What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Nodders]

Next up we have an old favourite from the Highgate Brewery (near Mr Pete)

Old Ember. A dark, warming beer made with 3 types of malt & 2 different hops & just a little honey!

Had some of this from the barrel at last weeks beerfest so I just had to have another bottle (Last bottle was back last year!).

Mmmmm ... heaven!!

Lovely chocolatey taste with citrus fruit overtones.

Nice from the bottle, nicer from the barrel!

[Mr Pete]

As it was Easter Sunday, I had the night off work. So what better way of spending the evening, was to continue with the collection I had delivered.

 

First up was a couple of the "Taste of America" selection.

A hoppy drink, with some bitterness. But still very enjoyable.

Back to the main selection now, this being the Worthington White Shield IPA

Another malty drink with just a hint of Caramel. On the whole, not a bad drink.

Second was the Brooklyn Lager.

Mmmmmmmm, very malty and very drinkable.

First was the Anchor Steam Beer from San Francisco.

[Juggler]

Well having been away at my Mum's this week I have not been able to post some of the sampling that occurred so here's a quick catch up.

Cheers.

After a 240 mile drive home there's nothing like a Porter to revive the parts other ales just don't reach!

Now we get into the darker side.

One of the local breweries in East Anglia which produce some fine ales. The Organic, as seen here, is another light and pleasant ale.

A very refreshing and extremely 'hoppy' ale.

[Nodders]

Out of interest, I noticed the other night that Tesco now stock Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Brooklyn Lager.

Meanwhile, it's time for the third installment .....

Now I've had McEwan's Champion before, but I felt it needed to be revisited!

Intense rich flavour, yet surprisingly easy to drink.

A very strong dark traditional Scottish ale.

Yes, that's right ... 7.3% ABV!

[Juggler]

^^^^^ Talk about the Rabbit in headlights look!!!

[Rugged One]

Heath, I used to work/live over in White Marsh, and have spent a lot of time at Red Brick. It is a cool place with tasty beers.

 

We really dug the White Marsh Town Center Dave. It seemed to have alot more personality than some of the other ones we've been to in Bowie & Hunt Valley. It's always nice to have a brewpub and a theater right next to each other. Next time though, we'll hit a matinee to avoid those fantastic $9.50/ticket evening prices.

 

Tonight it was Bell's Stout night in the Rhoads household.

She likes this one so much, she just has to reach out and touch someone!

Next up, a little something for Kim, in the form of a Cherry Stout.

Ooooooh. Sweet & chocolately up front with a nice burnt & bitter hop finish that lingers. Great stuff!

First up, I go for the fantastic Kalamazoo Stout.

[DerekRx]

I'm staying local and loyal tonight, with the Nectar.

I am! In fact, I'm running low on lots of stuff. Soon time to restock, once the weather warms up again!

You'd think I'd be running low on this stuff by now!

[Rugged One]

Something new from Flying Dog tonight, the Double Dog Double IPA.

Not quite a total dog of a beer but this thing needed some severe balance. Just way too much over the top hoppiness.

[DerekRx]

Forget the Double Dog. Tonight for me was all about the Double Bastard, a beer I hadn't enjoyed in a few months. Of course, with it being such a strong ale at 10%, there's probably a good reason for that!

Whoa! Now that's crazy!

What could make this beer better? How about Optimus Prime with a cannon!?

Just an overall fantastic flavor; sweet, malty, hoppy, and spiced all at the same time

"Ye Shall Know the Bastard, and the Bastard Shall Set You Free" or so the bottle says

[Nodders]

Just thought I'd show you all what I found in Tesco's.

I won't bore you with the details as you all should know these two!

[Rugged One]

^ Sweet! Heh, it's better than gettting nothing over there.

 

Tonight a rather big beer from one of New Hampshire's finest...

The Smuttynose Imperial Stout. This was a nice one. Really fantastic hoppy finish, that reminded me alot of the Victory Storm King, only a little bolder.

[DerekRx]

Forgot to post yesterday!

 

I'm in the process of cleaning out my stock so I can get some more. In the cleaning, I discovered some stuff I hadn't had in a while, so I decided to go for that. (of course, if I forgot about it for so long, there's probably a good reason for it!)

The only thing that disappoints about this is that I'll soon be out for the rest of the year

Forget that, I need a good hoppy beer. Nugget to the rescue

Yup, still as craptastic as I remember (although the extra aging did give it more of an alcohol flavor, so now at least it has some flavor!)

Awwww yeah, the Southern Tier IPA, the origin of "tree bark and chemicals"

[Nodders]

Going continental this evening.

[DerekRx]

Tonight I decided to break out a bomber of a nice Imperial IPA, the Odyssey '06 from Sly Fox. Only 8 more months until the next Odyssey!

But I'm all alone drinking this tonight, and I'm fine with that!

A bomber means 2 glasses, unless you have someone to share with

But unlike the Southern Tier stuff, this is actually good

I still got lots of bombers of this downstairs

[Rugged One]

Tonight. Fun with craft beer in cans. PART DEUX!

I could do this all night.

DOUBLE BOO-YA!

Great, now I've got two empties that I have no idea what to do with. What to do, what to do?

As a matter of fact, it was so drinkable that I decided to go all York redneck style on it's ass!

This one was also decent but really seemed more on par with a pale ale. Very drinkable though.

Next up is the Sea Hag IPA from the New England Brewing Co. in Woodbridge, CT. Another small craft brewery embracing the power of the can.

Uh oh, I've got an empty here but we'll save this guy for some fun later.

Not bad. It's a decent Scotch Ale but just seemed to lack the boldness of some others I've had.

We'll give the Old Chub the respect it deserves and pour it into a glass.

First up. The Oskar Blues Old Chub. An big 8% Scotch Ale in a can.

[Mr Pete]

^^^ LOL at Heath

 

Back to last night's few drink's.

Talk about dark... Again a nice fruity aroma to it, the taste i'm not so sure about. It very smooth and quite smoky, not sure wether I like this one....

Last one of the evening, the Cotleigh Buzzard.

Now this is nice, a very fruity nose to it. Very smooth, with a nice balance of Malt & Hop's

Isle of Arran Brewery "Milestone" The strongest Beer I currently have in my collection at 6%

Not bad at all, quite Malty with a hoppy finish.

Goose Island IPA

[Freefallbestrideever]

Corona, blah, someone needs to get me a six pack of Sam Adams to see what all the hype is about.

[Juggler]

Well once the camera batteries have enough charge in them I shall enlighten the forum with a host of ales. Some of which have travelled from across the pond and I will be able to embark on a journey of discovery.

[Nodders]

Continuing the European theme, I brought home a bevvy of Belgian beauties.

I'm having the Blonde at the moment & Saving the Brune for later!

[Rugged One]

Last night it was time for something that we haven't seen in awhile. The return of the Friday night beerfest! Tonights theme would be stouts.

 

Luckily we aren't too hungover, as look for an update later as Team Extreme does it's last (for awhile anyway) bigtime BACT Attack of some local favorites.

Just a peachy keen way to end the night.

Until tomorrow.

Finally it's time for some dessert, in the form of a big ole' bottle of Lindemans Peche.

Derek says, "I cannot tell a lie. This sh*t rocks!"

Of course a Stout tasting wouldn't be complete withiout a bottle of Bell's Cherry Stout.

...then a bottle of their Raspberry Imperial Stout. Very tasty.

Back for more Weyerbacher, with the regular (none barrel aged) version of the Heresy. The Old Heathen...

It was pretty tasty. Lots of coffee & chocolate notes, although Derek kept picking up some weirdness in the finish that he couldn't pinpoint.

I'm glad I had Derek around to help me out with giant 750ml bottle of the Cisco Bros. (in Nantucket, MA) Capt. Swain's Extra Stout.

In the meantime, Kim was preparing our dinner of shrimp & scallop eggrolls and little wantons. Isn't she awesome?

We have to say, the fresh bottle was much more complex. The oak was much more of a compliment, while the bold Imperial Stout flavors and aroma really stood out.

Time for a fresh bottle of 07 to see how it compared.

Wow, the oak really stood out in this over 2 year old bottle but the Stout flavors were really subdued.

Next it was time to get into the good stuff! First a little vertical tasting would commence with a 05 bottle of the Weyerbacher Oak Aged Imperial Stout, Heresy!

A Bell's Oberon for Derek & a Green Flash IPA for myself.

First up though, a little prepartying with something lighter.

[Bubba83]

How was the dinner? Those looked so good!

[Juggler]

Well I would post a picture of my worldly ales but I can't upload for some reason.

[Nodders]

I visited my local beer & wine merchant the other night & picked a few things up!

 

More tomorrow!!

Next, a Thwaite's Thoroughbred at 4.0%

First up, Young's bitter at 3.7%

Just to keep me going for a few weeks.

[Bubba83]

At long last, my first beer Photo TR! Well sort of, it's not like I actually made a trip out to a microbrewery, but alas, I took photos! Sorry about the rather poor quality, these are cell phone pictures. I hope to get a digital camera for graduation in a couple of weeks!

 

I went to the store today for sandwich stuff and beer. I decided to get some 8th street ale from Four Peaks because I probably won't be able to find this stuff anywhere when I move back to California in a few weeks.

 

This was an English-style pale ale that has a rather mild bitterness and strong floral accents. The key here is mild bitterness for me. I'm still acquiring the taste for the more bitter pales and ESBs, and I think that's what makes this my favorite pale so far. It has excellent flavor, almost seems like a hefeweizen when you first take a sip and then you get that subtle bitterness right in the middle-end. ABV 4.5%

 

Oh, the sandwich was excellent too! It's not often you find roast beef this rare at a supermarket, so it was a real treat!

Thumbs up! All smiles! This is one of the first pale ales that I can say is up there in my top 5 favorite beers.

A closer profile of the 8th street ale bottle and color. The beer is a few shades lighter than it appears here, I just couldn't get the lighting right. It's copper/golden in color.

My roast beef and provolone sandwich on fresh sliced sourdough.

[Rugged One]

How was the dinner? Those looked so good!

 

Thanks for asking man! It was pretty good. As usual Kim made way too much. I think Derek had some for breakfast and there's still some left over for additional meals. Keep up the beer updates. We love seeing stuff from the West Coast. What part of Cali you moving too? Whatever part you go to, there's sure to be great stuff there.