Yerevan lager

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a beer that you've likely never had.

On the rare occasion that I get to a Middle-Eastern restaurant, I'm often interested in trying something new. In this case, I spotted a beer list with several beers I'd never heard of (including "Bule Moon"...), so I opted for one to go with my kabob.

What I ended up with was Yerevan Premium Beer, imported from Armenia.

Named after the capitol city, Yerevan is considered a European Pale Lager (think Stella Artois or Heineken) that pours a hazy, light gold. The carbonation is a bit light, as is the mild 4.6% ABV alcohol content.

Likely brewed with wheat or rice, this beer has very mild flavors that are slightly sweet, a little citrus, and actually reminded me of a sweet white wine. 

This actually wouldn't be a bad summer beer, but I really think you need to keep this beer cold to maintain the flavors. If it warms up to room temp, I'm thinking it would start to get REALLY sweet - and not in a good way.

Bottom line, you're unlikely to find this, and that might not be a bad thing. It's a bit of an oddball that's fun to try, but not worth seeking out on purpose. 

If anyone else has tried Yerevan, we'd love to know what you thought.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Centennial IPA

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian, ever the IPA lover, has an IPA that he's not quite a fan of.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I'm actually more lukewarm on this one, but you may enjoy Centennial IPA from Founders.

American IPAs, with typically very strong hops flavors and bitterness, can come in a range of flavors from fruity grapefruit or lemon (my favorite), to pine, to grass to a "resin" flavor. 

This one falls into what I'd consider to be the pine category. Some people LOVE this flavor, so don't shy away from it because of me. 

It pours a dark gold color with good carbonation, and a higher 7.2 abv alcohol content. It almost wants to be fruity, but didn't quite get there for me. It's slightly sweet with a bitter aftertaste, and lots of hops.

The fact is, Founders makes some REALLY great beer, and you can taste the quality in this one. While it's not my favorite, it's a great example of a pine-esque IPA, typical of styles traditionally brewed in the eastern US. 

If you like IPAs or pale ales, and don't care for grapefruit flavors, you'll definitely want to give this one a try. Beer geeks will love it. 

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Hard Wired

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a coffee porter that'll get you wired.

It was a chilly night here in Maryland and, after a hearing a performance of a Bach concerto, a good dessert and a smooth porter sounded like just the perfect thing to finish off this elegant evening.

And there it was on the restaurant's beer list: Hard Wired Coffee Porter from Left Hand Brewing.

As you can expect from a porter, it pours a dark, opaque black with a tan head and good carbonation from the addition of nitrogen (which will give the beer a creamier consistency). It's a mild 6% ABV, which is also typical of porters.

There's a nice coffee aroma, which continues into the taste, along with mild, sweet chocolate and toffee. It also has a slightly bready taste (also typical of porters) with a very mild bitterness and a slightly dry finish. 

Overall, it's a really nice porter that has the potential for really big, overpowering flavors (coffee, especially), but is nicely balanced and nothing seems to overwhelm the other flavors. 

What really helps this is the nitro addition, which we've found actually mutes the flavors slightly. I suspect the coffee would be more pronounced if you poured this beer straight out of a bottle.

Bottom line? If you normally drink coffee, this is a great beer to try, particularly with a rich, chocolatey dessert. The flavors would complement each other nicely.

Who's up for trying this beauty? 

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

HopNose

How can you appreciate beer when you can't drink it? With these.

Recently, we came across these cool, hops-scented air fresheners from HopNose Hops Scented Air Fresheners, and figured we'd give them a try.

When you think of a hops scent, you're likely to think back to the big IPAs in your past, with that great citrus or pine aroma. 

But in their raw, harvested form, hops have a much more complex smell, often with subtle nuances and earthy tones that transform into those great flavors during brewing. And WOW, do these air fresheners capture that perfectly!

"We went through probably 100 different tries to get the scents correct," reports Paul Wartman, Director of Business Development. "They're so aromatic and accurate that a lot of breweries will actually hang a few HopNose fresheners around the tasting room."

A big room is one thing - so what's it like hanging in your car? 

To be honest, the first day is a bit overwhelming. Don't get me wrong - it's a pleasant aroma, but I found I needed to crack a window. But by the next day, it had mellowed to a welcome companion on my daily commute, with nice hint of grapefruit and resin permeating the cabin.

Bottom line? Definitely a fun gift for you or the hop head in your life. 

For more info and purchasing, click the link above or go to HopNose.com.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric 

Boulevard Radler

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a beer that wouldn't typically go well with February's weather.

Like much of the country, the Maryland area has been experiencing an odd, but not entirely unwelcome, mild winter. In fact, last week saw an unseasonable 75 degrees.

So when looking through the beer selection, I skipped over the wonderfully seasonal stouts and porters, and reached for the Cranberry Orange Radler from Boulevard Brewing Company

So what's a "radler" beer? 

Radlers, better known as shandy (think Leinenkugel's), are actually beers blended with soda. As a result, they're very light, easy-drinking and typically fruity deliciousness. Perfect for warm weather!

The beers used are typically something lighter like a wheat beer or lager, and Boulevard uses an unfiltered wheat beer in this case. It pours a pinkish-orange with good carbonation and a light alcohol content of 4.05% ABV.

As you can imagine, it's full of fruity flavor - mostly blood orange with mild cranberry. There's also a slight sourness to it, along with a little bready wheat beer flavor, but none of the flavors are terribly overpowering. 

This one is considered Boulevard's cooler-weather radler, so it should still be available for another month until their lemon radler starts being distributed.

It's definitely one I'd recommend to the casual beer fan, particularly if you like fun cocktails or even sweeter wines. Beer geeks will love this, too - it's just easy drinking tasty fun.

Who's up for trying one?

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

JavaHead Stout

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a breakfast stout with dessert.

My wife and I were out the other night and decided to stop by a local place for some amazing dessert and a tasty beverage. 

I had my heart set on a chocolate tart with raspberry sauce topped with chocolate ice cream, so which beer did I go with? JavaHead Stout from Troegs Brewing.

Originating in England, oatmeal stouts like this one are dark, malty beers made with a variety of grains - including oatmeal. This addition not only creates a heavier beer, but actually adds a toasty, slightly bready flavor that complements the beer. They're even sometimes referred to as a "breakfast stout".

As you'd expect from a stout, it pours an opaque black with good carbonation. What's not expected is the higher 7.5% ABV alcohol content, but it doesn't taste like it.

What you do taste is some mild chocolate, roasty malt, and mild hops. The coffee is actually the best part - when so many brewers will choose a heavily-roasted coffee (that gives a lot of strong, bitter flavor), it seems as though Troegs went with a milder, "regular" roast. 

In the end, it's loaded with a lot of great flavors that don't seem to overpower each other. This is definitely a beer I would recommend to both the casual beer fan and the beer geek, too. It's just that good.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Lot 6

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has an evolution of an IPA from, well, Evolution.

A few weeks ago, on the recommendation from some friends, I got my hands on some of Evolution's Lot No. 3 IPA. And it was really delicious.

So when I found their Lot 6 double IPA, I jumped at the chance to see if it enhanced everything that was great about #3.

"Enhanced" is really the key word here, as everything is cranked up several notches by the extra hops that have been added. Lots of grapefruit, a little lemon, and slight pine in the aftertaste. It's slightly dry, VERY bitter, and has a solid 8.5% ABV, so the alcohol content is on-par with other double IPAs. 

There is definitely a lot of BIG flavor (and bitterness) in this beer, and it's enough that I'd be hesitant to recommend this to a casual beer fan. Hop heads should make a beeline for s bottle, though. Personally, I prefer the #3.

Anyone else do this head-to-head battle? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric