More attempts at cooking Thai at home offered good opportunities for new beers. I've been interested in trying the wares from Lost Abbey so I picked up The Lost Abbey (Port Brewing) Avant Garde Ale. San Marcos, southern California. (bière de garde) wire cage with cork, 7% – appears apricot gold, huge white foam, smell watermelon jolly rancher—the stick version I'd have as a kid, not the lozenge type, fresh fresh fruit, touch of yeast, mouthfeel is slightly thick and beer has heavier feel, taste candied orange peel, spicy cardamom toward hot peppers, if coriander were a fruit, this beer is what it would taste like, a very good match with a very garlicky Kaeng Chued Pak Bung Chin Mu Sub (clear-broth soup with ground pork, garlic and water spinach) with the soft fruity elements of the beer really coming forward with the spicier elements retracting, not as impressive a match with sweeter Kwaytiow Sen Lek Lad Na Kai (rice-stick noodles with chicken and vegetables), though there were no particular intriguing combination of flavors between that dish and the beer, the beer does wonderfully with food as even this less impressive match made the beer eminently quaffable—so enjoyable to drink with food. This is likely the first bière de garde-style beer I've had and it wasn't quite what I was expecting (from the label I was expecting something closer to a Saison/Farmhouse Ale style). I'll have to sample more bière de garde to get a good sense, but the differences between this beer and the US styled saisons were interesting. From producer: Malts: Two Row, Honey Malt and Port Custom Toast (we make it ourselves in our Pizza Ovens). Hops: German Brewer’s Gold, Strissespalt Spalt and Czech Saaz. Yeast: House Lager strain with hybrid fermentation at ale temperature.
Earlier this year I found Sierra Nevada's Southern Hemisphere Fresh Hop Ale interesting and was looking forward to trying the 2008 Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale 12th Release. Chico, California. (american pale ale) crown cap on bottle, 6.7% - appears beautiful caramel red-brown, smell wonderful oatmeal warmth, soft, bit spicy, fresh and inviting, layered but soft, mouthfeel is slightly banana like in texture, taste malty caramel at first, a surprise, but them gentle very integrated hops, just tad bit of oil, integrated and tasty, this beer is a meal in itself, but paired with clear-broth soup with ground pork, garlic and water spinach, the more pointed and piney features of the beer come forth, this is one delicious beer, more about integration and smoothness versus the Southern Hemisphere version which I tried earlier this year, which was all about vibrant freshness. Tasty, substantial and easy to drink—a real crowd pleaser, $4 for a 24 ounce bottle. Next up--the Chico Estate version of the harvest ale! From producer: Created in 1996, Harvest Ale features Cascade and Centennial hops from the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. These hops are harvested and shipped as “wet” un-dried hops—the same day they are picked—to our brewery in Chico where our brewers eagerly wait to get them into the brew kettle while their oils and resins are still at their peak. Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast; Malts: Two-row Pale & Caramel; Bittering Hops: Centennial; Finishing Hops Cascade & Centennial; beginning gravity 16.5 Plato; ending gravity 4.0 Plato; bitterness units 60 – 65.
Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Newport, Oregon. (maibock/helles bock) crown cap on bottle – appears light red, smell basic malt and just a hint of pine and cloves, not a lot going on here, mouthfeel is thick and almost syrupy (in thickness, not stickiness), taste basic pine needles, cardamom, light and zippy, at first I didn't care for this beer—too lacking in personality, it wears well, however, and some of the subtlety it offers is indeed welcome, but it never made a connection with me, usually I like a fine tuned malty approach, but this beer veered too close to losing my interest, but others seem to love it, maybe just an off night? At $5 for a 22 ounce bottle, can't say it'll be a high priority to try again. From producer: Malts: Northwest Harrington, Klages, Maier Munich and Carastan; Hops: Perle and Saaz; Yeast: Rogue's Pacman Yeast. Specs: 16º PLATO; 40 IBU; 78 AA; 16º Lovibond.