Cubs Suck

The Curse IPA from Flossmoor Station tastes like those chewy citrus candies loaded with sugar. Take that candy, top it with a healthy dose of caramel, the kind that's melted on top of holiday apples, and add some more sugar, pine needles and bitterness. Pour into a glass and drink. Repeat. Enjoy.

A

Extreme Beer Fest - Any Interest?

Would anyone be interested in attending Beer Advocate's Extreme Beer Fest in Boston on February 21?

Why are Coffee Beers so Damn Good?

Oh yeah, both are great.
A

Question of the Day

Can beers age in the fridge?

Road trip beers

I was in Nashville over the weekend and had 2 new ones (and many non-new ones). One was a Magic Hat #9 which is a fuity APA. It was gross. I don't recommend it. It actually tasted a lot like a Blue Moon that had about 7 oranges in it. D-

Also had a Yazoo Pale Ale, which was better, but nothing special. Your run-of-the mill pale ale. C+

What's In Your Fridge?

Founder's Breakfast Stout
Full Sail Wassail
Bell's Double Cream Stout
Kettle House Double Haul IPA
Surly CynicAle
Three Floyd's Alpha King
Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S.
Two Brothers Cane and Ebel
Breckenridge Double IPA
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree
Founder's Devil Dancer
Dogfishhead Palo Santo Maron
Dogfishhead 90 minute
Hair of the Dog Adam
Bell's Hopsolution
Founder's Harvest Ale
Tyranena Dirty Old Man
Tyranena Devil Over a Barrel
Tyranena Scurvy
Tyranena Hop Whore
Bell's Hopslam
Speakeasy Double Daddy IPA
Pliny the Elder
Lagunita's Lumpy Gravy
Stone Double Bastard
Great Divide Fresh Hop
Port Fresh Hop
Flossmoor Cursed IPA
Port Old Viscosity
Lazy Boy IPA
Port Santa's Little Helper
Bear Repubic Big Bear Black Stout
Port Hop 15
Three Floyd's BrooDoo
Surly Furious
Dogfish 120 minute
Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot
Weyerbacher Merry Monk
Barryborth IPA 1 and 2

Hoppy Holidays

Alpha Klaus is really good. Smells like old school hot chocolate powder from a can, and tastes a bit that way too. Take that, add some interesting hops to the mix, subtract the dirt taste of most porters, and you get Alpha Klaus. I could drink alot of this.

A -

Double Trouble

Three doubles, three "B's", sans pics.

Bell's Double Cream Stout - good, not great; what keep it from greatness is the nagging feeling that half and half is added to this beer

B

Redhook Double Black Coffee Stout - coffee taste is too understated; how can this be with Starbucks nasty-ass bitter brew?

B

Boulevard Double Wide IPA - smells wonderfully fresh, has that annoying, far too carbonated taste that I associate with all Portsmouth and Moyland Brews (Hopsickle, etc.)

B

Today's Question

As a change of pace I'd like to throw out a question, rather than a rating.

If you had to choose one brewery from which to drink for the rest of your lives, which would you choose?

Sposborth take 2

Yesterday I had the second of the homebrews Pete left with me. This one had the somewhat dull name (Sposborth International Holding Conglomerate and Fishworks, Inc needs to hire some marketing people ... although the recycled bottle with masking tape label has a certain "underground" vibe to it) of "Coffee 2." Similar to the Java, but much less overwhelming. This one was pretty solid. The coffee flavor might still be about 5% too strong without some kind of whisky/bourbon type balance, but it is much more drinkable. It is a lot like the Dark Horse Perkulator, and has about the same smell, with a slightly stronger coffee presence. I think once you pefect this recipe and it's optimal blend combinations Pete, it's going to be really amazing.

More free beer

Got another round on the department last night...2 brothers Dunkel and Delirium Noel again. Both very solid.

Also, on Wednesday I popped open a bomber of Sposborth Java. Sorry Pete, the coffee was a little too overwhelming on this one. I think it needs the sweetness from the whiskey oak batches blended in to balance it out. It was a little bit too much like a pot of coffee that you brew with too many beans and too little water. A solid effort, but I liked the other ones better-what we thought was Java before was definitely some kind of blend, unless there were two different Java batches.

Back in Black

Winter has me craving the goodness of stout. Weyerbacher's Old Heathen Imperial Stout is pretty standard fare, tasty, sweet, a bit chocolatey. The best Weyerbacher to date, but that may not be saying much, as all the previous beers of theirs I've had, I've disliked very much.

B

Free beer is the best beer

Last night I went out with our department's speaker for happy hour. He was from Minnesota and was my kind of guy. We sat down to order and he said "I better order two to start off, I'm pretty thirsty." He then proceeded to pound 5 in about an hour. Not to be rude, I also kept up. Beers enjoyed by me included: Two founder's Red's Ryes, A Two brothers' Dunkel, a Breakfast Stout, and a Delirium Noel. All on tap. I'm very happy that our new departmental tradition is to have the department pay for the grad students to go to happy hour after the talks, and also happy that as the senior scholar among that group, I usually pick where we go.

Of the new ones on that list, the Two Brothers was actually really good as was the Noel. Both were A's.

Mega Post part 2

Continued from below:

5) Avery Maharajah Double IPA: Had this one on tap in Denver where it was much better. Out of the bottle it has a slight battery acid funk to it. Didn't love it. Let's say B-







6) Great Divide Hades Belgian Pale Ale. This is a total Katie beer, but I liked it too. Slight sourness, great flavor, nice and crisp. I liked it a lot. I don't think I've had a Great Divide I didn't like, although the new labels are a little too Brekenridge-ish for my taste. Grade: A-



7) Troeganator Dopplebock: Courtesy of Mr. Spaeth. This was pretty good, but probably not as good as the label would suggest. Not my favorite, but I think it's because I don't love dopplebocks. I'll give it a B-

8) Weyerbacker XIII: Also courtesy of Pete. This was killer. It tastes almost just like World Wide Stout to me, without the wicked hangover. I think this is what sposborth whiskey java would taste like if it were double the alchohol content. A+

9) One more Nittany Tide beer: Penn-demonium. Maybe the biggest surprise of the Pete batch so far. I thought this was fantastic. It's a bock, and oddly enough both Katie and I agreed that it was great. I would drink this repetitively if I lived in Pennsylvania. Great maltyness with just barely enough bitterness to balance it out. Another A+

Another Mega-post

I'm way behind again: Here's a quick summary of what I've had, in addition to what Pete mentioned.

1) 3 Floyds Broo-doo. Another fresh hop beer, with a troll on the front. This wasn't the best of the harvest beers I've had, but was one of the better Floyd's offerings I've had lately. I'll give it a strong B

2) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. This was good, but not amazing. Relative to some of the other bourbon beers I've been having lately, this doesn't justify the high price, although it is very good. A little more harsh and less smooth than some of the others. On a related note, is anyone else's fancy turning to big stouts as the weather gets cold? I'm not in much of an IPA mood, and am craving big, dark, caramel, bourbon, winter beers. This fit the bill...It's an A- for me, but the minus is probably for the price. ($19 4 pack)

3) Left Hand Rye Bock. I've been having a lot of Bocks lately too, which tend to be very hit or miss for me. This was a hit. I liked the rye, which was very prominent. Like eating a deli sandwich. Solid. B+

4) Barley Island Single White Friar. Let's see... take my least favorite brewery, have them make a "pro-am" beer, and while you're at it, make it Belgian which seems hard enough to do right even if you know what you're doing. I'll let you guess the results. If you guessed "horrible, undrinkable, gross" or any similar synonym, you win a prize. The prize: what's left of this beer, which is the bulk of the glass. Mental note: just because a glass has wax on it doesn't make it good. Grade: F


I'll continue in a new post...this is getting long