I’m not brewing for the next couple of months, so expect to see several Beer Reviews.  Here’s the latest.

Verloren: This is a Gose (pronounced Go-sah) style limited edition brew by Samuel Adams.  It’s an old German style beer brewed with wheat, coriander and salt.  Does that sound weird?  Of course it does.  I will attempt to describe Verloren.

Wheat beers are typically cloudy (that’s what malted wheat does to beer).  However, Verlander is not really hazy/cloudy.  I noticed right away how clear this beer is.  It is a light blond color, has a sweet aroma, but a well balanced flavor – not sweet, and not hoppy.  The head is limited, and does not remain too long, but the beer has a significant amount of carbonation.  It has the signature coriander flavor (kind of peppery), with a nice malty aftertaste.  I did not notice any saltiness.

This beer is mild, with a well balanced flavor profile and only 6.0% ABV (so it’s easy drinking and refreshing).  The coriander is noticeable, lending it a very pleasant flavor.  This is a good beer (Sheila really liked it), but not my style.  I will not buy any more of this (if it’s even available any longer).  Let me emphasize, however, it is very good beer, just not a style I would prefer to drink.

Wilco Tango Foxtrot: You could legitimately call this WTF (Wilco Tango Foxtrot are the phonetic alphabet for WTF, except for W, which is actually Whiskey in the phonetic alphabet, but that might be too confusing [or even prohibited] on a beer label).  It’s a limited release beer brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma California.  So what is WTF?  The label on this beer says, “We’re not quite in the Red or in the Black . . . . . . Does that mean we’re in the Brown?”  The label describes it as “A Malty, Robust, Jobless Recovery Ale”

That pretty much sums it up.  This is a big brown ale.  It’s 7.8% ABV, and 64.2 IBU (OG = 1.072).  When you think of a brown ale, the most well known example is probably Newcastle.  When dealing with WTF, get that Newcastle image out of your mind.  They have very little in common.  The IBU (hoppiness) profile is more in line with an IPA, rather than a brown ale.  Most brown ales are malty.  This one is malty with a BIG hop bite.  It’s a reddish dark brown color, crystal clear, with a malty sweet aroma (stick your nose in the glass and smell it before you taste it).  The flavor, however, is much more on the bitter side, but not overwhelming (remember now, I like hoppy beers, including Pliny the Elder and Ruination).  This is a much more complex brown beer than something like Newcastle.  It certainly earns it’s name (WTF),  as it is quite unusual.  It’s very good, and comes with my recommendation.

This was a limited release in 2011(spring/summer), but I have seen it recently at Total Wine, so it’s still available.  The bottle (22 oz) I sampled today has been in my refrigerator since last fall.  If you want to get some, you probably should hurry, as I don’t know how much longer this will be available.  Buy it if you can find it.

I hope you find these beer reviews helpful.  I’m not a certified beer judge, and I’m not really that sophisticated when it comes to tasting and describing beer.  I just try to give an honest assessment of my impressions when I taste them.  Cheers!