Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout (2010)

I picked up a bottle of Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout (2010) from Discount Wine and Liquors in Boonton, NJ. . The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin bubbly beige colored head. The aroma consists of sweet bourbon, vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth with plenty of dark chocolate and toasted malts on the front end. Then a sharp bourbon bite comes in, but isn’t too intense, with a wonderful vanilla addition to the beer. On the finish, a dry oak flavor comes out and balances the beer very well. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. The bourbon aging in this beer adds a wonderful accent to the beer without being too intense or dry. The vanilla accents are over-the-top excellent and really provide a touch of sweetness that is delectable.

Hair of the Dog Bourbon Fred From the Wood

Another beer I had sent to me from Doug Hanson was Hair of the Dog Bourbon Fred From the Wood. The beer pours a caramel color with almost no head, only a few bubbles making it out of the glass. The aroma consists heavily of bourbon, wood, caramel, candi sugar, and vanilla. The taste is bold with bourbon, sweet bourbon, coming out on the front end. Cherry, caramel, vanilla, and raisin all blending very well together. The finish has a slight oak dryness, but the caramel lingers behind. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. If you ever wanted to taste a beer that really balances bourbon with the body of the beer, the Bourbon Fred From the Wood is absolutely that beer. While it is very bourbon forward, it is not too biting and really brings out the sweet vanilla flavor of bourbon.

Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale

I received a bottle of Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale from Doug Hanson. The beer pours a raisin-amber color with a lofty, frothy, and creamy thick beige colored head. Some lacing is left on the glass, and the yeast flakes are abundant and float in the beer. The aroma consists of raisins, honey, pine hops, caramel, and fig. The taste is smooth and nicely sweet with caramel, fig, raisin, date, and some molasses. Balancing the sweetness is a nice spicy pine hop flavor with a hint of an alcohol burn. The finish brings out some honey and just the touch of sweetness the beer needs to finish. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. This is one of the better barleywines that I have ever had with a great sweetness. I feel that the honey really made the beer, as it wasn’t too raisin-y and just sweet enough.

Elyisan Bete Blanche Belgian-style Triple

My buddy Matt pulled out a bottle of Elysian Bete Blanche Belgian-style Triple to share at New Year’s Eve. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of banana, pepper, and coriander. The taste is smooth and sweet with banana on the front end. Hay comes alive in the dry finish and the beer leaves behind a peppercorn after taste. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This was a solid triple with a nice dry finish. It doesn’t stand out among the best, but it was a quality beer that I would drink again.

Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale

I brought a bottle of Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale to a New Year’s Eve party to share. The beer pours a caramel color with a frothy white head and has bits of bacon suspended in the liquid. The aroma consists of bacon, smoke, maple, caramel, sugar, and bread. The taste is dry and extremely smoky with a hint of bacon. There was a moment where it tasted like Band-Aids. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. While this beer was not as bad as I've heard, it also was not overly enjoyable. I’m glad I brought the 22-ounce bottle to share, as I would not have been able to finish it myself. I also will not buy this beer again, but it was a fun thing to sample once.

Telegraph Reserve Wheat Ale

I brought a bottle of Telegraph Reserve Wheat Ale to a New Year’s Eve party that I received from RealStormKing in a trade. The beer pours a golden color with orange tints and a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sour lemon, wheat, hay, and a distinct barnyard funk that is musky. The taste is bitey with lemon that provides both a sour and tart flavor. A hint of vinegar arises before the hay and barnyard flavors take over, but not as musky as the aroma. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. Wow was this bitey, but it definitely was delicious. It was amazing that the muskiness in the aroma did not impart itself onto the flavor of the beer, but it had wonderful earthy tones to it.

JoBoy's BrewPub Porter

Another beer I ordered on a recent trip to JoBoy’s BrewPub in Manheim was the Porter. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, and chocolate. The taste is chocolaty with toasted malts and a smooth caramel flavor that ties the beer together. Writing that note while drinking this beer made me think of “The Big Lebowski” and how the rug really tied the room together. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. The Porter had a great smooth and roasted flavor with plenty of caramel to put all the pieces together, even with a dry finish. The dude abides.

JoBoy's BrewPub German Altbier

Over the holiday break, I stopped in to JoBoy’s BrewPub for lunch with friends and I ordered a glass of the German Altbier. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of caramel, toasted malts, and biscuits. The taste is sweet with caramel, plenty of toasted flavors to dry and balance the sweetness, and a biscuity mouth feel. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. This was quite a dry beer, but it had good toasted flavor that wasn’t overly dry, balanced with just enough caramel sweetness.

Troegs Scratch 56- Single Hop Simcoe

I stopped in to the Troegs brewery to try the draft-only Scratch 56- Single Hop Simcoe. The beer pours a light amber color with a frothy white head that leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, lemon, and pine. The taste is really bitter with plenty of ruby red grapefruit and hints of tangerine. The finish brings out a large orange profile and bits of caramel, while the after taste has a spicy pine and pepper profile that lingers in the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 6.4% ABV. I will admit that I am a huge simcoe hop fan, so this beer really spoke to me. It focused completely on the hops and the tongue gets attacked by grapefruit and tangerine flavors.

Brouwerij Het Anker Lucifer

My buddy Matt shared a bottle of Brouwerij Het Anker Lucifer with me. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head that lingers for a while. The aroma consists of banana, pepper, yeast, grass, and nut bread. The taste is sweet with banana, grassy hops, and has a dry mouth feel. Hay comes out on the finish with a surprising lightly smoked flavor. Lots of pepper lingers with bits of lemon grass mixed in as well. The alcohol content is 8% ABV. This beer starts off slow, but the flavors really pick up in the finish and after taste. I liked it dryness and earthiness, with just a touch of smokiness.

Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale

My buddy Matt bought a six-pack of Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale and gave me a bottle to try. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head that recedes rather rapidly. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, orange, and spruce. The taste is rather hoppy and bitter with lots of tangerine, grapefruit, orange, and lemon. The finish brings out spruce and pepper. The alcohol content is 7.85% ABV. A turn from the typical holiday ales, this beer was really hoppy and rather delicious. I loved the amount of citrus flavors and a great bitterness to it.

Duclaw Devil's Milk

My buddy Matt brought a bottle of Duclaw Devil’s Milk from Wooden Keg Liquors in Hagerstown, MD and decided to share it. The beer pours a copper color with a foamy off-white colored head that leaves freckles of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, caramel, and a hint of lemon and pine. The taste is rather fruity as well as hoppy with orange, fig, caramel, lemon, and pine. The finish is dry and peppery and has a nice alcohol burn. The alcohol content is 10.6% ABV. This was a solid barleywine with a nice hoppy content. There is a good solid citrus base as well, and enough caramel to balance everything.

Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen Armand’4 Winter Oude Geuze

For my birthday, my buddy Adam got me a bottle of Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen Armand’4 Winter Oude Geuze, and I decided to share it with some friends. The beer pours a cloudy orange-tinted golden color with with bubbly white head. The aroma consists of hay, barnyard funk, grass, lemon, hints of vinegar, and horse blanket. The taste is dry on the front end with a great funkiness to it. Hay, barnyard funk, lemon, and grass all linger around for a while. A slight pinch of vinegar hits, but it is not overpowering or too sour. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a well crafted oude geuze that wasn’t overly sour or too puckering. It had great barnyard flavors, and just enough sourness to be extremely enjoyable.

Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale to share. The beer pours a dark brown color with an extremely lofty and frothy beige head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, toasted malts, toffee, and leather. The taste is sweet and lightly toasted with plenty of caramel and toffee. The finish has a certain dryness to it, akin to how leather smells, and hints of some chocolate in the background. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This was a very likable beer with a good sweetness to it, but not overly sweet at all.