Cantillon - Gueuze 100% Lambic-Bio

Brasserie Cantillon in Belgium has, in the last two or so years, become really sought after here in the US. They're known for their deliciously funky open-air lambics, and though many of their offerings do make it across the ocean, they tend to be snapped up really quickly and rarely see the shelves. The beer I'm reviewing today is the organic version of their basic gueze, which is one of their core brews and one of the easiest to acquire.

Appearance: The picture made this look a lot more orange than it really is. In person, it's more of a sunny golden yellow, with a dense, foamy head that fades fairly quickly, but leaves a ring around the edge of the glass and patchwork lacing down the sides.

Smell: Tart and funky! "Barnyard" notes, with sour green apple, lemon, straw. Even with the super strong funkiness, it's bright and refreshing smelling.

Taste: A very aggressive, demanding sour flavor, with lemon, a bit of oak from the barrel aging, a white-wine grape note, and finally some of that rubber tire funk which is so off-putting to describe but really works in a beer like this.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied, extremely crisp. The strong tart acidity and dry, crisp body have a way of making me feel like my head is clearing up (until the next beer, of course.)

Overall: Gueze can be kind of a harsh style to the sour newcomer, but for an introduction to the style, you can't go wrong with Cantillon (and by extension, this beer.) It's about as perfect of a representation of a gueze as I can think of: extremely sour and dry with pleasant funkyness.

5/5

Lawson's Finest Liquids - Toast

Toast is a 5.9% ABV Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale/whatever from the good folks at Lawson's, who love their hops and i love them for it. I'm under the impression that this was brewed once, in the spring (and yes, I did drink it in the spring, but as you can see I've been really awful about posting my reviews lately, so sorry) and it was sent to me from a friend on the East Coast as part of a big box of delightful hoppy treats from Vermont.

Appearance: Deep brown that is nearly black, with a thick, mousse-textured tan head that is retained for several minutes and leaves sticky lacing on the sides of the glass. Very attractive pour.

Smell: Exactly how I like a black IPA to smell -- dark, roasted character from the malt, lending a robust espresso character, plus a more sweet, floral and resinous hop note that tempers the acidity from the dark malt.

Taste: The dark roasted malt dominates the palate. The hops come through a bit, but they aren't as present as they are on the nose, so the most obvious flavors are those of coffee and chocolate. Where I can detect hops, I get more of a citrus character than I picked up from the nose. As the beer warms, it becomes more astringent.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, with the moderate carbonation one expects from an IPA. Because I think the roast character wasn't as well balanced with the hoppy notes I'd want from an IPA, this more effervescent mouthfeel works against the beer. With this kind of flavor profile, I'm programmed to want a more creamy body like in a porter or a stout. It's not a bad mouthfeel, but the whole synergy is off.

Overall: This is a style that people are divided on. Myself, I like it when it's done well. Firestone's Wookie Jack and the Stone 15th Anniversary beers (not to mention Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous, which I also like, but not as well as the former two) are my favorites of the category. This one is a good tasting beer, but does fall a little short in the exact balance and seems to be tipped more in the robust toasted malt flavor. Not bad drinking, but not my favorite effort.

3/5

Hill Farmstead Brewer - Society and Solitude #6

About Society and Solitude #6, the most recent of their D/IPA "philosophical" series, Hill Farmstead simply says: "Imperial Pale Ale brewed almost exclusively with Mosaic hops from the Pacific Northwest. 8% abv"

This was also received and tasted back in March, so sorry for not getting the official review up until now! I'm so lucky to have friends near Vermont that send me beer from this brewery, so I want to make it clear that I drink HF growlers immediately after I receive them to ensure that the beer is as fresh as possible.

Appearance: The beer pours a cloudy orange-amber, with a dense soapy head that pours to about 3-4 fingers in height and sticks around for awhile, eventually leaving webbed lacing and rings along the side of the glass.

Smell: I've been loving the recent explosion of Mosaic hop use, and they lend a ton of character to the nose here. It's dank, resinous, and herbal, but there is also a ton of juicy fruitiness -- especially tropical.

Taste: On the palate, the fruit is much more upfront. Grapefruit, orange, and mango dominate here, but there is a bit of pepper on the finish and a bit of breadiness that counteracts the acid and sweetness from the hop notes. The hops are punchy, which I like, but there is some weight behind the beer that balances it and keeps it from being too hot or astringent.

Mouthfeel: This beer is smooth on the palate and is medium bodied. The finish is moderately dry, fairly average for the style.

Overall: Another delicious DIPA from Hill Farmstead. There really isn't much left to say: I'm continually impressed by the high quality output of their beers, and how there are distinct differences in character across the IPAs in the series that make them uniquely enjoyable.

5/5

Lawson's Finest Liquids - Double Sunshine IPA

Lawson's says of their Double Sunshine IPA: '"his American Double India Pale Ale is packed with juicy tropical fruit flavors and bright herbal aromas, thanks to the abundance of US-grown hops. ~8% a/v"

Check out what I finally got to try! This has been on my most wanted probably ever since I started exploring the wide world of craft beer, but its limited production out of Vermont made it difficult for me to ever procure a bottle. Finally I was able to trade for it this March, so I can tick this one off. I did taste this back in March when I received it, so this review is for the fresh bottle despite not posting it until now!

Appearance: This DIPA takes on a light copper hue, and a head is a pretty clean white of medium density that doesn't leave much lacing or rings on the glass.

Smell: I found the nose on this one to be pretty subtle. I got this bottle shortly after the most recent release of Kern's Citra (which I still count as my favorite beer) and a lot of people include that beer and Double Sunshine in their favorite IPAs, so I couldn't help but compare them even though they are really completely different IPAs. One of the biggest differences was that Citra, on the nose, is explosively fruity. Double Sunshine has some nice lemon and tangerine citrus character and a solid backbone of resin and pine, but as I mentioned earlier, it's subdued.

Taste: I get the citrus and pine character like I got from the nose, but I also taste more of the tropical notes that were promised on the bottle, including mango and pineapple. The flavor is juicier and punchier than the nose, which I liked. The malt backbone is noticeable to me, not in an overly sweet way, but it's present enough to provide noticeable balance.

Mouthfeel: For the style, the mouthfeel is actually pretty thick. It's oily and does seem to leave behind a bit of a residue that's reminiscent of a thick juice. It's got the effect of ripe richness, which isn't bad, but I think I personally prefer a more dry finish.

Overall: This was a delicious DIPA that I'm fortunate to have tried; however, now that I have, I can safely say that I don't think I'll be needing to seek it out again. I traded away some Citra for it, but I know now I'd rather have the Citra. Since there is no shortage of fabulous IPAs here in California, and since Heady Topper is available year-round from Vermont, I have plenty of other options! I think I preferred Lawson's Triple Play IPA, which may be an unpopular opinion, but to me and my preferences this one didn't quite live up to the hype.

3.5/5

Two months later...

Hello readers (those of you who are out there)!

I got some nice feedback a week or so ago encouraging me to keep up my reviewing on this blog, and I fully intend to do that! In the meantime, I wanted to apologize for my absence and explain what's been going on.

In the first place, I had been spending a lot -- too much -- on beer. This can get to be a quite expensive hobby, unfortunately, and it had started to put a strain on other things I enjoyed doing. The second point, which is tangentially related to the first, is that though I still have a LOT of beer I can drink and review for the blog, I had started to see more of the value in sharing it rather than drinking it by myself and taking detailed notes. I could, I suppose, still take notes in these social situations, but when I'm around other people, even when we're discussing the beer, I still prefer to be in the conversation rather than observing it and writing furiously in my notebook.

I have a few smaller excuses, but that's the big one. I did help pour beer with my friends at Eagle Rock Brewery at the LA Beer Fest on April 6th -- maybe you saw me there!

I do have two reviews upcoming on some notes I took last month but never typed into a proper review. So you can look forward to reviews of two delicious Vermont IPAs (I just love receiving these) that will hopefully be posted in the next week or so. Thanks to the encouragement I received, I'm happy to keep posting notes for those out there who are interested, so hopefully afterward I can get back on a schedule to review a new beer once a week again!

Cheers :)
Amanda