The Great Beer Adventure

Have baby, will travel!

2011-08-22T15:38:00.000-04:00

I suppose I should have saved this title for later in September seeing we will be headed to Vermont but I just decided to go with it. This week Porter and I packed up the Little Buttercup (LBC) and headed over the bridge to Novare Res. They had a beer on that I wanted to try to we hit it up Thursday afternoon. Oxbow brewing is a new brewery out of New Castle, Maine. I had heard about it from the BBQ (Beer Belly BBQ) and was intrigued. The offering was a Farmhouse Pale. I was hoping for a bit of funk mixed in with some delicious pale brew. What I got was a pretty standard pale. It left me wanting more. I enjoyed it and would have it again but I just missed that funky-ness that the word Farmhouse evokes to me. I did notice that as it warmed a bit there were some more flavor notes that added depth to the beer. Out of 5 both Porter and I gave it a 3.5. Porter ordered a Victory Hop Devil. This is a beer I had had before but was somehow surprised by just how complex it tasted to me this time. Perhaps my pallet has matured so I can taste past the hops and taste the slightly sweet almost malty flavor. We both gave this beer a 4. LBC was drinking milk out of her glass bottle so we all cheersed and enjoyed our time. Novare is always a great place to head to.

A Baby, Beer & BBQ

2011-08-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

I have been missing! A lot has changed in my life over the past year. The last post I wrote was for my husband’s birthday. After that point I jumped head first into preparing for a job that didn't pan out followed quickly by getting pregnant. At this point I figured a beer blog was kind of useless to write. To be honest my original thought was to live through Porter and just post about his adventures but.... I got major sick for 5 months. Being pregnant just wasn't my thing. (Being a mom is! It has been wonderful ever since she vacated my body.) Both beers and bbq made me feel quite ill. I never drank beer but the smell of it was just nasty. Every time Porter would drink a beer I felt like it smelled like a run down dirty cheap beer drenched bar. BBQ made me feel ill just by saying the words. Anything related to it was cause to be ill. Looking back now it is quite humorous. There is a country song that says "Drink a little drink, smoke a little smoke" anytime the song came on I had to change the channel quickly so I wouldn't hear that line cause smoke was too closely related to bbq's. Everything changed as soon as our little buttercup was born. All of a sudden I could say bbq and I was ready for my first beer. (As a side note I am nursing but 1. It is recommended to have a beer a day while feeding and 2. if you have more than one you can work around it) My first beer was Baby Tree by Pretty Things. (I thought it was appropriate.) In the past two months our little girls has become quite the traveler. We have gone to New Hampshire (to Portsmouth Brewing for beer), we have gone to Massachusetts (to the Ale House and Red Stone for beer), we have gone to Novare Res (for a meet the baby outing which happened to coincide with Smuttfest) and we are planning a trip to Vermont for my birthday to visit a few breweries over there. My plan for my daughter is to have her visit all of New England before she turns 1. We will be doing things in each state that are appropriate for someone her age but if there happens to be good beer there at the same time who can blame us for checking it out?
The major kick off for the re-opening for this blog was the 1st annual Southern Maine Beer Drinkers Club (SMBDC) camping meeting, a little thing I refer to as Camp Beer. For those not in the know, SMBDC is a group that gets together once a month to try beers based on a theme. This month’s theme was canned beer. There were a few violations to the theme but total we tried 47 different beers between Saturday night and Sunday morning. We also had a smoker there. We got wood for it (wood is very hard to find I have discovered after a lot of looking and only a little finding) at Beer Belly BBQ in Freeport (they have a facebook page; they also have a selection of craft beers that include a few pleasant surprises). In the near future I will put up my "recipe" for smoked nuts. They were so tasty. For more information on SMBDC (we are always looking for new members) check out the forum on Beer Advocate. Search for "SMBDC"
KatyToo
P.S. I promise the next post will be a bunch shorter.

Hoppy Birthday Porter!

2010-06-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday I went back in for surgery and had the left foot worked on. I am half way done at this point! Only 4 more months. So what are my plans a week and a half after major foot surgery? I am going camping with Porter and a bunch of our friends for his 30th birthday. Yeah the doctor didn't think it was that great of a plan either. Porter's birthday theme is beer. Imagine, huh? Before surgery I put together some sausage patties using some different beer reductions. For a breakfast sausage I used a mix of Bar Harbor Blueberry and Rouge Mocha Porter. For a dinner sausage I used Allagash White. We brewed a special beer just for Porter's birthday and we call it B to the (3-0). It stands for a Belgian triple with some number play to show that he is 30. I know it's pretty cheesy but I can't help it. Well the house is a buzz with Porter trying to pack and I feel like I should at least give a supporting role in this project. I will let you all know about the wonderful beers we try this weekend.

Happy Birthday Porter. I love you.

Long Time Gone

2010-06-07T10:34:00.009-04:00

A brief catch up: Beer vacation didn't happen due to lack of funds. I got a job that starts in August so now hopefully beer vacation will happen before the end of summer. I have been to two Southern Maine Beer Drinkers meetings. I got to talk to the brewer of the new Baxter Brewing. I have given up the crutches for the right foot but I am headed back into surgery tomorrow. I have had some really great beer and have plans for an additional page for this blog to put my ratings on. And finally what brought me back to blogging: A Friday night out at 3 Dollar Deweys.
Last Friday, Porter and I went to 3 Dollars for a tasting of the new to us St. John's Brewers' offerings. I say new to us because Shipyard has been brewing the Virgin Island beers and sending them out for years. Due to Maine distribution laws and such it took the brewers five years to decide to let us give it a try. But, now that it is here, it is a decent choice for summer time. Porter had the IPA and thought it was a solid one. Nothing too special or surprising, the hops don't give you that dryness in the back of your mouth but it was a good example of an entry level IPA. Their Tropical Mango scores a C- on beeradvocate.com but I thought it was much better than that. The first half of my first pint was a little plain. By the time I got into the second half I was hooked. I think it would be perfect for a hot day say sitting on St. Johns or perhaps at the lake here in Maine. After I had a chance to taste the beer I got to meet the brewers. They went to school in Vermont and are pretty cool. If you are ever down on St John's be sure to stop by and say hi. After meeting them I met Alan Pugsley.
After leaving 3 Dollar Deweys, we went up to Local Sprouts. I was so impressed by the place. The food was great, the beer selection is small but decent, the ambiance is nice. Porter and I went back Sunday morning for breakfast and while it was a whole lot less busy it was still going steady and the breakfast sandwiches were delicious. I recommend that you try it. Also give St. John Brewers a try too. Don't give up on it too quickly, sit relax and let it wash over you, then decide what you think.
Time to get some stuff done before my left foot gets all casted up.
Don't forget to try something new, you might just like it!
Katy Too

Beer

2010-04-23T14:27:00.005-04:00

Beer is many things to different people. Last night while sitting around a camp fire I was talking about this with one of my friends. She said, “Beer is a vacation.” As vacations go beer is a relatively cheap one and you can go for the night or longer anytime of the year. For me my view of beer has changed throughout the years. In college beer was a cheap way to get drunk, not a very tasty way but pretty cheap none the less. Later on in college I would have one beer at the end of the night to offset all those juicy girly drinks I had consumed. When I met my husband beer was a drink I ordered on our first date because he did. We sat and talked for a couple of hours about sports, life and accounting. (We were both accounting interns.) It took me the whole two hours to drink the tall beer I had ordered but I didn’t mind. I have used beer as an escape before but try to not resort to it too often. I have used beer as a conversation starter. “Oh that looks good. I think I will try one too. Have you tried…?” I have used beer as a bit of a security blanket, one beer to hold on to all night so you don’t look too un-cool because you have to be the DD. Now beer is something totally different. Beer is a passion of mine.

I love beer. If you say this to some people they assume that you are an alcoholic and need help but that isn’t it at all. I love learning about beer. I love cooking with beer. I love making beer. Yes, I do love tasting beer. But what makes it all worthwhile is the fact that I get to go through all of this with my best friend. (Cheesy I know.) No matter what is going on in our lives we can stop and talk about something new we read about beer and we reconnect. We are currently planning a whole road trip around beer. While we haven't completely decided all the stops we will be making so far this is what we have. We will be departing Portland and heading to Dogfish Head in Delaware. Next we will head up to Flying Dog in Maryland. We are then going to go to Ommegang in New York and finish off in Vermont at Long Trail and Harpoon. We plan on sleeping in a couple hotels and a couple of camp grounds. We will also be stopping in at the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the end of summer we are planning on a Maine and northern Vermont or Montréal trip. Growing up my dad took us to Disneyworld over and over again. He loved Disney. I eventually got to see Paris and California too thanks to Mr. Disney. Beer is my Disney. (Ok Disney is my Disney too. I will always have a special place in my heart for Disney because of all those family trips.) What I mean is that because of beer I can go and see all different kinds of places. I know that I could just go to these places without tying it to beer but I love adventures and planning (I think it is the Virgo in me) and beer helps me with that.

Porter says I have gotten all philosophical (I think the word he actually used was retrospective) because I haven't been able to move around that much. It’s true. I haven’t been able to experience a lot of new things lately so I have gone into my head a bit and started thinking about more and more things. It is nice though to have something to use the internet for other than gaming. (I have been addicted to escape games lately. Do you think there is a connection between not being able to move around a lot and escape games?) With beer I have something to research, a community to be part of. I know lately I haven’t had a lot to say but it has been a nice source of entertainment. So I guess for me, Beer is a catalyst, a catalyst for many things. What is beer to you?

A tale of two towns

2010-03-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Naples

For all of you who live here in Maine, I am sure if I say Naples to you, you may think, “Oh that is such a nice place to visit during the summer.” Or perhaps, “I drive through there all the time when I head up to the mountains.” One thing I bet you don’t think is, “I love stopping through there any time of the year.” Well I am here to tell you that perhaps you should. A couple of weeks ago right in the middle of Lion’s Pride Belgian Festival (I will get back to that in the second half of this post) Porter and I went up to Shawnee Peak. It was a rather nice day and Porter really wanted to snowboard. I hauled my cast covered foot up many, many stairs and sat in the bar while he was out. I was able to do some studying and a bunch of people watching so it was pretty easy to keep my mind off the fact that I wasn’t able to board myself. Once Porter was done we headed back towards home but had two places we knew we just had to stop at. The first is a place called Heroes. The owner, Mike, is one of my readers and knew just how much I love Portland Pie Buffalo Chicken Pizza. Shortly after I posted my write up on them he messaged me on facebook and told me I had to try his. He was right. It was very tasty. It definitely gives Portland Pie a run for their money. Heroes’ version is quite mild and all the flavors are balanced. The crust is amazing! They put some garlic deliciousness on it that adds something really amazing. The thickness is perfect too. For people who may have been afraid to try buffalo chicken pizzas because of the heat should try this one. I put a little extra hot sauce on mine and it was perfect. While we were waiting for our pizza Mike came over to our table and told us all about his business. Things haven’t been all that easy for him because winters are slow (go, have wonderful pizza and support a great business!) Mike also donates a lot to various things in the area. His children are big into sports and he is a big supporter. I know that if you stop by you will first want to go back for the pizza but you will then want to go back for the conversation. (Heroes Pizzeria, Route 302 Naples, where the batting cages used to be.)

After leaving Heroes, Porter and I went down the road to Bray’s Brew Pub. Bray’s has a great beer garden that I have visited in the past. Seeing it was winter we didn’t venture out there but we will be going back once the weather gets a bit nicer. (They allow dogs in the beer garden.) Bray’s is in an old house. Once inside you can’t really tell until you go to some of the dining rooms. They are each in different rooms of the house. The bar and main dining area are in an open area. We were there just for beer so we cozied up to the bar. They have a number of their own brews and had a Sheepscott on draft as well. Porter and I had just started our second when Mike came in. He ordered a Bud (Mike you have got to give some of Bray’s a chance, they are very tasty!) and we continued talking like we were old friends. This time we talked about education reform. Attention Maine Education: Talk to this man he has some great ideas. Once we finished our second beers we left for home. The next time we go through Naples, which will be sooner rather than later, we will be stopping at both Bray’s and Heroes. They are both well priced and delicious.

Brunswick

As I was saying earlier, Lion’s Pride was having their Belgian Beer Festival two weeks ago. In addition to the kick off that Porter and I went to, we also went to two additional evenings. On Tuesday night, Allagash Brewing was there. Jason, the head brewer, brought in some of the Cool Ship beer for us to try. It was very yummy. Jason and Naomi, (another Allagash employee) were both so friendly and talked to us about some of their processes. I asked about their greenness and I was very impressed by the answers I received. They recycle, compost (employee food scraps), upcycle. SO much. It is great to see companies who really care about the environment. In addition to the Cool Ship there were a number of other Allagash beers on tap that we tried. It was a great evening.

We also went on Thursday. Thursday the owner returned from Belgium and had brought back some gifts for some of his friends. He brought me a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin. Each person got such different types that we all decided to share them right then and there. Porter and I got to try some very delicious beers that night. Thank you Chris and thank you everyone for sharing. I am sure I have said this before but for all beer lovers you need to check out Lion’s Pride.

Let me start a checklist for all of you:

Go to Naples.

Eat pizza at Heroes.

Drink beer at Bray’s.

Go to Brunswick.

Drink beer at Lion’s Pride.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. You just might like it.

Katy-Too

Things I am thinking and things I have thought

2010-03-09T14:51:00.002-05:00

It is amazing to me just how much I have learned in such a small amount of time. (I know I still have SOOOO much more to learn.) I have learned a lot about Belgian beers lately, about lambics and guezes and instantaneous fermentation and so much more. Upon entering a beer store I feel like I have a slight idea what I am looking at. My biggest teachers in this piece of my journey have been Chris, the owner of both Ebenezer’s and Lion’s Pride, Leigh and Ryan, some of the lovely bar tenders at Lion’s Pride and my fellow blogger Jim Flanagan. Porter has also been a huge help. We have gone through this adventure together and his love of research has really helped me out. (I am impulsive while he likes to take his time to look things up.)

Speaking of Porter I must admit to you all that this blog and what it stands for has brought us closer together. I have heard people talk about taking classes together and how it strengthens your bond. Porter and I aren’t traditionalists so we are finding our own “classrooms” to help teach us beer. I highly recommend to all of you that you and your partner find something you both like and really learn more about it together. I was looking through my camera the other night and got that warm fuzzy feeling thinking about all of the good times we have had so far and how many more we have already planned.

Another person I care a good deal for has a website that helps with finding good bar deals in Boston. The website, Brewspy.com is moving into the Portland area mighty soon and I suggest you all jump on the wagon now so you can say you were in the know before anyone else.

It seems that there is so much I want to tell you all then I get on here and get so excited I forget nearly everything. Let’s see…..oh I need to tell you about the Belgian Beer Fest at Lion’s Pride. We are currently in the middle. It lasts for 9 days, Friday through Saturday. When Porter and I saw the schedule we had to decide which events we wanted to go to the most as everyday was sure to bring something new and wonderful. There were three days we knew that we HAD to go to: the first night, Allagash night and the night Chris came back from Belgium with special little goodies. We figured three trips to Brunswick were probably enough. Allagash night and Chris night have not occurred yet but the first night has and it was awesome. We tried so many wonderful things. We even got to try Kabert. It is this really rare beer that was made from a combination of Kate the Great (remember her?) and Black Albert (a special beer brewed especially for Eb’s). This is what I wrote in my handy little note book:

“Some people are strong and powerful on their own but become much better when the right person comes into their lives.”

Ok, cheese fest I know but I was feeling in a very loving, romantic mood.

Porter and I decided that we would only give point values to the beers we tried so that we could also enjoy that atmosphere and not get lost in our beers. I think I should get tape recorder because I talk about my beers as I try them but taking the time to write everything down sometimes ruins the flow of an evening. Here they are: (all out of 5)

Katy: Porter:

‘t Smisje Kerst 3.5 La Rulles Triple 4

Cantillon Lou Pepe 4 St. Bernardus Abt 12 4

07 Kriek

DeGlazen Torren 3.5 ‘t Smisje Plus 3.5

Jan de Litche Double IPA

BFM Bon-Chien 3.5

The BFM beer has quite a funny tale. Based on my little French knowledge I see chien and think dog but somehow it translates to something to do with a good cat. (I can’t remember exactly.)

I have a couple of final thoughts and I think the best way to address these are bulleted as they don’t really have anything to do with much except that they are important to me:

• Porter and I went to Novare Res and had a few very delicious beers. I enjoyed a vanilla bean stout by Maine Beer Company. It was poured out of a trash can. I had called to see if they had it but they said they were out but within 20 mins they called me and told me the MBC guys had just rolled in some more. (Thanks for the call back guys!) I also tried a Brooklyn Brewmasters Cookie Jar. OMG you guys. It was crazy good. (Please excuse my teenage outburst but it was that good!) It tasted like a spicy oatmeal raisin cookie made with apple sauce. The very nice lady sitting next to me helped me figure out some of the aromas I was smelling. (Thank you.) Our bartender, Shahin was great. He even put up with some of my over top trading requests. I am now officially a HUGE fan of Novare.

• I have been in contact with the Three Guys Brewing guys. I hope to have their story for you in the near future. I am really starting to love knowing the back story of all the beers I am drinking. I have yet to try any Three Guys beers but I am one of their facebook friends and quite intrigued.

• And finally: I need to better with my reviews. I need to put them on more often but I love the free-flowing-ness that I can write in and reviews are soooo much more structured. Perhaps I have to fix that. I need to come up with a system that works well for me so I can use this as a resource. I will work on it and get back to you.

Don’t forget to try something new, you might just like it!

Katy Too

Kate & Katy

2010-03-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

This tale starts as any might I suppose. There once was a grand woman named Catherine the Great. Ok, may be it’s not like any old story might start as this woman has a beer named after her, Kate the Great. The second heroine in this story isn’t so typical either. Katy (that’s me) has a cast and is in on crutches. The setting isn’t so typical either; on the streets of Portsmouth, NH in the wee hours of the morning in a cold winter drizzle. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I started hearing about Kate as soon as I started my journey to learn about beer. Before her I never realized that there such events as beer release days. I knew that in order to fully learn about beer I would need to attend, however I was quite naïve, thinking that I would be able to go down after work. Oh how silly I was. I started checking out BeerAdvocate posts and twitter and facebook and, and, and. I became a bit obsessed with all things Kate. I soon discovered that I would be getting no sleep on the eve of Kate’s big debut. After my surgery I was concerned with my ability to accomplish such a task but I knew I would have to man up. Porter was a bit worried about the whole thing….would my cast be alright? Would I be alright? Would we even get to meet Kate?

The week before Kate’s release we devised a plan: We would go down the night before and stay at Portsmouth Brewery until they closed. (They have a great bar and restaurant there. I highly recommend it.) After closing we would stay in our car and periodically check until people started getting in line and then join ourselves.

As the date got closer the weather began to take a turn for the worse. There was rain in the forecast all the way until after Kate Day. This added to Porter’s concerns. (Casts ARE NOT allowed to get wet!) On Sunday after we had finished watching Canada beat us in OT we started getting things together. It quite honestly looked like we were going camping. We packed nearly the whole house. Blankets and pillows for sleeping. My elevator pillow for my foot. Food and snacks to help us keep going. Rain clothes and layers to help us fight the weather. And chairs. I can not stand up very long these days and we had no idea how long we would have to wait in line. The car was packed and we were on the road by 8:00. The drive down we discussed how some of our friends think I have no other hobbies these days other than beer. Which they are mainly right. There isn’t a lot to do when you are laid up so I do lots of research and participate in lots of beer related discussions. I do not however drink all that often most of the time. (This week is an exception as there was Kate and then there is this festival but I will tell you more about that later! I get to try many different beers at a time because I very rarely have a fully pour. I generally have a half pour or a sampler of some sort.) We arrived in town at 8:45. We decided to drive by the brewery before finding a spot and good thing we did because there was a spot right in front! Later in the evening one of the guys that worked there said we currently resided at 56 and half Market Street. Portsmouth Brewery is at 56 Market Street. We parked and went in and had a delicious meal. I had Milk Stout and Porter had Flanders Red. I have reviewed them both be sure to check them out. Once dinner was done we played UNO at the bar while enjoying more beer. The bar closed at one and we headed back to our car there were already people in line. There is a video of them if you want to check it out. We sat in the car watching the line and playing more card games. There was an awning over part of the sidewalk so we decided to wait until the line got there in order to help keep my cast dry. At 1:30 ish three more people got in line. At 1:45 another person got in line. At 2:00 another four got in line. This is when we started getting ready. On went the rain pants and every layer I had brought. I covered my foot in a Hannaford shopping bag to help it stay dry. Porter got out our chairs and set them under the awning. We were both bundled and seated by 2:30. People started filling behind us and we got to meet some really great people. (One decided to start a blog so as soon as I get his blog address I will be sure to share it with you.) By 4:30 my toes were thoroughly cold as shopping bags don’t offer much in the warmth department. But that is just when they started handing out calendar pages. (If you watch the video from above and look way in the background under the awning, the girl on the crutches is me.) Porter received February 5 and I received February 6/7. (I didn’t receive two the weekend dates shared a page.) We hopped in our car and drove off. We had 4.5 hours to wait until they gave us our bottles. We found a parking lot and snoozed for about 2 hours. We grabbed breakfast at a local bagel place and then finished our waiting parked by the water. All we could seem to find on the radio was Indian music. At 8:30ish we started back towards the brewery and amazingly enough there was another parking spot right out front. At 9:00 in the dot they started calling us down by calendar date to buy our Kates, two per person. The nice folks at Portsmouth didn’t make me hobble down the stairs and pick it up so Porter went and grabbed both of ours. We jumped back into the car and headed home. Total wait once they started handing them out: 9 minutes. We had originally thought about sticking around for a pint afterwards but the line for that wrapped around the block and there still was 2 hours before anyone would be allowed in. We also had thought about hitting up a few beer store down there or going to Redhook but we were so exhausted we went straight home.

It took us 2 days to recuperate from Kate Day and we didn’t even drink any. We finally tried her on Wednesday night. Here is the sad news; I didn’t find it all that great. I love Portsmouth’s Milk Stout and the Flanders is really good and many of their others I love too, just not Kate. This is definitely a personal thing though because nearly everyone else raves about her. Even Porter likes her a whole lot more than I do. Oh well. Kate Day was a real beer adventure and I am glad I was there. I am not so sure how many more beer release events I will attend but it is more my love of sleep that would keep me away than anything else. I would recommend it to everyone to try at least once-

-because you don’t want to be afraid to try something new. You might just like it.

Katy Too

P.S.

I will have all reviews from last weekend through the weekend by the end of the day Sunday. I also have lots of little tid bits that I need to put together in some sort of random things blog. Perhaps that will get up this weekend too.

Getting Educated!

2010-02-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

As this is a journey into the world of beer I decided to go to a Beer EDU class given at the Lion’s Pride in Brunswick. When Porter and I arrived there were only two tables of people and us. Shortly after our arrival the bar filled up with fellow Beer EDU students. I took up two stools, one for me and one for my foot. Sitting next to my foot was Jim, a fellow blogger. Jim told me that he had been blogging for over two years. Before the class could get started Chris, the owner of both the Lion’s Pride and Eb’s, showed up and started talking to Jim, Porter and I about the upcoming Belgian beerfest. (It's from March 5 to the 13th at the Lion's Pride) He then told us about his planned trip to Belgium and some very exciting news. We were sworn to secrecy so I can’t let you in just yet. During this time class had gotten started and I was having a hard time trying to put what I was tasting into words and holding a discussion at the same time. I devised a plan. I would use this opportunity as an even bigger learning experience. With Jim sitting right beside me taking notes on everything he was tasting, which was exactly the same as what I was tasting, I would go check out his blog and see how he reviewed them. Next Monday we will both be at the Kate the Great day launch. For Kate I will do a review and look to see how mine compares to Jim's. I asked him what he thought of my plan and he said it would be cool. So I would love for you all to learn with me. Check out his blog and his reviews. Next week we can see how much I have picked up. I enjoyed myself immensely sitting there trying my beer and taking everything in. The lineup was filled with Belgians, as they were preparing for the beerfest. Ryan, one of the bartenders, had so much information. It was crazy. He just kept telling us all of this great information about the breweries. I will definitely be going back for another Beer EDU class soon.
As Porter said it was one of the best classes he ever has taken. He thought perhaps USM should start giving samples of beer throughout class. I think class would be a lot more fun that way.

Beer Buzz

2010-02-24T15:51:00.001-05:00

The buzz around the beer world right now is about being diplomatic in our reviews and our interactions with others, not being harsh. We are being told to remember that beer is subjective not objective. There are specific terms in the BJCP guidelines (I don’t really know what those are but I will be sure to look into them) which are supposedly there to help review beers against each other. I want to remind you, my dear readers, that as I stated in my first blog my reviews are only based on what I like in beer. I find my tastes changing as we go, so a beer I reviewed in the beginning I could review completely different later on. Think of my reviews as something for entertainment purposes only. If you try something I tried and like it, great; if you try something I try and don’t, even better. Leave a comment to let others know what you think of it, just try not to be too harsh. Remember these beers are works of love for someone. Just like this blog and every other blog is a work of love. If you want to learn more be sure to check out my fellow bloggers posts. So with all of this said: On with the reviews!

For your consideration:
Want to advocate for craft beer? Then don't be a hater!
Call to Action
HaterAde and Calls to Action

Remember, don't be afraid to try something new. You might just like it.

Katy Too

Cantillon Gueze #44

2010-02-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

Belgian Lambic

Cantillon Brewery

Appearance: Golden apple juice color and bubbly!

Aroma: Mix of Hard Cider and Apple Juice

Taste: Sour, crisp and light.

Mouth feel: Light and airy.

Overall: Not a style we try a lot. We had it with sweet chicken wings and it made it mouth pucker sour.

McChouffe

2010-02-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

La Chouffe

Appearance: It kind of looked like Pepsi. It had a brown bubbly head.

Aroma: Light smell, a slight chocolate aroma.

Taste: At first it has a dark heavy porter/ stout taste followed by a light alcohol taste.

Mouth feel: Just moderate.

Overall: Quite tasty.

Pannepot

2010-02-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

I only had a small taste of this beer so I don’t have a full review but I wanted to comment on it. It was extremely dark, no light could get through. It had a light sour fruit smell to it. As for the taste: It was VERY sweet. You could taste the alcohol and a warm coco taste. It would be hard for me have a full pour of it. I think a small tasting would be nice for dessert.

Kasteel Cuvee

2010-02-24T15:31:00.000-05:00

Cateau 10 yrs oak aged

Appearance: Dark but the light still can come through. Quite a thick head.

Aroma: (Note: It was hard to smell this as a strong perfume entered the room and kind of took over for a while.) What I could make out was a sweetness.

Taste: I could taste the alcohol in this one. There was a slight coffee taste and the oak rounds it out nicely without over powering it. There was also a very slight fruit taste at the end.

Mouth feel: Light to moderate.

Overall: Tasty.

Bier Du Boucanier Dark

2010-02-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Bier du Boucanier

Appearance: Cola shade of dark brown and bubbly.

Aroma: Chocolate and toffee (Nice start huh?)

Taste: Quite sweet up front. Slight alcohol at the end.

Mouth feel: It’s on the moderate side of light.

Overall: A nice dessert beer.

Orval Trappist Ale # 26

2010-02-24T15:22:00.000-05:00

Belgian Pale Ale

Orval Trappist

Appearance: Dark golden color. Minimal head.

Aroma: Intense musty fruit smell with a slight floral aroma.

Taste: Light and airy up front followed by a moderate hop flavor that sticks with you slightly.

Mouth feel: Very light.

Overall: It made Porter want to taste the rest of the Trappist beers!

Shipyard Old Thumper

2010-02-24T15:13:00.001-05:00

Strong Bitter

Shipyard Brewing Company

Appearance: Golden sun kissed brown. No real bubbles and a thin head.

Aroma: A light bright smell.

Taste: Citrus with a slight sweet hint up front with hoppiness at the back. The hop taste sticks with you. There was minimal carbonation.

Mouth feel: Moderate

Overall: It was quite smooth.

St. Bernardus Pater 6

2010-02-24T15:06:00.001-05:00

Dubbel

St. Bernardus

Appearance: Cloudy chocolate brown.

Aroma: It has a fruity limbic smell.

Taste: Porter described it that the dubbel of it brought a candyish flavor while there was a trappist funkyness to it. There was some coffee tones and it was quite smooth.

Mouth feel: Light

Overall: Porter is a huge fan.

Rogue Chocolate Stout

2010-02-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

American Stout

Rouge Ales

Appearance: Jet Black!

Aroma: It smells just like a tootsie roll.

Taste: Up front it tastes like a tootsie roll in the back it tastes like burnt coffee. No carbonation.

Mouth feel: Light side of moderate.

Overall: At the time I thought it was probably a 3 but thinking again I am thinking a bit higher. This beer was part of a chocolate pairing. The chocolate took out all of the chocolate in the beer and just let you taste the coffee flavor. (Not the best pairing)

Marshall Warf Sexy Chaos

2010-02-24T14:56:00.001-05:00

Russian Imperial Stout

Marshall Warf Brewing Company

Appearance: Jet black with no head.

Aroma: Light earthy smell.

Taste: Black currant and coffee taste. There is a hit of alcohol.

Mouth feel: Light.

Overall: It made me intrigued to taste more from Marshall Warf. I foresee a trip to Belfast in the near future. When it was paired with chocolate it takes the entire flavor out of it except the alcohol.

And a word from Pnut and Amber

2010-02-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

While this is not an official review Pnut and Amber raved about the beers they were trying so I thought I would add their thoughts. Pnut had Smuttynose Old Brown Dog. He thought it had a good taste and was his standby beer. It is well priced and out of a 5 he gave it a 3.5. Amber had a Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. She thought it was creamy and smooth with a heavy chocolate flavor. Out of 5 she gave it a 5. I will have to give it another try. (I had it out of a can before but Amber assured me that out of the tap it was much better.)

End of the night beers.......

2010-02-24T14:51:00.001-05:00

At the end of our evening there were five beers we tried but I feel like our reviews are not up to par. (Taste buds fried?) The below list is the beers and their overall score we gave them. We will come back to each again to re-review.

Duvell 3.5

Maine Beer Company Spring Peeper 2.5

Negra Modelo 3

Samuel Adams Noble Pils 3

Dogfish IPA (The last one we tried. We didn’t even give it a number. Maybe that was one too many.)

High & Might Beer Co. Two Headed Beast

2010-02-24T14:50:00.002-05:00

American Stout

High and Mighty Beer Co.

Appearance: Black!

Aroma: Somewhere between coco powder and tootsie rolls.

Taste: Thick and rich. Chocolate up front with a burnt coffee taste in the back.

Mouth feel: Moderate

Overall: Not as chocolatey as I was hoping but the complexity of the burnt coffee adds some depth to it.

Samuel Smith Organic Strawberry Fruit Ale

2010-02-24T14:49:00.001-05:00

Samuel Smith

Appearance: Golden and cloudy with a slightly rosey pink hint to it.

Aroma: Straight up ripe berries.

Taste: Sweet berries. Quite bubbly.

Mouth feel: On the lighter side.

Overall: This is one of those beers where I have been able to see that my tastes are changing. When I first had this beer I love, love, loved it now I think it is alright.

Beer Cocktail: Chocolate covered Strawberries

2010-02-24T14:47:00.000-05:00

Made with Sam Smith Strawberry and High & Mighty Two Headed Beast

Appearance: Dark brown

Aroma: Light strawberry goodness.

Taste: Keeps the richness of the stout while it mellows the strawberry flavor.

Mouth feel: Light

Overall: Pretty awesome Valentine’s Day gift Porter. You are amazing.