Beer!

At the Bull & Finch had a Shipyard - Pumpkinhead Ale - not bad.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

At the Bull & Finch had a Shipyard - Pumpkinhead Ale - not bad.

I've seen that but I've been scared off trying pumpkin beers. 

I think I've come to the conclusion that Schlafly has aced it and anybody else is just "pretenders to the throne",

We don't get Schlafly out here but i'm an anti-pumpkin activist.

Dark Horseman wrote:

We don't get Schlafly out here but i'm an anti-pumpkin activist.

That's understandable because I've tried a bunch of pumpkin ales that have sucked.  Fortunately I'm in "Schlafly Country"

I love this time of year though with the Oktoberfest and Stout beers picking up. Mocha Irish Death is back, a local that is great.

That sounds great.

I swung by the local beer store while I was running around and found a new Dragon's Milk Reserve variation that I haven't seen before.

Dragon's Milk was my "gateway beer" to true beer snobbery and these Reserve Series beers have been extra special.  This one is (get this), banana and coconut.  I have no idea how that's going to work with Dragon's Milk but I've loved their coffee version, their cherry version, their vanilla version...so why not this one?  I like both banana and coconut flavors but I'm just not sure how that's going to play in a stout. 

But I'll find out tonight...

Sounds very strange but i'd be willing to try it. If either flavor is overpowering i'd be out.

Same here.  Supposedly neither flavor is too overpowering at least according to BeerAdvocate.

I've had the Well's Banana Bread Beer before and it was pretty good. The banana taste to it is not overwhelming at all and more of an after taste.

Well this version of Dragon's Milk is "meh" at best.

It's got a lot of banana taste and what there is of it tastes artificial even though the label says it's natural.  It's not a drainpour but I'm glad I only got the one 4-pack.

And I've had that "Banana Bread" beer too and it's better than this IMO.  Here the flavors just don't "play well together".

Well's Banana Bread beer is a meal.

Found another outstanding beer being put out by a local brewery.

4 Hands "Father Time" barrel-aged barleywine.  

I've really been getting into the barleywine style lately, especially the English version which is less bitter and sweeter (North Coast's "Old Stock" is a great example of the style and the one that got me started researching barleywines).

Contrary to what the name implies barleywines are beer not wine.  The American style of barleywine has more of a hop bite to it while the English style carries more of a toffee taste.

This is the perfect time of year for a good barleywine. Lagunitas did one that was pretty good though I haven't seen it lately and we have a NW brewery that puts one out that's very good.

Made a run to my favorite beer store this weekend and pretty much struck out; nothing really new.

Except this: Dogfish Head "Fruitful Fort". I'd never seen this before and since it was priced at $35 for a 4-pack I knew it was one of their limited, high-ABV beers (no ABV listed on the packaging). So being the beer daredevil that I am I picked up a 4-pack. Haven't tried it yet but it sounds like something I'll be giving to a wine-drinker on my team at work. According to the interwebs, this stuff weighs in at around 18% ABV (like I figured) and most reviews describe it as a combination of beer and wine which just sounds nasty to me.

I'll try it but I bet I end up giving away the other three $8 bottles. Geez I waste a lot of money on beer...

Quote :

Except this: Dogfish Head "Fruitful Fort"

I need to clean my glasses. I swear I thought that said "Fruitful Fart."

That's probably one of the after-effects.

Apparently it's a variation of one of their other beers simply called "Fort" which I've never seen.

Getting crazy what they are doing and I don't have the pocketbook for it. I drink vicariously through you.

I'm going to try "Fruitfull Fort" sometime this week but I don't hold out much hope for it; I think I'll be giving away the other 3 bottles to some wine-lover at work.

I absolutely love when brewers introduce other "flavors" into beers (like vanilla, coffee, various liquor barrels, etc) but I'm not a fan of "fruit beers" to begin with and the more I read about this one the worse it sounds.

Sometimes it's a benefit to drink vicariously through you, thanks for volunteering as tribute.

Dark Horseman wrote:

Sometimes it's a benefit to drink vicariously through you, thanks for volunteering as tribute.

And THIS is one of those times.

Man this stuff was AWFUL! Imagine if you poured 2/3 of a snifter full of a Chardonnay and then filled the rest with an IPA. That's what Fruitful Fort tastes like. And at 18% ABV it will kick your butt. I'm giving my other 3 bottles to a wine-lover I work with; maybe she'll like it more than I did. But I did warn her about the ABV...

I've found IPA's don't play well with others except maybe some citrus fruit here and there.

Picked this one up over the weekend:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/355374/

Eh, it's OK in my book but I wouldn't rate it "outstanding". The vanilla notes are VERY muted and as some reviews state, it doesn't display much "barrel-aged" character at all. But I will also agree with most of the reviews that say the 13.7% ABV is very well hidden; I could throw back this bottle in 30 minutes easily just based on the taste. Obviously knowing the strength I'm not going to do that but the ABV is very well hidden.

All in all probably not something I'd buy again because the overall flavor is a little disappointing but it's not terrible.

Those releases are hit and miss, usually I like the Abyss better but haven't tried either this year.