The Weekend +1

Hit Hopworks on Saturday (needed to start up a new punch card) and had a pint of the Gayle's Pale, their fresh hop beer. It's another good showing, the flavors are very much in line with the style. I did find that the hops feel . . . muted? Which is slightly unfortunate since the fun of fresh-hop beer is that the bite is sweeter than normal. Still - worth a try. Brought a growler of the Seven-Grain Survival Stout home. It's such a great little stout - only 5.3% - and packs a lot of flavor with the additional espresso kick. This weekend just felt like 'dark' weather, and so the stout and I enjoyed some college football and the sampling from friends.

Sunday evening, I cracked open Great Divide's Smoked Baltic Porter. Alaskan is still king with me on that front, but this is a more-than-acceptable stand-in. Smoooooooke everywhere in this beer and baltics are just perfect for this kind of treatment. Solidly black, tan head that held for a bit, good lacing - odd, since it's not a 'thick' beer. Warming it up brought some peat-like smells to the front of the line. Believe me, people who enjoy scotch would likely love this stuff. Definitely worth locating, but only if they're out of the Alaskan.

I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I called in sick and got some rest. It did wonders. Felt good enough to finish my evening with Oakshire's Harvest Ale. This is the finale to the Seasonal selection they began to lay out with Ill Tempered Gnome last year (O'Dark:30 and Line Dry Rye being the other two). Personally, I've enjoyed all three releases so far and went into the Ale with some expectations.

They were met.

It's fairly unique for my experience, but I'm sure more knowledgeable drinkers could rattle off 20 that taste just like it. Slightly cloudy, orange and gold, light head and not a lot of lacing. Nose is faint, some dough, more in the way of hops. Warming it up a bit pulled some yeast to the front of the line, giving it more bread than the hoppy scent. The taste is where the needle scratched on the record. Opens with some sweet malt, a tiny hop note, and a spicy bite from the yeast strain. This lingers. You're halfway through the experience and are thinking, "Okay, well, not bad," when your eyes widen . . . when did all these ninja hops get here? Seriously, that transition is remarkably awesome. Bitter hop finish, very well done. It took me a couple of tastes to get the pattern down - my first few attempts involved me staring into space with an expression of, " . . . que?"

Excellent weekend. Another fresh-hop ale and one of the better barrel-aged imperial stouts you can get are both in the on-deck circle.