Burnside Lichtenhainer

Just got back from California, where I bore witness to strange depravities and took part in some myself. Also inspiring acts of human kindness to which I should aspire. It's a weird place. Everything is more expensive there except liquor, which explains a lot, actually. But that's all I'm going to write about that adventure, at least for now.

Picked up a bottle of this from the Beer Mongers and poured into a Fin du Monde tulip. It was beat up when I got it from Goodwill, and my dishwasher has removed much of the gilt lettering, which is ironic considering how terrible it is at actually washing dishes.

I was unsure when I bought this, because I would've sworn I tried some kind of Burnside beer at the brewery that claimed to be smoky or something and was bogus instead. But this one's legit. The smell is light and slightly smoky, slightly wheaty, slightly funky, and slightly like graham crackers, which I cannot explain. But I do enjoy it. It's an alcohol-light beer that's big on flavor. If it were cheaper (and it's not terribly expensive as-is), I would consume this pretty regularly. It does tend to coat the palate though. Taste-wise, it's a little tart, kinda like a dry lemonade. There's oak there but it's subtle. Like if kids made a lemonade stand and only had an oak cask and no sugar. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, try this. I enjoy it, for what it's worth.

Hair of the Dog Adam from the Wood (Rye)

Pours like oil. If carbonation is what you seek, it's time to re-adjust your expectations. Smells like a HotD barrel series beer, seriously oxidized and rich. Like Adam, but crossed with Madeira. To drink, you do get a bit of that rye edge, which is probably for the best because it comes across as kinda syrupy and could be too sweet otherwise. That's actually the main balancing force at play here. To be honest, I was hoping for something a little more mind-blowing fresh, but as for the other couple of bottles I bought of this, I'll either sit on em for a few years, or trade em. I'll have to try the bourbon version too, but word on the street was that rye is where it's at.

NB: These are not, to my knowledge actually labeled on the bottle as to which aging treatment they have received. The tint on the label background is dark green for rye, and maroon for bourbon.

Oak 'Em if you Got 'Em

Schlenkerla Eiche 2010

Holy shit, I was unprepared for the magnificence of this beer. Let me preface with the statement that this beer is among my favorites of all time, especially in the smoke category. But speaking of time, I had no idea that it cellared this well. If I had, I'd have bought a case in 2010. It's a more tempered, balanced smoke than the other Schlenkerla offerings (due to oak rather than beech) and commands a slightly more premium price (same reason). This 5-year vintage costs even a bit more due to the costs of storage, but it's a pittance for what you're getting, just trust me.

Appearance is a red mahogany with suspended stuff which looks like maybe carbonation at first but is actually delicious, delicious dirt. Even smelling the bottle after I prized off the slightly rusty cap, it had the nose of a world-class, top quality Rauchbier, which it is. Smells like the deep forest, maybe like decaying wood. Or like barbecue. People always say Rauchbier smells like bacon, but for Pete's sake people, show a little variety in your lexicon. First off, almost no beer actually smells like bacon. (Excluding that one I tried that was made with ham bone, but that's another matter entirely). Secondly, I was reading that English simply lacks a lot of words for tastes and smells which are identifiable by humans (and which exist in some other, perhaps more obscure languages). Absent the words to give voice to our perceptions, it would seem these flavors cease to exist, in an Orwellian puff of (oak) smoke, but they don't, and you'll just have to take my (lack of) word for it that this beer smells fucking great.

Taste is actually a bit easier. First and foremost, it's unabashedly a Doppelbock, and this comes through very clearly, even more to with aging. It's got that characteristic malt sweetness and hint of apple-juice character that I think comes from lager yeast, but don't quote me—those strains are know for being clean and relatively ester-free. It's got serious body, which as I've said time and again, until people roll their eyes and management starts making hand signals to the security staff, is crucial to a smoky beer, otherwise the smoke is acrid and unpalatable. It's also got a lot of wood, but smoke is here in spades as well, in addition to a character that I would liken to Parmasean cheese, but of course it doesn't actually taste like cheese. Boy would this pair well with cheese though. I'm talking a hard 1000-day Gouda. Not a smoked Gouda you rube—don't pair things which taste alike! But if smoke and Gouda go well enough together to justify smoking Gouda, you can bet a smoky beer will go well with an un-smoky Gouda, if you catch my drift. And the smoke is almost acrid; it's big and bold and tastes like a victorious day spent tending a Brinkmann charcoal smoker. Which is hard to do, and I'm terrible at it, so this beer exists for people like me.

If you like New Holland's Charkoota Rye (which gets aged in brandy barrels these days), you'll like this, and vice versa. Very similar beers, though I gather Charkoota is made with rye (of course this is also wordplay). If you don't like smoky things, you will absolutely hate this beer, so don't even try. Next time I'm at the store, I'm going to buy a couple of current year ones (I didn't get one this past time because I have a decent recollection of what this tastes like fresh) and stick them in my beer cellar.

Trappe-d

La Trappe Oak-Aged Quadrupel

This favorite of mine is packaged in corked (synthetic these days) and caged 375mL bottles, and is expensive. This particular bottle is from Batch 16 (my favorite is of course Batch 7, aged in whisky barrels. From reading descriptions, it seems possible that Batch 8 might be similar) and is a blend of brandy, Oloroso sherry, late Burgundy, and two levels of toasted new oak. With a five-way blend, the monks (though La Trappe is one of the more commercial trappist breweries) must be zeroing in on something; this batch was blended last year.

I should note that La Trappe used to be named Koningshoeven, but the Batch 7 bottles bear the La Trappe brand, so it is possible that the name change predates this barrel aging project (which seem to be a more recent development in general.) So I believe any Koningshoeven bottles you find are guaranteed to be several years old. Also, due to pricing, La Trappe can sit on shelves for a while—not  always a bad thing as their quad has aging potential. I have a recollection of a tripel (I think it was La Trappe) which was markedly superior on draft to in bottles, which surprised me. Try for yourself and let me know; it's a bit of a rarity in this market either way.

The cork smells okay even though it is difficult to remove and feels almost waxed. The pour smells hot, but with the nutty oxidized (the sherry, not the beer) character imparted by the fortified wine barrels. Tastes pretty good, and there's a lot more grape here than I'd have expected, which might explain the significant (20% overall) presence of new oak in the blend. The finish has that nutty sherry character as well as a bit more heat than I'm used to from this line. I have to really pay attention for it to taste like beer at all, but there's a great quad buried in there somewhere!

Ultimately, this beer is good, but not 'Batch 7 good' and not something I'd seek out or buy again. Conversely, I'd be willing to pay more for Batch 7 than this, provided I could afford it.

Not ready to give up the ghost / Going off the rails on a ghost train

"Freigeist" literally translates to 'free ghost' though I suspect it means something more along the lines of 'free spirit' inspite of the cartoon ghost on the outstanding packaging. I love the hand-lettering; very German and reminiscent of old movie titling, like from Metropolis.

Freigeist Ottekolong Unfiltered Kölsch

I poured this one into a tall glass. Not a real kölsch cylinder, but as close as I could manage. It's got way more funk that I'd expect for the style, so kölsch may be a misnomer. Just what exactly it smells like is really hard to pin down. 'Dishwater' sounds more negative than I mean to, but is not inaccurate. Taste-wise, it's full-bodied, with some earthy hops that to me taste kinda like arugula. It did say it was going to be hoppy, though only by German standards. Anyway, it's decent, and much less expensive than other beers I've had by the same brewery.

Burnside Brewing 'Merkur,' She Wrote Pale Ale

I didn't make notes on this, but I had a pint at a meeting with someone who owed me a favor and brought me back a cake of tea straight from China, but that's another story for another blog, one that doesn't exist yet.

Anyway, this beer promised, earthy hops, and boy does it deliver. One to try even for non-hop-lovers as it was under 50IBU, and not remarkably bitter. Well balanced, tasty, and showed off a (German, but I suppose I might've guessed) hop varietal I wasn't aware of. Not on their website, so possibly a one-off. Who knows if it will ever get bottled? (Buy a ticket to PDX, take the MAX to Lloyd Center [my home!], start walking south, and) Get down to East Burnside and try some!

Freigeist Geisterzug Traditional Spiced Gose

I've said this before and gotten weird looks, but actual German gose isn't necessarily that sour. Just like English IPA's aren't necessarily that bitter, I suppose. The style does involve some lacto souring, but in my limited experience, isn't any tarter than a berliner Weiße (no, you don't capitalize 'berliner,' but you do capitalize 'Weiße'... it's a long story.) Anyway, this one is named 'ghost train,' and I've got a one-way ticket to Beertown on the express line.

It's a potent smell, especially since it's warmed to near room temperature. I guess some of it's coriander, but I cheated and looked that up. A little bit tart and a little bit funk, but pretty complex and weighty, on account of the wheat. Not Reinheitsgebot compliant, Wikipedia notes that gose receives an exemption for being a traditional beer style (which sort of defeats the purpose).

To say nothing of the fact that the Reinheitsgebot is now defunct (replaced by a different law), and that its real purpose at inception was at least partially politicoeconomical, to prevent " to prevent price competition with bakers for wheat and rye" (Wikipedia). And that wheat beer is by definition, non-compliant.

I had thought that the Reinheitsgebot was completely defunct, but it does indeed live on in spirit as the Vorläufiges Biergesetz (according to Wikipedia), and applies to German-made beers (presumably with exceptions for styles like this), but not to imports. Quite possibly the reason we don't see zanier craft brewing out of the good old BRD.

Four Freigeist bottles. Note the glue lines marking previous labels from where bottles have been completely re-used, as compared to America, where you wait in a giant line for a machine to fail reading it 8 times in a row, ultimately smash it into shards, and dispense a five-cent gift certificate to  Fred Meyer.

Anyway, this beer is good, if not particularly spiced (to my perception) beyond some salt and maybe coriander, a hallmark of the style. But hey, in a country where spice in beer seems to still be literally illegal, that's got to count for something.

Getting S.M.A.S.H.ed

Portland Brewing Summer S.M.A.S.H

The acronym stands for Single Malt and Single Hop. Which malt? Which hops? It doesn't say on the bottle, but I looked it up and it was Simcoe and Goldpils Vienna, which might explain why I didn't really like it. I was guessing Cascade. Some slightly resiny hops were all that was coming through. I mean, there's a reason brewers normally use multiple varieties of these things, and the 'single' versions are to usually showcase a specific strain (Mosaic is popular for this), which may not yield the most delicious end product if the ingredient isn't versatile enough. This one could use more balance, but on the upside, it was quite inexpensive, as Portland Brewing beers tend to be, which handily lowers the barrier to entry.

This is going to sound awful, but it tastes better if you drink it faster. That is to say, don't sip it. You get more malt by drinking it a little quicker, and I'd buy that it's pilsner malt.

Portland Brewing claims they're out to brew the best craft beer in Portland. I don't buy that for a second. There's something to be said for value though, so maybe they are out to brew the cheapest craft beer in Portland; I'd buy that. And I did.

Can a good thing be improved upon?

Freigeist AbraxXxas Pear Lichtenhainer

Let me say first that I love the original version of this beer, even if it's not the Abraxas that everyone gets themselves so worked up about. This one has more 'x's. And a picture of Herman Hesse smoking a cigar on the label. Anyway, it seems there are in fact several versions of this, including a peated (!!!) version, and maybe an apple one as well. The first one I ever had struck me as extra smoky, but it was following (or preceding?) some distilled Schlenkerla at Pizza Paradiso, so who knows. But it was great.

Anyway, smelling the thing, it smells great. Like the original. What the hell is a 'Lichtenhainer,' anyway? I think we're going with 'Smoked Berliner Weiße'. Seems related to gose, grozidskie, and/or grätzer. Probably kind of an old style, a lacto sour (but not too sour) made with smoked malts. Because dear readers, once upon a time, all beer was sour, and all beer was made with smoked malt. What a time it must have been to be alive.

I love the labels on these, by the way. It's a shame I've never really gotten a chance to see them side by side in person, because they're different primary colors, and cool hand-lettered titles. But Shelton Bros doesn't seem to push the rest of the line very hard, and it's a smallish experimental arm of a German brewery, so presence in this market is going to be limited to begin with.

So the pear only really appears at the beginning of your sip. It feels like juice, and tastes a little bit like juice. I wish I had an original to do a side-by-side, but I deliberately left one bottle of the original at Beer Mongers when I last bought it (months ago), as I explained to the proprietor, for someone else to discover it. He seemed amused and pleased by this (he was also a big fan of the beer of course, which was why it was in the shop).

So yeah, mostly just the original Abraxxxas (a vaguely smoky gose-type beer) with a little bit of pear thrown in. Subtle, and interesting, the way an experimental beer oughtta be. Unfortunately, it was also quite expensive, so this is the only one I'm going to buy.