Stone Dogfish Head and Victory Saison Du BUFF

This was one of the first beers of the PRE bachelor Party Weekend and it was a GREAT one. This is a collab brew from Stone, Dogfish Head, and Victory brewing companies. Though not in that order these three brewers are in my top five of all time.

BUFF stands for Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor, and let me tell you there was a LOT of it.   Saison du BUFF is brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme and the same recipe will be brewed three times during 2010 at each of the three breweries. Stone(April), then Victory(July), and finally Dogfish(August). Obviously this one was done close to home at Stone since it's only June.

This is a crisp satisfying beer that has a lot of spice, black pepper, coriander, and reminds me of Thanksgiving(Rosemary, sage, parsley). There are underlying notes of lemon, pine, a little citrus, and a little bread. I know what you are thinking. do I really want to be drinking a roasted turkey? Trust me, you do. This beer is immensely complex and satisfying at the same time because the aromas and the taste coincide and are recognizable without being overwhelming. There's none of this, "what am I smelling? What IS that taste"? You know it and you like it.

I will be picking up more of this to drink and for sure will be looking out for the next two batches to compare. That will be an interesting experience. Will they be different? What do you think?

New Belgium 1554

I'm not sure what makes this beer "enlightened" as New Belgium calls this Black Ale they could have called it morally deficient or even soulless and I wouldn't care because it is so good.

There is a lot of nostalgia associated with this one because the German and I used to drink this on our man nights before he went from being All-American to transplant German, Married, and Super Dad-Like.

D and I cannot wait for them to get back for so many reasons. Weekly food, beer, wine, TV, zone out sessions. Trips to the swapmeet for sausages on Saturdays. Auntie D and Uncle T "trainer baby" nights. We can practice on little H and then give her back at the end of the night. Hey, we're on a six year plan and nobody operates a rental baby service that I know of. I think that's called slavery or something.

ANYway. The beer. Right. Good.

Appearance: Really dark, opaque(can't see through it). Slight red highlights along the rim. Offwhite head

Aroma: Roasted, Biscuity, Chocolate, a little bit of spice, earthy. Is "good" on the aroma wheel?

Taste: The toasted malt comes through along with a hint of coffee and chocolate. A little bit of the bread from the belgian yeast as well. The body is a little thin for the taste but I think that is because there is quite a bit of carbonation which makes it crisp. I think it's more of the perception that since this beer is so dark it's going to be heavier than it is. It's actually a really refreshing, slightly dry brew. At 5.5% ABV this is 6-pack quaffable
though I'd punish myself in the gym the next day.

Overall: 4 out of 5 it needed a little less carbonation and a little more body. Still my favorite New Belgium Brew by far

Stone+Brew Dog=Bashah!!! His Head In

We had a pretty big tragedy this weekend that definitely deserved to be mourned a little. Nobody died, well, yet anyway. That still remains to be seen. Lets just say, figuratively speaking, I'd hate to have this come back at me in court, so, everyone reading this, he's dead to us, figuratively. Tiny Tiny Man.

Instead of "mourning" however, we chose to celebrate the passing of someone who, though he professed to possess an inordinate amount of intellect, committed such a stupid, childish,  act of well, stupidity. You lost buddy, you lost.

This celebration of sorts is how I came to come into the posession of a beer I have been drooling to try. It was being sold for an unseemly amount of money by the pint at the neighborhood gastropub and I couldn't in good conscience pony up the cash. This is why, when the man at BevMo asked me like the neighborhood crack dealer if I wanted his last bottle of Bashah I jumped at him, err, it.

Bashah is a collaborative effort between the crazy Scottish brewers Brew Dog and our own American Stone Brewing in Oceanside California. When I say, "crazy" I mean crazy. Brew Dog makes a "beer" called Tactical Nuclear Penguin that is pushing 32% ABV. They've since then pushed that limit as well. Needless to say these guys are creative.

Bashah is a Black Belgian Double IPA but tastes more like a porter. Lots of roasted coffee, some carbony toasty flavors, a little bit of licorice. It was a little thin and there was not very much bitterness for being a DOUBLE IPA. There wasn't even really that bready taste that comes from Belgian yeast. All in all it tasted good but I was not blown away. Maybe a case of high expectations? I would drink it if it was cheap, which it's not. I payed 5$ for a 12 oz bottle. And at 8.6% ABV I was buzzing after already having a schwarzbier that, at 2$ for a pint was every bit as good.

Stone Vertical Epic 9.9.09

This one was great and probably was that much better because of the company it came with. I actually had this one last year over Thanksgiving weekend. The girls went to "tea" and I thought, hmmmm, Earl Grey or English Ale? Rooibos or Irish Red? I think you know where I'm going with this one. I definitely think that a scone pairs much better with a doppelbock than a double bag of black. So with that in mind my brother(Littlesorta T) and my dad headed over to the Haven. I ordered a La Chouffe in a bottle, my dad had bottled Stone Levitation and on draft I was surprised my brother actually ordered something that didn't look like carbonated wizz water. He had the Vertical Epic 9.9.09.

Since 2002 Stone has put out a dated bottle one year, one month, and one day later with 09.09.09 being the eighth edition. The idea being that you buy at least two of these bottles each year and save one for a vertical tasting of all 11 on 12.12.12.
All of the choices are bottle conditioned and designed to be cellared for that long. Yes, beer can be cellared. I have in my possession a couple bottles that are putting some age on them right now(mmm...Abyss).
09.09.09 clocks in at 8.6 ABV and is classified as a Belgian Strong Ale. It pours out inky black with a tall tan head. First wiff? Chocolate, bready Belgian yeast, a little coffee, citrus(hops), and a tinge of alcohol. Pretty heavy silky body with not much carbonation surprisingly. This ended up being the favorite of the three although I still stand by my gnome.