64/100) Local Porters

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Black Eye, 1842 Brew Lab's Number 5, Crooked Rook

These are three porter's from three different states. Scratchtown is in the small town of Ord, Nebraska, 1842 Porter Brew Lab's Number 5 is from Weston, Missouri. The Crooked Rook is from Mankato Brewery in Wisconsin. Together these made for a fun tri-state mix.

Black Eye) First of all, the name is apt. This porter being an imperial or double porter has a strong flavor profile, not unlike a punch to the mouth. If you're not careful, you could also later find yourself reeling from an alcohol punch to the gut on this. The drink was not nearly as harsh as the repercussions of an amateur boxing match. However, the smoothness was overlaid by a vigorous rush of malts that strung together their punches and left my taste buds in need of some down time. This one's a sipper. ☆☆☆☆

1842 Brew Lab's Number 5) The aroma was sweetly roasted. The initial sweeter. The middle toasted. The finish subtle chocolate. The linger light. Don't expect an overwhelming porter like Black Eye as the general taste from this one was light. Initially too, there was an unwanted flavor in the backdrop that might have been from the chocolate, but it disappeared it warmed up. ☆☆☆☆

Crooked Rook) The effervescence is lovely and the roasted touch is a lot more pronounced than I've encountered before. Anything but creamy smooth, this beer is still very clean and lacking in harshness. I speculate that the crooked name points to a more abstract concept than the beer itself. A "Sleek" rook was more what I experienced. ☆☆☆☆

63/100) 3rd Street and Dam

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Lost Trout, King George's Imperial Brown, Sugar Shack

Unusual brown bottle surprise! My sister brought me back an unusual bottle from Dillon Dam Brewery in Colorado, and the others I picked up on a trip to grandma's. I know little about either of these breweries, except that I can't find them in my own state.

Lost Trout) Don't you just love the bottle art on this one? The liddle twout on the milk carton looks so adorable. The description on the back is just great as well. Check it out sometime. It's on Third Street Brewhouse's website. The beer itself is a simple, light pleasant brown. Nothing muddies up its waters all that much, and the little trout just remains hidden. No surprises here. ☆☆☆

King George's Imperial Brown)  Firstly, some things stood out to me about the bottle. The ABV had been written on it in black marker, and the picture of King George was just enough pixelated that I suspect a photo too small for this purpose was used. Not the best imperial brown I've ever had eitehr. The booziness overwhelmed most of the flavors leaving me searching for drowned flavors that never surfaced. ☆☆

Sugar Shack) is a maple stout. Need I say more? Apparently, Third Street has exclusive rights to a local Abbey's syrup storehouses. The maple hid a little, but this stout filled out with solid richness. The coffee notes were subdued, thankfully. I really liked this one. ☆☆☆☆

62/100) Roosters, Long of Tooth

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Velvet Rooster, Wooden Rooster, Long of Tooth

If you toss a velvet rooster in a barrel for a while out comes a wooden rooster. I'm sure that's one of those higher math functions that I just don't quite get. I propose that Tallgrass formulate a Metal Rooster. Perhaps if you subject the barrel to heavy metal while it's aging?

As for the Long of Tooth, I'm just baffled by where to place it. Sure, it's a Surly Brewing Co beer, but it's also a collaboration with De Proefbrouwerij (which I still can't pronounce). The beer might be classifiable as a English Old Ale, but with the Belgian style touches added, it pretty much falls into a category of its own.

Tallgrass Brewing Co - Velvet Rooster) had those lovely bubblegum-esque white wine-like properties typical to a Tripel. The mouthfeel wanes toward the end. The finish ends up light as a result.The linger remains close to a semi-dry wine. This rooster was velvety smooth and easy drinking for all that ABV. Perhaps you can use it as a gateway beer for your white wine connoisseur friend. ☆☆☆

Tallgrass Brewing Co - Wooden Rooster) The bourbon touch in the aroma thankfully doesn't come through as booziness on the finish. Instead this rooster had had a surprisingly dry finish. I understand the hype on this one. The previous one is good, but this is great. Smoother. More flavor. Higher ABV. What's there to complain about? There's even a new touch of a vanilla to the backdrop. ☆☆☆☆

Long of Tooth) I really liked this beer as I was drinking it. Afterwards, as the finish and linger hit, not so much. The aroma was lovely. The initial and middle were very smooth and full of old ale, alt-like, properties. Then the finish hit, and a weird flavor wave spread through my mouth. That flavor was similar to a pumpkin beer finish, but not exactly the same. As it warmed up that odd flavor started to die away just a bit, so the beer became more drinkable. My guess is that the cacao is the cause of that odd flavor, and that Long of Tooth is much better fresh and suffers from aging. My bottle was near a year-old, after all. ☆☆☆

61/100) Anchor Brewing

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Old Foghorn, Flying Cloud, Steam Beer, Porter

Anchors away! The sky is clear and blue during the day, but during the twilight, in the Californian fog the making of steamy suds adds a mystique and a heady aroma to the night air.
You don't have to be a sailor to enjoy these beers.
 
Old Foghorn) did not benefit from warming up. Honestly, I am taking that as a bad sign, because barleywines usually open up well with warmth. Let this one settle into your gut like a cold mist after getting the bottle good and frosty. Otherwise, you'll probably dislike it. ☆☆☆

Flying Cloud) is a true "stout" porter. The terms stout and porter are largely interchangeable because the porter came first and a stout porter came later as a way to identify a stronger porter. This flying cloud though, is a true "stout" porter to me because it is so similar in taste profile to the following Anchor Porter. However, the Flying Cloud does it better with a more hearty mouth feel and more creaminess. ☆☆☆☆

Steam Beer) Read up sometime on the unusual method of fermentation used with this beer. It's unusual. The short-attention span version, is that a lager yeast is fermented in open air vats in the night air at a higher temperature than a lager usually is. The result is a spicier beer that is quite like a richer lager that has not been pushed so far as to be a pale ale. ☆☆☆☆

Porter) The initial and mid had an unusual creamy touch to them. The finish wasn't really harsh, but the linger had a very strong presence. Some might say smokey, but I think of it as a roasted chestnut flavor or like the aroma that comes off roasted hazelnut shells. Good, but I prefer the stout. ☆☆☆

60/100) Renegade Brewing Co

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Consilium, Hiatus, Redacted

Renegade. The name implies a going against the grain. Perhaps that is why they delight in the use of a variety of hops and even have a triple IPA. Since I've already established that IPAs are not really my thing, it's best if you don't hear my thoughts on that one. My thoughts on that one can remain Redacted while I take my own Consilium and enjoy a brief Hiatus.

Consilium) was an unusual pale ale. A bit of citrus hid behind a lot of grainy, biscuity touches. The more I had the more prominent it became, until the bitterness built up on the linger enough to null my tastebuds. Conscilium is Latin for advice or suggestion. I'm not sure if this would be my most suggested beer. I'm conflicted as to whether I want another. ☆☆☆

Hiatus) was a combination coffee and oatmeal stout, making it either breakfast-in-a-can or a solid afternoon pick-me-up. I'd lean more towards the later, because the harshness and raw coffee could kick one back into gear with ease. While the flavors are mostly rolling waves of coffee, the oatmeal smooths out the middle with a silky mouth feel. If you like coffee beers, put this one your list to try. If you're not, treat yourself to a nice Hiatus, anyway. ☆☆☆

Redacted) I'm not sure you could make a better Rye India Pale ale than this one. It was clean. It was citrusy, and it had the right peppery backdrop from the rye. Even the mouth feel was appropriately light and refreshing. Still, if you are not a hop head, steering clear of this one would be understandable. ☆☆☆☆

59/100) Samuel Smith Fruit Beers

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Apricot, Strawberry, Raspberry

Here's a bit of foresahadowing for you. If you plan placing aged responsibility on these bottles by cellaring them, you may regret it. These organic fruit ales all sour with time. If that's not your thing, drink them as fresh as you can. The fruit flavors will have the appropriate levels of sweetness and refrain from causing you to pucker up.

Apricot) This fruit beer was not quite soured but was not as fresh as the first time I had it. The apricot taste might be competition for Pyramid's Apricot Ale. Short of comparing their apricotty freshness alongside each other, I'm not sure I can say which is better. However, both are good, certainly. ☆☆☆☆

Strawberry) The strawberry flavors run the border for artificial and fresh. I know. I know. It is Samuel Smith's, and therefore they used real strawberry juice. The end result was just that borderline. I still enjoyed it and think on days when I feel I can't splurge for a Fruli, this might make for a lighter alternative. ☆☆☆

Raspberry) Zing! This ale with raspberry fruit juice will do just that to you. Having had this before, I can tell you though that is somewhat of a bad sign. My bottle clearly has been sitting a bit too long and either got too warm or too much light exposure. However, as one who likes sour beers, the result was nice. For those of you that want a sweeter stronger raspberry flavor profile, drink this one soon after purchasing. For those of you who love tart summer-ready pucker up flavor profiles, let it sit in the bottle for about six months. You won't regret it. ☆☆☆

58/100) Deschutes Stoic Mirror

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

the Stoic, NOT the Stoic, Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror, on the wall, who's the most stoic of them all? NOT the Stoic, of course.

Near as I can tell, Deschutes alternates making the Stoic and NOT the Stoic from year to year. Ingredient-wise, both are identical in process and amount of time spent being aged in different types of barrels. However, NOT the Stoic has molasses. I would love Deschutes to begin releasing both each year so that verticals could be planned out to really put the two different Stoics next to each other. Both benefit from aging, after all.

Stoic 2015) This Belgian-style quad was surprisingly light and tart. The finish was smooth and clean as well. A bit light for a quad in my opinion, and apparently, the opinion of many others. The story behind the coming of NOT the Stoic was that many complained about the Stoic so Deschutes whipped out the "NOT" version to show everyone what's for. Or at least, that's what I heard. ☆☆☆

NOT the Stoic 2014) The contrast in color between the two is amazing. The Stoic was a light, honeyed gold. This one was a dark amber. The whole thing was darker, even the flavors. Rich, sweet, and full of that molasses sweetness, this quad was significantly more of what I want in a drink than the Stoic. ☆☆☆☆

Mirror Mirror) on the wall, are barleywines allowed to be this good at all? I detect no booziness from this one at all, and the flavors are nice and full of caramel. This one is darn close to being the fairest in the land. The reason behind the name Mirror Mirror is that it is made from a double batch of Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale that has been aged in Oregon Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, and Malbec barrels, Don't sick your huntsman on anyone to get this beer, but please don't miss out either! The smoothness is unprecedented and the burnished touch from the wine barrels couldn't have been better planned. ☆☆☆☆☆