December – Beer Tasting – Porters and Stouts

Tibor, Dennis, Chris and Chris came over to my humble abode for the next round of beer tasting a couple of weekends ago with a focus on Porters and Stouts.  Dennis had just returned from a trip to Georgia and brought back some regional offerings from the south.  We sampled a number of beers and there were some really good beers.  Chris brought over some BBQ that went wonderful with the beer.  We also had some Honey BBQ wings and chocolate pie.  One of the most interesting pairings of the evening was a side-by-side tasting of Belgian Yeti and Oak-aged Yeti.  By themselves, everyone liked the Belgian Yeti the best.  It was the first time that I had tasted this version of Yeti and it was very good.  The Oak-aged Yeti was an excellent pairing with the chocolate pie and everyone liked Oak-aged Yeti better when sampled with the chocolate pie.  We had some fantastic beers, good food, and good fellowship.  Below is a list of the beer sampled and pictures of the bottles.

Deschutes – Black Butte Porter – 5.2% ABV and 30 IBU

Lazy Magnolia – Southern Pecan – 4.39% ABV and 19 IBU - Nut Brown Ale

Stone – Smoked Porter – 5.9% ABV and 53 IBU

Alaskan – Smoked Porter – 6.5% ABV and 45 IBU

Great Divide – Belgian Yeti – 9.5% ABV – Imperial Stout

Great Divide – Oak-aged Yeti – 9.5% ABV – Imperial Stout

Left Hand – Wake Up Dead – 10.2% ABV and 45 IBU – Russian Imperial Stout

Alltech Lexington Brewing - Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale – 7 – 9% ABV

Terrapin – Rye Pale Ale – 5.5% ABV and 35 IBU – Pale Ale with Rye

SweetWater Brewing Co. – Georgia Brown Ale – 5% ABV and 24 IBU

Yuengling – Black and Tan – 4.7% ABV

Yuengling – Lager – 4.4% ABV

Next month we will sample Pilsners.

Four from Cali – Alt, IPA, Smoked Porter and a Dubbel

Lagunitas – Lucky 13 Alt (8.9% ABV and 77 IBU) is what I would call an “Imperialized” version of an Alt-style beer.  I consider Alaskan Amber (5.3% ABV and 18 IBU) as the standard bearer for this German inspired old-style beer and Alaskan Amber is the flagship for Alaskan Brewing Co.  Lagunitas took the Alt-style and amped it up in both ABV and IBU.  Lucky 13 is an anniversary ale that pours orangey copper with a two-finger bubbly head.  This is a real treat and Lagunitas did a great job with taking a style and putting their own spin on it.  I have recommended it to a few friends and I look forward to hear their impressions.  I also appreciate that Lagunitas also thanks some of the initial craft brewers in the anniversary label thanking Anchor Steam and Rogue Ales. 

 Last night we had dinner with some friends and Randy had purchased some nice selections.  He picked Firestone Walker Union Jack (7.5% ABV) a really nice IPA for me and a Stone Smoked Porter ( ABV and IBU) for him along with a couple of bottles of Ovila Abbey Dubbel to enjoy with appetizers and dinner.  Union Jack is awesome and I am very happy that Firestone Walker is now being distributed in Colorado.  This is an excellent IPA and I will purchase it again.  I tasted a small sample of the Stone Smoked Porter (5.9% ABV and 53 IBU) and as I told Randy – I have liked everything I have tried from Stone.  Someday, I would like to do a side-by-side comparison of some of the noted smoked beers and pit Alaskan Smoked Porter vs. Stone Smoked Porter.  It was also very good to taste the Sierra Nevada – Ovila Abbey Dubbel (7.5% ABV) again (reviewed in the blog earlier) and it paired perfectly with marinated and grilled flank steak.  These four are very good beers from brewers in California and each did very well with four different styles.