PNW tastings, part 1

A few weeks ago Mrs. Absalom and I spent a week on the road as part of a music tour that took us through the Pacific Northwest, about which I plan to regale you in some detail in the near future.  In the course of this tour, we managed to procure a number of beverages for later sampling.  Having never excelled at really considering all the aspects of the drink in my glass, and having long looked forward to partaking of these fine libations, I set myself the goal of taking proper tasting notes and photos of all of them.

Having come down with a raging illness shortly after returning from the tour, I held off on delving into these beers for a couple weeks.  Now back up to speed, here is the first installment of these tasting notes.

Ninkasi Brewing Company
Tricerahops DIPA

Date: 4 April 2013

Venue: My house

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Appearance - Clear yellow-orange, head drops back buy leaves sticky lacing.

Smell -  Not as present as I'd suspect; candy, light floral, orange.  After it warmed a bit, some malt sweetness came out.  Mrs. Absalom described it as "a small young evergreen bush."

Taste - Resounding pine, followed by clean malt.  A long, lingering, welcome bitterness that hangs out anchored to the back of the tongue.  The bitterness is right in line with the West Coast style.  Crisp, not bloated.  The malt fills out as it warms.

Mouthfeel - It's a big beer, no doubt about it, but the body isn't overly heavy; it's not a Berliner weisse, but falls nicely into a medium-light category.  Medium carbonation isn't overdone, as it doesn't have to do a lot of work to lighten the body.

Overall - This is a lean and mean West Coast DIPA; it's dry and packs a bitter punch.  More like this, please.

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Heretic Brewing Company
Gramarye Rye Pale Ale

Date: 5 April 2013

Venue: My house

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Appearance - Deep, clear red-gold.  A little head that leaves some lacing.

Smell - A bit of malt, some citrus.

Taste - Prominent cracker, biscuit.  Some rough-around-the-edges malt character, presumably from the rye.  Firm, lasting bitterness.  Lingers for just a couple of seconds before vanishing.

Mouthfeel - Medium body; easy, medium carbonation.

Overall - Very pleasant, malty pale ale, though I don't get a ton of particularly rye character from it, more just an enjoyable roughness to the malt.  That, of course, may just be my inexperience showing through, but the character of this beer is a bit different from what I've experienced from rye before.

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Heretic Brewing Company
Shallow Grave Porter

Date: 6 April 2013

Venue:  My house (seeing a pattern...)

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Appearance - Deep, dark brown-black with very slight brown highlights when held to the light.  The thick head of small to medium bubbles hangs around for quite a while, developing into bigger, uneven bubbles.

Smell - Cocoa, sweet malt, alcohol.

Taste - Restrained roast, nice cocoa character, smooth alcohol, balanced hop bitterness.  A little alcohol and hops in the short finish.  The booze comes out even more as it warms, along with a sweet caramel character.

Mouthfeel - Heavier body, though not to Baltic porter levels.  Low-medium carbonation.

Overall - A decent robust porter, though the booze character is too prominent for my tastes.  The alcohol isn't burning, just forward.  I wouldn't turn away another.

- Br. Absalom