Three beers
Feb. 23rd, 2007 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sauergeekDogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale A classic Pale Ale, medium amber in the glass, moderate head, and a good balance of hops and malt -- both are clearly evident, yet neither overpowers the other. It works well with food or by itself. Shelter would do well as a session beer. 4/5
Winter's Bourbon Ale (Anheuser-Busch) Visually a medium amber (but darker than the Shelter Pale Ale) with little head; by malt and hop content probably somewhere between a Pale Ale and a Brown Ale. This beer claims to have been aged on vanilla beans in bourbon wood. I could not pick out the bourbon flavor; the overwhelming flavors are sweet and vanilla. The aftertaste of this beer is like sucking on vanilla hard candy or eating vanilla-flavored caramel. There is a taste of the malt and hops underneath, but only while drinking the beer; they vanish into the aftertaste after swallowing. The overpowering sweet vanilla flavor is too strong to have this beer with any sort of food other than a dessert, and the dessert would need to tolerate vanilla well. I doubt I could drink more than one of these in a sitting -- but it would be a lot more tolerable if that sitting was indoors, near a fire, while watching it snow outside. 2/5
Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale This beer is essentially a Brown Ale -- it is about the same color as the Winter's Bourbon Ale, with a similarly minimal head. The malt is distinctly stronger than the hops -- the hops are barely noticeable. While Cruiser is a winter ale, it appears to have no extra flavorings (whether fruit or spice) in it. It is malty and sweet, with a roasted syrupy note in the nose. Cruiser will do well with relatively strong food or desserts; its sweetness will overpower subtle foods. This is not a session beer, but it can be an interesting variation on the chosen session beer. Cruiser is clearly intended for winter. 3/5
Winter's Bourbon Ale (Anheuser-Busch) Visually a medium amber (but darker than the Shelter Pale Ale) with little head; by malt and hop content probably somewhere between a Pale Ale and a Brown Ale. This beer claims to have been aged on vanilla beans in bourbon wood. I could not pick out the bourbon flavor; the overwhelming flavors are sweet and vanilla. The aftertaste of this beer is like sucking on vanilla hard candy or eating vanilla-flavored caramel. There is a taste of the malt and hops underneath, but only while drinking the beer; they vanish into the aftertaste after swallowing. The overpowering sweet vanilla flavor is too strong to have this beer with any sort of food other than a dessert, and the dessert would need to tolerate vanilla well. I doubt I could drink more than one of these in a sitting -- but it would be a lot more tolerable if that sitting was indoors, near a fire, while watching it snow outside. 2/5
Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale This beer is essentially a Brown Ale -- it is about the same color as the Winter's Bourbon Ale, with a similarly minimal head. The malt is distinctly stronger than the hops -- the hops are barely noticeable. While Cruiser is a winter ale, it appears to have no extra flavorings (whether fruit or spice) in it. It is malty and sweet, with a roasted syrupy note in the nose. Cruiser will do well with relatively strong food or desserts; its sweetness will overpower subtle foods. This is not a session beer, but it can be an interesting variation on the chosen session beer. Cruiser is clearly intended for winter. 3/5
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Date: 2007-02-24 01:50 am (UTC)My coworkers and I just had a "beer swap", with 20 people participating. Each person brings in 20 bottles of some microbrew (most people just brought in a whole case). I brought in Brooklyn Brewery's Dark Chocolate Stout. Everyone takes out their beer and the bottles are arranged on a large table. Then you go around the room and take one of every kind of beer. (People who brought in more than 20 then did sort of free trading with each other.) The end result: I have a case of beer with 20 different varieties in it.
So far, I've had one of the Brooklyn Chocolates, a Smithwick's, and part (*takes another sip*) of a Woodstock Inn Pig's Ear Brown Ale. Hmmm. My elegant and informed review: I like 'um.
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Date: 2007-02-24 04:18 am (UTC)Killer Case Club
Date: 2007-02-24 12:46 pm (UTC)I'm currently going through some of the Bell's beers -- Two Hearted Ale, Expedition Stout and their Kalamazoo stout. http://www.bellsbeer.com/ Have been finding them at the local Freshfields, etc.
Also Almost picked up some Victory Storm King (http://www.victorybeer.com/storm_king.html) at my last visit to Total Bev in McLean. Is pretty thick though -- is an imperial stout, somewhat similar to the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. We tend to drink it 1/2 and 1/2 with Victory's Old Horizontal (a barleywine) as a night cap. Don't need more than one!
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Date: 2007-02-24 08:34 pm (UTC)Anyway.
I like the beer swap idea, and the K-9 sounds yummy. Mmmm, malt.