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CameronBornAndBred wrote:A friend on FB mentioned he had a Fort Collins Oatmeal Raisin Stout, sounds way tasty. None to be found at Total Wine...anyone seen it or tried it? He had his straight from the brewery at a tasting (lucky bastard).

I'll keep an eye out. Sounds delicious.

rockymtn devil wrote:

devildeac wrote: I have never seen the Sahtea. I have 2 bottles of the Theobroma. One is for this year and the other for when I remember it in a year or two ;) . I don't think I can get this safely into a suitcase and to Vail in March, 2010. Yes, the flight is booked and the 6er to transport is nearly assembled. I think the only item missing is the Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter, if they release it this year .

Ah Vail. 7 back bowls is ridiculous.

I look forward to some east coast trades. I have some western ales stashed away that are solely for the trade. Some of the Baltic-Porter would be wonderful. I enjoyed several DR beers at GABF.

For us, ANY bowls are ridiculous . We are good intermediate skiers and can do some bumpy blues or groomed blacks but stay away from the bowls. I look for the Baltic Porter every week. I have a DR barleywine from last year and the Wee Heavy Scotch Ale from this year with a Victory Old Horizontal from last year and a Brooklyn Monster from last year. I can't remember the 5th beer at this time. It may be a Victory Storm King Imperial Stout.

I didn't buy it, but was tempted. Total Wine had French Broad's Wee-Heavy-Er, which of course has to be a stab at the brewery in the eastern part of the state. They only had bombers though, so I skipped it.

CameronBornAndBred wrote:I didn't buy it, but was tempted. Total Wine had French Broad's Wee-Heavy-Er, which of course has to be a stab at the brewery in the eastern part of the state. They only had bombers though, so I skipped it.

I've got one. You'll see it in the AM ;) .

Oak Barrel Stout-Old Dominion Brewing-A solid offering from the folks in Ashland. Smoked and peated malts with Willamette and Cascade hops with vanilla beans and aged on oak chips give this brew its nice roasty, toffee-like, chocolate taste with a very slightly bitter finish. No bourbon notes and it is a fairly standard 5.7% ABV with an estimated IBU of 40-50 at the highest. A trader from and enjoyed during a mini-session last PM.

ESB Special Ale from Ska Brewing.
I picked up a 6 of this at the homebrew shop in New Bern. It comes in cans, and is full of flavor. Tangy and well bittered, it shines a nice amber color when poured into a glass, with a full, foamy white head. It's the second canned ale I've had lately, and I am impressed. The tanginess sticks with you, a hint of orange citrus comes through. More hops active in the taste than malts, I'd love to know which hops they used. It makes for a great session beer, I'll have the rest of the 6 for drinking and trading at brunchgate.

CameronBornAndBred wrote:ESB Special Ale from Ska Brewing.
I picked up a 6 of this at the homebrew shop in New Bern. It comes in cans, and is full of flavor. Tangy and well bittered, it shines a nice amber color when poured into a glass, with a full, foamy white head. It's the second canned ale I've had lately, and I am impressed. The tanginess sticks with you, a hint of orange citrus comes through. More hops active in the taste than malts, I'd love to know which hops they used. It makes for a great session beer, I'll have the rest of the 6 for drinking and trading at brunchgate.

Their IPA and Blonde--also both in cans--are very good as well. Keep an eye out for them.

A bit of news:

Saw both Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout and Hercules IIPA in four packs yesterday for the first time. Great news for those who don't feel like taking down an entire bomber of those big beers in a single sitting.

Also, new Avery IPA Dugana was released yesterday. It's apparently a more sessionable version of the Maharaja. Will report once I try.

CB&B Scotch Ale-1st tasting-1 week? 2 weeks? A bit disappointing after last year's really fine bottling . This was rather flat and more like an amber without the peaty taste/smell of a typical scotch ale. Clean pour with a mild amount of toffee/chocolate. I'd guess about 30 on the IBU and 6% on the ABV. Fortunately, I got 2 more bottles at Brunchgate today and will report on the 30 and 60 days samplings. I did discuss this with CB&B at Brunchgate today so this is not an internet blasting of his beer and his kindness to share with me. He shared my optimism that a bit of aging may lead to a better taste/flavor in 1-2 months.

I'll type a review later, but here's a great description of how this ale is brewed:

http://www.allagash.com/four.htm

A fabulous find by . Probably my favorite brew from Brunchgate today, though the "pirate" one was pretty darn tasty, too.

It's a shame Allagash bottles most of their ales in 750 ml containers (caged and corked) because I could easily move this brewery very near the top of my list of favorites if they had their stuff available in 4 or 6 packs.

Ozzie is going to review this beer:

And Ozzie is going to review this beer:

devildeac wrote: I did discuss this with CB&B at Brunchgate today so this is not an internet blasting.

.....
I told DD that this brew is still a little green, and the bottles are hit and miss on the flatness (it's now been just over a week). I agree as far as the taste, which is interesting because this was straight from a kit. It's possible my supplier has reformulated the ingredients, otherwise it should have tasted and been the color of what it was last year. One of the reasons I enjoy the all-grain brewing more than the kits, I get to do a lot more in the control of what goes in and how it's brewed.
That being said, I had one at the game today and was pretty happy with it.

Wee-Heavy-Er Scotch Ale-French Broad Brewing, Asheville, N.C.-A bomber shared with CB&B and . I want to stress shared which will become very important as the morning progresses ;) . A pretty authentic tasting and appearing brew pouring a medium to dark brown with a bit of peaty and smokey nose and taste. Some chocolate and dark caramel notes and pretty darn smooth and sweet due to the low IBU of 24. Heck, Ozzie might have even liked this but he was pounding a budlite when we shared this ;) . ABV is 7%. I liked this better on draught when I had it in Asheville in January, but that's not surprising. I also had it with dinner that night. It was still pretty tasty this AM with a sausage biscuit, Ima's breakfast casserole, scambled eggs, bacon, grilled/roasted potatoes and pumpkin bread.

This is the "pirate" brew found in NOVA and shared with us. It's the one he's holding in the "legs" photo, only it was in a caged and corked 750 ml bottle, not the 330 ml white ceramic bottle.


Biere Du Boucanier Dark Brewery Van Steenberge Refermented in the bottle & Keg: living beer.
Belgian Dark Triple Ale 9% Alc. by Vol.The DARK is a triple in strength. It is the sweetest of the three Bieres du Boucanier, caramelized and malty. The creamy strong head is striking. A great dessert beer.

ICOBES BVBA, the company based in Evergem - Belgium, is the brand owner of Biere du Boucanier. This company launched the brand in the early 1980's, and is responsible for marketing world-wide.

Originally made for the North Italian market, Biere du Boucanier is sold world wide since 1998. Australia, Japan and many European countries have been blessed with this fabulous beer before the USA

The new BIERE DU BOUCANIER gift pack, or sampler six pack, holds 2 bottles each of three flavors of this fabulous ale. Three? Indeed, two new flavors are introduced in the USA for the first time, and are at this point only available in the sampler pack.

The theme of the brand, buccaneers in the Caribbean, is elaborated on the posters and other point of sale, available on our web site. The buccaneers were in fact the terrorists of their era (18th century), although their only motivation was money, booze and pleasure. They knew their life was extremely short, and they refused to do the dull and dangerous work for (almost) no pay on the merchant ships. Instead they created amongst themselves a kind of equalized society where the loot was shared, and the pleasures maximized. Merchant ships, before they were better armed, were an easy prey since they had a crew of about 15 people, while a buccaneer could easily be manned with 90 people. Surprise, cunning seamanship, and absolute cruelty were their trademarks.

Biere du Boucanier Golden is brewed by Br. Van Steenberge since many years for the North Italian market, which is by the way one of the fastest growing beer markets for German and Belgian beers. It is expected that Italy will become a beer-country in the next few years. France is expected to become a beer country this year, since for the first time more beer will be consumed in France than wine. Biere du Boucanier is now sold all over the world, and the introduction of the two new flavors will build the continuing success of the brand.

Smoky Mountain Brewing-American Light-I guess this proves I'll taste just about anything (also see prior reviews of a couple Michelob Ultras from May or June). There was a very slight crispness and hints of a floral bouquet with this low carb/low calorie "polyester beer" shared by the very nice folks from Tennessee who visited yesterday with Nancy and Bud. Ozzie was kind enough to pour me a 2-3 ounces sampler before he enjoyed his portion, which he did heartily . Hopefully he'll share his thoughts with us. I'd guess the IBU were about -2 and the ABV about 3.2%. I found the Sam's Black Cherry water I stole from CB&B's cooler after the game to be more refreshing. ;) :roll:

devildeac wrote:Smoky Mountain Brewing-American Light-I guess this proves I'll taste just about anything (also see prior reviews of a couple Michelob Ultras from May or June). There was a very slight crispness and hints of a floral bouquet with this low carb/low calorie "polyester beer" shared by the very nice folks from Tennessee who visited yesterday with Nancy and Bud. Ozzie was kind enough to pour me a 2-3 ounces sampler before he enjoyed his portion, which he did heartily . Hopefully he'll share his thoughts with us. I'd guess the IBU were about -2 and the ABV about 3.2%. I found the Sam's Black Cherry water I stole from CB&B's cooler after the game to be more refreshing. ;) :roll:

Ok, here goes. It was cold and reminded me of another beer I like ... Bud Light!

OZZIE4DUKE wrote:

devildeac wrote:Smoky Mountain Brewing-American Light-I guess this proves I'll taste just about anything (also see prior reviews of a couple Michelob Ultras from May or June). There was a very slight crispness and hints of a floral bouquet with this low carb/low calorie "polyester beer" shared by the very nice folks from Tennessee who visited yesterday with Nancy and Bud. Ozzie was kind enough to pour me a 2-3 ounces sampler before he enjoyed his portion, which he did heartily . Hopefully he'll share his thoughts with us. I'd guess the IBU were about -2 and the ABV about 3.2%. I found the Sam's Black Cherry water I stole from CB&B's cooler after the game to be more refreshing. ;) :roll:

Ok, here goes. It was cold and reminded me of another beer I like ... Bud Light!

Why am I not surprised? :roll:

Smoky Mountain Brewery-Cherokee Red Ale-I bust Ozzie quite a bit but he was kind enough to pour me a 2-3 ounce taster of this before he inhaled it. I think he liked this brew, as I did. It is described as an Irish red amber on the bottle and that is an appropriate observation. Think Killians and Fat Tire. It is a slighlty reddish-brown hue and has elements of toast, nuts, light caramel and flowers. Head is modest and bitterness is mild. I'd guess IBU in the 30-40 range with an ABV of about 5%. A nice brunch beverage with the foods we enjoyed. There was another brew or two that I did not taste from this brewery which is in Gatlinburg, IIRC. Perhaps VDB can share her thoughts on the porter she consumed. ;)

devildeac wrote: I think he liked this brew, as I did.

To his credit, despite all of our ribbing, Ozzie is always brave enough to try new beers.