Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Ten Fidy-Oskar Blues-This is a viscous, smooth and mildly oily Russian imperial stout and a really, really good one. Nearly black and opaque that pours with a small dark tan one-fingered head. Lots of black and chocolate malts with flaked oats (I cheated and looked at their web site) with very modest bitterness despite an IBU of a monstrous 95. The ABV is 9.5% and it tastes like a shot of whiskey in a dark chocolate malted, reminding me very much of the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Even more amazingly, this marvelous brew comes in a 4 pack of cans. It reminds me an awful lot of the BBCS, one of my favorite all-time beers for the last 10+ years. Serve this in a pint glass at cellar temps and enjoy your sipping for an hour or so. Fabulous by itself, with some ordinary chocolate desserts like cookies or pound cake, or with something even more decadent like a chocolate torte or flourless death-by-chocolate type cake. I think and CB&B each got one of these and anxiously await their thoughts. Hope rmd has savored a couple of these, too.

[devildeac]

Chimay Premiere-2008 edition-I think may have brought this to the house for dessert night at our house in February. This has matured nicely over the last several months. It is a dubble/double/dubbel, meaning it is a Belgian brown ale with tastes of raisins, dates and dried figs. There is a bit of brown sugar and caramel, too. Very smooth with only a small head and less fizz than I thought it would/should have. I'd guess the IBU at about 30-40 and the ABV is 7%. Best part about this was sharing a 750 ml bottle with son of devildeac with leftover bread pudding and pumpkin pie from dinner last PM. What a couple of great combos: a fine Belgian ale with your son and with a couple yummy desserts, too.

[devildeac]

2 Below-I got four outta his 12 brews. I'm happy with that settlement, rmd. Kinda tough to characterize this winter ale. It's a golden color with a modest head and probably reminds me most of their Hoptober. The pale/crystal/caramel malts blend nicely with the floral and grassy hops with a slight hint of pepper. My guess is an IBU of 30-40 and the ABV is 6.6%, IIRC, so it makes a fine brew to have with mildly spicy dishes, medium body cheeses and crackers and even some steaks or pork tenderloin. Plus, you still have room for a dessert brew. This will make a fine addition to a 6er at the final Brunchgate in the AM, too. Are you reading CB&B and ;) ?

[devildeac]

Morehead City Wheat Ale-a really fine brewing from the coast with a slightly cloudy and fizzy light-yellow pour. CB&B brewed this one with orange zest, coriander and grains of paradise. This was a bit tart/sour (a good feature), had minimal bitterness and all the characteristics of a summer wheat ale. I'd guess the IBU to be 20 and the ABV about 5%. This was an excellent start to the festivities today.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Ten Fidy-Oskar Blues-This is a viscous, smooth and mildly oily Russian imperial stout and a really, really good one. Nearly black and opaque that pours with a small dark tan one-fingered head. I think and CB&B each got one of these and anxiously await their thoughts.

Pretty much summed it up for me, I poured mine last weekend. I was impressed with everything about it, and coming out of the can it feels like you should be putting it in your car it's so heavy. Excellent choice and trader.

[bluebeer]

ok, so who is making a run to WS and then sending a bottle up to me in boston ;)
http://beernews.org/2009/11/olde-rabbit ... announced/

[devildeac]

ok, so who is making a run to WS and then sending a bottle up to me in boston ;)
http://beernews.org/2009/11/olde-rabbit ... announced/

That sounds interesting and intriguing. The beer, not the trip to Bah-ston .

Wonder how I can plot a trip to W-S that Saturday...

[bluebeer]

Founders Backwoods Bastard. Bourbon barrel aged version of Dirty Bastard...Pours a very dense brown red. There are pretty noticeable hints of vanilla and caramel malts but this beer is really about one thing...bourbon. I've had a few different beers aged in whiskey barrels but none that picked up so much taste in the process. It literally tastes like drinking a slightly toned down bottle of bourbon. Bourbon up front..bourbon in the middle..bourbon in the finish...I haven't had any Dirty Bastard in some time but I'm not picking up much of the original in the barrel aged version. Very interesting beer and worth trying. 10% ABV...

[bluebeer]

ok, so who is making a run to WS and then sending a bottle up to me in boston ;)
http://beernews.org/2009/11/olde-rabbit ... announced/

That sounds interesting and intriguing. The beer, not the trip to Bah-ston .

Wonder how I can plot a trip to W-S that Saturday...

Hey..Trip to Boston not intriguing? I have a whole stash put aside up here if ever any of you make it up to Bahston..

[OZZIE4DUKE]

ok, so who is making a run to WS and then sending a bottle up to me in boston ;)
http://beernews.org/2009/11/olde-rabbit ... announced/

That sounds interesting and intriguing. The beer, not the trip to Bah-ston .

Wonder how I can plot a trip to W-S that Saturday...

Hey..Trip to Boston not intriguing? I have a whole stash put aside up here if ever any of you make it up to Bahston..

DD, WS is only 2 hours to the west. And you are going to NYC in December. Maybe BB could meet your there for an exchange!

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. Just wanted to get all the initials in there...

[devildeac]

Shameful.

[devildeac]

OK, a couple real posts now.

Morehead City IPA-another homebrew trader (and taster) and a fine example of an IPA. Some piney and cannabis notes but also some grapefruit on the palate, too. Good malt balance with an estimated IBU of 50-60 so it's not harmful to tastebuds. I'd guess the ABV to be 6-7% so it made a nice session taster with all the meat and sides on Saturday. Next up, CB&B's oatmeal stout.

[devildeac]

CB&B's Oatmeal Stout-As I said to Chris upon tasting this creation, "This is as good as many of the commercially brewed OS that I have enjoyed." Dark, dark brown with a bit of coffee-like roastiness/bitterness and some chocolate tastes, too. The oatmeal makes it smooth and silky and takes the bite our of the bitterness with an IBU of 40-50 I'd guess. The ABV is probably about 5% and it was a nice pair with some really good brownies for Brunchgate dessert late that AM. I've got 2 traders that I'll review later this month and/or next month ;) .

[devildeac]

Sam Adams just released 10K bottles of their every-other-year Utopia. $150 per bottle. 27% ABV. If anyone is having difficulty figuring out what to get me for Christmas this year...

Just sayin'...

[Lavabe]

Having the last of my 2008 Schlafly Pumpkin Ales.

Like WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Almost bourbony, but delicious pumpkin tones.

YMM, BEER:

[devildeac]

Full Sail Imperial Porter-Cellared for the last 8 months since I smuggled back from Oregon in March. Deep, dark brown but not quite opaque with wonderful aromas and tastes of medium roast coffee, rich milk chocolate and dark caramel. Modest tan head and very smooth with a very small bite at the end. About 4 of us shared this at Brunchgate and I'd be curious to read what some of the other beer knurds tasted. I'd guess the IBU to be about 30-40 and the ABV is 7.5%. I had a couple small pieces of the chocolate/toffee stuff that Cathy brought plus a brownie and the tastes blended well. I'm not sure this is available anywhere outside Oregon as it is part of their Brewmaster's Series but if you find yourself in a specialty beer/wire shop in the Pacific NW anytime, pick up one of the Full Sail bombers, You'll like any of them immensely, I believe. I'll have the Old Boardhead barley wine later this month or next. Always a treat. Oh, and I have not forgotten the comparison with Chris' home-brewed imperial porter. His is quite good also. And I'm talking about a home brew very comparable to one the folks at Full Sail have worked on for years. I love Brunchgates.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Full Sail Imperial Porter-Cellared for the last 8 months since I smuggled back from Oregon in March. Deep, dark brown but not quite opaque with wonderful aromas and tastes of medium roast coffee, rich milk chocolate and dark caramel. Modest tan head and very smooth with a very small bite at the end. About 4 of us shared this at Brunchgate and I'd be curious to read what some of the other beer knurds tasted. I'd guess the IBU to be about 30-40 and the ABV is 7.5%. I had a couple small pieces of the chocolate/toffee stuff that Cathy brought plus a brownie and the tastes blended well. I'm not sure this is available anywhere outside Oregon as it is part of their Brewmaster's Series but if you find yourself in a specialty beer/wire shop in the Pacific NW anytime, pick up one of the Full Sail bombers, You'll like any of them immensely, I believe. I'll have the Old Boardhead barley wine later this month or next. Always a treat. Oh, and I have not forgotten the comparison with Chris' home-brewed imperial porter. His is quite good also. And I'm talking about a home brew very comparable to one the folks at Full Sail have worked on for years. I love Brunchgates.

I'm drinking one of my porters now...and while I like mine, I loved the Full Sail. That was a great addition to a brunchgate, lots of flavors. I'm glad you take better notes than I do, but I do remember detecting some fruitiness on top of the roasted malts.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Over the last couple months , DD and I (with the help of some willing guest volunteers) have traded six packs at the tailgates. We got better at the tasting format as the games went on, but I never was as studious as DD has proven to be. I would at least try to reserve my known better tradings for reviews, and since the season is over, I'm down to my last 4. (Ok...my last 5, but I'm not reviewing Iron City contribution in Ymm, Beer. I can promise.)
What I can start with though, is a sweet trader from DD. Mendocino's Imperial IPA (Seasonal). At first tasting, it's the classic IIPA...tons of hops, nice maltiness, heavy body and more amber than pale in color. Heavy body? How about lusciously thick. And once given time to enjoy the aroma you can understand there's a lot of complexity to the malts. Very sweet caramel undertone, the hops strongly counter with plenty of bitterness, 80-90 is my guess. The bite sticks with you for a while, not surprising given the bitterness and the ABV, respectfully checking in at 7.5%. High recommendation, get it if you see it. Thanks DD!

[devildeac]

Over the last couple months , DD and I (with the help of some willing guest volunteers) have traded six packs at the tailgates. We got better at the tasting format as the games went on, but I never was as studious as DD has proven to be. I would at least try to reserve my known better tradings for reviews, and since the season is over, I'm down to my last 4. (Ok...my last 5, but I'm not reviewing Iron City contribution in Ymm, Beer. I can promise.)
What I can start with though, is a sweet trader from DD. Mendocino's Imperial IPA (Seasonal). At first tasting, it's the classic IIPA...tons of hops, nice maltiness, heavy body and more amber than pale in color. Heavy body? How about lusciously thick. And once given time to enjoy the aroma you can understand there's a lot of complexity to the malts. Very sweet caramel undertone, the hops strongly counter with plenty of bitterness, 80-90 is my guess. The bite sticks with you for a while, not surprising given the bitterness and the ABV, respectfully checking in at 7.5%. High recommendation, get it if you see it. Thanks DD!

Heck, there's my review of the Mendocino seasonal IIPA, too. I can't describe it any better than that. Glad you liked it. How about that Saranac IIPA? ;)

[CameronBornAndBred]

How about that Saranac IIPA? ;)

Very tasty as well, I think I've reviewed it before, but if not, I'll revisit and post!