Sam Adams New Beers

Beer log: Right now
State: Watching the Outback Bowl 2OT.

Come on Michigan State, please beat the Dawgs. Man I hate U(sic)GA, not to mention the SEC.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring
Enjoying this one in my Brewing Network glass, splitting a bottle with the Misses. Tinged straw color and a little cloudy. Beer has a vegetal, grass hop, and something like a light cracker thing going on. Not the saltine crackers but like those fancy ones the wife buys that have wheat in them and little grains in them. Goes great with hummus. Moving on. Taste of the beer is a moderate hop with some of that same cracker thing in the middle. After about 60 seconds I'm getting a funky bitterness aftertaste, kinda like orange rinds. Oh he made the kick, going to the third overtime. The more I drink the beer I get a light sugar sweetness as well. Nice beer but the aftertaste kills it. High 2 stars.

Ok, so Georgia LOST the game baby! I'm fired up. Now we are watching the first season of The Wire on HBO Plus. Righteous!

Samual Adams Whitewater IPA
Apparantly keeping with the water theme. Huge white head this time, cloudy again but with a more orange look to it. No clue what hop I'm smelling here, but it smells like (I'm sorry), kind of a dumpster outside a restaurant, that eerie sweet smell. Taste of the beer is not bad, strong hops, low malt, something I would like if I were on my Extra IPA kick. With this weather though I'm nearly ready for Bock season. The hops on this one are pretty tough for me, probably a big amount of American and German hops. I don't taste the apricots they say are in there. High 2 Stars.

Ok, now the last one. About 45 minutes have passed and I chugged some Crystal light, so after a few I'm going for the last new SA Beer in this Variety Pack.

Sam Adams Mighty Oak Ale
Clear deep amber with a tinghed white head. Nose has a huge caramel malt with some slight oak. Beer taste has a light caramel, a little thin on the body, and a light chocolate powder and vanilla flavor (I imagine from the oak). Beer is lightly hopped and actually is kind of dry. A drinkable session oak aged beer is a welcome change to the high gravity oak aged beers that we can rarely find occasion to drink. 3 stars.

Infinium 2010

At long last I'm having some Infinium.

Beer log: right now

State: eating spaghetti, watching Luther

Infinium 2010

Amber and clear, big white head. Nose is lemony sour. Taste has a great jolly rancher sour and green apples thing going on. I'm even getting something like white grapes as well. The more I drink it I get something like a light smoke as well. The more I drink it, the more I like it. Not too dry and a quick end to the mouthfeel. Well put together, barely notice the 10% abv. 4 stars. The more it warms the more grain and cinnamon I get. Nice stuff from Sam Adams and Wiehenstephan.

Sam Adams Longshot: Kaitlin

Hit the music...


Beer Log: right now
State: Doing fine, just ate.


Sam Adams Longshot: Honey B's Lavender Ale


Pours really clear and tinged straw with a big long lasting white poofy head. The nose has something like oranges, flowers (which I'm assuming is lavender), and something kind of estery. The taste has a shock of potpourri and melds quickly to oranges, sugar sweetness, and citrusy hops (maybe orange peel). Medium bodied beer that kind of goes a few places. Lots of flowers and hops. A lot going on in that beer, which counts as complex. Didn't really knock me off my feet, but tasty. Lots of carbonation in this one. Probably could have benefitted from a reduction in the hops, but maybe that's just me. 3 stars.

Sam Adams Infinium!!!

Well I'm about to start a new position at the job, same company and all. I was pretty comfortable where I was but these changes can happen. At least for the first time in my life, I'll actually have an office with a door, all to myself, with a view. I'm thinking about getting a tap handle put in somewhere along with a kegerator. Maybe score some Southern Star Pine Belt. A couple of guys on my new team are homebrewers, so this could get pretty cool. Well I step into the new job tomorrow at the new building and I know how I'm going to walk into the building.

Who says engineer's can't be sexy.

This beer comes in highly touted in beer geek world, as this a collaboration of Sam Adams and Weihenstephan. Infinium comes gorgeous 750ml bottle, complete with cork a la a champagne. Haven't really looked up the style, so I'm putting these in our Stella Artois goblets.

Beer Log: right now
State: Kinda out of it with football, sitting at home with the fam

Sam Adams Infinium

Nose is kinda sour musty thing going on with a lot of bubbles coming off the amber color and white head. The first I notice something akin to sugar like belgian candy sugar you get in Westmalle. Has that musty, danky taste going on. Some sweet, some sour, some jolly rancher, high carbonation. Gets better the more you drink it, but um... It's very spicy and whatnot, but it's hard to believe they actually got all of this and still be a Purity Law Beer. This one is a little cloying to me. The Beeradvocates tore it a new one, especially the Bros. As I sit and chill with this beer, it does grow on me. I can get those herbal notes and whatnot, but I think I'll take DeuS over this one. It's surprisingly belgian/french to me. Some sourdough bread, cherry-tart, sugar sweet. Medium body that the hops and carbo cannot cut through. I wish it was a few shades more dry. 3 Stars. I know when I'm trying to impress folks with a Brut beer it's always been DeuS, and I think I'll stick to that one for now. We bought another one we put way back in the beer cellar, so we'll see how it works for now.

Would you like some pepper in that beer?

After a great weekend of attending the Stone Brewery Beer Dinner at Vic and Anthony's, and hitting up Petrol Station to see my homegirl Moji singing with 2 Dollar Sound while slamming a ton of Indy Saison, and talking a ton of smack to the Cowboys fans at the Texans game, I'm just chilling out doing some work at the house and drinking another Longshot beer.

Sam Adams Longshot: Lemon Pepper Saison

I'm a somewhat fan of the "lemon pepper" type of flavor on things like chicken. But i've been drinking so much Saison lately... The nose has a veggie lager quality, and maybe the scallops the wife is grilling is throwing off the scent. The amber clear colored beer has a nice lightly fruity flavor, maybe some apple, with a soft body. Somewhere in the middle of the palate I get maybe some pepper. It's enough of want me to drink this Crystal Light to get it off my tongue. Otherwise it has the soft yet gritty body and light pinch of belgianess of a great saison. High 3 Stars only b/c I think the Independence Saison is four to five star.

Dogfish Head Theobroma

Light chocolate bar nose on top of a surprisingly light amber beer with high bubble carbonation. This beer has some caramel flavor and some toffee, not overwhelming. I think in the aftertaste I'm getting something like bitter chocolate. If ever ate chocolate, I could tell you exactly what the deal is. I've tasted Maibocks that are similar to this, maybe it's just the combo of honey and whatnot. Though it's certainly an ale. The back of my throat has some pepper heat to it. I can tell you right now that this pepper beer stuff is NOT working for me. I like spicy food and hot food, but not in my beer. Kinda like how I like crunchy food, but not crunchy bean sprouts in my fried rice, messes up the texture. Maybe this is a beer fad I'm just not going to get. No rating.

Sports Review: Strikeforce Houston and Sam Adam Harvest Pumpkin

One of the only two advantages of being black in America is that I can openly admit in writing that I root for the black guy in sporting competitions and no one will call me out. (The other is that people selling newspapers and doing promotional stuff at grocery stores exits leave you alone.) So I showed up to Strikeforce Houston last night pretty fired up to see King Mo and Bobby Lashley. And both of them consequently got f7cked up. Lashely just out-and-out gassed and gave up after some serious hammerfists by a guy that looked like a Confederate General. They did screw Lashley by standing him up while he had the full mount, but Lashley was fading to black very quickly anyway and probably would have keeled over and died if they made him go for a third round.

King Mo was doing ok the first couple rounds, but he pretty much tossed out any boxing skill at all and went in to brawl with a Muay Thai guy (bad idea). King Mo fell in love with the body shots, and although they had some stank on it, close range Balrog body shots open you up for the knee to the dome, everytime. Ask Rich Franklin (against Silva) and Rampage Jackson (the first two times against Wanderlei). Mo flattened, then got a single leg, then got elbowed down hard. Fight OVER! And the Texas crowd lustily cheered when the Dallas product was knocked out.

I'm just glad we hit the Saucer before the event for some Blonde Bock and some Stone 14. The Blonde Bock by Gordon Biersch is one of those other beers that is kinda like a combo beer in the style, but not quite. It had a real syrupy malt to it and very drinkable, but the mesh of the "blonde" and the "bock" actually throw it off for me. I'd rather be slamming some Hofbrau maibocks like I have been these days. The Stone 14 Emperial IPA I picked up b/c we were eating some hot wings. The last time I had wings at the saucer, they put some fire on it, but this time the hot sauce seemed to be a little heavier on the butter, which my bloated gut 24 hours later can atest to. But the EIPA was f'n AWESOME! I knew that I could count on Stone to provide a very balanced perfect finishing Imperial IPA. One sec.

Beer Log: Right now
State: Chilling out, eating lunch

Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale
Pours brown and smooth with a tan head. Nose is pumpkin and cinnamon with some caramel. Tastes like a light bitter bread with some pumpkin. Not my cup of tea. 2 Stars.

Moving on, the Dynamo finally won a game last night. Taking big shots from Ching to beat the Chicago Fire. The Flaming Footballers of Chicago tried to come back, but Ching would not be denied despite our goaltender's best efforts. Also, the Texans got mollywhoped by the Saints in preseason, which nobody cares about. Holla.

Sam Adams Longshot: Old Ben Ale

At LONG LAST!!!!!!!!!!! We have had these beer in our fridge for some time, and I'm finally getting to it. If you don't know about the Sam Adams Longshot beers, basically they are some serious beers brewed at the National Homebrew Competition, chosen by Boston Beer Company to brew on their system and distribute to the masses. If you can get, GET IT!

Beer Log: Right now
State: Chillin out, thinking about making money

Old Ben Ale
Pours a nice dark amber to brown color with a decent head. The beers smells of excellent raisin, caramel malt, brown sugar, and a touch of citrus hops. All very strong overall. YES YES YES. The beer tastes of caramel malt, raisin, brown or white sugar, hops are very balanced, a pinch of sourness, and amazingly it finishes pretty quick. We actually starting drinking this cold, and let it warm up over time. I am absolutely loving the very English level of smoothness with the cutting hops to keep it from getting too sweet. I could see myself just drinking a ton of this beer. I love a good Old Ale, but this cat improved on the style with the hops and the sour. 5 Stars all day long.

Sam Adams Longshot: Michael Robinson

State: A little sleepy
Beer Log: Right now

Old Ben Ale
Copper and clear with a strong cream-colored head. Copper ale style nose with a malt thing going on. Oh my. A great strong malt, a pinch cloying. Kind of like a super scottish ale. Great caramel and crystal malt taste. A good pinch of raisin. Moderate body and lightly hopped. If I wasn't 6 beers in today and very sleepy, it would probably be a lot better. It's supposed to be an Old Ale. I can see that. If only I had a cigar, a fine white woman singing Ella Fitzgerald with a dude playing acoustic bass, soft lighting, and a 35 year old sista feeding me some brie, and I would be straight to go with this beer. Instead I've got a headache, Dora the Explorer on TV, the baby spilling ketchup on the floor, and 24 upstairs on pause. High 3 star for now, and going upward with every sip. Not too strong, but good enough.

Two New 5 Star Beers...

I rarely give the distinction of a 5 Star beer. I define a 5 Star beer as a beer the defines why we are doing this whole beer thing at all. Defines why we are doing what we are doing.

I was sitting at Watson's on the westside of Houston waiting forever for my Guinness. I was the only son of a b8tch that wore green today, but at least Watson's had a ton of St. Patrick's day themed stuff, like Guinness beads, 4 leaf clover beads, some live band, green decor, and the waitresses has green gear on and were smoking hot. I felt like Tiger Wood's out there.

So I got the Guinness and found it just way too dry for the weather. I downed it and I took my wife's advice and got a Sam Adams Nobel Pils. The way the various hops cut through that Guinness and the carbonation hit my tongue just right, it made me think, is this one of the best beers I've ever had? It was so good that I am highly considering getting a keg of it to put in my kegerator. I NEVER do that with any beer, and I want to do it now. This beer is so awesome that I have to change it from a 4 star to a 5 star beer. The Sam Adams boys just nailed it, BIG TIME. And it's so ironic that of all the far out styles Boston Beer is hitting us with, that a simple strong Pilsner is their best beer in the world of the Beerbrotha. Just. Awesome.

And since we're adding beers to the 5 Star list, I cannot forget the cocaine-like character of a very hoppy and very malty with a pinch of chocolate: Oskar Blue's Gordon Ale. The ONLY beer I make it a point to pick up whenever I'm at Specs. I can't get enough of it. I've walked by so many Allagashes, Avery's, and Dogfish to get this OBGA. The Oskar boys are showing their naked ass with this beer. Unbelievable.

Alright, I guess I need to do my bracket. Holla.

Sam Adams Longshot: Carissa Sweigart

Well now we're wrapping up the three Sam Adams Longshot. For those just joining us, the Longshot competition is a national homebrew competition, where the winner gets his or her beer brewed at Sam Adams Brewery in Boston and distributed throughout the nation. Boston Beer company (owner of Sam Adams brands) has decided to set up all their employees with an internal competition, and that winner will also have his/her beer distributed.

How cool is that. Every accountant and mail boy will now have a chance to know how the company makes its money. I am all about people being a part of the business of the company. If you have a job and you do not do whatever the company's business is, you are not very relevant. Doesn't matter if you're the Vice President of your department. Oh it's real.

By the lovely Mme Sweigart has done a great looking Cranberry Wit beer. I have yet to find a good fruit wheat beer (that does not have apricot or peaches) that works for me. A lot of these fruit beers are just too harsh or not strong enough. But let's see about the last of the Sam Adams Longshot...




Cranberry Wit
Great white lasting head, excellent cloudy color. Nose is bready, light fruit (I'm assuming cranberry), and a touch estery. Taste is medium body and bready, feels like I'm chomping in some fresh potato bread. People that don't eat potato bread should be shot. A subtle yet noticeable cranberry. That's a good wheatbeer. Nice to have something different than just orange. Much better put together than the wheat beer from Hawaii with the passion fruit. A touch low on the carbo, which I like. 3 Star.

Sam Adams Longshot: Alex Drobshoff

I don't know who this dude is unlike Mike McDole, but Lord knows I could use some decent BOCK. And this dude put together a good one, a Traditional Bock to be exact. For those of you just joining us, Boston Beer Company (makers of Sam Adams) have put together a homebrewers competition, where the winner gets his beer brewed and distributed through Sam Adams. And seeing as how Sam Adams is everywhere, you can best believe your beer would be to. The contest is call the Longshot. I've only had experience with the Saint Arnolds version of this one called Divine Reserve, and usually DR sells out within a few hours in Houston. So you KNOW I couldn't wait to try this one.



Beer Log: Last night

State: Still upset about the damn onsite brewer law going down

Sam Adams Longshot Traditional Bock

Very fruit nose with a touch of alcohol. Ruby brown color with a bright tan head. Finally tasting it, I get a great smoothness, followed by sweet maltiness, a little hops, moderate body, and something like a bready cookie thing in the aftertaste. Very nice. Probably perfect for the style though I'd rather have a doppelbock, though this one is rather doppelbocky in strength. The more I drink it, I get more of a touch of alcohol with a hint of bitter chocolate. Well done Drobshoff. 4 Stars.

Sam Adams Longshot Beering: Mike McDole

Ok. In theory, the Sam Adams Longshot beer should be much much better than any other homebrew competition. Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve is basically a city/southeast Texas wide homebrew competition decided at the Dixie Cup. Sam Adams Longshot is a nationwide homebrew competition decided at the Great American Beer Festival. Let's do a prelim...

Summit Extra Pale Ale
I just cooked up a batch of my spicy spaghetti sauce with spinach and shrimp (or skrimp if you're from Georgia). I put so much Cayenne and Red Pepper in that son of a gun it could make you cry. I even put about 12 ounces of my homebrewed India Pale Ale in the sauce and steamed the shrimp with my homebrew blonde ale I've been trying to get rid of. So an Pale Ale is in order to drink. Summit has a light malt and orange nose coming off a clear amber colored beer with an offwhite lasting head. (Basically I couldn't find any of my IPA). The taste is some light malt and hops, like a lighter American Pale Ale, with a metallic flavor effing it all up about 3/4 back of the tongue. The hop is kind of funky with an icky aftertaste. Maybe it sat in the store for too long. It was in one of those party packs. Low 3 Star. Tasted much better with the spaghetti sauce but couldn't hold its own.

After a glass of my homebrewed Pale Ale (my IPA just ran out), I'm ready


Beer Log: Right NOW
State: Not eating a damn thing, typing on my computer

Sam Adams Longshot Double IPA
Look at that color, smell that smell. No alcohol on the nose, just old fashioned caramel malt and strong hops (probably some cascade). Hop nose is floral and citrus. Color is a very regular orange crayon orange. Tinged orange head. Oh wow, that's a lot of hops. Just lots of different hops going on in there, citrus, grassy, you name it. The aftertaste has some hop presence. And although it's a very smooth beer, it has a nice tingly sensation on the tongue after drinking it. I'll say damn near full bodied with a nice caramel malt that somehow balances all that hops. Take Dogfish Head 120 Minute and take out all the absurdity. I don't know if I've ever had anything this hoppy before in my whole experience of beering.

Word on the street is that McDole's beer won a former Longshot Competition, but b/c he used so much hops during a hop shortage, they had to put this beer on hold. Oh it's true.

I recall the same thing being a bit of an issue with Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve Number 5 which was an American Barleywine. That was one was superloaded with hops but not like this baby.

As far as food suggestions, forget your local wing joints attempts as spicing up some wings. There is a place near Cape Canaveral, Florida that sells these hot wings called "Screamers". I haven't been there in 10 years but that is the hottest spiciest food I've ever had next straight downing a jalepeno pepper laced with blow. Maybe those would stand up to this Double IPA for food pairing. Everything else would taste like chicken salad.

I'm tempted to give this one a 4 Star b/c it is SO hopped up, but that's be like saying a woman too fine to be a dime. 5 Stars all the way for Mike McDole and the Sam Adams boys. Well done.

Sam Adams Imperial Stout

Another beer in the Sam Adams Imperial Series. Seems like old boy at the Barley Vine is waaaaaaay ahead of me on the Sam Adams beers. I haven't even cracked open the Longshot beersyet.

Beer Log: Right now
State: Chillin

Sam Adams Imperial Stout
Smells like cinnamon, plum, a little alcohol, and some malt. Can't see nothin through this deep brown beer. The head is true crayon brown with a serious smooth head (sans Nitro no less). Wow! Lots of malt, lots of sweetness. Made me sneeze. A little grainy and whatnot. Full bodied but not quite those milkshake thick beers I've had before. I'm barely getting a touch of hops. Just too sweet for me man. 3 Star.

The bottle says it has anise which wikipedia says is a licorice flavor... and I will buy that. In fact, that sweetness is kinda licorice like. Maybe even a touch of port wine sweetness. As it warms I can get that chocolate and coffee now. Nice.

I couldn't resist this song with the whole Imperial Series thing. Yeah, I thought this song sucked too in its day, but it does have Rah Digga.

Wife's first post

Beer Log: Right now
State: A slight headache from dealing with the wireless and the baby and Don.

Sam Adams Imperial Doppelbock


First poured it is not as dark as I'd expect it to be. Kind of a dark amber color. Some red in it. I was expecting it to be a really dark brown like Optimator and Celebrator. Smells good, no alcohol. Just smells sweet, no roastiness. No kinda coffee notes on the notes, just sugar sweet. Oh. It's a good beer, medium body. Carbonation is pretty low, a little overly sweet to me. Kind of candy sweet, almost cloying. One of the first doppelbock I've tasted that could have used a little more hops. No hot alcohol flavor. Optimator you feel the alcohol pretty quickly, but there's no balance roasty or coffee. Is just a malt sugar sweet. The more I drink it the more I really don't like this right now. It reminds me of a belgian we had before, maybe Delirium Nocturnum. I enjoy the malty flavors, not the sweet flavor. This beer just needs more hops to balance off. It seems like they just threw extra sugar in there. The Shiner 100 is a better doppelbock than this, and I didn't care for the Shiner 100. The 100 was too light in flavor and body. The last beer we had with syrup was a Dogfish we had, Worldwide Stout. It was justified to be that sweet at 18% ABV. This one is 9.5% with high sweetness. The Sam Adams tastes like a desert wine. I'm dissapointed b/c all the beers we had it were good. I just knew this one was going to be good. Maybe it would taste better if you let it age out. Right now I'm still tasting the sweet.

Sam Adams Imperial White

Wow. I just had the first in the Sam Adams Imperial Series. We were eating some tilapia with baked beans, and so what's better than the Imperial White beer. I was greatly intrigued by the fact that they "Imperialized" a witbier. Then again, they did make an Imperial Pilsner with Hallertau hops, which was great as well.

Sam Adams Imperial White

Has a great cloudy orange look with a serious head in my snifter (nullus). You've got to love the great orange and coriander nose. The mouthfeel is very smooth and filling, with a taste of big orange, coriander, ester, and maybe some slight fruitiness. Whatever hops are in there balance it out, b/c the carbonation is not very prevalent. This beer proved a great foil for the tilapia, and stood up to the brown sugar in teh baked beans. The beer is perfectly balanced, and you get very little sense of the 10% alcohol by volume lurking underneath. The finish is pretty quick, but leaves you wanting more. Just awesome.

Let me put it like this: RUN DON'T WALK. For the great beer and the great creativity, this is a solid 5 Star beer. (5 Star rating means it's a beer that defines why we're doing beer in the first place). Big flavor, but still true enough to the style. I could get a few cases of these Imperial beers and cellar the heck out of them.

I'm just glad I don't live back in Mississippi, with those alcohol restrictions and all.

A couple of Pale Ales

Though I'm getting more into IPA's these days, the Misses has been picking up some regular Pale Ales, probably trying to keep me from buying so many harshly hopped beers. As if...

Beer Log: January 6, 2009

Sam Adams Pale Ale
Didn't know these dudes made a Pale Ale. Then again, Sam Adams seems like the Wizard of Oz movie. The more you look at it, you always find something you never noticed before. Certainly glad S-A is bringing craft beers out to the forefront, especially considering all the mega breweries are not American owned.

Crystal clear and straw color. Nose is light malt and breadiness, with a little citrus fighting to come out. Light to medium bread flavor, and a light to medium body. It leaves my tongue feeling very tingly, yet a little musty/citrus hop thing remains. It's an English Pale Ale and there just is not much there. Which probably means it's true to style. 2 Star.

Full Nelson Virginia Pale Ale
(eating some cajun tilapia). Whenever I eat spicy food I must have a Pale Ale, and this one from Blue Mountain didn't seem to disappoint. Clear with a UT burnt orange color. The nose is a strong citrus and bitter hops. The taste is bready at first, then a moderate pale ale kinda hops. It's a kind of citrus hop, but not bitter per say. Thing body and moderate to high carbonation. Some issues with drinkability for me, but good. Just a little unbalanced on the hop side. I will not that it tastes much more balanced with the cajun spice. 3 Star.

One thing I've noticed about myself is that ever since I started homebrewing and trying all these various hops in warm water (a hop tea), I know that I basically don't want a hop tea. Assuming you have the money, I imagine anybody could just thrown in tons of hops and call it good, but I'm more partial to balance with the malt these days. Seems like it takes a little more skill and planning to brew a balanced hop bomb. That's probably why I bought so many IPAs and Double IPAs last time I was at Specs. Looking for that "Boom Goes the Dynamite" beer, but has the balance.

Let's See what this woman's talking about...

Beer Log: February 20, 2009, Right now
State: Full, just put baby to sleep, watching Real Sports on DVR

Man, that Tonya Harding has put on a couple Ell Bee Esses since the old days. And here she is holding up a Channel Catfish, probably the most disgusting creature on God's Green Earth. Anyway, the ol' ball and chain bought a shyteload of beer while I was offshore (lucky, I know), and she got a lot of Sam Adams. She swears that the Sam Adams Brown Ale is fantastic. I've heard talk that the Boston Lager is basically a brown ale recipe brewed with lager yeast and methods. So who knows what their actual Brown Ale is talking about...

Sam Adams Brown Ale
Damned if that don't look and smell like the Boston Lager, just a touch fruitier and toastier. On second thought, the hop smell in there reminds me of the Boston Ale. A little high on the carbo, but has a nice maltiness all over the tongue. It has some sourness on the flavor, not sure if that's supposed to be there. It's not bad man, nice maltiness to it like a brown ale should. I'm a little partial these days to the bigger flavor beers, like the Indian Nut Brown by Dogfish or Real Ale's Brown Ale. It seems to get a little better as it warms up.

MS Notepad Beering, Imperial "Pilsner"

I frequently will put some beer reviews on my Microsoft Notepad, as I'm frequently stuck in places without wireless access and do not have my beer book. Or am just too lazy to open up explorer. I can't remember when and where I had all of these beers, but I did have them.

Tommyknockers Cocoa Porter

I smell the strong cocoa and a backbone of strong caramel malt. Brown colorwith a tan strong low head. Nice stuff so far. Lighter body thanyou'd think and a more subtle cocoa flavor than the nose suggests. No coffee flavor, just a nice caramel malt. Very nice light body choco beer. It is a touch fizzy but okay. High 3 Star.

Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner

Kinda cloudy and orangish. Excellent strong white lacy headin my Pilsner glass. This one has a great malt and hop nose.Oh yes lord. Great malt with a fantastic hop that finishes very quickly. The malt has a cough syrup quality, which I love, very imperial like. This one is very balanced as well. Moderate carbonation. I love how the Hallertau hops works with the intense malt. Unlike Cascade and whatnot which can leave a harsh aftertaste. High 4 Star if not 5 star. This is just plain excellent.

Sam Adams Boston Ale

Dark copper, nose is fruity and toasty. I think I'm smelling something akin to biscuits. Nice so far. Nice offwhite head witha touch of lace. Tastes fruity and toasty. A good amount of hopsas well in the AT. It is more complex than I thought, as I'm getting the bread in there in addition to the fruitiness. Nice beer man. Probably more of a estery amber than anything else. 3 Star.

Later on, while watching Beowulf

Reindeer's Revolt

Clear and light copper. Very strong many fingered head. Smells allplum and alcoholy. It's a little veggie smelling as well. Kindaplain tasting. A little astringent for me. 2 star.

Make sure you catch that movie Beowulf. It has Angelina Jolie in there naked, in CGI form. Awesome.

Abita Christmas

Velvet brown color, white a slight tan head. Smells like a greatcinnamon brown sugar cookie. Fantastic. Taste, not so much. On its own, it has a light breadiness and not much on the maltiness.Some cinnamon in there and a smattering of bitterness about. With the turkey, it is much better, some maltand stronger cinnamon cookie presence. Low 3 Star though, unless you are eating it with a saltier food.

Live Blogging: Holiday Porter

We interrupt this lovefest with Atlanta to review a beer that has been sitting in our kegerator for some time.

Sam Adams Holiday Porter
"Shouldn't that be Christmas Porter Mr. Adams?" I'm sitting here watching the Heisman and the baby is doing well, so why not crack open a Christmas beer before I head out for offshore tomorrow. Pours deep mahogany with a seriously thick tan head that is taking its sweet time going down. My nose doth detect honey, chocolate, light coffee, and cinnamon. There could be a citrus/piney hops note in there as well. The head is so thick and has such consistency that I have watched the entire Heisman trophy trailer. Wow, taste is surprisingly not all that. I get a medium bodied porter with that is a touch too hopped up. It's not IPA, but that citrus and biting hop is not what we were looking for. It's rather citrusy with moderate carbonation. Oh lord, all the Heisman guys listen to Kenny Chesney. This beer does not work for me. I think I'm tasting some chocolate powder as opposed to chocolate or roasted malt. The lighter body is nice, but it's a low 3 Star. Rather disappointing for me.

All over the Map on White Friday

I'm sorry but the militant in me will not let me call it "Black" Friday. We have not been to a mall ALL YEAR, but the wife wants to go on White Friday. So here we are taking all of 20 minutes to find a parking space at 11AM. We figure we would let the freaks get it out of their system at 4 AM so we won't have to worry about them. We park and make our way to the mall first in search of some food.

And who better than California Pizza Kitchen. They have been around for a quite some time and apparently have a special craft beer or two on draft. And they let you keep the glass if you order it. Wouldn't you know it the beer this time is Sam Adams Winter Lager.

Beer Log: White Friday, 11/28/2008
State: Hungry, ordering a BBQ Chicken Pizza

I know I know. Although the militant and educated side of my blackness dominates my vernacular when referring to dreaded events, my stereotypical side forces me to order BBQ chicken pizza every pizza place I go. Call it the duality of man. I just hope it's not somewhere in the Encyclopedia, as Dave explains...



Back to the beer

Sam Adams Winter Lager on Draft
They poured it in the Sam Adams Winterfest glass, so it's presented about as well as it going to get. Basic amber color with some malt and Cinnamon on the nose. Of course they served it bone chilling cold. Bready tastes hits you first followed by a low hops and the carbonation. It's a nice biscuit malt kinda flavor going on to round it out near the back of the palette. I can see the orange peel they claim it has as it warms up. (We're going to have to find a different ingredient than damn orange peel. I'm sorry.) More citrusy and spicy as it warms a little closer to what I would normally like to enjoy i at. It's incredibly smooth and rather drinkable. Certainly 3Stars. I actually went head and ordered another one, at least to get another glass. It went pretty well with the... um... bbq chicken pizza.

Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Later on that day, we got some new beer from the Specs, including this one. Smells all caramelly and roasty, some alcohol and maybe some plum/raisin. It tastes like hard caramel if that makes sense, and something akin to a sweet wine, though not as sweet as a port wine. It's a little smokey as well. The taste is almost mediciney like a strong double IPA, just sans hops. The aftertaste is a quick in-and-out hops. True to Barley Wine form, it has a low carbonation and a very warming character with moderate drinkability. The words chocolate and toffee float around my head, but barely make the notebook. I didn't write down a rating for some reason, but I have a six pack anyway.

And much later on...
I am working on a little engineering project for the company before wrapping up my end of year objectives, so why not something light to wrap it up the evening...

Czech Rebel
Someone brought this over for last house party, Dontoberfest. Straw and clear with a a rather strong white head in my tall pilsner glass. Low carbonation and kinda smooth. Not a hop aftertaste that develops 5 seconds after swallowing. Some light light maltiness, maybe some pils and munich malt. 2-3 Stars. I get the feeling this would be closer to 4 star if it did not have to make the trip across the pond and sit in a liquor store forever. I think that hop AT just messed it up, it was kind of cardboarding up and I got a slight skunkiness as well.