One More Note on Palo Santo Marron

Dogfish Head

Big Love covered this one a while back when he tried (and loved) it in a blind tasting situation, but I have to add something. first off, who's had this stuff before? haven't had it? well, go buy a bottle, chill it appropriately, find a nice wide rimmed glass, pour and come back to the computer. run along and do as you're told. got it all set? now, have a taste. are you thinking what I'm thinking? campfire! I know, right? all I can taste is campfire... and that's not a bad thing here at all as there are a bunch of recognizably different smokey tastes in this beer.

anyway, that's all I had to add. Big Love took a little more care in preparing his thoughts of the beer, which you can read here.

oh... and a BIG thank you to Tippler DC Liz, who traveled across the continent with bottles of Dogfish Head's Palo Santo in her suitcase to give to me. nice one.

A Tippler's Roadtrip Part 1: Desert Draughts

I'm back from the pilgrimage with happy tales of tippling. the road trip with my Dad has come to a close after meandering through Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington.

the first stop on the 3273km beer run was Glendale, AZ, to go see the Phoenix Coyotes play. I now understand why this team is bankrupt and averaging a meager 8,000 fans a game. although the stadium is new and in a huge entertainment complex full of bars, restaurants, theaters, and stores, it's in the middle of nowhere. it's a one hour drive from most parts of Phoenix, which is like going to Abbotsford to watch the Canucks play. anyway, unlike most sporting events, the beer at the game was shockingly cheap. $4 got you a 22oz can of Bud, or if you're willing to plunk down another buck, you can get an equally huge bottle of Red Stripe. after the game, we headed to the Yard House to have a look at their legendary beer selection. my little Tippler heart sank as I gazed at their 130 taps of draught beer! overwhelmed by the selection and faced with the time limit of about 2 pints, I had to get my shit together and make some decisions. first up: Dogfish Head's 60 Minutes IPA. we've loved and reviewed this one before, so I won't go into how much I liked it, but this was the first opportunity to try it on tap. it did not disappoint, as the floral hoppiness really seem to mellow out in the keg. I went with Lost Coast's Downtown Brown as my next selection which proved to be a great smooth drinking nut brown ale. I can't remember much more than that as at this point I had been traveling all day and up for more than 20 hours.

I have always loved the craft brew selection in the Western States, but sometimes you're in a small town with less choice or need to get beer quickly at a 7-11 or a gas station. if you find yourself in this sort of situation, there's always trusty ol' Sierra Nevada to bail you out. you can find this stuff pretty much anywhere in the Western US and it's GOOD. it's usually the pale ale that is widely available, but this time I picked up 6 of their Torpedo Extra IPA and I was very pleased. it pours a beautiful amber/cooper colour with a just a little bit of a thin head. in the aroma I smelled grapefruit and of course some strong, pungent hops. I was expecting these hops to dominant the taste but I was gladly wrong. the hops managed to balance the full flavoured malt and was highly drinkable even for a beer showing up to party at 7.2% ABV.

after Phoenix, my Dad and I set out to drive back to the 49th parallel. after leaving a bit late, we were extremely lucky to be able to get to the Grand Canyon for sunset and then drive on towards Vegas. the Tipplerness of Vegas is dubious as the search of cheap or free drinks often outweighs the search for quality ones. a couple of 'go to' Vegas beer staples in the casinos are Heineken and Blue Moon (Coor's 'craft brew'-style wit). both are adequate and easy drinking and perfect for a night out in Sin City, although no amount of alcohol or drugs can prepare you for the psychedelic mindcuss that is known as Cirque du Soliel.

blerg ... time has crept up on me. the 2nd post of the trip, through California, will have to come tomorrow. 'ta 'til then.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
A- Draught, 6% alc/vol
Lost Coast Downtown Brown
B+ Draught, 5% alc/vol
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
A- 355ml bottle, 7.2% alc/vol

Palo Santo Marron

Dogfish Head

The aged among us will remember that blind taste testing was all the rage in 'real' advertisements for all sorts of stupid consumer goods in the Eighties. For instance, we were always hearing that nine out of ten people preferred the taste of Pepsi over Coke, or vice versa if the ad was for Coca Cola. The idea, I guess, was that, in our blindness, the unbiased truth could be uncovered.

When deebag approached me about doing a blind review for the Tippler, I immediately expected a trick--was he going to give me Budweiser and, without my preconceptions, I would like it, and therefore be exposed as a fraud? Then who would ever trust my opinion again? My reputation as a fine and discerning critic would be destroyed before it was made!

I wasn't too sure, but, as it turns out, when someone puts a beer in front of me, my uncertainties are easily squashed by my lust for that sweet, sweet barley nectar, and I agreed instantly.

This beer was particularly intriguing to me because it was blackness personified; I held it up to the light and felt as if I was witnessing an eclipse. By some sort of sorcery, it seemed to absorb colour and deny light. It as a little scary, actually, but I was reassured that this was indeed beer by the brew's thick brown head.

Before I put my nose anywhere near the rim of my glass, I could smell the smokey, chocolaty aroma of this beer and, especially, the strong scent of alcohol. It smelled more like brandy than beer, really. I braced myself for an intense tasting experience.

It was indeed a strong beer. Tasting started with a very, very sweet malt, with aspects of vanilla, caramel, and over-ripe fruits (plums or cherries perhaps).
Then up came the alcohol (and oh how it comes!). Lastly, as one would expect, came the hops--not too strong, but big enough to complicate the deep sweetness of the malt and the heat of the alcohol. Such strong elements make for a long aftertaste, to be sure, and I felt like I was still chewing this beer for minutes after tasting.

I was pretty sure this wasn't Budweiser, and was not the least bit surprised when deebag revealed it as Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron which, at 12% alcohol, must be marketed and sold as malt liquor in the U.S. The Palo Santo Marron has an interesting origin, which you can read about here, if you are so inclined.

This is a superb beer; powerful and intense, with all sorts of things to taste. It is definitely not for everyone, but it is for me, so I recommend it highly.

A

Pelican Brewery's Doryman's Dark Ale

Pelican Pub & Brewery

the Tippler is switching up gears for this review as this will be our first blind beer tasting. friend of the Tippler and knit knut, Kat, was given a glass of Doryman's Dark Ale by Oregon's Pelican Brewery and was asked to share her opinions of it. it goes as follows.

Disclosure: I watched a handful of YouTube videos featuring baby orangutans before I sampled this beer. The footage of a six-month old ape clasping a French bulldog might have skewed the results in a positive direction.

Orangutans or no orangutans, I like brown ales, so I was pleased when Deebag poured me a dark beer, slightly darker and more opaque than Coca-Cola. There was a half-centimeter of dense yellowish head, which quickly thinned.

The beer was barely carbonated, with a pleasant smooth mouthfeel. Taking a sip, I instantly identified the dominant flavour as “beer”, with hints of caramel. The taste was full but faded quickly and cleanly to hops. The hoppy aftertaste faded quickly as well. This rich but mellow beverage is a great pick for early fall nights, when the nights are getting cooler and beer isn’t all about cooling off.

Fire up the YouTube! I would like some more orangutan videos and another glass of whatever this was!

A-

He'Brew Re'View

Shmaltz Brewing Company

my volunteer duties for this year's Vancouver International Film Festival led me to the Fraser Valley this weekend. while making a stop in Abbotsford (a/k/a Biblevania), I decided to check out the selection of beer at one of their liquor stores. to my extreme surprise, amongst the ho-hum offerings were 6-packs of New York's He'Brew Genesis Ale. not to my surprise, these 6-packs were covered in dust - this may be "the chosen beer", but obviously not by Abbotsfordians.

the Genesis Ale pours a clear dark orange and brown colour. the bubbles are not very lively and produce little head. for the head that is there, it dissipates quickly. the aroma is very bready (in this case, I'll go with bagely). there is something sour in the mix that pleasingly reminds me of a Belgian double or triple. the pleasant bageliness is backed up in the taste (although a little thin) but is quickly erased by the heaviness of the hops. the hops really coat your tongue with bitterness for a spell, but as more sips go down, the less the hops stay out to play. the shtick of the beer's name and packaging give this one some bonus points, but ultimately this is a highly drinkable beer that lacks a good malt to hop balance.

B

Raspberry Brown

Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe

I feel it is only proper to admit my bias from the outset: I am not especially fond of lambics or brews that infuse fruit flavours, nor do I often favour chocolaty beers. So, I was really not sure what I would like about this beer, which promises both raspberry and chocolate flavours on its label.

It poured a dark and pleasing purple-brown, with a very small head that disappeared soon after pouring. The aroma was deep and fruity (raspberries, not surprisingly).
The taste started with the sweet chocolate malt. The raspberries came soon after this, but complemented rather than overpowered the malt. A little after, the hops provided a nice, pleasingly bitter finish. The mouth feel is drying, and there is not much carbonation.

This brew avoids all the things I don’t like about these sorts of beers—it has a real fruit taste that never threatens to overpower the malt and it is chocolaty in moderation, which leaves plenty of room for the taste of the beer itself. It is more complex than I would have anticipated, too.

I think this beer is good, and I am impressed by how well-balanced it is. Perhaps I need to rethink my biases against fruity and chocolaty beers…

B+