Drink'in The Sunblet

Brewer: Jester King Craft Brewery / Mikkeller
Style: American Wheat
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 30-40
Serving type: 750 mL bottle poured into a Czech pilsner glass



A collaboration between Austin, TX brewery Jester King and self described "gypsy brewer" Mikkeller, Sunbelt is offered as a flavorful alternative to macro lagers. Light, refreshing, and goes down easy on a hot day.


It pours pale gold, just slightly hazy, and with lots of bubbles. A short lived finger followed by a persistent film of offwhite head. No lacing to speak of. Strong grapefruit hop aroma, plus some rising bread dough. 


The hop flavor is just as strong in the taste, with some fresh cut grass behind the citrus. Very bright and effervescent. A slight grainy sweetness. Very light in body, I would even call in thin. A refreshing dry finish. 


There's plenty of flavor in this, but not really any body or complexity to back it up. As advertised, this is something that would be great after mowing the lawn on a hot Texas day. Or, I don't know, wrangling horses or something. They do that in Texas, right? A beer meant to be gulped. Not one that I would pick for an after dinner sipping beer.


My score: 3/5
Beer Advocate: B+
Rate Beer: 96/100
Pintley: 

Old Rasputin

Brewer: North Coast Brewing Co.
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9%
IBU: 75
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle poured into an English pub glass

A finger of rocky, dark tank head sits on top of a dark, dark brown, nearly black beer with some faint red highlighting. Coffee and roasted malts dominate the nose, with a faint hop note in the background. The beer was poured at about 45 degrees, and the aroma intensifies as the beer warms.

The first thing that hits the tongue is black, dark roasted coffee. Plenty of dark malts and a touch of dark chocolate are right alongside. An earthy hop flavor follows, balancing the roast nicely and lingering on the tongue and roof of the mouth. Carbonation seems a little high, but it goes down smooth nonetheless. The 9% alcohol is well hidden.

This is a fantastic RIS, and a no-brainer at $8 a four-pack.

My score: 5/5
Beer Advocate: A
Rate Beer: 100/100
Pintley: 4/5

Juniper Black Ale

Brewer: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Style: Cascadian dark ale, fruit beer

ABV: 8.2%
IBU: 61
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle poured into an English pub glass

Pours black with some faint red highlighting. A finger of lumpy, light tank head sits on top and is in no hurry to go away. Aroma is herbal, piney, perhaps a touch of dark fruit. Could be it's just the juniper I'm smelling, but it's not a fruit I'm terribly familiar with.

That herbal, pine flavor is right up front, very crisp and refreshing. Roasted malt is right behind, balancing the aromatics very well. Medium bodied with a fairly dry finish. Surprisingly drinkable and quenching for the style.

This was part of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp variety pack in 2011. And I am a big fan of this beer; it's a shame it's such a limited release.

My score: 5/5

Beer Advocate: B+

Rate Beer: 97/100

Pintley: 3.4/5

Redband Stout

Brewer: Great River Brewery

Style: Coffee Stout

ABV: 6%
IBU: 36
Serving Type: 20 oz. can poured into a Bohemian Pilsner glass

Pour is thick and opaque, nearly black with no highlights. Two fingers of brown head that quickly fade to a thin but persistent film. Minimal lacing. The aroma packs a wollop, falling somewhere between a dark roasted coffee and an iced mocha.

Almost tastes more like coffee than beer. The dark malts are there, but the coffee definitely plays center stage in this one. If there are hops here, they're well hidden; the bitterness tastes like it's all coming from the astringency of the espresso. Medium to heavy in body, though perhaps just a tad lighter than expected. The moderate carbonation really helps the strong aromatics come out.

It's good to see such a good coffee stout coming out of a local brewery, and not have to rely on super limited releases like Kentucky or Bourbon County Breakfast Stout. If they start barrel aging this stuff, I'll buy it by the case. If there's a criticism, it's that this is a beer that probably doesn't need to come in a 16 oz. can.

My score: 4/5

Beer Advocate: A

Rate Beer: 77/100

Pintley:

A brew pub since 2004, Great River Brewery began packaging out of Davenport, IA in May 2010, exclusively in 16 oz. cans.

Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

Brewer: Boulevard Brewing Co.

Style: Saison

ABV: 8%
IBU: 38
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle poured into Czech pils glass

Deep yellow, slightly coppery. Fairly hazy. Two fingers of dense, ivory head. Actually took a while to pour, as the head just kept building up. Eventually settles to still dense quarter inch, and laces the glass well. Nice bouquet of earthy hops, citrus, fresh-cut grass, and... coriander?

Has a good flavor, a little more hops than I was expecting from a farmhouse ale/saison, though not overly bitter. Just a hint of sour tartness, welcome in the style. Keeps an appropriate medium body and super dry finish. Tickles the toungue with a high carbonation and a slight acidity. Very thirst quenching.

My score: 4/5

Beer Advocate: A-

Rate Beer: 98/100

Pintley: 4.2/5

Citra Pale Ale

Brewer: Yours truly

Style: American IPA

ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 54
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle poured into Czech pils glass

Pours deep, hazy gold with orange highlights and a finger of dense, offwhite head. The head is persistent, and laces the glass well. Nice hop aroma, mostly citrus/grapefruit and some pine notes aswell. Some small amount of maltiness lurking in the background.

Hop flavor is very citrus, piney, and grassy. Hits the toungue a little sharp, but mellows quick as the moderately high carbonation spreads through the mouth. Very bright, effervescent. Nice and light, finishes dry. Thisrt quencher.

All in all, this turned out quite well. Troubles on brew day were minor, but nonetheless had less an impact on the final product than I expected.

My score: 4/5

Lawnmower

Two more, please

Brewing Classic Styles: Saison

The local homebrew club's August meeting is featuring Saisons, and I've been tasked to present. What better way to honor a style than to pull the recipe from the gold standard text on brewing classic styles, Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles?

Unfortunately, the day was fraught with troubles, starting with two broken thermometers. The mercury thermometer I was left with was very difficult to read, and my mash temperature was well too low. I'm hoping it will still turn out okay, as the style calls for a low mash temp and highly fermentable wort anyway.

However, my mash stuck to no end. There was only 12 oz. of wheat malt in the grain bill, and I didn't think rice hulls would be necessary. When the mash was finally through, I discovered this thick slime caked all over the bottom of my grain bag.

Finally, I was simultaneously building a table. I tried to keep track of both tasks, but both my mash and boil time may have been a bit too long. The mash time I'm not worried about. Low temperatures call for a longer mash to get full starch conversion anyway. A too long boil, while helping DMS, could easily throw off my color. And, oh yeah, I nearly forgot the pound of table sugar, which didn't go in until the rest of the beer was already in the fermenter. As such, I have no reliable gravity reading.

It ferments from 68-80 degrees, rising steadily to make the yeast attenuate as much as possible. At least this part I can control, now that I have a temp controlled spare fridge to ferment in. I'm really hoping that, even though it's not the best beer I could have made, it will remain true to the classic Saison.