A Beer has no Name by Great Notion Brewery (Portland, OR) - Hazy IPA
Very easy drinking hazy IPA with strong emphasis on tropical juiciness (pineapple, orange, passion fruit and tangerine) and just hints of malts and herbal notes. Dry but low bitterness finish. Very crushable IPA
A Wicked Juicy from Cellarmaker out of San Francisco, which I’ve had on draft before and is indeed wicked juicy.
Serious Robot by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Hazy IPA
Classical profile of a NEIPA as a juice bomb with strong flavors of tangerine, melon and some lighter passionfruit. Followed by some pines but not overwhelming so that there is still some residual juiciness before a dry, medium-high bitter finish which is quite long lasting. Very smooth, nearly creamy mouthfeel.
Rabbit Rabbit by Lamplighter Brewing Company (Cambridge, MA) - Hazy DIPA
Less hazier and fruity than expected and quite restrained notes of melon, peach and some citrus followed by some again restrained piney, grassy notes. Dry, mildly bitter finish with very slight alcohol taste. A bit middle of the road DIPA but also very easily drinkable.
Howzit Punch by Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, CA) - Fruited Sour
The perfect beer for anybody who loves POG juice and sours. Really good balance between tropical fruit notes and the tartness of the sour. Alvarado also has an amped version with stronger POG flavors but this “simple” version is really more about the balance of a fruited sour
Drake’s Jolly Rodger Imperial Coffee Stout, 2022 edition. We cellared this for nearly a year and it was worth it. Sweet and syrupy without being cloying, it packs a punch at 15.9% ABV. A perfect dessert beer for the winter.
Note that per the bottle, the coffee used in this edition was an Ethiopian from Maquina Coffee, not a Kenyan from Mother Tongue.
It’s definitely stout time even here in the Bay area
After the post about Drake’s stout I had also open a stout on this cold California winter night
Paraboloid (2022) by Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, CA) - Imperial Stout
Outstanding imperial stout aged for two years in 14-18 years old whiskey barrels. Low carbonation gives it a nearly creamy, viscous consistency. Rich dark chocolate with dark roasted coffee as the base and added notes of cherry, plum, vanilla, leather and oak. Very smooth to drink despite the 15 ABV and only hints of alcohol flavor in the finish. Not surprising that it is one of the highest ranked beers from Firestone
That sounds amazing. Did you get it at their taproom?
No, it was part of a beer box we got last year focusing on stouts (through BeerAdvocate) and we had “aged” it for a year. But based on trying it yesterday, we have to find a way to get more of it
Nice!
Help me out!
I found this in the back of a closet shelf today. What do I do with it? (No snark, please … I already dusted it off for the photo …)
The trash chute is steps from my front door, if that’s its fate.
Sam Adams created for vintages of these Strong Ale in 1994, 1995 and 1997 - so you have a quite unique beer. Like wine such types of beer can age quite well depending on the storage conditions. Such a beer it is most likely best to drink not cold but closer to rt
It was undisturbed, out of sunlight, in my home so the temp was basically the same all year round.
It’s a wee bottle. So I guess I don’t pitch it …
You should enjoy it on a cold winter night at 17% ABV it will be warming you up.
And if you drink it, report back on the taste - some of the reports/review indicate a quite intense flavor not unlike port or wine. And “regular” strong ales tend to be already quite unique tastes
Well, it ‘s about 20 degrees now, but too late in the evening to really enjoy. We’ll be getting more snow on Friday. Any accompaniments? 17 percent ABV is close to sherry. …
Cheese or something with (dark) chocolate
Christmas Bomb! by Prairie Artisan Ales (Krebs, OK) - Imperial Stout
Very interesting sipping stout - at first the different spices seemed to clash with the coffee, chocolate and vanilla backbone of the stout. But once the beer warmed up a bit the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger flavors really nicely integrated into the stout.
For cheese, a nice strong blue or an aged cheddar will go well.
Don’t toss it. It’s an expansive Sam Adams and isn’t at all bad. being a triple bock, it will be sweeeeet. I tried it in that time range, and thought it was decent. Not worth purchasing (for me) but a big bold brew.
