Dogfish Head - Squall

It's definitely time for another craft beer from Dogfish Head.  In fact, my guilty conscience will no longer let me rest until I open and finish this IPA that has been in my presence for far too long.  At least, that's what I tell my wife.  Now, did I intentionally review two beers back to back that involve large sailing vessels on the label?  No.  Is it some sign of spring?  No.  Is it a sign that I should buy a boat myself?  Again, that's what I tell my wife.  That said, the only place I'd rather be drinking this is on a boat.  DFH needs no introduction.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12
This bottle opened with a violent hiss and then assuaged any startled souls with a relaxing floral  and pine combination.  The pine doesn't last long, but the floral is soon joined and usurped by strong honey and lemon zest aromas.  A nice bready malt balances the lot before a classic IPA smell is achieved by the reemergence of the piney hop note with a new caramel tone.  You'll definitely want to let the head die down on this one to receive the full experience.  This is a classic smell that doesn't have any of the strong alcohol warmth that can accompany some of DFH's bigger brews.  Squall rings in at 9% ABV.

Appearance 2/3
The head is perfectly foamy on this and was moderate in my 2-3 oz pour for smelling.  Pouring the rest of the glass yielded a monster head that will have me exercising caution in my pours for the remainder of the bottle.  I guess I should have known given the *hiss* that greeted me upon prying off the bottlecap.  In its defense, said head does leave fantastic lacing down the sides of the glass.  It is lightly hazy, but still relatively clear for an unfiltered beer, though this has been sitting a while and I assume most of the sediment has settled on the bottom of the bottle.  If the bottle weren't black, I could confirm such things.  The color is an array of golds and other tiger's eye shades and clearly shows a column of carbonation rising from the bottom.

Flavor 19/20
The first impression is a fabulous one!  Rich, smooth caramel rolls over the tongue and splashes to a halt with a light alcohol warmth and bitter.  Holding this in the mouth, the caramel can become sugary at times and mixes insanely well with the brighter honey, faint hop citrus, flakes of pepper, and a notable alcohol burn (the alcohol especially comes forward as the beer warms).  No real different waves of flavor to speak of, simply a cohesive unit of flavors doing their thing.  The finish is a dash of pepper (exacerbated by the prickly alcohol), resin, and that lemon zest that keeps hanging around in the background.  Oddly enough, all these flavors then make a hasty exit for a curiously clean finish!  It's very unusual, but another reminder of all the tremendous things that beer can do.  I really liked it.  The aftertaste continues that cleanliness, but does allow a light bitter to linger along with a very dry mouth.

Side note:  Slurp up some the foam (you WILL have the chance)!  It's all the beer's sweetness if a light, foamy package.

Mouthfeel 5/5
There is so much to love about the mouthfeel in this beer!  The carbonation is lively, as expected in a bottle conditioned ale, and is almost prickly.  Normally, this is something I rather shun in a beer, but in this case the slight prick of the carbonation actually goes well with the peppery hops and the alcohol warmth.  It all mingles together on the tongue for a rather complimentary, if not enjoyable, experience.  I've been waiting since the first sip to write about how SMOOTH this beer is.  Yes, even despite the carbonation.  The first sip was a wash of caramel in a body that is absolutely massive.  You can almost imagine caramel coating your tongue and it is fantastic.  The smoothness continues when the beer "foams" up in the mouth.  I place "foams" in quotes because instead of foaming, the beer instead takes on this wondrous creamy quality and it simply cannot be topped.  Best of all, with the carbonation being slightly more aggressive than usual, it prevents the creamy bodied beer from becoming syrupy or sluggish to drink.  I love that the warmth is part of the experience instead of being some strange offshoot that distracts from the beer as a whole.

The Dread Pirate Roberts takes no prisoners.

Overall Impression 10/10
The mouthfeel of this beer is superb, in case you couldn't tell by the unusually long paragraph used to describe it.  It's not often that a mouthfeel impresses me the most about a beer, but then again Dogfish Head has never been a typical brewer.  The flavors and aromas are few, but blend very well in a focused/teamwork sort of way.  The warmth definitely becomes stronger toward the end of the bottle and eventually begins to permeate every aspect of this craft brew.  It is not unwelcome, but definitely not something that was much of a factor when the beer was first opened.  (Note: Even when first opened, the bottle was at an appropriate drinking temperature.  I believe the alcohol warmth was evoked by the motion of tipping the bottle for subsequent pours and by leaving it open to "breathe" like wine.)


Total 47/50
This is one heck of a beer!  Coming from Dogfish Head, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but this IPA had sat for quite some time in my cellar so I was expecting a bit of a "deteriorated" performance.  Not so.  The aroma was top notch (even without the eventual addition of alcohol warmth), the flavor will go toe-to-toe with any IPA on the market, and the mouthfeel... well, I believe I've already beaten that dead horse.  Another top notch job from Sam and crew at DFH!  This is definitely giving me pause to think, "Why the heck am I saving all these Dogfish Head beers in my cellar?!"  I need to be drinking more of these.  Stat.

Pinkus - Organic Ur Pils

I have done much yard work today.  I also have several acquaintances pressing me for some reviews on dark, amazing beer.  I apologize to my friends, but yard work has put me in the mood for something light and in a bottle no smaller than a bomber bottle.  Of course, my beer fridge delivers.  Today we review the Pinkus Organic Ur Pils.  I am a little hesitant because the last Pinkus I had was a sub-par hefe, but yard work has the strange ability to drive the desire for suds.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 10/12

First reaction?  "Ooo!" (end quote)  The aroma is quite sweet.  The malt is a sweet bready smell and combines nicely with the fruity and floral esters that are floating about my glass.  Flowers are definitely present and one could only pin down the fruit aromas as that of apple and grape.  This is obviously not-to-style, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

Appearance 2/3

Nothing earth-shattering in the pour.  It pours a dusky yellow (subsequent pours with sediment result in a dark gold), with an expectation-meeting ivory head.  Very hazy as a result of sediment.  The bottle does mention that it is an "unfiltered pilsner beer," but that does not make it appropriate for the style.  I apologize for the lack of a customary photo next to the EBC scale.  Without placing any blame, it appears that the scale has been "misplaced."

Flavor 17/20

Tastes before the sediment was added to the glass were initially sour for an instant before heading into the main structure of the beer.  Once sediment was added, the beer became much more rich and mellow.  The malt is also harder to detect initially (with or without malt), but after warming it is a rich, sweet, flavor that hints almost toward caramel (!).  The primary flavor is a light, crisp, sweetness with lemon notes and a very nice balance of a spicy hop bitter.  The bitter takes the drinker into the finish and helps the beer find a dry, satisfying finish.  Excellent flavor, but not to style.

Mouthfeel 3/5

A bit heavy in the body for the style, but not unpleasantly so.  Carbonation is average and there is even a bit of creaminess present in this pilsner.  The only drawback was a slickness left in the mouth.  It left me smacking for several minutes even after I had finished the pint.

Overall Impression 8/10

The general theme with this beer is "not to style."  However, in its error it is giving us more rather than less: more flavor, more aroma, more body, more sediment.  The balance is excellent, but this beer is overall far too sweet and flavor rich to be considered a pilsner.  It should be scored lower, but all the ways in which it "was not to style," were so pleasing that its rating stands.

Total 40/50 (Excellent)

As I have just mentioned this beer is a far cry from a pils of any style (American, German, etc).  If I had scored this beer with a heavier emphasis on stylistic accuracy I would have to rank it no higher than a 26 (Ar:6, Ap:1, Fl:12, M:3, O:4).  However, because this beer delivers more than what its style demands I have rated more highly.  That and because it's my blog and I can do whatever I like.  If I were to perform a blind taste test this, I would have guessed it a poor man's hefe.  It is lighter in body and flavor than  hefe, but all the essentials are there in a subdued package.  I even began to wonder if this was not a failed attempt to brew a hefe (hence its unfiltered state and flavors), that was cleverly remarketed at the last moment.  In any case, I opened this pils for a light refreshing treat and I was not disappointed.  Regardless of whether or not it is to style, I enjoyed it a great deal and would gladly purchase another bottle.  Cheers, Pinkus!

Brauerei Pinkus Müller - Organic Hefeweizen

Ah, spring!  That magical time of year when the "wits" and "weisses" and "weizens" start to fill the air with their sweet, sweet perfume.  I know I just reviewed a weiss, but I think I can be excused by "spring fever," and the fact that I have not cracked open a bottle larger than 12oz in quite some time.  I am fairly excited to try this, not only because it is spring, but also because the last organic that I reviewed turned out so darn tasty.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 7/12

I feel that this is a bit of a generous rating, but am chalking it up to a perceived subtlety of the beer.  The aroma is dominated by the lemony esters and perhaps some coriander.  The wheat peeks out just a little, but not enough to add to the overall bouquet.  Most hefeweizens want to beat you over the head with a banana smell, but this one might be hinting at something a bit more reserved.

Appearance 2/3

A pour that was far from aggressive yielded a more-than-generous, white head that sat around 1.5 inches.  It was very light, almost whipped in its texture and it even stuck around a bit.  While it left an extremely small amount of lacing, the foam did persist as a layer on top for the majority of the glass.  The clarity was appropriately foggy, but the color was light for the style.  Also, there was no sediment in this bottle.  Sure, it can happen in different brands of unfiltered beers, but I always hope to see just a bit. EBC is 11.

Picture is my own.

Flavor 12/20

For a style of beer that is usually bursting with flavor, this one is not.  It does have the lemon essence and it is crisp, but errs on the side of dull instead of subtle.  The malt, which should be the secondary part of this style, is present, but is only so in a weak wheat flavor (true to the aroma).  It is the same level of unenthused sweetness in the intial taste, when held in the mouth, and in the finish.  Almost similar as when one adds too much lemon to water.  It is there and effects the flavor, but it is far from a bold taste.  In fact, the timid nature of this beer's flavor is what keeps it from being distinguished as subtle and instead is just "weak."

Mouthfeel 2/5

This is probably the weakest part of the beer.  Its body is far too light and offers no creaminess that would normally compliment the esters.  However, since the esters are so light and flighty, this mouthfeel is probably a suitable match.  The carbonation was adequate and appropriate for the style.  The light body does make it easy to drink, but at what expense?

Overall Impression 5/10

In case you could not tell, this is not the hefeweizen that is going to reach out and grab you.  This beer either aimed for subtlety and missed or went with sub-par organic ingredients that could not pass muster.  It is far too light for the style in several categories and does not contain the rich flavor experience that one expects when drinking a hefeweizen.

Total 28/50

While there are amazing organic beers out there, organic goods as a whole have only come into great popularity in the last several years.  That said, I am willing to give Pinkus some time to work things out.  In the meantime, I am hoping that all their offerings do not stray this far from their intended style.  Not that all style differentiations are bad, but usually they add something to the style, not water it down.  You could probably add a lemon to a much less expensive lager and get a similar beverage experience.

     I would not use this beer as one to introduce people into craft beer.  While lighter (or fruity) beers are generally a good way to do this, one must make sure that the offering is still tasty.