Twenty First Meeting

Here we are for the 21st meeting of our club. We're at Brent's house on Monday night prior to the return of Randy Moss to the Vikings. The beer chat could be abbreviated due to Vikings fever.

Glitter. Glisten. Gloss. Floss.

Let's get this started before the game starts. BARROOOOO!!

First up is Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. BAC of 7.8% gives it a boozy taste and classifies it as an Imperial Porter, however BA lists the BAC as 9.2%. The bottle art and name is in honor of the great Hunter S. Thompson, a former mayoral candidate from Aspen, CO. It's boozy at first, but it becomes smoother and more chocolatey as you go along.

BPA: 2.96

Next up is Odell Cutthroat Porter, which rolls in at 5%. This smells roastier and is extremely light compared to the last one. Much more sessionable, according to some people who are sitting here.

BPA: 2.44

Thirdly we have Surly Smoke. This is a pretty limited release, and is a smoked porter that comes in at 8.2%. Waxed and corked! Waxed and corked! Mike says it's far more complex on his tongue. Joe said the last one was like a palette cleanser. It smells like a bonfire. I still think the smoke flavor is too dominant.

BPA: 3.63

Michael, trader extraordinaire, has procured for us this fourth beer, which is Berkshire Coffeehouse Stout. It is quite thin, but with a pronounced coffee flavor.

BPA: 3.11

Stone Smoked Porter is up next. This one is a smoked porter, like Surly's, and comes in at 5.9%. Some of us think this is less smoky, some things it's smokier.

BPA: 3

We're getting close to game time!!! Delayed due to lightning, or due to Beer Club running a little long. Randy Moss thinks your haircut makes you look like a girl. Up next we have Deschutes Black Butte. Oh my god Randy Moss to Brett Favre for a first down.

BPA: 2.81

Lastly, we have Nogne Porter. This is our first Norwegian brewery. Yada Yada Yada the Vikings are on now. Let's play

BPA: 3.09

That's it. And may God be with the Vikings.

Drunkenness is setting in.

Waiting in line to wait in line for vanilla bcs. Nerds!

Autumn Brew Review/Beer Prom

This is the day for which we've been waiting all year. ABR AKA Beer Prom. I will be blogging LIVE from the action. Updates to follow!

Twentieth Meeting

Editor's Note: Every blue moon, Tom J takes over blogging responsibilities on this here site when I'm absent. The following was written by him with quilled pen and squid ink, and it is heretofore transcribed into digital form.

Author’s note: Erica, a guest host by relation to living with Dan, is trying out her new beer that she picked up from Four Firkens – J.K.’s Scrumpy Hard Cider. Erica – “Ugghhggghhhgg. “ Tom J “is it bad?”, Erica, “no, it tastes like juice.”

Brent - “Is that a Batman shirt?” Tom J. - “Yeah” Brent - “Yeah, that’s pretty sweet”.

Another author’s note: Joe has never been to a meeting that I’ve gone to. Is Joe in Beer Club?

We have a special guest tasting with us in lieu of Joe’s constant tardiness, and Tom B’s unfortunate scheduling conflict. Erica Holtan (soon to be Belfry) will be joining us!

Beer #1 Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale 5.7% ABV
Derek – “it tastes like pumpkins. The smell? Like pumpkins”
Dan/Erica – “I smell the Harvest” “Yeah, I taste the harvest”
(the conversation has turned to yams and sweet potatoes. Evidently not many people know or like them)
Brent – “It’s pretty malty”
Brent – “Do you know why Tom B didn’t come tonight? Cause he doesn’t like pumpkin”. What a pumpkin cake
Tom J – “Smells like a regular beer, but doesn’t taste like one.”
Mike – “I got nothing”

BPA: 2.93

Beer #2 Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale 9.0% ABV
Mike - “wow, that’s, that’s pumpkin”
Brent - “That’s good, it’s more spiced than pumpkiny”
Derek – “Holy crap that was pumpkiny. This is full on pumpkins”
Tom J. – “this tastes like a festive holiday drink”. The sense was confirmed when Brent read the ingredients, featuring nutmeg.
Belfry – “Tastes like the season. It kind of lingers”
Erica – “It’s not for me. It’s like a taste explosion…. On your tongue”
Colin – “That’s a beer, that’s something that’s crazy”

BPA: 3.38

Beer #3 Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale 8.0% ABV
Mike – “This one tastes like a lot more pumpkins and a lot less spice than the last one”
Erica – “This wasn’t quite the explosion. I like this one better than I like the last one”
Belfry – “It tastes really cinnamon too”
Tom J. – “Definitely smells like cinnamon, but there’s only a hint of it in the flavor”
Brent – “The cinnamon is for sure….. it’s all cinnamon to me”
Derek – “I think it is overwhelmingly spicy.”
Belfry – Lame joke that everyone called him out on (including Erica) “May the spice be with you”

BPA: 2.73

Beer #4 New Holland Brewery Ichabod Pumpkin Ale 5.5% ABV
Brent - “It’s really pumpkiny. That’s the most pumpkin flavor. But it loses it quick, really thin”
Mike - “It’s very thin. Thin like an anorexic model”
Side conversation – Chili. Everyone likes bacon. Joe likes Colin’s, Erica likes Belfry’s, but everyone agrees that chili and bacon are delicious.
Tom J – “Has a cinnamon smell, but tasted more seasonal eggnogish”
Derek – “Um, I don’t remember what it tastes like”
Colin – “I give that beer a B grade”

(side note: Michael is 4 for 4 in his rankings compared to Beer Advocate’s rankings. Coincidence? I think not)

BPA: 2.75

Beer #5 Southern Tier Imperial Pumpking 9.0% ABV
Belfry – “This is weird”
The Group – “It is WEIRD!”
Belfry – “It tastes like malted milk powder”
The Group – “What the hell does malted milk powder taste like??”
(Side conversation -- Belfry’s new name is Belfast)
Colin – “That’s bizarre”
Derek – “Dude, it doesn’t taste anything like pumpkins”

BPA: 2.52

Beer #6 Blue Moon Harvest Moon 5.7% ABV
Erica – “
Editors note: We have completely skipped the quotes, and everyone’s yelling their grade. All members have lost any interest in the beer, and are talking about concerts, ABR and anything other than the meeting.

BPA: 2.57

Surlyfest

On September 18, Tom B, Brent, Joe, Colin, Tom J, and Derek attended Surlyfest along with various significant others and hangers-on. The highlights include perfect weather, the sweet Surlyfest shirts most people bought, the extreme drunkenness, and the terrrrrriffico tacos we had afterwards. Tom J stole the show, as in he was not only the drunkest person in our group, but the drunkest person at Surlyfest. And there were even babies there! (I assume they were drinking too) Anyways, the below statements were sent LIVE from the action.

Took a picture with the owner of surly, Omar, and noob Tom J was conspicuously absent.