Mike Loves Beer

So as promised here were are with the first of my hopefully weekly Big Beers, Small Thoughts.  Last night was Social Beer Night at Coffee District and was Valentine’s Day.  Since my lovely girlfriend is the bartender there I got to see her as well as enjoy some good brews.

I picked out a few of the ones that really stood out to me so here goes.

Three Floyds Alpha Klaus – This Christmas porter was quite dry.  A good deal of earthy hops and licorice to it.  The mouthfeel was a bit of a let down as it was quite watery.

Mikkeller Spontanale – Super sour and the type of sour I like.  Lots of tart lemon scents and flavors.  Quite acidic.  Probably my favorite beer of the night.

Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout – This brew is catching a lot of buzz for aging the beer for 2 years in a 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle barrel.  Super sweet with a lot of bourbon character.  Some hints of roastiness.  I think this beer is too hot and needs time on it.

Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout – To say I was looking forward to this would be an understatement but I ended up underwhelmed and actually very disappointed.  Sweet almost bourbon flavor.  Very little chocolate taste or smell.  Extremely watery and not what I was expecting from an oatmeal stouts mouthfeel.

There were more brews tried as well last night but these were some of the bigger ones that I wished to share.  Unfortunately last night I got super congested and got little to no sleep.  I’m feeling awful today so I’m going to go lay down.  Hope you all enjoyed.

Name – Gumballhead
Country – United States
Type – American Pale Wheat Ale

Appearance – Pours a very hazy straw yellow color.  You see plenty of yeast floating around in it.  The head is pretty much non-existent.

Smell – Big, bold citrus hops is pretty much all I get.

Taste – Yeasty and malty with a bit of the hops coming back at the very end.

At first smell this comes across as an IPA but the bottle says it’s a Wheat Ale.  The bottle also says “It’s Not Normal” and I think that’s a fair assumption as well.  This is not your typical wheat beer but it’s not bad at all.  This is the first Three Floyds brew I’ve been able to review and what a way to be really introduced to them.

Don’t forget that I reviewed this at Dos Beerigos as well on their scale and it can be read here.

Overall Grade – C+