Posts Tagged ‘Winter Ale’

I haven’t really done much of a restock lately to the cellar. We’ve been a bit too busy around OAB HQ drinking various foamybeers – our own line of brews. A recent trip to pick up more brewing supplies lead us to drop by Oliver’s discount Beverage in Albany. so, the latest beerventory…

Growlers
Cave Mountain Hefeweizen (bought at the brewery on $8 browler Sundays)

6 packs
Widmer Drop Top Amber Ale
Widmer Drifter Pale Ale
Saranac Summer Brew
Wolaver Ben Gleason’s White Ale
Sherwood forest Friar’s Belgian White ale
Boulder Brewing Hazed & Infused
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

12 Pack
Smutty Nose Sampler featuring Shoals Pale Ale, Old Brown Dog, IPA and Robust Porter

Bombers
Long Trail Brewmasters Series Double IPA
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale
Arcadia Ales Cocoa Loco
Arcadia Ales Cereal Killer
Southern Tier Jah-Va Imperial Coffee Stout
Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale
Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale
Smuttynose Gravitation Belgian Quad
Ommegang Biere de Mars
He’Brew Jewbelation 12
Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock

After a recent sweltering Sunday in New Paltz, NY chilling at the Gilded Otter (great beer – bad website) with The Beer Wench (as much fun to drink with as she is on Twitter) and some other fine folks, we swung by K & E Discount Beverage to do a little stock up since we were in the area.

Bombers
Brooklyn Brewery Local No. 2
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Rock Art Brewery Ridge Runner Barley Wine
Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale
The Bruery Orchard White
Troegs Flying Mouflan

Six packs
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Sherwood Forest Friar’s Belgian-style White Ale

Promo bottle (yes! free beer!)
Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

We bought the Troegs Flying Mouflan in order to cellar two more. We already had one in the cellar. Troegs claims this ages nicely – turning into a whole new beer. We’re looking forward to seeing if that is true. I am also a bit curious about the anniversary Guinness. It is not out yet, but – when I asked about it – the clerk gave me a free bottle from a promo pack. Given some of the press – and being a huge traditional Guinness fan – I’m a bit dubious about this one. Claims of it being “fizzier…maltier…made for the U.S. market” makes me think “Guinness dumbed down” but the 5% ABV (up from the 4.2 ABV of traditional Guinness) is intriguing. Then again – at $10/six pack – I’m betting this promo bottle is all I’ll have of the anniversary Guinness.

February 27, 2009: Tax Prep Day. That meant a trip from the Catskill HQ of Ohabeer down to New York City to visit a god among CPAs Sam Nole. It also gave us a reason to hit some of the finer craft brew joints in our favorite areas – Greenwich Village and East Village.

Blind Tiger Ale House
281 Bleecker @ Jones, 212.462.4682
We had dinner reservations at Rare for 6:30pm and we made it to the Blind Tiger at 4pm. Do the math and you can tell we had a bit of time to kill. Luckily, Blind Tiger is one of our favorite places to kill time. Cozy and pubby, this is a true craft beer mecca. Beer, wine and sake are all they do. And oh the beers! I’m not even sure they have anything in the generic BMC beer realm. It a craft shop al the way!

This particular evening found them in the middle of a Stone Brewing festival. So many Stone brews to try. I – however – wanted to start with something on cask. I went with a Chelsea Brewing Sunset Red. The Red had a lovely – well – red color with a light sweetness and balanced malt flavor. Perfect kick off to a night of pub crawling. Not too heavy – not too light. Mrs. Ohabeer – however – went big from the get go by starting with a Stoudt’s Winter Ale on draught. This was a big dark beer – not the sort of winter “ale” one usually expects. Nice and chewy with coffee and chocolate notes.

While she nursed the Stoudt, I switched up to my own strong ale: Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard. This is an amazing beer. Creamy and a little bitter with a fruity bloom at the end. By the time the Arrogant Bastard was done, Mrs. Ohabeer was ready for a second. We asked Allan – the owner – for suggestions. Given her penchant for spicy beers, Allan suggested Mrs. Ohabeer get a Stone Cali-Belgique IPA. Think Belgian style IPA…spicy goodness with a nice light hoppiness.

I was looking for something unusual. Allan suggested – and gave me a taste of – the BFM Bon Chien. Uhhhh…no. Certainly unusual – very sour, looks a bit like a Cidre Breton, tasted like wine turning into vinegar. The taste I got was more than enough for me. (A good thing too as this is 15.50% ABV and I still had the night ahead of me…)

I ended up settling on – and ultimately having three – Alesmith Mikkeller Stone Belgian Style Tripel Ale. My god this was excellent. Lovely gold color with a bit of spice and an amazing hop/malt balance. Very very drinkable. As they are 8.7% ABV, this may have not been my best move. I certainly left for dinner feeling no pain…

Rare
228 Bleecker Street @ 6th Ave & Carmine, (212) 691-RARE (7273)
No craft selection here, but amazing burgers and fries to soak up the two hours at Blind Tiger. The Rare Murray’s Burger is not to be missed. Organic beef, artisanal cheese from Murray’s Cheese Shop and artisanal bacon. Best.burger.evah.

Half Pint
76 W. 3rd Street @ Thompson, 212.260.1088
I was surprised to find the former Harry’s Burrito Greenwich Village location was now a craft bar called Half Pint. Smallish space (then again most are in NYC) it was buzzing nicely at 9ish when we arrived. It appears one of their signature items is a 96oz tower of beer for $25. This evening it was Lion’s Head Pilsner. We did not go for the tower as I was firmly in cask search mode. (You cannot get much on cask in the Catskills.) I went for a Lagunitas Cruisin’ With Reuben & The Jets. An imperial stout that – at that moment in the evening – might not have been the best choice. Nice and thick, it was perhaps a bit too thick post-dinner. Mrs. Ohabeer went with a nice light Blue Point Spring Fling. Good hoppy balance with a pale ale edge.

East Village Tavern
158 Avenue C @ E. 10th St., 212.253.8400
After Half Pint, we headed out for the East Village. Plan was to have something at Standings (recommended by Eric the Ithaca Beer sales rep we met at Blind Tiger) and possibly Jimmy’s No. 43 on the way to East Village Tavern. Sadly, Standings was like some weird basement rec room sports bar with not that interesting a selection of beer. Jimmy’s No. 43 was just too crowded to wedge in. So, we jumped off and headed on to the final destination.

East Village Tavern is like most all bars in the East Village. Kind dumpy but in a good way. Unpretentious, decent jukebox and an array of clientele. We settled in at a table and got to work reading the menu. Still in search of the cask drawn, I went for the Troegs Nugget Nectar. Big hop taste with an amazing gold color and foamy head. The perfect end to the evening. Mrs. Ohabeer had the Goose Island Matilda. It was malty and a bit spicy. Our friend Annette had a Stoudt’s Pils. I’m not much of a pilsener fan, but this was fairly nice.

And so the evening ended. We headed back out into the night for the long trip back to Annette’s apartment in the Bronx. Looking forward to taking her up on the hospitality again and hitting more craft pubs in NYC.

A recent trip to Albany took me to Oliver’s Beverage Center. Oliver’s does not carry nearly the range of brews as Half Time (yes – I’m a bit obsessed with them) and shopping at Oliver’s is akin to hitting the warehouse, but they do have the best selection of craft brews in the Capitol region.

So, while I have not had a chance to do a full beerventory, here’s a list of the new items bought at Oliver’s:

Wolaver’s Will Steven’s Certified Organic Pumpkin Ale (VT)
Otter Creek Raspberry Brown Winter Ale (VT)
Rogue Dead Guy Ale (OR)
Rogue Double Dead Guy 2008
Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve
Rogue Yellow Snow IPA
He’Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Open Source Collaborator Dopplebock

While doing a bit of warehouse club shopping, I snagged this at BJ’s Club:

10 pack of Ommegang featuring 2 bottles each of:
Three Philosophers
Hennepin
Abbey Ale
Rare Vos
Witte

I’m quite familiar with all of the Ommegang’s and the Wolaver’s Pumpkin, but the rest will be first time drinks.

Brewery: Clipper City Brewing Co.
Location: Baltimore, MD
Style: Winter Ale

A recent run to stock the beer celler lead to the purchase of several winter ales. I tend to be much more a stout and porter drinker in the winter months – preferring a heavier beer while the Catskills are covered in snow. However, I decided it was perhaps a good idea to pick up a few winter ales to balance the heaviness of all the stouts and porters.

Heavy Seas Winter Storm is a lovely ruby color with not much of a head. Somewhat malty it’s got a bit of a yeast bottom. That’s explained on the bottle by claims of a layer of yeast in the bottom of each bottle. The scent is a bit too hoppy for my tastes. Nice little kick with a 7.5% ABV.

Overall, I was not very partial to this on first tasting. I grew to like it over the course of the six pack – often choosing it when I wanted something lighter than my usual winter fare. Not sure if I would ever buy another six, but it is certainly something to think about.

I’m a bit late on this. Got too busy around the holidays. We actually restocked the celler for NYE and made the trip to the Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the temple of craft beer in upstate NY).

Here’s what was in the Oh…a beer cellar over the holidays:

GROWLERS
Cave Mountain Nut Brown Ale
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale

SPECIALS
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008 [12oz/13%]
Fort Collins Double Chocolate Stout [650ml/8.1%]
Cisco Brewers Moor Porter [650ml]
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Stout [12oz/7.8%]
Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock [650ml/5.5%]
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence [750ml/7%]
Sly Fox Raspberry Reserve (bottle conditioned) [750ml]
Rogue MoM Hefeweizen [650ml]

BOTTLES
Blue Point Toasted Lager
Mad River Steelhead Scotch Style Ale [6%]
Heavy Seas Winter Storm “Category 5″ Ale [7.5%]
Anchor Porter
Stoudts Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Dundee Festive Ale
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Ithaca Nut Brown Ale
Guinness Extra Stout
Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale [4.4%]
Left Hand Black Jack Porter
Samuel Adams Cream Stout
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
Lagunitas Brown Shugga [9.5%]
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter [6%]
Dragon Stout [7.5%]

Kicking off the first regular feature: What’s in the beer cellar. Sadly, I did not have a chance to go to Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the temple of craft beer in upstate NY), so I had to make do with the selection at Brice’s in Kingston.

Currently in the Oh…a beer cellar:

GROWLERS
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale (Windham, NY)
Cave Mountain English Nut Brown Ale (Windham, NY)
Keegan’s Joe Mama (Mother’s Milk Stout brewed with Muddy Cup coffee) (Kingston, NY)

SPECIALS
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (750 mls/7% abv) [brewed with Belgian chocolate]
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout (12oz/135 abv) [casked brewed in bourbon barrels]
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Lagunitas Brown Shugga’

BOTTLES
Heavy Seas Winter Ale
Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter
Anchor Porter
Dundee Festive Ale
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout
Ithaca Nut Brown Ale
Dragon Stout (Kingston Jamaica)
Guinness Extra Stout

VARIETY PACK
Sam Adams Winter Classics (12 pack)