Russian River - Pliny the Elder

A perpetually highly-rated and well-loved beer, this 8% ABV Imperial/DIPA is one of my favorites indeed.

Appearance: Clear, golden orange, pours about twofingers of head. Head recedes, leaving plenty of lacing on the glass and thin layer of foam at top. Carbonation immediately visible.

Smell: Fruit (mainly citrus to my nose, but many get tropical as well), pine, hops

Taste: First taste impression is sweet citrus, with pine/earth. In the middle body I get some mild spice, which transitions through to classic IPA hoppy bitterness comes through at end. The flavor profile is strong, but well-balanced.

Mouthfeel: It feels medium bodied, with a nice carbonated texture. It's a great texture/weight balance to the heavy flavor.

Overall: There is a lot of praise over this beer, and I can see why. Though a lot of the flavors present here are present in other IPAs (namely citrus), the particular balance present here is pretty special.  Considering that it's a double IPA, the hoppiness/bitterness isn't overpowering - it packs a punch, but it's so nicely melded with the other flavors that it's potentially the type of IPA that even non-IPA people would love. And if you are IPA people, like me? Well it's just great. It just is!

5/5

Stone, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Green Flash - Highway 78 Scotch Ale

A collaboration between the aforementioned breweries, all located within an 18 mile radius, yields this 2011 scotch ale that is 8.8% ABV, poured from the bottle.

Appearance: The beer pours a clear dark amber as seen in photo above. Head is minimal and the extent of retention is a ring at the edge of the glass.

Smell: From the smell, I get toasty malts, and the hint of scotch/bourbon. It's a bit sweet.

Taste: For an ale, I don't get much fruit with this one. It continues to present a toasted/roasted taste, with sweetness - possibly caramel? - and much like with the smell, the finish is of the scotch. I don't find it overpowering though, as I do currently with many scotch or bourbon barrel-aged beers. Overall, I would say this is a very sweet, malty beer, that is given a bit more taste dimension from the scotch.

Mouthfeel: In the mouth it feels light-bodied, with very little carbonation that pricks the tongue initially but smooths out. Like flat soda, almost.

Overall: The taste really packs a punch in this beer, even if (for me) it didn't seem very nuanced. I got sweet, and I got scotch. That said, since I mentioned earlier that I'm trying to warm up to the scotch and bourbon barrel-aged beers, this beer could be a nice transition into the genre because the scotch in it isn't overpowering. Since I tend to like strong, flavorful beers, I don't find the sweetness overpowering either; though, I can't help but wonder if the carbonation were more pronounced, would it cut down on the sweetness and improve drinkability even more?

On one hand, I think I expect a bit more from Stone. They don't have a lot of "Top Five" beers that I would take to a desert island with me, but I think their overall oeuvre is pretty solid and that makes them as a brewery pretty top notch.

On the other hand, I think this may be exactly what I should expect from Stone, that is, big, bold flavors. That's kind of their MO. So, without knowing enough about either Green Flash or Pizza Port beers yet to detect their signatures in this beer, it does seem very much right up Stone's alley - even if there aren't a plethora of balanced flavors, the ones that are there hit you in the face and take no prisoners.

3/5

My beer education.

I don't really expect anyone to read this :) I kind of just mean it to be a record for myself.

I started becoming very interested in beer toward the end of my senior year of college, as I discovered that there is more to beer than Natural Light and Coors. I credit Blue Moon with being my gateway beer - for a easily-acquired supermarket beer, I was impressed with the body and flavor, and at the time found it unlikely the nasty watery stuff I'd been previously exposed to.

I discovered Beer for Chicks and noticed that in the user area, they had the option to do a blog. I thought it might be a nice opportunity to actually chronicle the beer I try as I try to develop my palate a bit better. I had my blog over there for awhile before I ported it over here to Blogger, mainly because there were some security glitches over there that made it pretty certain that none of my curious friends could ever see what I was up to, if they felt so inclined.

I'm not a very gifted writer, nor a very gifted taster at this stage in the game. But like I said, I mostly intend for this to be a written documentation of my learning experience, as well as a record of the beers I've tried and what my impressions are of them.

I've already tried lots of beers, but I haven't written about many of them, so I'm a bit behind in that aspect. I'm going to try, from this point forward, to do a post per beer, including one for beers I've tried before as I get to them. I want to try not to do it by memory, but rather if I can get an opportunity to get my hands on them again I'd like to do it fresh. If you are happening to read this (god bless for sticking with me this long!), I welcome any comments on the style and flavor that I may have missed, as well as any corrections to inaccuracies. I am here to learn :)