Yippee Rye Aye and Pere Jacques

After a Mountain Bike ride and yard work, I grabbed a quick shower and went to Parry’s Pizzeria and Pub for lunch.  I ordered a meat calzone and enjoyed two beers, Sierra Nevada Yippee Rye Aye Beer Camp #51 (5.9% ABV) an ale with black peppercorns and Goose Island – Pere Jacques (8% ABV and 26 IBU) a Belgian Dubbel.  There was very little information on Yippee Rye Aye and I admit that I liked Red-oric better.  The Pere Jacques was excellent and I hope to try more Goose Island beers in the future.

Pere Jacques website description – “Brewed with loads of malt and Belgian yeast, Pere Jacques is a wonderfully fruity, malty ale. Pere Jacques’ complex flavors stand shoulder to shoulder with the Belgian Dubbels enjoyed in the world’s finest beer bars. At the dining table it’s the perfect alternative to a glass of vintage port."

Note - photo below is from the Goose Island website

Goose Island – http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/home/56.php

Sierra Nevada – http://www.sierranevada.com/index2.html

Parry’s Pizzeria and Bar - http://www.parryspizza.com/parrysbar/

Four from Cali – Alt, IPA, Smoked Porter and a Dubbel

Lagunitas – Lucky 13 Alt (8.9% ABV and 77 IBU) is what I would call an “Imperialized” version of an Alt-style beer.  I consider Alaskan Amber (5.3% ABV and 18 IBU) as the standard bearer for this German inspired old-style beer and Alaskan Amber is the flagship for Alaskan Brewing Co.  Lagunitas took the Alt-style and amped it up in both ABV and IBU.  Lucky 13 is an anniversary ale that pours orangey copper with a two-finger bubbly head.  This is a real treat and Lagunitas did a great job with taking a style and putting their own spin on it.  I have recommended it to a few friends and I look forward to hear their impressions.  I also appreciate that Lagunitas also thanks some of the initial craft brewers in the anniversary label thanking Anchor Steam and Rogue Ales. 

 Last night we had dinner with some friends and Randy had purchased some nice selections.  He picked Firestone Walker Union Jack (7.5% ABV) a really nice IPA for me and a Stone Smoked Porter ( ABV and IBU) for him along with a couple of bottles of Ovila Abbey Dubbel to enjoy with appetizers and dinner.  Union Jack is awesome and I am very happy that Firestone Walker is now being distributed in Colorado.  This is an excellent IPA and I will purchase it again.  I tasted a small sample of the Stone Smoked Porter (5.9% ABV and 53 IBU) and as I told Randy – I have liked everything I have tried from Stone.  Someday, I would like to do a side-by-side comparison of some of the noted smoked beers and pit Alaskan Smoked Porter vs. Stone Smoked Porter.  It was also very good to taste the Sierra Nevada – Ovila Abbey Dubbel (7.5% ABV) again (reviewed in the blog earlier) and it paired perfectly with marinated and grilled flank steak.  These four are very good beers from brewers in California and each did very well with four different styles.

Abbey and Twilight

Deschutes Twilight (5% ABV and 35 IBU) is a summer seasonal Golden or Blonde Ale.  This is not one of my favorite beer styles, but I wanted to try it since it was from Deschutes.  Twilight pours golden amber with a lacey two-finger head.  Twilight has good flavor and it is mellower than some of Deschutes other varieties – it has a good malt base with light hop bitterness to balance the beer.  I am also thinking they tried to tweak the color to match what it would look like at twilight across the Deschutes river as captured on the label.  The web site description of Twilight is, “A lighter, yet full-flavored, aromatic Ale for the long days of summer. Twilight’s solid malt foundation pairs with distinctive Amarillo hops for flavors every bit as intriguing as bigger, heavier ales. A back porch, lingering sunset wonder.”  This is a nice summer beer. 

New Belgium is best known for Fat Tire but they make many other styles.  One of my favorites is Abbey (7% ABV and 20 IBU).  Abbey pours cloudy dark tan with a two-finger head and has an aroma of a Belgian-style ale.  The aroma comes from the yeast used by the brewer and Abbey smells really good.  New Belgium describes Abbey as, “Winner of four World Beer Cup medals and eight medals at the Great American Beer Fest, Abbey Belgian Ale is the Mark Spitz of New Belgium s lineup - but it didn’t start out that way. When Jeff and Kim first sampled the beer at the Lyons Folks Fest, reviews were mixed at best. One of founder Jeff’s first two Belgian style homebrews (along with Fat Tire), Abbey is a Belgian dubbel (or double) brewed with six different malts and an authentic Belgian yeast strain. Abbey is bottle-conditioned, weighs in at 7.0% alcohol by volume, and pairs well with chocolate (or boldly served by itself) for dessert.”  Abbey tastes great and I understand why it has won the number of medals it has garnered over the years.  This is one of my favorites from New Belgium and my list from New Belgium is Abbey, 1554 and Ranger.  These are all very good.

Sierra Nevada - Kellerweis and Ovila

Kellerweis (4.8% ABV and 15 IBU) is a Hefeweizen from Sierra Nevada and pours gold with a frothy head.  Make sure to leave some beer in the bottle and swirl it to get all the yeast that is on the bottom.  Kellerweis is a very tasty hefeweizen and Sierra Nevada actually uses open fermentation on this beer.  If you are looking for a drinkable beer that would be good on a summer day, Kellerweis should be on your list.

Next up was Ovila (7.5% ABV) and is a Dubbel.  Ovila is a special release from Sierra Nevada and some of the proceeds go to the Abbey of New Clairvaux.  There is a lot of carbonation on this corked and caged bottle and it will give a nice little pop.  Ovila pours copper with a frothy head and has an aroma of dark fruit and cloves.  This is a tasty beer and one can pick up the dark fruit, dark malt sweetness, and a Belgian taste from the yeast used in brewing this beer.  I really appreciate Sierra Nevada trying new and different things and this is a very good beer.  There will be two additional Ovila releases this year, a Saison and a Quad.  I will purchase these and I look forward to sampling these beers.

Achel – Bruin Bier

Achel Brewery  - Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis - is a Belgium Trappist brewery and is the smallest of the seven Trappist breweries.  I had not sampled anything from Achel before and Bruin Bier is a Dubbel with an ABV of 8%.  Bruin pours amber brown with a large head and has an aroma of spices, caramel and what I term a Belgian yeast aroma.  Bruin has nice malt sweetness, tastes like a beer from Belgium with a good balance.  I think Westmalle, Orval, Rochefort and Chimay are better.  In no means is Achel bad, I think the others are just better.  I purchased the new Ovila Dubbel release from Sierra Nevada and I think it will be nice to compare it with the classic Belgian beers.

An evening of Belgian Beers

I started Monday evening with a Chimay Red with dinner.  Chimay is one of the Belgian Trappist Brewers and offers three varieties in the U.S., appropriately, Red, White and Blue.  Red has an ABV of 7% and pours a nice amber color with a nice head that takes time to recede.  I enjoyed this one with a dinner of Southwest chicken breast, rice, and mixed sauteed vegetables.  The sweetness came out with the carrots and the beer tasted best with the chicken breast.  This was a nice pairing and Chimay Red is a smooth beer that I found I had to slow down and enjoy. 

Second up was Orval, another Belgian Trappist Brewer, with an ABV of 6.9% and pours a cloudy golden amber with an incredible billowy head.  I have never seen head retention like this and the lacing it leaves on the glass is a mark of a truly great beer.  It took some to pour this beer, which is good because it needed to warm up for the correct serving temperature.  The flavors are spicy and fruity with a dry finish and this is an amazing beer. 

Next was Westmalle, Dubbel with an ABV of 7% and another Belgian Tappist Brewer.  I have a bottle of Westmalle Tripel ready for a beer tasting I am hosting next Friday.  The Dubbel and the Tripel are the varieties available here in the U.S. and the Tripel is regarded as one of the best beers in the world with a 100 rating from Draft Magazine.  Dubel pours a deep amber with a fruity aroma.  I can taste the fruit with hints of raisin and plum/prune. 

St. Bernardus Abt 12 (not a Trappist Brewer, but Belgian) has an ABV of 10.5% and is classified as a Quadrupel Belgian Ale.  St. Bernardus offers seven different styles and Abt 12 is considered the brewery’s showpiece.  Abt 12 pours a nice deep brown / mahogany and has a good fruit aroma.  This one had a touch more bit due to the higher alcohol percentage.  Nice complexity in the taste with hints of raisin, plum, and malt sweetness.

The Belgian beers are a treat and I understand why they are held in high esteem.  If someone is pouring one of these, I will look forward to it.  On Friday, I have a large bottle of Abt 12 and a Westmalle Trippel to share with the guys.  Looks like we have a great line up.