Posted: May 8th, 2009 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Beer Reviews, Craft Brew | 2 Comments »
The only brewery from Hawai’i most of us know about is Kona Brewing, especially since it has mainland distribution through Widmer Brewing. Lucky Kona! But on a recent vacation to the Hilo side of the Big Island, I found out that there are other breweries to check out.
Mehana Brewing doesn’t have a pub attached to the brewery, there’s just a small tasting room and gift area. Local grocery stores carry their bottle beers, and they sell kegs to lots of restaurants and bars on the island. I tracked down the tasting room just so I could get a sense of their full range on tap. Their beers tend toward the lighter ales and lagers, though they did have a seasonal porter. They definitely tweak their styles to suit local tastes, which is pretty cool. Though I tasted all of the beers at the brewery, I bought some bottles so I could give real reviews of their two best-selling varieties.
Mehana’s Humpback Blue Ale is a kolsch-style ale, a light amber-colored beer with a malty nose and a fairly smooth mouthfeel. The flavor up front is a little metallic, but with a nice cereal note that isn’t too sweet. Unlike beers in Oregon, Hawaiian beers are mildly hopped, and the Humpback Blue is no exception. There is a strangely tart note to the beer, much like I’d expect in a sorghum or gluten-free ale, that’s coupled with a slightly bitter edge in the finish when the beer has warmed a bit. All in all not bad, but not my favorite kolsch.
Roy’s Private Reserve is brewed special for Roy’s Restaurants, but it’s also available by the bottle. It’s even lighter than the Humpback Blue, but with a finer bubble and more “refined” qualities. It has a sweet malty aroma with a lot of cereal in it – that Grapenuts smell I associate with well-malted beers. The flavor reminded me of a Belgian golden, but without the Belgian yeast taste in the finish. It had some honey notes to it, and a hint of spice that I didn’t expect.The Roy’s Private Reserve seemed like a Japanese take on a Belgian beer.
All told, Mehana is doing pretty good work. They weren’t my favorite beers, but it’s interesting to taste localized versions of familiar styles. If you’re in Hawai’i I definitely recommend checking them out!
Posted: April 17th, 2009 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Beer Reviews, Craft Brew, Dubbel | Tags: abbey, Belgian, Dubbel, Hopworks | No Comments »
Since I can’t make it to the Cheers to Belgian Beers festival this year, I’m taking a little time out to try Hopworks’ brew for the event. The Dubbel Suplex is a rich Belgian Abbey-style ale brewed with the Wyeast 3822, Ingelmunster yeast strain per this year’s festival rules.
Served in a tulip glass (they called it a chalice) on account of being 8.1% alcohol (can you imagine a couple of pints of that?), it sure is a pretty beer. Dark amber, red hues, clear like a ruby, with little head retention (a little foam around the rim of the glass). The up front aroma is of alcohol then warm malt and a hint of spice, like cloves or nutmeg.
It has a bubbly medium mouthfeel appropriate for the style, not too creamy or flat, but not too effervescent for the flavor. There’s a lot of malt and spice flavor, with a little caramel sweetness. A bit rich, but not overwhelming. There’s a slight tartness or tang in the finish that clears the palate and keeps the beer from being too sweet and sticky.
The Dubbel Suplex is pretty right-on for abbey style, and has matured nicely. I almost wonder what it would be like if aged in a bourbon barrel, but that might be over the top, making it too sweet and rich to drink in any quantity.
8.1%
Posted: April 16th, 2009 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Beer Reviews, Craft Brew, Pale Ale, Specialty, What's that in your fridge? | Tags: coriander, ginger, Pale Ale | 1 Comment »
Since I’m still on the lookout for good ales brewed with ginger, I had to grab a bottle of Laughing Buddha’s Ginger Pale Ale. It’s brewed with ginger and coriander, so be ready for it to taste a little like a grand cru. The aroma is strongly of savory ginger, some spice, and a hint of malt. It pours clear and the color of copper-tinted honey. It’s not over-carbonated, and has a medium bubbly mouthfeel much like you’d expect from a pale ale. The ginger flavor is definitely present, both up front and in the finish, but isn’t astringent.
This is actually an ideal beer for a warm spring day – full enough to take the chill off you when the wind blows, but light and crisp to compliment the warmth of the sun on your face. I could see it pairing nicely with sushi, or even udon. Something that doesn’t have strong spices that would overwhelm the ginger notes.
It reminds me a lot of the experimental ginger hefeweizen I brewed a couple of months ago, only more carbonated. I hope that my brew gets a bit more bubbly!
Also, it turns out that Laughing Buddha had to change its name to Trade Route Brewing due to a legal dispute. Since the brewery is in Seattle, I’ll have to check it out the next time I go north.
Posted: February 9th, 2009 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Craft Brew, Events & Tastings, Experiments, Homebrew, Styles, Wheat | 6 Comments »
Inspired by Caldera’s ginger ale at the 2008 Oregon Brewers Festival, I thought that a wheat beer brewed with ginger would be a swell idea. I emailed Caldera’s brewer about their recipe, and he replied that they added ginger chips at flame off or hopback. Since I use neither a hopback or propane burners, I consulted a couple of other recipes and decided that 5oz of ginger in the final 20 minutes of boil should suffice.
The wort is chilling in the kitchen sink at this moment, and I’m hoping that I added enough ginger. The recipe was simple enough that if I need to increase the ginger for next time it’s no big deal – it’s only 6.6lbs of bulk light/wheat malt, 3/4oz of hops, a vial of liquid yeast, plus however much ginger I want to use. The ingredients cost roughly $30, so that’s a $3.60 6-pack. Nice!
I based it on “Lovebite Weisbier” in the Joy of Homebrewing. I’ll pitch the hefeweizen yeast before I go to bed, and we’ll see what the fermentation fairy brings in the morning!
Posted: May 11th, 2008 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Beer Reviews, Craft Brew, Golden ale, Specialty, What's that in your fridge? | No Comments »
Such cute little bottles!We were shopping at a local wine store that happened to have an interesting beer selection, and I was drawn to the cute little three-pack of
Belzebuth bottles. The label claims this is “the most unique beer in the world” so I had to get it. Them’s drinkin’ words!
Belzebuth is a gorgeous golden color in the glass, much like a mead or even a cider. There’s little head on pouring, though a little foam remains around the edges of the glass. The bubbles are fine like a quality champagne — which I’d expect from a fancy French beer! Of course, Brasserie Grain D’Orge is located just south of the Belgian border in the Flanders region of France, so this is barely a French beer in my mind.
Of particular note is that this beer is 13% alcohol, a fact prominently stated on the neck label. This had me prepared for it to be quite sweet, which it is. Lots of candy sugar flavor in this one, almost sticky and sickly sweet at times. The sweetness is a little better as the beer warms and the malt flavors become apparent.
If you don’t let this beer warm up before drinking it, all you taste is sweet up front with a metallic finish. Kathy said, “The aftertaste tastes like fish. Ew. You can drink this one.” To me it didn’t taste like fish (and I hate fish flavor), it just had a strong metallic finish. Once it’s warmer, the finish is more fruity and spicy.
Because of the sweetness, this is not a fast drinking beer. I’ve been sipping mine for at least an hour now and still have a bit more to drink. On account of the alcohol level and the sweetness, this wouldn’t be a beer I’d put in regular drinking rotation. But it makes a good dessert beer, that’s for sure!