Pauwel Kwak vs Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

Belgian ale vs. Belgian inspired wild ale.  The Pauwel Kwak is a classic Belgian Strong Pale Ale, while La Roja is an American Wild Ale, which takes its process from the Flanders Red style of Belgian beer.

The Pauwel Kwak is a crisp pale ale that hides the 8% abv beneath a layer of yeasty spiciness and a great malt backbone.  The sweetness of the beer does not dominate, as the spices and hops do cut through to balance everything together.

The sourness of the Jolly Pumpkin La Roja dominates, but does not overpower the rest of the beer.  When drinking a Flemish Red, you should want and expect tartness, a bit of vinegar and not much hop bitterness.  And that is exactly what you get with La Roja.

My vote goes to the Pauwel Kwak, as it remains my favorite Belgian Strong Pale Ale, and it a beer that I could drink almost any day.

Beer Bracket 2010- The Sweet 16

After an exciting first round, and an even more exciting second round, the Sweet 16 is set.  Every beer in the Sweet 16 is a beer that I enjoy. The beers that came out on top were:
Brewer's Art Ozzy
DogFish Head 90 Minute IPA
Kuhnhenn Solar Eclipse
Selin's Grove Scottish
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
River Horse Triple
Flying Dog Raging Bitch
The Bruery Autumn Maple
Avery Maharaja
North Coast Old Rasputin
Bush Noel
De Dolle Dulle Teve
Pauwel Kwak
Samuel Smith Toddy Porter
Budweiser Budvar
BrewDog Tokio

A little something for everyone.  From IPAs, a Belgian Christmas ale, imperial stouts and a beer made with maple syrup.  Crazyness.  Hopefully your favorite team beer is still in the tournament.

Stop, Collaboration and Listen

I was going through my beer box the other day, and saw that I had yet to drink the Nogne O/Jolly Pumpkin/Stone collaboration Special Holiday Ale.  So a placed it in the fridge and waited for the night to drink it.

The three brewers are taking turns brewing this beer. 

This is the second release of Special Holiday Ale, which was first brewed in San Diego in 2008.  Each brew is following the same recipe, including Michigan chestnuts, white sage from southern California and Norwegian juniper berries, but differences in brewing and aging practices produce different beers.  Cheers to being different! Ska!

The beer pours a deep mahogany, small head that disappears quickly.  The smell is dominated by the sage and juniper, but I could smell a hint of the chestnuts.  On the first sip, I could get the sage (the minty taste was first thing I noticed) and juniper upfront, and the chestnuts came about as the beer warmed a bit.  The malt is hidden by the spices, but is still present (I was tasting a sweetness that I figured was from the malt).  The alcohol is also well hidden, as I expected more from a 8.5% beer.

The Special Holiday Ale was silky smooth in my mouth.  It is a little thinker than I would like, but very very smooth.  I would love to have this beer again, it was a spice bomb, yet very drinkable.

All I want for Christmas....

This is my Christmas list this year.  First off, my Five beers that I have enjoyed and want more of this year.

1. Stone Vertical Epic 09/09/09.  This was the first porter that I have enjoyed in a while.  The beer has more of a sweetness, not much burnt maltness to it.  Delicious.

2. Troeg's Nugget Nectar.  I am looking forward to this beer coming out again.  We were fortunate enough to get some in August, and I still have a bottle for over New Years.  But there is nothing better than Nugget Nectar out of a cask.

3. The bottles of Flying Dog's Raging Bitch.  I know they will be out soon, but it should be now.  I can't wait to get this and share it with my friends who cannot get it.

4.  Jolly Pumpkin anything.  So glad the Michigan Brewers Festival allowed me to sample their beers, and then the present from my brother to enjoy WeisenBam and La Roja.  I just want more.

5. Kuhnhenn Brewing's Solar Eclipse Imperial Stout.  One of my favorites from the MBF.  Their Simcoe Silly was almost just as good.

6. Basically any of the other delicious samples from the MBF, New Holland, Arcadia, and Short't to name a few.

7. I was happy to be introduced to Koningshoeven.  It was requested that I try it, which I thoroughly enjoyed, by the chef at Jack's Bistro because they were out of...

8. Witkap Pater Dubbel.  Grape Kool-aid.  I don't know why, but I get grape kool-aid from it.  Yes, I know there is other stuff, but what blew me away was the grape kool-aid.

9. My Base Beers.  They are the special beers that no matter what, you know what you are getting, and it is a good one.  60 Minute IPA, Racer 5, Yuengling Lager, etc.  It doesn't matter.  It established the style for me.

10. My next beer, because that is my favorite kind.

Jolly Pumpkin No.2

Tonight, I figured it would be a good night for La Roja, which is:
An artisan amber ale brewed in the Flanders tradition. Deep amber with earthy caramel, spice, and sour fruit notes developed through natural barrel aging. Unfiltered, unpasteurized and blended from barrels ranging in age from two to ten months.

The beer is a good beer, but I can find some flaws in my favorite style brew.  First off, I find that the beer starts out too carbinated.  The cherry is in the nose, but you have to search for it in the taste.  Finally, I feel there is too much of an alcoholly taste to it.

Other than those few complaints, I do like the beer.  It is smooth in the mouth, with a really nice tart sourness to it.  It really zaps the tongue in a pleasant way (if you like a Flemish red style beer).

Overall, I would suggest this beer to someone who is looking for something different, is adventurous, and patient- you have to wait for the cherry to come out.

Time for me to get some more Jolly Pumpkin beers.

Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam

Definitely will agree with the name as it slams into your mouth with delicious funk. I am not the biggest hefeweizen fan, but this one definitely agrees with me.

The beer poured a cloudy yellow (what I think a hefe should look like). Lemony/grassy/funk smell comes out of a good size head that holds up well against the glass. The funk gives the initial taste a different swing to it. The lemony/green appleish taste goes well with the little carbination that it has.

This beer was a delight to drink, and it is definately something I will be looking to get again.