So we got pretty excited when we heard DOMA would be featured in a porter from Kettle House Brewing Company. Kettle House, while not a brewery you can easily find here in Spokane, has made a good name for itself, so the marriage between the two sounded like one made in heaven. Kind of like this…

And the beer truly is a good one, as long as you like coffee. If you don’t, then you probably don’t want to get near this one. We’re talking something that is as much coffee with beer flavor as beer with coffee flavor. To me, that is a good thing.

Not shockingly this is a sipping beer, seeing how strong the flavors are. The head poured about a finger, and laces the glass well. The mouthfeel is medium, which was a bit surprising, seeing how strong the coffee flavor is. (In my experience, high coffee flavor = body like Kevin Federline.)

This is a highly drinkable beer, again, if you like coffee. With a couple of cans you can have a pretty good evening going. Of course, you can’t find it around here, so hey, road trip to Missoula!

I will not apologize for loving this.

For now, though, Golden Hills’ brews are available on tap in quite a few places around town — including Checkerboard Tavern which I wrote about yesterday — and two out of three of their lagers are definitely excellent session beers. You’ve already read my take on Clem’s Gold (unless you suck and didn’t, in which case you can read it now), and here are my opinions on the rest.

Ben’s Brown

This one was kind of a disappointment to me. I had expected something a little bit more substantial, particularly seeing its robustness pimped on the Golden Hills Web site.

Not that the flavor is entirely unpleasant; in fact it’s pretty good, I will give it that. But the body feels surprisingly thin and even a bit watered down.

It’s not awful. Heck, it might actually appeal to some over Lizzy’s Lager. Yet, for me, it kind of sticks out as the Cousin Oliver of the group.

Lizzy’s Lager

Lizzy might be Clem’s little sister, at least as far as I’m concerned. It’s a bit sweeter, and I can see what the brewers are going for, as it might even have some bolder flavors. I guess we could get into a philosophical discussion if a lager should go head to head with “wine and whiskey” (as the Web site suggests); in my view that’s more of an ale’s job.

But we’re getting into the nitty gritty here. I prefer the flavor of Clem’s Gold, but if Lizzy’s is on tap, then it’s worth considering if you’re looking for a refreshing lager.

Overall

I’m liking what I’m seeing from Golden Hills. They’re not going crazily overboard like, say, Dogfish Head, in creativity, but produce solid, refreshing beers. I for one respect them for that, and commend them for doing a great job on their first brews.

With that said, and in spirit of our little contest, here are some simple local pairings I enjoy. And so should you!

Cured meats from Sante and Laughing Dog’s Dogfather Stout: The big flavors of Sante’s meats goes nicely with the creamy bold flavors and sweet chocolaty goodness of the Dogfather.

Steak from Rocky Ridge and Northern Lights Amber: A steak, like say a beef tenderloin, often goes well with a good porter, but I personally prefer something just a bit lighter. Northern Lights Amber has enough flavor to pair with beef without overwhelming it.

AC LaRocca Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pizza and Golden Hills’ Clem’s Gold: Granted, you might have to get a growler of Golden Hills, as I’ve yet to see it on bottle, but Clem’s Gold is a nice session lager to swallow down a thin crust pizza with.

Mizuna’s flourless chocolate cake and Coeur d’Alene Brewing Co.’s Vanilla Bourbon Stout: Get the cake to go, and indulge in what will definitely put you into an oh so nice and sweet coma. This is definitely what dessert should be.

And really, this is a pretty dang solid ale from the Woodinville brewery. It takes some of the best features of Latter Day Redhook’s best ales and, sadly, also one of the worse features too.

Let’s start with the positives. Mudslinger pours nicely nut brown, and has a creamy head that laces the glass fairly well. Give it a sniff, and you can smell the nuttiness and sweet malts. The flavor is surprisingly deep. Sweet and caramel-y and very nutty.  This is the type of complexity the Winterhook should have had — not mindblowing, but still very pleasant.

The one negative is what has plagued recent Redhook ales, and that’s the mouth feel which is a bit too watery. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Mudslinger feels thin, but it’s definitely on the lighter side of a medium body.

Overall, though, this is a solid entry from Redhook. I’m almost willing to forgive Winterhook. Almost.

Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

That’s right, Budweiser is treating us to yet another beer! This one tasting more than vaguely like Alka-Seltzer.

God bless Anheuser-Busch for trying. So far they’ve failed at producing a decent regular beer, lite beer, Clamato flavored beer, Michelada style beer, ice beer, craft beer, and caffeine infused beer, but they’re not letting a few minor setbacks discourage them! Now they have their sights set on MGD 64.

And give them credit — they’re not exactly trying to beat a beer anyone in their right mind would classify as “good.” This is really a battle where Budweiser stands a chance. I mean, hell, they’ve beaten Miller in the first round by lowering the calorie content by nine! Anheuser-Busch, you little devil, you might just stand a chance.

That is until you taste it. By god, this is the worst swill I’ve ever touched. I could at least see what they were getting at with Budweiser American Ale (which, from what I can recall, was the replacement for the original Select), but Select 55 truly and honestly tastes like Bud Lite mixed with Alka-Seltzer.

There’s a bit of credit that should be given here: I will, with my severely limited homebrewing experience, assume that it’s not easy making a beer taste like Alka-Seltzer. I mean, seriously. Maybe that’s what they set out out to do? Maybe I’m the idiot. Maybe there’s a market for Alka-Seltzer beer.

I’m not part of that market, however.

Deschutes kind of just gets the sheer rurban oddities of the Northwest, something that  carries over into their “Northwest Pale Ale.” It is a pale, certainly, but still full of surprises. Its color, for example, is deep amber, and the head laces the glass well for a pale.

The smell shouldn’t come as much of a shock for anyone used to the Mirror Pond — sweet, almost perfume like, with a lot of depth. This carries over to the flavor, with sweet caramel-y malts coating the mouth, and just a hint of hops in the back. This is an extremely crisp ale, particularly for a beer just recently released in the midst of what is supposed to be winter.

So I’m ready for the rebellion, at least. And I will drink plenty of Red Chair while the coup d’état goes down.

Pretty awesome.

Clem’s Gold is a lager. Lagers don’t tend to blow my hat off in the excitement department, but with that said, I have to admit that this is a pleasant beer. It’s not quite up there with Full Sail’s Session, but not that far off either.

It pours without much of a head, but has a fairly deep color none the less. The scent is mildly sweet with hints of malt and hops.

This is not a kick in the teeth in terms of flavor, which is fine, and I’d actually say it’s a pleasant drink. The malts dominate the flavor with some hints of hops. The medium body of the lager coats the mouth pleasantly, and there is a nice mildly bitter finish to it. It might not be a Session, but Clem’s Gold strikes me as a good session beer even though I’m unsure about its ABV.

And hey, if this is the start of another good local brewery, then I say that’s a good thing.

Not too shabby.

Anyway, far be it for me to speak for anyone else, so here are my musings about the three ales.

Samael’s Oak-Aged Ale

Be it in the ancient Jewish faith or the pop-culture of Silent Hill, the fallen angel of Samael has found his place in people’s hearts and souls. So why not in their mouths also?

Actually, there is a pretty good reason why not: I simply found Samael a bit too boozy (16.45% ABV = yikes!) for my liking. The thick molasses flavor is not unpleasant, but you can taste the booze pretty much as it hits your tongue. And that’s not a good thing, at least not for me.

The Beast

This is a grand cru, and probably the best of the three Demons. There is a bit of booziness to be detected here also, but not until you actually swallow, which almost makes it feel more like a brandy.

And at 14.9% ABV you can actually detect some nice sweetness from fruit and caramel. While all three ales could probably be used as digestifs (how often can you say that about a beer?), this is probably the one that would be best suited for it.

Mephistopheles’ Stout

This one comes about as black as a stout can come, and it weighs in at a hefty 16.03%. Yet for whatever reason it seems like the mildest one of the group, and is actually a very pleasant sipping beer.

It is nice and malty, and just lightly sweet. In a way, I suppose, it’s a devil in disguise (get it?!) so go slow on it. But it’s definitely a fine ale.

Conclusion

Avery makes a lot of great ales, and while the Demons obviously are brewed with a lot of expertise, I do think the brewery has better products to offer. But hey, the Demons of Ale do make for an interesting tasting session.

Temperature

Two common misconceptions about beer: It is supposed to be cold, and British pubs serve warm beer. Both are categorically wrong, and the one single truth lies somewhere in between. The only reason you’d want ice cold beer is to kill the flavor of it, which is great if you drink PBR, but otherwise… As for the second misconception, British pubs often serve the beer at the correct temperatures, which might be why it feels warm to some people. Yet it’s not warm per se, just warmer than a frosted glass. Really, you don’t want a frosted glass.^*

^{As for the temperatures, here are some general guidelines, courtesy of Realbeer.com:}

• Serve fruit beers at 40-50° F.
• Serve wheat beers and pale lagers at 45-50° F.
• Serve pale ales and amber or dark lagers at 50-55° F.
• Serve strong ales, such as barley wines and Belgian ales, at 50-55° F.
• Serve dark ales, including porters and stouts, at 55-60° F.

These are obviously just very general, and you can read a bit more about it over at Wikipedia. Some breweries, like Nøgne Ø, put the suggested temperature on the bottle.

For the most part it is, of course, impossible to get the serving temperature perfect, but if you can get it close… Well, your tasting experience will be that much better.

^*C.I. Shenanigan’s strangely enough serve their brews in frosted glasses. Why?! Show some pride in your own product.

Their latest special (and we don’t know if it’s still there — your loss if you missed it, we talked about it on Twitter!) is Life and Limb, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head. An interesting partnership for sure: Sierra Nevada usually holds a good quality without being too exciting, while Dogfish Head can go either way, but always while doing something different.

Weighing in at a hefty 10.2% ABV, Life and Limb comes served in a snifter, which, among other things, means you can feel pretty classy while drinking it. Because this is a classy ale. The aroma is lightly sweet with hints of maple and citrus, which isn’t too surprising when its deep dark red color is taken into consideration.

The taste is spot on what you’d expect: nice and crispy on the tip on the tongue, and then laces your mouth in sweet syrup-y goodness. Nice hints of malts and fruits. This is one you can sit and sip — and you do want to sip it — for a long time while just to enjoy its depths.

As with many high alcoholic beers, opinions of Life and Limb will probably be all over the map. Don’t go in drinking this like it’s a Budweiser. Approach it like a fine cognac or whiskey. Then you will see the deliciousness of it.

Thumbs up to the Spark for featuring this.