Brew Reviews

Thomas Hardy's Ale

Availability: 2003 vintage; numbered limited edition. Still a small amount of the 2003 available for purchase, but once that's gone, no more will be available for about another four to five years.

Price comparison: About six times the price of everyday beer.

Alcohol percentage by volume: 11.7% at bottling (in 2003), but probably stronger than that by now, and designed to grow stronger yet as time progresses.

Cute bottle/label? Tiny slender 8½ ounce brown glass with a foil neck wrap, plain black bottle cap, and serial number 007631 on the understated beige label. The high spot of this packaging is a small metal ornament with Thomas Hardy's silhouette on one side, and the words "Thomas Hardy's Ale, Brewed and Bottled by O'Hanlon's Brewing Company Ltd, Whimple, Devon, England" on the other. This ornament is suspended round the neck of the bottle with a small length of bright red string and is going to have a nice spot on my Christmas tree next year.

Appearance: A bright yet thick amber with no head and very light carbonation.

Scent: Fresh red bell pepper with hints of brandy and lemon custard. (Three scents you wouldn't expect to blend well together, yet they do, very much so.)

Flavor: Lovely dessert-wine sweetness, like cabernet, with some citrus peel and raisin characteristic as well. There's a lot going on, in terms of flavor, and it changes as the brew warms to room temperature: a little more caramel; a little more vanilla; fine brandy at the finish.

Impressions: This beer is huge. In a year or so it will be barleywine, if it isn't already. The hops are barely there but enough so for balance.

Will I buy this beer again? I have two set aside that I'm picking up at the end of the week. One for me, one for Laura. Mine's getting cellared.

This ale is not cost-effective for gulping down whilst eating peanuts and watching the game, but I highly recommend your getting some while you can. The brew is bottle-tempered and the bottle itself is designed such that you could open it twenty years from now and the beer inside should be magnificent. Call it an investment.

Rating:

5 out of 5 cute beer glasses — perfect score!

V-12

Availability: 2002 vintage; limited quantities still available for purchase.

Price comparison: About three times the price of everyday beer.

Alcohol percentage by volume: 12% at brewing (in 2002). Oh, yes. I have 12% Beer.

Cute bottle/label? 750 ml brown glass, corked and caged. The cork is marked with the year; the bottle is labeled in jewel-tones of red, orange, blue, and yellow.

Appearance: Dark copper brightening to a golden orange at the heart of the goblet. Quickly dissappating ivory head yielded attractive tendrils of lace.

Scent: Summer fruits (apples, pears, plums) with a nice allspice backdrop; pleasantly yeasty as it warmed.

Flavor: Pears, peaches, apricots; a bit of brandy; the overall flavor gently balanced with malt for a nice crisp finish. Sweeter than an everyday beer, but with enough hops to keep it from being cloying.

Impressions: Oh, my heavens, I never thought I'd taste a domestic beer this pretty. They refer to it as "Belgian-inspired" and, although I don't see that so much, the 12% ABV does make it a huge beer; really a bit much for session, especially since the alcohol is all but completely camouflaged, but it left me with a warm glow - the perfect antidote for the bitter cold outside.

Will I buy this beer again? V for Victory. I like the Golden Monkey. I like the Hopdevil. I love the V-12. I will buy another for immediate consumption and yet another to put away for safekeeping.

Rating:

5 out of 5 cute beer glasses — perfect score!

Trappistes Rochefort 10

Price comparison: About twice what I pay for everyday beer.

Alcohol percentage by volume: 11.3%

Cute bottle/label? Understated dark brown glass, about 11.2 ounces, neatly labeled in French with German subtitles. No flash, no kickass artwork.

Appearance: A syrupy dark brown with a nice soapy head.

Scent: Brown sugar and mulled wine.

Flavor: Smoother than expected for its higher than 11% alcohol content; malty and citrusy with hints of raisins and apricots, and a light pepper aftertaste. Delightfully cinnamon-graham-crackerlike at the finish.

Impressions: A lot of brewers would like to call their product "abbey ale" or Trappist ale, but, in actuality, there are only six official brewing monasteries in the world, all in Belgium, producing, between themselves, about twenty varieties. Rochefort is actually the name of the town in this case (the monastery itself is Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy). They began production in 1595.

I mention all of this history, partly because it's interesting, but mostly because it explains a lot. Like Chimay, Rochefort has earned its reputation through hard work, centuries of scientific study and perfectionism, and precise attention to detail. This is not an everyday beer; it's meant to be savored slowly and deliberately, and lends itself well to such enjoyment. Unlike other good-tasting high-alcohol brews, the Rochefort is low maintenance, balanced to be both warming and drinkable without deep concentration on the part of the consumer.

Will I buy this beer again? I will definitely purchase it again, but not on a regular gimme-a-shotta-whiskey-and-a Rochefort sort of basis. This stuff is champagne. As much as I would like to be spoiled enough to be drinking this on an everyday basis, I think it would stop being a treat if I were to buy it too frequently. I don't so much see pairing this with a meal (though it would go well with just about every food I could think of) as having it as a celebratory drink.

Rating:

5 out of 5 cute beer glasses — perfect score!

Chimay Grande Reserve

(NOTE: This was the point when I retired the "availability" and "do they carry Bushmill's 1608" categories due to the fact that I had discovered the IHOD, otherwise known as the Shangri-La of All Packaged Goods Purveyors)

Price comparison: 1.5 times what I pay for everyday beer.

Alcohol percentage by volume: 9%

Cute bottle/label? One great dirty big 750ml bottle. Not a jeroboam, but reminiscent of one. Understated blue label, but sealed — kid you not — with a cork and wire. Too quool. Too way quool. If you find opening those whomp-can biscuits to be a satisfying experience, try uncorking a beer. First it pops really loudly, then you get a little bit of smoke at the top of the bottle, then you get the beer. Yes, sir. Good schtuff.

Appearance: Deep reddish brown with a soft, creamy foam. Looks almost like cola at first glance. Pour carefully; it's frisky and it wants to jump out of the glass and play.

Scent: Smells like a flowery perfume with a little bit of vanilla and possibly cinnamon. There was also a background of something toasty like good coffee or freshly-lit firewood (birch or apple, you know what I mean).

Flavor: Malty and more reminiscent of stout than the other 9% varieties (so far); balanced with a hint of alkalinity. The flavor is very rich; I expected it to feel more creamy in my mouth than it did, but then again, it didn't have the downhill flowing nitrogen bubbles of a stout either. (They do so. Order Guinness at a bar and watch the glass. The bubbles go down, not up. Click here to read the science behind it.) Nice natural carbonation; tasted and smelled fine in my standard beer steins, although the Chimay glasses that are available (not cheaply) are quite pretty and I wouldn't mind having some someday.

Impressions: This ale caused me to caress my beer mug tenderly and make happy little crooning noises. It's just delicious and satisfying and it smells lovely as well. My only problem with it, not much of a one, is that if you want some, you'd better by God want more, because I don't know if it was physics or arthritis, but I couldn't get the cork back in. So I had to finish the bottle though I wasn't planning to.

Will I buy this beer again? Damned skippy I will. Hell, I'd go buy another bottle right now if I felt like moving.

Rating:

5 out of 5 cute beer glasses — perfect score!