CS Booze Club.

[sms001]

And I'm not sure it has others of its ilk. Or even an ilk. .

Loves me some Ilkless beer. Put on the list, ty.

[Jester]

Full Sail Nut Brown Ale (Oregon, 6.0% ABV): I hesitate to call this a dark brown color, as it is basically full on black. Which is, to be honest, a bit odd for a nut brown, or any brown. My curiousity is raised. The nose is subtle but malty, with a hint of roasted nuts. Far more expected of the style than the appearance.

But however the look, however the smell, the most important thing in a beer is the taste. If it's the color of Halle Berry's skin but tastes like rust, it sucks. If it smells like honey poured over Keira Knightley, but tastes like antifreeze, it sucks. If it looks like sludge, smells like sweaty socks, but tastes like licking heaven*, then it's a damn good beer!

And taste wise, this is a classic nut brown ale. Malty, toasty, nutty, this is delicious. Well worth finding, and well worth buying. And it should go without saying that it's well worth drinking. So if you find it, buy it. Though it may not be easy. The label claims it's only available for 90 days. Happy hunting! Score: 7.5.

*"Tastes like licking heaven" is actually a phrase I use to describe a particular beer. While I'm not generally a huge fan of Belgian beers, I do like a few of them, and one in particular has consistently blown me away: St. Martin's Tripel. I have so often described it as "like licking heaven" that I've sent people to the only bar in town that I know has it to taste it, using that exact phrase. Those people came back from that bar agreeing with my assessment.....and they're beer people!

[Jester]

More from the same brewer....

Full Sail Limited Edition Lager (Oregon, 7.0% ABV): dark, dark chocolate brown, bordering on black, with a creamy tan head. Definitive malty nose with a slight hint of chocolate. Deep, rich, malty flavor, with a hint of chocolate and an aftertaste strong on cocoa. A fantastic beer for after a meal, whether the meal is a sandwich or a steak. The label reads, "There's no chocolate or coffee in this but your mouth will insist otherwise." And they are correct. My mind knows they're lying, no matter how much they may be right. Excellent beer. 7.5.

[Jester]

Smuttynose Imperial Stout (New. Hampshire, 9.4% ABV): The color is Raider black, with a dark tan head. Rich, roasted malt nose. Big, rich taste, with roasted malt and roasted nuts predominant. Not necessarily the first beer you'd choose to have with a seared catfish and garlic rice dinner, but then again, you'd probably be smart enough to cook the catfish through, unlike some beer drinkers I could mention. Still, a delicious beer goes with about anything, and I am thoroughly enjoying this one as I heat up a new skillet to cook this fish some more. And while the fish sizzles anew, I'll eat the rice and drink the beer. Beer score: 8.

Rice from a pouch: 6.
Catfish cooked way under by yours truly: 3.
My claims of being a great cook: right down the drain.

[Victory Sabre]

Realized I haven't reviewed this one yet, so here goes.

Gold Coin German Style Blonde Lager from Backpocket Brewing. 5.2% ABV.

Not too much head when pouring it. As the name states, it's golden in color.

Taste. Pretty good. It goes down pretty smoothly. Kinda a sweet aftertaste, but not too much. I don't like sweet things, but it's not too offensive to me, and is pretty good. I'd probably buy more next time I'm in Iowa.

[Victory Sabre]

Tonight is the Lazy Monk Maibock Lager. It comes in a 64 oz growler. And, no I'm not having a full bottle of beer tonight.

Some head, but not too much. Color - dark amber, almost brown.

Taste - hard to describe. I'd say light hops. Almost a sweet aftertaste, but not quite. It's ok. Not the best, but ok. Far better than the water that Bud calls beer. I'd get another growler.

[Jester]

Far better than the water that Bud calls beer.

What isn't?

[wolfie]

What isn't?

Bud Light, PBR, "malt liquor", etc.

[Jester]

Actually, I'd put Bud right in that category, and would rate PBR higher.

Amusingly, the people at both beeradvocate.com and ratebeer.com agree with me.

Though they use different scoring systems, and both rate both beers rather poorly, they both score PBR higher. At beeradvocate.com, whose scoring scale I'm not really familiar with, PBR received a score of 69 (poor) as compared to Budweiser's 56 (awful). At ratebeer.com, on their 100 scale, PBR scored a 3 compared to Budweiser, which got a big fat 0.

[mathnerd]

Just for you, Jester, when I went shopping tonight I picked up a couple beers from a brewery local to me.

Tonight I drank the Mission Brewery Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout. It's a dark brown, almost black with almost no head and hints of espresso in the nose. The taste definitely has more than a hint of espresso, but not terribly strong. It's smooth and not too sweet and was great with the giant cheeseburgers we had for dinner. It's not as good as Cigar City's Maduro, but still quite good.

[Jester]

IRS's (Imperial Russian Stouts) are not the same as browns (which is what the Cigar City Maduro is), and some will prefer one to the other. But there are great examples of both to be had, and I am a big fan of both styles.

[mathnerd]

I know they're not the same, but I was comparing it to my favorite of any sort (thus far).

[Jester]

From Rogue Ales in Oregon, something I've had stored away for a while now......

Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale (5.3% ABV...maybe*): solid black color, with very little head. Malty, almost nutty nose. Roasted malt taste with some nutty notes in it. Far lighter body than I expected, and while often that is a nice contrast, in this case it just seems kinda light. The aftertaste is odd as well, perhaps a hint of coffee bitterness, but that doesn't really come through as strongly while you're drinking it. Not bad, but not all that great, and kind of a letdown for as long as it's been sitting in my fridge, waiting for just that right time. This beer had potential, but it just seemed to wander off the path a bit. Perhaps the special grains they used to supplement their normal soba ale are the culprits. Dunno. In any case, I give this beer, this big, huge, beautiful ceramin bottle of hope-raising a disappointing 6.0. I'll drink it, I'll enjoy it to a degree, but I won't be seeking it out or getting it again.


*The ABV is not all that clear. Rogue doesn't list it on at all on the bottle or their website, which is a bit odd, since they listed just about everything else about it in both places, including specific gravity, which is something that beer nerds far nerdier than me pay attention to, but which tells ME nothing. In any case, upon searching for the ABV on various websites, I can across one that listed it as 4.8, another than listed it as 6.6, and two that claimed 5.3. So I'm gonna guess the truth is somewhere in there, and go with the ABV cited by two different sites.

[Jester]

On a brighter note, I recently had the pleasure of trying not one, but two fantastic beers. I don't usually post my notes from beers I try out and about on here, though of course I should, as y'all are only reading about the beers I try on the home front. But two I had recently were so special that they not only deserve special mention, but I scored them each a 9 on my ten scale. Those of you that have been paying attention know that I almost never score a beer a 9, and in fact, in my history of rating beers, I have only ever given out one 10 (Weihenstephaner Korbinian dopplebock) and one 9.5 (Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Weizen).

Recently, you may remember, I gave a 9 to Terrapin's White Chocolate Moo Hoo, saying it was the best dessert-type beer I'd ever had. Just a few days later, I had the pleasure of trying Nib Smuggler, a fantastic chocolate porter from Funky Buddha here in Florida. (Which means if you don't live here, you're kinda outta luck, as you won't be getting it any time soon.) It was so awesome that not only did I score it a 9, I drank nothing but the Nib Smuggler every time I was in the local World of Beer until the keg kicked, which sadly was only a few days. Here are my notes from the first day I had the Nib Smuggler:

"Dark chocolate brown color. Appropriate. Rich chocolate nose, with a hint of roasted nuts. (And then, I tasted it....) Chocolate heaven! Holy crap this is awesome! Super rich chocolatey taste, like a chocolate silk or chocolate cream pie. Strong note of dark chocolate as a counterpunch, with a hint of cocoa. This is knockdown awesome."

So, the only two dessert beers I ever gave 9's to, tasted within a short time of each other. Which one wins? That's a tough one. In describing the the taste of the White Chocolate Moo Hoo in my review here, I said:

Picture, if you will, a chocolate morsel dusted in cocoa powder and then covered in white chocolate. Now imagine what such a confectionary would taste like.

The Nib Smuggler is actually rather similar, in that it seems to me like a cocoa-dusted chocolate morsel, but covered in dark chocolate. So which is better? With all things being equal, I am always going to side with white chocolate over dark. (My mom's the exact opposite with chocolate, having a weakness for dark chocolate, though she doesn't drink beer.) So while I scored them the same, I have to give the nod to the White Chocolate Moo Hoo, by a fraction. Individual results may vary, according to your own personal palate and preference. Either way, though, if you get a chance to try either of these beers, don't even think twice...go for it!!!

Moving on from dessert beers......


Today I went to one of our local craft beer bars to support a friend who was having a book release party. And, of course, to have a couple good beers in the process.

SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: The book is "Surviving and Thriving: Key West During the Zombie Apocalypse" by my longtime friend and onetime coworker Esther, and is as ridiculous as the title and as awesome as Esther. Feel free to pick up a copy, but only if you have a sense of humor. (And no, I get absolutely no cut of the proceeds from the book sales.)

And I had a couple beers. The second one, appropriately enough for the event, was called Wake Up Dead. It's from Left Hand Brewing in Colorado, it's a Russian Imperial Stout, and it was served to me in a bottle (this was the nitro version; I'm not sure if there's a regular version). And if I needed help getting in the zombie spirit, Wake Up Dead weighs in at a hefty 10.2% ABV. My notes on it:

"Dark, dark brown, not quite black. Rich but subtle nose, malty and chocolatey. (And then, I tasted it....) Astoundingly smooth! It literally felt as if the heavens opened, the angels sang, and the beer gods smiled down upon me. Best Left Hand beer ever. Possibly the best Russian Imperial Stout ever. Easy, easy 9.0."

I will have to revisit this one, as I may have scored it a bit low. Yeah. It's THAT fucking good. If you like dark beers, find this stuff. Simply a revelation. This beer is the reason we try so many different beers. Because even with all the crap and mediocrity out there, when you come across beer this good, it's all worth it.

[Jester]

Rodenbach Ale (Belgium, 5.2% ABV): according to the label, this is a blend of beers, 75% of it being "young" ales, and the other 25% being ales aged 2 years in oak vats. Also according to the label, this is a Flemish red brown ale. The color fits that perfectly, as it is reddish brown, almost brick colored, and somewhat hazy. The nose is that of a rather sweet red ale. The taste is an interesting balance of sweet beer and sour beer, though I would never call this a "sweet and sour" beer in any sense similar to the Chinese food style of the same name. It is tasty, and sweet in the way that many Belgian beers are, but the sour aspect balances and tames that sweetness, making it more palatable. A good beer, though definitely a bit odd for the American palate. I would definitely consider having it again, and I'd recommend trying it, as long as you understand that it will be a bit on the heavy side. 6.5.