It’s snowing, I barely made it back to my car after riding the bus into Bellevue. The bus right before the one I caught slid down the road, drifted into both lanes and the car behind it ran into it. So I thought I should reward myself for even attempting to go in to work today with a few bottles.

From left to right:

• Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale - Portland, OR, USA
• Russian River Pliny the Elder Indian Pale Ale - Santa Rosa, CA, USA
• Russian River Damnation Golden Ale - Santa Rosa, CA, USA
• Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vielle - Brij Boon, Lembeek, Belgium
• Altenmunster Winterbier Doppelbock - Kempten, Germany
• Aecht Ochlenferla Rauchbier Marzen Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer - Bamberg, Baveria, Germany

As per usual, I will attempt to review these beers as I consume them. Last time around I found myself in Bellingham unable to write to the blog as I was tasting the brews.

I was inspired to try a few German biers, blindly chosen from the shelf this time. I have not refined my German bier palette, yet hope to do so in the near future. One of the German Biers I have tasted before, however, was not anywhere to write down my experience, my brother and I labeled it ‘Bacon Bier’ as the toasty aromas and tastes have a hickory flavor akin to smoked hams. These were chosen with a few Russian River staples, as well as a Hair of the Dog barley wine which was recommended to me by one of the dudes at Bottleworks.

Cheers!

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Altenmunster Winterbier Doppelbock - Kempten, Germany

This is a very well balanced beer. My initial impression was that the aroma reminded me of a cheap American lager. I was wrong, either this was a bit of skunk on the bottle, or a preconceived notion. The taste was delightful, yet playful. There is just enough toasted flavor on the finish to compliment the raisin undertones on the initial taste. The hops are not subtle, but they definitly do not steal the stage. There is almost no after taste, ah lagered beers. It is a bit mild, especially for its alcohol content, however, this beer reminds me of the St. Bernardus Abt 12, yet milder and more restrained, obviously, being that it is a lager. I would buy this one again, however, my experience with Doppelbocks is very limited at this point.