Five Beers For Twenty-Two Years

Welcome to the first install­ment of Beer Reviews From Complete Amateurs! To cel­e­brate Alisha’s 22nd birth­day, she and I got decided to get some deli­cious crêps at Le Happy and then head over to Portland’s Primere Beer Store and Biercafe, Belmont Station, which is home to over 700 bot­tled beers from all around the world. Picking five was dif­fi­cult, but we spot­ted a few we had been look­ing for and chose a few new­bies to try. These were our spec­i­mens:

L to R: Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial Ale (Triple Hoppy), St. Bernardus Abt 12, Rogue Juniper Pale Ale, Unibroue’s La Fin Du Monde, Le Caracole’s Saxo

This was our rat­ing sys­tem:

1. La Fin Du Monde by Unibroue in Quebec, Canada (triple fer­men­ta­tion), 9%.
We chose a delight­ful beer to begin with and, at first taste, Alisha described it’s tex­ture trail as “fizzy then smooth”, to which I responded “uhhuh.” I added that it was very enjoy­able and, relat­ing it to one of my all time favs, added that it tasted “less yeasty than Delirium” and “golden”. Translated as “The End of the World”, La Fin Du Monde received may grain ref­er­ences and, although a bit incon­sis­tent, Alisha stated that it had a “light grain, very grainy” taste and reminded her of a “rice flour pan­cake”.
Rating: 7.5

2. Abt 12 by Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV in Watou, Belgium, 10%.
Although the build up was huge for this one, and we real­ized it was way more kick-ass than a Bud Light or some shit, the Abt 12 was unfor­tu­nately kind of a let down. “It’s like you’re in a luke warm bath and your lover walks in the door…” is what I stated, nail­ing the exact feel­ing we had: a hope for more, blue balls, just a tease, etc. Alisha orig­i­nally felt “all over the mouth sen­sa­tions” but added that there was “no after­taste — (just) a rush of fizz and fla­vor”. I thought it was kinda “nutty” and hit on the “edges of the tongue”. After tak­ing another sip I affirmed this thought, “yeah, it’s pretty edgy.” Up to this point we were drink­ing out of rim-chipped cham­pagne glass and I was wish­ing that we had real Belgium glasses and Alisha thought that we “may need to let it ‘air’” before try­ing it. This was a good call. We ate some cab­bage, muen­ster cheese, and sauer­kraut and let the Abt 12 breathe for a few min­utes and it opened up a bit. As I fin­ished my glass I stated, “it’s a belly ale for sure, though not super heavy.“
Rating: 7

3. La Caracole Saxo by Le Caracole in Falmignoul, Belgium, 8%.
The Saxo was a deli­cious Beligum Blonde Ale that I described as “less intense and a lit­tle more rounded” than the sim­i­lar Le Fin Du Monde. “Still sharp with a light, airy tex­ture”, I thought as I imag­ined that it could be the per­fect beer if served cold on a hot sum­mer day — espe­cially at the remark­ably low price ($2.99 for a 12oz. bot­tle). Alisha described this one as “sim­ple and sub­tly sour”, even going as far as say­ing it was “the whiskey-sour of beers (Jordan: “with less pucker!”).“
Split Rating — Jordan: 7, Alisha: 7.5

4. Rogue Juniper Pale Ale by Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon, 5.2%.
“Whoa!” Alisha said after her first sip. The Juniper Pale Ale tastes earthy, leafy, woody, and Alisha pumped out the moun­tain ref­er­ences: like the “high desert moun­tains of New Mexico” or “breath­ing in moun­tain air” or “or hik­ing in a for­est and breath­ing deeply”. The juniper berries were very present but not too over­whelm­ing and the over­all taste of the beer is well rounded, “full, and sur­rounds your senses” — “it’s like a smell in your mouth!” My knowl­edge of Rogues vocally came out a-shining and, as the bot­tle neared empty, I stated that “it tastes like a Rogue. For sure.“
Split Rating — Jordan: 8.25, Alisha: 8.5

5. Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale (“Triple Hoppy”) by Moylans Brewery in Novato, CA, 9.2%.
I enjoyed this brew the best of all. I ini­tially thought “broad tan and foamy but­ter and sour potato (Alisha’s hand­writ­ing was a bit blurry by this time)”. Julie tasted this one and was reminded of a “sud­den rough awak­en­ing in a car on a road­trip.” Caleb chipped in that it tasted like an “old, long-dead tree branch” and Vicki threw in a “cit­rusy, grape­fruit” ref­er­ence. Alisha thought it was “rounded and fleshy”.
Split Rating — Jordan: 8.5, Alisha: 9

There it is…and here is our bel­lies full of beer: