Oak Aged Longhop – 6.6% abv
The Longhop is an IPA that is aged on oak staves that have been soaked in Grand Marnier. Judging from the brewing and bottling dates, I’m guessing it spent about a month on oak.
The first thing I noticed, after the powerful aroma, was the very substantial head; perhaps a little too much carbonation, and I had to wait several minutes for it to subside before I was able to enjoy the beer. A nice balance of malt and hops, while keeping a true IPA character. Lots of citrus flavor, I suspect a combination of hops and the Grand Marnier, with just a hint of pine resin from the hops, and the notes of oak are subtle enough to enhance rather than detract from the character of the beer.
Overall, while I’m not a fan of heavily hopped beers, I found this beer quite pleasant; although a fan of big IPAs may find this a little light on the hops.
Overall, while I’m not a fan of heavily hopped beers, I found this beer quite pleasant; although a fan of big IPAs may find this a little light on the hops.
Fall Pasture – 7.9% abv
This is a pumpkin beer, made with lots of real pumpkin rather than just the spices as some beers seem to be. I admit that I’d pretty much given up on pumpkin beers, as almost all of them seem to be exercises in excess, rather than showing the flavor of the pumpkin. This one however, reminds me of some of the first pumpkin beers I tasted, that actually taste like a pumpkin pie rather than like someone spilled a packet of spices into your glass. Nice light touch of sweetness, with just enough hoppiness to keep it from being cloying. There’s even a very slight hint of chocolate, that works surprisingly well. I have to hope that the next batch of this beer is little changed.
Oatmeal Bull-Aisin Saddles Stout 5.8% abv.
An “Oatmeal Craisin Cookie Stout”, brewed with “lots of oats…, spiced just right, and aged for a few weeks on organic cranberries and whole vanilla beans.” Sounds great; I can hardly wait.
Oddly, being a stout, this has the lightest head of the night, but it looks about right. Very intense nose; almost a burnt coffee smell, which I’m not sure if I like or not.
Oddly, being a stout, this has the lightest head of the night, but it looks about right. Very intense nose; almost a burnt coffee smell, which I’m not sure if I like or not.
On the palate, it’s quite dry. IMO, maybe a little too dry, as the oats and the fruit demand a little sweetness to compliment their flavor. I think there is promise with this recipe, but I think that, as is, the cranberries keep it from being a good dry stout, and the dryness keeps it from being a good fruit-flavored stout (although I’ll give credit for the cranberries being a subtle note of the flavor, rather than being the predominant taste).
My least favorite of the three beers I tried tonight, but it’s growing on me, and I’m sure I’ll finish it.
In conclusion, it seems as if Bolero Snort is going to be a good source of interesting unusual beers, as well as a standard or two, without feeling the need to go to such extremes as to make the beers drinkable only by taste-thrill seekers. I'm guessing that Robert is content with brewing beers that people can really enjoy, rather than brewing something just for the sake of bragging rights of "Most extreme (insert category) beer". As someone who has been burned out by beers with IBUs measured with triple digits, I really appreciate this approach.
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And for a good interview with man of many hats Robert Olson, check out fellow curler and blogger Seth Mellin's site:
BTW, I should add, the stout is really starting to grow on me. ;-)
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