Hoppin' Frog 2011 Barrel Aged Naked Evil

I've had this bottle for a while and decided to share it with some friends a week or so ago. Barrel Aged Naked Evil is a belgian barleywine aged in bourbon barrels. I thought it was supposed to be a one-time release but they ended up releasing another batch this year. Considering the price, there are probably some more bottles in Philly too if you want one.

Huge nose. Caramel, candy sugar, vanilla, and some coconut. Very thick body, not syrupy but close. Flavors of caramel, apple, coconut, and more vanilla followed. Considering it was close to 11%, it was really quite smooth. There was some light burn in the finish but that was it. Really quite good and very tasty. Had all the qualities I like in a bourbon barrel barleywine and tons of great flavor. It was good enough that I'd buy another bottle if it wasn't nearly $25 or higher in some cases around here. I would recommend it to others if they haven't had it yet though.

Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged Boris

Over the weekend I drank two different stouts with the first being Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged Boris. This was aged in bourbon barrels for a few months. Not sure exactly how long, but I feel like it's got to be at least four months based on the strength of the flavors. I easily could be wrong though.

Mmm, lovely nose. Vanilla, graham cracker, and roast blended together amazingly well. Nice thick body, very viscous. At first, I tasted vanilla, some light bourbon, a little dark fruit, and a slightly nutty finish. The dark fruit and nuttiness faded away as I drank more but the bourbon and vanilla continued through to the end. This just had a really nice richness to it that made it really pleasant drinking and delicious. I actually thought it compared favorably to Firestone Walker Parabola though that one was slightly more complex. Definitely one to pick up if you see it and don't mind spending a little bit for it.

Beers on Little Christmas Eve

For the past two years (that's this year and last since Christmas is over now), I've been sharing some of my cellared (okay, it's just a basement) beers with my wife's family over Christmas. It may only be a two year tradition but it certainly feels like it's going to stick. Besides forcing my hand into drinking things out of the cellar, it's also fun to share the beers with people that aren't as into the beer scene as me. Gives a new perspective on things and such. This year I decided to do theme nights starting with Imperial Stouts.

The first one I opened was the pretty rare Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS).

Beer Tasting

I had some friends over on Friday night for a beer tasting.  I got 3 bottles for it and everyone else brought 1 or 2 big bottles (except 1 guy who brought 4, 2 commercial and 2 homebrew.)  I thought it would be a fun way for all of us to try things we either don't usually drink or can't drink alone because the bottle is too strong.  I've had a bottle in my fridge for 2+ months because of that issue.  I took some notes and tried to get pictures of all of them but missed 2.

By the end, we finished 12 bottles.  I'll go through the first six and then the last six just to split up the post a bit.

Sunday at Capone's

Jo and I went to Capone's and enjoyed some great buffalo wings and beers.  As usual, their draft list was excellent and they have 25 cent wings on Sunday so it's a great place to watch some football.  They are doing some construction on the place, but the back entrance is open so don't think they are closed because of the closed front doors.

I started off with a sampler of 4 beers.

Starting with the front left beer and going clockwise I got: Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela, The Bruery Autumn Maple, Amager Imperial Stout, and Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. 

The Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela was interesting.  It's supposedly a Pumpkin Ale but I couldn't detect pumpkin in it at all.  It smelled lemony and sort of tart.  Just a little bit of head on the sampler, but I'm guessing there would be a bit more in a full glass.  The first sip was mildly tart as well but not too strong.  Very smooth flavor.  It was similar to Nodding Head's Berliner Weiss but with more body and not quite as tart.  As I drank more of it, the beer got more tart but nothing crazy.

After that was the Bruery Autumn Maple.  Smelled mildly Belgian as it's made with some Belgian yeast.  At first, there was only some yam flavor with a mild sweetness.  Hard to find the Belgian flavors in the beer as a result of the yams and maple.  Nice thick mouth feel to it.  The second full sip I took was just full of yams.  I couldn't believe it and took another sip just to be sure I was sure of the flavor.  Super interesting to be drinking that taste out of a glass.  I liked it but a full glass may have been a bit much.

Following that was the Amager Imperial Stout.  Amager is apparently a brewery in Denmark, who knew.  The Imperial Stout had some slight roasty notes and a little alcohol on the nose.  The taste, however, was full of roasted malt flavor with no alcohol presence.  As it warmed up, the alcohol was slightly noticeable, but not out of place.  Not a bad Imperial Stout but nothing too special to me.

Finally, the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout.  I talked about the family of Yeti stouts from Great Divide in this post, my first time at Capone's.  This will be the second of the four I've had and hopefully I'll be able to have the other two at some point.  Jo smelled some wood flavors in this but I didn't notice much of anything.  Pretty big espresso flavor in the first sip, but it wasn't crazy.  Nothing like Founders Breakfast Stout for example.  The coffee does sit on the tongue after each sip though.  Nice thick mouth feel to this one.  As it warmed up, the espresso becomes more noticeable but again not bad.

After the sampler, I tried to get a glass of Rodenbach Vintage 2007 but they were out.  Instead, I got a Southern Tier Pumking

There wasn't any head on it but you'll just have to trust me since I forgot to take a picture before drinking a bunch.  It smelled of pumpkin and a lot of spices.  Interesting smell, pretty much what a lot of people think of when they hear of a pumpkin beer.  The Pumking was very sweet with a lot of spices.  Kind of crazy how much pumpkin pie flavor they packed into this beer.  Even with all the spices and the high sweetness, it was still quite drinkable.

Went into the bottle shop before we left and man I love that place.  They have so many good beers.  Even if the prices can be a little high, there's just so much to find.  Every nook and cranny is just jammed with random beers.  I could come out of there with so many if I didn't care about money.  Ended up getting a Hoppin' Frog Boris the Crusher, an Oatmeal Imperial Stout, and a 2008 Rogue Imperial Porter.  The Rogue had an absolutely sweet bottle although it's no real surprise because if there is one thing Rogue does well it's make cool bottles.