Black Mocha Stout

Not so sure my sinuses will allow me to give the best review tonight but it is tonight or skip this week as I’ll be camping and watching some GT racing at Petite Le Mans tomorrow and Saturday. And after just missing my first week two weeks ago I don’t want to start a trend, so here we go. This beer is fitting considering I spend the first four days of this week just north of where they brew this beer. I also think this is my most reviewed brewer, Highland Brewing Company from Asheville, NC.


Black Mocha Stout  

Wow, I have poured myself a coke with no ice, yeah I know, most stouts are going to look like this. It has a smaller head than I imagined but that’s ok. Even with my stopped up sniffer I can smell a ton of chocolate and coffee tones. The first taste is just as smooth as it looks and then finishes with the bitterness of burnt malts. I don’t get much mocha in the taste but very good never the less. Very good cold weather camping by the fire pit beer thank you very much.

Until next week, cheers beer friends.

FourBoysBrewPub!

Fireside Nut Brown - Leinenkugel's

Hello out there in blogosphere, is that the right word? Sorry about last week, I usually get my beers out of my ‘broken’ fridge and place them in the family fridge on Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, I did last week but come Friday I just didn’t have the energy to review the beer that was planned. It was a beer I had tried several times and so there in-lies the problem. I was used to it, even liked it a lot but was just no excited about reviewing it. It is even a beer I have brewed a few times (I like mine better but we’ll leave that out) but I think I have grown tired of it. Just in case you’re wondering it was Son of a Peach by RJ Rockers and this is their second year brewing it as a summer seasonal. I must say that this year’s is not nearly as good as last year’s but still good.


Now, on to this week’s beer, it is definitely one I have never had before so there is no chance of me being disinterested. Although the first beer I tried from this brewer was like drinking fruity peebles so if you have tried it you already know what beer I speak of. This one though is spot on for the style and very good indeed.

Fireside Nut Brown – Leinenkugel’s 

It pours out a reddish brown color that is almost identical to what a glass of sweet tea looks like without the ice. Nice big bold head but it’s a shame it didn’t stick around as long as it looks like it should. The scent if of mostly roasted nuts and almost no hint of hops, taste is pretty much the same but it takes you a few seconds to actually get the full taste of the roasted nuts and caramel. Like I have said before I love a full body roasted beer like brown ales, stouts, porters, etc… so this was just what I expected, nice and hearty and really makes you wish you were sitting by the fire as the name suggest. The alcohol content is a modest 4.9% A/V so you can consume more than just one without losing yourself. So stock up beer friends on the big and hearty beers as Fall is here and old man Winter ain’t far behind and you are gonna need something to warm the belly. I say Fireside Nut Brown is a good start. Cheers!

FourBoysBrewPub

Octoberfest - Samuel Adams

Oh yeah, my favorite time of year. College football has started, baseball is entering its final stretch to the pennant race and Samuel Adams has released Octoberfest. One of my all time favorite styles, I guess you could say I more of a malt head instead of a hop-head. I also love the English brown ales, stouts and porters cause their so full of malty goodness.

Octoberfest – Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Co)

As to be expected with a rich malty beer, it pours a deep orange-brown color with a thick off-white head. You can smell the scent of all the malts right away, no need to put the glass up the nose. First taste gives you the bitter semi-sweetness from the roasted malts that transition smoothly into the finishing bitterness of the hops, very clean and refreshing leaving absolutely no after taste at all. I always look forward to the first batch of Octoberfest as it is only brewed a few months a year and seems to always have a slightly different taste each season. Last year was so so but this year has really nailed it. I had it on draft last week and I really can’t tell that much difference in the bottled version vs. the draft, usually there is always a difference even if it is ever so slight.

So with a awesome weekend of college football this weekend, there is no reason not to pick up a few of these delicious brews to chase down that tailgate food, that was obviously prepared on a charcoal grill right, that’s what I thought. Cheers my beer friend!

FourBoysBrewPub!

Lagunitas IPA

Labor Day weekend, where has the time gone? Good news, College Football season is here, bad news….can’t think of any. I had grand plans of reviewing a beer from the state of UGA’s weekly opponent, this week it was University of Louisiana-Lafayette, easy enough to get a good beer from Louisiana and next week is USC (east), once again, easy enough to get good beer from South Carolina. The problem comes in week 3, Arkansas; I have no way of getting my hands on any craft beer from Arkansas. So, me being as superstitious as I am, I was not about to do it for some and not all of them and bring some bad mojo on the Dawgs.

So, with all that said, I have had this beer in my fridge for several months now, it being an IPA and all I have put it off as long as possible but I had to try it sooner or later. So here it is, Lagunitas IPA by Lagunitas Brewing Co. (say “lah-goo-KNEE-tuss”). I emailed my notes to myself last night, here is my exact quote “Odd color for an IPA. Looks more like a wheat ale than an IPA. Odd scent also, slightly sweet with citrusy hops mixed in. Good mixture of malt and hops. Very drinkable ipa”. It has an orangeish color to it just like the wheat ale I’m drinking right now. Me not being of the IPA fan club I never understood the statement by other beer geeks that an IPA didn’t have enough malt for the beer to stand on, I mean, an IPA is supposed to be hoppy right? Well, now I understand, this beer had a good malt front end followed by the massive hop flavors making it very well balanced and nice to drink. I may need to revisit some of the other IPAs I have had to get a real impression.

So, the dawgs win, I’m at the beach & it’s a 3-day weekend, what else could be better? Maybe if the Braves win tonight that would be the cherry on top. So cheers my friend and grab yourself a cold one on this long weekend.

FourBoysBrewPub!