Friday, April 4, 2014

Stone Smoked Porter

Stone Smoked Porter

STYLE: American Porter
STATS: 5.9% ABV

The pour is very dark brown with a thin white head. It has a malty, caramel smell to it. When you taste it however, it has hints of coffee & smoke throughout it. As with a lot of Stone beers, you do taste the hops but it's at least toned down in this offering. The aftertaste of hops does linger but the cocoa & coffee accompany it so I don't mind. Alcohol is transparent in the taste as well. It's overall a nice porter. Doesn't do enough for me to become one of my faves but I will drink this again.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 3/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Escondido, California

St Arnold Endeavor IPA

St Arnold Endeavor IPA

STYLE: American Double / Imperial IPA
STATS: 8.9% ABV / 76 IBU

The beer poured out of the bottle with a very hazy, light amber color. Almost orange. It has a light white head and an odor of pine & citrus. Slightly hoppy smell. The taste mirrors that but the hop is up front & center. It ends with a sort of grapefruit aftertaste. A medium bodied brew that has a fair amount of carbonation. Hop heads may require more hops out of this but I feel it's a good, "summer-y" IPA.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 3/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Houston, Texas

Southern Tier Double Milk Stout

Southern Tier Double Milk Stout

STYLE: Milk / Sweet Stout
STATS: 7.5%

A very opaque, dark brown pour w/ a large, frothy head. This does not have a strong smell but you can pick up hints of the lactose & chocolate. Taste is what you would expect from a milk stout. Chocolate & creamy with a silky finish. It has a slight aftertaste of coffee with a twinge of bitterness but no alcohol is present. Very drinkable for something approaching double digit ABV. Not too sweet either. Great stout & well done.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 4/5


PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Lakewood, New York

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

STYLE: American IPA
STATS: 6.6% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


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HOMETOWN: Chico, California

Rogness Beardy Guard Amber Ale

Rogness Beardy Guard Amber Ale

STYLE: Bière de Garde
STATS: 6.2% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


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HOMETOWN: Pflugerville, Texas

Oskar Blues The G'Rauch

Oskar Blues The G'Rauch

STYLE: American Double / Imperial IPA
STATS: 8.5% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Longmont, Colorado

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

STYLE: Russian Imperial Stout
STATS: 10.5% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Longmont, Colorado

Oskar Blues Deviant Dale IPA

Oskar Blues Deviant Dale IPA

STYLE: American IPA
STATS: 8% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Longmont, Colorado

Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

STYLE: Milk / Sweet Stout
STATS: 6% ABV

I've had this beer before on draft at several Alamo Drafthouse locations while watching movies. Hands down my favorite beer they serve. Che had a bottle of this at his house so I was curious to try the Nitro version. The pour yielded the typical jet black color but the head was initially taller than what I'm used to. The smell was the usual of malty lactose & chocolate espresso. This nitro version started to vary from the normal version in taste/mouthfeel. I noticed the beer was "thinner" than it usually was. The taste contained coffee, cream & chocolate notes still but I wouldn't necessarily say it was more complex. The nitro version seemed to thin out the body of the beer & make it less "stout-like". I still like the beer but prefer the standard CO2 version over this nitro mix.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 3.7/5


PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


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HOMETOWN: Longmont, Colorado

Laughing Dog The Dogfather

Laughing Dog The Dogfather

STYLE: American Double / Imperial Stout
STATS: 11% ABV

This was on draft at the Brass Tap. As I always do, no matter what the weather, I tried as many stouts as possible there. This is a brewery I had never even heard of but was pleasantly surprised with this stout. The beer arrived with a thin, off-white head & an almost black, opaque body. This one smelled like a smokey malt with just a hint of chocolate. You could also smell the alcohol, almost foreboding of the punch to come. It tastes surprisingly "thin" but the chocolate, malty flavors are nice. The alcohol is present but definitely not overpowering. It has an aftertaste of coffee within the alcohol kick you get. A nice stout. Not going into my bank of favorites but I will order this again.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 3.8/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Sandpoint, Idaho

Founders Imperial Stout

Founders Imperial Stout

STYLE: Russian Imperial Stout
STATS: 10.5% ABV

This was on draft at the Brass Tap. I'm a stout lover so I had to give it a go. I was not disappointed! The pour showed up with a medium tan head while the beer itself was a very dark brown. Almost black. It smelled of cocoa powder & malt. The taste mirrored this as you pick up chocolate, cream along with malt. As a proper stout should be, this beer had little carbonation, was really smooth & fairly thick. Despite the double digit ABV, I tasted no alcohol at all. This beer would be very dangerous for me. Great brew & a must try.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 4.3/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Deep Ellum Double Brown Stout

Deep Ellum Double Brown Stout

STYLE: Baltic Porter
STATS: 7% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum Dallas Blonde

Deep Ellum Dallas Blonde

STYLE: American Blonde Ale
STATS: 5.2% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Dallas, Texas

Big Sky Bobos Robust Porter

Big Sky Bobos Robust Porter

STYLE: American Porter
STATS: 5.8% ABV / 32 IBU

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


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HOMETOWN: Missoula, Montana

Austin Beerworks Peacemaker

Austin Beerworks Peacemaker

STYLE: English Pale Mild Ale
STATS: 5.1% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Austin, TX

512 IPA

512 IPA

STYLE: American IPA
STATS: 7.2% ABV

PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Austin, TX

Left Coast Hop Juice

Left Coast Hop Juice

STYLE: American Double / Imperial IPA
STATS: 9.7% ABV

Poured clear amber, big off white head. Nose. All I get there is hops. Not for the feint of heart. I repeat. Not for the feint of heart. Hop juice lives up to its name; it gives you a fair warning on the label. There are no words to begin to try and describe how hoppy this thing is. I wouldn't even do it justice to try. It's hoppy, it's in your face, and it knows what it is. Saying that. If you're a hophead like myself, it is drinkable, but not more that a bottle. This is a good relaxing beer. Once you past that big initial bite, it goes down smooth. Maybe a little too smooth, but you're always aware the hops are there.

RATER: Che - RATE: 3.75/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: San Clemente, California

Omme Gang Three Philosophers

Omme Gang Three Philosophers

STYLE: Quadrupel (Quad)
STATS: 9.8% ABV

The beer itself is dark mahogany and fairly clear with a large head. Smells a bit citrusy but not too overwhelming. The initial taste is of a strong quad ale flavor. Highly carbonated as well. Could not really distinguish anything in particular with this one. Reminds me almost of soda.

RATER: Che - RATE: 1.5/5


Dark amber pour with a good, tan head. You pick up a fruity smell when pouring. It tastes of malt & fruit. The alcohol is there but not overpowering, which is good considering the ABV. This beer is fairly sweet but thats to be expected with a quad. It also has a fair amount of carbination. A very drinkable beer despite the high alcohol content. Nothin really jumps out at me with this one however.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 2.3/5


MEDIA
HOMETOWN: Cooperstown, New York

Youngs Double Chocolate Stout

Youngs Double Chocolate Stout

STYLE: Milk / Sweet Stout
STATS: 5.2% ABV

The beer is pitch black with a tan, frothy head. The aroma is kind of nutty and has strong hints of chocolate & malt. The body is thick & has little carbonation, so we're good there. The flavor was an almost smoky malt w/ a tiny bit of bitterness & chocolate in the aftertaste. The alcohol is well hidden but as far as stouts go, I'm not impressed by this one. Nothing bad about this one but its very generic to me.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 2.5/5


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HOMETOWN: Bedford, United Kingdom

Twisted X Cow Creek

Twisted X Cow Creek

STYLE: Vienna Lager
STATS: 5.4% ABV

The beer is dark amber with a white head. The aroma it gives off seems slightly sweet & almost like caramel. When tasting, it is a smooth malt that has a hint of sweetness ending with a little hop. I drank a couple of these at happy hour with some appetizers and it paired very well with the food. The brewery-advertised "Tex-Mex" theme seems to fit. I will for sure look for these during the summer on a patio near me.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 3/5


PENDING

RATER: Che - RATE: X.X/5


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HOMETOWN: Dripping Springs, Texas

Ter Dolen Kriek

Ter Dolen Kriek

STYLE: Fruit / Vegetable Beer
STATS: 4.5% ABV

The pour yields a frothy, pink head and a light red liquid. Your nose is hit instantly with a sweet aroma, almost like a fruit juice. The flavor is fairly sweet but not wasn't too much for my tongue. Tastes like the filling of a cherry pie. Very interesting to try but I wouldn't want to sit and drink multiple bottles of this personally.

RATER: Joey - RATE: 2.6/5


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HOMETOWN: Brouwerij, Belgium