Ymm, Beer!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Boulder Beer Cold Hop

Ymm, Beer!! This is a "British style ale"...and a damn tasty one. Unlike a lot of brews heavy on the hops (and this one is) instead of being bitter it's more sweet. You can tell they didn't spare on the hops, but they don't overpower, they excellently accent with a nice floral tone and aroma. It has a great honey flavor, and a soft bite. Pours heavy, lots of head..but not a "spoiled" foam. While it's called Cold Hop...the malts do wonderous things here and make the beer. (I'm assuming they are the source of the honey taste.) They really base this brew well. There is a slight mustiness, low bitteness, but enough to entertain. Big bodied, I'm guessing about 7%ABV. Next time I see a 6 pack of this, it's coming home with me.

P.S....I would LOVE to have this on tap.

[devildeac]

Black Chocolate Stout-Brooklyn Brewing

An absolute classic. I first had this on draft at a beer festival at the Derm Hilton or Omni about 15 years ago I guess and have bought a 6er or two every winter since. Nearly black with a 1-2 finger tan head and a great aroma of bittersweet chocolate and perhaps a faint aroma and taste of java. Enjoyed at almost room temperature, this beer is marvelous by a fire, with a brownie or chocolate torte/pound cake or simply by itself for dessert or a night cap. It also makes a nice base for a beer float with a scoop of Breyer's vanilla ice cream . I have never seen the IBU, but, as it is a classic imperial stout, I would guess about 60-70 and the ABV this year is 10%. It really does taste like a dark chocolate malted with a generous shot of whiskey, as I believe Michael Jackson, the renowned beer reviewer once described it. This ages well, too, as I have always sequestered several bottles away for future consumption.

Post #9000.

Respectfully submitted,

devildeac

[lawgrad91]

devildeac
Pwing School Dean

Posts: 9000
Joined: April 8th, 2009, 11:10 pm
Location: Home in the state of euphoria
9000!!!!

[devildeac]

devildeac
Pwing School Dean

Posts: 9000
Joined: April 8th, 2009, 11:10 pm
Location: Home in the state of euphoria
9000!!!!

You do read this thread!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Post #9000.

Respectfully submitted,

devildeac

[devildeac]

Boulder Beer Cold Hop

Ymm, Beer!! This is a "British style ale"...and a damn tasty one. Unlike a lot of brews heavy on the hops (and this one is) instead of being bitter it's more sweet. You can tell they didn't spare on the hops, but they don't overpower, they excellently accent with a nice floral tone and aroma. It has a great honey flavor, and a soft bite. Pours heavy, lots of head..but not a "spoiled" foam. While it's called Cold Hop...the malts do wonderous things here and make the beer. (I'm assuming they are the source of the honey taste.) They really base this brew well. There is a slight mustiness, low bitteness, but enough to entertain. Big bodied, I'm guessing about 7%ABV. Next time I see a 6 pack of this, it's coming home with me.

P.S....I would LOVE to have this on tap.

Great minds...

Just finished my trader of this and CB&B's review nails it. Checked their web site and the IBU are 48 ( a bit lower than expected but not much) and the ABV is 6.8% so Chris was on the money. This would be superb with a mango or pineapple salsa/chutney and some grilled fish. If you don't want the whole 6er, I'll trade you for 3 of them ;) .

[CathyCA]

Black Chocolate Stout-Brooklyn Brewing

An absolute classic. I first had this on draft at a beer festival at the Derm Hilton or Omni about 15 years ago I guess and have bought a 6er or two every winter since. Nearly black with a 1-2 finger tan head and a great aroma of bittersweet chocolate and perhaps a faint aroma and taste of java. Enjoyed at almost room temperature, this beer is marvelous by a fire, with a brownie or chocolate torte/pound cake or simply by itself for dessert or a night cap. It also makes a nice base for a beer float with a scoop of Breyer's vanilla ice cream . I have never seen the IBU, but, as it is a classic imperial stout, I would guess about 60-70 and the ABV this year is 10%. It really does taste like a dark chocolate malted with a generous shot of whiskey, as I believe Michael Jackson, the renowned beer reviewer once described it. This ages well, too, as I have always sequestered several bottles away for future consumption.

Post #9000.

Respectfully submitted,

devildeac

Congratulations!

[devildeac]

Fullsteam-Carolina Common (Derm brewery)

(from their web site)
Our flagship beer. Northern brewer hops stand out with a woodsy, minty aroma, topped off with a caramel and toasty/biscuity maltiness. The result is a balanced beer with a clean, hoppy finish that is more flavorful than bitter. We hope to package Fullsteam in 16 ounce cans. 5.5% ABV

My thoughts:

On draft at Tyler's with a motley pre-game crew . Not your basic lager. No mint to my lips but certainly like a nicely browned biscuit with a drop or two of dark honey. Light on the hops and IBU, guessing about 20. Nice beverage with my pulled pork sammich and non-garlic fries.

[devildeac]

Fullsteam-Carolina Common (Derm brewery)

(from their web site)
Our flagship beer. Northern brewer hops stand out with a woodsy, minty aroma, topped off with a caramel and toasty/biscuity maltiness. The result is a balanced beer with a clean, hoppy finish that is more flavorful than bitter. We hope to package Fullsteam in 16 ounce cans. 5.5% ABV

My thoughts:

On draft at Tyler's with a motley pre-game crew . Not your basic lager. No mint to my lips but certainly like a nicely browned biscuit with a drop or two of dark honey. Light on the hops and IBU, guessing about 20. Nice beverage with my pulled pork sammich and non-garlic fries.

Milk Stout-Fullsteam Brewing

Well, I really did not have a full glass, just a couple sips of Ozzie's but I swear my lips are clean. Enough of a taste to type a short review and, of course, pad the post count a bit .

Deep brown color with a smallish head and served a bit too cold but they gotta keep their kegs fresh. Mild dark chocolate sweetness and a hint of coffee. Bitterness was fairly low, guessing 30-40 IBU. I'd guess the AVB about 5%. Ozzie had a Philly Burger and I'd bet that was a good combo. Would also be good with chili, ribs and brisket. Worth a full pint for probably about $4.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Milk Stout-Fullsteam Brewing

Well, I really did not have a full glass, just a couple sips of Ozzie's but I swear my lips are clean. Enough of a taste to type a short review and, of course, pad the post count a bit .

Deep brown color with a smallish head and served a bit too cold but they gotta keep their kegs fresh. Mild dark chocolate sweetness and a hint of coffee. Bitterness was fairly low, guessing 30-40 IBU. I'd guess the AVB about 5%. Ozzie had a Philly Burger and I'd bet that was a good combo. Would also be good with chili, ribs and brisket. Worth a full pint for probably about $4.

Damn good beer. Damn good burger. I recommend both!

[bluebeer]

Big beer day for me today as I get to finally try what is considered one of the world's top brews--Westveleteren 12. My brother-in-law and I are heading to a Trappist tasting..Here's the lineup..
Rochefort 6
Westmalle Tripel
Achel Extra
Orval
Westveleteren 12

Westveleteren can generally only be purchased directly from the abbey in Belgium (or on Ebay) and the 12 is their Quad. Should be a great time..I'll report in tomorrow..

Trappist tasting was a fun time with lots of great beer. The guy who ran the event took it upon himself to reveal what he described as the dirty little secrets of trappist brewers like "the monks don't actually brew the beer" and "modernization of the breweries in the monasteries has ruined the taste of the beers"...Not exactly the best way to get people excited about trappist brews.

Westveleteren 12--pre-poured for us in a nice belgium chalice..A thick dark ruby brown with almost no head. Taste is lots of dark fruit with sweet caramel malts. Less of the bready-yeast taste that I expect out of a belgian beer. Medium bodied with almost no carbonation..an almost liquor like consistency. There is a bit of booziness but one of the smoothest beers I've ever tried. Drinks more like a 5% beer not 10%. Although I really enjoyed it, it didn't really separate itself for me compared to other big belgian quads like St. Bernardus Abt 12 or the Rochefort 10. Still a fantastic beer that I was glad to try..

[devildeac]

Big beer day for me today as I get to finally try what is considered one of the world's top brews--Westveleteren 12. My brother-in-law and I are heading to a Trappist tasting..Here's the lineup..
Rochefort 6
Westmalle Tripel
Achel Extra
Orval
Westveleteren 12

Westveleteren can generally only be purchased directly from the abbey in Belgium (or on Ebay) and the 12 is their Quad. Should be a great time..I'll report in tomorrow..

Trappist tasting was a fun time with lots of great beer. The guy who ran the event took it upon himself to reveal what he described as the dirty little secrets of trappist brewers like "the monks don't actually brew the beer" and "modernization of the breweries in the monasteries has ruined the taste of the beers"...Not exactly the best way to get people excited about trappist brews.

Westveleteren 12--pre-poured for us in a nice belgium chalice..A thick dark ruby brown with almost no head. Taste is lots of dark fruit with sweet caramel malts. Less of the bready-yeast taste that I expect out of a belgian beer. Medium bodied with almost no carbonation..an almost liquor like consistency. There is a bit of booziness but one of the smoothest beers I've ever tried. Drinks more like a 5% beer not 10%. Although I really enjoyed it, it didn't really separate itself for me compared to other big belgian quads like St. Bernardus Abt 12 or the Rochefort 10. Still a fantastic beer that I was glad to try..

I was fortunate enough about 2 years ago to have a friend who was an American Airlines pilot who regularly flew to Belgium and he sought out a bottle of the 8 and the 12 for me and was successful in his quest. The memories have faded but your review brought back very fond ones of both the beers. He subsequently flew the Asian routes and retired about a year ago so no more Westvleteren for me.

Congratulations. Quite a treat to have been part of that tasting.

[Lavabe]

Will be interested in reviews of Schlafly 2010 Pumpkin Ale and Oktoberfest.

[bluebeer]

I was fortunate enough about 2 years ago to have a friend who was an American Airlines pilot who regularly flew to Belgium and he sought out a bottle of the 8 and the 12 for me and was successful in his quest. The memories have faded but your review brought back very fond ones of both the beers. He subsequently flew the Asian routes and retired about a year ago so no more Westvleteren for me.

Congratulations. Quite a treat to have been part of that tasting.

That's a very good friend! Lucky you..I'm hoping to someday try the 8 as well as it's also suppose to be fantastic..

Full Sail officially hit the shelves in MA this week. Apparently, they are going to have a fairly limited selection but I grabbed a 6 pack of Wassail and a bomber of Wreck the Halls..any recs on Full Sail beers to key an eye out for?

[devildeac]

I was fortunate enough about 2 years ago to have a friend who was an American Airlines pilot who regularly flew to Belgium and he sought out a bottle of the 8 and the 12 for me and was successful in his quest. The memories have faded but your review brought back very fond ones of both the beers. He subsequently flew the Asian routes and retired about a year ago so no more Westvleteren for me.

Congratulations. Quite a treat to have been part of that tasting.

That's a very good friend! Lucky you..I'm hoping to someday try the 8 as well as it's also suppose to be fantastic..

Full Sail officially hit the shelves in MA this week. Apparently, they are going to have a fairly limited selection but I grabbed a 6 pack of Wassail and a bomber of Wreck the Halls..any recs on Full Sail beers to key an eye out for?

All their session beers are good. Their Brewmaster series beers are all excellent. In the past, they have produced bombers of an imperial porter, a Scotch ale (Keelhauler), an imperial stout and probably my favorite, Old Boardhead, a barleywine they have brewed for prolly a decade.

[devildeac]

Oregasmic Ale-Rogue Brewing

Today's first tasting at Brunchgate:



Style: Pale Ale Food Pairing: Seafood, Hot & Spicy


Tasting Notes:

Orange-amber in color, malty aroma, spicy fruity hop flavor with solid malt background and lingering finish.


6 Ingredients:

Brewed using 100% OREGON Ingredients. Micro Barley Farm first growth Dare™ & Risk™ Malts; Willamette, Sterling, and First Growth Micro Hopyard Revolution Hops, Pacman Yeast and Free Range Coastal Water.
Specs:

15º PLATO

40 IBU

76 AA

6º Lovibond


World Class Package:

22oz Bottle

My thoughts:

A very pleasant and unique pale ale with lots of caramel, a bit of grapefruit and a floral aroma. The Plato translates to an ABV of about 6% and this made a nice accompaniment to a smoked sausage biscuit and scrambled egg platter at Brunchgate this AM.

[devildeac]

Founders Harvest Ale "wet-hopped ale".
Devildeac and I split a 4 pack this weekend, and I'm enjoying my 1st one now. 70 IBU's, 6.5% ABV. Lots of taste, thick..I'd even call it "oily"..which would make sense if it's brewed with fresh hops. Has every hop quality that you can imagine..especially the citrus bite that overloads it. Light pale yellow in color, crisp white head with great retention. Floral flavor and aromas. It was $12 for the 4 pack, which I think is high. Having tasted it, I'd feel better off paying that for a 6 pack, but if you compare it to SN's Torpedo (which it compares well to) than even that is high. I do get that they are using wet hops, so I'm sure that affects their cost as well, but I'd feel better with at least 6 beers. Still..the price is my only complaint, it's a good brew and given the right circumstances I'd buy it again.

Not much to add to this review except you can probably find this for a buck or two less for the 4 pack as we bought this at a small shop in Jacksonville, NC called Wines and Wares*. They have a very nice selection of beer and always have several that we seldom/never see at Total Wine in Raleigh. And, we pay a bit of a premium for that.



* This is not to be confused with the smith center (aka the dump on the hump) which still has the w(h)ines but no longer has the w(e)ars.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I had a nice surprise at Brunchgate and was delivered two Schlafly brews by ILJ. (Courtesy of Lavabe). Thanks very much, looking forward to tasting both! Not sure whether I'll try the Oktoberfest or Pumpkin first.

[devildeac]

Dunkel Weisse-Great Divide

This was a dark wheat ale bomber which was taster #2 at Brunchgate, Poured a cloudy, mildly foamy muddy brown with a fabulous nose of slightly over-ripe bananas. There was a bit of citrus (orange peel) aroma, also from the wheat malt combined with the German barley malt. I'd guess the IBU to be 20-30 and the ABV was 6.4%. It made for a pleasant beverage with some fresh fruit, Ozzie's scrambled eggs and a smoked sausage biscuit.

[devildeac]

Abbey-Abita Brewing

Bomber #3 for yesterday's Brunchgate. All of these were shared about 5 ways . This is a fairly typical Belgian style dubbel/double ale, or brown ale. Dark amber in color with a modest head, this smelled of slightly over-baked bread and tasted the same with fresh, dark fruits, like raisins, dates and figs. It was a bit sweet, resembling medium brown sugar. I found it a bit thin for the style but a good example. I think I had this with 1/2 a plain bagel with some veggie cream cheese. It prolly woulda been better with a cinnamon/sugar/raisin bagel with some honey walnut cream cheese. This could also find its place at the dessert table in a snifter. This was a good deal at under $5 for the bomber. Here are the stats:

ABV
8.0%
IBU
32
Color
25

Nutrition Facts
12 oz serving
Calories
230
Carbs
18g
Protein
3.3g
Total Fat
0g