Thirsty Thursday #28

Hopus Ale
by Brasserie Lefebvre SA, Rebecq-Quenast, 1430, Belgium
Style: Belgian IPA
ABV: 8.5%

Last week (or was it two weeks ago, whatever, you get the point) Central Market had that somewhat amazing sale: 20% off all beer. I took the opportunity to buy a bunch of beer I usually would never have bought. Mostly pricier items. I saw this bottle and it caught my eye. Grab it, why not? It is a hefty one, weighing in at 8.5%. I split it with Sofia since I am watching my waste line and I have a bet to wing (which by the way ends in two days, I'll be in a food, beer coma for the following week, just kidding Sofia).

Did you see I just wrote "wing" instead of "win"? I am starving. Visions of buffalo wings and pilsner dancing in my head. Ok, back to the beer.



As you can see by the above stats, I liked it. I'll probably never buy it again. It's a try one and done beer for me. And should be for you too.

Thirsty Thursday #27

Le Fleur, Misseur?
by New Belgium Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Never heard of this beer. Then one day I am cruising the aisles of Spec’s and this bottle jumped out at me. Maybe because it was sitting next to his brother, La Folie. My first gulp I thought, “(512) One” and then the brett hit me. The brett came across muted, which was nice. Tart, but not cheek pucker tart, just kind of tweek yr tongue tart.

The story behind the name:

Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff.

“Le Fleur, Misseur?” Jeff misspelled the boy’s comment in his journal as he accepted the offering. A treasured memory, a beer to treasure.

Thirsty Thursday #26

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
by Guinness Ltd, Dublin, Ireland
Style: Irish Dry Stout
ABV: 5%

I've had it on tap and from a bottle. I prefer the bottle version better. Come on though, 250 years and another slightly boring dry stout. Seriously. Give me a double stout, a chocolate stout, a milk stout, something a bit different. A bit special. Don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable, but I think 250 years calls for a little more pomp and circumstance.

Thirsty Thursday #25

Longshot Cranberry Wit
by Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams), Boston, MA
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5%

I hate cranberries. Put 'em in beer...I love 'em. The same formula probably would not work with brussel sprouts. But I guess you never know, until you try it.

This beer is part of Samuel Adam's Longshot Series, a national homebrew competition. This year's six pack contained three different styles. This was my least favorite, but still very tasty. Perfect for grilling in the warmth of a Texas evening.

From the brewery:

The third brew in the Longshot package will be a Cranberry Wit created by Carissa Sweigart, winner of the Samuel Adams employee homebrew competition. Carissa’s beer was chosen by over 1,111 beer lovers at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival™ from among the 3 employee homebrew finalist. Congratulations Carissa!

Thirsty Thursday #24 - LATE EDITION

Duvel
by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV, Breendonk-Puurs, Belgium
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale / Belgian Golden Ale
ABV: 8.5%

My idea was to have Duvel, in lieu of champagne, to celebrate the birth of our first child. Duvel, how could you go wrong? Sofia asked if her parents or anyone else in attendance would enjoy it as well. I don't usually need an excuse to drink, but this was a good one. Thanks Sofi. I picked up a small bottle of it last night to test its compatibility with beer philistines.

Spicy. Bitter...no sweet...no bitter. Just good. Crisp and refreshing.

I am thinking this is a go for baby day! How much is a magnum of this?

Not Thirsty Thursday **update below**

No Thirsty Thursday. But I did have two of the Sam Adams' Longshots this week and they would have made fine additions. Possibly next week. Or I'll just do one later, maybe with Victory Wild Devil, which is available now reportedly.

**UPDATE: wiggy's on sixth has it for around 10.50

Thirsty Thursday #23

Stone Imperial Russian Stout
by Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.8%

I got this in a trade as an extra. I traded La Folie for Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek, for Sofia's first beer after her pregnancy, and this came along with it. I was please to say the least, since this is not available in Texas and I had never drank it before.

It is good. It stands out among the throng of other R. Imp. Stouts out there. It's quite boozy and has a nice anise flavor as well. I still think Yeti and Samuel Smith's are a better, but if this became available in TX I would be happy try again.

Thirsty Thursday #22

Urthel Samaranth
by De Leyerth Brouwerijen (Urthel), Ruiselede, Belgium
Style: Quadrupel
ABV: 11-12%

I had this Sunday night actually. Our weekend was a schlep-fest and I needed a brew to take the edge off. This one did quite nicely. I love quads. Spicy. Dark fruit flavors. Who doesn't love a fig? Fig newton?

This was a good beer, but I have to say, for the money you can get a better quadruple. My favorite currently is Boulevard's Sixth Glass, made right here in the ole US of A. Kansas City, MO to be exact.

Try both. See if you agree.

Thirsty Thursday #21

Avery Brabant
by Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Style: American Wild Ale
ABV: 8.65%

Not too sour. Definitely a wild ale. A bit different than I was expecting. To tell you the truth I wanted more funkiness out of it. This beer was aged in Zinfandel barrels, which is easy to see...well taste. Whilst drinking this my burps tasted like "wine burps." Too much information?

I have a few more bottles I am going to hold onto for a while. I think they released this beer too early. But what the hell do I know?

Thirsty Thursday #20

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.2%

A solid addition to Sierra Nevada’s year round lineup. Definitely a West Coast IPA, with all that entails. Reminiscent Lagunitas IPA or Racer 5. From the brewery:

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Ale is a big American IPA; bold, assertive and full of flavor and aromas highlighting the complex citrus, pine and herbal character of whole-cone American hops.

Austin folks, I know Specs, Grape Vine and Hyde Park Market ($9.99) currently have six packs available. Enjoy.

Thirsty Thursday #15

Avery's Ale to the Chief!
by Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.75%

As we watched the election results role in, this was my beer of choice. Quite fitting. Brewed to celebrate the arrival of our next president (who we know now will be Obama). This beer reminded me a lot of Mahraja, Avery's other DIPA. It is a bit too sweet for me. I prefer my DIPAs to be more like Great Divide's Hercules, which is straight up delicious. Avery makes better stouts and porters.

Tedo from BarleVine liked it more than I did and had some good things to say:

This is much more of a straightforward hop bomb. One of the more interesting characteristics was the spiciness of these beer, it was pretty intense white pepper notes among other things that I couldn't place. It added a different flavor profile than what I'm used to, it was rather pleasant though. There's also some citrusy bitterness, that along with the hoppy resin really saturates ones mouth. Even with all this intense character it went well with our dinner of hatch chili turkey burgers on ciabatta bread with fried potatoes.