Brickway Jalapeño-Pineapple Pilsner

Before I discuss the beer, I'm going to tell you a little story:

A few years ago I worked for a guy who had zero tolerance for empty shelves during a holiday week. First thing in the morning we'd make a list of all the items that we were out of. Next we'd call other stores in the same chain and see if they could help us. If that failed we would each be given lists and head to competitors to empty their shelves. One Christmas Eve I had been given the assignment to but three things: Bisquick pancake mix, canned pineapple and, for some reason, jalapeño jelly. Standing in line with a shopping cart full of these items I began to attract attention. When asked I laughed and told people "when the wife gives you a grocery list, you don't ask questions". But that answer didn't satisfy. They wanted to know what in the world she was making that required cases of Bisquick and canned pineapple, and jalapeño jelly. So I improvised. I told them that my wife was from The Falklands and she made her special Jalapeño-Pineapple Pancakes, a Falklands traditional recipe, for everybody at church every Christmas Eve. When I got back to the store and told this story, everybody wanted me to actually make some of these magical pancakes, which I did for several years.

When I saw this beer on the shelf at Moran's, I just had to get a can, even though it sounded somewhat strange.

Pilsners in general are light, clear and refreshing, a great example of the lager style of beer. The underlying beer underneath the added flavorings seems pretty solid, but it's difficult to tell since the pineapple taste is very strong. It's cloudy, not clear. Since pilsners tend to be so clear you could read a newspaper through a full glass, I can only assume that it's the pineapple that's causing the haziness that in an ale I would credit to it being unfiltered. Barely a hint of jalapeño, just some spiciness hiding out behind the pineapple.

Overall, nothing special, but nothing really offensive either. A "meh" 5 on the IGB scale.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Dead Guy Ale is brewed in the style known as maibock. See the following link for an explanation of  the bock and maibock styles:
https://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/2011/02/bock.html

Dead Guy Ale pours a coppery-amber color with a frothy white head. My first impression of the taste is that it reminds me of some of the better Belgian ales. There's a hint of pineapple and a bit of caramel. It's fairly hoppy at 40 IBUs, which is about what you'd expect for this style. Since it's somewhat springlike out today, I find it appropriate to be sampling a bock, a style that's typically associated with Spring. It's not overly complex and there's not a lot going on beneath the surface, but it's a good choice if you like hoppy brews, but not so hoppy that it takes the enamel off your teeth.

Cosmic Eye Brewing - Your Friend Death Imperial Stout

"This beer contains NO: vanilla, marshmallows, cookies, breakfast cereals, coffee, chocolate donuts, chilis, milk, sugar, or syrups. It does contain water, hops, yeast, oats and a whole bunch of dark malt. As always we kept the ABV in check so you can drink an entire beer yourself and still function. Yay!"
~ ~ Quote from the back of the can

As the quote above indicates, there is nothing in this beer that wouldn't pass the German beer purity laws (maybe the oats, not sure). I'm perfectly okay with added flavorings in moderation, but the truly great beer experience lives in a beer that derives all its flavor from...the beer. Your Friend Death is brewed in one of the traditional styles: the Imperial Stout. The Imperial Stout was an English ale that was brewed for the Tsar of Russia - he had taken a liking to the working man's stouts and porters and had asked to have some shipped to Mother Russia. In those days of no preservatives, beers were prepped for long journeys in two ways: by brewing it either with a lot of hops (like the India Pale Ale) or a lot of alcohol. Russian Imperial Stout had a high ABV to help it make the trek to St. Petersburg. Modern brewers have taken to using the adjective "imperial" to indicate a higher-than-usual alcohol content.

Your Friend Death pours a tarry black with a robust tan head. The 8.1% ABV isn't what's classified sessionable, but still low enough so that you'll retain your senses after one or two. The bitterness is fairly intense, at 66 IBUs, but it's not the kind of hoppiness that will peel paint or take the enamel off your teeth, just a nice edge that complements the silky smooth maltiness. Despite there being no added flavorings, there are appreciable coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel is creamy and thick. Really, this is everything an imperial stout should be. 9.75 on the IGB scale.

New Belgium Honey Orange Tripel

Traditionally  the four varieties of Belgian Abbey Ales are abbey ales, dubbels, tripels and quardrupels or grand crus. Legendarily the regular ales were for the common people, the dubbels went to the local nobility, the tripels to the bishop and the quads they kept for themselves. I'm pretty partial to quads myself, especially the bourbon barrel-aged variety, but today I'm drinking a tripel.

As is usual for a tripel, New Belgium's Honey Orange Tripel pours a bright golden hue with a healthy snow-white head. The honey makes it a bit sweeter than I consider optimal, but doesn't detract from the taste. The orange peel gives it a nice tang. The 25 IBUs put it in the middle of hop bitterness territory. It clocks in at 10% ABV, as the brew warms up, the alcohol heat becomes more evident. Honey Orange Tripel is at once a light summery ale, yet packs a punch, and still has that elegance that you'd expect from a high-end offering.

If it weren't for the cloying sweetness, I'd give this a solid 10, but it will have to be a 9.25 on the IGB scale.

Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Ordinarily, any beer that has chocolate in any form added to it is a stout or a porter, not so with Boulevard Chocolate Ale. The base beer seems to be an amber ale, medium hoppiness (24 IBUs). They describe it as a "strong ale", and the ABV is  8.7%. The hue is coppery, with a two-finger amber head. There's definitely some chocolate in the taste profile, but it isn't overpowering as you get in some ales that add chocolate. In addition to the obvious chocolate there are subtle notes of caramel, toasted bread and oddly enough, some blueberry and floral notes. Despite the added flavoring, the overall beeriness comes through, pushing the additions to the side. Boulevard does it again! 7.5 on the IGB scale.

Bell's Russian Imperial Stout

This is the last review of my three-day weekend series of beers. Expedition Stout by Bell's is a Russian Imperial Stout - no barrel aging, no added flavorings, just good ol' inky-black stout goodness.

After I poured it into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass, I held it up to the light and could not see any light coming through...now that's dark. There was a thick two-finger ten head that quickly dissipated to some brown lacing. It has a creamy consistency that one would expect from a well-made stout with battling tastes that include chocolate, coffee and vanilla. It's got a 10.5% ABV, but no discern able alcohol heat. Also absent are the dark fruit notes that are often present in the imperials. Not overly complicated, but the flavors and aromas coming together smoothly. 9.5 on the IGB scale.

Bell's Brewery: "To a Locomotive in Winter - IV" Smoked Porter

I don't think I've ever tried a beer from Bell's Brewery, but here we go...

This particular beer is part of series "celebrating literary classics":
Bell's website: explanation of the "literary classics"

I'm going to refrain from commenting on that aspect, since "classic literature" for me includes Heinlein, Clarke and Asimov, and just talk about the beer.

First of all, it's a smoked porter, or as a certain politician might say, "smocked". "IV" pours a deep dark brown with a healthy chocolate head. The aroma is a little off-putting, as it literally smells like a smoldering campfire - cool if you like that sort of thing, but I could do without it. However, the taste does communicate the smoke that strongly. Once you get past the smoke, the underlying porter is a solid ale that you can sink your teeth into. As it approaches room temperature some chocolate and brown sugar starts to emerge in the taste profile. I can imagine pairing this with a nicely grilled steak, or some pulled pork barbecue. Maybe even something spicy. Overall, pretty decent. 6.5 on the IGB scale.