John Harvards in Harvard Square hosted a tasting event last night called “Flight of the Imperials”. Five years of their Imperial Stout were offered: 2004, 2005, 2006 (which spent a year in bourbon barrels), 2007, and 2008 (cask-conditioned in oak and dry hopped).
My wife and I showed around 6:15 and there was already a substantial wait for seating. We were warned that the flights were taking awhile to come out, so we ordered a flight (2004, 2005, 2006 whiskey and 2007) with apps, 10oz. of the current 2008 (oak aged) stout, and an IPA to tide us over. I’d say we had our flight (with raspberries) within 20-25 minutes…not too shabby.
They were all great beers, with the 2006 whiskey barrel topping my list and the oak aged being my wife’s favorite. This was my first vertical tasting, and it was very interesting how the alcohol warmth mellowed throughout the years.
Anyway, it was a great time and I wish I had introduced myself to the handful of beer-advocate-ish people I saw there. I’m relatively new to these beer events and it’d be nice to make it a more social experience. Thanks to John Harvards for a great night!
Tags: John Harvards, tastings, flights, imperial stout, beer event
I mentioned before the holiday vacation that I’d report back about the Cambridge Brewing Company’s “Brew Year’s Eve” party. Well, it was a smashing success as far as I could see. For a mere $80 we were handed six drink tickets, a barleywine toast at midnight, access to the all-you-can-eat gourmet buffet, a night of music by Gypsy Schaeffer as well as a their latest CD, a CBC pint glass, and (last but not least) a 14oz Commemorative Bottle of 2007 Blunderbuss Barleywine. The music was great, the bartenders were quick and so friendly, and the crowd was surprisingly well-behaved for the standard Boston NYE bar scene. I’d like to thank Will, Phil, Chris, Brian and the CBC staff for all the work they put into the event. I’m sure they’re still picking shiny confetti out of every nook and cranny in the restaurant.
Tags: new years eve, Cambridge Brewing Company, Gypsy Schaeffer, party time, excellent
I tend to pick up some interesting beers on the weekends and thought that adding “weekend reviews” of the more extreme, newly released or hard-to-find beers to Brewsweek would be a nice feature. First up is a unique release from the Flying Dog Brewery, Collaborator Doppelbock. I say “unique” because Flying Dog considers this beer to be the first Open Source Beer to hit the market in the United States. From the label attached to the bottle:
We started with a basic Doppelbock recipe and solicited suggestions from homebrewers on our blog. We took your comments and crafted this Doppelbock, aptly named Collaborator. The blog, recipe, and label are online at opensourcebeerproject.com, if you’d like to brew some yourself!
Indeed, you can visit opensourcebeerproject.com and see the project discussion from start to finish. Now for the review:
- Appearance: Comes corked and caged in a 750ml green glass bottle with the tag mentioned above. Both the label and tag carry the standard Flying Dog artwork of Ralph Steadman and are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. I should mention that removing the cork was a bit of a chore, and I resorted to using a corkscrew which left me picking pieces of cork out of the head. The beer pours a deep red-copper color with an inch of beige head that holds up well and leaves a nice lacing down the glass.
- Smell: Musky, with hints of fruit surrounding heavily toasted malt. I wasn’t able to pick out any aroma from the Mt. Hood & Warrior hops.
- Taste: Starts off with an earthy, almost moldy taste before it settles down and hits you with the strong malt flavors. Towards the end I noticed the subtle hop bitterness and the prick of tiny carbonation along the sides of my tongue.
- Mouthfeel: More thin and watery than I was expecting from the heavy malt taste & aroma. There was a good level of carbonation and the 8.3% ABV wasn’t overpowering, making it easy to drink.
- Drinkability:All-in-all, I’m not sure I’d drink this beer again…especially at $17. The musky aroma, moldy taste, and water mouthfeel left me thinking I bought a bad bottle which became “corked”.
My score: C-
Beer Advocate score: B+ (very good)
Rate Beer score: 3.21/5.0 (60%)
Tags: Flying Dog, beer review, Collaborator Doppelbock, open source beer, free as in free beer
Well it looks like “America’s Entertainment Beer”, Bootie Beer, is finished. Fox Business reports that Bootie has filed a voluntary petition under the provisions of Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The Bootie Beer website is down too, which means you’ll have to be resourceful if you want to “Get great Bootie 24/7″ (an actual marketing slogan…I couldn’t make this stuff up).
I was able to find a 2005 press release on Beer Advocate. Here’s a few juicy pieces:
Bootie Beer Company created an exciting family of quality, premium beer brands that is relevant to both the edgy 21-to-35-year-old demographic and the baby boom generation. The Company is positioning the brand as a solution to revitalize the beer industry as a whole by providing innovative products and marketing to distributors and retailers. Bootie Beer is introducing Bootie and Bootie Light, both brewed with fresh artesian waters, hops and other natural ingredients.
It seems that this “edgy” beverage was lost in a sea of fizzy yellow macrobrews, where taglines like “grabëbootie” wouldn’t even save it. I think we can all raise a glass to the burial of another garbage beer brand.
Tags: Bootie Beer, bankruptcy, macroswill, awful marketing, bad beer, bootie
I stopped myself from going over the edge with beer humor there — you can thank me later. Happy Holidays to you and yours, and Brewsweek will be back in 2008 with a review of the Cambridge Brewing Company’s “Brew Year’s Eve” event. …and, no, they didn’t have the same restraint in beer humor that I was able to muster.