174. Terrapin Moo Hoo Stout

Could you believe that I decided to go with this one with as simple an occasion as dinner?  Yup, I did it.  In my echelon of Terrapin greatness, Moo Hoo Stout < Wake N' Bake.  Still, I was really looking forward to enjoying this beer with dinner.  If I recall, I actually had breakfast for dinner and thought this would be a perfect compliment.

The beer was poured into a stemless brandy glass.  It poured a dark brown color with two to three fingers of tan head.  Great retention.  Lots of lacing on the sides of the glass.  A very attractive looking beer.  I could detect aromas of roasted malt, chocolate, brown sugar, something akin to Hershey's syrup.  Smelled delightful.  

I continued to taste lactose, milk and dark chocolate, oats, with just a hint of booze.  The brew was medium bodied with light carbonation.  With the oats, it lent a very smooth, creamy, taste.  It's a great milk stout, I'd be glad to enjoy again.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $2.60 (12 oz bottle)

Haul for 9/28

Yes, I basically went a month without buying new beer.  I needed to get rid of my stash from my fantasy football party, as there was a lot of leftover beer to whittle down.  Then my better half told me to lay off the beer for a week.  Then I got sick and had to willingly leave off the beer for the week (although bourbon whiskey was allowed, so there was a silver lining there).  With my beer budget not spent and the month almost over, I had to make sure I picked up something..!  Before heading home after a fun round of disc golf, I dropped by a Total Wine to pick up some brews.  Here's the haul:

• (2) Fox Barrel Cidery Reserves 4 Pack - I actually picked up the same pack in a haul (12/7/12) and paid $21.99 for the four bottles.  What did I pay this time?  $9.99!  Like I was going to turn that down?  It had some special markdown, probably so they could move the inventory out of here.  My gain!  Price paid: $9.99
• Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Oktoberfest - I didn't even realize that this was a Leinenkugel beer until I saw the receipt.  Oh well, I'm willing to give a beer a try, even if it's owned by a corporation.  I noticed the beer before, thought I'd give it a try.  Price paid: $2.49
• Starr Hill Boxcarr Pumpkin Porter - A pumpkin and a porter?  Haven't had the combination before, and I was more inspired by a particular beer (more to come later..).  If you couldn't tell, I was on a pumpkin/marzen kick.  Price paid: $1.79
• Blue Point Oktoberfest - I wanted to get a beer from a brewer that I haven't tried yet.  Price paid: $1.99
• Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale - I was real close to picking up the Sam Adams Fall Variety 12 pack just so I could try the pumpkin ale.  I decided to save myself the trouble and just buy the single.  Price paid: $1.79
• Dogfish Head 61 - I've had 60, 75, 90, and probably some other combination in-between, but not 61 (and I'll get 120 when I go to a different state that allows me to purchase it).  Syrah grape must, I wonder if this is similar to Noble Rot.. Price paid: $2.49
• Dogfish Head Punkin Ale - I've heard that this is one of the top notch pumpkin beers around and I wasn't going to miss out.  I was real close to getting the 4 pack, but opted to get the single since I tend to favor trying different beers.  If I like it well enough, I'll go back and get a 4 pack.  Price paid: $2.99
• Samuel Adams Small Batch Fat Jack - I was on my way to the checkout line and noticed this one.  I had wanted to buy this last year and I was drawn by that pumpkin picture on the front.  Look forward to see how this one turns out.  Price paid: $6.99
• Samuel Adams Octoberfest - I had this in the variety pack last year and really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to pick up a big bottle and enjoy in the very, very near future.  Price paid: $2.99
• Terrapin/Schmaltz Reunion Ale '13 - I have Reunion Ale '12 and wanted to compare the 2.  I think there were two Reunion Ales in '12, not sure if there are two in '13, but if they have both, I'll grab the other one too.  Difference between '12 and '13 is coffee, and I like coffee.  Price paid: $7.99
• Southern Tier Warlock Imperial Pumpkin Stout - I heard about this beer a week or two ago and was instantly drawn to it, waiting for one of the local shops to say that this one was in there.  Instead I see several cases at Total Wine and I didn't hesitate to pick one up.  This is the beer that inspired the Starr Hill purchase, and set the tone for all the different pumpkin beers I picked up today.  If I have Pumking for Thanksgiving, I'm having Warlock for Halloween.  Price paid: $8.99 

173. Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

I know pumpkin season is among us, but this was one of the leftover pumpkin beers from last year that I didn't get around to consuming until now.  No shame in my game though, I'm still looking forward to this and I imagine that a near year of aging didn't hurt it any.

This beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It has a dark amber color with red hues.  I got about a finger of head, but with the low retention and little lacing, it quickly settled down.  The aromas of pumpkin spice is evident in this.  I detect pumpkin, molasses, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, rum.  Heavier on the sweet factor than I thought it would be, but that gives it a very favorable aroma.  I had an overly sweet pumpkin beer before and didn't like it, so I'm hoping that it's just in the aroma and that the taste itself doesn't suffer.

Fortunately, the taste doesn't suffer.  It's still slightly sweet, but the taste is much milder than expected.  The spices are still somewhat formidable, with the nutmeg and the cinnamon the two standouts, the clove punchy in the background.  The pumpkin is detectable in there as well, but the spices tend to dominate.  Medium bodied with light to medium carbonation, I feel like the mouthfeel could be improved if the brew was a little heavier.  It's an imperial ale, but the alcohol is hard to detect.  It's one of the better pumpkin beers I've had, and it's helped me with my crusade to get more high ABV pumpkin beers.  If they're going to taste like this, I'm not going to complain.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $3.00 (12 oz bottle)

172. Big Boss Night Knight

"This delectable liquid represents the epic battle between roasty dark malts and tasty bitter hops.  There is no running away from this 64 IBU Knight!"

When I realized that I had two of these bad boys, I made sure to get one into my refrigerator rotation pretty quickly so I could get around to trying it.  Ended up enjoying one with my dinner.

The beer was poured into a stemless brandy glass.  The brew poured a near black, with over two fingers of khaki colored head.  Fantastic retention and lacing with this one, it took a while for this beer to settle down.  There are some particulates that can be seen in the light if you hit it just right.  Aromas of over-roasted coffee, roasted malt and chocolate dominate the nose, but there's a little bit of a bitter hop kick in there as well, as expected.

The taste is a little on the smoky side, with the coffee and chocolate most evident in the taste.  The bitter finish lends to the chocolate taste very well, it gives the slight impression of dark chocolate.  I detect some citrus as well, maybe some lemon peel that gives the beer a little bite and distinguishes the beer as a black ale.  Without it, you're looking at a solid porter.  Very complex flavor profile and I'm a fan.  Brew is light to medium bodied, has a little bit of chew to it.  Moderately carbonated, everything about it lends to a solid balance.  This is one of the better beers that I've had from Big Boss.  It doesn't surprise me that they do well with their dark beer offerings, they seem to do better in that niche.  I know I have a second bottle hiding around in my stash, I look forward to getting it later.  

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

171. Bell's Two Hearted Ale

I've actually enjoyed this beer twice, once to go with my dinner, another time with a group of my friends at a wing restaurant as we argued about fantasy football.  For either occasion, Bell's Two Hearted Ale would be considered a winner and I'll explain that through my review.  For the purposes of this review, I'm going with the beer I had with dinner.

The beer poured a dark golden-amber color into a pilsner glass.  With my typical vigorous pour, I was able to get about two fingers of bone white head, very soapy looking.  Low retention with rings of lacing on the sides of the glass.  Aromas of caramel, toffee, and other malt forward flavors blend with different citrus fruits (grapefruit, lemon, orange, pineapple) and some apricot.  Not heavy on the pine flavor, which is a definite plus for me as I favor citrus over pine.  

Of course, the taste provides more of a pine bite at first taste, but then the sweetness of the malts come through and the finish and aftertaste has more of a citrus-like feel to it.  The finish is dry and definitely bitter, as expected from an American IPA.  Medium bodied, with light to medium carbonation.  I know a lot of folks see this as the quintessential IPA, a great go-to when there's nothing else around, and I tend to agree.  There's probably other IPAs that I favor more, but you honestly can't go wrong with this one (provided you like the style).  Agree or disagree?  Just let me know.  

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $1.89 (12 oz bottle)

170. Woodchuck Farmhouse Select Original 91

It had been one of those days where I've had a lot of beer lately and wanted to change it up a bit, enjoy a lovely little cider instead.  We had been in the new house for a few weeks and it felt like home, so it was a bit of a celebration, only that I was the only one celebrating.  Oh well, those are the breaks.  

The bottle was corked and caged, adding this expectation that this was going to be something special, different from the other ciders from Woodchuck.  I'm a little worried that it'll still be too sweet, like all Woodchuck products tend to be, and my palate has changed from the sweet preference to the dry.  I poured the contents into a stemmed wine glass.  It certainly looked like wine, pouring out a light white wine color, reminding me of a riesling.  No head, no retention, a little bit of carbonation from a visual standpoint.  Aromas were of golden apples, not as puckery as a granny smith, but definitely not sweet.  It left me hopeful that this wouldn't be a sugar bomb.

This is not a sugar bomb.  The taste is still a little sweet, but not Woodchuck sweet.  This is a good thing.  It's a simplistic cider, not a lot of extra things thrown in to give it a different flavor.  Just apple.  The alcohol content is a little higher in this one, and it shows in a more modest alcohol taste in the finish.  I kind of wish that the carbonation was stronger in this one.  I think it'd be great if it was bubbly like champagne.  It's an adequate cider and not a bad one at that.  The problem is that it is priced as something special and I would be fine with an Ace Cider and feel like I'm getting something similar.  There's nothing I pick up that makes it really stand out among the other competitors.  If I could go back in time, I'd give all the Woodchuck ciders a lower grade.  Just goes to show that tastes change (and maybe improve) through time.  If you're looking for something more complex, pass on this one.  If you're looking for a standard cider, there's certain brands that will stack up well with this one, and you can save your money.  

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $9.59 (750 mL bottle)

169. Dogfish Head Midas Touch

Wow, it's been almost a month.  It's been harder and harder to get out here and blog.  It's not that I don't like doing this, because I do, it just gets overwhelming trying to keep up with this backlog.  Either way, I get to enjoy a Saturday, sample 2 or 3 different beers, and will do what I can to play catch up a bit.  King Midas was that guy who had the golden touch, if you don't remember his "story".  Not entirely sure if it plays into the beer, aside from the fact that it uses ingredients that would have been around thousands of years ago.  It's labeled as an "Ancient Ale".  If you look at Beer Advocate, it's labeled as a Spiced Beer and I'm going to go with that.  No special occasion for this one, just decided to enjoy with dinner.

The beer was poured into a snifter glass.  It has a nice hazy orange color to it.  Not a lot of head, maybe half a finger.  Average retention, not a lot of lacing.  I could detect aromas of citrus, grape, malt, honey, maybe some butter.  Reminiscent of a chardonnay.  The ingredients mention saffron, but I don't know what it smells like and couldn't discern it in this beer.

As expected, the taste is reminds me of a sweet chardonnay mixed with some beer notes.  There's a sweetness that comes from the honey and the grape..maybe the grape isn't naturally sweet, but a muscat grape definitely is.  A buttery taste lingers from a taste and mouthfeel standpoint.  Again, not sure if I can tell where the saffron is.  It's a complex taste, but it's not bad at all.  The beer doesn't seem strong as first, but it will definitely feel strong in the end.  The mouthfeel is medium to heavy bodied with moderate carbonation.  

This was a refreshingly different beer from some of the others I've tried.  I've noticed that Dogfish Head does a lot of creative beers and I'm slowly but surely starting to take notice.  That said, creativity doesn't mean great beer, so I'm interested to see how well they're able to incorporate some of these creative flavors.  Give it a try, I think you'll like it.  

Grade: B

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)