2010-2011 = Year in Review

posted by Ryan


"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."  I couldn't let a year go by without reflecting on Knoll Street Brewing's many successes and minimal (but sometimes grave) failures.  Over a year ago Jon and I decided to start this beer club.  I had some initial hesitations because I know that all of us have different preferences on the style of beer we drink.  Jon reminded me of the many reasons to start this club (Friendship, New Recipes, Drinking) and that one of our desires was to help people venture out of their comfort zones to find a new hidden gem or two in their beer drinking experience.  I hope you feel like we helped you do just that. Jump.

I've compiled a list of the beers we did over the past year.  Following the "best of times, worst of times" theme, I will be personally ranking the beers on a 1-6 scale (1 being terrible, 6 being awesome, all in comparison to other beers of that style).  I'm well aware that I should be following the ASTO (Aroma, Smell, Taste, Overall) pattern of beer rating, but I just don't have time for that.


9/11 - Gourdon Jr. (Pumpkin Ale)
*N/A = We did change the recipe a bit…it is now an Imperial Pumpkin ale.


8/11 - Queen's Rye (Rye IPA)
*N/A = I wanted to call it the Ryean, but Jon just glared at me.


7/11 - Batch 22 (Batch 10,000 Clone - American Strong Ale)
*N/A = However, I've never been more excited about a beer we've made.


6/11 - Caspian (Porter - Edmund Fitz Clone)
*4 = I'm not a huge porter fan, but I really thought this one was smooth.


5/11 - Vivian (Belgian Wit)
*6 = I dislike this style of beer, but thought that it was great.  This was a surprise…thank Jon for this one guys.


4/11 - Dogen (IPA)
*3 = I know many of you liked it, but better IPAs are plentiful (however, there may have been a side batch IPA that I'd give a solid "5" to)


3/11 - Beatrice (Belgian Pale - w/funk)
*5 = There just aren't that many beers within this style, and I enjoyed it.


2/11 - Biran (Belgian Quad)
*6 = I hope you guys saved this beer.  It just keeps getting better and better with age (refraining from joke here).


1/11 - Bastogne (Belgian IPA)
*6 = My personal favorite


12/10 - Fekete Mokus (French for "Smoked Butt" - Porter)
*0 = I told Jon that we shouldn't do this beer, but Jon loves to smoke anything.


11/10 - Intruder (Vanilla Bean Imperial Stout)
*2 = Jon tells me that this beer got really good with age…I traded all 6 of mine for 1 beer


11/10 - *Cider
*6 = I'm not a fan of Ciders, but loved this one.  Another surprise for me.


10/10 - Gourdon (Imperial Pumpkin Ale)
*6 = Best pumpkin ale I've ever had.  I'd put it up against any pumpkin beer.


9/10 - Sinister (Black IPA)
*3 = Can't really remember, but I remember thinking "meh."


This year truly was the best of times (Bastogne & Gourdon), and the worst of times (Fekete Mokus).  We learned a lot and are excited for the upcoming brew year.


What were your highlights?  lowlights?  Did anyone, besides Jon, drink that smoked porter?