North Carolina Meyer joins as we attempt to find out what makes a salty old curmudgeon so surly. Founder’s Old Curmudgeon Ale.

After four-and-half years of living in Japan, I am packing up my futon and heading back to the US of A. It’s been a good run, but I’m finished. My internet access is being shut off on the 12th of January. I leave the Land of the Rising Sun on the 23rd.  I wanted to get one more review while I still have a reliable connection and before I’m reduced to wardriving on the left side of the road for access to the intertubes.

About the only previous experience I have had with “bitter” is my ex-husband. BA-DOMP, SHISSSHHH! Actually, I’ve had bitters and just not realized it.  Hello! Can! of! Boddingtons!  And why is a bitter not bitter? That stout that I reviewed last time was more bitter than the bitter I had tonight. Oh, why don’t you beer people tell me this stuff? Well, they do. The tour guide I spoke with in Cairns Australia said “Victoria Bitter is all right, but there’s better stuff.”

And the better stuff category should very well include this nicely done Lake Towada Bitter. 350ml, 5% ABV.  This premium or strong bitter is bottled in the same fashion as the aforementioned Lake Towada Stout – in a brown bottle with a pretty blue label and that hybrid pull-cap thingy on top.

Pulling off the cap and pouring the beer, my first thought was “This beer sure smells nice.”  A sort of laid-back beeriness about it,  attractive and approachable.

My pour was an opaque coppery-brown with a light brown foamy head.  A nice bouquet of toasty malt with ruby grapefruit and lemon overtones and a the smell of clean t-shirts,  (this is a good thing, trust me) when the glass was given the old sniff-test.  Much more pleasant to sniff than dirty t-shirts (or socks)! The nose had an appropriate bit of hops overseeing the whole affair.

Mouthfeel was clean and dry, maybe just a touch too watery at the front.  Taste was toasty malt with a hint of mineral perhaps a suggestion of cinnamon in there, and gently citrusy fruitiness that offset the almost-sweet malt. No weird aftertaste or feel present and it felt nicely weighted – not too light and not too heavy.

Typical of bitters is low carbonation and this beer certainly was lightly carbonated. I felt that it flattened out a little too quickly but it may have been related to my inattentive pour which sloshed the beer around a little more than it probably should have been. A smidgen more fizz would have been nice, but the beer certainly wasn’t slouching around and was not flabby or too soft.

I really liked the level of toast to the malt, which seemed to be evenhanded and thoughtfully done. The hops were present in an appropriate amount,and although I felt like something felt like it was missing or withheld, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  Whatever that missing piece was, it wasn’t a showstopper.No big whoop there.

Lake Towada Bitter is a beer that is  easily drinkable and enjoyably so. I’m usually a one bottle person, but after finishing this beer, I wanted another, which is something that doesn’t happen often. This beer would be terrific with pretzels (soft or hard) or a basket of well-salted fries, but I really just wanted another all on its own, no foodstuff tagging along on the second date.

However, at almost six dollars a bottle with the current exchange rate (curse you, strong Yen and damn you, weak American Dollar) I had to content myself with one for this go around.

TMI: I got the burps after finishing this beer for some reason. Surprisingly though, I was like “Hey, still tastes good!”

All in all, a highly sessionable winner that makes me go “Yay! I”d like another one!” *

Kampai!

*if only they didn’t cost six bucks.

As this is my first post as a correspondent with Belching Monkey, I think I should introduce myself;  I am pretty much a guy liking food, drink and more or less everything that makes life interesting. This includes beer and ales, of course, however not limited to that – much into wine, coffee (drink way to much espresso during a normal working day!), sometimes a whiskey or two goes down, not to mention calvados. what I like about beer is the great variety there is, and during recent years we have seen a number of small breweries popping up all over the country (i.e. Sweden).

The beer, ale, I am about to share my impressions of is almost out of season now. Yes, I know I’m a bit late, but the brewery – Jämtlands Bryggeri – has produced this beer in time for Christmas every  winter now for a number of years.

Opening the bottle and pouring it renders a nice thick foam on the top. The boquet indicates alot of hops and some lemon. The colour is dark brown, slightly reddish when the glass s held up against a light.

How does it taste? Well, a first mouthful has a big, wide or full some say, taste of fruitiness and a distinct bitterness, there is apparently large quantites of hops here. the aftertaste is long, very long, with a slight twang of the bitterness at the end. It holds a range of Christmas tastes. It definetely goes well with the traditional seasonal food and perfectly on its own as well. This beer can be served before any meal and in time for the eating to start, open another bottle!

Summary: this is a fantastic Christmas brew. One of the best, it places itself among the best seasonal brews from e.g. Belgium, and it actually beats some of the, like Corsendonk Christmas.

This winter season I was surprised. I figured that most of my twitter and site followers would be talking about Harpoon Winter Warmer, Great Lakes Christmas Ale or some other spicy ale. When you think about Christmastime though, you think about how your mother makes 15 different kids of cookies (well not my mother, but probably yours), peppermint candy canes, egg nog and, of course, chocolate! So I should not have been surprised to see the Belching Monkey flock- Sorry, you are not a flock, you are an elite group of people who refuse to settle for libations that look like piss and taste like water- drinking Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout. And not only were you drinking it, you were applauding its flavor and complexity.
When I cracked this Brooklyn Brewery seasonal offering, I immediately smelled the chocolate. When I poured it into the glass, it was rich and thick. I thought about the Beverly Hillbillies Black gold. Texas tea. Next thing you, my mouth feels like a millionaire! The chocolate was evident in the initial sip, but was followed up by dark, roasted coffee flavor that swam through and enveloped my tongue and teeth. The problem is that the coffee flavor really overpowers the chocolate and unless you go into for another sniff, you might forget that you are drinking a chocolate beer at all.

Some folks call this a “very drinkable beer”. I found it to be heavy, and a sipper. I could see myself taking 2-3 times longer to finish a Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout than say a highly sessionable beer like Samuel Adams Boston Lager or even Brooklyn Lager. One was more than enough for me at 10% ABV.

This is a beer you must try (if you are of age). The flavor is balanced, but they might have called it “Black Coffee Stout” and noted hints of chocolate or chocolate aroma. It is deserving of a top-tier rating for its complexity, profusion and weight.

FIRST! Hahahahahaha! Lame.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s in Japan is a major Buddhist holiday and is called Oshogatsu.  New Year’s here is home and family oriented. Most of the country businesses shut down for at least three days, sometimes more. The arrival of the new year is celebrated during the first two weeks of January, during which “firsts” of the year play an important role.  A “first” is called hatsu. Everything from the the first temple visit of the year (hastsumode) to the first business day (goyohajime), is duly noted.  So technically, I can call this my hatsuhihyou, the first review of the year. FIRST!

What I have for this review is Lake Towada Stout, locally made in Towada. 5% ABV in a 350ml bottle. The bottle’s label features a pretty winter scene of Lake Towada’s famous Maiden statue. The bottle cap was interesting, a hybrid between a cap and a pull-tab as seen in the picture. I’ve noticed lot more of these caps in the last several months.

My initial reaction to my first whiff of the pour was “burnt band-aids”.  After doing a little reading, in the future I will use the term “phenolic” to describe a nose similar to this, but I think “burnt band-aids” catches the imagination, even if it doesn’t sound polished.   I was a bit concerned that I got a bad beer and since I was put off by the smell, I didn’t have a drink right away. A few moments later,  the phenol gave way to an almost-but-not-quite-burnt toast scent, along with a a bit of coffee.

Getting the beer into the glass, I found the dark, black-brown color of the beer to be  handsome and very visually pleasing.  The pour resulted in a rich, creamy, coffee colored head rising up, but settling quite quickly.  It was very hard to see bubbles, but they were there.

I like bitter and sour tastes but my first taste of the stout was so surprisingly bitter I was taken aback. For the first half of the glass, I wasn’t really sure about the beer and prior to doing reviewing probably would have foisted it on my spouse or poured it out but I wanted to really work through the beer and challenge myself.

I made sure the beer wasn’t too cold and I took my time with the glass and found that the patient approach paid off . The stout did a reverse-origami sort of thing, several flavors unfolding and revealing themselves. By the end of the glass, I found a  lot of  nice things going on in the brew that I really liked. I was pretty excited and proud of myself for sticking with it!

The carbonation was nicely done; active but not turbulent,  I particularly felt the fizz at the sides of my tongue. Mouthfeel was smooth but not overly creamy with a medium-rich body that was substantial without being chewy.  Almost too bitter at first, although this settled down as I worked through my glass.  Smoky overall with tastes of coffee in the middle, dark toasty malt with perhaps a bit of burnt toast or very dark caramel. Nutty and toasty in the mix as well as a nice touch of hops. Despite the intial band-aid (phenolic) smell of the beer, no weird aftertaste in the very long-lasting swallow.

Near the very end, I enjoyed a piece of gingerbread spice/dark/white chocolate bark with the brew. I love pairing chocolate and beer, but if that’s not for you then this brew might be good with a hearty beef stew.

I got to the end of the glass, and noticed some sediment at the bottom.  Peering into the bottle itself, I noticed a ring at the bottom.  This leads me, in my very inexpert opinion, to think the brew was bottle-conditioned. I’d welcome corrections and explanations if I’m mistaken.

Overall, a solid dry stout, nicely made and good for a chilly, windy New Year’s Eve.

Kampai!