Ölbeat 262: Ôllenaut Rukki Kuningas

Brewery: Ôllenaut (in Estonian)
Country: Estonia
Style: Old Ale
Abv: 7,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark reddish brown with a huge cream white head. Aroma has sweet rye bread, dried plums and raisins. Taste begins with grainy and fruity sweetness. Sweet rye malts and dried dark fruits take over with lingering bitterness. Towards the end malty sweet, fruity bitter and warming boozy flavours get on top with some burned sugar. Aftertaste has burned bready dryness and fruity-boozy bitterness.

Beautiful and complex Old Ale. Rye malts show clearly up as malty strength and sweetness. Dark fruits, bitterness, alcohol, some burned sugar in the end - everything's at its right place. From my point of view Ôllenaut has so far succeeded extremely well with their unordinary brews.

Ölbeat

Since the brew is named "the king of rye" in Estonian, having a taste of it is riding with the king. So, the choice was between the Eric Clapton & BB King cover and the original. I chose the original.

John Hiatt: Riding with the King (YouTube)

From the 1983 album Riding with the King, the song was written by John Hiatt.

Ölbeat 182: Traquair 50th Anniversary Ale

Brewery: Traquair House
Country: Scotland
Style: Old Ale
Abv: 9 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is nut brown with a small tan head. Aroma has sweet berries, caramel malts, dark fruits and sweet spice. Taste starts with strong and sweet wooden bitterness. Oaky and spicy caramel malts take over with dark fruits and sweet berries. Towards the end caramel and fruits get gently bitter and on top. Aftertaste has sweet malts, bitter fruits and dry alcohol.

Rich and delicious like a superb Old Ale can be. Caramel malts, oak, fruit and berry flavours with bitter and boozy finish make this one a really great experience. Truly a brew for celebrating a half century of brewing excellent beer.

Ölbeat

Since Traquair House Brewery has specialized in old ales and has been around for 50 years, one might think that the brewery has become old and dusty. The anniversary ale shows that the beers are doing great. Matching song from a Scottish band is here.

Simple Minds: Alive and Kicking (YouTube)

From the 1985 album Once Upon a Time, the song was written by Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill and Mick MacNeil.

Ölbeat 179: Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Brewery: Great Divide Brewery
Country: United States
Style: Old Ale
Abv: 8,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is reddish dark brown with a small diminishing tan head. Aroma has sweet caramel malts, alcohol, cherries and coffee. Taste begins with heavily bitter wooden bite. Sweet and bitter, strongly oaky malts take over with hints of alcohol, spices and dark fruits. Towards the end bitter fruity alcohol comes out with piny and spicy flavours. Aftertaste has oaky-piny dryness and alcohol bitterness.

Strong oaky and spicy Old Ale. Alcoholic bitterness, fruit flavours, caramel malts - excellent stuff from an excellent brewery.

Ölbeat

In addition to hibernation and cold climate, winter is a season of snow in the Northern Hemisphere. Reflection of light from snow can cause a state of snowblindness. This song has actually nothing to do with actual snowblindness, but rather an ode to cocaine from a completely addicted band. Still, the heavyweight song matches the mood of a strong ale nicely.

Black Sabbath: Snowblind (YouTube)

From the 1972 album Vol. 4, the song was written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward.

Ölbeat 139: Pühaste Hôbevalge

Brewery: Pühaste
Country: Estonia
Style: Old Ale
Abv: 8,0 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is reddish brown with a 2-finger thick natural white head. Aroma has sweet malts, raisins and banana. Taste begins with sweet, gently bitter bite. Fruity caramel malts take over with some wooden raisin and cherry flavour. Oak-flavoured bitterness grows towards the finish. Aftertaste has oaky dryness and fruity bitterness.

The sherry oak chips give this old ale a distinctive aged flavour with raisins and cherries. The gently bitter hops fit perfectly together with the wooden character of the brew. Excellent malty and fruity matured beer.

Ölbeat

The beer's name is probably based on Estonian folklore, not quite sure what it means, though. The label picture shows an old white spirit in an oak tree. Also the beer style steered the song choice towards folk music. What I selected went pretty far from the brew's origins. 

Xavier Rudd: Follow the Sun (YouTube)

From the 2012 album Spirit Bird, the song was written by Xavier Rudd.

Ölbeat 010: Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company 
Country: United States
Style: Old Ale
Abv: 9,8 %
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Despite the name not a curmudgeon brew...

Founders Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. The brewery was founded in 1997 by Dave Engbers and Mike Stevens - two college graduates. As a winner of multiple brewery and beer awards and constantly high in worldwide brewery ranks (e.g. in 2013 Ratebeer's 3rd best brewery of all time) one expects special quality from the beer. Having tasted All Day IPA, Pale Ale and Centennial IPA before it was time to step out of the comfort zone and try something different.

What about the beer?
Colour is amber red with just noticable beige head. Aroma has a gentle scent of sweet smooth bourbon whiskey. Taste starts with molasses-driven sweetness of caramel malts. A layer of American bourbon taste with oak, vanilla and toffee - reminds me of Maker's Mark - spreads quickly into mouth. Palate and aftertaste add mild hops to the picture and in the finish there's a nice warming feeling of alcohol.

It seems that the oak-aging has rounded the sweet edge of the molasses and added the bourbon-like twist to the experience. The result is a smooth and balanced brew with complexity and unpredictability. Old ale is not an everyday beer style, and surely Curmudgeon is not - because of its rare excellence - a beer for every day.

Ölbeat

Since the beer made me feel good from the first sip, I put the feeling in front and settle for this classic:

The Doobie Brothers: Long Train Runnin' (YouTube)

From the 1973 album The Captain and Me, the song was written by the band's singer-guitarist Tom Johnston. Known for it's catchy guitar-bass line it was played by the band for three years before being recorded. The song's music was easily put together but the building the lyrics took some years: before the recording the band named it e.g. 'Osborne' and 'Parliament' and Johnston sang the lyrics that came into his head. Even the final lyrics were written quickly in a bathroom, and according to Johnston have no deeper meaning. But do you really need something deeper than: "Without love, where would you be right now?" With Curmudgeon Old Ale, I didn't.