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Sweet bottle. I love the little guy being crushed by hops, or in this case “slammed,” although my asshole cringes every time I hear this word.

The appearance of this beer is orange, thick, chunky with some smaller hop particles floating hither and thither. Thick, but not syrupy.
Smelling this beer immediately reminds me of Exponential Hoppiness from Alpine Beer Company, which is a good thing in my mind. They say that there is some honey in this beer, which I get the smell of, but it is faint at best and not overwhelming in any sense. If anything, it helps to balance the beer nicely. Perhaps they added it to boost the alcohol level when the yeast eats the sugar to create more alcohol.
First quaff portrays a sweet malt flavor that fades into a hoppy pine/citrus note and then on again to malt backed with a touch of honey. Like if someone put a few honey bunches of oats into your favorite DIPA. Not bad, but not exactly what I am used to in a DIPA like this. I much prefer crisp and bitter edges and a dry finish, a la Pliny or Pure Hoppiness. I’m really glad I tried this one, but certainly not anything new or all that interesting; however, it does have HOPS A PLENTY.

Official BoozeReviews Score:  90/100.  Good DIPA, delicious!  Too bad we can’t get more of this Michigan brewery’s offerings here in San Diego.

L’Chaim!

HEY HEY HEY!

Or is a Prince Albert reference more appropriate to start this one out?

More of a dark Belgian than an RIS, but still one awesome beer that is packed with flavor that harnesses most of the alcohol well.

Initial appearance is brown with little to no head retention on a pretty aggressive pour.
Flavors are sweet and the mouth feel is much lighter than expected. Not your typical 30W motor oil that I associate with most RIS, but more of a medium/light, playful feel. The sweetness of this beer is balanced nicely with the alcohol flavor which provides a slight burn but nothing overly obnoxious. This beer is quite lively and actually has some bitterness which gives the flavor a nice peppy backbone. I get flavors of sweet roat, dark fruit and a very mild, but not bready, Belgian yeast.
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I was expecting something totally different when I read on the bottle that this beer was brewed with chocolate nibs and ancho chiles. I pictured this beer looking like mole, the Mexican sauce that goes so well with enchiladas or chicken. I imagined having to struggle through some syrupy, spicy, medieval concoction that may or may not make me hallucinate.
Not the case.
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What do you say about the best beer in the world? Simply, that it is the best for a reason. I need to make this an official, serious review.
Date says 6/12/09 on the bottlecap. Poured into a tulip that we found in the back of Bohd’s cabinet. I just walked around for a few minutes telling all of my friends that I was drinking the best beer in the world. Holding a glass of this beer makes me feel Rad, like I’m a late 80’s BMXer who is about to pull his first back flip. Nicely carbonated, but nothing overwhelming. No gusher thank God, I only have one bottle of this and I don’t want to drink most of it off the floor…
Appearance is dark brown with a nice pillowy head. This beer seems to be fairly light on it’s feet, lively.
Smell is a strange menagerie of sweet, spicy, and perhaps a bit of a waft of white wine. Interesting.
Initial taste velvety texture with what can only be described as the perfect mouth feel for a beer. Notes of dark fruit, figs, cherries, blackberries, raisins. Getting some grape flavor as well.

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Ventured up to Stone Brewing Company in Escondido yesterday with JDavid to score some special release vintage bottles of Imperial Russian Stout. It was the first time that I have ever been to Stone for a special vintage release, so I really had no idea what to expect. Would there be a line of 100 people already waiting, or would I find no one at all? Would it be like the madness of a swap meet opening as the bargain hunters dash to get the best deals on stolen radios and broken bicycles? Or could I expect a massive, bacchanalian orgy with deaf, mute transvestites masturbating hither and thither? It turned out to be an exceptional experience. I will no longer fear the fabricated fantasies of a Stone special bottle release.

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Move over Coors and Budweiser, there has been a trend in the craft beer industry to put good quality brew into cans! No longer are we limited to nights of shattered glass while dancing barefoot around an open fire, we can now slice our feet equally well with aluminum! So, at least for a few moments, say so long to the bottleneck; it’s going to be a wild aluminum ride!

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Snagged a couple bottles from Bevmo La Mesa on Tuesday.  My first thought, what a fancy little box. Also wondering why I’m spending 20 bucks on a 22 oz. bottle of beer. If I wanted to pay this much for a bottle of booze, I’d drink wine.  I had a similar thought a few weeks back when buying a smaller bottle of Paradox for 12 bucks the other day.  Does more expensive beer truly mean better tasting beer? Or is this the classic case of overpricing and overhyping a hard to get beer?

On the first pour, it wasn’t as thick as I’d thought it would be (is it ever?) The color wasn’t motor oil black, more of a reddish tint to the darkness of the beer like an imperial red.  The smell is confusing.  Part stout, part barleywine, part belgian strong, part IPA.  Silky smooth mouth feel, like eating a velvet vagina. In the same way the smell confuses the senses, the taste is confusing in the same way.  Think about it like this: Parabola,  Opal, Rufus,  Saucerful of Secrets, Union Jack; each individual brings their own distinct style of play, that, in the end, produces a menagerie of flavors.  It’s good, and I see why some people clamor over this beer.

Roughly halfway through this beer I realized that It’s just not for me.  Looking back, if stuck on a deserted island, two growler fills of Pure Hoppiness, 64 ounces of Sculpin, or a few pints of Bad Boy on cask at O’Brien’s sound a lot better than a 22 ouncer of Twelve.  Even if this beer is aged, the loss doesn’t outweigh the gains to be had on more (and better) beer elsewhere.

Official BoozeReviews Score: 80/100

L’Chaim!

JDavid and I had to hit 50 bucks at Bevmo to get the coupon discount, so we added the Nogne Winter Ale (aka Nogne O God Jul) to the cart. At 8.99 it really helped the cause, plus it was only one of two bottles that I was interested in drinking that BevMo has cold. Their cooler situation, half empty, half filled with domestic rice beer is making me start to think that BevMo is short for Beverages and Morons.

Didn’t really expect much from this beer as I have never really heard anything about this Norweigan offering, but, looking back, it is the tastiest porter I have ever had. Surprising since usually I don’t like English style ales, and don’t usually celebrate the season of winter spice brews.

Poured a dark thickness, which in the light, appeared a dark reddish color. Lots of spicy notes, but not over the top like Lost Abbey’s Ten Commandments or Stone’s most recent collaboration with Jolly Pumpkin and Nogne (Holiday Ale). Well balanced and easy to drink. I would never have guessed that this beer clocks in at 8.5%. A little dry, nice bitterness, and some citrusy notes. At times, winter spice beers can be good for a few sips, then turn ugly. Not the case with this one. Even when it warmed it was still lip-smacking good.

Boo Radley should have left this one in the knot-hole for Scout and Jem, a true keeper.

Official BoozeReviews Score: 88/100

L’Chaim!

Well, fall is here in San Diego, and the weather is still ninety six degrees in the shade. However, it is a great time to be tasting some of the local breweries winter offerings.  Big stouts, smoked porters, barrel aged this and coffee roasted that. It never gets old being smack dab in the middle of a great beer town.

Had an eagerly-anticipated taster of Boris on tap at Alpine Beer Company after staring at the bourbon casks looming large in the front of the brewery for months.  My initial impression was that the coffee doesn’t overwhelm the taste of the bourbon barrel aging.  A good thing in my mind.  The beer was well balanced between the coffee and bourbon flavor.  Upon leaving, I was definitely excited for more sampling,  or what we in the BoozeReviews business call “research.”  At least that’s what I tell my wife.

After grabbing a few 22 oz. bottles, we ventured back from the land of the lost to knock back some Duet, Pure Hoppiness, and, of course, more Boris.  JDavid was the first one to taste the off putting sour/tart flavor that he likened to fresh-off-the-tree green apples. The moment he said this, I tried to focus in on the flavor he was tasting, and yes, it was there.  Could it be?  Did Boris turn ugly in the casks in the later stages of aging? Now I’m no cicerone, but something seems to have gone awry in this beer.

Now I’m the first one to jump on the Alpine bandwagon, but Boris kind of made me feel like the first time a girl looked at my dick and said to me, “Pinche pito de pitufo!” My reply was, “It is what it is.”  And that’s all I can say here about Boris.  It is what it is.

BoozeReviews Score: 60/100

L’Chaim!