Keegan Ale Super Kitty

While hanging out with Lee (aka Hoptopia) at Rattle N Hum in New York City, Lee recommended that I give the Keegan Ale Super Kitty a try. The beer pours a murky dark amber color with a foamy tan head. The aroma is malty and sweet. The taste is malty with plenty of dark fruit. The are accents of oak and vanilla hidden well in the flavors, but very detectable. The beer finishes with a light hop accent that faintly bitters the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. I thought that the Super Kitty was an excellent beer with plenty of flavors and was really well balanced.

Pretty Things Baby Tree Quad

At The Stag's Head in New York City, the had Pretty Things Baby Tree Quad on tap, so I decided to give it a try. The beer has a foamy and lofty head with a brown amber color. The aroma is sweet and malty. The taste is sweet and malty with dark fruits and candisugar. The alcohol content is 8.7% ABV. I thought the Baby Tree Quad was a pretty middle of the road quad and did not stand out. If it is a choice on the draft list, it is worth getting, but it is not worth a special trip somewhere to seek out.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

While in New York, I was able to grab a bottle of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. Going into trying this beer, I was expecting a hop-overloaded IPA, and boy was I surprised at how wrong I was. The beer pours a brilliant amber color with a bubbly and foamy white head. The aroma consists of caramel with light hop accents. The taste is sweet and caramel. The surprising factors was that the beer was not overly hoppy, but provides a great hop accent. There is a slight spice on the finish. The alcohol content is 18.0% ABV. I thought that the 120 Minute IPA was an amazing beer and I did not expect it to be as sweet and caramel as it was. This carries a “Definitely Recommend” tag from me.

Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter

On my last trip to New York, I made it a point to track down Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter. The beer has a dark black color with a very thin filmy head. The aroma is filled with chocolate and oatmeal. The taste is very sweet and bitter chocolate at first. The beer then finishes with morsel-like chocolate flavor. The transition in this beer goes from light dry chocolate to dark sweet chocolate. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. I thought that the Cookie Jar Porter was a great chocolate-oatmeal porter and definitely had cookie/dessert characters. If you have the chance to sample this before it is gone, do not pass up the chance.

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA

Another beer I tried while at the Stone Brewery is the Cali-Belgique IPA. The beer has a light golden color with a filmy white head. The smell is sweet and fruity, mostly consisting of grape with a light orange accent. The taste is sweet and filled with grape and orange flavors. The beer finishes with a peppery hop bite. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. I thoroughly enjoyed this IPA, as it strayed quite a bit from your run-of-the-mill IPA. Instead of lemon fruit accents, the orange and grape really made this beer enjoyable.

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine 2010

Seeing as my friends and I were thoroughly impressed with the Stone Brewery, we dropped back in for dinner on our way home from Las Vegas to San Diego. To start the evening, I ordered a glass of Old Guardian Barley Wine 2010. The beer has a dark red amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is sweet and malty with toffee accents. The taste is sweet and very bitey, with toffee and caramel adding big flavors to this beer. There is a light hop finish. The alcohol content is 11.26% ABV. I thought the Old Guardian Barley Wine 2010 was an amazing beer and a great example of a barley wine.

Chimay Cinq Cents

In Las Vegas I ordered a Chimay Cinq Cents during dinner at The Public Urban House (The P.U.B.). My buddy Adam had ordered a Delirium and it came in a pint glass, so I put in a special request to have the beer placed in the water glass that was very similar to a wine glass. The waiter argued with me at first, but then said that I would be getting less beer. I was ok with receiving a few less ounces of beer provided it comes in the proper glassware. However, when I received the beer, the glass was only half full. I was not impressed with this serving at all.

On to the beer, it has an orange yellow color with a thin filmy head. The smell is fruity and sweet. The taste is very bubbly and sweet with citrus hints with wine accents. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I thought that this was a very good tripel with the exception that it may be slightly overcarbonated. However, this could be due to the beer being served in the improper glassware, so I think the jury is still out on this beer.