The Drunken Polack

If you live in Virginia, you might be one depressed Craft Beer lover.  You see Virginia isn’t really well known for exactly having the best of the best of Craft Beer breweries.  We aren’t Colorado, California, etc.  Not even close.  But it just so happens that one brewery that resides only 45 minutes from me up highway 64 is really pumping out some decent stuff lately.  That brewery is Williamsburg Alewerks in you guessed it, Williamsburg, VA.  I first tried their stuff maybe 1 1/2 years ago.  Wasn’t really impressed.  They have a decent selection of year round beers.  Their seasonals were OK and their Brewmasters Reserve beers didn’t really do anything for me.  But lately they’ve really put out some fantastic stuff.  First up is their Coffeehouse Stout.

Coffeehouse Stout falls under their seasonal beer lineup.  Released in Winter, this is the first time this beer has seen the light of day.  Now if you read this blog a lot, you’ll know I really love Coffee Stouts.  The stronger the coffee the better.  While this isn’t exactly the strongest coffee stout out their it acts like a cup of coffee you would have with breakfast.  Not a chewing on coffee grinds kind of stout.  It mixes in coffee with a nice sweetness added in. 

Coffeehouse stout pours the usual pitch black color you’re going to get from a stout.  I’ve had this beer two ways.  From a growler and from a bottle.  I did get more of a head from the bottle and barely any from the growler but everything else was pretty much the same. 

The smell is pretty strong in coffee up front.  But underneath lies a certain sweetness.  A nice amount of cream.  Like I said up top, this is not the most coffee forward stout ever but it balances nice and acts like it’s an actual cup of coffee.

Taste is pretty much more of the same.  Up front is a good amount of roasted malt and coffee.  As the coffee wears off the sweetness comes through.  Nice cream and chocolate.  Ends with a tad bit of a bitter taste.

Mouthfeel is a little bit on the heavy side which was a nice surprise and it’s nice and smooth. 

Sitting at only 5.40%, this is probably the best session able coffee type stout I’ve ever laid my lips on.  A really nice treat from the guys at Williamsburg Alewerks.   Rumor is, they are taking this beer to a whole new level soon and making an Imperial version called Coffee Royale.  I can’t wait.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 3 dollars a bottle and I think a growler fill was around 13 dollars
Website: http://williamsburgalewerks.com/
What the company says:This ain’t no Folgers! Our Winter seasonal has a nice coffee aroma and the flavor of cold Guatamala Antigua coffee with “a little “cream and sugar added. Delicious!
ABV%: 5.40%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Williamsburg Alewerks Colonial Wheat Ale, Williamsburg Alewerks Ironbound Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Terrapin Depth Charge, Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout
Rating: A-

In this case I saved the best for last because I absolutely loved this beer.  What we have here is their Bourbon Barrel Porter.  They take their Rapadou Porter (or is it a similar porter like Rapadou?) and age it two months in Virginia Gentleman Bourbon Barrels.  What comes out is just a fantastic Bourbon Barrel beer.  If you’re a beer geek you all know how much we go crazy for barreled beers.  What’s nice is, it’s local and not horrible to get.  No standing in line at the brewery for hours and hours. 

This one pours an almost black color.  It’s instead a very dark brown.  A finger sized head is poured.  Dies down a little but sticks around for good retention.  The pour looks thick and oily. 

The aroma this beer gives off is just fantastic in my books.  A very sweet aroma filled with vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, espresso, and of course the bourbon.  There is also a nice bit of alcohol in the nose but it’s not overwhelming and it doesn’t block the other great smells in this beer.  I knew I was in a treat.

So basically when I was done with this beer I said to myself “Damn this is one of the finest porters I have ever had” and well I still feel that way.  Some beers really smell amazing but lack in the taste department but this beer is the opposite.  I loved the taste just as much, maybe even more.  For me the bourbon hit my taste buds first.  Not overwhelming, maybe just perfect.  Next came in all the goodness that was in the aroma.  Chocolate and coffee come in next.  Chocolate covered coffee beans.  Yes I’ll take that any day.  Then comes in the caramel and vanilla.  It really adds some nice sweetness to the end and aftertaste.  The alcohol was definitely more present in the taste but in like the smell it didn’t get in the way.  The mixture of everything really made me want more after I was done. 

The mouthfeel is a little bit on the heavy side with a small amount of carbonation.  Thick and chewy. 

I fell in love with this brew.  Weird thing is I’ve had like 5 bottles of this stuff in my house and always used them as extras for trades.  I never tried it for myself until last week.  Now I’m sorry I gave all those bottles away.  I’m proud of my local brewery and will be supporting them from here on out.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 7 dollars a bottle
Website: http://williamsburgalewerks.com/
What the company says:An Imperial Porter, brewed with Rapadou and aged for two months in Virginia Gentleman Bourbon barrels. The porter’s traditional flavors of coffee, chocolate, and caramel are complimented by vanilla from the oak and hints of bourbon. Drink now or cellar — it will just get better.
ABV%: ?
Other beers to try from this brewery: Williamsburg Alewerks Grand Illumination Ale, Williamsburg Alewerks Rapadou Porter
Other beers to try within the same style:Ballast Point Victory at Sea, Deschutes Black Butte XXI
Rating: A

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+

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-

Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter - So there’s this little problem when it snows in Virginia Beach and surrounding areas.  Nothing happens.  This area is so unprepared for snow that when it snows like it did on Friday (7 inches to be exact) the whole area shuts down.  Roads remain undriveable for days.  It’s Monday as I’m writing this review from my home, work is closed, schools are closed.  Oh yeah it snowed on Saturday.  Hey I can’t complain, it might seem like I am but I’m not really.  I got to stay inside, play videogames, watch movies, and more importantly, drink beer!  So the last 2 days I got to try 6 different beers.  I’m to lazy to write 6 reviews right now so I’ll throw three at you today and three tomorrow.  Heck I need to get back to playing games and taking advantage of the situation

First beer on the list matches the weather outside perfectly.  Nor’Easter is a Winter Warmer from Captain Lawrence.  They call it a Winter Warmer while BA calls it a Belgian Strong Dark Ale.  I’ll call it the Belgian Dark Strong Ale.  It didn’t have the spiciness that a lot of the Winter Warmers out there.   It also left me a little disappointed.  While this beer was good, I really wanted it to blow me away.  It has a lot going for it but kind of fell short for me.  Read on!

Nor’ Easter pours a little bit like a stout.  It’s dark.  A very dark brown.  A nice frothy 2 finger head is poured and has nice retention.  Now I was expecting to get wow’ed by the smell of this beer for some reason.  The mixture that it says on the front of the bottle got me ready for something awesome.  Ale with elderberries aged in bourbon barrels.  Yum sounds fantastic but what I got was very muted.  The Elderberries gave off the biggest smell.  They were sweet.  But everything else like the ripe dark fruit, caramel, and bourbon was lingering there but just small.

Taste was more of the same for me.  Muted.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good though.  The bourbon woody flavor definitely came through more on the taste.  The berries are there and make for a kind of sour and bitter combination.  Under all of that caramel and dark fruits sit on the bottom.  Mouthfeel was really nice.  Thick and smooth.  Silky and sits in your mouth.

In the end I liked this brew more then the first couple sips I took.  The flavors started to add up.  Thanks for trading me a bottle of this stuff Aaron.  I’ve been looking forward to trying this beer for a while now.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: Not to sure on this one.
Website: http://www.captainlawrencebrewing.com/
What the company says: This is a truly unique brew, combining some unusual elements to create a powerful, yet flavorful brew. I brewed a similar beer to this one back in 1998, while I was home brewing out in California. Only this time around I decided to age it in bourbon barrels to add a new element to the already rich sensory profile. The combination of dark malt, elderberries and bourbon barrels makes for an interesting tasting experience. This is a sippin’ beer, so sit back by the fire and enjoy. 12% alcohol by volume.
ABV%: 12.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Captain Lawrence Captain’s Reserve IPA
Other beers to try within the same style: Allagash Odyssey, The Lost Abbey 10 Commandments
Rating: B+

Cigar City Jai Alai with Juniper Berries - A couple of weeks ago I got this message out of the blue in my Beer Advocate inbox.  It was a gentlemen who spotted a post I put up months ago.  In the post I was pretty much begging for anyone to trade me some Cigar City brews.  Since then I’ve been able to try a few and have been blown away.  We’ll he spotted my message and out of the blue he offers me a growler of their Jai Alai IPA mixed with Juniper berries.  Heck I couldn’t say no.  When was I going to see this again.  So the package came in a few days ago.  To my surprise this little growler arrived.  It’s small.  About enough for a few pints.  Perfect size if you ask me.  I then remembered that Florida has some weird rule about the sizes of growlers.  I guess this is as big as it gets there.  Didn’t matter.  I was hyped to try this one off beer.

This brew pours a dark amber color with a white two finger fluffy head that quickly disappears.  At first the Juniper berries aren’t to noticeable.  But as you let the beer warm up a bit the more you’ll notice the berries.  The smell was more of a malt bomb then a hop bomb.  But mixed in with the malt is nice citrus and piney hops and some other fruits.  The taste up front is more of the same.  Really nice amount of malt, citrus, pine, and what I believed to pick up as some peaches.  The Juniper is there and it gives a bit of a bitter taste.  Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.  A little bit rough on the tongue.

I still haven’t tried the regular version of this beer but in due time.  I’m must glad I got to try an one off beer that I’ll never probably see again.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: No idea on this one
Website: http://www.cigarcitybeer.com/
What the company says: Nothing about this version of Jai Alai on the site but here’s info about the regular version.  Jai Alai IPA is a monster interpretation of an American IPA. In fact, it is so big that it equals the alcohol of some double IPAs on the market. Our IPA uses 6 different hop varietals, with Simcoe hops only being used for dry hopping. The rest of the hop additions are blended at different IBU’s (International Bittering Units) in groups of three hops per addition in order to create more hop complexity. At CCB, we love hops but also feel that balance is important for IPAs. So Jai Alai features a sturday caramel malt component which helps to create balance, staving off hop astringency. Ultimately, Jai Alai is a very strong interpretation of a single American IPA. We hope that it makes Tampa Bay natives happy because this is head brewer Wayne Wamble’s favorite Cigar City beer and he’d love to share one with you!
ABV%: 7.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer, Cigar City Hunahpu Imperial Stout
Other beers to try within the same style: Ballast Point Sculpin, Alesmith IPA
Rating: B+

The Bruery Saison Rue - With The Bruery becoming one of my favorite breweries of all time you’ll be seeing a lot more reviews from these guys.  This time around it’s their year round Saison and Saturday nights beverage of choice.

Saison Rue pours a cloudy light orange color.  Head that pours is huge.  Everytime I poured a new glass of this stuff the head would almost go over the top of the glass.  Great pour.  At first I didn’t pick up much of anything other then lemon and Belgian yeast.  But as this got warmer the flavors just started to pop!  A great musty, earthiness came through with spices, lemon, citrus, and apple.  Fantastic smelling Saison.

In the taste the lemon which I smelled a lot of in the smell takes a bit of a back seat to tart apples.  A bit of sourness comes in.  A bit of the barnyard funk as they say.  Spicy and bitter notes come in next with a great yeasty flavor.   A nice complex Saison.  One of my favorites really.  The mixture of the fruit (lemon, apple, and citrus) earthiness and funk really hit the spot.  Mouthfeel is dry, crisp and light.  One thing I did notice though is that in the beginning the mouthfeel is all of those three things I mentioned.  But maybe half way through the bottle the mouthfeel changed a bit to more of a dead kind of beer.  Less carbonation.  Not that it ruined the beer at all for me.  A little bit of heat comes through from the alcohol but not even close to enough to complain about.

It’s great to have such a good Saison available year around.  Another winner from these guys.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Not to sure on this one.  I believe it was about 11 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com/
What the company says: Saison Rue is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned, Belgian/French-style farmhouse ale. This is a beer of subtlety and complexity, with malted rye, spicy, fruity yeast notes, biscuit-like malt backbone, and a slight citrus hop character. With age, this beer will dry out and will become more complex with rustic notes of leather and earth from the contribution of a wild yeast strain. Being a Saison, Saison Rue is ambiguous unto itself as it is a different beer when fresh and when aged. We hope you enjoy it in all of its incarnations.
ABV%: 8.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Black Tuesday, The Bruery Orchard White, The Bruery White Oak
Other beers to try within the same style: Goose Island Sofie, Victory V-Saison
Rating: A

This damn turtle is showing up on my site more and more =)  It just seems that Terrapin has an endless supply of beer for me to try and heck I know I have two more of their brews sitting in my house right now.  A while back I reviewed the collaboration between Terrapin and Left Hand. I loved that beer.  Both of these beers have a lot of coffee in it, but I treat Wake N’ Bake as Depth Charges little brother.  It not as big in coffee taste and aroma but damn it’s just as good.

Wake N’ Bake pours just what you see to the right.  Black as night.  A nice frothy one finger head is poured but quickly disappeared.  The aroma isn’t straight up coffee like Depth Charge but it’s more of a mixture of fresh coffee grounds, chocolate, roasted malt, and the slightest hint of alcohol.  Great smell and made me want to dive right in. 

The taste is just as good.  You’re blasted by coffee grounds up front.  Raw and strong.  That’s followed by the chocolate and in the end you get a nice amount of oats.  This brew is not as one dimensional as Depth Charge.  There’s more of a balance between all the ingredients that makes this beer stand out.  The mouthfeel is good but I found it to be a little bit thin and make a little bit to carbonated but still it doesn’t ruin this awesome beer.

Just when I thought Terrapin let me down with their IPA I discover this fantastic stout.  I’ll be picking this up again. 

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.terrapinbeer.com
What the company says: Black as night, this coffee stout is thick, rich and full of real coffee flavor. Brewed with the Terrapin Wake-n-Bake coffee blend created by Terrapin & Jittery Joe’s Coffee.
ABV%: 8.60%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Terrapin Gamma Ray, Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster
Other beers to try within the same style:Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Southern Tier Mokah
Rating: A-

What we have here is the second brew that I’ve tried from Cigar City.  The first one was amazing and I’m happy to say that this one is excellent too.  What I liked about this beer is they took a style I’m not really a fan of and they just blew me away.  No this is not a Winter Warmer, with a name like Warmer Winter Winter Warmer you would think it was but this is actually an old ale.  Threw me off in the beginning when I took the first sip and didn’t taste any spice. 

WWWW (yes I’m to lazy to say it) pours a deep mahogany.  When held up to the light ruby red highlights can be seen.  This beer poured a huge two finger head.  Creamy and beige.  Great retention and a ton of lacing throughout the glass.  Like I said above I was ready for a Winter Warmer but when I took my first smell I was surprised to find nothing like that.  I even had to go online and check out the style. 

The aroma is full of caramel, chocolate, toffee, and a shot of citrus.  Lovely smell.  The taste is fantastic.  It’s rich and luscious (never thought I’d use that word =) Up front is the nice caramel, then the chocolate and toffee come up.  The ending is full of citrus hops and some dark fruits. A little bit of alcohol is noticeable in the taste but it’s more noticeable when it’s going down your throat and into your chest.   This beer totally surprised the hell out of me.  The mouthfeel is a star also.  It’s nice and thick.  Smooth, coats the mouth.    I think I have a new favorite Winter beer.  I’m starting to believe the Cigar City hype!

Found: Extra in a Beer Trade
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.cigarcitybeer.com/
What the company says: Website was under construction when I checked
ABV%: 10.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Cigar City Guava Grove, Cigar City Bolita Brown
Other beers to try within the same style: Founders Curmudgeon
Rating: A

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-

Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout – Once again here is another gift from my buddy Jeff and his trip to Vermont earlier in the year.  This time around it’s an Russian Imperial Stout from Otter Creek out of Middlebury.  Now Russian Imperial Stouts are probably my favorite style of beer these days.  I love the big taste and smell these brews usually give off but I felt like this beer just didn’t hit the spot for me as many of the others in the style did.  Overall though it’s still a rather decent beer.

This RIS like many others (ok 99.9%) pours pitch black.  Nice frothy tan head and great retention.  Now like I said above I love my RIS to be huge, after all why put the word “Imperial” in the name if you didn’t want it to be big =)  But this one kind of fell short.  Faint aroma of burnt coffee, molasses, and sweet dark chocolate.  If this was brought up a notch I would of been in love.

The same goes for the taste.  Good but faint.  What I did notice more then the other ingredients was the molasses.  Brought a nice sweet taste to the brew.  Espresso and chocolate bring up the rear.  The mouthfeel was slick and smooth.  A little bit on the heavy side.  Little carbonation.

This RIS has some good qualities.  Maybe I waited a little to long to drink it.  But I was just looking for a little bit more.  

Found: From my buddy Jeff
Price: No Idea
Website: http://www.ottercreekbrewing.com
What the company says: The style was first brewed in England for the Russian Czar and it is the king of stouts. Plenty of big malt flavors- chocolate and roasted- and high alcohol with lower carbonation and mild hops.
We brewed this beer with double the malts and four times the hops of regular stouts! Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout clocks in around 10% ABV- a beer to be savored responsibly. True to style, this beer will last for years so you may want to stock up on a few bottles for your cellar while it’s available.
ABV%: 10.60%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Otter Creek Pale Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Stone Russian Imperial Stout, Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops
Rating: B+

Southern Tier Cuvee Series 2 – Beer geeks love the world Oaked or Barrel Aged.  As we get more and more into the craft beer world you’ll notice that a lot of these beers are harder to get.  Southern Tier Cuvee series is a series that is actually pretty easy to get.  I can walk into most of the good stores around here and they’ll have it sitting on the shelves.  This brew in particular is number 2 in the series of 3.  Word on the streets (or beer sites =) is that the third in the series will be hitting the stores soon.  The first in the series actually disappointed me a bit.  Sadly I felt the same way about this one.

Cuvee 2 pours a dark brown color with ruby red highlights.  A good amount of head is poured but quickly fizzes away into what you see above.  A very thin layer of head is left.  The aroma on this beer is decent and really had me hoping this one was better then the first.  Lovely smell of wood hits the nostrils first.  A good amount of caramel and vanilla follow that up.

The taste is slightly boozy but not as bad as I thought it would be.  This beer is definitely a malt bomb.  Looking for any kind of hops in this beer, just don’t bother.  The caramel is mixed in nicely with the oak flavors.  I also picked up a good amount of dark fruits and vanilla.  This brew has many characteristics of a Barleywine.  What I didn’t like was the bitterness it gave off.  It didn’t taste like the usual bitterness that is given off by a ton of hops but something different.  Something I just couldn’t get into.

The mouthfeel is smooth and big.  Goes down really nice.  Overall this was maybe another disappointment for me.  Hopefully the series turns it around when the third one is released.  You know what they say, third one is a charm.  If you are looking to try some Southern Tier for the first time I’d say stay away from this brew.  They make so much better stuff.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 12-14 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.southerntierbrewing.com
What the company says: ALE IMPRESSIONS: Dark ruby red color, roasted malt flavor with apparent bitterness. Finishes with a rich caramel and espresso aroma.
AMERICAN OAK IMPRESSIONS: Impressions of vanilla crème, classic crème brûlée and nougat. A little more oak flavor than series one, but with creamy intensity.
11.0% abv. • individually boxed, foil labeled 22 oz bottle
ABV%: 11.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Southern Tier Gemini, Southern Tier Mokah
Other beers to try within the same style: New Hollands Dragon Milk, Stone Double Bastard
Rating: B

Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale – The way I got this beer is pretty funny and not funny at the same time.  A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) got a phone call from a buddy of his.  He asked him if he wanted some of this brew and because this stuff isn’t available in the area he jumped all over it.  He said “Sure get me two or three” Much to his surprise, his friend arrived at his house with 3 cases of the stuff.  Surprised and lost for the most part he asked what the hell is this, you said you wanted two or three.  Not cases he said!  Bottles!  So basically he’s stuck with 3 cases of this stuff.  So he was nice enough to give me a bottle.  Hell I think he’s giving a way a lot of bottles =)

Estate is a pretty cool beer.  Why you ask?  Well every ingredient in this brew is from Sierra Nevada.  Everything.  That’s not something you can say about a lot of beers.  Estate pours a dark amber color with a huge fluffy head.  Great retention and a ton of lacing throughout.  The smell on this beer is pretty damn nice.  Floral hops.  Earthiness.  A nice bready malt background.  A slight aroma of alcohol hits the nose.

Overall a winner from these guys.  I’d love to see what they can do with other styles of beer if they continue to make beers with ingredients from their farms.

Found: From a friend
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.sierranevada.com
What the company says: Nothing on the site about this one yet.
ABV%: 6.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Alesmith IPA, Town Hall Masala Mama
Rating: B+

Three Floyds Black Sun Stout – Oh you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.  I take having a beer for granted.  But you see, for the past two weeks I’ve had this cold which stops me from basically enjoying a beer.  My smell and taste is off and for some reason I don’t see an end in sight!!!  So thanks to a cold, there’s been a lack of updates.  Sorry you two fans of the Drunken Polack.  Here’s a few reviews of beers I had before my ass got sick!

First up is a brew that my girlfriend picked up for me when she was in Chicago.  I told her that if she saw anything with Three Floyds on it, just pick it up.  I think she brought back three for me and what you see here is the last of the three.  The beer itself was pretty damn good but what I thought it really had going for it was that they packed a lot of good stuff in a lower abv stout.  This allows you to enjoy a few bottles of this stuff and be perfectly fine.

Black Sun pours pitch black.  Medium sized tan head.  Minimal lacing.  The most apparent smell in this beer is a rich, sweet dark chocolate.  It smells great.  Backing that up is a good amount of roasted malt, caramel, brown sugar, and a small amount of coffee. A really nice big smell for a lower abv stout.

Taste is just as good.  It’s slightly dry and chewy.  The dark chocolate gives off a bit of a bitter taste.  The coffee shows up a little bit more then it did in the smell.  Rounding the taste out is the caramel.  Mouthfeel is slightly dry, chewy, silky, and a little bit towards the thick side.

In the end I really liked this stout and for some reason it took me by surprise.  No idea why really.  I should expect great things from Three Floyds.

Found: Picked up by my girlfriend while visiting Chicago
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.threefloyds.com/
What the company says: Black Sun has a nose of coffee, roasted malts and piney hops. This medium bodied stout has a broad depth of maltiness and a clean dry finish. December release.
ABV%: 6.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Three Floyds Dark Lord, Three Floyds Dreadnaught
Other beers to try within the same style: Victory Donnybrook Stout
Rating: B+

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast – OK so the first time I had this beer was in San Diego. I was sitting at a bar drinking with Joey from South Bay Drugs.  At the time he popped this beer, I was already pretty damn drunk.  But I remember saying that it was good.  But being drunk, I couldn’t really give this beer a fair review.  So after I flew home I made sure to pick up a bottle of this stuff to give it the review it deserved.

Beer Geek pours black.  Pitch black.  A huge tan crater filled head is poured.  Great retention and lacing.  Now for some reason I thought I was going to be blasted with coffee in the nose but I didn’t not that I was disappointed by that I didn’t but I would of figured since it was called Beer Geek Breakfast that more coffee would be in there.  Usually my kind of breakfast is a nice latte from Starbucks =)  Instead I think the star of the aroma is another breakfast treat. Oats.  Nice oatmeal like aroma.  Backed up by espresso, roasted malt, and a tiny bit of a grassy hop aroma.

Taste is basically the same but things seem a bit more balanced.  The coffee and roasted malt notes I got from the smell definitely match up nice with the oats.  It’s more 50/50.  The taste is slightly bitter from the coffee and slightly dry from the hops.  I could drink this stuff everyday for breakfast =)  Mouthfeel is medium bodied, silky, and goes down smooth.

Mikkeller makes another version of this stout that I will hopefully get to try soon.  It also has a rather cool but maybe disturbing story behind it.  I’ll get to that once I get to try it =)

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.mikkeller.dk/
What the company says: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, many say, and if you are a beer geek there is no better way to start the day than with a powerful, complex morning stout. The unique mix of oats and coffee gives this beer large body and power, while the coffee, at the same time, creates a nice balance.
ABV%: 7.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Mikkeller Black, Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper
Other beers to try within the same style: Boulevard Brewing Imperial Stout, Port Brewing Older Viscosity
Rating: A-

Deschutes Black Butte XXI – I’ve been looking to try this beer for a long long time.  So when I got the chance to trade for one I was all over it.  Black Butte XXI is a stronger version of their regular porter which goes by the name Black Butte.  Who would of thought?  For the bigger version they age a portion of in whiskey barrels.  XXI is definitely the biggest porter I’ve had.  Maybe not in taste but in just how much the beer packs a punch.  You notice it from start to finish.

This brew pours almost black like a lot of stouts out there but if you hold it to the light a tiny bit will shine through.  Small tan head is poured.  Spotty lacing throughout the glass.  The aroma is huge.  Especially for an American Porter.  Nice big mixture of sweet chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, and bourbon.  The bourbon smell really makes this porter different then a lot of porters out there.  It’s just really well done.

This a great mixture of a huge bad ass beer and a dessert beer.  Up front is the rich sweet taste of chocolate.  Next of course is the bourbon.  I believe I read somewhere that only 20% of this beer is actually aged in the barrels but it gives off more then that to me.  Up next is the roasted malt coffee.  The coffee is lacking a little bit from the flavor.  I definitely noticed it more in the smell.  Top that off with a bit of caramel and vanilla.  Also I did notice a bit of an alcohol burn but nothing that gets in the way.   Put that all together and you have a hell of a taste.  While the taste and smell are fantastic, the mouthfeel is no slouch either.  It’s creamy.  Maybe just to creamy.  It just makes you want to down this awesome beer.  If you do that you might just notice that 11% abv.

This beer is part of their reserve series.  What a series that is.  It holds one my favorite stouts of all time, The Abyss.  It also holds a really good barleywine named Mirror Mirror.  I have one getting some age on it and a really good sour brown ale named The Dissident.  Can’t go wrong with any of those beers.

 Found: Beer Trade
Price: Around 11 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.deschutesbrewery.com
What the company says: This masterpiece is a tribute to Black Butte Porter, the revolutionary Deschutes Brewery beer that has excited beer enthusiasts since 1988. This special Reserve Series release is a colossal version of Black Butte Porter. Our brewers enhanced Black Butte XXI by adding some Theo’s Chocolate cocoa nibs from Seattle, dry-hopping it with 100 pounds of Bellatazza’s locally roasted coffee, and then aging a portion of it in Stranahan’s Colorado whiskey barrels. These regional partners provided quality artisan ingredients that give this commemorative beer a truly handcrafted complexity.
ABV%: 11.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Deschutes The Abyss, Deschutes Mirror Mirror
Other beers to try within the same style: Founders Porter, Terrapin Dos Cocoas Chocolate Porter
Rating: A

J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Calvados Cask) – Here’s a brew I had a while back at a local bar.  I remember loving it and saying damn I’m drunk as shit and this is going to make me worst.  Yeah I can say stupid and obvious stuff sometimes.  I also remember my buddy buying a bottle and asking the waitress if he could get his money back or trade it in for another beer.  I laughed my ass off because well I was pretty damn drunk.   I loved the beer then and I loved it when I opened up a bottle of it last week.  I had this beer in the fridge for what seems forever.  I opened up the fridge and said it is time you fantastic English Barleywine!

This 2007 version poured a hazy caramel color.  If you put the glass up to a light you see a ton of debris.  Floaties everywhere.  Don’t let that scare you away though because this beer is amazing.  Aroma is very sweet.  Almost syrupy.  Apple, oak, toffee, caramel, and butterscotch.  It’s a strong aroma.  Taste is pretty much the same as the smell.  Just a little less.  Not as big as the smell but great nonetheless.  One of the more complex barleywines I’ve ever had.  Out of the taste I think the apple is the star though.  The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy.  Good stuff.  I have a few more brews from these guys just sitting in the fridge.  After having this again I’ll make sure to bust out a few more sooner than later.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.wordforwine.co.uk/jwlees
What the company says: Site is in flash.  I’m to lazy to write it all out.  Hey least I’m honest.
ABV%: 11.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: First beer from this brewery
Other beers to try within the same style: Dominion Millenium Ale, Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot
Rating: A-