Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout

It's always a treat to discover a new stout, and not only have I never tried Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout, but I've never even seen it before. Ah...the thrill of discovery! It pours a dark brunette with a scanty head, and smacks the nostrils with a chocolatey/coffee-ey aroma. There's a low ABV, under 5%, but a lot of hoppiness, riding the seesaw between bitterness and malty sweetness. The chocolate malts, with powdery cocoa mistiness coats the tongue and amazes the mind.

Sierra Nevada Stout

You can't go wrong with Sierra Nevada (I know I'm starting to say that about a lot of breweries these days) and their stout is no exception. I finally was able to buy a single and try it out this week. Pouring down the center of a Sam Adams perfect pint glass yielded a four finger head, which left lots of tan lacing decorating the glass on the way down. Subtle coffee and dark chocolate aromas right off the bat. Some plums, figs and black cherries round out the flavor profile. There is some bitterness from the hops, but in fine balance with the sweet malts. This is the time of year for the dark ones...get 'em while it's dark.

Schell's Fresh Hop Citra Pils

Don't know how this snuck in with the winter beers, but hey, not everybody wants a spiced beer, or a porter or a stout! I don't know what the official IBU is, but it's got a sharp, snappy hop bite that plays well with the lemony aftertaste. They did a pretty good job, crafting a Pilsner more in the American style than the "authentic" European Pilsners  which to me are a bit gamy. Very refreshing...I'd recommend to anyone who is a fan of the hops.

Blue Blood 467 Ethan's Stout

Some of you may remember that Blue Blood was a featured sponsor and official beer of the Nick Kelso Annual Fourth of July Extravaganza last year, and that a thermos of a then-unnamed stout was making the rounds to the truly initiated. Well, Blue Blood's 467 Ethan's Stout is that beer. Pouring a creamy dark mahogany with a 2 1/2 finger frothy tan head this is far and away one of the best stouts out there. Unpretentious (am I pretentious for using the word unpretentious?) but full of flavor and character. Low hoppiness, with a feel like chocolate milk. Chocolate and coffee notes are evident, but subdued, making this an enjoyable experience. Forget about that bad experience that you had with Guinness when you were 14...this is your next stout!

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Limited addition in honor of the 1000th batch brewed at their original location, this one is a bit different than your run-of-the-mill brew: should come with a warning label!

BC Stout pours with virtually no head, but it swelled up to two-fingers worth of foam after setting for a few seconds. The color is black...very black; no light whatsoever makes it through. The first sip was kind of startling, extremely bourbon-y, with the high ABV (13%) casing some apparent evaporation at the back of the pallet. After the initial shock of the bourbon the mix of flavors started to come through: chocolate, vanilla, and a bit of caramel - very creamy. A pleasant surprise was the hoppiness that started to come through after the initial sweet maltiness, it has a 60 on the IBU (international bittering unit) scale. To compare, a typical pale ale has an IBU of about 40, and Guinness Stout is at 45.

Bourbon County Stout is a definite slow-sipper, ideally 2 or more people could share a bottle, poured into a brandy snifter. Take your time!

Newcastle Winter IPA

Used to be when you said "Newcastle" you were talking about their brown ale. But lately they've been putting out seasonal selections, including this Winter IPA. Sorry to say, I don't see much "wintery" about it, let alone anything resembling India Pale Ale. Hops not very evident, the maltiness a bit to cloyingly sweet and not much else going for it. I think I'll give it a miss next time.

Big Sky Brewing Company's Cowboy Coffee Porter

Pours a deep, dark, pretty-near-black brown, with a  dark brown, two-finger head that vanishes fairly quickly. As this is the season for stouts and ports, I was happy to see this limited release offering on the seasonal shelf. However, the one downside of any flavored beer, whether it be coffee, chocolate or fruit, is that it somewhat masks the underlying beeriness of the brew. This porter is an exception. The coffee taste and aroma is rich and inviting, but does nothing to detract from the smooth malt sweetness and the subdued hop character. the mouthfeel is pretty thick and creamy, almost stout-like in consistency (but we all know that the line between stouts and porters is a fuzzy, movable one at best). Big Sky. Big flavor.

New Albion Ale

The New Albion Brewing Company is a defunct American brewery. Founded in 1976 by Jack McAuliffe in Sonoma, California, New Albion is acknowledged as the first United States microbrewery of the modern era, as well as a heavy influence on the subsequent microbrewery and craft beer movements of the late 20th century. (From the Wikipedia article on New Albion Brewing Co.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Albion_Brewing_Company

As part of their 30th Anniversary, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company released "Jack & Ken's Ale", a collaboration between Jack McAuliffe and Ken Grossman. The ale was released by Sierra Nevada as a tribute to McAuliffe's influence on the brewing of Grossman and his company, and was based on a barleywine seasonal brewed by New Albion entitled "Old Toe Sucker".The Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur, California brews an amber ale named Albion, which it claims is "named in recognition and memory of Sonoma’s New Albion Brewing Co."

The original signage from New Albion Brewery is displayed at the Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, and has been signed by Jack McAuliffe.

On August 1, 2012, Jim Koch, brewer and founder of Samuel Adams announced they would be brewing the New Albion Ale for the first time in 30 years. The beer was served at special events at the Great American Beer Festival and will be available nationwide beginning January 2013.

New Albion Ale, as the article above states, was brewed by the Boston Beer Company, brewer of Samuel Adams. Pours a bright golden hue with an immediate hoppy bite. Some evidence of Belgian type yeast strains. Nice floral hop flavor, with a buttery edge. Apples on the backside. I just had a flash of inspiration and ran out to the kitchen to cut a few cubes of sharp cheddar, and voila (French for Eureka) it pairs up pretty well with our subject for the evening. Sam Adams did a good thing bringing New Albion back to life; I'd invest in a six-pack and not be sorry. 

Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat

Ah...Shock Top...the "cool" brand from Anheuser-Busch. Sometimes it has disappointed and depressed me; sometimes it has inspired joy and exultation. I always, however, am amazed and impressed by their marketing savvy. So, in the spirit of cervisial  research, here's my take on Honeycrisp Apple Wheat. First off, the aroma of apple juice, not apples, per se, but apple juice, assaulted my nostrils, so I held a bit of trepidation about what was to come. I need not have been anxious...it was delicious! It poured a hazy lemonadey hue, with a distinct yet subdued apple taste overlaying the basic wheat. Despite this being a late winter/early spring seasonal, I would classify this as a late summer/early fall brew. Maybe I should hold a few back for barbecue time!

Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Pours a translucent brown with a pinky-width of a beige head. Lots of vanilla and cocoa with the first sniff, and a distinct vanilla bean taste on the tongue. I'm glad to see Leinie's going back to the darker, heavier beers - they've always been a  good solid go-to at the local pubs. Even without the vanilla flavoring, this is a better-than-average porter, with a medium thickness and strong flavor, with no noticeable bitterness. Great brew for a cold winter night...like tonight!

Batch 19 Lager

Billed as a "Pre-Prohibition Style Lager", Batch 19 from Coors pours an orangey-yellow with a quickly disappearing head. Taste is a bit hard to pin down - whole wheat bread, malty body and a little bit of ripe apple. But I'm really digging for this flavor profile; basically it's a good solid 'lawnmower' beer which I may revisit this summer while watching my landlord's lawn service guy mow my lawn!

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

I'm on a Lagunitas streak...and there's still more in the fridge! Cap Stout poured a deep reddish brown with a three-finger khaki head that quickly subsided to a thin, yet firm layer of brown foam. It's brewed with coffee, so obviously there's a strong coffee taste, anything else lurking beneath the surface is kind of drowned out by the java, other than a little vanilla. The label says that it's only 29.5 IBU's, but it tastes like more, as there's a bitter edge to it...but maybe that's in part from the coffee. This would be a good base for a beer float!

Lagunitas India Pale Ale

Another winner from the new kid in town, Lagunitas. Pours a golden orange, almost day-glow hue, with a thick frothy head topping it all off. Lots of typical IPA flavors and aromas from grapefruit (subtle) to pine (overt) to lemon (hiding out back) to vanilla wafers (huh?) as well as tangerine and orange peel. Sharp, bitter yet paradoxically refreshing. Much more drinkable for the amateur than you run of the mill IPA.  Great companion to some spicy barbecue or a Mahavishnu John McLaughlin CD.