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