Stoudts Brewing Company - Pils

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a fluted glass

This German-style Pilsner from Stoudts pours a shining crystal clear medium-gold straw body with a modest head of fine white foam. The head retention is moderate and produces thick, chunky lacing. The nose is malty with prominent Noble-type hops. A slight dustiness from the hops and a Belgian-like yeast aroma give the beer a classic Pilsner profile and at once signals a modern interpretation.

The sweet velvety malts up front hold well with an attack from dandelion-like hop bitterness. The hop profile comes into its own on the mid-palate. The crisp finish is very dry and producing a lasting, almost desert-like mouthfeel. The only solution is to quench the arid feel with another sip.

Final Verdict: B

Long Trail Brewing Co. - Long Trail Ale

Purchased From: Sam's Club
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a flute glass

Long Trail Ale is the brewery's namesake beer and an American take on the, slightly obscure, German style 'altbier.' And like Berkshire's Gold Spike Ale, this means I'm going to have to seek out some authentic German altbier to try sooner or later. The beer is a crystal clear mild caramel brown and is very low on visible carbonation in the body. The thin, slightly tinted, head fades away quickly, leaving very little in the way of lacing.

The aroma is very malty and lagery. There's a mild wine-like scent mixed with a hint of woodiness. The fresh sweet malts are prominent in the beer with a very grainy taste and a grass-like freshness. Light hints of raisins round off the beer as it finishes with a pleasant bittering. The beer is very tight and it closes out very crisp and refreshing.

Final Verdict: B

Thomas Hooker Brewery - Munich Style Golden Lager

Thomas Hooker Brewery - Munich Style Golden Lager

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a flute glass

Another installment from one of my favorite local breweries is Hooker’s Munich-style lager. This lager pours a hazy golden straw with glowing orange notes. The head is a generous and somewhat creamy white foam. The nose is a sweet clean malt with a mild musty yeast. There’s a light citrusy (primarily oranges) hop aroma as well.

The mouthfeel is chewy and goes along nicely with the distinct graininess of the beer. It’s clear that there’s a ton of Hooker’s fresh light base malt in the beer. Mild, but not acidic white grape juice flavors sneak their way in too. The hops are very mild but add a pleasant accent to the malty flavor. Overall this beer is very crisp and extraordinarily drinkable, however, I would say it doesn’t exactly fall in line with the Helles Lager style. But, it is certainly a great American take.

Final Verdict: B+

Berkshire Brewing Company - Gold Spike Ale

Berkshire Brewing Company - Gold Spike Ale

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 650 mL ‘bomber’ bottle, poured into a Collins glass pretending to be a Stange

I accidentally bought this bottle of Gold Spike, when intending to pick up a different Berkshire Brewing Company beer. Nonetheless, I was delighted and intrigued to find out that BBC has a take on the obscure German Kölsch style. I’ve had one sip of it before, when a friend of mine ordered it, and after running into this American take, I’ll have to seek out some authentic brews as well.

Gold Spike pours a somewhat pale golden straw with an unexpectedly hazy complexion. The white head is a large light foam that floats effortlessly atop active carbonation. The lacing produced by the beer is great, and comes with an almost metallic sheen. The nose is musty and distinctively lagery with the very faint essence of Noble hops.

The malt flavor here is slick, and again, very lagery. There’s a grassy freshness with a floral mild hop profile. The hops seem to add their perfume, but not their bitterness. To round it all off there’s a pleasant honey sweetness that leads into a mild dandelion aftertaste. Overall this beer is very drinkable and enjoyable, but fairly filling.

Final Verdict: B

Rogue - Dead Guy Ale

Rogue - Dead Guy Ale

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a flute glass

Dead Guy Ale is my first experience with Rogue, although I’ve long-admired their distinctive bottles on shelves in package stores, and perhaps my first Oregonian beer. Dead Guy pours a fuzzy muted orange body with a sticky off-yellow-tinted head of foam. The slow-to-fade head produces large swathes of thick lacing. The nose packs bright fruits like hints of pears as well as considerable citrus. Definite notes of grapefruit on this very hoppy nose. Mild alcoholic esters also float from the top of the beer.

The mouthfeel is smooth and airy. The bitter hops are drying and piney. This definitely seems more like a pale ale than the advertised Maibock. This supposed Maibock is brewed with some German ingredients including Maier Munich malt and Perle hops, but I just don’t recognize the likeness to the style. While the beer is quite good, it is dry and tart and almost singularly hoppy. 

There are notes of earthiness to it and the malts do come through quite late (after a few minutes to warm). I don’t get the breadiness that many have reported tasting and it doesn’t seem quite so complex. This is a totally competent and enjoyable pale ale, but not quite a Maibock, in my opinion.

Final Verdict: B

Smuttynose - S’muttonator

Smuttynose - S’muttonator

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 22 oz. glass “bomber” bottle, poured into a dimpled mug

The S’muttonator is a German-styled Double Bock from Smuttynose Brewing Company as part of their “Big Beer Series.” This one came from the 2010 batch, and I’m thinking a year or two in the bottle might round out its character and give it some time to refine its flavor.

The body is a medium unfiltered brown, a bit lighter than I was expecting. The tan head was thin with almost no retention. The nose is primarily malty with slight bitter hops. It also carries a slight alcoholic tinge with a syrupy sweet component.

The flavor is defined by toasted malts with a mild spiciness and some fresh root vegetable hints. The mouthfeel is full-bodied and earthy. The alcohol here is clearly present and despite the crisp finish there just isn’t too much complexity to be found.

I’m not sure I will spend the money on another bottle to cellar, but I think a couple of years could really improve this brew. I’ve heard great things about past vintages that were laid down for 2+ years.

Final Verdict: B

Baltika - #7 Export Lager

Baltika - #7 Export Lager

Purchased From: Beers of the World, Rochester, NY

Serving Type: 500mL bottle with a pull-tab cap, poured into a 1987 Bud Light pilsner glass.

Chosen because the #7 Export Lager was the only beer brewed by Pivzavod Baltika that came with the pull-tab cap, this lager was one of many available in the Russian section of Beers of the World in Rochester, NY. A veritable Mecca of beer shopping. 

The beer pours a crystal clear pale straw with light foam, no retention, and no lacing. On the nose the bitter character of Saaz noble hops are clearly present. The beer type, dortmunder, a German lager style, similar to a German pilsner (which is, in turn, a take on the Czech pilsner). The hop varietal, commonly found in these three styles, always reminds me of the bitterness of dandelions.

The initial taste is crisp and malty. The aroma of the hops is not as present in the actual beer, but their underlying bitterness works with the high carbonation in this beer to erase any significant flavor. The beer moves quickly from a malty foretaste, to a void of flavor, and finally, ends with a meek aftertaste. 

Thomas Hooker Brewery - Octoberfest Lager

Thomas Hooker Brewery - Octoberfest Lager

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines and Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a Hooker pint glass

Hooker is a local (to me) brewing operation just a few miles from where I live. The brewery is a great visit, I’ve been several times, and plan to more in the future. So, I’ll do my best not to allow local pride to color my thoughts on the beer. Although, I’ve heard that the Octoberfest may actually be contract brewed elsewhere. I’ll look into this in coming weeks.

What little there was on the silky white head on the beer faded fast, after a pretty rough pour. The body has a glowing copper to burnt orange hue and the beer has a great full mouth-feel, without much visible carbonation. Hooker pulls of the Märzen style quite well. The beer has a strong toasted malt character, with light bittering and hops aroma. The combination makes for a well-balanced medium finish. The beer is solid, and it’s local. 

While the taste and carbonation held up well to what I expected and what I remember from last season, the bottle was stamped on its face with what seems to be a date “09.08.10”. Not overly concerning, but perhaps this bottle, though just purchased at the start of the Oktoberfest season, may actually have been from last year. The body of the beer had a slight haze, compared to an expected degree of clarity and there was a bit of crust on the bottle head, just under the cap. I cannot say definitively that the date is a ‘drink before’ marker, but it does not seem that it could be a brewed, or bottled on, date, because, as of the sampling of the beer, it’s only September 5, 2010. Unless, of course, they’re following the European date convention. 

As I mentioned, I am not concerned about the date, as I enjoyed the German-styled lager. I do, however, plan to follow up on the issue by trying another, from a different case, in the coming weeks. Perhaps I will visit the brewery and clear the air on the contract brew rumor I heard.