What beer are you drinking now? #971

Christmas in June.

 

Stone Enjoy By 7-4-15. Seemed a bit different from the last batch, but great none the less

 

Oh no. Another different batch ?!

 

Fruit for breakfast today

Went to the park to watch the sunset last night. Here are a few shots I took.

 

I may speak for all when I say "you bastard!"jk

 

Just remember, as great as it is down here, there is no Bodhi.

 

Acquired in Nassau last week.

 

I second.

 

You just saved me $15

 

Top 'o the mornin' BA's! Coming up on 11:30 here in sunny, balmy NOVA & I'm enjoying day two of back-to-back days off. Schlafly Kolsch all day yesterday, so it's time to treat myself to something with a bit more bite. This brew is quickly becoming an all-timer for me...& it makes for one hell of a breakfast libation!

Yum!
I'm in a bit of a mood today, music-wise...


& what the hell...

Life is good today.
As always, drink up & drink on, my fellow advocates!
I'll be back with some more goodies later :-)

 

Spent yesterday afternoon visiting Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park. Stunning.

Landed late last night (time zone change) at RV park in Gallup, NM, so late start this morning:



Squatters Craft Beers, Salt Lake City, UT - "Full Suspension Pale Ale". Picked this one up two weeks ago in Utah. Lite cracker with just a hint of lemon grass. A little hop stickiness on finish. A very good beer to start the day before driving to Albuquerque. Can't wait to see what may come my way today. Cheers!

 

My third anniversary of not being perma-banned on BeerAdvocate is being recognized with this: Deschutes XXVI Anniversary Porter. Incidentally, it's also review number 742 for me, which also happens to be the address of The Simpsons. Alright, anyway, I'm hoping this beer doesn't suck. Not just because it's a milestone beer (sort of...?), but because a bomber was sixteen freakin' bucks. Bottle says drink after 6/13 and it's 6/18 -- hey, I followed the rules! Let's get crackin'...

Appearance: Let me just say that, with this being my first wax capped bottle, I also sort of hope it's my last... while it's oddly satistfying in a way to chip away at the wax, it's a freakin' process. Anyway, after getting the wax scraped off and the cap pryed off, pouring it aggressively, I got a huge two finger head initially that went down pretty quickly to a quarter finger. The head is a creamy beige color, and there's a surprising bit of lacing there. The beer looks to be a somewhat transparent ruby black when held to light. Really a sexy looking beer. Dat creamy head tho... (4.75/5)

Smell: Smells almost like an English barleywine to me. I get what really smells predominantly like caramel malts, strangely, with some oak barrel. There's a "tangy" sort of vibe on the aroma as well that probably comes from the pomegranate molasses. Despite being 50% barrel aged, this may as well be 100% barrel aged -- I definitely smell oaky, boozy barrely goodness. Really, this smells like it has much higher alcohol content than its 10.5ish%. Not only does it smell boozy, but it's as if I can feel a warmth tickling my nose hairs (appealing, right?). A pretty phenomenal nose on XXVI. (4.5/5)

Taste/feel: I know I'm in the minority but I find that this tastes distinctively barrel aged, although somewhat wine barrel aged because of that tangy pomegranate flavor -- really, really interesting. Oakiness, a little booziness and warmth, pomegranate... probably the most interesting imperial stout (er, porter) I've had. It's like eating some kind of boozy chocolate covered cherry and it's great. The chocolate flavor comes through mostly at the finish when the beer warms up. I thought this may be an overly sweet beer, but it's actually very, very well balanced -- yes, it's sweet, but the tartness and roast bitterness evens things out quite well. The feel on this is what I'd expect from an imperial porter, as it's not super thick, which is a good thing anyway, because a heftier body may bring this beer into cloying territory. The carbonation is mild, prickly, and therefore, excellent. (4.5/5, 4.5/5)

World Class beer. I honestly didn't think it would taste *this* good, and was worried because people said the barrel character was virtually non-existent. True, as you drink it becomes less noticeable, but it's definitely there. This is one hell of a unique beer, and I'm sad to know I'll never have it again (and that I didn't buy two bottles). I'm also sad that I never got to experience the previous beers in the series. I can see why so many people dislike this beer, but am also confused by it -- it's very distinct, and doesn't have the "textbook" barrel aged stout/porter flavors. I love it for that. Anyway, I'm ecstatic to have been able to try this beer, and find it to be one of the very best beers I've ever had the pleasure to drink.

Salud!

(4.5/5)

4.52/5 (+9.2% rDev)

 

Lunchtime with my last Sucks. Good thing I picked up a sixer of Enjoy By!

 

Felt like it was a good time for a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot.

 

Digging into some recent Three Floyd's goodies on the patio while watching the festivities for the Chicago Blackhawks.

 

Horrible night's sleep. Got up late and decided to take a run, which I immediately regretted when I realized how humid it is today. When will this icky, sticky, overcast weather leave us?! Apres run shower beer to the rescue courtesy of @goingbrokeonbeer. Cheers all!