The Bruery: Bryeian

My god this season is fucking busy. Between the massive amounts of work, time spent shopping, and spending time with family, sitting down for a nice beer seems like a chore. Usually I just end up crashing on the couch and popping open a Hoponius Union or something. So last night, after the smoke cleared and I was home from Christmas with the family, I decided to open a bottle of beer sent to me via my Reddit Secret Santa. The Bruery's Batch #1000 home brew contest winner, Bryeian, is a Cascadian Rye Ale originally brewed by Bryan Keas and Brian Pramov of Denver based Rock Hoppers Home Brew Club. And as it happens, the lady bought me a glass from Crate and Barrel that said it's specifically for a rye beer, so it worked out perfectly.
Bryeian pours as black as you'd expect a Schwarzbier to pour, with a big erupting head. The hops really smell delightful on the top of this beer, with some citrusy grassy notes shining though. The taste though is much more about the malt profile here, with an unexpectedly smooth opening taste bursting with chocolate and coffee sweetness and what I can only guess is the rye malt bill giving a little aztec chocolate spiciness in the finish. The hops don't present themselves much in the body of this beer but the bitterness left on the tongue leaves a nice finish. It took about four or five sips before I could even figure out what was going on in this guy, with it warming up and some of the flavors brightening, it really evolved quickly, and delightfully. It's really too bad I only have one, and probably won't see another one either. If, for any strange reason, you get a chance to get one, I'd highly recommend it for a nice quite evening of pure stress relief.

Goose Island: Lolita

As one of the harder to find Sisters in Goose Island's Belgian beer series, I was pumped when my salesman pulled up to the back door and carried a case in over his right shoulder, telling me it was hard to get this case for us but here it was, in the cardboard, Lolita. Lolita is a Belgian Wild Ale with Raspberry added and aged in used wine barrels. Immediately I bought up a bottle and took it home with me, opening it up with a nice braised short rib sandwich. The smell is a nice tart fruitiness with some wine sour notes everywhere, and a hint of alcohol. The first sip is a nice punch of tart, but then comes the sweetness. But the money is in the finish with some wine tartness, somewhat less punching than the first blast. Complex is definitely the descriptor of this wild lady, with some fruity raspberry and that pucker of wild Belgian yeast strain, then you get distinct wine barrel notes that almost suck the sweet right of your mouth. Every sip feels unique, with a range of flavors that make drinking this beer worth sitting back and sipping on it the entire way. I think I'll buy a few more bottles and age them to try vertically against a fresh bottle the next year, unless I drink them first.

Sixpoint: Global Warmer

I'm a total sucker for Sixpoint. I love canned beer, and any brewery that exclusively cans just adds to that love. That brings us to Global Warmer, their newest seasonal offering. The biggest issue I have with Sixpoint is they don't tell you anything about the beer you're about to drink. What is Global Warmer? Is it spiced like a winter beer? Is it alcoholic Red Bull? Even their website, which has a nice mock expert tone, doesn't exactly tell you what style of beer this is... it might be an IPA, or an imperial amber. I'm still not sure, I've been calling in an Imperial Amber because it reminds me of one of my favorite beers in the world, Nugget Nectar but even that might not be correct. The only thing for sure is it's dam delicious. 

As soon as you crack the can the hops just leek out and immediately I become like a 50's cartoon character following scent lines to a pie on a windowsill. Pouring hard into a glass unleashes even more lovely hops into the nose. The beer is immediately floral and citrus with a dry backbone to carry the hops and a nice bitter finish. This is a beer that just tastes fresh, and it tastes very consistent with the hop tastes present the entire time. From first sip I was in love with this beer, with hop notes being first and last and everywhere in between. It also pairs very well with the scallops I made for dinner, with the citrusy hops balancing the briny seafood very well. This beer is a truly excellent hoppy beer in an already saturated hop market. Luckily there's always room for one more.