Chocolate Milk Time!

Alright people,

Well, I know it's been a long time since my last blog post, but beer is still beer, and I'm here to talk about it, and a few other things.

First, the Reds failed miserably in their postseason game, and I'm finally over it now that they fired Dusty and hired a new manager. The Cardinals lost in the World Series, and subsequently gave me much relief.

Goose Island released their Sisters this past week. There were two new ones, Gillian and Halia, to go along with Lolita and Juliet. If you don't know, Lolita and Juliet are wild ales that are both considered sours. Gillian and Halia are farmhouse ales that are aged in wine barrels with strawberries and peaches respectively. I was able to run down a Juliet and a Halia. I had the opportunity to purchase the other two, but at a fairly high markup, so I skipped.

On to the beer of the night; 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout. 4 Hands has become somewhat of a consistent brewery appearing on this blog, and this beer is their seasonal for the fall. It combines two of my favorite styles, milk stouts and chocolate stouts. So let's take a look at this beer a little more closely.

This one starts off looking big and black in the glass with a somewhat sizable head. Lacing on this one is very good. The scent and taste of this one is pure chocolate; semisweet for most of the smell and drink, but still sweet enough to provide a very distinctive flavor. Light in alcohol and fairly high in carbonation, this beer is a little out of norm for me for stouts, as I like imperials, but that makes it very drinkable. Check out my full review here.

Overall, I liked this beer. Chocolate milk in a beer? Yes please. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

I Plead the Fifth!

Alright people,

First off, no, I didn't get arrested and need to plea the 5th in court. Sorry to those of you who were looking for that. But I did manage to pick up 2 of Dark Horse's Plead the Fifth Imperial Stout this past weekend, and that is a reason to celebrate.

This beer has been sort of under the radar for me. Dark Horse is in such limited supply around here that I figured I wouldn't have the chance to get any. Then this past Saturday, a tweet from my beer store said they had all 5 of the Dark Horse Stout offerings. I wasted no time in going there to grab the limit of 2 of these bad boys. Now let's get to the beer.

Starting off, this one poured as thick as I have ever seen a beer pour. It literally looked like I was pouring used motor oil into my snifter. Anyway, other than the overall thickness of this one, the huge, dark malty scent also hit me right off the bat. One of the strongest smelling beers I've had, this one sought to destroy your nostrils with coffee, chocolate, and big, roasted malt flavors. At first taste, I was almost instantly reminded of Stone's Imperial Russian Stout. That is probably my favorite, non-barrel aged stouts, and this one compares well. Flavor profile was very similar to its strong smell. Also, this beer is 12% ABV, but it really doesn't show it except for a slight warming sensation as it goes down. Anyway, here's the full review. I recommend trying this ASAP if you can find some.

In other news, if you notice Mr. Gnomes longing for a sip of beer, I'm less than 3 weeks away from being in Arizona for the Reds spring training. I believe there are only 2 days until the first game this spring, and frankly, I can't wait for baseball to be back. It means warm weather, sunny days on the ball field, and nights under the lights watching some great baseball. I love college basketball and March Madness, but nothing really fills the sports void like some good old hardball.

Well, that's it for tonight. Look for my next post this weekend. Probably get back around to talking about a New Glarus fruit beer. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris

Homebrew Time!

Alright people,

Today we have a very special edition of the blog; it's my first homebrew experience. Turns out that a friend of mine got into homebrewing recently, and gave me the privilege of tasting two of his beers. Jason gave me a red ale and an oatmeal stout. The red he admitted was not his favorite, but the stout comes highly touted. Both ring in at about 4% to 4.5% ABV. Let's get to 'em...

First for the red. Off the bat, pouring this one, you could tell it was a homebrew. As you can see in the picture, no head, and barely even any bubbling. It's a given then that this one has no lacing. I love a good looking beer, but I also don't put a lot of stock into a beer's appearance either. As for the smell, this one is pretty fragrant for a low ABV red. Big sweet malt notes on the nose with slight brown sugar presence. The other big flavor in the scent is a traditional bready flavor of a red. This one almost smells like bread dough.

On to the main event; taste. Very similar to the nose, this red ale sports a big bread-like flavor throughout. Some hints of some caramel malt flavors are in there, but secondary to the bready flavor. A metallic flavor also is present, I believe from the low ABV and thin feel of the beer. The feel of this one is light and thin, with a low amount of carbonation. That being said, it would be great for an afternoon of watching college basketball, like now.

Now for the stout. Off the bat, I have higher hopes for this beer. It pours more actively, with about a 1 finger head. In addition, it retains a thin film on the top and laces decently. It's deep, dark brown in color, with some noticeable red hints in the light. The nose on this one is weak, but has some good things going on. Some dark malts, but nothing overpowering, in addition to sweeter notes and caramel malt too.

As for taste, this one is solid in the low ABV stout area. Starts with a lighter malt profile that gives a slight flavor profile of soy sauce. This is somewhat common for stouts, but then it moves into some darker flavors. Dark, roasty malts begin to dominate the flavor after the initial lighter tones. Towards the end, there is a slight metallic flavor, similar to the one in the red ale, and if I had to guess, I'd say it's from a common yeast strain. As for the feel of this one, it's very smooth, thanks to the oatmeal. Appropriate level of carbonation for a lighter stout compliments the flavor profile.

Jason asked for me to leave some feedback on these, so I'll give my impression, and (very limited) advice on how to fix it. Overall, I'd say the red ale is decent, but needs some work. First, I think it needs to carb up some more. With a lighter alcohol beer, a higher level of carbonation is almost necessary to provide a crisp feel. Right now, the flavor of this one is not bad. Standard bread heavy flavor of a red, like Fat Tire, is about average. Personally, I would tinker with the recipe and add some more caramel malt, or maybe even a little darker malt, maybe for a porter. I like big, roasty reds. I think if this one has a bigger malt bill, the low carbonation becomes a non issue. If this was my first batch of homebrew, I'd be damned proud, so by that measure, I judge this a win. 

The stout is a bigger win in my book. It's dark, flavorful, and drinkable. If I were to change one thing about this beer, I would just strengthen up the malt bill. I like big stouts best, and that's what I can envision this becoming. That being said, in it's current state, I would reclassify it as an oatmeal porter. It's really just a wording change, but I think it fits the beer better. This is a great beer for a 2nd batch of homebrew. I could drink this in mass quantities.

On the whole, if I had to rate these beers, on the Beer Advocate scale, I'd give the red a 2.6/5 and the stout a 3.5/5. The red isn't bad, it just isn't up to par with others in the style. But the stout, it can handle it's own. For an easy drinking stout, it's damn good. A big thanks to Jason for giving me the chance to try these. I think he's working on a java stout and a vanilla porter now, and frankly, if they exhibit the promise the stout does, I like where they will end up.

Until next time, maybe start homebrewing, or find a friend who does and give their beers a try, cheers!

-Chris

Mid-Week Update

Alright people,

It's a Wednesday and I don't have a lot to do, so it's beer blogging time. Tonight, we're taking a look at a beer I've passed up a bunch of times, but finally decided to pick up at the liquor store; Boulevard's Dark Truth Stout.

Boulevard is one of those breweries that I've never had a real thing for, but then again, I've only have a few of their beers. Love Child #2 was pretty good, but other than that, I've only had their wheat, which is pretty standard. Anyway, this stout is touted on the label as a beer with "roasted English malts" and Belgian yeast. Having not had a Belgian stout (at least in recent memory), here we go!

This stout starts off with an alluring scent of mostly chocolate and coffee notes, providing a balanced, bitter and somewhat sweet profile. At first sip, this one is just the same as its smell, but things quickly change after that. The Belgian yeast provides a dark fruit flavor profile that is promised on the label. Normally, I don't go for that quality in a stout, but this is different. The fruit flavor profile isn't overpowering, and instead of progressing into an anise flavor, it stays steady with a plum-like flavor. It's interesting to say the least. This beer ends with a slight roasted malt and coffee bitterness. On the whole, this is a good beer that I probably shouldn't have passed up so many times before at the store. Here's the full review.


In other news, you may have notices Gnomes the Reds Gnome peeking into the corner of the picture. Only 26 (or 27) more days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. I'm especially excited for this year's training because I'll actually be there for the first time in about 8 years!

Also, I'm starting to open this blog up to a few more things in the future. You guys may have seen that I've included cooking posts before, and I'm hoping to include more in the future. Also, I've discovered some wines that I like, so I may include some wine-centric posts in the future too. Any suggestions for food dishes or wines I may like are welcome and encouraged! As always, feel free to suggest or chime in with any thoughts to improve the blog. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris