Feb. 21: Dad Brew’s Buxom Blonde
Ale: This is a Kolsch. Very bright citrus taste at the outset with a nice
lightly sweet finish. Slight yeastiness. Brewed in Fremont and only available
on tap at a few places. Tried it at an Austrian restaurant in Campbell.
Feb. 22: Stone’s Double Bastard:
Holy Crap. Stone is amazingly good at compiling sufficient superlatives to
describe its own beers that they don’t need me to help in any way. This is
deserving of all of them. An amazingly smooth, sweet, caramel, and hoppy
experience that is beyond sufficient description. Very little head. Cloudy,
deep orange-golden hue. Strong at 10.8%, but it the alcohol never presents
itself at the fore. But, what a kick. I’ll be sleeping with visions of
gargoyles dancing in my head.
Feb. 23:Widmer Brothers’ Brrrrbon
’11: Specialty release. One of their “Alchemy Project” line. Described as an
ale “aged in bourbon barrels.” Beautiful
orange-amber color – like highly polished copper. Very limited carbonation and
subtle hopping. The focus is on the character of the malt and the subtle
influenced of the bourbon barrels. At 9.4% ABV, a complex sipping beer. The
limited hop presence does allow the bourbon character to come through. Very
smooth and enveloping – great for a cold evening.
Feb. 27: Today’s beer: Lagunitas’ Wilco Tango Foxtrot:. One
of my favorite beers of 2011. Touted as a robust, malty ale for a jobless
recovery, it lives up to its description. Much more of the flavor derives from
the malt than the hops. It is well balanced and carmely. Dark brown in color.
Much deliciousness. (April 2011) OK, just had the 2012 release and it is everything
I remembered. On occasion, having a beer at one point and then not having
access to it can lead the memory to build the experience and put it out of
reach of reality. So, upon a second tasting, the beer seems disappointingly
pedestrian. But not with WTF! The glory
continues!
Feb. 28: Today’s beer: Bear Republic’s Big Bear Black Stout:
I’ve been on kind of a dark beer kick lately. Maybe it’s the weather turning
slightly colder for California. And I’m happy to see so many breweries turning
out stouts and porters, because sometimes it feels like everything is an IPA.
This is an exceptional stout. It is everything a stout should be: thick, dark,
nice burnt unsweetened chocolate flavor, with a slightly sweet undertone, and
low carbonation. Strong at 8.1%, but doesn’t feel very strong – the burnt
chocolate flavor drowns out any hint of alcohol. I haven’t had much from Bear
Republic, but I will be trying more --- very soon.
Feb. 29: Today’s Beer: Port Brewing’s Midnight Expressions. This
is a dark lager. Good slightly burnt malt flavor, that is reminiscent of a good
porter. Less sweet than some porters, and with a light feel of a lager. I’ve
gotten to really like the dark lagers and this one is right there with
Moonlight’s Death and Taxes. I had this one on tap at Beer Revolution.
(2/9/2012) Just also had a bottle as well, and I’m still impressed. It is much
lighter than a stout, especially since the night before I had a very strong
stout, so the comparison was pretty stark. This is lighter in flavor and taste,
but still has enough of the dark malt character to make it interesting. It
would be a good summer dark lager. It has more of a lightly sour flavor, more
than the version that was on tap.
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