| AUG/SEP
2005 | REVIEWS | NEW BEER RELEASES
NEW BEER RELEASES
Does your brewery have a new release or new seasonal
release? To have it reviewed here, please send at least two
bottles, a flat label and information about the beer to our
CBN offices located at: New Releases, Celebrator
Beer News, 22455 Maple Court, Lower Level, Hayward, CA 94541
Anchor Brewing Co. Bock Beer
Anchor Brewing Co., California
Very dark (black) color, rich roasty nose, coffee notes, warm
fermentation esters, very porter-esque for a bock. Great conditioning.
Belgian lace on glass. Nutmeg notes and a big, full, rich,
malty mouthfeel. Very hard to find but worth the search. Not
a German-style bock by any stretch. Über doppelbock?
Outstanding and unique.
Coast Range Imperial Russian
Stout
Coast Range Brewing, California
Black with dark brown head. Big baker's chocolate/coffee/soy
sauce nose. Big, rich, monster malt. Sweet malt finish with
lingering flavors. Lacks tart astringency of the imperial
style. High-alcohol coffee stout. Rich dessert beer. 11.4%.
Highly Recommended.
Deschutes Twilight Ale
Deschutes Brewery, Oregon
Herbal, hoppy nose. Bright, lively flavors and dark golden
color. Good conditioning. Rich malt character (English?).
Balanced to the dry side. Summer seasonal ale for people who
really like beer. Highly Recommended.
Drake’s Brewing 15th
Anniversary Lager
Drake's Brewing, California
One year in a brandy barrel shows in the nose. Dark amber
color. Aromas of rich, malty sugars and slight herbal notes.
Seductively soft in the mouth, huge on the palate. Round flavors
of oak-aged, malty magic. Long, rich, lingering finish. Savor
in a snifter. 11% abv. Outstanding.
Full Sail Session Lager
Full Sail Brewery, Oregon
Very clean, fully attenuated refreshing lager, balanced toward
the soft end of scale. No bittering. Soft finish. Retro stubby
bottle. "Session" is the U.S. descriptor for an
English-style mild or bitter. That it ain't. But if it weans
kids off PBR, more power to ’em. 5.1% abv. Highly Recommended
(for its style).
Geary's Summer Ale
D.L. Geary Brewing Co., Maine
Great color, slight hop nose, very carbonated, slight metallic
note, slight honey note. Clean, grassy, soft mouthfeel, just
short of a cream ale. Good summer quaffer. Recommended.
Lagunitas #10 Summer Ale
Lagunitas Brewery, California
Apricot-anise nose. Honey malt flavors. Wow! A glass full
of rich, round, full flavors for assertive summer quaffing.
Rich yeasty notes — almost triple light? Where'd that
Belgium come from? 5.9% abv. Highly Recommended.
Rochefort 8
Abbaye St.-Remy, Belgium
Conditioning is awesome. Pillowy soft clouds. Heavenly. Prunes
and herbs in the nose, cedar wood/tobacco. Complex, soft,
rich and malty. Superbly balanced. Elegantly constructed,
with a harmonious blend of notes leading to a long, pianissimo
finish. 9.2% abv. Outstanding.
Rochefort 10
Abbaye St.-Remy, Belgium
Slight nose, less complex than the 8, but huge malt/sugar
mouthfeel. Dark color. Candi sugars prominent in flavors,
caramel, Turbinado–candi sugar character. Plums and
black currants. Richer and heaver viscosity than the 8. 11.3%
abv. Highly Recommended.
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Brewing Co., California
Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Brettanomyces and Saccharomyces
yeast mélange. Cloudy amber color. Lactic-yeasty nose
with not a little horse blanket. Cidery, citric; cherries
in background. Some toasted oak nuances. Very effervescent.
Very tart on the palate. Another off-the-scale beer from RR.
7% abv. Outstanding.
Russian River Temptation Barrel
Aged Ale
Russian River Brewing, California
Blonde Belgian-esque, Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces, rich
frothy head, great condition, great Brett nose. Tart, assertive
acidic mouthfeel, malty sour notes and rich malt flavors.
Great food beer. Sweet/tart balance. Young but will come together
with additional bottle aging. Could turn wine geeks into beer
geeks. A malt Gestalt of considerable consequence. 7.3% abv.
Outstanding.
Samuel Adams Hefeweizen
Boston Beer Co., Massachusetts
Hazy but not cloudy. Pear-like flavors, soft yeasty wheat.
Clean, crisp and refreshing. Very bright flavors. Clean finish.
Highly Recommended for American wheat style.
Samuel Adams Summer Ale
Boston Beer Co., Massachusetts
Estery, herbal notes in nose, soft on palate, creamy hint
of vanilla. Recommended.
The beers of the Shipyard Brewing Company of Portland, Maine,
are once again available in California. Shipyard IPA is the
best-selling Shipyard beer outside New England and the fastest-growing
Shipyard brand. Shipyard’s Old Thumper is an award-winning
favorite in California, taking “Best in Show”
at the Los Angeles County Fair in 2004. This extra-special
ale also took first place in the English Pale Ale category
at both the California and West Coast Brewers Festivals. Shipyard
Export and Old Thumper are now available on draft in Northern
California.
Shipyard Chamberlain Pale Ale
Shipyard Brewing Company, Maine
English hops with crystal and chocolate malts for a dark,
rich flavor. Great conditioning (bottle conditioning?), shy
nose, copper color. Some earthy bittering in the finish keeps
it tart on the palate. Big malt flavors give way to a tart
finish. 4.9% abv. Recommended.
Shipyard Export Ale
Shipyard Brewing Company, Maine
Cascade, Willamette and Tettnang hops. Herbal nose. Tart,
drying, citric notes on the palate. Slightly buttery but not
offensive. Good mouthfeel, very long finish. Well balanced
toward hop bittering. 5.1% abv. Highly Recommended.
Shipyard IPA
Shipyard Brewing Company, Maine
It's all Fuggle hops with two-row British pale, crystal and
malted wheat in the grain bill. Our English art director called
it "one of the finest IPAs I've had in a long time."
Earthy, herbal nose. Malty sweet mid-palate, with rich hop
bittering leading to a long finish. Balance is the key. 5.8%
abv. Outstanding.
Shipyard Old Thumper
Shipyard Brewing Company, Maine
Challenger, Progress and Golding hops with crystal and chocolate
malt. Nice copper color, buttery malt flavors, rich honey-maple
notes. Big, rich flavors. Nice yeasty-estery note with long,
lingering finish toward the sweet malt flavors. Balanced.
5.8% abv. Highly Recommended.
Stone Brewing Imperial Stout
Stone Brewing Co., California
Mocha, vanilla, coffee and some chocolate in nose. Huge malt
monster with the acidic astringency that defines the style.
Black as a Moscow merchant's heart, tart on palate and richly
lingering in the finish. Almost a smoky note to the finish.
10.8% abv. Outstanding.
Valley Brewing Über Hoppy
IPA
Valley Brewing Co., California
Dark amber color. Big, zippy hop blast in the nose. Malt (caramel
praline?) and huge herbal hop bite with sticky-sweet malt
finish. Big hop additions, dry hopping and hop additions (Randallization)
before kegging. Caramelized hops? Diverse selection of high-alpha
hops. Takes "rich" to another level. Very well integrated.
9% abv. Highly recommended.
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