Hurray for Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt! I don't even remember where we picked this one up. I have the fuzzy notion that Olivia, Sofia and I were together in a beer store and we went overboard (as usual). I've always liked Sierra Nevada and I put this one in the cart because I thought it was a solid bet to be worth trying, no matter what it turned out to be.
Fast forward to today and Olivia and I were both very thirsty after rollerblading around Henry Hudson park for three hours. We were meandering through the beer collection looking for a sour to suit our tastes when Olivia started reading the blurb on the front of the bottle (see below). This beer was brewed by Charlie and Fred! And man oh man is it good. It's so difficult to get a double or triple balanced correctly (this beer is 8.3% ABV), but when you do the results can be mind-blowing. I remember the first time I tasted a few of Bog's recommendations for stronger beers and I was blown away away by complexity of what are (by today's standards) relatively simple beers. Gulden Drak and Piraat come to mind. The Helles Bock reminds me of my first tasting of those beers. Minimal sweetness up front, but a lasting sweetness on the back of the tongue. Prominent honey notes (and I don't mean that as a euphemism for "this tastes sweet"—it actually tastes like parts of it were made by bees). Just the right amount of hop aroma and minimal hop profile in the finish. Subtle kick from the strength of the brew, but remarkably restrained malt characteristic and just the right viscosity in the mouthfeel for a heavy beer like this. Did I mention the color yet? Gorgeous. It looks like a MacAllen 12 and it took far less time to make.
I'm giving this beer a solid 5/5 overall. Highly recommended. Released in May 2010 and there is only supposed to be one batch. Pick it up while you still can.
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