Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Sam Adams Stony Brook Red--Sam Adams has come out with 3 barrel aged beers in corked 750 ml bottles. I grabbed 2 of them on friday--the Stony Brook Red (wild ale) and a Tripel. Funky long necked bottles. The Stony Brook pours a red amber with a slight head. Taste is really dominated by lots of both sweet and tart cherries. There is a bit of funkiness and I can pick up some of the oak from the aging but these are fairly muted compared to the fruit. Finish is fairly sour and dry. The beer is a bit thinner than I expected it would be, especially at 9% but this also made it very easy to drink. I could have easily guzzled the whole thing but left half for tonight. Very well done by Sam Adams..

Have them send some down to Total Wine next week. ;) (or Whole Foods)
Seriously, I have enjoyed their Imperial Series (pilsner, double bock, witbier and stout) and would certainly try both of the above. Assuming, of course, that they are not $100+/bottle as I heard their Millenium and Utopia releases were .

$10 each which is not cheap but nor terrible for a 750ml...

Hops sure got expensive last year when there was a shortage. Beer prices rose accordingly. Some of the Belgians are priced less than the US micros now.

[devildeac]

For rmd: We toasted you for this one, too:

Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest-Avery-A mean, mean lager. Well, not really as the IBUs are only 24 (Hey, Ozzie: It's not bitter-clap,clap,clap/clap/clap ;) ). But the ABV is 9.73%, IIRC, so this one will kick your butt. Yellow-golden, clean, crisp and clear. Four hop varieties and 6 malts. Lots and lots of malts. The hop contribution is floral and the malts make this like a light caramel. We had plenty of 1/2 ounce samples of this bomber and it paired well with the sausage/cheese balls, apple-bacon bites and other breakfast, excuse me, Brunchgate fare. I think TNTDevil even asked for another pour or three as he is a German lager/wheat ale kinda guy . This would be good with sammiches, and lighter or even more full-bodied/spicier grilled fare. I think we had finished this by the time Jarhead arrived so we just "lubed" him with an extra bottle of the IP and the Victory 12 to be reviewed tomorrow.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
I have two of these, one each from DD & . I've had it before, it's a favorite stout, but haven't reviewed it. I might as well since I've got to stay awake for another hour and a half while I can my oysters.
The roasted malts jump instantly on your taste buds and do one of those funny looking Russian jigs. The first word that jumped to my head was "crispy", because that's how roasted it is. The brew has a great after taste too, with those malts just lingering around for a while as you enjoy the deep black color in your glass. Low head, but great retention as the light tan foam just hangs on and stays behind, a testament to the remnant sugars that give this ale some of it's balancing sweetness. Not milk-stout sweet, but a nice complement to the toasted flavor. Heavily bodied, very low bitterness, 9%ABV. As I said, I got two, so that means another to enjoy later this week.

[cl15876]

"quote="CameronBornAndBred""
Not too much more to add to that review, except that it is surprisingly sweet. I don't see the abv posted on it, and I can't find it online, but I'm guessing it's between 8% and 9%, so it's not a session beer. It has a very nice nose to it too, reminscent of a belgian ale, another tip off that the ABV is on the high end. I detect some pleasant fruit flavors, and just enough hints of spice that they are a good compliment instead of overbearing. Except for the twist off cap (doesn't bode well for cellaring, and I can't reuse it), this brew is a very pleasant surprise. I'll make a point to look for it in the future, a sixer would make a great Christmas present. Thanks much for the trader, DD!"/quote"
Glad you enjoyed it.

Honey Raspberry Ale-Spanish Peaks Brewing, Bozeman, Montana. Ahh, one of my 1st micros that I haven't enjoyed in about 15 years. A clear amber ale with noticeable honey sweetness and a pleasant amount of raspberry flavor. Minimal bitterness with a bit of breadiness. This was our starter beer for the Brunchgate and we all enjoyed several tiny (1/2 ounce) samples from our complimentary taster cups from Total Wine. I'd guess the IBU to be 20-30 and the ABV about 5%. This was a trader from . Thank you for sharing, sir.

says, "You're welcome."

You are quick and clever to have "stolen" a post from him, thereby keeping your race with colchar exciting.

to you both.

That's my GIRL!!! She is AWESOME!!! and she will occasionally divert from her regular corona favorite to give me an assist, but NOT TOO OFTEN, just for you, of course in the interest of keeping her PW count UP!!!!!! ;) Ya know, I have to respond.... ;) I see the IS back online! OMG! My 3rd place rating is in jeopardy!

[cl15876]

Wagner Porter: a very nice dark beer. Pour is almost creamy. No bitterness whatsoever! Light carbonation. You might say it has good drinkability! I was tempted to put some ice cream in it!

Glad I was given two, just in case I liked it, 'cause I do!

Oh! DD and I are reviewing the same beer! But I disagree on the initial bitterness thing.

Just a bit. I was referring to the bitterness you might taste from the heavily/darkly roasted chocolate and black patent malts or one might describe from coffee, not the somewhat astringent bitterness one usually tastes with lots of hops.

I can't wait to tasted that chocolate beer you traded with me.... I am sure it won't compare to bud light, but review forthcoming ... to highlight the contrast which I am sure exists.... ;)

[rockymtn devil]

With a toast to rmd as we did yesterday at Brunchgate (twice?), I'll let this speak for my review:

http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/biere-de-mars

This paired pretty nicely with my 2nd course at Brunchgate which was about a half a plate of fruit salad. I'd guess the IBU to be about 20-30 and the ABV is listed at 6.2% so this allowed several (many ) more samplings as the morning progressed. The oats and wheat malts surprised me a bit and I did enjoy the citrus-like qualities of the brew.

I haven't had this in years, but was glad that they brought it back as part of their Lips of Faith series. It used to be the spring seasonal, but was replaced by Springboard, which has since been replaced by Mighty Arrow.

Reading through this thread, it sounds like you guys had a great set of beers for the GT game.

[devildeac]

With a toast to rmd as we did yesterday at Brunchgate (twice?), I'll let this speak for my review:

http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/biere-de-mars

This paired pretty nicely with my 2nd course at Brunchgate which was about a half a plate of fruit salad. I'd guess the IBU to be about 20-30 and the ABV is listed at 6.2% so this allowed several (many ) more samplings as the morning progressed. The oats and wheat malts surprised me a bit and I did enjoy the citrus-like qualities of the brew.

I haven't had this in years, but was glad that they brought it back as part of their Lips of Faith series. It used to be the spring seasonal, but was replaced by Springboard, which has since been replaced by Mighty Arrow.

Reading through this thread, it sounds like you guys had a great set of beers for the GT game.

Heh-heh. I still have two more to review, the Allagash Hugh Malone and the Victory 12. Tonight or tomorrow hopefully. Then there are the traders over the next 10 days or so.

[devildeac]

Sweetwater Motorboat-An unfiltered ESB that represents the style fairly well with dark malts, mild piney/sprucey hop presence and a medium to dark brown pour with a 1-2 finger head. I'd guess IBU about 40-50 at most and the ABV is 5.6%. Good with any thing BBQ, chilli or midly spicy grilled fare. Good with snacks and some hoops. Speaking of hoops, it's almost 6 PM and time for the to kick some 49er butt. This was a trader from CB&B. Good choice, as usual. I'm not sure I ever tasted one of these before as it is one of their seasonal catch and release brews.

[devildeac]

Sierra Nevada Porter-a trader from Brunchgate-pretty standard stuff here, and that is in the good sense. Medium to dark brown pour with a modest head. All the usual tastes with a bit of chocolate and a bit of dark caramel with a bit of roastiness. Mild bitterness. IBU probably 40 and the ABV is 5.6%. You can drink this with BBQ stuff or cook chili/stew with it. Thanks again to . Or was it CB&B? It's tough enough remembering the brews sometimes.

[devildeac]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

[rockymtn devil]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

This sounds delicious.

[cl15876]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

This sounds delicious.

OOO, it was! wait until DD or CB&B or ME reviews the Call-A-rodeo Raspberry brew! I found it and shared!

[devildeac]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

This sounds delicious.

Missed you.

Hope you read all the reviews from the last Brunchgate. We toasted you. Twice.

[devildeac]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

This sounds delicious.

OOO, it was! wait until DD or CB&B or ME reviews the Call-A-rodeo Raspberry brew! I found it and shared!

If you 2 ne'er-do-wells have a bit of PW sense in you, we'll ALL review the Great Divide Raspberry Ale in the next day or two. Then we can discuss it some more. Oughtta be good for at least 3-4 posts apiece :roll: .

[cl15876]

"quote="devildeac""Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening ."/quote"

This sounds delicious.

OOO, it was! wait until DD or CB&B or ME reviews the Call-A-rodeo Raspberry brew! I found it and shared!

If you 2 ne'er-do-wells have a bit of PW sense in you, we'll ALL review the Great Divide Raspberry Ale in the next day or two. Then we can discuss it some more. Oughtta be good for at least 3-4 posts apiece :roll: .

I concur!!!! There's one!

[bluebeer]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

I've seen this around but have never tried it..sounds delicious though. thanks for the rec..

[CathyCA]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

I've seen this around but have never tried it..sounds delicious though. thanks for the rec..

I have never seen people have as much fun tasting a beer as our CTN Beer Buddies had tasting this beer at Brunchgate. I think you'll enjoy it, Bluebear!

[bluebeer]

Allagash Hugh Malone-I'm glad CB&B resisted the temptation to consume this at home and brought it back to Brunchgate. Tough to characterize this one. Allagash pretty much brews only Belgian style ales and I'd probably say this is a hybrid between an IPA and a triple with lots of Simcoe and Warrior hops at 4 different times in the brewing process (from their web site) and 2 types of malt. It is a bit cloudy and rather fizzy, though I was real careful pouring this into our 1/2 ounce sampler cups . Others wised up pretty quickly and started handing me a 16 ounce cup for their pours . Moderate amount of candy sweetness to this but a good balance with some piney and citrus tastes, too. I'd guess the IBU to be 50-60 and the ABV was a healthy (and dangerous) 9.5%. This would be great with 'cue, sammiches or as a nightcap but I did enjoy it with the Brunchgate fare. Be worth it for bluebear to try a 750 caged and corked bottle of this some cold fall/winter evening .

I've seen this around but have never tried it..sounds delicious though. thanks for the rec..

I have never seen people have as much fun tasting a beer as our CTN Beer Buddies had tasting this beer at Brunchgate. I think you'll enjoy it, Bluebear!

Thanks..so so jealous that I can't make it down to brunchgates...maybe next fall I can plan out a Duke visit that coincides with a home game..

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Thanks..so so jealous that I can't make it down to brunchgates...maybe next fall I can plan out a Duke visit that coincides with a home game..

Great! Remind me to save you a guest pass to Brunchgate.

[devildeac]

The Brunchgate winner:

Victory 12. Not only was this uncaged and uncorked to celebrate the 40th for CB&B but was nice enough to bring it and CB&B was generous enough to share it with the crowd. I guess the best way to describe this is an imperial amber ale crossed with a triple. Note to rmd: This is NOT your Fat Tire amber ale. Lots of caramel and pale malts with a modest bite from 2 different types of hops, one of which is whole flower hops according to the Victory site. It is a light brown, slightly cloudy pour with a lotta fizz. Once again, I kept sampling out of my 1/2 ounce sampler cups and the smarter folks are holding out their 16 ounce cups :roll: ;) . I guess I am not a quick learner. The hops are floral and the malts are light caramel type sweet. There really tastes like there is Belgian candy sugar in the brew from all the residual sugars/sweetness. I'd guess the IBU to be about 40-50 and the ABV is 12% on the bottle (over 12% from their web site). This would make a wonderful dessert brew served chilled and in a goblet. A plate of fruit would blend well with this ale's notes of apple and apricot, too. I'd guess bluebear could find one of these readily but rmd might have difficulty unless visiting family in Ohio. Buy 2 and drink one now and cellar the other for a year or more.