2018 Sierra Nevada & Weihenstephan Oktoberfest

I had been trying to resist purchasing Fall beer until the start of September, but I recently caved. Three beers immediately caught my eye and I was waiting for any reason to drink them. A couple nights on the cooler side occurred recently and I felt it was the perfect time to start sampling some of my Fall favorites. The first was Southern Tier Warlock and this year’s batch is delicious. It delivers the taste of Fall in a bottle. The second beer I could not pass up on is Genesee Oktoberfest. It is an unmatched value that delivers tremendous flavor. Finally, I could not resist purchasing Sierra Nevada’s latest Oktoberfest collaboration with the world's oldest brewery, Weihenstephan Brewery.

Cutting right to the chase, Sierra Nevada & Weihenstephan have brewed the best Oktoberfest beer in the series so far. Up until this point, the 2015 collaboration with Riegele was my favorite in the series. That delicious beer now takes a distant back seat to this year’s collaboration. The look, aroma and flavor here is wonderful. The aroma is floral and slightly sweet with caramel, biscuit dough, a light nuttiness and fruitiness, with grassy and spicy hops. The first sip pretty much matches the nose. The caramel sweetness shines initially before some biscuit dough comes in adding another beautifully complimentary layer. The nuttiness I mentioned in the aroma is bit more pronounced in the flavor. There is a touch of fruit before a light, grassy, spicy hop flavor that provides a beautiful balance to the sweetness of the malt. Everything works here and I am actually feeling giddy here writing about it.

I mentioned earlier that this was the best Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest collaboration with a German brewery yet. That feels like an understatement. This year’s collaboration takes its place as one of my favorite Oktoberfest beers of all time. I assure you, it is well worth a purchase.

Overall rating: 4.75/5


Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Beating The Cold With Beer - Oskar Blues 2015 Tequila Barrel Aged Gubna Imperial IPA, Night Shift Village Lager, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

It is absolutely freezing in the Northeast. Temperatures are below zero, wind chills are below zero and I am fairly certain we now live on Hoth. The good news is there is hope in the forecast ahead and slightly warmer days are on the way. For right now though, the best bet to beat the weather is to stay inside. What I mean by that is, stay inside and open some fantastic beers.


Last night, I took a very long look at what was in the refrigerator and after some careful deliberation, I decided to open up a can of Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA Aged in Tequila Barrels. I was particularly intrigued by this beer because it was canned on December 16, 2015. A little over two years is a lot of time to change a beer and when I took my whiff of the aroma I saw the first casualty of aging was that the hop bite had drastically faded. The aroma of bready malt, wood, caramel and some earthiness stood out the most, with just a little bit of tequila in the background. When I took my first sip, I was not sure what to think. It was woody, earthy, bready and spicy, and while this should not have been surprising it somehow caught me off guard. As I worked my way a little deeper into the glass, I started to fall in love with it. There were some really interesting notes that began to emerge as it started to warm a little. There were nice hints of citrus, mango and pineapple. The tequila was there too and that kept confusing my senses. It was like merging irresponsible college drinking and responsible craft beer appreciation. In this beer, worlds were colliding and eventually I found a way to love it even more. Like the Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut I reviewed a few weeks ago, Oskar Blues has another barrel aged winner here. I hope to try this one fresh one day to see how it compares with the 2 year old version. For tonight however, this 11% treat provided a nice bit of warmth on this cold night.

Overall rating: 4.25/5


When it gets cold out, I sometimes crave a lager. I think this has to do with great memories I have drinking lagers on cold nights in college, as well as some fantastic nights drinking PBR in the backyard of one of my favorite bars. After some pondering, I settled on Night Shift Brewing's Village Lager and it was delicious. It seemed to hit all of the flavor notes I was looking for. It was grainy, bready, slightly fruity and had a nice bit of spice on a finish that was crisp and clean. At 4.8%, Village Lager is perfectly sessionable and is something I would love to regularly have in my refrigerator.

Overall rating: 4/5


Finally, I opened my last bottle of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. While there was nothing to celebrate on this cold night, Celebration Ale remains a seasonal favorite in our household. This is a beer I largely attribute my love of craft beer to. I do not think it is necessary to break down its flavor notes. This is one of those beers you should have already tried.

Overall rating: It's awesome!


That wraps up my first night of beer tasting to beat the cold. While this particular weather event is not as bad as I assumed it would be, it certainly has left me with no desire to leave my couch. For me, this is just one of those times of year where there is nothing better to do than stay in, read a book, write a blog, watch tv or play video games. Then again, I try to find a reason to do those at any time of year, so I guess the cold does not matter. Stay warm out there, everybody! Cheers!



Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!



 

2017 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World

The 2017 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World mix pack was a must-have purchase for me. It's also the reason I'm a little behind on my blogging. I wanted to give each beer the proper attention it deserved. The last thing I wanted to do was quickly go through them all in a couple of days. So I took my time and gradually made it through the 12-pack. In the past, I have enjoyed going through the Beer Camp mix packs. I find the whole concept of a fantastic brewery collaborating with other fantastic breweries very exciting. Unfortunately each year, after all is said and done I usually find myself underwhelmed by most of the beers in the pack. Perhaps underwhelmed is the wrong word, a better way to put it is I find most of the collaborations forgettable. Of the mix packs from the past, I honestly can only remember a handful of the beers from them. That's not to say that the beers were bad, they just were nothing I would find myself buying a six pack of. When I saw the list of the 2017 Beer Camp collaborations, I immediately put my thoughts of the previous Beer Camp mix packs aside. Opening it up to breweries around the world is a tremendous idea. I just hoped it would yield some amazing results. This blog is not about reviewing each beer individually, but more about reviewing the pack as a whole. Is it worth the 25+ dollar price tag? Or is your money better spent elsewhere?

The truth is the Beer Camp Across the World is a mixed bag of great, pretty good and bad. We'll start things off with the bad. The worst beer in the pack is the collaboration with The Bruery. Raspberry Sundae may have sounded like a great idea on paper but it is bland and tastes more like soap than beer. Like many others I really enjoy beers from The Bruery, so this one was a huge disappointment. Another disappointment was the Dry-Hopped Berliner Weisse collaboration with Saint Arnold Brewing Company. With a massive cat urine aroma and a bland flavor profile it did not work for me at all. The only other one I really did not like is the Hoppy Belgian-Style Golden Ale collaboration with Duvel Moortgat but I would not put much stock in that. I am not a Duvel fan, so this one tasted pretty much how I expected it to, I just did not enjoy it.

Pretty good is the way I would describe the majority of the beers in the pack. As a one-off they worked for me, but I would hesitate to invest in a 4- or 6-pack of them. In this category I would put Boneyard Beer's West Coast IPA, Garage Project's Campout Porter, Mikkeller's Thai-Style Iced Tea Ale, Fuller's Atlantic Style Vintage Ale, Avery's Dry-Hopped Barleywine and Kiuchi White IPA. I wanted to love the Avery collaboration but found it a touch metallic. The Kiuchi White IPA was a beer I found myself enjoying more and more the further I got into the glass. Of any beers in this category I would want to try again, it would be that one.

The beer I wanted to love was the East Meets West IPA collaboration with Tree House Brewing Company. This was by far the one I was most excited about in the entire pack. I thought it was great, but not as great as it could and should have been.

The best beers in the pack are the Dunkle Weisse from Ayinger Brewery and the Ginger Lager from Surly Brewing Company. The Dunkle Weisse is not as flashy as other beers in the pack and that is what works for it. It's just a great dark wheat beer. I would love to see this get a wide release. The Ginger Lager was something I thought I would absolutely hate. The addition of cayenne pepper added a nice touch of spice and the oak added complexity. When the glass was empty I was legitimately sad at the thought that I might not be able to drink it again.

For me, the Dunkle Weisse and the Ginger Lager were two beers that will stick with me from this year's Beer Camp Across the World collection. For the most part, I enjoyed the beers in this years pack. Sure, a lot of them are better suited as one-offs, but the pack as a whole delivers more hits than misses. If this year's pack did anything, it left me looking forward to seeing what collaborations next year brings.

My overall rating for the entire Sierra Nevada's 2017 Beer Camp Across the World pack as a whole is 3.5/5.

More importantly, is Beer Camp Across the World worth the 25+ dollar price tag? For the most part, yes.

Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sidecar Pale Ale

Two beers I will never review here are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. The reason for this is quite simple, you should have already tried them. They are both excellent examples of their respective styles. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in particular is one of my favorite stand by beers, it never disappoints. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA is just a solid IPA and an excellent representation of the style. I'm trying to avoid sounding like a commercial but Sierra Nevada Brewing Company does a lot of beers extremely well. Now that I have made my love of those beers known, I think it is time to talk about the beers I will be reviewing. Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sierra  Nevada Sidecar Pale Ale are a brand new spin on two styles of beer they are known to do very well. So would that success translate onto this brand new beers? Or would these beers be disappointing entries into a solid catalog of beers?

I'll start things off with Tropical Torpedo IPA which of the two I was more excited about. I'll admit I have lower expectations for Sidecar Pale Ale because it seems to be playing off the recent trend of fruited pale ales & IPAs. Tropical Torpedo IPA however is not fruited. It gets its big tropical aromas from a fantastic hop blend that includes two favorites of mine, citra and mosaic. The big tropical aroma is mostly dominated by passion fruit. There are also notes of pineapple, papaya and mango. The aroma however does not translate to the flavor. Tropical Torpedo is really a nice showcase of bready malt with some grapefruit hop bitterness. The Munich malt in particular comes through nicely. Actually, I think this is the exact same beer as the 2016 Beer Camp Tropical IPA that Sierra Nevada released last year. Just like last year I was disappointed that the big tropical aroma did not translate into the flavor. Nevertheless, this is still a nice beer. I just wish they brought out some bigger hop flavors.

Overall rating: 3/5

Next up, we have Sierra Nevada Sidecar Pale Ale. The orange that this beer promises is definitely in both the aroma and the flavor. Much like the Tropical Torpedo, bready malt, especially the Munich malt comes through in the flavor. There is also a light hop bitterness on the finish. Everything here tastes fine but it is just a bit too light on flavor. For the most part though, Sidecar Pale delivers on what it promises. It is by no means anything special. It is just an easy drinking pale ale with a tangy orange flavor that would work nicely during the summer. It just seems out of place during the cold winter months. This is the kind of beer you bring to a beach picnic. It is light, easy to drink and sessionable. From a flavor standpoint though, this comes nowhere near the fantastic flavor of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It's also significantly lighter that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I think this would work nicely as an introduction to someone that may be new to pale ales.

Overall rating: 2.75/5

Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sidecar Pale Ale are both underwhelming beers. I am not saying they are bad beers. In fact, I think they are both quite drinkable. Both just failed to deliver a drinking experience in the same league as Torpedo Extra IPA & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Tropical Torpedo has a wonderfully complex aroma but delivers a rather basic flavor. Sidecar Pale Ale just seems like a watered down pale ale with a lot of orange flavor. I would recommend you give both of them a try, just lower your expectations.

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Oktoberfest! Part 1 (Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, Sierra Nevada, Left Hand)

Since Oktoberfest actually takes place during the month of September, I can no longer wait to review Fall beer. Up until now, I have done a superb job of ignoring it every time I entered a bottle shop. Just last week, I reviewed High Water Cucumber Kolsch with the sole purpose of ignoring that Fall was coming. Fall is coming though, and the food & festivities of Oktoberfest are coming along with it. So for me the question became, “which Oktoberfest should I review?” The only answer I could settle on was a bunch of them. So over the next two weeks, I will be trying a few different Oktoberfest beers to help you find one that works best for you.

For my first Oktoberfest beer, I feel it would be wrong to start anywhere else other than Germany. Brewed in Munich, Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest Amber Marzen, according to the Brewery's website is so popular it is brewed year round. It pours a rich copper with an off-white head. The aroma is everything you would expect with lots of caramel, toasted bread, and toffee with a little bit of fruitiness. The first sip I got all of those flavor notes. The malt profile here in this beer is absolutely beautiful. It is everything you would expect from the style. The malt sweetness is balanced nicely by slightly bitter, spicy hop finish. I want to give this a rave review but unfortunately I cannot. There was a slightly metallic note to the finish that became a bit of a distraction the further I got into the glass. It did not ruin the beer for me but it kept it from being a Fall mainstay in my fridge this Oktoberfest season.

Overall rating: 3.25/5

For our next Oktoberfest I'll be staying in Munich with another year round beer I have a bit of history with, Spaten Oktoberfest. In the fall of 2004, a friend and I were ready to share our extensive beer knowledge with our college campus. The previous school year we had tried over 100 different beers and felt extremely confident sharing our expertise with anyone who would listen. Not to brag(still going to) but we had a solid run. “The Brew Review” went all the way from the irrelevant 5th page of the “Campus Life” section to the very front page. One of the reviews that got us there was Spaten Oktoberfest. At the time we both thought it was an average Oktoberfest beer that we could not give our seal of approval too. It was boring, bland and not worth the price of a six pack. For this review I could not pass up an opportunity to give it a second chance and review it one more time.
Sadly, it turns out I was right the first time. Spaten Oktoberfest is as middle of the road as it gets. As expected it pours a dark amber with an off-white head. As expected, there is a lot of toasted bread in the aroma, accompanied by caramel malt and an earthy spiciness. Finally, as expected the taste brings the bland flavor of toasted bread, caramel, molasses before finishing with a bland earthy, spicy hop flavor that did not wash away clean. Over 10 years ago, I thought this was the definition of a mediocre, by the numbers Oktoberfest. That feeling still has not changed.

Overall rating: 2/5

To go from Germany to the US, the next Oktoberfest is a collaboration between the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Mahrs Brau. Last year, Sierra Nevada collaborated with Brauhaus Riegele to deliver a particularly wonderful Oktoberfest beer. So my hopes were high they were going to once again knock it out of the park. The 2016 version pours a beautifully clear golden yellow with a fizzy white head. The aroma is grainy, bready with a hint of spicy, grassy hops. Crisp, clean and easy to drink would be how I would describe this beer. The bready, grainy, honey malt sweetness up front is balanced nicely by a grassy, spicy finish. This is definitely slightly lighter than the others I have reviewed so far but is stronger than both at 6.0% ABV. Unfortunately I do not think it is not as good as last year. Make no mistake though, this is a good beer. One I am looking forward to having again.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Finally, out of Longmont, Colorado, Left Hand Brewing Company's Oktoberfest. Pouring dark amber with a khaki head, this 6.6% Oktoberfest was quite delightful. The aroma is quite wonderful. It is nutty and full of caramel & toffee. From my first sip to the time my glass was empty, I felt like I went on a journey. At first I was not impressed, but each sip I thought it got better & better. By the time my glass was empty, I was looking for a second bottle. Toasted malt with a strong nut flavor dominates before a spicy, caramel sweet finish that washes away clean. The stronger than normal 6.6% ABV is hidden beautifully. This is a great choice for those cooler Fall Nights. Left Hand Oktoberfest is definitely my favorite Oktoberfest of the week.

Overall rating: 4/5

I'll be back next week with reviews of Ayinger, Bells & more!


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at@ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!