Bolero Snort Oak Aged Longhop

Recently I met up with my friend Bob at the Copper Mine Pub in North Arlington, NJ, which I highly recommend by the way, and started discussing craft beer. It turns out that Bob is an aspiring craft brewer and founder of Bolero Snort Brewery established last year in Bergen County. He was kind enough to give me a few beers to sample, so I figured I would review them and see how they turned out.

Appearance: Crisp clear dark amber color with a ton of head, plenty of carbonation rising from the bottom, very good lacing and long lasting with the head.

Smell: The smell definitely lives up to its oak aged name as a very oaky scent greets the nose. There is also a great fruity scent that smells like some kind of berry/pineapple/grapefruit mix, definitely a contrast to the sweet oak scent before.

Taste: Wow, huge fruit flavor at the front and finishes with the oak smoothness. It has a little bit too much fruit for my liking, but I can guarantee you that you haven't had a beer that tasted like this before.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, a little thin, a little watery, perfectly carbonated, no alcoholic aftertaste which is a huge plus.

Drinkability: This is definitely a delicious session beer that I wouldn't mind having a few more of tonight. At 6.6% abv, I don't have to worry about suddenly getting hit by the alcohol content. In fact, if it didn't say 6.6% on the bottle, I wouldn't have guessed it. One thing I like about the beers from Bolero Snort is that they are not afraid to take risks and make different beers that you won't find anywhere else. I give the Oak Aged Longhop a solid 7.5/10, and it might have been higher if I was more of a fan of the fruit involved.

Glass type: DFH bullet glass
Serving type: Bottle, 12 oz.

Schlafly Reserve Barleywine-Style Ale (2007)

Jimbo got this brew as a Christmas gift this past year, and has been trying like hell to fight off the temptation to drink it while it was aging, but six months was all he could manage. Of course, he needed reinforcements for this bad boy because, well, we all know the testicular fortitude of James.

Appearance: A very cloudy thick brew with very little head, a deep luscious amber brown color, similar to the color of the sap that the mosquitoes were trapped in in Jurassic Park, but we digress...

Smell: A basket full of fruits, grapes, peaches, raspberries, and a little bit of honey, the smell doesn't suggest heavy "I'm going to hang you by your balls" barleywine, it almost reminds us of the fruity ice and sweet wines, very subtle hints of oaky nuttiness, but you really need to search for it, almost no hop scent, very surprising for a barleywine.

Taste: OAK!!!!!!! Holy crap, that's where it was hiding. As we took our first sips, we stared at each other and simultaneously said, in our best Keanu Reeves impersonations, "Woah, oak." We have completely different smell and tastes because that ice wine fruity scent has disappeared from the taste. Some spiciness, but the oak flavors just take over any hop bitterness that could be there.

Mouthfeel: A big deep beer with a dry finish, definitely a sipping beer, well carbonated for the style, aftertaste finishes you off with a faint alcoholic tingle, our tastebuds are starting to become overpowered the more we drink it, and the dry oak taste leaves you wanting some water.

Drinkability: Even though it says its ready to drink when its bought, we would recommend aging it a year or two longer. Jimmy aged it over 6 months and we still feel it has a long way to go before all the flavors and bites mellow. At 10.2% abv, you definitely wouldn't want more than one to end your night. Compared to other barleywines, aged or not, this one ranks pretty low, especially with its ready to drink claim. We give it a 6.5/10.

Glass type(s): Duvel and Chimay glasses
Serving type: Bottle (1pt. 9.4 fl. oz.)

Southern Tier Oak Aged Unearthly IPA

Be not mistaken by the label but this is not just a typical India Pale Ale, it is an IMPERIAL! My favorite style shows up unexpectedly, or should I say unearthly? The shimmer and shine of this bomber caught my attention at Ramsey Liquors here in the dirty Jerz. The price of $8.99 almost deflected my heart away from this ale, but the hop wearing a crown on the label was like love at first site. Let us see what the brewers from Lakewood, NY created in this limited release imperial.

Appearance: Pours a 1/2 pink finger of head that dissipates to a thin cover after it settles for a minute (as if you were skiing/snowboarding down the mountain and you come up to a patch of snow with dusting on top and then you realize it is a major ice spot and panic, leading to a monster yard sale wipe out). That comparison is basically how I feel right now, scared but anxious to try it. You can attempt to see through your glass but you will end up squinting due to the faint hop cloudiness. This goldenrod-brown-orange-yellow-ish ale is secretly alive as you watch the micro carbonation bubbles gasp for air at the top of the glass.

Smell: Intense wafts of vanilla bean from the "[oak aged]-ness" character that masks all else. Hazel-nutty malts and spicy/perfume-y hops (although my hop sense might be off from the overpowering vanilla bourbon tasting barrel. Reminds of smell of an Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewing.

Taste: Butterscotch candy that has been spiked with alcohol melting in your mouth. Can taste the bitterness of the hops finally...over-ripened pineapple in combination with floral hops. Vanilla sweet malts leading the charge as the smell still, but not as overpowering as in the Smell category.

Mouthfeel: Goes down smooth as velvet, but that alcohol after bite stings as you let the beer mellow in your mouth and even has an unpleasant alcoholic taste minutes after you take a sip. I feel like eating on pretzels and/or beer nuts, or wait GOLDFISH! to act as a palette cleanser. As it warms up to room temperature, the not pleasing aftertaste isn't as dreadful...reminds me of a sweety malty red ale finish.

Drinkability: Overall this beer is diffult to consume for me, as I slayed this bomber in an hour approximately. Not the hopgasm I expected for a DIPA. My experience with the oak aged beers has been borderline kindergarten (my favorite is oak aged yeti from Great Divide), but for me it ruined this beer. I would keep the Oak Aged style to stouts in particular, but then again, I need to gain experience points with this style before I can make that judgement call. It was definitely worth a try buying this for educating my beer brain, but I don't see myself getting it again (fell hophead Ryan had this on tap in Philly I think...how was it?) 6/10 for me. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of the high octane beer (north of 10%abv), but I don't like when I clearly taste booze as I felt was the case with this ale: vanilla mellow sweet booze.

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Alright, we know we have been slacking for a couple of months now, but we are going to try to ramp up the action as we approach the holiday season. There has also been some discussion about beginning our experimentation with homebrewing, so be on the lookout for those updates after the holidays. Enjoy the new color scheme, relax, and on to the reviews.

I was able to pick up this wonderful brew at my local beer store. It's very hit and miss what I find there, like I was able to pick up this and 4 24oz. bottles of Sierra Nevada Wet Hop Harvest (2008).

Appearance: A dark red/brown lively color with about a finger of creamy laced head, very clear, alive, and inviting

Smell: I do have a bit of a cold, but I would say toasty, smokey malts are in the forefront, with the tiniest bit of hops in the background. I wish I could be more specific with the hops, but the cold isn't helping.

Taste: A deep but lively/moving taste of toasty, even oakey, malts, and finishes with a hint of spicy hops on the aftertaste, a good clean taste that lets both the malts and hops play their part, and the American oak wood chips this ale is aged with make their presence noticed (and welcomed!) while tasting

Mouthfeel: Carbonated, but not overly so, travels nicely over the tongue and down the throat, making you want to drink more, smooth, and surprisingly light and heavy at the same time, a very unique experience indeed

Drinkability: This heavy hitter is shockingly easy to drink at 7.2% abv. You definitely wouldn't start your night with it, but it won't knock you out for the count either. The tagline "You're not worthy" is appropriate for this great brew. I've had the non-oaked Arrogant Bastard, and I feel the oak wood chips do add that something extra to distinguish itself among other heavy ales. I look forward to drinking this again, and though I normally avoid putting a number on the beers I review, I figure I might as well conform to my cohorts and give this a 8.5/10.

Serving type: Bottle
Glass type: Sam Adams Glass

Stone Brewing Co. OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale

Appearance: Thick & cloudy. Deep colorful brown with some redish tints when held up to the sun. Little bits of yeast? or wood chips? somethings mysterious floating around at the bottom of the glass.

Smell: Hard to derive. Woody maltish aromas hit my nostril. No hops.

Taste: Vanilly and woody and sweet. Missing something though?

Mouthfeel: Carbonation doesn't go away and more thin from what the taste showed. Vanilly oak lingers in my mouth afterwards.

Drinkability: Easy to consume and comes with a kick of 7.2% abv. Good flavors of vanilla and oak but missing something like i said in the taste. Aritficial vanilla aftertaste.

Great Divide Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Appearance: Dark as hell, thick, pours like motor oil, full finger of head, can't see a bit of light through it

Smell: Oak and nutty malt smell, very little hops present if any

Taste: Very deep chocolate, oak, and nutty taste, thick, no hop taste presence, leaves a good finish, but a little tough going down

Mouthfeel: Deep, pretty carbonated, can slightly taste the alcohol on the aftertaste, thick feel

Drinkability: Great combination of being a very thick stout and being able to drink a lot of it, would drink it all night, amazing taste, well balanced between the oak flavor and the natural nutty/chocolate flavors of the beer, 9.5% ABV, 75 IBUs (where's it coming from?), strange because the hops are basically not a direct factor in the taste and smell, but overall it's a great beer

-Mike and Jimmy

Boulder Obovoid Empirical Stout

Appearance: Dark as expected, poured lighter that most stouts, comparable amount of head (1/2 finger), head lasts for quite some time

Smell: Toasty and nutty malt smell, almost caramel, hops are extremely hard to distinguish from the malts

Taste: Chocolatey with the toasty and nutty, slight bitter aftertaste, but not overpowering, even though oak-aged, not overly present

Mouthfeel: Smoother than expected, downs easily, still heavy despite smoothness, low carbonation

Drinkability: Definitely have it again, almost like eating a chocolate cake for dessert, 7.5% ABV, could be a higher ABV

-Mike and Jimmy