Hip Hops: July 2007 Archives

Occasionally life passages require dramatic, indulgent celebrations. Since we — the two baby men behind Hot Knives — both turned a quarter-of-a-century-old this year, we’re starting to forlornly dig the passage of time enough that we can get Dionysian once in a while for special occasions. Like last week. We partook in an out-of-control, meat-free, 7-course tasting menu meal that cost more than our monthly rent, just to toast to recent good fortunes: Celebrate good times, c’mon.

The brewers at Pizza Port know this. To celebrate their 15th anniversary, they brewed a new imperial double IPA by adding one of 15 different kinds of hops to a bubbling cauldron every 15 minutes. The result is Hop 15, breathtakingly badass, and not as much of a Frankenstein beer as you might imagine. Compared to some triple IPAs, this orange-hued brew is downright balanced. Of course the immediate first note is a chomping bite of hop flavors — a well-rounded and complex mouthful of zesty, earthy, and floral notes firing all at once. Piney notes win out over sugar, which we tend to like. The lingering aftertaste is fresh, even relatively clean tasting, reminiscent of a sea breeze through a field of pine trees. Tender.

Dairy Pairy: Roquefort
Soundtrack: Modest Mouse’s “Head South”

Avery Brewing Company is probably the best argument in favor of southwestern beer superiority. In terms of flavor, packaging, and lunacy, their beers rank highly in our little pantheon of liquid love. For anyone outside of the exteded four corners area, you’re seriously missing out. Oak aged barley wines? 15% abv. stouts? Imperial Oktoberfest Lager? Every year this brewery churns out beautiful bombers that make our tender clutches quake when we spot them in reachin refrigerators. If the full line were available in southern California we would have a stronger tolerance for booze.

In years past, the Avery Anniversary Ale has run the gamut from a beautiful Bock last year, to the still wishfully remembered Ten (10 hops, 10 malts, 110 IBU’s, 10% alc. by vol.) This year’s offering, a dry hopped dark ale, can be summarily described as “a fucking mouthful.”

The ale pours a deep mahogany color, reminiscent of many great imperial reds currently en vogue on the west coast. Bubbles abound in miniature infinities. Though they are never strong enough to form a lasting head these little armies arise at the mildest agitation and swirl so invitingly as to desire intimate knowledge of their physics. Think lacing that makes you want to remove your trousers…

While we did at first whine that we once again were deprived the depravity of an Avery Anniversary IPA, the complexity of this beer surprised and awed us into submission. In the nose this guy is full of red fruits, spices, and chocolate. The first sip is an explosion of malts that some abyss colored stouts barely achieve which fades directly into a full flavored dry hop finish. Dump this dude into a big glass with plenty of room for swirling and sniffing. You'll find yourself contemplating its various flavor profiles like some kind of drunken pre-Socratic.

The 14 proves no ale is too dark for summer. Find this beer; wait until sunset, slow down.

Dairy Pairy: Beemster Classic (Or the eldest Gouda you can find. 16 months minimum.)
Soundtrack: Ethiopiques 21

The Sonoma Farmhouse series is a new line of beers brewed by the bad dudes of the central coast. Lagunitas’ beers usually rank on the heavier side boasting brutal bitterness, and large alcohol percentages. The first two farm hands are milder affairs, with temperate booze levels and heavy-handed subtlety. At a meeting of the minds on Alex’s front porch, we discussed the new ilk of a collective old flame with Greg Buss and Mike Meanstreetz, both hardened Lagunitas cherishers. After eight bombers and two bowls of peanuts we were drunk, and fairly certain that we love these new beers.

While the brewery said that the Sonoma Farmhouses weren’t really available outside their homeland, reports of the Saison’s presence in beer stores abound from Highland Park to Azusa. No sightings of the Hop Stoopid (except our stash), but bug your beer-mongers. If you annoy them, they’ll annoy their distributors, and with luck you'll find these bombers on familiar shelves.

Saison Style

At 5.3% alcohol and barely recognizable hop character, the Saison style stays on the side of the discernibly summer. It’s a refreshing session beer with an aftertaste that evokes both corona and saltine crackers. The front of the flavor profile is well balanced with a particularly pleasant yeastiness, with hints of citrus and black pepper. Mass production of this brew certainly took a steady hand. The subtlety of the Saison might not be for every die hard Lagunitas fan, but for the rest of the world this might be your new favorite after work chiller, or a permanent resident for your floating beer cozy (will someone please invent them?). Just don’t let anyone put lime in it.

Dairy Pairy: Sarah’s Nevat
Soundtrack: Brian Jonestown Massacre: “Talk-Action=Shit”

Hop Stoopid

Unlike the Saison, which you should only slam during a warm day, Hop Stoopid fills the heavy boots of the Lagunitas repertoire. Our assumption would be that a brew with such a boastful name would be a triple-imperial-something, rearing to kick our teeth through our noses with booze and hops. Not really the case here. The hops combo does run all over the gamut, from the pinesap of the northwest to the medicine man intensity of the southern lords. In the nostrils this brew smells of total IPA glory. But, like its aforementioned brethren, this brew’s innermost attributes are pretty chilled out. All of your beer senses are immediately inundated but then released in a very surprising, but fulfilling manner. Think Green Flash Imperial IPA with more complexity. The lightning speed of the hop flavor progression immediately gives way to the super smooth balenced malts, really hiding the booze in this one: it only comes out if you sip at just below room temperature.

Dairy Pairy: Affidelice Au Chablis
Soundtrack: Gang of Four “Anthrax”

On a recent trip north for a wedding, Lake and Alex burned some time and bought some bombers at the Petaluma digs of Lagunitas brewing company. Lagunitas’ beers have been long time faves of your favorite beer snobs, and it was a real treat to get a peek at the industrial side of their full bore brews.

Unlike Stone’s monolith of a production center cum-hedonist-compound, Lagunitas’ location has more of a factory vibe. Too early and without time for the regular tour, the Brewery’s secretary Stephanie gave an awesome walk around, offering a chance to see, and show you, the mechanical workings of a fast growing super-brewery.

The video shows the Lagunitas means of production in full swing, with their chilled out crew rocking hard to death rocker/horror director Rob Zombie’s late 90’s jams. In the background, you can see the outlines of what Stephanie told us was a three day supply for the growing giant: over 80 pallets of beer.

Stay tuned for reviews of what we brought back…

There is, according to Jules Verne (among other Frenchies), a fleeting visual phenomenon that accompanies a warm summer sunset — he called it “le rayon vert,” the green ray, or perhaps more literally “the green flash.” By his description, the green ray was a split second flash of emerald light just as the sun dips below the horizon. Explored by master of the mundane Eric Rohmer in his 1986 film (the classically understated “Summer” as it was called in its American release), the green ray was quite literally illusive, and figurative for the love that Rohmer’s protagonist is missing until the last seconds of the film.

Suffice it to say, we loved Green Flash’s Imperial IPA. It even lived up to the deeply dorky metaphor that the brewery name references: the bitter bursts of this classic San Diego-style IPA were wonderfully fleeting, momentarily arresting and then — zap — gone from the palate.

First came a hint of raspberry zing, followed by the frothy alcohol sting and finally a quick, mellow effervescence, noticeably skipping the sickly sweet linger. This IPA is not an envelope-pusher exactly, but it is an iconic standard. And whereas some stronger IPAs (Moylan’s Hopsickle, Avery’s Maharajah) are tough to slug in summer heat, this one went down like hop soda pop. Which is not to say its an unchallenging bottle.

Our friend Julie, a French Canadian with a thirst for lagers and Eric Rohmer films had this to say about the hoppy green flash the beer emitted: “I’m hoping I could eat sausage right now because the fat of the sausage would take the bitterness away!”

Dairy Pairy: Morbier
Soundtrack: Brian Eno’s Another Green World