1000 Bottle of Beer.com is a personal beer adventure - a 'Tasty Experience' if you will.   My goal is to sample 1000 bottles of beer over the next 2-3 years and have a resource for people to read a description of beers they might like to try.  Of course, these are my own personal opinion, and my palate is fickle as the next person's.  Sorry if you don't agree with some of my tasting notes, but they are what they are... Cheers! - Oliver in Portland


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Tasted on: 3/5/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Dundalk (Diageo) Smithwicks Ale
Brewery: Dundalk (Diageo)  
Location: Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland 
Beer Name: Smithwicks Ale 
Beer Style: Irish Ale 
ABV: 5%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Brownish copper crystal clear in color with a medium to thin ocre head. Aroma is caramel and slightly nutty. Flavry is very lightly sweet and rich with caramel, but well balanced overall. The finish is dry, clears out the malts. I see now why so many people love 'Smiddicks'! 
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Tasted on: 3/4/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Mohan Meakin Ltd. Golden Eagle
Brewery: Mohan Meakin Ltd.  
Location: India 
Beer Name: Golden Eagle 
Beer Style: Premium Lager  
ABV: 5%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Orange/golden color - a touch hazy with a thin white head. Aroma is surprisingly somkey - nothing on the label alludes to this. Flavor is also smokey, lightly sweet, well balanced. Do they brew over an open fire, or do they smoke their malts? Very nice, but if you expected a typical lager you might be a little put off by the smoke. On the other hand, this will go well with a myriad of spicy Indian foods! 
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Tasted on: 3/3/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Rogue Brewery Imperial Red Ale
Brewery: Rogue Brewery  
Location: Newport, Oregon 
Beer Name: Imperial Red Ale 
Beer Style: Imperial Red Ale 
ABV: 9%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Deep copper brwon hue with a medium to thin light-tan head. Aroma is lightly sweet - a bit grainy and also a bit of caramel. Flavor is also grainy, fair amount of hop bitterness, and a little malty sweetness. Dries out pretty completely in the finish. Unfortunately, I also am detecting a little soapy flavor in this beer. Hopefully it is my glass but I think it is not. 
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Tasted on: 3/2/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of North Coast Brewing 2005 Old Stock Reserve Bourbon Barrel
Brewery: North Coast Brewing  
Location: Fort Bragg, California 
Beer Name: 2005 Old Stock Reserve Bourbon Barrel 
Beer Style: Barley Wine 
ABV: 14.6%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Pours a hazy brown color with a medium light-brown head. Aroma is sweet - like rotting pears. Flavors abounding in pears, caramel, honey and never dries out. Yummy sweet through to the long-lasting finish. The energizer bunny got nuthin' on this supurb palate-polisher. Can I get more?!? 
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Tasted on: 3/2/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Firestone Walker 11 (XI Quercus Alba)
Brewery: Firestone Walker  
Location: Paso Robles, California 
Beer Name: 11 (XI Quercus Alba) 
Beer Style: American Strong Ale (blend) 
ABV: 11%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Deep dark brown color with a thin light tan head. Aroma is honey raisins, toffee. Flavor is big chocolate covered caramels and toffee. Very nice lingering finish, not nearly as dry or oaky as the Firestone Walker 10 finishes. 
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Tasted on: 3/2/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Firestone Walker 10
Brewery: Firestone Walker  
Location: Paso Robles, California 
Beer Name: 10 
Beer Style: American Strong Ale (blend) 
ABV: 12%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Slightly muddy coffee-ish color with a tiny light-tan head. Aroma is sweet, oaky, caramel, raisins and honey. Flavor is complex - starts caramelly, molasses and goes through dark fruits to a surprising dry finish of oak wood and hop bittering. Some notes of black underrip cherries and tobacco as it warms. Very outstanding beer. 
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Tasted on: 2/23/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Cascade Brewing Kriek Ale
Brewery: Cascade Brewing  
Location: Portland, Oregon 
Beer Name: Kriek Ale 
Beer Style: Belgian Flanders Style Brown Ale 
ABV: 6.6%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: A deep purplish brown color with medium pink hued light tan head. Aroma is rich in cherries, caramel, almost toffee like. Nice roasted grains in the base beer. Flavor is initially sour, nice mix of cherries and malts on the palate, finishing clean and refreshing. This reminds me a lot of a cherry pie - sour pie cherries - a little sugar, but not enough to combat all of the cherries :) 
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Tasted on: 2/23/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Budweiser Budvar Ceske Budejovice Czechvar
Brewery: Budweiser Budvar Ceske Budejovice  
Location: Czech Republic 
Beer Name: Czechvar 
Beer Style: Bohemian Pilsener 
ABV: 5%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Clear golden hue with a light white head. Aroma is slightly hoppy, but lightly skunked as well - damned green bottles! Flavor is a nice, crisp clean and well-balanced lager. Brewed for Kings in the years past. This Budvar might not be the 'King of Beers' but was truely a beer of the Kings! 
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Tasted on: 2/23/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Firestone Walker Union Jack
Brewery: Firestone Walker  
Location: Paso Robles, California 
Beer Name: Union Jack 
Beer Style: IPA 
ABV: 7.5%  
IBU:70 
Tasty Notes: Crystal clear gold color with a small white head. Aroma is lightly sweet, floral and big on the citrus. Flavor is nice and big - starts like a honey tangerine and morphs toward grapefruit peel at the end, as the bittering lays waste to the sweeter honey notest at the start. Very crispy finish along the sides of my tongue. 
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Tasted on: 2/21/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of North Coast Brewing 2005 Old Stock Reserve Brandy Barrel Aged
Brewery: North Coast Brewing  
Location: Fort Bragg, California 
Beer Name: 2005 Old Stock Reserve Brandy Barrel Aged 
Beer Style: Barley Wine 
ABV: 14.7%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Somewhat muddy brown hue with thin and fast-disappearing head. Aroma is vineous - like a fine sherry or madiera; fruity - like a really good rum-soaked aged dark fruit fruitcake; and nutty. Flavors are leaning toward the sweeter side, definitely not a hoppy beer. Very much like a fine sherry with a bit of carbonation. Quite a specatular beer that will surely age well for many years! 
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Tasted on: 2/19/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Midnight Sun 2007 Arctic Devil
Brewery: Midnight Sun  
Location: Anchorage, Alaska 
Beer Name: 2007 Arctic Devil 
Beer Style: Barley Wine 
ABV: 14%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Pours a rich cooper-brown color with a medium light-brown head. Aroma is sweet - toffee like with dried fruits. Flavor exemplifies all that I look for in a great beer - "Big and sweet like me." Chewy caramel, rich plums, reminds me of some of the better siping rums I've trid. Wonderful beer. A bit pricey at $15 for a 22 oz, but I will definitely be getting a few more to cellar. Port/sherry like as it warms a bit. 
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Tasted on: 2/17/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Real Ale Brewing 2007 Sisyphus
Brewery: Real Ale Brewing  
Location: Blanco, Texas 
Beer Name: 2007 Sisyphus 
Beer Style: Barleywine Ale 
ABV: 11%  
IBU:77 
Tasty Notes: Hazy deep golden color with a thin to medium light tan head. Aroma is spicy - like a holiday ale. Cloves, mace and sweet - reminds me of spiced apples. Flavor starts creamy, smooth and lightly sweet but quickly moves to an over bittered (or too young) barleywine. This was a difficult beer to find in Portland, but I will see if it is possible to gat a few more to lay down for 6-18 months. Needs some age to cool the bitter edge of the hops (or is it the raw edge of too much spices?) Beyond that, I detect some orange notes - could be very nice if the hop/spice bitter were not so prevalent.  
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Tasted on: 2/17/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin X 10th Anniversary Ale
Brewery: North Coast Brewing  
Location: Fort Bragg, California 
Beer Name: Old Rasputin X 10th Anniversary Ale 
Beer Style: Imperial Stout  
ABV: 11.6%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Dark black color with a medium brown head. Aroma is big and sweet, molasses, bits of chocolate and loads of bourbon. Flavor is very smooth - velvety and creamy, with a big whisky kick. Somewhat alcoholic, especially toward the finish. One of the best bourbon barrel beers I've had. 
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Tasted on: 2/16/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Cascade Brewing Apricot Ale
Brewery: Cascade Brewing  
Location: Portland, Oregon 
Beer Name: Apricot Ale 
Beer Style: Belgian Flanders Style Ale 
ABV: 8.35%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Hazy golden / light tan hue with a thin, lightly effervescing white head. Aroma is like hanging in an aprocot orchard at harvest time! Big rich ripe apricots. Trying to detect any oither aromas behind the apricots yields a futile effort. Flavor is lightly tart and tangy, very much like dried apricots with a refreshing tart edge. Good malt bill in the back support the fruit and tart for a wonderfully well reounded Flemish style beer - sweet, tart, fruity and refreshing. Three cheers to Ron and Curtis for this outstanding beer! 
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Tasted on: 2/15/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Cascade Brewing Blackberry Ale
Brewery: Cascade Brewing  
Location: Portland, Oregon 
Beer Name: Blackberry Ale 
Beer Style: Belgian Flanders Style Red Ale 
ABV: 6.4%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Purple tinged brown ale with a pinkish light-tan thin head. Aroma is fruity, lightly sour, caramelly. Flavor is bursting with tart-shour on the front (though not overwhelming), followed by a fresh fruity blackberry/caramel malt medly that finishes out quite dry, like a brut champagne. Very enjoyable! 
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Tasted on: 2/14/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Lucky Labrador Pavlov's Russian Imperial Stout
Brewery: Lucky Labrador  
Location: Portland, Oregon 
Beer Name: Pavlov's Russian Imperial Stout 
Beer Style: Port Barrel Aged Stout 
ABV: 9.9%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Deep dark black color with a thin brown head. Aroma is like black strap molasses with rich port and a hint of coffee. Flavor starts off rich, sweet, almost chocolatty, but finishes with the bitter astringency of dark roasted grains. I would love to have another bottle of this to lay down for a year and see how it ages! 
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Tasted on: 2/10/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Lost Abbey Judgement Day
Brewery: Lost Abbey  
Location: San Marcos, California 
Beer Name: Judgement Day 
Beer Style: Quadrupel  
ABV: 10.5%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Deep ruby-mahogany color leaning towards black with a medium tan head. Aromas of figs, raisins and alcohol. Flavor is big chewy dried dark fruits, with molasses and hints of burnt sugar. Very rich, viscous and creamy mouthfeel. Good balance of malts and hops that is neither sweet nor bitter, and finishes dry, almost like a dry sherry. 
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Tasted on: 2/7/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Pizza Port Brewing Company Wipeout IPA
Brewery: Pizza Port Brewing Company  
Location: Carlsbad, California 
Beer Name: Wipeout IPA 
Beer Style: Imperial India Pale Ale 
ABV: 7%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Clear golden hue with a thin to medium off-white head. Aroma is big and hoppy - citrus, pine and resin with malty-sweet undertones. The hops hit your tongue with initial bitterness, then settle out to tangy orange-pine flavors. The malts are there and support the hops, but never have much chance to parade on your palate. Finish is a drying hop-medly that plays out in layers of bittering and flavor for a long time... 
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Tasted on: 2/6/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Skagit Valley Brewery Trumpeter
Brewery: Skagit Valley Brewery  
Location: Mount Vernon, Washington 
Beer Name: Trumpeter 
Beer Style: Imperial Stout 
ABV: 10%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Deep dark black color with a medium to thin brown head. Aroma is dark roasted grains, coffee, hints of licorice. Flavors of rich black coffee and chocolate. Very well balanced. Lingering layers of dark chewy dried fruits reveal themselves in the finish. Yum! 
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Tasted on: 2/6/2008 Bottle and fresh glass of Golden Valley Brewery IPA vs Brut
Brewery: Golden Valley Brewery  
Location: McMinnville, Oregon 
Beer Name: IPA vs Brut 
Beer Style: Imperial IPA 
ABV: 9.5%  
IBU:Unknown  
Tasty Notes: Hazy golden color with a thin light tan head. Aroma is hop-floral, lightly citrusy, and lightly sweet. Flavor is carmelly with a good hop bittering balance and a bit of orange. The finish is lingering - hops take the front-seat at the end, very nice. Mouthfeel has a nice champagne-like creaminess, and I noticed the haze cleared out as it warmed - must have been a chill haze. 
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