250. Southern Tier Creme Brulee

Merry Christmas folks!  Now's a pretty good time to come back to my own lil' blog here after being inactive for quite some time, right?  Work and life has left little time for smaller hobbies and time spent blogging has been next to none for some time now.  That said, travel related to work gets a little easier, family gets healthier, kids get older, and time becomes more available.  How about that?  Anyway, I have some bottles sitting out that need to be recycled and have my tasting notes, so I figured I'd put fingers to keyboard and get these things sent out so I can get ditch the bottles!

"The British founders of burnt cream & from Spain, crema catalana, both stand by their creative originality & we respect that.  But it was the French creme brulee that survived history.

A stout of great contention.

How would a brewery determine a likeness to hard-coated custard?  Our response is simple: resilience & finesse.  Pour Creme Brulee into a glass.  The incredibly dark & opaque beer reveals a thick head.  Aroma leaps forward; sweet, creamy & uncannily true to the namesake dessert.  Enjoy with - or as - your favorite after-dinner treat."

Ended up having this beer on Halloween to celebrate the holiday (why I have a beer bottle from Halloween still around is not to be questioned..)  I heard good things and wasn't sure what to expect since it had been a while since I had a dark beer.  The beer was poured into my Mystery Brewing snifter glass.  Almost black color with a finger of mocha colored head with average retention.  Leaves nice amount of lacing on the glass.  Aromas of toffee, vanilla, maple syrup, and milk chocolate.

Tastes of vanilla, burnt sugar, coffee, and milk chocolate come to mind upon tasting the beer.  I had pumking before and thought it would be incredibly sweet; I was pleased that it wasn't as sweet as expected.  Certainly not cloying in any way.  Even the sweetness plays out more on the finish.  Coupled with the very smooth body, it's a very satisfying finish.  Lightly carbonated.

It was easy to drink the entire bottle; I tried to share, but no one really likes dark beers - their loss.  It's the best beer I've had from Southern Tier so far.  I know they're not a one-trick pony with these dessert-type beers, so I'll try to get more of their other stuff when I get the chance.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $8.99 (22 oz bomber)

213. Hi-Wire Strongman Coffee Milk Stout

"Inspired by our head brewer's cafe con leche fueled travels in Key West, this is a milk stout with some kick.  Local coffee from Dynamite Roasting Co. is cold extracted and added post fermentation to this sweet, creamy stout"

Alright, so it's been a while since I've dropped a post.  So what happened?  A cold happened.  Took me down for several weeks, I was unable to drink since it's not a very good idea to drink when you're sick.  At least, that's the impression I get.  I should be drinking water and juice, not alcohol.  So I was a good boy and I abstained until I got better.  It took a while, but now I'm back.  That said, I've had about seven to eight different beers since I've posted, and I did drink some during the Super Bowl, and I'll get around to catching up eventually.  

Anyway, I had a six-pack of this and finally got around to cracking it open to see what I was about to get.  Beer was poured into a pilsner glass with about one finger of head.  Has a dark brown complexion with a khaki colored head.  Looks good, smells good too.  Coffee is big and bold up front with some roasted malts and some undertones of chocolate.  Straight and to the point.

The beer tasted of coffee, light roasted malt, a little bit of char.  It seems a little watery and light bodied with moderate carbonation.  

Don't get me wrong, I like coffee based beers, but this one was just off for me.  After I thought about it, I realized that I'm missing some lactose or some sugar to really help this beer along.  It had a bitter finish and without the sugar, it was all one-note.  Maybe I'll crack open one of the other 5 beers and come up with a different result.  For now, I think I'll leverage these as an alternative to an espresso shot when I need it.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.33 (12 oz bottle)

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)

120. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Milk..milk..!  So I finally got around to getting over my need to avoid dark beers and decided to go with something on the light side, something like Left Hand's milk stout nitro.  Left Hand is a brewery based out of Colorado (http://www.lefthandbrewing.com) and I had heard great things about this particular beer.  It's why I picked it up a few months back.

The dark chocolate colored brew was poured lightly into a stemless glass.  There was about a finger of light tan, everlasting head that comes with a nitro.  The aroma isn't all that complex, just some roasted malt and some light sugar, probably from the lactose.  

The taste was a little unexpected.  I expected the beer to be a little sweeter, but I found it to be more bitter than sweet.  The roasted bitterness comes through at the end.  If I wasn't paying attention, I would have missed the sweet part.  I was curious if the fact that I took so long to drink the beer caused the lactose to break down.  I thought the beer was a little light bodied and watery, but with plenty of carbonation.  Without the lactose kick, I thought the beer was incredibly average.  Maybe I took too long to drink it up, I don't know.  Still, based on first impressions, this was just an okay beer.  Do you think I'm wrong?  Was I actually drinking what was expected?  Let me know!

Grade: C

Price Paid: $2.40 (12 oz bottle) 

72. Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Here's another purchase from back in the day.  I actually picked this up the same time I picked up the Hen's Tooth Ale (See #71).  Of the two, this was the one I was most excited about.  I had noticed the bottle before, and the purple colors and labeling made me think of Willy Wonka.  I didn't realize that this beer was an international offering (http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk) until I started to write this review..props to the UK!

The beer poured a near black color with a one finger tan head.  Had an impressive look from the get-go.  There was some light lacing and a thin head that remained.  The aroma..wow.  Sweetness from the lactose, aromas of milk and dark chocolate.  I detected some roasted malt as well.

The taste was just as good.  Bitter chocolate flavors, with maybe some light coffee notes.  Refreshing for a beer that seems to be best enjoyed for dessert.  Sweetness didn't really come through taste-wise, but I'm not complaining.  Good mouthfeel, medium-light body.  I could imagine that this would be much better with a heavier body.  This was one of the first chocolate stouts that I've had and it doesn't disappoint.  Coffee & chocolate stouts are some of my favorite types, so I might be a little biased, but I think that for this particular beer, it's well deserved.

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $3.99

55. Sam Adams Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout

The last offering for the Music City Bowl game (since there was no way this was going to OT), was Sam Adams' Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout.  My buddy was specifically interested in trying this one, so I made sure that it would be part of the offerings for the game.  If you couldn't tell, I started with the lightest beers and then went darker throughout the game.  I figured that porters/stouts can be a wash, but stouts were known to be strong porters, so I went with this one last.  And if you can't read the label above, it comes in at 9.0% ABV, so it packs some punch.

The beer poured a near black with a nice tan head.  I was able to get a finger and a half worth of head.  Moderate retention with some decent lacing.  I could pick up the aromas of gingerbread, which was very pleasant.  There's nothing worse than to be told to expect a certain aroma, then not be able to pick it up.  I could definitely pick up the gingerbread.

Fortunately, I could also taste the gingerbread.  The lactose from this beer gave it a sweeter taste than expected.  I slowly began to realize that I had picked a lot of sweet beers over the course of the game.  Not on accident, but I certainly had my fair share.  The common realization was that I liked the beers, but I can't find any of them to be sessionable.  I only need to drink a glass or two and I'm done, kaput, finito.  The lactose also gave the beer a medium body and a bit of chewiness to it.  Another enjoyable beer, one I'd have again.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.99 (22 oz bomber)