Beer of the Week! 11/29/22
Ballad Snickerdoodle Doppelbock
Regularly $13.99 / Now on Sale for $12.96
Doppelbock Style Lager with Cinnamon and Vanilla
WARNING: This beer write-up trashes a beloved cookie … that so doesn’t deserve your love. ;P
So, along with not judging a book by its cover, beware of judging a beer by its name. For instance, Ballad Brewing down in Danville has named a perfectly lovely Doppelbock after the Snickerdoodle — a third-tier cookie that tries to punch above its weight while always remaining more disappointing than you hope it will be. (Ooo! Cookie shots fired!!)
Whereas the Snickerdoodle (the cookie), needs to go back to being the dish you send with your third grader to her classmate’s birthday party that neither of you really want to attend, Ballad’s Snickerdoodle Doppelbock is a tasty lager that you actually should want to drink.
Ballad adds both cinnamon and vanilla to this brew, though it’s the vanilla that really comes through. The sweetness of the Doppelbock picks it up leaving the cinnamon to be a grace note around the edges.
(One more …) Whereas the Snickerdoodle — the cookie — is perfect for looking like you made more effort than sugar cookies take (ironically, with less effect), the Ballad Snickerdoodle is perfect for injecting some life into sixth or seventh day Turkey leftovers and then leading you into the next round of holiday hi-jinx.
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause here’s looking at you, kid.)
KCBC Catsablanca
Regularly $17.99 / Now on Sale for $16.96
West Coast Style IPA
We recently read a beer described as a “modern West Coast IPA.” We couldn’t wrap our minds around that concept … until we tasted this brew.
KCBC (the Kings County Brewers Collective) hails from Brooklyn (in Kings County - who knew?), and they have put together this West Coast Style IPA with a little taste of today. They start by rousting up some of the usual Yakima Valley hop suspects — Amarillo, Simcoe, and, of course, our old friend Cascade. However, they can’t resist bringing in a newfangled New Zealand ringer with the Nelson Sauvin hop. So, you get all the grapefruit and citrus flavors you hope for with a strong dose of pine on the finish, however, at the same time, there’s a hint of tropical fruit rounding out the hop profile. KCBC also gives the Catsablanca just a touch of haziness adding a pleasantly creamy note to the mouthfeel.
Unlike the one-noters that the classic West Coast IPAs of the 90s could be, this beer has a whole song to it. Having a foot firmly in the past and a toe in the present makes KCBC’s Catsablanca more than an homage and much more than an act of nostalgia. For this brew, the West Coast IPA is a romance that happened long ago, and you try to remember it, but as you look back it’s bittersweet (sweet from the malt, bitter from the hops).
“You know what I want to drink! You poured one for her, you can pour it for me!”
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!