Bear Republic Racer X Double IPA

There's a fun beer app that I've got on my phone called Untappd. It's got some social networking aspects, but mostly I use it to keep track of beers that I've had. You can also get little accomplishments, called badges, for things like drinking a certain number of Irish beers having a beer in a particular place. There's a "special" category of badges which are only available for a limited time. There was one for Racer X at the end of October. When I saw it at the grocery store, I picked it up, but when I checked the app, it looked like that was the last day to get the badge, and I wasn't really in the mood for beer, so I stuck it in the fridge to enjoy later. When I decided to have it a few days later, I checked into the beer on Untappd and I was happy to see that the badge was still available, so it all worked out.

Actually, it really did all work out. This is my kind of double IPA. There's a strong malt backbone with caramel notes topped off with lots of hops. It's very well balanced, and that's perfect for me. Too bad it's seasonal because I think I like this better than the standard (and really easy to find) Racer 5 IPA.

Is it a coincidence that great wine-making regions are also great at making beer? There's Firestone Walker in Paso Robles, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and in and around Sonoma County, there are three amazing breweries with Bear Republic in Healdsburg, Russian River in Santa Rosa, and Lagunitas in Petaluma. My next trip to Sonoma I plan to go to Lagunitas, which we skipped before, and I need to plan a trip further up to Anderson Valley to check out both their wine and their beer in person.

Crios Malbec red blend 2012

I'm not very familiar with either wine from Argentina or Malbec, so tasting this was a little outside of what I usually have. I have had some Malbec before, either from Argentina or California, but I haven't had enough of it to really form an opinion about it. I was interested in this bottle because in addition to 40% Malbec, it also has 40% Bonarda (plus 15% Tannat and 5% Syrah). I did a little research and I discovered that the grape called Bonarda in Argentina is known as Charbono in the US, where it's fairly uncommon. However, I have had Charbono before, at Sarah's Vineyard in Gilroy, and I really liked it.  This wine only cost about $14 at my local wine shop, so I thought it was worth a try, and it definitely wasn't a mistake.

The wine pours a pretty dark purple color, with a very fruity nose of stewed strawberries, vanilla, and orange peel. The nose made me think it would be bold and fruit forward, which is exactly right. The taste was fruity but not jammy. The wine is young, and it was pretty tannic, and there was a slightly bitter aftertaste. I had another glass after about an hour, but I couldn't tell that it opened up much, so I think you just get what you get from this wine. It was still very pleasant and easy to drink. I had it with beef tacos and it worked out well, and I'd guess this wine can be enjoyed with just about any meal.

My research on the varieties in this wine turned up that Malbec ("bad mouth" in French) is so-named because in its native Bordeaux, where it is one of the 5 permitted red varietals, it doesn't actually taste very good and so is grown in only very small amounts. It's not really known why Malbec was planted in Argentina, but it's good thing that a grape that doesn't get much love at home has become such an important part of wine growing in other parts of the world.

Talbott Logan Chardonnay 2012

I went to the Talbott tasting room when we went wine tasting in Carmel Valley earlier this year. It had a huge 3-sided bar in the middle of the room, with antique cars and motorcycles along the walls. It was a beautiful day outside, so we spent the tasting out on the ample patio, only venturing back in for the next taste on the list. Talbott really only makes two varietals - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We didn't buy anything that day at the tasting room, mostly because you can find their lower end wines at stores pretty easily, and their higher end wines, while delicious, are pricy.

The Logan Chardonnay is sort of the mid-range. It's not as inexpensive as the lowest end, the Kali Hart, but at $20 at Bay Area grocery stores, it's still very reasonable. The higher end, Sleepy Hollow, is usually around $35, and there are some that are even higher than that. At the tasting room, where we got to compare them all side by side, I thought the Logan was by far the best bang for the buck.  It pours a lovely light golden color. The nose is bright, you just want to dive right in. Really nice and floral, with honeysuckle notes, and fruity with pear and kiwi. The taste is tangy with a long finish. It reminds me of lemon meringue pie. This is one of my favorite Chardonnays, especially given that it's not expensive and is easy to find.

Completely unrelated - I was planning on writing a blog post about New Zealand pinot noir today, since I had one a few weeks ago that was excellent and I was really excited about them. But then I had one that was nothing special, and I had one yesterday that I found basically undrinkable. So now I'm wondering if the first one was a fluke, or if the other two were just duds. The one I liked was Villa Maria 2008. 

Samuel Adams Third Voyage Double IPA

The Boston Beer Company (aka "Sam Adams") is a great beer company. They are, by definition, the largest craft beer company in the United States. However big they get, that's how big the biggest craft beer company is. The other craft beer companies agree to this status because Sam Adams does so much to help out the smaller guys. Similar to Sierra Nevada and other big beer companies, they use their flagship Boston lager to make lots of money so they can release small batches of other things. Now, I like Sam Adams as a company and respect what they do, but I'm not always blown away by their beers. I think they can be a little boring.

Fortunately, this Third Voyage Double IPA is not boring at all, and it's actually pretty good. I bought it in a 4-pack of 22 oz bottles at Costco. The other three were gose, imperial white, and honey beer. I thought the imperial wit was good, but I didn't care for the other two. The Third Voyage pours reddish-pale, a little darker than most double IPAs, with a 2-finger head. It's not too hoppy on the nose, just a hint of citrus, but more notes of caramel. The taste is hoppier, with a bright citrus and faint pine notes, but a really big malty backbone of caramel and toffee.

As far as double IPAs go, this is the kind I like, with some structure that's not just hops dialed up to eleven. I'm not sure if you can get it outside the 4-pack, but if I saw it on its own, I'd buy another bottle of it. If I saw the imperial white on its own, I'd definitely buy it.

Since the holiday season is coming up, Sam Adams will soon be releasing their holiday variety pack, if it's not been released already. For the past few years it has included some beers that I liked a lot. One is the Old Fezziwig Ale. The other is Chocolate Bock. I don't really like either the Boston lager or the standard seasonal winter lager, but the variety pack is worth buying just for these two, if they are in it this year.