Dougall

Hello all! I'm here on a very important mission today, to spread the word on beer! I'm a big beer fan and about twice a year (Fourth of July and Christmas come to mind) my closest relative sibling and I visit our local beer and wine store, pick up about a dozen different brews just to try something new, and give them a tasting. Now I don't claim to be an expert by any means, I personally find the idea of a beer sommelier crazy. My train of thought is try something new and drink what you like. The different levels and types of beers can be overwhelming so I generally stay within the range in the genus of beer that I like. Lucky for me, my partner in beer shenanigans prefers the opposite of what I like, so I get to try a lot of things I normally wouldn't buy myself. I prefer some ambers, ales, stouts and he prefers heavy I.P.A. brews.

So without further adieu, I present to you my most recent scientific studies in the world of delicious beers. Let me put on my top hat and monocle for my snobbish beer like introduction.



Chapter 1: The everyday brew


In my intense studying of what can be considered a good everyday drinking beer, I came across New Belgium's Fat Tire Amber Ale.



This one caught me a little off guard when I first tried it...the flavor is much more of a brown ale than an amber. It's got a very smooth toasted malt and nuts with a nice caramel flavor. The hops are also very mild which is something I personally like. Hops can have a very overpowering taste, especially for a beer novice. I'd highly recommend this as an everyday brew or just a try. The best part is it is fairly inexpensive, maybe 7 or 8 bucks for a six shooter. I can imagine drinking this with toasted smores in the winter and I'd bet it would be delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it on a hot summer day. That may sound far fetched but I used to chuck darts in a pub that served a Guiness ice cream float and it was truly always an amazing experience. I'd say even if you aren't a real beer person but want to tip back a bottle, give it a try if you're looking to have one or two with friends.


Chapter 2: The specialty brew


Now, I rarely delve into the 'specialty' or seasonal beers that a lot of breweries throw out there but one of them this year caught my eye and my heart. And it would be Terrapin's Moo Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout. Yup you read that right, CHOCOLATE MILK STOUT. Fucking eh!? Right?



I don't really know where to start with this other than it's insanely delicious. Extremely smooth and hints of chocolate without losing all of the beer characteristics. The guys at Terrapin never release a bad brew, and I'd recommend anything they make, but this one takes the cake. Even if you're not into beer you can enjoy this. I'd also say if you're looking to find a brew you can share with a nice young lady then this would also be a worthy purchase. Now I do not believe that this beer is actually brewed with any milk products but it does have lactose in it. Terrapin's website says that it is brewed with flaked oat, barley, cocoa nibs and shells. My suggestion is to serve it with pie and drink generously.


Chapter 3: The after dinner brew.


Sometimes a beer can be a good substitute for a post dinner glass of sherry (/monocle adjustment) or dessert. When I'm in the mood for something like this I'll grab a lambic. Lambics are generally Belgium style beers that are brewed with fruits. This is generally hard to pull off without losing beer characteristics so they can be a bit pricey so they aren't an everyday beer for sure. Normally if I can find it, I enjoy Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic because I love the concept of a beer with tartness and it's generally not real expensive. But not being in Boston anymore I had to find a substitute for this holiday season. My choice was Lindeman's Pomme Lambic.



This brew turned out to be everything I wanted in a lambic. Smooth crisp and easy drinking. The smell of this beer is fantastic...clean, green apples, florals and the tartness of it all embody what a great flavored beer should be. I personally chose the Apple flavor but it also comes in other flavors as well, notably cherry, raspberry, peach and currant. What I also find neat is that the Lindeman's brewers add no yeast to their mash. They let the process occur naturally transferring the mixes to oak barrels over 2 summer seasons. Or so their website says. Not that I disbelieve them after trying their product. The currant flavor lambic supposedly pairs very well with cheesecake...I feel more scientific study is needed if anyone wants to provide further funding, I'm all ears...and taste buds.


Chapter 4: The "Monster" brew


Now every now and then I come across a beer that I love, but it is not for the feint of heart. If I had to pick one beer this scientific session that I had to put into this class, it is, with no doubt, Sierra Nevada's extremely majestic Narwhal Imperial Stout.



As heavy and dense as a beer can be, The Narwhal is properly named for it's rarity and majestic overtones. The notes are heavy coffees, heavy malts, heavy 100 % pure dark cocoa, heavy wheat and hops. Sierra Nevada makes a lot of stellar brews but this one is amazing in it's own right. It's not a beginner's brew. And chances are you're thinking "But I like Guiness, surely I must also like this stout!" and I don't think it's gonna work that way. Especially since The Narwhal packs a walloping 10.5 % alcohol by volume per beer. So even if you can handle all the hoppy stouty creamy goodness of The Narwhal, it's probably not a beer you can drink all night. But it is a good night cap beer. I think I'd recommend having this one with a plate of bacon sometime around midnight. It's a heavy hitter even for a big sexy guy like me! Good luck with this one if you give it a shot! And you should if your a beer guy! Or girl. I'm not judging anyone.


Chapter 5: The over the top...and awesome!


By far my favorite purchase in this round of scientific brew discovery is the 3rd best thing to come out of the Pacific Northwest, only following all the awesome members of Vox Immortalis, the majestic Sasquatch...THIS is the super awesome 64 Ounce, glow in the dark, Rogue Dead Guy Ale Growler.



A personal thank you to the Rogue brewers in Newport, Oregon for this concoction of awesome ale and awesome glass art. My experience with this growler was to sit under the stars on the dock in a lawn chair and proceed to drink the entire growler in one sitting. All while being amazed by the artistic value of the glowing growler bottle itself. The beer itself is just as awesome. Actually a maibock or more appropriately for it's name, helle's bock, the brew was fantastically delicious. The wheat taste wasn't overwhelming. It had a very nice honey ale taste with a smooth citrus like hop finish. If I had to rate it it would be 10/10 would bang again. The best part was I got this growler close out for sub 10 bucks. A steal I say! Now in all honesty I have had a few rogue brews that I weren't ecstatic with but this one made up for them. Very awesome. My recommendation is to share it with friends but always drink safely!


Chapter 6: The runner up


One of the brews we tried was very good and if you're into beer you should give it a shot. It's a rare find but it's complexity of flavors kind of left me reeling and not knowing what to think of it in a total all in all sense. I liked it but it had so much going on in it that I couldn't nail down exactly what I liked or disliked about it. I think we should all try brews like this cause it makes look deeper into what we like or don't like about the beer we try. This beer would be Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack.



Now I liked this beer we affectionately and obviously nick named 'The Wookie'. And it packs a punch like a wookie would I imagine. It was a very good beer but heavily complex in flavors. Since I'm still 50-50 on a repeat buy I'll just copy in the store description and let you decide if you want to try it or not. But if you do let me know what you think! Balanced, Malty, Citrusy, Floral, Medium-bodied California- American Black Ale- 8.5% ABV. GABF Gold Medal 2012. Very dark brown with red edges. Aroma is a burst of citrus fruit mixed with floral & piney hops with undertones of roasted caramel malts. Flavors of bitter citrus, piney & floral hops, roasted malts, caramel & spicy rye. I know a copypasta is kind of a cop out but hey at least I can verify that it does taste of all these things.


Conclusion: More drinks to be had!


Well if you're still with me here good on you! Thanks for reading about my magic school bus of beer. If you have any suggestions, comments, criticisms, want to offer me some suggestions for beers to try, throw em at me bros! I think simple deduction from my suggestions can be used to determine what you'd think I'd like or not like.

If you happen to be a brewer who is interested in sponsoring Vox Immortalis because of my awesome exposure, for god's sake contact us! Except our raid results may differ dramatically after a few rounds of sponsored brews... oh and we'll probably need at least one pouch of pre mix long island ice tea. For the lady of the group...and by lady I mean paladin...and by paladin I mean Kain. Love you!