Firestone Walker - Sucaba

Hey all! It's been several days since my last blog. I'm sorry. It's been crazy busy at work the last week or so and by the time I get home, all I want to do is open something easy and just zone out. Plus, I bought Bioshock Infinite and frankly what little social life I've had has completely vanished.

With that said, it's not too often I'm left completely speechless. You know, just completely blown away by something that you can't even begin to describe it's awesome factors. Last year I had a Sucaba for the first time and my perspective on Barleywines was changed. Honestly, it's never recovered. Sucaba is my absolute favorite barleywine. I could explain why and it might take all night so I'll simply sum it up in a few words.

BARREL-AGED BARLEYWINE.

Yes, Sucaba is Barrel Aged and tonight, well, after a quarter end at work, I'm treating myself. Tonight, I'm drinking the 2013 vintage of Firestone Walker's Sucaba!

Sucaba pours out a very, VERY dark red, actually more like mahogany with maybe a half finger of a white, foamy maybe bordering on creamy head. This beer is really dark, can't see anything through it. There's a lot of nice ruby red along the bottom of glass and around the sides as I hold it up to my light source. This looks like a really big barleywine and I'm perfectly OK with that.

The nose on Sucaba is nothing short of delicious. Big raisin and fig characters. There's a really nice presence of the dark fruits that are pretty much a guarantee in a good barleywine. I'm getting a lot of a sugary sweetness. A ton of caramel and toffee. I'm picking up a lot of vanilla and oak characters. Since it's barrel-aged I'm not surprised and really happy to find it. There's a slight chocolate note coming in too. Sucaba just smells incredible. Big caramel, big sugar, big sweetness. But it's all smelling perfectly balanced. Finally, let's get some drinking in! 

And... holy fucking shit.

This beer is absolutely insane. Right away there's a sweet malt character which is insantly, and I mean INSTANTLY kicked out of the way by big vanilla and oak. It's so good! There's a lot of caramel and toffee in this beer. I don't remember 2012 being this good. The caramel and vanilla shine through on this beer like none other I can remember having. Back end there's more oak goodness and some chocolate notes too. At 12%, you don't taste any alcohol. This one is going to show up later and probably slap me around a bit.

Honestly, this thing changes so many times it might as well be called a shape shifter. It's just so good, so balanced... it's my favorite Firestone Walker beer ever.

Rating: A+ (Epic levels)

I can't stress this enough. If you can find this and have the cash (was about $19), pick it up. So worth it. I don't know if I've had a more balanced and great tasting barleywine. Ever. 

Wife says "Sucaba es micaba..." I think that means she doesn't hate it!

Firestone Walker - Double DBA

Cue up the Bay City Rollers, cause it's S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! That's right, winding down tonight on the only good day of the weekend. Let's be honest, Sunday is awful. So to celebrate, I'm opening a beer I've wanted to try for a year now. Tonight, I'm drinking Double DBA by Firestone Walker!

Double DBA comes in at 12% abv and is a Barrel-Aged Imperial Special Bitter. So to me, it sounds like this is an ESB on steroids. I'm perfectly ok with that. And anything having to do with Oak and barrel aging is something that I'm interested in. So without anymore delays, let's get this poured out before Sunday shows up and our weekend is completely ruined.

Double DBA pours out a dark amber color. It's not brown, it's not red. It's not really mahogany either. It reminds me a lot of a dark honey actually. There wasn't much of a head on this beer. Maybe (and I'm being really generous) a half a finger of foamy white head that really doesn't stick around much at all. It's somewhat hazy. I can see a little through the beer but not much. This looks a lot like a barleywine from the lack of head,  dark amber bordering on ruby red colors, a bit hazy... yeah, it looks real good. Let's put our nose in it.

The nose on the Double DBA is wonderful. Huge caramel right away. Lots of sweetness. I'm getting a lot of the oak from the barrels this was aged in. Big vanilla coming through. I'm getting a lot of a golden raisin character along with some figs and dates. There's a bread/cake like character as well. This beer smells really sweet. The thing that really stands out on the nose are the oak and vanilla characters. Everything else kind of takes a back seat. It's there but not nearly as prominent as the oak and vanilla. I'm also picking up a little bit of a cherry note. It's very subtle. Overall this smells incredible.

First thing I get on the taste is sweet caramel. It's sticky and very chewy. It's fucking delicious. That's immediately followed up by a that oak and vanilla character. It's so smooth and very sweet. Not overly sweet, it's just perfectly balanced. I'm not getting a lot of dark fruits in the taste which I'm a little surprised by. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly OK without them but I thought they'd make a bit more of an appearance. This is really a caramel/oak/vanilla bomb and I'm loving it. It's really good stuff. For a 12% beer, this drinks insanely easily. I don't taste much alcohol at all. Maybe the slightest hint of it on the back end but that's it. It warms you up, so you do feel it a little but the taste is so well masked that it makes Double DBA almost too easy to drink.

Overall, Double DBA by Firestone Walker is nothing short of incredible. I'm so stoked I am finally drinking one of these. It was just under $20 for the bottle and I'd say it's well worth it. You can still find this beer fairly easily in my area. I'm a little surprised this one wasn't as popular as Parabola or Sucaba. It's definitely on par and just really another solid showing from Firestone Walker and their barrel series.

Rating: A (SOLID A)

Wife... didn't hate it. A miracle, I know. Kudos to Firestone Walker.

Mission Brewery - Dark Seas

YARGH! AHOY mateys!!

Um, oh. Sorry. Just enjoying my Wednesday Night with a new beer. A new beer? But of course! It's that time of the week. When we creep past the half way point and can see the sweet glimmer of the weekend in the distance.

So tonight I decided to pick up a beer I thought I'd consumed before but much to my surprise, I haven't. Tonight I'm drinking a beer by Mission Brewery in San Diego, I'm drinking their Dark Seas. A 9.8% abv Russian Imperial Stout. I love Russian Imperial Stouts and I love saying goodbye to the early part of the week, so let's crack this beast open and get some 9.8% RIS goodness in us.

Dark Seas pours out a completely pitch black. There is absolutely no light shining through this beer, much like the depths of the sea. There was about a half finger of a mocha head, bordering on a straight brown color. The initial appearance of this beer has me excited. It pours out thick and viscus like a Russian Imperial Stout should be. No watered down bullshit here. The head doesn't stick around for long and kind of leaves behind a lacing the resembles the white wash from a wave crashing on the shore. This is looking great. Let's get the nose.

The very first thing I get on this beer is plum and dark fruits. Surprise the back of the bottle makes mention of notes of plum and port. There's definitely a port character here. The plum and figs are very prominent here. I'm getting a nice creamy character behind the port as well. There's some nice cherry notes coming through as well. There's some chocolate in here too. Both milk chocolate and dark chocolate. It's pretty sweet smelling. There's a nice vanilla and coffee character coming through. I'd compare it to a vanilla latte. There's also a nice chocolate covered raisin note here too as I let it warm a little. This beer smells delicious. Time to drink up.

Right away there's a nice creaminess. I'm getting quite a bit of vanilla on the front of the tongue. That's immediately followed by a port/plum character that I picked up on the nose. The plum isn't as strong here but it's there. Middle of the mouth you get the milk chocolate characters, dark chocolate, kind of a roasted coffee flavor. It's incredibly smooth. Back end of this beer you get more sweetness and a bit of an espresso character. There's vanilla on every level of this stout along with those dark fruits and port notes. I'm getting more raisin characters as the flavors sort of subside. This is an incredibly easy drinking RIS. 9.8%, there's next to no alcohol here on the nose or tongue. It's masked very well.

So overall, Dark Seas is a really nice surprise. I didn't go into this beer expecting a ton. I had previously had a couple of Mission beers and thought they were average at best. But Dark Seas has definitely got my attention. I'd highly recommend checking this one out.

Rating: A

My wife has dubbed this beer "Dark Grossness" So... yep.

Stone Brewing Co - Double Bastard

I've got a confession to make.

I've never had a Double Bastard. I've had Arrogant Bastard a bunch. Hell, Oaked Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorite beers ever. I've even had Lucky Basartd. But for all the times I've had these beers, I've never put a Double Bastard in my cart to take home and enjoy.

But tonight, THAT ALL CHANGES!! That's right, tonight we're drinking the one, the only, Double Bastard by Stone Brewing Co!

I don't really need to get into too many details. It's Double Bastard. Pretty sure if you are a craft beer fan, you have seen it, heard about it, had it, loved it, maybe hated it... so enough psychobabble, let's get this bastard poured.

Double Bastard pours out perfectly ruby red with a finger bordering on finger and a half of a white, rocky head. The head on this thing lingers for a long time. It's still in the glass right now as I'm typing this. There's been a slight retention and it's leaving behind a very thick and sticky lacing. There is a lot of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. DB is pretty clear. This is a really nice looking beer.

Let's get the nose on the DB. Getting a ton of caramel and vanilla. A lot of a sweeter malt character. I'm picking up some molasses character as well. Honestly if I was to smell this without knowing what it was, I'd think it was a barleywine. There's some dark fruits in here. Raisins and figs along with some cherries. There's a very slight hop bitterness. It's not nearly as strong as I was expecting for both being a Stone Beer and part of the Arrogant Bastard line. I do pick up some of the bitter grapefruit but it's very much hidden by the caramel and malt characters.

The taste on the DB is really nice. There's immediately some hop bitterness. That's quickly followed up by some caramel and vanilla notes. I'm getting some nice molasses character here too. Reminds me a bit of a gingerbread without the spicy character of the ginger. Middle of the tongue there's a kind of sugary bread like character. I'm getting a lot more bitterness here than on the nose that's for sure. Back end of this I'm getting some roasted characters, maybe an espresso, kind of earthy note. A bit of a tobacco character here too. I really like this beer.

So overall, I have to say this is easily my 2nd favorite Bastard. Oaked AB is one of my top 5 beers. Double Bastard is really good stuff though. I'm very impressed. I'm sort of surprised at how balanced this beer is. It's not over powering as I had figured it would be. It's got good body, good hop characters that I didn't get as much on the nose but once you get into this beer, they are definitely there.

Rating: A (very solid A)

Wife... well, you should know by now.

Nøgne Ø - #100 Barley Wine-Style Ale

Friday nights. You know I love them. Got a nice bonus from work so I decided to treat myself to a few tasty beers at the local liquor store. Found this gem sort of stashed away with some various European beers and decided why not. You and I both know I love a good barleywine.

I'd heard some pretty good things about Nøgne Ø beers but surprisingly have never ended up purchasing one. I don't really have a reason, I just always end up buying something more local. Also something I can actually pronounce.

Did a quick little search and saw some people calling this a DIPA. A DIPA? WTF?! Looking at the back of the bottle I see mentions of Columbus, Chinook and Centennial hops. So yeah, sounds like this is a pretty hop forward Barleywine... maybe bordering on an IPA or DIPA as some people put it. Let's see how it goes!

#100 poured out a a very dark ruby red almost bordering on blood red. There is a crazy amount of carbonation on this beer. It's streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was a really nice hiss as I popped the cap off. There was a 3, maybe even a 4 finger, fluffy/rocky white head that stuck around for a long time. Once it retreated back into itself it left behind a very thick, sticky webbing. Looks like a nice barleywine with a ton of carbonation. Old Guardian eat your heart out!

Strangely enough, the first thing I'm getting on the nose is almost like a cola character. Some chocolate malts shining through, but they are very sugary. This smells a lot like a rum and coke to be honest. There's a nice bit of cherry juice coming through behind the cola like character. It's pretty sweet but not overly sweet, definitely not cloying. There's a bit of a citrus character, some grapefruit zest, maybe a lemon zest in there as well. I'm getting a spice character as well. Some coriander, maybe even a little clove note in there as well. This beer as a lot going on for sure.

First thing I get on the taste is malt. It's your typical barleywine flavor for sure. There's some chocolate malt in there giving it a nice roasty backbone. I'm getting some of that cola character as well. I really feel like I've had a rum and coke before drinking this, which I absolutely haven't done. I'm getting more of those spices, coriander, clove, maybe some nutmeg too. Mostly coriander. I'm getting a little bit of the bitter grapefruit and lemon but it's very faint. There's a lot of that roasted character in the back of the mouth. Some espresso notes coming through.

Honestly, this is one of the more strange Barleywines I've had. I see where people would call it an IPA and I definitely get the barleywine part too. But no one mentions the spice characters which I'm sort of surprised by. It adds a different complexity to the beer that I was not expecting.

Rating: B

It's decent enough. There's no sign of alcohol (10% abv) and not really sure I'd believe this is 80ibu. I don't find this too bitter at all. It's worth giving it a try but it's not something I'd go out of my way to seek out.

Wife didn't like it.

Alaskan Brewing Co - Barley Wine Ale (2010)

Hump day. I sort of hate that term. Hump day.

No, I hate it a lot.

I'd prefer to just call it Wednesday, you know, like an adult. But I digress. Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you're enjoying something delicious tonight. I know I am.

If you read my review of the Stone Brewing Oak Smoked Old Guardian, you'd know that I kind of like Barleywines. Just a little... (I can't lie, I love them)

The last time I visited the local liquor store I happened to come across tonight's beer. Tonight I'm drinking Alaskan Brewing Co's Barley Wine Ale. Now, it wasn't until I got home that night that I realized that this wasn't just a regular barleywine. Oh no, this was their 2010 barleywine. So I managed to score a 2010 Barleywine in 2013. I'll take that any day of the week and twice on a hum.... Wednesday!

Let's get this beer poured cause I for one want to get this thing in my mouth. You can take that anyway you'd like... (that's what she said)

The Alaskan Barley Wine Ale pours out a perfect ruby red with some nice dark, almost blood red, hue around the bottom of the glass. There was a finger and a half of a pretty white head that dissipates a little bit is lingering around for a while. Like a relative that just won't shut up and leave... although I'm OK with that in this case. The head that's decided to hang out with us gives the beer a nice two tone look. There is a crazy amount of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. It's pretty cool looking. Let's get the nose on this beast.

Immediately hit with some sweet malts. A lot of caramel and vanilla notes on this as well. I'm getting quite a bit of dark fruits. Raisins, figs and some really delicious cherry notes as well. Like fresh cherry juice. There's a sweet bread kind of character that's really playing off the cherry notes. Smells a little like a cherry danish. It's not overly sweet. It's very subtle, very enjoyable. There's a slight bit of alcohol on the nose but it's more of a sweet alcohol. Maybe a brandy character perhaps even a cognac kind of note. It's really enticing. One of the better smelling barleywines that I can remember.

Time to drink! First thing I notice is that dark fruit character. Very much getting the fresh cherry type of notes I was getting on the nose. It's very bread like, and sweet. Like that danish I mentioned (I love cherry danishes). There's a lot of caramel on the tongue as well. It's a bit sticky. Very smooth. You get a little bit of the alcohol at this point but it's nice. A lot like a brandy, not just an alcohol burn. It's got good flavor. Back of the mouth I'm getting a ton of roasted characters. Big chocolate espresso sort of character. I didn't get any of this on the nose so to have it here is really great. As the flavors sort of linger and dissipate I'm left with more caramel and those vanilla characters I was getting on the nose.

So overall, the Alaskan Barley Wine Ale is incredible. I wasn't expecting much from this because I'd never had an Alaskan Barleywine. I was very impressed with their Smoked Porter and this is definitely right up there with that. It's incredibly smooth and balanced and often times with Barleywines, they can be too hot and just a malt bomb. I didn't get any hop character which is fine. I don't like my barleywines to be too hoppy.

Rating: A, bordering on A+

Wife didn't think it tasted like beer, but didn't like it either.

Clown Shoes - Blaecorn Unidragon

What's up everyone?! Did you miss me? That's ok, I didn't miss you much either. I spent my weekend drinking some good beers and watching quite a bit of hockey.

With that said, I almost forgot I had this incredibly named beer in my fridge. I figured, why not crack it open and get a review up. I don't want anyone to think I'd died or something!

So tonight I'm drinking the wonderfully named Blaecorn Unidragon by Clown Shoes (Mercury Brewing Co) out of Ipswich, MA. I'd heard things about their beers but had never seen one in the store. Much to my delight I came across this rare Unic...Unico... shit, Unidragon, and had to pick it up. I didn't know much about it but with a label that looks like something off a heavy metal album cover I just didn't care. I had to get this and drink it in the name of all things METAAAAAAAAL!!!!

Ok, so the first thing I noticed when actually reading up on this thing is the abv. 12.5%! This tells me a couple of things. One, this is going to be one strong ass beer! Two, I probably should have aged this for a bit. I thought this had a bottle on date but I guess I'm wrong. If it's there I'm looking right at it, but I'm fucking blind soo... pretty sure this is fairly fresh, maybe January.

Anyway, let's pour this beast out and get into it.

Unidragon pours out a pitch black. There's no light shining through this beer at all. It looks evil. Like a black Unidragon should. Honestly, I want to blast some Ronnie James Dio (RIP!) while I'm drinking this. There was about a finger of beige, bordering on mocha. The head didn't stick around very long and receded back into the beer leaving behind a spotted-like lacing. It looks pretty good. Lets get the nose on this one.

First thing I get on the Unidragon is a nice earthy hop note. It's pretty strong too. Nothing like an IPA but you definitely get some hop character. That's followed immediately by a chocolate character. Some roasted malts shining through right now as well. There's a bit of dark chocolate, maybe even some roasted espresso beans here. I'm getting a lot of a raisin character as well. It smells a lot like a bag of Raisinets. There some fig and date characteristics also. A nice sugary note as well. You do get a little bit of alcohol on the nose as well. 12.5% that's pretty much a guarantee though. I'm tired of waiting. Let's drink up!

Right away I get a milk chocolate sweetness. That's immediately followed up by that chocolate covered raisin character I got on the nose. It's nice and sweet and really pleasing. Middle of the tongue there's a nice hop bitterness and some roasted notes. Definitely from the malts that were used. I'm getting quite a bit of an espresso character here as well. There's a bit of alcohol coming through on the middle of the tongue. You definitely know this is a big beer. Back of the mouth you get a subtle tobacco character maybe even the slightest bit of leather. There's more chocolate sweetness and some date/fig action going on as well. This beer tastes really nice.

Overall, I'm really enjoying this beer. Blaecorn Unidragon is a solid Russian Imperial Stout. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you can get it. I'd also recommend letting this age for a bit. I think with a year of age on this it'd be phenomenal. There's a bit more alcohol than I like on my stouts. It's not barrel aged so it's not a bourbon character unfortunately. The alcohol in no way ruins this beer. It's still really good, bordering on great in all honesty.

Rating: B+

Wife said it tastes like beer. Big fucking surprise.

Stone Brewing - Old Guardian (Oak Smoked)

I'm going to be honest here for a minute. Right from the start, pure honesty because that's the kind of guy I am. Honest.

I fucking love Barleywines. I absolutely fucking love them. 

So late winter when the breweries start dropping their yearly barleywine releases I get excited. I anticipate the new Bigfoot, the new Sucaba, the new Old Ruffian, the new... Old Guardian.

That's right. Tonight I'm drinking another Stone release (two Stone reviews in a row, wtf?!), the 2013 Old Guardian. But this isn't your regular Old Guardian. Oh no, tonight, we've got the Oak Smoked Old Guardian. Needless to say, we're not fucking around with this barleywine. Let's get it poured!

The 2013 Old Guardian pours out an absolutely beautiful ruby red with about a half finger of a completely white head that is sticking around for what seems like a fucking eternity. As it gets absorbed back into itself it leaves behind a real nice sticky lacing all around the glass. It looks like Spiderman made an appearance. Luckily, he didn't steal my beer. There is quite a bit of carbonation on this beer streaming up from the bottom of the glass. The beer is very see through with some nice chill haze on the glass. It looks like a real nice barleywine. I mean, about as good as a barleywine can look... which is real nice... nice, right?

The first thing I get on the nose of this beer is campfire smoke. There is no doubt about it, this is a smoked beer. And it's very pleasant. I've never had a smoked barleywine. I'm getting a nice malty character coming through behind the smoke. Big surprise I know, it's a barleywine! If there wasn't a malt character then something would seriously be wrong. I'm getting a bit of a dark fruit character, maybe some plums. Also getting some cherries. Cherry pie filling, cherry juice. It's not too sweet. Smells real fresh. I'm getting some sweet raisins, maybe even a sugary raisin character. There's almost a quad like character coming through with the dark fruits, the sugary fruits and the sweet malts. Smells really great. Let's drink up!

Right away I'm getting sweet malts and some dark fruit. Surprisingly enough, not a lot of smoke right away. I'm tasting the cherry juice like characters for sure. Middle of the mouth you get the hop bitterness that is a trademark of pretty much all Stone beers. It's not in your face like an IPA, but the bitterness is there. You get that campfire smoke flavor here as well. It's not overpowering and not as strong as the nose. I'm a bit surprised. I thought it'd be the first thing I was hit with. Back end of this beer you get a lot of earthy, wood like characters. It's definitely from the Oak. It's very nice. There is a lot of a charred wood here. More smoke. The slightest, and I mean slightest, bit of alcohol on the back end. At 11.4% abv it's to be expected I think. It doesn't take away from anything on this beer though.

Overall, this is a really solid beer from Stone. I'm not the biggest Old Guardian fan. I find it to often be a bit too hoppy. The oak/smoke in this beer is real nice at cutting the hop bite that I've always found in the OG. I'd be very interested in trying the barrel aged version of this which I believe just came out as well. For the price (I think I paid $11 for it) I'd say it's well worth it. If you like Barleywines and smoked beers, this is for you. I'd like to try this with a little age on it. Maybe try it again in December and again later in 2014.

Rating: A-

Wife hated it. Said it sucked. Not a fan of smoke/campfire. She's lame. More for us!

Stone Brewing Co - Enjoy By 04.01.13 IPA

Hey gang! Saturday Night here in San Diego after a really nice, warm day here. Spent a little time at a local brewery and then decided to stop by the liquor store for some evening provisions.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the most recent Stone Enjoy By IPA. I grabbed one right away and figured it would make a great review beer. So, surprise here we are. This is actually the first time I've seen one of the Enjoy By beers. I know they're incredibly popular so maybe they were on the shelves and I was too slow to get them? I don't know, but I do know I've finally found one.

So enough rambling, let's get this beer poured and Enjoy the Enjoy by!

Enjoy By pours out a really nice crystal clear golden yellow. Maybe there's a slight bit of orange in there too. It's definitely golden though. There is a nice finger's worth of a white head with some very tight white bubbles. It fades out pretty quickly and leaves behind a soapy looking film on the glass. Not much of a lace. Looks like a fairly standard DIPA.

The nose on Enjoy By is pretty nice. Right away big pine needle coming through. There's a big hop dankness as well. I'm getting a bit of a garlic and onion dankness as well. There's some of your typical grapefruit. Quite a bit of papaya and maybe some mango coming out as well. There's a slight malty character as well. It's fairly sweet and help cut some of that dankness that punches you in the nose immediately when you get that first whiff. There is no alcohol on the nose at all. Those hops and tropical fruits do a great job hiding the 9.4%.

Let's stop smelling this and start drinking!

Right away you get that dank bitterness. Big onions and some garlic. That makes it's way to the middle of the mouth where it fades a bit and some of those tropical fruits arrive. Papaya and Mango for sure. I'm not getting a ton of the tropical fruits though. The dank onion and garlic flavors are so strong in this beer. While there is a bit of that tropical fruit, it's very subtle. This beer finishes very dry, with a lot of lingering dankness....

Speaking of lingering... it's been a few minutes since my last sip and I feel like I've eaten onions. It's not horrible or anything, just very... dank. I can't really think of another word to describe it.

Overall, this beer is ok at best. It's not bad by any means. I've had fresher tasting IPA before. I like the idea of an "Enjoy By" beer. Stone is notorious for hoppy beers. This is certainly no different. Unfortunately I can't compare it to the other Enjoy By beers to see how they changed over the last 6 months or so. Stone makes incredible beers and compared to the Stone beers I've had, I'd say this drops the ball a bit.

Rating: C+ B-

Wife hated it. Not worst she's had but definitely up there.