Rugged One

Yeah, you've got to be pretty quick before we start getting stuff up here Joe. Actually my buddy Greg dropped me off a bottle when he was up visiting the other week. Well on the eve of a pretty epic beer trip, I'd thought that I'd break out something from one of the places out where we will be this weekend. This had lots of roasted bitterness, chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, and beefy heat. I had actually wanted to try this before we left so that I could pick up a couple of extra bottles when we are out there if I liked it. Uh, let's just say that I think I'll be picking up some more bottles! Something new from New Holland Brewing of Holland, MI, it's their new Imperial Stout, Night Tripper. This was brewed in conjunction with this year's Mardi Gras celebration, hence the Jester on the bottle.

A couple of random beers from this week. And there was definitely no shortage of hops in this guy! The aroma was a little subdued but the taste had a nice herbal, grassy hop bitterness that lasted the whole way through. A nice start to this new series and I'm looking forward to big things from them in the future (RIS anyone?) And finally, since it was over 80 degrees here yesterday, I decided it would be a good time to get into something extra hoppy. A bottle of the new 22 oz bottled Terrapin Side Project release, the Hop Shortage Ale. And this was actually one of the better Brown Ales that I've had. A very nice flavor of pecans, candied caramel, a little roast, and mild hop bitterness. This had a surprisingly beefy body for something so drinkable and hey, it's a new beer State credit. Cha-ching! A shot of the side label telling a little more about the beer. Up next, something that I recently received as an extra in a trade. Lazy Magnolia is thee only brewery (and one of only 2 brewpubs) in the beer barren state of Mississippi. They recently started bottling their Southern Pecan Brown Ale making it the only bottled beer in the entire state. And this was a great example of that. Lots of coffee accents and roasted bitterness that was well balanced by chocolate and toffee sweetness. And at around 5% it's sessionalbility is about as huge as the head it pours. First up a bottle of St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from McAuslan Brewing up in Quebec. It seems like there has been more and more stuff from Quebec being distributed down here besides Unibroue lately and that's a good thing as there really are some great breweries up there.

^ You can have the rest of the Consecrator I you want. I hated the stuff! I wish that I could magically turn the rest into Oberon. Speaking of beer and Bubba... And Wow! This was some righteous sh*t right here. A awesome balance of hops, citrus, and malt up front, leading into a piney explosion in the finish. And I swear that this has one of the thee best IPA aromas that I've smelled in a long time. Fantastic stuff and a big thanks to Bubba for hooking me up. I might need another one or six of these in our next trade... Trade from the West Coast via Kev comes a bottle of Alaskan IPA. Alaskan is just one of those breweries (along with Deschutes and Kona) that is just everywhere on the West Coast and that I'd love to just be able to pick up whenever I want around here.

Well with me having a scheduled day off today and Derek feeling *cough* *cough* sick, we decided to make this week's edition of Friday Night Pints into a whole day's worth of fun. I've had a ton of beer gathering dust in the cellar and with most of it being bombers, I knew that I needed some help in getting my stash under control again. With that, let's see what tasty brews we got into this week... And holy crap was this tasty! Just tons of caramel and toffee notes that were perfectly balanced by some subtle hop bitterness that kept things in check. Very nice! Until next Friday... And finally, we head down South with a bottle of Cold Mountain from the Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, NC. This is currently the top ranked Winter Warmer in the world. And this really was the best of both worlds! Awesome citrus and hop notes that were balanced by the deep chocolate and coffee character of the Stout. Definitley one of the best Black & Tans we've had yet! We finally move things out to the Midwest with another bottle from a brewery that is rapidly rising up our opinion scale.Hoppin' Frog Brewing out of Akron, OH. Their Bodacious Black& Tan is a mix of their Hoppin' to Heaven IPA and top ranked B.O.R.I.S. Imperial Stout. And you know what? We really liked it! Lots of nice chocolate flavors shined and I think that the raw veggie aftertaste might have mellowed more as we really didn't notice it. It could have used a little more body but for the most part, it was a very nicely done first attempt at a home brew. Good job Kev! And hey, look what we have here! It's a bottle of Bubba's Blank Slate Porter! Yeah folks, a member of the Beer Thread that actually sends us his home brew for opinions. Shocker! This is a jacked up version of their 420 IPA and it wasn't bad. Lots of piney hops with a huge dose of citrus flavors and backed by a fairly beefy malt backbone. And we still stay up in the North England with the 840 DIPA from the Stone Coast Brewing Company in Portland, ME. ...and eh, this really didn't change my mind a whole lot. Some nice caramel goodness and spice was counteracted by an almost astringent taste of citrus and dark fruits. Maybe next time... Next up, another New England offering, in the form of a Holiday Bock from the Rock Art Brewery in Vermont. I haven't been a huge fan of their beers yet so I was hoping that this one would change my mind. And wow, was this flavorfull! Tons of roast, chocolate, and coffee in a hugely drinkable package. The owners of Bar Harbor Brewing recently sold out to a more financed operation, so let's hope that the high quality of this beer survives the upcoming changes. We'll kick things off in style with the #59 best beer in the world (and #1 ranked American Stout). The Cadillac Mountain Stout, brewed way up the Maine coast in Bar Harbor.

^ Where are Tuesday nights pics at? Oh yeah, and I especially can't wait to try out this bomber of Bubba Face Porter. Woo Hoo! Also, on Tuesday night, we came home to find that my first package of beers from Bubba came a day early. Lots of good stuff in there and I'm looking forward to getting into some of it tomorrow. And this really is a tasty Hefe. Lots of wheat and yeasts, orange zest, lemon, banana, and clove. All those great Hefe tastes packed into one hugely drinkable package. Prost! After Derek had this over the weekend, it encouraged me to drag this out of the fridge. #40 in the world, it's the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier.

I just wanted to get up Friday night's pics before Derek put up the rest of the ones from this past weekend's VA adventures. And we both agreed that it was very, very good. Top 15 in the world good? We weren't so sure but it was hard to ignore it eye-opening, heavy mix of coffee, chocolate, and a very prominent dose of anise. All that and incredibly drinkable too. Sinning never felt so good! Another shot of the label, since the last pic was a little blurry. I've been dying to try this one since we visited the brewpub last summer. Finally, we end with something that fits in with both of our Best of BA themes of the week. The #13 ranked beer in the world. The Peche Mortel (Original Sin) Imperial Coffee Stout from the Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel in Quebec. A limited amount of this has made it's way into PA and Derek grabbed us a bottle at Union Jacks earlier in the week. And this was decent. A fresh taste of Simcoe and Amarillo hops but the hoppiness just seemed tame compared to the CoHoHo. It was still very creamy and drinkable though. And because we're on the eve of a VA trip, I've got to bust out a VA beer for us. This times it's Legend's 2008 release of their Hopfest Ale. This one was brewed in celebration of their 14th Anniversary. This had that fantastic piney West Coast feel to it was the malt profile was a little thin for a Double. It felt more like a super-resinous Red Ale at times. Make no mistake though, this was still darn tasty! Look for more from these guys sometime soon down the line. A shot of the cool label. A friend of the brewery does the artwork for many of their beers and they are quite flashy and unique. For this special pre-trip version of Friday Night Pints, I decided to bust out something special from Alaska that was part of a big trade from last January. CoHoHo, from Midnight Sun Brewing out of Anchorage, this is their holiday release DIPA.

The "Best of BA" continues, this time with something from the Top 10. I was going to go a lot, LOT higher tonight but we'll save that for a more appropriate time. Wow! This stuff is awesome! Just a heavenly mix of eye opening dark coffee notes and chocolate sweetness enveloped in an embrace of bourbon, vanilla and oak. Fantastic stuff! This is probably one of my favorite bottle labels too, looking like an old bottle of Snake Oil Tonic or something. Currently sitting at #7 on the list, it's a fresh bottle from this year's always highly anticipated release by Founder's of their Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This is a formulation of their regular Breakfast Stout that is then aged in bourbon oak barrels for over a year.

The Best of BA continues with OMG....An Imperial Stout? I'm shocked! Actually, this is IMO (along with North Coast Old Rasputin and Storm King) one of the best value for the dollar beers you can get out there (a six pack is like $9-10). And this is just a solid Imperial Stout! Packed with tons of roasted malt bitterness, chocolate and caramel sweetness, and a little spank of heat to make sure your awake. It's not quite a top tier RIS but watch out guys, this doggy's still got lots of bite! They actually just reformulated this recently. I haven't had a bottle in over a year, so it's hard to say what exactly is different besides the higher ABV (it went from 9.0-9.7%). It did seem a little more hoppy than I remembered last. Coming in at #85, it's the Siberian Night Imperial Stout from Thirsty Dog Brewing out of Ohio.

I took a bunch of pics last week but never bothered to post anything. I thought I'd remedy that by getting back into the "Best of BA" theme that I started a few weeks ago. Hopefully I'll keep this one going over the next couple of weeks. Hell yeah it does! Actually the hops naturally didn't taste the freshest but the big piney nature of this guy still got to shine and was backed a huge, beefy backbone of malt and heat. This really started to get into American Barleywine territory as it warmed. I love DIPAs with a big ole' set of balls and this guy definitely had a pair. Good stuff! So we'll start things out with #76 on the list. The Goose Island Imperial IPA. This is normally a fall release, so this bottle's got about 6 months or so on it. Would it hold up?

Ah yes, it's time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a beer that I've been wanting to try since back in the early days of the beer thread! And you know what? It is better than Guinness! If your out there Wally. This ones for you Bro! Have a happy and safe St. Patrick's day everyone! Yeah, that Beamish! The REAL Irish Stout that Wally would always say beat the sh*t out of Guinness. Or at least the crappy, water downed version of Guinness that we get here in the States. And I'll put it in a Guinness glass, just to rub it in. Yeah! That's right, kicking back on St. Patties Day with a 4-pack of Beamish.

Well with last Friday night's growler of Pisgah Valdez being a big hit (and just a damn fine tasty brew) I knew that I had seek out some more offerings from these guys. And my, oh my, was this nice. Just a wonderful mix of fresh fruit (raspberries and cherries) with some slight tartness, a backing sweetness, and just a smidge of bready yeastiness. Another work of art from Pisgah! And naturally, since it's a growler, I'm going to need all the help I can get from Kim! That's cuz this is the Pisgah Red Devil! An 8% fruit beer from those nut jobs down in Ashville. This is definitely one of their more special offerings and not cheap at $25 a growler. Unlike the Valdez growler, this one didn't come with an outside label. The only clue is this hand drawn letter R on the cap with little horns coming out of it! Uh oh, another Friday night and another growler of goodness from Pisgah. So what could this one be?

All right, so I'm going to throw up the last Imperial Stout of this go around. I was actually going to do it all week but well, I've got other stuff besides Stouts that I want to drink! But don't worry, I'll still got a lot of great Imperial Stouts to showcase, so I'll probably fire another one up soon enough. And this was not bad. Like a lot of other Euro Stouts, this was fairly light of body and ABV but still packed a nice punch of flavor on the palette and was quite quaffable! We'll go international with this last Imperial Stout. It's the Nils Oscar Imperial Stout from the Nils Oscar Bryggeri & Bränneri AB in Nyköping, Sweden.

^ Hey, looking good Kev! Let us know how the final product comes out. It's time to travel to the Great Northwoods of Wisconsin for our next Imperial Stout... ...and that's exactly what it delivers. The unfortunate thing is that the dark fruits just run rampant through the whole beer and could use some more roasted malts to even it out. Still, not bad and one I'm glad I got a chance to try. Especially since people in some parts of Wisconsin couldn't even get it! Close-up of the label. Hmmm. It promises chocolaty goodness and dark fruits... Most of you probably know Leinenkugels as that brewery that makes all those tasty fruit flavored beers, but sometime over the last year, they've decided to push the envelope and release a couple of limited edtion Imperial styles under the "Big Eddy" moniker. This would be their RIS!

^ It's was only available on draft. No cans. I know that they shipped some stuff down there (including Darkness) this past fall.

^ I procured the recent Surly stuff in a trade. As far as I know, they only so far distribute in the greater Twin Cities area and then a more limited distribution in the Chicago market. There are rumors that with their recent expansion, one of the first places they will expand to may be PA. We shall have to see. Imperial Stout week continues. This time with a little something courtesy of Hotlanta! And this wasn't too bad. Lots of chocolate sweetness that is fairly well balanced by a good sized hop presence. It's just wasn't quite as deep and dark as I like though. And as usual, they get their point across on the label. Hey, you gotta get around those crazy Georgia laws somehow! The latest from Sweetwater Brewing with yet another sexually suggestive name. The Happy Ending Imperial Stout.

All right, I'm finally going to start up Imperial Stout week. First up, some California love... And this was a good choice to start the week out with. This guy was big and beefy with deep notes of chocolate, dark fruits, and heat. Good stuff! Ryan O'Sullivans Imperial Stout from one of my favs in North Cali, Moylan's.

Thanks for all the birthday well wishes the other day guys. I didn't drink anything too special although we did go down to the ABC after work and I used my mug for like the first time in almost 3 months. So I'm going to have to put the Imperial Stout theme on hold for this week, as too much other stuff is going on. I'll start it up next week instead. In the meantime, last night I got into some new to me stuff that came via a trade from Minnesota... OMFG! This is seriously one of the best IPAs I've every had! Just an intense blast of resinous hops and citrus that melts perfectly into a backbone of Scotch malt that's packed with not only caramel sweetness but spice as well. More please! Ranked #44 in the world. It's Surly's flagship brew, Furious! But oh no, we're not done yet. And this definitely isn't like any I've tried before! It's more of a Rye Lager that's been singled hopped and then double hopped with what appeared to be Amarillo hops. It definitely felt more like an ale with all those hops, but in the end, it ended up being pretty darn tasty anyway. But trust me, this aint no TRADITIONAL Oktoberfest as Surly has added its own bit of madness to the style. First up, it's Surly's take on a traditional Oktoberfest Mazen. SurlyFest! I'm all geared up with merch that we got at the EBF and ready to get a little SURLY!!!

^It looks like a fun night of drinking Joe. I love random entertaining drunk people at bars! It was nice to see the Vortex get some love too. I've never been to the downtown one but I've been to the Little Five Points location a few times. Quite the cool place! All right, time to start this week's beer them. Seeing as how this is such a special week, I'm going to treat myself all week long to my favorite style of beer. Imperial Stouts! And we decided to get things started off with bang with a Saturday road trip down to Northern VA... And of course we couldn't leave a place called Best Buns empty handed with some goodies for breakfast. Until next time. Thanks for reading. Lots of awesome baked goods to be had here, complete with awesome chalk drawings to represent them. I love the Apple Monkey Bread! And I've got to show some picks of this place just based on the name. Right across the street from Cap Brewing is Best Buns, which is actually a sister business of Sweet Water. While Kim continues to make sure that we can make it home with a root beer. I go for their Winter Bock. It was nice and malty with notes of fruit and spices. Decent stuff on tap as usual. Of course a stop at Cap Brewing was a must before our movie. On the way home, we stopped returned to the Shirlington Village in Arlington, for some shopping, movie watching, and more beer drinking. ...I got one of the High Desert to go and I really want Derek to give it a try next Friday. Here's hoping it lasts! They also have a to-go growler cooler here. Instead of filling your growler right from the tap (as they do at the other location) these ones are pre-filled, so you just swap out your empty growler for a new one. I'm hoping that this means they were bottom filled, to retain freshness later cuz... Another big difference between this location and the Falls Church one is that this one has a gift shop, where they sell merch not only from Sweet Water but some of their other sister restaurants as well. And this stuff sneaks up on you too! Trust me, after 2 of the bourbon aged version and 1 of the regular, I was glad that Kim was happy with her root beer! Ah, and there she is! Weighing in at 9.2% and chock full of chocolate, roasted malts, dark fruits, and a touch of bitterness. This years was also considerably less hot than last years release, making it quite smooth and quaffable. Definitely a top tier RIS! I wish that I could get this more than the one time a year it's released. The board here was different as well. You have to love the clock (complete with antlers) in the middle of it. We still needed to try this years regular version (and a growler too!) of the High Desert, so it was a quick 20 minute drive off to the Centreville, VA location of Sweet Water. This location was a little different (complete with statue out front) and more compact than the Falls Church one. And OMG! it was awesome! The oak and vanilla notes from the barrels very nicely complimented this all ready fantastic RIS. I'm really pleased that something this great is released only 2 hours from where we live. But of course us visiting in February can only mean one thing. The annual release of their High Desert Imperial Stout. And not just any version. This is their 1-year aged in bourbon barrel one! And one that we missed last year. They had on their typical five beers on, with a couple being pretty middling and a couple being decent. After some local beer shopping, it's back to the Falls Church location of the Sweet Water Tavern.

^ Looks like a cool place Kev plus I love the name Fault Line for a brewpub. Well I'm think I'm going to wrap this "Top 100" theme up a little early. I've still got plenty of candidates in the cellar but I think that I'm going to move on to something different. Starting with today's adventures. This has been fun though and I think I'm going to start another one up in a couple of weeks. So with that, my final "Top 100 Best of BA" for this week. And it's still a good one. It may lack some of the "magical" hop properties that other California DIPAs possess but it's certainly no slouch. Big piny hop character mixed with a beefy mix of malt and heat. Definitely not for the faint hearted as it will put a smack down on your taste buds. Currently sitting at #63 on the top 100 list, it's everybody's favorite beast of a Double IPA. Stone Ruination!

Yeah, it really was more Tabasco than Porter. I've had the Ithaca Gorges Smoked Porter before and it's pretty good but it was pretty much dominated by the heat and fire of the Tabasco. Maybe if I had tried some a little later in the evening, it might have been a little better, as first having the SA Utopia and then this just didn't sit right with the ole' belly. Another BA Top 100 beer and yet another favorite of the Beer Thread. Or least for those of us that can get it. And it really is one of the best! Just an fantastic mix of piney hops and juicy fruit citrus notes with a huge drinkibility for a 7% IPA. Good stuff! Coming in at #54 and is what is generally believed to be one of the better IPAs in the world. Its good ole' reliable Bells Two Hearted Ale!

So with my pre-EBF rundown of some of the beers from the Beer Advocate top 100 list getting interrupted by a cold last week, I've decided to not leave you guys hanging and will just continue it into this week and maybe a little beyond. Any complaints? I didn't think so! Let's continue... And it's just as awesome as always. Just an almost perfect balance between the piney West Coast hops and that lip smacking sweet rye malt. Definitely a beer worthy of its ranking! #56 on the "Best of BA" list. A beer that I'm sure all of us are pretty familiar with by now. The Beer Republic Hop Rod Rye.

I chose another import for tonights "Best of BA" pick. It was a good one. OMG! I think that this has to one, if not the best, of this style that I've had. It starts out kind of sweet and thick with malt up front but then segues in to this awesome combo of toasted malts, cocoa powder, and dark fruits. Incredibly clean and drinkable for it's size, this is definitely a top beer! The #32 beer in the world. The Ayinger Celebrator Doppellbock. Surprisingly, I have not yet had this.

So to do something fun leading up to the Extreme Beer Fest next weekend, I'm going to bust out a beer each night from the Beer Advocate Top 100 list. I thought tonight's would be a nice one for Kim and I to share since it's our Anniversary. Wow! We really liked this one (especially Kim, since it was really sour!). Lots of cherry, raspberries, and other fruit notes blended just right with that intense tartness and Belgian funkiness. A very nice Sour Lambic! Kriek De Ranke. The #80 beer in the world. It's a mixture of two blended soured pale ales and Girardin lambic, all steeped in whole fresh cherries from Poland and then aged for six months.

Ooooh. I've been waiting to get my hands on some of this for awhile. ...but most importantly, it tastes like an Imperial Stout. And a damn good one to boot! Just a ton of roasted burnt notes, chocolate, coffee, and alcohol. Just the way I like it! And remember. It just came out of a can. Awesome! ...and it sure looks like an Imperial Stout... Well it sure pours like an Imperial Stout... It's definitely the coolest looking of their cans. Check that bling out! Oscar Blues has decided to finally can their highly touted Imperial Stout. Ten Fidy baby! Oh damn! It looks like we have a new craft beer in cans on the block. This isn't any normal craft beer though!

I haven't thrown anything up in a while. Thought I'd remedy that. And I think it's even better this year! They've added honey, which really sweetens up the malt backbone of this guy and makes the piney hop and citrus notes really pop out. Awesome stuff! Next up, one of the most popular and sought after seasonals on the market right now. Yes, Bell's Hopslam is back after a hugely successful debut last winter. And if this is any indication of what they are doing over there, then sign me up for more! Wow! Just tons of tasty espresso and coffee notes. One of the better Coffee Stouts I've had! First up tonight, the Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout by the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. You know, I think this may be my first Japanese craft beer.