Browar Witnica: Black Boss Porter

First influence was maple porter goodness. Poured thick, black with a hint of brown, light brown head, medium/thick body, not a classic porter but good. Sweet with a lighter body than you would expect. It's drinkalotability was decent and I'd gladly drink another. The classic chalky chocolately porter flavors were subdued and in its place was a mild complex maple flavor. Very reminicent of Samual Adams Tripple Bock though not as thick or strong in its flavors. It could have been labeled a stout though its black color lent easily towards its porter label. Brewed in Poland, its a good beer and cheap enough that you should try it.

http://www.browar-witnica.pl/pages/en/products.php

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-rasputin.htm

Old Rasputin, always a good choice. This beer has never disappointed me.

Rich, thick, bitter chocolaty roasted goodness. Just about the perfect imperial stout.

Not much else to say, If you haven’t had this one yet there’s probably something wrong with you.

Double Dead Guy Ale

Rouge - Double Dead Guy Ale

HA! I found a bottle! A friend of mine shared a bottle with me over labor day weekend - Its awesome!

Brewmunkey 1 and I will probably be doing a comparison of this to normal dead guy ale. Look for the full review on it then.

The Dissident

Deschutes - The Dissident

Curiosity got the better of me... again... maybe its the waxed top... Anyway, I tried the new offering from Deschutes this weekend.

Its brewed with wild yeast, kinda weird, is this a lambic?! Pours normal, looks like an amber or a brown ale but the smell is wayyyyyy different. It smells almost like sour apple candy... Ok, well only one way to go from here, first sip... yep its sour, but not like I was expecting, phew. It tastes more like a flemish sour ale than a pure lambic.

Side note - this beer does not go well with mexican food.

Got back to the beer after dinner, ok solid beer, a little heavier than the flemish, not quite as lemonady refreshing as the flemish and a little more tart. For me I'd like to drink this as an after dinner pre-desert beer.

I liked it, but not enough to add to my cellar.

Big Bear Black Stout

Bear Republic - Big Bear Black Stout

Finally had to try it... More R&D?!

Pours nice and thick. Short dense head, smells like carmelized coffee. Smooth texture, medium body, sweetish finish. I like how the roasted taste and smell is balanced by a sweet carmelized surgar and molassas taste.

Good stout, I'd put this one up there with the Pike and Elysian stouts.

Great Divide - Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Another imperial stout... We'll call it R&D before I brew my next one.

I've had this one before, first time I tried it was at the Seattle international beer festival. Great stout, I like the oaked version even more than the normal one.

It smells like vanilla molassas and has a nice dark dense head. Pours pretty thick, but supprisingly doesn't cling to the glass like some other imperial stouts. The first sip is a velvet carpet ride of flavors, initialy there is a sweet syrup taste and feel which blends into an oaked roasty coffe flavor and finishes with a smooth sweet kiss of alcohol. Mmmmm time to just kick back and enjoy the moment.

Elysian: Night Owl Pumpkin Ale

PUMPKIN ALE IS HERE!

Elysian is one of my favorite breweries. This beer is light orangy in color, light body, not hops to speak of, but plenty of spice! This is a great pumpkin beer and a good ale. It slacks a little on the pumpkin taste but it more than makes it up with flavor. The alcohol presence is mute and it's not overly done like some beers. An excellent balance between pumpkin, spice, and beer have been achieved here.

Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Tasty stout! Smells like beer mixed with that hot chocolate that has the marshmellows in it with a little bit of coffee thrown in for good measure. One bottle was plenty, the stuff is pretty thick. Alcolol hotness picks up mid glass but goes well with the bittersweetness of the brew. I've got a few more of these in my stash, go get yourself one!

Samual Smith: Oatmeal Stout

Dark color, medium body. A little sweet but acceptable for a stout. It has an imperial stout aroma to it but the clingy feeling isn't there. I would expect a thicker mouth feel from this brew though I did drink it at a warmer temperature which may have played a part in its weak carbonation level and subsequent bite. The malt taste is present but not overpowering though the lack of an alcohol presence sort of took the alure and luster from this beer . Overall this is a decent stout but it lacked certain qualities that make it a great stout.

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

I was in the mood for a big stout and didn't want to tap into my reserves. I was pretty disappointed when I got to the grocery store. My choices were this or stone's bitter chocolate oatmeal stout. Honestly I picked this one because it was on sale for $2.49, but my official story is going to be that I hadn't had it in quite a while.

For an imperial stout it pours too thin. And as you can see it had a big head, strike two... The smell is faint, chocholate raisin. First sip, way too carbonated and lacking body. The carbonation dominates my first sip. Second taste, there's something weird, tastes kinda like day old coffe, dry finish. Not picking up the alcohol in the taste or body either. At 7% with this much carbonation and the funk I can't put my finger on I guess it would be hard to pick out. Nothing changed much as it warmed, I remeber Samuel Smith's beer being better...

Rogue: Sea Otter Amber Ale

Medium color, medium body. Hopping is light but spicy. The head was slight off white but reasonably clear. Not as chocolately as our brew but a good solid beer. It was smooth and very easy to drink. I think the hop spice overpowered some of the usual tastes but it wasn't overbearing. I guess I'm just running out of stuff to say. It was a good beer and I'd have another!

Coors light olympics - America vs Canada

So, during a rousing card game we like to play while camping called "Beer!" my buddy and I ran out of bud light. Yes I said bud light. So the other people playing gave us some of their silver bullets... turns out the one on the metric left is the Canadian version and the one on the right is the standard American version.

Believe it or not they did taste different! On to the scoring rounds!

Taste - Medal goes to the Canadians, it tasted just a littly more beery and less like water than the American version. I guess I would describe it as a sweet bread water taste.

Alcohol content - America for the win, 4.2% vs 4.0%. However I think there is a different variant availible in Vegas that is under 4%.

Can coolness factor, or "Bling" - Canadian by a long shot, the American beer didn't even score a medal in this round. The mountains in the top picture and the M looking thing in the bottom picture turn blue when the can is cold, hours of entertainment there! We could not get any part of the American can to change color without resorting to sharpies or fire...

Drinkalotability - American can, it has a vent cast into the widemount opening. The canadian can did not.

At the end of the competition they're both still Coors light, however, given only a choice between these two I would prefer the Canadian Coors light