Gran Sport Porter

From Coop Ale Works in Oklahoma, this interesting porter caught my eye. At 43 IBU's it's a fairly hoppy porter, but with thefull-bodied silky smoothness that I expect from a good porter. Pours pretty-close-to black, two-finger brown head and notes of chocolate and coffee beans. Only gonna have one though...have to drive home!

Boulevard Chocolate Ale

I've had this ale twice on tap, and it was delicious. The chocolate was at once subtle and obvious: it was apparent that you were drinking beer infused with chocolate, but it didn't seem like you were drinking chocolate milk as is the case with so many chocolate brews. I was surprised initially by the color, which is not a stout-dark like many ales that add chocolate, but a hazy amber with a fluffy white head. Not much other flvor comes through, medium hoppiness, very smooth.

Zipline American Trippel

Pouring a semi-hazy honey color with an off-white head skimming the top 2 or 3 molecules, Zipline's American Trippel tantalizes with subtle notes of peach and mango and maybe a hint of coriander. The  Belgian-ness characterizing most trippels is subdued here, but there's some real complexity as new flavors are revealed as the ale sneaks up on room temperature. Should I have another?

Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner

Pick up anything by Sierra Nevada and you won't be disappointed. Lately they've been coming out with some lager styles, like the Vienna Lager from a few months ago. There's a lot of pilsners out there (basically all the macro-brews are pilsner style lagers or their close cousins) but it takes a quality brewer to do it right. Nooner pours a light, bright, crystal clear straw color, with a fluffy white, three-finger head. Some subtle hop bitterness, on the piney side. There's some flowery notes along with some subdued citrus. Overall a fine beer to usher in the warmer weather.

Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock

Big Butt Doppelbock used to be one of my favorite beers back when I was an (almost) exclusively Leinenkugel guy, back before I really understood what darkness meant in a beer. In fact it was a guest's negative reaction to Big Butt that inspired me to keep some cheap beer in the fridge for undiscerning visitors. Big Butt was discontinued by Leinie's at an inopportune time: just when darker beers started becoming popular, discontinued before Ill-Gotten Booty started doing beer reviews.

Big Butt pours a reddish mahogany brown with a thin tan head. Low carbonation, medium hoppiness with an aroma and taste of figs, raisins, and apricots. Toffee and honey make an appearance as well. Pretty decent bock, although nothing "doppel" about it.

Shiner Birthday Beer Chocolate Stout

Happy 106th birthday to Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner Texas. To celebrate, they've brewed up a nice thick chocolate stout. It pours a deep, dark brown with some ruby highlights - you're hit immediately by the chocolate. It's brewed with cocoa nibs, so that's no surprise. A little too  much chocolate for my taste, but not so much that it makes for an unpleasant drinking experience. The mouthfeel and the underlying chocolate malt and coffee notes are all there, making it a good solid stout, despite the overkill on the chocolate. If you like chocolate egg creams, them you'll like this!

Zipline Kölsch

Zipline is a local Lincoln brewery that has been coming out with some top-notch beers these last few years. The newest is a Kölsch. Following is a link with some explanation about the style:











http://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/2013/04/beer-styles-kolsch.html

This particular Kölsch is light and bright and really makes me think "summer", rather than winter...but maybe that's the magic: start drinking summer beers and winter will be over more quickly! The brew pours a hazy lemon hue, with a citrussy aroma. There's a little bit of mild honey in the flavor pallette, Low ABV at 4% makes it a good session beer, low bitterness makes it acceptable to the picky among us. But don't mistake this for a "lowest common denominator" beer. There's some depth and subtlty to Zipline Kölsch, that makes it worth a try...and then maybe another.