Mike Loves Beer -

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary – Fritz and Ken’s Ale

April 15, 2010

Name – Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary – Fritz and Ken’s Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Imperial Stout

Appearance – Poured a pitch black color with a huge light brown head. The head stuck around for quite awhile.

Smell – Coffee and chocolate are the biggest scents you get. There is a slight hoppiness you get in the nose as well.

Taste – A blend of coffee and chocolate right up front. But the coffee does seem to overpower a bit more. There is an ever so slight hoppy flavor in there as well but coffee is the main thing I get.

This is the first of a line of beers coming out from Sierra Nevada to celebrate their 30th Anniversary. It is brewed with fellow long time brewer from Anchor Brewing Company Fritz Maytag. I know some of you may ask this so the answer is yes. Fritz Maytag is a part of the Maytag family that makes appliances but he is known for helping to keep Anchor going during the rough spells when Bud and Miller dominated beer markets in the country. The beer itself is good but has a little too much coffee presence for my liking. The bottle says it is perfect for aging so I might get another bottle just for that purpose. And we shall see what the future brings for it. Congrats to Sierra Nevada on 30 years and may they have many, many more!

Overall Grade – B

Brooklyn Dark Matter

April 14, 2010

/ Beer Review /

2 Comments

Name – Brooklyn Dark Matter
Country – United States
Type – American Brown Ale

Appearance – Pours a very dark brown. It looks black but if you hold it up to light you see it’s brown. No head at all.

Smell – Vanilla and bourbon are the strongest point of the smell.

Taste – The bourbon is immediate and there pretty much throughout. There is vanilla notes from the barrel and some sweet caramel along with some faint roasted malts. Not much carbonation and a little syrupy.

Picked up a growler of the acclaimed Dark Matter at Vine and Barley in Pt. St. Lucie. This is a brown ale aged in bourbon barrels. The bourbon is very apparent but not overwhelming like I thought Black Ops was. There wasn’t a lot of carbonation to begin with in it even when the growler was freshly opened on Monday. I then finished it last night. Definitely worth trying if you haven’t had it and can get it. We don’t get any Brewmaster Series kegs down our way so we have to travel the hour or so to Vine and Barley. They always get the Brewmaster lines in.

Overall Grade – B+

BrewDog Paradox Isle of Arran

April 13, 2010

/ Beer Review /

4 Comments

Name – BrewDog Paradox Isle of Arran
Country – Scotland
Type – American Imperial Stout

Appearance – Poured an ink black color with no head at all.

Smell – Some smokiness in the nose along with vanilla and some roasted malts. You get a whiff of the booze.

Taste – Quite peaty and smokey. Nice vanilla flavor from the barrel along with some chocolate and roasted malts as well. As it warms up you get the alcohol burn for sure.

I was a little concerned with this one as bourbon barrels are not my thing quite yet but this is a bourbon barrel that is then used to age Scotch Whiskey in. The result is very smooth with not much feeling of bourbon at all. The smokey peat flavor is very nice in this and a welcomed change of pace from other barrel aged stouts I’ve had. Absolutely lovely beer. Vine and Barley in Pt. St. Lucie has this on draft right now. So if you take the trip there definitely get a glass before it’s gone.

Overall Grade – A-