Review – Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double Abbey Style Ale
It’s time for another review of beer from Bier Shop. Another interesting beer that I have wanted to try but haven’t had the opportunity to until now. This time it is Brother David’s Double Abbey Style Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Everything I have had from Anderson Valley in the past has been sensational so I have been looking forward to trying this one. Anderson Valley is one of the longer standing breweries in the USA craft beer scene. They have been making beer since opening their brew pub in 1987. Since then they have grown into one of the mainstays of craft brewing.
The beer pours with a large fluffy head that drops quickly but leaves some lacing down the sides of the glass. The beer is a redish dark brown with ruby highlights. Despite being very dark you can see through it and it is brilliantly clear and bright. When swirled it produces legs and a oily slick on the sides of the glass that slowly sink back into the beer. It is a very attractive beer and looks great in a nice balloon glass.
The aroma is one of thick chewy malt up front. The malt has a rich caramel and toffee character. This is backed up by warming alcohol aromas that bring sherry, brandy and other fortifieds to mind. The alcohol also gives dark sugar, fig, raisins and other dried fruits. The fermentation characters provides some spiciness with clove and cinnamon evident. This all adds up to give the beer a real fruit cake or Christmas pudding like character. The aroma of this beer just makes me think of Christmas pudding and minced pies. However, there is some tartness that helps to cut the perceived sweetness in the aroma.
The flavour brings much of the same character that is evident in the aroma. The first notable thing on tasting the beer was a lighter body than I had expected and a real smoothness. This is a very malt and fermentation driven beer and is balanced heavily toward sweetness. This is a beer you will probably want to share with someone or sip at over a few hours in the evening. It weighs in at 9% ABV so taking your time with it is not a bad idea anyway. The malt is expressed with the same chewy caramel and and toffee characters as were detected in the aroma. However, there is also some bready characters that come through. There is also great fortified wine and brandy like warming alcohol flavours. These combine with the dark fruit and spiciness to give the beer the same fuit cake and pudding character that was detected in the arom. In the flavour we start to pick up some more of the tartness and spiciness expected from a Belgian style ale. This helps to cut through the sweetness and adds to the drinkability of the beer. This style of beer has very low hopping and bitterness so needs these other flavours to aid drinkability.
Overall this is an interesting and complex beer that is a real treat. It’s not a session beer but something that is worth sipping and savouring it’s complex flavours. If you wanted to match it with some food I think some well cooked pork belly with a rich sause would be an excellent match. If you are looking for a dessert choice something with a rich bitter chocolate character would work well. It is a great example of the style and a really interesting and rewarding beer. Go and get yourself some today.
Double Barrelled Locals at The Wheaty, Wheatsheaf Hotel
The first Wednesday of the moth is almost upon us again so it’s time for two ne locals on tap at the Wheaty. This month, Wednesday 1st from 1800, Lobethal Bierhaus will line up next to Barossa Brewing Company. The brewers make an appearance and are always happy yo talk about beer in general and their beer specifically. If you are a budding beer geek there is a very friendly group of regulars along to these events that always want to have a drink and talk beer.
This month we have the Victorville Ale from Barossa Valley Brewing Company. This is their take on the American Pale Ale style. It is loaded up with the classic American Cascade hops which define this style of beer. These hops provide citrus and passion fruit like flavours. According to the brewer they have upped the crystal malt in this batch to give it a more chewy malty flavour.
To provide a direct comparison we also have the American Pale Ale from Lobethal Bierhaus. A beer that is very similar in it’s use of a big bunch of cascade hops and a nice chewy malt backbone. This is one of their stable classics that has been served at the Wheaty many ties before. It is a classic example of the style and a very drinkable beer.
Get down to the Wheaty on Wednesday night for a beer and a chat with the brewers. Get There!
Adelaide Bier Shop Treasure Hunt #2
Adelaide Bier Shop has a great new promotion about to start. They have a bottle of Mikkeller Stella O, a very limited edition beer, hidden somewhere in Adelaide. This is a very limited edition beer with only 1300 bottles available world wide. They call it a mixture of a barley wine, an IPA and an American strong ale. Your guess is as good as mine as to how that is going to taste. One thing you can be sure of is that there will be a lot of hops in it. On top of this there are also two very limited edition hand signed 750ml bottlrs of the Beard and Brau Red Tail Amber Scottish Ale. This is a great beer from a fantastic local brewery.
To get involved you need to sign up to their Bier Soaked newsletter. Each day from their birthday, December 6th, they will send out a clue to the prizes location. If you are in Adelaide and love good beer make sure you go and sign up now! Should be a fun promotion. I would wish you all good luck but that would be disingenuous as I want to win it for myself. If I win I promise to post taunting photos of me drinking it though. They have tons of good beer on the site too so make sure you check it out while signing up.
Great Night at Lobethal Bierhaus
Great night at Lobethal Bierhaus last night. We went to their degustation run with Chuck Hahn and the James Squire brewery and BK Wines of the Adelaide Hills. There were some really amazing matches of food and drink. Along with the food and drinks was talks from the brewers and wine makers. I think they should of had the chef out as well but I guess she was a little busy. I will write something more detailed later but for a beer guy chardonay and rabbit pie was a revelation. They have plenty of great meals on their regular menu too so get up there and check it out.
Bridge Road Brewers and Randall at The Wheaty, Wheatsheaf Hotel
This Friday, 19th of November is going to be the day to be at the Wheaty. Lots of stuff going on including beers from a Australian brewer we haven’t had available in Adelaide previously, commissioning of the all new Randall and some new Rogue’s in bottle.
There are going to be three beers from Bridge Road Brewers over the next month. I have had a few beers from these guys and they have all been great beers. First on tap we have their Bling IPA. A classic American IPA that will not disappoint. Great hop flavours nice assertive bitterness and enough malt to back it all up. The other two beers we will see from them I haven’t tried but have heard great things about. After the Bling we have a Saison and Bier De Garde. Follow the links to find out more about the styles. These are considered farmhouse ale styles that originate in Belgium. If their other beers are anything to go by these should be amazing. Very interesting style with tons of flavour but something that can be approachable by beer beginners and wine people too. If you ever manage to stumble across some for the Bridge Road B2 Bomber or Galaxy IPA make sure you try some of that too. Absolutely amazing beers. Hopefully they make it to Adelaide soon.
It’s an interesting selection of new Rogue’s that unfortunately lacks anything from the Eugene brewery. However, there are some interesting sounding beers. More of them have come in small bottles so you can have a taste and don’t have to commit to a 750ml of Double Imperial Ales. The previously unseen range is XS Imperial McRogue Scotch Ale, John John Hazelnut and Chatoe Creek Ale. I’m really looking forward to the John John Hazelnut and already have a bottle sitting in my fridge. The other two will be a share with mates situation for me but they are bound to be interesting.
The other piece of amazing news is the commissioning of the Wheaty’s own Randall. Very similar to the one installed at Brewboys this should be amazing for the hopheads. This is late hopping as late as it gets. Right when the beer is on the way to your glass. First up will be the Brewboys fair Maiden with NZ Riwaka hops. Can’t wait to try it.
In summary, if you are in Adelaide and like beer you really need to be at the Wheaty on Friday. Unfortunately I’m in Sydney for work but may get to drop in by around 2300. I’m sure you will all still be sober. Get There!
Review – Woolshed Brewery Amazon Ale
The next beer in my delivery from the gentlemen at BIER Shop.com.au is up for tasting and review. We have a local beer this time from a relatively new brewery out of South Australia’s Riverland. The Woolshed Brewery currently produce one beer, the Amazon Pale Ale at their own brewery. The beer is named after a neer by creek system and not the South American river system.
The Amazon Pale is described as a tradition bottle conditioned Australian Ale by it’s brewers. You wouldn’t know it by looking at it in the glass. Whilst taking no special care it poured bright in the glass with no sign of haze from yeast left in the beer. There is a tiny amount of cloudy yeast left in the bottom of the bottle so they have picked their yeast strain well. The beer poured with a large foamy white head but it dissipated quickly. Only had one bottle so can’t test further, could have been the glassware. Very attractive and bright in the glass though.
The aroma isn’t highly complex but does have a number of nice characters. The hops come through as the most noticeable aroma. A great fruit salad and berry aromas. This tends to give the beer a real fresh feel to it. This is backed up by some sweet bready and caramel malt characters. The malt is more subtle but is present in the aroma.
The flavour follows on from the aroma. There is an underlying bready and caramel malt character. The malt is present but not the focus of the beer with enough to balance the flavour. The hop character is similar to the aroma. Giving the fruit salad characters. This fruitiness from the hops is also aided by a little fermentation character. The beer is very well balanced making it really drinkable. This would make a great session beer for a warm day. It’s light bodied and easy drinking. Enough bitterness and hop character to balance without beating you over the head.
This is just a really good and easy drinking beer that would go well at your next bbq. Next time you are looking for something that fits that mould forget the big boys and pick up a locally produced beer that fits perfectly. Get Some!