Two witches and a disappointment

Beer--

(note: I don’t drink these from the bottle. Carbonation isn’t supposed to be part of the experience. These are poured from a height into a glass to get rid of a lot of the carbonation.)

• Brasserie Ellezelloise “Quintine Amber” (330ml springtop, 8.5% ABV)—

It came from Belgium. It was bottle conditioned. It was named after a witch.

I couldn’t have asked for more on Halloween.

The nose was strong but typical for Belgian ale. The color was a cloudy deep copper. The bottle conditioning left a fair bit of sediment behind, so I poured carefully. The palate was soft and it had a great sweet/bitter balance. I’d say the body was medium, but there still was a pleasant glyceral mouthfeel. With all that body, I was surprised by a drier than expected finish. That’s a good thing. Instead of being sickly sweet, the strong but dry caramel character seemed almost savory.

Very drinkable and enjoyable.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Very Good Stuff

• Moorhouse’s “Pendle Witches Brew” (1 pint, 5.5% ABV)—

Witch brew number two was a light, malty English pub ale. The nose was a standard malty ale. The color was deep gold and the body, medium. It was not a very complex beer, but it represents something you don’t get to try often in the US. It was a hell of a lot better than what you are likely to get from widely distributed American ales like Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam, etc. In fact, I’d say this is what Bass ale wants to be (based on what Bass tastes like as an export in the USA).

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Very Good Stuff

• Dogfish Head "Black & Blue" (750ml, 10% ABV)—

Another Belgian-style ale from Dogfish. This time they’ve added black raspberries and blueberries. At release, the first reviews of this ale were good so I bought a bottle. I figured that since it’s 10%abv it would keep well and age.

How wrong I was.

Whatever fruit was in there has long since faded away. What’s left over is a slightly-ruddy Belgian golden ale. It was full-bodied and very dry on the finish, but there was nothing else of note. It was a bit like finding something has gone missing at home. You arrive home, and you’re going to watch TV and… where’s the TV? It’s a mild shock/disappointment reaction. At any rate, the result was drinkable, but it’s hardly what Dogfish intended.

Lesson learned: Drink Dogfish fruit beers shortly after release.

Rating: N/A It would be unfair to hold DF accountable for my mistake.

Bonus:

• Chicha Limena (chicha morada) --“Purple Corn Drink”

Chicha is a traditional fermented beverage from the days of the Inca.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha)

The aroma was bubblegum. No kidding. It smelled like it came out of a bazooka joe wrapper. The color was purple-black. Light could hardly get through the stuff. The taste was more complex than the bubblegum aroma suggests. There was no carbonation to speak of, and the taste wass sweet balanced by a little tartness. The bubblegum gave way to an interesting grapey-pineapple flavor. That grape note was something like commercial grape soda, but the pineapple gave it more life than grape pop.

I like it a lot.

See:

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/drink_chica_morada.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-Chicha-Morada

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Very Good (Nifty) Stuff