What beer are you drinking now? #836

Third can from 1/10, still carb'd up and doing real nice... what a great DIPA!

 

I simply can't stop at one...

 

I am very impressed with this stout.

 

I've been wanting to try this, upon first sip I'm happy so far.

 

Decided to pull this 2010 from the cellar to enjoy tonight, was saving my last one for a special occasion ...



... and that it is. Our youngest son (Thing #2), scored the winning bucket tonight which was pretty awesome, the team has been struggling all season and it was great to see them rack one up in the "Win" column, a well deserved morale booster!

To Thing #2 and the rest of the team - Prost!

 

Going with Bells Kzoo Stout on a cold, snowy night

 

Right now I'm having some spicy cheesy pasta, and also...



...the second bottle of the Northern Lights IPA from my Starr Hill variety pack. This one confused me a little the first time I had it--I was expecting the "almost-overwhelming hop smell/flavor explosion, with super strong bitterness" sort of thing that I'd experienced the first time I tried an IPA (New Belgium's Ranger) and what I got was something a lot milder. I poked around a bit and found out that this is only in the 50-some IBU range, which going by the numbers I've seen listed for various beers is closer to the upper-end range of pale ales than it is to most American IPAs, which I guess explains the difference there (Ranger was something like 70 if I'm remembering right.)

It's definitely not bad, but at the same time it's definitely my least-favorite of the four beers in the variety pack. Comparing to the Grateful pale ale, it seems like the difference between them is more in color and bitterness (with the IPA being a bit darker and a lot more bitter) than in the hop flavors. It's not even super bitter or anything (this coming from someone who found the bitterness in Ranger almost too much toward the end of the glass--not an extreme hophead here), the hop flavors just don't seem strong enough to justify adding that much extra bitterness. I ended up liking the pale ale a lot more when I had my second glass of it, but this one isn't really growing on me.

I think I'm going to let it warm a little while I finish the rest of my food and see if things change any then.

 

Did all the hops fade?

 

So, uh... do ya love demons?

I sure fuckin' do!

Samael was the archangel of death, the wrath of God...

Lookit all that sediment - prolly the souls of the damned, eh?

I let 'em slide into my pour... see how the pour color changed?

He was the serpent that tempted Eve, impregnating her with Cain.

OMG! Can you believe it?

Better take it easy, 'cuz if nothing else, he's coming in at 15.47 abv...

Had the 2011 in 2012, and now this, the 2012, in 2015 - this was great - better than my impression from my previous sampling - but my tastes have changed and this is a different batch with more time on it... lotsa caramel fig and deep fruit - no sting of heat from the abv - smooth, rich, dreamy goodness...

Oops! Was that my soul? Oh, well... it was black anyway...

Gonna close out heavy (no surprise)...




Hey, don't worry, true believers - after all, there's no escape anyway...

 

I am taming a Mongoose (or two) and getting down @ Stubb's

 

Old Leghumper Robust Porter--so many legs, so little time. To be a dog.



Cheers.

 

And then there were three.

I know

 

I do love me some Kalamazoo, classic stout for me.

 

Congrats to Jr. JZ!!

 

i love this stuff. I'm gonna miss it when it's all gone for this year

 

Been drinkin'



while playin'

 

FUCK YES!!!

 

Oh yeah, that's a good one!