Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Bomb! Krebs, OK. Double/Imperial Stout. 14% ABV.

I didn't do much for NYC Craft Beer week, but I did manage to try a highly sought after imperial stout. Prairie has been popping up around NYC in the past few months, though I had yet to find the elusive Bomb! When I found this on tap I ordered it immediately, and our party got the last 3 glasses before the keg kicked. Perfect timing to say the least.

Served on tap in a tulip glass. Pours a pitch black color with a one and a half finger tan foam head. Smells are of coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Mostly coffee though. Carbonation is moderate with a full body. The first part of the taste is like someone ground up espresso and threw it into a stout. The coffee taste is so incredibly fresh and delicious. There are hints of vanilla and cacao, and is so well balanced. There is a slight hint of the chili peppers at the back end of the taste, but it is not overwhelming. If anything, it balances out the alcohol and complements the roasty malt. I sampled a taste or two of the beer and estimated ABV at 10%, and was shocked to find it was 14%. So well masked, mostly due to the complex flavorings.

An unbelievable and unexpected find-will be on the lookout for this again for sure.

100/100
$10/ draught
100/100 Beer Advocate

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA. San Diego, CA 7% ABV.

Served chilled from a 12 oz bottle and poured into a snifter. Pours a light amber color with an orange hue. Smell is heavily grapefruit, with some citrusy hops in there. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to light body. Taste is incredibly crisp and refreshing, with grapefruit evident the entire experience. The malt is secondary to the hoppy flavor and grapefruit backbone, which tastes like actual grapefruit and not artificial flavoring. Aftertaste is a combo of bitter hops and citrus.

Regular Sculpin is one of my favorite IPAs out there. When Grapefruit Sculpin came out last fall, I reserved a six pack at a local store and fell in love. When I saw this at Carmine Street Beers over the weekend, I had to buy a 6 pack (almost bought 2!). In terms of single IPAs on the market, this may be the best (before anyone freaks out Heady is a DIPA). Remember drink this stuff fresh-you won't be disappointed!

99/100
$3/bottle
96/100 Beer Advocate

Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged YETI Imperial Stout. Denver, CO. American Double/Imperial Stout 9.5% ABV.

Bottled 12/23/2013. Served semi-chilled from a 22 oz bomber and poured into a snifter. Pours a dark brown to nearly black color with a thin tan laced head. Smells are heavily of coffee and espresso beans, with a slight hint of dark roasted malts. If the coffee wasn't there I can imagine it would have tasted more chocolatey than anything. There were certainly hints of chocolate, oak and vanilla but the coffee was really overpowering. The carbonation was relatively light with a full body. Not a viscously full body like a Bourbon County or Parabola but still a heavy beer. The taste was much like the smell with the coffee, oak, chocolate and perhaps  hints of brown sugar. Aftertaste was comparable to a fresh cup of espresso.

This beer was aged for 14 months in my cellar, and I must say I was pleased with what time did with it. I have had this one fresh before in a bottle and on tap, but this experience was much better than the previous two. All three tastings spell out a world class beer, but clearly these Yeti varieties do quite well with a little time on them. As with a lot aging of beers, the hop characters become nearly extinct, and the malt is brought forward. I have heard rumors that with various coffee beers, cellaring actually diminishes the coffee flavoring, most notably in Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee. Not the case here. Will definitely pick up a few bottles next time this hits the shelves (sadly won't be for another 11 months most likely). I suggest you all do the same!

Cheers,
Scott

98/100
$11.99/22 oz bomber
95/100 Beer Advocate

Does this review sound familiar? If you are a long time reader it should! This was the first beer I ever reviewed on this site back in May of 2014. At the very end of the review I mentioned that I wanted I go back to the store and buy one for the cellar. Well, I did and decided it was time to review again. This bottle was actually from January of 2014 (bought a 5 month old bottle mid last year-some places are gems for aged beers if you look at all the expiration dates!) so I was able to review a 13 month old beer. Take a look at my findings (hopefully my writing has improved a bit over that time frame as well).

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottled and poured into a snifter. Pours a deep black with absolutely no head. I tried several times but was unsuccessful in creating any bit of a head. Smell was of roasted malts, dark chocolate, and bourbon. Carbonation was light with a full body. Taste was sweet and malty, with barely any hints of hops. The consistency was smooth and somewhat thick, though not as full bodied as I had expected nor remembered. Aftertaste was roasty and bourbon-like, and I detected hints of sugar and perhaps some vanilla. Overall, I enjoyed this even more than I remembered, and am thrilled that I stored one away for the cellar. Next time I am in the Boston area and find this I will stock up.


To be able to look back at previous reviews is fun. I actually determined that this was the 5th time I have officially reviewed Framinghammer in any of its variations. Check out the old ones, as well as my scores. 


Barrel-Aged Framinghammer May 25, 2014  97/100
Coffee Framinghammer June 15, 2014            97/100
Framinghammer July 25, 2014                         95/100
Vanilla Framinghammer July 30, 2014           96/100

13 Month old Barrel Aged Framinghammer   98/100 
Beer Advocate 95/100
$10/16.9 oz bottle

Been another week since my last post. Sorry for the delays-I promise to sit down at some point this long weekend and write out 10-15 reviews to have a busy end of Feb/early March of reviews. 

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Barleywine. Chicago, IL 12.1% ABV.

Served semi-chilled from a 12 oz bottle and poured into a goblet. Pours a dark brown to almost black color (with perhaps a hint of purple?) with a frothy 2 finger tan foam head. After about 30 seconds the head is completely gone (took some skill to get the picture the way I did!). Smells are of bourbon, dark fruits, yeast, vanilla and hints of tobacco. Carbonation is light with a very full body. Taste is sweet and malty, with hints of the vanilla and oak from the aging process. The barrel used here was originally a bourbon barrel, then used for Bourbon County Stout and then for the Bourbon County Barleywine. Through this 3 layer process, complex flavors, aromas and appearances are evident. Aftertaste is quite sweet, and the alcohol is well hidden.

During the snowstorm last weekend, I was sitting in my apartment looking at the snow and felt that it was a perfect stout evening. Moreover, I had yet to try the 2014 Barleywine, and had set aside several for aging. I still have 4 of the 2013s and plan on doing a vertical at some point this spring. I love all of the Bourbon County varieties, and it really is hard to pick a favorite. This barley wine has quickly climbed up my rankings, and I would score this extremely high.

99/100
$6/12 oz bottle
100/100 Beer Advocate

Been a whole week since my last post. Before I dive into my analysis of Westbrook IPA, let's take a look at my predictions and see how I did.

I see Revis shutting down the Seahawks receivers, and forcing Wilson and Lynch to focus solely on a ground attack. I see Collins forcing a fumble, and Revis or Arrington having a pick. I think Brady will throw for 2 TDs, one to Gronk and the other to Edelman, and Blount with a rushing TD. I think Seattle will struggle on offense, and probably only put up 1 TD with a few field goals. Brady will be named MVP, and will go into the record books as the best playoff QB of all time with his 4th Super Bowl victory. Could it happen? Absolutely. Will it? We'll have to watch.


Now let's break it down further

1. I see Revis shutting down the Seahawks receivers, and forcing Wilson and Lynch to focus solely on a ground attack. 


Revis did shut down the Seahawks receivers, and held Baldwin to 1 catch for 3 yards. That one catch was a TD, but the ref set a pick thereby shutting Revis out of the play. I will say this piece was correct. 

2.  I see Collins forcing a fumble, and Revis or Arrington having a pick


Ok 0/3 here. But really did anyone see Butler as the game saver? Collins did lead the way with tackles. Incorrect though.

3.  I think Brady will throw for 2 TDs, one to Gronk and the other to Edelman, and Blount with a rushing TD.


He threw 4 TDs, but did have one to Gronk and one to Edelman. No Blount rushing TD. Overall this one was mostly right.


4.  I think Seattle will struggle on offense, and probably only put up 1 TD with a few field goals.


Nope

5. Brady will be named MVP, and will go into the record books as the best playoff QB of all time with his 4th Super Bowl victory. 


Nailed this one.


Overall some pretty solid predictions right?


On to the review:


Westbrook India Pale Ale. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. American IPA 6.8% ABV


Served chilled at Upright Brew House from a 12 oz can and poured into a tulip glass. Pours a golden to almost amber color with a frothy white foam head. Smells are of citrus and bitter floral hops. Carbonation is moderate to high with a medium body. Taste is sweet and malty, with a slightly funky aftertaste that is not evident in many IPAs. It is this funk that keeps bringing me back to the Westbrook IPA. Love this stuff.


Short review, I know, but the big takeaway is this is such an easy drinking IPA from a world class brewery. Definitely stock up if you can find it-not the easiest thing in the world to find.

95/100
91/100 Beer Advocate

Well we finally made it. Super Bowl XLIX. Patriots. Seahawks. So rarely do the number one teams in each league make it to the championship game, regardless of the sport. According to Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight, this matchup is the second best ever, only behind 1978 Dallas-Pittsburgh Super Bowl XIII. That game saw two powerhouses score over 30 points each, and Terry Bradshaw winning MVP and his third Super Bowl title. (tied with a certain number 12) However, Silver still thinks it could be the most boring Super Bowl of all time. I'll finish this post with my final prediction but I absolutely disagree with this.

Being a pseudo-national holiday (wouldn't it be great to get tomorrow off?) I figured it would be great for a brief commentary about the Super Bowl party, and naturally the beer selection. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will eat 1.25 billion chicken wings today, and spend approximately $14.31B. Commercials for fans of 30 teams will be the main focus, and I've found during parties typically the quietest part (even when my team has played) is during the commercials. Water-cooler gossip will center around the best commercial rather than the game. Usually, it comes down to the Anheuser-Busch with the Clydesdales, 
Doritos with a viewer created commercial, Go-Daddy with Danica Patrick, or some crazy Bud Light star-studded commercial. I heard that Newcastle will be promoting a small brand as well, and brought on Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Rec) as their dead-pan spokesperson. Should be interesting.

But as  diehard Patriots fan, I am much more focused on the game. What do I think will happen? Let's wait another paragraph or two-this is a beer blog after all and I've managed to ramble without discussing it yet.

For today, I want to look back at the article I wrote last June, entitled Why Craft Beer? A Discussion About Price. I discussed how there was a pyramid of beer drinkers, where people start out with cheap beer like Pabst, Bud and Coors. Eventually, people's tastes evolve up to slightly higher priced beers by big beer companies, like Blue Moon and Shock Top. Eventually, varieties like Harpoon and Sam Adams ease people into the craft beer world, before they go after true craft breweries. In my final stage, I discuss fanatics who seek out rare selections from breweries near and far. 

After writing this article, I received many calls, texts and comments on the web about a flaw in my system. People told me that there are times and places for beers to be consumed, and that just because someone is a level 5 (according to my scale) is doesn't mean that you cannot enjoy a level 1 or 2 beer for the right occasion. I'll point out I did say: 

"The first level is the base of the pyramid, and almost everyone started in this level. It represents those who buy only the cheapest beers available, either because they have a certain income level or just want to drink for the alcohol. It is much more economic for a family BBQ, holiday party, or frat party to buy the cheapest beer available."


I agree that there is a time and a place for any type of beer. For the Super Bowl, I like to drink the cheaper pilsners, not because I have been brainwashed by the $3M 30 second commercials, but because they are lighter in alcohol and you can have several over the course of the afternoon/evening. To try and drink a few Bourbon County Stouts during the Super Bowl would not be a good idea...


As I do every year since my first year in college, I am hosting a Super Bowl party for all of my fellow Patriots fans. What beer did I buy? Coors Light. Yes that's right. I want to buy something made in America (yes they are Canadian owned but it's brewed in Golden, CO). Something that everyone will drink and naturally something that will not break the bank. If you are having only 1 beer during the game, go ahead and spring for a nice beer. If you're having more than that (as most Americans will) go for an American brewed pilsner. As I said there is a time and a place for everything. I'll let my inner beer snob go away today.


Now for the really fun stuff. How do I think this game will play out? Both teams are strong. Very strong actually. And they both have quarterbacks that are incredibly smart. Seattle for the second year in a row led the league in fewest points and yards allowed, something that had not been done since the Bears in 85-86. Very impressive. If you had asked me the prediction before the conference championship weekend started, I would have guessed Seahawks would win by 3. After watching both the Patriots domination over the Colts and Russell Wilson's struggles vs. Green Bay, I am changing my mind. I see Revis shutting down the Seahawks receivers, and forcing Wilson and Lynch to focus solely on a ground attack. I see Collins forcing a fumble, and Revis or Arrington having a pick. I think Brady will throw for 2 TDs, one to Gronk and the other to Edelman, and Blount with a rushing TD. I think Seattle will struggle on offense, and probably only put up 1 TD with a few field goals. Brady will be named MVP, and will go into the record books as the best playoff QB of all time with his 4th Super Bowl victory. Could it happen? Absolutely. Will it? We'll have to watch.

GO PATS!

Patriots 24-Seahawks 13