96. Railhouse Mastiff Oatmeal Stout

It was one of those days at work where I needed to have a beer afterwards.  I had time to burn before the Hurricanes game against the hated Buffalo Sabres, and there's a perfect little place that's close by.  To Bottle Revolution!  While I was shopping for mroe beers to take home (you know that's coming in another post!), I decided to have something to drink.  A lot of good choices, but I was particularly drawn to getting a 16 oz pour, and the Mastiff from the Railhouse Brewery (http://www.railhousebrewery.com) piqued my interest, mainly because I like oatmeal stouts.  I didn't realize that Railhouse is based out of North Carolina.  Glad that I was able to buy local!

It poured a very dark brown..I wouldn't call it black.  Looked like it would have been a tan head, but based on the pour, I didn't get any.  No lacing to rate either.  Aromas of roasted malt, coffee, and bread, all of it somewhat faint.  

Tastes of roasted malt, coffee, bread, are in the taste.  A hint of chocolate.  The coffee lingers, giving a very light bitterness that goes away fast.  The ABV is light for a stout, resulting in a more watery brew.  I don't find that to be a bad thing, as the beer is still incredibly drinkable.  Light bodied, slick mouthfeel, light to medium carbonation.  This is a very good beer!  Agree or don't agree?  Let me know.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $5.50 (16 oz draught)

95. Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale

When you hold beers like me, you can experience a little bit of Christmas all days of the year.  In this case, I decided to enjoy a beer before heading to a Carolina Hurricanes game and opted to go with the holiday ale by Rogue.  

The beer poured an amber color into a snifter glass.  A finger and a half of off white head that had a stickiness to it.  Sheets of lacing all over the perimeter of the glass, making for one attractive looking beer.  I picked up aromas of malt, caramel, dark fruit, maybe a little bit of spice.  Also had a touch of citrus.  I tend to like amber ales, but I don't remember any amber ales with this type of profile..I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into!

Malty sweetness comes first, following by a hop bite that tends to linger a little too long for my tastes.  The malt, caramel is evident.  The dark fruit I smelled didn't pick up in the taste.  The citrus that was hard to detect was much more evident..not a sweet citrus either, definitely grapefruit.  I think I could pick off some piney hops as well.  The beer was medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.  Overall, I feel like I've had better amber ales that are a better representation of the type.  I've also had better Christmas ales, since this lacked the spice.  To me, this is a pretty unremarkable beer.  Agree or disagree?  I'd love to hear your opinion.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

94. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

In one of my previous hauls, I had some emphasis placed on picking up some brews from Dogfish Head (http://www.dogfish.com).  I finally got around to cracking one open last night to enjoy with a taco salad.  The fact that the label mentioned that it was made with Mexican coffee led me to believe that this would be a very solid match with some Mexican food.  

The beer poured a near black with a tan head.  The label says bone white.  Nope, didn't come close to that color.  I was able to get less than a finger of head, with light retention, light lacing.  Aromas of coffee, roasted malts, chocolate dominate.  Very pleasant.  For whatever reason, I didn't translate chiccory and stout together.  I was expecting some sort of brown ale, even though the labeling says stout.  Must've been off in LaLa land.  

I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know what chicory tastes like, and I certainly couldn't discern it in the aroma.  That said, I picked up something in the taste, and maybe that's what it was.  Tastes of coffee, roasted malt, lactose, and chocolate come in on the front end, then this type of bitterness forces its way in on the back end.  Reminded me a little bit of licorice.  This was different than all the other stouts and porters that I'm used to.  Medium to high carbonation gave the beer some pop.  It took away from the creaminess, but gave it a spicy tone that I found to be quite pleasant.  For my first foray into Dogfish Head beers, I thought this one wasn't too bad.  I look forward to trying their other offerings!  Agree or disagree?  I want to hear your opinions!

Grade: B

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

Haul for 3/1

It's a new month, and that means that it's time for another visit to the ol' store to stock up on a few more brews!  After work, I decided to drop by The Beer Dispensary in Apex, check out what they had, and try to  stock up on a few more local seasonals.

So what did I get?  Here's the list!

• Great Lakes Alchemy Double IPA - I missed out on Hopslam, and I was looking through some reviews and heard blurbs that this was a worthy substitute and Great Lake's best brew.  I'd argue that hop heads are biased, but since I did miss on Hopslam, I wanted to try this one out and determine what I was getting into.  Price paid: $3.60
• Olde Hickory The Bean - I think The Bean was created specifically for someone's dog, so I figure that this is one of those one-offs that would never come by again.  It's local, it wasn't badly priced, and that equals a pickup.  Price paid: $5.00
• Weyerbacher Tiny - Okay, I'll admit, I saw a blurb that this was a limited supply and I felt compelled to pick it up before it goes away.  A pure impulse buy, I'll let you folks know sooner or later if I did a good job or a crap job with this one.  That said, feel free to warn me in advance too!  Price paid: $8.50
• Big Boss The Countess - I was reading that Big Boss was taking all of their previous one-offs, were in the process of bottling, and would have a different one every month.  Sounds good to me!  The Countess is one of them and since I've never had it, I'm going to pick it up now.  Price paid: $2.20
• Big Boss Big Operator - Like The Countess, this is another of their special brews, but I'm guessing this is made with heavier stuff or is more popular, which translates to the same price point as Aces and Ates.  Price paid: $4.60
• Highland Britches Brew IPA - After Cold Mountain, this is Highland's next seasonal and I'm more than ready to give it a try.  The red IPA concept seems interesting enough, I'm crossing my fingers, hoping for good things.  Price paid: $2.00

93. Catawba Valley Firewater IPA

In this story, my job led me to Charlotte, and I ended up staying overnight.  I was staying in a Holiday Inn Express near Belmont and my Google searching led me to a place called the String Bean Market & Deli.  This store has a little bit of everything.  Wine and beer store, boasting a wide selection of craft beers.  I found the selection to be slightly lacking, but I did appreciate the effort.  Inside, they sell meat and seafood and cheese, AND there's a restaurant inside too.  It has it all!  I ordered a burger to-go and thought I'd take a beer with me too.  Since I lacked a bottle opener, I opted to get something canned, and the Catawba Valley was there for the taking.

Bringing it back to the hotel, I ended up pouring it into a small plastic cup.  Lame, but it was all I had to go with.  Had a nice burnt siena color with a white head that managed to have solid retention and even left lacing on the sides of the plastic cup.  I wasn't expecting that, but color me impressed.  Faint aromas of citrus and malt didn't give me the greatest hope that this was something special.

The taste was your atypical American IPA.  The grapefruit/lemon bitterness was a little more pronounced and was a little off with the balance, but it didn't really charge through until the end.  Some of the caramel sweetness was on the front end, but it typically didn't last long.  The beer was light to average carbonation, medium bodied.  This one failed to impress, and I probably wouldn't try again with all the other IPAs that I've enjoyed lately.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $1.99 (12 oz can)

92. Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale

I was with my buddy and we wanted to go out and watch the Carolina Hurricanes vs. Washington Capitals game at a bar.  We were down to Tyler's Taproom vs. Sparks.  Beer selection vs. 50 cent wings.  50 cent wings won out.  That said, the beer selection was limited and they didn't have much for microbrews.  One of the few they had was Sweetwater 420 and I decided to order it.

The beer came to me in your standard pint glass.  Less than a finger of head, but there was solid retention and was able to get a nice sheet of lacing at the edge of the glass.  I may have picked up an aroma of some light hop presence, but that was it.  This beer had little to no aroma, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

While the aroma was underwhelming, the taste was not.  First word that comes to mind is smooth.  Well balanced.  You get the malt sweetness on the front end, then the light hop kick at the end.  Not overwhelming like an IPA.  I picked up a yeast or wheat-like character in the beer as well.  Light bodied with a slightly dry finish, this is a very sessionable beer.  I can see why it's part of Sweetwater's year-round collection.  Between this and the IPA, Sweetwater is really starting to get on my good side.  Oh, and the Canes lost.  I left disappointed.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $4.50 (16 oz draught pint)

91. Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #44 - El Triunfo Coffee Porter

I was off to New Bern, NC for a marriage function and decided to bring a brew to keep me company while I was there.  After the sessions were over and I was able to retreat to my room, it was time to crack this baby open.  I didn't have the luxury of a refrigerator to keep it cool, so the temp wasn't the most optimal, but I was ready to accept the shortcomings.

The beer poured a dark muddy brown, with an off white head.  I brought my own pilsner glass since a mug or plastic cup wouldn't do.  Medium retention, not much lacing, and I was a little impatient to wait.  Aromas of coffee, roasted malts, burnt sugar, vanilla, and chocolate caught my attention.  It smelled incredibly delectable.  

The strong coffee, burnt sugar/malt came through on the taste.  There was also this taste of old coffee or maybe espresso beans..it was this coffee on coffee taste.  Wasn't bad, just fortified the coffee.  Chocolate notes were also evident.  Slick feeling and light bodied, this one wasn't all that difficult to drink.  Unfortunately, as late as it was, I ended up going to bed without finishing the whole bomber, but then had good enough fortune to have a decent taste left in the bottle when I tried to use it as a morning pick-me-up.  This is a very good coffee porter, dare I say it..better than the Big Shot Espresso Stout I had and reviewed just a short while back.  Too bad it's only a one-shot..hope you get the chance to enjoy!

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $6.49 (22 oz bomber)