Pin-up Porter, SOB (Southern Oregon Brewing)

Holy delicious chocolate porter. Any porter that pours with a thick black body and dark tan head should get you thinking. This one does it for me. That first wiff and taste was a doozy. Awesome dark legging, black abyss of a body, great mouth feel, and it keeps delivering till the end of the glass. I haven't liked a porter this much since Georgetown's 9lb porter. If you love porters, grab it when you see it on the shelf. Very much worth it.

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Rogue: Double dead guy, 2008

This beer has been keeping around for a while and now seemed just a good time as ever. Poured a little cloudy but the head was still clean. I do enjoy the regular dead guy and this one tastes close but a bit more imperial. I don't think age has treated this beer well as its lacking some flavor that I was looking for. No guaranty that it was stored correctly either so that might have something to do with it. I'll see if I can grab some this weekend from rogue when I'm there. To be continued.

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laurelwood hop monkey ipa

This ale poured well and had a very bubbly thick white head. It smelled good, bittered well, but lacked a solid flavor. After you swallowed it was gone. Not bad, but not good.

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Ninkasi, Oatis Oatmeal Stout

Delicious. Tan head, thick pour, and a delicious chocolate body that just encompasses the palette. Best sipped with some air, this beer has more of a lingering flavor than an overpowering shock value. Well done.

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Avery - Devil trilogy

oakshire: espresso stout

Delicious. And it passes the stout hole test, the flashlight test, and the headlight test. Dark as dark can be with a great body, dark head, and a great balance of espresso and stout. Definitly recommend this as a good well balanced coffee stout.

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Redhook - Eisbock 28

mactarnahan's winter humbug'r porter

Poured nicely with a bubbly dark tan head that dissipated quickly. The body was light and you could actually see through it. It was lacking in that husky porter flavor although the first sip made me feel there was more to it. Unfortunately that something more never came. As far as beer goes, its not terrible. But as far as porters go, not great.

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Dicks Best Bitters: Dicks Brewery

Bitters and esb's are simply great. This bitter pours nicely with a great viscosity and clean white head. The color is a nice deep amber and the bitterness doesn't disappoint. I'd say its well balanced and fits its body well making me wish I had a few more bottles. I recommend you try it.

Red Hook - rope swing summer pilsner

Sweeter than I expected, but suprisingly thirst quenching. Med to light body, no distict smell, good head that disapated quick. Pretty good outsidey bbqy type beer.

Boundary bay esb vs. Brew Munkey esb

Boundary Bay

Never had a cask beer until today. Rode 12 miles in to get it and I'd say it's worth it. Boundary Bay started serving casks every day and it certaintly worked to my advantage today.

Cask Porter
Holy great creamy head! I guess it's a typical side effect of casking and pumping but I was not expecting this. This porter is a bit sweet and not to my liking but my first cask I'm definetly in favor of it.

Cask Oatmeal Stout
Surprisingly less sweet than the porter. ??? Always the beer I go for and it just happenened to not be on tap today. AFter I finished my Porter, it was casked! Happy day. The head on this one wasn't nearly as creamy but had a much better mouthfeel and oatmealy goodness. I don't think I can compare it to the carbonated Oatmeal Stout as I didn't have them side by side, but this one just has a smoothness to it that I like.

Fullers ESB

Not good. Sudsy. The other flavors overpower the hops. Not super cold. Had kind of an alcoholy smell mixed with hops. White head that reminded me of dish soap. It's not very often that a beer wants me to make faces. It has a roasty malty flavor but just wasn't balanced with what I'm used to. Had a pitcher of it and just couldn't get into it. Sorry no pic, it was dark.

Rock Bottom Brewery

I've never been to Bellevue before so I had to come out to see this brewery. They made their presence at April Brews Day and I wasn't impressed overall but I wasn't discouraged.

Till now.

Liquid Pilsner
Nothing there. It's a pils. Very light flavor and body. Not sweet, which I like, but just nothing to interest me. I'd rather drink pbr.

Humpback Pale Ale
Much better than the Pils. Little sweeter, still light body. Lacks substance. hops were decently done, but again, no body, nothing there to keep in my mouth. If you like hops though, the body does not get in the way of you enjoying at least that part.

Old School Session Ale
Nothing there. It's like a Red but less.

Lumberjack Red Ale
Munich, that's what I taste. I like munich. Very sweet overall, you get a... well... roasty... meh.

Porter
Wow, more nothing. You only get the porter flavor after you swallow. Clearly this is a brewery for top executives that drink Coors and need to mix it up.

Hearth Fire, Bellingham

They had a few beers on tap here so I made an event out of it. Left to Right:

Levenworth - Whistling Pig Hef
It's a hef.

Boundary Bay - Dry hopped Amber
Actually pretty good! It had a mellower sweet/peaty body that I thought was prominent with their regular amber. The dry hoppiness wasn't supper appearant but just enough that an informed beer drinker would be taken aback with a, "whats this???" Recommended if you get a chance, is Boundary making improvements?

Scuttlebutt - Pale Ale
Been a while since I've seen a scuttlebutt beverage on tap so I grabbed this one up. It had an off white thickish head that was on par with a pale or ipa. The body is light to light brown color. Very clear with a very slight haze. The hops were a smidge spicy cleary not overdone. I wouldn't say this is an outstanding pale but it's good enough to drink more than a few of and not get tired of. It had a great finish that clung just enough that you could enjoy it even after you set it down. Very good and I'll get it again for sure.

Samual Smith's: Old Brewery Pale Ale

Aroma
Smokey, malty, peaty, with a decent alcohol twang
Head
White. Yup, it's white.
Body
Medium, not super
Taste
Bourbon, Alcohol. Needs more body to cary the rest of it

Not terrible overall. have it again? Meh. Not the best but alright. I'd recommmend you try it just to do so. But to be labeled a Pale kinda threw me off, this is far enough from the style that I'm used to that i just can't believe it. Might be fun to try a few of their beers together so I can see to what style the brewery taylors to.

April Brews Day: 2010

Edit to come:

Lazy Boy - Chili Porter
Chili me no likey. Would liek to try it withough.

Rock Bottom - IPA
Not terrible. Very flowery and dry hopped. Very cloudy body.

Snipes - Blonde
Decent? Very light.

Georgetown - 9lb Porter
Delicious

Dicks - Danger Ale
Talked to the co-owner. Started life as a cream stout. Not what I expected to hear. It's a pale with black malt, I like.

Oskar Blues - Old Chub Scotch
Consistantly Good

Ninkasi - Spring Reign
Pale, good body, little too hopped but a good ale. Go Ninkasi!

Snipes - IPA
Blah, Yuck, Not a good IPA. Ever suck on a hop? Not good.

Maritime - Imperial IPA
Imperial. IPA. I like. Thick body, good bitter. Try it.

Fish Tale - Organic IPA
Eh. Alright. Too commercial?

North Fork - Son of Frog
Not my favorite. Lots of people like it but it's just not my thing. Not very thick.

Northern Light - Solar
Dunno. Hands are sticky. Ran a 5k in the morning, it's the end of the night. Very IPA. Not sure if I could drink more than one but it's decent. I'll have to try it again.

Moretti - La Rossa

Amber ale from Italy

Brew Dog - Storm

WA cask beer festival

WA cask beer festival, Seattle Center

Rogue: Dirtoir Black Lager

Holy cow this stuff pours nicely! The head is a super dark foam that had a dense top. The pour is viscous and uneventful as it filled my glass. No bubbles or gurgles like I just poured some 5w30 out of it's container. Very impressive for a lager, even impressive if it was a porter! The smell is great and reminds me of every great porter I've had in the past, even mine. The body is just as good! Thick on the tongue and coats my mouth with a thick burnt slighty chocolately deliciousness. Great bitterness too, kinda filled my senses and and stayed there reminding me that there was more in the glass to indulge in. No way this is a porter.

*runs to check label...*

GYO, label says Grow Your Own. They grew the hops and barley? Huh. Who does that? Doesn't seem that they grew ALL the grain but at least one or two of them. They did however grow the hops. What makes this a lager? Hmm. If you EVER see this on the shelf, get it.

Silver City Brewery

Panther Porte
-Good, not great but good. It has a little coffee flavor to it, not overly chalky if at all, needs more burny, but it's decent. The only one I think I'd recommend besided teh weizenbock.

Ridgetop Red
-"Highly Drinkable", yup. Also can be confused with , "No Body". A red, sure, But to toss teh word Amber in there implies a certain body that isn't present. It has a clean finish making you forget what it tasted like.

Indianola Pale Ale
-Very claer for an IPA, good hops, decent body. It doesn't linger too long but it's pleasant.

Fat Scotch Ale
--Mmm, peaty. It has a good body, lingering flavor, but I can see through it. Maybe it's their conditioning tank. Very sweet but it's changed a lot through the years.

Beautimus Weizenbock
-This sh*t is banana's, b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Bavarian gets me every time. This beer is an odd favorite of mine and I'm not too familiar with them. Unlike any other beer you will typically have and that's why I like this style.

Shannon's Irish Stout (nitro)
-Kinda dissappointed in this one. It does not pass the stout hole test. Not sweet, not full bodied. I really like nitro stouts, I really do. but this was fail. My taste buds are now in longing of a good one.

ESB
-Fruit juice soda? EXTRA SPECIAL BITTER PEOPLE! Clean finish (not appropriate), weak body, and after drinking anything else before it, not memorable in the least.

Pliny the elder clone

Pliny the elder clone, Austin homebrew supply version.

Oskar Blues - Gordon ale

Oskar Blues - Gordon ale

Oh this is good!

It's like an imperial IPA and little bit of an amber ale blended together. No, maybe think of a full bodied IPA with some malty roasty goodness. Either way... I like it. It complimented stuffed steak pinwheels really well.

Buffalo Bills, Blueberry Stout

Stouts. They should be thick, tasty, malty, roasty. Especially if they claim to be an oatmeal stout. This beer is labeled as a Blueberry Oatmeal Stout. Hmm. The blueberry is fairly weak flavor which is fine by me. I don't feel fruit beers should be overly fruity and this beer isn't overwhelming in it's blueberry-ness. The body is about a medium and isn't quite as thick as I was expecting. The head poured a nice tan and has a nice dark reddish hue to it. It wasn't as malty as I wanted. Roastyness just wasn't there either. And den.......

Stout hole test. Fail.

I know, but I already was leading up to that. Overall though, not a terrible beer. Buffalo Bill does a Pumpkin Ale which I get every chance I can. I figured that the Blueberry Stout should be similar. Which it is cause the flavor blend of the fruit was done well and is tasteful. But to claim that it is an Oatmeal Stout? Nah. It's not. Try a bottle for yourself, but don't get the 6 pack.

Brew Munkey - Circus Freak Amber

Brew Munkey - Circus Freak Amber

After one week in the bottle… I couldn’t help myself…
Ha, HA! I have beer again! After a too long hiatus, my brew rig is back up and running at full steam. It’s affectionally called (say this in a booming monster truck announcer kind of voice) Not just Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! But now every day that ends in “Y!”

BREWMAGEDDON!!!

Sorry, got excited… So. It turns out I didn’t calculate the efficiency of my new brew rig correctly, this version of Amber turned out much, much stronger than I expected. Turns out I’m ok with that “problem.”
I also have our Scottish ale, Brewkakii, bottled and I have a clone of Pliny the elder fermenting. Brew Munkey will be back with a vengeance this year! Prepare yourself now for the coming of Brewmageddon!

Look what I just found!

Muwahahahaha! I haz Pliny!

I'm absolutly in love with the smell of this beer. Seriously, I'd marry it. Don't tell my girlfriend...

Sierra Nevada - Glissade

Sierra Nevada - Glissade

This one didn't do it for me. A little too sweet with an alcoholy taste? Not sure what I'm tasting. Drinkable for sure, but I prefer some of their other brews. Mmmmm Sierra Nevada Celebration ale... And shouldn't bigfoot ale be out about now?!

Dunno what else to say, try it for yourself and see what you think?!

Oskar Blues: Gordon. Ale

Mmmm. Oskar Blues can do no wrong. Thick, tasty, hoppy, and a great ale. I'd almost say it's an imperial ale as it's 8.7% and pretty thick. It's up with double bastard or dead guy in body and mouthfeel. Good beer for $3 a can, I'd recommend it for anyone who wants a good thick ale with good flavor and a decent bite.

Oskar blues - Ten FIDY

Oskar blues - Imperial Stout, aka Ten FIDY
http://www.oskarblues.com/the-brews/ten-fidy

OMfreakingG this is some good shhtufff! Seriously, I've found beer "crack" on tap.

It's thick like an oatmeal stout, hoppy like an IPA, roasty like a porter and all with the take no prisoners kind of assault on your taste buds you expect from a kick a$$ imperial. I will be getting more of this.