Here’s one of the best American-brewed Saison’s I’ve had in a while. This comes to us from Brewery Ommegang of Cooperstown, New York where they’ve made a name for themselves brewing Belgian-style beers. In fact, the brewery is owned by Belgium-based Duvel Moortgat. This beer has all the marks of a classic Belgian saison. A hazy, light-golden beer with a ripe, fruity aroma, Glimmerglass pours a massive head that’ll keep you waiting to get to the liquid under the suds. When you finally make it through the gate, you find a soft, bready malt character under bright, floral hop notes complimented by a dash of peppery spice. It’s a slightly sweet beer, but very crisp and refreshing. This would be a great ale for a warm day. At 5.4% ABV, you’ll want a couple. Glimmerglass is available in 4-packs at Gardina’s in the packaged beer section for $10.99. By the way, the next time you’re in the beer store at Gardina’s, check out that shelf full of Belgains. There are some amazing bottles of beer there.
New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel
You don’t see many Wisconsin breweries attempting Dubbels. Every now and then you’ll find one at a brewpub, but it’s a style our production breweries seem reluctant to tangle with. That’s odd. You’d think that with it’s big malt profile, a good dubbel would be just the sort of beer Wisconsinites would cotton to. Anyway, here we have one from the vaunted, not-so-little brewery in New Glarus. Like a good dubbel should, this pours to a brilliant, deep amber with a rocky, tan head. The yeast character informs the aroma with generous amounts of dark fruit backed by caramelized malt. The beer is highly effervescent with a surprisingly light mouthfeel. The flavor amplifies the aroma: raisin, apple, toffee and maybe just a hint of funk hanging around in back. The beer finishes dry with a warm spiciness. Take your time with this beer and don’t drink it cold; you’ll miss what’s so good about it. This 7.8% ABV ale is available, among other places, at Festival Foods where it’s sold in 4-packs for $9.49.
Avery Salvation
Let’s bring out the big gun. Avery’s Salvation is a 9% ABV Belgian strong ale that’ll put your stamina to the test. At first blush this bright, golden beer seems easy going with a playful aroma of juicy pineapple and baseball-card bubblegum. The beer has a soft texture delivering a sweet and creamy malt flavor mixed with apricots and pears. After a few good draws, though, the beer begins to show its heft. A candy-like thickness comes around and an interesting alcoholic bite appears in the finish. By the end, it takes on a cough-syrup like texture and after one glass you’ll have had enough. Or maybe not, depending upon what you’re aiming for. Definitely a beer to check out and it’s nice to see Avery's beers back in our neighborhood again after a three-year hiatus. Avery Salvation is available at Festival Foods in Oshkosh they sell 22oz. bombers of the beer for the sweet price of $6.99.
Picked up some of the New Glarus Dubbel, I could not pass it by. I liked it a lot. You are right, let it warm up for drinking.
ReplyDelete