Archive for the 'Troëgs' category
Troëgs The Mad Elf Ale
The weather forecasters were correct and we actually got a dusting of roughly a foot of snow today. With snow on the ground, and it being the holiday season, I thought I would crack open a “holiday/winter beer”.
In the snifter the beer is a lush ruby red that is perfectly clear. The head is snow white, and very thin, lasting mere seconds before fading to a ring against the glass walls. Even without a head the aromas are quite pronounced with bushels of cherry aroma inundating my nose. The cherry however is wrapped in this exquisite spiced note.
The tip of the tongue tingles with a slight warming sensation but this is quickly swept away by the beer’s cherry flavor. The cherry flavor is a mix of sweet and tart, with a dash of bitter chocolate thrown in for good measure. Before I can dwell too much on these flavors however, the spice notes, originally noticed in the aroma, come and take charge. They do not muscle the cherry flavors out however, they enhance them. The beer finishes slightly syrupy, the rest of the mouthfeel was quite light, and with some hints of rustic, unrefined honey.
Without the spice this would just beer a fruit beer. Granted a some what interesting fruit beer due to the sweet and tart combo, but still a fruit beer. The spice of the beer, which came from the beer’s Belgian yeast strain and was tough to peg down taste wise… some cinnamon, coriander, a few others… is what elevated this beer, and worked so well with the sweet/tart cherry, and bitter chocolate combination. I am not a huge “holiday/winter beer” person. I find most brewers over due the spice or alcohol, by the way The Mad Elf is 11% but you will never notice it in the aroma or taste, in their offerings. This beer however, it should be produced all year.
Troëgs Java Head
I have not had a Troëgs beer in quite some time, so when I saw this Java Head at Half Time I decided to pick it up. Troëgs has impressed in the past so lets see if they keep up the good beer record.
Poured into a pint glass the beer is black in color, even when held up to a light. A light tan head consisting of a tight packing of small bubbles graced the top of the beer for a good five minutes. A lightly roasted coffee aroma pleasantly greeted my nose. In the mouth the coffee went a lot bigger, when compared to the aroma. Rich Columbian black coffee came to mind. The beer finished bitter and a bit course, but this just enhanced the coffee essence of the beer.
Though rather one-dimensional in flavor, mixed in with the coffee was some flavor of dark malt, I found the beer very good. Smooth and medium on the tongue, I had a hard time putting the beer down long enough to scribble some notes. Another good showing by Troëgs.
Troëgs Hop Back Amber Ale
For the big game yesterday, the Bruins/Canadiens game that is, I decided to give Troëgs Hop Back Amber Ale a shot. Troëgs has recently started distributing up around me (so recent their website does not even list MA distribution), and they have hit the ground running. I have noticed a fare selection of their beers on tap in a couple of bars, and I ran across this six pack of Hop Back Amber pretty easily. (Since the date is prominently displayed on each bottle in the pack, I know this six pack was bottled on 01-22-09. A very nice feature!)
Poured into my pint glass the beer was a rich amber and perfectly clear. A finger of chunky off-white head topped the beer off. The beer had little carbonation, so the head dissipated to a mere scattering of bubbles after a few eager sips.
Eager sips due to the aroma of the beer. A nice spice hop character, with an equally mixed presence of caramel malt. Very enticing to say the least.
The beer hits the tongue with a nice presence. There are heavier beers out there, but you definitely realize you are drinking a beer, and you are not left wondering “did I take a sip?”. The aforementioned caramel malt character is present through most of the mouth. The malt also provides a nice and light bread note to the flavor, so it is not a one dimensional malt flavor. Just when I begin to wonder where the hops I smelled are, they hit me. Right at the back of the mouth the hops mount their spice and pine hop flavor attack. From the back they seem to march forward through the whole mouth, wiping out the earlier malt flavors.
This is not a beer for those wary of hops. The hops make their presence known, and towards the end of the session, almost become overpowering. The malt however makes a valiant and noble effort to stand-up to such flavor. Slightly unbalanced towards the hops, but not by much. I enjoyed the beer, so I am definitely happy Troëgs has started distributing around me, and I look forward to future products.
(I just noticed Ben’s review of Troëgs Nugget Nectar and it seems Troëgs likes to make the ‘hoppy amber’ style.)
Troëgs “Nugget Nectar” Imperial Amber
Them Troëgs boys don’t know how to make a bad beer. Or, if they do, I still haven’t tasted it. It’s a crying shame that we can’t get their tasty brews down here in NC just yet, but I’m always pleased to pick up a 6-pack when I find myself North of the border in Virginia. This time around, I stumbled upon the Nugget Nectar, which is an Imperial Amber that I haven’t seen before. I’ve been consistently enjoying the fruits of this 6-pack over the past few weeks and only tonight found myself opening the last of the bunch, so I figured I’d better review it.
This beer pours a just-slightly-cloudy amber color, as one would expect. The aroma of this is much, much hoppier than you normally expect from an amber. The hops smell fresh and floral and are really in your face. The taste of this is very nice. This is a very hop-forward amber, with a steady flowery bitterness that starts on the tip of the tongue and only increases as it moves through the mouth. The fun part about this is the equally strong maltiness that joins the hops through the mouth. This maltiness provides a rich bready quality that does a nice job of complementing that strong hop bitterness. This isn’t a very complex beer, but it is a very big beer. Lots of flavor, a full mouthfeel, and big doses of both hop and malt. I’ve been really liking this beer on these hot NC evenings lately, and I’d recommend it to anyone who appreciates a big, hoppy beer.
