Lost in the Beer Aisle

Honsebrouck Bacchus

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Lost

Today (Thursday) was my Friday. Tomorrow I’m on chauffeur duty, driving my wife to and from the hospital for a (very minor) surgery. We have to be at the hospital, which is 30 minutes away, at 6:00am. Gonna be an early morning tomorrow!

I’m pumped to have a long weekend. Tomorrow will be a recovery day for the wife so no major plans. Saturday night there are more free UFC fights. Norm is coming over to watch dudes flop all over each other. Beer will be flowing as one might imagine. Sunday is low key, with little plans past having brunch in Boston with some friends.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a holiday party and Yankee swap. I bring this up because tonight’s beverage comes from my haul from the event…my present was a basket of beer. Hellz yeah!

Honsebrouck Bacchus is a Belgian beer that I’m trying for the first time. I had no idea what style of beer it was until I Googled and found out it was a Flanders sour brown. This style is what turned me on to sour beer…I have high hopes for this beer.

First off, the beer is light and watery. It weighs in at 4.5% ABV, which explains why it’s so drinkable. The mouthfeel is SUPER fizzy…nearing champagne levels! Flavor wise, it starts off promising, with a touch of tart/sour. Taste quickly fades into watery nothingness before finishing with relatively mild fruity tartness.

This is a decent brew, although it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I might recommend this to someone who wants to try a sour beer as the flavors are more muted than many sours.

Posted in My Reviews, Style: Flanders Oud Bruin | Leave a comment

Stoudts Fat Dog

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Lost

Tonight I come home from a boring (but long) day at work to find Melissa making me homemade macaroni and cheese. How bad ass is that? My wife rocks. Suck it everyone out there with lousy wives.

It’s Wednesday. I haven’t had a beer since….shit…Sunday? I’m only 10 days into cutting back on the booze and I’m losing track. I’ve been doing really good, only drinking 2 non-review beers in those 10 days.

Tonight I’m damn thirsty though. I’m kicking off the evening with a beer review and we’ll see where things go from there. The beer in glass is Stoudts Fat Dog, which is an imperial oatmeal stout. I’ve said more than once before that oatmeal stouts are hit or miss for me (mostly miss). They tend to be too bitter in the aftertaste.

I let this fatty canine warm up for a good 20 minutes before diving in, hoping it would mellow out. BINGO! It worked. This puppy is mellow alright – a nice mix of toffee / chocolate sweetness mixed with just a hint roasted bitterness. And wooooo doggy, is it smooth going down.

Honestly, I’m probably enjoying this so much due to cutting back on the beer. But whatevs…damn tasty!

Posted in My Reviews, Style: Imperial Oatmeal Stout | Leave a comment

Stiegl Pils

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Lost

Tonight I’m pretty beat down. I just started class again (financial management) and the class went the full three hours. I can already tell that I’m going to have to earn these credits…

With a long day comes a lack of motivation. Thus, you get a mini hold-over review I had in my back pocket: Steigl Pilsner.

This brew brew was an interesting little fella. I knew it was a lager, but from the label I couldn’t tell it was a pilsner. I couldn’t tell from the look, the smell, the flavor or the mouth feel either! It wasn’t as bubbly as a pilsner (quite smooth and creamy going down actually) and the taste was sweet like honey.

Regardless of not meeting my expectations, it was a decent beer. Then again, I wouldn’t buy the stuff if I saw it again.

Posted in My Reviews | Leave a comment

21st Amendment Allies Win the War

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Lost

What a weekend! Friday night we had friends over for UFC fights. Saturday we spent the afternoon at our nephew’s 1st birthday party. And today (Sunday) we are spending the day watching football. The Patriots are on their way to the Superbowl baby!

Backing up for a second to Saturday, my wife’s sister just came back from St. Thomas. She picked me up a bottle of rum and two Caribbean beers (see below). Have any of you tried this stuff?

Following a nail-biter of a Patriot’s game I’m trying to relax and watch the 49ers and Giants duke it out for the NFC championship. After pacing back and forth in my living room for literally hours I need a freaking beer!

And the beer of choice is 21st Amendment – Allies Win the War, which is a collaboration with Ninkasi. The label clearly states that this is a beer brewed with dates. Prior to opening this up I was fully expecting a thick mouth-feel with dark-fruit flavors.

That all changed when I realized that the IBU (international bitter units) was 52…relatively high, indicating significant hops were added to the brew. Boy were my expectations off! The brew looks as I expected – a dark reddish brown. Also meeting my expectations, the mouth-feel is in-fact sugary and thick. The flavor is far from expected.

The sweetness from the dates comes through first and is quickly eclipsed by mild bitter citrus hops. The balancing of the flavors is REALLY well done. I love what they have done with this beer and I recommend you try it when you get a chance. A word of advice though – watch out…this bad boy is 8.5% ABV!

Posted in My Reviews | 3 Comments

Port City Brewing Company Porter

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Silvio

Since last week I committed the cardinal sin of re-reviewing a beer Josh has already blogged about, I decided to go hyper-local this week and bust out a second review of Alexandria, Virginia-based Port City Brewing Company’s beer.

They’re an upstart D.C. region brewery, having gone into business just one year ago, but already finding their product carried on tap and in bottles in hundreds of local restaurants and beer stores. Since I’ve started working from home and their brewery/tasting room is just a few miles away, a fresh Port City growler has become a regular staple in the Marcacci household refrigerator!

Today I decided to cap off a busy week with a growler of their Porter. A quick car ride to their tasting room later, I poured a proper pint of their liquid darkness. This beer is probably one of the darkest porters I’ve ever had, considering light won’t shine through it even if held up to a light. The foam poured a short, creamy crown that stuck around through most of the glass.

I’m typically not a porter guy, but hot damm this beer tasted good. The flavor started out with tons of coffee notes, but with a creamy essence like half-and-half in a french roast. I picked up rich milk chocolate through the middle, and it faded into a sweet but crisp aftertaste.

This beer is eminently drinkable, which can be problematic considering it weighs in at a significant 7.5% ABV. Still, if you’re in the D.C. region, I absolutely encourage you to try Port City whenever possible. If you’re thinking about stopping by their tasting room, make sure to call ahead to get a tour of their brewing facility while you’re there!

Posted in Silvio Saturday, Style: Porter | Tagged Chocolate, Coffee, DC beer, Port City, Porter | 2 Comments

Newport Storm Sabrina

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Lost

It’s Friday, Friday…gotta get down on Friiiidday. And I am getting down this Friday by hanging out with Brandon and Norm, watching some free UFC fights on the telly.

I’m kicking off the evening with this bottle of Newport Storm Sabrina, which is a part of their limited cyclone series.

I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that I visited the Newport Storm brewery last year.

The beer is a Belgian Pale Ale, meaning I am expecting a mix of spice and hops. The beer doesn’t disappoint. It’s got a clove/spice aroma and HUGE hop flavor. When cold the hops completely overwhelm the spices, so let it warm up a bit before you really dive into it…you’ll thank me.

I initially thought that the hops were piney, but after letting this brew warm I’m tasting way more citrus. The balance of spice and bitter hops is really well done – flavors bounce between the two in your mouth rather than starting with one characteristic and fading to another.

A pretty good beer. This was a limited release that came out two months ago. Chances are you won’t be able to find it now, but if you do – pick a bottle up!

Posted in My Reviews, Style: Belgian Pale Ale | Leave a comment

Three Heads Java Sutra

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Lost

This week I have purposely been away from the blog. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you also know that for the last 5 months my wife and I have been running and working out regularly. I also believe that I previously mentioned that we recently booked a trip to Cancun. Well, all this working out has me feeling great, but I’m not seeing the results I wanted, so I’m looking to additional solutions…including chopping out some booze from my weekly routine.

Tonight and tomorrow night I set aside for beer reviews. Tonight I’m extra thirsty!

The glass in hand is full of Three Heads Java Sutra. Three Heads delivers again with an amusing label – what appears to be hops and a coffee bean in bed together. You know what’s messed up though? If you look closely at the label, there is a cup of spilled coffee on the floor. Was the coffee bean drinking coffee??!?!?!?!

The beer smells like a coffee shop…a deliciously beery coffee shop. It tastes pretty standard for a coffee porter – super roasty malt flavors with a thin body. Pretty easy to drink once it has warmed up just a tad. If this sucker had just a little more hops action, you could mistake it for a black IPA.

Overall, a good (but not great) beer. High marks on the awesome label.

Posted in My Reviews, Style: Porter | 1 Comment

Cambridge Brewing The Audacity of Hops

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Lost

Tonight I’m putting the blog in the ample hands of Greg. He hasn’t had a guest review posted in a couple of weeks and I’m taking a little bit of a hiatus from drinking. So…..Greg…..

After a brain draining day at work I am cracking open a beer. Tonight’s beer is called The Audacity of Hops from the Cambridge Brewing Company. The Cambridge Brewing Company has been a brewpub staple here in the Boston area for a long time and they just recently started to bottle their beer. I have only been to the Cambridge Brewing Company on 1 occasion because getting to Cambridge is a hassle and I am lazy. Enough about me, on to the beer.

The Audacity of Hops pours a light color that I would describe as the color you would get if you squashed an orange onto unfinished wood or a whitish orange color. The Audacity of Hops (which I will refer to as AoH for the rest of this review) has a fluffy white head that was about one finger thick. Reading the description on the bottle this beer is a Belgian Double IPA, so far so good with the initial description. The smell was a very light and floral. The first thing that came to my mind when I smelled the AoH was “carbonated hops” if that makes any sense. The first sip of this beer completely blows me away. The taste is exactly what I would expect from a Belgian style Double IPA. It has typical Belgian flavors with a nice hop bite. The AoH has an excellent balance and doesn’t have the malt sweetness that you sometimes get with a Double IPA. This beer has a dry finish and is super drinkable. The AoH clocks in at 8% abv which I would not have guessed based on the taste. If you live in the Boston area I recommend seeking this beer out. If you don’t live in the Boston area, have some friends find you a bottle of The Audacity of Hops and mail it to you.

-Greg

Posted in Guest Reviews, Style: Belgian IPA | 1 Comment

21st Amendment Bitter American

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Lost

Tonight is poker night and I’ve got about 8 people coming over for the festivities. I’m kinda broke, so let’s hope I win tonight. It’s been awhile since I last won. I’m sneaking in a beer review before everyone shows up….21st Amendment Bitter American.

This is a TERRIFIC beer from 21st Amendment Brewery. It’s light and super drinkable (4.4% ABV), but doesn’t give up any ground in the taste department; citrus and floral hops are dominant. The beer has a stingy carbonation that I’m digging.

Many thanks to Greg for leaving a few cans of this stuff at my house after we hung out last Thursday! Which also reminds me…poker night usually means tons of leftover beer in my fridge. Here’s hoping people bring something tasty!

Posted in My Reviews, Style: American Pale Ale | 4 Comments

Some interesting beer news

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Lost

Today I’ll be away from the computer and probably won’t get a chance to do a beer review. Fear not! I have some interesting reading to keep you busy. Below are some links to interesting beer news I posted via my Twitter account yesterday. Enjoy!

The science behind your beer buzz

Dogfish Head will soon be launching a gluten free beer

Woman denied opportunity for homebrewing championship due to her gender

Flying Dog announces a new beer “Wildman” with an incredibly strange video

Boston Beer unveils a new spring seasonal! (Don’t panic, Noble Pils is now a year round beer)

Yuengling eclipses Boston Beer as America’s biggest brewery

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Cans Come Off the Line!

-Lost

Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment