Storm King Stout by Victory Brewing

A few months ago, we drove to Evansville, IN to go on a beer run for beer we could not get here. One of the beers we brought back was DirtWolf Double IPA by Victory Brewing Company. That was one heck of a beer. I absolutely loved it. Well, when we traveled down to Florida and the Carolinas to see family, we made it into another beer run. One of the stores had DirtWolf, so I picked up some of that. Right next to that beer was Storm King Stout. I looked it up on Rate Beer and it has a 97 by style and 100 overall. So of course, I grabbed two 4-packs of it. Storm King was in my beer advent calendar. Yesterday was the day I was able to try it.

Storm King is an Imperial Stout. It is 9.1% ABV. It pours a deep black with a nice tan head. The aroma is a nice roasted malt but also some hoppy bitterness to it. I took a sip and it was really nice. With that first sip, I got the roasted malts but also that bit of hops.

With other stouts and especially the Christmas Bomb! I reviewed, the more it warms up, the more flavorful it becomes. I let this one set a few minutes and took another sip. The chocolate and coffee notes started to become a bit more up front. I let it set a few more minutes and man, it was coming alive. I waited again and this time all of those complex flavors were wonderful. I figured that if it is coming directly out of the refrigerator, I would want to wait about 20 minutes for it to get to the right temperature. If you want to taste this beer open up, start drinking it immediately after taking it out of the fridge and take sips every few minutes. This is a wonderful stout but it could be characterized as part IPA also.

I really wish that Victory distributed to the St. Louis area. They have some wonderful beers. I still have some more of this great beer if someone would like to have a tasting party. I give this 4.5 hop flowers. It is so good.

Victory Brewing Company

Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City Brewing

Man, it has been too long that I have posted a review. My original intent was to post a review twice a week but it has been almost two weeks since I have posted one. I have had some great (and not so great) beer in that time. This is the time of year for stouts and porters. When it starts to get a bit chilly out and the holidays are near, you pour yourself (or have one poured) a glass of a dark ale. This time though, I am reviewing an IPA from a world-class brewery. Cigar City Brewing Company is located in Tampa, FL. They only distribute to FL, GA, AL, VA, NY and PA. While I was down in Florida, I picked up some of their beer.

Jai Alai is named after a Spanish game that was extremely popular in Florida. It is called the fastest sport in the world. The ball that they use was once clocked at 188 mph. That is crazy. When I lived in Florida, I watched a few games. It was neat to watch but I did not understand it at all. People used to bet on the game a ton. There are still places in Florida where you can watch it and amateurs can play.

The beer Jai Alai is an IPA with 7.5% ABV. It pours an orangish color with a white head. The aroma is absolutely amazing. There are so many tropical and citrus smells. If they made a Jai Alai IPA scented candle, I would actually have candles.

The taste of this is just like the smell, tropical and citrusy. There is some malty taste to give it some balance. As you continue to drink it, you get some of that IPA bitterness. It is not too much, just enough to let you know that you are drinking a hoppy beer. The finish is slight bitterness but dry. If you didn't know that it was 7.5% ABV, you could sit and drink it all day. I did say YOU could drink it all day if you didn't know the ABV. I DO know the ABV and would still drink it all day.

It is too bad that it is difficult to get Cigar City beers here in St. Louis but fortunately, I have family in Florida and will be asking for care packages. Also, there is a company called Brew Hub that contract brews beer for local craft brewers and out-of-state brewers. They are in talks to have some of their beers brewed at a Chesterfield, MO location that should open in 2016.

This is an amazing beer and I give it 4.5 hop flowers.

Cigar City Brewing

Christmas Bomb! from Prairie Artisan Ales

Prairie Artisan Ales, out of Krebs, Oklahoma, has an Imperial Stout called Bomb! or Prairie Bomb!. This is a very good stout. There is also Pirate Bomb!. The Prairie Bomb! is an Imperial Stout with coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and ancho chili peppers. This beer is down right delicious. The Pirate Bomb! is the Prairie Bomb! aged in rum barrels (get it, rum barrels...pirate?). When these beers are released, there is usually a mad dash to your local craft beer store to get them. They are very tasty. I have both of these variants. Well, for the Christmas season, they release Christmas Bomb!. With this beer, Prairie adds Christmas spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. It is 11.5% ABV.

I was able to pick up some bottles of this stout from The Wine and Cheese Place. When it was released, we were still on vacation down south, so I placed an order online and picked up my bottles when we got back into town. I recently made my own Beer Advent Calendar and added this beer to it. Unfortunately, I have not tasted it and I will not be picking it of my Beer Advent Calendar box for over two weeks. So, I decided to grab another bottle and try it out. Boy, am I glad I did.

This beer pours a deep black with a small tan head. It was clear a little bit around the edges. The aroma was heavy coffee, some of the spices and malt. I could have just smelled it for a while but then that might have been weird. That first taste is really nice. It was chocolaty, malty and hints of those spices.

I pulled out my phone and brought up the Untapped app to rate it. I rated it a 4.0. I took another sip and got a few different tastes. This time, I tasted the coffee and more spice. I set the glass down for a minute or two. I picked it up and swirled the glass a little bit. I then got just a hint of licorice. I can not stand that anise flavor from black licorice but there was just a hint of that in the aroma. I did not taste it though. Wifey said it best when she said that when it warms up, it opens up like a flower. I have to totally agree with her on that. The more it sat and warmed up a degree or two, the more complex flavors came out. As it got a bit warmer, you get some of the alcohol heat. When you drink this, you really need to take a little while to finish it so you can taste the different complex flavors as they develop with the change in the temperature.

This is such an amazing beer. I cannot wait for the day that I can pull this out of my Beer Advent Calendar. I give this one 4.5 hop flowers!

 The Wine and Cheese Place
Prairie Artisan Ales

Here is my Beer Advent Calendar

G'Knight from Oskar Blues

As I was planning which beer to review almost a month ago, my computer died. Yes, I still use a PC. No, I do not have a tablet. Yes, I could have used my phone to write the review but I chose not to. Not only am I a beer geek but I am also a little bit of a computer geek. I swapped parts out of my computer and realized I did not have the needed part. I bought a cheap computer off of eBay that was a little bit better than the one that died. When I received the computer, Wifey and I went on a trip to see family and friends in Florida and South Carolina. Yes, it also turned into a big beer run! My computer is up and here we go...

Wifey and I went to the International Tap House (iTap) in Chesterfield, MO and I ordered G'Knight from Oskar Blues. Apparently, it is a big thing that Oskar Blues came to St. Louis. I have heard of their beers but never had one. When they came here, people were going nuts and there were Oskar Blues tastings all over town. I bought some of their stuff but have not tasted any yet. I thought that this night would be the perfect time to do so.

G'Knight is an Imperial Red IPA. It is 8.7% ABV. The color is a nice dark amber with a nice white head. The aroma is amazing. It is very citrusy, piney and some tropical notes. The taste is so great. The first taste I got was the citrus and pine flavors. After that, the malt is there to even things out a bit. It has a real nice smooth finish. This is one fine beer. I really look forward to getting some of this later for home.

While I was preparing to write this post, I was on the Oskar Blues website to get some of the stats on this beer. Oskar Blues is located in Lyons, CO. Back in 2002, there was a big wild fire in the area surrounding the brewery. Gordon Knight was a helicopter pilot that was dropping water on hot spots for the Boulder County Fire Department. His helicopter crashed while fighting the fire.

Mr. Knight was also a brewer. This is from a website that is a memorial to Mr. Knight: "Knight won Great American Beer Festival gold medals at three breweries: High Country Brewery in 1993, Twisted Pine Brewing Co. in 1996 and Wolf Tongue Brewery in 1998. Each of the champion beers was very different than the others, but they shared one thing in common -- all were made on the same 5-hecoliter (about 4 1/2 barrels) system that followed Knight from brewery to brewery. He first acquired it used from Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan, who used it themselves to found New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins."

This beer is in tribute to Gordon Knight. This is such a good beer. I am giving this beer 4.5 hop flowers. 

Oskar Blues
iTap - Chesterfield
Gordon Knight - the Inspiration behind G'Knight

Punkie Night Cider from Owl Creek Vineyard

For Wifey's birthday, we ended up at one of our favorite places: Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton. They always have good beers on tap. We were sitting at their bar, drinking good beer and talking to Ryan and Liz of CBC and some of the other customers. Ryan said that they have a good cider called Punkie Night from an Illinois winery. So of course, I had to buy a bottle. Boy, am I glad that I did.

It pours a nice golden champagney color. This is a cider so there is no head. Like a cider, it is a little bubbly. The smell is so great. You can smell apples, cinnamon and a little bit of, what I thought might have been nutmeg. The first sip is really nice. You get the same taste as the aroma. You also get more of the pumpkin spices. The finish is kind of like champagne. It is very crisp. This tastes like I took a small bite of pumpkin pie and then washed it down with apple cider.

This is a cider that is not too sweet and not too tart. It has great taste and finishes nicely. The aroma and the taste are just amazing. I could not find out too much about this particular cider except what is on the bottle. It is 5% ABV so I could sit there and drink more than a couple glasses of this. I will definitely need to check out Owl Creek's other ciders.

I have to say that I think this is probably the best cider I have ever had. Thanks Ryan, I am now hooked on this stuff. I give this 4.5 hop flowers.

Craft Beer Cellar - Clayton
Owl Creek Vineyard Cider

Breakfast Stout by Founders Brewing Company

This is a beer that I see in stores all the time. I have always wanted to taste it but never have. I love stouts, so I don't know why I never had this one. I happened to be in one of my favorite places, Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton and they had it on tap. Wifey asked for a sample and she took a sip and handed it over to me. I took a small sip of what was left and thought "Wow, this is pretty good." Wifey ordered a full pour of it and I took a better sip from hers. "Wow, this is really good." (the sip went from pretty good to really good). After talking and drinking some more beer, I had to get up and grab a 4-pack of the shelf because, as I said, this was really good.

So, I was able to enjoy this beer at home. It pours nice and dark with a tan head. The aroma is a nice coffee smell with a bit of roasted malts. Man, this has a real nice aroma. The taste is so nice. You can taste some of the coffee and the chocolate is more pronounced. You get a little bit of the bitterness at the end. It has a little milky texture to it also. The more I drink of it, the more chocolate and coffee taste that lingers. This is really nice.

This is a beer where I would not feel so bad drinking in the morning. Why should mornings be just for Bloody Marys and Mimosas? I think Founders Breakfast Stout should be included in the morning alcoholic beverages. I'm not a coffee drinker so if I had some donuts and a glass of this, I would be very happy.

When I rated this on Untapped, I gave it a 4.0. After thinking about it more, I am going to give this 4.5 hop flowers. I have heard the whispers and rumors of Founders KBS, their Imperial Stout aged in oak bourbon barrels. You better believe I will be hunting this stuff down when it comes out again.

Craft Beer Cellar - Clayton
Founders Brewing Co.

(yes I know, this is the wrong glass)

Count Orlok by Urban Chestnut

This is Urban Chestnut's version of the season's pumpkin beer. It is a black pumpkin wheat ale. The ABV is 5.4%. Last year, they included this in their fall variety pack. So, there were two of these, two each of their regular beers and two Oachkatzlschwoaf, their Oktoberfest/Marzen beer. This year, they released Count Orlok on its own. I recently picked up a 4-pack from Lukas Liquors and threw a couple in the fridge. Wifey and I had a couple last night.

It pours a deep brown with a tan head. Because of the color, it could pass for a porter. The aroma is clove and maybe some nutmeg. You could tell it is a pumpkin beer because of the pumpkin pie spices in the smell. The taste is a bit different for a pumpkin beer. Most pumpkin beers are all pumpkin pie spice. This one has some of that pumpkin pie spice but you get a bit of roastiness (is that a real word? It is now) from the malt. You also get that clove taste.

Wifey told me that pumpkin really does not have much taste. It is the spices that give pumpkin flavored foods the "pumpkin" taste. She is a smart woman so I believe her. Count Orlok does not have that pumpkin pie taste or even an effort to try for it, which is a good thing. This is a bit of a different take on the pumpkin beer. As usual, Urban Chestnut gets it right.

In a previous post, I mentioned that there are only two beers I have given a 5. Well, this is one of them. This is my favorite pumpkin beer and one of my favorite beers, period. So of course, I give this 5 hop flowers!!! Thank you Florian and Urban Chestnut for making such a great beer.

Lukas Liquors
Urban Chestnut