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This Month's Featured Beers - February 2010 Please Note: Although we will make every attempt to ship the products listed, occasionally we may need to substitute them with equally outstanding beers. If you strongly desire to receive those listed, please contact us at 800-609-2537 so that we may note your account accordingly. (The product descriptions below are excerpts from our monthly newsletter. Click here to view it in its entirety.)Friar’s Belgian-Style White Ale
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Serving Temperature: 45-50°F
*Side Note: When mixed in equal proportions, the Georgia Brown and the 420 EPA combine to create a third very tasty beer with some of the hoppy aromatics of the EPA tempered by the Sweet Georgia Brown ale notes and the sweeter notes from the brown ale being sharpened a bit by the hoppy pale ale. Give it a try! Serving Temperature: 40-45° F Grupo Cervezas Alhambra—Granada, Andalucía Province, Spain (Southern Spain)
Serving Temperature: 42-50°F Brouwerij De Koninck—Antwerp, Belgium (Flanders—Northern Belgium)
Serving Temperature: 45-50°F About our clubs | About our beers | Beer Club Menu | Membership Benefits | The Perfect Gift | Featured Beers | Monthly Newsletter | Top of Page | Home 1-800-609-ALES © Copyright 1995-2001 World Beer Direct, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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The good Friar needs a good swirling to whip up the hefty sediment at the bottom of the glass—but you want to add that sediment to your glass when pouring to get the stylistically-appropriate look and full flavor characteristics that the brewer intended for this beer. A hard pour yields a cloudy butterscotch-colored beer capped by a frothy white head. On the nose we get a traditional Belgian Wit aroma: heavy on the coriander and orange peel notes with a wheaty twang and subtle sourness. The wheat aroma is very big on this brew! Also look for some leafy hops and herbal notes. This beer fills the mouth with rich wheaty flavors, full of the ‘twang’ so characteristic of the style and largely responsible for the very quenching nature that this style is known for. Look for some minor banana notes and apple skins as well as some thin caramel and biscuit notes as the beer warms, with bitter orange peel notes mingling with coriander and herbal, bitter hops. This beer has all the normal witbier notes, but is well-loaded with hops, giving it a domestic twist. Overall, a full-on wheat bomb that will go well with Brick or Edam cheese squares, or a Spinach and Feta omelet.
A hoppy beer that is not shy about boasting its prowess, much like the Sheriff himself. Pours a burgundy orange color capped by an off-white, thick, sticky head. Expect bigly aromatic hops centered on floral, citrus notes. Note how the hoppy aromatics drift atop a big malt backbone, offering up wafts of caramel and a hint of gingerbread dough when combined with the spicy hops. Pine, orange rind, white grapefruit all come to mind. Quite mouthfilling—this is no light beer. And thank God. Watch for the hop bitterness to kick things off with a playful slap in the mouth, then things go all floral and bloomy, and then let up long enough for some sweetness from the malts to take center stage for only a moment before the hoppy bitterness unfurls anew, dropping a thick blanket of earthy bitterness all over the palate. Hops-a-plenty from the Sheriff of Hoppingham, er, Nottingham. This is a well-made IPA that will hold up against spicy chili (heavy on the cayenne and cracked black pepper).
A GABF 2001 Gold Medal winner, this brew yields a prominent aroma of fresh grains with some bready, caramelish notes, maple syrup, hints of coffee, a nutty-note similar to almonds, and just a kiss of spicy, citrusy hops. On the palate, expect a blend of lightly bitter hops, burnt toast, and above all, a rich, sweet, nutty character (think hazelnuts and almonds). There's a ghost note of coffee at the intro to the finish, which gives way to a back-of-the-tongue bitterness that balances the sweet malty notes through the fade. Lighter bodied but full of flavor. Enjoy with a cheese plate featuring aged gruyere, camembert, and morbier melted over pumpernickel bread wedges.
420 Extra Pale Ale was first brewed on April 20, 1997, hence the name… We'd bet a nickel and dime that's not the complete reason behind the name, but we can't confirm. We can, however, provide you with a nugget of trivia to impress your friends: the brewery was named after a local creek. This particular beer is a lighter-bodied West Coast style pale ale with aggressive hop character in the aroma, flavor and finish. Look for piney, resinous, grapefruit notes, flourishes of mangoes, passion fruit and Clementine oranges and a hint of hop spiciness. Some sweet caramel grains keep the hoppy aromatics in check in this very well balanced beer. Note how the bitter hops and sweet malt play off each other during the first few moments ultimately fading to let a semi-bitter finish take over. The hoppiness is a bit less citrusy than implied by the nose and actually offers up a slightly peppery spicy bitter bite, but this never runs amuck due to the malty backbone. A 2002 Silver Medal winner at the GABF, and great with lobster, mussels or clams. Superbly drinkable at any time of the day.
Note the Moorish lions on the label, a reminder of the regional heritage from where this beer is produced. This dark brown, reddish-hued lager presents a creamy, nutty nose, with caramel notes and a mild roasted malt character that is just all around inviting. Expect a creamy backbone and some slightly roasty, caramel notes, with a distinct flavor of dark rum. Look for subtle notes of anise and licorice, and enjoy the clean, caramel finish with lingering rum notes. Overall, Alhambra Negra is very pleasant beer that’s not too challenging but also possesses ample complexity to keep the connoisseurs interested. This dark lager will go down nicely with a variety of smoky, grilled meat dishes, particularly those with a Spanish or Catalonian flair. This is some of Spain’s best beer, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see this one on more shelves in the states as popularity grows with exposure. Enjoy it now while it’s still hard to find, and spread the word to your friends, especially those who appreciate beers on the darker side of the spectrum. Remember, sharing is caring!
This Belgian pale ale is medium-amber in color with a crème-brûlée toned head. You may notice a hefty amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle before you pour it. While it's a matter of personal taste, our panel members felt that for this style of beer, it was preferable not to swirl the bottle to rouse the sediment; we left about ¼ inch of beer behind in the bottle to achieve this. But we encourage you to do a side-by-side taste test: one from a bottle with the sediment roused and poured into the glass, one from a bottle that didn't have the sediment disturbed, and see which you prefer. There are no firm rules on this—again, it's a matter of doing what works best for you, your palate, and your aesthetic inclinations. Upon sniffing, the instant impression is “Belgian yeast”. That characteristically fruity, phenolic profile leaps out of the glass and screams “Belgian ale!” There are some minor floral, Noble hop aromas coming from the Saaz hops that are subdued by the sweet bready malts as well as a mild tart acidity. Look for notes of plum, red apples and black cherries. The Belgian yeastiness also emits a slightly spicy character, which couples with a gently spicy hop aroma in the background. The beer goes down with a multi-tiered flavor profile. First, sharp and bitter, then immediately soft and sweet, transitioning to fruity and floral and ending bready and rich. One really should allow a minimum of thirty seconds after taking the first sip to fully focus on the evolving flavor cascade before taking another sip. A re-sniff after sampling reveals notes of apple cider, a bit of which also comes through in the flavor profile. Along with apple comes notes of sweet green grapes and faint impressions of golden raisins. A somewhat powdery finish ensues, developing into flutters of floral tones and a gentle balancing Noble hop bitterness. One of the definitive examples of Belgian pale ale. This beer is deceptively complex. Go too quickly, and you risk speeding past its layered complexity. An impressive beer. Try pairing with whitefish and baked red-russet potatoes, heavy on the rosemary.