Captain Lawrence Espresso Stout

Another growler my buddy Tim gave me in a beer trade was the Captain Lawrence Espresso Stout. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that fades rather rapidly. The aroma consists of chocolate, espresso, coffee, vanilla, and toasted malts. The taste is dry and bitter with plenty of dark chocolate taking the focus. A dry coffee and espresso flavor takes over the mouth on the finish, and a touch of vanilla sweetness rounds out the flavor. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. I rather enjoyed this stout with its power coffee and espresso punch. It definitely focuses on the dry flavors, especially the dark chocolate flavors.

Captain Lawrence Family Meal #1

My buddy Tim gave me a growler of Captain Lawrence Family Meal #1 as part of a beer trade. The beer pours a a golden color with a frothy white head with a little bit of lacing left on the glass. The aroma consists of light caramel malts and has hints of cinnamon and ginger. The taste is light on the tongue with a bit of caramel before lots of spices take focus. There is cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, and cloves. The alcohol content is approximately 6.5% ABV according to Captain Lawrence. This was a nice light drinking beer with plenty of winter-y spices. Therefore, it went down easy, but warmed up the soul on a cold night.

Troegs Scratch 54- Cocoa Porter

I stopped in to the new Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 54- Cocoa Porter. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of dark cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, dry roasted malts, and vanilla bean. The taste is dry and filled with dark chocolate, lots of cocoa powder on the side of the mouth, and is a bit gritty in the mouth feel. There is a vanilla sweetness on the finish that also smooths out the flavor. There is also a roasted malt after taste. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I enjoyed the grittiness to this beer and how it completely packs a chocolate punch. There are no let downs, and for added vanilla flavor, be sure to make a beer float out of this beer.

Maine Beer Lunch IPA

While at RattleNHum Bar in New York City, I ordered a bottle of Maine Beer Lunch IPA to celebrate my birthday. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, caramel, and pepper. The taste is dry and bitter with plenty of grapefruit on the front end. Passion fruit then takes over the mouth and lingers for a while before tangerine and hints of orange come out on the finish. Pepper lingers in the after taste and the beer has a very dry mouth feel. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I was surprised at the amount of passion fruit flavor that this beer contains, but it was an excellent IPA that is both bitter and sweet.

Sixpoint Grand Crue

I ordered a bottle of Sixpoint Grand Crue from RattleNHum Bar in New York City to celebrate my birthday. The beer pours a ruby-red-amber color with a bubbly clear head. The aroma consists of raisin, date, fig, malts, and caramel. The taste is sweet and dry while the raisin flavor takes focus. Nutmeg, fig, and date make appearances on the palate before a spicy and peppery finish. The alcohol content is 12.4% ABV. I was quite impressed with the dark fruit flavors in the Sixpoint Grand Crue, but I was most surprised with the fact that Sixpoint bottles beers. That was new to me.

Brouwerij Rodenbach Classic Red

I ordered a bottle of Brouwerij Rodenbach Classic Red while eating dinner at Stout NYC. The beer pours a cloudy red-amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is slightly sour with raspberry, cherry, oak, and a hint of tart. The taste is sweet at first with cherry and raspberry before a dry oak flavor takes over the mouth. There are hints of chocolate and a slight tart flavor on the finish, but they are not prevalent. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. This was a great Flanders Red Ale with the faintest of tartness, but the fruity flavors, accompanied with a slight chocolate flavor, stole the show with the beer.

Brasserie Dupont Biere de Miel

My fiancée ordered a glass of Brasserie Dupont Biere de Miel while we were out celebrating my birthday at RattleNHum Bar in New York City. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of grass, barnyard funk, pepper, horse blanket, and has a sweet candy-like lemon smell about it. The taste is dry yet slightly sweet with lemon, grass, barnyard funk, and horse blanket. The sweet candy smell that was in the aroma is not present in the taste. The alcohol content is 8% ABV. I like how dry and funky this beer was, but I was completely intrigued with the candy-like aroma, and slightly disappointed when it did not translate to the taste.

Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden to kill time prior to my work holiday party and ordered a glass of Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA. The beer pours an orange amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, tangerine, grapefruit, and sugar. The taste is sweet with lots of caramel on the front end before a light bitterness with grapefruit, tangerine, and orange comes out on the tongue. The finish has a spicy pine and pepper flavor. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I thought this was a decent Imperial IPA, but it falls on the sweeter side rather than the bitter side. So be warned that this beer is not a hop bomb.

Pizza Boy Brewing TB8 Lager

I visited Al’s of Hampden to try a new beer from Pizza Boy Brewing called TB8 Lager (Test Batch #8). The beer pours a pale golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is faint but has some caramel and lemon. The taste mostly caramel with a bit of toasted toffee, lemon, and pepper. The alcohol content is 3.8% ABV, making this a very sessionable beer. The TB8 Lager was a good flavored lager that is easy drinking and flavorful. I liked the caramel punch, but once Al force carbonates his beer, this will be even better.

Pizza Boy Brewing Holy Fuggle Pale Ale

Another sample I was able to try from Pizza Boy Brewing was the Holy Fuggle Pale Ale. Its name is derived from the whole leaf fuggle hops used in the beer. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a frothy white head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of a funky lemon, grass, and has hints of grapefruit and sugar. The taste is dry and lightly bitter with lemon and tangerine up front. There are hints of grapefruit in the background, and a bit of burnt toffee on the finish with a squash-like sweetness. Al’s didn’t post the alcohol content, but I would guess it to be about 6.0% ABV. This beer had a big citrus profile with a pine and spruce finish that allows the grass flavors to linger.

Pizza Boy Brewing TB7 Cream Ale

The first beer I tried from Pizza Boy Brewing was the TB7 Cream Ale (that’s Test Batch #7). The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, pine, and pepper. The taste is rounded with a creamy mouth feel and plenty of dry lemon flavors. There is a pine finish with a hint of grapefruit. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a light bodied that was easy drinking and has a nice bitterness to it. It was a little light on the carbonation for now, but Al stated that he hasn’t forced carbonated the beers yet.

Pizza Boy Brewing Double IPA

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden to sample Al’s new Pizza Boy Brewing beers, and he gave me a sample of the Double IPA. The beer pours a cloudy orange-tinted amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, caramel, and pepper. The taste is dry and bitter with lots of ruby red grapefruit on the front end and tangerine on the finish. Plenty of pine and pepper flavors are left remaining on the tongue. He didn’t list the alcohol content, but I would guess it to be about 7.5% ABV. This was a bitter hop bomb, but if you are a hop head, I think you will find it quite delicious.

Rogue Mocha Porter

I ordered a glass of Rogue Mocha Porter while at TJ’s 8th Anniversary Party in Paoli. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of coffee, chocolate, mocha, vanilla, milk, and caramel. The taste is smooth but dry with lots of milk chocolate, mocha, and coffee on the front end. It is a light bodied beer with a vanilla and dry oaky finish. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. For the dark flavors in this beer, it was rather easy drinking and quite enjoyable.

Brouwerij St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

I ordered a glass of Brouwerij St. Bernardus Christmas Ale while at TJ’s 8th Anniversary Party. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin filmy beige head. The aroma is very malty and has plenty of caramel in it. The taste is also malty but with a lightly sour toasted malt flavor. Cherry, chocolate, and a dry alcohol finish round out the flavors. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I’d rank this as a solid performer in the Christmas beer category and quite a delicious Belgian Strong Dark Ale. The slight sourness from the toasted malts really made the beer enjoyable.