The End of a Year

So many good beers, so little time. I try not to spend too much time reminiscing, but this is certainly the first year I really spent exploring craft beers. It's been really interesting thus far, and I hope to continue this passion for many years to come. In any case, here's to another wonderful year in 2010.

I recently had a wish of mine granted, and got to try the Pub Dog Oatmeal Stout. It's richer than their black dog irish stout, and definitely is a little more creamy and heavy. However, it is also very delicious, and a little addictive.

I also got for x-mas (so far) a bottle of Brooklyn Local 2, which I am super excited to try. Reviews hopefully forthcoming shortly.

Beers I want to try in 2010:
-Brooklyn Black Ops (I will find some!)
-Rogue Shakespeare Stout (tried it!)
-Fordham Scotch Ale(tried it!)
-Sam Adams Chocolate Bock (So pricey...)(tried it!)
-Avery Mephistopheles
-Dogfishhead Chicory Stout (tried it!)
-Smuttynose Robust Porter (Tried it!)
-Brew Dog Tokio* (or more Paradox, that'd be fine too :-P)


P.S. - X-mas day, made out like a bandit. Bombers of Three Philosophers, Obovoid Oak Stout, and Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, as well as an intriguing petite sirah from Red Truck. Happy drinkings to all of you!

Winter cold and delicious beers

It is so darn cold out here, I think that's why I love my tasty dark beers all the better. The best time for stouts, in my opinion, is the heart of winter, where it fills your stomach and warms you from the inside out.

I've certainly been in colder places, but winter in Maryland is still cold enough to make a ten minute walk without gloves or a hat seem like a really bad idea.

Luckily, this evening I joined some family for the beer release of DuClaw's Black Jack Russian Imperial Stout. This is a winter seasonal, and a fairly dark stout, to compliment their all-season round alchemy and their spring Irish stout, "Celtic Fury".

I didn't get a lot of smell off it, which was worrisome, but all my fears were dispelled with that first sip. Dark and rich, like a stout should be, the flavors of dark chocolate and espresso exploded. I also got some flavors of roasted malt, but predominantly this is a dark chocolate stout.

The alcohol was palpable, hence the imperial moniker, but luckily the beer avoided being too bitter, and was actually quite mellow. The beer itself was very dark, and was delicious by itself and with the buffalo dip we ordered. The spicy food actually served to compliment and contrast the dark, cool, chocolate flavors.

Overall, a delicious beer. Certainly not for a first timer, but I'd recommend this to anyone who likes stout as much as I do.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Favorite Beers

Hey guys, so I know there are a few of you lurking out there, so here's one for you. I'm working on my top ten favorite beers, but having a little trouble with it. A working draft is below.

I'm curious though; what're your favorite beers? Top 10? Just a few you really like?

Also, is there any beer you're really curious about? I don't take requests, but if you've seen something that's piqued your interest, let me know!

Your input is always appreciated, my lurking readers :-P

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Top 10 Current Favorite Beers

1) Birrifico Del Ducato Verdi Imperial Stout

2)

3) Sam Adams Scotch Ale

4) Belhaven Scottish Stout

5) Sam Adams Imperial Stout

6) DuClaw Venom

7) Sam Adams White Ale

8) Dominion Oak Barrel Stout

9)

10)

Unsure where to put them/if to include them:

Fat Tire Skinny Dip

Yuengling Black and Tan

Woodchuck 802

Good Beer and Bad Beer

Ah, the joy of contrasts. I'm a big believer in situational attributes of things. That is, the situation which you experience something will greatly impact your view of it. So, even if you have something rare, delicious, and wonderful, if you have it on a full stomach, with a stuffy nose, or some other bad time, you're probably not going to enjoy it as much.

However, contrasting bad with the good can really make you appreciate the good all the more. Prime example being last night. At my section's holiday party, someone brought a sixer of Budweiser. Trying to be festive and friendly, I helped myself to one. Eugh. It's like fizzy pee water, with the vaguest hint of hops. But we knew this. Budweiser is a sad, sad beer.

And then I went back to Pratt Street Ale House, for what seems to be becoming a tradition. Ahhhhhh. Like stepping home after a long, cold day, to a roaring fire and/or a hot bath. This time I enjoyed their Blackfriar Stout, a little higher ABV than bishop's breakfast, and very chocolatey.

The beer pours dark and thick, and tastes a little like a chocolate milkshake. It's very silky and tasty, with nice sensations of dark chocolate and milk chocolate. I really enjoyed it, although I can't decide if I like it better than Bishop's Breakfast. It's a totally different experience though, without the creamy mouthfeel and coffee tastes of the Bishop's, but with a very thick, silky mouthfeel, and many chocolate notes. Both are definitely delicious.

I have wondered since, did I like it more because I was comparing it to the Budweiser? Regardless, it was a very welcome change, and a very tasty beer. If you're in Baltimore, I definitely recommend a stop by Pratt Street Ale House, their beers are pretty darn impressive.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Freezer burn and Ommegang

So, my beer for this evening was sort of tragic.

Not necessarily the beer itself, but the circumstances, and thus the end result.

So, it was the season finale for top chef, and I was going to be classy. I'd long ago purchased, and since forgotten about a prepared frozen gourmet do it yourself kit in the freezer. I'd made one earlier this year, a variant on chicken carbonara, and was suitably impressed.

For this evening, it was port wine steak with a pepper coating, along with rice and vegetables. I was excited.

For this special occasion, I was even cracking open the first of my Ommegang sample pack. I've always enjoyed Ommegang, and was excited to do the same tonight.

The beer, I decided, had to be somewhat dark and filling, if it was to compliment the meal. I settled on Ommegang's Abbey Ale, a dubbel.

It poured well, but I was little sloppy and it resulted in a bit of a head. The head itself, a nice tan color, was impressively thick.

The first smell is a pungent and complex combination, very dark, but spicy.

It tasted of spices, nuts, and maybe a some dark fruits, with a nice hop note. At first I found the hops to be a much in the aftertaste, but I figured since it was meant to be drank with a meal, the meal would help.

Much to dismay, a single cut into my steak revealed that it had long since succumbed to freezer burn, and was useless. So very sad.

Luckily the rice, with a mushroom risotto, was an excellent compliment to the beer. As I expect, the earthy notes from the mushrooms and vegetables mixed extremely well with the beer's darker, richer notes, as well as mellowing the hop influence. The beer is meant to be enjoyed with savory meats, so they claim, and I can only imagine it might have been even better.

My overall impression was a spicy dark beer, with a complex flavor array. I think there was some taste of a sweet dark fruit, like a plum, or a raisin. There was also a nice nuttiness or bread flavor that combined with the spices, but I couldn't necessarily separate it. I could also taste some dark, rich flavors like a rum or a brandy, as well as a cocoa at the end. It was all complimented with a nice hop flavor.

Overall a very enjoyable beer. I can imagine that it would've been even better with meat, and so I'm going to try it with that next time.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

P.S. - The brewery identifies flavors of cinnamon and licorice, which both fit nicely with the spices and the darker flavors. Intriguing!

Pratt Street Ale House

I think I've figured out why the English seem to enjoy their beers warm. As an American, this is utterly anathema to me, as I truly enjoy the refreshing taste of a well chilled beer. Obviously I don't want it too cold to enjoy, but give me a frosty bottle and I'm happy.

However, I've noticed that when hoppy beers are cold, the hop taste is very pronounced, often a little overwhelming. However, as it's allowed to warm, the hop notes mellow and other flavors emerge. So, considering that the English love their bitter beers, one imagines that a bitter beer at room temperature is much less overwhelmingly bitter, and more balanced.

Of course, I could also be full of shit, never having had a proper English beer.

This comes up because I had some tasty beers tonight at the Pratt Street Ale House. Once called Oliver's, it changed names for some reason. I haven't the faintest why. Oliver's is a staple beer of Baltimore though, available both at the Pratt street house and at The Wharf Rat's in Fell's point. It's one of the few (2?) remaining breweries in the city that doesn't have it's main operation outside the city.

The first beer I tried was their Williams Winter Warmer. I've only recently begun to try winter warmers, and they intrigue me. This one started out with a strong hop note, but had a nice spice flavor to help balance it out. It was a little bitter in the aftertaste, but not overwhelmingly so. It was a very tasty beer that I enjoy more as it warmed (hence my theory above). I'm not sure what the spice note was, but it made me think of nutmeg, clove, or maybe even cinnamon. The spice was a little masked by the hops, but it's definitely something to try again.

I also had their Bishops Breakfast, an oatmeal stout on nitro pour. It was both smooth and creamy, and thus extremely delicious. It tasted very much of coffee and malts, a little sweet but in a good way. I also feel like there were some hints of milk chocolate in there, but that could have been my imagination.

Either way, if you're ever in Baltimore, definitely give the Pratt Street Ale House, or really just Oliver's Beers a try. I promise you, you won't be sorry.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

I'm not Top Chef

So, I admit to watch Top Chef. I hate reality television, but it's one of my guiltier pleasures. The food is beyond anything I can even begin to understand, but it's such a cool process to watch. The selection of the food, the cooking, the artistry. I like to think that if I weren't going to law school, I'd have gone to culinary school and become a chef.

In some ways, this blog is celebrating that idea. Food and beer, enjoying the flavors the experience. Of course, not on the high level of Top Chef, but on my own pleasantly plebeian level.

Sadly, watching it does not make me a better chef, and more often than not I'm enjoying it with a hearty dinner of canned fruit/frozen veggies, some sort of bratwurst, and a pre-prepared rice/pasta side dish from a pouch or a box. It's not a culinary masterpiece, but it's quick and easy, and enjoyable to eat while watching them concoct culinary experiences.

In any case, I digress, but it was all part of tonight's drinking experience. A while ago at my local liquor store I spotted a bottle of Lump of Coal stout. I'd heard of it before, but never tried it. It's an imported stout which brags about it's blackness.

I cracked it open during Top Chef after I was done eating, and poured it into a pint glass. It was a 500ml, so I poured almost the full bottle. The odd bottle head caused it to pour unevenly at first, but it evened out eventually. Strangely, it had almost no head, which was a little odd.

It certainly is dark though. It's more amber than black, but it's a very dark, rich amber. The first sip is full of dark chocolate, and is surprisingly light. Sadly, there isn't much of a follow up. I slowly drank though the whole bottle, kind of expecting more, but finding no such luck. It's thinner than a stout, almost more like an ale or a black lager than a stout. The flavor is dark chocolate, and fairly strong, but relatively uninteresting for a one note beer. There's a hint of roasted malts at points, but it never really develops.

I wouldn't advise against buying this; it's certainly a fun Christmas beer to give to your favorite beer aficionado. Just don't expect too much from this wannabe stout. It's about as boring as the dinner I cooked, and in stark contrast to the beers I've been enjoying, and the cooking I was watching. Maybe it's just the context, but I was pretty unimpressed overall.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet