Beer of the Week: Midnight Sun Brewing Moscow Russian Imperial Stout

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Since I reviewed Reuben’ Imperial Russian Stout, I figured that I should continue the trend with the Midnight Sun Moscow Imperial Russian stout brewed with rye. This is one that was not exactly easy to come by and was only available in 5 states – AK, OR, WA, CA and, for some reason, NY. Not only that, it was spendy, coming in at $13.50 for a 22 oz. bottle. I, of course, had to buy 2 of them. From the Midnight Sun website:

ABV: 11.0%
IBU: 45

First brewed as part of our 2011 World Tour series, MOSCOW Rye Russian Imperial Stout is a hefty, opaque black liquid that pours slowly and soulfully into your snifter. A high percentage of spicy rye and roasted dark malts create a dense, chewy yet elegant winter wonderland of flavors. And from AK we say: Let it Snow…in Moscow.

The beer pours a beautifully jet black with a coffee brown head. Strong notes of coffee and chocolate dominate the nose with hints of rye interspersed and a very light fruitiness also shows itself, but it could easily be missed among all of the bigger scents. Thick and inky with a tremendous buildup The beer starts off with a very light milk and sugar profile before transitioning into roasted malt and chocolate, next moving into the realm of black coffee before finally ending with notes of rye and sugar in a very long fade with hints of chocolate lingering on the palate. This beer is complex and well balanced and the strong flavors hide the 11% ABV well. To add to the complexity, as the beer warms, the finish is joined with notes of fruit and rye, adding yet another layer to this beer.

It is a rare occasion that I will spend nearly $14 on a beer and even rarer that I would recommend to anyone to do the same, but this is one of those times that I am making a recommendation. If you see this beer, buy it. My second bottle is destined for my beer cellar and I really wish I had picked up more than the 2 I did. Even Mrs. Iron Chef, who really doesn’t like dark beer, wasn’t completely horrified at tasting this beer. If you like Russian Imperial Stouts, you need to try this beer. Really, it is that good, and possibly the best I have ever had.

Midnight Sun Moscow Russian Imperial Stout with rye sweeps your thoughts away with an amazing 5 Perestroika’s out of 5.

Beer of the Week: American Brewing Stupid Sexy Flanders

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I while back, January to be exact, I posted about my excitement about the Belgian Beer Festival and American Brewing’s entry, Stupid Sexy Flanders. In the perfect example of why I needed to increase the frequency of my beer posts, I am finally getting around to reviewing the beer – only 6 months after I had it.

Here is what we know of the beer from the festival guide:

A Brown Ale fermented with our Sour Yeast on locally grown raspberries and aged to perfection in red wine barrels. 8% ABV

I am usually hesitant about drinking barrel aged beers because too often they taste like the barrel they are aged in and nothing else. If I wanted whiskey, I would drink whiskey. If you are going to age a beer in a whiskey barrel, I better taste the beer with notes of whiskey. So with a slight trepidation, I told my pourer “Stupid Sexy Flanders, Please.”

Hi-dily, ho-dily, frienderinos! A different stupid, sexy Flanders.

The beer pours dark brown, almost black in color. There are tons of wood and roast malt on the nose with hints of fruit hiding in between. The beer starts out surprisingly subtle – tangy, but not lip puckeringly so, followed by a hint of wood before a long dried fruit finish. I was expecting this beer to be over the top sour and so woody that it would be like chewing on a log, (considering American’s festival beers tend to be over the top, it is not a bad assumption) but, to my surprise, the sour was nicely restrained and it balances the wood extremely well; I knew this was a wood-aged beer, but not so much so that it was all I tasted. Don’t get me wrong, this beer was sour and, if you don’t love sour beers, this is definitely not the one for you, but it was pleasant and acted as a wonderful counterbalance to the wood. My only complaint about this beer, and it is a personal preference rather than a flaw, is that I would love this beer to have a little more fruit flavor to bring it more to the front rather than being a supporting cast member at the end.

All in all this was a great beer and I would never hesitate to drink this one when I am in the mood for something sour.

American Brewing’s Stupid Sexy Flanders comes in for a landing at a spectacular 5 Brussel-Zaventem out of 5. What? You expected a Simpsons joke here, didn’t you neighborino?

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Berrynice Wheat

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Hey another current beer review, I must be slipping. As we enter into the waning days of summer, we still are treated to nice, warm, sunny days in the Northwest and, on those occasions, I want something light and refreshing. Populuxe recently re-released their raspberry wheat, called Berrynice Wheat in their taproom. The beer clocks in at about 5% ABV.

The beer is reddish/amber in color with distinct notes of raspberry on the nose and wheat hidden among the fruit. Berrynice starts out with a distinct wheat kick before quickly moving over to the realm of raspberry – slightly tart with just a hint of mild sweetness, reminding me of a hard candy, with a fruit finish that lingers for a long while, like raspberry syrup on an ice cream sundae. It is an obvious fruit beer without being overpoweringly so, with nice balance and enough wheat character to keep the beer interesting and keep it from being one dimensional. The raspberry becomes more subdued the further into the beer you get, bringing out more of the wheat flavor and making for a very refreshing beer, especially on a warm day.

Populuxe Brewing’s Berrynice Wheat fades out with a warm 3 dog days of summer out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Kassik Brewing Moose Point Porter

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Raise your hand if you knew there was a brewery in Kenai, Alaska. Raise your hand if you know where Kenai, Alaska is. Well, there is a brewery there called Kassik Brewing and they produce some pretty tasty beers, which happen to be available in Seattle. A little about Kassik from their website:

Kassik’s Brewery is housed in a small warehouse, nestled in a clearing in the woods, adjacent to the Kassik’s home in Nikiski. Frank’s passion for brewing began when his wife Debara, bought him a home brew kit for Christmas. Frank was hooked and soon became a proficient home brewer. They built a 36 X 50 shop in hopes to someday have a brewery. In May of 2005 Kassik’s purchased a used seven barrel system, and then remodeled their building to accommodate the equipment with the help of family and friends. The brewery opened Memorial Weekend 2006 with their first brew Beaver Tail Blonde, their Moose Point Porter was on tap a few weeks later.

I cracked open a 22 oz. bottle of their Moose Point Porter, which ran about $5 and happens to be their flagship beer. It is available at most good bottle shops and the occasional mega mart (I believe I have seen their beers in Fred Meyer).

The description from their website:

ABV 5.2% – Silver 2011 World Beer Championship

A delightfully deceiving signature brew!

Moose Point Porter has a dark and heavy appearance with a surprisingly light and clean finish.

The beer pours on the dark side for a porter with light malt and hints of roast and chocolate hidden on the nose. The initial sip is slightly hoppy (and surprisingly so) with notes of caramel and toffee yielding to a slightly sweet but long finish. As you make it further into the beer, light notes of vanilla and sassafras start to appear, reminding me of a root beer or a cream soda. For being a dark beer, it is surprisingly approachable without any dominating flavor profile, making it a complex and well integrated beer.

Kassik Brewery’s Moose Point Porter saunters in with a strong 3 Alces alces out of 5.

Beer of the Week – Reuben's Brews Cask Conditioned Auld Heritage

By Iron Chef Leftovers

It is a gutsy move in the Northwest to put out a beer style that you don’t normally see and it is even gutsier to put that style out in a cask, but that is exactly what the guys from Reuben’s did with their Auld Heritage Ale. Auld or Old ale is defined as follows (from Wikipedia):

Old ale is a term commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% abv, also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. Sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery.

Reuben’s version clocked in at 8.7% alcohol and 58 IBU; not exactly a small beer.

Auld Heritage is mahogany brown in color. There is lots of malt and caramel on the nose with hints of toffee. The beer builds slowly as you drink it, starting off with little fanfare before showing lots of toffee then transitioning into burnt sugar and caramel before finishing off with a slightly alcoholic and sweet with notes of toffee, caramel and dried fruit. The finish is long – several minutes after taking a sip, you still get light notes of toffee, caramel and dried fruit, and it is not a bad thing. The beer is like enjoying a nice toffee or hard candy and the caramel notes made me thing of eating a confection and wanted a sprinkle of sea salt (salted caramel is one of my favorite flavor). For a moderately IBU beer, any of the hop character is lots in the deep flavors, but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing.

If you are an advanced drinker or just someone who wants to try a new style of beer, you should head down to Reuben’s to have an Auld Heritage when it is on their tap list, and doubly so if they have it on cask. Because of its alcohol and deep flavors, it is a heavy beer and not one that everyone is going to enjoy, but it is different than most Northwest beers and you should at least give it a taste.

Reuben’s Brews Auld Heritage crosses the pond and collects 4 family heirlooms out of 5.

Beer of the Week – Reuben’s Brews Cask Conditioned Auld Heritage

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Old ale is a term commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% abv, also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. Sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery.

Reuben’s version clocked in at 8.7% alcohol and 58 IBU; not exactly a small beer.

Reuben’s Brews Auld Heritage crosses the pond and collects 4 family heirlooms out of 5.

Beer of the Week: NW Peaks Redoubt Red

By Iron Chef Leftovers

One of the best things about NW Peaks is that, despite only having 4 taps, you usually know what 2 of your choices are and the other two tend to be rotating. Redoubt Red is one of the beers that you will usually find on tap in their brewery, along with a few other select locations.

From the NW Peaks website (check it out to find out the story about the mountain too):

The “Style”. What is a red? The only true red “style” is an Irish Red; however, Irish Reds are not a common place in the Pacific NW. Rather, in the Pacific NW it is a category defined by the color, giving a brewery complete flexibility to for their interpretation. Two reds from the region might have absolutely no similarity – other than the color – so loving one, might not mean loving them all.

The Beer. Our interpretation brings you a nice ruby colored beer. The aroma and flavor is dominated by the hops and is a nice blend of fruity and spicy notes (contrasting from the citrus notes of the Eldorado Pale and other NW Pales). A slight residual sweetness and mouthfeel is present to support the hop character in Redoubt Red. The result is nice, crisp, easy drinking red with a distinct hop profile that is sure to leave you wanting another.

ABV: 5.25% Malts: ESB, Munich, Crystal, Wheat, Black. Hops, Apollo, Liberty, Halertau, Columbus. American ale yeast.

Redoubt pours dark red with a pure white head, offering a great color contrast. Notes of spice and malt appear on the nose with hints of citrus in the background. Lighter than you might expect on the palate – grain and notes of citrus initially tease you before transitioning into a nice light spice blend (possibly cardamom or allspice?), before a final hint of bitterness – very mild and pleasant, nothing over powering, and slight malty sweetness. There is a final citrus burst on the back end of the beer for a nice surprise and to remind you there are hops in here, and those citrus notes become more pronounced as the beer warms, but never overpower any of the other flavors. Great balance and complexity, the beer drinks easy and clean and is a really great all-purpose beer for when you want something lighter, but still want big flavors.

NW Peaks Redoubt Red guides you in with 3 GPS locators out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe CDA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The nice thing about Populuxe and their ever-rotating tap list is that I can drink a beer, take a couple of months to review it and it will eventually end up back on tap. This means that, unlike some of the beers that I am taking so long to post the review of (say Pumpkin beers in March), there is a good chance that you will be able to drink this beer somewhat soon after I review it. Populuxe continued their foray into the world of hoppy beers with the release of the CDA; Cascadian Dark Ale, or as it is otherwise known, a Black IPA.

The beer pours jet black with a tan head. Lots of citrus and hop notes with a bit of roasted malt hiding on the nose. The first sip reveals some chocolate up front, yielding to delicious roasted flavors that linger for a long time before giving way to an explosion of hops and citrus peel in a very long and pleasant finish. A little bolder than the roast on most other CDA’s (which tend to be more hop forward), but very assertive and hoppy enough to please the most ardent hophead. The best part of this beer is how layered it is. It moves away from the one dimensional palate that you get from a number of CDA’s, which look like a dark beer, but taste just about like an IPA and gives you something much more interesting. The amazing part of this beer is that you still and pick out those layers when you are on your second pint.

When this beer shows up on the tap list again, get yourself down to Populuxe and have yourself a pint.

Populuxe CDA sneaks in under the cover of darkness and scores a strong 4 things that go bump in the night out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

It is always exciting to try an IPA that is not from Washington or Oregon, but that usually means California living in Seattle and in general, California usually means it is coming from San Diego. In the case of Speakeasy, we get to try one made in San Francisco. Big Daddy IPA came in a 22 oz. bottle and runs around $5, and is available just about everywhere you can buy beer.

From the Speakeasy website:

No lightweight, Big Daddy IPA tips the scales with a huge hop flavor and a clean, dry finish that leaves the scene without a trace.

Big Daddy IPA is a hop-head’s delight, a generously dry-hopped yet surprisingly drinkable American-style India Pale Ale. Poured into a standard American pint glass, the beer is a golden straw color, with tight carbonation and a slightly off-white head that leaves a lovely lacing. The aroma is floral, fresh grass, pine needles, grapefruit and subtle notes of fresh bread.
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 55
Color: 5L – Golden
Barley: Two Row Pale, Light Munich
Hops: Columbus, Cascade, Centennial
Yeast: California Ale

The beer is golden in color with a white head. The nose is graced with mild hops, notes of grain and citrus and a slightly floral aroma. The beer is very grain forward on its first sip, yielding quickly to the hop character – slightly bitter with light citrus and significant floral notes, followed by a long, bitter finish. The alcohol was not a problem but the beer was a little too floral for my liking and that floral character seems to intensify as the beer warms. It seemed very out of balance between the bitter and floral notes and, while not unpleasant to drink, was nowhere close to being a great IPA.

Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA rolls down the window and shoot with a 2 tommy guns out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Sound Brewery Ursus Americanus

By Iron Chef Leftovers

If you order an Ursus and get this, you might be in trouble.

Out in tiny Poulsbo, Washington, there is an unlikely large grouping of breweries. One of them is Sound Brewery, a brewery that is probably best known around these parts for their use of Belgian strains of yeast. You may not realize it, but they also do a pretty fantastic job with other styles of beer. Ursus Americanus, better know as the American Black Bear, is an American stout. As described on the Sound website:

Ursus Americanus American Stout – 6.5% ABV
Dark, strong, smooth American stout bursting with coffee and dark chocolate aroma and smooth velvety texture.
Availability: Draft only

The beer, as expected, pours jet black with a creamy brown head. There are strong notes of chocolate and roasted malt dominating the nose. The first sip is surprisingly slightly sweet with a healthy dose of chocolate slowly fading into nicely pleasant roasted malt; almost reminding me of a malt ball candy. The beer isn’t done; fading back into a long and lingering chocolate finish. I was surprised by this beer – it smells like it would be heavy and roast dominant, but there is very little in the way of bitterness or heavy roast flavors; they are still there, but they are moderate – this is still by no means a light beer. The beer is extremely well balanced and easy to drink despite its higher alcohol content and dark and malty nature.

What you really should get is something that looks like this.

This is one that I really wish Sound would put into bottles – I would drink this a lot more often if they did.

Sound Brewery’s Ursus Americanus saunters into your camp and steals your food with a sneaky 4 cute cubs out of 5.