North Coast Old Rasputin XII

I was seemingly a mere 15 years old when Old Rasputin was first brewed. It's sort of weird now seeing as though so many brewers have bourbon barrels that they can age their stouts in (or other styles too). I would never complain that there are too many barrel-aged beers, but this will inadvertently lead to brews that are not quite as good as others.

Luckily, North Coast Old Rasputin XII is very good. It's not as good as a barrel-aged beer such as Kentucky Breakfast Stout, but that's a large order to fill. 11.2% is actually a somewhat manageable ABV in comparison to some of the other bourbon stouts.

I guess one's main complaint with this beer is its cost. I paid $18.99 at Boonton Liquor Outlet Wine Cellars, which seemed a little high for a bottle that disappeared quickly. But maybe that's just a statement about the style.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Coming Soon, check out the video from the brewmaster, Sam Calagione!

Rattle'n'Hum Mug Club: COMPLETE!

In order to join the illustrious Rattle'N'Hum Mug Club, you have to drink 40 different styles of beer in a one month period. I was able to finish with 2 days to spare. My wallet is considerably lighter and my gut is slightly bigger. But it was well worth it.

Looks a bit different from when I started:



Here's the complete list of beers I had:

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA
Lagunitas IPA
Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale
Stone Old Guardian
Sixpoint Sweet Action
Shmaltz Messiah Bold
Shmaltz Lenny Rye IPA (cask)
Stone Imperial Russian Stout '09
Allagash White
Cigar City Juxaposition Black Pilsner
North Coast Old Rasputin
Shmaltz Rejewvenation '08
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale
Sixpoint Righteous Rye
Nøgne Ø Porter
North Coast Pranqster
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale
Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown
Captain Lawrence St. Vincent's
Speakeasy Midnight Run Black IPA
Southern Tier Cherry Saison
Ommegang Rouge
Sierra Nevada Tripel
Coney Island Albino Python
Smuttynose Baltic Porter
Two Brothers Bitter End (cask)
Dogfish Head Theobroma
Sixpoint Otis
Elysian The Wise ESB
Smuttynose Weizen
Nøgne Ø Tiger Tripel
Bear Republic Heritage Scotch Ale
Stone Levitation Ale
Heavy Seas Hang Ten (cask)
Bear Republic Double Aught
Victory Prima Pils
Dogfish Head Sah'Tea

Orval Trappist Ale

Belgian Pale Ale at its finest. This beer seems to be a bit more rare than some of your other run of the mill belgians, but its well worth the $5 or so to pick up. This was the brew that made me realize that I highly enjoy dry flavors in a pale ale.

Cricket Hill Hopnotic IPA

Man, iPhones aren't the greatest cameras. Two days in a row of low-qual photos. Sorry about that.

Anyway, this was my first sample of a Cricket Hill beer, a NJ brewery not far from where I grew up. It's a take on the English IPA style, and it's a fair attempt. Not to knock the brewery or anything, as I haven't tried their other selections, but I wonder how a brewery of this small size can survive in the current market. They have about 12 total beers and none of them are rated higher than a B on BeerAdvocate. I'm very curious and would like to visit the brewery sometime soon to learn more.

Cricket Hill Hopnotic IPA