Stone - Enjoy By 9.13.13

Stone's "Enjoy By" is a double IPA that they have released to alleviate a single problem: deteriorating hop quality.  As we all know some beers are able to be aged if kept properly and that aging can alter the flavor of the beer.  This can often yield some pleasing results and sometimes can do more harm than good.  Hoppy beers and those with high alcohol content are often good candidates for aging as both of those qualities were originally popularized thanks to their powers of preservation.  However, while hops may act as a preservative, the qualities that we all love that hops imbue to beer tend to fade rapidly as the hopped beer ages.  In rare instances, this can work out, but more often than not it is less desirable and a far cry from the original intent of the brewer.

The deterioration has implications in aging, but also on the shelves.  How do you know if your IPA or other hop dependent beers are fresh?  How do you know you're getting the best tasting, least decayed, brewer-intended flavors?  Stone provides an answer to this problem with their "Enjoy By" series.  Other brewers simply use "brewed on" dates on their bottles or cans, but Stone is definitely putting their dates front and center in an attempt to promise drinkers a fresh, tasty, hoppy experience.  If you were buying a hoppy beer, wouldn't one of the factors to consider be the freshness of the brew?  Stone hopes so.  Time to see what they're offering.  Though with an IPA from Stone, a consistent maker of hop heavy styles, one can generally count on high quality.  I wanted to drink one as close to the date as possible to have it at its "worst" and see how it holds up.  Let's pour!

Aroma 12/12

It's got almost every hoppy aroma that I can think of short of wood, pepper, and herb.  First sniffs are beautiful and sweet, full of pineapple, pine, sweet sticky caramel malts, and grape fruit.  As the drink warms more grassy and musty notes arrive and they grow more noticeable to tame the amazing initial aroma.  It only grows to a moderate intensity, blending with the sweetness for balance, but not covering or overtaking it.

Appearance 3/3

When first poured, the beer is capped with a peach pastel colored head that slowly fades to ivory shades as the beer trapped within is drawn to its brothers below.  That beer pours a golden orange shade that is screaming for fall to arrive.  It is a slightly hazed beer in an earthy tangerine hue.  The colored head won me over.

Flavor 17/20

Not what I was expecting.  Given the nose of this beer, I anticipated a nice sweet introduction full of those sugary caramel malts and a grove's worth of citrus.  In the words of the venerable Judge Smails, "You'll get nothing and like it!"  The malts at the beginning were neutral at best or completely destroyed by the mothership of hop bitterness that just landed on my tongue.  OK, so maybe it's not the mothership, but it's enough to destroy any other flavors and it looks like it's headed for the White House.  Maybe a splash of citrus survives this resin onslaught, but little else.  I wrote down earlier that I could find a semblance of the caramel, but I may have been drinking at the time.  All there is now is a distant citrus, plentiful black pepper, and lots of bitter of the back of my tongue.  Oddly, the finish shows some malt!  The beer's body clearly indicates that Stone didn't skimp on adding malt, but you're hard pressed to find much of it in the flavor.  The finish instantly ends the black pepper flavors and continues the bitter.  This doesn't even give the illusion of balance, even if the caramel and alcohol heat do become slightly more present as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel 5/5

Body is great for a DIPA, big without being a chore to drink.  Peppery tingles remain on the tongue for some time after swallowing and carbonation is spot on perfect for a beer of this size - it permits for texture while largely staying out of the picture.  This beer is 9.4% ABV and is camouflaged but can be detected in a few of the exhales when you take a break between sips.

Overall Impression 6/10

One dimensional beers just don't win me over.  Now, I will say that I have had other Stone "Enjoy By" dates both on draught and in bottles and I recall enjoying those more than I did this.  The aroma was incredible, the mouthfeel was spot on for a DIPA, the ABV well hidden, and the appearance was solid.  The flavor was the only thing that I felt was not on par for Stone's normally superior performance in the realm of Americanized IPAs.

Total 43/50

Of course my first thought is, "Did I let it get to close to the 'enjoy by' date?  Should I have drank it earlier?"  Maybe.  However, if Stone says it's good for another 2 days, then they'd know better that I would.  Besides, isn't that what this whole beer is about: making sure the beer is fresh and providing a date with which you shoul expect a lower quality?  In their defense, I suppose I drank it toward the tail end of its optimum freshness, but I also suppose that I still expected excellence inside of that date.  Granted, excellence was not far off.  In fact, in every category where flavor was not a factor this beer received perfect marks!  However, the hop bitterness seized control like an ambitious despot and cruelly subjugated its inferiors.  Do the hops play nicer in fresher batches?  Undoubtedly.  However, this beer just goes to show exactly what it sets out to: fresher is better.  If this is it close to its worst, you know it's worth picking up earlier from that date.  For those that like bitter beer, you could  even pick this up after the date on its bottle, otherwise don't expect a lot beyond the bitter of an otherwise fantastic DIPA.

Surly - Wet

Well, this is one of those beers that I never thought I was going to be able to try. It sells quick, it doesn’t distribute outside the brewer's home state, and while I have plenty of family in Minnesota, I don’t have a go to trading partner up there. So when my wife brought back some Boston-based Wachusett beer for some friends that used to live there, imagine my surprise when they responded in kind with this little gem! Thanks Jim & Anne!  In fact, I only received this beer last night, but so much of its reputation is based on freshness that I wanted to drink it and review it as soon as possible.

For those not familiar with Surly’s Wet, it boasts on its can that the hops are picked on Day1, shipped on Day 2, and used on Day 4 so that the hops never have a chance to dry out.  Different hop varieties are used so the brew may vary a bit, but rest assured that will this much attention being paid to freshness (or "Ultra-Fresh" as the can states) you are all but guaranteed a big resiny treat.  The beer that I am reviewing today was canned on 10/1/2012.

Please excuse both my recent posting infrequency as I have just moved into my first house. There are features of said house that will definitely warrant their own post in the coming months. This also means that I haven’t yet set up a great spot to take pictures of these amazing beers, so bear with me.  Let's pour!

Aroma 12/12
Things begin with some very pleasant pine and orange rind notes. Rising up just behind those are mangos, pineapples, and some resin lingering in the background. However, once the beer begins to warm the resin takes on more of a primary role with the rind and gives a very “bitter orange” vibe to the overall character. Along with this resin comes some pretty strong grassy notes and since I happen to love that particular hop trait, it is most welcome. For those of you keeping track, yes I’ve only talked about the hop aromas thus far. The malts are in there, but are very far back and only open up once the beer has warmed. I’m thankful they show up as it gives the beer a more substantial, intense aroma and their sweetness helps to emphasize the sweet hop aromas like the pineapple. 

Appearance 3/3
This beer pours lighter than I expected, but still looks like a million damn dollars. It shines like a orange sapphire (yes, there are orange sapphires, smarty pants) and enjoys much of the same brilliance and clarity. Its robust eggshell colored head is maintained by a constantly ascending carbonation. The head forms slowly but builds tall and fluffy, before settling a bit and taking on more of a whipped cream texture. If any photographers out there are looking to create stock images of beer and what it should look like, this is it. Wow! Also worth mentioning, I’ve written the review up until this point with beer in my glass and the head is still present! I’ve never seen retention like this. Top marks and extra sparkle magic unicorn rainbow brownie bonus points to Surly for this! 

Flavor 19/20
First impressions are everything and this beer’s impression is bitter. I’m anxious to see what happens once my taste buds acclimate a bit more to the bitterness. Interestingly enough, the bitter in the first sips can be sensed in accented waves, each punctuating its own beginning. My initial notes read as, “woody, resin, long lasting bitter” and I’m pretty sure a part of my tongue went numb. Thankfully it recovered, finally acclimated, and then other flavors begin to emerge. Most notably are a muted pineapple and a sweet malt that I am having trouble placing. It’s sweet and lighter and almost sugary, which makes me think honey but the flavor isn’t correct for honey. This malt flavor is more fruitlike and definitely not the typical caramel malts used in making heavy duty West Coast IPAs. A quick wine taster’s slurp gives me little additional information, only a splash pineapple, a hint of the warmth, some nice pepper spice, and shot of pure resin. The finish is (obviously) not as intensely bitter as when I started this glass, but it still unapologetically offers its own take. Immediately after swallowing is a mellow sweetness, detectable only after one’s tongue has been adequately prepared for the resin, and then an intense aspirin-like bitter that fades in to tie up any loose ends. In hindsight, the sweet malts that confused me earlier are probably caramel malts that taste sweeter with melding with pineapple from the hops. It’s a great combination!

Mouthfeel 5/5
A big bodied beer to hold some big flavors. It rolls around in the mouth like mercury, but the hops’ spicy pepper note give a prickly sensation on the tongue and keeps it from becoming sluggish. The carbonation that was so present in the glass and contributing to the head is still ascending in subsequent pours, but this diminishes its presence in the mouth. The result is a beer that feels exceptionally smooth and silky thanks to an unobtrusive carbonation that dies quickly once inside the mouth. The warmth that became present during a slurp really never had much more presence than that. 

Overall Impression 9/10 
This beer is impressive, but definitely has the potential to be more-so if drank closer to its birth date.  I feel that the main consequence is that the fruits in the aroma do not come out as well in the flavor, resulting in a less complex beer than it was created to be. At 2 ½ months of age, this beer still has plenty going for it. It’s head and appearance were fantastic, its aroma was excellent, and it’s tasty as all get out. Right now it stands as a strong West Coast IPA, but at a younger age it could truly stand out from the pack. The only question is how to do that. How can you possibly get this beer with any less hop deterioration than Surly has tried to do?

Total 48/50

The answer to the question in the previous sentence is, “you don’t.” Surly has made more than an earnest effort to get a beer into its customers’ waiting hands that is as fresh as they can possibly make it and can it. Any further action lies in the hands of distributors, retailers, and how quickly craft beer drinkers can snatch it off the shelves. I dig this beer as a whole, with only minor nit-picky issues here and there. If Surly had the same distribution abilities as Oskar Blues, this beer would compete nationally with Deviant Dales. Hop heads should of course seek it out as fresh as possible, but if you’re not accustomed to how relentless hops can be, you may wanna sit this one out. This beer is a stern reminder than Minnesota is not just a state of quiet, polite, church-going folk. It’s also a state filled with potential hockey defensemen ready to administer a hockey stick enema if you stand in their crease too long. So noted, Surly. So noted.

Sierra Nevada - Celebration 2011

Now that all of my pesky, yet delicious, autumn seasonals are behind me, I can finally get crackin' on some winter craft beer!  I have more than a few socked away so if you like winter seasonals, warmers, spiced beers, or just any beer with a Santa reference on it, you are in luck.  To start things off, I'll be prying open a bottle of Sierra Nevada's Celebration 2011.  I may have had a few of these already this season and am eager to get my thoughts down on paper.  Let's pour!

Look at the gorgeous head on it!

Aroma 10/12

The hop profile is dominant, not huge, and definitely varied.  Christmas firs, grapefruit bitter, a little mustiness, and a fresh grass come together and harmonize in an almost floral hop bouquet.  The malt is roasted to perfection and the molasses just barely peeks past the hops for the sake of balance.  A lemon hop characteristic becomes more distinct as the beer warms.

Appearance 3/3

The head alone is worthy of a 3/3 in this category.  It is light beige, generous, and lazily undulates its way to the top of my tulip to sit there.  And sit there.  And sit there.  Eventually it begins to fade, like a cloud dissolving into my beer, but not without leaving an exceptional sticky lace over everything it passes.  The color is quite handsome too.  Full of bright rusts, coppers, and the color of oak leaves before the turn completely brown for the winter.

Doesn't do it justice.

Flavor 18/20

After starting fairly clean and crisp, the backbone wastes little time before fading in and exhibiting its talents.  A backdrop of light molasses is given and then the hops begin to shine.  The bright citrus shows first and blends extremely well with the sweet malts.  However, when held still in the mouth, a very creamy Crystal malt sweetness takes over.  Now give the beer a quick swish over the sides and back of your tongue.  Violá, hop bitter, resin, and a just a sprig of pine appear from nowhere.  It's funny how the biology of the tongue can dramatically affect a tasting.  The finish is more of the crystal malt, in both flavor and body, and a very drying hop bitter straight from the west coast.  The bitter lingers well into the aftertaste and the beer leaves the back of the throat a bit sticky.

Mouthfeel 5/5

The crystal malts that I have all-but-confirmed are present give this beer a substantial body and really support the strong hop presence.  It remains wonderfully drinkable and the carbonation rings true to the very last sip.  The 6.8% ABV is undetectable and the stickiness left in the back of the throat is far from distracting.  What a great dry finish this beer has!

Overall Impression 8/10

This is a great, solidly-made, seasonal ale.  The best part is that it didn't use more spices than a Turkish bazaar to do it.  It doesn't lean on the typical cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all spice, blah, blah, blah to make it seem like grandma is baking gingerbread in your mouth.  The body is sturdy, the carbonation is perfect, the aroma is wonderful, and the flavor is quaffable, yet doesn't err by being too light.  A great choice during the holidays!

Total 45/50

To me the score seems low for a beer I enjoyed this much.  It's hard to believe that a beer with this much body and flavor comes in a reasonably priced sixer and not its own bomber (Good work Sierra Nevada!).  I love that a holiday beer doesn't need to show its ABV to be a "warmer" or be an overly-spiced malt bomb to make you feel like old man winter is here.  This is a bargain of a beer with gads of flavor and a high level of technical excellence.  What better gift do you want for the holidays?

What's that?  You'd like a little something extra from your beer bloggers?  Fair enough.  Now, to give a little background my mother-in-law has an extensive Santa Claus statuette collection.  I mean Ex. Sten. Sive.  As in, an entire room of the house if surrendered to forces from the North Pole every winter.  I have risked life and limb ("Not the beer!  My actual limbs!" *bonus points for Sierra Nevada reference in a Sierra Nevada post*) to bring you these photos.  

Merry Christmas to all!  And to all a good night!

I'm gonna get it for this one.

Someone was a VERY good boy this year!