New Arrivals for 9.15.09 - The Better Late Than Never Edition

Well, 09.09.09 has already come and gone, but Stone's latest Vertical Epic release didn't arrive until today. Such is the way of things I guess. Today's delivery brought a few other things besides the VE, so scroll down the list and see what catches your fancy.

New Beers:

• Stone - Vertical Epic 09.09.09: This year's twist in the story line brings us down a dark alley haunted by mysterious aromas of tangerine and vanilla. At 8.5% it begs for a snifter and your complete attention.
  
• Stone/BrewDog/Cambridge - Juxtaposition Black Pilsner: Ignore the fact that "black pilsner" is just another way of saying "schwarzbier" because this brew bears absolutely no resemblance to pilsner, black or otherwise. It's dry, roasty, and pushing a double digit abvmore which makes it more akin to an imperial stout fermented with lager yeast. It's really tasty, just don't go in expecting any sort of classic lager.
  
• He'Brew - Rejewvenator: I haven't had this one yet, but the label says, "Half Doppelbock, Half Belgian-style Dubbel" and it's brewed with date concentrate, which definitely sounds interesting. With Rosh Hashanah beginning Friday, it's worth noting that the entire He'Brew line is Kosher Certified. In addition to the Rejewvenator we have their Genesis Pale Ale, Messiah Bold (a flavorful brown ale), and Bittersweet Lenny's Rye IPA. L'Chaim!
  
• Alaskan - Baltic Porter: This brew sold out quick last year, and as delicious as it is I'm really not surprised. Cherries, vanilla beans, and French oak add dimension and complexity to this classic style. Get it while it lasts.
  
• Kona - Pipeline Porter: This tasty little porter is brewed with real Kona coffee to give it an extra little kick.
  
• Blue Moon - Harvest Moon: Nothing fancy from the house of Coors; just an unpretentious amber ale with pumpkin and spice flavors.
  
• Hopworks - Bike Beer IPA: Whoa, another hoppy beer from HUB!?! Seriously though, this one is a little less astringent and a little more fruity than their regular IPA. I'd have to bust open one of each and do a side by side comparison to nail down any other differences...
  
• Baron - Oktoberfest: Classic "festbier" lager from Seattle. Flavors of caramel and nutty malt compliment the clean, crisp hopping in the finish...
  
• New Old Lompoc - Monster Mash: Despite what the angry jack-o-lantern on the label would have you believe, this is an Imperial Porter and not a pumpkin beer. This should be around for at least a couple of months, but if it sells faster than the Heaven's Helles did it could be gone in a couple weeks, so don't delay.
  
• Midnight Sun - Obliteration V: The fifth beer in the Obliteration IPA series is an 8.2% double IPA brewed with Tomahawk and Magnum hops. I haven't had this one yet, but based on the hop selection I would expect it to lean more towards pungent and piney rather than a typical west coast citrus bomb.
  
• Elysian - Night Owl: The northwest's most popular pumpkin ale is back.
  
• Great Divide - Tripel: Great Divide's take on the trappist mainstay is a little sweeter than the classic Belgian examples, but all in all I think they did a great job on this one.
  
• Great Divide - Hoss Lager: This is becoming a favorite around the shop, and "Hoss" is well on it's way to becoming a slang term for rugged and/or manly. For example, Patrick Swayze's character in Road House was definitely "Hoss." Anyway, come and grab some Hoss before Jimmy and Lucas drink it all.
  
• Hales - Super Goose Imperial IPA: One person at the shop decreed that the Super Goose is superior to Russian River Pliny the Elder. Debatable perhaps, but at less than $5 per 22oz bottle it's certainly worth buying one of each and conducting your own experiments.
  
• Coney Island - Freaktoberfest: It smells and tastes like an oktoberfest beer, but the bloody red color might throw you off a bit. Buy some to freak out your Halloween party guests.
  
• Crispin - Honey Crisp: This seasonal cider from Crispin is only roughly filtered which results in a very cloudy cider (with a color reminiscent of dirty dish water), and the tartness of the apples is smoothed out with an addition of organic honey. Speaking of Crispin, we're hosting a tasting with them this evening, so stop in from 5-8pm and you can sample this for free along with the rest of the Crispin line.

That's all for now; keep your eyes peeled for the stream of fresh hop beers coming out in the next 2-4 weeks. Most of them are truly delicious, but the season is painfully short.

New Arrivals For Friday Sept. 21, 2007

We received a couple tasty fall seasonals today, and a few things from Baron Brewing in Washington are now available in Oregon.

First up, the seasonals:

Avery Kaiser: Billed as an "Imperial Oktoberfest", Avery's popular fall offering weighs in at 9.3% abv. One 22oz bottle of this delicious nectar should be more than enough to get you dancing in your leiderhozen. This is also a great candidate for aging, so grab a couple and forget about them until Portland gets gets hit with the annual January ice storm.

Elysian Night Owl: This is one of the tastiest pumpkin beers available, mainly because they don't overdo it on the spices. Elysian even schedules a tasting around the release of this beer involving the ceremonial tapping of a giant pumpkin full of Night Owl. Their website is a bit out of date so I couldn't find any info, but I'll see if I can dig something up. EDIT: I found something on meetup.com regarding the the Great Pumpkin Festival, but I still can't find anything from Elysian so I'd advise calling the brewery to confirm before making the trek up there.


Now it's time for the new guys: Please note - I haven't tried any of these yet, so all you get for today are the commercial descriptions.

Baron Schwarzbier: The Schwarzbier is a classic German black beer. The color is black with tinges of ruby and brown. The flavor is full and crisp. The Schwarzbier starts with a slight roast flavor upfront followed by a faint chocolate body with a very crisp clean lagered finish. A very full yet drinkable lager. Now that I think about it, I had some of this at the International Beer Festival, but it was pouring way too cold to appreciate.

Baron Pilsner: The Baron Pils is a traditional Northern German Style Pilsner. It has a fantastic malty aroma with a slight spice from the hops. The head is brilliant white and floats on the clean pale lager. The sparkling mouthfeel gives way to a soft malt sweetness that is followed by a long dry super crisp finish. The balanced clean finish taunts the mouth to take another drink.

Baron Oktoberfest: The Baron Oktoberfest is a traditional German Style Oktoberfest / Marzen. The beer has a deep copper / amber color with a sweet rich but light malt flavor. The finish is crisp and easy, leaving the mouth desiring for more. We age the Oktoberfest for a full 3 months to guarantee a fantastically smooth beer.

For more info on Baron's beers, or the brewery, please visit Baronbeer.com