Better Know Your Brews!
If there is anything I know how to do, it is drink.
But like most subjects, there is always more knowledge to be gained, more experiences to enjoy, and so what better way to broaden your mind than to learn some new ways to blast away a few brain cells? But what new beer should you try? There are many, many more choices available to the discriminating drinker today, especially in the New World, where choice used to mean Bud, Miller or Coors. To help you navigate your way around your local beer seller or bar, we have something to assist you. Better Know Your Brews, a new moon, new monthly series exclusive to Festung Europa, offers a fresh look at the world of beer tasting and rating without the snobbish attitude of many contemporary beer raters. Readers interested in getting their beer ratings from a modern beer snob are recommended to check out ratings at ratebeer.com or beeradvocate.com. These sites provide some great information about beers, but the ratings for beers tend to be very predictable. We think you'll agree, dear reader, that Better Know Your Brews is as smooth as dark Irish stout on a cold winter's eve, as refreshing as a Weißbier on a hot summer afternoon, and as cozy as busty babe in a cashmere sweater. Our reviewer, Aaron Nielsen, is an up and comer in the beer rating world with one journalist calling him the next “Michael Jackson” of beer rating. Cheers!
-CRM
To kick off the new monthly series, two very special beers were selected: one from the Rogue Ales residing in Newport, Oregon and the other brewed at Les Brasseurs de Gayant in Douai, France. Without further ado, I would like to present one of America’s finest examples of a nut brown ale.
- Aaron Nielsen
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (Brown Ale)
Though Rogue Ales brews its beer out of Newport, Oregon, several Rogue Ale brewpubs are located around the Pacific Northwest. At these brewpubs, a very large number of beers can be tasted fresh off the tap. With my fellow beer rating brother, Justin Nielsen, I visited the Rogue Ales brewpub in downtown Portland and rated fifteen different beers brewed by Rogue! With such a selection of styles and beers, it goes without saying there are winners (i.e. Hazelnut Brown Nectar) and some losers (Somer Orange Honey Ale). That being said, Rogue brewpubs are great places to try a number of distinct beer styles. Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar is a fine example of a Brown Ale brewed in conjunction with a nut flavor. Another tasty example of a nut brown beer is Tommyknocker’s Maple Nut Brown. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar is a 6-time World Beer Championship gold medal winner.
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar can be bought in a 22oz (650 mL) bottle for $6.99 at larger liquor stores and advertises itself as a nutty twist on a traditional European brown ale. Without a doubt, the hazelnut presence is the most obvious characteristic of the aroma and the flavor. Hazelnut extract is used in place of actual hazelnuts. The beer’s appearance is dark brown with a cream colored head. One sniff of the beer will be dominated by a strong hazelnut scent with some slight chocolate and coffee notes. Besides the dominant nutty taste, a caramelized malty flavor is the next most apparent taste characteristic. Also, there’s a milky, smooth taste to the beer that makes it an easy beer to drink. At 6.2% ABV (alcohol by volume), it is a little high for the style, but does not have a strong alcohol taste. This full-body beer can enjoyed with a dessert or anytime during the winter.
Aroma: 10/12 | Appearance: 3/3 | Flavor: 18/20 | Mouthfeel: 3/5 | Overall Impression: 10/10
Total: 44/50 (Excellent)
Aaron’s rating: 9/10
Les Brasseurs de Gayant (Douai, France)
Though Franc
e may be world renowned for its fine wines, northern France produces some fine Belgian-style beers. Northern France is home to the beer style, Bière de Garde. Traditionally, the beer wort is placed in an open container at the top of a barn. Doors or windows to the barn would be left open for wild yeast to enter the building and interact with the beer wort. Today, the wild yeast responsible for fermenting Bière de Gardes has been identified and can be introduced into the brewing process without leaving the wort open to the elements. The Belgian cousin of a Bière de Garde is the Saison which is typically more spicy and has more sour notes. Les Brasseurs de Gayant produces a number of fine Belgian-style and French-style beers including La Goudale, one of the best examples of a Bière de Garde.
A 750 mL bottle of La Goudale runs about $9.99 and can be found in larger liquor stores. La Goudale is 7.8% ABV meaning that drinking a bottle solo will give most people a huge buzz. Though it is recommended for the beer to be server in a Tulip glass, I chose to drink this beer in a Trappist glass. At first appearance, La Goudale has a slightly hazy golden orange look with a small head. Taking a quick whiff of the beer is great for getting your first idea of the complexity: sweet, a bit spicy, and almost no hint of hops. On an initial sip of La Goudale, a strong, but not overwhelming, flavor of alcohol is tasted on the tip of the tongue. Swish the beer a bit around your mouth and you will experience a sweet, quite malty beer. The flavor is very reminiscent of other Belgian-style beers with slightly yeasty and fruity hints. The beer is incredibly smooth to drink considering the higher alcohol content, though the dry characteristics are evident at the back of your throat. Full of taste and high in alcohol, La Goudale is a great bottle of beer to either kick off a long night of boozing or equally suited for sipping with your significant other as an alternative to wine.
Aroma: 11/12 | Appearance: 2/3 | Flavor: 17/20 | Mouthfeel: 4/5 | Overall Impression: 10/10
Total: 44/50 (Excellent)
Aaron’s rating: 9/10
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