Beers That Feature Old Diving Helmets on the Lable — Diamond Knot Brewing Co. vs. Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.

Diamond Knot Brewing Co.
Industrial India Pale Ale
ABV 8.1%

Color: Slightly hazy orangish amber.
Aroma: Herbal, rosemary, pine, earthy soil, camp fuel and papaya.
Flavor: Savory, root vegetables, herbs and piny hops.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Harsh, piny and long-lasting.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.
Decompression Ale
ABV 8.0%

Color: Crystal clear reddish amber.
Aroma: Sweet roasted malts, touch of citrus and pine.
Flavor: Floral, perfumey hops, toasted bread and a bit of sulfur.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Extremely harsh, burnt, ashy bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Blow by Blow

In anticipation and celebration of the upcoming Seattle Beer Week (May 19th -29th) we decided to feature the official beer of the 2011 Seattle Beer Week in this week’s battle. Each year the organizers of SBW choose a different brewery to brew the official beer and this year they chose Maritime Pacific Brewing in Ballard. The good folks at Maritime decided to brew a strong ale called Decompression ale. The label features an image of a diver in an old diving helmet being groped by a tentacled beast. While perusing the beer aisle I stumbled across another beer featuring an old diving helmet on the label, Diamond Knot’s Industrial India Pale Ale. Two beers with diving helmets? Why not? Let’s battle.

Ellen poured the beers so that I could taste them blind and after trying both I thought it was obvious which one was the double IPA and which one was the strong ale. Apparently it wasn’t so obvious, because I was wrong.

Turns out, the Decompression is a seriously hoppy beer that could easily qualify as a double IPA. In our opinion, a high alcohol beer that relies on hops as its main flavor component should be called a double IPA if only to clue people in on what to expect when they taste the beer. Strong ale just doesn’t really give much information that you can’t see for yourself if you look at the alcohol content.

Style rant aside, the Decompression was not really to our liking. The aroma featured floral, perfumy hops with some toasted bread and sulfur mixed in. The flavor started pretty decent with some of that hop candy quality that we like, but quickly degraded into an acidic, harsh, spicy, bitter hoppiness that foreshadowed a wickedly bitter, burnt, ashy finish.

The Diamond Knot really wasn’t much better. The aroma was bizarrely complex with notes of rosemary, pine, earthy soil, camp fuel and papaya. It was nice to be able to detect something other than the typical citrus/pine/floral qualities we find in most double IPAs, but it really was just too weird to get excited about. The flavor followed suit with a savory, root vegetable quality along with some herbs and piny hops. The finish was not quite as harshly bitter as the Decompression, but it still wasn’t very pleasant and stayed with us for awhile.

Since we didn’t really care for either of the beers it was a tough call to pick a winner, but in the end we both chose the Diamond Knot because it wasn’t quite as harsh going down.

Winner by unanimous decision: Diamond Knot Brewing Company

Belgian Strong Ales — North Coast Brewing Co. vs. New Belgium

North Coast Brewing Pranqster
Belgian Style Golden Ale
ABV 7.6%

Color: Orange, slightly hazy, very low carbonation.
Aroma: Floral honey, cardamon, bit of damp cellar funk.
Flavor: Almost no carbonation. Honey sweet, almost mead-like with herbal notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty.
Finish: Sweet with piney/rosemary herbal notes.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

New Belgium Lips of Faith
Belgian Style Blond
ABV 8.5%

Color: Straw yellow, fitting of the blond(e) moniker.
Aroma: Very sweet smelling, like banana cream pie.
Flavor: Classic banana and clove. Not as sweet as it smells.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty (but not as much as Pranqster).
Finish: Dry, woody, slight hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Winner by unanimous decision: Pranqster. The New Belgium came out swinging and really had Pranqster on the ropes for awhile. But despite a slow start (the low carbonation took some getting used to) the Pranqster eventually wore down the Blond with a touch more complexity and range of flavors. However, if you're in the mood for a American version of a Belgian style beer you can't go wrong with either of these offerings. Both were more appealing to us than the world-renowned Duvel.

Extra Credit: Despite the different names of these beers, they actually both fit in the Belgian Strong Ale category. That means, be careful. These will sneak up on you. One minute you'll be enjoying a Belgian Strong Ale with friends and the next you'll be playing a one string banjo in a boxcar headed for Bakersfield, California.

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC’s law, this battle features a sample bottle received from the New Belgium Brewery.

Two syllable Belgian beers that end with L — Orval vs. Duvel

Orval Trappist Ale
ABV 6.9%

Color: Hazy pumpkin orange with huge off-white head.
Aroma: Crazy aromatic. Funky piney hops, bay leaves, rosemary, sweet malts.
Flavor: Thin and savory (coriander, herbal notes) with some citrus.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Grains with moderate bitter hops.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Duvel Belgian Golden Ale
ABV 8.5%

Color: Straw yellow with huge snow white head.
Aroma: Orange marmalade, Belgian yeast, cloves, soap.
Flavor: Thin, smooth and creamy with some lemon.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Grain and some noticeable alcohol.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Split decision: Orval vs. Duvel. Two titans of the beer world facing off for bragging rights. Truly a bottle battle for the ages. Unfortunately it was not a very interesting fight. Call us sacrilegious, but we thought these beers were mediocre at best. Perhaps they were a victim of our expectations, perhaps we're American West Coast beer snobs, but these just didn't do it for us. E chose the Duvel, preferring its sweetness and creamy body and I chose the Orval because I thought it had an interesting aroma. However, we both had a hard time coming up with descriptions for the flavors of the beers. They both just seemed thin, simple and refreshing. In other words, nothing special. Finally, neither seemed to deliver the kind of flavor and complexity that we'd expect from a beer that is so high in alcohol. The Duvel, especially, seemed extraordinarily potent for a thin, light, easy drinking beer.