#248 Sierra Nevada - Bigfoot Barleywine 2008

Sierra Nevada has released their Bigfoot Barleywine for the last 25 years. This is a limited seasonal release.

There is a strong floral hop aroma to this beer, with citrus and pine notes. The color is a medium brown with red highlights and pretty clear. The head pours thick with good retention, keeping the beer covered in foam for a long time.

There is a strong malt profile, with lots of grain and biscuit flavors. There is some mild sweetness with a caramel taste. There is also a lot of hops with grass and pine flavors being predominate. This is a 9.6% beer and the alcohol taste is clear and sharp, hitting against the sharp hop bitterness. This beer has a medium body with good carbonation. The finish is bitter and sharp.

I think the bitterness and alcohol flavors are mixing poorly making this beer a little hard to drink. I've had a few from this batch already and didn't notice this, but I wasn't pay as much attention. Since this is a barleywine I think letting the beer age for a year might really help mellow out the taste. This is more of a malty IPA than a barleywine.

#245 Dogfish Head - Raison D'Être

Raison D'Être loosely translates from French to "Reason to Life". This is brewed with Belgian sugars and raisins using a Belgian style yeast.

There is very little aroma to this beer, just some hints of grain. The color is a light brown / mahogany that is very clear. The head pours medium and actively bubbles until it is gone leaving just a thin head of foam.

This is beer starts with a touch of sweetness, but drys out quickly. There is some malt grain flavor, and a little caramel and brown sugar taste. There is an aged beer, wine cellar earthiness flavor accenting the other flavors, similar to the J.W. Lees Harvest beers. There is a medium body and mouthfeel with plenty of carbonation. The finish is dry with the wine cellar taste.

I do not think very much of this beer. It's brewed with a plenty of sugars and a strong yeast resulting in light sweet flavors but a overall dry beer.

#244 Dogfish Head - Indian Brown Ale

More beer from Dongfish Head. This is an Indian Brown Ale not a reconized bjcp style but a hybrid style of a brown ale and an IPA ending with a highly hopped malty beer.

This beer has a rich dark malt aroma with coffee and molasses characteristics. There is a slight hint of hop aroma, with some floral citrus notes. The appearance is a very dark brown with just a bit of light shining through. The head is thick with moderate retention.

The taste is malty and sweet with a brown sugar flavor. There is a very slight taste a tannins and leather, coming from all the dark malt. The hops come through with a floral, grassy flavor and some mild bitterness. There is a slight alcohol taste in this beer, it is 7.2% so it is not completely surprising. The mouthfeel is full giving the dark beer some body behind it. The finish is sweet with hints of dark malt and bitterness.

This is a great beer, lots of flavors and easy to drink. Dogfish Head can get carried away making good beers that are too over the top. This be is flavorful and balanced, good everyday drinking beer, just be careful of the 7.2%.

#243 Buffalo Bill's - Orange Blossom Cream Ale

Cream Ale's are the Ale style of the American Light Lager. Using similar recipe use substituting Ale yeast of Lager yeast. There are not many commonly available examples of cream ales.

This beer has a pronounced orange, citrus and floral aroma, smells like orange sherbet. The aroma also has a hint of sweet corn aroma, common with commercial Light Lagers. The color is a a light yellow and very clear. The head pours thick and very active foaming away with big bubbles until it is all gone after just a short time.

The taste is sweet starting with a strong citrus orange taste. There is also some floral almost tea flavors. The corn aroma is present in the taste as Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS), the DMS is expected for the cream ale style of beer. The mouthfeel is medium and well carbonated. The finish is dry with some floral orange and DMS flavors.

I am torn, I dislike the DMS so much it almost ruins the beer for me, but the orange is wonderful. I guess I don't like cream ales since the DMS is an expected flavor.

#242 Barley Island - Black Majic Java Stout

Barley Island brewing is a brewpub based company based out of Noblesville Indiana. Barley Island is a small company only making 2000 barrel annually or 84000 gallons, I am surprised to find such a small place distributing to stores in Kentucky where I got this bottle.

This beer has a strong coffee aroma, like smelling ground coffee. The color is black as can be without any light passing through. The head is this with good retention keeping a good inch of foam long after the beer is initially poured.

The beer taste malty and sweet. There is a chocolate and roasted coffee taste that could be from actual coffee or just lots of roasted malt. This is a hint of floral hops adding some bitterness to the beer. The mouthfeel is very thin. The finish is sweet with some coffee taste.

This is fine beer very drinkable. The coffee flavor tastes a little like stale coffee instead of fresh brewed coffee. The hops are just not blending well with the coffee taste. I've had better coffee stouts.

#241 Unibroue - 17

The second beer in the Unibroue anniversary beer vertical

This beer has a malty chocolate smell with a hint of Belgian spice. The color is a medium brown and very cloudy, can just barely see through the glass. The foam is thick with moderate retention, keeping the beer well covered in foam.

The taste is sweet with chocolate and candy flavors. There beer drys out and has plenty of bitterness making the tongue water. There is a little earthy taste to the beer. There is some slight spice flavors. The mouthfeel is full with plenty of carbonation. The finish is dry with some spice notes.

This is a completely different beer from the 16. More dark malt, less spice flavors, more bitterness. Two very different beers. I like the 17 more, I think this is a more unique beer with good flavors of chocolate and spice. The 16 reminded me a lot of other Unibroue beers and was unimaginative.

#240 Unibroue - 16

This beer is made to celebrate Unibroue's 16th anniversary. I also have the Unibroue 17 to drink at midnight and compare the two.

The smell is fruity with some Belgian spice characteristics. The color is a pale brown with some red hues, the beer is very cloudy. The head pours medium and has some retention keeping the top of the beer covered.

The beer start with some malt sweetness with a light honey taste. The fruit aroma is just a slight hint of fruit tastes. The Belgian spice flavors of cloves and coriander are pronounced and balanced against the malt sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium, not as full as some Belgian style beers. The finish has some spice flavors.

This is a good beer. Lots of flavors all blending well. I am excited to try the 17. I wonder how different the two will be. Each year might use a unique recipe and the two beers will be vastly different.