Ymm, Beer!

[Bob Green]

My wife bought me one of those Sam Adams Variety Packs and I thoroughly enjoyed the Maple Pecan Porter.

What about the other 5-6 varieties?

I only drank the Porter. The rest I left in my brother-in-laws refrigerator.

[devildeac]

My wife bought me one of those Sam Adams Variety Packs and I thoroughly enjoyed the Maple Pecan Porter.

What about the other 5-6 varieties?

I only drank the Porter. The rest I left in my brother-in-laws refrigerator.

That's a bit of a shame as they usually assemble nice seasonal samplers, except, of course, they always include two of their Boston Lagers.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

My wife bought me one of those Sam Adams Variety Packs and I thoroughly enjoyed the Maple Pecan Porter.

What about the other 5-6 varieties?

I only drank the Porter. The rest I left in my brother-in-laws refrigerator.

That's a bit of a shame as they usually assemble nice seasonal samplers, except, of course, they always include two of their Boston Lagers.

2 out of 12 isn't bad. 2 out of 13 ( our 3 point shooting in the first half on Saturday night) is bad.

[Lavabe]

There is a special delivery brew in devildeac's fridge.

[devildeac]

There is a special delivery brew in devildeac's fridge.

[Lavabe]

Monday Night Brewing's Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale
Dark Burgundy to brown color, with only a slight amount of hoppiness. 7.2 ABV... just the right amount. Smooth initial taste, little carbonation, but a solid Scotch Ale aftertaste with little bitterness. A little smoky flavor, with a good dose of malt. I have not had a Scotch Ale in a while, but they are among my favorite brews.

[devildeac]

Tasmanian IPA-The Saint Louis Brewery (aka Schlafly's)

Part of their special release series, this IPA poured a yellow-straw color with a modest, creamy head. Redolent of multiple citrus varieties, including pineapple, mango, papaya and a bit of grapefruit with tastes to match. Single malt (pale), single hop (Galaxy-Australian), single yeast (American Ale) beverage with very slight sweetness to balance the hop bite as evidenced by IBUs of 60 and ABV of 7.2%, pretty standard for the style. I "collected" this as a "hotel tax" from Lavabe as he stayed with us a couple nights and, in return, provided him with a Drafty Kilt for his thirst. He bought a single and think he'll buy a 6er and I promised to collect any leftovers on a future visit if he didn't enjoy his purchase.

[devildeac]

Monster Ale (2005 edition)-Brooklyn Brewery

Completely randomly and coincidentally, fuse and I have been cleaning out our beer "cellars" for the last 2-3 months and buying very few new beers and this is what I uncovered for a self-indulgent vertical tasting for the evening. The 2006 Monster will follow after the Duke game tonight. There is no typo here. This really is a 9 year old beer.

Poured a surprising (somewhat) clear, dark brown with zero head. I didn't expect one after cellaring for so long. Bottom line, this smells and tastes like a sherry. It's a barleywine style ale but the hop/bitterness edges are basically gone after so much aging. This ale is very smooth and drinkable when purchased fresh and was little different with a salad and couple slices of pizza for dinner tonight. Sweet, grainy/malty aromas and almost brown sugar syrupy sweetness up front. Finish was dry but not astringent. Barleywines are typically relatively high IBUs and I'd guess 60-70 with this but the ABV of 11% renders that barely perceptible. Allowed to warm, this makes a very sippable after dinner beverage, too. This was my last 2005 bottle and I'm dabbing a tear or two off my cheeks as I finish this post.

[Bob Green]

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing a couple of pints of beer with DevilDeac at Bottle Reflections after the travesty that was my trip to PNC Arena. Lesson #1: do not drink beer brewed with peppers as they have a horrible aftertaste. The offending brew was an Imperial Stout. I'll leave describing the details to DD.

However, the Rye PA was wonderful.

[devildeac]

Bob and I did a mini-tasting yesterday. Here are some thoughts.

He chose the Cappuccino Stout and, to keep it in the imperial stout family, I chose Mini Dingo. Bob won this round.

Mini Dingo-Evil Twin Brewing (Denmark) but really Gypsy Brewing via Westbrook Brewing in Mt Pleasant, SC.

Confused? Yep, I was until I spoke with the folks at Bottle Revolution this AM and got all that clarified.

The Mini Dingo draft poured an onyx hue with a modest head and had gorgeous scents of unsweetened chocolate, mildly over-roasted coffee and dark caramel. Tastes up front matched but the mild to moderate afterburn of the habaneros negated the pleasant initial flavors. Evil Twin probably is one of the best breweries in the world and this is praised fairly highly on beeradvocate and ratebeer but just isn't on my list of favorites and won't be for anytime in the near or distant future. I'll guess the IBUs about 60-70 and the ABV was 9.5%. I suppose you could pair this with hot/spicy Mexican fare if you are seeking a beer adventure, but I would not revisit this beverage. Available in bombers, too.

Further evidence that my palate shares ancestors with fuse's.

[devildeac]

Cappuccino Stout-Lagunitas Brewing

For this one, you gotta like the combination of coffee and stout and I am in that camp. Served on draft with an inky black color with a modest tan head, the aromas of dark chocolate and coffee are olfactory friendly as are the tastes, along with a bit of booze. I think the mild bitterness, guessing IBU of 50-60, comes more from the heavily roasted grains and not from any particular hop variety though it is a well-balance beer. I think the ABV is 9.2%. This would make a nice breakfast beverage with breakfast for a noon tailgate and would also make a fine liquid dessert, with or without a slice of chocolate pound cake, triple chocolate brownies or a flourless chocolate torte. Very good choice, Bob.

[devildeac]

Taste test-round 2

Bob's choice:

RyePA (draft)-New Belgium Brewing

I'm not sure how old this NB product is to their ever-expanding selection of fine beverages, but it was certainly a new ale to me as I looked at about 5 years of reviews and couldn't find one anywhere, so here goes. Poured a gorgeous honey-yellow with a mild frothy head. Nose of citrus, pine and caramel with a palate of the same. Target, Simcoe, Cascade, Mosaic and Galaxy hops yield the melange of scents/tastes and Pale, Rye, C-120, Roasted barley grains give us some sweetness and a bit of mustiness and funkiness, especially from the rye. This ale hides on the border between an IPA and IIPA with IBUs of 75 and ABV of 7.5%. Well balanced with spiciness and alcohol and would pair with curries or hotter oriental dishes well. Looks like it's available in 12 and 22 ounce bottles and kegs. Good choice, Bob. Nice 'stache on the label, too.

http://www.newbelgium.com/images/bee...re/ryepa_l.png

[devildeac]

My choice:

Hop Stoopid-Lagunitas Brewing

Old review from 2012 from a bomber:

Tropicana grapefruit juice with caramel flavoring. That's meant to be descriptive, too, not derogatory. This was a bomber I split over a couple nights this weekend that I received as a gift from one of the drug reps that visits my office. I'll replace it at some point for him but it's a grocery store beer (Harris Teeter) and that's not a bad thing either because it was $5 for a 102 IBU hop bomb at 8% ABV. The hops are not overpowering at this level as they are well-balanced with caramel malts and lots of them. The high gravity falls a bit short of the standard IIPA but this is a good quality product. The pour was an slightly hazy, orange-yellow with a 2 fingered foamy head. Some piney notes are present in the hop profile, too. This would be a fine ale to have with Indian or moderately hot Chinese food and would be fine with BBQ fare, too. I have not been an ardent Lagunitas fan but sampling several of their ales this fall and winter have swayed my opinion.


New review from the draft product:

A bit more tropical fruit blend with the presence of pineapple, mango and papaya perhaps all making a bid to be heard/tasted here. Some tastes of honey to smooth out the blending/balancing of this highly hopped brew with a moderately high ABV, same stats as above. Draft stuff always tastes fresher, too. A reasonable comparison with the RyePA as they are close in IBUs and even closer in ABV. I'm gonna call this one a draw as I liked both offerings and would happily purchase/taste either again. If you like a little different flavor to your standard IPA, choose the NB brew and, if you like a bit more hop bite, select the Lagunitas ale.

[devildeac]

St. Terese's Pale Ale-Highland Brewing

My final beer fee review. Poured a slightly golden-yellow with a small head. There were a bit more citrus aromas and tastes than I thought there might be considering the style and the somewhat low IBUs of 24. Good session beer, too, at 5.1%. Four malts and two hops (Cascade and Chinook) lead to an evenly balanced brew. I think this is part of their 12 pack sampler and would make a pleasant brew with sammiches and grilled fare at a fall tailgate. Made for a nice sipping brew tonight, also.

[devildeac]

Chuck's Cherry-Infused Imperial Stout-Duketaylor Brewing

This is your best one yet, sir. Smooth. Frighteningly quaffable. Drinks waaay too easy for a ~9% adult beverage. I can see how you consumed yours in 10 minutes at 3-4 AM.

Poured a near onyx with a hint of burgundy and a 1 mm head. Do not decant the last 1/2 ounce or so as it's sludge. I caught myself with a moderately aggressive pour to see what kind of head would result and fortunately poured very little sediment into the pint glass. Allowed about 15 minutes to warm a bit before consuming. Nose is dark, semi-sweet chocolate with a very small splash of coffee. No cherries in the scent but mild sour cherries in the finish. Not quite enough cherry flavor to call this a chocolate covered cherry but not over-powering either. A good balance. More fruit than your raspberry brown ale but not enough to think cough syrup. I'd agree with the IBUs about 30 which would be a bit low for a RIS. I'll trust you on the ABV of 9% so I won't have a second brew tonight. Liquid dessert or serve with truffles or a slice of Black Forest Cake. I'd put this on your seasonal menu for the winter this year and consider one batch "plain" and the second as a barrel-aged limited release.

[devildeac]

Chuck's Brewer's Cornflake Cream Ale-Chuck's Brewer's Home Brewing

If Chuck hadn't told me of the "secret" ingredient in this brew, I might not have guessed/tasted it. Poured a slightly cloudy yellow-orange with a toasted grain nose and tastes of cornflakes and light brown sugar. I'm serious here folks, believe it or not. There was not much of a head and I decanted carefully as I spotted a modest amount of sediment at the bottom of the 12 ounce bottle. This was a really pleasant session ale with an estimated IBU about 30 or less and ABV in the 5% range. I have one left for fuse to accompany the cherry RIS I reviewed earlier this week.

[Lavabe]

Eagerly awaiting a report about the FullSteam release party for LEMURIA:
http://www.fullsteam.ag/events/
No lemurs were harmed and no lasers were used in the making of this brew.

[Bob Green]

Duketaylor was kind enough to give me some samples of his homebrewed beer after Duke's tragic loss to Mercer in Raleigh so I broke out his American Amber Ale today during a late lunch. It poured dark reminding me of Newcastle Brown Ale. Most important the ale was smooth with no bitter after taste. I went all out and poured the ale into a chilled pint glass and as I drank nice rings were left around the glass. I'm told those rings are a solid indication of quality.

I'd like to have a few more of these in the future. DT's AAA complemented my Five Guys cheeseburger nicely and I'm sure it would equally complement a pizza. Cheeseburgers and pizza plus BBQ, basically my entire diet.

[devildeac]

Belgian Golden Ale from Chuck or his brewer-From some location in Richmond

I think this is the second best brew you or your brewer has created. Poured a cloudy yellow-gold with a large, fizzy head of gorgeous Belgian lace which lingered throughout the tasting. Floral bouquet tantalizes the olfactory lobe and a bit of bitter orange zest and under-ripe pear and Granny Smith apples on the palate with a hint of black pepper from your Belgian yeast along with a faint amount of Belgian candi sugar in the finish. I'd guess IBUs around 20 with an ABV of 9% as I'm feeling just a bit of a buzz at the end of my 12 ounce serving. Reminds me of Victory's Golden Monkey which I really like. I'm sad you only honored me with one of these as I'd love to cellar one for 60-90 days and give one to fuse. This was a really good home brew.

[devildeac]

Red Thunder-Victory Brewing

What a complex brew! This was a gift from DT last fall and I'm just getting around to finishing the second half of this corked and caged 750 ml bottle over the last couple nights. They took their Baltic Thunder, a Baltic porter, and aged it in red wine (pinot noir? cabernet?) barrels and created a dark brown pour, tinged with red, that had a very small head and gorgeous aromas of cocoa, blackberries and currants and, of course, a fine red wine. Tastes matched the aromas quite well with more of a wine flavor than beer. I find it very difficult to believe that they used two row German malts and whole flower German hops as their web site states as those are usually the ingredients for German/Czech pilsners and kolsch styles and not porters or stouts. I'd guess the IBUs about 30-40 with a stated ABV of 8.5%. This would be a marvelous beverage with steaks, lamb or pork chops/roasts. Highly recommended. Thanks, Chuck. Looks like we'll be making several trips up US Route 1/I-85 to partake of food and beverages at your new venture to repay you for your homebrews and mostly-not-available-in-North Carolina specialty adult concoctions.