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.