Anniversary Ales — Lagunitas vs. Steinhaus Brewing Co. (Firestone Walker)

Lagunitas Lucky 13.alt
Anniversary Release
ABV 8.9%

Color: Orangish yellow.
Aroma: HOPS! Floral/perfumy and stinky/funky at the same time.
Flavor: Sweet to start then intense orange blossom and big grassy hops.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Sweet grapefruit with just a touch of bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Trader Joe's Mission St.
2011 Anniversary Ale
ABV 8.5%

Color: Dark brown.
Aroma: Malty, smoky and woody.
Flavor: Smoky with some sweet cola notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Very smoky with some woodiness and mild bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
This week's battle features two anniversary ales that were/are extremely reasonably priced. The Trader Joe's Mission Street was $2.99 when it was released earlier this year and the Lagunitas Lucky 13.alt is currently selling for $3.99 in Southern Oregon grocery stores. The Mission St. is contract brewed for Trader Joe's by Firestone Walker in Santa Barbara. If you know anything about Firestone Walker beers then you know that $2.99 is a ridiculously good price for a beer brewed by them.

We had the pleasure of trying the Lucky 13.alt at the Battle of the Bones this year and we both chose it for best in show for the craft beer competition. We were hoping that the beer in the bottles would be as good as the beer we had on tap and we were not disappointed. The Lucky 13.alt is a hop lover's dream. It's full of ripe, juicy hop aromas and flavors. What stood out most to us was the strange and alluring aroma that was very floral and perfumy but also had a distinct barnyard funk. The finish is also fantastic, offering a great mellow grapefruit bitterness. Beer geek style note: The .alt in the name is not an indication that this is an altbier. Apparently it's just an obscure reference to alt.* newsgroups of the past. Confused yet? Based on the rambling text on the side of many of their bottles, Lagunitas probably likes it that way.

The Mission St. is also a great beer but it's a completely different experience. According to the Beer Advocate website the beer is actually a blend of Firestone Walker's barleywine, imperial stout and robust porter. As you'd expect from a blend of those beers, the Mission St. is a dark, sweet and malty beer. The dominant flavor and aroma that we detected was smoke but it had some cola and wood notes as well. We tried it along with some smoked brisket and found the similar flavors to complement each other quite nicely. It would also serve well as a dessert beer.

Being unapologetic hop heads we both picked the Lucky 13.alt. Next time we head to the store I plan on buying a good stockpile of bottles to get us through the summer. For those of you fortunate enough to live near a Trader Joe's (none in Southern Oregon!), don't underestimate some of their seasonal beer that is contract brewed. If the 2011 Anniversary is any indication, future anniversary beers should be something to get your hands on.

Winner by unanimous decision: Lucky 13.alt.

Former Champion Double IPAs — Firestone Walker vs. Widmer

Firestone Walker
Double Jack
ABV 9.5%

Color: Deep orange.
Aroma: Sharp pine resin, beeswax and rich sweet malts.
Flavor: Full bodied with sharp, astringent piny hops and a touch of citrus.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Long lasting pine resin and citrus rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Widmer Deadlift
Imperial IPA
ABV 8.6%

Color: Light orange.
Aroma: Intense floral and citrus hops. Grapefruit candy.
Flavor: Full bodied and sweet with bright citrus hop punch late.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Mellow grapefruit bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Blow by Blow
Tonight we staged an epic battle. Two former double IPA Bottle Battle champions squared off to see who would remain undefeated. In one glass we had Firestone Walker's amazing Double Jack. In the other glass we had the equally amazing Widmer Deadlift.

As you might expect, both came out swinging. Both had big hops in the aroma, with the Deadlift offering floral and citrus hop aromas and the Double Jack countering with sharp pine resin and some citrus as well. They both smelled absolutely awesome, but we gave the edge to the Deadlift as we prefer the floral to the pine.

The flavors continued to impress. Both were full bodied with a rich malty backbone that was able to balance the intense hop flavors. The Double Jack was a bit more aggressively hoppy throughout while the Deadlift started sweet and brought the hops late. Again, both great.

The big difference came in the finish. Deadlift had an amazingly balanced finish with just the right amount of hop bitterness and sweet citrus flavors. The Double Jack had a much more bitter finish, leaving us with long lasting bitter pine sap and citrus rind flavors.

Despite these both being fantastic beers the decision was easy for us. We both chose the Widmer Deadlift because it's like drinking some kind of magical hoppy, grapefruit flower nectar. This is a good thing for our bank account since the Double Jack is far more expensive.

Bottle Battles are all about matchups. If you look at our tasting notes for the Double Jack from earlier this month you'll see that we detected more citrus than pine. There is definitely a little of both, but when compared against the Alaskan Double IPA the citrus stood out, while the battle with the Deadlift brought out more of the pine notes. Just more proof that tasting is always influenced by a multitude of factors that range from your environment to your mood to what beer you're comparing it against.

Winner by unanimous decision: Widmer

Double IPAs — Alaskan Brewing vs. Firestone Walker

Alaskan Brewing
Imperial IPA
ABV 8.5%

Color: Slightly hazy reddish copper.
Aroma: Sweet wood and whiskey with some floral notes.
Flavor: Sweet and simple with a bit of woodiness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Mild bitterness early building to harsh, woody bitterness. Acidic.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Firestone Walker
Double Jack
ABV 9.5%

Color: Clear golden.
Aroma: Spicy, citrus hops.
Flavor: Full bodied. Big, sweet and malty with equally big citrus hops.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Sweet malts, mild citrus bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Blow by Blow
Imperial IPAs continue to take up a lot of space on store shelves, so it is our duty to battle them for the benefit of all you hopheads out there. These two in particular were itching for a fight, so we poured a bit of each and let them settle it in the glass.

If this battle were about looks alone, the Alaskan would have won handily. It had a gorgeous hue of vibrant reddish copper that was so compelling that we were tempted to take the beer down to Home Depot and have them mix up a batch of Alaskan Imperial IPA paint for us. The Double Jack, on the other hand was a fairly bland golden hue — not inspiring at all.

What the Double Jack lacked in color it more than made up for in aroma. It was just bursting with juicy citrus hops. Neither of us wanted to give up the glass. Each sniff kind of made our eyes roll back in our head. The Alaskan was nowhere near as special. As a matter of fact, in comparison to the Double Jack it seemed to barely have any hops in the nose at all, choosing instead to focus on a sweet, malty and woody aroma.

Once the Double Jack took the upper hand it never gave the Alaskan a chance, ultimately landing an uppercut that knocked the Alaskan clean out of its XTRATUFS. Game over. Lights out.

The Alaskan is a decent beer, it just got steamrolled by one of the best IPAs we've ever had the privilege of drinking. If you like huge, malty, hoppy Imperial IPAs go get some Double Jack immediately. There may still be some left on store shelves in the Seattle area.

Winner by unanimous decision: Firestone Walker

Brown Ales — Steinhaus Brewing Co. (Firestone Walker) vs. Rogue

Steinhaus Brewing Co.
Mission St. Brown Ale
(Contract Brewed for Trader Joe's by Firestone Walker)
ABV 5.7%

Color: Soda pop brown.
Aroma: Sweet chocolate malts, bready grains.
Flavor: A bit watery, sweet chocolate with some weird vegetal notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: A bit of metallic, tinny bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Rogue Jacksonville
Anniversary Ale
ABV ?%

Color: Dark copper brown.
Aroma: Saltines, bread, dry oatmeal, whole wheat bread, amaretto, hay.
Flavor: Chocolate, hay, very slight citrus late.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Whole wheat bread, amaretto.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
Based on the selection (or lack thereof) of Brown ales we've seen in the Seattle area, it's safe to say that they aren't the most popular style of beer right now. Most people we know reach for a porter or a stout when they are craving a dark beer. It's unfortunate because a well-made Brown Ale can be just what you need when a pale ale seems too light and a porter seems too heavy.

The competitors tonight were both from out of state. We had a special release beer from Rogue commemorating the 150th anniversary of the quaint little town of Jacksonville, OR (definitely check this town out if you are in the Ashland/Medford area) and we had a beer from Trader Joe's that is contract brewed by the well-respected Firestone Walker brewery in California. We've been battling a lot of big, rich beers lately, so it was a nice change of pace to feature two beers that are less jarring to the palate.

The Rogue didn't mess around. The aroma was wonderfully complex. The chocolate, almond and bread notes came together to create what Ellen described as "chocolate almond cookie crumb pie crust." That pretty much nailed it. The flavor followed suit with lots of bready chocolate and a touch of citrus hops.

We had high hopes for the Mission St. Brown when we heard that Firestone Walker had contract brewed it for Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, it couldn't hang with the Rogue. It was pretty one-dimensional with sweet chocolate malts coming through in the aroma, flavor and finish. And when you come to a battle with sweet and simple flavors you shouldn't be surprised when you get decked.

Congratulations to Rogue on brewing a great beer and to Jacksonville, Oregon for celebration 150 years of existence with a beer that was worthy of the occasion.

Winner by unanimous decision: Jacksonville Anniversary Ale

Porters — Firestone Walker vs. Elysian

Firestone Robust Porter
ABV 5.9%

Color: Clear brown/orange.
Aroma: Hops, both floral and citrus.
Flavor: Citrus hops first, then sweet malts, then subtle roasty malts. A bit thin.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Nice, mellow coffee.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Elysian Perseus Porter
ABV 5.4%

Color: Clear dark brown/red.
Aroma: Funky, stinky cheese and coffee beans.
Flavor: Sweet malts, then nice roasted coffee.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Bitter chocolate hoppiness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Winner by unanimous decision: Elysian. Perseus is ripped. I mean, look at those pecs. The dude's spent some time in the gym. Despite his imposing physique, the Perseus didn't win this battle with brute force. It was a nice combination of balanced hops and malts and a fuller, richer body that led him to victory. The Firestone is no slouch itself, but when compared to the Elysian, it just came across a bit too thin and simple. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that either of us would have guessed it was a porter in a blind tasting. It had a surprisingly hoppy aroma that might cause you to think Pale Ale, followed by a surprisingly sweet flavor that might lead you to conclude Amber.

On a side note, the Firestone paired marvelously with our smoky and spicy beef tacos while the Perseus was a bit too strong and didn't really add much to the flavors. So, drink the Firestone with food (we think it would go well with BBQ meats as well) and have some Perseus before or after dinner (or both!)