Beer Review - Elevation Beer Company

Let me begin by saying that the Elevation Beer Company of Poncha Springs, Colorado will soon be coming to Texas.  We were contacted by the "Sales Generalissimo" Alexander 'Xandy' Bustamante and asked if we would like to try a couple of beers from Elevation and review them for our readers.  He made this request full knowing that we are pretty brutal with some of our reviews and that I am, for lack of a better definition, a bit of a prick.  He agreed to send the beers knowing that we would be totally honest with our reviews.  Ballsy.

The Elevation Beer Company is an "artisan microbrewery specializing in brewing adventurous specialty and barrel-aged seasonal beers for the craft beer fanatic".  Yep, that would be us.  They opened their their 7,000 s.f. facility in 2012 with the intent to brew up to 7,000 barrels of beer.

Let's get right to the tasting, shall we?

The first beer that we tried was Fanboy Double IPA - 8.5% ABV, 70 IBU

This seasonal release features 5 hops (Galena, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Citra and Centennial) and 5 malts (Two-Row, Munich Crystal, Carared and Carafoam) aged in American Oak barrels to create an intense, but balanced joy ride.  The copper colored brew pours with a slightly off white head that persists for a bit.  You can definitely smell the floral notes of the hops along with the bready yeast, oak and sugars.  The hops are the driving force of the flavor with tangerine, pine, citrus coming forward and a background of vanilla.  While the malts go a long way to creating a balanced brew, the flavors are muted.  Some of the comments by the Snobs were "...a superb IPA", "Wow, tangerine?  I love the tangerine!", "Smooth without a sharp, hoppy bite ...", "...fruity, malty, goooood."  We give this one a hearty thumbs up with the reminder to drink this one immediately as that it probably would  not improve with age.

Their second offering was Apis IV Belgian style Quadruppel - 8.7% ABV, 17 IBU

This beer provided quite a contrast to the Fanboy with sweetness and malts (Belgian Pale, Premium Pilsner, Special B, Caramunich, Munich) being the stars and the hops (Northern Brewer, German Tettnang) coming along for the ride.  Apis (the genus of the honeybee) is sweetened with caramelized honey which was noted by a few of the tasters to be a bit cloying, but delicious nonetheless.  The beer pours brown with hints of orange and red showing through and with a thick whitish head that leaves plenty of lacing.  You can definitely smell the honey, bread and dark fruits.  The flavor is both sweet and tart with plenty of the honey character coming through.  The bready malts and the earthy yeast marry with the subtle hops to give a very broad flavor signature.  Some of the comments from the snobs were "...honey sweet, more hops than the typical Belgian quad.", "..perfect amount of sweet...", "Very well done."  "....smooth with great balance."  I found the sweetness to linger a bit longer than I normally like and believe that a year or so of aging to allow the yeast to convert a bit of the sugar will improve the balance.  Again, very drinkable and recommended.

Elevation Beer Company
115 Pahlone Parkway
Poncha Springs, CO 81242
http://www.elevationbeerco.com/

Total Wine's Total Beer Experience

We have been asked to pass this along to you.  It sounds interesting,

Total Wine & More, America’s largest independent retailer of fine wine, beer and spirits, will host North Texas’s first Total Beer Experience at its locations in Plano, Dallas and Fort Worth locations from January 15^th through January 25^th.  The ten day event offers beer fans the opportunity to sample great local and national craft beers and learn about the explosion of craft and micro-brewed beers directly from the mouths of the brewery’s rock star founders and brewmasters.  These fun and flavorful events will feature over 70 tastings and 40 classroom events, showcasing more than 30 breweries!  Hungry?   Tantalize your taste buds at the Total Beer Experience’s beer pairing classes, guaranteed to inform attendees on the perfect beer and dinner combinations.

Whether you like your beer from Brooklyn, from Belgium, from Texas or beyond, Total Wine & More’s Total Beer Experience includes a full slate of beer-tasting events and classes that introduce new brews, teach the customer more about their favorites and provide an opportunity to taste and chat with fellow beer lovers.  Texas’s local craft beer culture will be on full display with sessions featuring local area breweries such as Rahr and Son, Martin House, Revolver and many more plus brewmaster presentations from Texas-based Deep Ellum’s Jeremy Hunt, Franconia’s Cam Horn and Dennis Mehrman and more. 

Hundreds of unique craft beers will be available for tasting from some of America’s most beloved craft breweries like Dog Fish Head, Lagunitas, Brooklyn, Full Sail, Alaska, Oskar Blues and many more.  In addition to local and national brewers providing insight on their craft and products, Total Wine & More’s trained beer experts will also be on hand to answer questions about the many beer specials available every day from January 15th through the 25^th.  This is an experience that is not to be missed.

Register for Total Wine & More’s Total Beer Experience, by visiting: http://www.totalwine.com/totalbeer

Beer Review - Cobra Brewing Company

One day last week I was having lunch at one of my favorite watering holes and chatting with a couple of reps from one of the local beer distributers.  While we were chatting about the explosion of local breweries and beer centric pubs/restaurants they let me in on a dark secret, that is really not so secret.  They lamented that many of the local restaurateurs that were featuring local craft beers really have no clue about what craft beer is really about.  Greed, it seems, has wormed it's way into burgeoning Dallas beer scene (gasp! say it isn't so!).  The misguided jackanapes are ordering beer simply based on whether or not it is local.  They are not ordering beer by brewery or by name ,,, they are just telling the distributers to bring them something local. 

I fear that this misguided belief that craft beer drinkers will order beer based purely on whether or not it is local is spreading.  While we have been blessed with several great local brewers who are passionate about beer and about creating great brews, there is also an insinuation of dispassionate 'businessmen' who are happily creating uninspired beers, intent on riding the craft beer popularity wave.  Cobra Brewing in Lewisville seems to be one of these.

The first beer that we tried was a blond ale called Blonde Bomber 2 and is brewed using Tattnanger hops.  It tasted like watery dirt.  Perhaps those who believe that Stella is a good beer will like this swill, but it will never pass my lips ever again.




The second that we tried was their Happy Dazed IPA.  This coppery colored beer was not bad at all.  Coppery colored with a floral nose.  At 70 IBU's it is not overpoweringly bitter and the bitterness that it does have is nicely balanced by a generous helping of malts.  Here is where the weirdness begins.  The brewmaster could not tell me what malts he used.  He was not purposely avoiding answering the question to keep a secret, he really didn't remember.  This IPA, while tasty enough, tastes like dozens of other IPA's with absolutely nothing about it to make it memorable.  I would drink it again, but I would definitely not seek it out.


The next beer that we tried was their Anti-Venom Red Ale.  It was hoppy and dry, thin and watery.  The flavor was so flat and one-dimensional that I poured the beer down the sink.  And make no mistakes about this; I waste very little beer.  Even the folks from the local beer club sitting with us found it undrinkable.



The last beer that I tried was their seasonal Jack Froth Winter Ale.  This was probably the most interesting beer that we tried but again, totally unmemorable.  It was quite malty with very little in the way of hops but also thin and watery.  You can pick out the molasses flavor and nutmeg and thankfully it was not overly sweet.  But, this one also found it's way down the sink as that it was very, very meh.


The last straw for us was not the fault of the brewers in any way.  A couple of families with several young children who were running amuck, sat next to us and allowed their untended children to pester everyone around them.  When on of the mothers whipped it out and began to breast feed one of the children we decided that we were done.  Before you scream at me, I am not against breastfeeding in public, but I (and everyone at our table) believe that there is a time and place for everything.  A bar is not the place.

I am not going to accuse the owners of Cobra Brewing of being in the business for the wrong reasons, I will say that they should have done their homework about WHY craft beer drinkers are drinking what they drink.  I would also recommend to them that they should do a bit of research and experimentation to create some unique and memorable beers and not buy recipes off of the internet.  Heck, even the name of the brewery gives the impression of not being well thought out.  While I do not wish to see anyone fail in the industry, I will not be one of their supporters.

Cobra Brewing Company
146 Whatley Ave
Lewisville, TX 75057
http://cobrabrewingco.com

Beer Reviews - Confounding Beers

I suppose that it's your beer and you may call it anything that you want.  But more often than not the name of the beer reflects that type of beer, like Palate Wrecker IPA by Green Flash.  There is a trend that annoys the hell out of me, however and that is naming a beer style something that it is not.  As a beer purist, I want to know what type of beer I am buying as that I am not really much of a fan of a few certain types of beer.  A modest example is the Gold Medal winning Royal Scandal "English Pale Ale" from Peticolas Brewing.  A good beer, but not really an English Pale Ale ... for us purists.  The chart on the left is what you would expect when you purchase a beer based on traditional color.

This past weekend we tried two new beers that were recommended to us that were sure to confound our beer sensitivities.  They were right.

The first is Nøgne Ø Imperial IPA from Grimstad, Norway - 10% ABV

As you know the IPA style of beer is typified by it's hop character and while the style varies widely between English, east coast, west coast, etc, the hop will almost always be the star.  "When Nøgne Ø decided to make its 500th batch of beer, it was quickly established that the key numbers would be 5 malts, 5 hops, 10% alcohol and 100 IBUs. The result is an incredibly rich and hoppy Imperial IPA. Malty enough to be almost a barley wine, but intensely fruity, mainly because it is dry hopped with generous amounts of Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand."  Cool.  This sounds as if though our taste buds will be challenged.  Upon pouring the first thing that we noticed was the smell of ... sugar, with very little hop.  The flavor was characterized by the panel as "sweet and malty", "barley wine". "sweet brown ale", but no one ever mentioned hops.  100 IBU's my ass.  The flavor is really very nice with malts, brown sugars, and alcohol coming to the front.  There is a bit of fruit in the background and a tiny bit of piney dryness at the finish.  A nice winter ale indeed, but an imperial IPA?  Don't you believe it.

NØGNE Ø - Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri A/S
Lunde 8, 4885
Grimstad, Norway
www.nogne-o.com

The second is 5 Stones Craft Brewing Camo Pale Stout from San Antonio - 7.8% ABV

Yes, you read correctly, pale stout.  At least these guys are admitting that this beer is not typical of the style by adding the "Pale" to the name.  This one really disturbs me, however, and the tasting panel was really stumped.  The smell is not quite like that of a stout, but you will smell the spices, coffee and a bit of smokiness.  The flavor really is hard to describe and no two descriptions from the panel were similar.  2 on the panel did pick out the espresso flavor, another said hemp, one was grass, another even described it as dirty socks.  So you will taste coffee, roasted malts, a bit of spices and perhaps chocolate and with a bit of bitterness showing up at the end.  You may call this whatever you want, but don't call it a frigging stout.  We will not be trying this one again.

5 Stones Craft Brewing Company
850 Schneider
Cibolo, Texas 78108
http://5stonesbrewing.com

January Drinking Events

Would it sound OCD of me to admit that we schedule many of our trips and vacations around beer events?  You, too?  Cool.  Here are a few drinking events you may wish to attend if you are looking to travel in January (Courtesy Beer Advocate).

01	1st Annual New Year's Eve Bash @ Bluejacket Beer & Food Event - Bluejacket / Arsenal Restaurant - Washington, District of Columbia
	Annual New Year's Day Stout Fest Beer Tasting / Release - Monk's Café - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	Local 44 is turning 5! Beer & Food Event - Local 44 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	New Year's Day Brunch with Yard's Brewing & the Mummers Social Gathering - Devil's Den - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	New Year's Day Hangover Brunch Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - San Antonio, Texas
	New Year's Eve '80s Prom Party @ Flying Saucer Addison Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium (Addison) - Addison, Texas
	New Year's Eve @ Meddlesome Moth Beer & Food Event - Meddlesome Moth - Dallas, Texas
	New Year's Eve @ Public School 310 in Culver City! Beer & Food Event - Public School 310, 9411 Culver Blvd. - Culver City, California
	New Year's Eve Party @ Flying Saucer FW Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - Fort Worth, Texas
	New Year's Eve Party @ Flying Saucer on the Lake Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - Garland, Texas
	New Year's Eve Party @ Flying Saucer San Antonio Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - San Antonio, Texas
	New Year's Eve Party @ Flying Saucer Sugar Land Beer & Food Event - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - Sugar Land, Texas
	New Year's Eve Speakeasy Social Gathering - Pikes Peak Brewing Company - Monument, Colorado
	New Years Eve Bash!! Social Gathering - Good Nature Brewing - Hamilton, New York
	New Years Eve Celebration Social Gathering - World Of Beer - Altamonte Springs, Florida
	New Years Eve Celebration Social Gathering - World Of Beer - Evanston, Illinois
	New Years Eve Celebration Social Gathering - World Of Beer - UCF - Orlando, Florida
	New Years Eve Party Beer & Food Event - Short North Pint House & Beer Garden - Columbus, Ohio
	NYE Local Beer Blowout w/ Begyle, Spiteful, Lake Effect & Ale Syndicate Social Gathering - Atlas Brewing Company - Chicago, Illinois
	Story Tavern NYE Beertacular! Beer Festival - Story Tavern - Burbank, California
	Town Hall Brewery New Year’s Eve House Party Beer & Food Event - Town Hall Brewery - Minneapolis, Minnesota
02	New Belgium Tap Invasion Beer Tasting / Release - Fox And Hound - Wilmington, North Carolina
03	BEER TASTING: Beers of The Great White North Beer Tasting / Release - The Washington House - Sellersville, Pennsylvania
	Bin Ends Craft Beer Session with Goose Island Beer Tasting / Release - Bin Ends - Braintree, Massachusetts
	First Friday with Bells Brewery Beer Tasting / Release - Bottle Bar East - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Registration Deadline Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
	Upslope Fan Firkin Friday @ Lee Hill Beer Tasting / Release - Upslope Brewing Company - Lee Hill - Boulder, Colorado
04	Bin Ends Craft Beer Session with Goose Island Beer Tasting / Release - Bin Ends - Needham, Massachusetts
	Country Roads Brewery Bus Tour Beer Tour / Pub Crawl - Concourse Hotel - Madison, Wisconsin
	Happy 371st Birthday, Isaac Newton! Social Gathering - Isaac Newton's - Newtown, Pennsylvania
	Hop in Yer Rye Release Beer Tasting / Release - Saugatuck Brewing Company - Douglas, Michigan
	J. Marie Barreled & Bretted Release Party Beer Tasting / Release - River North Brewery - Denver, Colorado
08	Craft Beer Tasting Beer & Food Event - The Hangar Tavern - San Antonio, Texas
09	Allagash Brewing Co. Event @ Mule Bar Beer & Food Event - Mule Bar - Winooski, Vermont
	Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival Beer Festival - Vail Cascade Resort & Spa - Vail, Colorado
10	Allagash Brewing Co. Event @ Mule Bar Beer & Food Event - Mule Bar - Winooski, Vermont
	Beer War Dinner - AVERY vs oMMEGANG Beer & Food Event - McCormick & Schmick's - Boston, Massachusetts
	Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival Beer Festival - Vail Cascade Resort & Spa - Vail, Colorado
	Key Largo Homebrew Competition Homebrew Event - Holiday Inn - Key Largo, Florida
11	A Beer Dinner Tour Beer Tour / Pub Crawl - Capital Chophouse - Madison, Wisconsin
	Artist 'n Ales Beer & Food Event - Co-Prosperity Sphere - Bridgeport, Illinois
	Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival Beer Festival - Vail Cascade Resort & Spa - Vail, Colorado
	Brew 'n Chew Beer & Food Event - Monroeville Convention Center - Monroeville, Pennsylvania
	Key Largo Brew on the Bay Beer Festival - Rowell's Marina Property - Key Largo, Florida
	Lancaster Winter Brewfest Beer Festival - The Lodge In Lancaster - Lancaster, Ohio
	Living Beer Tasting 2014 Beer Festival - Earth Bread + Brewery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	New Year, New Beer Brewery Tour Beer Tour / Pub Crawl - Cigar City Brewing - Tampa, Florida
	The Trouble with Trippels V Beer Tasting / Release - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
12	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Designated Dropoff Deadline Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
	Tapping the Keg with SweetWater Red Hot Mama Beer & Food Event - Whole Foods Market - Coral Springs, Florida
14	Beerded Ladies Presents: Beer Geek Trivia @ Glorietta Baldy! Beer & Food Event - Glorietta Baldy - Brooklyn, New York
	Brewery Night with Green Flash Beer Tasting / Release - The Last Drop - Seattle, Washington
16	Ancient Ales Beer Tasting @ the Museum Beer & Food Event - San Diego Museum Of Man - San Diego, California
	Quebec Beer Night Beer & Food Event - Prohibition Pig - Waterbury, Vermont
17	Allagash Beer Dinner Beer & Food Event - Aroma Thyme Bistro - Ellenville, New York
	Ben Franklins Birthday with Evolution Brewing Beer Tasting / Release - Kite & Key - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	Big Woody Barrel Aged Brew & Whiskey Festival Beer Festival - LeftBank Annex (101 N Weidler St) - Portland, Oregon
	Imperial Stout Special Tapping Event Beer & Food Event - World Of Beer - Evanston, Illinois
18	2014 Vinaceous Release Celebration Beer Tasting / Release - Hangar 24 Brewery - Redlands, California
	Ben Franklins Birthday with Evolution Brewing Beer Tasting / Release - Kite & Key - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	Big Woody Barrel Aged Brew & Whiskey Festival Beer Festival - LeftBank Annex (101 N Weidler St) - Portland, Oregon
	Blackout @ the Mile Post Pub Beer Tasting / Release - Whole Foods Devon (The Milepost Pub) - Wayne, Pennsylvania
	Festibarrel 2014 Beer & Food Event - Riverview Tavern - Chicago, Illinois
	Isthmus Beer & Cheese Festival Beer & Food Event - Alliant Energy Center - Madison, Wisconsin
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Twin Lakes Brewing Co. - Greenville, Delaware
	Taste of Oskar Blues Beer Dinner Beer & Food Event - Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids - Longmont, Colorado
19	Biggest Little Beerfest Beer Festival - Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria - Greenville, South Carolina
	DFW Bottle Share @ Craft & Growler Social Gathering - Craft And Growler - Dallas, Texas
20	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Mailed Entry Deadline Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
21	Colorado Cheese & Beer Pairing Beer & Food Event - Kannah Creek Brewing Company - Grand Junction, Colorado
	Great South Bay Brewery Beer Dinner @ The Lark Pub & Grub Beer & Food Event - The Lark - East Northport, New York
22	Pretty Things Tasting @ Cambridge Spirits, Kendall Square Beer Tasting / Release - Cambridge Spirits - Cambridge, Massachusetts
	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Final Dropoff Deadline @ The Ruck Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
23	Beer & Food Pairing Dinner Beer & Food Event - Boll Weevil 53 - Santee, California
24	Beer War Dinner - FOOL PROOF vs WIDMER BROS. Beer & Food Event - McCormick & Schmick's - Boston, Massachusetts
	Brew Ha Ha Brewfest Beer Festival - JA Nugget - Sparks, Nevada
	Jack's Abby Brewing Seminar Educational Event - Whole Foods Market - Dedham, Massachusetts
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Relic Brewing Co - Plainville, Connecticut
	Winter Brew Fest Beer Festival - Mile High Station - Denver, Colorado
25	3rd Annual Brrr Fest Beer Festival - The Marriott Hotel And Conference Center - Coralville, Iowa
	3rd Annual Raleigh Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting Charity Beer Event - Tyler's Restaurant & Taproom - Raleigh - Raleigh, North Carolina
	6th Annual Winter Beer Fest Beer Festival - High Street Grill - Mount Holly, New Jersey
	8th Annual BeerAdvocate Stone Soup Beer Gathering "Noble EightFold Beer Path" Social Gathering - The Wet Whistle - Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
	8th Annual Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival Beer Festival - Roger Dean Stadium: 4751 Main St. - Jupiter 33458, Florida
	Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting Beer Festival - Taco Mac Prado/5 Seasons Prado - Sandy Springs, Georgia
	Beer Bourbon BBQ Festival Beer & Food Event - 608 West 28th Street - New York, New York
	Brews in the Barn Charity Beer Event - County Line Orchard - Hobart, Indiana
	Central Waters 16th Anniversary Party SHUTTLE Beer Tour / Pub Crawl - Alchemy - Madison, Wisconsin
	International Great Beer Expo @ the Meadowlands Beer Festival - Meadowlands Expo Center At Harmon Meadows - Secaucus, New Jersey
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Weyerbacher Brewing Co. - Easton, Pennsylvania
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Turkey Hill Brewing Co. Pub & Grille - Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Judgement Day Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
	Super Brew V Beer Festival - Crane Room Grille - New Castle, Pennsylvania
	The Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival 2014 Beer Festival - The Midway At The Minnesota State Fair Grounds - St Paul, Minnesota
	Winter Beer Fest 2014 Beer Festival - High Street Grill - Mount Holly, New Jersey
	Winter Brew Fest Beer Festival - Mile High Station - Denver, Colorado
26	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Dock Street Brewery & Restaurant - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
	Ruck Extreme Homebrewing Competition - Homebrewers' Shin Dig Homebrew Event - The Ruck - Troy, New York
27	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Beer & Food Event - Jimmy's No. 43 - New York, New York
28	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Roy Pitz Brewing Company - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
29	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Dogfish Head Brewery - Milton, Delaware
	Union Brewery Craft Beer Dinner Beer & Food Event - Wine Market Bistro - Baltimore, Maryland
30	Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Western PA, Pour For A Cure 2014 Charity Beer Event - Pittsburgh Opera - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Flying Fish Brewing Company - Somerdale, New Jersey
31	DeLand Craft Beer Week Beer Festival - Downtown DeLand - DeLand, Florida
	Meet the author of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour Book Signing - Cape May Brewing Company - Cape May, New Jersey