100 Beers of 2010: 11/100 - Marin Brewing White Knuckle

Beer Style: American Double IPA
ABV/IBU: 8.0%/Unknown
Serving Style: Poured from the bomber into a Sam Adams sensory glass.

Appearance: A slightly opaque, thick brew, with a thin pale head that fades quickly. The carbonation is thick and slow as it rises up from the nucleation points. The color ranges from apricot at the core, to gold at the edges. 3.5/5

Smell: Zesty, resinous, sweet bready malts, tropical fruits, and thankfully no bananas. Nice, big, appetizing. 4.5/5

Taste: Sweet, thick, candy fruit, cherries, with very little American citrus hops, focusing more on the sweet and resinous end of things. A nice tongue bite on the first sip, with a wonderful sweet honey syrup body. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Excellent, thick, great for the beer. 4/5

Drinkability: A great big sweet thick DIPA. Definitely wish I could get this here in Michigan. 4.5/5

Overall Grade: A-

100 beers of 2010: 6/100 - Founders Double Trouble

Image used, without permission, from http://columbiabeerenthusiasts.ning.com/

Beer Style: American Double IPA
ABV/IBU: 9.4%/86
Serving Style: On draft in a standard pint glass.

Appearance: The pour was an absolutely crystal clear light copper ale with no head and nice levels of carbonation. A nice looking IPA that I want to dig into. 4/5

Smell: A huge floral honey hoppy sweetness jumped out of the glass. It's actually ridiculously close to Hop Slam, which was surprising -- I hadn't had Double Trouble for some time, but I didn't remember it smelling like this. As it warms a bit of soapiness emerges (somewhat like Pliny The Elder), along with a bit of pepperiness. 4.5/5

Taste: A big citrus bitterness hits your tongue, with a ton of grapefruit, a weird subtle mild sweet-tart cherry, and a futile attempt to balance things with any malt sweetness. It's fierce on the tongue, and the brew leaves it feeling overly dry and alkaline. Double Trouble is an example of why Hop Slam is as lauded as it is... this beer is just too sharp, too uncontrolled, and not sweet enough. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: A nice chewy thickness that is great for the style. 4/5

Drinkability: Double Trouble is a beer you can drink as fast as you want, I suppose, but isn't a chugger. It's just far too harsh and strong, and a tongue bruiser. I love Founder's and want to like this more, but it's just a little extreme, even for the style. I think that they could dial down the IBUs a bit and bring in some more subtle maltiness and it would be equal to Hop Slam in many ways. 3/5

Overall grade: B+

100 beers of 2010: 4/100 - Russian River Pliny The Elder

Image used, without permission, from http://www.thebeerbuddha.com.

I was lucky enough to receive a Pliny as an extra in a trade. It was about a month old, so I wanted to bust it open before the fresh hoppiness this beer is known for began to fade.

Beer Style: American Double IPA
ABV/IBU: 8%/100 (uncertain on the IBU)
Serving Style: Poured from the bottle into a Sam Adams Sensory glass.

Appearance: Pours somewhat clear and slightly opaque (redundant or what?), with a nice head that sticks around for a good amount of time. The lacing is pretty good due to the high level of hop oils. 4/5

Smell: Somewhat soapy, with big lemon, orange, and grapefruit notes. There is some honey sweetness. The soapiness throws it off, it's not very appealing. 3.5/5

Taste: A nice balance of sweetness and sharp, cat-piss hops. There is some herbal and resinous hoppiness, along with a slight amount of fundamental malt sweetness. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Good body for the style, but I wish it were bigger in the mouth. It might push it out of the style if it were, however. 4/5

Drinkability: Real tasty and easy to drink. A great west coast IPA for sure, but not exactly my favorite brew. I think the biggest weakness is the aroma and cat-piss American hops, which others might find true to style or even appealing. I simply prefer a bit more tempered American DIPA.  4/5

Overall Grade: B+

Review: Bell's The Oracle DIPA

Poured from the bottle into a Sam Adams Sensory glass.

Appearance: The beer pours an opaque apricot, and my mildly aggressive pour left a thin head that quickly dissipated. A nice level of carbonation is exhibited. Noting spectacular in the looks department but an attractive color.

Smell: A great nose on this - some peach, some citrus, some resinous hops, some slightly sour funk going on. Very fragrant and inviting.

Taste: A truly interesting beer. I'm reminded of Port Brewing's Hop 15 (or at least what I remember of that) - extremely thick, with a high level of syrupy, effervescent fruitiness. A sharp sour green apple bites through the initial sweetness for a bit, then is drowned with a clover honey finish that eventually gives way to that always unpleasant alkaline baking soda sensation on the tongue due to the IBUs.

Mouthfeel: I love a thick beer with a rich, creamy mouthfeel, so I'm all about The Oracle. The carbonation is quite good, and it's a nice mouthful of beer without being syrupy.

Overall, it's a darn good beer. It's going to rate outstanding and exceptional on the review sites due to it's rarity, but honestly I think I prefer the similar, and better, Hop Slam. The alkaline finish is just distasteful to me and keeps it from being a truly great beer. I'd give it an A-/B+.