CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

Speaking of exploration....

Another in Bell's Brewing's planet series, it's Saturn, "The Bringer of Old Age," a beer aged in oak bourbon barrel casks.

Rich, reddish brown color, with very little head. Smooth, bourbony nose. Smooth, rich, unquestionably bourbon-laced taste. Considering the 11.5% ABV, this could be a very dangerous brew, because it is delicious. It is, however, decidedly unsubtle in its liquor taste, which may help slow one down to just sipping this. May.

Score: 8.0.

[Victory Sabre]

Conrocation Tea stout from Lupine Brewing.

Light amber in color with no head. The nose smells like tea.

Taste : the tea is very noticeable, but not overpowering. You almost don't even thinking you're drinking beer. Not bad, and I am glad I got a howler of it

7 out of 10

[Victory Sabre]

Hmmmm, another Lupine beer

O'Phelan Irish Ale

Nice deep amber color, with a ton of thick frothy head. I do get some malt in the nose.

Taste: nice. Nice smooth drinking beer. Really not much to say other than it is good. Glad I got a howler of it. 6.5 out of 10

Something that I forgot to mention: Lupine Brewery has a special on their howlers and growlers. If you get mutiple ones, you get a discount. I got 4. I was the first person to get 4 howlers, so they took my picture, and put it on their FB page. Yes, my ugly mug is runining their page.

[Victory Sabre]

17-7 Pale Ale from Castle Danger Brewing.

Nice golden color. thick head. hoppy nose.

Taste: nice. decent hop bite, but nothing too outrageous. nice go to beer. 6.5 out of 10

[Victory Sabre]

Cypress Blanc from Shell's Brewing. this beer is part of their Noble Star Series.

Almost white in color, with no head. somewhat of a sweet nose.

Taste: very interesting Berliner Weisse. There's a shit ton of fruit flavors in this beer. really hard to describe beyondgood. I have never seen the Noble Star beers on tap before, so I was shocked to see this tonight. Iit might be a beer better for a nice sunny 80 F day. sadly it isn't anywhere that hot today (it barely got above 50F)

7 out of 10.

[Victory Sabre]

Detour DIPA fro Uinta Brewing Company - 9.5% ABV

Holy head, and tons of it. Light amber colored. Fairly standard IPA nose.

Taste : once I get through the head, I get a ton of hops flavor. Really bitter, really good. There really isn't much else to say. It's good, but fairly standard for an IPA.

6.5 out of 10.

[wolfie]

Something that I forgot to mention: Lupine Brewery has a special on their howlers and growlers. If you get mutiple ones, you get a discount. I got 4. I was the first person to get 4 howlers, so they took my picture, and put it on their FB page. Yes, my ugly mug is runining their page.

Just curious, but what's the difference between a howler and a growler? My machine's too ancient to access FB - in the picture on their page, is your mug full of beer?

[Victory Sabre]

Howler 32 oz growler is 64 oz.

[Victory Sabre]

I got a big surprise at work today - a customer brought a case of beer in for me. This isn't any old beer it is a case of Yuengling Summer Wheat. The closest to Minnesota that you can get it is in Ohio. So, yeah, we all know what's going to happen tonight, a review of said beer.

Nice golden coloer, and a thick head. The nose is very wheat smelling.

Taste : oh, boy! Yep, nice smooth flavor. A very good beer in the Weizen style. Last summer I reviewed the Schell's Weizen beers, and this one is similar to the #4 which was just slightly better than their #1 1984. I believe that I gave it a 8 out of 10, and I will do the same for this beer.8 out of 10.

[Jester]

Yuengling Summer Wheat

Easily the best product I've tasted from Yuengling, though I don't know that I would score it as highly as you did. Damn tasty.

[Jester]

And now I need to post some notes on beer that I wrote on my iPad, but never actually posted here, for various reasons, mostly that I am a forgetful idiot.

4/30/15:

Hoppin' Frog Brewing Karminator Imperial Dopplebock Lager (9.3% ABV). HF is an interesting brewery. I've only ever had two of their brews, their B.O.R.I.S. The Crisher, a Black Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout (hence the name), which is utterly brilliant, and their Outta Kilta, their Scottish Ale, which is.....not brilliant. So this beer will decide for me whether I think HF is a one trick pony, or whether they actually can brew some good beers.

Reddish brown, like a dark brick color. Sweet nose, with maybe a hint of malt. Surprisingly delicious. I expected from the nose that I wouldn't like it, but while it is a bit on the sweet side, it is still quite tasty. Sort of like a brown meeting a red. Not a bad hybrid. And pretty much explains the name, which seems initially like a strange hodgepodge of various beer styles. Again, it is a touch sweet, but I think the beer works. Since it comes in a big bomber bottle, as all HF products I've seen do, I'll have plenty of time to decide if my initial conclusions are correct.


5/10/15:

Courtesy of our friend Victory Sabre, I have a big bomber bottle of Hot Box, an imperial smoked pepper porter from Indeed Brewing Company in Minneapolis (9.0% ABV).

Dark reddish brown with a decent tan head. The nose gives the most delicious aroma of smoky pepper spice. I just had some killer chili at a barbecue place last night, and the nose reminds me of what that tasted like. And the nose is not an empty promise. The taste is smoky, malty, with a good but sensible dose of pepper spice. Delicious sipping beer. 7.0.


From North Coast Brewing in California, it's Old Stock Ale Cellar Reserve 2013, an ale aged in bourbon barrels to an obnoxious 14.1% ABV. Good thing I have no plans of going out!

Very dark reddish brown in color. It has a huge bourbon nose, very liquory. Oh boy. This could be dangerous. It is smooth and tasty, and tastes like a tastier version of what would happen if you poured a shot or two of bourbon into an ale. Not for novices or those that are easily scared off. This will be a great accompaniment to my my viewing of tonight's Game of Thrones episode! A scary 8.0.


5/16/15:

Shiner Brewing's Haymaker Extra Pale Ale (4.5%), the sixth in their Brewer's Pride Craft Brew Series. Dark golden color with short white head. Nose that is both hoppy and sweet. Odd. Well balanced pale ale. Not very hoppy at all, as one would expect from an extra pale ale, but very tasty, very drinkable, and very enjoyable. 6.5.

[Jester]

From 4/1/15:

When he came down to Key West, Vic brought me a few presents. Of the liquid variety, of course. This is one of them.

From Bank Brewing Company in Minnesota, it's Smoke Bomb (6.8% ABV). I love smoky beers, when done right, but many of them just aren't done all that right. So I hope I like this, because it's a BIG bottle. But as always, I will be honest with my review, and not blow any smoke up Vic's ass. (Couldn't resist the pun. Sorry.)

Pours sort of like a thin motor oil. Not a bad start. Black with no head, and clearly a thin body. Subtly smoky nose. Less than the offerings from Aecht, more than a lot of other smoke beers. Light body, very light in the mouthfeel, malty with a slight effervescent quality, and a good, restrained but present, tasty smoke to it. Very tasty. Smoky enough to appeal to people seeking out this kind of beer, but also restrained and mellow enough to appeal to those who might not normally try a smoke beer. And it goes really well with my maple bacon potato chips. (Yes, seriously.) I give it a solid 6.5.


In keeping with the smoky theme, I've got another smoke beer. Or, as they call it in Germany, a rauchbier. Though this one is not from Germany, but--ready for this?--Utah. From Uinta Brewing in Salt Lake City, this is Crooked Line Tinder Rauchbier (6.5% ABV). And once again, a big ole bottle of it (750 ml, to be exact--an entire fifth! Or if you prefer, 25.4 oz), so I hope to hell it's tasty.

Much lighter in color than the last one, Tinder is a medium caramel color. The nose is smoky, more so than Smoke Bomb, far less than any Aecht. Caramelly taste, with definite smoke. Basically like drinking a smoked caramel, if that makes sense. And if it doesn't, well, I don't know what to tell you. Nice balance of caramel maltiness, beefiness, and smokiness. Tasty, for sure. Very drinkable. It will go well with my viewing of "Unforgiven." Where deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it. Another 6.5.

[Victory Sabre]

My aunt (mom's older sister) passed away early this morning at the age of 88. I will miss aunt Lucille. My mom's family are Germans from Russia, and I think I should honor that heritage by drinking a Russian beer

Baltika Grade 9 Extra Lager - 8% ABV. Made in St. Petersburg Russia.

Very light golden in color, with a bit of head. The nose smells like a lager smell, hard to describe beyond that.

Taste: Very light in flavor, and goes down smoothly. Really not too much to it, flavor wise, but what is there, I do like a lot. The Russians did a good job with this beer. I would buy this again.

7 out of 10

[Victory Sabre]

Now to honor the German.

Spaten Optimator - 7.6%ABV

Dark amber colored. Thicker head. Not much of a nose

Taste: Very interesting. It is a fairly dark beer. Kind of has a sweetness to it. Very interesting. Not bad, and worthy of a 6.5 out of 10.

[Jester]

Baltika Grade 9 Extra Lager

The Russians did a good job with this beer. I would buy this again.

Baltika has some wonderful beers. I've had many of their offerings, and have not had a bad beer yet.