Foamy Furlough: BONUS EDITION!

If I'm strolling and the moon is out, night or day, I can't resist gazing up at it frequently. I love the ghostly beauty of its chalky, bright features and the false seas of blue-gray that surround them. I ponder how it looms there, so massive and spherical, held in an invisible bond with our world. It persistently accompanies us, tantalizingly close yet beyond a gulf of space crossed by only a handful of earthlings.

That kind of relationship is apparently enough to drive some people nuts. Me? I'm down with hoisting one in her honor. I said at the beginning of the week that I would try to obtain a sample of J.W. Lees Moonraker Ale. I have done so, and am now prepared to offer tribute to Monday's namesake, that most inspiring of heavenly bodies, the moon.

I initially assumed that the name of this beer was an homage to the mediocre James Bond movie from 1979, but according to the J.W. Lees website, the beer "is named after a story about farm labourers raking for cheese in a pond close to our brewery. The cheese turned out to be the reflection of the moon." And the bottle's label depicts a hand grasping a crescent moon. Let's see whether the beer lives up to these lunatic fantasies...

I poured into a tumbler, then realized I would have had more fun drinking this one out of my Guinness imperial pint glass. Oh well. The pour produces an inch of stiff, large-bubbled foam, and almost no lacing is left behind as the glass is drained. The brew is nearly black, tinged with chestnut brown where light infiltrates around the edges.

The nose carries impressions of honey, sorghum, and I was also reminded of Fig Newtons. In taste, honey sweetness and nutmeg spice decorate the malt body. Overall very sweet, but there are enough substantial flavors to round it out. Medium carbonation and an almost sticky mouthfeel. The body fades out on a nice creamed coffee finish.

Moonraker is a strong ale that hits some flavor territory in common with familiar brown ales like Newcastle and the well-loved Samuel Smith's, but to my taste is richer and more coffee-inflected. The beer gets good marks from me, and I'm hoping that my girl Luna has been well pleased.

Featured beer:

http://www.jwlees.co.uk/

Honorable mentions:

http://newcastlebrown.com/

http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/nutbrownale.html

Foamy Furlough: FRIDAY

It has been a leisurely and enjoyable five days for me -- a lifestyle I could definitely get used to, aside from the not getting paid part. But since Friday is renowned as the end of the proletariat work week, let us conclude the Foamy Furlough© series with a beer that unequivocally says "the end": Unibroue La Fin Du Monde.

Unibroue is a Canadian brewery (Quebec is still Canada, right?) whose product line is nearly impeccable, regularly garnering prestigious international medals in competition. It stands proudly distinct from Canadian commercial juggernauts like Moosehead, Labatt, and Molson. Again, I will try to remain objective going into this tasting, but part of me is happily certain that it will be a good experience.

This triple fermented ale pours pale gold and cloudy. One foresees the flavors and effects of yeast. Foam rises in the chalice a little less than an inch -- not as much as I anticipated for the style, honestly. It is closer to white than off-white in color. The nose carries grape, honey, yeast, flowers, faint sourness, faint phenols. It sets the expectation for a delicious classic Belgian-style ale.

At first sip one finds the beer sweet and tart, with the Riesling-like impressions of grape and cardamom. There is nothing at all dark in the taste here, which remains forward on the tongue and pressed high on the palate by a prickly, effervescent carbonation. The body is of pale malt with no detectable roasting effects. Sugars must be added in order for such light malt to yield a 9% ABV. There is a pleasing aftertaste of sourdough bread.

I didn't really plan it this way, but it occurs to me that the overall experience of La Fin Du Monde is pretty much the polar opposite of the last night's fierce Russian imperial stout. And yet both are excellent beers. It drives home how gloriously multifaceted the world of beer has become. If the Foamy Furlough© series has a moral, it is that if you keep an open mind and are willing to do a little research, there's no reason to ever be bored.

Anyway, as with any triple, this one is a sipper rather than a session beer, but full of delights. It is devoid of the banana and clove flavors that keep me away from the yeast culture common to a lot of wheat beers and bottle-conditioned ales. I freely confess that I'm a barley and hops guy at heart -- I was even philosophically down with the Reinheitsgebot until Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione persuaded me that the bulk of beer history had nothing to do with "purity." But masterfully brewed beers like La Fin Du Monde are gently showing me the way to appreciate the yeastier end of the spectrum. Recommended, especially to those with a preference for the Belgian style.

Featured beer:

http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/la_fin_du_monde/

Honorable mentions:

http://www.haandbryggeriet.net/Odinstipple.html

Previously on FOAMY FURLOUGH©:

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday

Foamy Furlough: THURSDAY

We have arrived at Thursday, the fourth day of my mandatory unpaid vacation, and the fourth installment of the FOAMY FURLOUGH© series. Today is named in honor of the badass Norse god, Thor. His legendary hammer (which actually had its own name, Mjǫlnir) was capable of pulverizing mountains. It is with disbelief that I must report that none of my suppliers carries a beer named after either Thor or Mjǫlnir. Much as the fearsome Thor might, I'll address this problem with a two-pronged attack.

For Mjǫlnir (translation: "Crusher") I will taste Redhook Ale Brewery's Long Hammer India Pale Ale. My sense of Redhook's reputation is that they produce beer that is decent but not outstanding. The only Redhook product I have tasted previously was their Redhook ESB (Extra Special Bitter), which I thought was... decent but not outstanding. But I'll be as objective as possible going into this.

Into my pint tumbler, this beer pours a bright yellow gold. Very pretty. Surprisingly good head retention. It has a very clean grassy hops nose. So far, so good. The first taste impression is sweet and lemony. The ale is light bodied -- I swear there almost seems to be a commercial pilsner foundation here. After the admittedly nice floral hops beginning, this tastes more like a lager than an ale, and that is somewhat confusing.

The main body ends fairly quickly, without much complexity. The finish does linger a bit with some pleasant bitterness on the tongue. Long Hammer presents nothing objectionable, but I wouldn't go around proclaiming its glories -- especially to anyone who was specifically looking for an IPA recommendation. That said, it would be a fine, refreshing beer for beach, picnic, or other summer activity outdoors.

And now for prong number two. In honor of Thor's native culture, and to appease my small but vocal Norwegian readership, I will taste a rare and exotic brew: Norway's HaandBryggeriet Odin's Tipple. (This also serves as a make-up tribute to Odin for yesterday.) As anyone who has taken a few online courses in conversational Norwegian could puzzle out, the brewery name HaandBryggeriet means literally "by hand brewery" or "handmade beer." The craft brew movement is truly global, and that is a beautiful thing!

The Odin's Tipple label features a caricature of an impish, winking Odin offering to the viewer a ram's horn overflowing with elixir. Cute, but a deception that is quickly dispelled by the monstrous intensity of this beer's pour! I may have to send a bottle of this to Stephen Hawking, because I think we just figured out what black holes are made of. Light simply does not penetrate the tarry blackness of the glass.

Furthermore, this is the darkest head I have ever seen on a beer. It has the exact appearance of the froth on a freshly pulled espresso -- not a latte, mind you, an espresso. The color of the coat of a chocolate Labrador retriever. Beautiful, rich, ruby-tinged brown. The nose is a boatload of molasses. Maybe some freshly harvested alfalfa in the background.

The taste is absolutely astounding. Every expectation set up by the visuals is met and exceeded. This is a truly enormous-tasting imperial stout, packed to improbable levels with flavors of chocolate, charred grain, dark fruit, and of course a tummy-warming high alcohol payload. Tie goes to the grain, as it always should in a well-made beer. It is really remarkable that with all of the sweetness and all of the dark, dense flavors at play here, the beer is not a complete mess, but HaandBryggeriet has indeed pulled it off. Even the role of the finishing hops can be separately detected. There is enough complexity here to keep a diligent taster happily pondering, right up to the point where the 11% ABV kicks in and forces you to abandon yourself to the sheer sensory pleasure of it.

Featured beers:

http://www.redhook.com/Default.aspx?p=28

http://www.haandbryggeriet.net/Odinstipple.html

Honorable mentions:

http://www.redhook.com/Default.aspx?p=27

Previously on FOAMY FURLOUGH©:

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday

Foamy Furlough: WEDNESDAY

The English word "Wednesday" is rooted in the name of the good old Anglo-Saxon god, Woden, who was apparently a local variant of the good old Norse god, Odin. Thus, I thought it would be nifty to showcase a beer from Seattle's Odin Brewing Company. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a place around here that sells their stuff.

It is also true, as you know, that in the Romance languages, words for this weekday (Spanish miercoles, Italian mercoledi, etc.) are rooted in the name of the good old Roman god, Mercury. But, alas, neither was I able to find any offerings from the Mercury Brewing Company of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

No matter. Emboldened by the success of my rule-bending on Monday (or "Monk Day," as it is now called), I decided to throw away the "nesday" part and keep the "Wed." A great opportunity to celebrate one of my very favorite beer styles, porter, which was originally made by blending (or "wedding" -- get it?) three different types of ale to create a uniquely balanced flavor. The name "porter" supposedly came from the popularity of the style with British railway workers in the 18th century.

Oh, how dearly I wanted to review Salopian Entire Butt English Porter -- mainly for the juvenile gratification I get from the name, but also because it is regarded by many as a world class beer. Unfortunately, snow days and whatnot prevented me from picking up a bottle in time. I may still try to get my hands on this and append my review to a future Foamy Furlough© installment. (Because, you know, these things aren't long enough already...)

I did manage to acquire St. Peter's Old-Style Porter, which is sold in a cool, old-fashioned-looking smoked green bottle with shoulders and an embossed logo. (See photo below.) I poured this beer into a pint tumbler. It is a dark mahogany color in the glass, but looks quite red if you shine a light through it. It foams to about a quarter inch of head and leaves minimal lacing.

The aroma is of dried dark fruits -- raisin and prune, sticky with their own sugars. Behind that is a suggestion of chewing tobacco and peat. It is immediately clear that one holds a beer of distinctive character. The taste... first impression is of a well-constructed body with brown ale characteristics, but that quickly complicates into a strong roasted grain flavor. There is a hint of espresso. After that follows a mineral presence -- something in the ballpark of sulfur, but don't take that negatively. Maybe I should just call it an "earthy" note. Roastiness dominates the main body.

The beer has a nice glassy mouthfeel. Carbonation is fairly low to begin with, and as the beer warms it diminishes to almost none, true to the British pub style. I definitely note a difference between St. Peter's Old-Style Porter and some of my go-to American porters, like those from Yuengling Brewery and Anchor Brewing Company. It is not as sweet, dense, and flinty. It has the genuinely "old-style" character that comes from adding a soured ale to the mix. Personally, I am a fan, though it is easy to predict that many would not be.

St. Peter's has a long-lingering smoky finish. It hangs on the palate with a mellowness conducive to contemplation, like some of life's other great amenities: smoked gouda, the aftertaste of a good cigar or scotch, or a log smoldering in the fireplace. In my own imagination, I am on a train leaving industrial London for the weekend, a crisp broadsheet on my knee, a glass of porter in my hand, and the worries of the day receding in a haze of coal smoke...

Featured beer:

http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/

Honorable mentions:

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp?BeerID=12

http://www.yuengling.com/our_beer/

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/anchorporter.htm

Previously on FOAMY FURLOUGH©:

• Monday
• Tuesday

Foamy Furlough: TUESDAY

For today's Foamy Furlough© installment, my idea was to select a beer whose name had something to do with "war" or "Mars," as these are etymologically associated with the word "Tuesday." Then it occurred to me that, in rock radio parlance, today is commonly known as "Two-fer Tuesday," hence, this is an excuse opportunity to swill critique a high-alcohol big-flavored style like a double bock or double IPA.

There is a boom right now in the American craft brew industry of "big beers" -- styles with higher alcohol content, higher bitterness, more massive overall flavor. At the far end of this spectrum is the freakshow of "extreme beers," touting better than 20% alcohol by volume, with a few even encroaching into the 40% range typically occupied by distilled spirits. Closer to the mainstream -- yet a bit beyond the traditional style standards -- there are quite a few offerings in the 10% ABV range that a beer aficionado might actually encounter on the local beer store shelf. These are beers that are testing the boundaries of styles within reason and without the competitiveness and chest-thumping that often goes along with the extreme beer culture.

And if you're intrepid, there are many great beers to choose from in these styles. I considered showcasing the Troegenator Double Bock, winner of the News Journal's "beer bracket" last year. (I'd link to that article, but... well, try for yourself to look it up on DelawareOnline.com and see why I didn't.) I also came close to choosing the walloping Stoudt's Double IPA, or Stone Double Bastard Ale, which weighs in at a non-trivial 11.2% ABV.

I finally settled on Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewing in Denver, Colorado, because the brewery has a strong reputation and I've never tried any of their beers. The Great Divide product line sports attractive retro-styled labels that look like they could have been designed by someone at Sterling Cooper in 1963. The Hercules Double IPA comes in a standard-issue 12-oz. brown glass bottle. I am pouring into a goblet to allow the bigness to do its thing.

Pouring produces three-eighths of an inch of dense cream-colored foam that doesn't hang around for long. There is much lacing in the glass. The beer is amber orange and just slightly hazy. Its aroma is almost exactly like a cold slice of banana bread -- extremely appealing. As it warms, more of a caramel note emerges.

I am delighted to report, folks, this is a REALLY delicious beer! The flavor is predominated by citrus hops that rounds into an appropriately large flowery fruitiness -- rose hips without cloyingness, maybe? It has a substantial mouthfeel, but is not overly heavy. In fact, that fruitiness does a fantastic job of masking the alcohol, as this brew has none of the wince-inducing fusel notes that have prevented me from becoming a repeat customer of some other big beers. The taste settles across the outer edges of the back of the tongue and exits with a very long but mild creamy guava-like finish.

This is one of the nicest discoveries I have made since getting hip to the grapefruity marvel of Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA during the beer bracket last year. I hope my tastes have not become so skewed in favor of bitter IPAs that I'm steering you wrong on this one, but I really think that Hercules Double IPA could appeal to a broad audience. It has a very refreshing taste that anyone partial to the caramel malt body of American amber ales should be able to relate to. At $15.49 per 4-pack, it's not liable to become a staple in my household, but I will definitely be adding it to the rotation for special occasions. Like, you know, being sent on furlough...

Featured beer:

http://greatdivide.com/#/beer (then click on "Hercules Double IPA")

Honorable mentions:

http://www.troegs.com/our_brews/troegenator_double_bock.aspx

http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/brewery_styles-big-beers.html

http://www.stonebrew.com/doublebastard/

http://www.bearrepublic.com/ourbeers.php

Previously on FOAMY FURLOUGH©:

• Monday