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!

Texans Win with Leinart... Bitch Please

Beer Log: Right now

State: Eating baked salmon seasoned with Rock Salt, Rice and Broccoli. Watching Hell on Wheels.

Brewdog Bitch Please

The dawgs are at it again. And here we go... Deep brown color with a thin tan head in my Old New Orleans rum snifter. Nose has a huge caramel malt, pepper, alcohol, and something like sherry and smoke. Taste is heavily weight toward burnt wood or likely oak. I get some malt and alcohol in there but this is a wow beer on the flavor, typical of the Brewdogs. The more I sip it the more I get that charred oak with maybe something like whiskey. Either way there is plenty of strong sherry and sweet caramel. High octane beer all around, but a great sipping beer. If I could smoke indoors, I'd a cigar with it. Low 4 stars.

Oh, and you had to know this was coming...

The Best English Barleywine I've ever had???

So I'm having dinner with the Misses while the baby is watching another episode of Diego. I wanted to fire up the Backyardigans Castaway episode, but the baby shut me down. So why not just enjoy some steak and garlic mashed potatoes and garlic spinach (the wife loves garlic), and get some English Barleywine. I can't even remember when we picked up Lagunitas Olde Gnarlywine Twenty Aught-9, but after keeping it on top of our cabinets for over a year and whatnot, I figured this is as good a time as any to drink 'er up.

Beer Log: A few minutes ago

State: Eating the basics, steak, mashed potatoes, spinach

Lagunitas Olde Gnarlywine Twenty Aught-Nine

The nose has an apple, plum, a pinch of caramel malt, and plenty of brown sugar. The color is a solidly ruby in the light and cloudy, with a frothy tan head. The beer is extremely malt, sweet, and reminds me of port wine. I LOVE PORT WINE. For years I would not even get deserts, just port wine. High 4 star. This thing is great with the staek, low bitterness. Moderate body, low carbo, extremely drinkable and I'm about ready to have this stuff injected in my veins directly. You don't even notice the high IBUs, but the hops just keep the malt from blowing you out. You know what, 5 Stars.

This is what we need. While I've been big on American BW, this English stuff is not to be effed with. Lagunitas surprises all by not hop bombing this beer but rather letting the malt take over. Unbelievable. I've found that I am just downing some serious Lagunitas beer in our stock if we don't buy anything new for a while. Especially the Imperial Red and the Brown Sugga. Turns out the wife loves cooking with the Brown Sugga, so not much of that one left.

We have the 2010 Gnarlywine as well but won't touch it for a year or two. Just let it age in the house for a long while and let it rip. Great job 'Nitas. Prost.

Yes, I'm Still Sampling Christmas Beer

I mean come on! It is already MARCH for crying out loud. Screw Oktoberfest, I think every ragtag brewery on the planet has about 4 Christmas beers. The bocks are coming out and I still have two more beers of the season in my kegerator. Let's just get to it then

Beer Log: Right now

State: Watching boxing, relaxing

Finally getting through the four Christmas beers a friend sent from England. This one...

Criminally Bad Elf

In my wine goblet it has a clear copper appearance with a kinda weak white head. The nose is very fruity and plumy, like alcohol. I just swirled it, then put in on the ground, and 30 seconds later the smell still lingers in the air. Nice. It's Boss time. Very nice sweet flavor, not just caramel malt. English Barleywine that is very smooth yet a touch higher in the carbonation. You got to love these little stories on these. There is a noticeable alcohol (10% ABV) in the mouthfeel. Medium body but very velvety. Not bad at all. Not the best BV or Christmas beer, but my favorite of Ridgeway Brewers. Just love those titles. I would say that if we cellared this for a few months or even a couple years, it would do well. We'll let it warm up a touch as our fridge is set at 43F right now. Still good for me as it warms. 3 stars.

Live Blogging: Bigfoot, Gaither Gym

I'm sitting here watching the Florida A&M men's basketball game on our online tv station, FAMCast. We had the lead by 7 with 61 seconds to go and we let Delaware State come back. It's our last game for the old Gaither Gymnasium, and they are turning off the lights after the game. We're in overtime now and I'm getting some Barley Vino.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale

Gotta send the old gym off right. Lot's of memories there. It's a dark orangish color. Has a thick light orange head on it. I'm going to guess I'll smell some strong malts and cascade hops. Yup. Sierra Nevada, don't ever change. I may be getting a light alcohol smell in there somewhere. Wow. Full bodied with a strong yet balanced malt and hops. There is a lingering bitterness on my tongue that's a little icky, but that's okay. Dammit, the feed just went out. Okay, got it back. How in the hell is the online feed gonna go out DURING OVERTIME! The hops on this one are pretty citrusy. For those not from the States, this is truly an American Barleywine, if not a West Coast BV, if there is such a thing. We're up by 2, and the other team just missed two 3 pointers. It's only 7.7 seconds left and we're shooting the free throws. That's a pretty good strong beer. And I notice that Sierra Nevada resisted the temptation to go Imperial with this beer, as it is very high caramel sweet malty, but not that Nyquil taste. On second thought, they must have mixed up a more piney hop in there. Doubtful its Saaz, but maybe Kent Goldings. The aftertaste is not so strong as you get used to it, and the beer just tastes more malty, like a Barleywine should.

Oh MY GOD we just FOULED a guy shooting a 3 pointer, and they will go to the line shooting 3 points while we're up by three. I swear we're trying to GIVE the game away!!!! He misses one we win. Dammit, he made the first one. HE BLEW IT! HE BLEW IT! HE MISSED IT! FAMU WIN! FAMU WIN! FLORIDA, FLORIDA, BLESS HER NAME, ORANGE AND GREEN WE'LL PROBABLY WAVE. Wow, we did our best to dick it up.

Oh yeah. 4 Star. Excellent barleywine and another excellent beer from Sierra Nevada.

Looking forward to 1) Finding my beer book, and 2) doing some traveling. We'll be heading back to New Orleans a month from now, to gamble, drink in public and hang out with some friends. The next weekend I'm heading to Vegas for to gamble, drink in public, hang out with some friends, and do some business for the company, in that order. The Misses will not make it with me to Vegas, so I may have to hit a few of their brewpubs on the solo. Hopefully I will find the time to get to a beer store to bring back some of that WestCoast. Go Rattlers.

Live Blogging: We're Fogged In

I say, uh, I say... I'm finally tasting and reviewing the Old Foghorn by Anchor. Sitting here with the wife and the baby playing on the floor. We had been holding off on buying this one until the winter time. It's about 45 deg F outside, and so why not Barley Vino it up.

Beer Log: Right damn now

State: Just eaten my IPA Spaghetti and had an IPA, watching Real Housewives of Atlanta with the Misses

I'm telling you, you have got to watch some of the shows your wife watches. Just like with children, you want to know what messages she's getting from her entertainment. So I have logged a few hours over the years watching Top Model and Housewives of Atlanta. If nothing else, Housewives of ATL all sports at least a D cup, and because they are milfs/cougars, they all show it proudly. The wife's also a fan of those morbid weekly crime thriller shows, like Cold Case, Dexter, CSI, and Bones. Someone's always getting offed in those things. I prefer my violence to be a little more fantastical, not the sh*t I just read in the newspaper the week before. Anyway, I've think I've let this Vino warm up enough.

Anchor Old Foghorn Barleywine Ale

Pouring this in my Hennessy Snifter. And I don't even drink Henn that much.

hardly any head, harsh malt nose almost mediciny. Good cloudy dark orangeish brown color. Not as harsh on the malt flavor as the nose would suggest. It has smooth velvety mouthfeel with a little tingle from the carbonation. The hops are present but not biting. There is something missing again, like the their 2008 Christmas beer. But instead of the flavor not coming together, there beer disappears about 5/6ths of the way back on the tongue. High 3 Star on the normal beers but there are other barleywines I'd rather try. Once I get this beer cooler temperature control set up, I'm going to have to age a few of these.

Beering in Atlanta: 5 Seasons

Finally making it up to the 5 Seasons in northern Atlanta, right near the perimeter. They say this is the best brewpub in the ATL, but we shall find out. I thought I would be beering solo, but I have a co-worker and his lady friend from his days in high and college.

5 Seasons was not all that packed when I showed up a 6:00ish. It was nestled away in yet another one of those uber-high class shopping/restaurant/bar areas. Very nice soft decor with a massive projector with ESPN on. I belly up to the bar and strike up some convo with a guy rocking a Thrashers Jersey. I'm a Carolina Hurricanes man myself, so it was good hockey talk, though I don't really keep up until playoffs. I count 5 taps directly in front of me with another 4 on another side of the bar. I figure let's just get a 12 ouncer to get us started while we wait.



Beer Log: December 9, 2008
State: Waiting on the folks to show up, not eating right now

Chug Monkey Cream Ale
Got it in a pint glass on draft. Straw colored and very clear with a white creamy head. My nose doth detect the caramel notes of what I think is munich malt. The first draught I notice medium carbonation and a moderate amount of bread. There is an icky hop flavor late in the taste but dammit it works out very well. If there was a lighter beer I need to have in the house, this would be it, hands down. High 3 Star.

I'm actually a little fired up for this brewpub.

I knock back the monkey (that didn't come out right) and decide to go for a sampler of the other beers on tap, and then round out the night with the Belgians.

Hopgasm IPA
Sounds interesting and a little bit sexual. White head sitting on top of an orange beer. Very . There is a strong citrus and flower hop thing going on with the scent. I wrote in my book "OMG". Excellent balance, but not as strong as hoppy as the smell suggests, probably a good thing in Atlanta. In fact its almost pale ale ish. The quick finish is very nice. The more I sip it the more that citrus is coming out along with a slight hoppy aftertaste, along with a hint of pine. 3 Stars.

Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale
Whoever is naming these beers probably needs to watched by the sex offender database. Chocolate and RUM smell coming off of this one. There is a good maltiness with something akin to scotch actually. It's a very very smooth in its mahogony shell with the white head. Not too strong on the hops but there is some roast in there. High 3 Star.

Blackbird Porter
Strong chocolate smell in this ebony colored beer. Tan head. There si a strong chocolate and coffee taste. IT's a little dry as well but comes off with a great finish. Certainly 4 Stars, especially considering the beer I just had before it. The more I drink it the more I get what I think is citrus. It's not that much caramel malt but with a subtle hop presence to round it out.

Loving it!!

The crew has shown up now and we moved to a table. I've already got some sort of a lamb appertizer, perfect for belgians.

Flanders Golden Ale
Orange and cloudy. Banana and that sour smell of a belgian, I miss it so. It tastes of banana and fruit. It's super smooth with low carbonation. It tastes even better when it's a little warmer. It reminds me of a leffe, but smoother. 4 Stars once again.


At this point, I wrote down the head brewers name: Kevin McNerny. Turns out these guys at 5 Seasons have their roots in Sweetwater beer also of Atlanta. This one is fast becoming my most favorite brewpub PERIOD. And I still have a full glass of a tripel and a sampler of Barleywine to go.

West Mall Tripel
Not to be confused with Westmalle. STraw and cloudy. Smells like a port wine or a liquor, AWESOME. Sweet and shockingly a little empty at first. The more I drink it I see that it is nice and full bodied with a touch of brown sugar. I now change my note from "empty" to a very quick finish. Oh hell yeah. 4 Stars.

For those of you keeping score at home, I wasn't really tipsy, as all but that Tripel and the Monkey were full glasses. So don't go thinking I'm just gone off the booze and giving out the most 4 Star beers I've ever given for a brewpub.

Barley Wine
The guy got me a sampler of this apple cider looking beer. It's offwhite head gives a scent that is sweet like apples, yet subtle. It kind of has that Fall beer smell with that maltiness. The maltiness is there but then bitterness take over the palette. The alcohol is a little much. Medium-full bodied and rather fruity. It's a little dry. His girl finds it "yucky". Me, 3 Stars.

All in all I have to go on and say that this is the best beer I've had a brewpub since I started the beer blog last year. The decor, the place was packed within an hour of my showing up. Very eclectic food, and just an array of excellent beers any one of which I would like to have on tap at the house. I find that brewpubs are better at some things than others, and I see these guys steered clear of the lagers. Fine by me. If I come back to Atlanta, there is no question where I'll be beering every chance I get. Fantastic job 5 Seasons. Look forward to trying some more in the future.

Live Blogging: Swine My Brotha?

Sitting here watching the Houston Dynamo in the CONCACAF. We just got the goal and the wife cracked open the Avery Hog Heaven Barley wine which we've had in the fridge for a while.

Avery Hog Heaven

Pouring this in my Hennessey Cognac glass. Low orangeish white head that barely survived the trip to the laptop. Smells rather citrusy with a hint of caramel maltiness fighting to make its way to your nose. A sip of it and it tastes very sweet with high carbo. The malt comes in about 2/3 of the way back to the palette. It's similar to their IPA on Cask I had at the Sauce the other day. So let's just call it an American Barley wine. The hops seem to take more precedence than the sweetness, just barely. Well we just took it out of the fridge, so let me give the baby a bath, and try a bit more.

And we're back. Still tastes about the same. I want to say this one is 4 stars, but it's missing something. I think we could go for a stronger hop presence to balance out the malt if that's what you're going for. I also think this could do with some aging. The different flavors just seemed... separated, to me. I had another glass and I'm barely holding on through the Dynamo game as this is 9% abv. Dynamo got the win and are moving on in the Champions League in the CONCACAF. We also have a Carolina-Notre Dame game tonight in basketball. I've been a Tarheels b-ball fan since I was 9 years old. Nice beer for Avery once again. High 3 star, probably 4-5 if we bought some and let it age.

Fry that Chicken

Well, that's what I first thought of when I saw this bottle at the Central Market...
Oh and for the record, the Midas Touch was also great with lamb chops. They say you should have complex beers with lamb as it matches the gaminess of the meat.

May 18th, 2008
Chicken Killer Barley Wine Ale
You gotta love the label of this 22 oz bottle. This is my first beer from Santa Fe Brewing. We poured it in our Hennessy cognac glass. It has a malty smell, with cinnamon and slight alcohol notes. It was a bit could so we waited a minute. It was opaque and had a dark honey color. The first taste is malty with a fine kinda high carbonation. A little lingering syrup mouthfeel after swallowing. No hops to speak of, as I hear Barley Wine is supposed to be. All I can say is that it is certainly more complex than it's little brother, a brown ale. I like it.