Recent Beers: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout & Founders Double Trouble

This winter has been pretty weak for the area, very negligible snowfall and mild temperatures.  This is great for me, as I am no huge fan of snow and the accompanying shoveling, slipping on ice, and all that goes with it.  I feel bad for the snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts who are wildly unsatisfied by the lack of fresh powder.  When it's snowing, there's nothing I like better than an Imperial Stout.  You don't mind the additional ABV, because you are not going to be driving anywhere.  With that in mind, I have been picking up 4 packs of more complex, heavier beers.  I like this format a lot, since you get multiple bottles, which is better than a single bomber, but not 6 beers which may be harder to go through with the vast breadth of great craft beer available.

Founder's Brewing: Double Trouble

Michigan based Founders is absolutely one of my favorite breweries.  Everything that they brew and sell is pure quality.  There regular offerings are above market average and their seasonal and special brews are world class.  Double Trouble is no exception.  Often compared with Bell's Hopslam, another Michigan based DIPA.  The 9.70% ABV smacks you in the face, this beer smells and tastes boozy.  The other main factor, not surprisingly for a DIPA, is the hops.  I am not sure what varieties Founders uses, but there are multitudes of hop notes in the scent, taste, and long finish of the beer.  It is a citrusy hops note, rather than the piney notes sometimes favored in IPAs.  The high ABV and intense hops make this beer difficult to be called "drinkable" but it is so darn delicious.  $12.99 / 4 Pack.

Brooklyn Brewery: Black Chocolate Stout

Brooklyn Brewery's Russian Imperial Stout has been one of my favorites for the past few years.  The value is incredible, at only $7.49 / 4 pack.  There are not many Imperial Stouts that are affordable AND high quality, with many notable iterations running well over $10/22 oz bomber.  Brooklyn's BCS is able to hang with these beers, although could possibly be considered a little less complex.  As a common theme, the first thing you notice on this beer is the alcohol.  10.00% ABV makes this beer a one - and - done night for me.  It is not surprisingly very chocolatey, both in smell and taste.  The mouthfeel is very silky and carbonation is lower than most beers, but this is true to style.  This is one of my favorite blizzard beers, sipping on the dark chocolatey elixir as it warms up allowing the high ABV complexity to shine, while the white snow falls outside.

In addition, I am still loving the fresh Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye, what an excellent beer at the perfect price.  I am looking forward to Sierra Nevada in cans, which is extremely favorable in my mind!

Pumpkin Beer Tasting @ Nikki's Liquors Providence

October 15th, me and my buddy Tom traveled down to the best Liquor Store in Providence, RI for a Pumpkin Spice Beer tasting hosted by Nikki's Liquors. This place rocks, and I totally endorse them, the beer guy Mike is amazing, always helpful and happy to talk about beer. He helped to put on Beervana a few weeks ago, which was spectacular. Nikki's offers a "Mix a Six" deal in which you get 10% off the price of the beers when you buy a six pack, great for craft beer lovers like myself who just can't decide on one beer to drink for the night.

The beers were:
Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale
Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale
Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout
Saranac Pumpkin Ale
Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale
Shipyard Pumpkinhead
Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin
Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale
South Hampton Pumpkin Ale
Southern Tier Pumking
Thirsty Dog Pumpkin Ale
Wolaver's Will Stevens' Pumpkin Ale

We tasted them all, about a shot of each. I was afraid that they would all be too similar and thus we would not be able to distinguish which we liked best. However, that was not the case at all, each beer had a unique taste and style, although they were under the common theme of pumpkin. For example Sea Dog and Shipyard Pumpkinhead were a lighter, sweeter flavor that we liked, while Wolaver's and Smuttynose had a stronger taste. Southern Tier and Shipyard's Smash Pumpkin were Imperial Pumpkin Ale's, both roughly 9% ABV, and Southern Tier's Pumpking was by far our favorite, both of us. The smell was amazing, smelled like nice pumpkin pie and the taste was out of this world. I would have bought a bottle, except for the price tag; $8.99 for a bomber. My other favorite was the Dogfish Head Punk'n Ale, which I had had before. I ended up picking up a "Mix a Six" with 2 DFH Punk'ns, 1 Saranac, 1 Shipyard, Southern Tier Harvest Ale, and 1 Victory Festbier. Certainly a good night. There will be a post in a couple weeks with a recap of all of the Harvest/Pumpkin Spice/Octoberfest beers I have had this month.

Me back at home enjoying some of the stash I grabbed...

Some beers on deck to taste...

These were the beers we drank, 7 on the top, 5 on the bottom (DFH and Southern Tier were missing)

The owner Mike, with a Shipyard Pumpkinhead shirt and Kara who was pouring for everyone