Tag Archives: GrassLands

LeeRoy the Red Imperial Amber Ale

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Our luck with the GrassHoppers Club keeps on rolling, and a bottle of LeeRoy the Red Imperial Amber Ale showed up on our doorstep recently.  I’d been looking forward to this for a while, since I met Gabe in person at Hunahpu’s Day, and was promised a bottle as soon as it was done dry-hopping.

It was worth the wait.

Unlike the other beers we’ve had from GrassLands, which have tended towards the lighter side, this beer was a high-gravity (9%), hop-forward powerhouse.  It is rich and malty, and manages to avoid being boozy or overly sweet.  The hoppiness is very spicy and resiny, with the tasting notes listing Columbus, Cascade, Mt. Hood and Citra hops.

At 75+ IBUs and 9% ABV, I’d call this an IPA instead of a hoppy amber.  Though it doesn’t have the characteristic dank and funky hoppiness that I usually expect from Florida IPAs like Jai Alai or Big Nose.  The hops are more what I expect from an American IPA, but with more maltiness.  So maybe “Imperial Amber” isn’t too far off the mark.

Of the GrassLands beers I’ve tried so far, LeeRoy is my favorite so far.  It’s a little too potent for everyday drinking, but I look forward to being able to have a few of these in the fridge when I’m in the mood for something stronger.

There’s Sours, and Then There’s Sours

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We’re both big fans of sours.  When we were in the Netherlands and Belgium, we tried basically every gueuze, kriek and framboise we could get our hands on.  The best, like Cantillon’s Rosé de Gambrinus are truly divine.  Even the mediocre kriek you find in gas stations (this is Belgium we’re talking about) are not too bad.  And there are a lot of American breweries making good sours too, like Cascade, Cisco, and occasionally Cigar City.  But one kind of sour we’ve never liked as much is Berliner Weisse.

I first had Berliner Weisse at the Cajun Cafe on the Bayou Sour Fest.  There was a whole section of Berliners and I tried a handful, and they ranged (in my opinion) from just-barely-drinkable down to the worst beers I’d ever tasted.  Several did not get even a second sip.  They were going head-to-head with fantastic beers from Hanssens, Cascade and Drie Fonteinen, so I put it down, at least in part, to the comparison.  But it was not a good first impression for a style that I was hearing more about all the time.  They’re trendy and I see them around when we go out, so I’ve tried them every so often, but I’ve never had one that I liked very much.

So I was a little anxious when I learned that we were going to receive a Grassland’s Big Bend Berliner Weisse.  We’ve really liked the past beers from GrassLands we’ve reviewed, so I had cause for optimism.

Big Bend Berliner WeisseThe beer looked innocuous enough — it came in a plain unlabeled brown longneck bottle that would be familiar to any homebrewer.  It was well-carbonated with a solid, but not excessive, glossy white head.  It poured typically golden and cloudy, much like a Hefeweizen.  There was almost no aroma, even in a snifter.  The first drink was as noticeable for the mouthfeel as the flavor: rich and luxurious, rather than the typical light body I expect from pale, wheaty beers.  But the taste was very nice — sour but not dramatically so, very smooth and almost creamy.  There was some sweetness like tropical fruit.  And, most importantly, it had none of the off-putting funkiness I’ve tasted in most Berliners I’ve had.  The tasting notes mention that they plan to infuse this beer with juice from local wine grapes, and that sounds like it could be a very nice complement.

Although it’s not a very high bar, I’d say this is the best Berliner I’ve had.  And another solid beer from GrassLands Brewing.

Grasslands Brewing: Groundation Amber Rye

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Yesterday was a good day — not only did we get a call from the insurance company saying they were going to send us money, but we also got another bottle of free beer from GrassLands Brewing‘s GrassHoppers Review Club.  The review club is the best way to help a brewery-in-planning:  We get free beer, Gabe gets good feedback, everybody wins!

This time around, the brew was Groundation Amber Rye.  I’ve been warming to rye beers recently, but I’ve mostly seen it in high-gravity IPAs, so I was excited to see what it brought to a more moderate beer.

The first thing I noticed was the color.  When I think of an amber beer, I think of a beer that’s at least translucent, tending towards a very clear honey color.  But this poured very dark, almost black with hint of reddish mahogany highlights.  The head was solid and tan, and dissipated slowly.  The aroma had a nice spiciness, some sweet maltiness, and just a tiny bit of sourness.

The taste was, as the tasting notes promised, a blend of complementing flavors.  As you’d expect from a very dark beer, there was some chocolate and smokiness, but not overdone like it often is.  Of course the rye gave a nice spicy note, and the hops provided a citrus counterpoint.

Clocking in at 6% ABV, this was lighter than many of the beers I drink.  But it’s solid enough to sip slowly and enjoy the flavors.  Overall, this was a very solid, enjoyable beer.  My only complaint, if you can call it a complaint, is that it differs from my expectations of an amber.  If you asked me what category of beer it was, I would have said porter without hesitation.  Wind disagreed and thought it was fine to call it an amber, though, so maybe I just have an overly narrow definition.

Free Beer from GrassLands Brewing Review Club

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Everybody loves free beer, and we’re no exception.  So we were excited when Redbeard heard about GrassLands Brewing — a new brewery just getting started in Tallahassee, which has a monthly lottery to give away samples of the beers being developed.  So, even though he “never wins anything,” Redbeard threw his email into the hat a few months ago, and was selected to receive a bottle of the first test batch of King Oliver’s Citrus Wit in the latest drawing. This was met with joy by Wind (who loves wit beers as a rule) and cautious enthusiasm by Redbeard (who generally doesn’t like wheat beers, but likes wit more than hefeweizen, etc.).

The bottle showed up well-padded in bubble wrap, with a few odds-and-ends and a letter from owner/head brewer, Gabe Grass, describing what he’s aiming for with the beer, and thanking us for our feedback to help him improve the beer before launch.  We don’t think we’ve ever seen anyone so enthusiastic about giving us free beer before. Definitely off to positive start.

The positive vibe continued on to the beer itself. Yesterday, we sat down to give it a proper tasting. The bottle was a plain brown bottle with a plain green cap – amusingly similar to the dozens of bottles still sitting on our kitchen counter from the batch of homebrew that we’d just bottled (post forthcoming).  King Oliver’s Citrus Wit poured hazy and straw-colored, nicely effervescent with a modest but stable head that took a while to dissipate.  The aroma was classic Wit: spicy and estery, fresh and inviting.

The taste was a touch sweeter than typical Wit, with zesty citrus and lemongrass.  The letter mentioned using zest from Florida citrus, and that really comes through.  Importantly for Redbeard, it didn’t have the wheaty tang that usually put him off wheat beers.  Importantly for Wind, it was still very clearly a wit. The citrus taste is strong, and reminded Wind in particular a bit of the radlers that we drank in Koln last year. It seemed to have a little more body than many beers in the 5% range, maybe because of the relatively high carbonation.

Overall, we liked this beer – it’s a very fresh, pleasantly drinkable beer with a lot more character than most easy-drinking summer beers.  It had a delicate, nuanced flavor that was very interesting to sip by itself, but would probably also be good paired with light, summery foods like salads, fruit, and cheese.

Wind especially really liked it – and is already looking forward to enjoying it on our hot, swampy Florida evenings. But, she’ll have to wait — the brewery hasn’t even launched yet, so probably no bottles or kegs around town any time soon.  Still, we’re both forward to tasting their other beers when we get the chance. Thanks for sharing, Gabe!