Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Mountain Abbey Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Abbey Ale, 5.6%

Reported IBUs: 16

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

This is where things probably start to get weird....Blue Moon doing an Abbey Ale? Eh? The Mountain Abbey Ale is brewed with pale, "winter white wheat," and chocolate malts; this uses Mittelfruh hops, and features some dark Belgian candi sugar because DAE Belgium. 

This beer pours into a pretty nice reddish-brown body, kicking up a finger of brown-tinged head. The beer is carbonated well, but appears filtered...and yeah. Calling this an abbey ale is about as nebulous as calling this a Belgian Ale....so I'm not sure what to expect, but let's see.

The aroma is pretty mild and smells like a Brown Ale...I'm getting some toasted and nutty notes. When I swirl the beer, I'm starting to get some of the candi sugar, with some plums and dark fruit sweetness. This also has a saccharine sweet caramel presence, which seems characteristic of all these Blue Moon beers.

This is like a Belgian Ale light...really, it drinks much like a malty Bock or even a Brown Ale with some hints of sugar. This mostly dials up caramel sweetness, with some light toasty notes and some nuttiness. The kiss of candi sugar suggests some dark fruits and sort of legitimizes this, but this mostly tastes like a solid Brown Ale.

This is pretty solid as far as Brown Ales go. The candi sugar does add a nice dimension to the sweetness, and the toasty and nutty notes all work well together. It's not particularly complex or interesting, but it has reasonable depth. It seems very average, if not a bit outside the typical abbey ale guidelines. Up front is a nice dose of caramel, faint hops, and toast; the mids roll into more toast, some nuttiness, and hints of sugar; the back end drops candi sugar and some dark fruits. Overall it's pretty decent and hard to hate. 

Rating: Average (2.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This almost falls into below-average territory because honestly, this isn't a very inspiring Belgian Ale and I really have to work hard to dig out the nuanced and rewarding flavors. Having said that, this is probably an average or average+ Brown Ale thing. It would certainly pair well with the cooler weather, minus that weak ass ABV. I'd treat this like the many Winter brown ales that inevitably sit on shelves come November. 

Random Thought: My Garmin watch won't turn on and my life is in ruin. 

Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Stout

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 28AUG14 aka 8/28/14)

Style/ABV: Imperial Stout, 9.0% 

Reported IBUs: 32

I'm really happy to take a break to review a beer...I've been busy. This should be a good one though. About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2013, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

The Muddy is a brand new beer that Goose Island just rolled out. The bottle reads: "Amplified sweetness with licorice notes." This one is part of Goose Island's classic ales imperial series, and will be made nationally available in September. This one is brewed with molasses, brewer's licorice, and Belgian dark rock candi sugar, for that intense diabeetus sweetness inspired by dead Chicago blues artists. The hops include Nugget, Mt. Hood, and EKG; malts include 2-Row, C-40, C-120, Dark Chocolate, and Midnight Wheat.

Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Stout

I realize in advance that Bourbon County and Bourbon County's base beer is the beer that everyone is going to hold The Muddy to. I think that is fair to some extent. I think it is also worth pointing out that Goose Island's other Stouts -- namely Big John and Night Stalker -- aren't even in the same country that houses the realm that Bourbon County resides in. Having said that, The Muddy pours out into a respectable dark brown body. This isn't an opaque, black affair. The beer does yield two fingers of lightly tan-brown head, and there is good retention, lacing, and alcohol legs. It doesn't matter though, because unlike online dating, looks really don't matter.

On the aroma: things that smell like stuff. This is actually surprisingly complex. Actually, it's not surprising because look at that grocery list of ingredients. I'm getting a lot of meaty roast, chocolate, and dark Belgian candy sugars on the nose. The candy sugar sort of melds into melted Hershey bars...yeah it is that kind of sweet affair. There is some cocoa and cream in here, and maybe a little faint anise. Swirling the beer also reveals some hints of dark fruits, namely raisins. This smells incredibly sweet, but there is good depth of aroma. 

At cooler temps, this dials up big roast, iced coffee, and anise/candy sugar. The candy sugar is probably what is adding the raisins, dark fruits, and honest-to-Sagan, grape drink notes. It has a Kahlua character that I can't shake, and I really want to add some vodka and cream to this for that authentic White Russian experience. I'm going to shower so I'll come back in 20 minutes and hopefully this will have warmed up. Alright...I'm back. This actually does unravel some nuances as it warms. I'm getting less fruity candy sugar and more toffee, burnt sugars, caramel, and some alcohol to boot. The molasses really start to come out, and the whole thing is backed by this ghostly melted Hershey bar note. It's incredibly sweet, but to Goose Island's credit, it is also incredibly layered and complex.

Like I said, this is aggressively sweet...and with this style, that's OKAY. This is full-bodied and dense with lazy carbonation and big sweetness...it feels a bit boozy. Honestly, it feels just right at 9.0%. Palate depth is on the thinner and lighter side for the style, but the complexity is really dialed up. All this beer is missing is a barrel. Not even a spirit barrel...just a barrel. I think aging this beer in a barrel would add that extra layer of flavor that would really push it into that divine territory of brews. Up front: dark fruits, raisins, sweet molasses, anise; the mids roll into big Kahlua, iced coffee, toffee, and alcohol; the back end features lingering anise/fruits, with melted Hershey bars sweetness, and some booze. The finish is quite sweet and sticky.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. I think this is a very good, complex beer...that is maybe too sweet. But this is also a 9.0% Imperial Stout, so being too sweet isn't exactly a problem. I think the beer could maybe be a little bigger, but I dunno. It's still a fantastic Imperial Stout, and I'm excited to buy more of this on the regular and to age for a bit. I hope they take my advice and throw some of this in a barrel. Food pairings here: chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

Random Thought: I have a handful of beers I need to review, so hopefully I can power through a few within the next two days.

Affligem Dubbel

Brewed By: Brouwerij Affligem / De Smedt (Heineken) in Opwijk, Belgium

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Friar Tucks in Urbana, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 7.0% 

Reported IBUs: ?

TIL Affligem is Heineken's bitch....about Affligem:

Affligem has a long history as an Abbey, going back to 1074 when six knights quit their day job of kicking ass, and traded their swords for a more peaceful life. Ten years later, and the Abbey was born. Like most Abbeys, Affligem was subject to numerous take downs and rebuildings. In 1796, the French state shut down the Abbey. It was not restored until 1887.

The Monks at Affligem were brewing beer since the early days of the Abbey. During World War II they handed over their recipe to sustain/preserve the business. The brewery is located in Opwijk, Belgium, and is owned by Heineken. For more info, check out the brewery's website. 

The Affligem Dubbel is an...Abbey Dubbel. This one really needs no explanation. Described as dark and spicy, this one should feature lots of clove, spice, anise, raisins, molasses, and bananas. The bottle is cool, and the glass is no slouch...let's see how she stacks up.

Affligem Dubbel

Wow...this is a raw, rustic Dubbel. I'm digging this from the onset, with the beer's dark reddish-brown/orange body. The body is hazy, and you can see yeast suspended in the beer, along with a stream of carbonation rising upwards from the chalice's nucleation point. This one kicks up one to two fingers of thick, bready, caramel-tinted head. This just looks the part of an Abbey Ale, all rustic and conditioned...nice. [there's good, clingy head retention/glossy alcohol legs]

The aroma is even better than the appearance. I'm getting some apples and wheat up front, with some caramel sugars. If you dig deeper you get rich raisins, breads, brown sugars, bready desserts (I think raisin bread is a safe call), mild anise, clove, green bananas, perfumed dark fruits...it's just deep and layered, and goes way beyond the apple and wheat notes you initially get.

The taste follows through with the nose, almost spot on. That's not a bad thing, as you get blasted with sweet caramel, raisins/molasses, apples, and wheat up front. There are figs and stone fruits abound in here, with perfumed dark fruits firing on all cylinders across the tongue through the beer's velvety-smooth and perfectly carbonated body. I'm getting some hints of bread in here, brown sugar, raisin bread, dark fruits, dried dark berries, and tons of spicy phenols ala clove and cinnamon. Finally, I'm getting a dash of light anise/licorice.

This is classic Abbey through and through. Maybe it plays things a little safe, but the execution is flawless. And this feels rustic and vintage. I wonder how old this recipe is. I'm not getting any of the beer's 7.0%, but this is full-bodied and authoritative. The mouthfeel is perfect, with great duration, and tons of creamy, carbonated goodness. Complexity is fairly high as well. This expands in layers, with apples, raisins, wheat, caramel, and molasses up front; the mids hit carbonated figs, dark fruits, perfume, clove spice; the back end has malts, with breads, cakes, raisin bread, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove...the finish is dry and lightly dusty. This is well-balanced, and big. Nice... 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I can't believe I'm saying this about a Heineken-owned product, but this is a Light Divine Brew and one of the better Abbey Dubbels I have had. What pushes this beer over the top is the absolutely PERFECT and MEMORABLE mouthfeel, and the layers of complexity. This beer is also perfectly balanced, with good bitterness, tons of spice, lots of malts, and a dry clean finish. As this warms up the spice and malts are popping, and adding the yeast from the bottom of the bottle seems to add character. I'm just enjoying the heck out of this beer, and I could see myself buying this beer again in the Winter months. I feel like this is the perfect beer to pair with a meat and cheese tray, preferably during a football game. You could also pair this beer with stews, hearty soups, grilled meats, and ham. This is just some rustic and refined goodness. I'm surprised...I'm intrigued...I give this a VERY STRONG RECOMMENDATION, especially at around $10 a bottle. Check it out. 

Random Thought: I feel like classic Abbey/Belgian Dubbels are quite different from the candi sugar overload American counterparts. There is nothing wrong with that, but surely this style distinction is worth noting. Compare something like Solemn Oath's Big Box Make Magic to the beer that we have in front of us, and yeah. Two awesome beers with completely different experiences. 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 7.6% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Wrapping up with my lastest trip to Wisconsin...about New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Thumbprint Series Dubbel is part of New Glarus' Thumbprint Series, and is brewed using the traditional Belgium brewing methods that include a long kettle boil, and fermentation with Belgian Candi Sugar. This one is described as having a "cordial of caramel and spiced fruit notes." 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

This one pours the part...that is, with a hazy, reddish body, and two or three fingers of dense, bready, red/orange-tinted head. It looks very much like a Belgian Ale/Dubbel. Bright light confirms the hazy, reddish-orange body. There is a lot of peppery carbonation rising upwards, and the beer is effervescent with good head retention and lacing. 

The aroma isn't bad either. There's a nice chalky/dusty character on the aroma which reminds me of Chimay...I'm getting some earthy leather, oak (was this oak-aged???), light medicinal funk, and some nice hoppy notes. As you dig into the aroma more you get big dark fruits, including figs, grapes, plums, and a sherry/wine note. There is light perfume and candi sugar on the nose as well. 

The taste here isn't quite as prolific as the aroma...unfortunately. I'm getting lots of earthy funk, leather, oak, faint and nondescript hops, and very mild dark fruit character. There is a lot of carbonation, with some hints of perfume, candi sugar, and light Belgian funk. There is an earthy charred/leather note in here, and I'm really digging that. To me, it points this beer in the direction of grilled and barbecued food pairings.

This is a medium-bodied and well-carbonated beer. It's a bit airy, and it's way too drinkable at 7.6% or whatever it clocks in at. It has average palate depth and duration for the style, and also average complexity. This one leans towards dry...and not very sweet. Both of those things ultimately end up defining this beer within the typical Dubbel guidelines. I actually like this a lot, even if it's an average offering within the style. Up front: earthy leather, char, hints of oak, grains, airy and papery hops; the mids hit some Belgian funk, and throw in some caramel and dark fruits, suggestive Belgian yeast, light spice/perfume; the back end is trailing spice/perfume, bready, clean, dry finish. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. Again, those earthy leather/char notes would really compliment grilled or smoked meats. New Glarus suggests pairing this with smoked ham or grilled aged steak, and I would tend to agree with those suggested pairings. For my money, this is a good Dubbel, but kind of also par the course. I would feel right at home sipping on one of these in the Winter, but I probably would not go out of my way to seek this out unless I lived in Wisconsin. Then again, if they brew this again next year, I'll probably pick it up. 

Random Thought: I <3 New Glarus

Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (2013)

Brewed By: Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado  

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Binny's in Illinois; 2013 

Style/ABV: Belgian Strong Dark Ale, 18.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Ahhh...Avery. What to say about these guys. Avery is a brewery that was founded in September 1993 by homebrewer Adam Avery. You've heard this story before: homebrewer makes awesome beer, homebrewer jumps into the booming craft beer scene with great beer. Between 1993 and now, Avery has expanded numerous times, including bigger tanks in 1995 and in 1997. In 2000, the brewery replaced their brewhouse, and in 2002 more tanks were added, and 2004 marked the second year of Avery's barrel program. Since then, it's been all uphill with more expansion, canned beer, and continued success. To read more, check out Avery's website.

The Beast Grand Cru is part of Avery's The Demons of Ale series, and is one big beer. Dubbed a "Grand Cru," this beer features a grocery list of ingredients. The hop list includes Magnum, Galena, Saaz, Hallertau, Tettnang, and Hersbrucker hops. The malt bill is two-row malted barley, honey malt, and imported Belgian specialty grains (aromatic, pale wheat, roasted wheat, and Special B). In addition to all that, the beer also features Dates, Molasses, Dark Belgian Candy Sugar, Alfalfa Honey, Raisins, Turbinado sugar, and sweet, sweet Rocky Mountain water. This year's release punches in at an insane 18.0% and should age beautifully. 

Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (2013)

The beer pours a dark reddish color...talk about carnage in a glass...and kicks up two fingers of tan, Belgian-esque head. This beer is seriously carbonated, and head retention (about a pinky, at the moment) is good for a beer punching in at 18.0%. In bright light, the beer takes on a reddish-orange color, and the head is soaking up some amber tones. This beer is super effervescent at the moment, with tons of carbonation rising upwards in various streams.

The aroma on this reminds me of Dogfish Head's Fort and 120 Minute IPA. There's a ton of fruity, boozy complexity on the aroma. I'm pulling off berries, raspberry, raspberry puree, raisins, weird meat/leather, and tons of perfume candy sugar and turbinado sugar on this beer's nose. There's some rum-like qualities to the aroma, but I don't think this beer has aged to that point just yet. I'm not getting any solvent or fusel alcohol on this, but you know this beer is hot.

WOAH. Fuck me...this beer is huge. I'm drinking this hot with the intention to age a second bottle, but right now the first sip results in an explosion of spicy, boozy fullness...the beer just unravels in your mouth, and finishes with trailing booziness that would make any rum drinker blush. I'm getting some raspberry puree and berries up front, followed by tons of brown sugar, turbinado, and candy sugar. There's some boozy dark fruits in the mix, including plums and raisins, and then the beer veers into HARD Quad territory with overripe fruit booze. The finish is boozy, and then growing heat rises up your throat from your tummy. You get a lot of peppery spice in this from the booze, and some weird, peppery leather/butcher shop shows up from the alcohol heat. 

What we have here, right now, is a beer that's a wee bit one-dimensional. It's hard to say if the 18.0% is going to age into something with more complexity, but at the moment this is mostly hints of fruit, rum, candy sugar, and booze. Obviously, drinkability is low here. This full-bodied beast is a sipping beer through and through. Even if you age this, you're going to want to sip on this. The palate depth is outstanding, but this desperately needs some complexity. You get some berries and fruit puree up front; that rolls into huge sugars, candy sugar, brown sugar, and perfumey booze; the back end is more booze, rum-spice and rum-alcohol, hints of Quad-like dark fruits, and a boozy/warming finish.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This beer reminds a bit of the Two Brothers 16th Anniversary Ale. It's like bringing a rocket launcher to a fist fight. Then again...this beer has the advertised rum character going on, and this is definitely a sipper. As a fresh beer, I would only recommend this to be sipped on over the course of a cold Winter evening. As a beer to age...well, age away. I'll echo Avery's thoughts and agree that this beer would pair well with a pineapple upside-down cake, or any other fruity dessert cake. This beer might also work grilled meats. This beer has a niche...but I dunno. I'll have to sleep on this.

Random Thought: I guess BrewDog and Jim Koch brewed a Scotch ale with lobster and crabs in it...and then they made it sour, by sitting nude in the mash. That's super cool. I like to get naked with my fellow, same-sex coworkers (NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!!!) and make sour beer. Boop.