About
Comments on beers tasted, seen, or brewed, new brewers, stores, business mergers, festivals, food to go with beer. What I'm thinking and drinking.

Email me
here

Subscribe
Subscribe to a syndicated feed of my weblog, brought to you by the wonders of RSS.

Links
These are a few of my favourite links.

Saranac Seasonals 2008 - Belgian Ale (23:14)

Saranac calls this a "Belgian Ale," and perhaps they don't use the term Lambec because it's a trademark or similar, or because they care about the correct usage. I would call it a "Lambec-style" brew for sure, perhaps and "Abbey Ale," it has most of the characteristics in the Lambec from Europe (real Lambec) and Lambec-style from Ommegang. Hopefully that lets most people identify the style.

I poured this pretty cold, about 45°F, which I hope is a proper temperature, into a cool clear, hand washed 500ml mug. Pretty cool stuff, nice red color, nice firm head, nice bubbles, and an outstanding complex aroma with fruit, cloves, and malt playing in my nose. The taste? Great, of course. My nose didn't oversell this brew, it's big, and rich, and complex, and the aftertaste is some fruit and hop combination which lingers just long enough. Hold it on your tongue for a moment and let the warming push the aromas into your nose. Swallow and the aftertaste lays on your tongue just enough.

Do I sound like a commercial? Maybe, but this is the same type of drinking sensation I get from imported brews at a much higher price. If you like Abbey Ales as a style, if you treat yourself to a Lambec from time to time, then this is a find for you.

Goes with: Saranac recommends shellfish and Moules-Frites, I can say nice things about crab cakes. I think this would be nice with a soft cheese on a cracker, perhaps one of the stone ground thins. Another area in which comments are welcome.

Note: seasonal, limited release, get it now! And if you try it on my review, please drop a line and let me know what you think!

Reply    [all posts this day]  |  permanent link

Saranac Seasonal Brews 2008 - Nut Brown Lager (08:21)

I don't remember this Nut Brown Lager, but I'm told Saranac has released it before. In any case I bet most people either don't remember or haven't tried it, so this is the 2008 version of the brew and the review.

Tech Note: the usual brewing of "nut brown" is an ale, using top fermenting ale yeast and moderately warm fermentation. This is a nut brown lager, presumable brewed with a beer yeast, bottom fermented, and at a lower temperature. In general a lager should be clearer than an ale, because the yeast remnants don't have to settle.

This was poured at a good temperature for a lager, about 40°F, into a hand washed clear 500ml mug. As expected it was very clear, and a nice red color, with a smooth head with various size bubbles up to 2mm or so. Before you ask, people care about bubble size, perhaps looking for that "perfect creamy head" for visual appeal. The head was relatively thin, but lasted as long as the brew (not all that long) and didn't noticeably leave any lace doily effect on the glass as the level dropped.

The aroma was a mild malty one, and I tried without success to detect any hint of clove, often noticeable in a nut brown ale. The taste was also mild, not the solid heaviness of malt with a tang of hops, just kind of a nice inoffensive well balanced mix, which really lasted more on the roof of the mouth than the tongue. I got the impression that Saranac wanter to present something different without offending anyone. It claims 5.3% ABV but it wasn't enough, it tasted like a "nut brown light" brew. Note that people who like bold brews found it lacking, my few friends who like lighter beverages thought it was fine.

This isn't a bad brew at all, it's a nice one to have around to server people as "something different" without scaring anyone, and tastes good enough to avoid disappointing serious beer drinkers.

I'm going to do photos of all the Saranac seasonals in a few days, I don't have the time right now.

Reply    [all posts this day]  |  permanent link