Beer!

[MinutemanCO]

Cool. Gonna have one or two as the weekend progresses, whatever I can find.

[MinutemanCO]

Picked up a 4-pack of Dogfish Head Festina Peche as recommended by the resident cicerone, Ryan. I was not disappointed.

[Ryan Ruck]

Glad to hear it!

[MinutemanCO]

Bet you didn't know you were a cicerone, huh?

[Ryan Ruck]

To be honest, the term was new to me and I had to look it up when I read your post.

I am humbled you would regard my knowledge so highly but I'll be the first to admit my knowledge pales to many out there. I just let my taste buds be my guide.

[MinutemanCO]

You got some really good taste buds. Not only that, an excellent mind to do the interpretation.

[Ryan Ruck]

[American Patriot]

/chuckles

[Ryan Ruck]

This evening I'm having two new brews that, unfortunately, likely aren't available outside of the OH/KY/IN Tri-State area as they are both by Quaff Brothers.

The first up is one that debuted at the 2014 Cincinnati Beer Fest.

It's called Broot. No link to RateBeer for this one because they've decided it doesn't meet their guidelines to be on the site. Reason being is that it is less than 50% fermentable grain.

Quaff Brothers says the following about it:

Quaff Bros. Broot was inspired by our President here at The Party Source who gave Danny a sample of a Bourbon barreled root-beer. After just one taste we knew we had to create our own version of this unique cocktail. Brewed with Sarsaparilla Root, this beer could be a tad dangerous as it smells and tastes just like root-beer, but with a kick!!

Regardless of RateBeer deciding to not include it on their site, I'm going to go ahead and give my opinion on it...

Poured a deep, opaque brown into a Shaker glass with a fairly thin tan head. Smells heavily of oak, vanilla, and sarsaparilla. The taste isn't very complex. It's a lot like the aroma. The sarsaparilla comes through on the front end and the oak is most noticeable on the backside of this. Despite not being overly complex, this is a fairly tasty combination! I've had "adult" root beer before and I really like the oak/vanilla the Bourbon barrel aging adds to this. Weighs in at 7.5%.

Great for just chilling on my porch and enjoying the warm breeze and low humidity like I am right now.

[Ryan Ruck]

Now the second Quaff Brothers brew, Kaboom!

Here's what Quaff Brothers says about Kaboom!:

KABOOM! is an Oatmeal Stout that has been soaked and saturated in Bourbon barrels with the addition of cinnamon to give an almost candied red hot flavor component that lingers on for days. These aren’t just any Bourbon barrels that KABOOM! was aged in, they once held a very special and un-mistakenly famous 23 year old Bourbon distilled by Buffalo Trace (use your imagination). KABOOM! is a near perfect mesh of savory nuances. You will find the robustness similar to a cup of fresh “joe”, along with smoky and gamey flavors all intertwined together with notes of caramel, molasses and vanilla that dial out to a long spicy and boozy finale.

Going off the clues, it would appear that this was aged in bourbon barrels which once held Pappy Van Winkle. This bodes well for this being a tasty drink!

Poured almost completely black into a snifter. No head to speak of. Bourbon and dark fruit make up the nose. Sweet smelling. Also sweet tasting with some dark fruit. The bourbon flavors are mellow and subdued. The cinnamon really comes through though and adds a "spiciness" to it. This is 10% and you can taste it but it isn't in your face. I suspect the bourbon barrel aging really mellows this out.

I've had pumpkin beers which typically have a notable cinnamon flavor but it is usually paired with nutmeg and, of course, pumpkin. This is the first brew I've had that features cinnamon alone so prominently. Makes for an interesting experience.

[Ryan Ruck]

Decided to try a new one tonight. Not just a new beer but a new brewery.

This one is Lagunitas' NightTime Ale, Black IPA.



Poured deep black with a very substantial and persistent head into a Tulip. Smells of chocolate, faint coffee, and grassy hops. Despite the notable hop aroma, the hops were mellow in the taste. This isn't nearly as bitter as you might expect it to be. It's fairly mellow. Also present are some roasted malts. This is 8.5% but it doesn't come across as that potent. Not bad at all!

[Ryan Ruck]

I picked up the beer I'm trying tonight on my way home from one of my local Kroger stores. I was going to wait to try it until this weekend but between the bottle art, that this is a New Belgium and 3 Floyds collaboration, and this is a style of beer I've never heard of or let alone tried, I just had to open it up.

And after trying it, I definitely don't regret it!

This is New Belgium/3 Floyd's Lips Of Faith - Grätzer Ale.



Here's their description on it:

It’s not dead, but Gratzer is definitely a long-buried style from Poland. And together with 3Floyds we have unearthed the best of beer zombies. Full of bold flavors from oak-smoked wheat, and along with Midnight Wheat, this beer presents a pure black pour. A subtle, spicy note from the Polish Lublin hops hides in the aroma, just below the dark and smoky surface. Despite all appearances, the Gratzer is very drinkable at 4.5% ABV, and walks itself with a nice, light body. Cheers to drinking smoky, undead beers. Prost!

Hops
Target, Polish Lublin

Malts
Pale, Midnight Wheat, Oak-Smoked Wheat

Special Processing
Add a small amount of Lacto (souring bacteria) to a portion of the overall wort, which produces lactic acid that gives a characteristic aroma and sourness. That acidic portion is then added to other portion of the wort that was fermented with the German Ale yeast.

Poured a deep black into an English Pint with a huge, light brown head that reminded me almost of a root beer float. A very inviting aroma of peaty smoke hits you hard when you breath it in. Very, very smoky taste. Almost ash like. There's also small coffee and chocolate notes. Those are heavily outweighed by the smoke though. The Lacto does exactly what they say it does. This has a slight sour/funky taste on the backside. Quite the contrast with the smoke! This is only 4.5% which is definitely not what you'd expect from such a peaty, dark beer.

I'm really liking this. The peaty aroma and taste remind me a lot of Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude but the sour notes and weak ABV set it apart. It was also only $8 for a bomber so it is much more reasonably priced than Rex Attitude. My only complaint would be to kick up the ABV to at least a 7% like Rex Attitude.

Since this is being distributed along with New Belgium's other offerings, most should be able to find this to try it.

[Ryan Ruck]

It's Friday night so the beer is flowing!

This is one I just picked up today from Jungle Jim's on my lunch break. It's another brew from Clown Shoes called Crunkle Sam.



Decided to get this in honor of the recent July 4th holiday.

Here's the description of it from Clown Shoes:

We brewed Crunkle Sam, an American Barleywine Ale dry hopped with Citra hops, to celebrate America. America, we love you: thank you for allowing Clown Shoes to set off a few fireworks in the craft beer world.

Poured a clear, red-brown into a snifter with a thick off-white head. The Citra hops really come out in the aroma along with a bit of malt, toffee, and alcohol. Taste is sticky, sweet maltiness and slightly bitter grapefruit. Nowhere near as bitter as the nose on this might have you think. This is rated at 11% but is very mellow. A very well put together American Barleywine.

[MinutemanCO]

Barley wine. Knock you a little sideways?

[Ryan Ruck]

LOL! Yep, was feeling nice and relaxed last night.



I really got a kick out of the name and the label. Clown Shoes seems to be pretty clever with their brew names and label designs. Best of all, they seem to make good beer and have fun doing it!

I picked up another brew of theirs when I got Crunkle Sam that they brewed specially for us Ohioans thanks to our Blue Laws prohibiting sale of beer 12% or higher. I mean if a brewery is going to go to the trouble of helping skirt stupid laws, you've got to support them right?

[MinutemanCO]

Darn Ohioans get all the good beer.

[MinutemanCO]

Now that I think about it, I'd like to wear a pair of clown shoes to work one day. No other paraphernalia, just the shoes. Don't say a word. Walk in; sit at my desk, go to meetings, as if everything was completely normal.

Just sayin.

Okay, I need a vacation.

[Avvakum]

Now that I think about it, I'd like to wear a pair of clown shoes to work one day. No other paraphernalia, just the shoes. Don't say a word. Walk in; sit at my desk, go to meetings, as if everything was completely normal.

Just sayin.

Okay, I need a vacation.

Just got back from a vacation, to a family reunion in Chicago. Now I'm a little depressed. Chicago is fine, outside of certain areas sensible people have no reason going to anyway. In those areas though, it's a damn warzone. My family... Haven't seen many of them in 20 years, but family is family, and it was nice to have a few beers with them and get their take on the world today. 20 years ago, they were all anti-gun. Today they are all pro-gun. But no matter what, they're all pro-alcohol, lol.

[Ryan Ruck]

Now that I think about it, I'd like to wear a pair of clown shoes to work one day. No other paraphernalia, just the shoes. Don't say a word. Walk in; sit at my desk, go to meetings, as if everything was completely normal.

Just sayin.

Okay, I need a vacation.

[Ryan Ruck]

The first beer up tonight is a brew from Left Hand. I've had mixed experiences with Left Hand. Some of their stuff has been blah. Some has been okay. And some has been pretty decent. Most recently I had their Smokejumper which although I really liked, never had a chance to do a write-up on (I took down notes so I might get around to it eventually).

The label on this one caught my eye so I took a closer look. This one is Homefront IPA. Turns out from the label that sales of it are going to Operation Homefront. How cool is that!



Description from Left Hand:

Homefront IPA is a collaborative beer produced by nine U.S. breweries to raise money & awareness for Operation Homefront. Thanks to our friends at Fremont Brewing Co., Left Hand got to be a part of this awesome beer & cause. Homefront is an American IPA, brewed with orange zest and aged on maple Louisville Slugger bats, for a truly American offering.

Poured a clear, dark gold into Shaker with a decent white head that stuck around for a bit. Smells of citrus and some fresh cut grass along with some biscuty malts. Taste is a lot like how it smells with the addition of a little wood thanks to the Louisville Sluggers it was aged on. Just mildly bitter. The body on this is not overly thin and not real heavy, right in between. Has a dry finish. Pretty good overall! If you like IPAs, give it a try.

I looked at the other versions of Homefront on RateBeer. Of them, it looks like I might only be able to get a hold of Cigar City Brewing's version and I'm not 100% on that. If I can, I'll definitely pick it up.