Every bottled vintage of Sisyphus (2002-2017). Amazing does not encapsulate the awesomeness and generosity of Brad and Co. at Real Ale. Amazing brews, amazing hospitality. #lifesshortdrinkgoodbeer #beerwithblake #realale

I write this on the 13th of September, 2011. This beer was bottled two years before I could legally drink, and a little more than a year before I would try my first beer. Now, I have only had a pair of barley wines in my past, so I really don’t have a lot to compare this brew too. The only other barley wine that I have had was a 2010 Sisyphus, which I found to be excellent. This 2007 vintage however, is just plain phenomenal. This is a beer that definitely ages well. It poured a deep carmel color, similar to that of an Irish red. There was only a little head on the pour, but the lacing is excellent. The taste is very intriguing. It has an almost bitter quality to it. The first flavor that I noticed was an almost caramelized banana, almost as if if was prepared in a vintage brandy. You can also taste slight traces of plums, and spice. For a beer that is 11.5% ABV, it doesn’t hit you like a cinderblock. I have found several higher ABV brews to be too sweet, similar to drinking syrup, however this is not the case with this example. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go enjoy the rest of this wonderful brew, knowing full well that I may never come across another of this vintage.

Prosit!

Last night some buddies of mine all got together and we had a tasting event. Present were thirteen distinct, rare(ish) beers. This is going to be a lengthy post so, you may just want to crack a (55-63 degree) brew and sit down.

1. Le Merle – North Coast Brewing Co.
2. Le Feuillien Triple – Brasserie St-Feuillien #37 Triple Beer Advocate
3. Small Batch #1 – Ranger Creek San Antonio
4. Ranger Creek #2 – Ranger Creek San Antonio
5. Pliny The Elder – Russian River Brewing #19 on Rate Beer #6 Beer Advocate
6. Fullers Vintage Ale 2010 – Fuller, Smith, & Turner
7. 10 Commandments – The Lost Abbey
8. Big Worse – Mikkeller
9. Sucaba (Abacus) – Firestone Walker Brewing Co #49 Beer Advocate
10. Top Sail Bourbon Barrel Porter
11. The Abyss 2011 – Deschutes Brewing #29 Rate Beer #13 Beer Advocate
12. Speedway Stout – Alesmith Brewing Co. #6 on Rate Beer #63 Beer Advocate
13. Whiskey Weasel Rodeo – Jester King Brewery #45 Stout Beer Advocate

I could go on and find the ratings for everything we drank, but rest assured, this was not a commonplace tasting. I’ll start at the top and work from there.

1. Le Merle Solid Saison, true to the style and enjoyable. I’m not a huge saison guy, but this was good.

2. Again, I am not a huge Belgian guy, but this Triple was excellent. It managed a 98 on Rate Beer if that tells you anything about it. A nice strong, aromatic triple, floral notes, and a fruit flavor.

3. Ranger Creek #1. Thankfully they acknowledge their wax issue. This beer was probably spoiled by the wax. It was supposed to be an oatmeal pale ale, an anniversary homage to one of their first releases. However, in practice, this brew was unfortunately disappointing. The odor of the wax (even once removed from the bottle before we pulled the crown) was just too much. It was almost a sour, but not quite. I’d really like to have this brew from a cask and give it an honest shot.

4. Ranger Creek #2. THEY FIXED THE WAX ISSUE! This brew was solid. Very nice smokey flavor resulting from the fruit wood that they used to smoke their malts. Excellent saison, medium body, nice fruit notes. One of the better smokey aspects that I’ve ever sampled.

5. Pliny The Elder. This double IPA is a three peat world champion. This brew is everything I wanted, and more. I had always heard about Pliny, but wowzers. Wonderful aromas (I wanted to bottle it and sell it as cologne) I always wondered why the name Pliny so I set out to do some reseach (Read: Google / Wikipedia). Pliny was the first known individual to write about hops! (Fitting for a double IPA). He died in a volcanic accident while attempting to rescue some individuals. Any man that notes hops, and dies saving mankind… he’s a good fella in my book. My next trip to Cali I will be bringing back some of this brew. It is not meant to be aged so unfortunately, unless I move to California it’s not a daily brew to drink. This is rated the #6th best bottled beer… and you can buy it for $4.99 a bottle. Talk about value. Wonderful pineapple notes, I’ve had a LOT of IPAs, but never one that exhibited pineapple. It was very refreshing with the four types of hops used.

6. Fullers Vintage. I do love some Fullers. Whether it is their London Porter, ESB, or now their vintage ale. This brew house puts out some exceptional beer. This one was the 2010 vintage and was rather delightful. I would have liked to see how the flavor and body develops after another year or two, but I wasn’t going to turn down the chance to drink a beer that comes in its own box.

7. The Lost Abbey. The Ten Commandments.This was the first Lost Abbey brew that I’ve ever had, and boy oh boy do I want some more. This ale had notes of raisins, honey, and….. rosemary. An odd combination if you think about it, but melded together it was very pleasing to the palate. The rosemary hit first, a wonderful aroma as well as tingling in the mouth feel. Then you have the full flavor of the raisins. Wonderfully alcoholic raisins, bold, sweet, and a touch of acidity. Then the honey smooths everything. It feels as though the rosemary chips at the wall of your palate, the raisins come busting through the front door, then it is all encompassed in a flood of honey that flows in like lava. Truly wonderful. I would get this beer again, and again. It is not an every day beer, but certainly one that I’d love to have on hand for this cold winter nights.

8. Big Worse – Mikkeller. I am a big fan of Mikkeller. I like his collaborations, I like what he’s done with the guys over at , etc. This barley wine is no exception. Very well put together, true to style. Enjoyable.

9. Firestone Walker Sucaba. This was one of my favorites, if not my favorite brew from last night. Great barley wine, luscious and full bodied. Very smooth as well, I’ve never had a barley wine as smooth as this one, even my five year aged Sisyphus wasn’t this well rounded. I can certainly see why this beer is rated in the top tier. I am not on a quest to find their reserve series of this brew. I am sold on this brewery after one beer, and that is saying a lot.

10. Full Sail Bourbon Barrel Imperial Porter. This brew is the one I was most excited to try (outside of Pliny). An imperial porter, aged in bourbon barrels (at the suggestion of the head distiller from The Macallen). Fig notes, whisky flavor, and the whiteness of the oak. It was good, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it didn’t have the robust full body that I was hoping for. In all honesty, I was judging it to be an imperial stout instead of a porter, and that is what inevitably led to my disappointment. However, for a porter it was great. This is another beer that was drank prematurely. Being an imperial style, and only released in February of this year, I should have aged it another two years or so to further allow the alcohol to do its work, but in the end it was still rather enjoyable, and I imagine those of you aging this beer will not be disappointed.

11.The Abyss 2011 Vintage. Rated a perfect 100 on rate beer. I’d concur. This imperial stout, damn. The molasses, licorice, touch of sweetness, full bodied, and it pours black as the night with no moon. If perfection was a beer, this would be it’s right hand. There is an elite category in my mind for imperial stouts and this is right up there with the best of them. If I was able to have any beer, in any quantity, this would be it. It is the embodiment of what makes the perfect beer in my mind…. this is after it has only aged a year. I have a bottle from 2010 that I am still aging, as well as a pair from 2011. I hope to find a 2012 here in the next couple of weeks. Having this beer I feel rockets you into an exclusive club. This is the Ferrari of beers. Rich, luscious, holy moley, I cannot overemphasize this beer enough. If you ever have the chance, this is a MUST INDULGE!

12. Alesmith Speedway Stout. How do you follow The Abyss with anything? You have a Alesmith Speedway Stout. Ranked one of the best Imperial Stouts by Rate Beer. Coffee, lush chocolate, and 12% alc. I however disagree with the #1 moniker. While this stout was excellent, it didn’t excite me like the Abyss or the Bourbon Barrel Weasel Rodeo. The speedway stout was good, but I found it a little dry. Not like a cabernet dry, but something was drying. I suspect that they used a very dark roasted coffee which would pull the moisture out of the caramel malts and cause a drying mouth feel. It was still excellent, and very enjoyable, but I’ve had imperial stouts that appealed more to my palate.

13. Jester King Whiskey Barrel Weasel Rodeo. Alrighty, lets talk about Weasel Rodeo. Jester King has done some fun things with this beer. The original Weasel Rodeo (note batch #2, not the initial) has Kopi Luwak coffee ($200lb), and lots of it. The Weasel Rodeo is the most expensive beer ever released in Texas (by a Texas craft brewer). Dang near $18 a bottle, for a 750ml. Now, if you are sitting on this beer… KEEP SITTING. This beer needs time to develop natural carbonation. I had one that had been aging a couple of months, and it didn’t have enough carbonation yet, and this has been a common note against the brew. Everyone that I have talked to who bought this bottle has complained about the lack of carbonation. I hear that it IS getting better with time though, so just be aware. If you find it on draft, please indulge! It is an excellent stout, Kopi Luwak adds a nice lushness, and the chipotle peppers have a warmth to them that is great. Cool beer with a warming sensation when it hits your throat. I havn’t had a beer that warms the whole mouth like this outside of Theobroma. However, the bourbon barrel of this beer…. the whisky weasel rodeo… May be Mikkellers finest collaboration with Jester King yet. Oaky, and the bourbon shines through the oatmeal stout. The coffee flavor was mild, and unlike the Speedway it didn’t give a dry mouth feel. Solid brew, worth trying, but I wouldn’t drop $20 on it when I could have an Abyss.

All in all it was a grand tasting and as you can now see, we had some excellent brews present. Stay tuned for news of more tastings (We are going to try and have 4-5 a year). If you want to be apart of events like these drop me a line (Blake@Beerwithblake.com). If you have recommendations of brews for me to try, or anything that you want my opinion on, feel free to let me know and I will accommodate it.

A beer that is immortalized in story, as well as in form. Sisyphus, as I discussed here is a beer than has been aging quite a while. A 2007 brew that I drank back in September. I drank a second one on New Years proper, as my proper first beer of 2012. It is just as good now! If you beg me nicely… I “might” have another bottle around here.

Sisyphus 2007 Barley Wine

364 more to go!

Here is a short list of all of the beer bottles that I own. This collection is the basis for what has become BeerwithBlake. I felt as though that I should give y’all some background on just a couple of the beers that I have drank in the past years. Now, there are countless more that I have drank, or even have sitting here on my waiting list in my room. So without further adieu. THE LIST!

American Beers:

Shiner:
Shiner 100 Commemorator
Shiner 101
Shiner 102 Double Wheat
Shiner Black
Shiner Blonde
Shiner Bock.
Shiner Dortmunder
Shiner Dunkelweisen
Shiner Frost
Shiner Hefeweisen
Shiner Holiday Cheer
Shiner Kosmos
Shiner Light
Shiner Light Blonde
Shiner Oktoberfest
Shiner Oldtime
Shiner Smokehaus
Shiner Spezial Leicht
Shiner Ruby Redbird

Sam Adams:
Black Lager
Blackberry Witbier
Boston Lager
Cherry Wheat
Honey Porter
Imperial Double Bock
Irish Red
Lattitude IPA
Noble Pils
Summer Ale
Octoberfest
Sam Adams Light

St. Arnolds:
Amber Ale
Brown Ale
Christmas Ale
Divine Stout 10
Divine Stout 11
Elissa IPA
Lawnmower
Oktoberfest
Spring Bock
Texas Wheat
Winter Stout
Weedwacker

Real Ale Bewing Co.
15th Anniversary Ale
Alamo Golden Ale
Brewhouse Brown Ale
Coffee Porter
Devils Backbone Tripel
Firemans 4
Full Moon Pale Rye Ale
Lost Gold IPA
Oktoberfest
Phoenixx Double ESB
Rio Blanco Pale Ale
Sisyphus 2010
Sisyphus 2007
Sisyphus 2009

Michelob:
Beach Bum Blonde Ale
Dunkelweisse
Genuine Draft
Honey Lager
Marzen
Original
Shocktop
Ultra
Ultra Lime Cactus
Winters Cask Ale

New Belgium Brewing Co.
2 Below Ale
1554
Abbey Belgian Ale
Blue Paddle Pilsner
Fat Tire
Mighty Arrow Pale Ale
Mothership Wit
Somersault
Trippel

Blue Moon:
Blue Moon
Blue Moon Spring Blonde
Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale
Grand Cru
Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Honey Moon
Pale Moon
Summer Honey Wheat

Saranac:
Andironack Lager
Black Forest
Black & Tan
Brown Ale
India Pale Ale
Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada:
California Common (Beer Camp ’11)
Double IPA (Beer Camp ’11)
Juniper Black Ale (Beer Camp ’11)
Glissade
Kellerweis
Ovila
Porter
Summerfest
Stout
Torpedo
Weizenbock (Beer Camp ’11)

Budweiser:
American Ale
Budweiser
Bud Light
Bud Light Lime
Budweiser Select

Stone Brewing Co.
Arrogant Bastard Ale
Lukcy Basatrd Ale
Stone IPA
Smoked Porter
Old Guardian

Dogfish Head:
Aprihop
60 Minute IPA
90 Minute IPA
Midas Touch
Raison D’Etre

Avery Brewing Co.
Mephistopholes
Samael
The Beast
The Reverend

Deschuttes Brewery:
Black Butte Porter
The Abyss

Coors:
Coors Original
Coors Light

Abita:
Jockamo IPA
Turbo Dog

Ace Pear Cider
American Honor Declaration Ale

Anchor Brewing:
Anchor Steam Ale
Liberty Ale
Porter

Barbary Coast Gold Rush
Bards Gold Sorghum
Berkshire Springs Stock Ale
Blue Dawg Wild Blue
Big Shot Espresso Stout
Big Sky Brewing Co. Moose Drool
Boner Sun-Kissed Wheat
Boulder Beer. Co. Never Summer Ale
Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
Broken Halo IPA
Choc Beer Co. 1919
Crispin Hard Apple Cider
Dixie Lager
Dominion Oak Barrel Stout
Dundee Honey Brown
Florida Beer Company Key West
Flying Dog Garde Dog

Full Sail #3
Full Sail #5
Full Sail Amber

Gordon Biersch Marzen

Harpoon Celtic Red Ale
Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen

Heavy Seas Pale Ale

He’Brew Messiahs Bold
He’Brew Hop Manna

Hole In The Rock Marzen
Independence Brewing Convict Hill
Ipswich IPA
Karl Strauss Amber Lager
Keystone Light
Kingfisher Lager
Lakefront IPA
Lake Placid Ubu Ale
Landshark Lager
Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan

Leinenkugel 1888 Bock
Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat
Leinenkugel Summer Shandy

Lone Star Beer
Lone Star Light

Lone Rider Shotgun Betty
Longhammer IPA
Lucky Bucket Brewing IPA
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Michigan Brewing Co. Nut Brown Ale
Natural Light

Pyramid Apricot Ale
Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen

Magic Hat Brewery:
#9 Pale Ale
Blind Faith IPA
Howl Winter Seasonal
Single Chair
Wacko Summer Seasonal
Humble Patience Irish Red
Hex: Ourtoberfest

Peak Organic Winter Session Ale
Penn. Brewery Marzen
Piedmont Porter Old Colonies
Pinstripe Pale Ale

Kona Brewing Co.
Fire Rock Pale Ale
Longboard Island Lager
Pipeline Porter
Wailua

Rahr. & Sons Bucking Bock
Rahr. & Sons Ugly Pug Black Lager
Rahr. & Sons Amber Lager
Rahr. & Sons Texas Red

R. J. Rockers Bellringer
Rock River Lager Beer
Rolling Rock
Sea Dog Hazelnut Porter
Session Black Lager
Southern Star Bombshell Blonde
Squatters Hop Rising Douple IPA
Tejas Bock

Victory Headwaters Pale Ale
Victory Storm King

Wasatch Polygamy Porter
Woodstock Inn Pemi Pale Ale
Wyld Organic Extra Pale Ale
Yuengling Lager
Ziegenbock

Canadian Beer
Labatt Blue
Moosehead Lager
Unibroue Maudite

European Beer:

English Beers

Guinness:
250th Anniversary Stout
Guinness Draught
Extra Stout
Foreign Extra Stout
Harp Lager
Smithwicks

400 Pound Monkey

Brew Dog Paradox
Brew Dog Storm

Bass Imported Pale Ale
Belhaven Scottish Ale
Fullers London Porter
George Killians Irish Red
Hobgoblin Dark English Ale
New Castle Ale
Samual Smiths Oatmeal Stout
Skull Splitter

Williams Brothers Kelpie Seaweed Ale
Williams Brothers Alba Pine Ale

German Beers:

Paulaner:
Hefe-weizen
Oktoberfest Marzen
Salvator

Spaten:
Oktoberfest
Optimator
Premium

St. Pauli Girl
St. Pauli Girl Dark Lager

Becks
Becks Dark Lager

EKU Pils
EKU 28

Celebrator Double Bock
Czechvar
Fruh Kolsch
Gosser Dark Beer (Austria)
Kostriker
Kronenbourg 1664 (France)
Licher Lager
Lomza Mocne
Pilsner Urquell
Sprecher Special Amber (Austria)
Stawski (Poland)
Stella Artois
Trummer Pils

Weihenstephaner
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Warsteiner
Weissenohe Monks Fest
Wurzburger Hofbrau

Hollande Beers:
Amstel Light
Bavaria

Heinenken
Heinenken Dark Lager

Hollande 1620
Grolsch

Belgian Beer:
Blanche De Bruxelles
Delirium Nocturnum
Floreffe
Hoegaarden
Leffe
Monks Café
Westmalle Trappist
Wendelinus Biere D’Abbaye

Spanish Beer:
Estrella Damm

Italian Biere:
Peroni Naustro Azzurro

Greek Beer:
Mythos

Asian Beer:
Chang (Thailand)
Kirin Ichiban
Lucky Budda (China)
Hue Beer (Vietnam)
San Miguel Pale Ale
Sapporo
Tsingtao

Lion Imperial (Sri Lanka)
Lion Stout (Sri Lanka)

Russian Beer:
Baltika Porter

South American / Carribean Beers

Mexican Beers:
Bohemia
Corona Extra
Corona Light
Dos XX
Dos XX Amber
Modelo
Sol
Victoria

Argentinian Beer.
Quilmes

Brazilian Beer.
Palma Loucha
Xingu

Jamaican Beer:
Jamaica Stout
Red Stripe

Howdy, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, I know that I did. I watched my team beat up on the Colts (34-7). I watched my brothers team lose in the final seconds to New York (27-24). I drank some good beer, and toured two breweries. So, on that note, lets get started.

Friday, I made the trek down to Blanco, Texas to tour Real Ale. Now I have toured Real Ale before, so I intended to get there for the tasting hours because I heard via their facebook page that they would have their W3TF?! ale as the Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery) this week. They also had their classic Firemans #4, Russian Imperial Stout (Also know as their 15th Anniversary Ale), Real Heavy (A Scotch ale aged in whisky barrels) and my favorite, their Oktoberfest. Now, as a general rule, I am a HUGE fan of any beers that are allowed to age in whisky barrels. Especially when those whisky barrels are bourbon barrels, and even moreso when they come from my favorite distillery in Kentucky (Makers Mark). However, I found Real Heavy to be a little too sweet for my tastes on Friday, a good ale, a strong ale (it weighs in at over 9% ABV) and yes, I will buy a six pack or two of it, but it just didn’t hit the spot on Friday. Their W3TF?! was also tasty, a 100% fermented beer with a single strain of yeast from my understanding. However, being the Mysterium Verum it is not one that I expect to see out on the shelves anytime soon, if ever. One of the great things about Real Ale, is that they like to experiment, and they let their consumers enjoy their experiments. The casks are limited release (if there is a release) and usually just available at the brewery during tasting hours, or if you are REAL lucky, you can find them at local drinking holes from time to time.

Now, the tour itself was very informative, and I highly recommend that if you have a free Friday afternoon to check them out. They have tours at 3pm and 4pm every Friday. I’ve had two different tour guides, and each tour was different, with new information, and a different take on the brewing process. After the tour, I went around and found a little liquor store out in BFE, off of a gravel road, and it barely constituted a shanty with a screen door, but it was there. Now in this store, I found what I believe to have been reminiscent of Mecca for Real Ale. A few lone four packs of the discontinued 15th Anniversary Ale, a few bottles of Sisyphus 2010, 2009, AND 2007. Now, Sisyphus is pretty cool. I love the naming that goes on at Real Ale. Sisyphus is an ancient Greek myth, and being the purveyor of history that I am, I am enthralled by all things Greek and Roman revolving around the mythologies. Sisyphus was a human, who stood up to the gods and as a result was condemned to pushing a large boulder up a hill, and then watching it roll into the depths of hades, then repeating…. for all eternity. Now, some say that this is the ultimate triumph over the gods as Sisyphus is able to revel in watching the boulder crash into hades for all eternity, and that the view from atop the mountain is one that overlooks all society. The theorem is that in that moment, where he is free from all bounds and above all, that ultimate freedom and being is epiphanized. (Yes, that IS a Blake-word). Anyways, I digress. I had not ever seen the Sisyphus 2009, much less the 2007 (I was not legally able to drink in 2007) so I had to buy them regardless of cost. So I will write reviews on those when I indulge later this week hopefully.

I also visited Jester King this weekend, however I will detail my adventures there later this afternoon or this evening. Suffice to say, I have a lot of good things to note about the guys (and gal) out there.