Beers from the end of 2019

Ommegang Merlau
Oct. 5, 2019
It’s been a while since any Belgian-style dubbel caught me – or any new beer from Ommengang, for that matter. But I passed over the new barrel-aged Three Philosophers for this. With one sniff from the uncapped bottle, I knew I picked wisely. The merlot juice carves a complex vein of red fruits through the center of this brew, and the red wine barrel aging gives all the flavors a necessary rounding. The wine juice addition to beers doesn’t always work, but here the juice drives Ommegang’s standard dubbel into enticing new directions. There’s a dank cherry note that stays in the middle of things without overwhelming.

Over several passes different fruit notes, especially raspberry and blackberry break into the mix. The caramel and malt sweetness common in dubbels gets some necessary competitive here that makes this limited release worth seeking out. At times, Merlau has the feel of a beer-wine hybrid, even if the dubbel malts ground it firmly in the beer world. Worth visiting many times, especially as fall arrives.

Weldwerks Juicy Bits NE IPA
Oct. 9, 2019
Renown as one of Colorado’s best New England-style IPAs, I had to pride this number from the pride of Greeley. It was on tap at a downtown pub, so I greedily ordered 12 ounces. The presentation is beautiful, then come the flavors - clean orange apricot with a fringe of grassy bitter hops. Nice bitterness in after taste. Not a typical hazy and it's more rewarding for that.

Victory Old Horizontal Barleywine 2015
Oct. 10, 2019
I didn’t expect to crack into the years of barleywines I accumulated so soon, but a 20-degree day will change minds rapidly. This one pours like it’s fresh and not nearly five years old, with a dense head and nose that wafts from the glass. Rich notes of caramel, toffee, cream and a range of dark fruits emerge from the first pass. There’s a little piney and bitter character on the finish, and the sticky nature of the beer gives it a dankness that make it feel hoppy. Amber in colorad and without the boozy, peppery bite of some barleywines, Old Horizontal is deceptive and stronger than it tastes. More barleywines should strive for such balance and flavor over intensity. Too bad Victory stopped making this one. It’s a stalwart American barleywine, and one that shouldn’t have been put out to pasture. Plus, I only had one.

Russian River STS Pils 
Oct. 13, 2019
For all the attention on its cult hoppy beers and pioneering barrel-aged sours, Russian River produces some nice session beers. My local store had a bountiful supply of STS Pilsner and I could not hold back. Years ago in Denver, I tasted a small-batch pilsner that really changed my mind. The foamy head slowly coalesces to a cream lace that sands off some of the rough pilsner hop edges. The hop edge is still there from the initial sniff. Unfiltered and with a touch of yeast in the bottle, STS has balance and bitterness to spare. Nice bitterness on the finish thanks to the hops. The cream and hop bitterness really set this apart. That it was bottled less than a month ago helps since this beer could rapidly lose its strong character. But don’t skip it just because of pilsner stigma – this is the real deal.

Russian River Blind Pig IPA
Oct. 13, 2019
Pliny the Elder flies off the shelves, but Blind Pig IPA sits around. It’s a shame, since this is the beer that led to Russian River’s experiments with hoppy beers. In the age of hefty hazy IPAs, this beer tastes light, with strains of assertive hops radiating sharp citrus notes – grapefruit, orange and lemon peel – as well as some piney notes. There’s almost a crunch of hop bitterness on the finish. This is a dry, crisp IPA that many brewers could still study to better their approach.

Bearded Iris One Man Band 
Oct. 19, 2019
This 10 percent barleywine aged for 24 months in a wheated whiskey barrel, which due to frequent trips to the brewery, I know to be a Pappy Van Winkel 20-year whiskey barrel – they say as much on their website, just not on the label. . After 8 months in the bottle and fears of it spoiling, I had to go ahead. After tasting this one at the brewery, I can see how the bottle version has changed. This almost tastes like tawny port, and I’m glad I did not wait for further development. I taste fig, toffee, brown sugar and definitely some dates. It’s sweet but the alcohol and the barrel influence – a barrel that held bourbon for 20 years will have a much different influence than one that held whiskey long enough to qualify as bourbon. There’s nothing raisiny here. The woodiness reminds of beers brewed in other wood than oak because oak in contact with whiskey for 20 years produces a dramatically different effect. The booziness creeps in, not bourbon per se but definitely more weight than a 10 percent beer would usually offer. No pepper, no heat – all the rough edges are sanded off.

Bristol Blackberry Porter
Oct. 23, 2019
Dark and fruity, the blackberries shine through the viscous textures of this porter served at Bristol's taproom.

Renegade Pancakes Maple Porter 
Oct. 23, 2019
Maple-flavored beers usually don’t interest me. On a lark, I grabbed a can of this maple porter, and I’m pleasantly surprised. Lots of maple on the nose, mixing with the dark malts of the porter. It does smell like breakfast like syrup poured over a fresh stack of flapjacks. The sweetness I feared never manifests. The finish is dry and just slightly bitter. The mouth-feel is silky and viscous across the palate.

La Cumbre Full Nelson Double IPA 
Nov. 5, 2019
Full Nelson doesn’t hide from what it’s about to do. There’s a creamy lace that slightly obscures the intense dose of Nelson Sauvin hops above to arrive – but only slightly. There’s strong vein of mango and more dry bitter citrus as it finishes, like a muddled orange with some pockets of lemon zest. There are specks of black pepper that hint at the 9 percent ABV, which is expected for a double/imperial IPA.


Boulder 40th Anniversary Ale 
Dec. 15, 2019
Belgian Golden clocks in at 9.5% Orange with a sharp lemon edge. Hides abv well. Maybe a crackle of coriander. Finishes clean. Belgian yeast ties it together

Alaskan Baltic Porter 
Dec. 17, 2019
The bottle tells me I can wait till 2025 to drink this, but the nights are cold enough to uncap the bomber in its year of brewing. This one comes with a load of flavor, and is a nice complement to its annual, best-in-class smoked porter. It has a long history with Alaskan Brewing, having been released several times through their Pilot Series, although the 2017 was the first since 2012. This porter is a different but exceptional experience. There are layers of flavor, with cherries and vanilla arriving later, with the oak chips rounding out both. Definitely finishes a little rougher than thte smoked porter due to the alcohol content (bottled at 9.8 percent, if this is the 2017 Pilot Series edition, it’s likely grown much higher). I don’t get much of the brown sugar, maybe a little on the finish, but it’s slight. In fairness, it does grow after several passes, hiding out on the finish and adding a fresh-baked cookie feel to the beer. Having the cherry and vanilla bean flavors rise from the murkiness is all-around pleasant. This one is a behemoth, a once a winter porter I better go find another one to age.