Smuttynose Night at Barcade

I've been falling a bit behind on my postings lately, so I'll just briefly share these few photos from Thursday January 14th, Smuttynose Night at Barcade in Brooklyn, NY.



Here was the beer list that eve:

Baltic Porter - 8.7% ABV - Baltic style Porter
"oak aged" Big A IPA - 9.2% - Imperial IPA, aged in oak at brewery
Farmhouse Ale - 7.5% - Belgian style Farmhouse Ale
Imperial Stout - 10.0% - Russian style Imperial Stout
IPA - 6.9% - "finest kind", served on cask
Maibock - 6.2% - German style Helles Bock
Strawberry Weisse - 3.0% - German Berliner Weissbier
Terminator G-Bock 2008 - 9.5% - Doppelbock, aged one year
"oak aged" Terminator G-Bock 2008 - 9.5% - Doppelbock, aged in oak at the brewery
Tripel - 9.0% - Belgian style Tripel
Wheat Wine - 10.7% - strong Ale brewed with wheat
Woodward Ale - 5.0% - crisp Ale with hints of Curacao orange



The first and by far most interesting beer I had was the Oak Aged Terminator G-Bock from 2008. I don't think I'd ever had a oak aged doppelbock before, but the oak added a perfect woodiness to what was already a very good beer.



And of course, I left behind a few of my "business cards" aka pieces of thin cardboard i printed a few words on. They're super-informative aren't they? Don't they just want to make you make beertography your home page? heh.

Shocker: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout is Awesome

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Goose Island Night at Rattle'n'Hum. I've had (and loved) GI's wonderful Bourbon County Stout from the bottle numerous times, but I believe this is the first time I've had the chance to try it on tap. And yep, you guessed it, it's even better.



This beer actually makes me want to start trying all different types of Bourbon, which I didn't know until recently that I love. At 13% ABV, its certainly a sipper, or perhaps one you should split with a friend. But the 2009 bottled version is now available in 22oz bombers, although I haven't seen any in the NYC area yet. If anyone in the area is interested, you can still pick up 12oz bottles of the 2008 at New Beer Distributors on Chrystie St. in Manhattan. Be advised, they close at 6pm on weekdays and are not open on Sundays.

21st Amendment Monk's Blood

21st Amendment Monk's Blood. Described as a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. In a can. IN A CAN! I love love love that canned beer is becoming "cool" for craft beer lovers. There are already SO many great canned craft beers. 21st Amendment has Monk's Blood and Brew Free or Die IPA, Oskar Blues has Dale's Pale Ale, Ten FIDY, Gordon and more...not to mention all of the wonderfulness that Surly Brewing Company cans (which I wish I could get my hands on more of).

While 21st Amendment didn't quite knock this out of the park, they certainly at least doubled. At 8.5% ABV, this does live up to the description of Strong Ale, but you'd never know it. Its sweet, its spicy and its pretty dangerously delicious. Its far too easy to throw back the entire 4 pack.

For my first Belgian in a can, its quite good. But, I feel it can be done better. I think I've just spoiled myself with other dark belgians like Brooklyn Local 2.

1st Williamsburg Cask Ale Festival

This past weekend, cask ale master Alex Hall aka The Gotham Imbiber brought his patented real ales to the Brooklyn borough of Williamsburg. The location this time was DBA Brooklyn. I stopped in for Saturday afternoon's session and had a few unfiltered, unpasteurized beers.



Here's the list:

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA (a blend of 60 and 90)
BrüRm @ BAR 'Aberdeen Ale'
BrüRm @ BAR 'Chocolate Porter'
Erie 'Railbender Ale'
Honest Town 'Capall Dorche Stout'
Honest Town 'IPA'
Olde Burnside 'Ten Penny Ale'
Ridgeway 'Reindeer Droppings'
Sauer Rossdorf 'Rossdorfer Urbräu'
Shawnee 'Vienna Lager'
Shawnee 'Bourbon Barrel-Aged Entire'
Stone 'Sublimely Self Righteous Ale'



The best offering was definitely the Chocolate Porter from BrüRm @ BAR. I had never heard of this before, but apparently its from a brewpub/nightclub in New Haven, CT. Some good reviews on beeradvocate as well.

Even More about Tactical Nuclear Penguin

A few closeups of the awesome label description along with the warning.







There were a few posts before Christmas around online about this beer possibly exploding if not kept in the fridge? That's not true...right? Or, I guess it is, look here. Someone remind me to put it in the fridge when I get home.