Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte XXV

Hey gang! Time for another beer review. It's been a long week and I'm going to have a really, really long day tomorrow at work. So, wanting to forget that, I've decided to crack something open a little "early" if you would.

Tonight I'm drinking the 25th Birthday Reserve from Deschutes. That's right, I'm drinking the Black Butte XXV. Now I say "early" because this has a best after date of 6/10/14. Yeah, this beer is so legit they're telling you not to touch it for a year. Well, I laugh at their directions. But seriously, I've heard this is great now. So I picked up two bottles. One to sit on for a year and this one. So let's get this one opened. I'm seriously stoked to drink this.

The XXV is an 11.3% Imperial Porter brewed with dates, figs and cocoa nibs. Then if that wasn't enough, they put 50% into bourbon barrels and 12.5% received a little black currant treatment. Yep. Just a great sounding beer. Enough intro. Let's rock!

XXV poured out a nearly pitch black. I'm kidding, this beer is dark as night. Maybe the slightest bit of mahogany at the bottom of the glass but frankly, I think that's just my mind/eyes playing tricks on me. I poured pretty aggressively because honestly, I wanted to show this beer who was boss. The XXV responded by kicking me in the face with 2 fingers of khaki head, very fluffy with a lot of tight bubbles. A decent retention time leaves behind a really nice soapy lacing. This beer isn't fucking around. Let's get the nose.

Wow! First thing I get hit with is a massive amount of chocolate covered raisin and fig. Very rich smelling. The fig smells like it's been hit with a touch of booze. Oh, surprise! It's the bourbon coming through. Lots of vanilla and caramel sweetness. There's a little bit of alcohol on the nose which is doing it's best (and failing) to mask the tart black currants. That's right, you can smell the currants on the nose. It's subtle but plays really nicely off the chocolate, vanilla, caramel sweetness. There's a bit of a dark chocolate, almost bakers chocolate on the nose, probably from the nibs. Reminds me a bit of a piece of chocolate cake. Just a really, really great smelling beer. I'm ready to throw down. Let's do some drinking!

Yep. Follows the nose to a T. Big chocolate covered raisins. A lot of caramel sweetness, vanilla, booze, a nice sort of bourbon sweetness. A little bit of alcohol on the back end. You get a nice little pop of black currants on the sides of the palate and a bit on the back end. That cocoa nib character is a little more subdued than it is on the nose. You get a nice cocoa after taste but it's not really as noticeable anywhere else. But seriously, who gives a shit? Everything else going on with this beer is just a masterpiece. As it warms up I get a ton of date/fig character. Very chewy and sweet. The caramel and vanilla sweetness in this thing is really nice.

So overall, Black Butte XXV is simply amazing. Everything plays so well off each other in this. Even though there's a touch of alcohol it's not taking away from the beer. This beer is made to be consumed a little less than a year from now. I'd be interested to see how the black currants do with some age. They are noticeable throughout this beer. Will they provide more of a sour bite to the beer? Maybe. They could completely fade out. Either way, get two bottles of this. Drink one now. Drink one a year from now. So worth the price tag of $16. You won't be disappointed and honestly if you are, you might have some issues. Another awesome beer from Deschutes!

Rating: A+

Stone Brewing Co. - Götterdämmerung IPA (17th Anniversary IPA)

Hey guys. It's Sunday night and tonight's beer review is a little bittersweet. If you're a fan of craft beer then I'm sure you heard the news about the accident at Stone Brewing on Saturday 8/24. I thought it was only fitting to drink a Stone beer in honor of the Stone family member who lost their life.

So tonight I'm drinking the 17th Anniversary IPA from Stone, their Gotterdammerung IPA. This is a 9.5% abv DIPA that is brewed with German hops and Pilsner malt. Seems totally different than most the other hop bombs Stone is known for. So let's get this one opened and do some drinking.

The Gotterdammerung pours out a nice golden color. A bit darker than a Pilsner. Completely see through with a little bit of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger of a foamy white head. Good retention time and a nice frothy lacing left behind on the glass. This looks like a very refreshing IPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is a nice earthy, floral hop bitterness. There's some hints of lemon peel, bitter grapefruit, pine and maybe some ripe peach like characters. I'm picking up some nice grassy notes. But really the floral notes are very much the highlight here. Big and in your face bitterness. Definitely not what I was expecting from this one after what I read about it. I was expecting more of those Pilsner characters. There's a sweet, almost caramel like sweetness lingering about. This is really just a great smelling IPA. Let's see how this one tastes.

Wow. First thing on the Gotterdammerung is a big citrus note. Big orange, tangerine like characters. That's immediately followed up by a big floral bitterness. Earthy, maybe slightly spicy. I swear there's almost like a rye spice in here. Sides of the palate there's that ripe peach juice that just floods the jowls. Back of the palate you get more of that citrus. Grapefruit, lemon bitterness. This beer finishes incredibly dry. For 9.5% there's next to no hint of alcohol. It is so well masked making this a very dangerously drinkable beer.

As the beer warms a bit you get more of the alcohol warmth down the chest. You also get more lemon and lemongrass notes. Very surprising beer and very good.

So overall, this is just an awesome beer. Great hops, great mouth feel. Everything about this beer is fantastic. Stone once again knocks this one out of the park. Get this if you can. It should be available but consider it very limited. Probably a good chance this is the only time we'll see it unless enough of us request it be put back into production.

Rating: A+

Cheers to Stone and cheers to the Stone family during this most difficult time.

AleSmith Brewing Company - Old Ale

I'm sorry. No really, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me! I haven't updated in a while and I don't really have an excuse. I have been busy but honestly, I haven't really been drinking anything mind blowing. But alas, that changes tonight!

I've had this for a month or so in my fridge and I've been absolutely waiting for the day I crack it open and get some Old Age goodness into me. Oh, I spoiled it... as if the title didn't spoil it for you. Unless you just ignore the title. That's entirely possible. I mean, I tend to skim things from time... no, all the time.

So yeah, tonight I'm drinking Old Ale from AleSmith. Yep. Ale-fucking-smith. So good. So amazing. They do no wrong. This is an 11% abv Old Ale. Yep, clever fucking name. No gimmicks needed. It's just an old fucking ale. DEAL WITH IT. OK, let's get this opened.

Old Ale pours out a really nice dark mahogany color with some deep ruby red along the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger to maybe a finger and a half of a creamy, thick, eggshell colored head. I didn't really pour too aggressively because I like to treat my beers like I like to be treated. Delicately. Like treasure. Like.. ok, I'm kidding. I just didn't want to spill any cause I'm paranoid. There's a very little amount of carbonation coming up from the middle of the glass. This looks a lot like a barleywine and I'm totally stoked about this. Let's get the nose!

Lots of caramel and brown sugar on the nose, like big and bold. Right behind that initial sweetness are a lot of dark fruits. Figs, raisins, dates. There's a nice amount of vanilla. A bit of alcohol. 11% would anyone be surprised by that? There's some sweet bread like type of smell. Maybe some kind of sweet pastry or a sticky bun. I'm stoked. This smells amazing. I'm going to do some drinking now. I'll be back.

Wow. Big caramel sweetness and vanilla sweetness. Very thick and sticky. A lot of brown sugar. There's a bit of a raisin character on the sides of the palate. When I say this is sweet, I'm not saying it is in a cloying way. This is incredibly balanced. You don't get a lot of alcohol burn but it definitely warms as it makes it's way down into the chest. Back of the palate as things linger a little you get some more fig like characters, more vanilla.

Overall, the Old Ale is fucking amazing. No really. AMAZING! This might be the best AleSmith beer I've had to date. Old Numbskull is way up there as well but this just, I don't know, this is just so good. If you can get this, definitely pick it up. I'd say get one now and get one or more to age. Drink one now, forget about the others. Definitely a sipper and definitely one to enjoy over time with someone you don't completely despise. Cheers to AleSmith!

Rating: A+

Port Brewing - Shark Attack Double Red Ale

So I know I'm a couple days late, but how awesome is Shark Week? Well, the answer is simple. It's fucking AWESOME!!

I meant to get a review of this up last week but I just got a bit too busy. So tonight I'm drinking a beer with Shark, and what we all hope to see during Shark Week, an attack. That's right, I'm drinking Shark Attack by Port Brewing Company in San Marcos, CA. This is a 9% Double Red Ale. So, I guess it's an Imperial Red ale, probably bordering on red IPA.

So let's cut to the chase and see how the Shark Attack tastes. Let's see if it really is worthy of being considered for Shark Week!

The Shark Attack pours out a really dark ruby red, mahogany color. There was a really fluffy egg shell colored head, about 2 fingers, maybe bordering on 3 fingers worth. The head didn't stick around very long and really didn't leave much lacing behind. There's a decent amount of carbonation coming up off the bottom of the glass. Shark Attack is pretty see through but there's a decent amount of haze on this one. This looks like a really nice Red Ale. Let's get the nose on the Shark Attack.

LOTS of malt character here. Quite a bit of caramel and maybe even some burnt sugar. There's a ton of hop bitterness here as well. Lots of earthy notes, and some floral qualities shining through. I'm getting some dark fruits also. A bit of dark raisin and even some date/fig like characters. Some nice grapefruit as it warms a bit. But honestly, this is a big, malty red ale. Double Red Ale definitely describes this beer well. I'm ready to see if this one has the bite it claims.

First thing I pick up is a lot of caramel malt. Very sweet. That's immediately followed up by a floral, earthy, grassy character. Very bitter. Sides of the palate there's more caramel sweetness paired up nicely with the bitter grapefruit I found on the nose. There's some sugary, bread-like characters coming through. This is very sticky. There's some syrupy, maybe peachy qualities. Unfortunately, not much of that raisin/date character. Not a ton going on. This is incredibly malty. Very, very sticky.

So overall, this is decent at best. It's genuinely a malt bomb. There's good bitterness as well but it's so overpowered by the sheer force of the malts here. This is honestly a syrupy mess. I'd say if you see this and it's cheap, check it out. Otherwise, probably worth avoiding. I've had this on draft before and it was much better (as most beers generally are) but from the bottle, it's a letdown. Not really worthy of Shark Week.

Rating: B-

Stone Brewing Company - Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout

WHEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATON!!!!!!!

Ok, now that I've got that out of the way I guess I should introduce tonight's beer or else that's just going to seem totally random. Tonight I'm drinking the 2nd most recent Stone collaboration beer. This is a beer brewed by Greg Koch (Stone), Drew Curtis (Fark.com) and Wil Wheaton (ST:TNG, Stand By Me, etc, etc Nerd, author... he does it all). This is an Imperial Stout brewed with pecans, wheat, rye and one quarter of this beer is aged in bourbon barrels.

Btw, this is my Beer of the Month for July. I know, it's a couple days late but oh well. Oh, this is also 13% abv and I believe is the strongest beer Stone Brewing has brewed up. So, it's a big fucking beer with a lot of interesting ingredients. I've had a bottle of this before but I wanted to revisit it again and really give a review. So, let's get into the w00tstout and see how it looks, smells, and tastes!

The w00tstout pours out a jet black. There's no light shining through. This is just a dark, black hole of an abyss. There was maybe a half a finger of beige/brown head which only formed because I did the most vigorous pour I've ever done. It dissipates very, very quickly and leaves behind very little lacing. A bit of a soapy film like texture to it but that's it. This is one big, intimidating looking beer. Let's get the nose on this one.

First thing is a quick waft of bourbon like booze and an immediate slap in the face of chocolate covered raisin. Dark fruits, figs, dates maybe even a slight plum character. I'm definitely picking up those pecans. This very much reminds me of a pecan pie, like bourbon soaked pecans baked into a pie. For only being a quarter aged in the bourbon barrels that character shines brightly. Lots of sweet vanilla, caramel. There's some subtle rye spice mixed in with the sweetness. I think the wheat is adding a bit of earthiness to the beer as well. But really, the stand out on the nose is the bourbon and pecans. As it warms there's a bit more alcohol shining through. 13% that shouldn't be a surprise. Alright, let's see how the w00tstout tastes!

Wow. This is such an excellent tasting beer. Right away there's that raisin character. Not as much chocolate as I picked up on the nose. Quite a bit of dates, fig adding a nice bit of chewiness. This beer just absolutely coats the entire mouth. Middle of the mouth and sides of the palate I get a lot of pecan and rye with that wheat. Seriously, it's like the aftertaste you get from eating a slice of pecan pie. Everything about this is awesome. Back end of the palate you get caramel sweetness. Lots of creaminess. The alcohol is only really noticeable for a brief moment as the beer hits the palate but then fades away quickly. Not much of a burn or heat as it goes down in the chest.

So overall, this is just a fantastic beer. For being 13% it's dangerously drinkable. The first bottle I had was a bit of a hot mess but this one is definitely bordering on perfection. I'd say pick up a couple and drink one fresh and age one for a bit to see how the flavors develop. I've got no complaints about this beer. Excellent collaboration from Stone, Drew and Wil.

Rating: A

Here's my wife giving the w00tstout a try! 

Stone Brewing Company - R&R Coconut IPA

Happy IPA day!

Honestly though, aren't most days IPA days? Especially in the Summer time? I know for me this time of year is pretty much 100% IPA all the time. Oddly enough, it's been pretty mild here temperature wise so far this summer, so a nice porter or even stout is good... Ok, I'm rambing. Sorry.

Tonight I'm drinking the latest collaboration beer from Stone. This is R&R Coconut IPA which is brewed in partnership with maybe my favorite local brewery, Rip Current Brewing Company, and home brewers and winners of the most recent Stone home brew competition, Ryan and Robert (hence the R&R). This is a 7.7% abv IPA brewed with coconut. So without further stalling, let's get this one opened up and see how it tastes.

R&R pours out a very nice golden color, very much see through with some subtle carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger of a foamy white head that really didn't stick around very long. The lacing isn't anything crazy. It's very soapy and thin. This looks like a pretty standard IPA. Nothing too crazy. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is some big tropical fruits, pineapple, mango. A lot of melon, cantaloupe, water melon, honeydew. There's some really nice caramel like sweetness behind those initial fruits. There's some floral, earthy bitterness. I'm not picking up a lot of coconut on the nose. Next to none. The melon character is very much dominating everything else on this one. This is a very sweet smelling IPA. Not a lot of crazy bitterness which seems to reign supreme in Stone IPAs. Let's see if we can pick up some of that coconut once we get to drinking.

Right away you get the melon characters. Cantaloupe, water melon, honeydew, etc. It's very strong and really tastes like I just ate a piece of fruit. A little bit of the caramel sweetness we picked up on the nose. Sides of the palate there's a ton of bitterness. This is definitely a Stone IPA! Lingering flavors in the middle of the mouth, more of the melon character. Back end this finishes pretty try, very clean finish. As the beer warms slightly I actually do get a bit of Coconut but it's incredibly subtle. I mean, if this wasn't called Coconut IPA I wouldn't think it's there.

So overall, I'm kind of torn. I had this on draft at the Brewery and I thought it was fantastic. Lots of coconut, not much bitterness. Was definitely a step away from the usual Stone beer. With that being said, from the bottle I think this sort of falls short. There's next to no coconut in this from the bottle. The hop variety is excellent. I definitely enjoy this for that more than anything. I'd suggest getting this on draft if you can and then try the bottle, or try the bottle but if you don't like it, give draft a chance. On draft this was excellent. Bottle, it's just an ok IPA.

Rating: B

Here's my wife trying the R&R at Stone this past Monday.