Wednesday Whiskey err Beer and Cigars

 

A special Wednesday pairing post.  While I drink more whiskey than beer these days, I still enjoy a good beer and cigar pairing.  As with most things, some beers make much better pairings than others those are usually darker, barrel aged beers.  This particular beer is one of those great cigar pairing beers, but it is so much more than that. This beer celebrates Houstons own Saint Arnolds 30th Anniversary.  30 years brewing craft beer is a tremendous feat, especially when you look at how many craft breweries have either shut down recently, or sold out to a a Macro brewer, or even tried to combine forces with other smaller craft breweries.  Saint Arnold has stayed true to its roots, and has stayed independent throughout it all.  While I haven't been in Houston for all of Saint Arnolds existence, I started visiting the brewery back in 2002 when they were in an un-airconditioned warehouse. Summers were fun.  I've written about them many many times in the past on this blog, even getting the opportunity to interview the owner Brock Wagner.  I am very happy to toast Saint Arnold and their 30 successful years with this outstanding beer.

The Beer

The beer is called a Grand Cru, which has no real meaning, but for Saint Arnold it means taking their imperial stout Commitment, aging it in bourbon and whiskey barrels for 2-4 years, then finishing it in Tokaji, Madeira, or Port barrels before blending it all together to create something that is incredibly unique.  The beer pours a dark opaque brownish black with a thin quickly dissipating copper colored head.  Bourbon, booze, oak, and vanilla spice on the nose.  The mouthfeel is viscous, thick, heavy.  Rich and creamy, wine like on the palate.  Notes of port, dried fruits, slight oxidation.  Cherries, tobacco, chocolate, slight acidity.  Damn this is superb.  It's been a long time since I have had a beer this complex, and enjoyable.  Outstanding job by the Saint Arnold team.

The Cigar

When I smoke a cigar, I don't always want something that is going to last me an hour or more.  Sometimes, I want something that is a shorter smoke, I am not in the mood to have a long sit down.  When I am in that mood, I usually reach for a Nub, a small short stubby brand of cigars from Oliva Cigar company of which I have spoken about many times before.  Nub makes a fairly wide range of small stubby sticks, in various shapes, but all are thick gauged.  This particular stick is from their Nuance line, specifically their Single Roast.  This is one of the few flavored type of cigars I have smoked as it is infused with coffee flavors and has a sweet cap on the wrapper.  An Ecuadorian wrapper with Nicaragua filler, and very thick gauged this is not a harsh smoke at all. This is a creamy milk chocolate bomb, with a slight spice and cedar plank finish.  It worked well with the beer, but I could have actually used a little more robust cigar I think to play off of the beer.  Something I will have to try in the future.

Texas Three Step

No, its not a new dance that you'll see folks doing at your favorite honkey tonk. Instead this post will be about three beers newly available in bottles from some exciting new breweries from Texas. The breweries I'm talking about are Jester King out in the Hill Country and Ranger Creek in San Antonio. Jester King excites me for a couple of reasons. The first being is that they are taking an aggressive approach to being a Farmhouse brewery, starting from day one on developing a barrel program, and harvesting local wild yeasts from the surrounding hill country. Additionally, they are not only making the extreme high alcohol beers that craft brewers love, they are making amazingly flavorful lower alcohol beers. The first up was Commercial Suicide a English Dark Mild ale weighing in at 3.8%. However they are also making a Belgian tafelbier (or table) that I'll be excited to try. Another interesting thing that Jester King does is that all the beers are partially made with harvested rain water which is pretty cool. I'm excited about Ranger Creek for different reasons. They are not only a craft brewer, but a craft distillery as well. My hope for them is that as they produce great bourbon, they'll re-use those barrels to age some amazing beers. Jester King Wytchmaker: A bottle conditioned rye IPA weighing in at 81 IBU and 6.1%. An amazing looking label, I love the art work that Jester King uses. I enjoy that all the ingredients the beers use are on the label, each malt, each hop, each yeast (English ale in this case). Hops used were Warrior, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade, and Centennial. Malt bill contained 15% rye. The beer pours a cloudy hazy copper brown, with a thick off white head. Lots of hops on the nose, citrusy with just a hint of pine and some pale malts. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, spicey, grapefruit, citrus peel, piney. Some notes of white pepper, spicey. Lots of rye bread notes. A very good beer, I give an A to. Jester King Black Metal: A bottle conditioned Imperial Stout, yes please! 10.4% and 60 IBU's this beer pours a viscous oily black with a quarter inch reddish cafe colored head. Dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts on the nose. Thick chewy mouthfeel, denser than I remember from having this on draft previously. Notes of chocolate, dark and milky. Coffee with creamer, some roasted malts. Earthy hops at the finish. Its a huge beer, but highly drinkable. Another wonderful beer that gets an A from me. Ranger Creek La Bestia Aimable: This is Ranger Creek's take on a Belgian Strong Ale, named after the Aimable, the ship La Salle used, landed at Matagorda Bay to claim Texas for France. The beer weighs in at 9.4% with 25 IBU's and pours a hazy cloudy brown with a thin frothy head. Very malty nose, full of raisins and figs some caramel and yeasty notes. Medium bodied, rich concentrated dark fruits like figs and raisins. Caramelized figs with balsamic. Notes of honey, creme caramel, very smooth and easy drinking. A thoroughly enjoyable beer.

Fight Night Beers

A little late in posting this, but a week ago last Saturday was Fight Night, and as I'm likely to do, I sat down watched some fights and had some great beer. A local beer, and English Beer, and a barrel aged beer made it a good night.
Real Ale Phoenixx: First up is a local beer, a juiced up version of an English ale, this is Real Ale's Double ESB. The beer weighs in at a very un-English 7.2%, but made with English Malts and English Hops including Phoenix. Phoenix is a high alpha hop that is similar to Challenger. This beer pours a cloudy chestnut brown with a thick taupe colored head. Plenty of caramel malts, on the nose along with earthy musty notes and light on the hops. The mouth is much more hop-centric, medium bodied, with some caramel malt undertones. Earthiness, but some tongue coating resin. Let me repeat, highly resinous. Lots of caramel malts, this one is a great beer, that highlights some great English Ale flavors on steroids. A very enjoyable beer.
Kernel S.C.C.A.NS: Next up the English Ale, this one a version of an American brew. An IPA weighing in at 6.9% hopped with Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo, and Nelson Sauvin. The beer pours a bright golden yellow with a thick white head. Lots of sediment in the pour, but thats OK. All hops on the nose, bright, big hops. Citrus, grapefruit peel, some piney noes, and just a hint of toasty pale malts. Medium body, but the tongue is met with an explosion of hops, tongue coating resinous hops. Like biting into a grapefruit peel and all. There's more, and its hard to pick out all the flavors but this unique blend of hops creates a very complex flavor profile. There is spicy pepper notes along with citrus and earthy notes. A great beer that really shows some of the amazing beers that the English Microbrewer's are producing.
Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout: We end he night with a the barrel aged beer, Bourbon barrel to be exact. This is Central Waters Imperial stout. It pours an incredibly rich dark black with a thick taupe colored head. The nose is heavy on bourbon and vanilla notes, chocolate, roasted malts, charred oak, some caramel sweetness. The mouthfeel is thick, chewy, luscious is a good word to describe it. Lots of bourbon and vanilla and chocolate up front. Some booziness that would mellow with age (which this beer should do beautifully). If I had to compare this beer to food I would say Chocolate vanilla bread pudding with a bourbon sauce. Don't get me wrong though it's not sweet, but there it is rich. Very creamy, milk chocolate is also there, and more bourbon notes as it warms. A great beer, I've really enjoyed the Central Waters beers I've had so far.

Vertical Abyss

In the beer nerd world, top of the line imperial stouts are some of the most sought after beers around. More so when they are limited release. One of the great imperial stouts comes from Oregon brewery Deschutes called Abyss. Released each year to much anticipation it comes in black wax dipped 22 oz bottles. Each year Abyss is made with licorice and molasses 33% of it is aged in bourbon barrels. At 11% these beers are meant to be aged. Unfortunately unlike other Deschute beers Abyss has not been available in Texas, well this changed this year. To celebrate coming to Texas I wanted to do a Vertical of Abyss to highlight just how well this beer ages. Lucky for me (and thanks to Monsters of Beer) I just so happen to have Abyss 06-09. With a friend of mine scoring an early bottle of Abyss (I just grabbed a couple today) all was set to do a 5 year vertical this past Sunday. Me and 5 other beer nerds gathered to taste, here are my notes (as well as comments made by others).
Abyss 2006 - This is the original, the first release by Deschutes. As expected it poured a dark brown almost but not quite black, good carbonation is evident in the pour. The nose is of dark fruit licorice, anise. Many at the table were surprised by how apparent anise was on the nose. Some vanilla and bourbon were also there. The mouthfeel is amazing, rich silky. Some roasted malt bitterness not only from the black patent malt but some hops. Very little if any oxidation. Tongue coating and rich with dark fruits like raisins, prunes and figs. At 5 years this is ridiculously good and if well cellared has many years left.
Abyss 2007 - It pours a dark brown with a thick head than the 06. More boozy notes on the nose, but otherwise its not as strong an in your face as the 06. Around the table we agreed it seemed much younger than the 06. We confirmed our initial thoughts upon drinking the beer. It wasn't nearly as complex as the 06, more dryness, less astringent. Lots of roasted malt, but very little fruit characteristics. I mentioned to others at the table that there were more coffee notes in this version and most agreed comparing the bitterness in the beer to over extracted coffee. There was a staleness to this beer. Not bad, but the 06 blew the 07 away.
Abyss 2008 - This was more like it. The nose here is much bigger than the 07, closer to the 06, a little sweeter some residual sugar on the nose. More oak and bourbon on the nose as well. Good mouthfeel, chocolate, some citrusy notes as well as some dark fruits. Lots of roasted malts here some coco as well. None of the licorice notes that we got from the 06. There was a weird graininess that many around the table mentioned. Not that there was sediment in the bottle it was more a feeling of it. A great nose to this beer. While I am not sure how much longer I would age the 07, I think the 08 has many more years to go.
Abyss 09 - This one was the one I was least looking forward to. Unfortunately I had heard many stories that this beer was infected and had soured. As soon as we opened it up the storied I'd heard proved true. While it poured a beautiful black color, the darkest so far with a wonderful head, the nose gave truth to its nature. Sour cherries, lots of sour lactic notes. Strange as it was, it was drinkable. Some (me) liked it more than others. To me it tasted like milk chocolate covered sour cherries. Others got a metallic like astringency almost vinegary taste. Its not bad, but it's a shame this occurred as I can't imagine that this is cellar worthy due to its defect.
Abyss 10 - We end our vertical with the newest of the bunch. It pours dark, darker than all the rest. A rich deep coal black with a thick tan colored head. The head is actually not as dark as others for whatever that's worth. The nose is full of rich vanilla and oak and bourbon flavors. The mouthfeel is dry, so. very. dry. A heavy dose of alcohol as well, and very little fruit flavors. Fruity esters and toasted oak are the big players here. This is drinkable, but definitely needs some age to help mellow things.

As we finished the vertical we kept going back to the 06 and how incredible that beer was. By far it was our favorite and if we had to rank it the order would probably go: 06, 08, 10, 07, 09. What amazed many of us was how different each beer was. There wasn't a gradual transition from one beer to the next. Some were very heavy with dark fruit, others heavy on licorice and malts, and yet others were heavy with oak, vanilla and bourbon. Deschutes has done a wonderful job with this beer and its definitely cellar worthy material. If you can pick up a few bottles of 2010, drink one, and keep the others to try in 5 or 10 years. I want to thank Dave and his wife, Chris, and Casey and his wife for participating the vertical and for bringing other beers to the gathering. It was a wonderful time.

Freetail Houston

A couple of weeks ago right before Thanksgiving was my birthday and as I am want to do, I celebrated with a special beer. This year wasn't just any beer it was Freetail La Muerta (thanks to Dave for picking me up a couple of bottles). There may be two questions your asking yourself. The first is "Whats Freetail?" Well its a brewpub...no scratch that, its an amazing brewpub out of San Antonio, TX producing some of the best beers not only in Texas but the country. Freetail has become so popular that they are looking at expanding, but instead of just looking within San Antonio, they are looking out to other cities within Texas. This news came at the same time as Houston lost its one and only brewpub Two Rows, so folks in Houston have started a grassroots movement to bring Freetail here. This group of beer folks have started a website Freetail Houston and twitter feed to show the Freetail folks how much support there is for them in this fine brewpubless city. They have even worked to bring Freetail owner Scott Metzger to town to show them the love. Hopefully Scott will see the light and bring an amazing brewpub to Houston.
Now back to the questions. We've answered the first, the second question you may be asking yourself is "What's La Muerta." Well its there once a year brewed Imperial Stout. The beer is brewed in celebration of Dia De Los Muertos and is available only at the brew pub. They have a huge party on release day and you can buy 750ml's then. This year there were 450 bottles of this fine Imperial Stout made. The bottle that I opened for my birthday was number 36. Now that we've answered the questions let's get to the beer.
The Beer: This Imperial Stout weighs in at 10.2% and pours black as coal with a thick dense cafe colored head. The nose is full of thick luscious malts, roasted malt, chocolate, some alcohol, some dark fruit notes. The mouthfeel is full with a capital F. Creamy viscous, literally chewy. Gobs of roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, raisins, and some alcohol astringency. With all these strong flavors I'm surprised by how drinkable the beer is now, but really wonder how awesome this beer will be with some age. This beer is simply amazing one of, if not the best, Imperial stout I've had. This is an easy A bordering on the rare A+ from me.
It's a beer like this that makes me hunger for a brew pub that will make rare and experimental beers. While Imp Stouts are starting to border on being over done, this is so well done its not to be over looked. Additionally looking at some of the Belgian and sour ales that Freetail brews just makes me want them to chose Houston even more. So if you live here, support the movement to bring Freetail here.

Boulevard Dark Truth Stout

If you've been reading this blog you know that I have been a big fan of Boulevard's Smokestack Series. Its their series of special beers, each packages in 750 mL, corked and caged. During my last trip to Spec's I noticed a new one on the shelf, this time a Russian Imperial Stout. But not just any stout its one made with barley, wheat, oats and rye.
The Beer: This stout weighs in at 9.7% and pours a very dark jet black with a thick dense head of crema colored foam. Cereal grains, I do get roasted barley and some oats. Esspresso, figs, dried dark fruits. Roasted malts. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Notes of oats, figs, raisins, plums, espresso beans and coco. Notes of oats. On the finish notes of creme brulee and coco powder sweetnes. Bitter dark chocolate. There is an almost grainy texture to this brew. The beer's not gritty, its just a feeling I get as I'm drinking. Dark Chocolate, dried fruits, oats and creme brulee are all great flavors in this amazing beer. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think about it.

Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel

One thing I have learned as I increase my knowledge of craft beers is that almost every country has a craft beer culture. When folks think of Canadian beer most think of Molson, or Moosehead but there is so much more. Many are familiar with the greatness that is Unibroue from Chambly Quebec, but that is not the only craft brewer from the French Canadian province. Located within Montreal lies Dieu Du Ciel, a brewery that I've heard of, but never had the chance to try their beers. That all changed when I picked up a couple of their beers when I was in Colorado recently. The first one I didn't post on was called Rigor Mortis, an amazing Quadrupel that weighed in at 10.0%. Dieu Du Ciel has a reputation for making some amazing and unique brews, many of them are higher gravity. Additionally the artwork on the labels is incredibly eye catching, I don't know who the artist is, or the story behind the labels but they beautifully done. Peche Mortel, or Mortal Sin is a bottle conditioned Imperial Coffee Stout.

The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.2% and pours a pitch jet black with a thick dense head of cafe colored foam. The nose is of rich coffee, chocolate, darkly roasted malts and some citrus notes. The mouthfeel is full and creamy, black coffee with cream, roasted malts, slightly understated notes of bitterness. Very little alcohol. Chewy. It is reminiscent of iced coffee, slightly sweet. Some citrus acidity notes of lemon show up as well. Rich and smooth. Notes of alcohol shows up as it warms. Roasted malts, slight roasted bean bitterness shows up, but for the most part its creamy smooth. Figs, and raisins and other dried dark fruits show up enriching the flavor as the beer warms. This may be the best coffee stout I have ever had. This one gets an A+ from me. Here's what the folks of BA think.

Avery Black Tot

Boulder based brewing company Avery Brewing is widely known for producing outstanding beers. Not only do they have a solid line of beers available in six packs, but there big bottle series like the Reverend, Salvation, Hog Heaven, Czar, as well as their great beer they collaborated with Russian River on: Collaboration Not Litigation, are all top notch beers. In the last year they have developed a barrel aging program, releasing small batch beers, of differing styles aged in different types of barrels. Some of these barrels contained rum, zinfandel wine or whiskey. The first release of this series was the funky Brabant No 1, followed a few months afterward by Sui Generis. The next release was this ale dubbed the Black Tot, an Imperial Oatmeal stout aged in Giddings Rum casks (they've since released a 4th barrel aged beer).

The Beer: This one weighs in at 10.0% and pours a pitch black with a thick head of dense dark tan colored foam. The nose is of oats, molasses, chocolate, coffee, figs, and raisins. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, slightly thinner than expected. Notes of chocolate, coffee, espresso, some acidity at the finish. Vanilla, a light oakiness and some licorice notes. A very complex ale that starts to show some slight funky tanginess brought forth from residual bacteria growing the rum casks. This tanginess gives the beer a presence of sour cherries covered in dark chocolate. This is a wonderful beer, and might be my favorite of Avery's barrel aged line of brews. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken Ale

30 years ago this year a little brewery in Chico, California opened, their first beer was a shockingly (at the time) hoppy pale ale. That beer became a hit. The brewery of course is Sierra Nevada one of the pioneers in the craft beer movement and one that has made it through the good times and bad times of the movement with success. 30 years in the craft beer industry is just flat out amazing and is worthy of a grand celebration. In honor of their great birthday, SN is not releasing just one beer this year, instead they'll be releasing 4 different ones the first three collaborations or homages to other craft brewery pioneers. The four are as follows:
Fritz and Ken Ale: A beer guest brewed with Anchor Brewing owner Fritz Maytag, a strong stout. Release: Out Now.
Charlie, Fred, and Ken's Lager: Brewed with Home Brew pioneer and AHA founder Charlie Papazian, and beer writer Fred Eckhart, this one is an Imperial Helles Lager. Release Mid-May
Jack and Ken's Ale: Guest brewed with Jack McAuliffe the original craft brewer. Jack started New Albion largely credited as the first microbrewery in the country, unfortunately that brewery closed in 1982 but his legacy continues to live on. This beer is an American Barleywine brewed with 100% Cascade hops. Release: Mid July.
Brewers Oak-Aged Reserve: This one is a blend of SN's Pale Ale, Oak Aged Bigfoot, and Celebration and then dry hopped. Release: Mid-Oct.
The Beer: This stout weighs in at 9.2% and pours a deep dark black with a thick dense tan head of foam. The nose is of coffee, slightly burnt roasted malts, raisins, some alcohol, licorice. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy, almost syrupy, viscous. Notes of coffee, dark chocolate, licorice, raisins, figs, memories of dark chocolate covered espresso beans come to mind. Very little alcohol. My wife plants a small scoop of chocolate/chocolate chunk in to the last bit of beer in her glass and it seems a match made in heaven its so rich.
The beer IS rich, syrupy, but bitter with dark coco nib flavor. A delicious beer and worthy of celebrating this fine brewery. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout

Wow, this year has really gotten away from me. Its February already and I have barely posted to the blog. Well the good news is, that stops now, and I have a lot to talk about. Posts on news in Houston, posts on tasting, and posts on brewery tours. First, let's get started with posts on tastings. This is a beer I picked up while in Denver over Christmas, it's one of the few beers from Dogfish Head that is not available in our fair state.
The Beer: To say beer is a stout is like saying the Empire State building is just a building. This one weighs in at whopping 18% abv. It's not for the faint of heart, this is not an introductory craft beer. It pours an incredibly inky black with no light shining through. A thinnish taupe colored head. The nose is unsurprisingly of alcohol, malts, raisins, dried fruit. Let me repeat that, lots of alcohol. The mouthfeel is oily, slick, viscous. Its not like liquid beer, more like beer syrup. There are notes of deeply roasted malts, dried fruits, lots of alcohol all throughout the taste. Notes of cherry cough syrup, notes of coffee. There is some amazingly complex flavors here, but it is so overwhelmingly covered by the alcohol its hard to find some enjoyment in the beer. I do think that this beer could be wonderful in a few years. As the alcohol notes lessen and the malt notes come to prominence this beer could really shine. My job? Keep a couple the bottles I have and try it in a few years and report back. For now? This beer gets a C mainly for the hope of what this beer could be. The folks at BA? Tend to like it more than me.

Saint Arnold: Divine Reserve 9

Over the course of the last few days we've had Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and yesterday finally Beer Tuesday. What's Beer Tuesday you ask? The day Saint Arnold's released their latest in the Divine Reserve Series #9. Just like shoppers did last Friday, folks around the city headed out early yesterday morning and began standing in lines, most congregating at the downtown Spec's, some arriving as early as 8:30 am (remember Spec's opens at 10 am). As time went on the line grew and grew, stretching around the building to other street. Me? I arrived at 9:15 am and found about 40 people already in line. For some pictures of the scene checkout Ronnie Crocker's blog Beer, TX. Finally once the store opened I was able to grab my 2 six packs..my only concern being: "Is it worth it?" Well before answering that question we have to answer what type of beer is it. Its an imperial pumkin stout. Yes you read that correctly. It was brewed with a ton of pumpkin (mostly if not all canned) and a bunch of spices.
The Beer: This one is definitely Imperial weighing in at 11%. It pours a rich dark brown almost black with ruby streaks throughout. Capped by a cafe colored head, dense with foam. Very aromatic, I could smell the pumpkin well before holding it before my nose. Wow, its pumpkin pie, there is nothing shy about this beer it is in your face. Pie spices of nutmeg, Cinnamon. Notes of coco show up as well. The mouthfeel is full, my first impression is of pumpkin pie, luscious creamy pie with all of grandmom spices. A malty chewiness is my second impression. Very strongly spiced, the back palate has more rich malts then the front of pumpkin. Surprisingly I don't get a lot of alcohol, which makes this easy to drink.
As it warms the flavors meld together: chocolate, pumpkin, spices all coming together wonderfully. Also surprisingly with all the pumpkin and chocolate notes, this beer is not overly sweet, its balanced in this respect very well.
There are some rough edges to this beer, at times the spices can be over the top and too much conflicting with the chocolateyness of the stout. This unbalance can create a harshness to the beer that can be unpleasant. With the alcohol hidden it has the potential to be easy drinking, but this harshness conflicts with that at certain points. It's an incredibly filling rich beer as well. I don't see myself drinking multiple pints of this in one sitting it would just be too much. I do believe that this beer will do amazingly well cellared and I'm glad that I have enough to do so. I want to try it in six months and then again next year for Thanksgiving.
Taking all this, both the positive and the negative I have to say that I am incredibly pleased with what Saint Arnold has done with this beer, and it may be one of the best beers they have ever made. Now it gets an A- from me, but stay tuned as it ages my grade may change going even higher. The folks at BA are already rating and here's what they are thinking.

A pair of Brooklyn Beers

If you've ever talked to me you know that I am a fan of brewer Garret Oliver, and his book Brewmasters Table made a huge impact on me and how I look at beer and food. Well a couple of weeks ago he was in Houston for the homebrewer's competition The Dixie Cup. As part of his visit he also did a tasting at our local Central Market and it was there that I got to spend some time talking to him. He's an extremely generous guy with his time and comes off completely genuine in his excitement of beer. It was also fun to get to talk to him about his beers and find out whats coming next. Good news: Monster Ale is coming and coming soon to Texas, we also may get some of the rarer beers as well that will be draft only. After talking beer with Mr. Oliver I just had to pick up some of his brews to drink at home. Unfortunately due to a work trip to Canada and a week of being sick its taken me this long to post on those beers.
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: Now I tried this on draft at Flying Saucers Anniversary party, but it was nice to be able to sit down in a quiet place and really enjoy the beer. This weighs in at 10.0% and pours a dark pitch black with a thick tan colored head. Notes of chocolate, espresso, coffee, malts. The mouthfeel is creamy and lush. Dusted coco nibs, espresso and chocolate, some citrusy acidity notes. Damn Ice Cream would go wonderfully well with this. Great beer that gets an A- from me.
Local 2: The second brew in Brooklyns Local series. The first was a Belgian Golden ale, this one is a strong dark ale made with local New York honey. It weighs in at 9.0% and pours a dark rich brown with a thick dense head of taupe colored foam. The nose has some notes of honey, sweet malts and fruity esters. The mouthfeel is very effervescent, notes of honey, malts, sweet dried dark fruits. Very sweet up front, before finishing startlingly dry, much like a Brut Champagne. Notes of candied sugar mix with the richness of the dark fruits. An amazing food beer that would go with everything from grilled veggies to frites (which is what I had it with). This one again gets an A- from me.
Two great beers from Brooklyn Brewery.

Odell's Bourbon Barrel Stout

Yet another beer that I picked up in Denver while there for the GABF. This one comes from a local brewery. Odell's is based out of Fort Collins and has been around since 1989. While their beers haven't always been cutting edge or even the most inspired, I've always liked them because their flagship beer was called 90 Shilling and is a Scottish Ale. There aren't many breweries that have that as their flagship. Over the years they've expanded their lines and are doing more things that push the envelop. At GABF I tasted a couple of brett beers by them that were wonderful, and they also have a woodcut series of beers that are rare and hard to find brews. This one of course is a barrel aged beer and while it seems that everyone is doing it, I am continually pleased to see even more breweries do this as I love the flavor that barrel aging imparts on a beer.
The Beer:b This imperial stout weighs in at 10.5% and pours a pitch black with a thick cafe colored head, it pours syrupy. Nose is vanilla, oak, bourbon, coffee. Mouthfeel is chewy, creamy, luscious, milky and all the other adjectives. There are notes of vanilla, and bourbon, chocolate, coffee, coco nibs. There is some woodyness to the taste as well. Its a sipper for sure, but still relatively easy drinking. We paired it with some Bourbon Chocolate pudding (made with Colorado's own Stranahan's Whiskey). It was a rich pairing to be sure, but they played off of eachother and intensified the flavors. A fun dessert. This beer gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Brew Dog Paradox

So far my experience with Scotland's Brew Dog brews have been an up and down experience. However, I'm an experimenter and I want to enjoy Brew Dog's beers, because I really like the sound of some of the things they are doing over there. Luckily for us the Houston market has more of their beers like this one Paradox, an Imperial Stout aged in Oak Barrels. There are multiple batches, each aged in a different type of barrell and different type of whiskey. This particular one was aged in barrels from the Isle of Arran.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10% and pours a deep rich black with a quarter inch head with a frothy milk chocolate colored head. Poured into my new Dogfish head goblet. The nose is of chocolate, oak, vanilla. The mouthfeel is lighter than expected, like milk chocolate, but bitter dark chocolate, roasted malts, coffee beans. Other notes of oak, vanilla, cinimon, coco. The head dissapears relatively quickly, but the mouthfeel stays silk smooth coating and sliding along and around the tongue. Very little alcohol in the mouth. As it warms just a bit of the whiskey shows up, but its not unpleasant instead it gives a nice warmth. This is a beer that makes me happy Brew Dog is on the scene. This gets a B+ from me. See how the folks at BA feel.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Last night I was in the mood for something anti-seasonal. I've found myself for the most part drinking IPA's, or Belgian Golden Ale's of late. I needed something....darker, bigger. Well I found it when I picked up Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. This is about as far from a light summer beer as you're going to get.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 10.5% and pours a thick viscous pitch black capped by a dense tall head of latte colored foam. The nose has notes of currants, coffee beans, roasted burnt malts, licorice. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy, creamy, coffee, but maybe more like esspresso, dusty coco nibs, roasted malts, licorice. The alcohol taste is low its there, but mild. This one is nice, its a sipper to be sure. Sitting in my chair, relaxing, even in the HOT HOT Texas summer this is one heck of a beer. It gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Fight Night and Beer

Saturday was a huge fight night and as I usually do, I enjoyed some beers. However since this wasn't just any fight night, I couldn't choose just any beer. The first one I had, was from Anderson Valley, a brewery from California that just entered into our market. The second beer is one that my wife had brought back from LA a couple of months back.
Anderson Valley Brother David Tripel: This one just arrived in our fair market. It weighs in at 10.0% and pours a an orangish honey color with a thin white head. Whit fruit, peaches, honey, yeast all on the nose. The mouthfeel is crisp and clean, a little toastiness, a lot of candied sugar, peaches, yeast, honey, white pepper. A little sweet for me, I like my Tripels a little drier. A little alcohol showed up on the finish as it warmed. An OK Tripel, but not one that I would actively seek out compared to what else is available. B- from me. The folks at BA tend to agree.
Alesmith Speedway Stout: This is one that my wife picked up for me. Its made with Brothers Coffee. It weighs in at hefty 12.0%. The beer pours a pitch dark dark black with a THICK cafe colored head. The nose is espresso, roasted malts, dark chocolate, bready grains. The mouthfeel is thick and luxurious, bitter chocolate, mocha, espresso. Its like drinking a wonderful Imperial Stout with a side of espresso. There is even a bit of citrus acidity, almost a hint of lemon. There is so much great smooth, slightly bitter coffee flavor to this one. There is some burnt notes, but I feel that its from the malts necessary to get this beast so dark and black. The aftertaste of this beer is pure espresso to me. Very rich, very good. A sipping beer to be sure, but there isn't a lot of alcohol in the mouth, its hidden extremely well. This is one amazing beer and gets the hard sought after A+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti

Everywhere I turn it seems Great Divide Brewing is releasing another new beer. They've gotten so many new ones it is hard to keep track. Fortunately some of them are making their way to our market. A couple of weeks ago I tried their outstanding 15th Anniversary beer, this week I turn to a new version of their popular Yeti Imperial Stout. However this one doesn't just have chocolate, its got a dash of cayenne pepper.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.58% and pours a pitch black with at hick cafe colored head. The nose is of chocolate, roasted malts, vanilla, oak, maybe some spice, but its just a hint. The mouthfeel is thick, chewy and wonderful. Chocolate up front with woody, oaky and vanilla notes and on the finish you feel just this hint of spice. Its luscsious and creamy, dusty coco nibs. Then you drink some more and you feel the spice just a bit more. As it warms and you drink the cayenne builds up and I find that it doesn't have a place is this great creamy chocolatey beer. I love spicey things, growing up on cajun and tex-mex foods, but not sure that I want it in my beer. The spice is not overpowering, but its definitely there, and I think it takes away from a great beer instead of adding to it. This one gets a C+ from me. Most other folks on BA disagree.

Sam Adams Imperial Stout

I'm a fan of the Boston Beer Co, makers of Sam Adams brews. I think they make an incredibly solid line of beer (even if they make the worst beer I've ever had). From their ubiquitous Sam Adams Lager (always an easy choice when its that or BMC products) to their boundary pushing Utopia they are a brewery that is at the forefront of ingenuity in my mind. Plus they do a lot of good for the beer community. From the Longshot Series of beers that allows home brewers the chance to have their recipe made and distributed by BBC, to the Hop Sharing program which allows those breweries who are running short on hops to buy some from BBC at a fair price. These show that Jim Koch is conscientious owner. The latest thing that has gotten me excited about Sam Adams is their Imperial Series of beers. All released in four packs they are an Imperial White, Imperial Stout and a Dopplebock. All have made it to our local Spec's so it was with great excitement that I picked up a four pack of Sam Adams Imperial Stout. Before we get into my tasting notes, a bit about the style.
The Style: First the technical bits (taken from the Beer Judges Certification Program). Aroma should be decidedly roasty with notes of fruity esters, hops, dark fruit and alcohol. The roasted malt usually takes on characteristics of coffee or dark chocolate. Color of course is dark black ranging from Jet black at its darkest to a slightly lighter dark reddish brown. The head is thick and usually very dark. Finally you're looking for a strong malty intensely roasty and bitter flavor. Hop bitterness can be mild (although not always the case) therefore the heavily roasted malts is what creates this bitterness. The beer can taste burnt at times like burnt espresso beans at it most intense. Alcohol content is usually between 8-12 percent and these are beers that can be aged. The history of this ale is pretty unique. When visiting England Russian Czarina Catherine the Great fell in love with British Stouts. When she left to return to Russia she brought back barrel loads, however, upon arrival these stouts had soured and spoiled. Needless to say Catherine the Great, was greatly pissed, so upon hearing of this a British brewery brewed a higher octane Stout, something that would be strong and hopefully survive the trip from England to Russian. Well it survived alright and Catherine the Great loved it, which is why we have a beer called Russian Imperial Stout that wasn't brewed in Russian, just brewed for them (well at least one Russian in particular).
The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.2% and pours an oily jet black with a good sized cafe colored head. Dark chocolate, raisins, figs are all apparent in the nose. The mouthfeel is thick, and chewy. I tasted burnt espresso, dark coco nibs, molasses, raisins, toffee. There is almost a chalky texture to this one that makes me feel like I am tasting a little bit of coco dust. A sense of a chocolate souffle. Very nice. Very little alcohol flavor to this one. Lacing up and down the sides of this glass. This is a good one for sure. It gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Pike Brewing Extra Stout

This is the second brew that I've had from this Seattle based brewery. Of course this is another brewery that has only recently entered our marketplace, but its one that I'm proud to see here. This one as with all their beers that I've seen comes packaged in a big 22 oz bottle.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 7.0% and pours a pitch black with a crema colored head. Not as an Imperial Stout. Roasted malts, burnt coffee beans, and a nice sweetness on the nose. The mouth is smooth, with a slight burnt bean taste, chocolate and creamy. Not very bitter, but then again that's something I enjoy in richer stouts. There is a nice creamy texture here. I wish there was more dark bitter chocolate flavors. A good solid stout, but not a great one. This one gets a solid B from me for being a good solid stout. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

First off, let me start this post by wishing everyone a Happy Veteran's day, and a Thank You to any vet's reading my blog.
Anyone that's read much of my blog knows that I've been a huge fan of Oskar Blues regular offerings and love the fact they can their beer. I'm also a big fan of stouts, and imperial stouts in particular. So combining my enjoyment of Oskar Blues, and my love of Imperial Stouts, I find their offering Ten Fidy!
The Beer: It weighs in at a hearty 9.5% and pours a pitch black with a thick darkly tan head capping it off. The nose is coco nibs, roasted espresso beans, and spices. The mouth is syrupy, thick and chewy, it coats the tongue. There's bitter roasted espresso beans, and dark chocolate with some figs. Smooth with just a bit of alcohol. There's a lot of different flavors here, but nothing that stands out. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the beer, but down here in Houston there's been a lot of hype on this one, and I'm not sure its all warranted. I'd take the SA Divine 5 and North Coast Rasputin over this one. A fine example still, just a little overrated in my opinion. It gets a B. Here's what the folks at BA think.