Alright, I lied. I caved and decided to try out the oak aged Yeti tonight rather than tomorrow. This would be the first beer I've tried that has been aged in oak, so I was looking for something special. Behold the bottle:



I plunked down $10.39 for this (Wow! I didn't even remember I had paid that much), and it weighs in at 9.5% ABV. That's surprisingly low for a beer this expensive, really. Pouring it into a glass was pretty cool, though. It was noticibly thick, and the brown head took longer to form than for most beers.



It smelled rich and sweet, with a lot of the usual stout smells: coffee, chocolate, and just a hint of the wood it was aged in. Taking a sip, I knew this was a good beer. It had the expected thickness of an imperial stout, and I could taste the sweetness along with the hints of coffee and chocolate. The bottle claimed that I would be able to taste vanilla, but I'm not sure if I'm tasting it or if it's just the power of suggestion. The finish on this beer it what sets it apart. It has the usual hoppy character, but the woodiness, almost like a bourbon, is quite unique. The flavor lingers very well. It is distinct from the regular Yeti most in the finish. In the finish of the regular version, I noticed more caramel, but not the wood. The body of the two beers is pretty similar, however. I think I'm going to give this beer and a half . It's definitely a great beer, and it's one of the few where you can get the woody finish. At this price, though, I don't think the main body of the beer is as exceptional as some of its peers. If you're a wood-head and a bourbon lover, look this one up. If you're just looking for a solid imperial stout, you'll find a better value in the regular Yeti.

this thread is making my mouth water.

This thread is making me feel barbaric for not liking dark beers :/

there are great tasting beers out there that aren't 'dark'. most of the reviews above have been done on dark beers, but plenty of lighter beers (like Belgian Golden Ales, maybe) have great complex tastes.

now, lots of these beers do have acquired tastes. so if you like Bud Light or whatever, you're not gonna like (at first) anything posted above

Wookie,
Hog Heaven is an Avery brew.

Victorvdb,
What is it about "dark beers" you don't like? A brown ale, vienna lager, & a stout are all "dark beers" but taste nothing alike.

Good review, pretty much exactly the same thoughts I had on this beer. I only payed $7.50 for the 22oz bottle though

I'd still like to try the regular Yeti though, because at $5.50 a bottle its probably a pretty good deal.

Also, last night I finished off the barleywine and thought it was a lot better then I did the night before... probably because I didn't drink it right after the Oak Aged Yeti this time. I still think the Double IPA is my favorite one by them so far.

Last night I also tried Bell's Amber Ale. Solid beer... very little to no aftertaste though. I'd say it was a 3.3/5.

/edit oh yeah, and you should get a goblet wookie.

Yeah, I probably should. I used a wine glass for the Belgians, but I should have used it again for the Yeti. Oh well. I need to pick up some brandy snifters, too.

Just a quick announcement: for those in the Nashville/middle TN area, Nashville Brewer's Festival is tomorrow from 2-8. See www.musiccitybrewersfest.com for more info. I'll be posting a trip report in all likelihood.

Alright. It's Saturday night. Time for some beer reviews. All of these beers were on tap at my favorite local bar. I don't have any pictures, but I do have some words.

First up, I tried a pint of Sam Adams Summer Ale. I didn't have my hopes up for this beer, but I wanted to try it. The beer seemed to be about the color of a hefeweizen. It didn't have too much head, though. The flavor was definitely of a wheat beer, but it didn't get much deeper than that. There were some hints of citrus and some of the other flavors that make the German hefes the outstanding beers they are, but it couldn't really stack up. That said, I think this is better than the Pyramid Hefeweizen, and it's pretty inexpensive. If you're looking for a fairly simple, inexpensive beer to enjoy on a hot afternoon, this is a decent pick. I give it .

The second pint I had was the Cascazilla from the Ithaca brewery, presumably named for its Cascade hops. I'd tried this beer before, but I hadn't had it in a while. I guess you'd classify this beer as something like an ESB. It's brown in color, and strongly hopped. The hop flavor is excellent. It has the familiar citrus and flowers I very much enjoy in this style of beer. The thing I found odd about it was that it wasn't all that bitter. It had a lot of the best part of the hop flavor without the bitterness. I hadn't remembered this about the beer, but it was very pleasant to drink. It had good flavor without being as dry as an IPA or as overpowering as something like the DFH 90. This would be a great beer for someone who's curious about all the fuss over IPAs, but who is put off by the bitterness. The only problem with this beer is that it might be hard to find outside of NY. If you can get it, though, pick it up. I give this beer and a half .

My second and third pints were chosen deliberately to be in the same style of beer. The third was the Victory Hop Devil. It was a little darker red in color compared to the Ithaca, and it had a slightly larger and thicker head. However, it's flavor wasn't quite as good. It lacked the flowers, it didn't have as much citrus, but it did have all the bitterness I was expecting. It just wasn't as good as Ithaca's offering. It had the parts of this style of beer that aren't all that great, and it was a little lacking in the flavors I enjoyed most. It wasn't a bad beer per se, but it looked bad next to the Ithaca. I give it .

My final beer was a beer I picked just because I knew I'd love it. I picked the Ommegang Rare Vos, a Belgian-style golden ale from the American-Belgian brewery this thread has come to love. It came in a bottle, and I poured it into a pint glass. Really, this is one of my favorite styles of beer, and this is a fine example of it. It's fairly sweet, it has great flavors of cloves, citrus, and a little extra, and it has a great feel with the carbonation. A somewhat more widely available beer in this style is Leffe, a Belgian import, and this is strictly better. I give it a full . I'm somewhat tempted to tack on an extra half a for it, but it seems a little weird giving that high a rating to a beer that's not all that expensive and is not from a premium brew process (anything imperial, a barley wine, etc.). Either way, this is an outstanding beer, and I highly recommend it to any fan of Belgian beers, or perhaps hefeweizen fans looking to change things up a bit.

I'm not a huge fan of the beers made by the hometown brewery, but Cascazilla is by far their best offering. (Though I think it's also worth tracking down their Double IPA -- very smooth for 9-10% ABV, and they use only NY-grown hops.)

You mention a very important point -- the dominance of hop flavor over bitterness. I used to be a crazy hophead who lived for bitter beers, but in the last few years I've come to appreciate the flavors of the various hops much more, and I find that I want the bitterness to get the hell out of the way and let the flavor shine through. That's pretty much my goal now with the pale ales and IPAs I brew, and I look for it in commercial versions as well. Cascazilla is a great example of this.

This is my favorite Ommegang brew as well. Most of their beers are very strong (7%+ ABV) and very powerful flavor-wise; Rare Vos is more modest in both alcoholic strength and flavor, yet retains plenty of complexity. I dig it.

One other quick follow-up -- Cascazilla is named for both the copious amount of Cascade hops they use and the Cascadilla Gorge that runs through Ithaca.

I've just moved to Chicago and discovered that Three Floyds Brewing Co. - maker of 4 of BeerAdvocate.com's "Top 50" - is a few miles from where I work. I'm going to head over there next weekend with my cousin and rock a flight or two. Reviews to follow.

metro,

I am so jealous.

Beerfest trip report! Website here.

This was Nashville 5th annual Brewer's Festival, and my third time going. This first time I went, I don't think tickets sold out until about halfway through the event. Last year, they sold out shortly after gates. This year, they were sold out a couple days beforehand. Thankfully I bought my tickets about a month in advance. The day started cloudy and raining, but by the 2pm start time there was no rain, and the sun would eventually come out.

The event is held at a big lawn/small park right in the heart of downtown. There's a big stage on one side of the square for bands, and the brewery's booths are arranged around the outside. This year there were a LOT more breweries, so they sort of had to do two concentric squares of booths.

I arrived with some friends from out of town at about 1:20, as in past years the lines to get in built up very large, very fast. RDH and friends were practically the first people in, and I made a beeline for a murderer's row of Terrapin, Yazoo, North Coast, Highland, Bridgeport, and Sweetwater. These booths were all in a row, so I knew where I'd be hanging out for a while. First disappointment: North Coast only brought one beer, their Red Seal ale. I've had this beer before, and its decent, but they make much more interesting stuff (Old Rasputin, PranQster), so I was pretty bummed they just had the red. Terrapin's rye pale ale was serviceable, with decent hop flavor and some mild bitterness. I liked it more than Yazoo's pale, which I've always thought a little off-balance with all those Amarillo hops they use in it.

I had never had anything from Highland before, although I've seen their beers popping up everywhere lately, so I was excited to check them out. First delight: their selection! They brought their Gaelic Ale (American amber), an Oatmeal Porter, their Kashmir IPA, and a Mocha Stout. I decided to pass on the Gaelic in favor of the more interesting styles, going with the IPA first. Impressions: not bad, but not great. I really think Stone has ruined me by putting me in this "Drown me in hops!" mindset when it comes to IPAs, so I thought this one was a bit too malty. I may have to pick up a sixer sometimes and reevaluate, though. Next I tried their Oatmeal Porter. I was absolutely blown away by this one. Very smooth, great roasted flavor without wandering into stout land, little hints of chocolate, and did I mention the great mouthfeel? I was really happy with this beer and will definitely check the rest of their stuff out. For the time being, though, I moved on and rubbernecked at Sweetwater (only had the 420 Pale and the Blue) both of which I've got at home atm) and Bridgeport, which was another big disappointment since they only brought their IPA, which I've also got at home. What's with these guys coming all the way to Nashville and only bringing one style?

From there, I made sure I went over to the Nashville homebrewer's club before I got too wasted to make sense. I met some nice people, got invited to a brew session in August, and sampled a summer ale which was good (maybe on par with Sam Adams', had a similar flavor). I introduced myself to one older gent with a full gray beard. On a quiet voice with long pauses at the end of each sentence, he said, "Oh, actually, my wife brews. She brewed this honey porter. Sometimes we do medieval reenactments. Y'know, hit each other with sticks." Bizarre, and I took my cue to leave.

I visited just about every brewery there. The highlights:

Alltech's Lexington Kentucky Brewery won my award for worst name and most unusual (unpalatable?) beer, their Bourbon Ale. I've had Oak-aged beers, and beers conditioned with bourbon chips, but this is the only one I've had that tasted EXACTLY like bourbon. It was disconcerting, and I could barely finish my 5oz sample. Chugging carbonated, low-power whiskey? No thanks.

I was incredibly excited to see Schlafly there, since I grew up in St. Louis. Grabbing a pale ale, I talked to a rep from the brewery who said they were working on a distribution deal that should be ready in the next few months. Sweet!

I had never heard of High Falls before, but one of the guys at the booth was an acquiantance from college. It turns out that High Falls is an AB sibsidiary, and he works for AB in marketing. They're apparently using it as a sort of pilot brewery and a way to capture market in the craft brews area. I don't recall much about their beer because I was involved in the conversation and intoxicated.

My favorite beer of the day was Flying Dog's pale. Now, I've had this beer before. I've had most of their others before. I've always thought of them as a decent brewery, but nothing spectacular (with the exception of the Gonzo Imperial Porter). But I was amazed by the pale, and I don't know why it was different this time around. It had incredible hop aroma - really great - without being too bitter. Perfect balance, but with that aroma rising off of it, I was in love. I went into the day expecting an exotic stout (Left Hand's Milk Stout was a bit too much for me) or an in-your-face IPA to be my favorite, but Flying Dog's Doggy Style pale took the cake. The girlfriend also really liked their golden ale, which is a bit bland for my tastes.

Also, best shirt of the day was this one.

Here's me enjoying a tasty italian sausage about four hours into my day.



And here's one with a not-girlfriend so as to get a general sense of the crowd/atmosphere.

Great trip report.

Highfalls is from my neck of the woods. None of their current lines of beer are all that exceptional. The Honey Brown is drinkable, but mostly they're catering to the cheap swill crowd who want to think they're drinking something a little better. Oh, wait, AB = Anheuser Busch? OK, that is interesting. I guess if you told me AB was trying to get into craft brewing, I'd expect something like the JW Dundee line from Highfalls. If you didn't try them, you didn't miss out, but I suppose if it gets more people drinking better beer, that's not a bad thing.

RDH,

Nice trip report. You look nothing like I would've expected. I figured you for some hard ass sorta look. But you're like a giant smirking teddy bear.

haven't seen this "yeti" on shelves... where are you finding it?

I do my shopping for good beer at a local store called Beers of the World. They have just about everything, although they could stand to drop some crappy Bud imitators from Singapore or wherever and pick up some more US micros from the west coast. I also found it at my favorite bar last winter (bottled), but they don't seem to carry it anymore. Where do you live?

eh, i'm in jersey now

i guess if it is a west coast thing i'll have trouble finding it... have to wait a couple of weeks until i'm in SD.

that beer does sound very good

Well, I'm in NY. The brewery is in CO, though, so distribution east of the Mississippi is likely limited.

I live in Minnesota and found it at an MGM liquor warehouse, which is a pretty [censored] store. They only had the regular Yeti though. I got the oak aged one at a store called Surdyks, which is a pretty good store.

Went by the Three Floyds brewery this evening on the way home from work and picked up a few things...

(EDIT: I should note that while I have a wealth of empirical knowledge about beer [in other words, I've drank a great quantity of a number of varieties], I'm not a great descriptor in the classical sense of food/drink reviewing. What I've got here is straight from my notes at the time of consumption...)

ALPHA KING - 1/2 (of 5)
Ruby-gold in color, with a hoppy nose. Light and hoppy on the palate. Bitter aftertaste - though not unpleasantly so. Almost a perfect summer brew. Round and lean at first, with a "pointy" finish. Enjoyable.

DREADNAUGHT IPA - 1/2
Deep gold in color with a thick, bubbly white head. Strongly hoppy nose. A classic IPA, smooth and hoppy at the same time, medium-bodied and thoroughly delicious. A classically "beery" beer. Tastes of autumn and sunsets. I love it.

COMING UP:
Gumballhead Ale!

Sound good. How do those stack up compared to other beers of the same variety you've tried?

Hrm... well, I've never sat down and thought too much about what I've drank until now, I've just remembered "this is good, make sure to pick it up again" or "this would go great with ___." I'd say the Alpha King is more bitter in the finish than what I'm used to in the style, and that the Dreadnaught is one of - if not the - best IPA I've ever had.

GUMBALLHEAD WHEAT BEER (of 5)
Medium gold in color, with a lightly bubbly head. Thin nose. A solid microbrewery wheat beer, no complaints but no fireworks. Light-to-moderately hoppy on the palate, a hint of hops in the back. Just at the end - just barely - there's the hint of Budweiser-type mass-produced pissbeer. I can see throwing back four or five of these, unlike the previous two Floyds. Linear in flavor. Enjoyable, clean.