Brewing aftermath, cold having aftermath and Palo Santo

Since I've been sick with cold since Tuesday I have not had a beer in 8 days. Tonight, that will all change. I decided to get back on the beer horse with something strong (why not): Palo Santo. I like it, but I can't help but think it would taste even better as a bourbon stout. Then again I can't really smell very much.

I made another stout today. (See the pile of dishes.) OG: 1.072. Hops: Nugget and Pride of Ringwood. The malt bill: pale 2-row, belgian chocolate, rye, cara malt, crystal malt and chocolate biscuit. It smells like chocolate brownies in here. Definitely a good thing. Given the small batch size (2 gallons), I did not make a yeast starter. It was pretty straightforward, the main thing this time around was another all grain batch. For the first time I played with the water pH during the mash - I read that pH control is more important for the darker beers.

Otto's stopped making their DD due to the hop 'situation'. A new IIPA from Otto's will be available this week. Looking forward to trying it. After the weekend I will have 5 different homebrews ready to drink and three in production. Nice.

As for the Palo Santo: I'll give an AB. Needs more chocolate or coffee or bourbon to be perfect.

Mega post for the last few days:

4 beers to report on over the last couple of days.
First up a Belgian showdown.
#1: Gulden Draak Belgian Dark Strong Ale. I got this partly on Buck's recommendation and partly because I had a box from a make-you-own pack a few weeks ago that had a mouth watering picture of it on it which had been calling me for awhile. Glad I tried it...it's more my speed of Belgian...strong, dark, and sweet. Not the best I've ever had but very solid. B+

#2: Augustijn Ale Tripel. I got this because the beer stocking guy at Big Red saw me looking at the Gulden Draak and told me that this was on sale and I should try it. He scares me so I followed his advice. I shouldn't have-not really a fan. I've decided I don't really usually like Tripels. I prefer my Belgians to be even numbered I guess. The average one seems to be too yeasty and dry and not sweet enough for me. There have been exceptions that I do like, but this wasn't one. This was a C- for me.

#3: De Dolle Ara Bier. The less said about this one the better. I hated it. Tart, sour, dry, generally unpleasant. To me this is exactly what I imagine a bottle of urine left in the sun for awhile would taste like. Different from the lambic we had this summer, but a step in that direction. I made it about halfway through this one, then committed an international drain pour. Duane and those others of you that are more adventurous with your European beer sampling might like this but it's not for me. I do like the picture I took though.
Suck minus.

#4: Mikkellar All others Pale APA. This was just ok. I had it after a double dog IIPA, so it might not have been a fair time to compare it. Follows in the general trend of Mikkellar's for me of "meh". I'd say this was about a C+/B-


Now you're caught up for my last couple of days. Tune in again soon for some cool new finds including a new Bell's Belgian!

It's a Doggy-Dog World

Flying Dog Double Dog:
This is one of my new favorite Double IPAs. Definitely the best bargain of the readily available options here...I had this and the Goose Island one back to back and found them to be very similar, with the Flying dog a little hoppier and more bitter, but just barely. Best of all, the flying dog is $7/4pk while the Goose is $18/4pk. Given the choice, I recommend the cheaper option here. I think this is the new leader for me in what I'll call the "semi-everday IIPA fridge stocker" category which also includes 90 minute and Ruination as contenders. I think Ruination has gotten too expensive here for it to be seriously considered. If I could get Furious here, that would also be included, although I have no idea how expensive that is. Later this week watch for a Flying dog/90 min faceoff for the crown.
Grade: A

All hail Brettanomyces

Russian River Sanctification - Another great wild ale from Russian River. This one is 100% fermented with the sour funk inducing Brettanomyces yeast, instead of the traditional Saccharomyces yeast. Nose: sour, taste: sour, finish: dry and sour. I love Russian River and their sour beers!

A

Even the devil drinks IPA

Corne du Diable is another reason why Canada, minus Neil Young, kicks ass. Beautiful pour, creamy, sweet, rich and thick, with some pine and pineapple hop flavor. Great body and mouthfeel. Yum.

A

Brown IPA Debuts

With no carbonation to speak of. Hmmmm.....is this bad after two weeks in the bottle?

A Letdown in Brown Town

In anticipation of my hoppy brown being unveiled this weekend, I eagerly opened a long awaited can of Surly's Bender, an oatmeal brown ale. I hope mine's better. Pours to a beautiful deep rich brown, almost near black. Huge three finder plus frothy head.  Once gone, there is an odd floaty-ridden film on top. The taste, like a recent Floyd's entry, is ho-hum. This beer has a thin body (like Furious, which, despite Pete's non-sense, is an absolutely wonderful beer) and has minimal tastes of "brown ale taste", some oatmeal and vanilla, and very abrupt, clean finish. If a beer has no major hop profile, it better kick my ass some other way. Mission not accomplished. Easy drinkin', but fails to meet expectations.

B -

 

Boss Cox

Talk about a beer being a mishmash of styles that don't really work together. This one tastes kind of like a homebrew experiment gone bad. Boss Cox Double Dark IPA from BarrelHouse Brewing Co. in Cincy. Let's start with the name...3 different websites list it as 3 different styles so this is either a Brown Ale, an Imperial IPA, or an American Strong Ale. You would think after tasting it I'd be able to shed some light on the matter, but I honestly can't. I could convince myself it's any of these (or none).
It smells like a double IPA with an excess of alcohol scent. It's initial flavor is like a Brown or maybe that copper ale we had at Pete's parents house once, and the lingering taste is a bad, weak(yes, I see the irony) American Strong. On top of that, there is a hint of chocolate-y stoutness to it. It also has a weird homebrew funk aftertaste and general dirtyness to it. Something is not right with this beer, although I'm pretty sure it's not skunky or anything...just weird.

That said, I did polish off the bomber and it grew on me mildly as I went. For the experience and the differentness of it, I'll pass it and give it a C-/D+. Somewhat interesting to have tried, but not something to repeat on.

Friday 9/19...Belgians

Finally hooked the camera up after being too lazy for a few days, so I'm posting a flurry of entries from the last few days:

Two fairly unmemorable Belgians tonight. I had high expectations for the St. Bernardus but it honestly didn't do much for me. Good, but not great. I'll give it a B

Actually liked the Urthel Quad better. There's something about those little cartoon gnomes that gets me every time. This was pretty tasty-I'd hit it again. B+

Last of the stout Stouts

Thursday 9/18:
Well, this is the last of the stouts in the fridge...time to move on to something else tomorrow (I'm thinking Belgians). Rogue XS Imperial Stout. Mostly got this to continue building the ceramic fliptop bottle collection for future homebrew escapades. It was a very mediocre brew. Had some of Duane's infamous "dirty stout" taste or what I would term to be burnt toaster crumb flavor. It wasn't awful, but after some of the others lately, it was awful in comparison. This is a C+ at best. I won't be getting it again.

I think this might be a Walsh favorite...

Sunday 9/21:
Had to wash the horrible taste of that Avery out of my mouth, so I opened up a Sierra Nevada Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (2008 1st release). Super hoppy APA. I think this is one of the first of a slew of fresh hop brews that is coming down the pipeline. If it's any indication, we're in for a treat. This is pretty stellar. I don't know if the name is tricking my mind, but it does have a really fresh and refreshing taste. Big hop smell, bitter hoppy finish. Have I used the word hops enough yet? It tastes and smells like hops. Like there should be a little plastic sword with fresh hops impaled floating on top of the glass. HOPS!!!
I don't think I've had a Sierra Nevada in years-might have to give them a second look after this.
I'll give this a strong A-...strong enough that if it had good attendance and participated in class I would probably bump it up.

Drain pour for me too

Sunday 9/21
A sad day here...the first drain pour in quite awhile for me. This was the Avery Samael's Ale...this is an oak aged English strong ale. I expected this to be great...it had all the signs: oak, "strong ale," and the pedigree of being part of the "devil ales" series or whatever it's called. I liked the Beast and the Mephistopheles, so I thought this would be good too. It was not. Totally undrinkable. I gave it about 5-6 sips before I finally bailed. Awful. F-.

Guido

Same night as the lambic, I tried this one. Belgian as well. High alcohol, around 9% or something. Very good beer, with a ton of malt, but also very fruity and sweet. Smelled a little smoky. Definitely not as good as Gulden Draak, which I posted about before, but still good. Recommend giving this one a try. B+.

Oh, and GO DEACS!!!!

St. Louis Gueze Fond Tradition

I haven't had a lambic in quite a while and decided to try this one the other night, especially since I know that Big Daddy has an affinity for them. I didn't really know what to expect. This beer is VERY sour and acidic. Immediately you can taste lemons and as it finishes there are hints of apple, maybe pear. I was initially thrown by this beer, but the more I drank the more I liked it. I would drink this again, and I'm intrigued by lambics. I'll probably give a few more a try. Since we are using letters now rather than numbers, I'm gonna give this a B.

I love DirectTV

Farm Aid...Live!


Neil is killing it right now


Also, go Deacs in the ugliest college football game ever. 9-3 up over FSU with 3min left

Edit: Neil just broke 4/6 strings playing a Beatles cover...then walked over and took over Xylophone duties. That's rockin'!

Edit 2: FSU has very stupid old school double goalposts. Boooo-urns. It's like a middle school soccer/football field

Edit 3: Farm aid recap going on...how is the band moe popular? Horrible.

Edit 4: Barry, as commish can I take the WFU defense in our fantasy league? 7 turnovers tonight!

Edit 5: Willie Nelson's band sounds like the sloppiest horrible mess I've ever heard. This is uncomfortably bad, like you just feel bad for them. Yikes. They're covering Toby Keith songs now. He's Willie F*&king Nelson! How the mighty have fallen.

Ho Hum

Three Floyd's Fantabulous Resplendence XI is rather meh. Smells lemony, tastes are very subdued. I believe this comment may have been made by Chris as well. Surprisingly little going on. Easy to drink, has potential, but rather unmemorable.

C+

Even My Drain Is Pissed

Issaquah Bullfrog from Rogue is total garbage and a drain pour. Don't buy it and don't be surprised if your drain sends it back.

F

Pictures of the Pete's Pilsner

On Sunday I started a pilsner. The first picture shows the brew kettle during the chilling phase just after the boil. The green clouds are hop pellets after having been added at minute 0 of the boil. I tried later to do a whirlpool to collect the 'junk' in the center of the brewpot. Not sure it worked. Every thing went pretty smoothly with this batch.

This is the picture of the two 1 gallon fermenters in my fridge. The one in the back holds the contents of the wort which I siphoned out the kettle. So it has less sediment. The bottle in the front contains the remainder of the wort which I simply poured into the fermenter and so it contains much more of the sediment. We'll see if there is a difference in the final product. I'm surprised/amazed at how the pilsner yeast can ferment in a cold environment. After about 10 hours at room temperature the fermentation showed signs of beginning and I put the bottles in the fridge. I put a thermometer in the fridge. Seems that a setting of '3' produces about 42 F inside the fridge.

Around the world in 80 Stouts...

Next up in the stout-fest is the Dogfish World Wide Stout. I was pretty excited when I saw a couple of these tucked away in the back of a shelf at the new beer store-I think this is a 2004 if I'm reading the descriptions right.
This is a VERY sweet, syrupy stout and obviously another ridiculously high abv stout. The alcohol is actually much less noticeable in this than in yesterday's Mephistopheles. There are two main flavors here...the first is a kind of "jello pudding pop" flavor, if I'm not the only one who knows what that is...kind of a malty ice cream flavor. The other is an undercurrent of fruitiness...kind of raisin-y. I've realized that a large portion of beers I've liked lately, either stouts or strong belgians have had a raisin flavor, and started wondering tonight if I should give the dogfish Raison or Raison'de'Extra another shot? Anyone had one since that time we first tried one a few years ago? I'm curious if I'd actually appreciate it now? May give it a go next time I hit the store. Katie thought this was one of the worst things she'd ever tasted, which made me start to think that maybe I would have thought that too a few years ago before starting to develop the taste.

Bottom line, loved it. This is another winner for me (the dogfish ratio stays at about 50/50 great/terrible...looking forward to finding a Theobroma next sometime soon) A I think I'll give it an A, with no plus. I'd be happy to drink as much as anyone put in front of me.

Big Stout week continues on Southdowns

Day 2 of what seems to have become the Big Stout Week here soldiers on with a serious new contender. Avery Mephistopheles Stout (Batch 3 2007...16%abv) . Still just digging into this one, but some early observations which I'll add to as it warms:
1) Serious alcohol burn on the aftertaste, but as usual with me I'm finding that to be more of a plus than a minus...your results may vary. The alcohol smell is also overwhelming any other aromas from a nose point of view
2) VERY complex flavors...I'm tasting the usual dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, etc but also swirling in between all that is a very fruity, citrusy flavor I haven't put my finger on yet. It's almost like one of those chocolate oranges you break into slices. Has kind of a port sort of vibe going on too. Can't wait to see which flavors win as this warms up.
3) Not super sweet or super thick...it's very dark and looks like some heavy duty oil, but doesn't coat the glass or the tongue like some others do. Could be the ridiculous alcohol content.

update:
It's warming up and the flavors are even more complex, but still just as confusing. One thing I know for sure is that I like it a lot, and may have to get a few more so I can figure out what's going on with everything in it. Bottom line: not for beginners, but a great stout if you can stomach the abv. This isn't in the smooth category like a BORIS, but is more in the agressive Raspy category (only better)
A+

Strike Two for Brew Dog...

In honor of IU, we'll call this the Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket:








First up: Brew Dog Paradox Islay (Batch 9) Stout Aged in Whiskey Barrels. Descriptions... the most exact flavor I can describe here is the strong, very unpleasent taste of celery. Also tastes a bit like grass or tree bark. Texture is thin like a milk stout, and sweet but sweet in an unpleasant Splenda kind of way. I wonder how much of this is the beer and how much is the difference between British Isles whisky and Kentucky Bourbon? Bottom line, I wouldn't drink this again if you bought one for me. D minus.
(Did we have one of these at beer fest? If so, was it this bad?)

Luckily, on the same beer run, I found an Oak Yeti from Great Divide. Haven't had this outside the brewpub so I was psyched. Didn't disappoint. This is definately still in my top 5 Stouts, and probably top 10 beers. I love it. Lots of vanilla flavor coming out in the Oak version vs. the regular. Makes it sweeter but doesn't sacrifice the balancing body and is still a thick, glass-coating brew. Awesome. A++

Consolers of the Lonely...

Another interesting brew from Short's

Short's Abnormal Genius - This is another beer in the Short's Imperial Series that I brought home from northern Michigan. This one is "High Gravity Golden Ale fermented with sunflower seeds and Honey." The aroma is pure sunflower seeds and a little bit of sweetness. The taste is unlike any beer I've had before. I can taste that sunflower seeds again and a little bit of peanut butter. It is pretty sweet, since honey is a good fermentable and a little on the hot side. The finish is a strange combination of some bitterness (not hop bitterness) that I'm having trouble explaining and alcohol. A very tasty and successful experiment.

A-

999 bottles of home brew on the wall...

Currently drinking: Weyerbacher Hops Infusion IPA. Your basic American IPA. More bitter than aromatic. I'm fine with it, but not blown away. B.

Currently brewing: Sposborth Pilsner (all grain, full boil). Got about 20 minutes left on the boil.

Brewed yesterday: Sposborth Biscuit Nugget Porter (partial mash, full boil). Used Nugget hops (and several others) - Nugget is great. Belgian Biscuit barley is also quite tasty. I added some to today's Pilsner.

Bottled Friday: Sposborth Oaked IIPA, IIPA (all grain, full boil)

Made a yeast starter to make my Imp Stout tomorrow night.

WOW!

In keeping with the recent stellar ratings, I drank a bomber of Flosmoor Stations's Brewer's Whim IPA at the Map Room in Chicago this weekend. I truly can't remember the last time I had a beer both this flavorful and this completely relentless. Beer pours to a thick, sticky dark orange that allows no light to pass through. This may also be the best smelling IPA I've ever experienced, bettering the hard-to-beat smell of Furious. Taste is increadibly vibrant and fresh, initial hops are orange rinds, watermelon, and grassy pine. As the beer hits the back of the tongue, unrelenting bittering hops leave a tingling and numbness along the entire palate. Body is thick, finish is LONG and bitter leaving lockjaw on multiple occasions. Label says this is an IPA, but it tastes so complex and delicious that it smacks more of a double without leaving the fogginess of many big beers. Any absolute dream of a beer.

A+

The best whore is a fresh whore

Tyranena Hop Whore - The new batch of Hop Whore is out at the Tyranena brewery. It is outstanding. IPAs are almost always better fresh. I was a little worried too, because I had heard that the they had to change the hop recipe a little bit. My worries were unfounded as it tastes as good if not better than the previous version.

A+

Honoring Dogs

Rogue 2008 Brewer's Ale, dedicated to the former Rogue Labrador that bears a striking resemblance to one blogger's best bud Harper. First things first, this was a thick, chewy beer...like a mouthful of beef jerky. Definitely a beer makes you feel like a dog would appreciate it-possibly with a pile of beggin' strips. I should take a picture of the aftermath in the glass...it's almost as coated as the Dark Lord glasses. Also comes in a cool swingtop bottle like the XS Imperial series (and includes a dogtag for some unknown reason)

It's an american strong ale, but is also really hoppy with about 110 IBUs. If I had to compare it to things I think we've all had, I would say it's like taking a batch of oak Bastard and mixing it about half and half with Runination. Very flavorful, sticky, thick beer. I would say I enjoyed it alot, but at the same time probably wouldn't buy another one. B+

Listening to: Raconteurs...Consolers of the Lonely. I'd forgotten about it after listening to it a couple times right when it came out. Back into it in a BIG way. This is a seriously great album-all over the place in a good way. Lots of variety. Highly recommended.

Sticky faceoff

Battle of the sticky IPA's:
Verdict...
Goose Island: Sweeter, less sticky
Tyranena: Hoppier, stickier

Both: great
A+

If I could only have one, it would probably be the Tyranena

Also sampled but unworthy:
Ale Asylum Hopilicious (C+)

Currently watching: Some Kind of Monster on VH1 classic. Those guys have some serious problems. Wow.

Homebrew and the CRUSHER and Hopfen Weiss

I had a Brooklyn Brewery Hopfenweiss a few weeks ago. Some German brewmeister came over to New York and brewed a German recipe using American ingredients and equipment.

It was good for those times when you are in the mood for a hoppy wheat. On the other hand it isn't the world's greatest beer. I can't remember the grade.

I bottled my all grain IIPA and Oaked IIPA's today and sampled a little bit of the leftovers. Right now it tastes very bitter and the aroma does not overwhelm me. The good news is that it is improving in the bottle. The bad news is that I only brewed a gallon each.

I'm leaving for the weekend to do some brewing in Virginia. Probably in the rain. Then when I get back on Sunday I am going to brew again.

Letdown

Brew Dog Hardcore IPA. This did NOT live up to it's name. As I was pouring it out, my first thought was that it was paler than a bud light-way paler than it looks in this picture. As it turned out, the flavor was not that far off a Bud either. Super sweet with virtually no hop balance. This was a horrible example of an imperial IPA. Should've know the Scots can't make a decent beer. D minus.

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times

Two new reviews for me tonight. First up, and most interesting: Avery "The Beast" Grand Cru. This is the 2005 vintage, which is shockingly one of the weakest versions of recent years, clocking in at 14.9% a.b.v. (the year before was 18.1!) This is a definite eye-opener and tongue knumbener. You can smell the alcohol literally from across the room. The first few sips are pretty brutal till your tongue gets used to it (or just gives up and relents). Similar effect to a dogfish 120. By the third or fourth sip I was a convert, and decided I really like it. It pours thick, like a candy apple coating. Taste is strong alcohol, and very much like a mixture of port or sherry and some nice Bourbon. Don't drive anywhere after sampling one of these. I'll give it an A, with caveats that you can't really consider it a beer as much as a liquor. I'm very thankful this was a 12 oz instead of a 750 or I might be dead right now. I'd happily drink another though.

What I would NOT happily drink another of is the Dogfish Midas Touch "traditional ale." I would call this undrinkable except for the contradicting fact that I did, in fact, finish it. If I hadn't already had the Beast to partially incapacitate it, there's no way my palate would have allowed it. This was strong itself and weighed in at a hefty 9%. I can only assume that the "brewing process" here is to purchase some discount over-ripe green grapes at the local super market, leave them in a bowl of cheap vodka in the hot sun for several weeks, strain, and bottle. That pretty well describes the experience you'll get here. On a scale from suck to ten, I'll give this a suck minus.

Bring on the Shorts

Short's The Woodmaster - This one is a high gravity brown ale fermented with maple syrup and toasted pecans. The nose is pure maple syrup and a little bit of pecan. The alcohol taste is pretty high. The taste is not as sweet as the nose, but it has a good double brown ale base. This is one of the many Short's Imperial Series Beers that I brought back from Short's. More on Short's later.

A-

Big Beers - No Pics - Drastically Different Results

Stone Bitter Oatmeal Chocolate Stout -

What's up with this beer? Sweet, slightly astringent in mouth feel, and falls drastically short in mouth feel and taste. Not nearly thick or chocolaty enough. Rather, it is chocolate, but it's like syrup poured into a bottle, rather than a compliment to the beer. Disappointing. Maybe another shot with serious aging, but not otherwise.

C

Three Floyd's Dreadnaught

Close to perfection. A hoppy oil-slick of a beer, creamy, sticky, slight alcohol burn that becomes more pronounced as it warms, but doesn't detract. Loads of delicious fruits in scent and taste, worth bathing in, tingles on the tongue, highly drinkable despite abv, finishes sweet and nectary. Unbelievably delicious.

A+

Per request, Western Michigan Part I

I've been waiting to get the picture off of Carey's phone, but since everyone is bitching, you will get it without the pictures.

Part I: Founders

The Founders brew pub is one of the more pleasant brew pubs I've been to. The food was tasty and the atmosphere was good. And it was open at noon for an early start to drinking.

The following were had:

Barrel-Aged Red's Rye - This was my 2nd favorite of the day. Good barrel-y taste balances out the hops and the rye. A

Raspberry Porter - This one was quite tasty too. I didn't think it would be, but it was. A-

Crystal Rye Persuasion - This one is kinda in between a pale ale and an IPA in hoppiness. Also tasty. A-

Cherry Ale - Meh B

Breakfast Stout - This one is much better on tap, than in the bottle. A

Oatmeal Stout - Tasty and smooth. I like Oatmeal Stouts A-

Church Brew Works

On Labor Day weekend I went down to Pittsburgh for the night to visit some college buddies. Went here. Very cool place. The beer was okay, but not great, and a little experimental. The Rye PA tasted, without exaggerating, like grapefruit juice.

We also had the Stout which tasted strongly of coconut. A little too much like coconut.

On the drink menu they list for each beer the OG and the IBU and the ABV. Did I mention that the former Altar held the fermenters?

Church Brew Works Beer: B.
Church Brew Works Food: A. (I had the Bison Burger.)

Beer that tastes like a banana engulfed by flaming gasoline

Not sure what else to say at this time.

Two Stouts, One Post

Can't remember how the Green Flash Stout tasted, which I picked up at Hyde Park Liquors back in the time before the Great Taste of the Midwest. But I'll give a solid.. AB?

The Stone RIS is good. Really really good. There is a slight alcohol burn. I might buy another one and age it. I have an AleSmith Speedway Stout and a Weyerbacher 13 waiting and aging. And impruving.

Stone RIS: A.

Breakfast for Dinner

I made a Breakfast for Dinner meal tonight of some tasty bacon and rasberry french toast, to go along with these fine selections...the first spoils of the new beer store:

First up: Founders Breakfast Stout. This one sadly paled in comparison to the Kentucky Breakfast version. Still good, but doesn't live up to the other one (although if I didn't have that to compare it to, I might be blown away.) Solid A-


Next up: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. Another 100%-er on Rate beer, so this was a pretty solid beer night. I thought this was a little better than the Founders, although Katie liked the Founders better...pretty close tossup. I'll give the beer geek the slight nod, in part because it came in a bigger bottle so there was more to enjoy. Another A- for me. Neither quite reaches my stout pantheon (I'd put dark lord, both of the Stones, Oak Yeti, Kentucky Breakfast, and BORIS all comfortably ahead of either of these)

Last one was intended to be more of a dessert beer and one I thought Katie would like. Dark Horse Tres (Blueberry Stout) - this is a dry stout, and was really different from the first two...kind of jarringly different. Not much blueberry presence-just in the smell, not really in the taste. My least favorite of the three, but I would still try it again. I think it needed to stand on its own to have a fair shot. For now, I'll give it a B.

What Ever Happened To.........

Duane

Last night's rare good Indy beer entry

Last night I had a fairly indescribable Belgian from Brugge Brasserie in Indianapolis. The restaurant has been around but they are newly available in bottle form. This was The Black. The flavor and style are hard to put your finger on. It's a dark, strong belgian and has the following characteristics...the fruity, plum like flavor of something like a unibroue... a slight sour, almost lambic-y or maybe Trippel-nes... and then finally it has some essence of something like a dry stout. Lots going on but balanced in a cool way. I liked it.
Solid B+

In other exciting news, I found a new beer store in town today. The beer section is kind of tiny-maybe the size of my guitar room/office here, but there is no waste-it's all fantastic imports and craft stuff. Not a Bud or Miller to be found. One wall is all Belgians that I'd only seen in Duane's blog entries before. Lots of other good stuff too-I'll be going back for sure. The cool thing way the difference between what they have and what Big Red has-not much overlap. First entries from the visit will follow after dinner tonight.

Yet another trip to Tyranena

This time to try the unfiltered, unblended Devil over a Barrel, which they call:

Extra Devil Over a Barrel

The look is very similar to the regular Devil. The aroma is much more bourbony, but the coffee is still there. The bourbon elements are less subtle, but the taste is greatly the same. I'm not sure if I like this better than the regular Devil. The Extra Devil is much sweeter and has a bigger, bolder coffee flavor. Regardless, a solid:

A+

Double Dead Guy...aka, the beer named after Marvin Lewis

Rogue Double Dead Guy. Ok, so this was the sort of bottle you just don't pass up when you see it in the store. Anything bright red with pirate skulls on it might as well have my name on it.

Can't seem to find a straight answer on the style for this one...seems to described as anything from a Brown, to an American Strong, to a Dopplebock-to be honest, I don't really know the difference between those anyway.

Very sweet and malty as the initial flavor with a really strong bitter hop finish that sticks with you.

Wasn't crazy about it on the first few sips, but it's really growing on me. Pretty solid. I'd say B+

ps...on another Rogue note, I thought Duane would be excited by this: Captain Sig's Deadliest Ale