Hoppin Frog – Oatmeal-Imperial Stout

Hoppin Frog - Oatmeal-Imperial Stout

Preamble: I must admit, I am really getting into this Stout thing. It seems that every time you open a bottle of Stout you are getting something different every time. In fact, so good have the Stouts been thus far that you almost don’t want to find a “poor” one so as to not shatter this idea that all Stout brewed in the US are pretty darn good. Some can be (at first) shockingly expensive, in terms of bottle price per unit; if my memory serves me right this particular bottle was $10, and the crime is that it has been sitting in the fridge and not being drunk for quite a while. But once you get used to the idea that, even with beers, you pay for what you get, then sooner or later you don’t mind spending such “large” sums of money on a single bottle; you are, at least I would like to think, paying for the time, energy and devotion that has been put into each and every beer in order to make your life a little better, at least at one point during the day.

The Beer: Hopping Frog – BORIS the crusher, Oatmeal-Imperial Stout, 9.4% abv, 60 IBU

Aroma: A dark roasted nasal hit, with some coffee traces
Appearance: Jet back, tan head, looks like a thick ooze whilst being poured
Flavour: A dark, deeply roasted malt, with an even deeper taste; some “other” grainy tastes, coffee elements and some caramel traces, even a splash of vanilla
Mouthfeel: Smooth, full bodied; not too much bitter aftertaste, even “sweet” at times

Although this is an Imperial style stout, I imagine that the combination of the oatmeal side takes away some of that bitter kick that a lot of other Imperial styles have given. This is very drinkable, and whilst it would be an effort (at least for me) to have more than one in a sitting, it is never the less drinkable and enjoyable. Worth $10? Of course, if you like that sort of thing.

Website: Hoppin Frog

Two Brothers – Avalon

Two Brothers - Avalon

Preamble: Combining two perfectly good drinks – cider and beer – seemed somewhat crazy at the time, but since everyone else was doing it you go along with the crowd. What followed can only be put down to the naivety of youth, but then such is life. It would be good to someday add Cider to the list of reviews since Cider was the original drink of choice, certainly in the area I lived, and it can be a very enjoyable drink on a summer’s day, especially in Worcestershire where the days seemed to be long and the cider farms too many. One of the delights was going to the farm and sampling the dry-medium-sweet ciders and then percentage combinations of each to eventually reach the point of buying a 5 litre container of the choice blend. Of course, fresh, unpasteurised Cider has the problem of shelf life, so the weekends usually ended up being fuzzy, the least said about Mondays the better. So it came as mix of nostalgia and apprehension when presented with the bottle of Avalon “Spiced Ale”, brewed with locally grown apples. Is this the correct way to go, spiced apple-beer…

The Beer: Two Brother’s Avalon; 7.7% abv, 19.41 IBU, 18.4°

Aroma: Spice, apples, malt, cider, fruity esters – pretty much what you’d expect from a spiced beer brewed with apples
Appearance: Nudging dark brown, very fluffy head, plenty of fizz, a slight cloudiness
Flavour: Spice, apples, malt, cider, fruity elements – pretty much what you’d expect from a spiced beer brewed with apples; some cidery bitterness
Mouthfeel: Somewhat heavy, full bodied, fizzy but not overly so, refreshing

I can see that this is not a beer for everyone; whilst this is first and foremost a beer, the spiced, fruity flavours remind you of a Belgian fruit beer, not that there is anything wrong with this but the style of beer is not going to be for everyone. As a beer it is enjoyable, as a spiced beer it is very enjoyable. Needless to say I would fall into the category of people who would say they like this and would recommend it to everyone to try at least once.

Website: Two Brothers

Purple Moose – Glaslyn Ale

Purple Moose - Glaslyn Ale

Preamble: It was just over two years ago that I wrote my first beer review, and around the same time I wrote about the first of the Purple Moose beers. It has now taken two years, a visit by my Dad, and a few format changes to get round to writing about the fourth Purple Moose beer. The Glaslyn Ale is named after the Glaslyn Pass, about 10km North of Porthmadog (the journey feels like 10km, it is probably just half that), which has an Osprey close by and now has a steam railway running along side it. Not bad eh! You read about beer and get birds and trains thrown in. Er, right..so, the beer has won competitions in Wales and UK and is one of the main brews. You can usualy find it on tap somewhere in Porthmadog, try the Ffestiniog Railway station…

The Beer: Purple Moose Glaslyn Ale, 4.2%

Aroma: Fruity esters, hoppy, some vanilla elements trying to get out
Appearance: Light copper, lots of carbonation
Flavour: Bitter, hoppy, some malty after taste; didn’t really find too much else in there, but the elements are pleasantly balanced
Mouthfeel: Soft, refreshing

At least this beer seemed to survive the journey over. This, like the other Purple Moose beers, benefits from the soft Welsh water in the area where it is brewed. This does bring out flavous, or at least accentuates the basic elements in there. This is a perfectly drinkable beer and I would hazard that on a hot sunny day there would be nothing better than to get a glass or two of this down the local, especially on draft. I will just have to wait until I visit home again.

Website: Purple Moose

Two Brothers – Northwind Imperial Stout

Northwind Imperial Stout

Preamble: On one of the first sunny days of the summer, at the weekend, I finally stopped being lazy and made it all of 15 minutes (drive) away to the Two Brother’s Tap house, which is conveniently located next to the Two Brother’s brewery. Not only does the menu spoil you for choice, but you get to sample the other side of the beers – straight out of the barrel, how it is meant to be sampled.

The Beer: Two Brother’s Northwind Imperial Stout, 7.5%

Aroma: A blend of richly dark-roasted malt with caramelised tones
Appearance: Jet black, slight amount of carbonation makes for a half-hearted head
Flavour: Heavy, dark-roasted, with those clean caramel tone, bitter but not mouth shrinkingly
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and thick, heavy but still velvety.

Fabulous. They really do have this style sorted out. Whilst it is a seasonal beer – more’s the pity – they were well stocked with this so I also took some home. The taste from the bottle also does this justice. The honest combination of elements provides the correct result, and in my opinion, something that is ultimately drinkable and enjoyable especially for this style.

Website: Two Brothers

Shiner – Bock

Shiner - Bock

Preamble: For as long as I have been living in the US it has been one of those aims to find this beer and give it a go on the basis of having been made aware of this brewery prior to leaving Prague (Hi Matt); when I was given the opportunity to try it out there was very little in the way of hesitation. Knowing what I now know about this beer it is increasingly difficult to write anything else, so let’s discuss the weather…

The Beer: Shiner Bock, 4.4% abv, 13 IBU

Aroma: Malt. Reminds me of the stale beer smell you used to get in pubs when they had carpets
Appearance: Mid tone brown/tan, no head, plenty of fizz
Flavour: Malt.
Mouthfeel: Very fizzy to the point of being overly carbonated, light (horribly so).

My first hope was that this had gone off. My hopes were dashed when I did some more research. Since trying this – I think it is only fair to add that I had two mouthfuls, shared it around between two other people and barely got passed and eighth of the bottle – it has been a task to try to remember the Bocks from The Netherlands and Germany; none of them seemed to taste like this; put it this way I managed to finish the Heineken Bock. This is really not a beer for me. The only question that remain unanswered: why did pubs in Britain have carpets.

Website: Shiner