Beer-a-Day #326 
Medium amber with a little chill haze. Big hop aroma, with grapefruit and toast. Big hop flavor and delicious.
They should just call this “hop head’s delight”.
Stone IPA
3
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Beer-a-Day #325 
In the 14th Century, Sailors would rely on sheer skill to get from a starting point to a final destination. They called this Dead Reckoning. We see our beer the same way. We know where to begin and know where to go, but there are hundreds of ways to get there.
Dead Reckoning is unfiltered and weighs in at 5.8% abv and 53 IBU’s. It features Pilsner, Caramel, Chocolate and Roasted malts along with Chinook and Vanguard hops. “The outstanding taste and flavor of Dead Reckoning originates in the chocolate and roasted malts,” says John Trogner. “There is a nice hoppiness in the front of the beer, followed with a rich, smooth cocoa mouth feel.”
Very dark and nearly opaque. Beige head is a finger thick and rugged. Chocolate and roast coffee; smells rich. Nice roasted flavor with a hefty yet mellow bitterness. When I think of a porter that’s pretty much what I’m looking for. Delicious.
Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale
Beer-a-Day #324 
Anniversaries are important. They are benchmarks to help us gauge where we stand, and more importantly, they help us to see where we have come from. Each fall, we like to celebrate our anniversary by releasing a very special beer. A beer that represents our past while looking forward to our future. For the past 29 years, we at Sierra Nevada have had a commitment to using the finest raw ingredients, and the freshest, most flavorful hops in all of our award winning ales and lagers. Our Anniversary Ale is no exception.
This beer is a big, full-flavored ale bursting at the seams with fresh, spicy and aromatic hops. Our 2009 Anniversary Ale is brewed in the style of an American IPA, a style that Sierra Nevada helped create. This beer is a complex brew made up with a combination of four varieties of malts that add a rich and complex backbone to showcase our signature hop variety: the Cascade. This hop produces the big piney and citrusy flavors that Sierra Nevada beers are known for and is one of the varieties that have become the definition for what the new styles of American beers represent.
Gold with an orange hue. Quite a bit of grapefruit in the aroma. Oh yeah, that’s Cascade alright. Yum.
(Hey, Ron! Get some before it’s gone!)
Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager
Beer-a-Day #323 
This dog enjoys his days in the sun… Old Scratch Amber Lager is a malty, mellow beer that is fermented at medium temperatures to develop both ale and lager characteristics. “Gold Scratch” raises the standard in the amber lager category.
Pretty copper color, clear, with a good sized off-white head. Rich and malty aroma, with a bit of floral hops. Medium-bodied and malty but easy to drink. This is one of my fall-back beers.
Flying Dog Brewery – Old Scratch Amber Lager
Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale
Beer-a-Day #322 
The young pup of the pack… Tire Bite Golden Ale is a refreshing, light, warm weather slammer with a flavorful hop edge. Brewed using exclusive imported German hops, this beer draws craft beer drinkers back from the “dark” side of the cooler.
It’s been unseasonably warm this November, so what the heck. Light gold with a white head that drops quickly. Aroma is very light, perhaps a bit floral. Taste is a bit fizzy and, well, inoffensive. I generally love Flying Dog beers, but this one didn’t thrill me.
Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale
Barons Pale Ale
Beer-a-Day #321 
This thirst quenching Barons Pale Ale uses the finest Australasian ingredients including Pacific Hallertau and Nelson Sauvin Hops. Best enjoyed icy cold.
Pale with a yellowish-orange caste. I get a bit of lemon and caramel in the aroma. Medium body with just enough hops in the finish. I’m glad this made the trip from Australia in such good shape.
Fireside Nut Brown
Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale is a seasonal release from Leinie and here is what they have to say about it…
While the star of this holiday season is the roasted malt character, the well-balanced flavor and brilliant amber tones give Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown a comforting approachability that you don’t experience in traditional English-style nut browns. English two-row malts give this lager a maple aroma and pronounced chocolate, caramel and hazelnut top notes that dance around the palate before finishing gracefully.
The name alone makes you want to pour yourself one this Thanksgiving. I found this ale simple, and malty. The best way I can describe it is biscuity, both in aroma and taste. I liked it, but expect a “small” beer here.
Since Brown is not my favorite style and happens to be one of my wife’s favorites, I also looked to her for an opinion. She thought it was very good and described it as, “I think I need another to describe it”.
Warsteiner Premium Verum
Beer-a-Day #320 
A world class traditional pilsner, Warsteiner Premium Verum is a slightly pale German-style pilsner with a clean, crisp, refreshing import taste. Warsteiner is brewed with fresh Arnsberger Forest spring water sourced at the brewery in Warstein, Germany, naturally soft water that helps to create the smooth taste and thick creamy head. Warsteiner truly is The Premium German Beer. Brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516.
Pale straw with a fizzy head. Aroma is light and crisp. Taste is light and crisp and eminently drinkable. What a German pilsner should taste like.
BrewPoll plugin update
I have made a minor tweak to the BrewPoll plugin. It should now behave a little bit better with large images in your posts.
It is working here (currently WordPress 2.8.6) but is simple enough that it should work on any 2.x version of WordPress. (But you’re keeping your WordPress installation up-to-date anyway, right?)
If you find it useful, please drop me a line.
Anchor Steam Beer
Beer-a-Day #319 
Anchor Steam derives its unusual name from the 19th century when “steam” seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice. The brewing methods of those days are a mystery and, although there are many theories, no one can say with certainty why the word “steam” came to be associated with beer. For many decades Anchor alone has used this quaint name for its unique beer. In modern times, “Steam” has become a trademark of Anchor Brewing.
A pretty amber color with a thick head. Aroma is unique; I don’t know if I’ve ever smelled anything like it. My wife says it smells “clean”. Taste has a bit of oakiness and toastiness to it. It’s good.
