Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout – I bought this brew a long long time ago and for some reason just got around to trying it.  Yeah this is the problem when you have just to much beer in your house.  Happy to say that it held up just fine.  As far as Ballast Point brews go this one is at the bottom of my list.  It didn’t wow me like Tongue Buckler, Victory at Sea, or Sculpin did but it’s still a decent Imperial Stout.

Sea Monster pours black.  Pitch black.  A small tan head forms but quickly disappears.   Right off the bat you’ll notice this beer has a really sweet nose to it.  One of the sweeter stouts I’ve smelled in a while.  It’s the dark chocolate doing it’s thing.  A decent amount of roasted malt and a smaller amount of coffee.  The taste is more of the same.  The sweetness cuts through everything else.  The coffee leaves a bit of a bitter ending that sits at the back of the throat.  Mouthfeel was really nice.  It was more towards a heavier, thicker mouthfeel.  A little bit on the flat side.  Just goes down your throat with ease.

Not a bad stout to pick up.  Would love to try it a little bit more fresher.  Maybe the coffee would of come through just a little more.

Found: South Bay Drugs, Imperial Beach, CA (Mail Order)
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.ballastpoint.com
What the company says: Nothing on the site about this brew.
ABV%: 10.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Ballast Point Tongue Buckler, Ballast Point Dorado IPA
Other beers to try within the same style: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Boulevard Brewing Imperial Stout
Rating: B+

New Glarus Black Wheat – A black wheat beer?  Yeah your eyes aren’t deceiving you.  A black Dunkelweizen.  Anyone know if any other brewer makes a black wheat beer?  Let me know i’d be interested in giving it a try.  This time around my buddy Jeff provided me with another New Glarus beer.  Thanks again my friend.  As many of you know New Glarus doesn’t sell their beer in any other state other then Wisconsin.  I recently heard a story that some bar in New York was serving a keg of their Spotted Cow brew.  New Glarus somehow found out about this and made them stop serving the beer.  i believe the bar actually got fined also.  Anyway there I go going off track.  This beer is being retired at the end of the year.  So if you somehow have access to a bottle make sure to pick it up.  It’s a good and unique brew.  It won’t wow you but it’s easy drinking and tasty.

Black Wheat pours very dark brown, almost black color.  Hold it up to the light and you can see little ruby highlights.  A huge head is poured.  I had to wait a bit before it calmed down to what you see above.  It’s tan, fluffy, and full of craters. The smell starts off like a lot of wheat beers do.  I picked up a little bit of a fruity aroma.  Banana.  I also picked up a good amount of spice.  As the beer warms up though, the beer changes a bit.  I got more of a roasted aroma with some chocolate and coffee thrown in.  A welcome surprise.

The taste starts off just like the smell did.  It’s a light tasting brew with the fruit and spice.  But then the beer hits the middle of your palette and the beer turns to a roasty and smokey taste.  The chocolate and coffee then linger a bit.  It’s like the beer transforms.  The mouthfeel goes more towards light then medium bodied.  Slight amount of carbonation.

It’s a shame this beer is being retired.  But you never know it could come back one day soon.

Found: From my buddy Jeff
Price: No Idea
Website: http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
What the company says: Our Black Wheat arrives to relieve the bleak bore of Wisconsin’s winter. Rich and chewy this bottle conditioned weiss is bursting with Midwestern wheat, oats, rye and finished by malted barley.
ABV%: 5.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: New Glarus Cranbic Ale, New Glarus Raspberry Tart
Other beers to try within the same style: First time I’ve reviewed a beer of this style
Rating: B+

Firestone Walker Union Jack- Damn you West Coast IPAs!!  You make me jealous.  Living on the East Coast I can’t regularly get you!  Yeah so this is another really good West Coast IPA.  Ok almost Double IPA in my mind.   I’ve always heard great things about Union Jack.  So it was a big surprise when I opened a recent beer trade and saw this as one of my extras.  Sweet!!!

Union Jack pours a clear amber color.  A ton of bubbles rise from the bottle of the glass.  Small amount of head pours.  There is a ton of lacing as you drink this brew.  Rings left after every sip.  First whiff, yup this is definitely a West Coast IPA.  Huge amount of fruit.  Grapefruit and mango.  But there is a good enough malt background to make this a balanced IPA.  Taste is just fantastic.  There’s the fruit again.  It’s juicy and big.  Mangos and grapefruit.  In the end you get bready malt and a nice bitter ending from the hops.  While the smell and taste of this beer is good enough to make this a fantastic IPA, the mouthfeel is the crowning jewel.  The mouthfeel is sticky and thick.  It coats the mouth and throat as it goes down.  I haven’t had a IPA this thick in a while.

I would love to see this IPA come to the East Coast but I would be afraid of freshness issues.  But if you can trade for a fairly new bottled version I think you would be in for a treat.

Found: Beer trade
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.firestonewalker.com/
What the company says: The newest member of the Firestone family, Union Jack is the aggressive IPA that you’ve been searching for. Citrus, pineapple, and a full chewy malt profile finish clean on your palate. Over 70 IBUs and 7.5% alcohol by volume, Union Jack won’t have any problem competing with the big India Pale Ales. A beer true to its origins; deeply hopped and bolstered for a long voyage.
ABV%: 7.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Firestone Walker 13
Other beers to try within the same style: Alpine Duet, Russian River Blind Pig
Rating: A-