Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza

I wasn't able to get to the Kite & Key on Sunday for their latest Savage Sixtel Sunday, but when I showed up on Monday everything was actually still available. Lucky for me! Through a huge effort of will, I managed not to order the Goose Island Bourbon County even though I really wanted to because, well, I still have like 18 bottles at home. Kind of silly to get it on draft or at least that's what my wife keeps telling me. I'm not so sure she's right since it's awesome, but this time I listened. Instead I got a glass of Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza.

Tart plum and raisin flavors are the name of the game. All of Jolly Pumpkin's stuff is spontaneously fermented which is why most of their stuff has some basic tartness to it. Sort of clashing flavors though. Like a soured brown ale with a little roast, some bitterness, and finishing with a big tartness and some sour. The latter just didn't mix well with the former in my opinion though they got a bit better as I got used to them all.

It's a problem I've had with other Jolly Pumpkin beers where the tartness just doesn't sit well with the base. Oh well, the issue is definitely on my end since other people seem to really like their stuff. Maybe one day I'll find one I like more.

Beers with Friends

My friends and I had been trying to get together for this bottle share for quite a few months, but one of them has a job that makes it a bit tough to schedule. However, he finally had a Monday off and so messaged us that it was time. As it happened I was walking home from Sabrina's, kind of drunk already, so of course I said totally! I was originally planning on not even drinking the Monday before Thanksgiving but oh well, sacrifices must be made right?

We started off with one of the better beers of the night, Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. This is a special version of Bourbon County, aged in barrels for two years instead of the eight months or so. It did sell for quite a bit more per bottle (about $40 vs $12 for two regular bourbon county).

Squatters Outer Darkness

I'm working on the longer post about a bottle share I had with some friends, but it's going to take me forever so I'll fill in the gaps with some smaller posts. Over the weekend, I drank a bottle of Squatters Outer Darkness, an imperial stout. I picked it up in Houston in early November along with a few other things.

First, let me say the bottle is super cool looking. It looks really cool in this picture, really capturing the flaming eyes peering out of the label. Neat stuff. Great nose on it. Chocolate, roast, and that slightly salty soy sauce character that I find real interesting in stouts. In the body, chocolate and an earthy hop character are the two main points with an underlying roastiness throughout. After the first few sips, I realized the saltiness in the nose may have been a result of the earthy hops mixing with the chocolate. Either way, pretty tasty with lots of different flavors. Glad I picked this one up.

Fun at Dock Street

Just before Thanksgiving, Dock Street had their annual bottle release (I think it can be called annual since they have had it for a few years now). This year they had quite a few different styles for sale including a couple of old gems. Probably the last year for the Barrel Aged Barleywine and Barrel Aged Prince Myshkin though as they finally may have exhausted their cellar reserves. We'll see next year if that's true!

After ordering bottles for myself and a couple friends that put in orders, I got a glass of their newest batch of Barleywine.

Bear Republic Big Black Bear Stout

Still working on my backlog, but taking a break today since it's full of ridiculously long posts and I just wrote one of those yesterday. Instead, I'm going to be lazy and write about the Bear Republic Big Black Bear Stout I had at Kite & Key on Monday.

Smooth chocolate nose. Light on the roast and more sweet smelling than anything. Body was similar with chocolate, a light licorice roastiness, and some roast in the finish. Basically what you'd expect from a stout. Nothing that will blow you away, but still tasty and worth trying.

Beers at Sabrina's

Just before Thanksgiving, some friends of mine decided that their cellars were getting too large. To try and start to fix the issue, they asked on twitter if people wanted to go to a BYOB and share some beers and have dinner. I had nothing to do that night and Jo didn't care about eating dinner alone so I figured why not. After some back and forth, we decided on Sabrina's in Fairmount as I figured it wouldn't be too busy as it's mostly a brunch place and it's informal enough that they wouldn't mind us sitting around drinking forever.

After ordering some food and settling in we decided to start with Deschutes The Dissident, the one sour Matt brought along.

Firestone Walker Sucaba

Back from Thanksgiving and after a number of days off I'm still not that rested. It's amazing how quickly four days go by. At least I have some time off during Christmas to look forward to since after that it's nothing until Memorial Day.

I've still got a bit of a backlog from before Thanksgiving so I'll continue working that off. To start, I drank my bottle of Firestone Walker Sucaba a couple weekends ago. It's a blended barrel aged barleywine that used to be called Abacus but was turned backwards due to a trademark dispute. Hence the odd, current name. I still contend they should have named it Manual Calculator, but I guess that's too goofy. Would have been hilarious though.

Tired Hands!

I haven't made a trip to Tired Hands in forever but finally made up for it last Thursday. I'm going later today too actually but that's unrelated to this post. I arrived a little before five and the downstairs bar was already filling up with a few people sitting at the tables. Seems like they are doing pretty well which is awesome. I'm certainly hoping so as it's just getting better and I can't wait to see how things continue to progress.

I started with one of the newer beers, Slava Oner, a Kvass, which is a style I've never had. I'm unsure how to actually pronounce that style but I just pronounce the K and V and move on with my life. I'm sure that's wrong somehow but whatever.

Boulevard Nommo Dubbel

Not sure when I drank this, maybe a week ago Sunday? I have a backlog of things to write about that's just getting worse at the moment. Going out every night this week isn't really going to help with that but oh well. Boulevard Nommo Dubbel is a dubbel, obviously, with some spices added to it. I picked it up in Houston when I was there in early November.

Unfortunately, right from the beginning, I was thinking this was a big miss by Boulevard. Some spice in the nose and also a really noticeable metallic note that is just completely off putting. The body was luckily missing the metallic portion of the nose but there were other issues. Sweet up front, slightly spicy, then super sharp biting alcohol in the finish that was remarkably unpleasant. Flavors didn't blend well either with the spiciness not meshing with the little sweetness that peaked through in the beginning.

Since I'm crazy, I powered through my bad feelings about it and drank the whole bottle. I'll admit it got a tiny bit better as I got used to the alcohol. The sweetness came up a bit and I felt like I got a view into what Boulevard was aiming for with this beer. However, it was really not very good and either Boulevard agrees with me or consumers do as they discontinued this one for 2013. Maybe they'll retool the recipe for 2014 or they'll just cancel it forever, but regardless I hope they do something.

Brunch at Kraftwork

Two weekends ago, Jo and I decided to stop at Kraftwork for brunch before heading over to Greensgrow to pick up our CSA allotment. On top of being on the way, I'd heard the food was quite good and their beer list is always top notch. Turns out their food really is that good as both Jo and I had excellent meals. Their biscuits especially were delicious and if you go definitely order them. To drink, I decided to start with Bell's This One Goes to Eleven. I think it's supposed to be an imperial red ale by style but I don't know 100%. I do know the name is from This is Spinal Tap, a pretty funny movie if you've never seen it.