Beer of the Week: Populuxe Kolsch

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I am not a big fan of kolsch. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the style, it is just one that I tend to find a bit plain and boring, even when it is done correctly. I tend to want something with more depth of flavor and character when I am drinking a beer unless the weather is warm and I want something that is a background beer. Populuxe took a stab at a kolsch with some pretty good results.

The beer pours pale yellow in color with lots of yeast and grain on the nose with hints of lemon in the background. The beer starts out on the palate softly with subtle grain before moving into more pronounced flavors from the yeast. The beer starts out slowly and has a long build of floor without being overpowering before finishing crisp and clean with a very slight sweetness from the grain. The beer lacks a dominating flavor and is an excellent example of how the style should be done, making it an easy drinking beer perfect for a warm day.

Populuxe Kolsch rocks in with 3 hammocks under the tree out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Brews AmeriRoggen

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Reuben’s does love their rye beers and they excel at them. One of the styles that you don’t see very often anywhere is a Roggenbier, but that is one of their flagships (and one of the first beers they bottled) and they do it well. A few months back, they decided to use different yeast and transform the Roggenbier into AmeriRoggen, putting a twist on an already solid beer. The beer clocked in at 6% ABV and 28 IBU. It is not currently on tap, but might be making reappearance in the next few months, so keep an eye out for it.

The beer pours a solid brown in color, almost like dark brewed tea with notes of rye, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom dominating and a slight hint of chocolate on the nose. The beer drinks very smoothly – it starts out with a little citrus before moving into the spices and then quickly fading into a pleasantly mild rye finish with notes of warming spice and hints of grain. It drinks much lighter than it looks (it doesn’t have deep roasted flavors) and is smooth and well balanced. Definitely different than anything that is out on the market and a beer worth trying if you are looking for something unusual. It would probably serve as a nice gateway beer into the realm of ryes or browns also.

Reuben’s AmeriRoggen waves the flag to the tune of 4 National Anthems out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Stone Enjoy By 7-4-13

Stone Brewing has a great series of hoppy beers called “Enjoy By”. Basically, these beers are made to be consumed fresh and done so by the date on the bottle. These beers come out about once a month and are generally available in better bottle shops in a 22 oz. size with the price varying depending on the beer. This version of the beer was a double IPA and not exactly what you would call a small beer.

From the Stone website:

Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.4%
Bottled On: 05.31.13
Enjoy By Date: 07.04.13

You have in your hands a devastatingly fresh double IPA. While freshness is a key component of many beers – especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs – we’ve taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We’ve not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you’re getting this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short window, we made sure that the Enjoy By date isn’t randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the label, to be overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and consumers. Instead, we’ve sent a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA.

The beer pours golden orange in color with an off white head. Notes of lemon, orange and grapefruit dominate the nose with an ever so slight note of grain. The beer starts off surprisingly mild for a double IPA with a pleasantly light bitterness before reminding you that, yes, this is a double IPA and quickly moving into the intense citrus range with orange and grapefruit dominating with some citrus peel thrown in for good measure. Those flavors stick around for a long time before fading with a light resin on the back of the palate and a slight sweetness on the front mixed with the residual citrus notes still trying to fade. I wish the beer had slightly more balance as the intense citrus was nice but the bitterness came and went and there was some alcohol burn on the back of the throat which made the beer a little tougher to drink. Overall, it is still a fine double IPA and worth giving a shot.

Stone’s Enjoy By 7-4-13 was a blast triggering 3 fireworks out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Diamond Knot Calypso Pale Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I really love the concept of the DNA Project that is run by Diamond Knot, North Sound and Anacortes because it gives you some insight how changing a small thing can lead to very different beers. The first DNA project in 2012 used the same yeast in 3 different beers. This year, they used the same grain bill and each used a different hop to produce a pale ale. Next time this rolls around, you should take a trip up to one of the 3 breweries involved to try this interesting experiment. First up is the Diamond Knot Calypso Pale – brewed with Calypso hops. It clocked in at 5.4% ABV.

In case you are unfamiliar with Calypso, from a homebrew site, they are described as “Pleasant, fruity aroma, with hints of pear and apple.”

The beer pours golden orange in color with lots of grain and malt on the nose backed by light citrus notes. A hint of pleasant bitterness show initially quickly giving way to a strong grain bill with notes of tropical fruit (I got mostly passion fruit) interspersed. The finish is a long, slightly bitter pineapple/pear combination, lingering just long enough between sips to remind you what you are drinking. The tropical hop notes dominate the beer, but there is enough grain and balance in this beer to make it light and easy drinking and would be perfect on a warm summer day.

The Diamond Knot Calypso Pale starts the party and limbos in with a strong 3 steel drums out of 5.

Beer of the Week: NW Peaks Chair Pale Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The counterpart to the recently reviewed Silver Pale from NW Peaks is the Chair Pale, a Belgian style pale, and one which Mrs. Iron Chef was looking forward to. According to the NW Peaks website, the beer may still be available in growlers, so if you are so inclined, you should see if they still have it.

From the NW Peaks Website:

The name. The mountain. Chair Pk is an intimidating mountain right off Snoqualmie pass. It heads the alpental valley and is a popular technical winter climb offering both ice and steep snow routes. All around Chair is a winter playground with “the chair peak circumnavigation” one of the most popular backcountry ski tours in the area.

The Beer. Chair is Belgian style pale ale. We used the Ardennes™ yeast strain to introduce the typical fruity esters (banana) and spicy phenols (pepper) typical of Belgian beers. The Belgian characters dominate the beer, but are supported by a nice hop character. The fruity and floral notes of Amarillo and NZ Saaz hops complement and support the Belgian character very nicely, resulting in a drier, crisp belgian style pale ale.

Malts: Pale, Pilsner, Vienna, Wheat, dextrin. Hops: NZ-Saaz, Amarillo, Cascade. ABV: ~5.25%

The beer pours golden yellow in color (and is hazy, which is not an indication of any issues) with a classic Belgian nose – clove, banana and yeast dominate the beer. The beer has a slightly hoppy bitterness on the initial sip but that fades quickly into the flavors that you would expect from a Belgian – coriander, yeast and banana linger for a long period of time before finishing in a slightly sweet and bready finish. Complex and well-balanced, Chair Pale drinks easily and is a nice change of pace from the hop heavy NW Pales that you commonly find.

NW Peaks Chair Pale Ale takes a seat at the table with 4 rockers out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Solstice Pale Ale

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Today’s beer takes us in the way back machine 6 months to a warmer and sunnier time in Seattle – June, specifically the summer solstice*. I had forgotten about these notes as they are buried in the middle of my notebook, but Populuxe brewed a pale ale to celebrate the Fremont Solstice Parade, with the beer aptly being named Solstice Pale Ale.

The beer pours hazy yellow in color with light orange and citrus peel on the nose. The initial taste yields light notes of grapefruit followed by mild grassy/resin notes from the hops (they used Chinook and Simcoe) before finishing with a pleasantly light bitterness. The beer has great hop character on both the nose and palate, but that character is restrained wonderfully giving you just small amounts of bitterness and a nice complexity that allows you to appreciate the grain character of the beer and pick up on the subtle flavors the hops are providing. Very easy to drink and a beer you could easily have more than one of, it was clean and refreshing, perfect for a nice summer day.

Populuxe Solstice Pale Ale strips down and rides in with 4 naked bicyclists out of 5.

*if my memory serves, it was cold and foggy the morning of the Solstice, but did become nice in the afternoon.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Blood Red Orange Rye

By Iron Chef Leftovers

There are very few flavors that I love more than blood orange, but the track record in having beers that included it are spotty. Some have been good (Elysian) and some not so good (also Elysian). I was excited when Reuben’s decided to do one as part of a Seattle Beer Week event – their track record on beers has been outstanding and if anyone was going to do it right, it was going to be them. So I rushed down to the brewery to try the beer.

The beer poured more pink than red, almost the color of pink grapefruit juice. Lots of mild citrus and grapefruit juice dominated the nose, reminding me of something that I could not quite place. The initial taste was slightly tart and sweet with mild fruit character. There were definite notes of blood orange in this beer but it completely overwhelmed the rye, no easy task, to the point of having to really look for it on the finish. The beer lacked balance and integration of flavors making it more like drinking fruit juice than beer as the hops and rye character of the beer were almost completely lost. It was still an interesting enough beer to be worth trying and probably could have used a bit more bittering from hops to balance out the sweetness of the blood orange and to add more depth, but it definitely falls into the miss category for Reuben’s, which was bound to happen at some point.

Maybe my expectations clouded my judgment on this beer, but it could have used more beer character and less fruit character to make it more interesting.

Reuben’s Blood Red Orange Rye peels out of the picture with a disappointing 2 sour oranges out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Alaskan Brewing Pilot Series Raspberry Wheat

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Alaskan Brewing makes some pretty solid beers, but where they really excel is with their Pilot Series beers. These beers are small production, big beers which usually rate as outstanding brews and in a bunch of cases, age really well. One of their spring Pilot Series beers over the last few years has been their Raspberry Wheat. This beer clocks in at 6.5% ABV and 20 IBU. The beer is not cheap, with a 22 oz. bottle setting you back $9 at your local bottle shop.

From the Alaskan website:

Alaskan Raspberry Wheat is an American-style Wheat Ale with the lively addition of red raspberries during fermentation.

With nearly one pound of real fruit per gallon, Alaskan Raspberry Wheat has the inviting aroma of fresh-picked raspberries and an enticing red hue. The flavor of the raspberries lends a tartness that balances the full-bodied wheat profile and malt sweetness. Bigger than most traditional fruit beers, Alaskan Raspberry Wheat adds an extra kick to its dry and effervescent finish.

The fruit beer style became popular more than 500 years ago with the lambics of Belgium where they brewed with wild yeast and fruit was added to the beer during secondary fermentation. Alaskan Raspberry Wheat follows an American take on this Old World style, highlighting the bright flavors of raspberries.

Years of local demand as a Rough Draft brew and a Silver medal from the 2008 Great American Beer Festival made Alaskan Raspberry Wheat the perfect beer to launch Alaskan’s Pilot Series of limited edition specialty beers.

This limited edition batch of Alaskan Raspberry Wheat is made from glacier fed water, the finest two-row barley, wheat and specialty malts, premium quality European and Pacific Northwest hop varieties, and more than 3,000 pounds of real raspberries.

The tart, sweet flavors and effervescent finish of Alaskan Raspberry Wheat pair best with light foods and desserts including fruit salads, grilled vegetable dishes, light fruit baked goods, crepes, crumbles and warm summer weather.

Berry picking in Alaska can be a busy pastime. With nearly 50 types of wild berry species across the state fruiting throughout the spring, summer and fall, berries have long been a staple in the Alaskan diet. This is also true of the diet of Alaskan black bears. These omnivores load up on rich raspberries and other berries in the late summer before hibernating for the long winters of Alaska. This beer celebrates the natural bounty and fresh flavors of summer in Alaska.

The beer pours reddish amber in color with an off white head. There are strong notes of raspberry with hints of wheat on the nose. The initial sip yields notes of slightly sweet raspberry before becoming drier with a more subtle raspberry profile complimented with notes of yeast and wheat. The finish is long and raspberry dominant, reminiscent of eating fresh fruit (without the seeds!) with a light tartness that lingers pleasantly. The balance is superb – slightly sweet and slightly tart at various times, with plenty of raspberry character, but not so much that it overpowers the subtle wheat and yeast character that exists in this beer. I wish more fruit based beers showed this balance.

Alaskan Raspberry Wheat picks its way through the bushes with a happy 4 Rubus strigosusout of 5.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Rye Saison

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I can really appreciate the complexity of a saison – on the surface it looks like it is going to be a light beer with not much going on, but once you get past the looks, you discover that you are drinking something that can have as much complexity as any other beer on the planet. Saison has been made for hundreds of years and is not a beer that you usually see with much variation in the recipe – you will find very different tasting saisons from brewery to brewery, but they don’t generally deviate in their ingredients too wildly. When Reuben’s decided to do their take on saison by including rye, I had to give the beer a shot.

The beer pour a very un-saison like beautiful brown in color with notes of sugar and malt on the nose with mild fruit and hints of chocolate. Despite the lack of rye on the nose, there is no question that it is in this beer. The beer has roasted rye notes upfront before yielding slowly to a more saison-like back end with notes of grain and citrus in a slightly sweet, subdued finish. There is a very long, slow fade back into rye at the very end of the beer, producing something that just a touch dry at the very end.

I had some major doubts about this beer – saison’s appeal comes from subtlety of character and I was worried that the strong flavors of rye would overpower the beer completely, but Reuben’s did a great job balancing the beer out so that you get the strong rye character while still having enough of the saison character to appreciate the beer for what it is – an amped up version of a saison.

Reuben’s Rye Saison brings you back to the countryside with a stellar 4 farmhouses out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Beersnob Brown

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Populuxe has made a name for itself by brewing beers that you normally would not find at other breweries and doing them well. Beersnob brown is no exception. Browns are an old English style described as such on Wikipedia:

Brown ale is a style of beer with a dark amber or brown color. The term was first used by London brewers in the late 17th century to describe their products, such as mild ale,[1] though the term had a rather different meaning than it does today. 18th-century brown ales were lightly hopped and brewed from 100% brown malt.[2]

Today there are brown ales made in several regions, most notably England, Belgium and America. Beers termed brown ale include sweet, low alcohol beers such as Manns Original Brown Ale, medium strength amber beers of moderate bitterness such as Newcastle Brown Ale, and malty but hoppy beers such as Sierra Nevada Brown Ale.

The beer clocks in at 5.1 abv.

Beersnob pours mahogany brown in color with pleasant notes of chocolate and roasted malt and very mild coffee notes. The beer starts off with significant malt with building complexity – yeast appears first before moving into the heavier flavors . Initially, roasted malt appears then dark chocolate and toffee before finally finishing off with black coffee without any real bitterness. Layered and complex, the beer has incredible balance and depth without being overly sweet or bitter at any point. Call me a beer snob, but this is as good a brown as I have had anywhere.

Populuxe Beer Snob Brown walks around with its nose in the air gathering a well-deserved 5 cicerones out of 5.