Tommyknocker Saison

Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub – Idaho Springs, CO

STYLE: Saison. 5.5% ABV

APPEARANCE: Pours an apricot color with a very thin white head that dissipates rapidly.

AROMA: Smells like a Belgian white.  I get big coriander, banana and orange peel notes.

TASTE:

Act I: A strong spicy flavor hits the front of the palate giving way to a banana and orange peel taste.

Act II: The fruit flavors are most apparent in the mid-palate tasting of banana and citrus peel though a strong spicy backbone remains

Act III: The spice really hits the back of the palate as some of the flavors start to meld.  I get everything from clover to coriander.

Epilogue: The fruit and spice flavors marry near the end yielding to a well-balanced and refreshing aftertaste with lingering flavors of grain.

MOUTHFEEL: Despite pouring with nearly no head and having a very flat appearance, the mouth feel of this beer really works well for it.  It is prickly like a wine made from young grapes lending a physically refreshing trait to the beer.

SERVE: A saison is something that is normally best slightly chilled but this beer is unique and I would drink it fairly cold, perhaps even right out of the fridge.

NOTES: This beer is decent but doesn’t resemble any saison I have ever had.  It has some of the graininess a saison usually does but primarily tastes of spices and orange peels, something more typically associated with a wit or blonde.  It also lacks all the funky sometimes sour barnyard notes that make saisons so loveable.  That said, saison literally just means season and while most share a great deal of flavor profiles, I cannot think of a beer style with a more obscure definition.  So, I can’t really make the argument that it isn’t a saison.

GRADE: I’m glad I tried it once but don’t really know that I will again.  It is a decent beer but my taste buds really tell me that the label should read blonde and not saison.  It’s a solid beer and I would recommend you try it.  Also, the girls will really love this one because it has the characteristics of a good wheat beer and we all know that girls have a freakish love affair with wheat beers.  Next time you are having some girls over, get yourself a six pack.  I give it a “good enough to possibly (one in a million so you are telling me there is a chance) get me laid someday”.

By Cole Hanson @TheBeerLip

To Øl Black Ball Porter

Brewed by To Øl at De Proef Brouwerij – Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium

STYLE: Porter.  ABV: 8%

APPEARANCE: A rich completely opaque black with a robust brown head.

AROMA: Smells sweet and of chocolate milk and coffee.  There are notes of dried or ripe fruits but the coffee and chocolate notes are most prominent making it smell remarkably like a mocha.

TASTE:

Act I: A strong dark chocolate bitterness is the first thing made apparent.

Act II: The strong bitterness segues into an almost chalky flavor that I would assume is some combination of the chocolate malts used and what is a surprisingly noticeable grassy hop character.

Act III: Towards the end it becomes a bit alcoholic and falls somewhere between chocolate milk and a rubber tire.

Epilogue: As sweet as it smells this beer is anything but.  It is incredibly dry throughout to a point of almost being too much so.  The aromas that are so distinct seem lost in a muddy concoction of chocolate malts and European hops that leaves a lasting chalky bitterness on the palate.

MOUTHFEEL: This beer pours with effervescence reminiscent of bottle conditioned Belgians but is mostly flat and slightly oily on the palate.  The flat mouthfeel is not a problem in a porter but would have been better served with a slightly less dry flavor.

SERVE: You can drink this one warm if you want.  I would have it at room temperature to experience it in its full meh-ness.

NOTES: This one is a little bit of a letdown and compared to the other beers I have had from To Øl (these two guys have made some fucking good beer) it is surprisingly one-dimensional.  The mouthfeel is fine but the flavor is a bit muddled.  They went for an American Porter but I feel they kind of missed the mark.  It is a good beer in general but my main criticism is that it is so dry that the deep and complex flavors that are in the beer are almost completely imperceptible.

GRADE: I would buy this occasionally in a reasonably priced pack but at seven dollars for a 330ml I would like to exchange it for the “keep it!”  If you have had every other beer in the world though you should probably buy one… I give it a strong resounding meh.

By Cole Hanson @TheBeerLip