Dock Street Abt 12

Jo and I were recently at Dock Street after a fun trip to the zoo with Paxton and the PhillyTapFinder family and I saw they were selling bottles of this. I'm a sucker for quads and so decided I needed to try it. At $12 it wasn't too expensive either. Also, I'm pretty sure this was a Scott Morrison beer and his belgian style ones were usually quite good so it seemed worth the risk. If you want to try anything by him, he's actually now at the Barren Hill Brewpub.

Nose was a mix of caramel, a little apple, and some sugary sweetness. Really nice and inviting. Body followed with lots of caramel, some plums, apple, and finished with a slight alcohol burn. Medium mouthfeel, not thick but not thin either. Quite delicious especially as the alcohol faded by the time I finished the glass. I haven't had a genuine Belgian quad in a while and so really enjoyed this. Definitely glad I bought it.

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.

Firestone Walker Double DBA at Kite & Key

I actually thought this was going to be a repeat post as I swear I've had Double DBA before, but I didn't have a picture of it yet so I guess I was wrong. Kite & Key was pretty great this past Tuesday as they still had a whole bunch of Firestone Walker leftovers from the Craft Beer Express on Saturday. Pretty surprised about it but a win for me. Since I've had Sucaba (aka Abacus) a whole bunch of times, I opted for Double DBA, a bourbon barleywine though I'd argue it's not really a barleywine but a mix of stronger styles. Surprised it's not listed as an american strong ale.

It's a little darker than in the picture since I had to use a flash to take it but it gives you an idea. Really smooth caramel and sweet boozy nose. Very inviting. Body was similar with tons of caramel and vanilla with a little bourbon flavor to top things off. Just a very delicious beer though some may find it a bit sweet. Don't get me wrong, it's not Southern Tier sweet, meaning it'll give you diabetes, but the caramel and vanilla are very strong without any real bitterness to balance them.

Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon

I struck out on Heady Topper cans when Jo and I were in Vermont, but I did get to stop at a store named Hunger Mountain Co-op and pick up a few interesting bottles. One of them was Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon, a wine barrel aged saison. I don't have any more information than that since that's all the bottle said, but it had to have been some sort of white wine barrel considering the color and flavor.

The nose had a lot of white wine character mixed with a little saison spiciness. At first, the body was mostly sweet grape with only some of the saison peaking through. Similar to the nose though a bit sweeter. As I drank more, the flavors meshed a bit more and the sweetness lessened. Still, I wish it had been a little drier with the saison half being a little more pronounced. As it stands, it wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd buy it again.

Green Flash Sleepin' with Shaggy

Not sure if the name is a Scooby Doo reference or not, but it is certainly interesting. Sleepin' with Shaggy is a 13% barleywine aged in brandy barrels and was sent to me by my buddy in San Diego. I actually thought it was a sour for the longest time and I'm not sure I could have been more wrong. Also, not sure this was a good choice for a Monday night beer considering its strength but I'm running low on normal beers so here we are.

Well, this was certainly aged in brandy barrels. Huge, huge brandy nose consisting of a fruity, caramel sweetness. Not too boozy either. Thick mouthfeel which I always appreciate in high octane beers and think is pretty important in hiding the alcohol. Body was complex with chocolate, caramel, a lightly bitter earthiness, and more brandy. Some booziness but I felt it meshed with all the other flavors well. The brandy sweetness really comes through which is impressive. I wonder what the base barleywine tastes like before the barrel aging. Regardless, this was tasty and a nice surprise.

Crooked Stave St. Bretta Spring

This beer came to me by way of PhillyTapFinder from Colorado which was awesome of him. Thanks Jared! I guess St. Bretta by Crooked Stave is released year round but as a different season each time. This bottle was labeled Spring and is, at its base, a wheat beer but is so much more due to the brett fermentation.

I didn't really know what to expect from this just going by the style and the name. The nose definitely gave credence to the brett fermented on the label with dry, lightly funky notes and a bit of citrus. The body, however, changed things up a bit and added in some tart orange juice right up front with some earthy bitterness in the back. The funkiness from the nose was a bit more subdued too. Quite delicious really and I definitely get why people like Crooked Stave. I'm not sure if this is the first beer I've had from them, but it's the first I remember. I picked up a different bottle of Crooked Stave while in Vermont and I'm excited to try that now.

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!

Green Man Schadenfreude

Jo and I took a trip through Asheville last year on our way to Atlanta. It was right before New Years and we thought if we were heading all the way down there, why not make a bit of trip out of it. As a result, I was able to check out a couple beer stores and I bought this Green Man Schadenfreude at one of them. It was actually only made possible because I started talking to one of the employees and he was like, "Buy this, it's good and you'll like." So I grabbed it because why not. I always like trying new berliners especially since I can split them with Jo unlike stouts and barleywines.

Bretty, earthy nose. Very inviting and very promising. Basically a bit funky with a few other things going on. Body, though, was a lot of lemony lactic acid and pretty tart up front with none of those flavors. Luckily, some of the notes promised by the nose came through in the finish cleaning up some of that lemony sourness and balancing things. Just quite delicious and Jo enjoyed it a lot too. Made me wish I had bought another bottle actually. Not sure what else Green Man makes, but seems like their sours are worth a try at least.

Cigar City Jai Alai

I'm actually pretty surprised I've never written about this beer. Jai Alai is Cigar City's flagship IPA and is massively popular in Florida. We used to see a lot of it here in Philly but their popularity down South has grown exponentially so there has been a pretty long drought of Cigar City beer up here. It's a shame since they make good stuff, but maybe we're close to the end of that problem since we're seeing stuff in Philly again.

Lots of orange juice and citrus flavor in the nose with a little sugary sweetness. Body was similar in that it was basically bitter orange juice with a little caramel sweetness in the back. Enjoyable ipa with a slightly thicker than average body. Definitely makes sense why this would be their top seller in this age of hoppy beer. Always a good choice if you are looking for something not too strong that tastes great.