Pale Ales — Walkabout Brewing vs. Seven Brides Brewing

Walkabout Brewing Co.
Worker's Pale Ale
ABV 5.5%

Color: Crystal clear orange.
Aroma: Spicy hops, roasty malts and a bit of dank funkiness.
Flavor: Clean with mildly bitter citrus hops and herbal notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Mild bitterness turning to moderate bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Seven Brides Brewing Co.
Lauren's Pale Ale
ABV 5.7%

Color: Cloudy orange. 
Aroma: Floral and perfumy with tropical fruit notes. Alcohol is also noticeable. Kind of like a fruit brandy.
Flavor: Tart. Almost like a hard cider with a bit of lemon squeezed in.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): N/A (tart and sour)
Finish: Harsh lemon rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Bad

Blow by Blow 
Another day in the low 90s down here in Southern Oregon had us craving some refreshing pale ales. Fortunately many craft breweries make a pale ale as it is usually a gateway beer to get people hooked on hops. After featuring a brewery from the midwest in last week's battle we decided to keep it closer to home for this one with two breweries from Oregon, one close to us in Central Point (Walkabout) and one near Salem in Silverton (Seven Brides).

Unfortunately it was a lopsided fight. So lopsided, in fact, that we suspect foul play. And by foul we mean that the Seven Brides seemed tainted. It had an intriguing aroma with tropical fruit and alcohol notes, but the flavor was so tart that we would have guessed it was a mild sour beer. We're pretty sure that Seven Brides did not intend to make their Pale Ale sour, so either it was improperly stored, spent too much time on the shelf or the batch was bad. So that was a bummer. We never like to dump a beer down the drain, but we had no choice with the Lauren's Pale Ale.

So the winner by default was the Worker's Pale Ale. It's a classic northwest pale ale with plenty of citrus hops to round out the roasty malts and even has a bit of funkiness thrown in for good measure. Walkabout is a pretty small brewery, so we're not sure how much distribution it gets outside of the Rogue Valley, but if you see it on tap or in a store it's worth checking out. They have quite a loyal following down here in southern Oregon and we hear that they are in the process of getting a tasting room up and running so we look forward to visiting that in the future.

Winner by unanimous decision: Walkabout Brewing.

Belgian Style Beers — Boulevard Brewing vs. Boulevard Brewing

Boulevard Brewing Co.
Smokestack Series Saison
ABV 6.2%

Color: Hazy yellow.
Aroma: Rich, sweet malts with slight mustiness.
Flavor: Citrus and mild grain.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Mild bitterness turning to moderate bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Boulevard Brewing Co.
Smokestack Series
Two Jokers Double-Wit
(Brewed with Cardamom, Coriander, Orange Peel, Lavender and Grains of Paradise)
ABV 8%

Color: Hazy orangish yellow. 
Aroma: Clean lemony hops and spicy herbs.
Flavor: Refreshing citrus at first turning to rich, complex and tart.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Tart and lemony.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow 
These two beers are both from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City, Missouri. We found them on sale at the Harry & David store and decided to match them up against each other to see if we like what they're doing out in KC.

It turned out to be a tight battle. Both beers came prepared and really delivered. The Saison wasn't as funky and barnyardy as some of the classic Belgians, but it had a well balanced simplicity with a mild hop presence that was a pleasure to drink and went well with our dinner. The Double-Wit had us confused at first because we really liked it but couldn't really pinpoint any distinct flavors or aromas. The combination of the spices in the beer ended up giving it a pleasant herbal spiciness with no one spice dominating the others. It was also very refreshing and tart which made sense after we read the back and found out that they had used some lactic fermentation.

When it came time to cast our votes we were not in agreement. Ellen chose the more aggressively flavored Double-Wit and I went with the mild and easy-drinking Saison. But, honestly, they were both so good that it could have easily been the other way around. After this battle we will definitely keep our eye out for new Boulevard Brewing releases in the future.

Draw: Ellen chose the Two Jokers, I chose the Saison.

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.

Ales Brewed with Herbs — Rogue vs. Malmgard

Rogue MoM Hefeweizen
(Ale Brewed with Coriander and Ginger)
ABV 5.2%

Color: Hazy bright yellow.
Aroma: Funky barnyard grain, clean lemon.
Flavor: Crisp, acidic, lemony. Herbal bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Grainy with moderate citrus bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Malmgard Brewery
Arctic Circle Ale
(Finnish Ale Brewed with Juniper Twigs)
ABV 7.3%

Color: Dark reddish brown.
Aroma: Smoky roasted malts, chocolate, raisins, brown sugar.
Flavor: Rich and complex with same stuff as aroma, but also had a distinct savory quality.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Brown sugar, raisins, molasses.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Blow by Blow
This battle was inspired by a bottle of Finnish winter ale that we bought while we were in California last Christmas. We meant to drink it sooner, but we kept getting distracted by all the other beers crammed in our fridge. So here we are in the heat of summer doing a bottle battle with a winter beer. Sometimes that’s just how things work out.

The Finnish beer was brewed with juniper twigs so we looked to match it up against another beer featuring herbs. We found a worthy competitor in the Rogue MoM, a hefeweizen brewed with coriander and ginger. Finland vs. Oregon. Perhaps this is the beginning of a nasty international rivalry?

As expected the beers were of two totally different styles. The Rogue was meant for summer sipping with lots of lemony and grainy flavors and a crisp herbal bitterness. The Arctic Circle, on the other hand, was built for dark Finnish winters, offering notes of brown sugar, raisins, and smoky chocolate. It also had an intriguing savory characteristic that we though might be from the juniper twigs but it could also have been the influence of the rye malt which we weren’t aware of until reading the back of the label.

Neither of us could really detect the specific herbs in either of the beers, but perhaps that’s a good thing. Overly spiced beers can be a mess. Then again, if you list it as a flavor ingredient, don’t you want your customers to taste it? There is a fine line here that also involves some palate subjectivity so there is really no absolute answer, but it’s a topic worthy of some thought. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

Based on the season you’d think that MoM would have won handily, but that was not the case. The Rogue just didn’t have enough going on to keep it interesting, so in the end the Finnish beer beat the odds and proved that winter beers can be just as tasty on a hot evening in southern Oregon as they are on a frigid Finnish night. Kippis!

Winner by unanimous decision: Malmgard Arctic Circle Ale

IPAs — Widmer vs. MacTarnahan's

Widmer Rotator IPA: X-114
ABV 6.2%

Color: Deep yellow.
Aroma: Big grapefruit citrus, touch of funky cannabis.
Flavor: Clean citrus hops.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Moderate citrus bitterness with touch of that funky cannabis.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

MacTarnahan's
Summer Grifter IPA
ABV 6.2%

Color: Amber.
Aroma: Malts in the foreground, subtle piny hops in the background.
Flavor: Vegetal with some lemony citrus.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Woody, harsh bitter greens.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Blow by Blow
After 15 great years in Seattle, we have relocated to the beautiful Rogue River Valley in Oregon. So, the official Bottle Battle headquarters is now in south Medford. We’ll definitely miss some of our favorite bottles in the Seattle area, but we are excited to dive into an amazing new assortment of beers and breweries.

Just in case you forgot, let us remind you that moving sucks. Our feet hurt, our backs ache and I somehow stabbed my palm on a piece of furniture, stigmata-style. Fortunately, there is the promise of great beer at the end of the day. For this inaugural Medford battle we chose two readily available Oregon IPAs, one from Widmer and the other from MacTarnahan’s.

The Widmer Rotator IPA: X-114 is part of Widmer’s new plan to rotate through a few different IPAs throughout the year rather than having one standard IPA in their lineup. We love the idea and look forward to trying every version they make. This recipe was really to our liking as it had a great grapefruitiness from the aroma all the way to the finish. We would have rated it “fantastic” if not for a funky, cannabis note that just seemed to get in the way of the grapefruit. Very solid IPA though.

The Grifter showed up to the fight with a black-eye and things didn’t get much better for him. The aroma leaned toward the malty side with some pine notes peeking through. The flavor had a kind of nutty, vegetal quality that neither of us were too keen on and the finish was overly bitter. Not a bad beer, but really not what we’re looking for in an IPA.

Winner by unanimous decision: Widmer Rotator IPA: X-114

Lowbrow Lager Can Clash — Olympia vs. Rainier

Olympia Beer
ABV 4.7%

Color: Clear honey gold.
Aroma: Slightly grassy and metallic.
Flavor: Simple malt flavor.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Floral, grainy.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre -

Rainier
Mountain Fresh Beer
ABV 4.7%

Color: Clear, pale yellow.
Aroma: Grain and sweet corn.
Flavor: Clean, cold, wet and grainy.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet corn.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre -

Blow by Blow
At the request of our friend and temporary landlord, Sarah, we agreed to conduct a can clash with two of her favorite macros. Perhaps this info might come in handy should you find yourself in the unenviable position of having to choose between these two mass produced lagers.

I assumed that these beers would be almost identical, but that was not the case. The Rainier had the typical pale yellow color you find in a lot of macro beers, but the Olympia was significantly darker. The Olympia also had more going on in the aroma, offering up some grassy, metallic notes while the Rainier continued to follow the macro script with that standard grain and corn scent.

The flavor and finish confirmed the verdict as the Olympia was more vibrant and refreshing compared to the dull, sweet corn water qualities of the Rainier. Sarah, however, played the contrarian, preferring the Rainier for the same reason we disliked it — because it had less going on. She also offered up a great explanation of the flavor difference, describing the Olympia as "Not as dancy, more zingy." I guess Ellen and I like more zing.

Winner by majority decision: Olympia Beer

Beers with Double in the Name — Dick's Brewing Co. vs. Ninkasi Brewing Co.

Dick's Brewing Co.
Double Danger Ale
ABV 8.5%

Color: Cola.
Aroma: Sweet with coffee and molasses notes.
Flavor: Smoke and cocoa with clean, berry sweetness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet cocoa.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Ninkasi Brewing Co.
Believer Double Red Ale
ABV 6.9%

Color: Reddish brown.
Aroma: Dusty malts dominate with some piny hops in the background.
Flavor: Smooth, sweet, cedary maltiness with mellow piny hops.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Solid lingering citrus peel bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Blow by Blow
Well, I picked up the Ninkasi Double Red because I thought we had the Dick's Imperial Red waiting at home. Turns out we'd already drunk the Dick's red, but we did have a bottle of the Double Danger that's been itching for a fight. Two beers with "double" in the name? Sure it's a stretch, but a battle is a battle — some are organized and planned, others are the result of circumstance.

As usual, Ellen poured the beer blind for me but it was kind of pointless once I saw the beers. Having tried the regular Dick's Danger Ale many times before, I knew that it was a darker beer, so it was no surprise that the Double Danger fell into that category. The color of the Ninkasi was true to it's name, showing off some nice red accents.

In the aroma and flavor category it became clear that these beers were bizarrely matched. The Ninkasi was a very good double red ale with a smooth, malty base and just enough piny hops and citrus bitterness in the finish to balance it out nicely. It still came across as more of a hoppy beer, but that is what we are always hoping for when we get a "red" ale in the northwest. The Double Danger was also quite good, but in a completely different way. It had almost no hop profile at all, instead offering smoke, cocoa, molasses and a distinct berry sweetness that was well integrated.

We ended up choosing the Ninkasi because it fit our mood and paired better with our dinner, but we'd advise you to buy both. Drink the Believer with some grilled meat (or grilled mushrooms for you non-carnivores) and save the Double Danger for an after dinner treat.

Winner by unanimous decision: Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale