A Pair

Brother B. and I swung by the Market of Choice last night. As chain stores go, it is the best place to find good beer. We picked up a handful of new selections.

#1 Dick's Cream Stout.

5.5% Alcohol by Volume.

A light hopped stout where the cream is very present. It's not an acid beer, but sweet and light with a good chocolate taste. Dick's Cream Stout is definitely not a summer drink, a designed for cold, dark, rainy days.

#2 Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale

102 IBUs

7.7% Alcohol by Volume

Considering Lagunitas' IPA and Maximus, I was prepared for an overpowering beer. Instead Hop Stoopid Ale has notes of flowers with notes of citrus. It has an even character: clean with no after taste.  The beer has an even flavor. It's not overpowering and not an extreme beer.

Taste of the Week

#1- Old Plowshare Organic Stout by North Coast Brewing. A good simple beer. The flavors are vague due to the simple ingredients, but it is a well made beer. It is not the worst stout I have had, but it doesn't pass the median either. The aroma is barely there. I would think this beer would get better with some tinkering and some time.

#2 -Sweetgrass-India Pale Ale by Grand Teton Brewing Co. A nice IPA. I compared it to my favorite IPA, by Bridgeport. I had a good body of aroma, but the flavor just came off as too sour and broad. I would drink it again, but would go out of my way to get more.

#3- Oatmeal Stout Blueberry - Pyramid Brewing. This weeks favorite. The wife(godblessher) saw it and under orders to grab a sample of anything new and in my taste range (porters and stouts from none AB/Bud/Miller brands (sorry Henry's)).
I tried it. I don't like Blueberries and those beers containing berries don't turn out well. The only beer good with berries is a raspberry honey made by Spanish Peaks Brewing(love it, especially in the summer, again thanks for the swag).
...But...
This was good. I just bought another 6 pack. Sweet and Tart are the flavors that only last a second. It lands perfectly on the tongue. The oatmeal stout part of the beer seems to level the flavors to a great all around beer. Although I must temperate it with the fact I don't believe I could drink quantities of this beer year round (which isn't a bad thing, but a sign of a great beer.)
Try it.

ps. still trying to find Ninkasi and Roots dark beers in bottles.

Pliny the Elder

Breathen of Beer,

Brother Claude and I shared a Pliny the Eldar. It has an aroma of grapefruit with tones of pine underneath. It is a full bodied beer without an extreme taste. A solid IPA.

Brudha RD