Work has been taking up much more of my brain time than usual, something I’m not too thrilled about. In light of recent developments, this sort of thing is not unexpected. Unfortunately this has had a negative impact on this blog in the form of a decreased frequency in blog posts. Ah, such is life.
For those who don’t already know, this week is American Craft Beer Week. American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) is a celebration of America’s small and independent breweries. While you should already be doing so, ACBW is a great time to support you local breweries and brewpub. If you, for whatever reason, don’t have a craft brewery next to you, going out to your local bottle shop and picking a bomber or sixer of your favorite craft beer is okay too.
At BetterBeerBlog we celebrated the start of ACBW yesterday by having a few friends over to have a group “Beer in Review” session featuring Rogue Ales. In addition to reviewing a group of beers in, well… a group… we video taped the whole thing and will be posting it on the blog soon enough. I think it’ll be a regular, monthly thing. In the meantime, here’s a Beer in Review segment featuring a craft brewery uncommon ’round these parts.
Ninkasi Brewing Company
Ninkasi Brewing Company is based out of Eugene, Oregon and has been around since 2006. If you’re a beer historian, you might recognize that Ninkasi is the name of the Sumerian Goddess of Fermentation. According to their website:
The first recorded brewers were the Sumerians, who gave up their nomadic way of life to become agrarian to produce barley to make bread and beer. They were the first to write, have schools, laws and many other firsts including organized beer production. This fermented beer was able to nourish the settled people and provide potable water. It is our goal to educate the world that beer has played a significant role in the cultivation of civilization.
Sammy and got our first taste of Ninkasi beers over at the 13th Annual Legendary Boonville Beer Festival. They happened to be camped out next to us. As with what usually happens at Boonville, we walked over to them, introduced ourselves, made friends and drank a lot of beer. Employee #4, Troy, was a gracious host and was kind enough to send us home with a couple of their beers a few of their shirts.
Spring Reign, Ninkasi Brewing Company, 6.0% ABV, 38 IBU
Spring Reign is a clear, pale amber color with a lasting white head. The aroma is floral in nature with piney notes and citrus undertones. There’s a light, biscuity malt aroma as well. The beer has medium-high hop bitterness that is assertive and persists throughout the tasting experience and lasts well into the finish. The hop flavor is citrusy with a bit of piney/resiny character. The slightly toasty malt flavor definitely plays second fiddle to the hop character of the beer but is enough to be noticed. The beer is high in carbonation and medium, maybe medium-high in body. There’s an astrigency in the beer I notice on the roof of my mouth.
Spring Reign is a Ninkasi Brewing Company seasonal beer. There’s not too much information on the Ninkasi website about this beer and Troy didn’t say much either during the times we hung out at Boonville. The hoppiness of this beer surprises me. Spring Reign has a hop bitterness that seems much more robust than it’s 38 IBU rating would suggest. I’ve been on a malt beer kick lately, which may explain why this beer seems more bitter than rated. A tastey beer I can easily session throughout an evening.
Tricerahops Double IPA, Ninkasi Brewing Company, 8.8% ABV, 100+ IBU
Tricerahops (man, what a name!) pours out a slightly hazy, amber color with an off-white head. Right off the bat this beer has a great hop aroma full of citrus and pine notes, smells really fresh. There’s also a distinct hop aroma that was in the Spring Reign as well, smells kind of earthy and has a sour character to it. It’s not an “infection” sort of sour, more like “unripe” sour. Tricerahops is a well-balanced double IPA. Despite the 100+ IBU rating, the hop bitterness wasn’t as aggressive as I though it would be. It’s enough to let you know this is a double IPA style beer but not so much that it’s harsh on the palette. The malt flavor is slightly toasty with caramel notes and is enough to balance out the hops. Tricerahops is a medium-high/full bodied beer with medium carbonation that is creamy. I don’t even notice the 8.8% ABV on this beer as I don’t pick up much alcohol character in the aroma or in the mouthfeel.
Tricerahops in an interesting and balanced double IPA. The hop bitterness definitely hangs on the palette for a while but it’s not at all harsh because of malt sweetness. While I am enjoying the beer there’s that “weird” hop flavor and character that I’m not used to. I’m not saying it’s a bad beer, I’m enjoying it, but that unidentified hop character is throwing me off a bit. Anyone who’s had this beer, feel free to comment or to let me know what it is I might be tasting.
I feel like I’ve only had a tease of what Ninkasi is able to do. I wish I had a third beer, like their Oatis or Believer Double Red to get a sense of their brewing range. Out of the two beers I had tonight, Tricerahops was the most balanced between the two but I really enjoyed the clean, crisp and bright flavors of the Spring Reign. Hopefully Sammy and I will be able to visit Eugene and have a full flight of Ninkasi brews sometime soon.
To help “celebrate” the rest of ACBW, I think I’ll be paying my local brewpubs and breweries a visit to support them. Anyone care to join me?
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