Weihenstephaner Pilsner

Brewer's Notes: Known as "Pilsner" in the USA.
Golden-yellow and bright, with 32 bitter units and quite hoppy compared to most of the other Pilsners our Weihenstephaner Pilsner comes up with a distinctive aroma of hops with a pleasant bitterness. This combination provides a balanced mix and guarantees great enjoyment. Brewed according to our centuries-old brewing tradition on the Weihenstephan hill.

29 Oct. 2020
Pilsner is a fine example of German pilsner. The taste is grainy and grassy, a tiche musty, and has a decent bite from what I think are Noble hops. My bottle was bottled about 6 months ago. I suspect that a fresh bottle would be crisper and have a better hop profile.

Beeradvocate

Rating = 4 glasses

Smuttynose Robust Porter

Brewer's Notes: This hearty, mahogany colored ale is brewed to evoke the dark, full-bodied ales that were a favorite of dockworkers and warehousemen (hence the name “Porter”) in 19th century London. It is a good bet that when Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick sat down for a pint, we would have been drinking an ale much like our Robust Porter.This is a smooth and very drinkable beer, characterized by its well-balanced malt and hops, plus subtle notes of coffee and chocolate.

29 Oct. 2020
Robust Porter is a fine beer. It delivers a strong dose of chocolate and smoke but doesn't go crazy. Probably too simple to rate 6 glasses. It will be a regular in my rotation.

I feared that the beer would not be as good as I remembered. Smuttynose declared bankruptcy a while ago and distribution in VA stopped for a while. The only difference I noticed is that the brewery is using cans now instead of glass bottles for Finest Kind and Robust Porter. I view the change as a feature, not a flaw.

Beeradvocate classifies it as a Robust Porter. In this classification a Robust Porter is between Brown Porter and Stout.

Rating = 5 glasses

(1005)
Last of the 6. Upgraded from 4 to 5 glasses after following it with Stockyard Oatmeal Stout. 

Rating = 5 glasses

(1003) Flavorful, easy drinking, and nice smokey bite at finish. A dry Irish stout? May rate 5 glasses. 

Rating= 4 glasses

Blue Mountain Dark Hollow

Brewer's Notes: Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout. Dark Hollow blends the miracle of two crafts--brewing and distillation--to create a work greater than the sum of its parts. An Imperial Stout has been aged in charred American oak bourbon barrels still dripping with uncut whiskey. For 100 days the young beer patiently breathes in and out of the wood, gaining complexity, character, and serious attitude.

I was looking forward to revisiting Dark Hallow after having Concealed Darkness. I came away slightly disappointed.  The beer is a titch thinner than I expected. It falls between Stout and Imperial Stout. Also, the bourbon is sightly more prominent than I prefer.

Beeradvocate

Rating: 4 glasses

25 Sept. 2020

Dark Hollow Imperial Stout is a delightful bourbon-barrel aged Imperial Stout. The bourbon is light. The base is a nice balance of sweet dark malts and hop bitterness.

FYI: Blue Mountain changed the name from Artisanal Ale to Imperial Stout.

Rating = (at least) 4 glasses.

13 Oct. 2013

Rating = 4 glasses

Blue Mountain Concealed Darkness

Concealed Darkness is an Imperial version of Dark Hallow, already classified as an Imperial Stout. It is a fantastic beer. It pours black with a dark brown head. It is Big AND Smooth, too easy to drink. Flavors include bourbon, chocolate, oak, char, and caramel, but all or muted and blended. It finishes with a wonderful charred bite at the finish. I don't know if the bite at finish is from hops, chocolate malt, bourbon,or all three. Yummy. It replaces Hardywood Kentucky Christmas on my list of beers rating 7 glasses. It came from a crowler sold by Corks and Kegs as part of an anniversary celebration. I look forward to drinking my second and last crowler in my cellar

Beer Advocate. 

Rating= 7 glasses.

Birds Fly South Brand New Eyes

Brand New Eyes is "table saison blended with Red Wine Puncheons starting in 2016." Yeasty with sniffs of lemon and musty red wine.Interesting but not great3

Beeradvocate

Rating = 3 glasses.

Rare Barrel Map of the Sun

Map of the Sun is a "Golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with apricots." The description is spot on, some lemon tartness and apricot. I described the apricot as mango as I was drinking it. Came from a crowler sold by Corks and Kegs as part of an anniversary celebration. The beer is wonderfully crafted but fall prey to my adage. "I don't like fruit in my beer except when I do."

Beeradvocate

Rating: = 4 glasses

3 Floyds Zombie Dust

10 Oct. 2020
Still yummy but I am downgrading the rating to 5 glasses. I prefer Alpha King's sweetness.

Rating = 5 glasses.

07 Sept. 2020
Zombie Dust is a wonderful example of American pale ale: nicely balanced but not sweet, with loads of pleasant hop flavor and bitterness. Yummy.  

Currently ranked #1 American pale ale on BeerAdvocate and #35 overall. 

Rating = 6 glasses.

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter

Taddy Porter is THE English Porter. I may revise after drinking another one from Fullers. Understated bitterness and charcoal. Perfect for a block of cheese and 1 hour in a pub.

BeerAdvocate

Rating = 5 glasses.

Blue Mountain Dark Hollow Imperial Stout

Dark Hollow Imperial Stout is a delightful bourbon-barrel aged Imperial Stout. The bourbon is light. The base is a nice balance of sweet dark malts and hop bitterness.

FYI: Blue Mountain changed the name from Artisanal Ale to Imperial Stout.

BeerAdvocate

Rating = (at least) 45 glasses. Previous rating.  

Collective Arts + Aslin Collective Project No. 13

Collective Project No. 13 is a collaboration between Collective Arts and Aslin. It is a big hazy New England Double IPA. The notes on the can say, "Notes: Collaboration of Collective Arts Brewing and Aslin Beer Company. DIPA with Strata, Zappa and Comet." It is a great representation of the style. Nice tropical fruits, pineapple and tangerine, some sweetness, and a titch of acidic bitterness. I am not a big fan of New England IPAs. This one is an exception.

Rating = 5 glasses.

Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Blackout Stout is a fantastic Imperial Stout. It mergers chocolate, coffee, and sweet dark malts with hop bitterness. It is perfect to sip with or as dessert.  Back in 2005 and 2007, the raters at BeerAdvocate rated it as one of the top 100 beer on the Planet. Now it is the 97th highest rated Imperial Stout. 

Rating = (at least) 5 glasses.

Green Flash IPA?

I ordered a glass of Green Flash "IPA" tonight @ Kuba Kuba Dos. When I looked for it on BeerAdvocate, I discovered that Green Flash does not sell "IPA". It sells West Coast IPA, Soul Style IPA, Jibe Session IPA, and many other versions of IPA. The confusion gives me another reason to be averse to restaurants that don't publish a beer menu. I think that it was Soul Style IPA. It was a far cry from what I remember as the Imperial IPA.

The beer resembled an ordinary English IPA. Some hops, some malt, but nothing to compel me to go, "Wow".

Rating = 2 glasses.

Spaten Münchner Hell

Münchner Hell is a Helles lager sold as Spaten Premium Lager in the USA. Eh! It is Ok but nothing great. Perhaps a good summer lawnmower beer. As Rachel Ray would say, "Its wet and its cold.

BeerAdvocate

Rating = 1 glass

Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen

Festbier v. Märzen

02 Oct. 2020

After drinking this and Weihenstephaner I have decided that Spaten is a titch too heavy and lacks complexity. Rating of 4 glasses is perfect.

23 Sept. 2020

Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen is a delightful Oktoberfest. Easy, easy drinking. A nice example of what folks in Munich are drinking as I write. Spaten is one of six official brewers at Oktoberfest.

I like it better than the raters @ BeerAdvocate.

Rating = (at least) 4 glasses.

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen

Festbier v. Märzen

Oktober Fest-Märzen is a delightful Oktoberfest. Easy drinking AND flavorful. Toasty + subtle hop bite.

BeerAdvocate loves it. It is the 4th highest rated Oktoberfest and "Outstanding".

Rating = 5 glasses. This is an upgrade from my previous review.

Firestone Walker + The Wild Beer Company Violet Underground

"The Rainbow Project paired seven UK and US breweries with one of seven colors of the rainbow, creating the theme of the brew. We drew violet. What followed was left to the imaginative and creative spirit among the collaborators. Violet Underground represents a partnership between The Wild Beer Co. and Firestone Walker Brewing Co. A cuvée was born from Somerset Wild, a newly minted Golden and Sunrise Raspberry ale, and Barrelwork’s blending warhouse, Cowbell. Proprietary yeast from both sides of the Atlantic, fresh local California fruit and French candied violet petals went into the cauldron. The resulting potion is bursting with ripe fresh fruit, a hint of violet petals and anchored by a funky yeast foundation. A quenching acidity and lively carbonation rounds out the collaboration. A santé!"

Violet Underground is a well crafted Wild Ale. It has a puckering nose. The taste is not as intense as the smell. The taste combines subdued tartness with fruit flavors and even the sweet pedal flavors from the violets.

BeerAdvocate

Rating = 4 glasses.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Barleywine Ale

 

BCB Barleywine is a BIG beer. The notes say that Goose Island ages it in bourbon barrels previously used to age BCB Stout. This aging imparts faint hints chocolate and coffee from the stout in addition to vanilla and bourbon from the barrels. The result is a complex explosion of flavors. It was a great complement to salted caramel chocolate cake from Shyndigz that I ate in celebration of the birth of a grandchild. I had taught that evening and ate and drank in solitude. COVID prevented visits to the hospital and my wife had gone to sleep well before I arrived to help her watch children of the new mother.

An accurate rating is difficult. I drank the beer 12 days ago and it is COMPLEX. I am going to go with 5 glasses. It might be 6 glasses. Beeradvocate rates as the 2nd highest English barleywine and 97th overall. I understand why the rating is so high. The beer wonderfully crafted and interesting. I want more. 

I am not sure that bourbon-barrel aging is a good complement for barleywine but this beer is the best version I have tasted. I want to try it again and would like to see how a little less bourbon affects the flavor.

Rating = 5 glasses.

Spaten Optimator

2 Jan. 2021

My first review in the new year. I am drinking the 5th bottle in the six-pack. The beer continues not to impress. Too much malt flavor. I am downgrading the rating. I wonder if the problem is the beer or the style.

Beer Advocate.

Rating = 3 glasses

05 Oct. 2020

Nice caramel malt. Rating of 4 glasses is perfect.

13 Sept. 2020

Opimator is a fine doppelbock. It features caramel malts. I picked up a six pack in a case sold in Cosco. I remember it being a favorite and it failed to meet my expectations. It needs more humph and complexity.

Rating = 4 glasses.

Birds Fly Sout Rustic Sunday

I really like the beer but sometimes I think it is fantastic and other times I think it is not. My bottle last night was good but not worthy of 6 glasses imho.

Rating = 5 glasses (down from 6).

Earlier review.

St. George IPA

An old friend. A nice rendition of an English IPA. Caramel maltinesss with Fuggle hops. 

Rating = 4 glasses.

June 2009
Beer: IPA 

Brewer: St. George 

Style: IPA 

Tasting notes: (0905) A pint @ Beach Deli after a bike ride. Nice English style hoppiness. (0708) A glass @ Crab Shack. ENGLISH. A pale ale with a tiche more hops. Less bite than an American Pale Ale. Pleasant.

Comment: St. George is located in Hampton, VA. The beers tend resemble European versions of styles. 

Rating: 4 glasses.