The Lost Abbey - 10 Commandments

The moment I saw the description on the label of this beer I was intrigued.  "Ale brewed with honey, raisins, & rosemary," it said.  Whenever I see weird ingredients, whether it be in food or drink, I have to try it.  Some people travel for their experiences and others hurl their bodies from heights and still others simply enjoy pushing limits in whatever they do.  I, in a typical American fashion, consume my experiences.

"You put a raspberry aioli on what?!"

"I didn't even know you could deep fry that!"

"This is from what country?"

"So the stuffing is inside the sea urchin?"

These are all phrases that indicate I am about to have a new experience. (Yes!)  And lest I forget my new favorite phrase, "They made a beer using WHAT?!?"  There are some very unusual ingredients out there: cucumbers from Cigar City, watermelon from 21st Amendment, passion fruit from 5 Rabbit in Chicago, hell my friend Keith even made a beer using actual Belgian waffles!  There is no limit to a brewer's creativity and I love to see the weird stuff whether it turns out amazballs or falls flat on its face.  That said, these ingredients are fairly unusual, but rosemary is one of my absolute favorite herbs so I'm excited to see how this beer tastes.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12

The aroma begins in a very balanced trifecta of their declared special ingredients (honey, raisins, & rosemary), but the honey quickly takes a backseat and the raisins become dominant.  The aroma is lovely!  The raisins are abundant and enjoy a nice background herbal note from the rosemary.  The dark fruit also plays extremely well with an alcohol warmth and the two meld into each other almost seamlessly.

Appearance 3/3

This poured much darker than I expected!  It's a rich dark brown, the color of stained cherry wood and with slightly fewer red glints.  The tan head forms quickly and is very large; over two fingers after a very cautious pour.  Since the carbonation is so tiny and tight, there is no lacing left, but the resultant retention is outstanding.

Flavor 20/20

There is little room for subtlety in a beer with this many big flavors and a 10% ABV.  Immediately, the beer is grinding a bushel of amazing, overripe dark fruits (raisins & plums) directly into your tastebuds!  The rosemary is not as powerful as the fruits, but is also far from hidden, and it makes a herbal pairing with the raisins that is absolutely fantastic!  Even a dollop of the honey's sweetness is allowed to show briefly before being swallowed up by the two larger flavors.  I immediately want to make a pork roast that mimics this beer.  Holding the beer in the mouth allows the honey's sweetness to grow, as well as a peppery spiciness on the tongue.  The spiciness can grow to be fairly intense!  The finish is a boozy, dark fruit slugfest that could have been syrupy if not for the Belgian Strong's traditionally high level of carbonation.  Though a flash of chocolate malts doesn't exactly help the matter.  After swallowing there is substantial alcohol heat rising up from your tongue, a vague sourness from the dark fruit, and the remnants of the peppery spices.  This beer is not f*&$%ing around.

Mouthfeel 5/5

There are things here that are very strong, but not all together inappropriate for the style.  The warmth is not hidden at all and in early sips can almost appear hot, especially in the finish.  Thankfully, it blends well with the dark fruits, which instead allows it to be a contributor to a rather garish harmony, but a harmony nonetheless.  The carbonation is also abundant, but the style does demand it.  In fact, in this beer I'm rather glad to see a higher level, lest all the alcohol and dark fruits make this beer far to heavy and syrupy and give the drinker the impression they've accidentally bought a huge bottle of cough syrup.  Even if it would be damn tasty cough syrup.

Moses giving mad props to God.

Overall Impression 10/10

Lost Abbey gambled big and won bigger.  Huge dark fruit flavors blend well with a very outgoing alcohol heat and the rosemary is such a dissonant, yet beautiful addition!  Everything about this beer is phenomenal if you're in the mood for something new, different, and BIG.

Total 49/50

Wow!  What a powerhouse of new, big, flavor combinations!  Let me tell you about this beer in a behind-the-scenes sort of way.  First off, I couldn't get the cork to pop (I know... I know... "That's what she said.").  I actually had to run the neck of the bottle under hot water (no dice) and then grip the cork at a 90 degree angle with a pair of pliers to get it to budge!  This beer was not about to be dominated by anyone.  Once I finally got it open and went to pour myself a 2-3oz pour for sniffing, the damn thing poured a fingernail's worth of beer and half a tulip full of head!  Even once it was open, it refused to give up.  Then of course, there was the huge, boozy beer within the bottle with which I had to contend.  Thank goodness for the honey's sweetness in a somewhat half-hearted attempt for balance.  The sweetness and the carbonation are not the stars of the show, but they are the only thing holding this beer back and preventing it from taking over a moderately-sized metropolitan area.

I don't know what it costs in your locale to buy it, but do so (probably $11-$14).  If you like big ol' face-smashing beers and have a penchant for unusual ingredients, you can thank me later.  Wow, what a brew!

B. Nektar Meadery - Zombie Killer Cherry Cyser

Today's choice of review is appropriate for two reasons:  1.  Last night was the mid-season premier of "The Walking Dead" on AMC which the wife and I enjoy quite a bit.  2.  An article last week in the NY Times about the Renaissance of Meade.  (Click here for article)

For those not yet acquainted with mead, it is a wine made with honey in lieu of grapes.  Just as grapes can be early or late season (especially in Gewurztraminer varieties), so can flowers and thus even something as incalculable as the seasons can result in some major differences in mead.  Not to mention the different types of flowers (orange blossoms, wildflowers, etc).  Talk about the potential for nuance!  Also this is labeled as a "Cherry Cyser" which I found out is a mead (honey) with apple juice added.  Cysers are also a likely precursor to ciders/hard ciders.

The first time I tasted mead from B. Nektar was at 2011's Midwest Brew Fest in Plainfield.  They made a great showing and were one of the celebrities brewers of the day.  I bought a Zombie Killer t-shirt that day because of the great label art, even though B. Nektar did not have any Zombie Killer with them.  Today is my first taste of this mead and I've been more than patient.  Let's pour!

Big hand to Kelly for picking up this bottle in one of her not-so-recent forays into Michigan!!

Aroma 10/12
This is difficult for me to judge as it's mead and not my usual "comfort zone" of beer.  I have a feeling that will be a recurring theme here.  The bottle smelled of cherries upon opening, but with a 2-3 oz pour in my tulip the smell is mostly wine-like tannins.  They are slightly acidic and smell similar to a sweet white wine.  I am serving this chilled as I saw them doing at the Fest so I hope it is appropriate to do so for this particular style.  It has a lovely floral character that becomes more exposed as the bottle warms a bit.  The added cherry juice begins to show as well, but still lies well behind the "tannins" and the floral esters.  The more this glass warms, the better it smells.  I clearly didn't let this bottle sit out enough.  Make sure this is served LIGHTLY chilled if you have it.  Anything more will do this mead a disservice. (Even if the bottle does say to "Serve cold... zombies hate the cold...")

Upon finally achieving what I felt was an optimum temperature, the mead is an excellent combination of the sweet white wine, apples, and cherry juice with the floral note hanging way back.  Each sniff seems to allow the primary aromas to alternate in the spotlight!  The cherry note does smell like a juice and not that of cherries off the tree or cherry pie, etc, but it is fairly rich.  I'm not smelling any honey directly, but I assume that fermenting greatly alters honey's characteristics.

Here's a question for mead drinkers:  Is the aroma growing stronger because the mead it warming, because like wine it also needs to "breathe" and oxygenate, or a combination of the two?

Appearance 3/3
Since mead is not carbonated, there is no head to judge.  It is crystal clear and has a color a bit lighter than that of a blush wine.  The cherry juice and natural pigments of the honey create a light coral or salmon shade.  Not a lot of hue changes throughout the glass either, just one big cup of cyser-looking goodness.  I really wish I knew if this were good or not.  I can say that it also has some fair legs when given even a small swirl.

Flavor 18/20
This is phenomenal.  Immediately the tongue is bathed in a sugary honey sweetness and a tart cherry wave.  It's not sour the same way that Brett is, but in a sour we're more accustomed to in fruits.  Holding the mead in the mouth reveals a backbone that showcases all this mead's flavors in a wonderfully complex harmony.  The cherries are sweet, but ring sour on the sides of the tongue.  Its tart cherries are the star of the show and we find out now that they are quite understated in the aroma.  Honey lends its smooth, coating nature and blends its sweetness flawlessly with the cherry.  It's a delicious pairing that I'm surprised doesn't exist more in other flavored goods.  The finish shows the darker, more authentic, almost bitter cherry flavor that throws the salivary glands into overdrive.  The aftertaste isn't much, but is a faint haunting of the sour recently swallowed.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Smooth!  Smooth!  Smooth!  I can only assume that honey's naturally viscous quality help make this mead so wonderfully silky.  The body is light as expected, but I don't believe it to be any different than a wine.  Oddly, lightly swishing the mead in the mouth allows what feels like an extremely light carbonation to appear.  I know that most will think that its just from the swishing, but I'm not swishing this like mouthwash!  I don't believe what I'm doing is enough to cause bubbles in the mead.  Is carbonation possible?

Overall Impression 9/10
This is good stuff.  It's not in my wheelhouse of expertise, but I really enjoy this flavor.  It is, of course, very sweet like a cider, and has many characteristics of a wine with out all the acidity.  I would say it's more akin to drinking a juice, but I would not degrade this mead like that.  Juice is too simple and easy.  The blending of flavors in this mead took a lot of work and brewing prowess.  The body is one of the best attributes and if all meads exhibit a similar characteristic due to the honey in the brewing process, then you can expect me to incorporate many more meads into my regular imbibing.

Total 45/50
Why aren't more things flavored Cherry + Honey?  With what a great combination it is, I'm rather surprised that we don't see it in bubble gums, lollipops, sodas, and various other sweets.  Besides utilizing a great flavor combo, B. Nektar has really blended them superbly to allow the best of each ingredient to be recognized.  Can I again comment on the smooth mouthfeel!  Wow!  Even in oak barrels, I don't believe I've ever drank something so smooth.  They have a pretty good distribution in the eastern U.S., so if you find them, buy them. It's a great experiment into the world of mead.  I end with the quote from their bottle.

"Dedicated to the freaks and the geeks!  what started as a top-secret experiment with Michigan honey, cherries, and apple cider became a viral epidemic.  It won't be easy to survive, so grab your weapons and don't forget this bottle for backup!  Serve cold... zombies hate the cold...

B. Ware

GRrrHaarrhUrrgh"

Bell's - Hopslam

With all the hubbub surrounding this beer, I was sure that said hubbub would result in its rarity and great difficulty in my being able to find it.  Little did I know that my local grocery store Hy-Vee and their outstanding Wine & Spirits department would come through for me again (and again... and again...).  I grabbed the last two sixers of Bell's Hopslam that they had and quickly squirreled it away to be sampled in the near future.

In case any of you are wondering, yes I will be cellaring two bottles to see how it changes with age.  The other bottles I'm going to drink as fresh as possible, if not use them in trade.  Also, these beers were bottled on Jan. 6th, 2012 so I consider them, for me, as fresh as possible (other than the few days it took to actually review them).  I've already had one and it was heavenly, but now it's time to break this bad boy down and see what it's made of.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12
Wow!  There is a mango wallop at the beginning of this aroma!  It's so sweet and tropical before it allows a grassier still-on-the-vine hop note to protrude.  A bright honey adds to the sweetness, but not at the expense of a faint whiff of straw that timidly shows itself.  An alcohol warmth is felt in the nose, but does not offer an aroma.  As warming occurs, the hops gradually turn away from their sweet introduction and begin to become a bit more "traditional."  A good pine hop aroma comes forward, as does a bit of pineapple.  Who'd of thought this much tropical fruit would be present?

Appearance 3/3
A high clarity helps this beer to absolutely shine the color of honey.  A steady column of carbonation keeps the aroma going and eventually joins the rest of the average-sized head.  The head's size was nothing spectacular, but the color is a pastel version of the beer itself and in its full form has a marshmallow texture with a few lumps thrown in for good measure.

Flavor 19/20
Talk about flavors that come in waves!  This story starts with a wash of bitter and a bit of pine, but quickly changes its tune when held in the mouth.  The bitter fades away into a brief calm, creamy "eye of the storm," before becoming all the sweet flavors from the aroma.  Honey is abundant, mangoes add their syrupy juice, and the pineapples lend just a hint of acidic sharpness.  You can almost feel the thick honey roll across the tip of your tongue.  The finish is a brutal end after such a sweet treat!  The tongue is immersed in an intense hop bitter through which it is difficult to ascertain any of the other flavors other than remnant of the sweet honey.  Alcohol warmth is finally detectable and it seems to be making up for lost time.  Especially present in an exhale, it gives flashes of being medicinal at times.  This intense bitter and alcohol warmth make for a lightly lingering bitter that has a sensational drying effect in the mouth.  You desperately need to take another sip to wet your mouth and this beer dares you to do so.

Mouthfeel 5/5
I'm not sure how a beer this crammed with flavor and warmth maintains as light of a mouthfeel as it does.  It's a pleasant medium body with a carbonation level that successfully balances the "requirements" of a lighter hued, sweeter beer with that of a high ABV, hop monster.  The carbonation doesn't foam in the mouth, but always remains present - keeping the beer a bit bubbly and from feeling to heavy.  The warmth in the finish is strong, but far from many offerings' aggressive alcohol presence, which can often result in a drinker feeling that they're drinking part-spirit, part-beer.  The aforementioned drying sensation is incredible.  I feel like my tongue should be cracked like parched earth.

Overall Impression 10/10
What a complex, layered and satisfying beer!  It truly is a "bitter sandwich" of a sweet tropical fruits smooshed between two slices of bitter, bitter hoppy goodness.  The color is bright, the head is nice, the aroma is intoxicating, and the flavor is insanely robust.  This is a winner of all levels.  The only thing keeping from the perfect score it seems so close to, was the malt.  While I appreciate the honey taking over the role of the sweetening agent, I could have appreciated a bit more of that straw malt.

Total 48/50
This rating seems a bit low for this beer or like I'm being a bit picky.  I know there's not much room to ascend, but I still "want" it to be rate higher.  It's truly a phenomenal beer; taking the drinker from a tropical fruit medley to a pine needle bed to satisfying bitters to an alcohol warmth dried mouth.  Tons of sensations and tons of flavors!  I still can't believe that a beer this light in color has this much intense flavors layered within it.  This beer may come off as a bit pricey, but it's worth every penny.  Cheers to the folks at Bell's for another solid brew and helping put Michigan on the map of craft beer.