So again, back to discussing Shakespeare's Pub in Kalamazoo, I went out with some friends last week and there were just so many great and interesting beers that I needed to drink flights the whole night.
Southern Tier's Pumking (8.6% abv) had been elusive to me until this day. It's so good, it's not an easy brew to find considering its popularity means that bars and bottle shops run out pretty quickly around here. I had to grab it while I could.
Pumking has always been one of my favorites. It's definitely a sweet one.
Pours bright orange, certainly the most concentrated orange color I've seen this year, with a thin, but retaining head.
The aroma is pretty heavenly, loaded with nutmeg and cream, like a pumpkin spice coffee creamer. Some almond cookie, cloves, and vanilla. The whole nose is very bold.
This beer is as bold and agressive in flavor as it is in aroma. You've got a lot of pureed pumpkin right up front mixed with some solid malt character that leads into some heavy baking spice. The finish is unique in that it almost has this whipped cream or vanilla ice cream type creaminess and flavor, like pie a la mode. It's pure decadence.
Overall, this a great option for the holidays, especially because it's distributed nationally (considering I've done a few this month that are only available in Michigan or the midwest). If you enjoy a good pumpkin pie, this beer is certainly for you.
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THE GREAT PUMPKIN (BEER) OFF FEATURING 20. SOUTHERN TIER BREWING CO. - PUMKING
14. Ommegang - Rare Vos
Tonight is so beautiful.
I can't get over it. Every other year, I have dug my feet into the summer ground and refused to move into autumn, but this year I feel totally different. Maybe it has something to do with having graduated eight months ago, so I did not start school this week. I have all this extra money in my bank account from not buying books (except not really at all), I don't have to deal with lost people running around campus (except the theater I work at half the week is on campus), I don't have to worry about studying (except I have the GREs coming up), and I won't have to spend the entire week organizing the thousands of pages from syllabi I just crammed into my bag when I first received them (that one is true).
Despite the cruel fact that with the end of one of life's hardships comes another, totally different but equally difficult one, I can't help but feel somewhat accomplished as I see students running around like lost prairie dogs trying to collect what they need for the new year and hoping that they won't fail any of their classes. I totally don't have to do that this year, and it is actually pretty great.
Anyway, I broke open my beer fridge this evening and went straight for Ommegang, did not pass go, did not collect $200.
So this is my review of Rare Vos from Brewery Ommegang (6.5%), which is their amber ale.
Definitely getting a good, solid two to three finger head off the pour. Thick, frothy volume in golden white. Fades down to about a one finger head, but still, so thick and almost chunky.
There's some heavy haze in here, and the color is true amber through and through.
First off, there's a ton of candied orange peel in the aroma, as well as some apple and pear. Some very faint hoppiness at the end. There's good, solid butter caramel malts in there as well.
Right of the bat... cloves. Absolutely cloves. And coriander. This beer is super mild, more than I expected but I am pleasantly surprised. I was kind of cringing thinking it would be a very robustly sweet beer considering the aroma. No hops present whatsoever, but I licked my lips and got the slightest touch of bitterness. I am definitely tasting some apple peel, to me it is one of the strongest notes. Maybe a little bit of peppercorn as well. As it warms you get this really great, soothing bread-like quality that mixes perfectly with the mild, not-too-sweet fruit (again, like apple peel, or maybe underripe pear).
I really love this beer. As the weather transitions to fall and it gets a little cooler outside here in Michigan, this amber ale is really suiting my mood. It's not crisp and biting, it's not in-your-face refreshing or citrusy acidic. But you don't need that, because there's a really nice fall breeze coming in with the night, and it's wafting through my windows to create the most perfect temperature. It's exactly like this beer..... not too much, not too little. It's subtle, but only because it knows it's so elegant, it doesn't need to be all up in your face like that.
This beer is perfect for today.
07. Ommegang - Three Philosophers
Looking through my fridge and boxes of beer, I actually had a hard time choosing what to review today. I obviously had an even harder time on Monday, because I really did plan on writing something but I blankly stared into the abyss that is my fridge as people often do and eventually started to feel like this cartoon and proceeded to walk away, giving up all hope of writing something decent because all I really wanted to do was find some silly Billy Blanks workout video on youtube and do just enough of it to exhaust me to the point of falling asleep so I could enjoy a full eight hours of rest.
I think I would change "What am I doing here?" to "Stop fucking up the electrical bill."
But today, while I almost fell into the same trap of staring at said fridge listlessly, I saw a shinning beacon of hope and inspiration in the back on the second shelf.
I HAVE NEVER TRIED ANYTHING FROM BREWERY OMMEGANG BEFORE.
It's a fault of mine, I know. I am well aware that I am behind on this. But I got lucky with this one, this was a lucky find at the very bottom of a pile of broken bottles (our company allows for employee sales of bottles at a discounted rate if a case is partially broken). Normally I am ravenous when I dig through these piles, never concerned of covering my work clothes in dust or broken glass to get the best I can find every Friday, but a few weeks ago I was particularly determined. This Ommegang was a gem, and there was only one.
So tonight I'm going to be talking about Three Philosophers (9.7% abv)from Brewery Ommegang. This Belgium-style quad is brewed with cherries, so I'm really anticipating that in the flavor.
Despite not having the right glass for this beer, I'll do my best to overcome.
Huge head at first but not a lot of retention there. The middle fades to an off white while the rest clings to the side of the glass and holds a slightly orange hue. Pours a murky brown with a really nice sienna orange glow. Really fragrant right out of the bottle, sweet like sun dried raisins or dates. There is also some cloves there and a touch of peppercorn. It actually smells exactly like these raisin tarts we always ate with my grandparents in the summer up in Canada. I never adored raisins but I have fond memories of the sweet, buttery taste.
They look like this! You know what I mean? You can find the recipe here
At first, the taste is fruity, possibly cherry but without knowing prior that the ale was brewed with cherries it could be mistaken for plum or fig. Much more juicy than the aroma, which would have led me to say prune or date. Then following there's some unsweetened chocolate to add a touch of bitter, a little brandy, and some roasty malts. The finish has just the tiniest bit of booziness that you can feel in your nose (and later in your legs).
It has great, lasting carbonation, but it doesn't overwhelm how deliciously buttery and smooth this beer is. This is superb work on Ommegang's part, I have great respect for this beer.
I guess I'll just have to find out the hard way whether whether all of their offerings live up to this one!
02. Southern Tier Brewing Company - Creme Brulee Stout
So last night I had the chance to actually go to the bar! I really do love to go out, be social, and enjoy the great beer culture we’ve developed in Kalamazoo. I just have so much beer at home and it’s hard to motivate myself to spend that kind of money with the insane amount of beer I have stashed at my house. Not to mention this beer was purchased at a ridiculously discounted price through my job. It’s hard to look at the price of pints after being out of the game for so long, but in this case, I had a very important reason to go out.
It was my friend Tim’s birthday, so a celebration must be had!
The Kalamazoo Beer Exchange works like the stock market. Everything they have on draft for the evening is put up on large TVs around the bar a la Wallstreet, and the more people order a particular beer, the higher the price gets. The opposite goes for beers that get neglected for an hour or so. And of course, like on Wallstreet, sometimes the beer stock market will crash out of nowhere and beer prices will drop to an all-time low for five minutes where everyone scrambles to buy (possibly multiples) of their favorites. Not only do they always have a great selection available, but the food is delicious and innovative, the staff is friendly, and it’s really hard not to have a good time. They have received national recognition for the concept, so if you’re in the midwest, swing through Kalamazoo and visit KBE! You’d have to really put up serious effort to be unhappy with your experience.
Anyway, I had Sapient Trip by Dark Horse Brewing Co. from Marshall, MI. It really redeemed my last tripel experience (which you can read about here), but that’s not what I chose to write about today, because I happened to try something far more interesting at the next bar we visited, Shakespeares.
Never short on choices, Shakespeares boasts 44 taps of liquid gold, but I knew what I wanted when I walked in the bar. I have been looking for Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Stout from New York, and I knew it was at Shakes.
This imperial stout has a solid 9.6% abv and a truly adorable cow on the label, or tap handle in this case.
This beer pours black, but not as thick and molasses-like as other imperial stouts. Nice, heavy medium-tan head.
But the smell. Oh, the smell of this beer is dessert in and of itself. It was so incredibly fragrant that I could smell it sitting on the bar in front of me without even trying. If you blindfolded me and put me in front of this beer, I would mistake it for actual creme brulee in a heartbeat. Not really much more explanation needed, it was spot on in the nose. Really a stand out characteristic.
Fortunately, that caramelized sugary sweetness was not the only taste to this beer. Yes, it was a little syrupy. A little. But it had a nice roasted malts, a little coffee in there at first. Then it gives way to vanilla, butterscotch, sweet cream, and that signature taste of sugars stuck under a blowtorch. Well balanced, not overly sweet like the initial scent may have alluded, and has the exact mouthfeel you’re looking for in an imperial stout: thick and creamy, but not overly viscous due to a very nice level of carbonation.
I would love to have this again, but not right away. It would be like having two chocolate cakes back to back.
I would absolutely recommend this to someone looking to try a stout that’s a little different. I want to cook with it someday, honestly. The flavor would stand up against heat or additional flavors. It would taste amazing over ice cream or added to a frosting.
So after you have a really nice meal and you’re looking for dessert, make sure to check the beer menu and see if they have this on the list.
