Archive for the month “May, 2013”

30 May 2013

Prairie Noir – Prairie Artisan Ales

prairie-noir-bttl9% ABV
Purchased through The Rare Beer Club ($66.95/four 25.4 oz. bottles) and poured into pint glasses.

Oklahoma-based Prairie Artisan Ales only produced 100 cases of this “imperial oatmeal stout aged in oak whiskey barrels”, which pours a deep onyx with a scarce brown sugar head.  Prairie Noir offers a distinct nose of sawdust, bitter chocolate, coffee grounds, and fire-hot whiskey, but has a little more moderation and complexity on the tongue.  Freshly sawed lumber is the main flavor up front, followed by the expected coffee and chocolate notes, and some scorched sugar and burnt cereal on the retreat.  There is almost as much barrel as beer here, with that sawdust-y wood flavor coming to dominate the profile, along with hard alcohol and vanilla bean.  Allowing the beer some time to warm brings out more of the rich stout flavors.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

PraireNoir

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Oatmeal Stout and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
28 May 2013

Lower Dens – Stillwater Sensory Series, Vol.1 – Stillwater Artisanal Ales

stillwater_Bttl6% ABV
Purchased at Davis Beer Shoppe ($6.99?/12.7 oz. bottle) and poured into tasting glasses.

This “ale brewed with hibiscus” pours a clear, pale yellow with a bountiful bone-white head and a nose of citrus, grass, flowers, Sour Patch candy, and a subtle farmhouse funk.  It’s marvelously refreshing on the first swallow, with a just a prickle of sour citrus cutting through the balanced barnyard sweetness.  The hibiscus flowers enter the frame on the superbly dry finish, along with clove-heavy Belgian yeast, cracker-y notes, and a touch of honeydew melon.  This stellar “Vol. 1” of Stillwater’s Sensory Series (each bottle comes w/ a QR code that when scanned links to the “full sensory experience” – i.e., a 13-minute psychedelic jam by Baltimore indie rockers Lower Dens), is light and drinkable, but packed with complex flavors and spices.

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

Stillwater_Hibiscus

toasts-4   4 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Herbed-Spiced Beer and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
07 May 2013

Tramp Stamp – Clown Shoes

trampstamp_bttl7% ABV
 Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($11.99/4-pack of 12-oz. bottles) and poured into tulip glasses.

This Belgian IPA from Ipswich, Massachussetts-based brewery Clown Shoes pours burnt orange with a minimal white head.  Tramp Stamp gives off a nose of sweet farmhouse funk, lemon, hay, and some stone fruits.  It offers a decent hop presence on the first swallow, but that quickly subsides into a Belgian yeast-heavy finish that absolutely refuses to vacate the palate.  The lingering aftertaste is rubbery, metallic, and altogether unpleasant, completely overwhelming the promising IPA flavors on the front end.  A successful “Belgian IPA” requires a certain balance of flavors, and although we have enjoyed other beers from Clown Shoes (like their delicious tripel Muffin Top and their  stout Chocolate Sombrero), this one completely misses the mark.

toasts-small-2   2 Toasts

TrampStamptoasts-small-2.5      2.5 Toasts

 

Posted in Beer Review, Belgian IPA and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

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