Session # 170
Lucky Bucket | Certified Evil
Belgian Dark Strong Ale | La Vista, Nebraska | ABV ???

One year ago: De Dolle Oerbier

Sometimes when I review a beer I have no idea what I’m getting into. Such is the case with today’s beer from La Vista, Nebraska brewery Lucky Bucket. Having beers brought back from others is always a cool thing and sometimes it means sampling a brewery you’ve never heard of before. Lucky Bucket is certainly one I’d never heard of but I was convinced into giving one of their beers a try. The Certified Evil is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that clocks in at…well…I’m not sure. What poured out of the bottle, though, was a very nice raisin color with a beautiful frothy light tan head. The aroma on this beer was just phenomenal in that it smelled like a Rochefort 10 with a touch of oak to round it all out. This was followed by a very nice floral vanilla aroma. When tasting this for the first time I couldn’t help but think this is one of the better unknown beers out there. It began with a nice sweet leather and tobacco flavor followed by a soft sweetness and a nice bite from the hops. In the end I was very pleasantly surprised and have already requested another four-pack. Rating: 92/100

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This beer can be found in these states.
Listening To: Ariel Pink “Fright Night (Nevermore)” (Dam Funk Remix)



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Session # 146 | Russian River | Damnation | 7.75% ABV
Belgian Strong Pale Ale | Santa Rosa, California | Rating: 90/100
One year ago: Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

If you click the “Breweries” tab at the top of this site you’ll see that Russian River is currently my #2 favorite brewery (just behind Founders). Sometimes it’s really difficult to choose one over the other. Nevertheless, today’s beer called Damnation shows that even the simple beers are made extremely well at Russian River. Vinnie Cilurzo has become a master of producing very clean tasting beers and this one is no exception. It poured into the glass about as clear as any beer I’ve ever seen; especially knowing that there was yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle. I couldn’t help but notice right away how much it resembled Duvel in its appearance. The aromas were just as suspected: clean but dominate. There was a huge bit of over-ripened banana and clove from the yeast and a light floral character from the slight bit of hops. The bitterness, sweetness, and spiciness were all on the same page in the taste. Again, the banana and clove characters ran the show followed by the malty sweetness and finally a light bitterness from the hops. Put simply, Damnation is a non-flashy well-crafted Belgian beer at its near finest.

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This beer can be found in these states.
Listening To: Say Hi “November Was White, December Was Grey”



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Session # 130 | The Bruery | 2 Turtle Doves | 12% ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | Placentia, California | Rating: 94/100

One year ago: Top 10 Beers of 2009

As the second installment of The Bruery’s Twelve Days of Christmas beers comes the 2 Turtle Doves, a massive chocolaty Belgian Dark Strong Ale. With an ABV of 12%, it’s supposed to age through the years until the brewery produces all of their beers in this series. Well we’re just not going to wait that long on The Hopry. I don’t imagine many people will. It’s Christmas and we will enjoy it right now. Right away the beer looks every bit as dark as it should. With a fair amount of beautiful light tan head, the aroma quickly fills the room with its strong blast of chocolate and dark fruits. Don’t think that there’s not a good amount of booziness, though. There really has to be to keep this one alive for years to come. In terms of the pecans, neither Tim nor I picked much of it up. The flavor is INTENSE! First thing that hits you is a ton of alcohol. The obvious chocolate component is there and it’s as luxurious as we’ve seen in a beer. We only pulled out a touch of the pecan on the palate, and that came in the way of a tannic dryness. Again, the booze and chocolate ultimately take the cake. Overall it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it.

Up Next: MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Others: Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, Chocolate Oak-aged Yeti

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This beer has been retired and cannot be found in stores.
On the iPod: Sufjan Stevens “Silent Night”



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Session # 129 | Jolly Pumpkin | Noel de Calabaza | 9% ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | Dexter, Michigan | Rating: 92/100

One year ago: Top 10 Beers of 2009

Ahhh the American Wild Ale; how it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite styles to drink and collect. Jolly Pumpkin out of Dexter, Michigan is a brewery that makes some of the best. But wait, what’s this? Noel de Calabaza is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale (with Brettanomyces)? Hmmm… I just had to snag this off the shelf ASAP so I could share it with you. Since it’s Christmas what better time than now to get it in on the show. Before I opened the bottle I wondered just exactly how much funk there would be inside. I knew there was always a bit of funk in JP’s beers, but I thought maybe this one would be different since it’s a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Not the case. It comes out the color you’d expect. It looks sort of like what you’d expect. However, it smells and tastes NOTHING like what you’d expect. The aroma of funk comes out immediately. It’s followed by over-ripened banana mixed with wood, spice, and grapes. The taste really wows. Once you let go of the idea of it being a Belgian Dark it makes a lot more sense. Like maybe Russian River or Lost Abbey, these are some of the best sours America is producing. Got get some…

Up Next: The Bruery Two Turtle Doves

Others: Odell Saboteur, Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial

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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Bright Eyes “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”



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Session # 128 | St. Bernardus | Christmas Ale | 10% ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | Watou, Belgium | Rating: 92/100

One year ago: Ska Modus Hoperandi

The St. Bernardus Abt 12 is one of the most well-beloved beers in the world. It’s a shame for sure that I haven’t had it on the show yet, but I guess there are only so many beers one can drink or review. Well, it’s Christmas season and if the Abt 12 is good then this one must be, too. At least that was my thought process. Well…yeah…their Christmas Ale is a very good beer, too. The color is pretty traditional with the nice bottle-conditioned head gently lying on top of the glass. A bit of sediment rose to the top as the carbonation began to release. Surprisingly enough there was only a faint amount of spice and caramel on the nose. I expected a lot more on the aroma than I got. However, it’s the taste that just amazes. Simply put, I didn’t even get the full effect of the beer before I new how amazing it was. The dry, but medium-heavy mouthfeel helps facilitate loads of burnt caramel and dark fruits like dates, raisins, and plums. Most beers of this style (meaning Belgian Christmas Ales) are typically cloying and gloopy, which I despise. The dryness in this one, however, helps keep that from happening. This is a really good beer to warm by the fire with while taking in another year and looking forward to a new one. That’s exactly what I’m going to be doing soon…

Up Next: Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

Others: St. Bernardus Abt 12, Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10

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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Vince Guaraldi Trio “Christmas Time Is Here”



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Kuhnhenn Brewery is not one of the most recognized breweries in the United States of America, but that’s what makes them so interesting. I love discovering the small breweries this country has to offer. Did I mention that they are from Michigan? SHWING!!! That’s already a good sign because I’ve said it time and time again that Michigan owns our asses when it comes to great craft beer production. I can name you at least six SOLID breweries from the state. Not many other states can say they have that many greats or get that kind of love. The first beer I’m sharing from the collection with you this week is the Kuhnhenn Mayhem Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Like a good majority of Kuhnhenn’s beers, Mayhem is a high ABV, highly sweetened, head-lacking affair. It pours about the same color as most of their beers do and comes at you with a vengeance…like most of their beers do. It pours dark and opaque (but not stout-like) and smells of sticky fruits and strong caramel. The flavor is much like the aroma, only you get a lot more intensity on the palate than the nose hairs. So while it’s not the most successful beer, it’s definitely not something to scoff at. You’ll want to save this one for the autumn and winter months for sure. Up next: Kuhnhenn Olde Brune

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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Say Hi to Your Mom “Prefers Unhappy Endings”



Brewery: Kuhnhenn
Beer: Mayhem
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Warren, Michigan
ABV: 10.5%
Rating: 86/100

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It’s been a long time coming to have a Mikkeller Week on The Hopry. Although they are one of my favorite breweries, I have surprisingly not had any of the beers that we’ll be featuring this week. So this should be a fun week of sessions. First up is the It’s Alive, which is a Belgian Strong Ale dedicated to the great Trappist beer called Orval. As you can imagine, my hopes are pretty high for this one. What’s unfortunate here, however, is that we both felt let down by the nose on this one. Orval is a much spicier beer with a lighter effervescence. The color is also much darker, so right away there’s not a whole lot of things that make us understand how it’s a tribute. Once we actually tasted this one I think you’ll notice that we were both a bit puzzled. There certainly isn’t the punch of brettanomyces that we were hoping for and the absence of spice is also apparent in the taste. Really there’s just not any funk at all. What I will say is that it’s a very good beer on its own, but as a tribute to one of the greatest beers around…? With that said, I guess you could call this a tribute to many beers, but Orval is not even close. That beer is head and shoulders above nearly every beer on the market and this one would simply blend in with the bulk of the others. Especially with the “Always Save” looking label, of which I’m definitely not a fan. Up next: Mikkeller Jackie Brown.

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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Nick Drake “River Man”



Brewery: Mikkeller
Beer: It’s Alive
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
ABV: 8%
Rating: 82/100

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Preface: Apologies for the lighting issue on this video. I tried something different and it clearly did not work like I thought. Normal great quality will be back in action Friday.

On Monday we took a look at De Dolle’s Dulle Teve 10º, which was a very good Belgian Tripel. Now we’ll take a look at the brewery’s version of a Belgian Strong Ale called Oerbier (aka ‘original beer’). Having been one that I had not had, I was very excited to get working on this thing. And right out of the glass things look good. Though a little hazy in appearance, there is a lot of nice head that lets you know effervescence is in your future. This insane Belgian head shows its face immediately and then slowly turns into sticky lacing around the inside of the glass. Once the nostrils dig in you get a huge amount of sticky fruits like prunes, dates, figs, and raisins (mostly raisins). It’s not until you taste it that you realize just how classic this beer is. Again, you get the overwhelming feeling here that De Dolle is not trying to push the envelope or be experimental, but simply they are just trying to create great timeless beers. Man I love this brewery. Two beers down and all is good. Up next: Extra Export Stout.

Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Vampire Weekend “Taxi Cab”



Brewery: De Dolle
Beer: Oerbier
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Esen, Belgium
ABV: 9%
Rating: 94/100

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Ahhh…the Belgian beers – how they make me happy! I rarely find one that doesn’t just hit the spot. There’s must be something about the tradition of brewing in their country because it seems to be spot on nearly every time. The same can be said for this beauty of a Strong Ale as well. Gulden Draak from Brouwerij Van Steenberge just punches you in the head and reminds you that you’re not in control of The Golden Dragon. The Golden Dragon is in control of you. At 10.5% ABV, this beer warms the insides nicely and quickly takes the edge off. Like many of the beers I review here at The Hopry, Gulden Draak goes through a secondary bottle fermentation which helps bump up the effervescence and really helps highlight those amazing toffee and grape bubblegum flavors that are almost always present for me. Did I mention how insanely cool the bottle and cap are, too? It’s one of my favorites actually. And the fact that I have the glass to go along with this beer makes me a very happy young man.

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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Bon Iver

Brewery: Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Beer: Gulden Draak
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Ertvelde, Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Rating: 95/100

Boy do the Belgians make great beer! I guess tradition proves that you should never mess with a good thing. And Pannepot from De Struise is a prime example of this. The complexity of this beer just goes on for days and days. Every time I drink it I pull something different out (either in the nose or the taste). And then there are the accolades: Draft Magazine rated this as one of their top 25 Beers of the Year in their Jan/Feb 2009 issue. I, too, would say this is in my current list of top 25 beers. Although these can be a bit tough to find, you should be able to get a hold of one if you look in the right spots. The good news as well is that if you can find it, chances are you will see their Imperial Stout called Black Albert sitting next to it. These two beers alone will be worth the price you pay and will prove to you that Belgian beer is still one of the best things in life.

For a larger HD experience click here.
This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Brewery: De Struise
Beer: Pannepot
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Oostvleteren, Belgium
ABV: 10%
Rating: 95/100

Also, here is the info on the wine shop I mention in this session:
33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar
1913 Park Ave. in Lafayette Square
St. Louis, MO 63104