11.16 - Shaken to the Bone

Drinks at a brewer's apartment?  Bring beer!  Not like there won't be enough there... right?

Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brewing Company - Moat Bone Shaker Brown
a 5.5% ABV English-style Brown Ale.  12 oz can?  fuck off.  this right here is a bomber in a can.  a Comber..  wait.. that sounds stupid.  Ok, just a 22oz can.  Yeah, that works!  When one can isn't enough and you just really can't be bothered double fisting.  Ok.. this post is already getting weird.   Well then.  The beer.. right!  I'm not sure what the hell it looked like since I pounded this fucker straight from the can.. I'm guessing it was brown.  good guess?  It probably had some sort of head too.. and smelled like a brown.  I think I'm 3-for-3 so far!  What matters here is the taste.. cause that's all I can really judge.  It's smooth, light, sweet..  caramel and nutty malts.. slight toasty notes.  This is solid.. this is crushable, this is tasty, this is a huge beer for a great value.  There simply are not enough solid Brown Ales.  This is legit

- - 8 Hops!

11.15 - Snake Bitten

Beer mail is the best mail.  Got myself a growler of this little beauty and another brew from down South. Had some guys in my beer group rave and rave about this.. let's see if it lives up to the hype

Good People Brewing Company - Snake Handler 

a 9.3% ABV  103 IBU Double IPA out of Birmingham, Alabama.  Coppery orange pour with almost no head; I would've considered the growler to be a bit flat.. but the pour in the stock photo above looks a touch flat too.  HUGE thick syurpy orange citrus notes ooze from the pour.  Booze and pine encompass the rest of the nose..  simple and straight-forward, but massive in every aspect.  The taste picks up where the nose left off in that it's just a boozy, hoppy, malty beast of a DIPA.  The malts give it a strong sweetness that balances out some stone fruit and piney resin hops.  Super citrusy, super resinous, super good.  Great up-and-comping brewery, or so I hear from the folks that sent me this!

- - 8 Hops!

11.14 - Why Can I Bee You?

Another one of those random 'oh-hmm-this-looks-interesting-and-is-$3-why-not-buy-it?' purchases.  We've all had those, right?  Oooh, fancy.  Oooh, shiny.  Right?   Bueller?

Stillwater Artisanal Ales - Why Can't IBU?

a 5.7% ABV hoppy Belgian IPA.  A rich sunny yellow pour and full, thick pure white head.  Supposedly a blend of a Belgian IPA with a Farmhouse influence..  there's the grassy hay notes on the nose that are indicative of this.  There's also abundant floral and citrus hoppy aromas with some peach/apply sweet fruits and slight hints of pepper.  Fairly complex that gets a bit more simple once it hits your lips.  This is a spot-on Belgian IPA/Farmhouse Ale blend.  Bright and yeasty with that sharp, clean grassy and hay-like notes. Again, there's touches of pepper with subtle, sweet biscuit malts.  Dryer than most IPAs, with some nice balanced tropical pulpy fruits towards the end.  The nose led me to expect a bit more complexity from the body, but it's solid nonetheless.

- - 7 Hops!

11.10 - Beat the Deadline!

For once I'm finally drinking one of these PRIOR to the recommended date..  is it the Mayan Apocalypse or something?  Full moon?  What's wrong with me?

Stone Brewing Co - Enjoy By (11.12.13)

a 9.4% ABV  85 IBU Imperial IPA   The first batch was the gold standard, in my humble, yet clearly correct opinion.  Since then, every other one has fallen a bit short in one way or another..  Maybe I'm waiting too long by drinking them on the exact day it says to actually enjoy it by?  Bitch please.... that's like 5 weeks after it's bottled.  Even unicorn tears don't fade that quickly.  Pours the same as every other batch..  finally less onion on the nose!!  Pungent, dank hops, piney, thick heavy orange peel.. oozes from the glass.  And the taste is finally better too!  Closest to batch 1 yet..  cleaner malt profile, less sticky sweet honey and bread.. more hops are able to shine through in a less oppressive resinous fashion.  All the flavors are very similiar batch to batch.. just finally less onion-y garlic hops and a much cleaner overall profile.  Finally getting close to batch 1!

- - 8 Hops!

11.8 - All Aboard the Spice Express

This one sounded interesting.. but is it actually?  Is. It. Actually?

Ballast Point Brewing Company - Indra Kunindra

a 7.05 ABV "Export Stout" brewed with curry spice, coconut, Kaffir line leaf, cayenne, and cumin.  Did I just belly flop into the Indian food section of Whole Foods?  WTF?!  The worst time of my life was any time I had to step foot into the hallways of my off-campus apartment building junior and senior year of college.. fucking reeked of curry.  Now I'm gonna drink it?  I'm a moron.

Black-as-night pour, but not too viscous with a faint tan head.  It's got roasty note combined a giant smash of spice to your nose holes..  loaded curry and cumin aroma.  Borderline overpowering.  aaaaand this is just odd.  There's roasty chocolate flavors.. some coffee.. and BOOM comes the spice.  ZERO coconut or lime notes.. just pure pepper/curry Indian spice.  As it warms, these fade to give way to a fuller roasty malt body.. but it's close to undrinkable at times.  It bounces back and forth.. terrible to ok to terrible back to OK again. Thankfully the spice overall is a bit subdued, and while not my thing AT ALL, it is exactly what it sets out to be.. can't knock it for that

- - 6 Hops!

11.7 - It's Quite Divine

I'm not feeling really creative with my leads lately..  here's some beer

Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Divine Reserve #8
a 9.3% ABV Wee Heavy/Scotch Ale brewed in 2009.  This is a mainly dead pour.. zero head on top of a rich amber/copper body.  There's not much carbonation either..  maybe chalk that up to 3+ yrs in a bottle? Hugely malty and sweet on the nose.  This oozes of brown sugar, figs, toffee, caramel, brown bread, raisins and even touches of peat and booze.  Slick, sweet, and a touch thick.. this has an amazing mouthfeel and body.  Gobs of raisin, caramel, molasses, dark fruits, heavy bready malts..  there's some faded earthy hops that could either be due to the age or the amounts of malts that just dominate this.  This has got to be an Imperial something or other cause it's just massive.  Take the best Scotch Ale you've had, distill it down, double that.. and you get the ricidulousness that is this uber-rich beer

- - 8 Hops!

11.5 - SOA

If you don't enjoy Sons of Anarchy.. stop. reading. now.  Leave.  Go.  We're not friends


Brought a few things over to a friend's place for SOA.  She likes beer..  she works in beer.. so we drink beer.

Surly - Bitter Brewer
a 4.1% ABV 37 IBU "English Bitter"  They call it a "not really British Bitter" and I can see why.  More hops, less maltiness than a traditional Bitter.  Definitely has a unique Surly twist on the style.  Crappy lighting, but a nice orange/copper pour, full head.. there's honey/cracker malts and faint, earthy hops.  It's a lighter beer (duh), and very smooth.  I don't traditionally enjoy Bitters, but this is solid, fits the style, and does what it does well.  Milder hops, floral, a touch of nutty malts, very smooth

- - 8 Hops!

Surly - CynicAle

a 6.6% ABV  33 IBU Farmhouse/Saison Ale.  Picture doesn't do it justice, but this is a lovely hazy golden orange pour, full bubbly white head.  It's got bright honey, hay, and banana notes.  Touches of pepper and orange peel.  Great nose for a canned Saison.  It's earthy, touches of hay and grass, with the typical clove, banana, bubblegum that you'd expect with plenty of smoother sweet notes to balance this out.  There's a bit more body to this than most Saisons, and finishes with a touch of earthy hops and yeast.  Not the truest interpretation of the style, but it seriously delicious!

- - 9 Hops!

11.03 - Beers & Bands

Sunday night.. one of your favorite bands is going on a 'farewell tour'.. you're going to the show with a fellow beer geek. It's at a dive bar.  OF COURSE YOU HAVE CRAFT BEERS BEFOREHAND!!

Revolution Brewing Company - Anti-Hero IPA
a 6.5% ABV 70 IBU IPA.   Gorgeously clear amber/orange pour, solid head, the nose..  woooo baby! Dank, floral, slightly piney.. but almost ALL hops, barely any malt aroma.  But in the body/taste, the first thing to hit the a lighter, sweet cracker/caramel hop body.  But this is only 1/10th of the body.. barely worth noting..  such huge, crisp, clean hops notes in the taste.  Floral, piney.. and a butt-load of dank hop flavors just bombard your palate, but never dominate.  This is so unbalancedly balanced that it's just downright crazy.  An amazing IPA!

- - 8 Hops!

Saucony Creek Brewing Company - Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress

a 9.5% Imperial Pumpkin beer.  One of 2 beers sent to me by a trader in PA, the brewery is owned by a retired X-Games BMXer.  Now I love pumpkin beers, but they have to be good AND unique, which are few and far between, for me to enjoy them.  This is actually both!  A rich mahogany pour, the spice and vanilla pour from the nose.  It smells sweet, earthy, and spicy.  The spice is subdued, there's more sweet potato/yam than pumpkin notes.. and a ton of brown sugar sweetness.  This is very nice, especially for a first-time brew.  

- - 7 Hops

Saucony Creek Brewing Company - Chocolate Cherry Schnicklefritz Stout

an 8.0% ABV 20 IBU Milk Stout.   The 2nd of 2 beers send to me, this intrigued me more, so I saved it for second.  Just what you'd expect.. a rich brown pour and light brown head.  Heavy lactose nose with milk chocolate and just a hint of tart cherry.  A very luxuriant and silky stout, the lactose works very well in this, unlike most milk Stouts.  It's not overly sweet as the bright, tart cherry notes come in and cut through the lactose.  The tartness starts to creep in on the finish of the beer with darker chocolate/cacao overtaking the sweeter milk chocolate.

- - 8 Hops!

Prairie Artisan Ales - Prairie BOMB!

a 14.0% Imperial Stout aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and ancho chilies.  14% and this ain't even barrel aged..  goddamn!  (clearly the blue wax version)  huge espresso and dark chocolate notes on the notes with subtle sweetness - vanilla.  Not much spice here at all.  There's only a very faint bit of heat from the chilies in the body.. this is more prevalent early on, before the vanilla sweetness and coffee notes take over as the beer warms.  Super thick and slick, this is still a bit hot from the booze.  I'm sure with some age that'll fade and the chili spice may come through more.  Regardless, this is fantastic.  Would love to compare to Hunaphu at some point.. if I can ever land one!

- - 9 Hops!

10.30 - WORLD SERIES!

2013.  Red Sox.  World Series.  Up 3-2.. AT HOME.  You bet your sweet ass I'm gonna be having some beers!

Hill Farmstead Brewery - Jimmy
a 10.% ABV "Cascadian Dark Beer" or Black IPA.  Brewed only once in 2012.. so let's see if it holds up. Roasty nose and hints of a sharp piney hop.  The body is slightly light and oxidized for a higher ABV beer..  the hop profile still remains after 12+ months.. decent piney notes balanced out by mild roasty chocolate and iced coffee flavors.  Dry finish.. more roast..  hops are close to fading out completely.  Not my favorite style, but for the age, this held up very very nicely

- - 8 Hops!

Hill Farmstead Brewery - Everett

a 7.5% ABV Porter.   Now I've heard amazing this about this Porter.. but as a no-frills Porter, it's really tough to be stand out.  Can it live up?  Typical rich pour, mocha head..   has a rich, roasty nose, more akin to a non-Russian Stout than a Porter.  There's the chocolate and coffee you'd expect, but the roast is heavy and amazing.  Smooth and strong.. this is just plain solid1

- - 8 Hops!

Mystic Brewery - Cabernet Sauvingon Barrel-Fermented Saison

a 7.0% ABV Saison fermented in red wine barrels.. yeah, not aged in the barrels.. actually fermented in the barrels.  Suck it, neck-beards.. you aren't on this level.  The natural bacteria in the barrels assists in the fermentation, adding a level to the Matrix that you just can't get from barrel-aging.  Dry, funky, hay nose with an underlying tannic, fruity note.  The body is the perfect blend of CabSauv and Saison.. yeasty, funky, and jammy without being tart.  This is exactly as advertised.. a Saison blended with a Cab Sauv wine.  Juicy barnyard goodness

- - 9 Hops!

SOX WIN! SOX WIN! SOX WIN! SOX WIN! SOX WIN! SOX WIN!!!!

Alesmith - Speedway Stout (Vietnamese Coffee)

a 12.0% ABV Imperial Sout brewed with Vietnamese coffee.   I was told I can pick any beer from my friend's cellar.. everything was so epic, the decision was ridiculous.  This is a fine celebratory beer, right? Such a huge, thick head and just oozes with this amazing coffee aroma.  This drinks like a sub-6% ABV beer, absurdly smooth and sweet, zero booze bite, the coffee notes are like the most luxuriant coffee you could image, blended with orgasm-inducing chocolate.  Highly recommend ANY of the Speedway Stout variants.

- - 9 Hops!

10.28 - Harpoon #46

Nice to get free beers from time to time from a local shop.

Harpoon 100 Barrel Series -#46 Hoppy Belgian Style Blonde

a 6.5% ABV  53 IBU Belgian Blonde-style ale.  A hybrid of the nose of a Belgian White and a Triple.  Strong esters and grassy hops.  Not a ton of complexity to the nose, nor the body..  this is a straight-forward "Belgian blonde" that's hopped up.. exactly as the name says.  Banana, close, Belgian yeast with tropical esters and a floral hoppy bite.  There once was a time when the 100 Barrel series made some standout beers.. but if you're aiming for 100 unique beers, there's bound to be some duds.  

- - 6 Hops!

10.27 - OTWOA

I seriously love my connections..

DC Brau - On The Wings Of Armageddon.
a 9.2% ABV  ~115 IBU Double IPA.   I've tried this a few times at fests, but just happy to finally have cans for myself.  A super bold orange pour with strong malty notes and a pungent piney hop profile.  Orange zest and piney resin.. caramel malts.. the hops dominate the nose in a bold fashion.  They grab ahold and let nothing else in.  As for the taste.. well again, the hops dominate.  Thicker orange peel and piney resin flavors comprise the body.  This is just a hop monster.   A very "East Coast" DIPA as the malts play a huge role in the body and finish, giving a ton of caramel sweetness and stronger-than-expected booze bite.  Just a monster of a DIPA, on the tropical/fruity side but with giant piney notes.   Good fresh and still good even with a few months of her

- - 9 Hops!

10.25 - K.B.S.

It's a Tuesday.. so why the fuck not?

About damned time that I ticked this..  finally landed some earlier this year, and well.. it was a shit day at work today.  The prefect excuse to crack it 

Founders Brewing Co - KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)

an 11.2% ABV  70 IBU Bourbon Barrel-aged Stout.    Fun fact I learned, the KBS base beer is in fact NOT FBS!  Who'da thunk?  They use a slightly different base beer for the KBS and the CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout - barrel-aged with maple syrup).  This is a thick, dark brown pour with a faint mocha head.  Coffee and chocolate are dominant on the nose with some vanilla/bourbon sweet notes.  This is a ridiculously smooth beer for over 10%.. toffee, chocolate and coffee hit you first with a bourbon sweetness that is cloying light.  The name of the game for this beer is deception.. you'd never guess 11.2% from the nose or taste.. all booze is hidden harder than that one douche in 2nd grade who would always win at Hide and Go Seek.  It's not as mind-blowing as the hype would make it out to be, but it's an awesome BB Stout with the added uniqueness of being an oatmeal stout, adding more body than the usual stout.  An awesome beer, for sure

- - 9 Hops!

10.22 - Three Beer Tuesdays

Because sometimes, why the hell not?

Austin Beerworks - Heavy Machinery 'Half IPA'

a 5.6% ABV Pale Ale (get it.. hoppy pale ale = half IPA..  whatever).  This is such a clean looking beer that I'd almost call it crafty.  Seriously, it's like see-through.  I'm getting some very faint citrus hops and some other grassy note.. but it's all very subdued and almost watery notes.  The taste doesn't help this much.. it's very watery and underwhelming.  The hops are there.. and a decent caramel/biscuit malt profile.. but it's all super light.. almost as if this is a mediocrely hopped macro beer.  I don't know.. I can't say much great about this besides the fact that it was free and that it didn't taste bad.. only faded.  oh well.  Tickers gonna tick

- - 6 Hops!

Stone Brewing - The Perfect Crime

a 6.8% ABV 60 IBU 'Black Smoked Saison' - a collab with Stillwater Artisanal Ales and Evil Twin Brewing.  A definitely black pour..way darker than I expected.. and a nice thick cream-hued head.  There's a coffee/roasty aspect to the nose with some floral and berry notes and a noticeable smoke aspect.  It's a heavier Saison, as would be expected with the malt bill to this.. but that combined with the yeasty flavors lend itself to a meaty, Belgian-style porter..  yes.. it was meaty.  The smoke in this, when paired with the lighter, yeast-influenced profile of a Saison, ends up overpowering and comes across too meaty and savory. A touch too much for my liking.. but for the most part, it works, just a little out of balance and out of the ordinary

- - 7 Hops!

Ending with a Bold City Brewery - Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale

a 6.0% ABV Brown Ale from Bold City in Florida.. given to me by a friend.  A clear, rich mahogany pour and giant head.  Faint chocolate aromas with nutty, toasty notes and a sweeter hint of caramel malt.  For 6.0% ABV, this is a very light, clean beer.. in aroma and taste.  It's just as the nose suggests: nutty, toasty, caremel..  some hints of iced coffee and sweet chocolate.  But overall.. for a Brown Ale, this drinks more like a Pale and was gone in about 10 minutes.   Enjoyable, but just a touch too crushable

- - 7 Hops

10.21 - Cubano

Had a friend in my trading group stop by Cigar City a little while back, ask if anyone wanted anything..  I took a look at the list of what's available, and being a coffee beer fiend, I had him grab me a 4pk of this and damn, am I glad I did! (the tulip in the back - 7eventh Sun Brewery - was thrown in as an extra )

Cigar City - Cubano-style Espresso

a 5.5% ABV 25 IBU Brown Ale with vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans added.  In Florida, apparently Cubano-style espresso is a popular drink (woulda thunk?)  As expected it pours a rich brown/black and has a slightly off-white head.  It's got a crap-ton of lactose sweetness on the nose with amazing espresso/iced coffee notes.. like I feel like I'm inhaling pure coffee beans.  This has far more body that you'd believe is in a 5.5% beer.. there's huge espresso flavors with rich, smooth, sweet vanilla and just a hint of roasty chocolate.  I have ZER0 clue what actual Cubano espresso is like.. but if it's half as good as this beer, I would crush cups of it morning, noon, and night.  The sweetness with subtle roast and a huge body for such a small beer.. just phenomenal.

- - 9 Hops!

10.20 - Greener Than Green

Finally made the trip out to Tree House Brewery in Brimfield MA yesterday for not only myself, but some guys in the beer group, and well..  I ended up with quite a bit..

Oh.. and that's all of ONE kind of beer.  Yep.  they ran out of everything except for ONE BEER..

But before I get to that, I snagged a highly sought-after IPA collab this week

Otter Creek / Lawson's Finest Liquids Collab - Double Dose IPA

an 8.5% ABV Imperial IPA.  for those you not in the know, Lawson's has one of the most coveted IPAs in VT, which is saying something when your state is home to Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead.  So they go an create a beer with Otter Creek, one of VT's oldest craft breweries..  These bottles were flying off shelves around me.. is it worth the hype..?  a pure orange pour and decent head.  There's grassy hops, bits of heavier, dank resin hops, and sweet orange peel.  Sadly, only the last part comes through in the body..  it's pure bitter orange peel.  zero malt notes, zero hops..  I hear everyone raving about this.. but it's just a mediocre orange peel bomb.. nothing more, nothing less.  Might be a bad bottle, but who's to judge

- - 7 hops

Tree House Brewing Co. - Green

a 7.6% ABV IPA brewed with American and Australian hops..  we're talking 2 days old here folks..  Green is the name.. green as in fresh.. green as in WHOA.  A perfect copper orange pour, clean and clear, with a just-right white head.  The tropical nose on this makes you think you just stepped off a plane in Tahiti.. good god that's amazing.  There's tons of pineapple, mango, guava.. also peaches, nectarines..  there's touches of sweet malts and just a bit of grass.  I am 110% happy that the taste perfectly mimics the nose..  this is the epitome of a tropical IPA!  Essentially no dankness, no pine, no stickiness..  pure. topical. glory.  I just can't even talk about this beer anymore for fear my words won't live up to the beer.  Each sip makes you want another until the next thing you know, the 750ml growler is gone in 25 minutes.  

- - 9 Hops!