March 24th Tasting

After Three Floyd's introduced Baller at their 15th Anniversary, I got to thinking that it would be fun to sample Baller along with all of the brews used to create it. So I rounded up a Baller, Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, Dark Lord, Darkness, & Black Albert and extended some invitations. As you can see from the picture below, some other great brews were brought out as well! Thanks to everyone who brought out bottles to share! I really enjoyed everything we opened with one exception: Black Albert. That beer just did not suit my tastes. After everyone had worked through Baller and all of it's components, we took a vote for the favorite of the five beers and while Darkness got a nod, Dark Lord was the overall favorite. Just for the fun of it, we poured a small mix of all the brews together to see if there was any resemblance to Baller. There wasn't. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't as good as any of it's parts... except maybe Black Albert...

I took way too long time to post this, but thanks to all who came out; we had a great time!

Eis Igian,
Randall

Beer Tasting September 2011

Saturday evening Laura and I hosted our second beer tasting party. Thank you to everyone who came out! We really enjoyed spending time with you, chatting, and sampling brews.

The picture above shows everything that was shared.

Top Row; Left To Right
1) mdvatab - Home Brew - American Pale Wheat
2) Bell's - The Oracle - American Double / Imperial IPA
3) Kuhnhenn Brewing Company - Bourbon Barrel Fourth Dementia - Old Ale
4) Deschutes Brewery - Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale - American Black Ale
5) Cigar City Brewing - Hunahpu's Imperial Stout - American Double / Imperial Stout
6) Avery Brewing Company - Maharaja - American Double / Imperial IPA
7) mdvatab - Home Brew - American Stout
8) Founders - Backwoods Bastard - Scotch Ale

Bottom Row; Left To Right
1) Great Lakes Brewing Company - Burning River - American Pale Ale
2) Three Floyds - Zombie Dust - American Pale Ale
3) Another Zombie Dust
4) Half Acre Beer Company - Daisy Cutter - American Pale Ale
5) Another Daisy Cutter
6) Maui Brewing Co. - CoCoNut Porter - American Porter
7) Another CoCoNut Porter
8) Founders - Porter - American Porter
9) Great Lakes Brewing Company - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter - American Porter
10) Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter - American Porter
11) Nøgne Ø - Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri A/S - Porter - American Porter
12) Three Floyds - Amon Amarth / Ragnarok - American Porter

Not pictured:
Deschutes Brewery - The Abyss - American Double / Imperial Stout

Pale And Porters
With a general theme of Pales & Porters it was fun to compare a variety of American Pale Ales and Porters to see how they stacked up. For me, Zombie Dust was the clear winner of the APA's but Porters wasn't as cut and dry. While I really liked trying some new Porters alongside some old favorites, the Edmund Fitzgerald continues to be one of my favorites. The CoCoNut and Nogne variations were both very good and I will seek them out again.

Everything Else
We got to sample a couple of great Double IPA's in The Oracle and Maharaja. Mark brought out a couple home brews which were tasty and fun to try. Laura and I both have a special place for all things aged in bourbon barrels and we both loved the Kuhnhenn and Hunahpu's. The final sampling was a bottle of The Abyss which was unfortunately infected, but enjoyable to try nonetheless.

Thank you to everyone who brought beer. Your generosity was much appreciated!

Eis Igian,
Randall and Laura

The Family Reunion, Tasting 4

July 6th, 2011

The group this evening was what has become the core group of tasters. We had another good line-up with one repeat from earlier in the week:
1. Three Floyds - Gumballhead - American Pale Wheat
2. Three Floyds - Pride and Joy - American Pale Ale
3. Three Floyds - Robert The Bruce - Scottish Ale
4. Oskar Blues - Old Chub - Scotch Ale
5. Brouwerij Westmalle - Westmalle Trappist Dubbel - Dubbel
6. Flat Earth Brewing Company - Cygnus X-1 - English Porter
7. Ceylon / Lion Brewery - Lion Stout - Foreign / Export Stout

Westmalle seemed to please most, but it was no surprise that Robert the Bruce was the brew that was enjoyed by everyone.

We had a blast sharing one of our favorite hobbies with the family and really hope that everyone who partook found a couple of new brews to enjoy.

Eis Egian,
Randall

The Family Reunion, Tasting 3

July 5th, 2011

The group tonight was a mix of people who had joined us the previous two nights. It's interesting how the ales of varying intensity have apparently scared off a few but have also attracted many repeat customers. Tonight we sampled a new variety:
1. Madhouse Brewing Company - American Wheat - American Pale Wheat Ale
2. Great Lakes Brewing Company - Burning River Pale Ale - American Pale Ale
3. Sun King - Osiris - American Pale Ale
4. Boulevard Brewing Co. - The Sixth Glass - Quadrupel
5. Avery Brewing Company - The Czar - Russian Imperial Stout
6. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Abacus - American Barleywine
7. Three Floyds - Dreadnaught - Imperial IPA
8. Full Sail Brewery - Reserve Old Boardhead Barley Wine Ale - American Barleywine

While tastes differed as usual, the two clear favorites of the evening were Abacus and Dreadnaught. Both are fantastic brews, but I was surprised that a Double IPA could be such a crowd pleaser.

Eis Egian,
Randall

The Family Reunion, Tasting 2

So tonight we hit an almost entirely different line-up with almost a completely different crowd. Tonight's tasting included the following:
1. Madhouse Brewing Company - Pastime Pale Ale - American Pale Ale
2. Three Floyds - Pride and Joy - American Pale Ale
3. Anderson Valley Brewing Company - Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - Oatmeal Stout
4. Bell's Brewery, Inc. - Bell's Special Double Cream Stout - American Stout
5. Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) - Oatmeal Stout - Oatmeal Stout
6. Lindemans - Framboise - Lambic
7. Stone Brewing Co. - Arrogant Bastard Ale - American Strong Ale
8. Founders - Breakfast Stout - American Double Imperial Stout
9. Three Floyds Brewing Co. - Apocalypse Cow - American Double / Imperial IPA
10. Lagunitas Brewing Company - Imperial Stout - Russian Imperial Stout
11. Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout - American Double Imperial Stout

While KBS was still well received, tonight the big winner was Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.

Night two was just as fun as night one, but one thing that was noticeable was that with a much larger crowd to share the beer, the overall inebriation was lower :)

Eis Egian,
Randall

The Family Reunion, Tasting 1

Mike, Laura and I are attending a family reunion so we decided to bring a ton of great beer and try to create some converts. Tonight we went through:
1. Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV - Duvel - Belgian Strong Pale Ale
2. Brasserie de Rochefort - Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Belgian Strong Dark Ale
3. St. Bernardus - Abt 12 - Belgian Quad
4. Deschutes Brewery - Hop In The Dark - American Black Ale
5. Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout - American Double Imperial Stout
6. Boulevard Brewing Co. - Imperial Stout - American Double / Imperial Stout

KBS was the big winner followed by St. Bernardus 12. For my taste, Hop In The Dark was an excellent brew that was reminiscent of one of my favorites: Three Floyds Black Sun Stout.

The reunion has just begun and we've got plenty more to share!

Eis Egian,
Randall

Our First Ever Beer Tasting Party

Saturday evening Laura and I hosted our first ever Beer Tasting Party. The picture above shows everything that we enjoyed that night.

Top Row; Left To Right
1) St. Bernardus - Abt 12 - Belgian Quad
2) Three Floyds - Black Sun Stout - Irish Dry Stout
3) Unibroue - La Fin Du Monde - Belgian Tripel
4) Three Floyds - 2011 Dark Lord - Russian Imperial Stout
5) Three Floyds - Dreadnaught - Imperial IPA
6) Another bottle pf St. Bernardus
7) Three Floyds - Rabid Rabbit - Belgian Saison
8) Three Floyds - Robert The Bruce - Scottish Ale
9) Bell's - Oberon - American Pale Wheat Ale
10) Guinness - Extra Stout - Irish Dry Stout
11) Birra Peroni Industriale - Peroni Nastro Azzurro - Euro Pale Lager

Middle Row; Left To Right
1) Sun King - Osiris - American Pale Ale
2) Oskar Blues - Old Chub - Scotch Ale
3) More Old Chub
4) Three Floyds - Pride and Joy - American Pale Ale
5) Brasserie de Rochefort - Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Belgian Strong Dark Ale
6) Lindemans - Framboise - Lambic
7) More Peroni
8) Left Hand - Milk Stout - Milk Stout
9) New Glarus - Spotted Cow - Cream Ale
10) More Pride and Joy
11) More Guiness
12) Sun King - Sunlight - Cream Ale

Bottom Row; Left To Right
1) Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout - American Double Imperial Stout
2) More Guinness
3) Founders - Backwoods Bastard - Scotch Ale
4) Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau - Hefe-Weisse - Hefeweizen
5) Founders - Red's Rye PA - Rye Beer
6) Aonther Osiris
7) Oskar Blues - Gordon / G'Knight - American Double / Imperial IPA
8) A second Rochefort 8
9) Some more Backwoods
10) Another KBS
11) Bell's - Two Hearted Ale - American IPA
12) Another Robert The Bruce
13) And finally... a Guinness

Not pictured:

Peoples Brewing - Mound Builder IPA - American IPA

Peoples Brewing - Aberrant Amber - American Amber / Red Ale

We had a great time sharing a food and brews with friends and we look forward to doing this again!

Eis Igian,
Randall and Laura