Abita Abbey Ale

Abita Brewery recently released a big bottle series. The series consisted of bottling their previously draft-only beer, Andy Gator, and a new Abbey Ale in 22 oz. bottles. 22 oz. bottles are a great leap for a brewery that produces an IPA which is nothing more than a weak pale ale. But with their Abbey Ale, Abita managed to brew a good interpretation that is complex and interesting.  

Abita's Abbey Ale has an aroma of banana bread and soft fruit with hints of yeast and toast. The flavor has a slight hint of sour tempered by a stronger passion fruit flavor. There are also hints of banana, spices, bread, vanilla and possibly eggnog in the flavor. Now, all Abita needs to brew is an IPA with some hops.

Schneider Aventinus

Schneider Aventinus may have the best protected recipe in the entire beer brewing world. Created in 1907, the recipe currently seems to be protected by a two year-old's drawing of a caveman wielding two gigantic blunts. 

Schneider Aventinus has an aroma of spicy cloves and banana. It's flavor is sweetish with soft, subtle notes of raisin followed by a spicy clove finish. Spelling errors are always fun, but one can always get past it by doing the stanky leg. 

NOLA Brewing Company

NOLA Brewing Company is the first brewery to set up in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. New Orleans isn't a terribly sophisticated beer town, so I didn't expect much from NOLA Brewing. They unleashed their beer upon this drunken city last weekend, and the beers turned out to be really good. 

NOLA has two offerings, a blonde ale and a brown ale. This isn't a full write up on either. NOLA blonde ale has a good hop punch. It's sweet, flowery and fruity. I don't think I could drink several in a row because the sweetness became a little cloying at the end of the first beer. It reminded me of a hoppy Triple. NOLA's brown ale was excellent. It's dark, malty and immensely drinkable witha brisk espresso kick. 

Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus

Cantillion Rosé de Gambrinus is the rosé champagne of beers. The pink color is a dead ringer for rosé wine, while the mouth feel mimics champagne with a light, spritzy body and bone dry finish. 

Rosé de Gambrinus is a lambic lightly flavored with whole raspberries. The aroma and flavor of this beer never show the same face, they differ with each sniff and sip. The aroma is fruit forward with a strong note of fresh raspberries as well as hints of musky wild yeast, funk, iron and copper. The flavor predominantly consists of raspberry followed by a tart finish, but there is little sweetness to the raspberry flavor. It also has elements of raspberry seed and brettanomyces (wild yeast).  

St. Bernardus Abt 12

St. Bernardus Abt 12 might best be described as a brown ale, though not exactly. It's one of those unique beers in a category all its own. At 10.5 % a.b.v., Abt 12 is the strongest ale offered by Brouwerij St. Bernardus. . The brewery's website calls it, "A dark ivory colored beer with a high fermentation." However, I have never seen an ivory colored beer. Dark reddish brown is more accurate. 

Abt 12's flavor hinges on a sweet-sour balance. An intense prune flavor is contrasted by an acidic, sour flavor. During the finish, the prune flavor intensifies and mingles with hints of chocolate and spice. 

Nøgne-Ø Doppel IPA

Nøgne-Ø Doppel IPA is a collaborative effort from Nøgne-Ø and Toshi Ishii of Japan's YoHo brewery. Ishii trained for three years at Stone and returned to Japan to brew west coast style ales there. 

Nøgne-Ø Doppel IPA uses five varieties of hops, has 100 IBUs and an 8% a.b.v. It is bottle conditioned and dry hopped with two types of hops. The beers body is light and fluffy without the hefty mouthfeel that might be expected from a double IPA. The aroma smells of spices and dough. The flavor has elements of caramel and lemon. The dry, acidic finish has plenty of pine and occasional hints of dark chocolate.

A word of warning about Nøgne-Ø beers: The bottle conditioning is a problem. There's a ton of yeast in their bottles and you ending losing the bottom fifth of each bottle to the cloudy chunks. I find that flavors come through clearer when the bottle conditioning yeast is not in the tasting glass. 

Mikkeller Warrior Single Hop IPA

As the name implies, Mikkeller Warrior Single Hop IPA is only hopped with Warrior hops. Warrior hops are primarily used for their bittering properties, though they are sometimes used for their aromatic characteristics. Mikkeller's website calls Warrior IPA, "An extremely fresh-hopped IPA." Sounds intriguing, however their website translations are not very trustworthy.

Warrior IPA has a silky body. The aroma has notes of bubble gum, grass (hay or wheat), and tropical fruit. The flavor follows through on the aroma's foundation expressing tropical fruit and bubble gum flavors ending in a long, bitter finish that is aggressive but not uncomfortable. It can be reminiscent of a wheat beer due to the grass and bubble gum character. It is not an overtly fruity IPA. 

Nøgne Ø #100 Barley Wine

It is rare to find a barley wine in America that relies on finesse rather than muscle. Most American Barley wines that I've tried have a hefty mouthfeel and pack a malt wallop. Nogne O's Batch 100 is brewed in Norway and uses subtlety to express its flavors. It was originally brewed for the enjoyment of the brewers, but was later brewed for retail sale due to demand.  

The most interesting aspect of Batch 100 is the mouthfeel. It is extremely light and creamy for a barley wine, yet the malt still sticks to the inside of your cheeks. The carbonation is lively and it finishes very dry. The mouthfeel comes off like a Belgium beer. 

Batch 100 has 80 IBUs and 10% a.b.v. The robust aroma has a good hop-malt balance. There are notes of pine and cola, as well as hints of earth, fresh grapes and perhaps flower petals. The flavor has a cola character followed by a bitter pine needle finish. 

When pouring Batch 100, be careful towards the end of the pour. Like a Minuteman, the sludge comes out quick. 

Duchesse de Bourgogne (Verhaeghe Vichte)

Verhaeghe Vichte's Duchess de Bourgogne is a Flemish Red Ale. Flemish Red Ales are sour in flavor, the most famous being Rodenbach's Grand Cru. The Duchess is another fine example of the style. It is a blend of eight and eighteen month old ales aged in oak casks. The coloring is dark ruby. Its aroma has hints of sourness, cherries and candy. The flavor begins with a sweetness that quickly melds into a dry, sour kick. Once you get over the sour flavor, the sweet flavor emerges with a candied cherry character.