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| Tasted on: | 3/5/2008 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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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