By Philip on August 4th, 2011 | Glassware 
Price: $4 per glass. Availability: Specialty Store. Type: Tulip.
Wine connoisseurs pay much respect to the type of glass used. True vinophiles can spend over$100 per glass for a crafted tool that properly delivers the underlying aromas of a specific varietal. When first beginning in the beer world, it is easy to stick with the venerable and affordable pint glass for consuming different beers, but it is important to note that the brew delivery device can drastically alter the tasting experience. Specifically, the shape of the glass affects the head development, head retention, nose, and lacing of the beer.
Two dramatic differences exist in glassware between the wine world and the beer world. The first is the glass price. While exceptions occur, most craft beer enthusiasts rely on a glass that costs under $8,whereas wine connoisseurs in general purchase more expensive glasses as their ability to detect different flavors develops. The second major difference is that, whereas most wine glasses are made by dedicated glassware companies that produce a variety of glasses each optimized for specific grapes, beer glasses are often designed and sold by breweries for particular brews. This is done to both provide the vessel that best showcases their beer and to provide a souvenir-like advertisement. With beers such as Duvel, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, or Delerium Tremens, the respective breweries made the effort to design a custom glass with the style, shape, and nucleation points to best frame a particular beer. For the drinker, this takes some of the guesswork out of the process of selecting a beer glass, even if it means just using the shape of the brewery glass to select the closest match from your collection. The glass at hand today, the Duvel tulip, while made for the Duvel Belgian ale, is a versatile, sturdy, affordable, and well-respected piece of glassware that should be a part of your beer tasting rituals.
I previously stated that I love collecting glassware, so when a 4-pack of Duvel beer with their signature glass was only two dollars more than the standard 4-pack, I found the marginal cost easily justifiable. In one’s hand, the glass is large, sturdy, and masculine, albeit nearly to the point of clunkiness. The logo on the side remains unobtrusive and clean, so I serve many different beers from this glass. In fact, I estimate that half of my beer tastings have been from one of these glasses. The tulip shape is classically Belgian and the flare of the bulb makes it ideally suited for beers with a high ABV such as barleywines, imperial IPAs, and Belgian ales because it concentrates the intricate flavors for the nose to dissect and encourages better head development and retention in these less foamy beers. However, Hefeweisens and sours should be avoided in tulip glasses because they lose carbonation too quickly.
When poured, beer in the Duvel glass develops a solid head, and the volume of the glass is sufficient so that the glass can comfortably accommodate a standard 12-ounce beer with a thick head while still leaving space at the top in which to stick one’s nose. It is difficult to spill from due to the size and stable base. The shape causes the glass to capture scents well and allows for pedantic dissection of underlying flavors, or just can help you to enjoy the better qualities of your favorite brew. On the bottom of the glass is a laser-engraved “D” that serves as a nucleation point to improve lacing and head retention – I am always amused by the bubbles rising from it as I pour a beer. This works by breaking up the surface tension of the beer and giving the bubbles a place to form – in a smooth glass, bubbles would be larger and would not form as easily. The glass indeed lives up to its style and maintains a solid head during drinking.
In terms of design, the Duvel tulip feels substantial due to its thickness and weight, and I have never broken one, even after dropping it a few times. While a characteristic often overlooked, the mouth is wide enough so that one can wash the inside. This makes it quite pragmatic. Many BeerAdvocate and RateBeer contributors regard this a benchmark piece of glassware. At only $4 a stem, I consider this an accessible and high-quality piece of glassware. It has been my steadfast companion through many beers and its passive role has improved and enlivened many brews.
Rating: 8/10
By mycroft on July 11th, 2011 | Beer  Price: $10 per 6-Pack. Availability: Grocery Store. Type: Hefeweizen.
I thoroughly enjoy Magic Hat and rank it among my favorite breweries because of their dynamic lineup of ever-interesting seasonal crafts and quirky brewery persona. I was thus quite happy to hear last spring that they were going to start brewing one of their two signature hefeweizens again ( Hefeweizen literally being German for “Yeast Wheat”). Circus Boy is a crisp, refreshing, unfiltered wheat beer that stands apart from the Blue Moon and Hoegaarden-dominated industry niche.I am personally not a fan of wheat beers as a style, though this is largely a product of Blue Moon tasting like wheat in water while Hoegaarden comes off the palate with a strange essence of banana. Circus boy is different in my mind. It has flavor, and good flavor at that. Both the draft and the bottle give the same experience for all intents and purposes, though I will say having had the draft only two days after rerelease was indeed a treat.Circus Boy pours a cloudy gold due to it being unfiltered. There is a slight head, though it dissipates quickly. Wheat is strong on the nose and the beer itself is light to medium bodied with a dominant biscuity wheat flavor. Where Circus Boy really differentiates itself is in the faint lemon and herb notes hiding amongst the hefeweizen’s wheat. There is a discernible lemon presence and the faintest hints of what comes across as cilantro, though pinpointing the exact herb is difficult given the subtlety of the flavor. On top of the wheat base, this mixture of the citrus and herb notes gives the beer a slight bite that really enhances the tasting experience.While no hefeweizen has ever blown me away and I have truly disliked many, Circus Boy is certainly a very drinkable, solid beer that hits the spot during hot summers or just when you want something lighter to drink. While not a stunning white rabbit, Magic Hat has conjured up a legitimately good offering that is accessible to both the brew master as well as the brew rookie. My only complaint is that it runs a bit pricey. This is, however, mollified considering where I am living is routinely running 90+ degree-days. Either way, Circus Boy is definitely worth juggling along with the rest of summer’s great offerings.
By carmichael on June 19th, 2011 | Beer  Price: $6 per 22 ounce bottle. ABV: 7.2%. Availability: Supermarket. Type: American Strong Ale.
Stone Brewery was founded in 1996 and is located in California. Stone is another in a line of young breweries in California producing fantastic products. In my opinion, California is increasingly becoming an epicenter for craft beer. Often times a brewery makes one or two styles particulary well. However, as the breweries branch out away from their specialties the quality of their products is more variable. For example, if a brewery makes a good IPA or Pale ale, e.g. Sierra Nevada, they sometimes make a bland porter and vice versa, e.g. Samuel Smith. Stone has an especially limited selection, most of their beers being a riff off of their basic IPA formula. But they make up for their limited scope with fantastic offerings. It is like when a high-end restaurant has only three entrees, because those are the chef’s specialties. The Arrogant Bastard Ale is not Stone’s best beer, but it is worth discussing because it perfectly encapsulates the irreverent attitude of the brewery.
In a glass, Arrogant Bastard looks great. Its color is a light brown with hints of dark red, giving it a darker hue than many ales. It poured with a good amount of head. A beer’s appearance is worth noting, but ultimately one should base their experience of beer on taste, smell, and mouthfeel more so than sight. In fact in an article called Taste Perception: More Than Meets The Tongue published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the authors found that consumers rely heavily on sight in judging food or drink, and that reliance interferes with their ability to asses its flavor. The nose smells of hops and cinnamon. The arrival is not strong, but it is sweet with hints of apple juice. The development is spicy with cumin, chili, pine, and some coffee. The mouthfeel is smooth and medium thickness, what one would expect from a standard strength IPA. The alcohol hits the tongue lightly even though the ABV is reasonably high. The Arrogant Bastard Ale is a really good example of an IPA. Stone calls it a strong ale, but the beer’s flavor palate and ABV are that of an IPA.
The most significant aspect of the Arrogant Bastard is not its taste or even quality as a beer. I remember at one point, before any of us had ever tasted Stone, myself and two other friends had independently purchased 22 ounce bottles of Arrogant Bastard within the same week. This was the first week, Stone products were offered in our state, which means Stone was advertising their products heavily. But none of us knew anything about the beer. We all bought it on a whim, because we thought the name was funny and kind of cool. Advertising is a powerful tool.
Craft breweries represent only 5 percent of the beer market, however while the bigger breweries such as Anheuser-Busch are losing money and customers every year, the craft brewing industry is steadily expanding. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune entilted “Craft Beers surging in popularity”, the total beer sales in the U.S. dropped by 1 percent, while the craft beer sales increased by 11 percent in 2010. To some degree all of craft brewing is a response, or even protest, to the vitiated beers offered by the giant companies. Most of the smaller breweries let this aspect of their product sit in the background. However Stone is very forward and direct with its rebellious viewpoints. The back of the Arrogant Bastard bottle taunts us and sarcastically encourages us to stick with a brewery “that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beverage will give you more sex appeal…” I especially think its funny and slightly ironic that Stone also makes fun of people who think “multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better.” This is ironic, because the only reason that my friend and I tried the Arrogant Bastard was because of Stone’s ad campaign. Stone’s campaign exploits a tension that is inherent in craft beer drinkers. We want to be educated and experienced beer connoisseurs, without thinking of ourselves as pretentious snobs. So, Stone goes over the top to make us laugh at ourselves a bit, relieving our self-consciousness, while at the same time stroking our egos. The gargoyle on the front has a demonic appearance, however there is a welcoming aspect to his posture. He holds his beer mug more towards us than away from us. He looks a bit like the St. Pauli Girl. He invites us to join in. When Stone tells us “We are not worthy,” they tempt to buy the beer and want to enjoy it, so that we can become part of the “few” that small community of Arrogant Bastards.
By Philip on June 17th, 2011 | Beer  Price: $12 per 4-pack. ABV: 9.4%. Availability: Specialty Store. Type: Imperial IPA.
If the bitterness of India Pale Ales deters some drinkers, then only the most dedicated and hardcore palates enjoy double IPAs, which undergo fermentation twice for more concentrated flavor and alcohol. Among DIPAs, there appears to be a group of brews that dominate not only quality but also availability. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Stone Ruination IPA seem to lead the pack at the intersection of quality and availability. Today, I decree that Founders Double Trouble deserves to stand among the leaders of the DIPA pack due to its complexity and ease of access.Founders was founded in 1997 in Grand Rapids, Michigan by two college graduates with a passion for homebrewing. Their beers became enormously popular, with limited annual releases of their Kentucky Breakfast Stout reaching cult status in the beer community. Like many other popular breweries such as Dogfish Head and Stone, they are expanding production with the goal of higher accessibility in more states. The brewery is quite involved in the Grand Rapids community in a variety of ways, the culmination being their Founders Fest. Founders Fest is an annual celebration of the community, music, and beer hosted by Founders. Their 2011 fest occurs tomorrow and is a pilgrimage for many lovers of beer.When poured, Founders Double Trouble yields little head and has a light color. In contrast, the beer has a considerable amount of lacing which creates an entertaining feeling in the mouth. The smell is melon and honey with classic pine and hops, which mixes in an enticing way that makes for one of the best aromas for a beer that I have experienced. Upon tasting, the beer displays a punch of hops with a burn on the back-end that is complemented by a lingering hint of spice. The bitterness in the aftertaste soothes tongue and is followed by a light, toasty caramel from the malt that is reminiscent of a good bread crust. While a classic IPA presents pine and hops smell with a good bitterness, the Double Trouble augments the flavor with a toasty malt that is not overly sweet, a melon smell that is quite unique, and a spice flavor that would not be considered a pure IPA component. Overall, this Double Trouble shines as a DIPA because it pays homage to classic style but adds unique and unconventional flare with its alluring smell and elevated flavor.
The most astounding part of the Double Trouble that it remains a smooth and consumable beer. It may be a double IPA with double the alcohol of a mainstream beer and double the bitterness of a pale ale, but the experience is not overwhelming. With summer heat upon us, Double Trouble is a beer I envision drinking while relaxing on the patio with a good book. In conclusion, Founders Double Trouble entertains its drinkers with flavors that delights the palate without assaulting it, resulting in a craft brew that is simply a damn good DIPA.
By carmichael on June 2nd, 2011 | Beer Price: $9 per 6 pack. ABV: 6.2%. Availability: Grocery Store. Type: IPA.
The snob in me loves to buy from well established brands. I smiled ear to ear the first time I bought a bottle of The Glenlivet scotch. I was so proud I actually referred to it as “The Glenlivet” instead of just calling it Glenlivet. I thought it was very cool that the bottle was from a distillery that has been around since the 1800’s. There is something appealing about well-established products from longstanding companies. It feels like a guarantee of quality, and often it is. However, sometimes companies with a firmly-established reputation can get into a routine of releasing products that are more reserved in taste, or sometimes even lower in quality than they used to be. Companies that come to my mind are Guinness and Johnnie Walker. These companies do not produce bad products, but despite their fame and history, they do not make the best products around. Younger companies do not have the guarantee of quality, but they have a much greater need to impress us in order to establish themselves. They must be ambitious and diverse with their offerings, and they need to be sure that the quality is high. The Lagunitas brewery is a great example of this kind of ambitious upstart company.
The Lagunitas brewery was founded in 1993, and its headquarters are in California. They are a brand whose products are labeled with irreverant and humorous phrases, such as “Give it to Mikey…He’ll drink anything!” Their symbol is a dog with the phrase “Doggone Good.” Lagunitas seems to satirize the conventions and self-seriousness of older breweries. It is as if Lagunitas is trying to show up these other brands. It is the smart-alecky teenager that jukes and shoots layups around his wheezing father.
But that is all advertising. The quality of a product is in its taste. The Lagunitas IPA is their flagship product, and it is among the better India Pale Ale’s I have had. For the price, it is great. Its taste is full and hoppy, and has an aftertaste of citrus fruit. The fruit may seem like an odd addition, but it rounds out the bitterness in a very appealing way. Lagunitas seems to use the fruitiness to compensate for the hops, and this is very evident in their Maximus, which while still good, overdoes it. The best compliment I can give to the IPA is that it has a great balance, and tastes exactly like an IPA should taste. It is rich, bitter, and hoppy. This is not Lagunitas’s most ambitious or tasty beer. I am very partial to their Gnarly Wine, and Cappuccino Stout. But this is a great staple beer, for when you are tired of all of the seasonals or specials with their exotic flavors. Sierra Nevada is my everyday Pale Ale, and Lagunitas is my everyday IPA. This brewery offers a variety of high quality, diverse products, at very reasonable prices. With this beer and this brewery, you will not go wrong.
By Philip on May 27th, 2011 | Beer 
Price: $8 per six pack. ABV: 5.1%. Availability: Grocery Store. Quality: Low. Value: Low. Type: Fruit Beer.
Every time I hear the name of Magic Hat #9, I am reminded of the dissonant Beatles song Revolution 9. Its cacophonous melody well parallels the haphazard flavors of the #9 beer. #9 along with three other beers in a Magic Hat Fall sampler served as my introduction to craft beers long ago. This sampler pack introduced me to the wide variety of beers and hence encouraged me to further explore the beer world. #9 is the best-known and most widely available beer from the Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, Vermont. As a brewery, Magic Hat offers a revolving and diverse selection of brews, and their seasonal sampler packs offer a fun way to taste a variety of beers. Normally, only one of the four sampler offerings is at all memorable and #9 consistently ranks in the middle of the lineup. In the overall scheme of things, Magic Hat has yet to introduce a single phenomenal beer and hence stays grounded as a more bourgeois craft brewery. #9 is described by the brewery as as a ‘not quite pale ale,’ but in reality it is a lackluster apricot beer with mediocre taste sandwiched between a stale smell and an undesirable aftertaste.
From the bottle, the beer pours a reddish golden color with little head and lacing. The smell primarily features apricot but is accompanied by some sweet malt and a stale wheat undertone that is reminiscent of a cheap pilsner. The taste haphazardly combines low bitterness with more apricot fruit. These flavors are reminiscent of an off-tune cord – additional notes are missing to smoothly harmonize the different flavors. The finish brings a punch of wheat with undesirable iron that leaves a bad memory of this mediocre ale.
Magic Hat #9, while unpolished in flavor development, is not particularly offensive and remains better than most mass-market offerings. Of note, #9 is being introduced in cans this summer, so should you require beer in a can for a concert or the like, this may be the best option among widely available beers. A worthwhile idea is at the core of this brew but Magic Hat failed on its execution. The quirky and adventuruous nature of Magic Hat makes the brewery worth exploring, but #9 should be avoided within its lineup. Rather than being ‘not quite a pale ale’ the brew is better described as ‘barely a pale ale with some apricot thrown in.’
By mycroft on May 24th, 2011 | Discussion  Being a student of all things business has exposed me to a great many sides of running an operation: finance, marketing, accounting, organizational behavior – you name it. In recent times I have had the opportunity to study operations and supply chain management in-depth, an area now commonly known as “Management Science.” Among the topics in the field greatly impacting business performance is quality control.
Carraway wrote candidly about his disappointing experience with the Dogfish Head brewery’s hand-blown beer glassware. In particular, the differences between one glass which exceeded his expectations versus the other one he ordered which didn’t exactly stand up to expectations. There were also other flaws – read his article for the full scoop. This second glass was obviously a huge disappointment to him and rightfully so in my opinion. As one commenter on Dogfish Head’s Facebook profile put it, “[Sidecar Speakeasy] did not appear to be expecting the glass to stand up to the most rigorous expectations so much as Carraway simply expected the glass to stand up on a table.”
Being a connoisseur of fine food and drink, as well as a business type, I find some fault with Dogfish Head for their “signature” glass. The brewery’s response to Carraway included an explanation of how the hand-blown nature of the glasses naturally causes some variation and thus receiving two radically different pieces is to be expected. I reject, in part, that premise.
It is true that hand-blown glasses are going to have more variability in their exact dimensions as opposed to a machine-made ones. The same holds true for any artisan-crafted object. However where I digress from Dogfish Head’s response is the matter to which such variability affects the end product. I furthermore am not convinced of their premise that this extreme variability is the ultimate consequence of the craftsmanship unless the means by which their glass is hand-blown is simply a very poor manufacturing process.
Let us take two examples, each demonstrating that blown glass can be done to spec. I am one to travel and have twice visited the Island of Murano in Venice, Italy. The island and its craftsmen are known for their extraordinary skill at glass crafting. Having examined their products, some made to be unique and others similar, it is readily apparent that with skilled craftsmanship come quality crafts. Inspecting the wine glasses I watched them blow and sculpt by hand, I can say that a little bit of care goes a great many lengths toward a more uniform handcrafted piece. Are they absolutely identical? Of course not, but neither are the mass produced drinking glasses we may find at a store like Crate & Barrel.
Going back to the management science concepts, the problem is not variability in the manufacturing process. Instead, it’s all a matter of how much variability can be seen in the resulting products the maker releases. In examining Murano wine chalices you need to look very closely to see any differences. Even then, they’re minute since products not up-to-snuff are (rightfully) recycled.
Before I get criticized for giving what some may consider an extreme example, let’s consider some very commonplace glasses: Riedel glassware. I happen to own, as does Carraway, a few of their wine glasses. His are Cabernet, mine Pinot. While ours are not their handcrafted variety, they are still fantastic for drinking wine from. However I have also seen their most upscale, handmade offerings. Riedel glasses are not like Murano glass in that you have to fly to Venice then take a water taxi just to get them. Riedels are readily available – even their nicest ones. Looking at their handmade wine glasses, one would still be hard pressed to find any major differences. Riedels, like any quality, hand-blown glassware, can be used at a social gathering without having the problem of two glasses looking markedly different when placed next to each other. They also do not wobble and fall over. Why? Because Riedel puts a bit of care into their craft.
I would ask Dogfish Head to consider doing similar. Excuse my cynicism, but is it reallythat difficult to stand the glasses up on a table and simply not ship them if they wobble and fall over? I’ll be spending some time at one of their brewpubs this summer during some travels where I plan on drinking from the infamous glass. Any good barman would know not to give out drinks that might fall over on the drinker. I know that if served beer in a wobbly glass, even if it’s the last remaining pour of their extraordinarily rare collaboration “Isabelle Proximus,” it’s going back.
As for the 12 ounce pour line, that’s just icing on a burnt cake. Dogfish Head claims they’re fixing the problem of it not measuring where 12 ounces actually is. Well, yes and no. The twelve ounce line will no longer be inaccurate because it will no longer be on the glass. While this may fix one problem, it also serves to mask the unresolved issues of serious variance among the shapes and sizes of their barware.
Manufacturing is an art. It takes a lot of coordination to figure out the product and the best way to produce it. Fields like management science take into account all manner of statisticle metrics to determine process efficiency and standards of quality. Obviously it is not in Dogfish Head’s best interest to invest in the same level of precission manufacturing that a company like Intel uses, but to me it is not unreasonable to ask the brewery to not ship visibly defective products.
Regardless of my criticism of their glassware operations, I still think Dogfish Head’s beer is exceptional.
By Philip on May 20th, 2011 | Beer  Price: $16 per twelve ounce bottle. ABV: 8.0%. Availability: Specialty Store. Type: Old Ale.
Each with new jobs about to begin, Carmichael and I sat down to open a special beer to celebrate. I retrieved Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40, a rare offering from the Harviestoun Brewing Ltd in Scotland. Harviestoun collaborates with the Highland Park Distillery in Scotland to age its Ola Dubh line in scotch casks. The brewery takes its Old Engine Oil, a complex porter from the main product line of Harviestoun, and then ages it in the casks formerly used to mature the 12, 16, 30 or 40 year Highland Park scotches. The result is a complex brew with pronounced peat and oak flavors. The name of the line, Ola Dubh, derives from Gaelic meaning ‘black oil.’ The bottle of beer we sampled was aged in the oak barrels formerly used to produce the 40 Year Single-Malt Highland Park Scotch, a whisky which commonly sells for $2000 a bottle. The quality of the oak was evident in the flavor of the beer, and the complexity of the Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40 made it indubitably one of the best beers I have tasted.
The single twelve ounce bottle is exquisitely packaged. A clean box holds the bottle, which bears a metal medallion featuring the Harviestoun logo. At first glance the bottle appears painted black, but when I poured the beer it became clear that the glass is translucent and the beer is nearly pitch black with red fringes apparent when held under the light. Little head presented itself, but what remained was dark and creamy. The smell is reminiscent of barleywine, and it consists of sweet sherry, peat, coffee, and vanilla. The taste morphs into a scotch with flavors of oak, musty peet, malt, and caramel. Hops join chocolate in the prolonged finish, which rounds out the tasting experience with an overall stout flavor. The finish even has lingering acidity on the tongue with some iodine, just like a good scotch whiskey. Overall, the most surprising part of this beer is the degree to which the scotch and stout flavors are so masterfully melded. The result is a consonant brew that highlights the magic that can happen during a beer collaboration.
Tasting the Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40 is an experience in and of itself due to the intricacies it beholds. Accompanying the beer with food or preceding it with other alcoholic beverages will unwisely dampen the experience. Due to its high price, this beer is best shared with another who can appreciate its complexities. Ensure that it has sufficient time to warm up if taken out of the refrigerator and serve in a quality tulip, snifter, or wine glass. When selecting a special beer to celebrate the end of a semester, this beer fulfilled the role due to its exquisite flavor and uncommon production process. Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40 exemplifies refinement in beer with pronounced scotch flavors and, though expensive, justifies its high price due to the rare production process.
Rating: 9/10.
By carmichael on May 19th, 2011 | Beer  Price: $6 per 22 oz bottle. ABV: 7.7%. Availability: Specialty Store. Type: Imperial IPA.
The Ruination IPA is one of the standard selections of the Stone Brewing Company. Stone is a craft brewery located in Escondido, California. It was founded in 1996 and, like Lagunitas, it is a newer brewery fond of casual irreverence, which seems to satirize the self-seriousness of older, more traditional breweries. I enjoy seeing these young ambitious companies outdoing the established and complacent ones, and laughing as they do so. The Ruination IPA is similar to Stone’s standard IPA, but they have added more and varied hops and more alcohol. The beer is measured at over 100 IBU’s (International Bitterness Units), and very little sweetness is added to offset the resulting bitterness. It is called the Ruination IPA, because its flavor is so strong it will ruin your palate. Stone has a way of taunting its customers. This is especially true for their Arrogant Bastard Ale, which tells me that “I am not worthy.” I was extremely excited by the Ruination, because I knew nothing about it and it is among the best IPA’s I have ever had. Previously, I thought Dogfish Head had set the standard for India pale ales very high with their 90-minute IPA, but the Ruination is just as good or better. This is a spectacular beer.
The Ruination is rather light in color. It is said that the tasting process starts with the color, because we the consumers cannot help but judge the beer based on its appearance. We will on average say that a darker red/brown beer tastes better and stronger than a lighter yellow beer, even if added coloring is the only difference between them. As a fellow consumer, I am sure I am just as suggestible. However, with food and drinks the only thing that is important is the flavor, and great presentation can be used to mask an inferior product. I try not to perpetuate clichés, but one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The head on this beer is also slightly disappointing. There is not much and it fades quickly.
Now that we have been sufficiently underwhelmed by the presentation, let’s talk about its flavor. The nose is strong and hoppy. The arrival is sweet honey. The development quickly transitions into whole cone hops. The finish is rich and bitter. The transition seems like it should be chaotic and an attack on the senses, but it is very smooth and the initial honey sweetness and the strong hop bitterness complement each other in interesting ways. The mouth feel is full bodied and meaty. The flavor is simple, but very powerful and delicious, which is what is most important. This beer is remarkably tasty.
Ultimately, Stone’s Ruination IPA is an exploration of whole cone hops. Hops have a rich and complex flavor, therefore one does not necessarily need to add much more to have an interesting and powerful beer. Sometimes, the best thing to do when making food or drinks is to back off and let the ingredients speak for themselves. Stone embodies that concept with their Ruination, and since IPA’s are defined by the addition of extra hops, this is a signature IPA. Most of Stones products taste have the same Pale Ale/IPA base with slight modifications, and the Ruination IPA is their best offering. The brewery seems to only do one thing, but they do it very well.
By mycroft on May 14th, 2011 | Red , Wine  Price: $12 per 750mL bottle. Availability: Specialty Store. Type: Carménère.
“Carmin” is the French word for crimson – a beautiful hue for a red wine to have, especially one crafted from the unique Carménère grape varietal. Native to France, the grape is almost exclusively grown in Chile. The story behind the migration of Carménère is almost as interesting as the spectacular flavors you can find in the wines fermented from it. The grape had originally been brought, along with a variety of other Bordeaux-native grapes, to South America. Visits to a neighborhood wine store would show that among these originally French grapes, the Malbec is the far more widely grown favorite of South American wineries. The very similar looking Merlot also traveled to the Americas – perhaps part of the reason that Carménère vines ended up in the Americas.
The Carménère was expatriated from France in the nineteenth century, which, shortly thereafter, experienced what is known as the “phylloxera plague” – an attack on European wineries by a breed of insect that eats away at grape leaves. The Carménère was believed lost forever. For almost one hundred years it grew in South America among fields of Merlot almost unnoticed as the two are practically cousins and their respective vines have extraordinarily similar features. Telling the difference between Carménère and the Merlot plants is extremely difficult without closely examining the coloring of the leaves and the ripening patterns of the grapes.
Terra Noble’s Reserva 2007 Carménère from the mid-Chilean Maule Valley lives up to the more exotic expectations associated with it, as compared to cousin Merlot. From the get-go the wine makes an impact. Coffee is on the nose, though not overpoweringly so. The wine pours a beautiful crimson, as the name would suggest, with a medium viscosity yielding many legs visible on the glass. The most interesting part about the Reserva Carménère is the flavor. The light coffee present on the nose is noticeable, though the really exotic flavors are the strong tobacco notes present in the wine. Having never had a wine with such a strong tobacco presence in its taste, trying this wine was a very unique experience. For anyone who has smoked Cuban tobacco, you know there is a distinctive bite on the palate. The wine is similar, albeit not to such a strong extent. Medium bodied and distinctly flavorful, the wine was a great addition to a family meal (we paired it with lamb).
I have always had a very positive experience with the Carménère grape and Terra Noble’s 2007 offering continued this tradition. While other bottles have been more spicy or herbal, this offering from the Maule Valley in Chile’s Valle Central is smooth, delicious, and definitely worth a try.
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