Beer is relaxing

This is just a fact. Beer can be very relaxing. Much like a hot bath, or a nice cigar, a cold beer can really offset a tiring day. Case in point - today I was sick and tired and exhausted, and just generally pissed off. What at? Nothing, really. Just pissed.

So I poured myself a glass of Troeg's Pale Ale. I've had troeg's twice and been impressed both times, so I was intrigued.

The beer poured golden, and that cold crisp first sip just relaxed every muscle. I sighed and quaffed more, enjoying the simple pleasure of the beer, to the exclusion of all else.

The beer itself, apart from magic relaxing qualities, was quite good. A pretty typical pale ale, the citrusy hops were nicely balanced by some sweet malts. Not a terribly complex beer, but just really simply and tasty. And sometimes thats all I want. Not a beer that I have to consider and attacks me from all angles. Just a nice simple beer at the end of an exhausting day.

Definitely something I'd look to for a session beer - worth a try for both the casual beer drinker and the regular.

Stone's brilliance

Good god. I had originally planned to consolidate my posts, but this isn't possible. This beer was so good that it deserves it's own post. I've written before about Stone's Smoke Porter with Chipotle, but the other night I got a full 12oz pour of it. And good god. There's a reason that I like that new bar, Alewife, as much as I do.

The flavor starts out, rich and dark, with roasted malts, some smokiness, and a slight coffee flavor. And then you're hit the face, WHAM, with rich spicy flavor. It's not overwhelming, and it blends nicely with the dark flavors.

The best part though, is after the sip. After you've swallowed the beer, and are resting, you feel a little tingling. It's the spiciness of the beer in the back of your throat, providing a deliciously heated, but not extremely spicy finish.

This is no hot sauce beer, no gimmick. This is a beer with an awesome flavor profile, that will knock your socks off. Or at least, it did mine anyway. This beer is up there with the Italian Chili Pepper stout, although sadly no less rare.

Really just a fantastic beer. My hat is off to stone for their innovation and creativity. Hope your beers are just as good, Cheers!

Dogfish and Alewife

Seriously, in case you can't tell from all my posts, I couldn't be more thrilled about Alewife opening. It's utterly fantastic to have a beer bar of that quality that close. I love it.

Specifically, tonight I was enjoying their featuring of several dogfish head beers. I was having trouble deciding what to get - between several old stone taps and the dogfish beers, they were featuring a lot of beers I wasn't terribly sold on, or had tried before.

Luckily, my conundrum was quickly resolved. Standing at the bar, I was chatting with the Dogfish rep about a dark beer that I'd seen people sipping. In response, she handed me a glass and said "Yeah, it's on Sam". The beer turned out to be their limited edition Bitches Brew, a tribute to Miles Davis. The beer is very dark, with a cocoa colored head. The flavor is roasted malts and cocoa, as per the usual. The shocker, though, comes with the finish.

The beer is actually flavored with honey, so the finish is devilishly subtle and sweet. It's not a cloying bite of sweetness, but it's a deliciously sweet finish, which contrasts nicely to the dark and roasted flavors of the beer. It dovetails nicely with some sweet fruit notes, and just provides a fantastic finish to the beer.

Although I thought I was done, I was apparently wrong. Padre, who I was having my beer with, had orderd a glass of My Antonia, Dogfish's continually hopped imperial pilsner. However, the waiter came back after he'd gotten his beer, and apologized. Apparently the bar had poured two, instead of one. Whoops! So, that's how I got my second free beer of the night.

My Antonia was surprisingly good. I'm not a huge hop fan, but the hop flavors really brought out the crisp, clean flavor of the beer, and the ending wasn't terribly bitter. The beer itself brought out flavors of grains and breads - but in such a light way that they didn't bog down the beer. Overall a really elegant version of a Pilsner, full of flavor.

So here's my shout out to Alewife and to Dogfish. To good beer (and to free beer)! May you have the same fortune, and go enjoy a beer!

The Great Pumpkin Beer Taste-off

I think part of the fun of beers is comparing them. A big reason that I started this blog was to start writing down my impressions, thoughts, and feelings on beer so I could recall them, and compare various beers.

With that in mind, my friends and I decided to go a pumpkin beer tasting. I'm not a huge pumpkin beer fan, but there are so many out right now, it seemed silly to do otherwise.

Now, I should preface this by saying that my favorite pumpkin beer was tried well before the tasting. I managed to get my hands on a bottle of Heavy Seas Great'er Pumpkin - their normal pumpkin beer that is aged in bourbon barrels. It was delicious. The bourbony vanilla really complemented the pumpkin spice flavor of the beer. However, this beer is fairly rare, so we weren't able to get another bottle of the tasting, despite Rouge driving damn near an hour to try and find some.

Of the beers we tried, I didn't really have a least favorite. The Heavy Seas was a little too boozy for my taste, but in it's defense, we didn't let it cool long enough. The flavor was all ginger and alcohol, with none of the lovely lightness of it's greater cousin.

Sam Adams was a tasty, light, and sweet beer - it tasted the "beeriest" of all the beers, but in doing so it lacked any serious pumpkin flavor. I like Sam Adams, but I realize now that a lot of their beers are kind of the entry level version of the microbrews. They make good beer, but it's not terribly adventurous - they're a middle ground between macro and micro, between Bud and Dogfish.

Speaking of Dogfish, their Punkin Ale had a very strong pumpkin spice flavor, which was tasty, but the beer itself lacked body. It was fairly thin, which didn't give the beer the sort of hearty backbone that a great pumpkin beer seems to need in my opinion. Still, fairly tasty.

Saranac, surprisingly, came out with one of the favorites of the evening. I thought that the flavor was a little herbaceous, but the flavor was indisputably pumpkin-ish, and although it wasn't terribly complex, it did the job of being a pumpkin beer.

My favorite of the evening, and a popular choice, was Southern Tier's Pumking. A full body, flavors of ginger and nutmeg and cinnamon, and an interestingly sweet finish made this beer taste like spice cake to some, pumpkin pie to others. Either way, a very, very solid beer, and winner of the evening. Highly recommended that you give this beer a shot, even if you're not a huge pumpkin beer fan.

Pure Wine and Stone at Alewife

Sometimes you're just lucky enough to have a couple of good places to eat, and this is clearly one of those times. I've had back to back weekends of glorious dining experiences, at both Alewife in Baltimore and Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City.

Alewife hosted a Stone Brewing Company event, offering 40 different Stone beers, many rare and old. I was floored by almost everything I tried that day. Best of the best would have been Stone's smoked porter with chipotle pepper. Similarly, their Mad Man Mix - a blend of 10 different years of their russian imperial stout, their sublimely self righteous ale, and some chipotle pepper was spicy and delicious. Their Vertical Epic 07.07.07 aged in red wine barrels was also impressive, tangy and light, with full flavors. Finally, one of their best that flew under the radar for me was their bitter chocolate oatmeal stout. Extremely creamy and smooth, with a lot of excellent chocolate flavors, this was a big surprise.

I also tried their smoked porter with vanilla, which was good but couldn't compare to the one with chipotle pepper, their aged russian imperial stout and their russian imperial aged in bourbon, both of which were dark and delicious, but a little boozy at times. Overall it was a really excellent time, and the beers were fantastic.

I also lunched, the other day, at Pure Wine Cafe. On main street in Old Ellicott City, it's a tiny little bistro with an amazing menu. I had Dogfish head's festina peche, delicious as always, as well as a tasty white wine named Infamous Goose. Really though, the food stole the show. Kobe Beef meatball sliders, truffled fries with pepper aoli, my god. Just amazing.

Hope your weeks are full of good beer and good food - til next time! Cheers!

The Alewife

So, admittedly, this post will be more about a bar than about beer. But really, when it's a craft beer bar that's just opened up in Baltimore, I hope you'll forgive me.

Alewife is a new place, just opened near the Hippodrome. With 40 beers on tap, I had to check this place out. The building is great - high ceilings and big windows take advantage of what was once a bank. The beer list is impressive, as hoped, with a good mix of styles and breweries, both local and foreign.

The food is a little expensive, with main dishes running in thwe $20-$30 range, but they have a fantastic selection of sides, small plates, and appatizers, which are less expensive but equally delicious. For the record, I reccomend the duck fat fries with sundried tomato ketchup.

I went there, in fact, this very evening, and availed myself of their delicious beers. My first beer was Victory's FestBier, a marzen/oktoberfest style beer from Victory. The beer had a really solid malty flavor, accented by bready notes, and some nutty flavors too. I wasn't wild about the aftertaste, which reminded me of fake sugar and bitter hops, but the beer was refreshing, with a very clean taste.

I then moved on to Stone's Smoke Porter, which I've reviewed before, but will reiterate: Damn. That is one tasty beer. For all you Baltimore natives out there, Stone breweries is taking over Alewife on October 1st for a special Stone-centeric evening with over 40 of stone's beers on tap. I for one, am pumped.

I should also mention, in the course of things, that I finally got to try my once favorite beer again. That's right, on two separate vists to Max's recently, they had Del Ducato Verdi's Imperial Stout. It's a stout made with chilipeppers, the mention of which makes me drool a little. In fact, I was extremely pleased to find that time had not exagerated the genius of this beer, which was every bit as chocolately, spicy, and delicious as I remebered. Still my favorite beer, hands down.

I also got to try, at Max's, Mikkeller's Beer Geek Breakfast, a smoked oatmeal stout. My compatriots all complained of it tasting like charcoal, but I thought it was a bold use of smokiness and roasted flavors, along with a nice hit of coffee, in an oatmeal stout, with a delicious result. It's certaintly a unique beer, and won't please all, but I loved it.

Also on tap was Heavy Sea's Smoke on the Water, a smoked porter. Sadly, we all agreed that this was hopefully a bad batch, as it tasted sour, as if it had gone bad, and was just not a very good beer, despite coming from an excellent brewer.

So, as you may notice, my posts have been less frequent. Well, sadly, I have moved far from my favorite beer store, and being busy with school and all, this blog may receive less love. How sad. I know how much you all loved it :-P. Still, I'll try and update when I can. Cheers!

Back in the swing of things

Oh man. I'm always so excited to come back home and try the bevvy of new beers. I've been settled in for a few weeks, but it still feels all new as I just finished moving into a new house.

And with new houses comes new beer. This time we've got two delicious Dogfish head beers, and one from a new brewery, Great Divide.

Great Divide is a Colorado brewery that I've heard a lot about, but never had the pleasure of getting to try. Specifically, I've heard about their Yeti stout - and what was awaiting me at my favorite local boozery? A big ol' bomber of Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

It pours a viscous black - damn close to molasses. The smell is all coffee. Hooo boy, and then some - the coffee flavor comes from them adding local espresso to the beer itself. The flavor has all my favorite notes - oak, chocolate, roasted malts, espresso beans, mmmmm. It tasted a little like a chocolate covered espresso bean actually, which was delicious. It was a little heavy for summer, but this is a beer I'd go after in any weather.

Namaste, from Dogfish head, is basically the opposite. A take on the Belgian Wit beer, it is extremely light and refreshing, and is a very tasty summer beer. Rather than a bland wit though, it is full of orange and lemongrass flavors. As is typical with wit beers, there is also some wheat flavor. There is also a light citrus hop, but nothing to make the beer anything more than a clean, clear, refreshing beer.

Third, and not last by any means, is dogfish head's festina peche. Now, this is classified as Berliner Weissbier. I'm not wholly certain what that is, but I'm not complaining. The beer pours a nice golden orange, with little to no head but plenty of carbonation. It's easy to confuse this beer for cider or sparkling wine on first taste, but after a few sips you can taste the malty undertones. The flavor is all sour peach, which is delicious in my opinion. Folks seem split on this beer, but it is an absolutely perfect summer beer in my opinion - light, bubbly, and full of fruit flavors without being overly sweet.

I should also note that I got to visit the Dogfish head brewpub in Rehoboth, which was pretty cool. The food was very tasty, and everything was woodgrilled, which was tasty. I also got to sample a few of their beers that I hadn't had in a while. The best of the bunch might actually have been the 60 minute IPA, which is weird because I despise IPAs. However, it was pleasantly cirtusy and very drinkable. All of the beers tasted were good though, so it was sort of the tallest NBA player sort of thing.

Anyway, more beer to come no doubt. Cheers!

Home again!

Oh man, being home is nice. Being abroad is fun and exciting, but it really just kind of gets tiring and expensive eventually. Also, the beer isn't as good :-P

Case in point - the first few days home I received bottles of Brooklyn Black Ops stout, as well as Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. Life is good.

In more pedestrian but equally delicious news, I also got to try Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace and Smuttynose's Hanami Ale.

The Sorachi was a bit of a whim - I like Brooklyn and I like saisons, so this was a pretty easy call. Poured it a little warm and it was none too tasty. Stuck it in the fridge, and found a solid improvement. Still, not really a beer I enjoyed that much. A lot of the powerful spicy flavor in saisons, but just a lot of bitterness that didn't seem to contribute. I'm thinking we should've chilled it further.

The Hanami, on the other hand, is one I've been eyeballing for a while. I like cherry ales - none of this stupid fruit beer nonsense, just another flavor in a nice solid ale. Hanami is an excellent example - an excellent sour cherry tang without sacrificing the character of the ale, or loading it with sugar. Really a tasty beer, nice sweet malts complimented by a sour cherry tang that is present but not overwhelming.

The deceptively mainstream

Here's the thing about beer - it can be crappy and mass produced even if it's tougher to get in some areas. Guinness, for all the enjoyment is can produce, is basically the budweiser of another country. Just because it's foreign, doesn't make it good.

The point isn't to bitch about Guinness though - no, the point is to remind people about all the awesome local beers that are around.

in Dublin, there is an awesome local brewpub called The Porterhouse. I wasn't able to try everything, but I enjoyed all that I had. They have a deliciously creamy oyster stout, a nice mild porter, and a surprisingly bitter-sweet stout called "wrassler XXXX", which was tasty. They also have a fantastic and full bodied red ale.

Speaking of excellent red ales, Cork has a similarly excellent brewpub. Called the Franciscan Well, this little place lies down an alley, and sits behind a big brass door. Inside are delicious beers, an excellent dry stout and a fantastically rich and tasty red ale.

Yes, I usually try and be more divorced, objective, and descriptive of beers. But really, it can be enjoyable to not be super critical, but just sit down and enjoy a delicious local beer without obsessing over it. So I apologize for my somewhat brief reviews, but I stand behind my judgments of these beers as absolutely delicious.

Again, the point is to look locally. Yes, there is a popular beer, with a well funded ad campaign that everyone knows. But don't stop there. Look for brew pubs, microbrews, and most of all local beers. These are beers that receive care and attention on a far greater level than mass produced macrobrews, and often have a lot more to offer in terms of flavors, taste, and overall adventurousness. They take risks that are abhorred by mass produced beers who strive for boring acceptance by as many people as possible.

Also? If you're ever in Ireland, look up these bars. They are delicious oases. And be sure to try the red ale

More than just Beer?

So, this is a disturbing trend. I've always felt that scotch was scotch - aged and classy $50 scotch tasted just like plastic jug $10 scotch. And I was okay with this - I'm already a snob about beer, and I'm nursing a slight snobbery about cigars - do I need something else too?

Apparently so. Being here in Scotland, I've been offered the opportunity to try many more scotches than I ever have before. Now, I'm not to the point of differentiating flavors in a big way, or being able to tell you the regions. But I can tell young from an old, cheap from pricey, and generally pick out the overarching taste. Lucky for me, scotch is an *extremely* expensive habit, so I don't see this one continuing. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, I've had a chance to try two more local beers! Apparently they're both classified as Scotch ales, although they have very different qualities. First is Isle of Skye Brewing Co's Cuillin Black, followed by Orkney Brewing Co's The Red MacGregor.

The Cuillin Black is a bit of an enigma - dark like a stout, with similar flavors, it's much lighter, like a black ale. However, it lacks the classic roasted malts that you expect from black ales or stout - it's flavored with heather honey and oatmeal, both of which really stick out. There are also some nice sweet malts to round it out. It satisfied my craving for dark beer, but was surprisingly light and sweet. Already craving another of these. Also got try a sip of the Cuillin Red, which was full bodied and delicious, but I didn't get a full glass sadly.

The Red MacGregor was similarly impressive. Not a red ale, not by my reckoning anyway, the flavors come out with bready malts matched with an aggressive and grassy hop note. There's also some caramel there, although it gets a little muddled. The hops were a little distracting, but the picture on the bottle of a giant Scotsman swinging a sword more than made up for that. Not my favorite beer, but well worth a try.

Brewdog!

Ah Brewdog. They kind of rock, in case I haven't ranted and raved enough about them before.

Brewdog is a new scottish brewer, doing interesting and quirky beers, everything from a .5% abv called Nanny State, to a whopping 41% abv called Sink the Bismarck. Needless to say, they're not afraid to be a little weird.

Now, in the states I've had a few of their beers and been really impressed, but most of their beers just aren't available. Thankfully, here in Scotland, things are different. While still not available at the local corner pub, some of the nicer places have them in bottles.

On this particular evening, I got to try both their Zeitgeist and their 77 Lager.

Zeitgeist is a black lager, but it masquerades quite aptly as a stout. Full bodied, rich, and dark, it's a very tasty beer, although pleasantly light as well. The flavors are the usual roasted malts, but also some sweetness - maybe molasses or brown sugar? There are also some sweeter dark fruit notes, and I think of blackberries, or black raspberries, with a little tartness. Overall, and excellent beer.

The 77 Lager, actually a pilsner, did not disappoint either. An aggressive beer, the taste is very clean but potently hopped, balanced by a nice sweet malt flavor. There's an herbal spiciness to the beer too, but I'm not totally sure what it is. Either way, certainly a beer I'd recommend, and one I'd like to try again on a hot summer day.

I also picked up a bottle of Paradox Isle of Arran (4 Pounds!), but I'm saving that for a special occasion, so it'll have to wait. Til next time!

Beers Abroad

Woah, it's been a while since I've updated. Life gets busy sometimes - specifically when you're traveling abroad for a month or so. I'm over in Aberdeen, Scotland, which is pretty damn cool.

Weirdly, they don't have a ton of beers over here. They tend to have a lot of british style bitters or IPAs, neither of which are my favorite. Still, there are a couple good fallbacks. Also, for some reason all their beers on tap are under 5% abv - anybody know if thats a local law or something?

The other weird thing is their focus on cold. I've always heard that a good british beer is best served chilled, but not cold. However, they have extra cold taps of Guinness, Fosters, and a couple other beers. They also serve their ciders on ice, which makes me feel like I'm drinking ginger ale.

So, the beers. Generally over here, they have the usual standbys - Budweiser, Carlsberg, Strongbow, and Fosters. They also have a local brew, Tennants, but these are all pretty much the same ubiquitous light macro beer. Not a huge fan of any of them, so thankfully they have a few others.

They also have Guinness, Belhaven's Best, and Magner's cider. Guinness is a little overrated - as stout's go it's pretty basic. On the other hand, it's consistently and reliably tasty - think the yuengling of stouts. Plus they can draw nifty shapes in the head.

Belhaven's Best is pretty darn good - it's a cream ale that's pleasantly light. It's not a really strong flavor, but the beer is very creamy and refreshing, with just your average malty flavor. Still, it's one of the better beers on tap.

My other option is Magner's cider. Known in Ireland as Bullmers, everywhere else in the world it's called Magners. It's a very dry cider, and deliciously crisp. I'm occasionally frowned upon for getting a girly drink at the pub, but I love this cider and feel no shame.

That's all for now - hopefully I'll find some other interesting Scottish beers to write about. Til then, Cheers!

Such a bad idea

So, no matter what your friends tell you, don't order two twenty ounce glasses of 10% abv beer. I am a lucky man and my evening of drinking only ended in me being overly loud and verbose. two twenty ounce beers, at 10%, is roughly 6 and 2/3 beers. In two glasses. Yikes.

To be fair, they were delicious. At my new favorite pub (apparently), Victoria Gastro, they have a Sunday evening happy hour which is half off draft beer. You can get high quality beer for less then a five spot. This particular evening, I was torn between Heavy Seas Below Decks Barleywine that was Bourbon barrel aged, and Cabernet barrel aged. Truly a dilemma for the ages.

As stated above, after some encouragement from my friends, I ended up getting both. Now, I've never tried Below Decks before, but I could tell right away that it was a pretty tasty barleywine. The dark fruits and candy sugar make it quite drinkable, despite it's high alcohol content. The beer itself isn't particularly adventurous for a barleywine, but the barrel aging changes the game.

Now, a lot of breweries are doing barrel aging - it's sort of the cool new thing. And I for one couldn't be more thrilled. I love barrel aging - it imparts delicious flavors and mellows beers pleasantly. I expected to really like the bourbon barrel aging, but I was surprised to find that I favored the Cabernet barrel aged variety.

The Bourbon variety had some tasty notes of oak and vanilla, but a sharply alcohol bourbon taste combined with the high alcohol content to make the beer a little too boozy for me. The Cabernet variety, on the other hand, had a really nice acidity and tartness that worked well with the dark fruits and masked the heavy booziness of the beer.

Overall, I'd highly recommend giving either of them a try, as they were both very impressive beers. But not both. Even if you can get 20 oz. of both for under ten bucks. Pick your favorite or share with a friend, but even one of these beers will end in a cab ride home, or bringing a DD.

Collaboration is good

So, I was at the neighborhood late-night booze shop. Thankfully, even the super late night stores in the area carry interesting craft beers. I grabbed a bottle of Stone's smoked porter, but I'm saving that for a later date. What grabbed me though, and didn't let go, was a collaboration beer between stone, dogfish head, and victory brewing. A saison, it proudly proclaimed to have been brewed with sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley.

The beer is called Saison du Buff. Buff stands for Brewers United for Freedom of Flavors, and you can see why. The first smell is pungently spicy, and the taste doesn't do any less. You're hit with a very yeasty flavor, and then with all the aforementioned herbs, shocking your taste buds. This is beer, not a turkey dinner.

The beer is pleasant, and dry, but I felt like it didn't necessarily follow through. The taste is powerful upfront, but then kind of drops off without a noticeable or appreciable aftertaste. Still, for such an interesting beer, I find it hard to judge it too harshly. Obviously there are also some malts, with a pleasant sweetness countering the mild citrusy hops.

Overall, worth a try. This is an *odd* beer, mostly in a good way, and I doubt we'll see another beer like it for a long time. Give it a try, at a little under $4 a bottle, you can't cry too much if you don't like it.

This one took way too long

Seriously, it's been a looong time since I've tried more than a few of these beers. I apologize to my loyal reader (there's one out there, right? :-P) but I just haven't found the time to sit down and hash my thoughts out.

We'll start with the best of the bunch - I was at Victoria Gastro Pub, quickly becoming a favorite of mine, debating between an Oyster Stout and a Saison, when I saw that there was an odd beer. It was a Strawberry Weisse, a "short batch" from Smuttynose. It was described as a sour strawberry beer, and I was hooked. I love Smuttynose, and I liked the idea of trying something limited edition.

The beer was fantastic. It poured a rich, ruby red, and was deliciously sour with a nice flavor of strawberries. This was no thin wheat beer with a hint of fruit - it was a punch in the face. To be fair, I desperately love all things sour, so be prepared to deal with a lot of sour. A relatively uncomplicated beer, I was nonetheless wholly impressed by their ability to make a strong and delicious fruit beer. Fruli strawberry can suck it - this is far and away the best fruit beer I've ever had.

Now, I also feel like I've made a mistake somewhere, because apparently I've never written about Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. This seems wrong, as it's quickly become one of my favorites for summer. Nonetheless, I'll give you my impression, and hopefully you'll forgive any accidental doubling.

Their Summerfest is a lager, but this is no bland golden beer. It has a very nice clean, crisp, and refreshing taste with floral and grassy notes, with a pleasantly assertive hop flavor rounding it out. Not too bitter, it's excellent for hot days and lazing around, with an interesting character but light enough to drink more than a few. According to beer advocate, the beer is a Czech Pilsner, but seeing as the bottle calls it a lager, I'm sticking to that.

I also had a chance, oddly enough, to try their Celebration ale. It's a winter beer from them, but apparently it'd been hiding in the back of my friend, The Culinator's, fridge. Classified as an American IPA, I admit to having my doubts. The beer is excellent - darker and spicy, with a nice hop profile. However, it just doesn't taste as bitter as I expect for an IPA. There are also some sweet malts in there as well, making a nicely balanced beer. Tasty and delicious, although misclassified for my money.

Now, the last beer was good, but a little surprising. While at the Perfect Pour, I picked up a mixed pack of Star Hill. On the box was listed the numerous awards each beer had won - multiple medals at the great American beer festival. Needless to say, I was excited.

Star Hill's Amber Ale is good. It's a nice copper red, with flavors of toffee and caramel, as well as some bready malts. Really though, it was pretty boring. I want to reiterate - it wasn't bad. But it wasn't terribly interesting, especially for a medal winning beer. Not a bad session beer, as I had a couple without evening noticing it, but nothing to write home about.

Around the world

That's the gimmick of the latest beer I tried. My friend The Culinator came over this past wednesday to share some beer and enjoy Top Chef goodness. Currently the show is Top Chef masters, and while Culinator is not as amused with the contestants ("There's nobody to hate!"), the host ("She doesn't eat anything!", or the skill level ("I like it better when they fuck up"), I think the show is pretty badass.

The chefs on the show are all famous restaurant owners, well known in their craft, so there is less amateurism, and more impressive competition. The latest chef was eliminated because although their dish was delicious and well made, it was too simple and ordinary (toast with coconut jam, and a soy sauce egg. More than I could do, but less than the crusted swordfish, the pan fried scallops, the cured salmon and steak tartar.

With it, we enjoyed Dogfish Head's Pangea. Uncertain at first what kind of boooze it was, we looked it up. It is, as reported by Beer Advocate, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. A bit of a mouthful, but I was intrigued. The flavor profile, perhaps unsurprisingly, is pretty similar to a Saison or Biere de Garde. It's got some serious fruity esters, with a nice hop finish, and an interesting ginger note.

Really, the big complaint from us both was how timid and mild it was. It felt like the flavors were all very dissipated, as if I was seeing them from a long way off. The flavors were each tasty, but just hints of their full potential. I was pretty unimpressed, considering how much I like dogfish head, but this beer just didn't do it for me. It's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination, but it just feels like a shadow of what it could and should be/what other beers are. Worth a try, but don't think I'd get it again.

Now, a word to the wise. We had the beer at room temperature, but we wondered whether chilling with concentrate the somewhat weak flavors. The bottle warned us not to, that the beer was best served chilled, but not cold. Luckily we only used about a sip each to get it cold, because it was AWFUL. All alcohol and bitterness, without any real flavor until the aftertaste. Definitely follow the bottle here folks - chilled, not cold.

In retrospect, I wonder whether judging this as if a saison or biere de garde is wrong - after all, in terms of a pale ale it wasn't all that bad. Crisp and refreshing, with enough bite to be interesting but not too much. However, they didn't call it a belgian pale ale. They called it belgian strong pale ale. And I expect something a little more forceful when they call it a strong ale - Arrogant Bastard and Brooklyn Local #2 are strong ales. This just isn't in the same weight class as those heavy hitters.

Revisiting the past

So, most of my early forays into craft beer are due to my dad. He drinks interesting and odd beers, and he has usually been okay with me sipping them. One of the first of these I remember was at the grand opening of Victoria Gastro Pub, so it was years ago, maybe even before I went to college.

He had ordered this hilariously named beer, Arrogant Bastard. It sounded ridiculous and I had to try some. It went down like tile cleaner though, bitter and horrid. Ever since then I've always shied away from Stone's Arrogant Bastard. But I realized that it's been years, and I owed it another try. If just for the name, I had to try Arrogant Bastard again.

And much to my surprise, it was pretty damn delicious. The beer has a pretty prodigious head, which sticks around for a while. The bitterness is still a pretty major aftertaste, lingering for quite a while. But as the beer warms, the bitterness becomes less pronounced, and overall the taste isn't super bitter. Definitely hoppy, with some grapefruit and chocolate. This wasn't my favorite beer ever, but it was challenging, and interesting, and I feel like I conquered a pretty major part of my past.

I also had the good fortune to try Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot, an imperial brown ale. The name is absolutely fitting, as this beer comes on strong and stays powerful but delicious. It's nutty, with some caramel and chocolate, and a nice malt sweetness, but an undertone of hops that keeps this from being a sweet beer. A seriously tasty brown ale, this is a more powerful version of a typically tame beer. Definitely recommend a try for anyone who likes brown ales.

Recap time!

So, with finals taking up all my time, I saved all my wonderful beer for a single blog post. Bear with me, this is gonna get a little long.

I wasn't planning to jump into ridiculous beers, but the first weekend of finals, I went home to find out my friends were having a horse racing party. Which race? I don't know! However, I was able to acquire some delicious beers, and branch out a little.

The first was Troeg's Sunshine Pils. This aggressive looking beer seemed like a nice compliment to a hot spring day. And oh it was. Nice and refreshing, with a pleasant hop taste that never overwhelmed the nice lemony citrus. I'm not necessarily a huge pilsner fan, but this was a great beer to sip on a hot day.

I also grabbed Flying Dog's Garde Dog. I've been more and more intrigued with Biere De Garde, a style similar to the Saison. This was a pretty meek version of the style though. Not bad by any means, but a little timid, especially for Flying Dog. A great introduction to the style though for any wary newcomers. It's generically yeasty and spicy, and not a lot more can be said.

I figured I'd be done with beer for a little while at least, crazy me. I had forgotten that I planned to go out for drinks after my first final with Sparrow, Stark, and The Girlfried (aka llama lady aka cat staring at a butterfly aka cutiesaurus rex). I was determined to try this little chic wine bar in Hamden called 13.5%

The place is awesome. I can't even pretend to be snobbish - it was a great mix of classy and relaxed. The food was also ridiculously good. I had stout braised short ribs that literally fell apart and melted in my mouth. Oh god so good. I also had their tiramisu, which was less impressive, but still very tasty.

Mostly though, I was excited to try some beer. I had noticed that they had Evolution's Lucky 7 Porter on tap. I'd been dying to try this for a while, and had even contemplated getting some for the horse racing party, but realized that porter and hot spring days don't mix for most people.

It was delicious, but a little disappointing towards the end. The beer started out as everything I'd ever loved about porters - full flavors of roasted malts, some nice coffee notes, and a little chocolate too, not too bitter and pleasantly light. Mmmm porters. The problem though came after a little while of sipping - maybe it was my excessive hunger, but the beer started to just have a sickly sweet aftertaste. It was just upsetting at the end of a dark, roasty beer to suddenly taste brown sugar everywhere. I feel like I owe this beer another try though, because I've heard so many good things.

What's better than Porter? More Porter! And luckily for me, I'd chosen a hell of a porter to follow up Lucky 7. I got my hands on a probably too expensive but oh so worth it bottle of Rogue's Double Mocha Porter. The taste is boozy, but oh so much coffee/chocolate mix, and roasted malts. I realize that this is how I describe every porter, but c'mon. Until someone does something crazy with the style, that is how you make a delicious porter. This one packs a ridiculous punch of espresso and dark chocolate, satisfying the biggest fan of coffee beer.

And I thought I was done until after finals. I'd had a good week of delicious beers, and was ready to relax until the end of finals. Oh, but I was wrong. I went home for mothers day, with ChefSister and DudeBrah, as well as the rest of the family. What I didn't expect was to be sent out to get beer. Oh, and beer I got.

Started out with a 6 pack of Allagash white, which was absolutely delicious. Allagash white might be my favorite wheat beer, always ridiculously refreshing and surprisingly flavorful. Oh, but that wasn't the end.

No, I was asked to get an oatmeal stout. Oh darn, right? And what did I find there, but a beer I'd been searching for - Rogue's Shakespeare Stout. I know I promised to avoid stouts, but what can I do? It pours a gorgeous black with a cocoa colored head. It's sweet oats and milk chocolate all the way through for this one.

And finally, just when I thought I was done, DudeBrah pulled out the Fordham Scotch Ale, with which to marinate the brats (which was amazing, by the way). I'd had my eye on Fordham's scotch ale for a while, as a big fan of scotch ales. It pours a nice copper brown, and smells all manner of smoke. The taste is standard scotch ale, peat moss, smoke, and some sweet fruits. Really a great example of scotch ales, if not too exciting - think of it as a good mid point.

Finally, last but far from least, I saved a real mad man for my last finals beer. I received from a friend at law school a bottle of Samichlaus. For those who don't know, it's a famous Barleywine that is barrel aged and bottle aged, and is basically a wine among beers.

it pours a gorgeous cherry wood red, with little to no head. The first smell is all alcohol and a cloyingly sweet note of candied sugar and licorice. The taste follows up with a sharp shock of alcohol that warms nicely and tastes of cherries and raisins, and maybe some plum. Not even a hint of hops to be found, but the abundant malts more than make up for it, with a surprisingly sweet (molasses? syrup?) aftertaste despite the booziness.

The beer is a little overpowering at first, but as it warms it settles into a delicious desert of a beer. Not that I've tried it before, but I'd put this up against Port any day of the week for a nice after dinner drink. One is enough though - and then some. At 14% abv, you'll want to sip this one nice and slow.

So yeah. My alcohol infused, ridiculous finals week and a half. Yikes. Glad to be done, sad to see those delicious beers disappear. Until next time!

Oh god stouts

So Young's double chocolate stout was excellent and wonderful, but might've been improved by the cigar I was smoking. At the very least the flavor interaction was wonderful. The beer was basically liquid chocolate, with alcohol. So wonderful.

Siren Noire was more complex, and I wish I'd been focusing on it. Dark chocolate, pleasantly bitter, a thin-ish mouthfeel. Also some burnt wood, and a hint of sweet fruits.

why am I not being all descriptive and including this in a narrative? it is finals and I am both busy and exhausted and sick and none of these conditions will feasibly disappear any time soon.

Really, I blame joining a study group. I'd have sooooo much free time if I wasn't trying to improve my grades by seeing what studying with others has to offer. Laaaame I know, but I actually like law school.

Why am I still drinking an assload of stouts? Because they are inexpensive, reliably wonderful, and these are two I've been dying to try. So sue me. Not stout next time, I promise! I have a porter, an imperial brown ale, and a barleywine. Hoooray beer!

NFL and Beer

Ahhhhh, one of my favorite times of the year. As an avid NFL fan, the draft is one of the best events. It's full of the unpredictability we know and love, as well as so many hopes for next season with new talent. Also, the chance to make fun of stupid coaches making dumb picks.

Obviously such an event deserves good beer and good food. Hold you horses though, we'll get there.

Earlier in the day, I went to Pratt Street Ale House, dying to try a concoction I've mentioned here before. It's half oatmeal stout, half cherry wheat ale. The result was a surprisingly delicious black and tan that tasted just like it's moniker: a chocolate covered cherry.

The beer looks awesome, with dark stout atop rich red-amber beer. The first sip is all chocolate and oats, but soon is filled with subtle flavors of sour cherry. Man this was a sippable beer, every sip producing a different flavor combination. Definitely loved it, would highly recommend it.

This wasn't the end though. I cracked open a bottle I've been holding for a while in anticipation - Rogue's Black Lager. Part of some new agricultural endeavor by Rogue, the beer pours black with a very cool dark brown head that looks like fresh cocoa. The first sip is all those flavors I've come to know and love - roasted malts, dark chocolate. The best part though is that crisp lager finish and light mouthfeel. A great exemplar of black lagers without being too adventurous, and definitely worth a try for any stout fans out there.

I actually only had half the bomber though, because the other half went to making more beer bread. Mmmmm, beer bread. This loaf ended up cocoa brown (shocker :-P), and was delicious like the last one - crusty on the outside, spongy and soft on the inside. Sadly though, the cocoa flavor was a little overwhelming and ended up tasting like it should've been part of desert rather than dinner. Tasty, but perhaps a little misplaced.

To be fair, it was also being used to dip into my latest creation. I decided that for this most high of NFL holidays, I'd try my hand at an old favorite, buffalo chicken dip. It's all the best part about buffalo wings - chicken, cheese, and hot sauce, without any of the bones or fat.

The recipe is pretty simple - although I probably could've used some shredded cheese and a little less chicken. The basics are take about a pound or so of chicken, cook it, cut it up, and toss it in with a package of cream cheese (1 8 oz. package), half a cup of hot sauce, half a cup of salad dressing (ranch or blue cheese), and half a cup of shredded cheese.

Tragically, I had no shredded cheese, and ended up cutting up string cheese. Don't mock me, I'm poor! Also, I ended up super rushed, and rather than baking the chicken (as I've been told is ideal), I tossed the chicken into a pot full of water, and luckily it came out fully cooked. Hooray for boiling! All in all, the dip was pretty successful, and actually a pretty big hit. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with cheese, meat, and hot sauce, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

That's all for now - hopefully your weeks are full of good beer. Until next time, Cheers!

Too much of a good thing

So, I'm working on a theory. I've found, more and more, that at a certain point all the stouts I'm drinking taste very similar. Of course, there is some joy to be found in all the intricacies of stouts, but I'm having trouble finding truly unique stouts.

Case in point. For Christmas (yes, it's been a while), I received a bomber of Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, made by Anderson Valley brewing co out in California. I'd been waiting for a good reason to crack it open, and had been distracted by the plethora of other beers I've been finding.

It pours a nice dark brown, with very little head. Taking a deep whiff, I get mostly roasted malts, with a little chocolate. The taste is pretty darn good, flavors of coffee and hints of chocolate and vanilla, with a nice creamy mouthfeel, and plenty of oatmeal taste to round it out. Of course, ever present are those delicious roasted malts.

Here's the problem. It was delicious. I loved it. But it didn't grab my attention the way stouts used to, or rivet me to my seat. I feel like I've tried too many stouts or something, but I may have to take a break and try different beers.


Of course, coming along and runing my theory is a beer I had a while ago and just irresponsibly forgot to sing the praises of here. I went out to Max's with some friends, and on their menu was Harpoon Island Creek Oyster Stout. I'd heard that Oyster stouts are pretty interesting, and so I had to try it. And wow, they were right.

The flavors were the usual roasted malts, but with a wholly new experience of smoked oysters, a kind of salty fishy taste that went surprisingly well with the dark roasted malts and coffee flavors. It was an odd beer, and I'm not sure if I'd want to try it with food, or even have more than one, but it was a fascinating departure from the usual, which was nice.


Now, I also feel irresponsible for never giving this beer it's due before here. My standby beer, far and away, is Yuengling Lager. For those living outside the east coast, Yuengling is one of the oldest breweries in the states, and makes a tasty yet affordable lager. They are the my favorite fall back, and a great beer to drink when you're hanging out with your friends.

In fact, it's pretty dangerous being so drinkable, it's easy to have 3 or 4 without really realizing it. The flavor is utterly generic: some sweet malts, some light hops, and maybe a little caramel and some grains. Ultimately though, for a beer almost as cheap as the piss water that is Miller and Budweiser, it is a far better beer. I cannot recommend it highly enough for parties and other shindigs where you're not looking for a crazy beer, but something enjoyable to sip with friends.

Wow, and here I was aiming for a one beer review. Just goes to show you how quickly I can get carried away. Until next time!

Series of Sam (6 of 6)

So, here it is. The end of an era. A very, very short, and mostly delicious era. I am, as I write this, finishing the last of the Sam Adams mix pack. And I may have saved the best for last.

Sam Adams cream stout is a darn tasty beer. One of the earlier stouts I tried, I'd like to think it was pretty formative. It pour a rich dark brown, with a light brown head. The smell is all roasted malts. The first sip is tastes of roasted malts, with a nice creamy undertone. There's also some hints of milk chocolate, as well as a smoky flavor. The beer is pleasantly thick - not heavy, but full and delicious.

I really appreciate this beer for being exceptionally drinkable. This is a stout I could pretty much drink all day, summer or winter. The light creaminess perfectly balances against the thick maltiness. Mmmmm cream stout.

However, this wasn't the end of my alcohol related escapades for the day. Oh no.

I also went to Pratt Street Ale House, to try their new offering, the Cherry Blossom Ale. I know that this sounds like a fruity girly drink, but I was actually pretty darn impressed. I'm not a huge fan of wheat beers, but this was a delicious beer.

It pours a nice red amber, with a pinkish head. The first smell is cherries, shockingly. The taste though, was a sucker punch. Sour cherries, a nice subtle undertone of wheat, and a very nice light hoppy finish. This beer tastes like spring should in my opinion - light, tart, a little sweet, and herbal at the finish. I could've had a few pints, but sadly I couldn't stay.

I've also heard that it goes ridiculously well mixed with their Bishop's breakfast, their oatmeal stout, for something of a chocolate cherry. On the list to try next week.

Now, I had planned to finish the evening with a brand new beer, but the evening was a little too rushed. I went out to Cazbar on Charles Street with some friends, and just got back too late to really sip and enjoy. To be fair, it was worth it - Cazbar is ridiculously delicious, and makes me crave more pretty much every time I think about it. I can't even intelligibly describe the food, other than to say it was amazing and fantastic.

However, this didn't temper my enthusiasm. I'd been dying to try this beer, and come hell or high water, I would. So, the following afternoon I cracked open my bottle of Stillwater Artisanal Ale's Stateside Saison. Stillwater is a new Maryland brewer, and I've been dying to try them ever since I saw the first rave reviews of their offerings.

Their saison does not fail to impress. It pours a nice golden yellow, with a brilliant white head. The smell is all fruity esters. The first taste is that trademark belgian spice/yeast flavor, with a very nice, very subtle hop finish. The flavors are herbal and woody/grains, with hints of orange or coriander and lemon as well. This is dangerously drinkable, and I finished the whole darn bottle before I realized it. And of course, now I want more.

Man, I need to not cluster my beer into so few days. Ideally I'd spread these out more, but I somehow just always wait on beer til the end of the week to really enjoy it, along with my freedom from school.

Mmmmm beer. Until next time!

-The Unabashaed Ungourmet

Series of Sam (5 of 6)

So, this week was a little less awesome than most weeks. I decided to try two different beers, one which sounded interesting, and one which I had tried before, hadn't loved, but was willing to try again.

The first beer, Black Eye Ale, is a mix of Mendocino's stout and golden ale. The beer store clerk had a decent opinion of it, but online reveiws were not so favorable. I went into this one with mixed expectations, and was sad to find out that the online crowd seemed to have it right.

Unlike a good black and tan which is all the roasted flavor of a stout or porter and all the smoothness and lightness of an ale, it was kind of heavy, with weak tastes of chocolate and wheaty flavor. Really, it's not an impossible standard either, holding it up against Yuengling's black and tan. Really, even a home made black and tan of guiness and harp was better than this. It just tasted mixed and confused, with none of the excellent parts of either. Sad. Still, at 4 bucks for a bomber, I guess I got what I paid for.

The next beer was Sam Adams new spring beer, their Nobel Pils. Now, I admit to a bit of a grudge, as I was a huge fan of their old spring seasonal, the white ale. Also, i tried this beer before, and was pretty roundly unimpressed. However, I promised to try everything in that mix pack, and this wouldn't be any different.

The beer pours a light golden with a nice small head. The smell is all hops. Sadly, the taste was all hops too. Now, this shouldn't be a surprise. The beer actively describes itself as having all five "noble hops", whatever that may mean. But really, what with me still not being a huge fan of hops, I was frustrated by the lack of other flavors. I feel like it's also a characteristic of Pilsners to be kind of boring. I might be trying to the wrong pilsners though.

It was an earthy, herbal kind of taste, but only in the sense that it tasted like hops, rounded out by a hop bitterness. With nothing to balance out the hops, I feel like this beer isn't bad for hop lover who want a beer to sip, but otherwise steer clear.

Really though, it's just my comeuppance for having so much excellent beer all the damn time. Eventually you have a bad week. Did I mention last week at the bar watching the UFC fight I got to have Resurrection on tap? I really can't complain too much. Until next time!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

The Quadrant Theory

Alright, so you've seen my undying love of beer. I drink a lot of it, and I like to enjoy it with friends. In this time, I've slowly developed a theory on enjoying beers.

People (read: my friends) seem to really pick a favorite type of beer. This is only normal, but how to organize beers? I find it easiest to differentiate Malty (Stouts/Porters), Hoppy (Pale Ale/IPA), German (Pilsner, Bock), and Belgian (Dubbel, Saison).

I realize that using countries is both inexact and difficult as compared to malty and hoppy, but try and follow. Belgian beers, for example, tend to be fruity and use a lot of spices. German beers are tougher, but I know there's a unifying factor there as well, although it's tough to describe. My feelings on German beers is that they are pleasantly uncomplicated and kind of "clean".

Either way, it quickly became apparent that this wasn't the right idea. Too many people enjoyed more than one of those categories. But then I reformulated it as a grid. The axis are relatively unimportant, but you have malty vs. hoppy and german vs. belgian.

In my experience, people pick one side of each, and have a clear preference. It doesn't mean that someone like myself (Malty and Belgian) can't enjoy a pale ale, but I'll almost always default to a delicious stout or black lager. Whereas, my friend Stark tends to be more of a Hoppy and German person, often going for a pils or marzen, and being repulsed by my ridiculous stouts.

But obviously I have a pretty limited set. So tell me your experience. What about you? What about your friends? Do you know someone who breaks the theory?

and for the love of god, does someone who likes German beers more than me have a better description of them than "clean"?

Let me know!

Series of Sam (4 of 6)

You know, the problem with constantly having good beers is that eventually you become kind of inured to the whole thing. As much as I love reviewing beers, sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy the beers, without having to worry about flavor profiles.

Over spring break, I got to enjoy Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Allagash White, and Stoudt's Fat Dog stout, all of which were delicious. However, I had these while hanging out with friends and being social. And as much as I enjoyed them, I must shamefully admit to not having put much more thought into them than "damn! this is a delicious beer! I should drink more of it..."

However, luckily for me, this kind of exhaustion doesn't last. As you saw earlier this week I'm right back into the swing of things. Now, I only intended to review one beer tonight, but I ended with two, which is just such a darn shame.

The beer I intended, as above, was another from the Sam Adams mix pack. I'm saving their delicious cream stout for last, but I wanted a beer I could reliably enjoy, so the noble pils had to wait as well. Hence, I went with their ubiquitous Boston Lager.

It pours light golden, with supririsingly little head for a beer whose commercials always feature suds going freaking everywhere. The smell was tough to place, but is one I instantly associate with their Boston Lager and Ale. It's dark, and kind of malty. The beer, if anything, is more so. The taste is dark, maybe chocolate or caramel, and pleasantly malty, with an almost bready flavor.

This beer is pretty much the definition of a fallback beer, good for dinner or sipping with friends, but isn't exactly a thrill ride. If you haven't tried it, shame on you. If you have, it's a solid beer to have on hand for when that crazy beer you're trying ends up tasting like suck.

Speaking of a slightly more crazy beer, I had the good fortune of grabbing a brew with The Parental this evening at Pratt Street Ale House. A typical favorite, I was deciding between their delicious porter and scotch ale, when a new beer caught my eye. It was called Biere De Garde, and was their take on the French farmhouse ale.

Intrigued, I ordered myself a glass. It pours dark amber/reddish. The taste is delicious fruits (maybe cherries?) nicely mixed with a citrusy hop note. Rounding it out, thanks I imagine to the Belgian yeast, is a certain spice flavor that runs undercurrent to the rest of the beer. It's a very tasty beer, but I'm not sure I could share my focus with anything else - it's a holds-its-own kind of beer.

Ah good beer. May I always be cursed with such a bounty of delicious drinks. Cheers!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Beer in a Can???

It's funny - my first beer was definitely from a can. I don't remember what it was, but I'm sure it was some third rate piss water they serve at college frat parties. Mostly, I imagine, because I had it at a college party.

But the last time I had beer in a can? Well, other than the last time I had Oskar Blues, I'm not even sure. Nice beer doesn't come in cans. Nice beer comes in bottles, and almost always in bombers of some sort. Well, I think Oskar blues is trying to change that.

I had their Ten Fidy stout a few months ago at Max's, and I've been dying to try more since then. A multiple award winner, this beer is 8% abv and has rave reviews. The beer, "Old Chub", is their version of a Scottish Ale.

The beer pours a dark brown, with very little head. The smell is smoke and dark chocolate, and I won't lie, it made my mouth water a little.

The first taste is sweet, but with a smoky aftertaste. Dark chocolate is present, with tastes of earthy sweetness, rounded out with a nice smokiness. A smooth maltiness is present, mixing nicely with the sweet and bitter flavors.

This is a seriously tasty beer, good for sipping, and I imagine nice with some sort of steak or chops. Definitely worth a try.

I certainly don't miss the days of Natty Light and Milluake's Best, but Oskar Blues is giving me a reason to try canned beer again.

Victoria Gastro Pub

Victoria Gastro Pub is a little restaurant in Columbia MD. It's been here for a few years, and I actually went fairly soon after it opened. But with moving about and it being a fancy place, I haven't been back in years.

It's still as expensive as ever, but damned if that will ever deter me again. They have an excellent beer selection, a nice atmosphere, and ridiculously delicious (and expensive) foods. Particularly their "poutine", or duck fat fries. These delicious fries come out piping hot, covered in duck fat gravy and melted Gruyere cheese. Also there are still pieces of dark meat here and there. Good god there were delicious.

But the food is not all I was drooling about last night. They have an excellent tap selection - everything from Smuttynose Robust Porter, to Troegs Nugget Nectar, to Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pils. But most importantly they had Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

This heavy hitter weighs in at 13% abv and won a god medal at the 2006 world beer cup. I've seen it on numerous other blogs as one of their favorite stouts, so despite many other tempting options, I decided I had to give this bad boy a try.

And wow was I glad I did. It poured black, and smelled of chocolate and vanilla, with a rich cocoa colored head. The first sip is all chocolate, with some smokey caramel. As it mellows, flavors of vanilla and charred oak really emerge, making this beer taste almost like a nice bourbon more than a stout. But it is ever so drinkable, and utterly delicious.

This isn't a desert beer, nor is it a drink during the game with some friends. This is a beer to sit and sip and appreciate. And maybe have a cigar with - something I'm dying to try now. Long story short, if you're a stout man like myself, give this one a try for damn sure.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

P.S. - Not enough to write a review, but went to a beer tasting. Lagunitas Brown Shugga was very tasty, and their IPA was shockingly drinkable for someone who doesn't love IPAs. Their correction ale was pretty good too, with some citrusy tastes. All in all a good bunch.

Series of Sam (3 of 6)

So, spring break starts tommorow for me, although sadly I feel like I've got more work than ever and may actually spend a good portion of break working. How sad.

But to celebrate my quasi freedom, I decided I'd crack open another Sam Adams. So far I've been 2 for 2 with tasty beers, so I decided to take a risky pick. I chose Sam Adams Coastal Wheat, a heffeweizen with lemon. I admit to having some trepidation coming into this beer, not being a huge fan of Heffe beers.

Overall, not a bad beer. It pours a light amber/golden with a nice head. The smell is all wheat beer. First taste is wheat and spices, with an undertone of lemon. There were times when the beer tasted more like lemon pledge than anything else, but they seemed to be the minority. The lemon really is pretty subtle, but there are nice solid flavors at the end - kind of sweet lemon rind.

I must admit that this isn't really a beer I'm dying to try again. However, that comes with a caveat. I am drinking this beer on a Thursday night, on a warmish March evening. This beer really feels like one should drink it on a hot summer day, especially towards sunset, relaxing and enjoying a cool beer. I really want to try it again in that situation, because it has the potential to be a delicious summer beer.

However, a spring or winter beer it is not. Not bad, but not something I plan to try again soon. As I said above, this week is spring break, so expect some new beers! Assuming my wallet can handle it!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Series of Sam (2 of 6)

Now, I admit that I like to save the best for last, but I just couldn't resist cracking open one of my favorite beers. It's lost a step or two by comparison to some of the beers I've had since then, but it'll always be a classic.

The first time I had it was at a Superbowl party. My friends had picked up a Sam Adams spring pack, which seemed weird in February. I admit to being a little hesitant at first, but this beer started my appreciation of scotch ales.

Sam Adams Scotch Ale pours a rich amber, without much head. The smell is smokey and rich. The first taste is a an oakiness, followed by tart fruitness and of course delicious smoke. I also swear I can taste some peatiness, but I can't quite pick it out. The best part though, might be the mellow finish.

As scotch ales go, it is a fine exemplar. If you like scotch ales, don't aim too high, but if you're a casual drinker, definitely give this one a try.

So Much Beer!

So, be warned, this is an absurdly long post. For your convenience, it's divided into three sections. Pre-Beer Dinner, Beer Dinner Beers, and then Beer Dinner recipes/cooking.

I decided this week, with some of my friends home and around, to host a beer dinner. This meant cooking with beer as well as having beer for tasting afterwards. And it was *awesome*, really just a great way to share beer with friends and have a fun evening.

Pre-Beer Dinner

So, as if this wasnt enough, my friends ended up coming in Tuesday to go to Max's. Never one to turn down Max's, I was thrilled at the prospect. I was even more excited when i saw that Allagash Black, a stout that I've been dying to try, was on their menu.

The beer pours dark into a Belgian beer glass (kind of like a giant snifter). Sadly, it really just wasn't that good. It tasted more like an ale than a stout. It was kind of watery, lots of dark chocolate and bitter coffee with some weird yeasty notes. Overall it just wasn't very good, being too thin and bitter, and not rich and hearty like most stouts. To be fair, as a Belgian stout it might be excellent, but I was not a fan.

On Thursday, before the dinner, I went for a run. Forgetting that I haven't been on a run in weeks, I went four miles, only to come back in paaaaain. To soothe my aching feet, I decided a bath was in order. A stroke of genius hit me, and I decided to have a beer with my bath.

It sounds like heresy, but it was perfect. A nice cold beer, a nice hot bath, and perfect relaxation. Try it some time and thank me.

I was trying Troeg's, a brewing company I'd never tried before. They're known for their hoppy beers, so I was a little wary. I cracked open their Dopplebock, and took a swig straight from the bottle. Delicious. It is a dark beer, full of flavors of chocolate and dark fruits like raisins or plums. Thd hop finish is nice and subtle, and accompanies some earthy mellow flavors and some nice caramel malts. It reminded me of a much more adventurous version of Yuengling's bock (which makes sense). Really though, just a delicious beer. Highly recommended for a nice brew to sip.

Beer Dinner Cooking
So, after this wonderful and relaxing bath, the cooking started. I was making Irish Stout Stew, Beer bread, and beer battered shrimp. The recipes are below if you'd like to try any yourself.

I was a little ashamed to realize I hadn't checked portions on the Irish stew, and added in a whole can of tomato paste, rather than the 2 tablespoons required. It turned out to be a nice spaghetti sauce, spicy and tasting of stout, but not really a stew. It went well over mashed potatoes though, so whatever. I also left out the onions and thyme, not being a huge fan of either. Definitely the most work of the evening, but delicious.
(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beef-and-irish-stout-stew/Detail.aspx)

The beer bread was blissfully simple. I put it into a faaaar too small at first though, but thankfully The Lorax was there to help and got me to put it into a bigger bowl. After combining flour, salt, and beer, I poured it into a greased pan, baked it for an hour, and was treated to the best dish of the evening. The bread was hard and crusty on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside. You could also taste the beer just enough to enjoy it. Three philosophers worked really well, but now I *really* want to try it with other beers too.
(source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beer-bread-i/detail.aspx)

The shrimp was not easy, but was well worth the effort. The batter was beer and flour and sugar - I used Sam Adams Noble Pils, but you couldn't really tell. Thankfully my friend the Culinatior had a deep frying thermometer, so we could tell when the oil was hot enough. From there it was just dip the shrimp in the batter, drop them in the oil, flip them, and let them dry on a paper towel.

Overall the meal was delicious, was more than enough for the four of us who showed up, and cost me less than thirty dollars (and I had to buy flour and sugar, the heathen that I am).

Beer Dinner Beers
Finally, we reached the beer. It was quite nice after all the effort and cooking and the long day to relax and sip these beers. I really enjoyed each of them, but each for their own reasons.

I started with Brew Dog's Chaos Theory Ale. I was worried to see that this was classified as an India Pale Ale, but figured I'd get it out of my way. I was thrilled to find out that it was delicious. It tasted very much grapefruit mixing with hops for a nice combination, where neither overpowered. Not an incredibly complex beer, but one I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I went next to the Brooklyn Local #2, a belgian strong ale. It smelled a little of cider, and that taste was present at first. As it mellowed, it revealed a lot more dark fruits like cherries or plums, as well as some smoky flavors. I kind of wish I'd tried this during the dinner, as it seemed like it could've used some sort of meat dish to pair it with to make it complete.

I then decided it was time to try the stouts. I started with Rogue's Chocolate Stout, expecting it to be a little less of a desert beer. I like to think I was right, but it was by no means less tasty. Just as the name described, it was a chocolate stout. Milk chocolate and roasted hops were the tastes present throughout the beer, and boy they were delicious. Not everyone's favorite, and not the best chocolate beer I've ever tasted, but really good nonetheless. Very reminiscent in some ways of Brooklyn's Dark Chocolate Stout - it is everything that the name promises and nothing more.

Finally, I allowed myself to try Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence. The wait was worth it. Strong dark chocolate up front, with a surprisingly spicy finish. A real desert beer, this was heavy and complex and delicious. I'm definitely glad I ended with it, or it might've spoiled anything that came after it.

To tell the truth, I'm a little beered out at present, but I'm sure that'll fade as soon as I get the hankering to try a new beer.

Until then - enjoy the beers, try the recipes, and tell me what you think!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Series of Sam (1 of 6)

So, along with this weekend's festivities, I procured a mix-pack of Sam Adams, which remained largely untouched. It contained 6 different Sam Adams beers, most of which I've tried at one time or another, but none of which I've really taken the time to sit and taste.

As such, over the next however long, I'll be periodically reviewing these six beers. I'm starting tonight with their Boston Ale. Not to be confused with their Boston Lager, this beer is a little hoppier and a little more aggressive.

It's called a Stock Ale, which I have just no clue what that is, but that didn't inhibit my interest. It pours a nice rich golden amber, with about one finger of head. The smell is caramel, with a little bit of a hoppy or earthy note. A nice hop flavor balances some roasted flavors, as well as some sweeter caramel notes.

It does remind me of their Boston Lager, but certainly a little stronger. The flavor isn't too dark, but it's pleasantly dark, like a nice bock. Enjoyable, drinkable, if not too exciting. Definitely a nice beer to sit and sip.

Free beer is usually the best beer

so, I had the pleasure of drinking way more than usual this weekend, but in nice moderation. Friday night was the usual bars, going to Pub Dog for their tasty beer and pizza. Apparently their new seasonal isn't out yet, but I'm intrigued to try it when it comes out, whatever it is.

Saturday, a local wine store, Iron Bridge Wine Company, had a big wine sale, complete with free tastings and free food. I really like Iron Bridge, because their tastings allow you to see what kind of wines you line, and they place them on a scale of weaker to stronger, and have very knowledgeable staff on hand. I found out that I need to find more Grenache and Cote Du Rhone wines to try.

After that, it was over to perhaps the best local liquor store, The Perfect Pour. This place has literally the best beer selection that I've ever seen anywhere. It is ridiculous how much beer they have. They were also having a tasting, and were featuring Woodchuck's spring cider, and Fraoch's 20th Anniversary Ale.

Woodchuck's spring cider was just awful in my opinion. It is supposed to have a sort of mead influence, but it comes off like a bouquet of flowers dipped in too much honey - It didn't taste like a cider at all. It was sugary to the point of horror, and just really not my thing. My friends didn't mind it as much, but yikes. Not for me.

Fraoch is a Scottish brewing company which I'd never heard of before. However, clearly I was missing out, as their 20th Anniversary Ale is a Heather Ale, aged in Speyside whiskey casks and was *delicious*. It had a nice heather/herb/hoppy flavor, but was subtley smokey as well. Really enjoyed it, hoping to find more offerings in this vein.

Sadly, Saturday was not an adventurous beer night, especially with a bunch of bombers chilling back at my apartment - we settled for a 12-pack of Sam Adams mixed styles, which was nice, and Yuengling's special release Bock.

Yuengling's Bock was actually really tasty. Like most of their offerings, it's not really complex or adventurous, but that's not what you look for in Yuengling. It was tasty and dark without being heavy, and was extremely drinkable. Yuengling is that nice middle class - ridiculously better than Bud or Miller, but not as expensive as Sam Adams or other starter craft beers.

In summary - the woodchuck was cloying, the fraoch was delicious, and the yuengling was tasty and enjoyable, in the most relaxing way. Try the yuengling if you're grabbing a case for a night of movies or cards, and grab the Fraoch if you're looking for something new and interesting.

Beer Thursdays

I wanted to title this something like "a post that isn't about stouts", but I feel like that joke was old before it was ever told in the first place.

I have to admit that I like having a night of the week that I often have a beer on. It's not locked in by any means, but it's often something to look forward to. I get to think about what beer I want to try in a given week, but it's also something to look forward to, and for me it's a reward that reminds me that the week is almost over.

Obviously many people drink several days a week, and I certainly do from time to time drink a few times during the week. But that's usually sharing a few beers with friends, or going out to a bar to be social. This is the enjoyment of sitting down, and taking the time to really taste and observe a beer.

I like to pair this with watching TV, as I'm already relaxed and in a good mood, and cracking open a delicious beer only adds to this. Conveniently, two of my favorite shows are on Thursday nights. The total experience is just really relaxing, which is nice. What about you, my faithful readers, do you have an evening you set aside, or do you prefer to test and taste as you go, whenever the opportunity occurs?

Anyway, this isn't just about me rambling. This Thursday I had the good fortune to still have a few bottles of Ommegang, specifically their Hennepin Saison. I'd heard excellent reviews of this beer, but was a bit wary as I've heard it's one of their hoppier beers.

It pours a very pale yellow, looking almost like water at first before settling in to a light golden color. The head is ivory white and thick. I actually swiped off a bit of the head, and found it thick as bubble bath (I can't think of a straighter analogy, sorry), and very bitter.

The smell was similar, light and crisp, hints of what might be floral scents? The taste though was really impressive. It was cool and refreshing, but full of light sweet fruits like pear. It had some hoppy bitterness, but it was very balanced and did a good job of rounding out the flavor and not overwhelming everything else. There were also some floral notes with some grains and citrus in the background as well.

Overall a really tasty beer. Not my favorite, as I'm still not a hoppy beer guy, but easily one of the better hoppy beers that I've tried. Suffice to say that I'd be happy to drink it again, but I might not seek it out. If you enjoy hops, give this one a try for sure.

I am bad at not ordering stouts

So, as promised, and despite snowmageddon 2010, my friends and I made the sojurn to Max's on Broadway. Tragically, I forgot that today starts their Belgian beer festival. This meant that their usually superb tap list was down from 80-some to about a dozen.

Luckily, they also have an extensive bottle collection. I was trying to find Rogue's Black Lager, but they were out. Luckily, they had another beer that I've been wanting to try - Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout.

It's pleasant and boozy upfront, with some nice roasted notes and what tasted like some bitter chocolate. The nice part though was the finish, which was smooth coffee. The beer poured *dark*, and even the head was a dark chocolate brown, rather than the usual tan head.

Oddly enough, it pours from a can, but was surprisingly full bodied and delicious. I felt like for an Imperial Stout, it was nicely drinkable, and didn't try to overwhelm me. Definitely a nice beer to have when hanging out and having a beer or two with the friends.

And when I say a beer or two, I mean it - that bad boy weighs in at whopping 10.5% abv, although you'd never know it from the taste. Speaking of mightily boozy beers...

I can't help myself. I swore I'd never spend $12 for a single bottle, but well, there I was. They had the entire Brew dog Paradox line. Paradox is a stout that is then taken and aged in a variety of different whiskey casks to get different flavors. I'd had the speyside before and was suitably impressed, but this monster blew me away.

I asked for a reccomendation and received Brew Dog Paradox Smokehead. The smell hits you - boozy and smoky. A little thin on the mouth, but you barely notice it, because you are drinking what can only be described as an unholy union of whiskey and beer.

There are other flavors - peat, smoke, things like that. The overwhelming flavor though is a smooth whiskey taste. It should surprise no one that this beer is a 10% abv beer, and damn you can tell it. It is rich and complex, and one of the more interesting beers I've tried. This is a sipper for sure, not something you can really drink with anything else if you want to appreciate it.

Was it way too expensive? Heck Yeah. But it's a bar, and bars as a rule are way too expensive. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It was one of the more innovative and interesting beers I've ever tried, and I am thrilled that I had the chance to try it.

Now, I'm going to go back to my stomach flu and wishing for the sweet release of death. Hopefully you're all having an excellent snow week without too much cabin fever. See you all next time!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

SuperBeer

Sadly, this is not about a superhero who goes around giving out beer. Rather, it is one of my many bad puns :-P

So, the Superbowl. What a wonderful night. Great football, great food, great friends, what more could someone want? Of course, I could have done with a few less Budweiser commercials. I know there's nothing to be done for it, but the more I hear about them and how they try to put the competition out of business, the sicker I get.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all about competition producing better products. But that's just it. Budweiser makes shit. Their regular beer is shit. Their light beer is shit. Their "craft" beer? Shit! I rue the day when I find my favorite brands have been pushed out by this giant of watery piss beer, behemoth of mass produced swill.

Ok, so enough ranting right? Well, I also cracked open one of my various bottles for this most joyous of occasions. Specifically, I decided that I needed to finally try the Brew dog Rip Tide stout that I'd been saving.

It pours without much of a head, rich and black. The smell is smoky and boozy, but not overwhelming. The taste continues with the smoky motif, and rounds it out with some delicious coffee, and then rounds it out with some sweetness, maybe caramel?

Now, I liked this beer, and I definitely enjoyed this beer, and would buy it again. But I have to be honest, it kind of reminded me of a slightly less well done version of Belhaven's Scottish Stout. The comparison is a little unoriginal, what with them both being scottish companies, both being kind of smoky stouts. But I feel like it's a valid comparison.

Where the Belhaven stout is full bodied, the Brew dog feels a little flat and a little thin. Where the Belhaven coffee nicely flows into a sweetness, the Brew dog goes bitter, and then the caramel swings in. I want to reiterate, the Brew dog wasn't bad. The Belhaven was just excellent.

I also finally tried Ommegang's Witte, but I have to admit that by that point I might've been a little too far into my cups to accurately review it. We were taking shots every time the saints scored, and I don't do much hard liquor anymore.

However, I do remember a delicious beer. Not too far off the standard Wit bier (belgian wheat beer), but a tasty iteration of that theme. Strong notes of a cinnamon or nutmeg(maybe cloves?), backed up with some orangey citrus, and a nice undertone of wheat that wasn't overwhelming. So often in wheat beers, the wheat overwhelms almost all the other flavors, but this time the flavors held their own, which was nice.

It was kind of a nice beer to sip when I was trying to wind down, but there was a little too much excitement for that. I would enjoy this one a lot as a beer to drink with dinner, or on some calm summer evening, or even out at the beach. It's a very refreshing beer, and it was a little odd paired with burgers and jambalaya and winter and parties.

Overall though, definitely recommend it for anyone who likes Belgian wheat beers, or really just wheat beers in general. Might not be for everyone, but if you like Blue Moon then you owe it to yourself to give this bad boy a try.

Going to Max's this Thursday, so expect something good that evening. Til then!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Not totally about beer

So. I haven't actually tried any new beers in the last 2 or so days. Shocking, right? It's okay, I'm saving myself for this weekend (Superbowl) and then this following week (trip to max's) where I will imbibe a copious amount of boozamahols.

In any case, there is a purpose here. I'm debating making beer bread. I have several likely looking Belgian beers, but I'm thinking Three Philosophers, if just because I have an expansive amount of it. Also, it is delicious, and tastes of cherries, and I think it'd be wonderful in bread.

I found a few recipes all of which look the exact same and fairly simple. The question for you all is, has anyone tried this before? If so, how was the bread - did it taste of beer, or just bread with some hints of other flavors?

Let me know your thoughts on this - If I do make it, it'll probably be so I can force my friends coming along to Max's to try it. So, what say you, the masses?

Indulgences

So, thankfully this post is about beer, rather than religious topics. Specifically, delicious beer.

So, Oliver's beer. It's actually served at the Pratt Street Ale House, as I've mentioned before, but it's brewed in their basement, so it's something of a joint endeavor. It's one of the few beers actually made in Baltimore, and one I'm damn proud to introduce people too.

As any casual reader will know, I'm there pretty frequently with mi padre. It's a pretty sweet place, but tonight was sweeter than usual. I headed over there with Lemur and Browns Fan, to try their new beer, Bishop's Indulgence. An 8% Stout, I was of course looking forward to it.

I couldn't pick up a smell at first, but that's pretty typical of their beers, for whatever reason. It's not just me either; something about the head on their beers masks the smell of the beer. It's odd.

Anyway, the first taste is sweet chocolate. As you let it sit, it develops some carmelization sweetness, along with bitter cocoa nibs. There's also generous amounts of vanilla, mellowing the whole thing. Overall an excellent desert beer, but this is definitely a one and done. More than one and you'd just get gut rot from all the sweetness.

In fact, when I followed it up with a delicious porter, the porter actually tasted bitter for the first few sips by comparison. Bishop's Indulgence is a seriously sweet beer, but is a delicious desert stout. It's creamy and rich and everything a stout should be.

Pleasantly, we ended up getting free beer, as two drinkers left behind full beers in a hurry, but by then I was already three beers in, and in no capacity to taste flavors or make judgments. Still, one can't waste good beer.

I may crack a bottle of my remaining stouts for poker tomorrow night, but we'll have to see; I may just take a short break from beer after this beer filled evening, and looking forward to the super bowl, which will no doubt feature several delicious beers.

Wishing you a happy and hopefully beer filled week, this is the Unabashed Ungourmet.

Oh My Ommegang

I love Ommegang. I really do. I've had other Belgian beers, and just remain thoroughly unimpressed with most anything else (brewer's art aside). I was enjoying some of their delicious beers today with Mrs. Satan.

I cracked open a Rare Vos, a Belgian amber ale. Sparrow had tried this the week before and really enjoyed it, and I liked the sip or two that I had of it. Really, it's just fantastically drinkable.

It pours with a nice full head, an a light amber color. The smell is strong with fruity notes, maybe peach or orange? The taste though, blew me away. It was smooth and refreshing, but bursting with flavors. There was some lighter fruit, maybe apples or pears, and some darker fruits as well like cherries or plums. There were also spiced and floral notes, although I'm not good enough to discern them.

Really, I was expecting either full flavored or really just enjoyable, since a beer usually excels at one, but this one nailed both. It was delicious to sit and sip with a friend, but I could also imagine this being excellent with a range of meals, from a summer barbecue to a spicy Thai dish.

The bottom line? Try this one.

I also had the luck and joy of getting to try Pratt Street Ale House's Scotch Ale. I've been excited to try this one since it came out. I was worried because I heard how quickly it was selling, but I guess I lucked out.

And damned if it wasn't delicious. Smoky and dark, earthy flavors of peat and malts, with an interesting sweetness that felt like fruits. I'm not sure what, because it didn't taste dark like plums or grapes, nor was it light like an orange or an apple. Maybe some sort of berry, like a raspberry or something similar? There was also a little bitterness, which helped to ground the beer and give it an earthy flavor. Either way, absolutely delicious, and a great example of a Scotch Ale.

And yet, it wasn't even the best beer I had there. I also had the good fortune of asking after their Peeping Tom Porter. It was fantastic. It looked like a stout, but drank like a smoother ale, bursting with the flavor of roasted malts. The flavor profile was really nicely rounded out with chocolate, but mostly highlighted the roasted malts.

The Peeping Tom was easily one of the better porters I've had, managing to have all the flavor of a stout while maintaining the nice lightness and refreshing nature of an ale. Best of all, it didn't try to copy stouts, but created it's own flavor around the roasted malts. Really an excellent beer, which I pity everyone not from Baltimore for not getting to try.

Phew. That's a lot of beer, and there's only more to come. What a pity, right? Until next time!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Overflowing with beer!

So, apart from getting two new beers, I'm going to get beer this friday, next tuesday, and thursday the week after. But really, how can I complain? My life is full of delicious, delicious beer. Quoth Sparrow, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth"

Speaking of, I had Sparrow over this evening, and cracked open one of my much anticipated christmas presents. I decided to open Obovoid, an Oatmeal Stout from Colorado Brewing Company. I've never been to Colorado, but I've heard their beers repeatedly praised, and intend to be there at some point to try them.

Now, I have to admit. I went to the liquor store the other day, and what did I get? More stout. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, why didn't you get other beers, like you talked about? Or maybe you're not. Either way, shut the hell up. They had Brew Dog's Riptide, and Rogue's Chocolate Stout, and I wasn't willing to miss the opportunity to try these wonderful beers.

But back to tonight's excellent offering. It pours with almost no head, and the smell is kind of an oaky, earthy note, obscuring all other things.

The taste is nice, and smooth. It's smooth for an oatmeal stout, with overwhelming flavors of chocolate and roasted malts. The oak flavor is there, but it's kind of a background taste that doesn't really factor in.

I have to admit, I kind of had higher hopes. An oak aged oatmeal stout? It tastes like a lot of chocolate stouts - delicious, filling, but not particularly unique. Although it might be suffering from a comparison to a similar beer from Pub Dog, their chocolate oatmeal stout.

Either way, definitely worth checking out and enjoying a glass with friends. It's smooth and tasty, and doesn't require your full attention. Don't get your hopes up though, as it's nothing to write home about.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Boozy Beer

Whew. I always manage to forget just how strong a 10% abv beer is. I always figure heck, it's a regular beer, maybe two. Except then I down a bomber and begin to feel tipsy.

Now, it might be that my college alcohol tolerance is gone, but damn if it isn't strong. I find most breweries doing a lot more strong beers, but thats mostly a function of going after higher end beers. I'm not entirely sure why they have a higher alcohol content, but I'm not in a position to complain.

The latest in these escapades was Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout. Not that dark as stouts go, it pours with an impressive and frothy head. The smell is very boozy, with the obvious notes of coffee.

The taste really just expands on this. A rich, boozy flavor, infused with the taste of coffee, sweet to drink but with a little bit of a bitter aftertaste. There's also an earthy taste, one that reminded me of dogfish head's chicory stout, but which I can't quite place. It might just be bitter coffee grounds, or the herb flavors of roasted chicory, but it's quite distinct.

A tasty beer, and a hell of a coffee stout, I was tempted to add a little milk or creamer, but I didn't want to sully this unique beer. The bottle says brewed with real coffee, and I damn well believe them. Easily one of the stronger coffee stouts I've had, but certainly not for ametuers. I feel like this might make a great apertif, but even just sipping it was a little strong.

More to come!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Satisfaction at last

And here I was, bemoaning my fate. I occasionally forget that although my favorite local liquor store is exceptionally well stocked, I'm lucky to have another 3 or 4 local places with an excellent selection of beer.

In this case, Dogfish Head's Chicory Stout. I've talked enough about my misfortunes, my desire to try it and my inability. Well, Napoleon and myself were heading out to get a christmas gift, Sam Adams Imperial Stout. But what vision appeared before my eyes? None other than the coveted chicory stout.

Oh and it was good. Yikes. Stronger flavors than a lot of stouts, much stronger and more like espresso, it had power tastes (as promised) of chicory and of spicy mexican coffee.

It was a little too bitter at first, but as it warmed the coffee taste mellowed and meshed with the chicory and spicy flavor (cinnamon? red pepper? Not quite sure)

Not for the weak of heart, this is a serious stout that is adventurous and tries something new. For stout fans I'd say it's a must, but not exactly the usual party drink. It was nice to sip with some friends while watching football, and I could also see it being a delicious desert beer, but it feels pretty situational.

New Horizons

Scotch ale is delicious. It might be second, as a favorite beer, to stouts. It has all the interesting flavors, but is light and refreshing. Mmmmm Scotch Ale.

Needless to say, this is an intro to me trying another such beer. Trying to broaden my horizons, I grabbed a bottle of Moylan's Scotch Ale (passing up a whole laundry list of likely looking stouts, sadly)

Now, I drank this just before watching Memento for the first time, so those who've seen the movie will know what I mean when I say that my memories of the evening are more devoted to the film. It is a real mindfuck.

Anyway, the beer. It pours a beautiful red-amber, with a small head. It smells of smoke and peat, and the taste follows suit. Very smoky flavor, with hints of peat, but also some sort of sweet dark fruit, and a little bit of what I feel like is oakiness. It has a really complex flavor array, so it was sometimes tough to separate them out.

The flavor was very strong, and might not be for everyone. My friend, whom I was drinking it with, applied the term "interesting" and then didn't touch it for the rest of the night.

If you like Scotch Ale's, give this a try; if not, don't bother with this beast of a beer.

Stouts!

So, as you all know, I love stouts. I love them almost too much. I love the velvety texture, the rich, smooth flavors, and the tastes of coffee and chocolate. I love everything about them.

But there are so many I haven't even begun to try yet. So I'm making a list, a goal, of the stouts to try, when possible.

This is mostly for my own reference, but feel free to try some and let me know what you think. They're in no other order than the order I spotted them in at my local liquor store. (obviously not included are black ops and chicory stout; they're already on my beers to try in 2010)

1. Allagash Black (Tried it!)
2. Nogne Imperial Stout
3. Moylans Imperial Stout
4. Green Flash Stout
5. Dogfish head worldwide stout ($9 for 12oz? Ouch!)
6. Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout (delicious, if a little boring)
7. Samuel Smith Imperial Stout
8. Young's Double Chocolate Stout (Holy chocolate!)
9. Sierra Nevada Stout
10. Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout
11. Pretty much every canned stout, too many to be named.

Now, I know my focus/interest/obsession with stout is a little odd. I have so many reviews of stouts, but so few of other types. The problem really boils down to this: when I go out, I usually like to try new beers. There is, almost always, at least one stout that I haven't tried yet. I enjoy stout year round, so I'm always going to go for the stout. I also only really like to have one beer, maybe two. This is both because I liked to focus on the flavors, and because beer is expensive, and I am a poor student.

I'm going to try and diversify in the upcoming months, but be warned that I have another four bottles of different stouts to try, so maybe not too soon.

As always, let me know what you think. Have you tried the same beers? Did you agree or disagree? Any beer you're dying to try, or a favorite you'd like to recommend? Let me know!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Holy Bock

It sat on the shelf, in a black bottle, with a silver label. It looked like all the bombers surrounding it, except it was at least twice the price of any of them.

Chocolate Bock. It didn't even sound like an interesting beer. No catchy name or gimmicky title. But still, Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock haunted my dreams. I saw it for the first time at my local liquor store over thanksgiving, and have been dying to try it ever since.

I was worried that I was too hyped up for it though. That it couldn't possibly match my expectations. My friend, Captain Theater echoed my concerns. Samuel Adams is good, he reasoned, but he's never been truly wowed by them. I don't entirely agree, being a devotee of their imperial stout, their scotch ale, and their white ale, but I saw his point.

How wrong we were.

It was delicious. Now, I've looked up other reviews, and they seem to disagree, but I can't bring myself to care. The body is light and smooth, more like a black lager or maybe even an ale. I should've expected that from a Bock, but it looks and smells like a stout.

The flavor is delicious Swiss milk chocolate - very creamy. It has some nice coffee flavors and some malt taste, as well as some light nutty features and a delicate sweetness.

It ruined the rest of the beers we were enjoying. It made us crave for more. It haunts me even now. This beer is fantastic, and you should go drink some now, despite the curse it lays upon all other beers.

New Vistas and New Tastes

So, I was lucky enough to spend my new years in Puerto Rico with Indy and Stark, as well as the Girlfriend. It is a gorgeous place, and a stark departure from the below freezing temperatures around here.

The best part, aside from the swimming and food, was the very cheap and delicious drinks. I spent more than a few afternoons and evenings sipping margaritas and pina coladas.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the beer. It is cheap, but the predominant beer of the island is Medalla Light. Now, it certainly is drinkable, and I enjoyed my fair share. But really it's another corona-bud-coors macro that tastes of nothing.

I did enjoy the Old Dutch steakhouse and brewery while down there, which made fantastic beers. They had a coffee stout that was rich and delicious, a lager and a pilsner which were light but flavorful, and dopplebock that was exciting and complex. Sadly, I didn't really bother to take notes, so most of my impressions are more general than specific.

Not all my recent beer adventures though came on the island paradise. Upon my return home, I decided it was time for an excellent winter beer, some manner of stout. I went looking for Dogfish head's chicory stout, but was devastated to find that they had sold out at my local liquor store. Luckily, the day was saved by Brooklyn.

Their Black Chocolate Stout is damned good. Let the record show that this inky beer is dark as a moonless night, and drinks like eating an 80% cacao chocolate bar. It is a serious beer.

My only complaint is that it wasn't as complex as I had hoped. It could be my immature palate, but I tasted dark chocolate, more dark chocolate, and maybe a hint of malts. Too be fair, the bottle does advertise as much, so I can't really complain too much. Also, it helps that it was a delicious, delicious beer, that I would gladly drink again.

Until next time...
-The Unabashed Ungourmet