Firkin Beer Festival - April 24, 2010 at Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley

Firkin Beer!  It's thicker, less carbonated, and more syrupy than usual.  I find this delicious.

Triple Rock had a great beer festival - only $20 for 6 samples, but the "sample" was actually almost a half-pint.  This meant that the Lumberjack and I were able to share samples and thereby taste a LOT of beer.  Perfect!

Lagunitas Little Sumpin Wild (Belgian Ale, 8.5%ABV): this was one of my favourites.  It smelled like flowers, and the hops were just subtle enough to be delicious and not overpowering.

Iron Springs The Malice (Barleywine, 10% ABV): this one was way too much for me.  It's aged in french oak, and smelled very strongly of wood.  I thought the oak flavour was far too strong and overpowered the beer.  I compared it to being slapped in the face with an oak panel.  The Lumberjack viewed it more as getting one's mouth washed out with a 2x4, but apparently he thought that was a good thing.  Duly noted.

Green Flash Le Freak (Belgian IPA, 9.2% ABV): one of my favourite beers from the bottle or tap, so I was super excited to try it Firkin-style.  The hops were more subtle, and it was more syrupy.  Had a sweet, pineapple/clove aftertaste.  Delicious, as expected.

Ale Industries Ryed Piper (Red Ale, 5.8% ABV): no thanks.  It was bitter, and the alcohol flavour was too strong.  The malt wasn't toasty enough for me, and it almost tasted like buttery tobacco.

Drake's Expedition (American Strong Ale, 6.8% ABV): it's been hopped with Horizon, Cascade and Chinook, and at first the strong hop smell turned me off a bit.  But the flavour was actually really nice - it was syrupy and had a sweet/bitter combination - grass/flowery with a hint of peach and honey.  It's one of those beers that has a second, stronger flavour after you swallow and give it a second.  Overall I really enjoyed the sample, but think the hops are a little too strong for me to drink a lot of it.

Blue Frog Arf & Arf (Red Ale IPA, 7.6% ABV): a lovely blend of IPA and Red Ale - the Lumberjack called it "the best of both worlds."  I called it a wine cooler, but I meant it in the best way!  I love wine coolers!  It's sugary, and smells like bubblegum.  I know the Librarian will mock me for this description, but it's true - it smelled like double bubble or bazooka, that hard pink bubblegum from the 80's (do they still exist?).

Speakeasy Payback Porter (Porter, 7.6% ABV): delicious!  A good, smooth, coffee stout.  A little lighter than Speedway Stout, with a hint of raisin and bourbon.  Kind of mapley.  Very drinkable.

Ballast Point Sea Monster (Imperial Stout, 10% ABV): good god.  That 10% is nothing to scoff at.  I found it bitter, and the alcohol was way too intense for me.  Shocker: the Lumberjack loved it.  He said it had a nice caramel/toffee scent, and that he could "taste the whiskey" to which I said I KNOW.

Pizza Port Ernest Silky Smoove (Sweet Stout, 5.6% ABV): oatmeal stout!  oatmeal stout!  I love oatmeal stout!  This beer smells AWESOME.  It has a nice "mouthfeel" and so delicious and syrupy.  Oatmeal stouts are amazing, and this one is one of the best.  The end.

Half Moon Bay Moonglow (Barleywine, 9.8% ABV): so tasty!  We had seconds of this one.  It was sweet and mild, and tasted like pineapple.  It was amber, malty, and "light & sparkly" according to my notes - since this came after tasting a number of other beers, take that description with a grain of sparkly salt.

Marin Brass Knuckle (Double IPA, 10.2% ABV): I wrote "sweet, honey, smooth, hops are gentle, I am tipsy."  The end.

The Port is open and the Abbey has been found....

We went back to the City Beer Store a few days later for the Lost Abbey/Port Brewing event.  All the beers on tap were special for the event, and a lot of them were interrelated or mixed together which seemed pretty creative to me (although I guess that's not terribly uncommon).

First up I had Lost Abbey Double Cherry Red Poppy (Sour Ale, 5.5% ABV).  It's a Flanders Style Sour Ale, and I thought it was totally delicious.  It was super sour when I first sipped it, but then I waited a second, and swallowed again and it was warmer and more sweet.  I like beers that have a slightly different aftertaste - I think some would call that "complex"?  It was foggy and dark red, and looked kind of like pomegranate juice.  It doesn't look very carbonated, but felt a little bubbly.  All in all, this was a really good sour beer.

I decided to stay in the sour realm and try Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme (Belgian Strong Ale, 11.5% ABV) next.  While the Lumberjack thought this was delicious - he said it was like the Double Cherry Red Poppy Emeril BAM style - and it rates a 100 on ratebeer, I have to say...not impressed.  There was no aroma and it tasted kind of bland, which was especially disappointing after enjoying the Double Cherry so much.  I gave the Lumberjack the rest of mine.

I tried a few other beers that I'm too lazy to type up, and then decided to taste Lagunitas Brown Shugga (Barleywine, 9.8% ABV), since the Lumberjack has been telling me for months that I'm going to love it.  And...as usual, he was right.  It had pretty lacing on the glass and tasted beautiful.  It had a light wheat flavor that I enjoyed - it's another beer that will be great on a hot sunny day.  Very sweet.  Good call, LJ.

Once we were done with the beer, we ate BBQ on Folsom.  Yeah, it was good.  Clearly my note-taking started suffering at this point.