CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

Didn't know Yuengling made an Oktoberfest beer.

Learn something new every day.

[KiaKat]

Have discovered a surprise in the wine world (which is surprising, I thought there were none left, at least for me) - Chilean Viognier, grown only five miles from the coast. The vineyards are tucked into a valley in such a way that the maritime breezes keep them cooler than the surrounding country, which helps keep the acids developed, and keeps it from getting too fat and fruity. Given that Viognier has a tendency to overdevelop fruit, and Chilean wines tend to lack acid, this was a lovely surprise.

Delicious! Floral, with stone fruits (peach, apricot), and a slightly round texture. One recommendation was to do panko-breaded baked goat cheese on arugula. I think that would be a perfect pairing.

(ETA: A couple reviews I found mention tropical fruits rather than stone fruits. That's entirely possible, I was drinking it far too cold and at the end of a 95-hour, 11-day stretch of work that involved a lot of tasting. It's possible my tongue wasn't up to snuff.)

[Victory Sabre]

Ok, I watched part of the Vikings/Giants game after work.

Because of that fact, I'm home now (after watching it at the local VFW and their $3 tall Schell Octoberfest beers) and going to try a Yuengling Octoberfest beer.

It's got a really nice orange color. Now to the taste. Hmmmm. It's got a taste that I'd describe as sharp. It does have a fall feel to it, and I do like it.

Now, I just need a new football team to like.

[deadbody]

Have 4 bottles of Surly Darkness waiting for me when I get home, actually only 2 are for me, and I don't know when I will be drinking them, but I just wanted to humblebrag that I have some.

If you love beer, and Russian Imperial stouts, you need to try it once, stuff is amazeballs.

[Jester]

Baltika 8 Wheat Ale (Russia, 5.0%): golden amber color, definite haziness. Subtle nose, but seems to be a bit wheaty with some hint of bananas or other light fruits. Very tasty wheat beer. Not on the level of German hefes, but as good or better than most American hefes. Can't quite call it a hefe, though it is definitely a wheat beer. Overall, I like it, but don't think it is Baltika's best effort. Drinkable, tasty, not great. 6.0/10.

Have 4 bottles of Surly Darkness waiting for me when I get home, actually only 2 are for me, and I don't know when I will be drinking them, but I just wanted to humblebrag that I have some.

If you love beer, and Russian Imperial stouts, you need to try it once, stuff is amazeballs.

I LOVE Russian Imperial Stouts, and I find it amusing that I found this post as I was sitting down to a beer from Russia, though of course not an R.I.S. Please, tell me more on out this Surly Darkness. Who makes it? Where's it from? How likely am I to find it in Florida?

[deadbody]

I LOVE Russian Imperial Stouts, and I find it amusing that I found this post as I was sitting down to a beer from Russia, though of course not an R.I.S. Please, tell me more on out this Surly Darkness. Who makes it? Where's it from? How likely am I to find it in Florida?

Surly is the name of the brewery. The only distribute to MN right now.

But I'll reiterate my offer, you come to MN and I will have a very nice tasting of some very very good Russian imperial stouts.

Have you tried Hunaphu from Cigar City? Just had a bottle a few weeks ago, and it was amazing.

[Jester]

Appreciate the offer, but unlikely to be making it to Minnesota anytime soon. And no, I have not had the chance to try Hunaphu yet, though I've heard great things about it, and am a huge fan of Cigar City.

[Victory Sabre]

Ok, wow is all I can say about this beer. It'll be hard to find for most CSers, I'm afraid, but if you can find it, you MUST have it.

On Sunday I had some business in Iowa. Of course, since the liquor stores can be open on Sunday (unlike Minnesota), I had to buy beer (I also did the same earlier in the day in South Dakota, and got some micro brews from the Empyrean Brewing Company in Nebraska there). I stopped in a small town and picked up some micro brew from the Back Pocket Brewing Company. http://www.backpocketbrewing.com/

I haven't had much time at home lately, so haven't had time to dip into any. I also gave some to a friend and her boyfriend. I got a text from her tonight that he really loved the Slingshot Beer. http://www.backpocketbrewing.com/bre.../slingshot.php So, of course I had to try some when I got home. HOLY CRAP! It's amazing! It's a Dunkel style beer that's brewed in the accordance with the German Purity Laws (only made with water, barley, hops and yeast).

It's got an amber color, but it's the flavor that gets you. I pretty much inhaled the first one because it was so good. I poured my second, and final one (I gave the others away {DAMNIT!}), and it's going fast. I don't know when I'll make it to Iowa next, but when I do, I'll fill my trunk with this stuff.

[Jester]

Was out at the best Italian place in Key West twice in the last couple weeks. Both times, had a couple glasses of Tommasi Rafael Valpolicella, from Veneto, Italy. Didn't take my usual copious notes, as I was out for a nice dinner with friends, and that's a bit rude, even for me. And with wine, I am usually not as descriptive as I am with beer. But I did make this note: "Wow." Awesome wine, went great with my food, and it is a great red wine for a non-red sauce dinner. First time, I had an amazing Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Soup, followed by a Gorgonzola Gnocchi Pasta. The Valpolicella was PERFECT with them. Went well with the red sauce dishes I had the second time, too. Tasty, tasty wine. I had never had a Valpolicella before, and it was lovely, though my server cautioned me that Valpolicellas vary greatly.


So, what am I drinking now?

From the Porterhouse Brewing Company in Ireland I have their Oyster Stout (5.2% ABV). Yes, kids, this is a stout beer breed with oysters. I've reviewed at least one of these, perhaps more, in the past. If that fact weirds you out, well, more oyster stouts for me!

A special mention to the lid of the bottle, as this is one I have not seen before. It is not a screw top. Nor is it a pop top. It is, well, a pull tab, much as you might have found in soda or beer cans decades ago. You pull the tab up, it breaks the seal, and the whole bottle cap comes with it. I'm not sure if it serves a purpose or the brewery is being clever just to be clever, but it is interesting.

The color is Darth Vader black, with very little head. The nose is subtle, yet rich. Hints of cocoa nibs, coffee, and bittersweet chocolate vie for the nose's attention. On the tongue, it is refined and balanced, with a bit more of a chocolate flair to it than the nose leads you to believe. Smooth, dark, sweet, and bitter, this is a lovely beer. I've definitely had a better oyster stout, but I've most certainly had a worse one. Out of 10, I give it a 7.5.

Foods. This would go well with any rich entrees, or anything with bold or strong earthy flavors, though I don't see it being matched too well with spicy foods. Think roasts, steaks, meat dishes, heavy pastas, dark meat on birds, mushroom dishes, etc. It also would pair well with many desserts, especially brownies or chocolate tarts. If would definitely be a nice stout to cook with.

[Victory Sabre]

Yesterday I was in the land of cheese and green, and picked up several microbrews.

The first one I'm going to try is Central Waters Brewing Company Mudpuppy Porter from Amherst Wisconsin.

Not too much head while pouring, but some. The head was also very thick. As it's name, it's very dark, and light has very tough time going through it.

As for the taste. Pretty smooth going down. Has a chocolate flavor mixed in with a slight smoky flavor going down. Very good indeed.

Don't worry, I got 6 more kinds of beers from Wisconsin, and will review them over the next week or so.

[Victory Sabre]

Second beer is Doe In Heat from the O'So Brewing company in Plover, Wisconsin.

Not much head while pouring it, and this beer is light as the previous one was light, and has a yellowish color to it.

Citrus taste to it, and it is very tasty. Probably a better summer beer than a winter beer, but still good.

[sms001]

The first one I'm going to try is Central Waters Brewing Company Mudpuppy Porter from Amherst Wisconsin.

Definitely a good one.

Their Brewhouse Coffee Stout (an Imperial Stout) is one of the best I've had.

Where they really shine is in their one-offs. Black Gold is the best bourbon barrel I've ever had (and I only got the one bottle; my very nice liquor store owner gave me one of his six pack.) and said store owner says it was a marked improvement over their last one, Sixteen.

So keep your eye out for their limited release stuff!

[Jester]

Got a lot done today. Laundry. Trash put out. Cranberry sauce made for my coworkers. Homemade tropical cranberry sauce, thank you very much. Dishwasher running. Bank run done. Even tried out a new restaurant in town. Time for a new beer!

Founders Porter (Michigan, 6.5% ABV): I've said it before and I'll say it again...when I pour a new beer and it pours like motor oil, it's almost a slam dunk that I'm gonna love it. This poured like motor oil. So let's test my theory!

The Porter is a nice thick black color, with a quickly dissipating tan head. And when I say quickly, it was pretty much gone before I finished typing the last sentence. The nose is heavily malty, rich, heavily chocolatey. Good signs for a malthead like myself. The taste....does NOT disappoint. Thick, rich, chocolatey, mocha-y, coffee-y, wonderful-y. (Yes, I make up my own words. Sue me. You won't get much.) Founders has rarely let me down, and their Porter continues that tradition. The label boasts "dark, rich, & sexy." I two of the three. The Porter is all three. A true classic. My score? 8.5 out of 10.

Basically, if you like dark or malty beer and you see this beer in the store, BUY IT!


Speaking of that new restaurant, it was pretty cool, with an interesting menu that had some novel choices in it, which looked good. The meal I had was good, and I expect to be back, as there are not that many quality eateries on my side of the island. They had a nice wine list, considering it's a little place that seems to do more breakfast than dinner, and while their beer list was not extensive, they had some good craft beers on it, including not one but TWO beers from Baltika, a Russian brewery, and the beer I tried, a beer I had never heard of from Lithuania, making it my first ever Lithuanian beer...I think. (I've had a lot of beer from a lot of places. I may well have had one from Lithuania.) Anyway, below are my notes from my phone about said beer.

Svyturys Baltijos Dark Red (Lithuania, 5.8%): hazy pinkish red color. Subtle rich, fresh nose, slightly sweet. Delicious! A bit sweet, a bit malty, can definitely taste the caramel malts. A great red! 7.5.

Interesting side note: my iPad not only made no effort to correct the name of this beer, it did not highlight either word in it as unrecognized. Methinks my tablet has a secret life....

[Victory Sabre]

Definitely a good one.

Their Brewhouse Coffee Stout (an Imperial Stout) is one of the best I've had.

Where they really shine is in their one-offs. Black Gold is the best bourbon barrel I've ever had (and I only got the one bottle; my very nice liquor store owner gave me one of his six pack.) and said store owner says it was a marked improvement over their last one, Sixteen.

So keep your eye out for their limited release stuff!

Next time I head to Wisconsin-land (which may be in a week and a half), I'll get it. Really impressed with their beer, and if I could get it here in Minnesota, I would.

[Jester]

Lucky Buddha Enlightened Beer! No, I'm not kidding. And I'm not holding out much hope for this being that good as it's from China. Nothing against China, mind you, as they make many quality things. Beer is just not usually one of them. Sorta like France. Great food. Great wine. Questionable cars. Shitty beer. But back to China...have you ever had a Tsingtao? Yuck! And that's my point.

Anyway, if I'm not expecting much, why did I buy it? Simple. The bottle! Now, there are a lot of cool beer bottles out there, and a lot for awesome beer label art (especially from Holy Mackerel and Flying Dog--seriously, check out the artwork on their labels!). But nothing like THIS bottle:



Even if the beer sucks, I'm gonna keep the bottle and have it on display. And I never do that!

Anyway, pale lager, 4.8% ABV, yada yada. Looks like a pale lager. Pale yellow color, though a bit darker than many American versions. The nose is not great. From a distance all you notice is the skunkiness, but oddly enough, upon closer sniffing, it gets better, a bit of a rarity in my experience. There is some yeastiness and some wheatiness on the nose, and even a touch of honey. None of them cover up the skunkiness, but at least there's something positive there.

But how does it taste? It's skunky-smelling Chinese beer. How good can it taste?

Actually, surprisingly not too bad. There's a sweet smoothness to it that makes it actually rather tasty. Not the skunk shit bomb I was expecting at all. A nice light refreshing beer with some flavor to it. I can already tell that it would be terrible if it warmed up, but as a cold brew, it's pretty nice, better than the typical American swill, such as the usual suspects from BuMiCo. If you find it in the store and want the cool, kickass bottle, buy it. The contents aren't too shabby.

I reward the big fat green lucky Buddha with a surprised look and a decent score of 6 out of 10. May peace be with you, my beer.