Sierra Nevada Torpedo & Bigfoot

Finally. It took much longer than it should have, but both Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra IPA and Bigfoot Barleywine have hit the Twin Cities market. I picked up a six-pack of each at Thomas Liquors.

The Torpedo is nice enough. At a modest price and 7.2% alcohol, it's an economical, tasty choice. It won't replace my IPA standards (Two Hearted, HopDevil, Titan, and more-so lately, Crooked Tree), but it's always nice to have more options year-round.

The Bigfoot is as I remember and all that I love in a barleywine: big malt, big hops, and big alcohol. I am disappointed that it hit so late in the season; but, it's snowing outside right now and that gives me justification enough to plow through a few more six-packs before it's gone until next year.

Update: despite the lack of care for the brewing process or the nomenclature, I stumbled upon this review that does a nice job of describing the flavor of the Torpedo Extra IPA.

Pro-inconsistency: Drinking Knot Stock

Consistency in brewing has to be the most difficult thing to achieve. Working with active ingredients that are affected by the slightest environmental change creates a task that seems nearly impossible. Brewers have to worry about storage temperature, storage conditions, water temperature, water quality, the consistency of the boil, when you add the ingredients, the condition of the ingredients, and on and on and on. I am amazed that brewers can continually put out beers from different batches and different brewing facilities that taste identical. This is truly a remarkable feat.

I'm drinking a Furthermore Knot Stock right now, the strange and delicious APA brewed with black pepper. The first time I drank the beer, the black pepper hung around in the background, slowly growing into a slight tinge of hot spice that lingered after the beer was gone. Never quite crescendoing into a overwhelming surge of harshness, but making itself noticeable. I love it. I love the idea of a growing beer, a changing beer, a flavor that builds upon itself to create a full dynamic experience.

Age of the beer aside, I typically know what to expect when drinking a beer that I've had before. But not so with the newest batch of Knot Stock that I cracked tonight. Full-on barrage of cracked black pepper pushing the spice and heat through the beer at first sip. And, right now, tonight, with the temperatures plummeting toward -25F, this is what I want. I want the pepper to kick in screaming, keep screaming, and never back down.

I could chalk this up to brewing inconsistencies. I could allege that Furthermore can't keep their conditions straight. I could, but this is part of what makes beer so wonderful. It is a living, active thing: constantly changing, moving, shifting. This is why I can buy the same beer over and over and still have the chance at being surprised. There's a time for something familiar, something standard; but, more often I think, there's a time for a beer to get in your face and challenge the way you perceive it and the people who make it.

Sexy? Lager

This is the weirdest thing.

I was perusing the Brouwerij Huyghe website after updating the "Current Favorites" section to include Delirium Noel when I stumbled upon this horrific wonder. It's called Rubbel Sexy Lager. There's no explanation for its existence on the website.

According to the BeerAdvocate reviews (all four of them), it's horrible...and apparently its only redeeming factor is that the "sexy" ladies' bikinis are scratch off. So strange. So, so strange. Especially coming from a brewery that produces the amazing Delirium line (Tremens, Nocturnum, Noel).

If you want more not-so-sexy-very-eighties pictures, go here, click "Product," and scroll to the bottom of the page. Yes, it's a crappy website.

Full Sail LTD 01 Coming Soon

Amidst a flurry of updates in Full Sail's newsletter (such as Wassail and Old Boardhead Barleywine 08 hitting the markets among other things), comes this piece about LTD 01:

LTD 01 Coming Soon.
Good news beer lovers, our easy-drinking albeit way tasty LTD Recipe 01 is rocking the fermentation tank as this very moment. We predict LTD 01 will be hitting the shelves in early January, maybe sooner.

Back for its third year, LTD 01 is part of our seasonal line that emphasizes and builds on our brand mantra - both the world class quality of our beers (LTD – Limited Edition) and our celebration of independence (LTD – Live the Dream). We dedicate LTD to everyone who's living the dream, whatever that dream might be. Our dream was to start our own brewery, run it our own way, and do it in an unreal place where all summer the wind pumps and all winter the snow dumps. If you're living your own dream, then cheers to you!

Since its initial release, LTD 01 has racked up two gold medals from the World Beer Championships and received an “A” rating from Beer Advocate Magazine. But, we’ll let you be the judge. If you haven't already tried it, it's a wonderfully balanced medium-bodied, copper colored lager with subtle hop accents and a caramel aroma that goes down smooth - perfect for the winter season.

You can pick up a sixer at your favorite beer store or get it on tap at your local pub until spring when we will follow up with LTD Recipe Number 02. Rumor has it the brewmaster is working on LTD 03 for this summer. Stay tuned.

Can't wait! Also, LTD 03, eh? 01 has been my favorite of the two thus far, so we'll see if this newcomer can tip the scale for me.

Go here for the most current newsletter if you want to read it in full.

Curly Tale Ale

I don't like baseball much, but when I heard of Flat Earth's newest offering, the 15th anniversary special ale for the Saint Paul Saints, I was willing to shell out the $4 for a game, grab a hot dog or two, a beer or five, and watch the game. For $4, they give you a nice-sized half-liter of this coppery, amber colored beer. It's hard to judge the appearance in a plastic cup, but I thought it looked quite delicious, and the server did a decent job of pouring, leaving a finger of white, foamy head.

Typical for the style of English Bitter, the Curly Tale settles on a mild 3.2% abv. And, also a staple of the style, what it lacks in alcohol, it makes up for in taste. Coppery and malty up front, with a smooth, clean mild to medium bitterness in the back. Tastes fantastic and quite drinkable.

Now, since the Saints games are the only place to get this, I can only really recommend this drink if you love beer as much as I do, or, I guess, enjoy baseball more than I do. It won't reinvent how you taste beer, or change your life, but you won't find a better beer at the stadium.

Someone needs to hook up Flat Earth Brewery with a bottling gig, fast. While I felt the Element 115 was drinkable, it lacked any lasting flavor worth coming back for. But between the Pale Ale and this newest offering, Jeff Williamson has managed to make beers that I want to drink over and over. Worthy of a six-pack, I think.

Surly CynicAle Available

Fresh from the Surly, cans of their new CynicAle are available exclusively at Papa's Pizza and Pasta. Eventually, the beer will make it out to liquor stores, and will officially launch in bars next Tuesday at Grumpy's. And, it says on the site, "Rumor is that some cask Bitter Brewer might be there too!" If you haven't had the chance to try the one-time release Bitter Brewer, and you like great beer, you best find it before it's all gone. A delicious, drinkable bitter.

The CynicAle will be available from Memorial Day to Labor Day and is described thusly: "Brewed with Belgian malted barley, this copper hued ale is brewed in the Belgian Saison style. A unique Belgian yeast strain creates the spicy flavor and imported hops lend the apricot/peach aroma." It also reports a modest IBU of 38 and an abv of 6.6%.

As saison is easily my favorite style, I can't wait to see how Surly interprets it.

Summit Scandia and ESB

I'm not always a huge fan of Summit. I feel like they make decent casual beers, but nothing to write home about. But that wasn't true for 2006's limited release beers: Scandia Ale and Extra Special Bitter.

The Scandia Ale was a fantastic example of a unique but drinkable beer, with a winning combination of coriander and orange. It reminded me of a less-intense, more-findable, cheaper version of Traquair's Jacobite Ale.

The ESB was a great late night refresher during the hot summer. I like my beers hoppy, but when the heat settles in, I like them refreshing as well. Sitting at 50 IBUs, you'll get a nice kick of hops, but not an overwhelming one.

Apparently, others really liked these beers as well, because Summit has announced that both the Scandia and the ESB have been promoted to it's official line-up. They've begun selling them in bottles and should be available on tap at various locations.