Beer of the Week: NW Peaks Granite Oat Pale Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Having the beer notes online allows me to quickly reference what I previously thought of a beer. It comes in particularly handy with NW Peaks when their Mountainbeers get brewed again and I can compare what I thought of the beer year over year and see how the recipe has changed. Granite Oat was one of the adjunct beers from last year’s experiments and it was interesting (in a good way) so I was happy to see that NW Peaks decided to bring it back into the fold this year.

From the NW Peaks Website:

The Name, the mountain. Granite is an accessible mountain right off I-90 just west of Snoqualmie Pass. With a summer trail that goes to a fire lookout at the summit, it’s a perfect day trip for those that want an accessible, but slightly strenuous day hike. From the summit, the views from Rainier to Baker are spectacular on a nice day.

The Beer. April brings another ‘adjunct’ beer to the mountainBeers. We used oats (20%) in this beer and then paired it with a couple of unique hops from New Zealand. Granite ended light and dry with a subtle oat, silky mouthfeel. The featured character are the hops that come through as distinctly melon-like, with floral and citrus notes also present. At 4.8% ABV, Granite has the characteristics of a session IPA (… but with Oats).

The beer pours copper in color with a white head. Strong notes of oats and yeast dominate the nose with hints of grain and spice in the background. The beer starts out with a mild sweetness with notes of oatmeal and sugar before becoming crisp and dry with hints of grain and yeast. The beer finishes slightly bitter with a backing note of oat and barley. I thought that the bitterness initially threw the balance off slightly as it was almost bracingly bitter (probably because it was unexpected and had a bit of a bite) on the first sip, but it quickly mellowed on the next sip and added a lightly bitter pleasantness to the finish. As the beer warms, there are some fruity esters that become present, rounding out the beer further and adding a new layer of flavor to the profiles.

NW Peaks Granite Oat Pale Ale comes up to the fence and straps on 3 feed bags out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Maritime Pacific ESB

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The name Bitter in a beer is a bit of a misnomer as we have come to think of beers today. It is really just a comparison of the happiness in relation to a mild and a plain from the days of old in merry old England. It makes it hard to convince someone who does not like very hoppy beers that Bitters are in fact, very mildly bitter and not what you would find from and IPA. Maritime Pacific does and Extra Special Bitter as one of their seasonal beers and like all of their beers, they are well crafted if unspectacular.

The beer pours ruby-amber in color with strong notes of caramel and hints of grain on the nose. The beer starts off on the palate with dominating notes of lightly sweet caramel which carry throughout the beer. There is an increasingly pleasant bitterness what builds and mingles with the sweetness, playing tag and alternating between the two, but neither is particularly deep but the do compliment each other. The beer is balanced and easy drinking with just enough sweet maltiness that it is not cloying and just enough bitter to be interesting but it seemed to be lacking just a bit more complexity to bring it to the next level. Still and enjoyable beer and a good one to introduce someone to the world of bitters.

Maritime Pacific ESB draws an average 2 pints out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Stoup ISA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

One of the nice things about living in the Northwest is that, despite living in the land of big, hoppy beers, breweries know that there is always a place for a more session version of the IPA – something that has lower alcohol but still has a significant hop profile to keep all of the hopheads happy without killing them with a 7+% ABV beer on a warm day. Stoup Brewing started producing one early in their life, giving drinkers a nice break from the big IPAs.

From the Stoup website:

Silver medal in the Session Ales category at the 2014 Washington Beer Awards ®

ABV: 5%, IBU: 45, Lovibond: 5

A vibrantly golden brew crafted with the Northwest beer drinker in mind. Hopped to satisfy, moderately dry in the finish, and restrained in alcohol content, our India Session Ale is ideal for a long Seattle afternoon of beer consumption with friends. Or alone. Who are we to judge?

The beer pours pale yellow in color with light floral notes on the nose and hints of hops and citrus in the background. the beer starts off on the palate with mild grain before coming in with very light citrus and a pleasant bitterness that keeps building into the finish before fading with more grain with just a hint of citrus peel. Big flavors and nice balance from a session with nice hop bite to keel the hophead in me happy without being palate blowing.

Stoup ISA jams in with a solid set of 3 session players out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Expansion IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

One of the issues that Populuxe Brewing has is one of size. They make some excellent beers that don’t stick around too long on tap because they are being brewed in small batches on their 1.5 barrel system (which is about 50 gallons at a time). At some point, there is going to be a brewery expansion, but that is still a bit away. In the meantime, the brewers at Populuxe wandered off to Stoup Brewing to brew a beer on Stoup’s much larger system and the result was a 7%, hop-laden brew which has been dubbed Expansion IPA. It was just released this weekend and for the first time ever, I can say you don’t have to worry about running down to the brewery right away to try it – they have a pretty good supply on hand.

The beer pours slightly hazy orange in color with an off-white head. Strong notes of orange and grapefruit with light notes of orange peel and tangerine show on the nose with just the faintest hint of green hops. The beer starts off with a pleasant grain note on the palate before moving into a significant hop profile with strong orange and grapefruit flavors and a building citrus peel bitterness. The beer finishes long with a pleasant balance of slightly sweet citrus and a mild bitterness of citrus peel. Easy drinking without overly bitter, there is a nice, layered balance in this beer.

Populuxe Expansion IPA finds room to grow with a strong 4 annexes out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Naked City Mild Davis

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The resurgence of mild beers is nice – they are low alcohol, usually have a nice malty flavor profile and can be very refreshing if they are served on a warm day. They are usually my go to beer when I am looking for something that is lower in alcohol and has a deeper flavor on warmer days. It is even better when served either on nitro or cask, giving the traditional English feel to the beer. It also means that when I see a mild on tap somewhere, I am going to get it. This was the case at Naked City where they had their mild on nitro. It clocked in at just 3.8% ABV.

From the Naked City website:

Our Northwest interpretation of a classic English Style Mild Ale. Mild Davis is brewed with British Pale, Ashburne Mild Malt, Brown Malt, and Crystal. Lightly hopped with Willamette. Served on Nitrogen for an extremely smooth, silky mouthfeel.

The beer pours amber in color with a creamy white head. There is no dominating or defining note on the nose of this beer – mild notes of caramel, malt and toffee all appear but none is overly present. The beer starts off on the palate in a non-descript way with really mild hints of malt before moving into very light caramel and toffee and finishing light with those flavors and just a touch of malty sweetness and a creamy mouth feel. Light in flavor and easy to drink, it was fine but it lacked a bit of depth in character that I like in a mild.

Naked City Mild Davis announces its presence with 2 trumpets out of 5

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Brews Triple Hop Imperial IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

It is always nice when Reuben’s throws out a new IPA or a variation of one of their existing ones. There have been some fun versions of the Imperial Rye, Blimey and Imperial on cask and randalls, adding new depth of flavors to already tasty beers. A recent experiment with their Imperial IPA lead to triple hopping (and sadly I did not write down what that actually entailed), but it did produce an 80+ IBU, 8.4% ABV monster.

The beer pours golden orange in color with a creamy white head. Strong notes of citrus and citrus peel with hints of lemon and pine appear on the nose. The beer starts out with a touch of sweetness and grain before moving into a strong citrus middle with notes of orange, lemon and tangerine that linger pleasantly before the bitterness sets in with notes of orange peel. The finish is a combination of fruit and peel with hints of resin and just a touch of alcohol, which disappears after the first couple of sips. Very layered and complex with deep fruit notes and enough bitterness to round them out, yes surprisingly easy to drink.

Reuben’s Triple Hop Imperial IPA throws a strike with 4 turkeys out of 5.

Beer of the Week: NW Peaks Luna dIPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

For the first couple of years of their existence, NW Peaks resisted brewing IPA’s, becoming the sort of anti-Northwest Brewery. They really had no reason to – they brewed some great beers in styles that were not always common, using different ingredients. That has slowly changed and NW Peaks threw its hat into the IPA arena first with the Challenger IPA and now with the Luna dIPA – their first crack at a double IPA. In NW Peaks fashion, they couldn’t just brew any old double IPA, they went out and brewed one using all Southern Hemisphere hops.

From the NW Peaks Website:

The name. The mountain. Luna is the center mountain of the Northern Picket range, arguably the most remote and inaccessible are of the N Cascades (along with the S. Pickets). There really is no good approach; any choice involves a lengthy slog and bushwhack. For those that venture into the area, the rewards are worth it as you are surrounded by gorgeous environs with a feeling of isolation. Since Luna Peak is the center of the N. Pickets including Mt Challenger (the namesake of our IPA), it was a perfect name for the bold and big double version of the style.

The Beer. Luna IPA is a beast of an IPA coming in at 9.5% ABV with about 3 pounds of hops per barrel. Luna starts with melon and tropical notes dominating the hop aroma and flavor. This leads to a crisp, hoppy bite, but one that doesn’t overwhelm your senses. Luna fermented dry (for the style), but the malt backbone, sweetness of the fruity hops, and alcohol warming support the hops harmoniously. The resulting beer is a great interpretation of the style that features unique hops, a full flavor profile, and pleasant drinkability.

The beer pours deep orange in color with a nice white head. There are strong notes of grain and citrus on the nose with hints of mellon and notes of wood. The beer starts off on the palate with just a touch of grain before moving quickly int a significant profile of mellon and tropical fruit with a hint of sweetness, reminding me of eating a juicy cantaloupe. The finish brings additional flavors of pineapple and passion fruit with a tiny amount of bitterness that lingers for what seems like forever and brings just a touch of warming heat from the alcohol. The beer is incredibly well balanced and different, its complexity hides the fact that this beer is a monster and you can easily drink 2 or 3 in one sitting without feeling like you have killed you palate like with most double IPA’s.

NW Peaks Luna dIPA sends Alice to the moon with 5 Pows! Right in the kissers out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Sound Brewery Mayan Cave Bear

By Iron Chef Leftovers

There are some beers that are available once a year in a very limited window that are worth the wait. These generally tend to be really over the top hoppy IPA’s that have a huge following. For me, it is the obscure styles of dark beers, generally ones that have been sitting in a barrel aging. Sound Brewing Mayan Cave Bear has been a bit of a white whale for me – the last couple of releases I wasn’t able to get to try the beer and I have been wanting to for quite a while since their Imperial Stout – Ursus Spelaeus is one of my favorites. Fortunately for me I went to the cask festival and Mayan Cave Bear was available, so I figured what better time to try it.

The beer pours jet black with significant amounts of vanilla, chocolate and coffee with hints of malt and chilies on the nose. The beer starts off with huge notes of chocolate and coffee on the palate before throwing in a hint of green chili pepper that brings a touch of heat to the party, but not in an overpowering way, and some fruitiness from the pepper. The beer finishes long with chocolate, coffee, toffee, roast malt and a pleasant background heat that ties this beer altogether. The beer is big and complex and 10% ABV but well balanced and smooth making it easy to drink. This beer is one I probably couldn’t drink all day, but it would be a great one to have a snifter or 2 of on a cold winter day.

Sound Brewery Mayan Cave Beer staves off extinction with a spectacular 5 human sacrifices out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Belgian Tripel

By Iron Chef Leftovers

In the strictest sense of the word, this beer is technically not a Populuxe beer, it is something that one of their brewers brewed as a home-brew batch. It is getting put under the Populuxe category because of the connection the the brewery and I really don’t want to lose the notes that I took on the beer, especially since I love Belgian triples. The bottle was also a gift from the brewer for my birthday, so it was a one time deal.

The beer pours hazy orange in color with a nice white head. Very grain foreword on the nose with significant amounts of Belgian yeast and hints of spice and cloves on the nose. the beer stars out with just a hint of grain and boozy alcohol before moving very quickly into the realm of Belgian character – yeast and bread dominate at first before moving off into a nicely spiced middle and then bering joined with a pleasant sweetness and notes of yeast and bread that linger nicely on the finish with hints of nutmeg and cloves rounding out the beer. There is just a touch of warming alcohol at the end of the beer, reminding you that it is not a small beer to be drinking. The beer is well balanced and enjoyable throughout the experience and as the beer warms, deeper flavors of orange peel and banana come to the party making this a deep and complex beer to be enjoyed on a cool spring day.

Populuxe Belgian Tripel pulls into 3rd base standing up with 4 triples out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Bad Jimmy’s Blood Orange And Honey Wheat Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I always temper my expectations when it comes to beers involving blood oranges. Blood oranges are one of my favorite flavors, but when it comes to putting them into beers, you either get so much blood orange flavor that the beer is completely overwhelmed or so little blood orange flavor that it is barely noticeable. As a result of this, I had some apprehension about trying the blood orange and honey wheat from Bad Jimmy’s. The beer clocked in at a hefty 6.5% ABV and 20 IBU.

The beer pours light hazy pale in color with light notes of honey and blood orange peel with hints of wheat in the background. The beer starts out with a light, slightly astringent, bitterness from the blood orange peel before becoming gradually sweeter, first from the blood orange juice and then from the honey before fading out. There are very light grain and orange notes ion the finish, but the beer is lacking much in the way of actual wheat character which is strangely lost despite the lack of bold flavors from the honey or orange. The beer lacked balance and missed out on the chance to elevate itself with a great paring of ingredients.

Bad Jimmy’s Blood Orange And Honey Wheat Ale harvests just 2 combines out of 5.