Count the Teats and Divide by Four
Written: Sep 21 '00 (Updated Oct 07 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rich toffee malt aromas, serious hop tang
Cons: Doesn't age well; drink it now.
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| beerfly's Full Review: Long Trail Double Bag |
I'm going to let this one stew a bit.
I've got a Gordon Biersch capped mug (I hesitate to call this clear glass mug a stein, but it's good to see the beer) my wife was good enough to buy me when on a business trip to California. I use it when I'm drinking a beer that has an aroma I really want to concentrate. It works amazingly well, makes quite a difference. There's a fresh-poured Long Trail Double Bag in there right now, fuming.
If you want to read about why this is referred to as a stickebier, or "secret beer," and that it's a "double" alt... All that's on the producer page right here on Epinions, so if you want to know, go read it. I'm not going to re-type it here. Besides, I've never been to Düsseldorf, so I don't feel right writing about it. You want to read about that, get one of Michael Jackson's books.
What I will tell you is that this is a classic second-chance beer for me. See, a friend of mine, a good friend who loves to hunt good beers, went to Vermont in 1997 and came back raving about Double Bag. Then it cropped up in southern New Jersey, and he made me go buy some. I was underwhelmed, just could not see what he was so excited about. It was kind of non-distinctly bitter, a little bigger than most, but nothing special. Ho-hum, funny label with two cows showing off their udders, which I gave to my mom to put on her kitchen windowshelf along with the Fish Tale Pale Ale and the 1994 Snow Goose bottles.
I rarely missed an opportunity to let people who liked Double Bag know that it was a pathetically average beer, much ado about a label. What a snot I was.
Then about a month ago, I visited the new Long Trail brewery, and got a sample of Double Bag. I liked it so much I got a sixpack to take with, and that's what I'll be tasting in about a minute. My apologies to Long Trail and to all the people I steered wrong; this is good stuff.
How's it look? Deep copper, thin cap of off-white foam.
HA! The capped mug rules! There's malt and fruit in there, ripe, sun-packed Bartlett or Packham pears, with rich toffee and just a hint of butterscotch, maybe a hint of flan. Dat's nice!
Time for diving in and tasting. Mmmmm, thick, rich, bitter, assertive. This is a rare style that can easily take its place with the other big beers of the world. At 7.2% alcohol by volume, it demands and deserves respect from the drinker on a purely physical(and legal) level, but this is a beer with plenty o' guts and a trenchant hop finish that hangs in there like a real estate agent smelling a sale. There's plenty of body, and the hop just won't quit as the beer slowly warms up, it's kicking in strongly now.
This is not a beer for card playing, at least for money. It will fuddle you at a much quicker rate than your good Buddy Weiser. This makes it a great candidate to introduce to your Canadian friends who always tell you "American beer, that ain't like our big strong Canadian beers." They're right. This big strong American beer has plenty of taste, and even more alcohol.
I'm not sure what I'd eat with this. Maybe barbecue, probably sausages, some big soft pretzels. The strong bitter finish would go well with the spicy mustards these foods are designed for. Some sharp cheddar would probably be good.
Big all-round, with the stiff hopping of the style, I can't see this one as anything but a winner. It obviously doesn't travel well, because I can't believe this is the same beer I tried three years ago.
Guess you'll have to go to the brewery.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
beerfly
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Member: Lew Bryson
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 82 members
About Me:
One bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, eh? I'll take Kentucky Spirit, Scapa, and HopDevil.
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