[Cellar Review] Samuel Adams Griffin's Bow Oaked Blonde Barleywine Ale (Vintage 2012)

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts 
Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; [Batch No. 2] 2012
Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: 45

Back on February 8, 2013, I reviewed the Sam Adam's Griffin's Bow. This inexpensive American Barleywine is both tasty and exotic. Brewed with Nelson Sauvin and Zeus hops, and aged on (or with) toasted oak, the Griffin's Bow is a creative take on the American Barleywine and part of Sam Adam's small batch series of beer. About Sam Adams:

The Boston Brewing Company/Sam Adams is, of course, the brain child of Jim Koch (and Harry M. Rubin and Lorenzo Lamadrid). Founded in 1984, Jim Koch got the ball rolling after college when he decided to resurrect and brew his favorite family recipe. That recipe belonged to his great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, and dates back to the 1870s (where it was brewed in a St. Louis brewery). That infamous family brew is the Sam Adams Boston Lager, of course. You can read more about the history of the Boston Brewing Company HERE, or check out their website HERE.  

Why age this beer? Good question. The bottle says: "Enjoy now or age it to further develop rich and unique flavors." The bottle also notes on the back: "From the aroma and notes of sweet honeysuckle, pineapple, and grapefruit, to richer hints of burnt sugar, and toffee, this intriguing brew is full of complex flavors. The distinct character of toasted oak adds depth and contrasts the light fruit sweetness. This unique take on a barleywine ale surprises with its smoothness and balance of fruit, hop citrus, and warmth." 

With that said, let's get this late 2012 vintage into a glass and see how a little over a year has done to this beer. 

Sam Adams Griffin's Bow (Vintage 2012)

This pours into a hazy, golden-orange body, and kicks up two fingers of dense, sustaining, golden-tinted head. Bright light confirms the hazy orange goodness, and you can see peppery dots of carbonation slowly ascending. Let me reiterate: head retention is really good here, with a finger still hanging around. There's plenty of lacing too. 

Even with the passion fruit/grape you'd expect from the Nelson Sauvin, I'm mostly getting pine, pine sap, caramel, toasted sugars, toasted oak, oak, and maybe some leafy hop aromas. There's some resin on the nose, and maybe some grape leaves, but there's lots of toasted sugars, sugar, and even a little grain/wood/coconut. 

As far the taste goes...this is inviting and warm, with lots of resinous pine, pine sap, and maple syrup up front; and some nice toasty oak, coconut, and toasted grains in the back. I wish this was a bit more complex, but it feels mellowed out at this point in time. There's a slightly harsh and astringent bitterness in here that I can't quite place a finger on...maybe a toasted grain character that shows up mid palate with some hop bitterness, before the beer mellows out into the oak in the back. Once you hit that oak note, you can dial up the wood and grain and things are okay. 

This is full-bodied, with lazy carbonation. It would be smooth and creamy if not for the sugary body that almost pulls like a mead or heavy wine. It's never cloying (imo), and you don't feel the full burden of the 10%. Still, this is a sipper through and through. Complexity is moderate, but the palate depth here leaves a bit to be desired. I feel like this beer could be more expansive and feature more depth across the front to back. Up front you get lots of resinous, sugar-coated pine sap, maple syrup, piney notes, caramel, brown sugar; the mids roll into more sugars, and then you get a bitter and astringent woody note, some grains, bitter hops; the back end is pleasant with nice oak, wood, coconut, toasted oak, toasted grains, lingering fruity sweetness. It's okay.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. I seem to recall enjoying the slightly more when it was fresh. The zesty pineapple notes you get from the hops when this beer is fresh cuts through a bit of the cloying sweetness that has now come out after a year of letting the hops drop off. It's not bad though...I would definitely recommend aging one of these for fun, especially at $7 or $8 a bottle. Food pairings here include creme brulee, fruit cake, fig pudding, and heavily grilled meats and sausages. 

Random Thought: As predicted yesterday, my run tonight was horrible. I guess a weekend of drinking to the point of a hangover will do that to you. 

De Proefbrouwerij / Cigar City Tropical Tripel

Brewed By: De Proefbrouwerij/Cigar City in Lochristi - Hijfte, Belgium  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Belgian Tripel, 9.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

I'm really excited about tonight's beer, which was a lucky find for me in the Chicago-land area. Tonight's beer is a "Tropical Tripel," a beer brewed with some of the best things in this earthly existence. But more on that in a minute...

De Proefbrouwerij (bvba Andelot) aka "The Proef Brewery," is a Dutch/Flemish brewery founded in 1996 by Dirk Naudt and his wife, Saskia Waerniers. Their brewery is based out of Lochristi, Belgium. Aside from brewing their own beer, The Proef Brewery also contracts out their equipment to other breweries. In addition to all this, Proef also has a Research and Development department dedicated to making their beer better.

Cigar City Brewing is a brewery based out of Tampa, Florida. The company was established in 2008 by Joey Redner, Jr.. In 2008, Redner met brewer Wayne Wambles, and hired him as the brewery's head brewmaster. The rest is tasty beer history.

Tonight's beer is described as a "Belgian Ale aged on oak chips with coconut and peaches." The back of the bottle reads:

"On February 18, 2013 Cigar City Brewers Wayne Wambles and Josh Brengle brought a bit of the Florida tropics to Lochristi, Belgium in the form of this unique Tropical Tripel recipe brewed in collaboration with De Proef Brewmaster Dirk Naudts.

Tropical Tripel was brewed with a classic Trappist yeast and the lesser known Brux III strain of Brettanomyces. During the boil Magnum and Simcoe hops were added along with Belgian candi sugar and lactose for added mouth feel. The beer is finished with additions of toasted coconut, dried peaches and medium toasted oak. We hope you enjoy this this collaboration of brewing styles, cultures, and climate. Cheers!"

And...of course, this beer is part of the "Brewmaster's Collaboration." Need I say any more? No. Into the glass this goes.

In lower light, the beer pours a radiant, but dark, golden-orange color. This one kicked up 3+ fingers of foamy, soapy, off-white head. I know they are calling this beer a Tripel, but the addition of Brett and American Hops almost has to push this into Wild Ale or Specialty Ale territory. In bright light the beer is a hazy golden orange, with moderately active streams of tiny bubbles rising upwards. The head is still soaking up some of the orange from the body, and it's creamy and sustaining. There is some nice lacing.

De Proefbrouwerij/Cigar City Tropical Tripel

The aromatics on this beer are incredible. This smells like everything the Stone R&R Coconut IPA should have been. Let me preface my thoughts on the aroma by saying that we are in the middle of a heat wave. It is both hot and humid out. The temps are pushing the upper 90s, and the humidity is at Florida levels of sticky. This beer couldn't be more timely. You get HUGE toasted coconut and toasted oak on the aroma right away. Swirling the beer unlocks aromas of orange peel, grains of paradise, mango, peach, pineapple, and even some hints of resinous orange. There's a big mango/pineapple/peach + coconut thing at work here, and it's awesome. Beneath all that is some hint at the Belgian yeast, a little sugary/honey/bread thing, and tons of orange peel/grains of paradise. Fuckin' A.

The taste immediately reminds me of the Founders' Mango Magnifico (without the Habanero, of course). Only instead of getting blasted with mango, you get blasted with huge peach. There's big peach in this, along with toasted oak/coconut, lots of pineapple, mango, and citrus...and bitterness? Yeah, the citrus takes a turn towards catty and fairly bitter mid palate. It's gotta be the Simcoe hops. You get bitter citrus and peach, with some catty Simcoe-hop-kick. The back palate rounds out with some woody Bretty dryness, more oak, and some booze. The booze in this beer has some bite and complexity, with hints of rum...I'm assuming the toasted coconut and the toasted oak add synergy to the booze. The backbone of this beer is somewhat bready and sweet, which is nice.

I've already read one review calling this beer cloyingly sweet. Pffft, talk about amateur hour. It's a Tripel, homie. Brewed with Belgian candi sugar. Do you even Belgian beers? This beer is off the hook in terms of drinkability, with refreshing peach/coconut, solid hop bitterness, and a drying, Brett-driven finish. Do I even need to mention the awesome palate depth or high complexity? At 9.5%, you get some booze, but it's the complex coconut-oak-rum variety. The mouthfeel is medium-full, and there's plenty of carbonation to go around. Peaches, toasted coconut, and pineapple, mango, etc. up front; that rolls into mango, citrus, orange, and catty Simcoe hops; that rolls into lingering coconut, oak, grain, complex rum/booze, and a dry Brett-driven finish. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. This beer is channeling summer vibes, and I would definitely buy this again...and in fact, I just might do that if it's still available later in the week. It's a bit pricey at ~15 dollars a bottle, but this is fairly complicated stuff. What I really dig about this beer is the clearly detectable toasted coconut and oak in both the aroma and taste. You also get tons of peaches and tropical fruits, a nice amount of hoppy citrus, and some really nice Brett dryness. I suspect this will age well, but you will probably lose out on some of the coconut. If this is conditioned, and I assume it is, the Brett will step up to kick some ass. It could be a fun cellaring experiment. I would pair this beer with sushi, a Hawaiian burger, beach food, and a mother fucking beach. Or...a nice summer night. If you like Tripels half as much as I do, check this beer out.

Random Thought: On a serious note, there's some real cognitive dissonance at work. It's 90 degrees out, and I'm seeing pumpkin beers on shelves. That is not okay. I'm going to need the weather to whip into shape so I can enjoy Autumn beers and football in a few weeks.