Goose Island Altbier

Altbier is a hybrid style of beer that originated in Düsseldorf, Germany. Like Kölsch, the style that hales from Köln (Cologne), altbier is basically an ale that is top (warm) fermented, but then matured in a cool place, like a lager. This brew pours a caramel hue, with a light tan one-finger head. At 42 IBU's, it's fairly hoppy, but not astringently so, more piney than anything else. Light coffee and chocolate notes, but not so obvious that it detracts from the basic beer base. There's also a little bit of generic citrus to round things out. This is a pretty decent altbier. 

Goose Island Fulton Street Blend Coffee Ale

Fulton Street Blend is one of those beers where the appearance is deceiving, like a black IPA, that you expect to be stout-y, I've always expected any beer with coffee in it to be a porter or a stout, i.e. DARK! They're calling it a coffee-flavored blonde ale, and it's only 20 IBUs, but it's got a bite like you'd expect from a pale ale. Naturally there's coffee in the flavor mix, but subdued, shyly hiding behind the skirts of the hops. I'd drink this again. Added flavoring, but melds well with the underlying beeriness.

Goose Island Coy Wolf Dark IPA

First of four beers in the "employee" 12-pack, it's billed as a "dark IPA", but more like a hoppier-than-usual pale ale that ain't so pale. Coywolf pours a toffee color with a three-finger tan head. They say that the hops are experimental, and they're different than anything that I tasted before. Not piney, not grapefruity, more like pumpernickel rye than anything else. There's also some mild toffee notes as well as some cocoa/hot chocolate and caramel. Oddly, there's also some lime. Very different. Flavor comes from the hops and not from added flavorings; IGB approved!

Beer Styles: Barleywines and Imperials

It seems that we never run out of ales to talk about! Today's Ill-Gotten Booty Beer Styles post will focus on the high alcohol content beers.

Barelywine is a style of ale that is mainly known for it's high alcohol content, and usually has a sweet "wine-like" character and a quality described a "alcohol heat". They are typically aged, smoothing out the bitterness of the hops. I always feel like I'm sipping some fine whiskey when indulging in a barleywine. Other names have been used for this style over the years, including "old ale", "strong ale", and "stock ale". North Coast Brewery produces a high ABV ale called "Old Stock".

The color of a barleywine can vary quite a bit. Typically they are a caramel brown or mahogany, but never opaque. Occasionally they can be golden or amber. The color, as with most beers, has little to no effect on the taste or strength. IGB likes to have a barleywine in early Spring when the snows have ended, but you still get some cold days.

The adjective "imperial" derives from the British beer style "Imperial Russian Stout". Similar to how the original IPAs (India Pale Ales)  were higher ABV & IBU versions of the Pale Ale, Imperial Russian Stout was a higher ABV & IBU version of the popular Stout, itself an offspring of the Porter style. Several English breweries were doing a brisk business in Stouts and Porters in the Baltic region; according to legend the Czar was partial to a particularly rich brand of Stout and put in a special order. Due to its association with the imperial household, it became known as Imperial Russian Stout. The style was reborn during the 21st century craft beer renaissance with several breweries producing their own versions of the style. They tended to be rich and creamy, very hoppy, and at least 10% alcohol by volume. Gradually though, the adjective "imperial" came to be used to describe any style that had a higher than usual ABV. An Imperial IPA might be an IPA with 11% alcohol rather than the usual 7%. So anytime you see "imperial" these days, translate it to "more alcohol".  Other adjectives that do the same job are "double" and "extra".

Other high alcohol beers include Scottish Wee Heavy and Belgian Quadrupel, these will be explored in separate blog posts.

Rahr and Sons Oktoberfest Märzen Lager

Pours a copper hue with a two-finger light copper head. malty, yet hoppy. Faint hint of coriander and nutmeg, but that may be my imagination! Pretty decent, 7/10 on the IGB Märzen Scale.

(Sorry, but Märzens, being lagers, don't tend to be super complex, but this is a solid example of the style)

Boulevard Tough Kitty Milk Stout

Sure it's the season for Märzens (Oktoberfests) and Pumpkin ales, but I can't pass up a decent sweet stout!

Boulevard put out a milk stout as part of their Tasting Room Series, but there are a few differences between that and Tough Kitty. For one, the IBUs are about more than double, 27 vs. 12, so there's some nice hop bitterness to go with the sweet, malty smoothness. Tough Kitty pours an impenetrable black with a two finger tan head. There's some licorice at the back of the tongue, but the main attractions are the coffee, toffee and milk chocolate dancing around each sip. Roasted nuts and heavy cream also figure in this menagerie of flavor. Rolled out added to the mash gives it a nice creamy finish. Remember: don't be afraid of the dark!

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin

In honor of those wild & crazy nuclear guys, Donnie the T and Kim Uno, tonight Ill-Gotten Booty Beer Reviews is featuring Atomic Pumpkin, part of the Voodoo Ranger series from New Belgium. Voodoo Ranger is the successor to Ranger IPA, with more piney hop bitterness and a higher ABV at 7%. This limited release is also my first pumpkin ale of the season. Not only does it feature pumpkin & spices, but some jalapeño as well! 

Atomic Pumpkin pours an orangey-amber with an off-white head that doesn't get much past a finger-width. The different flavors are all MMA fighting to get your attention: the sweet pumpkin pie, the fiery  jalapeños, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the hops! Maybe not your cup of tea if you're not a hot pepper fan, but I'm glad that I got nuked with this Voodoo Ranger special release. 

Beer Styles: Sour Ales

A sour ale is a beer that is intentionally acidic or tart. At one time most beers were tart to some degree. Before it was fully understood how fermentation worked, wild yeasts strains did the heavy lifting rather than the cultured strains used today. Yeast cultures from one batch became the starter for the next batch. Not being done in a sterile environment, wild yeast often intruded. Certain types of wild yeast are acid-producing, which, in the presence of oxygen result in an sour or tart edge. There are several traditional styles of sour beer, some of which have been imitated by modern brewers. Lambic is a well-known style, which will have its own post. Berliner Weisse, also known as Berliner White is a traditional style originating in Hamburg Germany. Berliner's tend to be light, highly carbonated. A Gose (pronounced Goe-suh) is brewed with at least 50% malted wheat, it gets its name from the city where it originated, Goslar. A gose has salt and coriander added, which means it does not comply with the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law) but it was granted an exception as a regional specialty. There is also a style, which I have never tried, called Flanders Red Ale, it is a cousin to the porter, but utilizes lactic acid to give it a sour edge and is aged in oak barrels. Ill-Gotten Booty himself is a big fan of the sours, and am frequently warned that they are sours!

Boulevard Berliner Weisse Sour Ale

As I've mentioned in other blog posts about sour beers, sours are one of the latest fads in the beer world. (Complete post on the Sour Ale Style coming soon).  Goose Island pioneered the brewing of sours with Matilda and other offerings, but many other breweries are jumping on the bandwagon, and of course Boulevard is in on the craze. Boulevard's Berliner Weisse pours a pale gold with a thin white head. It's very light and highly carbonated. It's clocking in at only 8 IBU's, so virtually no hoppiness. The traditional Berliner White is usually about 3% ABV, but Boulevard's version is 4.5%. Berliner Weisse is very refreshing; a good food pairing might be fried potatoes or french fries.

Beer Styles: Still to Come

Over the last year or so we have explored the various styles of beer - lagers and ales and all the subcategories. Well, we're not done yet! Still to look at:

• Sour Ales
• Barleywine
• Wheat Ale including Hefeweizen
• Rye Ales
• Belgian Ales & all the sub-styles
• Braggot
• Hybrids: Altbier & Kölsch
• Scottish/Scotch Ales
• Lambics
• Steam Beers
• Flavored Beers

Stay tuned!