Thursday, October 2, 2008

Won't You Take Me To Funky Town?

Last week I attended The Night of the Funk beer tasting in the South End of Boston with Mister Sterling. It was a wonderful evening of fermented delights. I will admit that these types of beers are not for everyone but I thoroughly enjoy them. Below are the beers I tried as well as some notes.

Allagash Brewing Co.

  • Interlude (Strong Ale in French Oak w/ Farmhouse & Brett yeast; 9.5%)- Not bad but not very drinkable
  • Barrel-Aged 10th Anniversary - Oaky very oaky. Reminds me of California Chardonnay which can be good or bad.

Boston Beer Co.
  • Samuel Adams Kosmic Mother Funk (Bretty Brown; 10.0%) -One word awful. Sam Adams has no idea how to make a funky beer. Poured this one out.
Brewery Ommegang
  • Ommegeddon (Saison w/ Brettanomyces; 8.0%) - You take a saison and add some Brett. Good combination of flavors I like this one though not as much as the Bier De Mars which I did not try this night.
  • Rouge (Flanders Red Ale; 5.0%) - Very nice

Cambridge Brewing Co.
  • Samson (Belgian Barleywine; blend of bbl-aged Belgian strong brown ales and vintage Barleywines w/ traditional brewing herbs and subtle Brett; 10.0%)- Not good certainly does not taste like a barleywine Mr. Sterling poured this one out
  • Delilah (Blend of bbl-aged Belgian strong golden ale with Brett. Anomolous and Bruxellensis, and an herbed Belgian blonde gruit beer; 7.0%)- Also not good I poured this one out.
D&V International
  • Oud Beersel Framboise (Traditional Raspberry Lambic; 6.0%)- Very nice Framboise though a little on the sweet side
  • Oud Beersel Oude Kriek (Traditional Cherry Lambic; 6.5%)- I liked this Kriek it reminded me of the Lou Pepe Kriek from Cantillion. Less sour than most but had a hint of spice.
  • Duchesse De Bourgogne by Brouwerij Verhaeghe (Traditional Flemish Red Ale, matured in oak barrels and blended; 6.0%)- Sour and delicious.
Deschutes Brewery

  • The Dissident (Flanders Oud Bruin; rare; we only got our hands on one case; 11.0%) - Only got to have 1oz of this one but it was awesome. Jordan says he has a bottle of it out in Seattle that he is going to save for when I visit which may I say is awesome.
Global Beer Network
  • Petrus Aged Pale (Aged in oak for 3 years; 7.3%) - Nice drinkable beer not that funky. For a pale ale the hop notes are pretty hidden.
Ithaca Beer Co.
  • Vitus (Neo-Flemish American Whiskey Sout Brown w/ hand-crushd Wild Grapes; 6.0%) - Was not bad though not my favorite.
  • Champagne Grisette (Tart wheat ale, fermented w/ Saccharomyces Bayanus & Brettanomyces; 4.5%) - Both Mr. Sterling and I agreed that this was one of the best. We both got seconds.
New Belgium Brewing Co.
  • NBB Love (Single bbl, unblended La Folie, sour, wood-aged beer; 7.0%) - Liked it.
Rohrbach Brewing Co.
  • Oak-Aged Belgian Pale Ale (Wild Belgian Pale Ale on cask; 5.9%) - Similar to the Petrus above very drikable and not really funky.
Russian River Brewing Co.
  • Beatification (Batch #2; 100% spontaneously fermented w/ Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus & other wild yeast & bacteria in old bbls; 5.5%)
  • Supplication (Batch #3; Brown Ale aged in French oak Pinot Noir barrels with three strains of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and sour cherries; 7.0%)
  • Temptation (Batch #1; 3 years old; Blonde Ale aged in French oak chardonnay bbls with Brettanomyces; 7.25%)
We were lucky to be able to try all three of these since they were is such limited supply. Throughly enjoyed the 1oz sample of each.

Shelton Brothers
  • Mikkeller It's Alive! - Just ok. Would never order one
  • Flemish Primitive # 6 - Disgusting. Tastes like an extra butty brie or cow poo.
  • Cuvée De Ranke
  • Cantillon Classic Gueuze
  • Cantillon Kriek
  • Cantillon Vigneronne - Was excited to finally try this one and it did not disappoint. It is a lambic with Muscat grapes added. Sour yet had a very nice sweet finish.
Southampton Publick House
  • Cuvee des Fleurs (A Saison flavored with a blend of edible flowers including L. augustifolia, A. nobilis, C. officinalis, R. canina and H. lupulus.; 8.0%) - This beer was really cool. You definitly could taste the notes added by the flowers. Would love to have it again.
The Bruery
  • Melangé #1 (Blend of a young Flanders Red & Imperial Stout) - Interesting combination that was well balanced
  • Saison Rue (Saison bottled w/ Brett; 8.5%) -Very similar to the Ommegedon and just as tasty
The Lost Abbey
  • Cable Car 08 (Sour Ale, blended once a year to celebrate the Toronado. Only 50 cases were produced this year; 7.0%)- Not so good
  • Saint's Devotion 08 (Devotion Ale spiked w/ Brett; 7.0%)- Kind of plain.
  • Sinners 08 (Secret blend of 3 bbls; 9.0%)
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
  • Riserva (American Wild Ale; 11.4%) - Not that wild
Willimantic Brewing Co.
  • Willi Wonder! (Willi Whammer '05 blended w/ Certified Gold to Workingman's Wheat (and Willi beers), aged in a fresh Dickel bbl w/ Brett and Lambic yeast; 7.0% - Interesting complex flavor liked this one a lot as well.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

ohhh man, sounds soo good. The Dissident is waiting along with an abyss. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/34420 we are lucky to have the Russian River Brewing shipping out here, but I haven't seen any of the ones you tried. Hopefully they come out with them in bottles. Were they in bottles when you had them?

Pants said...

are all your blog title's gonna be song lyrics? just wonderin'

Ollie said...

Yes they were in bombers. They had two cases of each though considering some of the ingredients in those things I am guessing they are probably limited production.