Octopus Overlords

Do you want the lactose from the milk stout in your chili? The Brooklyn Chocolate Stout does not contain lactose (at least I don't think it does).

mori wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2020 6:51 pm Do you want the lactose from the milk stout in your chili? The Brooklyn Chocolate Stout does not contain lactose (at least I don't think it does).

It did not taste particularly milky, but did have a strong flavor of extremely (>70% cacao) chocolate. We'll see in about 90 more minutes if it was a good choice. Looks/smells good though.

And the chili is good, very rich, complex flavor. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a bottle of Ghost Pepper sauce at Menards of all places...and it is very complementary with my recipe. It's a bowl add-in, along with cheese and crackers; since the others who will eat it are women, I can't presume to go overboard on spiciness.

Isolation Ale by Odell Brewing, Ft. Collins, CO. Kind of along the lines of an ESB, it's a malty fall seasonal....which explains why the can I just bought tastes like can. ABV is 6%, which, while unremarkable, is nevertheless one of the most potent beers in Binny's DYO rack. There was a $2 off coupon, which I generally get 2-3 six packs of something new, but almost everything new was <5%...what's up with that? At the sampling table today was 2 beers from Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City. I tried the milk stout, brand new the guy said. Compared with the stouts I had yesterday, it was watered down 3 parts water to one beer. The guy pushing it even admitted it wasn't something that would go into, much less with, something like chili, it's just too weak.

South Of The Pier West Coast IPA brewed by Coronado Brewing in collaboration with OG California brewery Pizza Port Brewing. Now this is a proper IPA. Seems ages since I have had one other than Celebration Ale. Even new ones that claim to be West Coast style end up being slightly hoppier hazy bullshit. This is dry and bitter but unfortunately for Jeff, it is only 6.5% ABV. Best new IPA I have had this year.

2XIPA DIPA by Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, NY. Mori would approve this one, a standard IPA, not hazy, not fruity, a nice bitterness that doesn't pucker your face. 8.2% ABV makes it the most potent beer I saw on the Binny's DYO rack yesterday. It does, however, lack a depth of flavor I normally associate with DIPAs. This drinks more like a standard IPA with a touch more booze.

Hazy is Lazy IPA by Haymarket Brewing, Bridgeman, MI. This is NOT a hazy beer, as the name indicates they do go through the process to filter the yeast floaties. Standard, hoppy IPA with a resinous profile, 6.6% ABV and another that is likely Mori friendly.

Lake Shore Fog by Southern Tier Brewing, Lakewood, NY. A mori-unfriendly beer that resembles yeast-infected urine, it's more dank than fruity . Only 6.5% ABV, it's a pedestrian entry in its ilk and not worthy of repurchase.

Bodem by Half Acre Brewing, Chicago. An AIPA that is juicy (but not hazy) in a troplical punch sort of way, the sparse 6.9% ABV is too embarrassing for them to actually list it on the can. Not a bad find in the DYO six pack rack.

NO'I'CE Double-dry hopped IPA by Transient Artisan Ales, Bridgman MI. Hazy but not chunky , juicy but not cloying, alcohol but not much (6.5%). Goes down smooth, I'd get it again.

Brooklyn Brewery's Rose de Ville, a raspberry sour.

I really like most sours, including this one. It's a bit less sour and less sweet than most sour ales I've tried recently -- you can tell that you're drinking an actual ale. Thumbs up.

Clown Shoes is selling Bubble Farm IPA in 12-packs now, so I'm drinking that, even though I prefer Zen Garden. Those 4-packs are too expensive to be daily drinkers.

Love Child #10 by Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO, 7.6% ABV. This is a sour that is fermented in wine barrels and oak foeders then blended. I enjoy these type of sours more than kettle sours that are just sour with little character. Unfortunately this Boulevard sour is like a kettle sour, it is just sour with little funk or barrel character. I was disappointed in the beer and I am glad I did not pay full retail for the bottle.

Murky Waters MNEIPA by Riverlands Brewing, St. Charles IL. The "M" in MNEIPA stands for mud. I knew when I poured into a glass this beer was brewed with Fox River flood waters including muck washed in from the bottom. Well, it tastes like it anyway, and the beer does have that blackish hue I find common with dirt beers. At only 7%, surely they could have used more booze, less silt. Bleh.

No Tomorrow Double-dry hopped Hazy IPA by Begyle Brewing Co., Chicago. I've liked everything I've had from this brewery, and this is no exception. Not the haziest or juiciest of it's ilk, but a nice balance and flavor. 7.0% is passable for a beer not calling itself a DIPA.

Barrel-aged Torpedo by Sierra Nevada. This is their Torpedo IPA aged in oak barrels then recharged with hops before bottling. This tastes like a lot of other barrel-aged IPAs I have had and the torpedo charging of hops had little affect on the stale hop aroma and smell of a run-of-the-mill shelf turd IPA. Hard to believe that Sierra Nevada Torpedo has been around for a decade.

Bitter Haze Ahead by Cahoots Brewing/Church Street Brewing, Itasca, IL. It's been awhile since I've had anything from Church Street but they've been reliably good (just not seen anything new). Not sure where the Cahoots label is from, but this is an excellent, hoppy, hazy IPA that clocks in at a respectabe 8.7% ABV. I would get this again.

Stressful times call for special beer... cracked open a Founder's KBS that I've been sitting on for a while. Easily one of my all-time favorite stouts.

Over the past several months I've zeroed in on 5 or 6 favorites, so I just keep buying those over and over. I'll list them if anybody cares, but they're all local or regional. I would've broadened my horizons again at the spring tasting on 4/4, but that got canceled for some reason.

Skeleton Revival Rye NEIPA by Riverlands Brewing, St. Charles, IL. A nicely bitter NEIPA, I like the flavor but mourn the anemic 6.5% ABV.

Corned beef is on the stove (don't have time to make it after work during the week), so it's time for an appropriate beer. Lagunitaas Lucky 13 "Mondo Large Red Ale" is the chosen one this year. A flavorful red at 8.8% ABV serves the purpose lightly. I hope I don't drink it all before the corned beef is done (3.5 hours to go).

If I’m going to go into quarantine, I need stock.

Cheers, y'all.

Jeebus, you like your Gin.

The wife makes a nice gimlet derivative that we both like, and that brand has done well for us.

Had to stop at the Italian supermarket before the lockdown started at 5 pm. With chili on the menu, they didn't have the chocolate stout I would have liked. I did get a coffee stout, figuring I'd add some chocolate chips A neighbor though offered up a bottle of Rogue Double Chocolate Stout, so I will trade him a can of something else i did by at that Italian market:

Iron and Steel DIPA By Mygrain Brewing, Joliet IL. $9/4 pounders isn't overly expensive for a delicious DIPA, nicely filtered and a rich amber color. 9.6% ABV and smooth despite the 115 IBU. I hate giving up a can in trade, but the Rogue likely costs more and will be better in the chili.

3 Weight carbonated water by Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA. There must be a law that any beer company that releases a mix pack must include something completely unpalatable to those would enjoy the rest of the box. This is the case here, this flavor-free and alcohol free (4%) dreck claims to be "full of citrusy and piney hop flavor". If they showed a picture of citrus and pine to the vat brewing it, it might taste...well, taste. Of something.

Two bottles move from reserve stock to undrinkable box. There's not even enough flavor to use in cooking...well, maybe I can use it for cooking the kid's hotdogs.

I used to buy those 12 packs with 4 different beers in them but you are right, inevitably there is one beer that you wouldn't drink in a bar if they gave it to you free.

Lagunitas Waldo's Special Ale. This a beer that should be truly appreciated. Big, bold, creamy body, bitter, and piney makes this IPAish beer, well special. Beer geeks now get excited about the next cloudy, sweet, fruity beer. But this beer harkens back to the grand ole days.

Waldo is a limited annual release, isn't it? I'm sure I've had it before, and I half-remember being on the lookout for it.

mori wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:27 pm Lagunitas Waldo's Special Ale. This a beer that should be truly appreciated. Big, bold, creamy body, bitter, and piney makes this IPAish beer, well special. Beer geeks now get excited about the next cloudy, sweet, fruity beer. But this beer harkens back to the grand ole days.

Oh, I have a...a...six-pack carton from this beer. I filled it with 6 pounders at Flight for the low, low price of $29. Yeah, I kind of suck at hoarding.

I look forward to trying Waldo's sooner rather than later based on your review, though.

And there's even a story.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:25 pm And there's even a story.

I promise you, I don't even have to click this link to know this is a 420 story, correct?

Half Acre's Daisy Cutter.

Almost as cozy as Guinness.

Some version of it, yes.

Face Melter Hibiscus IPA by Burnt City Brewing, Chicago. This is a very bright-flavored beer. Very smooth, just bright, probably the floral hibiscus I imagine. The rich flavor is more typical to DIPAs, but it clocks in on with a mild 7% ABV.

Space Camper "Cosmic IPA" by Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO. I've had mixed results with Boulevard in the past, but this new-to-me IPA showed up on sale at he supermarket yesterday so I invested in a six pack. Flavor is ok, if a bit watery compared to beers drunk earlier today. At 5.9%, this is the equivalent of a water spacer. I'll drink the rest of the 6-pack, but likely not buy it again.

Double Chocolate Stout by Rogue Ales, Newport, OR. Gifted to me by a neighbor, this bomber would make a good dessert beer if the ABV was raised to imperial levels (14-15%) As it is, it could replace the kids chocolate milk, but it's rather pricey for that. 9% ABV, About 4 oz of it went into the chili, I think the rest will be gone long before the chili is done...oh, who am i kidding, it will be gone before I'm done writing this post. Like all Rogue beers, it's a good effort but over priced for what it is (going by the market price, which I likely would not have paid).

Sloth Overlord Coffee Stout by Finch Beer Co., Chicago. Been awhile since I had anything by Finch, and I originally bought this to use in chili (my recipe uses coffee) and I'm sure that would have worked, I'd have simply added some actual chocolate to the chili to compensate. This will be a much better beer to accompany the chili; the chili is sweet and hot, this is bitter and not. I like it and shall be having another when the chili is done. At 6.0% ABV, it'll wake up more than it puts you down.

Nugmo by Toppling Goliath Brewing out of Decorah, IA. This new IPA is somewhere between NEIPA and American IPA. Leans a little to much to the NE side for my liking. Interesting intense tangerine, with lesser dank and mint flavors. No stated ABV but I would guess around 7%.