Mug Warrior

I’ve been working on this entry for about two months. Its been about that long since I picked up a case of Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre. After my first sip, I was sure it would be gone in a few days. I stretched it out a lot longer than I thought I would.

The Belgian family of beers hold some of my favorite styles. This Belgian strong dark ale put itself at the top of my list right off the bat. With a nice light tan head, the Raison D’Etre pours a dark caramel color. Strong malty flavor and an 8% ABV give me the flavor that I love so much in my favorite Belgian styles. What separates this one though is the earthy sweet flavor of raisins it is brewed with. The flavor is fruity and satisfying.

As I write this entry, I am about halfway through my last bottle. It’s a sad day, but luckily Raison D’Etre is one of Dogfish Head’s year round beers. I suppose I’ll have to go find another case.

Well the six-pack is finished and I feel like I took a trip around the world and back. Overall, the beers were delicious, but some were definitely better than others were. Now I am no expert on beer nor can I yet explain the textures and subtle tastes each beer exudes in detail, but I will do my best.

The Westmalle and Duvel were the lightest of the six with the Westmalle containing a little more flavor than the Duvel.  Though the Duvel gets very high ratings on Beer Advocate, it was my least favorite of the group. It was very crisp and light, but compared to the others, it lacked character.

The Maredsous 10 and Watou were darker than the Westmalle and Duvel and had a bit more flavor. The Maredsous 10 had a slight hoppy taste along with some light spices, but nothing that stood out. The Watou was very crisp and tickled my tongue with a carbonated nutty almond taste.

Now I don’t know if it is because I am just used to an American style of exaggerated hops, but my two favorite beers were definitely the Victory Old Horizontal and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley wine. They both contained deep character and flavor explosions. The Bigfoot was no doubt tough for my palette to adjust to at first, but after a couple of sips, it quickly became a favorite of mine.

The Tripels and Barley Wines are very strong beers, but some of them are deceivingly smooth and light in taste. I may next try to find some beers aged in an Oak barrel and do a review on them. If you have any beers that you would like me to taste and review, leave a comment below.

As some of you may know from my personal blog, I am fermenting wine for the first time. I love the subtle complexities in wine and different approaches wineries take while fermenting and ageing. A Cabernet from winery x, may taste very different from winery y. Beers are the same way, but probably with 10 times the different character and complexities. The type of hops, barley, and yeast really defines the flavor of a beer along with the different methods in brewing. I love them both wine and beer equally, but since this is a beer site, I will talk about some beers that rival wine in both complexity and character and also in alcohol by volume.

While on my way home from work the other day, I decided to stop by one of the greatest beer stores ever and pick up a selection of Tripel Ales and Barley Wines.

Tripel Ales get their name due the addition of triple the amount of malt used during brewing process. Tripels came to life in the early 1930’s when the Trappist Monks in Belgium produced them. Today, Tripels are a popular style within the craft beer circles.

Due to the amount of malt used during brewing, Tripels average an alcohol by volume of around 8.5-9%. This creates a strong stomach warming beer with outstanding character. Traditionally Tripels are bright gold in color, but many new age crafters are producing amber and darker colors.

Barleywines are similar to Tripels, but were created in England in the early 1900’s. Barleywines often are darker and more bitter than Tripels. But in this day and age, the difference between the two are often blurred. Barley wines can reach up to 12% ABV. That is three times the alcohol than what is in Miller or Coors Lite. American Barley Wines usually contain a boatload of hops to produce an extreme bitterness, while English Barley Wines are usually more rounded in flavor between the hops and barley.

My mixed six-pack contained these six brews:

1. Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale by Sierra Nevada
2. Old Horizontal by Victory Brewing Company
3. Westmalle Trappist Tripel by Brouwerij Westmalle
4. Watou Tripel by Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV
5. Maredsous 10 by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
6. Duvel by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV

I bought some of the beers on merit and some on instinct, but I never had any of these beers before and I can’t wait to enjoy them.

I will write about my experiences with these strong ales over the weekend or early next week. This will give me something to do while my wine finish up its second stage in fermenting.

Philadelphia is the 5th or 6th largest city in the United States, but yet we are usually one of the last cities on any event promoters mind. New York City and Washington DC overshadow us and places like Atlantic City are growing in events. Philadelphia seems barefacedly underused. Put the murder rate and suspect government aside, Philadelphia is really a nice city.

Finally Philly gets an event that is worthy of some attention. The Philly Craft Beer Festival will be held on Saturday March 3rd. Over 50 brewers and hundreds of beers are going to be showcased in the Philadelphia Naval Yard. I purchased my afternoon tickets in advance for $37. At the door, the price rises to $45. Here is what the website says about the event.

On March 3rd, over 45 small craft breweries will take over the Navy Yard in Philadelphia for the inaugural Philly Craft Beer Fest.

With over 120 different beers available for tasting, this event has been created to celebrate and promote the great quality and diversity of quality craft beers being brewed today. The beers will come from breweries such as Rogue and Deschutes (Oregon), Boulder (Colorado), Unibroue and Sleeman (Canada), Ommegang and Southampton (NY), Lagunitas and Stone (California) as well as special local offerings from Victory, Flying Fish, Dogfish Head, Yards and Nodding Head.

Go to http://www.phillycraftbeerfest.com for more information.