The theme for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Pangaea ale is that it’s a world beer.  To that end, it’s brewed with ingredients taken from each of the seven continents.  (Yes, even Antarctica which provides some, though I imagine certainly not all, of the water.)  What that means to you and me, is that we have another spicy beer from Dogfish Head.   The nose is heavy with Belgian yeast and ginger.  There is cherry and orange in a malty middle, which fades to a slightly bitter but not particularly hoppy finish.  It’s another interesting and unusual beer from Dogfish Head.  Unfortunately, it’s also on hiatus, so it’s unlikely you’ll find it available in the near future.

Brew Free! Or Die IPA from 21st Amendment Brewery of San Francisco  California is a canned beer that is worth buying just for the artwork on the cans, and on the cardboard box that a six-pack comes in.   Now, I know that the beer needs to stand for itself, but the packaging is seriously cool.   So now that we have that out of the way, how is the beer?   Well, in a word, excellent.   It’s a traditional IPA, with citrus and floral notes in the nose, orange and a bit of bread in the middle, and seriously biter hops in the grassy finish.   It’s clean, well-executed, and the transitions are well balanced with nothing overwhelming or under-stated.  My verdict is that this is a really good IPA.

My last experience with Chateau Jiahu was disappointing.   A manufacturing flaw meant that the bottle hadn’t sealed properly, so by the time I got it home it was flat, spoiled, and undrinkable.   Not this time however.   I’ve finally found another bottle and to my delight, this one poured perfectly, fizzy and fresh.   The nose on this beer isn’t strong, with just a hint of yeast and orange.   The middle however, is a different story.  The heavy carbonation makes the taste of the grapes explode on your tongue, the sweetness still accentuated by the addition of honey.  It’s a heavy beer, sticky and lingering, fading away to a final note of alcohol.  It’s a big beer too, at 10% ABV.  This is the closest I’ve ever had to champagne in a beer.   This is definitely a dessert beer, and a good one.

It’s that time of year.  Spring is in the air, and the spring seasonals are starting to hit the retail shelves.  Dig Pale Ale is a spring seasonal offering from New Belgium Brewing, who are most famous for an amber ale named Fat Tire.  This is the first time I’ve had Dig, and it’s a little more subdued than the average pale ale, with less pronounced bitterness from the hops.   The nose isn’t overwhelming, with hints of pine and lemon.  The middle is strongly bready and chewy, and the finish is where the bitterness of the hops really shows up, with more pine and lemon zest.   It’s a pleasant take on a pale ale, bitter but less bitter than some, and I quite like it.

The name says it all.   This beer is about chocolate, and more chocolate.  This black as night stout has a dark brown head.  The scent is that of sweet chocolate cake.  The middle is predominately semi-sweet chocolate, and the finish is bitter chocolate and the bite of alcohol.  This beer is chocolate from start to finish. As a side note, it received gold medals at the World Beer Championships in 2009 and 2010, according to Rogue.  That said, it’s not my favorite.  A bit too much alcohol bite in the finish for my taste.

Yet another unique beer from the folks at Dogfish Head in Delaware    Red & White is a Belgian witbier with a twist, (surprising?) being brewed with coriander, orange peels, and pinot noir grapes, then aged in pinot noir and oak barrels.   This is a big beer, at 11% ABV.  The orange is predominant in the nose.  The middle is where the coriander comes through, with more orange, and then it transitions into the grapes and a heavy oak flavor in the finish.  The oak is a bit more overstated than I’d prefer, but this is a super interesting and very complex beer, and a nice treat.

I’m coming to the end of my Sam Adams Winter selection, and to the end of the winter seasonals, in fact.  Porters are often hugely malty, but the Samuel Adams Holiday Porter is less in your face.   It’s still definitely a malt-driven beer, but it relies on the malts to add flavor and texture and complexity in subtler ways than a big shouty look-at-all-my-maltiness porter.  The nose is sweet,  the middle is milky and smooth, and it fades to a bitter-sweet chocolate finish.   This is really a nice beer.

I know, I know, it’s late February  and I’m just now getting around to opening my bomber of Santa’s Private Reserve, from Rogue Brewery.  Tough.  There are a lot of good winter seasonals to get through, and I’m not done with them yet.   Santa’s Private Reserve is a little bit different from your average winter ale, in that it’s a red ale.   Not particularly heavy, and not particularly malty, it’s a refreshing treat.   The flavor profile reminds me a lot of an IPA, actually.  Pine on the nose, hoppy in the middle, and more pine in the finish.  Rouge’s tasting notes claim it’s roasty and malty in flavor, but I’m not getting that at all.  This one is hops all the way though, which is never a bad thing, in my opinion.

OK, so I couldn’t wait.  I have a bomber of Stone’s 2011 Vertical Epic Ale.  The idea is to bottle condition it for a bit over a year, so I really shouldn’t have opened it until at least December 2012.   However, the promise of spices and chilies proved to be too tempting, and I had to crack it after three months in my fridge.  The Belgian yeast is distinctly present, and I’d have to agree with Stone’s tasting notes that they give this year’s edition a banana flavor.  The spices and chilies are also there in the background  but very subdued, and not overpowering at all. The finish is nicely hoppy and pleasantly bitter.   I need to get another bottle of this beer, because as good as it is after 3 months, I can’t wait to see what it’s like after a year.

I just picked up a variety pack of Samuel Adams winter seasonals from the Boston Brewing Company.   There a a couple of beers in the mix this year that I’m not familiar with (I don’t know if they’re new, or I just haven’t seen them before) but the first review is going to be the new-to-me Black & Brew Coffee Stout.  The nose is roasted chocolate, and the coffee comes on strong in the middle.  It’s not a heavy stout, as I’d call it a medium weight body.   The finish has notes of cocoa and fruit.  It’s interesting and enjoyable, though it’d be better if the various flavors were all a bit more subtle and blended.