IPA Extravaganza at a Dinner Party

I love beer.  More than drinking it, I love tasting it - trying different samples, even ones that I hate, comparing & contrasting different styles, making up phrases with dramatic adjectives to describe it (even if I usually end up with "NO" or "WOAH").  This activity is always way more fun with companions.  The Lumberjack is an excellent beer tasting companion.  This is why I date him.

It's also fun to taste beer with large groups of people.  I like hearing multiple perspectives on each beer - often, someone else's description helps me clarify my own opinion, or someone else will taste something (recently Spitfire yelled "basil!" after I yelled "eucalyptus" and her description made the basil flavour become suddenly apparent to me - and after that, I kinda felt like I was drinking a salad.  but that is for another entry.) and it helps me get a broader view of the beer.  So when my friend Axe invited the Lumberjack & I over for dinner and put us in charge of the beer selection, I was thrilled.

[Spoiler Alert: it's really not a good idea to drink a bunch of IPAs back-to-back, as they ruin your palate and then you sit there thinking "uh, I think this is good?" and feeling foolish.  Or maybe that's just me.]

First up was Hops of Wrath from Dust Bowl Brewing (American IPA, 6.6% ABV).  I immediately liked this beer for the simple reason that the brewery is in Turlock, CA, which is where my family is from.  Unfortunately, that was the high point of the beer for me.  It was bubbly, but felt a little too pinchy on my tongue.  The flavour was too light, and there was no aftertaste.  It just didn't have enough attitude for me.  Nike agreed with me and thought the name was misleading, as the hops were far too mild.  Axe also found it mild, but thought it was more bitter - she liked it but wouldn't drink a lot of it.  Ms. Mars and the Lumberjack were much more descriptive, finding it fruity and interesting - Mars even tasted lychee?  I think she might have been lying.

Nike and Mars pulled out their Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen (Belgian IPA, 9% ABV) next.  It had a huge, fluffy head that looked like a soft cloud on top, and smelled like hay.  Nike and Mars both liked the floral, jasmine scent.  The Lumberjack pointed out that the yeast was much more interesting here than in the Hops of Wrath.  I pointed out that anything is more interesting than the Hops of Wrath.  Axe thought it tasted like summer days at the pool.  She also liked that it didn't have a bitter finish, unlike her other experiences with IPAs.

During dinner (delicious homemade pizzas), we had the 4th Anniversary Double IPA from Port Brewing which is one of my favourite IPAs; it has a really nice malty base to it.  Nike liked it too - it was his favourite so far - and Axe thought "the end is like fireworks."

YuleSmith Summer Holiday Ale (DIPA, 8.5% ABV) was a hit among all of us.  It smells like fruity hops (my favourite kind!), and has a huge head that calms down to a nice density, at which point it has a sweet honey scent.  It's bubbly, a little less solid than the Anniversary DIPA above, with a nice spicey kick.  The Lumberjack also thought it was fruitier.  Axe might have been getting a little intoxicated at this point, as she thought it "smells like bananas and tastes like abandonment."

Our last IPA was the Elysian Immortal (IPA, 6.2% ABV) which was smooth and subtle, and slightly spicey on the tongue.  Axe described it as the opposite of Coyote Ugly (instead, this beer is "Rabbit Beautiful") because, when waking up next to this beer, you would be thrilled at how much cuter it was than you thought.  Yes, this description made a lot of sense at the time.

After dinner, we pulled out the "dessert beers" - basically, an excuse to bring more things to taste.  I first pulled out Beer Geek Breakfast (Imperial Stout, 7.5% ABV), which remains one of my all-time favourite beers.  It's just SO GOOD.  Smells gently of hops, tastes thick and sweet with a nice coffee flavour, and the oatmeal adds a lovely viscosity.  Axe thought it tasted ashy, Flippant liked the charcoal flavour.  Mars liked the coffee/oatmeal combo, and thought it would make a great breakfast.  I couldn't agree more.

Then, we had Older Viscosity (Imperial Stout, 12.1% ABV).  I'm not a huge fan - it's just a little too dense and rich for me.  The Lumberjack loves it.  Axe, however, had a different option.  As her verbal description was a little too foul for my blog, I'll let her before and after pictures tell the story.

before!

after.

After that, she acknowledged "it gets better as you keep drinking."  Interesting.

The last beer of the night was Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Helles Bock (8.3% ABV).  You may remember how much I love the 30th Anniversary Imperial Stout?  So much!  Because it's delicious.  Well, that's what I thought this one was.  I grabbed it off the shelf, planning to share one of my favourites...then the Lumberjack pointed out my mistake.  Oops.  However, this beer was pretty good too.  It was nicely balanced, with a very mellow feel to it.  It was tasty and calm - a good end-of-the-week beer.  Very relaxing.  It was a little wheaty around the edges, but I didn't mind too much.  Had a little spiciness, too.

The next morning Axe claimed to be affected by "beer allergies."  I see.

The Infamous Pliny the Younger!

We originally went to Beer Revolution, before I remembered (as we stared at the shut door) that it's closed on Mondays.  Oops.  Luckily Pacific Coast Brewing is right up the road, so I was still able to get a beer with my newly unemployed friend Repeat.

He knows and likes beer on his own, but clearly was entertained by me giving him suggestions.  I started looking at the menu, and...HOLY SHIT.  The tap list was out of control.  It included Stone Vertical Epic, Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz & Ken Ale, Angel's Share, Speakeasy Scarface Stout, Old Rasputin, Maharaja, and...Pliny the Younger.

Now, those of you (all 3 of you?) who read this know that I used to hate IPAs, and am only recently discovering a few delicious ones.  But even I have heard all the hoopla about this Pliny the Younger.  It sold out in like 36 minutes during SF Beer Week?  Or something equally ridiculous.  People are obsessed with this beer.  So to see it casually listed on the menu meant I simply had to try it.

Although HOLY CRAP that's an awesome tap list - and that wasn't even all of the options!

So, I got Pliny the Younger.  ABV 11%!  Our server actually reminded me how strong it is.  I guess he didn't think the little lady could handle it?

I have to say: eh, it's pretty good.  It smelled VERY strongly of hops.  My nose is not fancy enough to decipher the different scents - to me, it was just super hoppy.  It was light amber/gold, with no real head to speak of.  It was sweet and watery when sipped, but had a syrupy feel on my lips afterward.  It was nice, sweet, and subtle.  It "rinses clean" as Repeat said.  Overall, the first half of the glass was really nice.  However, after that...it just stopped being all that great.  Maybe the hops killed my palate, I don't know.  But it's not a beer I would drink a lot of.

Repeat got the Scarface Stoute (OR SO WE THOUGHT), and I liked it, as usual, although it had a strong Kahlua flavour that I didn't remember from last time I had it.  For our second beers, I had the Fritz & Ken Sierra Nevada which was delicious as usual, only more tobacco-y this time than before.  Repeat got Maharaja at my suggestion, which was just as amazing as the first time I had it.  This time the dried nectarine/apricot flavour was more pronounced.  So delicious!

It was a pretty nice evening, until the bill came.  Everything was fine except they charged us for a $12 Rasputin instead of the $6 Scarface Stout.  When we pointed that out (the server who had taken our order had gone home, so the server giving us the bill didn't know for sure what we had ordered), she said she would have to check with the bartender...then he showed up a few minutes later and said "what do you want me to do with this Rasputin?"  Repeat said, justifiably "uh, charge us for the beer we ordered?" and the dude gave us really weird attitude.  Finally he left without saying what was going on.  At that point I realized why Repeat's "Scarface Stout" tasted different than it had before - oops.  But I've had Rasputin, and this wasn't familiar at all.  Oh well.  Finally the server brought us the correct bill, but was kind of snotty about it - then wouldn't give us change forever, as if she thought she was getting a 40% tip for her troubles.  When Repeat finally went up and asked for change, the bartender just slid the change at him down the bar and ignored him.  Hmm.

Pacific Coast Brewing: delicious beer options, but could definitely use some work in the customer service field.

Beer Revolution: Impromptu Stout Fest 2010

Stout stout stout.  My favourite kind of beer.  Last night Beer Revolution had a Stout Fest, and sadly the Lumberjack was unable to attend with me.  Luckily my new friend Prius who I met at Beer Revolution two weeks prior was going to be there, so I had a date after all!  Let's go drink stout.

The first time I met Prius, I was a little drunker.

Also!  I recently discovered the Hipstamatic iphone app, which photoshops my phone pictures into vintage-y looking images.  Doesn't my beer look so much classier now?

Shown in the brandy glass: my first stout was Haandbryggeriet (that's right) Dark Force (Imperial Stout, 8.5% ABV), Prius' was Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager (Dunkel, 6.5% ABV).  Dark Force smelled like whiskey, with a smokey aftertaste.  It had a slight bite to it, and it numbed my tongue slightly for a second or two after each sip.  It was very thick and syrupy - when I swirled it in the glass, it created a film on the sides.  It was a little too soy saucey after awhile - while it was good for sipping at first, I found myself losing interest near the end.  The Hot Rocks had a spicey bite to it that I liked, and was a really pretty ruby colour.

I tasted the Allagash Black (Foreign Stout, 7.5% ABV) but was unimpressed - it tasted too wheaty, and was too light (for me).  I like a heavier stout.  I also tasted the Bison Chocolate Stout (Stout, 6.1% ABV), which I had tried to get when I was there two weeks ago, but the keg was kicked and all I had was tasty foam.  This time Prius had a full glass, so I was able to try it for real.  The chocolate flavour is very subtle.  Overall it's very toasty and malty, and I thought it was pretty good.

My second order was the North Coast Old #38 (Dry Stout, 5.6% ABV).  At first I thought there wasn't enough flavour to it, but after awhile it picked up.  I was drinking it with my cheeseburger (burgers go SO WELL with stout!), and it warmed up a bit.  It's very drinkable - if I didn't have my eye on something else, I could definitely have had another.

However, it was time for...Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz & Ken Ale (Imperial Stout, 9.5% ABV) aka Holy Shit This Beer is Delicious.  I mean, seriously.  Holy shit, this beer is DELICIOUS.  The Lumberjack and I had it a few weeks ago and my brain nearly exploded it made me so happy, so I was especially thrilled to try it on tap.  As I learn more about beer, I notice that it tastes so different on tap vs. in the bottle.  It's fresher and a little more exciting on tap.  This beer tastes great in both situations, but it was fun to notice the subtle difference.  You should try this beer!  It has more carbonation than most stouts, which really livens it up.  It's syrupy, without being too thick.  It smells dry, then fills your whole mouth with rich, coffee-like flavour.  Slightly chocolatey, awesome roasted malt.  I love this beer.

While perusing the bottle selection, I noticed two bottles of The Bruery Papier (Old Ale, 14.5% ABV) available.  You may remember that the Lumberjack loves this beer - the last time we were at Beer Revolution, they had a few bottles for sale, and since this is a limited release and not widely available, we bought them all.  I quickly texted the Lumberjack to see if he wanted me to grab these two bottles, to which he of course responded "YES," but a few minutes later I noticed someone at the barrel/table next to me drinking it.  Oops.  Only one bottle left.  I grabbed it quick, and now it's ours.

Delicious!

Sidebar - Oakland

There are still SF Beer Week events to write about.  I know.  I am sure all my zero readers are dying to know what the Lumberjack and I have been up to.  You will have to wait!  Because I'm lazy.

While you wait, I will tell you about a few other beers that I had with my friend who I have to call "Spitfire" until she comes up with a better pseudonym for herself.  Apparently when I'm tipsy, "spitfire" is the best I can come up with.  So, Spitfire she is.

We went to the grand opening of Heart and Daggers Saloon (yes, I promise I hate the name just as much as, if not more than, you).  It's a fun little bar, but the beer list made me want to cry (the big seller was the extra-large cans of PBR).  So after awhile we headed down to Sidebar, a restaurant near my house that I had a hunch might serve some good beers.

Behold!  A very small photo of their beer list.  Ahem.

First up, Spitfire chose La Fin du Monde (Abbey Triple, 9% ABV).  I had tried it once before, and still like it a lot.  Kind of fruity, with a solid base.  Smells like bananas.  Very tasty!

I had the Sierra Nevada Porter (Porter, 5.6% ABV), which was pretty decent.  In the greater Sierra Nevada context, I give it an A, but compared with my favourite porters and stouts like Speedway, more of a B+.  It was a little too watery, although it had a great light flavour of raisins and coffee.  For a relatively cheap beer, it was great.

I had been to Sidebar once before for dinner, and liked it a lot - it has a very cozy and hip feeling - dark wood, sparse decorations, friendly (and kinda hot) staff.  This time we sat at the bar and the bartender was very kind to give us his beer suggestions.  My favourite bartender is the kind who has an opinion and wants to share it with you...but then follows up afterward to see if he was right.  SOMETIMES THEY'RE NOT.  This time he was.

So, at his suggestion, Spitfire then had Saison du Pont (Saison, 6.5% ABV), which I had also had before, and was not a fan of - it just tastes a little off to me.  The hops are kind of sour, and not in the good way.  But I think she liked it.  I had Hopf Dunkle Weisse (Dunkelweizen, 5% ABV), which the ratebeer people seem to hate.  I thought it was pretty good.  It tasted kind of fruity, slightly of prunes and dried cherries with a syrupy aftertaste.  It also faintly tasted of sour milk, although that wasn't bad (hard to explain, but true).  It was a little too wheaty for me after awhile - I think if I only had a little of it I would like it, but 500ml was too much.  It's a good beer to share with someone else.  Speaking of which...

The best part of the evening was making a new drinking friend!  Oh Spitfire, look how happy she is with her beer and notes.  It's so much more fun to taste beer and compare notes than to...not.