Review: 3 Floyds Zes Zes Zes

Brewery:  3 Floyds Brewing LLC

Locale:  Munster, IN

Craft Circa:  1996

Style:  Saison / Farmhouse Ale

ABV:  8.5%

Notables:  Appears to be a specialty brew only available ‘to-go’ from their brewing facility August, 2012.

Label:  Unique from many of their trademark labels, but very Revolver-esque. 

Overall:   It’s hard to find any information about this beer, including the 3 Floyds website.  I only came across the Belgian brew because I was picking up some Zombie Dust for Labor Day festivities.  To be honest, I have never seen this brew before until checkout at the register.  Per the label, this Belgian Ale was brewed with the combined efforts of 3 Floyds and the award winning De Molen’s head brewer Menno Olivier, who is labeled as “The real Dutch Hercules.” I wonder if this Dutch brewpub has a dance floor…

The label also mentions to check out the one they brew in Holland at De Molen.  Good luck with that one.  There’s probably a better chance attending a gay wedding this week at the Republican National Convention.

Damn you 3 Floyds… this smells amazing.  The aroma is powerful and quite intoxicating, full of fruity goodness.  A cornucopia of fruits just picked from the orchards.  It’s like smelling a BBQ joint in the vicinity, and then craving BBQ.  You smell this, and you want it immediately.  There’s a chance my notes for this brew are shotty as I was distracted by wanting to drink this brew more so than taking my time writing initial thoughts on it. 

The head was a thick layered egg creamy white, and settled nicely into a thin strip.  It isn’t as fruity as you would expect, but for me usually that’s a good thing.  The aroma dictates otherwise, giving you the impression you are in for a swig of sweetness.  It’s full flavored, slightly grassy, and very fresh.  It has a miniature kick.  The bitterness plays peek-a-boo, and if you are tentative enough you may just find it before it meshes in with the crowd like Waldo at a renaissance fair.  This Saison is large and in charge, much bigger than a typical Saison, and I think it may also be borderline BIPA depending on the hops and yeast strain.  If so, and it’s certainly a possibility coming in at 8.5% ABV that it may be the BIPA Injustice League’s 2^nd recruitment. 

Compared to other Saisons I’ve tried, there is more to like with this one.  It’s spicy, seemingly full of Belgian influence, and it actually tastes better as you progress through it.   It’s a wonderfully dangerous brew.

Acquisition:  22 oz. - $12

Tidbit:  “Zes” is Dutch for the number “6.”

 

             

~gY

Pipeworks Has Done It Again…Review: Pipeworks Brewing Company Poivre Rose Saison

Brewery: Pipeworks Brewing Company
Locale: Chicago, Illinois in the Bucktown Neighborhood 
Craft Circa:  2012 
Style:  Saison (artisanal variety w/peppercorns)
ABV:  7.70%
Notables: Available in the summertime.

Label: Great label. Rustic, old world, aged parchment look with cursive script that really makes its point that this beer has peppercorns in it with the spilled jar of peppercorns.

Overall: Great Beer.  These guys have done it again.  What does Poivre mean?  From what I can tell it’s a French word (duh) that means “coated in black pepper.”  Per the label this Saison has a “hefty dose of pink peppercorns, for floral and citrus notes.”  And a “touch of tellicherry black peppercorns for a hint of spice.”  This is sounding more like a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu or a cooking demo by the illustrious Julia Child than ingredients in beer.

Click picture to watch video...

BTW Julia would’ve been 100 years old on August 15, 2012 (she got a Google Doodle for it!).  Admittedly I was both disturbed and intrigued when Yinzer gave me the task of reviewing this beer.  “Peppercorns???”  (That’s the disturbed part).  “Hmmm intriguing…” (That’s because it’s Pipeworks Brewing; these dudes are producing some quality beer and getting good press and word of mouth.  Speaking of good press see B&B’s review of Pipeworks’ Glaucus Belgian IPA posted way back in July). 


So I thought, “It has to be good.”  And they did not disappoint.  The concoctions these guys are making are VERY creative AND tasty.  While slightly darker than the typical Saison, it had all the classic elements: great floral / spicy aroma, carbonation, and head.  It had a lightly sweet bite on the palate, yet a light full bodied flavor, an almost champagne-like effervescence to it (maybe that’s the French strain of saison yeast?).  This beer started off strong and finished strong.  I kept wanting more; in fact, the only thing that slowed down the consumption was my note taking.  There was a hint of spicy aftertaste from the peppercorns.  Before my first sip I prepared for a pepper onslaught but as I drank I realized that would’ve been a bad move by Pipeworks.  Any more pepper would’ve made this beer a marinade for some fine piece of meat or a bratwurst cookout hosted by the Sausage King of Chicago himself, Abe Froman. 

Acquisition:  22oz. - $9.49.

Windfall: While there are many pepper types, two types of pepper come from India’s Malabar Coast: Malabar pepper and Tellicherry pepper. Tellicherry (one of the peppers in Pipeworks’ Poivre Rose Saison) is a pepper made from fruits from the grafted Malabar plants grown on Mount Tellicherry. (Wikipedia)   

Cheers!

~Gy

Review: Revolution Brewing Coup d'Etat

Brewery:  Revolution Brewing

Locale:  Logan Square, IL (Chicago)

Craft Circa:  2010

Style:  French Style Saison

ABV:  7.6%

IBUs: 50

 Label:  Get used to seeing these fists breaking through a grocer aisle near you.

Overall:   In case you missed it, there was breaking news on a revolution a brewing here in Chicago reported here at B&B.  Not sure if you caught it, but there’s been a Coup d'Etat; a strike against the state of the general beer drinker nation.  Coup d’Etat, the overthrow, or sudden illegal declaration of a government is such a fitting and an appropriate name of one of the first Revolution brews to be bottled and hit the streets. 

Per wiki, a Coup d'Etat is considered successful when the usurpers establish their dominance. When the coup neither fails completely nor succeeds, a civil war is a likely consequence.  Well this Saison (French for season) is in fact a disturbance.  It’s the Woody Woodpecker of French Style Saisons.  It’s a crisp brew, with a pale malty stamina, quite flavorful for the style.  It ruptures with all the Saison elements you would want to find in a brew, and possibly a tad overboard for my tastes… but for Saison lovers, this ale is right up your backstreet.  It’s lightly hopped, has an array of spices, and it seems as though there was a real Fruit Ninja standing atop this vat before it was sealed for fermentation.  Reasonably tasty.

My pour had no head whatsoever, yet there was still a moderate amount of carbonation.  I’ve been reading the opposite pertaining to the carbonation aspect of this brew’s pour, but either way there is no lack of the quality of this ale.  This would be one of my favorite offerings from Rev Brew if this style was a preference of mine.   It has quality and class for such a rebellious brew. 

Grab a bottle, this Frenchman will knock you off your feet.

Acquisition:  22 ouncer - $7

  

~gY

Review: Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA

Brewery:  Flying Dog Brewery

Locale:  Frederick, MD (Originally Aspen, Colorado as a brewpub)

Craft Circa:  1990

Style:  Farmhouse / Saison IPA

ABV:  7.5%

IBUs:  75

Notables:  Year-round IPA

Label:  Typical Flying Dog fashion.  Their artwork is unique and vows to get noticed in a world full of craft brews itching to get noticed.  You can associate these splattered Picaso style etchings with just about every Flying Dog Brew.

Overall:   In craft beer years, Flying Dog has been around the block.  They generally produce standard quality brews that are available year around.  This brew seems to be a little more out of their element of pale ales and lagers.  Farmhouse ales are another term for a Belgian style of ale.  Per wiki, it’s a brew that is distinguished by culture and craftsmanship in the Belgian tradition.  Saison yeast - Saison (French, "season") is the name originally given to low-alcohol pale ales brewed seasonally in farmhouses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. Modern-day Saisons, particularly those brewed in the USA, and are generally bottle conditioned with an average range of 5 to 8% abv.

With that said, this beer has also been labeled by some as a Belgian IPA.  I disagree with that, and it cannot be true.  It’s not good enough to be associated with that class of criminals (the BIPA - - Injustice League).  The brew is way too sweet.  I would not consider this a BIPA, but rather a tart variation of it.  The wallop of citrus and sweetness overpowers any of the malt and hops.  The taste buds are ruined after the initial sip and it skews any judgment your taste buds may subsequently have. 

I like all shapes and sizes of IPAs, love to get my hand on any variation of one, but this one just does not do it for me.  This one merely grazes my palate the wrong way. 

Acquisition:  6 pack - $10

Notes:  The BIPA Injustice League established July 26, 2012.  The organization was created for the hardcore criminals with the malicious intent of taking over your palate, knocking you out with hops and flavor, with a reckoning appetite for destruction, and stealing you blind... burning through your wallet as you increasingly want more.

BIPA Injustice League Members:

Pipeworks Glaucus – Founding Member:

~gY