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!

Christmas Beer and Beerbrotha Sports Review: Frank Bush, Get the Hell Out

So I'm sitting here watching Grey's Anatomy on DVR and I'm still fired up about how the Texans have been performing all season. Mostly we can't get started until the second half of the season, which really sucks. I have sat in the same seat at the stadium or listened to the game on the radio at home while watching the kid, and we keep f'n losing at the end of the game. SURELY we could have beaten that sorry chump Tim Tebow, and sure enough we got nuthin again. Just another loss, and another sorry quarterback like Tebow, Collins, Sanchez, and Garrett look like the second coming of Joe Montana on the Texans. A damn shame. I picked a hell of a day to take a break from beering.

I think I heard it best from Chris Rock when he said TRUE integration is when you see the mediocre black people being hired and given chances in high places. As a black QB or coach, you had to WALK on water to even get an honest shot at the big jobs, and this was in the 90s. General Manager was a pipe dream. We got one Tony Dungy while Marty Chokenheimer was given chance after chance. We managed to get a few excellent coaches in there, but fast forward just 15 years.

OH MY HOW WE HAVE OVERCOME! I don't care if the next guys are black, white, or purple, I need Frank Bush to TURN HIS KEYCARD in by Monday morning. Based on how they play against J'ville, it's probably safe to say that Kubiak needs to walk as well, but I'll give him another week. Rick Smith hasn't put together an even halfway decent defensive players. But the team's defense really comes down to the defensive coordinator: Frank Bush. They say he's a nice guy and I truly hate to see brothas get canned. But this just can't continue. If we can get the DC at Cleveland as a head coach, I'd bring him in now.

Frank Bush's Texans defense has TIED the record for the most 24 point games given up in a season with 14 games. And we still have one more game to go. We have given up the most yards per game of all time. I say we go for the record. Let J'ville run up the score as well. Frank Bush needs to take his butt on the first thing smoking out of town, and Kubiak can go one more week later.

We need to get one of those fat bastard defensive coordinators with his gut sticking out. A guy that looks like he smells like bratwurst, cheddar, and Yuengling. Romeo Cernell, Rob Ryan, even Wade Phillips would be better. You know I could even see someone like John Fox from Carolina after they fire him as our DC. Frank Bush has to be the worst coordinator we've ever had. So on the positive, if you throw in Singletary and Vince Young, integration in the NFL is COMPLETE. But on the negative, the Texans still have a horrible defense.

Let me do some of my reviews from Christmas day.

Ommegang Tripel Perfection
Golden amber haze with white head. Nose is light banana, sour lemon, and herbal. Taste is much the same. Very smith with killer drinkability. Light-mod pepper and nice smooth spice. So simple yet so complex. This is beer's answer to a fine wine. I'm talking a Bordeaux level wine here. Ommegang is just knocking it out of the park time and again with these awesome beers. It's such a simple beer, but just... perect. 5 stars

Deschutes Jubilale
Dark amber with a fantastic head. Nose is a soda hop with taxes of brown sugar. Decent bread and light malt. Beer has a time of spirness to it. Kinda boring. Reminds me of the twilight pale ale with those prevalent american hops. Low 3 stars.

Petrol Station Anniversary Party: Divine Reserve 10

So it turns that one of the best beer bars in Houston celebrated it's fifth anniversary. To celebrate, Petrol Station set up a tap list of all high gravity rare beers, including some special ones that are not even for sale. I must say it was a very special event. I had to beat it out of there at about 8PM unfortunately, but it was fantastic. It's one of those things where you wish there was a hotel next door to the place. One sec.


Beer Log: Right now
State: Rather thirsty from my run this morning still

Celis Pale Bock
Copped this one over the weekend at Spec's Downtown. Clear amber color (looks like rum in my Old New Orleans Rum glass) with a lasting white head. Just sad on the taste. Pretty bitter and sour. No real malt in there. It's almost like the beer is infected. Well, I'm pouring this one out. I'll let you guess the rating.

So at Petrol I sat with a few other Houston area beer bloggers/tweeters and we had a great time. Great beer, good beer talk as well. Not to mention some cigars outside. Anyway let's start the show with a few reviews. The wife and I basically ordered a bunch of the beer in half pints as everything was VERY HIGH ABV.

Beer Log: November 13, 2010
State: Fired up for the big event, eating a Rancor burger and drinking a Dogfish Head 90 Minute as a palate cleanser.

Founders IPA
Amber with a white head. Great balanced hop and malt aroma. Taste is nice and very drinkable. I get a lot of grass and wood for the hops. I actually find this very refreshing as a very hop forward beer. I could tell many were not too thrilled with this one, but hey, I like it. I've been backing off my love of the balanced IPA for a hop forward pale ale or even something like an extra pale ale. 4 Stars. Hold up...

Beer Log: Right Now
State: Still thirsty as hell but now I have this sour Celis bock taste in my mouth

The Duke of Winship by Middle Ages
Got this from one of the boys maybe a year ago. Great malty and somewhat lemony nose on top of the huge head. And the head is on top of a cloudy deep brown color. The first thing that strikes me is the high carbonation on the mouthfeel. The beer has a nice light porter quality (roast, malt). I get some cinnamon as well in there. The beer finishes very dry with a light light bitterness. The body is thin as per style. Otherwise I'm getting a touch of metallic and water in there which takes it down to a low 3 stars.

So back to the Petrol

Dragon's Milk by New Holland
I've heard so much about this beer. Especially in places like The Brewing Network. Deep brown color with bourbon/plastic nose. Very strong malt almost imperial like. Lightly hopped with an excellent kind of chocolate and cream flavor throughout the experience. High 4 Stars.

Southern Star Abiding Dude
I learned that this beer was made with of course Southern Star and Ben's coffee beans (owner of Petrol Station). How cool is that? Brown and cloudy, smells strongly of maple syrup and oak and coffee. The taste is of strong bitter coffee (not usually my thing). This one got a little watery on the back of the palate. But very good for it's purpose and seem to get stronger as it warmed up. 3 Stars.

Hop Mouth by Arcadia
I don't even know how these dudes even GOT this beer here. The rub about Texas beer laws is that you cannot sell beer in a bar that is not available to the public, unless of course the beer only comes on draft. So when you are out at a great beer bar, you can basically assume that whatever you are drinking you can run to the Specs Downtown or on Jones Road and pick it up. But these beers I have not seen anywhere. Moving on. Hop Mouth has an amber color and creamy white head. Cascadey nose. Very creamy and smooth, like an English pale ale with American hops. High 3 Stars.

Divine Reserve 10 by Saint Arnold
AT LONG LAST!!!!!!!!! I was in San Francisco when this beer came out and if not for the man @Davewantbeer, I would not have this beer with me at all. But I have three bottles in my beer fridge, and I figured what the hell, I'm drinking this one everywhere I can get it. Dark amber color with excellent malt and sugar sweetness. Smooth and very delicious with the strong caramel and malt flavors. Low hops and very very clean. And I did not find it too cloying. I gotta give it to them again. 5 Stars. Absolutely divine. And that comes after a sh1t-ton of other beers.

Real Ale Mysterium Velum
This one is from our good friends at Real Ale. I understand this is the great Devil's backbone (one of my favorite Tripels) aged in Merlot barrels. Now if they managed to age this in Pinot Noir barrels I probably would still be at the bar drinking it. I get this beer and the first thoughts I get are "oh hell yeah". Great banana, clover with light character that yes cut through the DR10 English Barleywine. I can see the wine flavor in there with a pinch of sourness that I first attribute to Chardonnay. As it warms and I get the palate cleansed, I can see the Merlot. Dry finish, soft character with a little tannins going on. 4 Stars.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee
Very nice nose. This beer is like a stout with Creme brulee. I get the cream, the vanilla, and the burnt sugar thing. I don't know how in the hell they pulled that off but the flavor comes out very well, especially in the aftertaste. Very creative. 4 Stars.

Stone 10.10.10
Ah the Vertical Epic beer that never made it to Texas due to some mixup in the labelling. It's a tripel (going so out of order) and it has a great tripel nose and great tripel taste. Similar to the stuff I've had from Ommegang and Allagash. You all know the tripel characteristics by now, so when I tell you these guys have nailed it better than any Belgian Tripel I've had from Belgium, you know it's is the bomb. I actually have a bottle we brought back from San Francisco, so on 12.12.12 I'll be cracking open at least one bottle. 5 Stars.

Good Belgian

We hit the Specs Downtown to see what's poppin, and we grabs a Dubbel, a Triple, and a Quadruple. Seeing as how all of these are pretty high in alcohol content, we only tried one tonight. I had the Dubbel a couple nights before (though I'll review it later), so we reached for the Trip.

Allagash Tripel Reserve Batch #114
Bottle to Wine Goblet
Status:Eating Chicken breast basted in leftover Shiner Bock and Oatmeal Stout

Big head, malty smell oh yeah. A little sourness, (Bret I think that is). Light gold color with cloudiness. Head ain't going nowhere. Smooth, sweet, moderate drinkability.Feels good. Slight bitterness on AT. High-med fine carbonation. Oh yeah. No real taste of alcohol, nice and smooth. We're thinking 4 star here. Maybe some slight honey and fruit but not much. Getting better as it warms, more fruity. It was served in the upper 38ish degrees it was from my fridge. Kinda like Leffe but a little better done and a little more hops.

A little bit later I stood up and walked around, and am now feeling the 9% alcohol. Igot to get to work today, and I don't want to put a wine stopper in it and risk it going bad. The wife is not feeling it as much, she liked the Ommegang we had at a house party better.

I have some extra WW points so I knocks to what amounted to 24 ounces of this stuff. The wife is wearing her revealing gear while watching Good Eats, so I'm probably not going to be blogging much longer. Just waiting for that baby to go to sleep. Dammit man that's good beer. I have a double and a quadruple at the house for comparison, so right now, this one is 4 stars. I need a stash of this at the house at all times