Oskar Blues Old Chub

Lyons is small Colorado town located in the hilly, foothill-laden landscape that separates Boulder from Rocky Mountain National Park. It's home to back-to-the-landers, a handful of 'true' Coloradoan rancher types, a world-class bluegrass venue, and Oskar Blues. Initially a brewpub inspired by the blues joints of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, Oskar Blues gained infamy in the brewing world for initiating what they, with no excess of humility, called the 'Canned Beer Apocalypse.'

Yes, Oskar Blues was (one of) the first craft breweries in the United States to put their beers in cans, proving that quality beer could be housed in aluminum long after it left the brewery. Old Chub is their take on a strong Scotch ale. Along with their equally exceptional pale ale, it is a strong standard-bearer for their line of excellent beers.

Old Chub pours a hazy, darkish amber with a light tan head. It mixes herbal and caramelly aromas, both of which come through in the flavor. There's a nice tea-like hop flavor that balances the juicy, sweet malt presence. The beer is certainly too hoppy to be a traditional example of its style, and it even has a mild finishing bitterness. The overall impression is not dissimilar to a malted milkshake.

Old Chub is available widely in better bottle shops in Oregon. The cans are convenient for backpacking, float, and fishing trips--easy to pack in, easy to crush, and easy to carry out. The Canned Beer Apocalypse may not be so disastrous after all...

Russian River Supplication

Located in the heart of Sonoma County, Russian River Brewing Company shares much in common with the wineries that make the region famous. It was once owned by Korbel Champagne Cellars, and brewmaster/owner Vinnie Cilurzo comes from a wine-industry family. Cilurzo ages beer in old wine barrels, but he does so for a reason that makes most vintners cringe.

Unlike winemakers who seek to extract a certain flavor from the wood, Cilurzo and other adventurous-minded brewers want to get the bacteria that live inside a used barrel to 'infect' and sour their beer. This requires many months (sometimes years) of aging and blending of different strains to produce. The idea of an ale soured by wild yeasts and bacteria with names like Pediococcus may not sound appealing, but as Russian River's beers prove, the results can be delicious.

Russian River releases its barrel-aged beers on a rotating basis, and while they are usually fairly expensive, they are almost always worth the price. Recently, a shipment of Supplication--their interpretation of a Flemish sour red ale, aged in pinot noir barrels with cherries--made its way to Oregon. Since Supplication relies on uncontrollable, wild yeast for its flavor, no two batches are ever exactly alike. The current vintage is outstanding.

Supplication is a dark amber beer, with little foam and a sharp, sour cherry aroma. The sour flavor can be a bit of a sucker-punch the first time you sip. But as you become accustomed to it, the beer becomes reveals greater depth and complexity: a nice interplay between some brown sugar sweetness is there up front, and there's a unmistakable hint of blueberry, even though none were used in the beer. The cherries shine through at the end, and if you can take time between sips, the freshness of the fruit becomes clear. It's the same aftertaste as a slice of cherry pie in summer.

Not all beer-curious types will warm up to sour beers on first taste, but it is hard to deny Supplication's layers of depth or the artistry that went into its creation. For the passionate Russian River has a nice explanation of the barrel-aging and souring process they use for their beers on their website.

Duvel

Most modern beer styles have evolved organically--in any given region, the available ground water, grains, airborne microflora, and hops produced a specific 'local' flavor that came to be associated with beers from the area. Later, brewers would share and institutionalize certain techniques around the creation of that beer. So, we have the triple decoction pilsners of Bohemia, the single-infusion pale ales in England, and the dry hopped monsters of modern Northwest brewing.

By contrast, classic styles occasionally develop in response to a unique beer that doesn't fit cleanly into any other category. The style exists not because many brewers in one area have similar results; rather many brewers fall in love with this hithero unknown beer and imitate. Without this ur-beer, the style does not exist. This happens rarely, applying to only two or three modern styles. One example is Anchor Steam. Another is Duvel.





"Devil" in Flemish; just one word, Duvel is both suggestive of a its mischievous origins and descriptive of the beer itself. Originally brewed as a bet with the brewery-owning Moortgat family, Duvel is the non plus ultra of Belgian strong golden ales. Clocking in at 8.5% ABV, it defies stereotype: it is a clear golden, highly carbonated beer that could easily be mistaken at a glance for a much lighter beer.

It has a cascading, rocky white head and leave a clumpy, thick-as-cumulus lace. It smells of fresh apples, band aid, bubblegum, green tea, and alcohol. The flavor is noticeably clean with a quick hit of fruit (apple and banana) followed abruptly by a peppery, bitter and dry finish. Despite its strength, the alcohol flavor is well hidden, which only adds to the beer's deceptive character.

Duvel is a classic for good reason: it is flavorful, well balanced, and too drinkable. It is widely available in the US in stubby bottles and 750 ml cork/cage presentations.

Paulaner Salvator

Paulaner is one of the newer of Munich's famous Big Six breweries, having been founded by a Franciscan order in 1634. Today, the Paulaner brewery is a large, industrial facility that stands out amongst the residential neighborhoods on the southeast side of Munich. In Munich, the product to try is the delicious Am Nockherberg Kellerbier, an unfiltered, ruddy amber beer with spicy yeast notes and a dangerous level of drinkability. Though this product isn't bottled and exported, beer drinkers around the world are lucky to have nearly universal access to another exceptional Paulaner beer: Salvator Doppelbock.

Salvator means 'savior' in Latin and hints at the beer's monastic origin, when it served as a liquid bread to monks who were fasting. Doppelbocks are very strong lagers with an unusually full body, sweet flavor, and high levels of alcohol. Salvator is dark amber and smells of raisins, grapes, and cotton candy. It tastes like honey, candied fruit, and caramel; has a touch of toastiness; and finishes with a nice bite from the high levels of carbonation. Though sweet, the beer has a light dryness and is very clean.

Salvator is available widely, at bottle shops, many major grocery chains, and probably some corner stores. Don't let this import's ubiquitousness (and its affordable price point) deceive you; it is world-class.

Hair of the Dog Adam

Alan Sprints is the brewmaster and owner of Hair of the Dog, a small brewery that he started in 1993 after a brief stint as a chef and brewer at Widmer Bros. The brewery itself is impenetrably and unattractively set in the maze of warehouses in the southeast Portland rail yards. Rumor has it that he'll soon be moving to a new space in the warehouse district of Portland's Central Eastside. We hope that the new space will be more accessible, as the current location belies the quality of his beers, many of which are world class.

A dark beer simply named "Adam" is one of the most ubiquitous and enjoyable of the Hair of the Dog brews. It is a modern interpretation of a long-extinct German beer style, supposedly loved by King Friederich Wilhelm. While "Adambier" shares much in common with modern altbier, the Hair of the Dog version is unique; no other brewery attempts a commercial example, as far as we know. Sprints says that it can age for up to twenty years and will develop increasingly complex flavors.

When fresh, Adam has a distinctive sweet smokiness in the aroma and flavor. It is mouth-coating with flavors of prune, smoked meat, band-aid, leather, molasses, and soy sauce. Those descriptors may not all sound individually appealing, but in Adam, they come together in a well balanced and ever changing way. There's a moderate level of bitterness that keeps the littany of malt flavors in check and imparts an unexpected level of drinkability to a beer that is so strong and lowly carbonated.

Sprints occasionally releases special variations of Adam, including sherry and cherry-aged versions. These ones are the great treasures of beer geeks and are worth seeking as well; fortunately, traditional Adam is much easier to find. It sold in 12 oz. bottles in over ten states; in the Northwest, in can be found in specialty bottle shops as well as most major grocery stores.

De Ranke XX Bitter

Brouwerij de Ranke is a small, artisanal brewery in Wevelgem, Belgium, just a few miles north of the French border city of Lille. Their beers are known for having an agressive hop character and are in high demand around the world.

They claim that their XX Bitter is the hoppiest beer in Belgium, and, while this may not be the case, it certainly lives up to its name. Some brewers and beer writers categorize XX Bitter as a "Belgian IPA," but it is sui generis. Where other Belgian IPAs use citrusy, piney American hops, XX Bitter uses exclusively European hops, which impart a pleasant spiciness to the aroma and flavor. It is the leading example of a small, though distinct style that one beer writer calles the "hoppy Belgian blond" and what many Brussels restobars list as simply a "blonde amere." I think of it as a Belgian bitter.

XX Bitter is a light golden beer that smells of fresh grass and pepper. An initial hint of malt sweetness quickly transitions into a hop explosion: there is more grass and spice, followed by a swelling, long-lasting bitterness. The bitterness and dryness of the beer build exponentially with each sip, and it takes a full glass for the beer's power to reveal itself. It is clean, with a smooth finish and high carbonation, which make it very refreshing.

This beer is available in 750 ml bottles at many of the better bottle shops in Portland, including Saraveza, The Beer Mongers, and Belmont Station. It is widely imported throughout the rest of the US as well. Brouwerij De Ranke also produces an excellent, well distributed Belgian dark ale called Noir de Dottignies.

Cascade Apricot Ale, Cascade "Sour Magic" (Noyaux + Raspberry Blend)

Cascade Brewing (Portland, OR; aka Raccoon Lodge, which is the name of their brewpub) has been generating tons of buzz in the beer world the last few years. Brewmaster Ron Gansberg is a sort of mad brewing genius who is known for producing world-class wood-aged sour ales. These special beers require incredible patience and care, as they undergo a barrel-ageing process with bacterial cultures; many are then blended and see further ageing on fruit or with other spices.

I know the Cascade brewers and helped them bottle the 2010 Apricot Ale, which is being released for sale today as part of Zwickelmania. Once you taste their beers, I think you'll agree that I am not clouded by bias in supporting them: they make amazing, sour beers.

Cascade Apricot Ale has a beautiful orange hue and an aroma that is packed with fresh apricot. It shows off a deep, fleshy fruit aroma and lacks the sugariness that one expects in many lesser fruit beers. The flavor is sharply sour up front and beomes gradually more fruity as it moves across the tongue. It is full bodied and incredibly refreshing.

The officially unnamed Noyaux/Raspberry blend that we're calling "Sour Magic" is being released this weekend as part of the My Beery Valentine event at Saraveza. This is a limited production beer that, as far as we know, will only be available on draft. "Sour Magic" is the result of a multi-stage ageing process: a strong blonde ale was soured and aged in port barrels. It was then blended with raspberries and noyaux (the flesh in the center of an apricot kernel).

This is a hazy beer with lots of yeast and fruit in suspension. The aroma is a complex mix of pepper, raspberry, and alcohol. It has some very nice tropical fruit flavors that balance the raspberry flavor. The barrel-aging imparts some spice and port character, and it finishes with a noticeable warming from the alcohol. If Ron and Curtis's mission in brewing this beer was to liquify Valentine's Day, they've succeeded marvelously.

Cascade's bottled beers are released on a rotating basis and are widely available at better bottle shops in Portland. They have select draft accounts for their sour ales, but your best bet is to go to the source and visit the Raccoon Lodge.