco Brewers Island Reserve Tripel Ale.  From our vault after 6 years.

Date:  February 09, 2018

The Story— Cisco Brewers welcomes over 200,000 visitors a year to their Nantucket brewery and tap house.   They’re on our beer bucket list, but we’ve had a chance to taste almost three dozen of their beers over the years since they’re fairly well distributed in New England.  They’ve ranged from questionably “biologically stable” to simply superb.  There have been enough of the latter to keep us buying new brews from them when we can find them.

The Beer—When fresh, the “farm” in this farmhouse style was evident, with plenty of fruit.  After six years; it still has a big and fruity aroma and it still pours a very nice white head.  The fruit is still there as well — pears and green grapes, and the yeast is still sweet.   It’s fruity for a tripel, but not out of style for a saison/farmhouse:  smooth, docile and very approachable.     Ellie noted that the fruit has merged with the malt into a nice blend with some peppery alcohol. Sugary later. Probably headachey if you have too much– it’s 9.5% and evident sweetness make this a fine beer when you’re having one.

Value — Very Good —  At $11.49, it was a good value in 2012, but you could pay twice that now and be well served.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

Drink the best local beers—with the locals

Find the most scenic places to drink great beer

Visit historic breweries