Southern Tier - Harvest Ale

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Unoffensive. Slightly hoppy & malty.

Ayinger - Celebrator Doppelbock

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

This is pretty tasty. Bready, caramely and lots of dark fruit. I'd buy it again.

Weihenstephaner Festbier

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Hmm. Not as good as the Ayinger earlier in the evening. It just has less flavor.

Ayinger - Oktober Fest-Marzen

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Fairly light (compared to most beers I drink) and bubbly. Slight caramel taste. Really easy to drink. I guess I'd get it again if I was looking for an oktoberfest or marzen.

Kona - Pipeline Porter

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

This is a little thinner than I expected. The coffee and bitterness is more prevalent in the finish, but is still subtle. I think I'd prefer something a little more aggressive.

Elysian - Avatar Jasmine IPA

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

I'm not sure that it tastes like jasmine. But maybe I don't know what jasmine tastes like. Mandy thought it tasted like potatoes.

Stillwater/Mikkeller Two Gypsies - Our Side

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

A slightly bitter saison. Its fine. Nothing spectacular.

Flying Dog - Secret Stash Harvest Ale

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Hmm. This has potatoes as a common ingredient with that weird Sierra Nevada beer I got in Maine. There's a common weird smell which I'll attribute to the potatoes.

This is easier to drink than the Sierra Nevada, but I sorta wish I didn't have five more to go through.

Its worth getting one bottle, as its fairly unique, but no more.

Victory - Festbier

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

This was pretty enjoyable marzen. Fairly standard flavor-wise.



Bonus Mandy Thoughts:
[Takes a sip.] [Takes another sip.] [Takes yet another sip.] I think Mikey likes it.
For a non-IPA I like it.

Stone - 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black Ale

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Ridiculous long name.

Really bitter. Some chocolate and a slight licorice sweetness. Eh.

New Belgium - Kick

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

75% pumpkin? The cranberry & associated tartness completely dominates this. The aftertaste is not that great. I'd pass.

Troegs - Perpetual IPA

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

They're fairly vague as to whether this is an IPA or something else in their mind. An imperial pale ale? It's tasty though. Pretty bitter, with a nice malt backbone. I'm not sure I'd pick up more big bottles, but if they put it in 6 packs I'd pick one up occasionally.

Bonus Mandy Thoughts:
It tastes better than our dog's breath smells. [I think she liked it.]

DC Brau - Penn Quarter Porter

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Pretty decent. I think I like the Port City porter better though.

3 Stars - BW Rye

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Definitely rye based. Fairly bitter. Very disappointed that my nose is stuffed up.

Stillwater - Debutante

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

My allergies were out of control so my nose was super stuffed up.

This was enjoyable though.

Boulevard - Collaboration #2 White IPA

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Beer #2 from Minnesota!

My purchases from Minnesota have one thing in common. They both do not require a bottle opener to open. I wasn't quite sure if I'd have access to a bottle opener or not. Well, I guess they're both belgian too.

This is actually pretty good. The hops & spicing is balanced and not overpowering. The bottle says it has coriander (I can taste it), sage (I can't really taste it), orange peel (yup) and lemongrass (yup). It's slightly sweet and finishes like a white ale with a slight bitterness to it. I'd buy it again (if I had access to it).

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Bonus Minnesota Beers:
Undocumented from random dinners:

Summit Summer Ale (Hefeweizen) - The waitress said they had switched over to the Octoberfest, but somehow I ended up with the hefeweizen with no explanation. It was the highlight of my chain-restaurant-lite meal.

Summit IPA (or Pale Ale?) - The bartender wasn't very clear what I was getting. This poured a caramel color and was sort of eh.

Boulevard IPA (or Pale Ale?) - Once again the bartender & waitress weren't very specific about what I was getting. Lighter than the Summit, maybe a little more bitter? This was definitely the more enjoyable than the Summit offering.

Surly - CynicAle

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Greetings from Minnesota!

This was decent enough. Its fairly well hopped, which isn't something that I think is common to the style. Sort of reminds me of Prima Pils in that regard.

I was disappointed because it was a decision between this and Bender (a brown ale). They were all out of the IPA and Coffee Bender, which sounds more interesting than the straight brown ale.

Moxie

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Not a beer. A ridiculous soda from Maine. I liked it a lot. Looks like a cola, tastes maybe more like birch beer.

Allagash Tour & Odds and Ends

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

On our most recent trip to Maine, we stopped by the Allagash brewery one afternoon for a tour and tasting.

The tasting was pretty standard, as brewery tours go. They poured samples of White, Triple, Curieux and Victor. I hadn't had Victor yet. It tasted like a dry dubbel. Others in our party were pretty overwhelmed by the Curieux. I think I probably had the equivalent of 3 beers from the tasting (as I took much of Mandy's leftovers).

After the tasting, they took us on a tour of the brewery floor and the barrel aging room (first picture above). They actually had two separate barrel rooms, one that held Curieux and Bourbon Black, one with everything else. Each room had a distinct smell (whiskey in the first, more musty in the second). I geeked out too much in the second room and forgot to take a picture. There were barrels of various Coolships and other beers with ridiculous names, which the guide said would probably never be released.

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

Before we left for Maine, we met some friends at Meridian Pint, where there were 10 million Allagash beers on tap. [no pictures]

Bourbon Black: Very good. The bourbon was subtle. Very good.
Confluence: This was really delicious. Slightly funky and lemony. I would definitely get this again. Downside: bottles are usually $18 around here.
Victoria: Sweet. The aftertaste was reminiscent of wine. Eh.

Allagash Fluxus 2011

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

This had really prickly carbonation. It was mildly sweet/caramel and slightly bitter. A slightly musty aroma.

It was decent enough. I had higher expectations after loving the Fluxus 2010.

New Belgium - Hoptober

From Joe Drinks Dinner and Stuff

This smelled fairly strange but was fairly easy drinking. More of a lemony citrus taste. I wouldn't turn it down, but I probably won't get it again.