The Drunken Polack

My buddy Aaron over at the Vice Blog is having a fun little contest.  What could be better than taking the usual March Madness pools and involve beer?  Hey you know everyone joins at least one pool!  Imagine getting just box after box of beer for being the winner.  Here is the contest straight from his site:

We’ve all been entering NCAA tournament pools for years if not decades.  $10, $20, win, usually lose, big deal.  They’re fun, sure, but I got a better idea.  With a suggestion from friend of the Vice Blog expectingrain5 I came up with this:

An NCAA tournament pool where your entry “fee” is beer.

So here’s the deal, to get into this tournament pool you just need to offer up a nice local beer from wherever you live.  Doesn’t have to be rare, doesn’t have to be expensive, doesn’t even have to be good (although, what kinda dickhead would offer up a shitty beer?)  You live in Wisconsin, offer up a bottle or two of New Glarus.  California, how about some Russian River?  I will likewise probably offer a fancypants New York beer (Black Ops, hmmm?)  Now I’m not saying you have to be as generous of course.  I don’t want this be a burden or expensive.  A bottle or two of beer, plus shipping, will cost you max $10-15, around the same as any NCAA office pool.

Here’s our private group, “Boxes of Beer”:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=17985&entryID=233669

Password is of course:  beer

No one’s forcing you to enter, so please, if you do enter, don’t be a jerk and not live up to your end of the bargain if and when you most likely lose.  I’ll be really pissed if that happens.  And I’ll be insanely jealous at the thought of the winner receiving box after box after box of beers all throughout April.

If you enter, please leave a comment below telling us your entry name.  It might also be fun to speculate what beer(s) you might send to the winner should you lose.  Also, use your real e-mail address when you comment.  No one can see that but me, and that way I can collect e-mail addresses to create a master list for our group.

Cheers!

(And let’s go Syracuse!!!!)

No beer in a week!  Damn ear infection!  So no reviews just yet but check out this link.  I’ll admit, I’m jealous

http://bonbeer.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/pictorial-inventory-of-my-%E2%80%9Cbeer-cellar%E2%80%9D-on-march-1-2010/

I usually don’t bring personal matters on this site. But lately I just haven’t been in the mood to post anything.   Last week I lost a very special lady in my life, my Mom.  She lost her year and a half battle with brain cancer.  She was the best person I’ve ever known and I’m not just saying that because she’s my Mom.

I’ll be back soon but in the meantime.  If your parents are still around, give them a call, tell them you love them.  Don’t take time for granted.

Hope all the 3 loyal fans I have are doing well =)  Drink some good beer.  I know through all this I will be.  =)

It might seem like I’m reviewing a lot of stouts lately and well it’s true.  Whenever I hit up the fridge, I start looking through the endless beers for a nice stout.  It’s all of the sudden become my favorite style of beer.  It also doesn’t help that a lot of the most wanted beers out there these days happen to be stouts.  Stuff like Dark Lord, Darkness, Sexual Chocolate, Black Tuesday, Olde Rabbits Foot etc.  I don’t know but I just crave the damn style!

So yeah like I was saying, here is another stout.  It’s the only stout in The Lost Abbeys line of beers that usually gravitates to Belgian inspired brews with some American stuff sprinkled in.  This version of Serpent’s Stout is from 2009 and even before I start the review I just want to say that this beer might of lost some of it’s pizazz.  It’s still really damn good but I think a lot of the flavors would of just been a bit bigger if it was a little fresher and I plan on buying this again this year so I can see the difference. 

Serpent’s Stouts pour is nothing to write home about.  Yes it’s pitch black like 99.99% of the other stouts out there but barely any head is formed and whatever is formed quickly disappears.  No retention.  Before you ask, this beer doesn’t have the same problem a lot of the 2009 Lost Abbey brews had.  This had carbonation. 

The number one smell I get from this brew is booze.   It’s not mind blowing a like other stouts out there but I have a feeling if it was more fresh it would of definitely been a lot bigger.  The aroma also has some chocolate, roasted malt, and a slight amount of coffee and dark fruit.

Now up front the taste of this is bourbon (even though it’s not barrel aged), chocolate, and prunes.  Makes for a really nice mixture.  In the middle I picked up the coffee and a small bit of bitterness from the chocolate.  As the brew hits the back of the throat the coffee and a bit of a earthiness hits the palette.  There is also some alcohol burn that hits the throat from the 10.50%.  Really nice, not over the top stout.  Complex but balanced.

The mouthfeel thick and heavy.  Really loved it.  This beer is fantastic in many ways but I think what I liked most is that this beer is so much easier to land then a lot of the other stouts out there.  It’s great and I don’t need to stand in line to get it =)  I can’t wait to try it fresh next time.

Found: South Bay Drugs and Liquor, Imperial Beach, CA (Mail Order)
Price: It’s been a long time since I bought it but if I had to guess, maybe 11 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.lostabbey.com/
What the company says:  The history of the bible and religion is indeed the struggle of good vs. evil. Our Serpent’s Stout recognizes the evil of the dark side that we all struggle with.  This is a massively thick and opaque beer that begs the saints to join the sinners in their path to a black existence.
ABV%: 10.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Lost Abbey Veritas series, The Lost Abbey Angels Share
Other beers to try within the same style: Founders Imperial Stout, Great Divide Yeti
Rating: A

So far so good when it comes to Cigar City.  I loved the first three brews I tried from these guys and this special treat was no different.  This brew is a special Barrel Aged version of their Batch #2 110K + OT Russian Imperial Stout.  While I’ve never had the regular version of this brew I don’t mind.  Especially since there was only 449 bottles of this stuff and Bourbon usually always makes stuff better =)  My bottle was number 124 to be exact.

Barrel Aged 110K + OT Batch 2 pours a pitch black color.  No way any light is getting through this.  It’s thick and oily.  A nice two finger mocha head forms and has great retention.  Really makes you want to dive right into this baby.  As soon as I poured this sucker I could smell the effects of the bourbon.  The bourbon mixed with vanilla, chocolate, and mild coffee makes for a very sweet aroma that stings the nostrils.  This brew actually reminded me a tad bit of the smell I got from Black Tuesday.  Not as big, maybe it’s little brother.  Did I mention the bourbon was really nice?

Now by the looks of it so far I would give this beer an easy A+ but something in the taste turned me off just a tad.  Everything that is present in the aroma is also in the taste and it’s very good.  But in the middle sits a huge dose of bitter hops.  Now I love hops.  Hell I’m a damn hophead and a lot of the times I love a nice big healthy dose of hops in a stout but this was very bitter.  The bitterness sticks to the tongue and stays there throughout the whole experience.  Up front though is the bourbon, vanilla, caramel, licorice, and chocolate.  Very nice, then comes the bitterness that just lingers.  In the end though I did pick up a earthy burnt malt flavor.  It saves from some of the bitterness.

The mouthfeel on this one is excellent.  Nice and thick.  Heavy and silky.  Coats the mouth nicely.  While this sits at 11.5% ABV it still remains highly drinkable and a pleasure to drink.  I just couldn’t get the bitterness out of my mouth for the hours that followed =)

Found: Beer Trade
Price: No Idea
Website: http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com
What the company says: Their site is currently under construction
ABV%: 11.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Cigar City Bolita Brown, Cigar City Jai Alai
Other beers to try within the same style: Surly Darkness, Deschutes The Abyss
Rating: A-

Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Weyerbacher Winterfest - I lived up in Pennsylvania for over 10 years and never knew about this brewery.  I guess I wouldn’t of known because I really didn’t get into craft brewing until I moved to Virginia.  Weyerbacher was only 30 minutes away from where I used to live.  This past weekend I came up to PA to visit my family.  It just so happened that Weyerbacher was releasing a brewery release only brew.  They have a special line of beers that they name after the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.  Of course it all started with Alpha, Beta, etc.  Finally they are up to India.  But I’ll get back to India later.

I arrived at the brewery at around 1pm.  The tasting room is only open Saturday from Noon to Three.  Let me just say that the brewery is in no mans land.  I thought the brewery would be stuck in the city part of Easton, but instead it’s stuck on the outskirts and man I never knew this area even existed.  Honestly why someone would even choose to have a business in this area is anyone’s guess.  I passed up the brewery twice.  You wouldn’t even think the building is a brewery but once inside it’s actually pretty nice.  Nice tasting area with growler fills.  About 7 beers on tap.  They allow you to mix and match a case.  Everyone was very friendly and you could see the brewery down at the end of the building.  I picked up my case of India and picked up a growler of their Winterfest brew.  Oh and I got lost on the way home.  Damn backwoods.

Winterfest pours a caramel color with ruby red highlights.  A small head forms but quickly dissolves.  No lacing.  The smell consists of a slight aroma of malt, toffee, vanilla, and other spices.  Decent smell.  At first I couldn’t really get into the taste of this brew but as it warmed up and as I drank more of it, it got better and better.  Up front is a slight taste or roasted malt.  Then some sweet chocolate that I didn’t pick up in the smell.  The taste ends with some toffee and vanilla.  The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a big amount of carbonation.

Like I said this brew wasn’t great but got better and better as I drank it.  But I still have half a growler left and I’m not to sure if I’ll finish it.  I have a lot of India to drink!!!

Found: The Brewery itself!
Price: I think it was around 15 dollars for a fresh growler
Website: http://www.weyerbacher.com
What the company says: At Weyerbacher we’ve created a Winter Ale that is a must for any malty beer lover. Winner of a Silver Medal in the 1998 World Beer Championships, Weyerbacher Winter Ale is brewed with deep-roasted chocolate malt. The taste predominates with a warm, roasty flavor, balanced out with a slightly dry finish. It’s smooth but not cloying, with a warming belt of alcohol (5.6% ABV).
ABV%: 5.60%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA, Weyerbacher Heresy
Other beers to try within the same style: Wild Goose Snow Goose Winter Ale, Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale
Rating: B

Weyerbacher India – This is the reason I stopped by the brewery. India is a take on a West Coast IPA. Only available at the brewery and only 100 cases made. I did spot it on draft at the brewery so it’s possible you might see some kegs out there somewhere.

India pours a clear light orange color with a two finger head and great retention. Lacing throughout the glass. The smell is really nice. Big amount of fruit. Citrus and grapefruit with a smell kick of floral hops. I also picked up a tad bit of spice and caramel backbone. Not as nice as real West Coast IPAs but nice and decent. Now when I first tasted this brew it made me think of one thing. Orange Jello. It tasted just like it. Oh and I love Orange Jello. Then as I had my second bottle I definitely noticed more grapefruit and the citrus took a back seat. Still present but just not as big. I also picked up some tropical fruit, a bready and caramel malt background, and some spice. The mouthfeel is medium boded, creamy, and silky with a nice dry and bitter finish,

Overall I was really impressed with this one time brew and I really glad I picked up a case of this stuff. It’s not quite as great as other West Coast IPAs (Hey they’re from PA) but it’s a nice try.

Found: The brewery itself!
Price: Around 38 dollars a case
Website: http://www.weyerbacher.com
What the company says: Nothing on the site about this one
ABV%: 7.20%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot, Weyerbacher Zotten
Other beers to try within the same style: Alesmith IPA, Russian River Blind Pig
Rating: B+

What we have here is the #12 beer in the world according to Beer Advocate.  Hands down this is the best Barleywine I’ve ever had.  English or American.  Pelican Pub and Brewery took their Stormwatcher’s Winterfest Barleywine and aged it in 1998 Evan Williams Bourbon Barrels for four months.  What it did was created one of the most complex beers I’ve ever had.  So much going on that I don’t think my review can really explain it.  But of course as always I’ll give it a try.  =)

The Perfect Storm pours a deep opaque amber.  At first a slight bit of head was poured but quickly became what you see in the picture.  No lacing, no head.  A flat beer.  Which for this kind of beer is just fine with me.  The smell on this beer just blew me away.  I sat there for a good 5 minutes just smelling this beer.  If you love bourbon, well then you’re in luck.  It blasts the nose and is the biggest smell you’ll get from this beer.  I haven’t had a beer with some much bourbon or oak in the nose.  Just fantastic.  While the bourbon is the star by far, other fantastic aromas attack the nostrils.  Vanilla, toffee, caramel, and dark fruits.  It gives a very sweet aroma mixed in their with the bourbon.  Like I said above it’s very hard explaining just how fantastic and complex the smell is. 

Sometimes the smell of a beer is more impressive then it’s taste.  Not here folks.  It’s on par with the smell.  Friggin fantastic.  Once again the bourbon is just up front and kicking you in the teeth.  Only beer I can think of that comes close to having this amount of bourbon might be Bourbon aged Angels Share but not even that really holds a candle to the amount in this beer.  Some of you might think that it’s a bad thing and that the bourbon might get in the way of everything else.  Nope.   Because while the bourbon is really big (and damn tasty I might add) everything else is big and mixes in their perfect.  The caramel and toffee add a really nice backbone to the beer.  Mixed in with the dark fruity flavor it’s just amazing.  I also picked up a little bit of vanilla and chocolate in the aftertaste.  So much going on. 

Last but not least, the mouthfeel.  It’s just as amazing as the taste and smell.  Full bodied.  No carbonation.  Syrupy and sticky. 

Once again this is the best Barleywine I’ve ever laid my lips on.  I will be buying more of this when it comes out next year.  I’m just sad I traded all of the rest of the bottles away.  Damn trading bug!!!

Found: Mail Order
Price: Around 20 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.pelicanbrewery.com/
What the company says:The Oregon Coast is famous for its winter storms. Exciting, tumultuous, captivating, their allure is unmistakable. But on rare occasions, there’s one both mighty and generous. Just such a one is what inspired The Perfect Storm. Based on Stormwatcher’s Winterfest, our English-style barleywine, The Perfect Storm spent four months aging in 1998 Evan Williams Bourbon barrels. Now at its peak, The Perfect Storm delivers flavors of deep toasted malt, bourbon and oak. The finish rewards with whispers of vanilla, toffee and caramel. Best enjoyed with gusts exceeding 60 mph.
ABV%: 13.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: First brew I’ve had from this brewery
Other beers to try within the same style:Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot. Dominion Millenium Ale
Rating: A++

Boulevard Brewing Saison-Brett - Happy Super Bowl day people.  I hope you all are drinking some fantastic beer with friends.  Here is part two of my snowed in beer drinking journey.  I didn’t mess around with busting out the good stuff.  First up is Saison-Brett from Boulevard Brewing and their Smokestack Series.  They make a regular version of this beer without the Brettanomyces.  I still haven’t tried that one but when I got trading I made sure this version was one of the first beers I traded for.  Who doesn’t like some funk thrown into their beer?  You can’t tell me you don’t!

Saison-Brett pours a huge huge head.  Everytime i poured a new glass of this stuff all I got mostly was head.  Huge foamy, bubble filled head like the one you see in the glass.  Lacing everywhere.  The color is a very hazy light orange color.  The aroma on this Saison is really really nice and inviting.  A tiny of bit of funk.  Not overwhelming like some other beers dosed with Brett.  Actually everything in the smell was light.  Small amount of lemon peel and spice.  Nice background of yeast and an slight earthy aroma.  Really nice.

Now what I didn’t pick up with the smell was a nice fruity presense.  It’s here in the taste though.  Lemon, citrus, and mango.  The tartness and funk are there but like in the smell it’s very smell.  It just adds to the taste and doesn’t try to take over.  I actually wish it was would of had a little bit more of a role in the taste.  Yeasty with a pale malt background.  The taste is nice but it’s also very light.

The mouthfeel is nicely carbonated.  Light to medium bodied.  Crisp with a dry finish.

While this is an excellent beer, I wish it would of had a little bit more of a punch when it comes to the flavor.  Good but not great.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: Not to sure on this one.
Website: http://www.blvdbeer.com/
What the company says: Nothing about their Brett version of this beer on their site.
ABV%: 8.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Boulevard Brewing Imperial Stout, Bouelvard Brewing Seeyoulator
Other beers to try within the same style: The Bruery Saison Rue, Ommegang Hennepin
Rating: B+

Founders Imperial Stout - It really looks like Founders has an endless supply of beer.  It’s like I go into my local beer place every week and there is another Founders beer sitting on the shelves.  OK maybe not every week but you get the picture.  This time around it’s their Winter seasonal release, their Imperial Stout.  I heard awesome things about this beer so I picked up a few.  One to drink now and a few to cellar.  Can’t try to try one a year from now since I loved it fresh.

Founder’s Imperial Stout pours pitch black.  Pours thick like motor oil.  A small tan head is poured and pretty much disappears to nothing except lacing around the glass.  At first the smell of this brew will not blow you away.  When I first poured it I had to sit there to pick some stuff up but as it warms the flavor pops more and more.  Chocolate, roasted malt, molasses, and a smokey aroma.  As it warms it becomes almost like a mocha.  It makes you want to dive right in.  For being 10.50% there is no sign of alcohol in the nose.  Very nicely done.

For the taste the roasted malt comes in first with a nice bit chocolate coming in next.  To me it tasted like chocolate malt ball.  The alcohol makes a little bit more of an appearance then it did in the aroma.  It won’t smack you in the face though.  Coffee is also there and adds a little bit of a bitter taste.  The beer ends with some molasses and dark fruits.  The taste isn’t big like a lot of imperial stouts out there.  But it’s nice and rich.  Really wanted another one after I was done with the bottle I had.

The mouthfeel on this brew is really a one of the stars of the show.  It’s full bodied, smooth, and it coats the mouth nicely.  Really well done.  If you see this brew pick it up.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://foundersbrewing.com
What the company says: Brewed with ten varieties of malted barley, this stout is smooth as silk yet complex and rich in body. Serve this guy at cellar temperature. Put another log on the fire and sit back and enjoy the friendship of this ultimate winter warmer.
ABV%: 10.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Founders Breakfast Stout, Founders Porter
Other beers to try within the same style: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Southern Tier Mokah
Rating: A-

Avery Brabant -Brabant is the first in the line of Barrel Aged beers from Avery.  I believe they are on their third in the line.  These beers are very limited and hard to find for the most part.  They are made once and are gone forever.

Brabant is a American Wild Ale.  Wild Ales are starting to become very big in the craft beer industry.  Some say it’s the new IPA in terms of popularity.  I don’t see it getting there just yet but you do see a lot of breweries starting to make Wild Ales.  Some of the best come from Russian River and The Lost Abbey.

Brabants color looks like a cola.  It’s dark brown.  Two finger head is poured.  The head is full of craters and had good retention.  The smell is big and complex.  First up is a vinegar aroma you pick up in a lot of Flanders Red Ales.  Fighting for the top spot is a leather aroma and wood.  There is also a good amount of a barnyard funk and sourness that stings the nostrils.  A very nice and big aroma.

Up front in the taste is definitely the leather type of taste mixed in with the wood.  As it fades away the other tastes come in.  Sour cherries, funk, and a very tannic taste.  Definitely one of the most complex and unique flavors I’ve had from any beer.  Mouthfeel is medium bodied and nicely carbonated.  Sourness sticks on your tongue and the smokiness from the barrels lingers in your mouth.

Loved trying this beer.  I’ll make sure to report on how my other bottle ends up  a year from now.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 10 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.averybrewing.com/
What the company says: Beer Style: Barrel-Aged Wild Ale, not brewed to any known style
Malt Variety: Two-row barley, dehusked carafa, honey malt, carafa 3, chocolate malt
OG: 1.074   ABV: 8.7%   IBUs: 25
Barrels: Red Zinfandel barrels from Norman Vineyards in Paso Robles, CA.
Color: Dark brown with ruby corners
Availability: One and done.  694 cases produced. Bottled February 10th, 2009.  Grab it if you can find it!
ABV%: 8.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Avery Karma, Avery Hog Heaven
Other beers to try within the same style: Russian River Temptation, Ommegang Ommegeddon
Rating: A-