Beer Bums Meeting – March 2014 – Porters and Stouts

Porters and Stouts turned into a great theme for March.  It has been very cold of late so these went along perfectly with the weather.  A very good group of beers with the Southern Tier Choklat a nice treat.

Founders Porter

Green Flash Double Stout

Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin

Leinenkugel’s Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Southern Tier Choklat

Next Month, April – Easter Beers

The Brü Revü - Top 13 Albums & Beers of 2013, Part 2

Stone Brewing RuinTen

The Bronx - The Bronx IV

Loud, pummeling & aggressive.  Stone was on a roll this year and RuinTen was their huge Ruination Anniversary beer. The Bronx IV was on constant rotation for almost 2 months after it came out.  Both grabbed your face and wouldn't let go.

Austin Beerworks Heavy Machinery Belgian IPA

Drug Church - Paul Walker

Guilty Pleasures.  Austin Beerworks Heavy Machinery IPA series has been the highlight of the local craft beer scene for me.  It has been a joy to grab the latest in the series and the Belgian IPA was easily one of my favorites.  I Checked out Drug Church on a whim and was blown away.  Paul Walker has been in heavy rotation ever since.  There is something about both of these that tickle me in my happy place.

Karbach Weekend Warrior

White Denim - Corsicana Lemonade

Two more local favorites.  Karbach from Houston added their Weekend Warrior Pale Ale to their regular lineup and this unfiltered hazy beast was a welcome addition.  Corsicana Lemonade sounds like White Denim’s take on classic rock while giving it their own unique freshness.  Down and dirty magic.

Green Flash Green Bullet

Passafire - Vines

Lively and fun.  Green Bullet was very fresh and hoppy when I got it which is great for an IPA and Tripel IPA at that.  It had a very distinct hop profile from the New Zealand hop attack and was a fun beer to drink.  Passafire may be my secret crush as I love everything they put out in their twist of rock and reggae.  Vines continues their streak of great albums that I will continue to listen to constantly.  

See PART 1 Here

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Green Bullet

I love just about anything Green Flash puts out.  While they may not have as huge a cult following in Texas, I still think all of their offerings are high quality brews.  The Green Bullet is their Triple India Pale Ale, and while Founder’s has their Devil Dancer and Dogfish Head has their 120 minute I have yet to try one.  The brew poured a clear amber with a small white head that instantly gave off the aroma of tropical fruit and dank hops with a hint of pine underneath that gave it some spice.  The first taste had citrus rind hops with more of the dank tropical fruits and a spicy pine finish. The hops were appropriately aggressive and leave you with a strong bitterness on your tongue.  The malt did give the Green Bullet a somewhat sweet finish, but the overload of hops definitely kept it in the background.  The brew was easily one of the hoppier beers out there and the huge hops keeps the high alcohol at bay.  If you want an assault on your palate the Green Bullet will definitely leave you in hoppy happiness.  I can’t compare it to other Triple IPAs, but it is definitely a top tier IPA for me.

Green Flash Green Bullet

Beer Bums Meeting – November 2013 – Red Ales

We have been wanting to have a Red Ale theme for a while so why not in November.  I missed this meeting so I look forward to trying them all.  I know the Green Flash Hop Head Red is good but there are other good one in this bunch.

Green Flash Hop Head Red

Rahr & Sons Texas Red

Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale

North Coast Brewing Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale

Murphy's Irish Red

Next Month, December – Christmas Party!

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Palate Wrecker

I was prepared for the Green Flash Palate Wrecker to do just that: wreck my palate, sucking all the life out of my mouth and bringing tears to my eyes.  This famed Double IPA is a whopping 149 IBUs and waiting to wreak havoc on unsuspecting palates.  I was ready and willing for the palate punishment and happily submitted to the whims of the Wrecker.  The beautiful deep amber brew gave off a gorgeous aroma of sweet grapefruit and floral hops and was a wonderful smelling IPA.  The taste was aggressively hoppy with a great blend of citrus, dank and piney hop flavors to make it a perfect Hop Bomb.  While it covered my palate with a hoppy resinous residue it was surprisingly drinkable and an enormously enjoyable Double IPA.  Palate Wrecked?  No, more like Palate Perfection!

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Le Freak

When I read the description of the Green Flash Le Freak as a modern ale converging a Belgian Trippel and an American Imperial IPA I knew I was in trouble.  A Belgian Trippel and an American Imperial IPA are my two favorite beer styles so combining them into one behemoth beer could easily destroy me.  I wasn’t wrong.  The beer poured a bright golden color with a large fluffy white head that reflected its bottle conditioning.  The aroma was big and fruity with a fresh hop nose and Belgian yeast undertones that had me eagerly anticipating my first taste...  and that first taste blew my face off. It started lightly sweet and fruity and melded into a slightly bitter citrus hop flavor that was expertly nuanced and balanced. The best flavors and profiles of the Trippel and Imperial IPA blended exceptionally and continued to pull me back in for sip after blissful sip.  I see the Le Freak as the more refined and sophisticated older sibling to the Rayon Vert, (an excellent beer in it’s own right).  It is not often that a beer can wow me with such ferocity, and this unique brew may ruin my ability to love another beer again.

Green Flash Le Freak

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Double Stout

I am just getting into the Green Flash beers and I have been extremely impressed with their ability to brew consistently great beers over a wide variety of styles. Case in point being their delectable Double Stout. I knew that they had their hoppy beers under control with their West Coast IPA and Hop Head Red, but this takes their mastery in a new direction. The Stout poured a pitch black with a substantial tan head. The aroma was full of roasted malts and maybe a trace of hops. The taste was deep and complex with layers of nuttiness, chocolate and coffee undertones and more of the roasted malt flavor. For such a foreboding brew it had a medium body that I found to be easy to drink despite the full flavor profile that enveloped my palate. This was a great stout that I could drink regularly and a perfect elixir for the cold months ahead. 

Green Flash Double Stout

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Rayon Vert

The Green Flash Rayon Vert is their version of a Belgian Style Pale Ale.  According to Green Flash the Rayon Vert is a bold layering of hops finds balance from traditional malt.  Bottle conditioning with fresh ale yeast and Brettanomyces finishes the beer, adding a delightful effervescence, dryness and continually evolving character.  All I know is that it is a very unique beer that I couldn’t get enough of.  It poured a hazy gold with a substantial off white head that speaks to the delightful effervescence.  The aroma is all over the place with citrusy hops, some funky sourness, and a bit of Belgian yeast that sets you up for a dynamic flavor adventure.  The taste is all over the flavor map in a good way with the citrus and bitter hops, some sweet fruitiness, along with some funk from the Brettanomyces that is all riding the wave of the Belgian yeast.  Yes it’s all in there and it all tastes great.  The flavors are delicately and deliciously balanced on a creamy medium body with plenty of that delightful effervescence that makes this a truly unique beer.  It’s like a Funky West Coast Belgian Pale Ale, and I dig it, man.

Green Flash Rayon Vert

The Brü Revü – Green Flash Hop Head Red

The Green Flash Hop Head Red is a Red IPA or an American Red Ale, or whatever it is it’s unique.  To me it tasted like a hoppy Amber Ale which is a good thing.  First off these Green Flash bottles are something else and let you know they are holding a special brew.  They are hefty, uniquely shaped, and covered in raised lettering and their signature sun logo.  Once you open the Hop Head Red you are instantly hit with a citrusy hoppy aroma.  It was perfect.  It poured a dark reddish amber/copper with a huge head with a taste that was heavier on the malts with a full toffee flavor.  The hops were not as intense as I would have expected from the aroma, but the bitterness is still present.  The malts definitely assert themselves and keep the hops at bay.  Overall the Hop Head Red was a tasty unique style as well as a nice twist on a IPA/Red Ale.  

Green Flash Hop Head Red

The Brü Revü – Green Flash West Coast IPA

The Green Flash West Coast IPA is another beer I had on tap at Whip-In which was served slightly warm.  I wasn’t sure if they meant to serve it warm, but I think the beer was better for it.  This beer is hops, hops, and more hops!  Definitely a West Coast IPA with a very clean hop bite and a lingering resinous hop aftertaste.  This one leans more towards the piney hops rather than a strong citrus flavor with a very in your face hoppiness.  While the bartendress warned me that it was really aggressive I found that I enjoyed it, although I could see where it would wear down your palate as it is a huge hop bomb.  It was a good IPA especially if you are looking for a hop overload, but I would grab something with a little more balance.

Green Flash West Coast IPA