CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

Would have been more appropriate to have named it Bacchus Brown Ale - after all, Bacchus (a "rebadged" Dionysus from when Rome took over Greece) was the god whose portfolio included fermented beverages.

Yes, but apparently Bell's is going for a planetary theme over a run of seven beers. Once again, Pluto did not make the cut, it seems.

[Jester]

Sometimes half the fun of finding new beers is the hunt. Looking for something that's hard to find, trying new beers you've never had; even getting something that is terrible can be entertaining, as it's all part of the hunt. And the payoff? That occasional great beer, or even rarer beer that's simply a "revelation." And of course, trying new things with old friends, or making new fri ends in the process.

And sometimes, without even looking for it, you'll find something you weren't even looking for, that you weren't expecting. Sometimes the story of finding the beer is the story.

This story begins with my recent road trip vacation to Orlando and other parts of Florida. In the process, I hit some great bars and restaurants, and had to take a miss on some others I'd wanted to go to. One I absolutely had to go to was the World of Beer in West Palm Beach, not only because it's really cool, but because it had been the only World of Beer I'd been to that wasn't credited on my loyalty account, as I went there before I ever got the loyalty card. This was my second WoB ever, but on my second trip to my first one, I finally signed up for the loyalty card, despite there not being a WoB in KW at the time. So my trip to WoB WPB was inevitable, and I ended up hitting it on my way back down the Florida coast, on my way to my friend's place in Fort Lauderdale. I figured I'd have one beer at the bar, and then take one unopened to go, something I'd done at several WoBs on my trip (in addition to picking up some beers on the mainland that I can't get in KW).

I settled into a lovely beer at the bar, and started looking through my WoB app to see what bottled beers they offered there in WPB. Found a few interesting ones, and then I stopped dead, not believing my eyes, because according to the app, WPB had Left Hand's Fade to Black, Volume 3. Left Hand, a great brewery out of Colorado, had been doing the Fade to Black series for some years, and it was always some kind of cool dark beer project they'd try their hand at. I first found out about it when they were already into Volume 4, and since then, I'd had both Volumes 5 and 6. (One was a pepper porter, one a black rye, and the other one I don't quite remember.) But here, against all odds, the app was telling me they had Volume 3. I didn't know if Left Hand had reissued Volume 3, or if this was a lucky chance find, or if the app was wrong. So I asked the bartender if they really had it in. She went to check, and brought me back a bottle, saying that that was all they had. And I looked at it....

...and damn near dropped the bottle. It wasn't a Volume 3. It was a Volume 1. I pointed this out to the bartender, and she asked if that was a big deal. Yes. Yes it was. I asked her to check to see which Volumes they had. She came back a bit later and told me they had several bottles, but they were all Volume 1s, and did I want that one? No. No, I didn't want that one. I wanted four. To go. Bonus: WoBs give a nice little 30% discount on what they call retail beers, i.e., unopened bottles the customer takes with them.

Amusingly, the discrepancy between the app and the actual bottle went further....on my check and in the system, it appeared as a Volume 4. Go figger.

So, Left Hand Brewing, Fade to Black, Volume 1, Foreign Extra Stout (8.5% ABV). Black in appearance, of course. This one was easy. Not just because of the stout style, but because, duh, it's in the name. Lol! Malty, coffeeish nose. Very pleasant. Not as bitter as many foreign export stouts, but the coffee note is definitely present, well-balanced by the toasted maltiness and hint of rich mocha. Definitely a really awesome beer. Easily an 8.0.

[Victory Sabre]

Beaver island Brewing Sister City Alt.

Today is the first day it's been tapped, so I am one of the first to try it.

Nice dark amber color, minimal head. kind of a fruity nose to it. reminds me a lot of a sour.

Taste: well, it's bland. not much flavor to it. it is ok, but nothing too much to write home about. 4.5 out of 10.


EDIT:

Just read the story Jester, and HOLY COW! What a very lucky find, and I will have to look for the Fade to Black beers around here.

[wolfie]

Yes, but apparently Bell's is going for a planetary theme over a run of seven beers. Once again, Pluto did not make the cut, it seems.

Let's see: planetary theme, seven beers, Pluto not being one of the names. Since Earth wouldn't seem exotic, my guess is that one of the beers in the series would taste like shit.

[dalesys]

... one of the beers in the series would taste like shit.

Or piss. How sick was the horse, anyway?

[wolfie]

Dalesys, I'm shocked that you didn't get the reference. The "Uranus" beer would definitely taste like shit, not piss.

[dalesys]

Not if you use the correct pronunciation...

[Victory Sabre]

After another long day working, including dealing with the health inspector's annual visit (passed with flying colors), it's time for a new beer.

Skull Splitter from the Orkney Brewery. 8.5% ABV.

Since this beer says it's had 5000 years in the making, I am hoping it's good.

Dark amber in color, with a slight head. I smell lots of malts on the nose.

Taste : really smooth going down. There's a slight sweetness to it, but not obnoxious. A fairly easy drinking beer, and one that could get you in trouble, because it is so easy to drink them.

7.5 out of 10.

[Jester]

I LOVE Skullsplitter!

And I am now about to go open my 100th new beer of the month, not counting any beers I've repeated from previous months.

For the year, once I've had this one, I will have had 320 unique beers on the year, putting me on a pace for 984 unique beers for the year. Of course, it will get tougher and tougher to find unique beers as the year goes on, but I'm encouraged by my progress.

Also, of the 320 unique beers, 143 are new beers, beers I tried for the first time ever when I first tried them this year. Not too damn shabby, if I do say so myself.

[Jester]

And I am now about to go open my 100th new beer of the month...

And apparently I'm an idiot that can't actually count.

Going through my monthly lists today, for amother reason, I realized that in April I had actually only done 90 new beers, not 100. Still impressive, and still my record for a month, but still off from what I'd said.

So, how did I screw up and miscount by 10? Apparently, in my April list, I'd gone from 50 to 61. Whoops!

In any case, I've correxted it.

Also, of the 320 unique beers, 143 are new beers...

That being said, through April, I am still through 320 unique beers. And after realizing the April discrepancy, I went through my monthly lists closely, and realized they were off as well. One month was 3 over, one 3 under, and iand amother was 4 under. Which means I have actually had 147 new beers this year that I'd never had before.

[Victory Sabre]

Well, I am no where near Jester for numbers of unique beers, and new beers for the year, but, tonight, I am on unique beer # 146 for the year. Sincs I am headed to New Ulm tomorow this beer feels right.

Stag Series #9 Cave-Aged Barel-Aged Lager from Shell's Brewery - 7.7% ABV

A little history.

Before refrigeration, breweries stored their beers underground to keep them cold and fresh. Sitting on the Minnesota River, there are caves part of the Schell Brewery grounds. When refrigeration came along the caves were abandoned. Recently they decided to put them to use again to make this beer. This is also their first Stag Series release in over a year. With their expansio off site, for their Noble Star beers, hopefully they can do the Stag Series more often.

Now to the good part.

As I pour it into my Grain Belt Nordeast glass, I notice it is pitch black, and pours like 10w30 oil. It hs a frothy head that dissipated fairly fast. I get some of the barrel on the nose.

Taste : you get the smoothness of he barrel in the taste. You also get the hint of whiskey in the beer. Not a whiskeyfan, but this flavor is pretty good. It amps up the lager taste, and that is a good thing.

7 out of 10

[Victory Sabre]

Ok, for the next one- yes the last one went down fast.

XLCR American Pale Ale from Excelsior Brewing Company 5.8% ABV 50 IBU and 14 OG

So far, if you've been keeping track, I haven't had good luck from this company. Their beers have been sub par, at best. So I am hoping for something better.

Golden in color, though with qmber hues also. Mildly frothy head. No nose.

Taste : of the 3 beers I've had, this, by far, is the best. Nice flavor to it. Not too hoppy, but a bit of hops in it. Not bad. Probably a good beer to drink on a nice hot day, damn, should have saved it for tomorow when it will be in he 80's (about bloody time).

6 out of 10

I will get this beer again.

EDIT:

Some good news for those of us in Minnesota, a bill was signed into law today allowing for brewpubs to sell Growlers on Sunday. We still can't go to a liquorstore on Sunday, but this is big for me. I, in theory, get a day off every other Sunday. I will, aassuming that they want to be open, be able to visit Minnesota breweries soon.

I am happy, but I will, also, still, be visiting the Wisconsin ones I like.

[wolfie]

A little history.

Before refrigeration, breweries stored their beers underground to keep them cold and fresh.

Top-fermented beers (such as ale) are more tolerant of warm weather than bottom-fermented beers - since beer is generally served at the temperature at which it was fermented, this is why Germans drink cold beer and Brits drink warm beer (Lucas making refrigerators has nothing to do with it).

"Lager" is derived from the German verb "to store". It's a variety of beer intended to be stored (rather than drunk immediately) so that people would still have beer available during the warm months when the yeast that worked at the bottom of the vat was unreliable (and Bavaria prohibited brewing beer when it was too warm to brew properly). When the weather cooled down in the fall, Bavarians celebrated the first legal brew of the season - this is the origin of Oktoberfest.

[Victory Sabre]

You are correct wolfie. I should have added the word some to my statment.

[Victory Sabre]

Time for a quick flight at the Montgomery Brewing Company.

#1 Northside Blone Ale nice golden color with a frothy head. a sweet nose to it. taste: nice amount of sweetness, with a slight bit of hops. 5.5 out of 10

#2 Flag Street: American Pale Ale. darker golden than the Northside. similar head. no nose to it. taste: not as hoppy as the last one, surprisingly. not bad and easy drinking. again 5.5 out of 10

#3 The Chief Beer: American Pale ale. slightly less amber than you would think, not too much head. no nose that I can smell. taste: hello. I like this amber ale. Like killian's, but better. 6 out of 10

#4 Shelterbelt: Brown Ale. Yes it is brown, but not overly so. minimal head. no nose. taste: oh, baby. this is an awesome representation of a brown ale.it has a nice full flavor, that just fits together well. 7 out of 100

#5 Double IPA - 8%abv and 71 IBU. As for our regular readers, I love IPAs. amber colored.some head. nice hops onthe nose. taste: hello baby! this IPA is very well balanced. wow. just an awesome flavor, and I would guess non IPA fans might also like this beer. 8 out of 10

#6 Kolsh-Style golden. minimal head no nose. taste: well, kinda sweet, maybe a little too much so for me. not bad but not the best. 5.5 out of 10.

Now I have to decide between the Double IPA and the Shelterbelt. this is not going to be easy.