Chocolate Rain
Dang!
Thanks Andrew!!
Dark brown, clear, not much head yada yada. I thought Black Tuesday was liqueur like, Chocolate Rain is liquor like. Thin, boozy and hot, in the best way. Chocolate, vanilla, toffee... it tastes like one of those fancier candies.
It is so damn good, I would consider killing an entire bottle myself. Definitely. Now I said that it was thin... it's not thin in the sense of final gravity I guess, but because alcohol is such an excellent solvent, this beer “flows”. Just a great beer with marvelous complexity and deliciousness. Believe.
4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5
Brute
Thanks SourNotes for sharing a long time want.
Bubbly, very very bubbly. Clear golden color and big white head is inviting. Aroma is funky and leathery. Taste is dominated by acetic sourness but the (extremely) high carbonation keeps it alive... I am not a fan of vinegar in some Flanders style beers because it seems to settle on the palate but it works in Brute.
Very much champagne like as was expected... a simpler beer with great drinkability.
4.5, 4, 3.5, 4.5, 4
Fantasia
Shared by kbutler1, thanks! Poured into a tasting snifter.
Slightly hazy golden orange colored with a bubbly head and medium retention. Could be hazy because the bottles get shaken quite a bit at tastings but also because this has whole peaches in it. In my opinion, the peaches only added to what would have been the base beer: funk and lemon dominate this beer, but it was never sharp. Very soft and mellow oak, nothing was tannic about it. No hints of acetic sourness, only lactic.
Very light on the palate and crisp in finish. A very pleasant sour beer.
4, 4, 4, 4.5, 4
Old Guardian 2010
Aged 2 years in a CLOSET. It worked.
Looks great albeit a little hazy... smells great... strongly malty: caramel, old hops (it's Stone alright!), toasty, awesome.
Great and robust malt character minus the sweetness... an excellent fruit and nut character with a finish to die for. Excellent feel if not quite as silky as I'd like. Great overall.
4, 4.5, 4, 4, 4.5
Tripel Karmeliet
11.2 oz bottle with cryptic date poured into a snifter. Pours a clear hay golden color with a big fluffy head. Good retention and lacing.
Aroma is yeasty, sweet and fruity but moves toward perfumy and floral with warmth. Low on phenols and booze and the general "heavy" feeling some tripels suffer from: Damnation, I am looking at you!
Tastes is bittersweet in a very gentle way with ample fruitiness. Carbonation is very high that creates an illusion of very dry finish at first; but the finish is eventually found on the sweeter side as the beer warms. Light body without a touch of alcohol, this one is easy to drink.
Hard to point any flaw out but this beer didn't wow me in spite of all its good features. Perhaps it's the overall profile?
Regardless, a well made beer that I will drink again but not at the price of almost 7 dollars a bottle.
4.5, 4, 4, 5, 4
Hop Rod Rye
12 oz poured into a snifter. Rust brown colored with a tiny head that left fast.
Smells strongly malty with earthy undertones; yes, I like it. Caramel, toast stand out... perhaps a hint of hops here and there.
Taste is strongly bitter. While I like my strong ales sweet, I dig 'em like this too... good malt complexity and a smack of bitterness. Good hop flavors too with citrus standing out, so I hardly doubt its freshness, although I have no way of being 100% certain.
Almost candy like at the finish save for bitterness, the malts sure are strong in this one. Not terribly rye forward IMO.
Medium body, good carbonation too that generally works in hoppy beers. Glad to drink it finally.
3, 4, 4, 4, 4
Dang!
Thanks Andrew!!
Dark brown, clear, not much head yada yada. I thought Black Tuesday was liqueur like, Chocolate Rain is liquor like. Thin, boozy and hot, in the best way. Chocolate, vanilla, toffee... it tastes like one of those fancier candies.
It is so damn good, I would consider killing an entire bottle myself. Definitely. Now I said that it was thin... it's not thin in the sense of final gravity I guess, but because alcohol is such an excellent solvent, this beer “flows”. Just a great beer with marvelous complexity and deliciousness. Believe.
4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5
Brute
Thanks SourNotes for sharing a long time want.
Bubbly, very very bubbly. Clear golden color and big white head is inviting. Aroma is funky and leathery. Taste is dominated by acetic sourness but the (extremely) high carbonation keeps it alive... I am not a fan of vinegar in some Flanders style beers because it seems to settle on the palate but it works in Brute.
Very much champagne like as was expected... a simpler beer with great drinkability.
4.5, 4, 3.5, 4.5, 4
Fantasia
Shared by kbutler1, thanks! Poured into a tasting snifter.
Slightly hazy golden orange colored with a bubbly head and medium retention. Could be hazy because the bottles get shaken quite a bit at tastings but also because this has whole peaches in it. In my opinion, the peaches only added to what would have been the base beer: funk and lemon dominate this beer, but it was never sharp. Very soft and mellow oak, nothing was tannic about it. No hints of acetic sourness, only lactic.
Very light on the palate and crisp in finish. A very pleasant sour beer.
4, 4, 4, 4.5, 4
Old Guardian 2010
Aged 2 years in a CLOSET. It worked.
Looks great albeit a little hazy... smells great... strongly malty: caramel, old hops (it's Stone alright!), toasty, awesome.
Great and robust malt character minus the sweetness... an excellent fruit and nut character with a finish to die for. Excellent feel if not quite as silky as I'd like. Great overall.
4, 4.5, 4, 4, 4.5
Tripel Karmeliet
11.2 oz bottle with cryptic date poured into a snifter. Pours a clear hay golden color with a big fluffy head. Good retention and lacing.
Aroma is yeasty, sweet and fruity but moves toward perfumy and floral with warmth. Low on phenols and booze and the general "heavy" feeling some tripels suffer from: Damnation, I am looking at you!
Tastes is bittersweet in a very gentle way with ample fruitiness. Carbonation is very high that creates an illusion of very dry finish at first; but the finish is eventually found on the sweeter side as the beer warms. Light body without a touch of alcohol, this one is easy to drink.
Hard to point any flaw out but this beer didn't wow me in spite of all its good features. Perhaps it's the overall profile?
Regardless, a well made beer that I will drink again but not at the price of almost 7 dollars a bottle.
4.5, 4, 4, 5, 4
Hop Rod Rye
12 oz poured into a snifter. Rust brown colored with a tiny head that left fast.
Smells strongly malty with earthy undertones; yes, I like it. Caramel, toast stand out... perhaps a hint of hops here and there.
Taste is strongly bitter. While I like my strong ales sweet, I dig 'em like this too... good malt complexity and a smack of bitterness. Good hop flavors too with citrus standing out, so I hardly doubt its freshness, although I have no way of being 100% certain.
Almost candy like at the finish save for bitterness, the malts sure are strong in this one. Not terribly rye forward IMO.
Medium body, good carbonation too that generally works in hoppy beers. Glad to drink it finally.
3, 4, 4, 4, 4
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