What beer are you drinking now? #723

Dude, what an amazing group of beers I am so desirous to try!!!! Guess it will take a plane ticket though.

 

Well, in that case...

Review:

Got a bottle of this for $8 or something at my bottle shop. I don't see the bottling date on this bottle, but it's not an IPA or something, so I'm not all that worried about it, and I know it was bottled recently. Poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint.

Appearance: Black with some ruby tints -- not pitch black like I imagined it would be. There's a nice two finger head with an aggressive pour that basically dies down and leaves a ring. Lacing is patchy but pretty good. Nice looking beer. (4/5)

Smell: Just makes me feel like it should have been released more in the Winter time, but would smell awesome any time. Loads of chocolate and cinnamon. Nutmeg. Some coffee that turns into a LOT of coffee as it warms. A caramel sort of smell is also there. I wouldn't normally think to say vanilla, but as soon as I read it on the label I got a burst of vanilla bean up my nose holes... go figure. Phenomenal aroma on this beer. (4.75/5)

Taste/feel: Just like the smell, really. Chocolate and cinnamon/nutmeg flavors dominate, with some coffee characteristics near the end (again, as it warms, the coffee becomes more pronounced). There's also an incredibly subtle peppery heat in this as well -- someone who can't tolerate spicy foods should be able to drink this without any issues at all. The feel is a *little* thin on the front for my liking, but it's still good. It's weird in that it goes in a little thin, a little prickly carbonation suddenly wakes up the taste buds, and then it sort of thickens up. (4.25/5, 3.75/5)

Very good beer. Stone may not have been the first to brew this kind of stout, but it's the best version I've had so far. Throw this in a barrel, and it would be absolutely insane, adding more vanilla notes and whatnot...

Xocoveza is a delicious beer that's actually quite reasonably priced in a craft beer world full of excessively priced bombers. This reminds me after the debacle that was their Coffee Vanilla Stout (or whatever it's called) that Stone bottles some of the best beer out there.

4.29/5

I might adjust some scores as I'm sipping, but I'm always leery of doing that because I tend to wonder if it's just the alcohol talking... though it could be the beer "opening up." Either way, I really like this beer.

 

There's been some great beer here, but so little time in the big city... so much beer I can't drink em all.

 

Nailed it man, nicely described.

We all loved it, including me, even though I thought it would have been a little better with the cinnamon dialed back a bit. The other two at table said the same. It is insanely drinkable, and the thin body others ding it for, to me actually takes it to another level of refreshing character.

 

I'm fine with breweries copying each others beers if they turn out delicious. And 'Sho-Co-Vay-Za' turned out delicious.

 

I can see that. I don't mind too much, but that's just because I really like cinnamon.

As for the body, I can agree with that too. I'm making my way through this bomber faster than I probably should be. I thought it'd be more of a sipper, but it's not at all.

 

One last quality control check before this one goes in the mail. Opened bottle, no damage to cap and snapped it back on with my finger. I call this one Puff, first one of this style.

 

Full noon...

*Wolf-Time*

 

man I am going to miss this....


Brauerei Johannes Grasser - Grasser Huppendorfer Zwickel by imbibehour, on Flickr

 

happy fuck columbus day!

 

Happy I just picked up some bottles of this years Saint Arnold Pumkinator. I'll drink one this weekend #BestPumpkinBeer!

See if the O's can get one win tonight. Still have a bit of a soft spot for them since I grew up going to games in Baltimore.

 

One last perhaps...


Kloster-Sud Spezial Bier - Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe by imbibehour, on Flickr

 

i expect this will do it for the day, these are always refreshing, palate pleasers (least after chugging stouts). doing things from home anyway, kind of don't have a sense of how many get the day off today, but hope those that do are enjoying it!




finally emptied my camera cards from the last few days -- other Fleetweek fodder with these guys wildin' out during practice runs over the S.F. Waterfront:

 

I'd pretty drunk by the end of that

 

Man, this beer is really tasty, if this is what Ballantine IPA was like back in the day what an idiot I was drinking Schaefer and Budweiser and Lowenbrau (actually that Lowenbrau back then was incredible too).




This set was the highlight of Lock'N for me

 

I've got a few new IPA's to try today.
From Oregon's Double Mountain Brewery, it's Killer Green.

 

Day off. Tuna for lunch, washed down with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in proper glassware, from the Fall Box.

 

I was really craving a "triple hop" beer. It was either Miller Lite or this:







I think I made the right choice.


Cheers!

 

Bacchus (Style - Flanders Oud Bruin / Bottled on 6-19-2012) pretty good sour but I've had some better ones.