Goose Island - Bourbon County Stout
OMG, beer heaven has this on tap. Go get some NOW!!!
This pours thick, like syrup. Dark brown head and an nice but pungent sweet stouty aroma. The head is fairly thin, wonder if it's been aged?! (It is, I should have read the bottle...)
Oh wow, first sip is amazing! It's sweet and thick, but smooth and there's some hoppy thing going on in the background. And the smell! It's intoxicating, and not just because it's beer... It smells sort of like beer kettle corn.
Mmmmm, second sip is just more awesomeness. This is an imperial stout. It's one of those rare brew's I'd concede to being on par with my coveted brew, the Tard Munkey. I'm going to have to stick a few in the cellar...
Alaskan - Baltic Porter
I need more of this. By far the best dark beer alaskan makes.
Redhook - Treblehook
Good, but a little fruity. I'm really glad they brought this one back though. I'll probably buy a couple to stick in the cellar for a year or two.
Stone - Vertical epic 09
OMG, this one is good. Dark sweetish portery belgian thing.
Some of the beers in this series have tasted "young" for lack of a better word. This one was good from the get go, I think it will be amazing in 2012!
By the way, I'm still looking for a bottle of '02
Pyramid - Snow cap
More winter seasonals!
Despite the new label, this one is also still excellent.
Deschutes - Jubelale
MMMMM winter seasonals!
I'm being lazy/busy right now. You'll have to go get a bottle and do your own review.
Russian River Brewing - Damnation
Excellent beer. What really stood out on this one though was the balance. No one flavor really dominated anything, but in a good way, not in a blah kind of way. Hard to describe... I'd say if you were to put every good belgian style beer you've tasted in blender you'd end up with this bottle of awesome.
Elysian - Dragonsooth Stout
Still awesome. The peanut butter Oreo's that are in the background there, not so much.
Read more here
Passes the stout hole test
Stout Hole Test, Dogfish Head - Palo Santo
Even thought this isn't a stout, I wanted to see how it would do in the Stout Hole Test. It just barely fails, not bad for a brown ale huh!
Dogfish Head - Palo Santo Marron
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/palo-santo-marron.htm
What is that (good) smell?! This beer looks like a stout when it pours, but is smells like, like oak on steroids? Don't know how to describe it.
My first sip had me dissapointed, it was "woo hoo it's a brown ale... dee dee dee, why am I not tasting that weird smell?" And it had a really dry finish. Strange, I know, I'd heard awesome things about this beer.
Third sip (second sip was blah), oh. Oh. OH! Wow. There's something awesome there. I didn't know you could bottle awesome but apparently dogfish head has figured out how.
For me the taste kept building, at first I wished they had gone with a more flavorful base beer, but as I drank more I'm glad they didn't. The dry finish seemed to fade away too, maybe I had the beer too cold?! Maybe it's the 12%... There's some kind of hickory, maple sugar, smoked oaky thing going on. I think I'm going to need another bottle to try to describe the taste.
Another amazing brew from Dogfish Head!
p.s. I'm looking for a bottle of Dogfish Head's Theobroma, anyone in Washington seen a bottle?
Dogfish Head - Burton Baton
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/burton-baton.htm
Oak aged Imperial IPA?!?!
Oh wow, I need more! First sip is meh, ok good ipa, I expect that from Dogfish Head. Then the oak hits. Kind of sneaks up on you, like "woah what was that?!" so you take another sip. I'm looking for the oak now, and it's good. This beer has a lot to it, I kinda wish it had come in a 22oz. so I could continue on my beer quest. But it's probably best it doesn't... Anyway, I like it. It's everything that is awesome about the 90 minute IPA + 42.
If you see it, buy it!
Alaskan - Smoked Porter
This one smells pretty good but, I didn't really care for the taste of it. It was a little too smokey tasting for me. Tastes too much like liquid smoke. I also thought it was a little on the thin side.
Now, in my opinion, if Alaskan was to take the Alaskan Baltic Porter and add just a hint of smokiness they'd have something wicked awesome.
Chuckanut Brewery, take 2.
Went there for happy hour, thank god I didn't pay full price... Their beer still sucks.
Bonus points if you can guess what beer that is in the picture.
Lager? - No
Pale Ale? - No
IPA? - No
Ok that's three guesses, I'll tell you what it is. It's their amber. Yes I said amber, as in amber ale.
It tastes as watery as it looks. It doesn't smell like much, the head was very thin and dissipated quickly. My buddy described it as paying a premium for draft Budweiser.
I tried - I wanted to like your beer, I really did. I really liked Snoqualmie Falls Brewery when I visited and I made a point to hit your booth at every beer event and to try as many offerings of yours as I could before I passed judgment. But I've been disappointed every time. I wish your brewery well, I think it has a lot of potential, but I'll be drinking elsewhere from now on.
Dogfish Head - Midas Touch
Interesting brew. Almost like a beer and wine mix. Pours like a beer, smells like a beer, but has a sweetish kind of white wine taste mixed in there.
First sip, the beer is thicker than I expected and a little sweeter than I thought it would be. I think the beer/wine flavors blend better as it warms a little. Smooth too. I'm liking it, but I'm not sure what it would go well with. There's a weird redbull-ish sweet/sour taste that I can't place. I'd call this beer a light dessert beer. Although it might go well with roasted lamb... guess I'm not sure what to make of it, more research is needed!
Overall an interesting and pretty tasty beer, just not one I see myself drinking too often.
Budweiser & Clamato "Chelada"
This is one of those, you know it's a bad idea but have to try it anyway senarios.Curiosity finally got the best of me, I had to try it.
The review:
Holy crap this stuff is beyond terrible. People actually like this?!
It smells like what would happen if you wore a pair of salmon as shoes for few days. And it tastes like I imagine rancid sardine juice would taste. I'd rather drink pickle brine.
A buddy's review: "Tastes like the piss of an alchoholic cod, with a little tomato." How he knows what that tastes like, I don't know. Maybe that's his secret to catching more fish than me...
Quote from a roomate I con'd into drinking it: "It's like post tramatic stress, but in my mouth. The taste won't go away, I think I'm scared for life."
My other roomate declined to comment. However he did disappear into the bathroom for quite awhile.
Margaritaville Brewing - Landshark Lager
Normally I don't buy beer that comes in a clear bottle (UV light can damage good beer), but one of my roomates brought this back for me from his recent road trip so how could I say no.
Turns out it's pretty tasty! Very refreshing too. It's got enough flavor to be interesting but light enough to be drinkable on a hot day. Only downside is to get it localy it's nearly $9/six pack.
Trader Joe's Hofbrau
Good beer, can't beat the price either. Kind of sweet, surprisingly balnaced out by a bit of an alcholol bite (7% !).
Try their Hofbrau-braut's too.
Belhaven - Wee Heavey
I was really excited to find this, I stumbled across it in Burlington. It's everything I like about their scottish ale taken up a notch. If I found it in a draught can, I'd probably buy as much of it as I could.
Malty, peaty, earthy goodness. I like the heavier body, excellent aroma - very fresh earthy beery smell. Tastes amazing, it's like an imperial scottish ale. Must find more.
Deshutes - Cinder Cone Red
I like Deshutes Brewery, their seasonal red ale is no exception. Great beer, for the full review see the bottom of the bottle after consuming the contents.
For some reason it tastes way better at a lake with a fishing pole in hand.
Deschutes - Mirror Mirror
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brews/reserve-series/mirror-mirror/default.aspx
Smells sweet and malty, large head when first poured but disapated quickly. First taste was sweet and dry. Second taste was more of the same and the beer seemed just a little thin. I'm just barely tasting the oak, I also like that the hops aren't dominating like some other barleywines.
Good beer, I think it will be a great beer after a year or so of aging.
Belhaven Scottish Stout
Had this on tap at the Copper Hog. I thought it was mislabled and I was going to end up with the Belhaven Scottish ale. I was wrong.
Awesome stout! Smooth and stouty with all the goodness of a scottish ale mixed in. I was really happy with it, need to find more.
Port Townsend - Barleywine
American Style barleywine.
Smells great! First sip is perfect, sweet bitter, thick, just right carbonation. Really liked it! But, the hop flavor starts building and gets a little overpowering and resiny. Aging should blend that nicely into the rest of the beer. Get a bottle if you find one!
Ninkasi - Believer Double Red Ale
Not bad, not good. Whole lotta meh. Malty, dry, some hops, some carbonation. Not getting the double part, it tastes like a really good Killian's. Not thirlled about it, but I'd drink it if it showed up in my fridge again.
Aventinus - Eisbock
http://www.bunitedint.com/portfolios/producers/g_schneider/aventinus_eisbock/overview.php
They freeze this beer and scoop out the ice before it gets bottled, which makes the beer stronger and intensities all the flavors.
No exception here - It's just an explosion of a belgian beer goodness. Dark pour with a head that just keeps building. It tastes spicy and sweet, like a good bock, but much more intense - one sip was almost like a whole glass, coats your tastebuds. It's not as thick as I expected - maybe that's due to the carbonation. As it warmed it got sweeter, I think it tastes like what would happen if you mixed a trappist beer with a barleywine and an imperial stout.
Belhaven Scottish Ale - Draught
This is one of my favorite Scottish ales. And it's got a widget +1 cool factor.
Great nitro pour for a can, just look at the picture! Nice malty peaty scottish alse taste with the smooth creamyness of a nitro. No gritty dirt taste like you sometimes get with the guiness draught cans. Continues to be an exceptionally smooth beer all the way through the glass, a great beer to relax with after a long day.
Sierra Nevada - Pale Ale
Usually, when I can't decide what I want, I grab a Sierra Nevada. It's just always a good choice. Crisp, clean, hoppy, malty, good body and mouthfeel, good aroma, solid head, good carbonation - It's a great all around beer.
Plus, I think they have the easiest bottles to clean and prep for homebrew use.
Rouge - Brewer's Ale
Oh, wow, this stuff is thick! And pungent - strong sweet barlywiny beery smell explodes when you pour it!
I was a little overwhelmed with my first sip - wayyyyyy sweeter than I was expecting. But that turned out to be a good thing. Sweet and almost chewy, this beer was a sipper. No real alcohol sharpness, but you know it's there. Some roasty malt flavors come out as it warms up. Butterscotch carmel flavors dominate, this beer is almost like a carmel flavored port wine. No real hop flavors, but I'm ok with that because this is definatly a desert beer, kinda spendy but worth a try.
Scuttlebutt - Tripel
This was (for me) the perfect mix of a belgian beer's sweetness with an american beer's malty/hoppiness. Great balance, it starts off with a belgian like sweetness, almost tasted like a sugarcane, and that get's balanced by a light hop taste, kind of like how bacon compliments pancakes and maple syrup, and finishes with a smooth roasty maltiness.
Start to finish, I really enjoyed this beer - I'd call it an American Trappist Style.
Stone Russian Imperial Stout - 2007 VS. 2008
'07 on the right, '08 on the left.
Both definatly pass our Stout Hole test.
Both excellent beers, I would have a hard time telling them apart, but I did like the '07 better. It smelled syrupier and the extra time the flavors had to blend added to the already excellent taste. I liked the body of the '07 better, slightly smoother and thicker. The head on the '07 was not quite as developed as the '08, but they both stuck around for most of the glass and both had a nice tan tinge. Carbonation was about the same between the two, on the low to moderate side like a good thick stout should be. I was kind of surprised the differences between the "standard" and "vintage" were not as pronounced as our test of '06 VS. '07 Double Bastard.
Now for the disclaimer...High alcohol content (over 10%) coupled with an affinity for stouts probably skewed the results, if we were really trying to be scientifice we would have used smaller "fun size" samplings. But really, who came up with the "fun size" crap anyway?
Bottom line - great stouts, get yourself some and try this experiment for yourself.
Bridgeport Stout
Stouty goodness - passes the stout hole test. Nothing crazy here, solid stout that covers all it's bases.
de Boomgaard - Tropicale
http://www.deboomgaard.nl/page.php
Tastes like sweet fermented mango juice - too sweet and fruity for my taste.
