Brewer's Alley Brickhouse Stout

For this week's Tasting Tuesday, Christian has an oatmeal stout that tastes spot-on, and then some.

Originating in England, oatmeal stouts are dark, malty beers made with a variety of grains - including oatmeal. This addition not only creates a heavier beer, but actually adds a toasty, slightly bready flavor that complements the beer.

Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen but, in the case of Brickhouse Oatmeal Stout from Brewer's Alley (Maryland), it happens in a wonderful way.

As expected, this pours a dark, black color with mild carbonation. What's not expected is the 6.7% ABV alcohol content, which is a little higher than usual for one of these. 

The malty, chocolatey aroma is quite strong, and continues into the taste. There's a lot of sweet maltiness, along with some dark chocolate and coffee, but it's balanced out nicely with some very mild hop bitterness. And, of course, there's that comforting, mild oatmeal aftertaste. 

Overall, it's a great stout that's not heavy-handed with any one particular flavor (which tends to happen), and is a smooth beer that's great for both casual beer fans and geeks alike. If you're in the Maryland area, this is definitely one to try in the bottle or at the brewery (try their award-winning Kolsch).

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Monocacy H.L. Rex pale ale

On the 12th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - H.L. Rex session pale ale from Monocacy brewery.

Session ales are typically developed as beers with low alcohol content. Don't think of them as "lite" beers that are watered-down - session beers are brewed to have a lot of the flavor as other craft beers, but about half the alcohol so you can enjoy several, "in a session."

H.L. Rex definitely follows suit with a low, 3.6% ABV, but is otherwise a solid beer. It pours a dark gold with good carbonation. There's a great fruity aroma, too.

Being a pale ale, you'd expect hoppy flavors, and there's definitely a complex group of flavors including pine, some lemon, and even a little grapefruit. There's not a lot of malt flavor (typical of session beers), but I'd be happy to get another half  percent of alcohol for a little more maltiness.

Nevertheless, this is a good beer for casual fans, and would be great for warm weather or those times when you'd love to have a beer without the buzz. I definitely see myself picking up some of this for lounging around the pool.

How have you enjoyed our #12BeersofXmas series? We'd love to hear your feedback in the comments, or feel free to drop us a line privately. More to come!

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Founders Backwoods Bastard Bourbon Ale

On the 11th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Backwoods Bastard from the Founders brewery.

As you may recall (take a look through our last few posts), we tried a barrel-aged ale a few days ago that was really underwhelming. 

Today's beer is another barrel-aged ale that's really everything the other one wasn't. 

Backwoods Bastard pours out a dark reddish brown with good carbonation. Founders starts with roasted malt, making for an already great beer, then ages it in used bourbon barrels. The result is that you get an aroma of bourbon, which gives you a heads-up about its high, 11.6% ABV alcohol content.

But it's the taste that's going to make you fall in love with this one. Sure, you get a not-too-heavy bourbon flavor, but you also get a slightly smokey, sweet flavor from the malts. Combine that with some big vanilla (and maybe a little coconut) and subtle raisin flavors, and this easily becomes one if the top beers in this category. 

You really want this one. I mean, you REALLY want this one. Beer geeks will love it, but even casual craft beer fans will find all kinds of things to like about it. Plus, it's really smooth and drinkable.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Heavy Seas and Stone Partner Ships Brown IPA

On the 10th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Brown IPA  from the Heavy Seas and Stone breweries.

Despite what you may think, collaborations between breweries is a fairly common occurrence. In the case of the Partner Ships series from Heavy Seas (Baltimore), they regularly collaborate on a variety of really special beers with other well-known breweries. 

For this Brown IPA, they collaborated with Stone Brewing (San Diego) to make a beer that is not only a great brown ale, but a great twist on a strong India Pale Ale, too.

This one pours an opaque brown with good carbonation. It's a big 9% ABV, so the alcohol content is more similar to this beer's Imperial IPA-ness, than to its brown ale side.

The taste, however, is a very intriguing cross of the two styles. You get a lot of sweetness from the malt and molasses used in the brewing, but then are hit with a BIG, hoppy flavor from a myriad of east- and west-coast style hops. You end up with a bit of citrus, with some pine, and a lot of that great bitterness that's seen in Double IPAs. You even get some mild coffee in the aftertaste. 

Bottom line? This is a really cool beer from two amazing breweries. If you don't care for overly-hopped beers, you'll want to skip this one. You hop-heads, however, should beat a path to find this beer ASAP. It's in very limited production, so if you find it, try it now. Trust us.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

On the 9th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - well, uh, something not so great.

So today's selection has greatness written all over it - Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. I mean, it's from Kentucky, the state which is renowned for bourbon, and an ale that's aged in used, oak bourbon barrels for six weeks while it leeches every ounce of distilled goodness leftover in those barrels.

Except it's not.

This pours a light gold with okay carbonation, and smells really boozy. The taste has a very slight vanilla hint to it, but is a very light, thin beer with a dry finish. Overall, though, it simply tastes like watered-down bourbon. The one positive is it's high, 8.7% ABV alcohol content (typical of barrel-aged beers).

Look, I like bourbon with a little water, but this was too thin to keep a good flavor. I'm not sure if it's the particular distillery they're sourcing from, or a change in the recipe, but this one just isn't what it used to be. 

We definitely respect the hard work and love that goes into making craft beers, but this one, unfortunately, is a miss.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Flying Dog Sea Salt Caramel Brown

On the 8th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Sea Salt Caramel Brown from Flying Dog brewery.

I once knew a girl who was so sweet that she couldn't taste sugar. This beer, however, would definitely have tickled her tastebuds. 

Brown ales tend to be sweet to begin with. Add to that BIG flavors of caramel and vanilla, and this 7% ABV ale feels like dessert in a glass. We actually didn't get much saltiness in it, but the overall effect was something similar to brown sugar. 

By itself, this one can be a bit heavy, but I think it would work well with something like almond cake, or go crazy with a saucy plate of barbecue. Oddly enough, a cigar-aficionado friend who was with us commented that this would go great with a stronger cigar. 

Definitely a fun one to try, particularly if you love sweets. There's not a lot of beer taste to it, so it's even good to share with a casual beer fan.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: DuClaw Guilty Filthy Soul Porter

On the 7th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Guilty Filthy Soul imperial chocolate rye porter from DuClaw brewery.

That's a mouthful. Fortunately, you'll want a mouthful of this rich beer. Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter is really not something you see often, but "imperial" suggests extra hops flavor, chocolate flavor, some spice flavors from the rye, and a dry, bready finish.

Sure enough, this dark brown porter has all of that, including lots of dark chocolate in the aroma (and aftertaste), with slight hoppiness up front. You get a bit of coffee going on, too, and all of this comes with a solid alcohol content of 7.7% ABV. 

This one is definitely one for chocolate lovers, and its dry character makes for a great beer to pair with dessert. Definitely worth a try if you're into that style. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: New Belgium Trippel Belgian Ale

On the 6th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Trippel Belgian ale from the New Belgium brewery.

If you're a fan of Belgian-style beers, you may be aware of one known as a, "Tripel". They're named for the huge amounts of extra malt that is used (sometimes triple the amount) which creates a heavier, usually sweeter beer with all the great things about Belgian beers cranked up a few notches. You also tend to get much higher alcohol content (because of the extra sugar).

In the case of New Belgium's "Trippel", you get all of the above! It pours a dark good color with good carbonation, albeit with a high alcohol of 8.5% ABV, which is actually less than the typical 9-12% you tend to find in a tripel.

The taste is wonderfully Belgian - aromas of banana and bubble gum, along with the typical cloves and smokiness you often get with them. One surprising thing is that it tastes deceptively smooth, and you'd never guess it was that high in alcohol.

Overall, this is an excellent beer that's easy to find (and affordable) that you could line up against much higher-end tripels. Definitely one for Belgian beer fans.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Day 5

On the 5th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Peg Leg imperial stout from Heavy Seas brewery.

Imperial stouts (sometimes also called Russian Imperial stouts) tend to be boozy, English-style stouts with a more pronounced hops flavor. They were originally brewed for the Russian monarchs who, at the time, preferred the British beers, but also wanted a higher alcohol content since they were used to distilled spirits like vodka. Because travel across Europe took a while, the Brits added extra hops, which helped keep the beer fresher for longer.

Peg Leg checks these boxes with a dark color, mild carbonation and a heavier alcohol content of 8% ABV.

The taste is mildly sweet from the malt, and there's not a lot of the chocolate or coffee flavors that show up in a lot of stouts these days. This is typical of an English stout, as is the dry finish and thin body that this beer has.

Bottom line? This one is spot-on for the style. I personally like a heavier stout with more pronounced coffee or cocoa flavors, but I'd recommend this one to anyone who typically enjoys something like Guinness. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

Day 4

On the 4th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Hash Brown ale from Sweetwater brewery.

An India Brown Ale? That's what intrigued me into picking up this one - and it turned out to be just that. 

Like a brown ale, it poured a dark brown color with good carbonation. These English-style beers tend to be sweeter because of the malts used, and this one definitely has that characteristic, along with an alcohol content of 6.2% ABV.

However, it's the big, IPA-level of hops that really makes this one stand out. You get the sweetness from the brown ale, complemented nicely by west coast style citrusy hops. 

This is really one of the more interesting beers I've tried in a while - and you should, too, particularly if you like pale ales and IPAs. This one is really tasty.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

Day 3

On the 3rd day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - K-9 Winter Warmer from Flying Dog Brewery.

Winter beers are typically darker and made with a variety of spices and flavors that don't typically show up in beer any other time of the year.

In the case of K-9 Winter Warmer, it's a dark, brownish-red English ale that features, among other things, cardamom (a spice typically found in SE Asian cuisine). It has medium carbonation, and is a toasty 7.4% ABV alcohol content.

The label describes the taste as having notes of chocolate and vanilla. To be honest, I didn't notice any vanilla, but there was some chocolate in the aftertaste. As you can imagine, the predominant flavor is the cardamom, which tastes like a cross between nutmeg and a variant of ginger. I honestly would have liked more chocolate flavor to balance it out a bit - but keep reading.

I'll admit this was initially a "miss" for me, until a dinner mate offered me some vanilla ice cream. With chocolate sauce.

Holy. Crap.

Suddenly, everything came together, and the overly sweet ice cream meshed beautifully with the herbal spices of the beer, and it was DELICIOUS.

Bottom line? By itself, it really may not appeal to you but, if that's the case, try pairing it with some strong-flavored food (like ice cream or salty nuts) and see how well this beer goes with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

Day 2

On the 2nd day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Penn Quarter Porter from DC Brau Brewing Company's brewery.

Named after a famous neighborhood in Washington, DC, Penn Quarter Porter is a dark, malty beer with good carbonation and a mild, though on-par for a porter, alcohol content of 5.5% ABV.

This actually smells great - it's a sweet, chocolatey goodness that continues to the taste. Once sipping it, you start to taste dark chocolate, hints of coffee, and even a sweetness that I'd describe as brown sugar. It is a bit bitter, and has a slightly dry finish. 

It's actually not as thick as porters typically are, but it's certainly not a reason you shouldn't try this limited release. In fact, it gets exponentially better when paired with a sweet dessert (I had it with creme brûlée), so definitely keep that in mind. Overall, I think it's a good one to start with if you wanted to try getting into a porter. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

Day 1

On the first day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Two To The Dome DIPA from 3 Stars Brewery.

This double India Pale Ale pours a dark, golden color with good carbonation. DIPAs tend to be higher in alcohol and, at 8.9% ABV, this one follows suit.

The taste is an interesting combination of the citrus-like hops of a west coast IPA, but also has the mild pine flavor of an east coast style. With all the hops flavors, you'd expect it to be bitter, but it's actually not that strong. There's a lot of great flavor going on with this beer, though.

Overall, it's a great DIPA that I've never had before, and would recommend it to IPA fans, whether you prefer ones with more citrus or pine. It's very drinkable, and would definitely be one I'd have again. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

Weyerbach Mellow Monks Belgian pale ale

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a Belgian beer that's a milder version of another.

If you're a fan of Belgian beers (and are on the east coast), you're likely aware of Weyerbacher Brewing. One of their best  known beers is Merry Monks, a wonderful Belgian Tripel that's full of great flavor and, typical of a Tripel, pretty high in alcohol.

Enter Mellow Monks, a Belgian Pale Ale that's much lighter in both color and alcohol (only 4.5% ABV) while still retaining everything great about Belgian beers.

Mellow Monks pours a pale gold color with mild carbonation. The taste is typical of a Belgian pale - a little smokiness and a clove spice flavor, but this one actually has a mild sweetness that tastes like apples, and even a hint of bubble gum (seriously!). It's not overly bitter, and makes for a very drinkable beer.

Overall, this is a great one for Belgian beer fans, particularly if you like Blue Moon. Just skip the orange slice for this one.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

10 Perfect Gifts for Beer Fans

With the holidays quickly approaching, the annual search for the perfect gift is well underway, right? To help you out, we came up with 10 great gift ideas for that beer fan in your life.

1. Beer

Naturally. But this time of year, there are a lot of rare, seasonal beers that make great gifts. Why bring wine to a party when you can bring a "bomber" bottle of bourbon-barrel aged stout, or a rich, winter ale? Plus, they start at just $5, and will age just fine if you're not giving them away for a month or so (just keep them out of sunlight).

2. Growlers

These are larger glass or ceramic jugs that can be purchased then filled straight from the tap. They're wonderful gifts for a beer fan or party gathering, and can be cleaned and refilled almost anywhere that offers growler fills. You do want to use up the beer in a few days, so if you purchase a filled growler, make sure you gift it soon afterward.

3. Charcuterie/sausage 

Few things go with beer as well as salted, cured meat. Strong spiced sausage works great with an IPA or sweeter brown ales, while charcuterie is accented nicely by lagers, pilsners and kolsch.

4. Cheese

Like the meats, fine cheeses are a good addition. Mild cheeses are good with stouts and porters, but stronger cheeses go great with ales, lagers and wheat beers.

5. Chocolate

Go upscale on some chocolates (my personal favorite is from Salazon), then pair it up with a coffee stout. 

6. Chips

Skip the Doritos - find some quality, kettle-cooked potato chips at your local market or deli, and they'll go GREAT with a number of beers. Just don't get too exotic with the flavors (like bacon horseradish dip flavor), and the beer fan you buy them for will have no problems pairing them.

7. Bottle openers

Every beer fan can use a cool bottle opener, and we're always surprised by what we come across. Tacky, fun ones can usually be found for a couple bucks at a number of small businesses, but some antique shops have some VERY cool vintage offerings worth looking into.

8. Vintage beer steins

Another cool find? Vintage beer steins. These can be found at antique & consignment stores, and can be had pretty inexpensively (though some old, ornate ones can go for hundreds of dollars). In fact, Christian uses a beer stein as a coffee mug.

9. Beer koozies

These foam and neoprene covers are readily available, and come in handy in the summer, or so you don't freeze your hand to the beer can or bottle while tailgating during football season. They're usually available with team logos and beer brands, so pick a favorite.

10. Gift cards/certificates

Why not pay a bar tab? Most small businesses offer gift cards or certificates will happily sell you one so your beer fan will get exactly what they want.

Tasting Tuesday: Homebrewed Honey Porter

For this week's Tasting Tuesday, Christian tries a VERY small-batch beer with a VERY cool story.

As beer bloggers, we're often asked to try some interesting beers, and give our opinions. Once it was an experimental mint chocolate stout from a brewery. Once it was a first sample of a new, contract-brewed "chaos beer". Once was even Budweiser wort (which is actually DELICIOUS).

Frequently, though, we're handed a bottle or invited over to try some homebrewed beer. 

Recently, a friend of ours, Joey, handed us a bottle of his homebrewed beer. Joey's been brewing since 2009 under his own private label which he's dubbed, "Ashton Aleworks", and the bottle he gave us was his White House Honey Porter.

Why the name? "The White House Honey Porter was inspired by several home brewers who worked at the White House in 2012."

It's 6.4% ABV English Porter that, interestingly, pours a very dark purplish black with good carbonation.

These tend to be slightly malty with a touch of sourness, which this has. There's a strong fruit taste, similar to plums or raisins, and the finish is a little bready and slightly dry with a mild bitterness that quickly dissipates. In short, it's a spot-on English Porter, and it's delicious. "It's better straight out of my kegerator," Joey reports.

It's beers like Joey's that remind us of where beer comes from, and where every great brewer started. There's a great purity to homebrewing, and few things as great as the confident smile you get from a brewer handing you the beer they're most proud of. And we'll forever be grateful and flattered to have these beers shared with us.

Want to hear more about brewing at The White House? Here's a great link worth reading.

Cheers!
Christian & Eric