Upcoming Beer Events

Following are some of the cool beer-related events going on around town this year:

• Last night and tonight:  The Columbus Winter Beer Fest takes place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center from 6:30 to 10pm.  Tickets are sold out!
• Every Saturday this winter, Kolache Republic at 730 South High Street will offer a different spicy food special, such as Chorizo and Southwest Macaroni and Cheese.  The specials will change each week.
• On Monday, February 2, Hubbard Grille at 793 North High Street is having Burger and Beer Night where customers can purchase a burger and draft beer for $10.
• On Wednesday, February 4, the Local Matters charity and North High Brewing are hosting the Pints for Good fundraiser.  North High brewed a special Saison for the event.  Local Matters will receive $2 from every pint sold.
• Barley's Smokehouse is having an oysters and stout event on February 26th.

Barley's White Dragon (7/10)

Barley's Smokehouse offered this beer in June 2013.  I've finally gotten around to sharing the review.

White Dragon pours a cloudy orangey gold. It features a thin white head that dissipates quickly, leaving behind spotty lacing that lingers. 

The flavor starts kind of orangey and alcohol warming. Then, it gets a little piney hoppy after that. The finish is orange peel bitterness with some hops.

It's a beer that I like, but don't love.  Beer Advocate only has a couple of reviews, which give it 4/5.  Rate Beer has a couple that give it only a 3.6 out of 5.  I'm rating it 7/10.

Being that this is a Barley's original beer, you're probably not going to find it anywhere other than their Ale House #1 downtown by the convention center or at the Smokehouse in Grandview.







Flavor Profile:
Sweet, Malty, Dry, Bitter, or Sour: Mildly bitter
Spice Level:  None
Hops Level: Low to medium
Dominant Flavors: orange, orange peel, pine
ABV:  5.5%
IBU:  Unknown
My Rating: 7/10

Smokehouse Brewing Chocolate Cherry Zoltar Nitro (7/10)

Barley's Smokehouse produces this beer periodically.  It's an Imperial Porter brewed with cherries and aged in a cask.  This particular one, sampled in 2013, was also "carbonated" with nitrogen.

The beer pours a dark black color, as would be expected for a porter or stout.

The aroma has chocolate and cherries to it.

The flavor backs up the aroma, mixing the malty porter elements with dark chocolate and cherries.  The nitrogen makes for a long-lasting head and a very smooth mouthfeel.  For the style and the alcohol level, it's a very drinkable beer.

Beer Advocate has no rating for this beer.  RateBeer has only one 3.5 rating for it.  That's on par with my 7/10 rating.

You'll probably only find this beer at Barley's Smokehouse on Riverside in Grandview, but you might find it at Barley's Ale House in town near the Greater Columbus Convention Center.


Flavor Profile:
Sweet, Malty, Dry, Bitter, or Sour: Malty, slightly sweet
Spice Level:  None
Hops Level: Low to Medium
Dominant Flavors: Malt, Cherry, Dark Chocolate
ABV:  7.5%
IBU:  Unknown, but I’d estimate mid 20’s to mid 30’s
My Rating: 7/10

Zauber Ominous (7/10)

I'm a big fan of Columbus' own Zauber Brewing Co.  Their Belgian and German inspired beers are right up my alley.  Their Magnum is a personal favorite among their brews.  Ominous is something unique.  It's described as a Belgian Imperial Stout (which is something I've not heard of).

Ominous pours a deep black with thick beige head that lasts a while and leaves behind spotty lacing.

The aroma is a combination of a good stout (coffee, roasted malt) and a Belgian dark ale (dark fruit and malt sweetness).

The flavor is in line with what you'd expect for something that calls itself a Belgian Imperial Stout.  It starts with the sweet malt and dark fruit flavors of a dark Belgian ale.  Then, the coffee and hops bitterness of the stout style swells up and dominates the flavor.  The finish is all coffee, dark roasted grain, and hops.  Despite the fact that this is rated at 60 IBUs, it doesn't come across as bitter as some of the IPAs of that rating.  That may be a result of the complexity of the flavors and the intensity of the malt in this one.  Either way, all in all it's a very nice beer.

Beer Advocate has only a single review of Ominous.  Rate Beer also has only a single rating, as of this writing.  Keeping in mind that I'm not a big fan of the stout style and that any "Imperial" (i.e., hoppy) beer generally doesn't wow my tastebuds, my rating of 7 out of 10 for Ominous is actually quite a compliment to the beer.  It's a big, intense beer with a lot going on that will keep you entertained as you drink it.

I've seen this on draft at a couple of places around Columbus, but if you really want to experience it you should make the time to visit their taproom on Fifth Avenue in Grandview.  That will give you a chance to experience the other Zauber brews available, too.  The regular price of a glass of Ominous is $8.50, though there may be discounts during happy hour.

Wolf's Ridge Rosy Cheeks (8/10)

A relatively recent entrant to the Columbus beer scene, Wolf's Ridge Brewing offers some great beers and excellent food.  Their tap room will be opening in a few weeks, but the restaurant is open now. 

Rosy Cheeks is their Winter Warmer style beer.  It joins their Belgian style Tripel, Dubbel, rye, and Rauchbiers.

Rosy Cheeks pours a dark brown with thin beige head that lasts several seconds. 

The aroma is malty, with cranberry and dark fruit elements to it.

The flavor matches up to the aroma.  It starts malty and mildly sweet, with cranberry and raisin or date like notes to it.  The finish is mildly bitter. Despite being 7.7% alcohol there is no burn to it.  A very easy to drink and pleasant winter warmer without the usual spice elements.

You may find this at different establishments around town though I've only seen it at Wolf's Ridge's shop downtown.  It's well worth making a visit to try thoughts and there other great beers.

Rate Beer has only a single rating for the beer, and Beer Advocate has none as of this writing.  You'll just have to trust my 8/10 rating for it.

Price per glass is approximately $6 at the time this was written.

Alltech Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine (6/10)

Alltech Lexington Brewing, also known as Kentucky Ales, produces this Barleywine ale aged in Bourbon Barrels.  

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine pours a clear mahogany red with minimal white lacing and head. 

The aroma is dominated by cherries and dark fruit. 

Flavor starts malty, followed by a strong rush of Kentucky Bourbon, with a malty and somewhat bitter finish. Its flavor is more complex than the standard Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale but it's not as easy to drink.  You'll be sipping this one rather than gulping it down.

Beer Advocate gives this a 77 or "okay" rating with 136 people weighing in.  With 64 ratings, RateBeer is a bit tougher on it, giving it only a 43 overall.  I'm giving it a 6/10, which essentially means that I'd prefer it to a macro brew from one of the big names, but not a lot.

This beer is available at a number of Columbus retailers.  I was given this particular bottle by a family member, so I can't comment on where it was purchased.


Flavor Profile:
Sweet, Malty, Dry, Bitter, or Sour: Malty
Spice Level:  None
Hops Level: Medium
Dominant Flavors: Malt, dark fruit, cherry
ABV:  10%
IBU:  Unknown, but I’d estimate mid 20’s to low 30’s
My Rating: 6/10

5 Rabbit Cerveceria Muscat Wheat (8/10)

5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Bedford Park, Illinois, produces a line of Hispanic themed beers, including some based on chili peppers, frozen popsicle treats, and others. Muscat Wheat is a wheat beer brewed with Muscat grapes.

It pours a cloudy pale gold with thin white head.

Being a wheat beer, the malt itself gives very little aroma. The predominant aroma is the Muscat grapes.

Flavor is mild, as would be expected for a wheat beer, with a wine like fruity note. It's mildly sweet. Hops presence is virtually non-existent.

There aren't reviews for this beer on RateBeer or Beer Advocate at the time of this writing, so I can't give you a comparable rating elsewhere. I found it to be a pleasant, easy to drink beer. It reminds me some of some of Dogfish Head's Ancient Ales like Chateau Jiahu or Ta Henket. I'm giving the beer an 8/10.

I sampled this particular glass at The Daily Growler in Upper Arlington some time ago. I've not see it available for sale in bottles or draft since then.


Flavor Profile:
Sweet, Malty, Dry, Bitter, or Sour: Malty, Sweet
Spice Level:  None
Hops Level: Virtually none
Dominant Flavors: White Grape
ABV:  8.3%
IBU:  Unknown, but I’d estimate below 23
My Rating: 8/10

Cloning a Golden Dragon, Part 8 - Wine Yeast Introduction

I've been monitoring the fermentation of my Gulden Draak clone beer for about a month now.  For the past week, there seems to have been no change in the gravity of the beer.  The harvested yeast seems to have done its job and gone to sleep.  The gravity has been stuck at 1.049 for a while.  A true Gulden Draak beer is around 1.026, so we need a bit more work out of our yeast.

The real Gulden Draak beer has wine yeast (variety unspecified) used in its secondary fermentation process.  I have some Montrachet wine yeast left over from making Apfelwein in the fall, so I activated a package of that with a couple of teaspoons of yeast energizer and tossed it into the tank.  As expected, most of the yeast had fallen out of suspension to the bottom of the fermenter.

Tomorrow night, I'll be checking up on the beer to see if the wine yeast has made a dent in the beer. My worry, of course, is that the wine yeast will go a little too crazy and consume more malt in the beer than I intend for it to do, leaving the beer far too dry instead of mildly sweet like the real Gulden Draak.  It will be a while before we know.

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (6/10)

Brooklyn Brewery of New York is one of a few breweries that I have something of a confusing relationship with.  I love their labels.  I like many of the styles of beer they produce (Belgian Strong Dark, Quadrupel, etc.). I like their sense of humor.  But when it gets right down to it, I generally don't like their beer.  They're one of those breweries that thinks that if a beer is good, it'll be even better when it's really hopped up.

The beer pours a lovely coppery mahogany color with thick beige head that lasts longer than you'd probably expect for the alcohol content it packs.

The aroma is intensely hoppy, but some malt sweetness does poke through if you keep sniffing.

The flavor backs up the aroma.  Hops absolutely dominates this one.  Malt sweetness makes a brief appearance in the middle of the swallow, but is quickly bludgeoned into submission by the hops Brooklyn packs into the bottle.  And that's my problem with a lot of Brooklyn Brewing's beers.  I like the bottles, I like the styles they brew, I like the people who brew them (I've met their brewmasters in the past), and I think the labels are classy and stylish.  But their beer is often just too darned hoppy for the likes of me.

Before you go thinking I've got some kind of secret vendetta against these brewers, take a look at the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines for the doppelbock style.  In the "Vital Statistics" section, they state that a doppelbock should have the following characteristics:

International Bitterness Units (IBUs): 16-26
SRM (color):  6-25
Original Gravity: 1.072-1.112
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 7-10%

Now look at the specifications for Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager, taken directly from their official web page for the beer:

IBUs:  45 (almost double the style's guideline)
SRM:  Unknown
Original Gravity: 19.2 Plato or approximately 1.080 Gravity
ABV: 9%

They managed to hit the style everywhere but the bitterness, where they've practically doubled what's appropriate for a doppelbock.  And that's my problem with Brooklyn.  I really, really want to like the beer these guys make.  But because they subscribe to the "more hops is better" philosophy, I just can't seem to do it.

That said, I do like their QUADceratops, Winter Ale, and Sorachi Ace.  When this beer has spent a year or two in my cellar, and that 45-IBU bitterness dies down to something in the 16-26 range that's appropriate for a doppelbock, I think we'll have a winner here too.

The folks at Beer Advocate disagree with me on this one.  They rate Silver Anniversary Lager 87-89 out of 100 (very good).  The folks at Rate Beer loved it even more, giving it a 93/100 overall.  But I've had some doppelbocks that I really love, like Ayinger Celebrator, Fort Collins Brewing's Doppelbock, and others.  I like them so much more than this one that I can't in good conscience rate it higher than 6 out of 10.  That means I'd rather drink this than (for example) a Budweiser or Coors product, but I'd rather drink plenty of other doppelbocks before this one.

If you want to try this beer for yourself, when I last visited Kenny Road Market yesterday, it was on sale for $1.99 a 25 ounce bomber bottle, or $19.99 for a case of 12.  Perhaps you'll love it more than I did, or as much as I want to like it... but don't.

Kenny Road Market Deals - January 6, 2015

As of a few minutes ago, the Kenny Road Market had cases of Brooklyn Brewing's Silver Anniversary Lager, a doppelbock style beer with a 9% ABV that the brewery released in 2013 to celebrate their 25th anniversary.  The beer is available in corked bomber-sized bottles for $1.99 each or $19.99 for a 12-bottle case.  The beer got an 89/100 on Beer Advocate when it was released.

They also have Blue Moon Farmhouse Red, Blue Moon Tongue Thai-Ed, Blue Moon Belgian Pale Ale, Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, and quite a few other beers at reduced prices as well.

For those who are gluten intolerant, Luk cider is available at $1.99 for a large bottle or $19.99 a case.

For more information about Kenny Road Market, click here.

Abbey Monk's Belgian Dubbel Ale (8/10)

Abbey Brewing Company is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their products are brewed on the grounds of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The brewing funds the operations of the monastery itself. Their product line includes Monks' Ale, Monks' Tripel, Monks' Tripel Reserve, Monks' Wit, and of course Monks' Dubbel.

Abbey Monks' Dubbel pours a slightly hazy copper with spotty white head that lasts a while.

The aroma is malty, sweet, and fruity.

The beer's flavor starts malty and mildly hoppy, then gives way to sweetness and spice, finishing mildly bitter.

Reviews on Beer Advocate are not terribly complementary, although they do rate it in the 3 to 4 out of 5 range. Reviews on Ratebeer are a little lower. While I will grant that this may not be the equal of some of the beers from actual Belgian monasteries, it's a very competent example of the Dubbel style. It's easy to drink, has a pleasant flavor overall, and gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

This review is based on a draft (pictured here) from The Daily Growler in Upper Arlington. I've also had the beer in a flip-top bottle, and found it to be just as good. I've seen it for sale at Kenny Road Market, and occasionally in other local shops. Pricing is around $7 per bomber-sized bottle.

Flavor Profile:
Sweet, Malty, Dry, Bitter, or Sour: Malty, Sweet, Spicy
Spice Level: Low
Hops Level: Low
Dominant Flavors: Malt Sweetness, Spice
ABV: 7.6%
IBU: Unknown, but I’d estimate 20’s to low 30's
My Rating: 8/10