Celis Grand Cru: Review

The Grand Cru
The looks of this ale can be deceiving because, it has a light crystal golden color that makes you think it might be light in body.

According to michiganbrewing.com they say it is made with, ‘pilsen malts, Saaz Willamette hops, Curacau orange peel and select spices.’ And, the spices are plentiful from the coriander and clove along with some rose petals. I want to smell some rose petals while I drink this beer for some reason. If you are thinking rose petals in beer - yes, get this beer and smell that aroma.  This ale also has some citrus zip to it. Orange and lemon smack the palate with each sip. The Celis Grand Cru would be nice to drink while dinning on seafood. This is a very nice ale.

Bell's Batch 9000: Review

The Ale
Bell’s Batch 9000 Ale is a 12.5% abv sipper. It has a very dark opaque body. Holding it to the light I cannot see through it. Around the top edge of the beverage I can see a mahogany hue – other than that it is a dark black body. Looking down at the glass I get a cola like appearance, interesting. Be ready for that syrupy molasses like sweetness that hits the palate right up front and center. After a few sips and making it past the sweetness, I started to note the dark fruits and the chocolate-coffee profile. There are some nice complexities here to enjoy but, for me getting past that molasses like sweetness can be a chore. There is also the alcohol bite to contend with during this experience.

 

Point Belgian White: Review

The Beer

Point Belgian White is a 4.76% abv that is very drinkable. It is made my Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The aroma has a nice wheat, biscuit, coriander and lemon citrus notes. The taste is very light overall. Light coriander, light orange, and a delicate wheat taste. If you have tried other Belgian Witbers that are spiced up a little too much for your liking then, try this one for it is very lightly spiced. I would place my strength rating on this beer around a 3.5.

A Cigar and Ale Review: Montecristo White and Poperings Hommel Ale

The Cigar

Wrapper: Connecticut-seed Ecuadorian Shade Grown

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Size: 6x54

My Strength Rating: 5

I use to smoke a lot of these back when they came in that high quality box and not that cardboard cigar box they come in now. Well, it is not because of the box that I do not smoke as many of these cigars; it is because there are so many other quality cigars to go around. I have to admit I still like this cigar. It is kinda plain. It is not a complex smoke. It is one dimensional and that is not always a bad thing. You don’t always have to have bold spice, coffee and earth to be a good cigar. This smoke is solid cedar. If you want to know what cedar tastes like pick this cigar up and you will know what cedar is like. The smoke is consistent all the through. No bitter notes. It does not really change strength ratings during the experience. And, paired with the right beverage this can be the perfect smoke. With that said, I plan to pick up a few more to be ready for some good summertime pairings. Here is one of them.

The Ale

Poperings Hommel Ale is brewed by Brouwerij Van Eecke. The ale has a 7.5% abv and is a Belgian IPA. For those of you who are afraid of the big bold IPA’s that have that super bitter grapefruit taste that will destroy your taste buds for the remainder of the day – don’t worry, this is a very pleasing IPA.

The aroma should turn you on - for the ale of course. The sweet grainy aroma hits my nose every time I pop that cork on that 750 ml bottle. Once in the glass I still get the sweet grain, as well as, some nice herbal notes and pure freshness. The taste is very crisp and has a wonderful hoppy, lemon citrus flavor. Don’t worry, nothing overpowering. The floral-rosy edges start to build and as the ale warms up some nice and very light sweet malty undertones come into play. To me this is a perfectly balanced IPA. Poperings Hommel is now always in my cellar.

The Pairing

This is a perfect pairing. The cigar brings that cedar woody flavor to mingle with the citrus, floral, and bready profile of the ale. The mouthfeel is pure delight. The high carbonation and dry citrus texture of the ale is very pleasing with this cigar. I have not had that experience with other American style IPA’s. It is almost impossible to pair a cigar up with those bold bitter grapefruit bombs. But, then I have not paired them up with this cigar – hum – I’ll have to give it try.

Read another posting about Poperings - with dinner plans

Cigar and Beer Pairing - The Point System

I have read the articles on Matching Cigars and Beverage stuff just like you have. I have seen it where someone says, “Match up the color of your cigar with the color of your drink.” Really! Or, light colored cigars are mild so drink mild drinks and dark cigars are strong so drink strong drinks. Wow, this is way too generalized and misinformed. I have had Natural colored shade wrapped cigars that have been medium-full in body. And, I have had dark cigars that tasted like air. This is no help at all.

Some articles give you a few ideas but, not enough. I even read one where some guy from a ‘cigar’ magazine said, you can’t mathematically match up your pairings so, don’t do it. Okay, so don’t think about it, light up that Cain Maduro cigar and grab yourself a hopped up IPA and you will find out what a taste collision is all about.

I am going to present a point system that will ‘help’ you to start matching your cigar to a quality beer. Is it fool proof? No. But, we get to examine our flavor profiles, in beer and cigar, in a more objective way. We will find out what works and what does not work, according to our own personal taste buds, and this should help to minimize that collision in taste. And at another time, we will look into those contrasting matching’s (Mild paired up to a Full) that work and at some that don’t.

I will use a Zero to Ten scale to rate my strength of each product. Zero being ‘very mild’ and ten being very strong.

Zero-0.5: Very Mild, Ultra Mild
1 - 2: Mild
2.5 – 4: Mild to Medium
4.5 - 5.5: Medium
6 – 7.5: Medium to Full
8 – 9: Full 9.5 - Ten: Very Full – Have food and drink ready.

This is the scale I use to describe the overall experience of each of these products (taste & mouthfeel).

Adjust the scale to your perception. Start charting your taste on different cigars. Rate them from zero to ten. For example, for me a Don Lino natural would score a zero for very mild. A Camacho, in general, I would score around a 9. I would do the same for the beer as well, a zero for a domestic beer especially ‘light’ beers and then a 9 or 10 for IPA's and sour beers.

Once charted, I would know my taste number and I would go two numbers in either direction for matching. Now, I am ready to pair my beer with a cigar to match.

If my beer is a 4 on this scale I want my cigar to be within two points from this tasting. This gives me a range from a two (mild) to a 6 (medium). The beer flavor will not be lost in this range. Whereas, if I chose a cigar with an 8 score (fuller), it would over-power the beer and the flavor would not be maximized. So, if I was smoking a cigar that was an 8, I would select a beer that would be a 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

Let’s take a look. The Wittekerke Belgian Wheat Ale: I would score as a 4, on the mild side of medium, very pleasant tasting wheat ale that would be wonderful on a very hot day indeed. Also, I do not get any strong spicy flavors from this beer, just pure wheat beer pleasure. So, I do not want too strong of a cigar where it overwhelms the beverage or a too mild of a cigar where I lose the smoking pleasure. A nice balanced Cameroon cigar or a Connecticut wrapped cigar would do. The other day I enjoyed my Wittekerke with a Leon Jimenes Cameroon 300 (5 rating) and it was magical.

The Bieken Honey Ale I rated a 4 on my strength scale. The Bieken is an 8.5% abv Belgian beer with a nice mild to medium body flavor. The Excalibur #1 cigar offers you a sweet, woody and wheat bread toasty flavor. I also rate this cigar a 4. The Connecticut shade leaves used on the wrapper and binder gives you a nice mild-medium smoke. The long fillers of Nicaraguan, Dominican and Honduran tobaccos give the Excalibur that classic tobacco taste that I always enjoy. This cigar has been one of my favorites for the last 15 years. Because, of the nice soft undertones, this cigar has the range to go with many foods and beverages. This was a super pairing! I am reserving a spot in my summer time to sit back and enjoy these two again. The point system worked here. So, before you crack open a bottle of quality beer and strike up a $10 stogie – think first – what is the mouthfeel of each (medium or medium-full or full) and how do they compare.

The objective is to maximize your pleasure.

Espresso Love: Review

Espresso Love Stout by Arbor Brewing Company

The Beer
Espresso Love is a breakfast stout with a 6.5% abv and a .10 cent deposit on the bottle here in Michigan. To me Arbor Brewing can be a hit or miss deal. One batch can be just fine and then the next can make you wonder if they were sleeping in the brewing room. But, it seems to me that Espresso Love is as close to consistent as they can get.

I like the nice coffee flavor that is matched with some good dark chocolate notes. This Breakfast Stout is smooth and has a slight creaminess to its texture. There always seems to be a good balance between the hops and the malts. The carbonation is light but, for a stout it is at that max point that I would like on a stout. This is not a mouth coating stout. It has a very clean mouthfeel

Gosser – Bierjue – Zaibo - 3 beer review

Here are three interesting beers.

Gosser is from Austria and comes in a green bottle. I know what is coming here. It is one of those green bottle beers – right. Aroma – yes – green bottle style smell. Taste: not too far off from a Heineken type beer. Not that big of a metallic taste. Not bad overall. But, nothing special either. I’d pass on this beer.

Bierjue is from Lithuania and brewed by Rinkuskiai. I am looking forward to trying this dark ale. The aroma is very malty sweet. The pour produces a caramel colored body and a very weak head. The first sip says – yikes! What the hell was that? Another sip and yes it has a nasty caramel sweetness that I just cannot do. I tried a few more sips and then I was off to the flower garden to water the plants with this one. Don’t do it!

Zaibo Extreme Strong Beer is next. Another Lithuanian beer brewed by Rinkuskiai. Another pour that produces a weak head. The aroma is light in the malts. Another caramel sweet tasting malt beer that has little carbonation. The taste is very uninspiring. Malty sweet caramel and not much else going on. It is a little more drinkable than the Bierjue beer. Save the money and buy a good beer. I guess I’ll cancel that trip to Lithuania – they can’t make beer! Well, good tasting beer.

The other week when the hard drive crashed - these three pictures were among the casualties.

Zatec Dark Lager Beer: Review

500ml bottle. 5.7% abv. From the Czech Republic.

See the posting on June 19, 2010 for the Zatec Lager.

This is an ok tasting and refreshing dark lager. There is a mild roasty note that accompanies a mild-medium larger taste. Nothing complex here. A pretty simple straight forward dark lager. I like the Zatec lager beer. As for the dark lager – If I am going to have a darker beer I want a little more complexity to the taste profile.

Pass.

Zatec Bright Lager Beer: Review

Brewed by: Zatecky Pivovar in the Czech Republic. This 4.6% abv beer pours a nice looking pale golden color like most lagers and pilsners. When I first opened the bottle I got a nice whiff of mild fresh grains. In the glass it is just a mild pilsner smell – nothing much to it but, it is fresh smelling.

In the book, ‘1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die,’ there is a bit of a buildup of the Saaz hops and a peppery note. The Saaz hop is not a bittering hop, it is rather mild. There is a nice little herbal taste. Other than that, I say it is a very crisp and clean tasting beer. This is a quality refreshing pilsner with no metallic or skunky taste.

I would buy this again before Pilsner Urquell. At $4.00 a bottle, 500 ml bottle, this would be a good selection for special times. Yes, I would buy this again.

Hops Deficiency Day

poperings hommel ale

I think I am experiencing hops deficiency! Well, Global Beer to the rescue, let’s review poperings hommel ale this month.

For those of you who do not like the overly hoppy, super bitter tastes of American style IPAs, don’t just look at this bottle on the shelf and keep walking; pick it up for a real hoppy treat.

When you open the 750 ml bottle be ready for the aroma of sweet grain hitting your nose. The taste is very crisp and a wonderful hoppy, lemon, citrus flavor. Don’t worry, nothing overpowering. The floral-rosy edges start to build and as the ale warms up some nice malty undertones come into play.

I want to rate this ale a 5.5 on my strength scale but, with the nice flavors that develop during warming, I am going to give it a 6.

The variety of notes that dance across the tongue are delightful when the ale opens up. Poperings hommel ale has a great range for foods as well. The sweet malts well go with golden raisins and the hops will work with my Michigan dried cherries. This tells me that this ale should have a great range for a quality cigar.
Going to the milder side or fuller side should give you a great pairing.

The Plan
So, let’s plan for Hops Deficiency Day. I will plan for going to the milder side of 6 pts. for my afternoon cigar pairing, then a seafood hommel dinner and then a fuller cigar for my after dinner cigar.

Cooking with popering hommel

The day before, Hops Deficiency Day, you need to purchase sea scallops, jumbo shrimp, red bell peppers and a sweet onion. Coat your scallops and shrimp in extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with Old Bay lemon and herb seasoning and I added my mushroom mania seasoning. Mushroom Mania is a finely chopped mixture of porchini, shitake and bolete mushrooms, chives, minced onion and sea salt. Slowly, pour in some poperings hommel ale. Then, in another container place your red bell pepper and sweet onions (in chunks) in some poperings as well. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

During Hops Deficiency Day place the scallops, shrimp, peppers and onions on shish kabob skewers. Keep the liquid and place the kabobs and liquid in the same baking pan. Use the liquid to baste during cooking.

First Matching – Punch Gran Puro

Puro - meaning that all the tobaccos; wrapper, binder and fillers, are from one country and in this case they are reported to be from the San Agustin Valley of Honduras. The Sun Grown wrapper and binder help to deliver a robust taste. I am going to smoke the Sesenta
Gran Puro, which is a big 6.2 X 60 beauty, that delivers a medium bodied, spicy and peppery treat to the palate. I rate this cigar a 5 on my point system.

The pairing goes well. The Punch Sesenta did not disrupt any of the true characteristics of the hommel. The flavors from both of these products really work with one another. This ended up to be a perfect before dinner experience.

Dinner Time

If weather permits get the grill going and add some apple wood to smoke the kabobs.
If you are using the oven just leave the kabobs in the baking dish and you are ready to go. Use the liquid to baste the kabobs at least twice during cooking. When the kabobs are done cooking grate some Romano Cheese over the kabobs.

Enjoy a glass of poperings hommel ale with your meal. And, this meal was ohhh sooo good!

After Dinner Matching – Camacho Triple Maduro

Ok, I love full-flavored cigars and I have great expectations here. I matched up the Camacho Triple Maduro 6/60 for my after dinner treat. This 6 inch and 60 ring gage giant is a wonderful cigar. People are intimidated by this cigar. They think the fullness is going to kick their butt. BUT, that is why you should smoke the 60 ring gage and not the smaller ring gages. The larger ring gage will give you a cooler smoke and the flavor is amplified. The smaller ring gages in this line I would rate higher in strength and it is all due to the diameter of the cigar because they are made with the same tobaccos.

I give this cigar, one of my favorites, an 8 on my strength scale. This cigar delivers a nice balance of rich spicy notes with a sweet peppery taste that lingers for a great full-flavored taste.

The Camacho helps to bring out some of the fuller flavors of the poperings hommel ale. The ‘mouthfeel’ coats your tongue and teeth for a terrific aftertaste. Don’t just drink this ale or any quality Belgium for that fact, experience every sip, swirl this ale within the mouth to enjoy every sip.

The hoppy notes are brought to the forefront and the sweet malty undertones are moved to the background. So, a little different experience than the Punch Gran Puro but, the Camacho made me want to have another mouth full of hops. What more do you want on Hops Deficiency Day?

With these big ring gage cigars make sure you have time. It takes me an hour and a half or close to two hours to smoke one 6 x 60 cigar. Outdoors with the wind it will burn a little faster.

With a 750 ml bottle of poperings hommel ale with each cigar and dinner, you will have an eventful day to plan so, the name Hops Deficiency Day.

Enjoy the experience,

Bruce

Also see this posting for another cigar pairing

Hepworth Pullman

Another good ale from the United Kingdom. It comes in a 500ml bottle and has a 4.2% abv. This should be a good session type beer with that low alcohol rate. This ale sports a good looking golden color to the body with a fine frothy white head. There is a nice biscuit note on the nose. I did not smell anything to prepare me for the bitter note that was upfront on the first sip. I do like this citrus and floral hoppy bite that plays on the tongue. It is only moderate at best. The bitter and dry profile of the ale combines to give me an oaky aftertaste. The slight carbonation adds to the dry mouthfeel.

Must Try.

Lakemaid Beer by: August Schell Brewing Co.

What a beer for the guy who loves to look at women, I mean fish, I mean women-fish, mermaids, no Lakemaids. The packaging has twelve different Lakemaids on the bottles. Pick up a 12 pack and pick out your favorite fish, I mean woman - well you know what you are looking at.

A portion of the proceeds go to “The International Game Fish Association and our fresh water resources.” As they say on their packaging and web site – LakemaidBeer.

This 4.8% abv beer is a solid session type beer. The golden body and typical lager type aroma is very crisp, clean, and refreshing. The taste has a nice sweet grainy malt character with a light grassy hop taste that leaves a nice little woody aftertaste on the tongue. This is a good beer to have on hand while playing yard games, barbecuing or just sitting around the campfire at night telling fish stories.

My favorite is Miss Smallmouth Bass.

I paired this refreshing beer up with a big CAO Gold Cigar. The woody notes and white bread toast profile should match up with this ale very well. Both are mild-medium in body and are smooth in texture. This beer should complement most cigars well.

Did they draw lots to see who would be Miss Crappie.

5-Vegas Series ‘A’ Atomic and Celebrator Doppelbock

The Cigar
Wrapper: Costa Rican Maduro
Filler: It must be a secrete because, all I can find on it right now is it is a ‘three country blend’
Size: 4.5 x 54
My Strength Rating: during this pairing 6
This is a nice robust flavored cigar. Solid spice with some black pepper type notes just tingle the tongue. With that Costa Rican wrapper of course you are going to get some good chocolate and full bodied coffee flavors. There are also some dry earthy tones to the smoke. This would be a great cigar with a full bodied coffee like a French Roast in the afternoon. I’ll have to try that one day.

The Beer
A 6.7% abv beverage by Ayinger Brewery. “Finest Bavarian Double Bock Beer” as it says on the label. It is pretty damn good. I have always liked the big malty caramel nose and taste on this fine Doppelbock. I reviewed this beer back on January 31 of this year. This is what I had to say then – “The beer has a great sweet malty taste and creamy style. It is light in carbonation and rich in complexities.” The caramel notes and mild coffee along with some nice 70% chocolate type notes makes this a very tasty treat to me. In a matter of fact I’ll bet that a good piece of dark chocolate would be great with this beer.

The Pairing
The beer needs a solid medium-full bodied cigar to duel with the malty sweetness of this beer. When I puff the cigar and drink this yummy beer the coffee and chocolate profile blend together oohhh so well. I also think the strong malty characteristics help to maintain the solid spicy notes of the cigar. From what I remember, when I have smoked this cigar before, is that it can get a bit dry and harsh when it is smoked alone.

This is a super pairing – If you are looking for a maduro to go with this beer remember you need one with a good coffee and/or chocolate profile. I don’t think a maduro with just an earthy and spice quality will do the job to maximize your pleasure.

Olde Suffolk English Ale: Review

This ale is brewed by Greene King Brewery in England. It says on the bottle that it is a blend of two beers; one is aged for two years in oak vats and the other is reported to be fresh pale ale. It also says that color is added – that is odd – why would color be needed?? The oak barrel aging has me intrigued.

I do like it when they give tasting notes on a bottle. It says, “…notes of oak, caramel and burnt toffee…” and “full-bodied.”

Let me tackle the full-bodied first. This ale has too much of a water profile to be called ‘full-bodied.’ To me it is medium-full. I’ll give it a 6 on my strength scale.

Second, the taste: The oak profile is disappointing. The oak taste is so slight you have to be thinking about it to ‘think’ you might have just whiffed a taste of oak but, that is while the ale is cold. As the ale warms there is a ‘little’ better oak presence. I love oak flavor in my cheese, cigars, and wine. When I saw this label I was sold. Oh well, taken again. The ale does have some nice sweet caramel flavors. The toffee to me is more like a vanilla-toffee than burnt toffee. The texture overall is pretty smooth and the carbonation is low. The only lingering notes to speak of would be the caramel and sugar sweet notes.

$5.00 for a 500 ml bottle is a bit pricey for this ale. If it was worth it I would say buy this beer, but there are better ales out there – so skip this one. Buy one bottle for the novelty of it and then you can say you had it!