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.