At what was unquestionably the most unique assemblage of beers to date, Hopworks Whiskey Barrel-aged A-Bomb took the top spot at the 19th Annual LeMonds Family Beer Tasting.
Kudos to Dave for selecting a group of beers that pushed the envelope in terms of variety. There was no place for bad, or even average, beers to hide.
Instead of having an initial tasting of all 12 beers, Dave opted to break them into three groups.
Group One - The opening round begin with Hop Shingdig (Matchless - Tumwater), Filament Winter IPA (Ecliptic - Portland), Arctos (Baerlic - Portland), and Winter Coat (Stormbreaker - Portland) facing off.
I have a high regard for Matchless beers but was disappointed with Hop Shindig. It had a light flavor and was a bit carbonated. Likewise, Filament fell into the not-bad-but-nothing-special category. Arctos was light for a winter beer, but smooth and balanced. With an appealing roasted flavor and a nice finish, Winter Coat was my favorite in this group.
Wintercoat and Baerlic received the most votes and moved on to the next round, while Filament and Hop Shindig were eliminated.
Group Two - This pairing consisted of Brown Sugga (Lagunitas - Petaluma, CA), Bad Santa (Pelican - Pacific City, OR), Abominable Winter Ale (Hopworks - Portland), and Bi-Frost (Elysian - Seattle).
While Pelican’s hoppy beers are solid, they have never produced a winter beer that has made my favorites list. This year was no exception, as Bad Santa came across as bland and no better than average. Bi-Frost and A-Bomb were strikingly similar, both smooth and hoppy. Brown Sugga had big flavor but was too sweet for my liking.
The judges decided that A-Bomb and Brown Sugga would move on to the next round. However, invoking the storied Patterson Rule, the group also decided that Bi-Frost deserved to continue as well.
Group Three - This group was, by far, the strongest and most unique. It included Hibernation (Great Divide - Denver), Fremont Winter Ale (Fremont - Seattle), Xocoveza (Stone - Escondido, CA), and Barrel-aged A-Bomb (Hopworks - Portland).
Hibernation has had mixed results at previous tastings, but I thought this year’s brew was very good - big, malty, and well-balanced. Fremont’s Winter Ale was smooth and smoky with a big flavor hit.
Excoveza developed from Stone’s collaboration with a homebrewer. Among the best stouts I’ve ever tasted, Excoveza was smooth and packed with flavor that featured Mexican hot chocolate and coffee. Very tasty,
I’m not sure how Christian Ettinger at Hopworks pulled it off. I’ve never tasted a barrel-aged IPA and thought it might be a novelty brew. Wrong. It had the warmth and hoppiness of an imperial IPA with just the right amount of whiskey flavor.
Semi-Finals - The semi-finals were a chaotic mish-mash that saw the Patterson rule liberally invoked to bring back beers that had been eliminated. But when things shook out, there was a clear divide between the finalists - A-Bomb, Barrel-aged A-Bomb, Xcoveza, and Fremont Winter Ale - and the rest.
Finals - Regular A-Bomb is a good beer, but it was clearly out-classed in the finals. Hibernation, Barrel-aged A-Bomb, Xocoveza were all outstanding - big and full-flavored - so it came down to personal preference.
Barrel-aged A-Bomb took the top prize, followed by Hibernation and Xocoveza, with regular A-Bomb a distant fourth.
Thanks again to Dave for a great job in gathering the beers and setting up the tasting.