Beer Blogging
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that this post is in honor of maurinsky, whose birthday it is today. She wanted people to "make a big fucking deal about my birthday. Have some cake, send me presents, open a present yourself, blow out some candles, and get another day older". So I did - my present to myself was beer. No cake, though. Maurinsky, I wouldn't know what to send you as a present...what would you like?
Tonight I'll be trying the Organic Belgian Ale from those hippies at Bison Brewing up in Berkeley. It's a Belgian Tripple style ale brewed with coriander, according to the label. Let's see what it has to offer.
This beer pours into the glass with a nice, foamy white head and a clear golden body. It's an appealing looking beer, right out of the bottle. That's a good sign. I always pour my beer at first so that the head recedes a couple inches below the rim of the glass, so that I can check out the smell - you gotta really stick your nose in the glass (I learned that from my dad and his inspections of wine). I'm not the best judge of this right now, being as I am in the midst of a vicious head cold, but I definitely get hints of citrus and, unsurprisingly, coriander. There's also a bready smell, which is to be expected from a Belgian ale.
The first taste gives a strong, bitter hoppy impression, with a citrus flavor along for the ride. After that, you get a little bit of a sweet, honey flavor, but the bitterness sticks around for quite a while. The aftertaste, surprisingly, is of honey; as soon as the liquid is gone, the hop flavor goes along with it. It's an unexpected and quite pleasant contrast, and really makes you want to take that next sip. There is some alcohol to be tasted, but the other flavors really hide it well.
This is a pretty good beer. I'd recommend it to people who like Belgian style ales, as well as people who are fans of bitter beers. This one doesn't have the bitterness of an IPA or an ESB, but it has that kind of complex flavor. You won't get bored with it, that's for sure. Rating: 8/10.
Tonight I'll be trying the Organic Belgian Ale from those hippies at Bison Brewing up in Berkeley. It's a Belgian Tripple style ale brewed with coriander, according to the label. Let's see what it has to offer.
This beer pours into the glass with a nice, foamy white head and a clear golden body. It's an appealing looking beer, right out of the bottle. That's a good sign. I always pour my beer at first so that the head recedes a couple inches below the rim of the glass, so that I can check out the smell - you gotta really stick your nose in the glass (I learned that from my dad and his inspections of wine). I'm not the best judge of this right now, being as I am in the midst of a vicious head cold, but I definitely get hints of citrus and, unsurprisingly, coriander. There's also a bready smell, which is to be expected from a Belgian ale.
The first taste gives a strong, bitter hoppy impression, with a citrus flavor along for the ride. After that, you get a little bit of a sweet, honey flavor, but the bitterness sticks around for quite a while. The aftertaste, surprisingly, is of honey; as soon as the liquid is gone, the hop flavor goes along with it. It's an unexpected and quite pleasant contrast, and really makes you want to take that next sip. There is some alcohol to be tasted, but the other flavors really hide it well.
This is a pretty good beer. I'd recommend it to people who like Belgian style ales, as well as people who are fans of bitter beers. This one doesn't have the bitterness of an IPA or an ESB, but it has that kind of complex flavor. You won't get bored with it, that's for sure. Rating: 8/10.
Labels: beer
posted by The Disgruntled Chemist at
5:40 PM
