In yesterday’s hubbub over the landing of eight new beers at Miller Liquor, I overlooked another new arrival at the North Sioux City, SD, store: Goose Island’s 2009 Christmas Ale.
As always, Sioux Brew encourages you to support all local retailers who are making an effort to stock quality beers.
-Tim Hynds
Treblehook barley Wine is a fine, flavorful offering from Woodinville, Washington’s Redhook Ale Brewery. The beer starts and ends on a slightly sweet biscuit malt note. In between, the beer shows rich and flavorful malt flavors.
Treblehook pours a honey brown with a tall tan head. Its aroma is of toffee malt with distinct citrus hop notes of orange and grapefruit.
This barley wine has an initial flavor of slightly sweet biscuit malt on the tip of the tongue that immediately segues to a moderately intense malt flavor at mid tongue. At mid tongue, the malt is rich – showing dark fruit flavors of fig and light raisin - but not really sweet.
Although the malt flavors are deep, they are buoyed by nice citrus hop flavors that keep the malt from tasting murky.
At the back of the throat the hop flavors amp up, turn rather intense and piney.
Treblehook’s finish is of medium length and keys on residual biscuit malt flavors and piney hops. It is in the finish this barley wine’s 10.1% alcohol by volume shows as a soothing warmth.
Trebelhook is recommended as well done, flavorful barley wine that gives almost equal weight to both malt and hops. It is listed at 52 IBU and I consider it full flavored and full bodied.
Treblehook was purchased at Miller Liquor in North Sioux City, SD.
-Tim Hynds
LONDON (AP) – SABMiller PLC, the world’s second-largest brewer, on Thursday reported a 32 percent drop in net profit as revenues were hit hard by unfavorable currency movements and lager volumes declined.
For the six months ending Sept. 30, the brewer of Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell and Peroni Nastro Azzurro lagers said net profit was $973 million, compared with $1.42 billion a year earlier.
Comparisons were skewed by exceptional gains of $404 million last year as the company booked a profit from its role in establishing joint venture MillerCoors, while in the current period the company reported exceptional charges of $211 million.
They just keep coming……
New TODAY at Miller Liquor in North Sioux City, SD are:
From Ridgeway in England: Lump of Coal, Warm Welcome Nut Browned Ale, Santa’s Butt, Very Bad Elf and Criminally Bad Elf.
From Flat Earth Brewing Co. in St Paul: bombers of Angry Planet and of Element 115.
From Millstream Brewing Co. in Amana, Iowa: Schololade Bock.
As always, Sioux Brew encourages you to support all local retailers who are making an effort to stock quality beers.
-Tim Hynds
Sources report that Anchor Brewing Company’s 2009 edition of Our Christmas Ale has landed in Sioux City stores.
A sighting was reported at the HyVee Wine and Spirits’ Hamilton Blvd. location.
As always, Sioux Brew encourages you to support all local retailers who are making an effort to stock quality beers.
-Tim Hynds
Hey buddy.
Yeah you. The Sioux City guy who couldn’t or wouldn’t drive 180 miles to Sioux Falls and back last night for a taste of Surly Darkness.
Well, you know, you’re SOL if you want to go to Sioux Falls for the beer. ‘Cause they ran out last night.
But, if you keep it just between you and me, I’ll let you in on a secret.
How does driving 70 miles round-trip for a Darkness or two or a growler grab you?
As I type, a 1/4 bbl keg of Darkness is being delivered to Raziel’s in Vermillion, South Dakota, population tiny. That’s only 36 miles from downtown Sioux City bucko.
I don’t know when the keg will get hooked up, or how long it will last.
You’d better call ahead. I could give you the number, but the directory assistance lady is lonely and wants to talk.
But for God sake, keep this between just the two of us.
OK?
-Tim Hynds
For those who may wonder, here are some of my tasting notes for Surly Darkness:
The closest comparison I can give to Darkness that would make sense to Siouxlanders is Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout (I doubt the comparison will offend either Surly or Goose Island) with the following differences:
* Darkness does not have the oaky nor the boozy flavors that Bourbon County has.
* Both beers are about the same as far as having a massive depth of flavor. However, Darkness seems to have a bit more carbonation and that effects the beer’s mouthfeel. Because of this, Darkness seems to be a bit more “spritely” and less “40-weight” than BCS. in other words, Darkness goes down easier.
* Darkness was redolent with dark fruit flavors with some dark cherry notes and some notes of vanilla. Hop levels seem pretty high (for a Russian imperial stout) but the beer is well balanced. I’m sure the hopping contributes to the beer’s liveliness vis-a’-vis BCS.
* Alcohol flavors were not noticed in the beer.
* I ended up nursing my (about) 10-ounce pour for hour. This is a sipping beer with a huge finish.
If you can get it on tap or find a bottle, I highly recommend the beer.
Also of note, I bought a draw of Surly’s Wet Hop Ale.
Comparisons are dangerous, but…… The closest thing I can compare it to is a hybrid (hop-wise) of Dogfish Head’s 90 and 120 Minute IPA.
However, Wet Hop DOES NOT have the overt sweetness of either of those two beers. Hop flavors in the Wet Hop were very intense, but also very fresh and crisp tasting.
Wet Hop’s finish was huge and very citrusy. A hop-head’s delight.
I found Wet Hop to be very enjoyable and somewhat more interesting (a very well balanced, big IPA without the apparent malt sweetness) beer than Darkness. If you can find some, it too, is highly recommended.
-Tim Hynds
The overriding question I had to ask myself last night as I eased onto the I-29 southbound ramp from 12th Street in Sioux Falls was this: Is a taste of any beer worth a 180-mile trip?
Answer: No.
Last night (Nov. 17th) Monk’s House of Ale Repute in Sioux Falls hosted a tapping party for a single keg of Surly Brewing Company’s Darkness.
Now Darkness just isn’t any beer. It’s a Russian imperial stout that’s so anticipated when it’s released each year, that the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, brewery hosts a party to sell it. People stand in line for a chance to get one of 800 wristbands that will then allow them to buy six bottles of the beer at $18 per. Cash only, thank you.
It always sells out. Bottles of the stout are re-sold on e-Bay and traded to others on various beer websites. The beer is analyzed and dissected. Arguments are started over which year’s release of the beer has the best label art.
I don’t care if the beer is brewed by Elvis with help from Michael Jackson (no, not THAT Michael Jackson). I’m not gonna drive 730 miles to stand in line to buy an $18 beer. But, 180 miles for a $6.50 draw? I can do that.
The beer was good. Really, really, really, good. Great? Perhaps.
What was great was hanging out with an entire bar crammed-packed with people who love beer. It was SRO for the first hour and a half I was there. I spent the first 45-minutes wedged between a leather couch and three guys jammed around a two-top.
Fellow newspaper photographer and top flight Sioux Falls home brewer Elisha Page stopped to talk and – being both big guys – we ended up blocking a short stairwell. I’m sure the Sioux Falls fire marshal would not have approved. But no one who had to squeeze around us seemed to mind; we were all drinking good beer.
Enough people in Sioux Falls know about this blog, so there were always people coming up to ask about what beers were for sale in metro Sioux City that they can’t get in South Dakota. This drew the attention of a group of guys from Mitchell who made the 150-mile round-trip to Sioux Falls.
They made me run the gauntlet. “We need to find out if you really know what you’re talking about,” one asked before having me name my five top beers. I must have passed because I got a high-five for each of the beers I listed. I was in.
I wasn’t worried though. I was with (new) friends and we were having a great time talking beer.
I left with invites to drink beer in Mitchell the next time I was wandering though. And they are welcome anytime in Sioux City.
And that’s what made the trip worthwhile. The evening wasn’t really about the cult of Surly. It could have just as well have been Millstream, or Brau Brothers or Goose Island.
It was about the cult of good beer.
And just maybe, that’s the true reason people will stand in line for a wristband to stand in line to buy a beer.
Or drive 180 miles for a $6.50 draw.
-Tim Hynds
Dustin Brau, CEO and brewer at Lucan, Minnesota’s, Brau Brothers Brewing Company says in an e-mail that their new Rainwater Stout should be ready for release in early December.
Here’s what he has to say about the beer:
“Definitely one of our bigger beers. Clocks in at just under 10% ABV. Brewed late this summer, this ale spent months on Madeira Oak for added complexity. Something a bit new for us, it will be bottled in 750mL bottles.”
Brau adds that on December 5th, there will be a group-brew at the brewery to make the winner of the Brau Brothers’ homebrewing contest.
“We’ll be brewing Elisha’s Old Ale,” Dustin Brau writes. “For those not in the know, a terrific homebrewer (Sioux Falls’ Elisha Page) submitted this beer for the South Dakota Homebrewers Challenge and it was a unanimous winner. We’ll brew and age a single batch which will go on tap at all the participating bars and restaurants in South Dakota. Just guessing it will be ready to be tapped later this winter. Everyone is welcome to help brew, however please email me an rsvp so I have a rough idea of turnout. We’ll supply lunch and maybe we’ll have a beer, who knows.”
-Tim Hynds
If you are interested in getting your RIS on, a keg of Surly Darkness will be tapped at a party tomorrow at Monk’s House of Ale Repute, 420 East 8th Street, in Sioux Falls. Only one full and one quarter keg of Darkness were distributed to South Dakota.
If you show up, you will get the chance to meet Surly owner Omar Ansari who will be in attendance at the tapping to talk about his Russian imperial stout and his company’s other beers.
Be advised that the tapping and party will start at 6 pm, NOT at 7 as reported on Surly’s website.
-Tim Hynds