Boaks Monster Mash

Boaks Monster Mash found its way into my keezer thanks to a very generous person.  I was looking forward to trying it, since it's a Russian Imperial Stout, and I'm a huge fan of that style:

Vittles:
Russian Imperial Stout
10% abv
100 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 22/25
Taste: 37/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 91/100

Impression:
The aroma drew me in, with all its roasty, nutty, sweet malty goodness.  I picked up some pretty clear coffee and chocolate notes and hints of dark fruits (mainly raisins and figs) and just the slightest hint of something smoky.  The flavors followed the nose very well, but I also tasted hints of vanilla, toffee, and some mild hop bitterness.  I was a little surprised that I didn't taste any smokiness, though.  The mouthfeel was medium-full with mild carbonation, and it's a nice, smooth drinking beer.  I'm very glad I got the chance to try this beer, and I'll definitely be picking some up for the chilly weather up ahead.  I'm also going to try cellaring this one for a year or two -- seems like the kind of beer that'll get tastier with a year or two on it.

Cheers!

Smuttynose Robust Porter

I don't have porters as often as I'd like.  They seem a little harder to find around me, since most of the 6-packs near here carry mostly marco lagers and other fairly tasteless stuff.  I used to have to drive pretty far to get any kind of decent selection.  Until fairly recently, that is.  A grocery store near my job started offering mix-a-sixers, and they actually have a pretty decent selection.  So, when I stopped by the other day to mix myself a six, I made sure to throw in a porter:

Vittles:
Robust Porter
6.2% abv
43 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 24/25
Taste: 38/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 94/100

Impression:
This is probably the best porter I've had in years.  The aroma is rich and complex, with all of the nutty, roasty, chocolatey, coffee-y, vanilla-y scents I love in this style.  The flavors are very similar, except I taste a lot of dark fruits, especially raisins and figs, and there's also a creaminess to the beer that seems like more than just a medium-full-bodied mouthfeel.  It's nice and crisp on the tongue and finishes rather dry, leaving a bitter-sweet chocolate flavor in the aftertaste.  I will definitely be picking up at least a 6er of this come the chilly fall weather -- I might even splurge on a case of it.  I could get in trouble drinking a beer this tasty!

Cheers!

Schneider Weisse Aventinus Eisbock

I've had Schneider Weisse Aventinus and it Eisbock several times before, and in fact, they're two of my favorite beers.  It's also one of my husband's favorite beers, so for our anniversary, we cracked open a bottle of the eisbock version and split it over a delicious pan-seared scallop dinner:

Vittles:
Eisbock
12% abv
Wheat doppelbock base beer

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 24/25
Taste: 39/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 10/10
Overall: 97/100

Impression:
This is one of the best beers I've ever had, just barely a notch above it's non-eisbock counterpart.  I could live off of this beer alone.  My liver might disagree, but it wouldn't be the first difference of opinion we've had.  Anyway, from the rich caramel color, to the complex layers of dark fruit and sweet, malty goodness, to the full body and the enticing aftertaste, this is just a solid beer.  It's what beer should be.  The aroma is largely fruity, like golden raisins, plum, fig, apricot, and cherry, with brown sugar, molasses, and caramel serving counterpoint.  There's also an interesting mildly smoky note that I find very pleasing.  The flavors match well with the aromas, but there's a spiciness, like clove and cinnamon, that ties it all together very well.  The full body and creamy, velvety mouthfeel top off the experience quite nicely.  And this beer is insanely drinkable.  Like I could really get in trouble with this beer.  Maybe it's a good thing it's not more readily available near me!  I kid, of course, but the complexities in aroma and flavor that I find in this beer are so intriguing, I just want to keep tasting it over and over, because every sip is just a little different, especially as the beer warms.  It's just that good.

Cheers!

Elysian Super Fuzz

My husband really enjoyed the Elysian The Immortal IPA that I brought home a couple months back, so I thought I'd surprise him with their Super Fuzz.  The label says it's made with blood oranges, and I thought that sounded interesting:

Vittles:
American Pale Ale
5.4%
made with blood oranges

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 84/100

Impression:
It's a citrusy punch in the nose/mouth.  I was expecting it to taste orangey, but there's also a significant grapefruit aroma/flavor, as well, and about a minute after I tasted it, grapefruit flavors just took over my mouth.  There was more of a sharp acidity than I had expected, but it wasn't an unpleasant aspect.  Overall, it's very tasty, has a good level of hop bitterness, and keeps your tastebuds on alert.  I like the floral and resinous notes in the background and the hints of tropical fruits like guava.  Very tasty!

Cheers!

Boaks Double BW

I picked up a 6 of Boaks Two Blink Monks a while back, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I decided to give another of their beers a try.  The one I settled on was their Double BW:

Vittles:
Witbier
4.5% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 20/25
Taste: 32/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 78/100

Impression:
I had a bit of overcarbonation trouble with the first two bottles I opened out of this 6er.  I sent an email to the brewer to let them know there might be a problem, and they were very polite and responsive.  From what I've been reading online, others have had the opposite problem with their beer -- not enough carbonation.  The aroma is mild, grassy, wheaty, and lemony, with a bit of mustiness in the background.  The flavors largely follow, but there's also some fruitiness on the tongue that I didn't pick up on in the nose.  A slight spiciness comes out more and more as the beer warms.  This is a decent choice for a light and refreshing sessionable beer, but it's not going to knock your socks off.  It's a solid witbier, good for the hot and humid weather we've been having lately.

Cheers!

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot

I love barleywines.  It's been a while since I had a good English style barleywine (the last one I had was Duck-Rabbit a couple months ago), so I popped the cap on Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot, and my evening got a whole lot smoother:

Vittles:
English Barleywine
11.1% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 35/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 85/100

Impression:
The coppery-mahogany color just looks so enticing, and the aroma is nearly all malt and dark fruits.  I smell figs, raisins, and cherries on top of caramel malts, with a touch of booze at the tail end.  The flavor matches the nose pretty closely, but there's a bit more spiciness on the tongue.  As the beer warms, it also takes on a sticky-sweet quality which I think I would enjoy more in chilly weather but is just a little too viscous to really enjoy on such a hot evening.  There's definite alcohol warmth on the back end, but it is a pretty high abv beer, so I was expecting to be able to taste it at some point.  The mouthfeel is fairly full-bodied, and the carbonation is present at low levels.  I'd love to try this one with a year or two on it, maybe while watching the first real snowfall of the year.  Or maybe to help make the holidays just a little more merry.  I'll have to keep my eye out for a sale on a case of this so I can try some aging experiments.

Cheers!

Shock Top Lemon Shandy

Last summer, my husband and I shared a beach house with my folks.  We wanted something light and crisp to bring to the beach with us, something sessionable that wouldn't leave us too dehydrated after a long day in the sun and surf.  My husband wound up getting a case of Shock Top Lemon Shandy cans, and he liked it quite a bit.  So, when Lemon Shandy hit the shelves at the distributor near us, he bought another case of it:

Vittles:

Fruit Beer

4.2% abv

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 18/25

Taste: 30/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 74/100

Impression:

It's really just adult lemonade with a wheat base.  The aroma is mostly lemony, but it seems like too sweet or artificial of a smell.  You can kind of sort of make out some mild wheat aroma, too, but it is much less obvious than the lemon flavoring.  The taste is sort of like lemon-flavored PEZ with wheat in the background.  None of the flavors are very strong, which is a plus, since it makes the beer light, crisp, and somewhat refreshing once you get past the overly-sweet lemon flavor.  It is fairly easy to session this beer, though, and it does somehow work very well on a hot, sunny day.  We'll probably get it again to enjoy on the beach when we go down the shore later this summer.

Cheers!