I’ve been reviewing a whole lot of Belgians and their kin lately, and while that’s a lack of variety that I need to rectify, it isn’t going to happen today, because this review is of Rayon Vert, a Belgian-style Pale Ale from one of my favorite west coast breweries, the Green Flash Brewing Company.  First a cautionary note.  This is the third I’ve had from a four pack and while the first two vigorously overflowed when opening, this one gushed like a geyser, and I probably lost a third of the bottle in the first two seconds.  Open one of these with extreme care. Now, to the beer.  It starts with a super long-lasting, super light and fluffy head with a texture that reminds me a lot of the foam that you get from a root beer float.  The yeast is more subdued in this than most.   The scent is earthy and woody.  The middle has a lot of lemon and bread, with a touch of tartness and some pine for a bit of bitterness.  The finish is grapefruit and pine, but it’s not sharp, like you’d typically get in a west-coast style pale ale or IPA, it’s dull, with yeast and citrus over top.  It gives it an interesting balance that I quite enjoy.

Brewed and bottled by Sierra Nevada, Brux is an American Wild Ale collaboration between Sierra Nevada and the Russian River Brewing Company.  Wild Ales of any strain remind me of the Belgians that I so love, and this one is no different.  The nose has sourdough and pears, the middle has grassy with more pear and tart apple that fades into a finish of lemon and a tiny bitter hop bite.  The body is medium weight and the overall theme of this beer is crisp and refreshing, tart and flavorful.   I like it a lot.

Tonight I’m drinking another Belgian Strong Dark Ale from my favorite non-Belgian Belgian specialists, Unibroue, from Quebec.   The nose has lots of funky Belgian yeast, with some raspberries.  The middle has a lot of peach and banana, and is sweeter than average.  There’s a lot of banana and a little vanilla in the finish, and more of that signature Belgian yeast.  It’s a really solid effort, and a fine beer, but I like some of their other offerings more, I think.   It’s a little too heavy on the sugar and banana for my taste.

Hellhound On My Ale is Dogfish Head Brewery’s tribute to legendary blues man, Robert Johnson.  What they’ve come up with is a huge hop bomb that reminds me of an Imperial IPA, west-coast style.  The nose is citrusy with pine.  The body is heavy, with tons of grapefruit and more pine, and the lemon they added to the brew really starts to come into it’s own.  The finish is lemony and and crisp, with one last hard hit of pine right at the end.   This is a very solid Imperial IPA, and if you’re you’re into big hops, you should try to find a bottle.

Expedition Stout is a winter seasonal Russian Imperial Stout from the fine folks at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan.   The Russian Imperial Stout is one of the boldest styles around, and this is a big beer at 10.5% ABV.  It’s designed to be aged, and the brewery explicitly warns that it’ll be intensely bitter for the first few months but will mellow nicely over the years.  The head is medium brown and clings to glass, leaving an opaque film as it recedes.  The nose is chocolate and toast with a  hint of pine in the background.  The middle is bursting with complimentary flavors.  There is chocolate, plums, bitter roasted malt in a heavy milky body.  The finish is a balance of the sweetness of honey and the bitterness of burnt toast.   The flavors are extraordinary  though a bit raw given the youth of the example I’m drinking.   I have another bottle, and I may leave it in the fridge for a year because this beer may be truly exceptional once it’s mature.

Today I’m reviewing another love-themed beer from the Belgian masters in Cooperstown.  Several weeks back I reviewed Adoration, and today I’m giving Seduction a whirl.  The description on the bottle makes it clear where the name comes from;  The flavor is that of Belgian chocolate with undertones of cherries.  Yup, sounds seductive to me.   It’s not as big as a strong dark ale, but it pours as black as night with a creamy tan head.  The nose is yeasty with cherries and musty earth.   The middle is sweet, with chocolate and quite a bit of pineapple.   There’s some tartness in the finish with a bit of cherry and a hint of roasted coffee, fading at the end to a last taste of chocolate.  I have to say there’s not as much chocolate as I expected, but this is still a nice, complex beer.

Old Stock Ale is an old ale released annually by North Coast Brewing.   The 2012 edition is a commemorative release and for every bottle sold, North Coast makes a donation to the Otsuchi Recovery Fund to help the town of Otsuchi Japan which was devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March of 2011.  The noble cause aside, this is an excellent aged ale outright.  The coloration is somewhere between cherry and mahogany  the nose is full of fruit, primarily cherries and a hint of oak.  The middle is almost Belgian, with cherries, plums and cinnamon, that transitions to a alcohol-fueled heat in the finish with vanilla and fading cherry notes.   This is a fairly massive beer at 11.7% ABV, and it’s definitely a sipping drink that would make an outstanding digestif after a rich dinner.   It’s an outstanding beer that’s worth seeking out, and fact that some of the proceeds go to a good cause is an extra cherry on top.

From one of my favorite hoppy beer houses, Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, I’m having a “mysterious dark ale” they call Grand Cru.   It’s actually a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, but in typical Green Flash style, it’s hopped up quite a bit over a traditional brew in this style.  The nose has some fruit and yeast, and you’d expect from a Belgian, but there’s also some grassy hop notes in there.  The middle is plums, cherries, and pepper fading to a citrusy finish with a good bit of pine.   This is a really outstanding marriage of of Belgian Strong Dark Ale and a West-Coast style hop-bomb.  For me, it’s one of the best beers I’ve had in a long time.   If you enjoy both big Belgians and West-Coast IPAs, you need to give this a try.

Thunderstruck Coffee Porter is a winter seasonal from Highland Brewing Company of Asheville, NC.  Though called a porter, it could easily pass for a fairly light bodied breakfast stout.   Thunderstruck is brewed with chocolate malt, but there’s only a hint of chocolate here, and it’s mainly in the nose.  The most predominate flavor by far is its namesake, coffee.  This is a bitter beer, not thanks to hops, but to the coffee.  It’s more like drinking coffee than drinking beer, in fact.  There’s a hint of milk in the finish, but this is a fairly simple beer.  A nice beer, but a simple beer.

Birra Etrusca Bronze is from Dogfish Head’s Ancient Ales series, based on a recipe that seems to have been favored by the Etruscans in what is now modern-day Italy.   The head disappeared on me as quickly as champagne, and that’s not the only parallel to the bubbly wine that I’m noticing in the beer.  With malt base that mixes barley and wheat for a smooth foundation, and honey, raisins, and pomegranate juice among the myriad ingredients  this lively well carbonated beer has more than a passing resemblance to a sweet fruit-forward sparkling wine.   The nose had honey and wheat, and the middle is sweet with fruit flavors including grapes and peaches.  There are some spices that are I don’t recognize throughout (myrrh and gentian root are in the recipe, so they may be in play here.) There’s some pomegranate tartness in the finish, with a tiny hint of heat from the alcohol.  I love the weirdness and complexity of the ancient ales, and this is a great example of a special beer.