Happy Valentine's Day to me...

Founders Brewing Co. Imperial Stout

Pairing up a Founder's Brewing Company Imperial Stout with some Taza Stone Ground 70% Cacao Chipotle Chili chocolate. Happy Valentine's Day to me. Do you have anything special on the beer menu tonight?

10.5 % abv. 90 IBU's  Pours ridiculously dark black with one of the darkest heads I have ever seen on a beer. Smells like what I can best describe as dark chocolate covered espresso beans. First sip is all coffee. Virtually no carbonation. Second sip is all coffee with a strong hop backbone. Third sip if followed quickly by a third, fourth, and fifth sip. I am definitely going to have to cellar a couple of these to see how they mellow. This is certainly a beer that grabs your attention. Full bodied with a syrupy but creamy mouthfeel. The dry, citrus hops begin to come forward about halfway through the glass. They use all kinds of malt in this beer and there are a variety of great flavors, from dark fruit to anise to even a touch of smokey oak. Amazing how long the flavors linger on the sides of the tongue and gums. How do you balance a 90 IBU hop bomb, you brew something with an amazing amount of malt. Mission accomplished on this one. Another great beer from Founders. Now if I can only get my hands on some Canadian Breakfast Stout.

Bring better beer to Mississippi...

Just got an email from some folks in Jackson, Mississippi that are looking to open up only the second production brewery in the state. They have some seriously strict laws that restrict beer production and distribution and they could use your help. I will let them speak for themselves, here is the email and be sure to click the link to learn more. Good luck down there!

First, I want to say thank you for being a voice for craft beer and for the little guys like us. We appreciate all that you do and your work is truly an asset for the craft beer community. 

Lucky Town Brewing Company is a new planned brewery in Mississippi, and although there is no brewery within 150 miles of Jackson, the craft beer community here is thriving. As many of you know, Mississippi suffers from some of the strictest beer legislation in the country, which is one reason why there is only one production brewery located in Mississippi currently. Since the laws do not allow for many to bring their beer to Mississippi, we at Lucky Town intend to give the local craft beer enthusiasts a broader choice. 

Lucky Town recently launched a Kickstarter project, and our goal is to raise at least $20,000 to help cover some of our up front costs such as license fees, insurance costs, keg expenses, and ingredients costs among others. We raised over $6,000 in the first 10 days, and with the support we have locally we feel confident that we can reach our goal. We need your help to reach those who haven't heard our story yet - please help us spread the word. 

You can find our Kickstarter page here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/luckytownbrew/lucky-town-brewing-company-be-bold-rediscover-beer

If you need any more information from us or if you would like to talk with us at Lucky Town, we would be more than willing to speak with you. For more information on our beers and bios, visit our website listed below in my signature. Feel free to follow us on twitter and facebook as well.

Again, thank you for all that you do.

Mystic descendant hits home...

7% abv. Brewed in my childhood hometown of Chelsea, MA. Pours dark brown almost black with a healhty four finger dark tan head. You can smell the molasses used in the brewing during the pour. After that it is all a beautiful Belgian yeast aroma with pepper, cloves, lemon -- maybe even a touch of dark chocolate. The beer is brewed with molasses, Belgian Renaud yeast, and American hops. Great carbonation with a dry finish. Has a very pleasant mouthfeel. Touches of stout, porter, and saison all wrapped into one. Dark fruits abound, including figs, raisins and plums. Candy sugar and some caramel. The carbonation just does not calm down on this one. Each pour is a foam filled yeast fest. This is a much better beer than their first release, the saison. Looking forward to more beers from this brewery.

Birch beer...

Colonial Ale Aged on Cedar 6.8% abv. Had this six months old. Pours to a crazy sudsy cauliflower head. Has a bit of a brettanomyces yeast funk. Interesting cedar notes give it a mild cask conditioned flavor. Insane Belgian lace. Just a touch of alcohol. Dark fruits, especially figs and a nice citrusy hop bite at finish. A decent beer, but probably not something I would go out of my way to find.

White Birch...RedStone

Thanks to Jeff, one of the handful of people that frequent this blog's comments section, I have a new favorite beer store. Ironically it is about a mile from my house, but I had not been there in years. It is called Redstone Liquors and the new owner Kamal knows his stuff and is genuinely friendly. It is great to see such a small place dedicate itself to quality products and great service. I am very troubled that I had no idea how good their selection is. I am sold and will be going back on a regular basis. I picked up a number of bottles, including a Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA to add to my brother's belated birthday beer bonanza bag. I also grabbed my first White Birch Brewing beer, Hooksett Ale, and it was a nice surprise:

Batch 10 - 7.5%abv. Pours a beautiful copper color with a frothy white head. Incredible Belgian lace clings to the glass all the way to the last sip. Interesting combination of flavors. First sip is ripe fruit and bready malt. Orange zest hops. Candy sugar and citrusy hop flavors become more noticeable toward the end for the glass. Caramel and the mildest touch of cloves from the Belgian yeast. The 7.5% alcohol is incredibly well-masked, so much so that this could be mistaken for a session beer. This is the first beer I have tried from this brewery and it is quite well done. Again, kudos to Redstone Liquors in Stoneham, MA for introducing me to this line. I had not seen it anywhere else.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Beer number 2001 in my database. 5.5% abv. Pours a rich ruby brown color. Milk chocolate, citrus, and juniper on the nose. First sip is totally balanced. Rich malt flavors with a piney sprucey hop flavor that just spells Christmas. Perhaps a touch drier than usual at finish, but this is a great seasonal session beer. Hop flavors dominate slightly, but dark dried cherries, some milk chocolate, cocoa, and bready malt flavors balance it off nicely. Orange zest, pepper, clove, and maybe nutmeg flavors release about mid-glass. Could be one of the most complex and flavorful lower alcohol beers that you will ever taste. I just love this beer. A case might not be enough this year.

Anybody else out there tried it yet, what do you think?

And then there were five...

9% abv. Batch 363 10/19/10. Cellared for over a year. This one exploded out of the bottle. I lost half of it on the countertop...and that is so disappointing. Pours dark brown with a white head. Cherry, clove, citrus and oak on the nose. First sip tells me Flemish sour ale meets Belgian dubbel on oak. Very interesting flavors. Medium bodied mouthfeel. Excessive carbonation but great drinkability. Dry at finish. Mild spicing quite noticeable at first but it gets stronger and stronger with each sip. Perhaps nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. This would pair exceptional well with a Christmas or Thanksgiving holiday dinner. Rich malt bill hides beneath the spicing and funky Brettanomyces yeast. Apple and berry fruit flavors get stronger with each sip as well as a touch of citrusy hops. Sneaky alcohol content. Oak is not as pronounced as expected, but the sour cherry flavors combine with the oak to give it a good complexity. Not the best beer I have tried from this exceptional brewery, but it is a solid effort.