1000 Beers

After a very successful trip to 4 Hands Brewing (where I had their Reprise Centennial Red Ale, Divided Sky Rye IPA, and Bona Fide Russian Imperial Stout), we headed over to the International Tap House in Soulard (near downtown St. Louis, MO) to watch Missouri play in the NCAA tournament and enjoy a few beers.  My friend Joe said he had enjoyed 2nd Shift’s beers after he went to their 2nd Shift and Friends Festival last year, so I thought I’d give this one a try.

Location: Enjoyed in a large tulip shaped glass at the International Tap House (ITAP) in the Soulard area of St. Louis, MO.

Numbers: 7.6% ABV,  62IBUs, ~ 247 Calories

Ingredients: Hops include Columbus, Amarillo, and Citra.

Appearance & Aroma: It was slightly hazy and had a copper/orange/amber color with a very thin head.  The aroma was a big floral hop aroma with hints of citrus and caramel malts.

Taste & Feel: The body was medium and the mouthfeel was a bit crisp from the carbonation and hops.  The flavor up front was a bit sweet, malty/bready with a hint of caramel, along with a bit of floral and piney bitterness.  The bitterness picked up a bit in the middle and it finished slightly dry and bitter with citrus and floral hop flavors.

Food Pairing: Perhaps it was the mix of floral and citrus bitterness, combined with sweet breadiness, but I think this would go very nicely with a bleu cheese burger.  I think the bitterness and sweetness would help to balance the bleu cheese flavors, and the bready and caramel flavors would go nicely with the juicy beef.

Overall Impression: I enjoyed the complex mix of hop flavors, which seemed to shift between floral, citrusy, and piney, along with the sweet bready and light caramel flavors.  The malt backbone was definitely there, competing with the hoppy bitterness, but true to style, the bitterness slightly won out.  Overall, it was a pretty good American IPA, that I’d definitely try again.

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I’m at 4 Hands Brewing in St. Louis, MO, enjoying a few beers in their tasting room, including their Divided Sky Rye IPA and their Reprise Centennial Red Ale.  My friend Joe just had this beer, and recommended I try it myself.  As a fan of Russian Imperials, I indulged in a third beer here before we headed off to another local microbrewery.

According to 4 Hands, “Bona Fide Imperial Stout is a collaborative effort with Goshen Coffee, a local fair trade coffee roaster. This beer is big, bold, and in your face. Bona Fide pours black as night with a smooth mouth feel. Aromas of espresso, dark chocolate, roasted malt, with nuances of vanilla.”

Location: Enjoyed in a snifter at the tasting room at 4 Hands Brewing Co. in St. Louis, MO.

Numbers: 9% ABV, 65 IBU’s,  ~ 283 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It was very black in color, and almost no light shown through it when I held it up to the light.  The foamy head was dark tan in color and stuck around for a bit, leaving some lacing on the glass.  There was a roasted malt aroma with a good amount of coffee and cocoa smells, along with a lightly noticeable grassy hop aroma.

Taste & Feel: The body was full and the mouthfeel was slightly crisp from the carbonation with some smooth oiliness.  Up front there was a roasty malt sweetness along with a roasted coffee flavor.  In the middle, these flavors were joined by some rich chocolate and cocoa flavors and a hint of vanilla.  The finish was roasty maltiness and coffee with a bit of the grassy hop bitterness.

Food Pairing: This would go very nicely with a dessert.  Whether that’s chocolate cake or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the coffee and chocolate flavors in this beer (along with it being high in alcohol) make it an ideal after dinner beer.  By itself, this beer has a bit of richness. so you wouldn’t have to pair it with anything.

Overall Impression: Overall, I thought this was a very solid, very flavorful Russian Imperial Stout.  The coffee and chocolate flavors were bold and rich, matched with plenty of hoppiness.  In fact, I think I may have enjoyed this even more with slighly less hop aroma and flavor, highlighting the roasty and cocoa flavors even more.  However, this was certainly a very good beer, and one that I would definitely try again.  After sampling several of their beers in the last few days, I’m going to make 4 Hands growler run the next time I’m in St. Louis.

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I’m in St. Louis on a mini tour of microbreweries with my friend Joe. Last night we hit Perennial Artisan Ales, and today, after an incredible lunch at Bogart’s Smokehouse in Soulard, we headed over to 4 Hands Brewery.  I started with their Reprise Centennial Red Ale, which could probably be classified as a red IPA, and decided to move on to their rye IPA offering.

Location: Enjoyed in a tulip shaped glass, at 4 Hands Brewing tasting room in downtown St. Louis, MO.

Numbers: 6.5% ABV, ~ 207 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It was extremely cloudy and had a yellow-dark gold color to it.  It had a big, creamy white head on it, which left some nice lacing on the glass.  It had a citrusy and tropical fruit aroma with hints of bread and biscuit.

Taste & Feel: The body was medium and it had a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.  The big citrusy hop flavors were apparent right up front with some big grapefruit flavors, with a good amount of yeasty flavors with it. In the middle, some rye spiciness started to come in, adding a bit of crispness to the middle and finish.  The finish was fairly dry with some resiny bitterness.

Food Pairing: With the yeasty and citrusy flavors up front, along with some rye spiciness in the middle, I think this would go nicely with a spicy Mexican dish.  The flavors up front would help to both knock down the spiciness a bit and pull out things like lime zest, tomatoes and onions in the food.  The rye would add a difvferent bit of spiciness and the dry finish helps to prepare your mouth for another bite of food.

Overall Impression: I liked the citrusy hop flavors and the bit of rye spiciness, but I thought there was too much yeast in this beer.  In fact, the yeasty flavors competed with the hop flavors up front and, I think, clouded some of the other flavors in the beer.  Overall, it had some good flavors, but I couldn’t overlook the yeastiness.

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As I’ve mention in my last few posts, I’m in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, enjoying my semi-annual tour of microbreweries around the city.  We hit Perennial Artisan Ales the night before, and today we are at 4 Hands Brewing in downtown.  This is one of St. Louis’ newest microbreweries, having just opened in December.  They have four core beers on tap, including: Divided Sky Rye IPA, Reprise Centennial Red, Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown, and Single Speed Session.  I’m a big fan of Centennial hopped beers, as well as Red IPAs, so this single-hopped red ale was calling my name.

In addtion, to make this posting a little more interesting, I’ve partnered with Audra over at “Once a Mom… Always a Cook“ for the food pairing on this one.  This blog crosssover is brought to you by Appliances Online.  Let me know if you like it, and if so, we’ll look into partnering with other foodie blogs for our beer pairings.

Location: Enjoyed in an imperial pint glass, at 4 Hands Brewing tasting room in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Numbers: 6% ABV, ~ 195 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It has a dary copper/rusty-red color and appears to be a bit hazy.  The head was creamy-tan, big and foamy, and as you can see, left some incredible lacing on the glass.  The smell was lightly caramel and biscuity with a good amount of citrusy, slightly piney, hop aromas.

Taste & Feel: The body was light-medium and the mouthfeel was a bit foamy-creamy with a little bit of a carbonation crispness.  The flavors up front were a mix of bready and lightly sweet caramel maltiness, which was quickly followed by a hefty amount of citrusy hop bitterness.  The Centennial hop bitterness continued into the finish with a hint of pine flavors coming in through the grapefruit and citrus bitterness.

Food Pairing: For the food pairing on this one, Audra has come up with a great recipe for a BBQ chicken pizza you can make at home. This beer had a very nice biscuit flavor up front, which would complement the toasty crust, and the caramel malts would go nicely with a sweet BBQ sauce.  Finally, the citrusy hop flavor which kicks in at the end adds dimension, highlighting the beer and cleansing the palate between bites.

Overall Impression: I enjoyed the mix of the bready and lightly sweet malt flavors up front, followed by plenty of hop flavor.  While they label the beer as a red ale, the amount of hop bitterness could easily place it in the red IPA category.  Overall, I thought it was a pretty good beer, and it made me want to try a few more of their beers – which I did.

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As you can see by my last few posts, my friend Joe and I have been out in St. Louis, hitting Perennial Artisan Ales earlier this evening. After enjoying their Vermilion and Abraxas, we headed back to Joe’s place, where he cracked open a Deschutes Black Butte Porter. It wasn’t quite time to call it a night, so Joe dug into his celler and pulled this one out.

Location: Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, at my friend Joe’s house in St. Louis, MO.

Numbers: 8.8% ABV,  45 IBUs, ~ 269 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: As you can tell, it was very black, with only some slight ruby notes visible when held up to the light.  There was a nice, creamy, tan head on it, which held or a while and left some nice lacing on the glass.  The aroma was roasty with a mix of coffee, chocolate, mocha, and barley malt.

Taste & Feel: The body was full, and the mouthfeel was very smooth and creamy, almost velvety.  The flavors up front were malty and lightly sweet with a fair amount of coffee like roastiness.  In the middle,  chocolate, cocoa, and maltiness cut through and become the prominent flavors.  Some hop bitterness kicks in during the finish, but it mixes with the roasty flavors and dry cocoa bitterness.  In the aftertaste, some coffee and espresso like flavors linger for a bit.

Food Pairing: This is a flavorful stout with lots of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, and sweet maltiness.  It would be hard to pair this one with anything but a chocolatey dessert or something lighter like a coffee cake.  As an alternative, I think this would actually be wonderful as an ice cream float, as the body and flavors in this beer are very smooth and the creaminess would go along with the ice cream nicely.

Overall Impression: My first impression of the beer was a good one, with a nice, complex aroma and a very smooth and creamy mouthfeel.  As I continued to sip it, I began to enjoy it even more.  The velvety body smoothed out the flavors very nicely, making it pretty drinkable for a full-bodied, 8.8% ABV beer.  The flavors were smooth and complex, not overpowering each other.  This is defintely one I’ll have to grab next time I’m in the mood for a solid stout.

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