Farewell, 2011

Yeah, yeah.. I know it's only Dec. 30th.  But like the majority of you, hopefully, I'm gonna be at a party tomorrow night (shocking, I know! I actually get out!)  Therefore, good times, good beers, great people and great cheers..  nothing new (probably) and no way in hell would it be smart to let me in front of a computer!

What better way to bid farewell to the year than with a beer that will not exist come 2012....

Dogfish Head - Squall IPA.   "Bottle conditioned, naturally fermented 90 Minute India Pale Ale" according to the label..  a beer/clothing collab with Rogues Gallery of Maine..  word is it's a re-envisioned 90 Minute IPA, bottle conditioned, super limited availability and dry-hopped with a crazy SIX hop varieties.  This beer came to life in 2009, for East coast states, and was announced to be killed off in November..  9.0% ABV, just like the 90 Minute.  Amazing head on this one with the signature Dogfish Head IPA aroma..  slightly more boozy than regular 90, still malt heavy to cover up the insane amount of hops (and dry hops in this one), and those come through as intensely floral and grassy.  Super boozy taste with some lighter caramel malts, a somewhat earthy/crisp woody-type taste.  Slightly spicy and actually a bit minty...  Hops most likely present in the initial spicy bite as well as a super pleasant lingering pineyness..  Definitely takes a while to get used to, but as it warms and smooths out, this is one stellar beer...

With that I bid adieu to 2011.  The ups, the downs, the great beers, the not-so-good..  It's been a trip for sure, but I wouldn't trade the memories and lessons for anything, even the shitty ones.  Thanks to you all, whomever you are, for following, enjoying, maybe despising my writings and hope to see y'all in 2012!

Harpoon 100 Barrel....

Keeping up with the 100 Barrel Series...  here we go!

Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - #36 Island Creek Oyster Stout   First time I had this at a bar, the bartender had to ask my about any allergies!  It's actually brewed with real oysters, fresh from Duxbury Bay!  at 5.5% ABV and 35 IBUs.. this has got to be one of the blackest pours I've ever seen.  Smoky and roasty on the nose, chocolates, coffee and some faint vanilla.  A lighter stout than average, iced coffee dominates with roasted chocolate malts following.  Only towards the finish does a slight salty/briny taste come through indicated the oysters used.  Unbelievably smooth and silky with bits of faint floral hops interspersed.  Not sure if you can find it anymore, but if you like stouts and want a unique take on one (provided you're not allergic), this is a must-have!

Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head Collab

Ever heard of it?  Well if you like dark, rich beers, you should!

Life & Limb (2)   I must've missed the first brewing, think it was back in 2009.  Life is for the natural carbonation employed here and limb for the pure maple and birch syrups used in the brewing.  Pretty cool label art too!  10.2% 50 IBU Strong Ale, huge thick head that never fully dissipated.  Hugely roasty nose, sweetly earthy, malty.. maple syrup (duh), vanilla, chocolate.. faint bourbon notes.  The taste is just as complex.. again, malt driven.  Definitely thick and syrupy sweet with coffee and chocolate undertones.  Slightly present alcohol that increases as it warms and a unique, faint spice..  could be the birch syrup.  Never had it, dunno what it should taste like, but birch beer soda is amazing (and has a faint spice too)  Crazy amount of lingering sweetness, one of the heaviest, most creamy beers I've enjoyed..  strong but wow! 

Monday Day Beer!

Day off of work..  why not have a day beer!?  Digging into my stash again.. pulling out some of the older brews to finally work my way towards catching up.

Couldn't get a damn clear picture on this one!  Damn me!  Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - #35 Catamount Maple Wheat..  a 6.8% ABV, 21 IBU Wheat beer.  Real Vermont maple syrup was used in this puppy!  Not much by way of aroma here..  some super sticky malts, strong alcohol aroma for a 6.8%.   All the character in this beer is found in the taste.  Light, but syrupy heavy.. tons of malts and brown sugar taste..  caramel, toffee.. and more heavily prominent alcohol.  The maple syrup definitely plays a role in the stickiness of the beer, but not as heavy or sweet as pure maple syrup.  Sort of like water-down syrup at IHOP.  A bit of alcohol bite to the finish along with a slightly weird astringency give way to a mouth-coating sweetness.  By the way, drink this cold.. the colder it is, the less alcohol and off-putting tastes are present.  Not bad.. but could've been a bit better to warrant a special brewing in the 100 Barrel Series..

Post-Present Beer

Why not cap off a nice easy day of family and presents with a beer!?  And a West coast at that..one I smuggled back with me.  Sadly, it's another that I think you can find around here, just not super-easily found..  I had such poor luck with the ones I brought back..  There just weren't that many 22's that I could find..most were 6's of West coast-exclusive brews, and places didn't allow the purchase of singles from the 6's.

Rogue - Santa's Private Reserve Ale.   How fitting!  A 6.0% ABV, 65 IBU Amber/Red Ale.  Another nice ruby brown pour, fairly heady with nice lacing left behind.  Some compared it to snowflakes! (which we actually saw a few of this morning)  A sort of muted barleywine aroma, huge sticky caramel and toffee, floral and piney hops, some orange rind, slightly bready.  Was expecting a bit of a spiced beer.. found none of that here!  Full out hops with some faintly hidden malts.  Somewhat fruity yeast notes, heavy sweet malts with piney hops dominating.  Some other floral and citrus hops are in the background a bit with the faintest nutmeg/cinnamon spice.  The finish is pleasantly bitter with some nice malt undertones.  Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Eve

So, wrapping presents on Christmas Eve is as good a time as any to have a beer, right?  Right.  Thankfully this year I only had a half dozen or so to wrap!  Less hassle and less money spent, yay!  I decided to get rid of the other beer I got from work last week at that mini-conference thing we had...

Peak Organic - Nut Brown Ale   4.7% ABV and 21IBUs  Think I've done a beer of theirs before, but the name is slightly misleading, they use local organic whenever available, but not every ingredient in the brews is exclusively organic.  Still a great business model.  This is considered their English Brown style ale, a nice ruby brown pour, rather heady and with a subtle, yet delectable aroma.  Sweet caramel malts, some nice toasty nut blended with a slightly fruity yeast aroma....  light and delicious.  The body follows suit, light and crisp, lighter than most browns..  More caramel malts, some lighter toffee notes, not so much nutty taste compared to the nose and a bit of faint iced coffee.  Hops are barely present on the finish along with a slightly smoky aftertaste.  A great Brown for easy-drinking, light-bodied and super crisp.

Sixpoint Tap Takeover

I had found out about a Sixpoint tap takeover at a well-known craft place in Jamaica Plain that I had never been to, but always heard about... so why not?!  The place was VeeVee..  I was a little surprised though.  Nice bottle selection, mainly local which is very cool, but only 4 taps.  Then again, the place had maybe 15 tables and a bar that seats 10.  So I guess well-known for having quality over quantity?  Anywho, the tap takeover consisted of Sixpoint's Mad Scientist small-batch brews, #4-7.  Apparently, they got one of the last kegs of #4 in existence and the first keg of #7 to be tapped in MA.  Very cool!

Secret Santa Loves Sculpin

Like any good place of business, come this time of year people like to enjoy Secret Santa type shit..  so why not have fun with it!  We also like to occasionally have a 'happy hour' on Fridays, where we all split some 6er's from the Tedeschi's down the street and sit around after work.  Nice way to unwind!  This one was midweek and I was getting a little tired of the limited selection, so I'm gonna start bringing my own...

Up for this happy hour...

Ballast Point - Sculpin IPA  7.0% ABV and a hefty 85 IBUs  I had heard a lot of talk about this beer and had been sitting on it for quite some time now.  Yeah, that's only a baby cup, all they had at work!  A nice coppery pour with  a solid head on it, the moment I cracked the bottle the hop aroma dominated the room!  Huge grapefruit and piney hop with a touch of toasty malts...  some tropical citrus fruit notes poke through the deeper you get.  Not as cold and crisp as it should've been, which I feel muted some of the taste.  Warm caramel and toffee malts came upfront, followed by the hops.  Not as overpowering at the nose would suggest, but still quite potent.  Definite citrus with orange, mango, some lemon peel with a decent lingering piney bitterness.  And by lingering, I mean lingering... the bitterness stays until the next sip!  Not sure if it lived up to ALL the hype, but damn was it solid as all hell!

Bottling Day - part 2

So I let the dry-hopped portion sit for a week and decided to bottle tonight!  I figured with it being a full 1oz dry-hop on only 2gal (pretty damn aggressive) and being my first time dry-hopping, a week should be enough...  and damn, it smells so friggin good!  I really don't know if I can wait at least 3 weeks to crack into these..

But of course, with any event involving beer, ya gotta drink beer too!

Bottling Day and an Homage to the Inspiration

So my father and I recently brewed our second homebrew, a Stone Arrogant Bastard clone ale!  As of this morning, the fermentation had all but ceased meaning... Bottling Day!  and what better way to celebrate bottling than with a Stone celebratory beer: 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA!

..oh wait, did I mention I saved 2gal of the homebrew to dry-hop the shit out of!?  Hell yeah, these babies smell hop-a-rific!  (this also means I get Bottling Day part deux  in a week)  And here's what a gorgeously dry-hopped 2 gallons looks like:

oh so pretty, don't you agree?  I'll let all you thirsty freaks know how the non- and dry-hopped versions turn out!  But until then, why not sit back and enjoy a Stone 15th Anniversary? oh.. what's that?  sorry, I'LL enjoy one for ya!

#1.. it's a sick bottle.  #2: gotta love commemorative glassware  #3... awesome beer!

If you didn't get the idea, Stone has been around for 15 years..  do the math, I'll wait.  Yep, 1996.. good job!  They've tended to push the boundaries on their normal beers, so they gotta really break the mold for their anniversary beers.  This one is no exception.. black IPAs: check.  Imperial IPAs: check.  But combining them under the guise of an Imperial Stout..  well hey now.  A beast of a beer that is sooo dang smooth. 10.8% ABV and 100 IBUs.  Definitely a hoppy aroma, like every Stone brew, somewhat piney with vanilla and chocolate undertones.  Some barleywine-esque malt sweetness comes through as well with anise, black coffee, dark fruits..  everything!  And the taste does not disappoint.  The roasty goodness comes through on the forefront with dark malts, coffee, chocolate, but not strong.  I'd never venture as far as calling a Stone watery, but these are totally light for the flavor..then comes the hops.  Seriously complex here as they swirl with the malts and high ABV that occasionally pokes through.  Grapefruit/citrus, grassy, floral, piney...  all depends on the sip and how long the beer has been warming.  The most pleasantly bitter that bitter can be and ending oh so smoothly.  One hell of a beer!

Friday Night Beers

Couple of busy weeknights and holiday parties this weekend call for a quiet Friday night in.  Couple of good beers and a cheesy sci-fi flick cap this night off!  Oh, did I happen to mention the beers may just be from the coolest named brewery in Massachusetts, perhaps the universe?  SLUMBREW!  Yeah, if you know the greater Boston area, you know the nickname for Somerville, where these dudes are from.  Brand new to the scene this year and already kicking ass.

Beer #1 (but their 2nd release) - Happy Sol - 5.5% ABV and 18 IBUs.  A unique swing on the usual Hefeweizen.  Not only brewed with wildflower honey, orange peel and coriander, but this batch alone used over 1000 blood oranges.  DAMN!  Gorgeously hazy and golden straw in color with a nice wheat aroma followed up by fruity sweetness.. a slight tart smell provided by the blood oranges.  Certain tones of the traditional Hefeweizen come through, definite wheat grain taste, citrus, banana/clove and slight spice, but a nice sweet yet tart component comes through.  The blood oranges give this beer a great standout characteristic.  A slight lingering bitterness, floral and citrus, along with the tart sweetness leaves you wanting more!

Beer #2 - Flagraiser IPA - an Imperial IPA at 7.5% ABV and 80 IBUs.  Went this this guy 2nd so as to not overpower the lighter Happy Sol.  Sweet pale bready malts on the nose with a nice citrusy grapefruit hop aroma.  This is a super bright IPA with a resiny, yet great hop profile.  A decent amount of malt to balance it out.. light, sweet caramel predominantly come through with lighter bready malts and a nice spice note.  As it warms, the malts come out a bit more and the beer gets a bit bigger, bigger bite to it.  Simple in terms of an Imperial..but done great!  Gotta love the local scene!

PhD Celebration!

No.. not me =(  One of the post-docs in my lab officially received his PhD after defending his thesis, so he's officially a Dr. now and had a little (ie big) celebration at his apartment last night.  There was a bunch of standard beers drunk at that place, but I also brought a lil something special to enjoy.  Also happened to be one of the beers I brought back from California.

Port Brewing Company - Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout.  10.0% ABV.. unknown IBUs.  Crazy dark pour with a tan head that almost began ruby.  Wonderfully rich, sweet malty nose with some hints of spice.. mainly dark chocolate, toffee, some rich coffee and underlying alcohol.  A great thick Imperial Stout, the only thing taking points away is the alcohol as a bit too prominent.  Sometimes that bite works for a beer.. it was a little too strong to work for this.  Besides the alcohol on the finish, this had fantastically rich roasted malt notes, bitter chocolate, black coffee.. the whole shebang for an imperial...  Super smooth and creamy, just enough sweetness to up the easy of drinking, touch of spice gives it some character.  This is actually one that you can find out in these parts, give 'er a try!

California Trip pt II

On Day 2 in San Diego, I hung out downtown, visited Coronado, oversaw San Diego County for 10+ miles and had a dope burger/fries/shake in Ocean Beach.  No time for beers unfortunately.  That's ok though, cause after all that...we had a trip to Escondido planned!  If you can't put 2 and 2 together..  beer.. Escondido..  STONE BEER COMPANY!

California Trip pt I

SO!  I recently took a trip to the land of Pacific Standard Time.  Have a bunch of friends from the high school years and two from college that live between Los Angeles and San Diego...  so with places to stay for free, only need airfare and spending money?  Hell yes!  Of course it was about seeing people I haven't seen for months or even years, but if you know beers, you know SoCal is HUGE in the craft beer scene.  Besides freebies I was able to get through knowing awesome people, I made it my mission to only drink California beers... some you can find out here but maybe hard to find or maybe can find some by the brewery, but only select styles... some that are local and you can't find much further away than Nevada or Arizona if you're lucky.  Here's a brief run-down of the amazingness that I enjoyed!!

B's, MNF and Repeal Day!

Happy Repeal Day beer lovers!  On Dec 5, 1933, Congress repealed the 21st Amendment to lift Prohibition!!  HUZZAH!  Watched a little MNF, saw the B's ruin the Penguins and enjoyed a brew to celebrate!  For sure wanted more, but got an early morning at work tomorrow..

... Also happen to be drinking an 8.5% ABV 750mL bottle with a supposed 145 IBUs..  aWHAAAAAAAA?!  If that's true, slap a dress on me and call me Sally!  DAMN!  Grand Teton Brewing Co - Trout Hop Black IPA

A super carbonated, near-black pour with a surprisingly whitish head.  Sticky sweet malt nose, toffee and
molasses, with hints of roasted coffee and underlying grassy/piney hops.  Tons of coffee in the taste, some roasted malts and charred wood.  Hints of chocolate try to cover up thick piney hops with a nice bitter, dry finish.  This one was simple, straightforward and great.  Not sure about the supposed 145 IBUs.. certainly very hoppy and tons of malt do cover it up, but a great Black IPA nonetheless.  Would've been nice to see how much more this could age, however.

Long Overdue - Breakfast Stout on Draft

So about a month ago I got word that the Gaff in town managed to get a keg of Founders Breakfast Stout! BOOM!  If you know your beer, you know Breakfast Stout is tough to get on it's own..but seeing it on draft somewhere, shit, you drop all plans to go get it.  So I had to do just that..

B's and Beers

For the game tonight vs the Leafs, I invited my buddy over to crack into a few of the brews, have some wings and watch the B's mop the ice!

Quiet Saturday

Had all my fun Friday night..time to spend a quiet Saturday night in, with some beer of course!  So I invited a fellow beer geek over and we got down on some of these brews!!

Beer and Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Hope you all had a great day with whomever you spent it with and took the time  to reflect and appreciate it all.  What better way to cap off a day of all that and gluttonous eating and drinking...than with another beer!

Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - #34 Oak Aged Dunkel.  5.7% ABV and 30 IBUs... not far out of season either!  They incorporated a secondary fermentation while using oak 'spirals' to impart character, wicked.  Much darker than the other dunkels I've had with faint caramel/toffee malt notes, a little vanilla and oak with some subtle grassy hop aromas.  Full-flavored, but rather light taste with just the right amount of carbonation. The taste followed the nose with the sweetish nutty, caramel, toasted bread malts upfront with some faint spices following up...transitioning to a bit of hops with the earthy oak notes combining with vanilla and a bit of a bourbon-esque bite to the middle/finish.  Nowhere near as intense as bourbon barrel aged in terms of flavor,  very faint actually, but just enough to provide a subtle aspect to this beer.  A really smooth, easy drinking beer with a great malt profile and a nice spectrum of different flavors popping in and out..  definitely aged itself well!  Cheers!

Tuesday!!!!

Hey there, kiddos!  Happy Tuesday!  Crazy wild Sons of Anarchy episode tonight and some brews to go along!  That's it.....  on to the beers!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday Night Football - Harvest BSA

So the Pats kicked some serious ass, huh?!  As with any good MNF game, you need some good beer to go along.  I had a couple of stock beers (aka ones I've reviewed before, or simple standard beers) but also cracked into my Notch Session - BSA Harvest.

An awesome local beer at 4.4% ABV and 22 IBUs...  BSA stands for Brewer's Supporting Agriculture, which allows Mass. Brewers to buy into stocks of barley at the beginning of the season and Notch was apparently one of the first to do so.  This is using 100% Western MA barley and brewed in the Belgian Farmhouse-style Saison fashion.  Notch has great stuff clocking in at under 5.0%.. all super drinkable and huge on flavor, surprisingly, and this is no exception.  Unbelievable huge head..the initial pour overtook the glass immediately!  Slightly sweet, light toasted malts on the nose, but some dry-ish spicy hops with earthy notes, fruity esters and a bit of lemon peel.  Again..for such a low ABV, Notch kills it with flavor.  Pale malts reminiscent of an English Ale and dry wheat mix with grassy, citrus hops with coriander and a faint pepper spice.  The Belgian inspired fruit here is unbelievable..  crisp apple, pear with the traditional banana and clove.    A crisp finish with a lingering sweetness and perfect bubbly carbonation...  seriously Notch, 4.4%?  You're full of it.. this is straight dope

Beer Summit Harvest Fest and post-fest beers!

Last night I got the invite from the Backlash crew to help pour and schmooze with the crowds at the Beer Summit Harvest Fest @ the Park Plaza Castle!  Fuck yeah!  Crazy crowds, sloppy people and tons of free beer...great Saturday night.  If you don't already know about them, check out Backlash Beer Co.  Well-crafted, small batch brews with a shit ton of flavor.. sick bottles too!

As with any good beer fest, there were more beers afterwards as well!  On to the after party with a couple friends I ran into at the fest...

More Pumpkins!!

Still goin with the pumpkins!  Don't hate...  I love pumpkin beers, get over it!

Autumnal Ales

Random Thursday back from vacation and its only like 50 degrees here finally... finally seems like fall!  Finally time for some autumn ales (I'm not behind or lazy... I was just waiting for the appropriate weather)  Most people  are used to the usual Pumpkins and Oktoberfest, but just like the aptly-named Summer ales, there are the autumnal brethren!

 

(post) Pre-vacation Pumpkins!

yep..more beers before vacation!  I only had to be up to pack the last minute things and get to the airport for 11am..so why not have a few big boy bottles before I leave!?  Only I pulled a rookie mistake and I didn't keep the pics!  So sadly it'll be stock photography again...  I found a bottle of Shipyard Pugsley's Signature Series - Smashed Pumpkin 2010 vintage... inadvertently cellared for a year!  HOORAY!

Pre-vacation Oktoberfests

So I'm leaving for a hop-head's haven (So-Cal) on Wed and should probably finish up my Oktoberfest beers before I do..right?  I mean..it's well into November now..'bout time, kid.

Sunday Night Pumpkins

A Sunday off.. more pumpkin beers than I can count on two hands..  yep, drinkin' time!  Had a few selections while watchin the Pats game (don't wanna talk about it), but on the plus side, the new Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels were pretty damn good along with the beers!

Otter Creek - Wolaver's Organic Pumpkin Ale.  Same as last year, but they dropped the "Will Stevens" from the name and changed the label..  optimistic for a slight change in recipe too?  Let's see.   Already a bit more amber than last year's pour and far less carbonated.  A bit more spice and malt to the nose than last year as well.  So far so good!  Again, despite being touted as brewed with 100% organic Vermont pumpkins, this is still a very spice-forward brew.  A bit more evened out with a more pronounced malt profile helps a bit, as does a slight hop finish.  A better brew this year, for sure, but not amazingly standout...but don't think they were going for such.  A solid pumpkin offering.

Rock Art Brewery - EXTREME Pumpkin Imperial Spruce Stout.  Yep.. I said SPRUCE.  With pumpkin.  In a stout.  YES, please!  "This ain't for no mama's boy or daddy's girl"  How could anyone turn this up??  8.0% ABV and 50 IBUs, this is one killer dark brown pour with a huge mocha head.  A sort of subdued nose for an Imperial Stout, but definite coffee and chocolate notes, a little malt sweetness that may be from the pumpkin in fact.  A little bit of hops poke through towards the back end, evidence of the 50 IBUs.  And the taste..now this was a unique pumpkin brew!  There's equal parts pumpkin, nutmeg/clove spice, dark malts and a sharp, earthy bitterness towards the end.  For sure that's the spruce.  It adds a dimension to this brew that I've never tasted and certainly only works with the imperial..but damn does it work well!  I've had a better pumpkin stout, but not as unique a one..  go find this!!

I'll finish off the night with a brand new entry to the pumpkin category this year..  Harpoon -  UFO Pumpkin. 5.9% ABV and 20 IBUs.  Harpoon Brewery and their UFO lineup have always been rather solid, large-scale   beers, so I had to try this.  Lightly spiced, less so than the category mainstay Pumpkinhead, with nice hints of toasty, biscuit-like malts and a faint pumpkin.  A super crisp bubbly pour, but in a good way.  Not as watery or spice-foward as the Pumpkinhead with enough malt backbone mimicking pie crust to have it hold its own against the top-tier craft pumpkins.  Hints of vanilla come through here and there along with a mild piney hops through and through.  Finishes a bit dry and crisp, very refreshing..begs for another taste.  With the overabundance of pumpkins in the last few years, many places pump them out just to say they have one.  I assume Harpoon wanted a piece of the [pumpkin] pie as well, but they pushed to make a rather good pumpkin beer while maintain its true Harpoon/UFO identity.

Pumpkins 2011 - Round 1!

Yep, Halloween passed.  Same as last post, get over it.  Pumpkin beers are amazing any time of the year.  (and I have far too many!!)  So might as well crack into the stash and get all sorts of freaky pumpkiny!  I'm only gonna go over beers I didn't review last year to keep in interesting, but that's not to say I didn't grab some of my favorites from last year and other classics.  First up this year....

German Oktoberfests

Yeah, I know... Oktoberfest is at the BEGINNING of October.  Get over it, I'm busy.

If you're reading this, I hope to God you know what Oktoberfest is..but simply put: yearly outdoor beer festival in Munich, Germany and is considered the world's largest fair.  It lasts just over 2 weeks and started almost 200 years ago as a celebration of the royal wedding of the soon-to-be King of Germany.  Only beer brewed within the limits of Munich is allowed to be served, but that doesn't stop outside breweries making their own versions and also from being able to procure the stuff that's available at the official Oktoberfest.

First up in my little collection of 3 German Oktoberfests...

Stone Greg Visits Boston! - The Video!

Here's an article about, and a video put together from Greg's visit to Boston!  Keep an eye out for your's truly!!  I'm a movie star!!

Brewbound - Stone's Brewing's Greg Koch Reads, Writes and Crowd Surfs!

Stone Greg Visits Boston!

If you're not on social media following your beer heroes and favorite breweries...  do it!  How else ya gonna know when the founder of Stone Brewing Co is coming to the next town over from you!?  Yep, Greg Koch, founder and CEO came to Belmont to the coolest little craft beer store ever, then had a speaking gig in Boston, then to Lord Hobo in Cambridge..  pretty freakin' sweet huh?

10.23.2011

So before heading out to watch the Walking Dead tonight, I grilled up some meat and cracked open a brew.  Beer, fire and zombies... sounds fantastic, right?  Well it is!  I'm starting to break into the stash of Harpoon 100 Barrel Series that I have.  Just like the Stone Vertical Epics, I caught onto the series after the start, so I can't get what's already been released.  But I'm starting, and although terribly sad I've missed out on some forever, gotta enjoy what I can take advantage of!  Starting with #32....

session 32 - Pott's Landbier.  Categorically described as a Vienna Lager, it apparently translates as country beer and has a nice spicy strong malt backbone with some earthy notes.  At 4.8% ABV and 30 IBUs, this would be a great beer to enjoy while working out in the fields all day, giving just enough oomph and refreshment, but not getting Mr. Farmer-person hammered and running the tractor into the creek. This beer turns out to be a collaboration with Pott's Braueri from Oelde, Germany and mimics their own 'Pott's Landbier.' A nice dark amber hue with a great thick head, this beer has a bit of grassy hops on the nose with some sweet toasted malts and a bit of an apple/honey sweetness.  Taste-wise, very smooth, but carbonated enough to provide refreshment.  The major flavor profile is sweet, nutty, roasted malts giving some caramel and bready tastes with some hidden cherry and plum.  A bit of spice carries from the malt to the hop finish, hints of nutmeg, a little cinnamon with woody, earthy tastes.. a very nice addition.  On the finish is a slight kick of some grassy hops..keeping with the earthy theme.  A really nice sessionable beer, not so sure if it's worthy of a unique spot on the 100 Barrel Series..but it is a collab brew and a slightly different style than Harpoon is accustomed to...greatly refreshing overall though!

Random Beer Saturday

I swear, every time I set foot in a packie, I walk out with 7 more beers after only taking 2 or 3 out of my stash!  It's a never-ending cycle dammit!  I've really gotta step up my drinking game.  Wanna help?!

Long Trail - Triple Bag (2010 vintage)  Have been sitting on this guy for quite a while..  anywhere between 8.2 and 9.4% ABV depending on year.  This is just a suped-up version of their Double Bag strong ale with a ton more malt added in.  Syrupy-sweet aroma with hints of bubblegum and alcohol, some raisins and heavy caramel.  Great malty nose... and a complete reversal of roles when it comes to the taste.  A nice punch of hops from the get go that delves back into the complex malt carrying over from the nose.  More caramel and toffee with heavy dark fruit and molasses with hints of the booze poking through often.  The malty sweetness linger long after the beer is gone.  This is one dangerous beer, the high ABV is fairly well hidden behind the malts and it goes down way too easy.  Hell, I've probably downed this one far too quickly myself!

Happy Wednesday!

YAY Wednesday!  Happy Hump Day and Happy Finally-Doing-Work Day!  See...at my job, I have two roles.  1-I'm a lab manager... 2-I'm also a researcher   (infectious disease research lab)  For the past few months, while getting research projects in line, I've been occupied with learning the managerial side of things.  FINALLY I was able to start up some bench work and moving towards my research project! YAY!  And what better way to celebrate than a celebration beer itself?!

10.10.11-10.16.11 Recap

Fell behind with a few of the beers I pulled from my stash last week, therefore you get a lump update!  Had a fairly busy week and wasn't feelin too hot for most of it, so I didn't get as many as in as I had hoped either...sad week!

Stoudts

Just got back from a weekend trip to NYC...saw all the construction at Ground Zero.  Unbelievable.  Seeing that shouldn't be the only time you feel patriotic besides on July 4th..but coming back home and remembering I had a brew with an American flag on it stirred up a little American pride in me.

West Coast Tiny Bottles

So I found two beers in the stash from California and both are in little stubby bottles! Match made in heaven?  ...good enough to drink tonight at least!

Nectar Ales - Humboldt Brown.  Nectar strives to be a sustainable brewery, recycling into various products what other brewers would consider waste, using all natural/organic ingredients where available.  This brew right here is made with all natural hemp..  what?  Hemp beer?  YEP  5.7% ABV and 32 IBUs.  A nice rich brown pour with a faint head..the usual brown notes..some malts, faint molasses, some chocolate and spices and a touch of hops.  A super light body for a brown, crisp actually.  Toasted nutty malts dominant with some chocolate and coffee flavors and a decent hop profile.. a bit floral, a little citrus.  Not sure where the hemp plays in.. there is some herb/spicey notes with a little sour taste on the finish.  Confusing about the hops, but a great take on a Brown Ale!

Double-up Wednesdays

My collection is growing WAY outta hand..I gotta step up my drinking!  On deck tonight, 2 brews from 2 breweries, a two-fer!

Summer Stragglers

So I found 2 more beers in my box o' goodies that are summer seasonals!!!  WOOHOOO

Boulder Beer - Sweaty Betty..  a nice wheat ale at 5.2% ABV.  Man..the head on this disappeared FAST..wow!  This babe pours a beautiful hazy sunshine..this even LOOKS like summer in a glass!  A distinctive toasty malty sweetness to the nose with some peach/apricot aromas..slightly hefeweizen-esque as well..  delicious.  Despite the head disappearing than the Rays playoff season, (yep..  cultural reference!  Google 2011 Tampa Bay Rays if you're reading this in the future Mr. McFly) Ms Betty here is fairly crisp and carbonated..  definite summer wheat taste.  Light toasted malts and bread with some citrus/lemon peel, coriander..touches of clove.  The faintest sour/bitter taste on the finish..finally some hops poking through!  An easy drinking summer (I finished it before I finished typing!  Oops!) with a little different flavor profile..not the best, but fairly unique..nice.

Cape Ann Brewery - Fisherman's Ale.  A Kolsch-style ale at 5.0% and 24 IBUs.  A fairly muted nose to this beer..like a normal Kolsch, but smelled from across the room.  Light grassy/piney hops are noticable along with a freshly-baked bread maltiness and some sweet fruits.  The taste is very refreshing, but follow the nose.. a bit muted, a little muddled together.  Lemon peel, bananas, apricots are all present, but almost seem to be fighting the light, sweet malts and the hops are struggling to make themselves present.  Had nice flavor and very refreshing for the summers on the sea, but might need a little refining to make it great.   B+

Big Beer Friday!

So it was Sept 23..just a normal Friday night..  went to go chill and watch some movies..but decided to drink some big ballsy beers for the hell of it.  Why not, right?!  Definitely made the movie way more enjoyable..but hey.. who wouldn't love ThanksKilling?!  A movie about a possessed turkey demon (puppet) who kills every 505 years (except it totally wasn't that long) on Thanksgiving..  and it was made with under $4,000 by college students..  kick ass!

Sierra Nevada - 2011 Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale.  I can't turn down a beer called Bigfoot!  Have had a few barleywine style brews.. haven't been much of a fan, but SN makes some good stuff, so let's see what they got.  At 9.6% ABV and 90 IBUs..this is certainly a bigfoot of a beer!  Crazy dark amber/copper pour with a big head for such a big beer.  A big, hoppy profile with strong malts and a new grain-y aroma I haven't encountered before...  barley mayhaps?!  The strength of the beer isn't too hidden, the alcohol sneaks in and isn't shy about it's presence.  Rather carbonated for such a beer beer with a bit of caramel/sweet wheaty malts  from the get go that jumps into that high ABV hop profile...you can tell there's a crap ton of hops..very piney/grapefruit..but the strong malt profile saves this from tasting like liquid hops.  Strong, dry sipper, but with plenty of flavor and awesome balance between huge hop and malt attacks.  For sure changed my perception of barleywines..gonna pick this baby up again!

Victory - Golden Monkey.  Love this brew!  a 9.5% ABV Belgian-style Tripel.  A lovely hazy golden yellow with a super foamy head..  the aroma of a typical Belgian Triple at first..  fruity, banana, clove, bit of spice and some yeast, but a nice candied sugar sweetness and hints of alcohol set this apart.  More of a citrus/sweet bite to the nose...taste follows right along.  The alcohol plays a prominent role..not hidden behind much.  Plenty of bready malts and smooth, full fruit flavors with more of that spice and candied sugar and a little citrus hop bite in the finish.  Banana, yeasts, peppery spice are dominant with some green apple/pear hints and a nice sweetness make this WAY too easy to drink!

Lagunitas - Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale...  DAMN.  Great story behind this beer...apparently there was an undercover investigation of the brewery by the local police and they had evidence of smoking/selling weed at the brewery during some fest they were putting on..so the ABC shut them down for what ended up being 20 days on St. Pattys 2005.  Quite convoluted investigation apparently..but Lagunitas decided to say F you and brew a crazy beer to commemorate the occasion!  And by crazy I mean 9.8% ABV and 70.5 IBUs.. a double/Imperial IPA style beer.  Dark coppery red with a surprising head for an Imperial..  very sweet for such a big beer..light caramel notes, sweet malts and even a slightly sweet grapefruit-esque hop smell with a ton of alcohol mixed in..  Big body of toasted malts with some caramel/toffee that tries to balance out the crazy hop profile..but fails.  The hops in this are in no way bitter, surprisingly smooth and creamy..sweet actually...  Tough to place fully..but trust me here..this is a crazy good awesome beer!  Thank God for that 'investigation'!

Keeping Summer in a Bottle

Summer is coming to an end.. but not before regular season baseball ends, New Hampshire turns a fall mosaic and I compile a few summer brews for ya!  A great time for seasonal beers; albeit a bit lacking in variety, summer beers are nonetheless delicious!  The crisp taste, light citrus flavors, the warm breeze and gorgeous skies...  priceless.

..and what better way to kick of a cornucopia of lovely summer beers than with Summer Love itself!?

Mass Brewer's Fest 2011

Oh Hell Yes!  Mass Brewer's Fest 2011 - 2nd annual beer fest put on by the Mass Brewer's Guild at the World Trade Center in Boston!!!!!  I mean, really... just check out that beer list:  Mass Brewer's Fest 2011    Damn, right!?  80+ and there were a LOT more pouring there that weren't listed.  Probably close to 100 beers and a couple casks!  Could not have asked for a better night... started off around 70 degrees or so..didn't get below 60, few clouds in the sky...  and a shit-ton of beers flowing

Gonna TRY to remember which ones I had, and shared as well....  (I probably forgot 2 or 3 breweries we hit..  so damn hard to remember everything I had!)

I absolutely HAD to start the night at the Backlash table.  Seriously, Maggie and Helder of Backlash are amazing and the beer is out of this world!  How in the hell could a beer this great be a brewery's FIRST beer!?  They were true to their word too, this was even better when tapped!  Check out the prior post about Groundswell!! Draught gave this beer more complexity and brought out hints of spice and pepper..poured crisper than from the bottle as well.  Again, outstanding.. follow this brewery people, they're goin' places!