One of my favorite warm-weather styles is the saison, which I have been missing the past few months. So in honor of the return of air conditioning season, I took a browse through the Belgian style section and came away with Lavery Brewing Co.’s Liopard Oir Farmhouse Ale.

Lavery Brewing Co. is the brainchild of Jason and Nicole Lavery. They founded the company in 2009 and teamed up with Jason Lynch in 2010 to put together their very own 10-barrel brewery. Both Laverys were born and raised in Erie, Pa., and have done their best to bring some innovation to the local beer scene.

The saison is a classic summer beer hailing from the French-speaking section of Belgium known as Wallonia. This beer was traditionally brewed in the spring to last through the summer until the fall brewing season, and it had to be strong enough not to spoil while still being refreshing to drink. The style was typically brewed on individual farms and served to the workers, and consequently, it varied a lot from farm to farm. The grain content often included a significant amount of wheat or spelt, and sometimes sugar or honey was added as well to thin out the beer. The sour note can be created with gypsum, acidulated malt or by dosing with Lactobacillus, a souring bacteria. The dry, slightly bitter finish typical of this beer is accentuated by the hard water typical of this region.

This beer should be served in a tulip glass if possible, as saisons should be highly carbonated and beautiful to watch. The beer will pair well with stronger cheeses like Fontina, Asiago and Gorgonzola, as well as spicier food like Indian or Thai curry. The great thing about this style is that it’s also light and complex enough to go with fish and salad, unlike the traditional pairing with curry of a good, strong India pale ale.

The beer poured a pale straw color and very hazy, but it was translucent instead of opaque. The head formed as a single finger of pure white, medium dense bubbles. This foam settled out to a thin layer very quickly, but that coating lasted for quite a while and even provided a fair bit of lacing. The aroma was strongly yeasty with a slight sour note, but not much else. I was honestly a bit disappointed, as I am used to more spice and fruit in the aroma from saisons. The body was moderately thick, and the carbonation was moderate. The way they combined, however, was interesting, with a very fine, sparkly carbonation up front, which gave way to a fairly still, smooth, thick finish without lingering. The taste was focused on a big, slightly lemony yeast character up front, with a clean, slightly bitter finish. Like the aroma, the taste was not nearly as complex as I have come to expect from this style.

Overall, this was not a bad beer, but it really wasn’t anything special. I enjoyed this beer, but I would rather save my money for Victory’s Helios in the future.

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Last week I wrote about Weyerbacher’s Insanity, a barrel aged barleywine. Well, this week I couldn’t resist cracking open Heresy, the bourbon barrel-aged version of Old Heathen, Weyerbacher’s Russian Imperial Stout.

Why this sudden interest in barrel-aged beer, you may ask? Well, the superficial reasons are that I happen to like bourbon and that I found both while visiting a friend in New Jersey. Deeper than that, however, is that the aging process provides a wonderful depth to the beer. Bourbon barrels are used because the charring process caramelizes some of the sugars in the wood, which then impart both a woody taste and the beautiful, sweet vanilla classic taste of bourbons. Much of the flavor in whiskey comes from the distilling and aging process, and beer can benefit from the aging as well.

Weyerbacher is a moderately sized microbrewery located in ­­­­Easton, Pa. The brewery was founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirbeck, and in 2005 they purchased Victory Brewing Co.’s 25-barrel brew system. Even this increased capacity was quickly outstripped and has since been upgraded to a 40-barrel brew kettle and whirlpool. Among the upgrades is a new bottling line that increased their capacity to 250 cases per hour, which, along with the new brewhouse, has allowed the company to expand distribution to 18 states. Weyerbacher has made a name for itself producing high-gravity beers and was one of the pioneering breweries in the use of barrel aging for regular-release beers.

The beer poured a jet black, with no light being let through. Usually Russian imperials are dark but have some nice highlights when they are held up to the light; no such luck with this one. The head formed as a skim of dark brown bubbles, but these disappeared in seconds, leaving only a tiny bit of lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma was primarily of a big, sweet vanilla from the bourbon barrels, with a nice touch of roast that provided some depth. The body was quite thick with a fairly low carbonation, giving a heavy mouthfeel. The taste was malt focused, with a higher sweet from both the malt and the bourbon barrels competing with the roastiness in this beer. The finish was slightly sweet with a wonderfully pronounced chocolate note.

This beer was very enjoyable, but it wasn’t a very good RIS. It was smooth and balanced, which was pleasant, but I was left wondering where on Earth the hops were. It’s like there were almost no hops added at all, really. I would pair it with powerful cheeses, as more mild ones will be overwhelmed. A nice creamy brie or very sharp cheddar are my favorite choices as usual, although in this case a Gouda will add to the complexity wonderfully. In terms of meats, this beer will stand up to red meats or a dark fowl like duck or goose. I would actually like to try this with grilled duck that has been powdered with cocoa, but that will have to wait a bit until I fire up the grill.

I recommend giving this beer a try, especially if you like Brooklyn Brewing Co.’s Black Chocolate stout, or, say, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. This particular beer is less chocolatey, but the oak more than makes up for it in my opinion. Just don’t expect a big American RIS hop character.

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There are a few beers that I keep my eye out for, and this week I ran across two of them, Weyerbacher Brewing Co.’s Insanity and Heresy. I’m saving the Heresy for another time, but I couldn’t resist cracking open the Insanity. Weyerbacher markets its Blithering Idiot English barleywine year round, but every February the brewery releases some that it has been aging in bourbon barrels as the Insanity.

Weyerbacher got its start in a livery stable in Easton, Pa., back in 1995. The proprietors, Dan and Sue Weirback, were inspired to turn their homebrewing hobby into a career during a tour of the Long Trail Brewery while on vacation in Vermont. After an initial fumble with low-gravity pale ales, Weyerbacher found its legs making big beers like barleywines and Russian imperial stouts. The operation was moved to a more modern facility in 2001 and expanded again in 2005 to a 25-barrel brewhouse purchased from Victory Brewing Co.

The beer poured a beautiful, clear red-brown color with some beautiful golden highlights. The head was almost nonexistent, with a single layer of pale white bubbles forming, even with a fairly vigorous pour. The head retention was poor, with almost all the foam disappearing within minutes and no lacing at all. The aroma was a combination of light sweet vanilla and dark malts, which reminded me of a brown ale or a bock with some grape notes, which was somewhat odd. There were hints of bitterness in the aroma, too, but no noticeable hop aroma. The body was moderately thick with very low carbonation to thin it out. This resulted in a fairly thick mouthfeel overall, but it didn’t linger like some other heavy beers.

The taste was very malt focused, again with some melanoidin flavor like a brown ale or bock. The flavor had an interesting cherry flavor up front, which actually seemed slightly medicinal to me, but that faded into a nice toffee taste on the finish. Underlying everything was the wood flavor, which actually came off, well, woody with some vanilla instead of just the straight vanilla that I expected. It actually reminded me a tiny bit of the Palo Santo wood that Dogfish Head uses in its Palo Santo Marron. One thing that seemed to be missing was the hop bitterness; this actually seemed like a better stock ale than a barleywine.

Overall I enjoyed this beer, but it takes some getting used to. It’s big and sweet, without much hop character to balance it, which may underwhelm some people. The key is to pair it with something that will make it shine, something with a bit of a bite to it. I personally like Granny Smith apples and very sharp cheddar cheeses, but I actually think something with a lot of lemon would go well with it, too. That being said, it’s a beer that requires me to be in the right mood to sit down and enjoy it, as opposed to a light session beer that I can drink all day long.

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This week has been rather warm, so I decided to crack open a lighter beer. I’ve been doing a lot of IPAs, so I went with a Belgian instead, grabbing Moab Brewery’s Tripel. Moab was started in 1996 by John Borkoski and Dave Sabey and claims to be the only brewery still in Utah, although I know that there are a couple of brewpubs in the state, too. The current brewmaster is Jeff Van Horn, who started the Desert Select Ale brewing program, which consists of a number of high-gravity, bottle-conditioned beers.

The beer poured a hazy solid gold, although I ended up with a fair amount of yeast in mine despite my best efforts because the bottle design doesn’t aid a smooth pour at all. The head formed as a single finger of very fine, pure white foam, but the retention was poor, with the head settling out in just a minute or two. The aroma was a surprisingly dark, malty, yeasty combination with some hints of apple cider in it. The mouthfeel is fairly thick, with very low carbonation and a moderately heavy body. The taste was fairly bitter up front, and it lingered on, only partially balanced by the sweetness. The taste was a muddled combination of yeast and spices, with the bitterness casting a shadow over everything.

This beer was interesting, though not what I expected from a tripel. I’m used to tripels having a lighter malt profile than this one, as the malt sweetness reminded me of darker German beers. The beer also lacked the lighter citrus notes that I love in other tripels. It instead had a lot more of the hop bitterness. Overall it reminded me more of an unfiltered American amber ale than a good Belgian tripel. This isn’t a bad beer, but I found the label to be a bit misleading and would only recommend it to people who like sweeter IPAs, like Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute.

This beer will pair well with very creamy cheeses. Those of you who read this column regularly know that I love brie, which I think will go well with this beer. I would actually stay away from the harder cheeses in this case, as I think their complexity will be overwhelmed, but I think goat cheese might be a good candidate, too. Grilled food will go well, as will spicy Cajun food, which the brewery’s website specifically recommends for this pairing. They also recommend non-chocolate desserts like amaretto tart and baklava. These I’m not so sure about, given the beer bitterness, but it would at least be interesting to try. This beer should definitely be served in a tulip glass if you have it or a wine glass otherwise.

American whiskey has been undergoing a bit of a renaissance of late, with many microdistilleries popping up to meet the demand for craft liquor. The big labels, however, are certainly not to be counted out, and several have begun releasing new products to cater to their new customers. Jim Beam is one of these, and it has been aggressively marketing its new Devil’s Cut bourbon.

Devil’s Cut is, according to the company, rather unique. When whiskey is aged in barrels, a significant amount evaporates; this is traditionally referred to as the Angel’s Share and is also observed with wine and beer or just about any liquid you store in a breathable container. What Jim Beam claims to have done is developed a process (proprietary, of course) to remove the bourbon that soaks into the staves of the barrel. This extract is then mixed with a 6-year-old bourbon and bottled at 90 proof. The extract is also technically part of the Angel’s Share (being unrecoverable under normal means, it’s part of the liquid that just disappeared), but in a stroke of good marketing sense, Jim Beam decided to name it something more interesting. The Angel’s Share tends to evoke thoughts of a lighter liquor, but the extracted liquor is actually rather dark, containing more of the caramelized sugars that make bourbon what it is. So they went opposite and named it Devil’s Cut, and they have been playing up the dark connection with TV spots featuring a low-lit cocktail lounge at the bottom of a long flight of steps. Like I said, it was a slick marketing move for a whiskey company.

The whiskey is actually a bit darker than most bourbons, although not terribly so, and is quite clear. I wasn’t quite sure if it would be or not, given the extraction process, but it makes sense that Jim Beam would filter it. The aroma carries a strong oakiness but also has some hints of a medicinal cherry, which threw me. The body is actually moderately thin for a bourbon and overall is much drier than I expected. The oak is intense with quite a bit of vanilla, just like the tasting notes promised. I mixed two drinks with this bourbon, an Old Fashioned and a new concoction that I made up that drew from some recipes on the Jim Beam website.

The Old Fashioned is a classic cocktail dating back to at least 1806, when it was described in “The Balance, and Columbian Repository.” This drink is made by dissolving a small lump of sugar with an equal amount of water, or just using simple syrup and then adding a couple dashes of bitters (I prefer orange bitters, personally, though the official recipe calls for Angostura bitters). This is stirred together until dissolved, and then a shot of whiskey is poured in, some ice is added, and finally an orange slice and a cocktail cherry are used as the garnish. This is a nice, balanced drink, as the bitters tend to balance out the initial sweet hit from the sugar, and the cherry and orange add a beautiful depth to it.

The second drink consisted of a shot of Devil’s Cut, one ounce of pomegranate juice, half an ounce of lemon juice and a quarter-ounce of triple sec, served with ice and a cherry garnish. I liked this drink because it was not terribly sweet; the pomegranate juice actually made it a bit tart, with the lemon and triple sec adding a bit of bright counterpoint.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Devil’s Cut, and I’ll probably buy it again at some point, as the intense oakiness is useful in a lot of drinks. The Old Fashioned is a wonderful classic cocktail and actually serves as a good introduction to cocktails in general if you go light on the bitters. The fruit concoction was also tasty, but pomegranate juice is a bit expensive, so I’ll probably wait a bit to try that again, even though it was very enjoyable. So, bottom line? This bottle is worth the price and goes well in a variety of different drinks, especially because it’s not as sweet as a lot of bourbons.

As the weather has warmed up, I have begun to crave some more hops. I love barleywines, especially during the winter, but I’ve been suffering withdrawal from a lack of fresh hops. To remedy this, I grabbed a bottle of Rogue Ales’ XS Imperial India Pale Ale. This beer is part of their XS series, all of which are at least 8 percent ABV and are each sold in a beautifully painted ceramic bottle. They are generally suitable for aging given their high ABV and hop contents. This particular beer is the brewery’s double IPA. It takes advantage of a mix of Saaz, Northwest Golding, Perle and Cascade hops to clock in at 75 IBUs, which is fairly high on the bitterness scale.

Rogue Ales opened its first brewpub in Ashland, Ore., in 1988 with a 10-barrel brewhouse, followed by a second location in Newport, Ore., a year later. This second location is located on the Historic Bay Front and now serves as the headquarters for the company’s fleet of over a dozen brewpubs in Oregon and California. Even though it has grown substantially, now distributing to all 50 states, the company’s mission statement is unchanged, dedicated to building relationships in the community while presenting its products with educational, entertaining mischief.

The beer poured a very hazy yellow gold that looked like it would be appropriate for a hefeweizen. This isn’t just a chill haze, either; it’s like it was dry hopped and not filtered afterward. The head formed as three fingers of fine foam, a nice medium tan in color with the rippling, piled-up texture of a good hefeweizen or Belgian beer. The head retention was quite good, and the lacing was even better; I still had a skim of head covering the beer and lacing the whole way up the glass when I finished. The aroma was moderately intense, actually a bit subdued compared to what I expected from an imperial IPA. The nose was also surprisingly balanced, with quite a bit of sweetness to offset the nice, piney bitter hop aroma.

The mouthfeel was very different than I expected, with a moderate body and low carbonation. The real surprise, though, was the creaminess. This beer actually had the texture of a stout on nitrogen, which is pretty much the opposite of most IPAs. The flavor was dominated by the piney hops, although there were some citrus notes and a nice, balancing malt sweetness. The malt profile was actually far sweeter than I expected, without any toasted or biscuit notes. The sweetness hit up front, with the bitterness soon overtaking it and lasting long into the finish. One of the interesting aspects of this beer was how drinkable it was, despite its bitterness, as I had no issue drinking several glasses of it.

I tried this beer with some homemade pizza, which was a compatible combination. I went heavy on the tomato sauce and marjoram, and the acidity of the tomato and the citrus and pine of the marjoram went well with the hop character of this beer. I think it would go well with strong cheeses, but anything too delicate will be overwhelmed. I would like to try this again with Thai food, as I think it would pair well with a green curry. This beer should definitely be served in a snifter or a tulip glass if possible, as these glasses will concentrate the hop aroma for your enjoyment.

I actually enjoyed this beer a lot, and I think it would be even better if I got it fresh; some of the hop character had started to age out. I think this aging process is partly why I got so much piney bitterness out of the beer as opposed to the citrus that I expected, as I tend to notice a drop in the delicate citrus notes first with aging. That being said, the price of this bottle is rather high, even for such a large bottle of beer. If you like IPAs, it’s worth a try when you feel like splurging, especially if you collect bottles. However, if you are just beginning to explore the style, there are a lot of cheaper IPAs that are just as good.

ABV: 9.5 percent

Size: 750 mL

Price: $19.99

Aroma: 4

Appearance: 4

Taste: 4.5

Mouthfeel: 3.5

The beer I selected for this week is a favorite of mine from the old, dependable Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Sierra Nevada was founded in 1979 by Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi, two homebrewers who wanted to turn their hobby into a career. The company started in Chico, Calif., and draws its name from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where Grossman enjoys hiking. Their original brewing system was pieced together from scrap metal and dairy equipment, but in 1988 they were able to upgrade to a larger facility with a 100-barrel brewhouse. At this time, they were distributing to seven states, and growth has continued steadily since then. Now they distribute all the way to the East Coast and produce 780,000 barrels per year. Last year they announced that they will open a second production brewery in North Carolina, which is expected to open in early 2014, to ease production and shipping strains.

The beer that I grabbed this week is Torpedo Extra IPA. This is an American IPA, and interestingly enough, it is is available in both 12-ounce bottles and 16-ounce cans. Now, many people look down on cans because of the beer that is normally packaged in them, but cans have a couple of advantages. First, they don’t let in light or oxygen like bottles do, making the beer more shelf stable. Second, they don’t shatter if I accidentally drop them in the river while canoeing.

This beer is rather bitter, so I would recommend pairing it with a sharp cheese (honestly, it needs to be at least as sharp as a sharp cheddar), or perhaps a spicy one like pepper jack, and strong-tasting food such as a curry or a bacon burger. IPAs are sometimes served in a goblet, mainly so that the bar can give you less of it, but a pint glass is more traditional.

The beer poured a hazy, golden brown. I’m honestly not sure whether the haziness came from it being a (relatively) unfiltered beer or from a chill haze, but I suspect that it was the former given Sierra Nevada’s brewing expertise. The head formed as two fingers of light tan foam, which had a very fine texture; it was so smooth that it actually reminded me of nitro beers. The retention was very good, with a pillowy surface reminiscent of Belgians, and the lacing was some of the best I have ever seen in a beer. The aroma was actually quite low, which is odd for an IPA. The main component was a fairly earthy hop character, although I also caught pine and citrus hop notes accompanying a malty sweetness. The mouthfeel was very creamy with a low carbonation. The moderately thick body carried the creaminess long into the finish, which was also quite odd for an IPA, at least in my experience. The taste of this beer was totally dominated by a massive hop bitterness, which hit immediately and continued the whole way through. There was an interesting spiciness up front, which quickly gave way to a malty sweetness, but the level was low enough that it just couldn’t compete with the bitterness. A significant earthy hop taste provided some depth to the flavor, but overall this was a very bitter beer.

Overall this beer was a very good American IPA. These tend to be bitterer than I prefer, but when I do decide to go with an IPA, it’s often this one. The availability is good, and Sierra Nevada appears to be increasing its production at this point, so it will likely be around for a while. It’s definitely worth trying, but don’t go out of your way to find it; if you like IPAs you will encounter it sooner or later anyway.

This week I am reviving a long-dormant section of my column: the liquor review. I love American whiskeys, and I try to review things that are interesting but within the price range of a student, so I picked up a bottle of Old Grand-Dad 114. Most whiskey is sold between 80 and 100 proof, but this is barrel strength, so the flavors should be more intense. Old Grand-Dad was named by Col. R.B. Hayden in honor of his grandfather, famed distiller Basil Hayden, whose bust graces the bottle’s label. Today the brand is owned by Beam Inc. and is produced in the Jim Beam plant in Clermont, Ky.

The bourbon poured an amber, slightly lighter than the Buffalo Trace I sampled alongside it. This is to be expected, as bourbons don’t vary too much in the color department, although I was somewhat surprised that it’s lighter than the Buffalo Trace because of Old Grand-Dad’s higher proof. The aroma was light and slightly sweet, with a very solventlike character to it, which jumped out as soon as I brought the glass near my face. There was an immediate hot alcohol hit, but that subsided very quickly into a nice, light, sweet character coming from the corn in this mash. There was definitely a vanilla note, which was actually quite nice, although it was largely overshadowed by the corn and alcohol. Adding some water to the bourbon opened up the corn flavor, including some nice toasty elements, and I got a hint of charcoal from this bourbon as well. I don’t think this bourbon is charcoal filtered, so that may have been a lingering taste from a darker-than-usual barrel. The finish on this bourbon was impressive, consisting of a hot, solvent burn. The closest comparison that comes to mind, actually, is of a nail being driven into the side of my tongue. The mash bill for this whiskey contains more rye than most, which normally gives a distinctive, spicier character, but this doesn’t account for the amount of burning present in this whiskey.

The first cocktail I tried this bourbon in was a classic Manhattan, which dates back to at least the 1870s on Manhattan Island, possibly in a bar near the intersection of Broadway and Houston Street, according to one legend. This drink is mixed with two parts whiskey, one part sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters — shaken, strained and garnished with a cherry. This cocktail is typically made with rye whiskey, and one of the purposes of the high sweet vermouth content is to balance the rye’s spice. I enjoy these cocktails frequently with a 100-proof rye whiskey, which is quite pleasant. The Old Grand-Dad 114 cut straight through, though; that alcohol burn wouldn’t be balanced by anything so refined as a mere fortified wine.

So, I decided to bring out the big guns. I very rarely mix anything into Coke because the cola just overpowers everything. I actually really enjoy the flavor of alcoholic drinks such as beer and bourbon rather than just trying to hide the alcohol content while I get drunk. This is also why I very rarely drink vodka, preferring to sip gin instead. Technically, this drink is called a highball — a single alcoholic spirit mixed with a larger portion of nonalcoholic mixer. Well, I think this is the first time that Coke failed me; even it couldn’t hide the burn of Old Grand-Dad 114.

Overall, I actually thought the flavor of the bourbon was rather nice; it’s just overpowered by the alcohol burn. Serving over ice, diluting with water, mixing it in a Manhattan or even into Coke couldn’t stop the burn. It’s like someone took a good bourbon and cut it with rubbing alcohol or something. Some would argue that I just can’t take barrel-strength whiskey, but my favorite whiskey is actually a 128-proof rye, which has even more alcohol than this does. So if anything, I’m partial to the stronger spirits; it’s just that it’s harder to hide any imperfections in the more concentrated form. For the money, I would suggest grabbing Buffalo Trace instead.