Beerbrotha Sports Review: NCAA Norfolk St. vs UF

Ok so Norfolk State is getting run out of the gym right now. I think Billy Donovan told his boys that if they lose to NSU, someone is going to die. I'm so proud of the Green and Gold, let's grab something DEEEEEEEEEEEEEP in the cellar. A 3 year old vintage of:

Beer Log: Right now

State: Eating homemade tacos with the HEB tortillas (WINNING)

Sweetwater Dank Tank DP Barleywine

I think this only came out once. Only 19 check ins on untappd. Let us beer. Hmm, smell those malts. Beer has a thick but thin white head on top of an orangish amber beer. The beer has a thick caramel flavor, moderate hops just barely holding the balance. This beer is huge but those hops must have mellowed those 142 IBUs over the years. The beer is very piney and big caramel, some ginger, and a pinch of cherries. I'm sure they kept this one pretty simple ingredient wise and let it simmer. Low carbonation and it drinks very good (as they say in Alabama). It mellows out the spiciness of the McCormick taco mix. I'm sure this beer could have been called a Double IPA when it was first bottled. No hot alcohol, very mellow, damn near takes the place of wine for me. I do wonder if they wanted us to age it or drink it now. I wish more brewers put comments on their labels like Pliny the Elder (DRINK IT NOW). 4 Stars for the second version of the Donkey Punch.

By the way, whatever you do please do not use your work computer to Google Donkey Punch and Sweetwater.

Oh, and for the record, let's get in the review from yesterday

Beer log saint patrick's day
state: March 17th at Onion Creek coffee house outside trying to watch a little basketball with the family

Independence Lupulust Tripel

Amber color with great effervescent carbonation in a perfectly white head. They messed around and put a lemon in it boo. Nose has a great lemon with a little bit of lemon zest, I enjoy the great light sour this is well as the grapefruit hops in the finish. This beer tastes fantastic, and I get a good feeling it would really help when I'm the dusting the furniture back at the house. No hint of a 9 percent alcohol content. This one could really sneak up on you in the summertime. 4 star for Independence once again!

Beerbrotha Sports Review: NCAA Norfolk St. vs Mizzou

Well I can't smoke cigars in the house and we never got around to building that outdoor deck, so let's do the next best thing.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Still fired up with the Norfolk State win

Cigar City Humidor Series India Pale Ale

I think this is a 2010 vintage, but I cannot find a date on the bottle. Had to reach waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the cellar for this puppy. The beer smells as sweet and malty as an HBCU victory in the NCAA Tournament. The beer has a Virginia Pine nose like that of a Spartan shield. The beer has a huge foamy head just like the huge win of the Norfolk State Spartans. The first taste of this dark amber beer and it tastes as bitter as Mizzou's loss in the Big Dance. The beer has a nice sweetness to it, very very piney hops but with SERIOUS caramel cookie malt. It's cloying just for a few seconds before the dryness comes out making you want more. Beer so good it makes me think of when my Grandfather was the longtime Dean of Arts and Sciences at Norfolk State. Makes me remember when my Uncles and Aunts went to NSU. Makes me remember when NSU was my #2 choice for Undergraduate education but I chose FAMU, another school in the MEAC conference. High 4 stars!

Black College Ball ALL DAY BABY!!!!

(and Duke is losing too)

Beerbrotha Sports Review: NCAA WKU vs MVSU. More Brown than Black

Oh Lord Jesus!

When I sat down to write about an in depth post about some grand personal beer experiences I had a year ago in Saint Louis. I'm talking careers and counselors and money and martial arts and tears and empty apartments and drunken weekdays and smokey rooms and.... But we'll save that for later.

While I'm here, I figure I'll go ahead and fire up the Mississippi Valley State play-in game. I'm brimming with Black College pride as MVSU from the SWAC is destroying the Toppers from Western Kentucky. They put my school FAMU in this jacked up play-in game a few years back and I'm glad we won. Every year we get a Black School in the Play-in and all of us Black College Alums gather up our pride to root on our brethren.

As I sit here there are only 2:15 minutes left in the game and things have gone to hell in a hand basket. The Delta Devils are falling apart like a house of cards in the last 5 minutes. And add to that, THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT IS IN THE DAMN CROWD! This is a mess.

The wife is getting a beer for me to review in a minute, but while I'm here, let's rant a bit about the status of Black College Sports....

Is it not true that you only need like 3 good players to have a DECENT team. Is it not true that 98% of the best basketball players in the country Black? Is it not true that teams with hardly any gym at all is fielding decent teams (say Fordham). How is it that WE are the BOTTOM of the BARREL every damn year in Black College Basketball. It's not like football where you have to have castle-like field houses, epic stadiums, whores posing as co-eds, and 40,000 member booster clubs. It's just basketball.

Ok here we go, 40 seconds left and WKU gets the shot and the foul. If you are going to foul, take his KNEECAPS out. This is so much fail right now.

If you asked me 5 years ago what would we have first, an HBCU that was a 10 seed in the NCAA's or a Black President? I mean come on. And the game is OVER! And the President is leaving the game! Damn damn shame.

Beer Log: Right now

Beer State: Watching Real Time with the wife and pissed off

More Brown than Black IPA by Stone/Ninkasi/Alchemist

I can get a whiff of those hops a full 3 feet away from me. I can see the deep brown beer has a very very lacy tan head. The beer has a very strong pine and grapefruit and grassy hop nose. Barely any hops fitting in there. This beer is incredibly good and balanced. The hops are as strong as the nose, but it works well with the darker roasty malts. I'm getting what would likely normally be strong roast, coffee, and caramel with a pinch of toast, but those hops are just killer. The beauty is that this beer is nice and dry enough that you can drink a lot of it. The ABV is 7.4% which is a bit high for session beering, but damn it works for me. As one's tongue gets used to impact (no homo), it gets to be like a beer cookie thing. I wouldn't be surprised if they snuck a few oats in there as well. You know what, give me 4 stars, a high 4 stars.

Feel free to read here about the story of this beer.