Big things happenin'. Since we've last convened, Mike announced that he's moving to Seattle to take a job at Amazon. He already left, so we're down one member.
Even more recently, I made the announcement that I'll be moving to San Diego to take a position as a hobo, so this will be my final beer club as Blogmaster. The club plans to continue on without skipping a beat as Belfry and Turnbull will likely take turns as scribes.
We're at Belfry's tonight and the theme is "Non-California beers," in honor of my dishonorable discharge from the state. There should be a few tasty treats tonight at my last regular meeting.
We're grouping the beers tonight by style, so we won't go in the usual host-goes-first order. Joe goes first with Moylan's Chelsea Porter, which is brewed in CA. Welp, we're off to an off-topic start. This one comes in at 5%. It pours a pretty dark, but not completely opaque. It smells sticky and sweet. It has a pretty thin consistency and tastes of caramel. Creamy. Pretty good.
BPA: 2.94
Next up, I bring to the table Maui Brewing Coconut Porter, which comes in at 5.7%. This porter is much thicker than the last porter and smells more chocolatey. The coconut definitely takes a backseat to the chocolate and oatmeal qualities in this one. A pretty solid porter, but everyone was expecting more coconut.
BPA: 2.84
Tom J is up with a Rodenbach 2007 Reserve, which is a delicious Flanders Red. It's hard to screw up this style, unless you tell people there's coconut in it and don't come through. This one comes in at 7% and is aged in oak barrels. This stuff is pretty cloudy, a reddish color that is barely transparent. It has a strong fruit taste, but doesn't seem as tart as the regular Grand Cru version. A very strong beer, we agree.
BPA: 3.65
UberNoob John brings to us Gude Greg's barrel-aged scotch ale from Berkshire Brewery. It doesn't have much of a scent but it's full o flavor. This is spot on for the style. A strong caramel flavor that isn't too sweet, and you can get a taste of the barrel flavors as well.
BPA: 4.0
Ddubs has a tough act to follow with our next Scotch ale offering. This one is straight outta Montiggity, a brewpub in Missoula called Kettlehouse. Their Coldsmoke Scotch Ale is 6.5%. This one pours a deeper color, but is more transparent. Derek brought his cans very cold, and thought it was a good idea to run them under warm water to bring the flavors to life. He won't admit it, but I bet he put it in the microwave and forgot about it. It's difficult to discern the flavors at this temperature. Anyways, it's pretty smoove. Welp, that was a weird experience.
BPA: 2.68
Lampe brings us an Old Ale aged in 16 year scotch barrels. Harviestoun Ola Dubh is the name. This one comes in at 8% and is one of the first old ales we've had at beer club. It pours pitch black and smells caramelly and boozy. It's a nice malty ale which has a strong wood taste. It's like taking a scotch ale shot then licking the trunk of an oak. Kind of like a Highlander version of a tequila shot with the wheels.
BPA: 3.79
Belfry brings us a hot trick that I haven't seen before. Three Floyd's Behemoth Blonde Barleywine comes in at 10.5%. It pours a standard barleywine color- brown and foggy. It's pretty hoppy and smooooth for 10.5%.
BPA: 3.75
Turnbull brings us Southern Tier Gemini, which is a Double IPA that comes in at 10.5%. Southern Tier sure does make a lot of Double IPAs. This one has strong flavors involved. It's a mix of Hoppe and Unearthly, which results in another SURPRISE! hoppy, boozy double IPA. It pours your standard cloudy orange color and smells of citrusy hops.
BPA: 3.21
Next up we have the first of three fresh hop beers. Woodpond brings to us Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond by Deschutes. I have more than a hunch he chose it because it includes "pond" in the name. This one is technically an APA, so it shouldn't be as hoppy as the next two. It's definitely oily, so you can tell there are fresh hops, but it's not a hop bomb. Quite tasty and drinkable for 5%.
BPA: 2.9
Colin brings one of my favorite Surly beers to the table- Wet. It's a fresh hopped IPA where they pick the hops on day 1, overnight them to Surly on day 2, and throw them in the beer on day 3. It smells like freshly hewn lawns. A very hoppy beer, but its not over the top or syrupy. Very citrusy hops. Probably because this year's batch was 100% Citra hops. I just wish our pours were bigger...
BPA: 3.72
FIRST BONUS BEER! I bring to the table Port Brewing High Tide Fresh Hop IPA. This one comes in at 6.5%. It's skunkier than the Wet, and doesn't smell or taste as oily. You can still smell the fresh hops though, and it's a lot more bitter.
BPA: 3.42
Lastly, Belfry brings us his bonus beer. It took several minutes of digging through his well-organized cellar to determine which beer(s) he's offering. Belfry brings Alaskan Brewing's Perseverance Ale, which is their Imperial Stout. 9%, it is. It's a thick black color that smells a little bit like licorice. It's mouthfeel is medium. Pretty tasty... let's keep this moving.
BPA: 3.37
Not lastly- Belfry brings us Old Viscosity from Port Brewing. It's a regular ole Russian Imperial Stout which comes in at 10%. Standard look, standard smell. Delicious taste indeed.
BPA: 3.61
Finally, Belfry brings us Old Viscosity's older cousin, Older Viscosity. This one comes in at 12% but is not a blend like the last. This is one of the world's finest imperial stouts. Smells bourbon. Tastes heaven. I'm glad this is my last beer in standard beer club. It's just a chocolatey bourbon sandwich, topped with chocolate sauce. A's.
BPA: 3.9 (not an A from Tom J)
Well that was a humdinger for my last beer club. Goodnight and God bless.
