CS Booze Club.

[Dentarthurdent]

Finally, not only should you use a dark rum for a Dark & Stormy, it should be a quality dark rum, preferably Gosling's Black Seal when possible, since that is the rum the drink was invented with.

I looked on Gosling's website and apparently the ONLY retailer in the entire country is in New York. Is this true? I know I've consumed their ginger beer before, but never remember seeing the rum itself.

[Jester]

Well, that can't be right, since I've seen their rum at plenty of retailer down here in Florida, which my knowledge of geography tells me is not in New York.

Now, I can't tell you where you can get in your area, since I am neither a representative for Gosling's nor in your area, but I can tell you that oftentimes one need merely ask the local (better) liquor store about a product, and said store will order it if they don't have it in stock.

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

I have recently tried THE TROOPER, a craft ale (an IPA, really) created with the collaboration of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden fame. Metal God, aircraft pilot, fencer... and beer expert. That man is made of awesome.

Anyway - a very palatable IPA, sweet-ish aftertaste... one of the best I have had recently, really!

I'm afraid it is not distributed in the USA yet, but apparently it will be relatively soon.

[fireheart]

Jester (and other beer afficionados), have you tried THIS?

[sms001]

have you tried THIS?

Not as yet. I seem to recall some DuClaw offerings (Bad Moon Porter rings a bell) at my shop back in Chicago, but nothing around here. If the peanut butter aspect is as mellow as it is in a Reeses, I would certainly drink one down, I'm sure.

Speaking of chocolate, while I do like many of the more offbeat beers, the desserty ones throw me, as I won't drink enough of one for the buzz, but I find it difficult to really pair them with any foods. That said, one I would drink just a bottle of, just for the taste, is Samuel Smith's (Yorkshire iirc?) Organic Chocolate Stout. Incredibly smooth and rich, and the chocolate neither bitter nor too sweet. Perfect after a light dinner in lieu of dessert.

[Jester]

Jester (and other beer afficionados), have you tried THIS?

Not yet. Don't think we get DuClaw in Florida, or at least not in the Keys. While I'm not a huge peanut butter fan*, I would definitely try it. Heck, I HAVE had Rogue's Voodoo Maple Bacon Donut beer, and think I even reviewed it on this very forum. Among other oddly flavored beers, like the white chocolate stout offered by one of the breweries back home in Arizona.

*I like peanut butter, just not a huge fan of peanut butter-FLAVORED things. Outside of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and regular peanut butter, can't think of much in this category I've had that I liked. Hate Reese's Pieces, hate peanut butter cookies, and not a huge fan of nutty liqueurs. But again, I'll TRY anything.

Samuel Smith's (Yorkshire iirc?) Organic Chocolate Stout. Incredibly smooth and rich, and the chocolate neither bitter nor too sweet. Perfect after a light dinner in lieu of dessert.

Ironically (or oddly or amusingly if you prefer), was just discussing this very beer. One of the World of Beer bartenders was just leaving, having finished one after his shift, and we started talking about it. I've been meaning to try it, as the bartenders here rave about it, and told him I'd probably have one before the end of the weekend. He advised me to pick up the pace, as they have trouble getting in as well as trouble keeping it in stock. They got in a case of it last Wednesday....they are down to their last four bottles. And based on their prior experience, he expects it to be months before they get it in again.

So perhaps a review of it here in just a bit. (And yes, I know, I need to post more of my reviews....after all, in their first 3.5 months of operation, I've had 275 different beers at WoB KW. I need to upload all those notes!)

[Jester]

And here's the aforementioned promised review, as I am drinking it right now!

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout (England, 5.0% ABV): Dead black in color, with a virtually nonexistent head. Gorgeous chocolate nose, rich and sweet but balanced and restrained. Holy crap, this is delicious! The perfect amount of chocolates goodness without being over the top obnoxiously sweet. My score: 8.5/10. Very high on my scale. Few beers get an 8 or higher from me.

And for this beer I feel the need to share an exchange I had with my bartender...

JESTER: "Holy crap!"
BARTENDER: "Do you like it?"
JESTER: "I'll say it again..."
TOGETHER IN UNISON: "Holy crap!"

[Jester]

New beer review!

To be fair, I have notes from a LOT of beers I've tried over the last few months (mostly at World of Beer KW), but they're all sitting in my phone, and I haven't gotten around to transferring them yet. But I will. I always do. (Today I hit my 300th--and 301st--different beer at WoB KW, and while some of them are ones I've tried and reviewed before, most are not....so I have a lot of reviews!)

Now, this beer has been sitting in my fridge for at least a year, probably closer to two. As I picked it up in Miami, and I know when I've been there. Also, this is a particular be that a guy I was talking to at WoB KW said was awesome, and as I've been getting into this style more and more lately, I'm pretty excited about it.

It's Saison Dupont, a Belgian Farmhouse Ale (6.5% ABV). And it's a big bottle, so I hope I like it!

The color is a light amber/gold, with a good white head, and it's very translucent, with a clarity I normally associate with ciders. The nose is interesting....very beery, but with a hint of spice. Interesting.

It's very effervescent...each sip produces a lot of carbonation in the mouth. The taste is light, but pleasant, similar to the nose. It's good, very different, and quite good, but by no means extraordinary. Honestly, despite what the guy told me, I've had better saisons. I've definitely had worse, but this is kinda middle of the road. I give it a 6 out of 10.

Hey....if nothing else, it will keep me occupied for tonight's True Blood episode!

[Jester]

New beer! And yes, it's another one that's been sitting in fridge two years, maybe more. Victory Twelve, from Victory Brewing in PA (12% ABV): this Belgian inspired ale (that's what the label says it is, and who am I to argue?) is a lovely brick reddish orange in color, with a delightful, fragrant, and sweet nose. The taste is a touch sweeter than I would like but that is the Belgian part, I guess. As I'm not usually a fan of most Belgian beers, not surprised that this is not so up my alley. It's sweet, bordering on cloying....but it doesn't quite cross that line, and is rather tasty, if I do say so myself. Goes really well with meat, as I just found out, drinking it with my second attempt at a lamburger, which went much, MUCH better than my first attempt last night. Good, very good if you like sweet Belgian ales, but for me, not quite great. 6.0.

[mjr]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this or not:

Root Beer Schnapps.

Tried some of this...and if you like root beer you could EASILY get hammered on it, because you'd drink the entire bottle if you didn't stop yourself (you almost forget it's alcohol, that's how much it tastes like Root Beer). To me, it tastes almost just like A&W Root Beer. Except it's Schnapps...and it's GOOOOOOD!!!

[sms001]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this or not:
Root Beer Schnapps.

'Roo-Bombs' (root beer schnapps boiler-makers) were our go-to 'custy buys you a shot' drink at Swank Bar. We probably went through a case the first month it came out, as we couldn't figure out what to do with it, then hit upon the beer drop idea. Then it was a case a week, then every three days... Them things was tasty! Distributer actually asked us what we were doing with it. We explained, and he was nice enough to give us a case - he explained that it had caught on all over town, mostly from us offering it up as reciprocals to bartenders from other bars.

A little on the sweet side to get hammered on/drink all night, but a couple of roo-bombs through the course of the evening were a tasty diversion. Although they're generally on the lower end of the quality spectrum, the one Dekuyper put out was pretty good, some johnny-come-latelys, not so much.

[Jester]

Root beer bombs, as SMS called them (or "roo-bombs," if I'm gonna be thoroughly accurate) are also known as "Root Beer Barrels." Just a shot of root beer schnapps dropped in a beer and slammed.

If any of you are ever in Key West, it's tradition to do these at the Green Parrot.

[Dentarthurdent]

Leinie's Summer Shandy

A friend of mine was nice enough to give me a build-your-own-six-pack from World Market for my birthday. I am just now getting to the Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (this may be an indication of how little I drink, since my birthday was the end of May, or it may be an indication that I've come to prefer Dark 'n' Stormies so much more than things that come in brown bottles).

I was hoping for something maybe kind of mild with a lemony finish, since it has "summer" in the name and lemons on the label. Now that I inspect it closer, nope. It's a weiss brewed with honey and they add lemonade flavor later. And it is quite possibly the most average beer I have ever consumed. It is averagely bitter, which means I am still drinking it. But I have to pick it up and sip it again to even remember the flavor profile. It's that forgettable. So I'm very glad my friend didn't buy me a six of this. She did bring me the yummy Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat I reviewed a month or so ago, so she gets points for that.

I can't taste the lemon at all. The bitterness covers it up. Unless I deliberately close my mouth and hold it for a few seconds after I take a sip, of course.

TL;DR: This beer is forgettable and uninteresting.

[SongsOfDragons]

I went out with my boyfriend's family this Wednesday, and we went to our usual pub in the middle of Winchester. Boyfriend's brother finds that a cider he really likes is being sold here so he gets some - and it comes in a nice tall glass and is a bright pink colour. O.o

I asked to try it, and I really liked it! It's unusual that I find an alcohol I like and I don't think I've found one until now that I will just drink a glass of without mixing it. We were in a pub in London after a trip to the BM yesterday and they were selling it too - so, mine.

I don't know if it's considered good, meh or urgh, but it was called Rekorderlig, specifically the Wild Berries flavour. ^^ It doesn't have the 'Alcohol punch to back of throat' effect that puts me off so much else; it's hard to discern the alcohol from the fizziness actually. The taste is very fruity as it should be I suppose. Going to look for more ^^

[Greenday]

Root beer bombs, as SMS called them (or "roo-bombs," if I'm gonna be thoroughly accurate) are also known as "Root Beer Barrels." Just a shot of root beer schnapps dropped in a beer and slammed.

If any of you are ever in Key West, it's tradition to do these at the Green Parrot.

The thing I hate about a lot of these "bombs" is that it usually involves chugging a whole beer. And I just don't like chugging down a good beer.

I discovered Blue Moon's summer ale, Agave Nectar Ale. Wanted a summer ale that tasted good, but not as fruity as most summer ales. Friendly store clerk led me to these and boy are they good.