Uinta Brewing Ready Set Gose

Founded in Salt Lake City in 1993, Uinta Brewing is 100% wind powered and fitted solar-electric panels across its roof in 2010. They also have OU Kosher certification. Ready Set Gose is brewed with salt, organic coriander, organic hops, and organic barley. 

Gose (pronounced "goes-uh") is a thousand year old German beer style brewed using slightly salty water with a top fermentation (using Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The mash bill contains more wheat than malted barley and the brew is spiced with coriander and hops. After falling out of favor in the last hundred years the style has been resurgent since the turn of the century. You can really geek out on details about the style here.

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Uinta Brewing Ready Set Gose, 4.0% alc., 12 oz. can

C: Pale golden with a quickly dissipating white head

N: Very quiet nose with just a hint of coriander and maybe a suggestion of wheat

P: Just as quiet as the nose and with the same hints of coriander and wheat (where's the sea salt?)

F: Short with just a hint of beery wheatiness and a subtle sourness  

In conclusion: Wow! What a disappointment. There's just nothing here. I'm searching and searching for scents and flavors, looking for what this beer does well, and I keep coming up empty handed. I'm bummed out.

Devil's Backbone Cran-Gose

Gose (pronounced "goes-uh") is a thousand year old German beer style brewed using slightly salty water with a top fermentation (using Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The mash bill contains more wheat than malted barley and the brew is spiced with coriander and hops. After falling out of favor in the last hundred years the style has been resurgent since the turn of the century. You can really geek out on details about the style here.

Virginia's Devil's Backbone Brewing Company was founded in 2008 by Steven Crandall. A well regarded staple among Virginia's 140 breweries news broke last month that the brewery had been acquired by Anheuser Busch InBev for an undisclosed sum. Devil's Backbone's operations team will remain in place post takeover. More information about the takeover can be found here.

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Devil's Backbone Cran-Gose, 4.0% alc., 12 oz. can

C: Pink with a thin white head that's completely gone half way through the drinking experience

N: Pleasantly yeasty and sour with some tart cranberry fruit and just a little salty

P: Leads with sour cranberry fruit then just a hint of salt behind, thin mouthfeel with limited alcohol presence

F: Medium length with lingering sour fruit and just a little wheatiness 

In conclusion: A very easy drinking session-style ale with pleasant sour fruit and just a hint of salt. A good introduction to this salty wheat style.

Pappy Van Winkle

The Van Winkle legend has clearly surpassed the liquid contained in the bottles and taken on a life of its own (see Scotland's Port Ellen and Japan's Karuizawa for similar examples) but when good friends win a Van Winkle tasting at a charity auction it's good form to show up when invited and sample some hard to find whiskey (and find out if it's actually worth drinking).

Nothing poured was worth the current pricing but that's an indictment on current pricing rather than the spirit. What follows are a series of honest reviews of the 2014 releases in the Van Winkle line-up. I haven't dressed up my notes to reflect the rarity or cost of these bottles.

And I had the pleasure of tasting them with a group of whiskey drinkers who were focused on the qualities of each whiskey regardless of bottle price. Really fun night!

Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Old, 43.5% alc./107 Proof, $400-$500

C: Dark Amber

N: Rich grain, cherry wood, sweet corn

P: Woody with corn to the front and a lingering sweetness that transitions into the finish

F: Short but sweet

In conclusion: A perfectly pleasant wheated bourbon that would drink well on a little ice.

Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year Old, Lot B, 45.2% alc./90.4 Proof, $400-$600

C: Dark Amber

N: Warm pork fat and brown sugar, buttered popcorn and subtle wood, somehow mint floss

P: Sweet with balanced corn and wood, pleasant oiliness

F: Very subtle wood spice with soft ground grey pepper

In conclusion: A very interesting wheated bourbon that presented
some surprising notes (see "warm pork fat" and "mint floss"!)

Pappy Can Winkle 15 Year Old, 53.5% alc./107 Proof, $900-$1500

C: Bright Amber

N: Very herbal and vegetal with pronounced char, peanut shells, and some spice

P: Spice to the front, more wood, sweetness behind

F: Pleasant pepper, lingering wood, hints of spice

In conclusion: Given the pronounced char and spice thread this was my favorite of the night

Pappy Can Winkle 20 Year Old, 45.2% alc./90.4 Proof, $1300-$2000

C: Dark Amber

N: Dried apricots, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, and flat cherry Coke

P: Ongoing cherry Coke notes with sweet corn and warm wood

F: Lingering sweetness with dark chocolate and dried cherries

In conclusion: I thoroughly enjoyed the dried fruit notes and
lingering sweetness. For some of the group this was the night's
winner. I'd need a bit more spice and char for it to take the
night for me. Very decent, though!

Pappy Can Winkle 23 Year Old, 47.8% alc./95.6 Proof, $2000-$3500

C: Dark Amber

N: Soft caramel, warming oak, and an intriguing fennel/anise note around the edges

P: Again with cherry Coke notes, sweet to the front, peppery to the back

F: Silky with a dill explosion that's followed by milk chocolate and pepper warmth

In conclusion: Good in its own right but the 20 Year Old has more interesting dried fruit notes and the 15 Year Old has better spice notes. I did enjoy the appearance of fennel/anise notes, however.

Bonus Pappy (because when you're having a good night there's nothing wrong with getting really spoiled!):

Pappy Can Winkle 15 Year Old, 53.5% alc./107 Proof, $900-$1500 (2012 Release)

C: Really Dark Amber

N: Some char, some pepper, some dust, fresh jalapeño skin

P: Quite herbaceous (hints of dill), wood shavings, and wood lacquer

F: Peppery with exquisite char elements

In conclusion: A close runner up to the 2014 release 15 Year Old but just a little dusty (think dried cardboard) in comparison. The char notes and spice are a little quieter in comparison, too. 

Van Winkle Rye Family Reserve 13 Year Old, C-series, 47.8% alc./95.6 Proof, $1000-$1300

C: Dark Gold

N: Dill, milk chocolate, buttery yet dusty and woody (this aspect messed with my head!)

P: Very pleasant spice with a wonderful buttery texture

F: Lingering wood and soft spice

In conclusion: I thoroughly enjoyed this rye whiskey and would love to
add it to my own collection (minus the zero on the end of the current prices). How
it pulls off buttery, dusty, and woody is beyond me. I recommend
hunting out a sample if your palate tends towards rye.

Overall: I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to taste such unicorns. As we discussed on the night, it's hard to taste such expensive whiskies without thinking a little about the cost (we sampled between $7k and $11k worth of whiskey over a few hours) and thinking the most expensive is the best but the truth of the matter is that the 15 Year Old and 20 Year Old releases showed better than the 23 Year Old. 

Oskar Blues Death By Coconut Irish Porter

Known for their Old Chub (often found on nitro!) and their Dale's Pale Ale, Colorado's Oskar Blues brewery has grown quickly since 2002 to now include breweries in North Carolina and Texas. Pioneers of craft beer in cans (they're "infinitely recyclable and portable") Oskar Blues now push Crowlers (32 oz. single use cans filled and sealed in front of the customer) as a way to take beer home from your favorite tap room. Death By Coconut sounds like something I won't enjoy...but I trust Midtowne's Lauren.

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Behind door #11: Oskar Blues Death By Coconut Irish Porter, 6.5% alc., 12 oz. can

C: Black with a foamy caramel colored head (that quickly dissipates to leave a little head trim around the edge of the inside of the glass)

N: Leads with the coconut (does it ever!) then chocolate notes come in behind -- sadly lacks any discernible malt note

P: Coconut, chocolate, and almonds (like drinking an Almond Joy bar)

F: Sweet with ongoing coconut flavors, starts to dry out towards the back of the palate

In conclusion: If drinking Almond Joys is your thing you're on to a winner here. Personally, I would have liked more malt influence to give it more of a porter presence that could play off the coconut and chocolate sweetness but it remains eminently drinkable, if a little on the sweet side.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

We have a winter classic on our hands as we enter the final quarter of the "Twelve Beers of Christmas" dark beer pack from Midtowne Bottle Shop (Harrisonburg, VA). Young's used to brew at the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, London until their 2006 merger with Wells. Sadly, at that point, the Ram Brewery was shuttered (ending a brewing history on the site that dated back to the mid-1500s). Wells now brew Young's beers at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford. Containing both brewers chocolate and chocolate extract the chocolate influence is usually high in this offering.

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Behind door #10: Young's Double Chocolate Stout, 5.2% alc., 11.2 oz. bottle

C: Black with a creamy, caramel head

N: Both milk chocolate and dark chocolate elements lead the way with roasted malt notes and vanilla around the edges 

P: Abundant rich, sweet chocolate notes, subtle roasted malt notes, and just a hint of licorice 

F: Lingering sweetness with drying roast malt and dark chocolate notes

In conclusion: Always a crowd pleaser, the rich chocolate notes and full body never disappoint. A very easy drinking dark ale.