Almanac Barrel Noir

Almanac Barrel Noir -  I like this brewery and love to support them because they are a newer small brewer in town trying to push for great things.  They have a great vision of what they like to brew and their beer does not disappoint and never brew the same thing twice.  This seems like the first time they are trying more barrel aged items and expanding to different styles.

Appearance - As shown above when poured!

Smell -  Chocolate, cocoa, bourbon & small hints of honey.

Taste - If you have ever tasted a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout it tastes like a more welcoming cleaner tasting and less abv version of this.  The cocoa and the bourbon shine through but the alcohol burn from this does not linger around much but is present.  The 10% abv is well masked and makes this almost a session style of stouts.

Mouthfeel - Light stout and drinks easily.  At 10% ABV it is masked and is drinkable.  The beer itself is quite watery versus a lot of stouts which are more thick.  A lot of lingering bubbles and is quite awkward.

Overall - This is a fun stout to try and i would say easily to drink.  10% is masked well but does not quite hit a stout in the creaminess as i would crave of a barrel aged stout or the bold flavors.  I wish they might have aged this more because the notes of bourbon aren't coming out.  The beer though for a California stout is a nice version but I would have loved this if it came out during the cold winter times and not the warming of the spring time.  I would want to try this beer again once aged and if all the carbonation has gone. 

Boulevard Brewing Double Wide IPA

Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri

I will say i do not know much about this company but since it is sitting right in front of me i will do a quick review on this.  Cellar is really full and would love to get more reviews down.

Appearance -  The initial pop of the cork was pretty silent and I was scared that this was not going to have much carbonation.  When poured into the glass it comes out with this dark amber color which then the carbonation is apparent and as seen above has quite a large head which took about 2 minutes to settle down.  Small spots of foam clouds reside on the outside of the glass when it finally settles.

Smell - Caramel, toffee & molasses are some characteristics i am getting out of this which before tasting i can tell this is going to be on the sweet side.
Second pour - I let this warm up and it is getting more dankier with the hop smell and also i get some orange and citrus notes from this beer.

Taste - Sweet flavors come up like like caramel and then gets more floral when it starts to open up.  When i opened it initially it was on the bottom of my fridge and i think some of the flavors were subdued due to the cold temperature. While time passes i let this warm up it is becoming more apparent that this would taste great on cask and i am appreciating this more and more at warmer room temps.  More tropical fruit and tiny notes of pineapple/papaya are coming out but still has that ever so bitter hop kick at the end of each sip.

Mouthfeel - Even with the foamy pours this drinks relatively smooth.  Personally i like my DIPAs a little sticky/candy coating in the mouth but this drinks like a nice single IPA.

Overall - Noticing that this DIPA is bottled corked and caged it might have been sitting for a bit and it has been sitting in my fridge for at least two months.  I would want to try this fresh in bottle or even on handpump and i would assume it might taste like a totally different brew.  This beer is also reasonably priced for a DIPA which appeals for me to try it again. 

Bell's Hopslam Ale

Bells Hopslam - Has been getting a lot of hype online and it rates at the moment #13 on beer advocates top 250 beers.  This is a seasonal release Double IPA which comes out to a 10% abv.  Bell's Brewery is located in Michigan and has been rated one of the best craft breweries in that state.  Some of the staples which Bell's is known for is their Two Hearted Ale, Oberon & Expedition Stout.  I am excited to try this and see what my Michigan friends keep talking about and find out for myself if it is a beer worthy of this praise!

Appearance - Pours a light brown/hazy yellow color and when poured it has minimal foam head only as high as seen in the picture.  After the foam dissipates it leaves some foam around the glass.  On the bottom of the glass i see continuous bubbles forming telling me this is going to be a nicely carbonated ale.

Smell - Cantaloupe, honey, citrus peel & grapefruit are some of the characters that i pick out from the initial pour.  Closer up smell i can smell the sweetness coming off of the honey and it has a small undertone of flowers coming out as if you were in a car for a long time and just opened the door next to a garden store.

Taste - Liquid hop cantaloupe bomb!  The hops linger around in your mouth way after you drink it and you are left with this sweet honey and some awesome dank hop flavor in your mouth.  This is an exceptional tasty beer where the hops and the sweetness are balancing each other out and do not overwhelm the palette for a hop forward ale.  Compared to many high abv hop bomb double ipas this hides the hops and the abv well and almost too well just like their two hearted ale.

Mouthfeel - Low carbonation but enough to feel a little bubbles in your mouth.  This stuff is way to easy to drink for a 10% abv beer.  I believe i drank this pint in about 6 gulps because of how smooth and well carbonated it was.

Overall - I am blessed that i am able to try this beer and if this was in my distribution zone i would pay off a bartender to let me drink this nectar from the tap!  I started to feel the 10% abv after a good 30 minutes and it does kick in.  This is one of those beers which i would classify as a creeper because how easy it drinks and how high the abv is because i can see someone buying a 6 pack of this and dropping it off at a party and the person who is not a craft beer drinking would have the worst blackout and hangover the next day.  If I could buy more bottles of this I would say without a doubt and would compare this to many of the top rated ipas and would say it just hit my top 10.  Bell's has not disappointed me yet and this has proved they deserve the hype and still wish that they would distribute out to the West Coast.

Oud Beersel - Framboise

Oud Beersel - Framboise

Ok i know that we have seen this symbol and wonder hrmmm sours Oud Beersel with that black castle label and archaic beer bottle label.  Most people will want to take a pass on this for the new and improved wild ales from America or want to hunt down the rare of the rare lambics of Belgium.  I stare at this bottle and know that this brewery has been pumping out beer before my grandparents where born.  The brewery seems to have been built around the early 1900's and has been passed down to many family members.  The beer quality of this company has always been a main staple of the original styles of lambic and krieks to me and am excited to try the framboise offering from them.

Appearance - When poured into a glass this happened.

Super carbonation!!!  I will say this poured out wildly and some made it onto the floor because of the huge rush of foam that came out of the bottle.  This bottle was sitting in my fridge for 4 days before i opened it and upright so i would like to warn people that this fresh might become a gusher. 

Back to the actual color of this framboise it is magnificent from the dark purple base to its almost white/pink foam that comes around the glass when it finally settles down.  Every pour i made this has foamed up and had to cover the top of my glass to make sure this beer didn't foam off over the top.

Smell - Raspberries, Oak barrell funk (dirt, ground & fresh soil), Red gummy flavored candies.  Smell is subtle and keeps in the glass but when close up it is a maze of complex smells.

Taste - YAHhhh Ok it comes out with a subtle taste of raspberries and follows up with the watery farmhouse funk like a saison which was brewed in an oak barrell.  The sweetness which you expect from the raspberries is taken away from a slight bitter aftertaste of raspberries which haven't had time to mature but the unsweetened flavor has kept.  The dryness of this reminds me of champagne but better because of the framboise styles i have seen in the USA today it seems like they are pumped with sugar.  This dry style framboise is a hit in the park of what i want to drink on a nice warm day watching a baseball game in the park while eating cheese. 

Mouthfeel - Like a champagne on how this is overly carbonated and tastes dry when you drink it down.  Compared to most sours and lambics i feel this has a great amount of carbonation and is where it needs to be at compared to some aged lambics which come flat.

Overall - Great framboise in a sense that it is not overly sweet and actually not sweet at all other than the part it has a hint of raspberries which to me correlates to me a mouthfull of happiness.  I would love to get more bottles of this and since I was able to find this one i would definitely want to try and cellar a few of these to see if the residual sweetness from the raspberries will come out more dry or actually make this more of a sour beer.  Many other notable framboise i have tried are Cantillon which is on the super sour spectrum of things to the Lindemans which tastes like raspberry Koolaid you would want to get a date drunk with who has no clue about craft beer.  This has fallen more on the side of the sour side and in a blind tasting I would say this would impress any sour beer nerd fan.

Surly Abrasive

Surly Brewing -  They are located in Minnesota and have zero distribution outside of that state.  Heck some people i know that live in Minnesota have never even heard about this small brewery.  Many people in the craft beer world have been hunting down bottles of the Surly Darkness which is their version of a Russian Imperial Stout and Surly Furious Ale which is their IPA.  Surly Abrasive Ale is a double IPA which comes in a 16 oz can and at a nice 9% abv.  The artwork on this can is awesome it is big, bold and in your face with what looks like a circular sander hitting a keg and exploding the hops.

Appearance -Pours nice hazy orange and keeps a good head when poured.  The head slowly calms down and leaves chunky white foam lacing throughout the outside of the glass. 

Smell - Pineapples, floral hops, pine & orange peel which smacks you right in the face when you pour it.  One of those DIPAs that you can smell almost 10 feet away because of how dank the smell of sweet hops come out of this.

Taste - OMG! Citrus & tropical fruit love nectar is what first comes to mind when this hits the mouth.  The floral hops mixed with huge pine taste as if it came straight out of the forest hits you and reminds you that this is a DIPAs and it is amazing.   The sweetness of this beer follows through from the citrus notes and finishes with a nice light hop pine flavor as it goes down.

Mouthfeel - First impressions is that this is one of those DIPAs that sticks to your teeth and inside your mouth.  The sweetness quickly covers the inside of your mouth and is like a small shot of syrup.  The carbonation is light and is still watery enough that the syrupy residue that sat in my mouth quickly fades away.

Overall - This is a beer I would dream of and can't wait until the next time I am offered to drink this beast.  This has been one of the best examples of an DIPA i have tasted in awhile because of the balance of the hops and the overall citrus flavors of this.  Many DIPAs out right now are trying to be way on the hopside or sweet side but this one stands out because both sides are tamed but still stand out.  If i was able to buy this i would have a good amount of these cans in my fridge at all times because it is one that tastes light and drinks like a low abv IPA and would go well with a lot of peoples palates. 

Food pairing - Curries, pulled pork dishes & caprese salad.  I would pair this with any food that is highly acidic because the citrus/pine flavor will cut through any acid/vinegar taste from food.