FiftyFifty Eclipse 2011 Grand Cru verson

I have a few bottles of Eclipse left on the shelves downstairs, but can never remember what version each is. Since the only defining feature is the color of the wax, I usually don't find out until I take a sip, try to figure it out, then look it up on FiftyFifty's website here. Note, I'm usually wrong and feel dumb, but oh well. This time, I took a sip and swore it was the brandy version. Turns out, it was the Grand Cru version from 2011. Maybe it had some of the brandy blended into it as it was a blend of a bunch of the variants? Let's go with that so I feel less bad about my guess.

Very sweet, almost cherry like nose. It was the fruitiness that really threw me as I thought it was brandy. Some chocolate and fudge add complexity to it as well. Very nice body, thick and chewy which was sort of surprising. I've had other eclipse's that were a bit thinner than I like so this was nice. Body had a vanilla, bourbon, and chocolate sweetness with a very light alcohol burn in the finish. Between the strong chocolate and vanilla flavors and the chewy body, this was really good. Quite enjoyed this.

On a separate note, I still have a pretty big backlog of beers right now. I also want to talk about my trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming before it's too far in the past. Hopefully, some of that will occur next week but we'll see I guess!

Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper

I may not be writing as much, but I am still making my mostly weekly visits to Kite & Key. They've been varying a bit between Tuesday and Thursday but that's mostly depended on the weather. Regardless, I've still been going each week so that's something. This visit I ordered the Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper, an imperial stout.

Nice chocolate and coffee nose, definitely my style of imperial stout. Nice mouthfeel too. It wasn't oily, but was still a bit thicker, if that makes sense. Body was full of chocolate and roast with a light citrusy, bitter finish. I'm not sure others would get citrus and instead some other flavor of bitterness, but that's how it presented to me. Quite an enjoyable imperial stout and something I'd order again. I know I've seen barrel aged versions of this, but feel like I've heard complaints about it. Not sure but it feels like it would be good after tasting the base. Who knows.

One last post before Christmas

Okay, things have definitely been very quiet on the Rich on Beer front. We've changed our morning routine to feed Pax breakfast, which is a ton of fun, but it doesn't leave me a ton of time to relax and get in the writing mood. Since I'm not a writer by profession or really talent, it takes me a while to get words on to the screen. Or at least interesting words. I've still been drinking new beers all the time, don't get me wrong, just haven't written anything for a while. Today, to get one more post written before the holidays, I'm going to go back a few weeks and post about Deschutes The Abyss from 2010.

Lots of bourbon vanilla notes in the nose. Medium mouthfeel on it. Body was full of licorice and roast with the bourbon and vanilla taking a back seat compared to the nose. Some molasses sweetness came out as I drank more rounding things out. Pretty nice though the mouth feel could have been a little fuller and the bourbon vanilla stronger in the body. Still, definitely glad I drank it.

I actually opened this because the Friday before I went to Jose Pistola's for the Deschutes Beer Camp lunch and it made me want to try an older Abyss. Muller Distributors paid for my lunch there too which was cool. I think I still have two more years of Abyss in the basement that I will get to at some point.

Also, I'm going on vacation now so look for some posts in the new year, hopefully a little more consistently. We'll see!

Founders Breakfast Stout at Kite & Key revisited

I've definitely written about Breakfast Stout before, even written about having it at Kite & Key, but I'm going to revisit it because it's been a while. Of course, now that I've linked you to the previous post, I do have to make sure I don't just write exactly the same thing. Founders Breakfast Stout is an imperial stout made with coffee and chocolate.

Nose was really nice with lots of chocolate and espresso coffee with some roast bringing it all together. Body, however, was super bitter at first with just a little coffee and minimal chocolate. I was actually surprised at how bitter it was. Luckily, as I drank more and it warmed up a bit, the bitterness fell to more reasonable levels and I started tasting more of the coffee. Maybe out of a bottle it's not quite as bitter but this wasn't quite as good as I remember. Oh well, tastes change and all that.

Bell's Expedition at Kite & Key

Well, it has been a week since I've written anything so sorry about that. Between going on vacation then not getting much sleep Sunday night, just haven't had the drive to write. To get moving again, I'll start with last week's visit to Kite & Key. I also have a Crooked Stave beer I drank last night which I'll hopefully get to tomorrow. For last week, I ordered a glass of Bells Expedition, something I've had aged a couple times, but never fresh. And, yes, that is not really the way to do it since you can't know how the aged beer has changed, but oh well sometimes that happens. Expedition, by the way, is an imperial stout.

Roasty nose with a big, earthy hop bitterness. Body followed with some bitter chocolate, earthy hops, and a bitter finish. There was some coffee roast around the edges as well. As I drank more, it actually became more hoppy and bitter and the roast took a slight back seat to that. I had heard it was bitter and, yeah, totally a hoppier stout. Some people like hoppy stouts, hence Storm King's popularity, so this would be good for them. If you're curious about the old bottle I drank, here's my post about it. Definitely enjoyed it a little more than fresh.

Dieu du Ciel 2009 Peche Mortel

I've had this bottle for quite a long while now partially because I lost track of it for a year or so in our old apartment. One day, I was moving stuff around and found it mixed in with a bunch of other beer which was a nice surprise. Why did it still take me 2 years to drink it? Because, that's why. Peche Mortel is an imperial stout brewed with coffee. Honestly, the aging conditions for this weren't particularly great so I was shocked when it still tasted pretty good.

Slightly sour coffee nose, basically what you get when you let coffee sit for a while. If you drink coffee, you know exactly what I mean. Body, however, had a nice clean coffee flavor with some chocolate and a bit of nuttiness in the finish. A little bitterness came through as well and kept the sweetness in check. Glad the sour coffee didn't come through in the body. I'm certainly glad this was still good even after cooking a bit in my old apartment's very hot entry way. Lucky me!

FiftyFifty Eclipse Elijah Craig (12 Year)

I've been drinking beers off my basement shelves ever since Pax was born since we haven't been going out as much. That means I've been opening bombers more often and actually working through my collection. Since I've already worked through a lot of the more normal stuff, I've popped some slightly more special beers into the refrigerator and drank them on random weekends. Hence the Mother of All Storms from yesterday and now this was a bottle from late 2011. This beer was FiftyFifty Eclipse Imperial Stout aged in 12 year Elijah Craig barrels.

Caramel, chocolate, and fudge made up the nose. Very inviting aroma. Nice mouthfeel, thick and a little chewy. Body was sweet chocolate and a rich fudge with some vanilla in the background. The bourbon was really well integrated with the stout and didn't overwhelm anything. Pretty delicious offering from them. I'd read that this was commonly one of people's favorite variants and I can see why.

Green Flash Silva Stout

Another gift from my San Diego buddy, this one came as a surprise in the last box. He sent me another of Green Flash's more limited beers, too, but I haven't had a chance to open it yet. It's in the refrigerator at least! Silva Stout is their Double Stout aged in bourbon barrels.

I liked the nose. It had a mix of smooth coffee, vanilla, and a little bourbon. Pretty thick, almost milkshake like. Body was creamy with coffee and vanilla and finished with a little bitterness. This was pretty good though my notes don't go into too much detail unfortunately. Glad I got to try it though since we don't see many (or possibly any) of Green Flash rarities here in Philly.

Pretty Old Bell's Expedition Stout

I had this bottle of Bell's Expedition in my beer fridge for quite a while but kept looking at it and thinking it wasn't time yet. However, I've been working through my cellar quite a bit since Pax was born so I decided it was finally ready to be opened. I mean, why not open it on a random week day? Ya know? This bottle was from batch 9512, before they started using real dates on the bottle, but was told that it was brewed around December 18th, 2009. So pretty old at this point for a random stout.

Big earthiness from the aged hops, some roasty sweetness, and a little soy sauce and saltiness in the back. Body was sugary caramel, some more earthy bitterness, and then again soy sauce in the finish. Even after 3 and a half years, still bitter but that was all the contribution from the hops and it was probably toned down a bit from a fresh bottle. Apparently, the soy sauce flavor is common in older stouts. I thought it was a compound put off by the roasted malt used in their brewing, but two minutes of research found nothing so I may be making that up. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in on this point. Regardless, this was tasty and that's what matters especially since I really love soy sauce.

Some Tired Hands Catch Up

I've been remiss again at making posts more often but I at least warned everyone I'm a slacker. Today, we'll do a little Tired Hands catch up on some of their bottles. While I do have some tasting notes, I think I'm going to skip the overly long stuff and mostly just post some nice pictures. Seems easier.

To start we have Handfarm, a wine barrel fermented saison.

Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break

I'd been hearing a lot about this one on the interwebs and finally decided to pick up a bottle when Jo and I were in Raleigh for a wedding. It wasn't cheap but it was way cheaper than buying it here in Philly at least. But, really, that goes without saying if you've ever bought something in the area. Imperial Biscotti Break is an imperial stout brewed with coffee and some other ingredients that I can't remember. I'm so helpful I know.

Sweet molasses and brown sugar nose with some coffee in the back. Body was similar with coffee in the front mixed with molasses and a light roasty bitterness being added. Finished with some warming, but not overpowering, notes of alcohol. If you're sensitive to that flavor, you might pick it up more than I did so keep that in mind. It is a strong beer so not real suprising. Just be aware it's a bit sweet so if that's your kind of thing in a stout, this is totally for you and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout

It's been pretty quiet over here and sorry about that. Had some stuff happen and was away from the house for a bit. But, I'm mostly back now so here's a short one, some simple thoughts on Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout. Think the bottle was around a year old but I don't know for sure.

Super roasty nose with hints of chocolate. Basically what you'd expect from a stout. Surprisingly thick body though. First sip had a mix of bitter, roasty hops and burnt, smoky roast. Basically continued that way with only real change being the bitterness lessening as my palate adjusted to it. Solid offering from Great Divide and a tasty imperial stout. They make four different variations on this, too, which are all pretty good as well.

Arcadia Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

As I said yesterday, I was opening one of my bottles of Arcadia's Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and hoping it would be decent. Turns out it was better than decent though it wasn't so awesome that you should drop everything to go buy it. If you see it on the shelf, though, it's worth splurging for one bottle.

Tons of bourbon in the nose, very present. Started with some vanilla and oak notes but ended up with some harsh bourbon heat. I was hoping that the body didn't follow that last note and luckily it didn't since there is nothing I hate more than beers that are overwhelmed by that flavor. Decent mouthfeel, not super thick like Bourbon County but not too thin either. First sip was pretty complex, lots of vanilla, oak, and chocolate. Finish had some cherry and molasses. As I drank more and got used to the cherry, the molasses sweetness in the finish really came to the front and built on itself. I could use the term treacle again but it's so uncommon I'll avoid it for now. Pretty solid BA Imperial stout and not so sweet that the full glass was difficult to finish. Happy I picked it up. Hope the Barrel Aged Cereal Killer, their barleywine, is this solid since I have one of those too.

Heading up to Weyerbacher tomorrow for their release of Riserva. You'll be able to find it on shelves pretty easily but Jo and I haven't been up there in a while so it'll be a fun trip. I already made cookies for it too.

Spring House Planet Bean

I was very excited when I got to the Kite & Key this week and saw the Spring House Planet Bean available. I've had it once before and thought it was a fantastic coffee stout so I was happy to be able to try it again.

Really delicious. Tons of coffee in the nose, not bitter, but pretty close to black and very inviting. Body followed with a little roast and a ton more black coffee with a medium mouthfeel. Very clean flavors and no real bitterness follow with a very strong coffee element. I liked this one quite a bit and it's really one of the best coffee stouts out there in my opinion.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

I didn't put a lot of effort into finding this one because a lot of bottle shops in Philly were charging entirely too much for it. When I know they have more than a 100% markup on it, I get a bit annoyed and refuse to support them. But, I was in a random restaurant with my family and saw a bottle for a slightly more reasonable price, so I decided to snatch it up. This is the awesome Bourbon County Brand Stout from Goose Island with coffee added to it in some way.

Oh man, what a nose. Sweet and fruity bourbon and vanilla with some coffee in the back. The coffee really balanced the sweet bourbon incredibly well. As I drank more, the coffee in each sip completely smoothed out every aspect from the base Bourbon County. Where the latter gets a bit fruity and sweet in the finish, this just never did. It even covered up the 14% ABV, making it possible to drink the whole bomber basically by myself. Just so good. I had it again a couple days later at Prohibition too. This is probably my new favorite beer. It really was that amazing. I mean, even my wife liked the couple sips she had. Too bad it's difficult to get and only comes out once a year.

Founders at Kite & Key

This past weekend, Kite & Key put on a whole lineup of Founders beer for us to try. Starting with the ever popular KBS, they also had Bolt Cutter, Devil Dancer, Imperial Stout, Frangelic Mountain Brown, and quite a few others that I can't remember. All in all, a very impressive list missing only a few offerings from the Founders lineup.

Just like a lot of people already sitting at the bar, I started with KBS, their coffee and chocolate stout aged in bourbon barrels.

Magnolia Brewing in San Francisco

I was recently in San Francisco and since we were there to visit my sister in law and not for me to go around drinking everywhere, I didn't get a chance to get to too many places. A shame I know, blame my wife. However, I did get her to agree that we'd have lunch at Magnolia, a brewpub I've been meaning to visit for a while now but never had the chance. Lucky for me, February is also strong beer month for them so they had a whole lineup of unique stuff for me to try! I mean, look at this list, very cool right?

Dock Street Barrel Aged Prince Myshkin

Okay so I lied about not being lazy the other day. I probably should write a longer one since I have more time today but we'll manage to get over our disappointment, right? A week or two ago I drank one of my two bottles of Barrel Aged Prince Myshkin from Dock Street, a beer that's definitely getting a little long in the tooth at this point. It's from 2010 at least so it's no real surprise.

A mix of red wine, roast, and chocolate in the nose. Still as interesting as the last time I had it and pretty intriguing. Thick mouthfeel but a thin body. I know that sounds weird, but that's how it felt. Chocolate, roast, a little oxidation (sort of a cardboard flavor), and some apple fruitiness. As the flavors blended more, a molasses like flavor came out as well. Pretty flavorful still, but the age really is starting to show in the body structure and the added flavors from oxidation. Probably better off drinking my last bottle soon, though maybe I'll bring it to the upcoming bottle share instead. We'll see.

On a separate note, a bunch of really cool events are coming up. This Thursday is Cisco at Barcade with some great sours, Saturday is Founders at Kite & Key, Sunday is the PhillyTapFinder and PhillyBeerScene bottle share, and next Thursday is Goose Island at Prohibition. Busy busy busy!

Cigar City Marshall Zhukov

Even with working from home now, I'm still continuing my weekly trips to Kite & Key disregarding the month I just missed because it was unrelated to that. This time I was excited to see that Marshall Zhukov, an imperial stout, was still available. It was put on for the Superbowl but considering it's strength, no surprise it was still here. In fact, I went yesterday and it's still available, so go now since it was tasty.

Big nose. Very strong smelling. Chocolate, molasses, and sweet sugar along with a little nuttiness. Lots of chocolate sweetness started things off with a little brown sugar and a lot of molasses. Strong tasting too. Definitely a bit sweet but pretty great in the small amount I ordered. Apparently the word treacle (a blend of molasses, invert sugar, and corn syrup used as syrup) would fit really well here. I'll admit I only know it because I just read it in a BeerAdvocate review. So, yeah, tasted like that a bit too. Regardless, go to Kite & Key and get a pour of it while it's still on if you like sweeter imperial stouts. Well worth your time. They might still have Bell's Hopslam on from yesterday too. Win win.

And yes I still have my return to Tired Hands and some other stuff to write about. I'm lazy, so sue me. If you didn't know, though, Tired Hands is having another bottle release on Sunday. Happily I'm in the believer's club so don't have to worry about lining up just yet. Hurray!

Epic Big Bad Baptist

And I'm finally back. Still getting used to my new schedule so I may still not be 100% consistent again, but we'll see how things go. Moving on, a while back I bought a bottle of Epic Big Bad Baptist while in Asheville and drank it pretty soon after.

Bourbon nose with some alcohol bite in the back. Not too thick but not too thin either. Body had chocolate, a little bourbon, and some slight vanilla. The finish had a light alcohol burn and a nice roasty finish. The only weird thing about it was that the alcohol stayed around for most of the bottle and caused a kind of weird oaky burn that wasn't super enjoyable. Sometimes the roast or chocolate overpowered it but for the most part it was ever present.

For a bourbon barrel stout, it just didn't impress me very much. I mean, at least it wasn't very expensive so it wasn't disappointing in that way, but I think I'll probably stop picking up Epic stuff since I haven't been very impressed with them. Oh well.