New Samplings

As expected, I was housebound this weekend and, as hoped, I did manage to get out and pick up a few things that I hadn't tried yet for weekend consumption. Two were sampled over the weekend and I should get to the other two in the next few days.

Before we get to that, those souls in PDX who continue to see Asheville, NC coming up as Beer City USA in the yearly online poll and begin with the wailing and gnashing of teeth are advised to check out Michael O'Connor's article on Brewpublic. I found the Bizzaro-world comparisons to be kind of funny (Barley's Taproom? . . . weird), but at least they've got a healthy looking amount of options in-town.

Now then:

Kingpin (Bridgeport) - this is a double-red ale, "triple hopped", and sporting 7.5% on the dial. This is an occasion where the name is completely at odds with the beer. I'm expecting Wilson Fisk levels of power and control with a moniker like this and instead, while perfectly acceptable, the result is not the bad-assery I had hoped for. There is some malty tang to the nose, but the beer is not at thick as the smell would have you believe. Hoppy taste on the front end with a crisp, slightly bitter finish. The flavor pattern in Kingpin changes a bit as it moves toward room temperatures. There's a touch of spice that comes in toward the back end, but nothing that changes things too crazily from the initial first sips. This is decent beer (the flavors do blend well) but this isn't one I'm going out of my way to locate since I feel there are other double-reds that are better. Believer from Ninkasi, for example.

CoCoNut Porter (Maui Brewing) - slight bit of a cheat here since I technically had a taste of this for the first time at the OBF last July. That was draft, however, and this - as all beers are from Maui Brewing - is canned. MB is a large proponent of canning, indicating the protection from light, the ease of recycling, and the "metallic taste is a fallacy" argument. Now, I know a few friends of mine who are beer drinkers that would sooner drink Bud from bottles than drink anything out of a can. I don't agree with this - in my opinion, provided that your method of delivery doesn't alter the flavor, beer out of a cloth-covered wooden bucket would be fine by me.

My impressions of this beer from the OBF were highly favorable and that continued with this off-tap version. It pours cola-colored with a tan head and an immediate dessert-like smell hits your nostrils. Vanilla and roasty notes and, yes, a strong whiff of coconut. It finds a good spot between thick and thin on the gravity and the wash of flavors is an excellent blend. Because the coconut is toasted, it works well with the ingredients that are similarly kissed by heat (coffee, malt) and finishes cleanly. There's the slightest bit of alcohol burn, but it's extremely faint. Only 5.7% here, so that was unexpected, but it still works out okay. Glad to see my initial impressions in July were not off-base (it was the 12th beer of the day or so - notes start getting muddled). If you're in the mood for a flavored porter, this is a pretty good call.

On deck for this week: Hoptimum (Sierra Nevada's whole-cone monster - hearing good things) and Renewale (Ninkasi's 'new every year' initial release - Irish style red this year).