Monthly Archives: October 2009

Victory Storm King Stout

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Beer-a-Day #280Victory Storm King Stout

Ron loves this stout. Why wouldn’t he? It’s big and bold and full of hop goodness.

With a huge, Pacific Northwest hop aroma & character upfront, Storm King subsides into massive, roast malt complexity. More flavor than mere words can adequately describe. Rich and substantial, it will warm your heart.

Dark as midnight on a moonless night, with a thick head the color of coffee ice cream. Aroma is deep, reminding me both of roasted coffee and chocolate covered cherries. Big, complex flavor, with more coffee, roastiness, and a nice hop finish. At 9.1% ABV this will be my only beer of the evening, but I will savor it.

Victory Storm King Stout

Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest

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Beer-a-Day #279Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest

Available August through October each year, our traditional Marzen-style bier is brewed with Munich, Caramel, and a blend of Pale malts. Hallertau, Tettnang, Perle, and Cluster hops provide the aroma for this well-balanced, smooth, festive lager.

Clear and gold with some orange highlights. Hops aroma is light. Medium body with a little toastiness. Good, and now I’m craving bratwurst.

Leinenkugel’s® Oktoberfest

Victory HopDevil

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Beer-a-Day #278Victory HopDevil

Menacingly delicious, with the powerful, aromatic punch of whole flower American hops backed up by rich, German malts. HopDevil Ale offers a roller coaster ride of flavor, coasting to a smooth finish that satisfies fully.

I am an unapologetic hop-head. How could I not get something called “HopDevil”?

Deep amber with a thick head that leaves some nice lacing. Big spicy hop aroma. Toasty and just loaded with hops. Good.

Victory Brewing Company :: HopDevil

Beer-a-Day Project: September recap

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Suddenly I’m 3/4 of the way through. Wow.

  1. Blue Moon Belgian White
  2. Dogfish Head Raison D’Être
  3. Samuel Adams Summer Ale
  4. Magic Hat Wacko
  5. Magic Hat Circus Boy
  6. Fordham Queen Anne Kölsch
  7. Magic Hat Roxy Rolles
  8. Victory St. Boisterous Hellerbock
  9. Erdinger Oktoberfest Weizen
  10. Weihenstephaner Festbier
  11. Affligem Blond
  12. Flying Dog Road Dog Porter
  13. Flying Dog Raging Bitch
  14. Magic Hat Lucky Kat
  15. Samuel Adams Octoberfest
  16. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
  17. Atwater Block Voodoo Vator
  18. Wild Blue Blueberry Lager
  19. Tennent’s Lager
  20. “Plush Chair” Pale Ale (homebrew)
  21. Poleeko Gold Pale Ale
  22. Saranac Octoberfest
  23. Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale
  24. Samuel Adams Boston Ale
  25. Lake Placid India Pale Ale
  26. Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
  27. Saranac Pumpkin Ale
  28. Lake Placid Ubu Ale
  29. Starr Hill Festie
  30. Young’s Luxury Double Chocolate Stout

Previously:

Kona Brewing Longboard Island Lager

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Beer-a-Day #277Kona Brewing Longboard Island Lager

Longboard Island Lager is a smooth refreshing lager fermented and aged for five weeks at cold temperatures to yield its exceptionally smooth flavor. A delicate, slightly spicy hop aroma complements the malty body of this beer.

I’m settling in for a long day of football, so a light lager to go with my sourdough pretzels seems like an appropriate way to start.

Pale straw with a thin white head. Aroma is light with a bit fruitiness (not unlike pineapple). Light flavor, but not too light.

Longboard Island Lager • Kona Brewing Company

Davidson Brothers

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Davidson BrothersIt was a long time since I was last at Davidson Brothers (in Glens Falls, New York) and after finally re-visiting for the first time in probably 7 years I wonder why I don’t make the trip more often. Davidson’s offers real beer, great food, in a quaint pub atmosphere.

Monday afternoon was quiet as would be expected and service was friendly. We ordered the sampler and this is my one liner review of each: (in no particular order)

  • Brown Ale – Sweet and clean, text book Brown Ale in my opinion and my wife’s favorite Brown (at least this month)
  • Dacker – As in, AdironDacker, this beer (I am guessing) was designed for the gateway drinker. Light in body but it had more character, including hops, than I remembered from the bottled version I had many years ago. We liked this a lot.
  • Smoked Porter – Nice. Not thrilling, but nice (if you like smoked beers). This was our least favorite.
  • Oatmeal Stout – Very nice, on the sweeter side with a robust roast malt flavor and smooth. I would enjoy a full pint (or two) of this paired with the right food.
  • Double IPA (forgot the exact name) – Very good if a bit thin, and it could have been my favorite beer except for the nice surprise in the next beer…
  • Our favorite was their Alt style called CTRL-ALT-DEL. It had a much greater hop bite than I expected from an Alt, and was clean and simply delicious. We brought home a growler of that.

The sampler glasses were large enough that for a light lunch we never got around to ordering a pint of our favorite. At $10, it was well worth it. Next year when it is my turn to host Octoberfest I plan on heavily advocating the 40 minute ride up.

Atwater Block Dirty Blonde

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Atwater Dirty Blonde labelBeer-a-Day #276

Made with unmalted wheat, coriander and orange peel to help you live smart and enjoy everyday!

So pale as to be almost transparent. Perfumy aroma with citrus in it. Light, citrusy taste. It’s hard to detect the beer under there. I can see how this could be very refreshing after a hard day of sweaty yardwork.

Atwater Block Brewery

Atwater Block Vanilla Java Porter

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Beer-a-Day #275Atwater Block Vanilla Java Porter

A robust porter made with chocolate malt.  We blend it with Vanilla and Java beans, and balance it with U.S. Golding Hops.

I picked this up because it sounds delicious.

Dark, dark brown with just a little bit of head. Vanilla and coffee aroma (obviously) but also a little something else I can’t put my finger on. Lighter than I expected, both in body and flavor, and more carbonation than I expected. Plus there’s a bit of sweetness reminiscent of simple syrup. It’s good.

Atwater Block Brewery