This is what an imperial stout should taste like.
Pitch dark pour, thin creamy head. Kinda getting a tinny smell though. Mouthfeel is thick but not syrupy or too persistent. Taste is heavy and coffee but only mildly bitter. It's kind of nice to get an imperial stout that still tastes and feels like a stout and not chocolate something-or-other.
Sourced from Closet. Coincidentally, Elise also had a sausage and lentil dish at the same time. Originally called for kale, I subbed Swiss chard which is pretty good, kinda like spinach but more buttery in texture, and added a nice combination of colors. Turned out pretty awesome and hearty. Pretty minimal in ingredients, didn't require a million spices, not even salt and pepper, just a couple bay leaves. I think the simmered sausage brings all the spice necessary. I'd make it again.
Sourced from 365. I adjusted the proportions a bit since I was using more black beans and wanted it to be thicker. But it was pretty disastrous. The salsa was nonexistent, and it was too soupy. I used dried beans this time instead of canned, and some of the black beans were still a bit harder than I would have liked, even after soaking them for quite a while and cooking them in the crock pot for a long time. I'll try it again some other time. I can probably guess my way through it better.
Eggs, egg whites, kielbasa sausage, sliced potatoes, onion, and zuke. Pretty awesome.
Sourced from Closet. Basically artichoke dip bread on bread and baked a bit. Pretty good.
A blend between their Javah and Choklat. I actually haven't had their Javah, but from the way this tastes, I'd like to try it. I think ST's Choklat is an impressive brew because thy really nail the chocolate and its sweetness (as opposed to simply using chocolate malt, trying to recreate chocolate flavors, or ultimately yielding something more akin to cocoa), and their typically heavy, sticky body works well there.
I can clearly taste the Choklat here, and then something like coffee. Pretty tasty brew. I'd be interested in trying Javah, Choklat, and Mokah side by side.
New release from Flying Dog. Pretty interesting combination. Reasonably priced for a 6-pack of something interesting (~$9). Head died pretty quickly, very weak bouquet but getting hints of hop and some kind of sweet spice from a deep inhale. Super fruity on the palate, solid but not crazy hop bitter, good floral throughout. The finish isn't much too talk about but it's clean. The body is somewhat disappointing. I expected the bret yeast to contribute more, but it makes an interesting showing in the taste profile. Weird thing about it all though was that there was no yeast in the bottle. So I guess it's not meant to be conditioned which is unfortunate because it could be pretty interesting. Maybe it'll make an interesting homebrew experiment in the future.
I picked up a bottle from their brew pub a while ago to give it another taste at home. I remember not really liking it much at the pub. Still true. Oak aged, it had kind of a buttery flavor which I didn't really care for. The mouthfeel was weird, creamy but not really dense or viscous. Meh.
Picked up a bottle since it was on sale. The guy at the store said he liked it and that it tasted like bacon.
Hazy copper, creamy but relatively thin head. Smells like bacon. Moderate hoppiness with a significant smoky finish. I'm not really sure if I like it. The smoke lingers quite a bit so I don't know if I felt like I just smoked or have been sitting around the grill for too long. I might be tempted to try it with a cookout, but at the same time, it might just be too much char.
Finally got around to making note of this a year later. A super Tuscan blend, I think it makes a nice table wine, but with my experience of Italian wines, it's pretty thin.
Trying to use up some dough I had in the freezer and some Italian sausage I got on sale. The dough turned out pretty workable. Mushrooms, green peppers, onion, ricotta. I skipped the sauce because I didn't think I would have enough room, which I didn't. The main difference from the last time I tried to make calzones was that I think I used all wheat flour then and I rolled the dough much thinner this time. Pretty tasty. I'll freeze a couple.
Finally got around to recreating the sandwich I had a few summers ago. Turkey, creme cheese, and cranberry sauce. I added some onions and nixed the sprouts because they are damn expensive.
Sourced from Elise. Awesome and turned out pretty well. Could have used a bit more paprika and garlic and a stronger tomato base. I'd like to try it with some crushed red pepper.
Sourced from Elise. I ran it through the crockpot rather than the stovetop and skipped a simmering, which definitely made a difference for the worse. The sauce turned out pretty good.
Picked up a 4-pack on sale. Flying Dog is kind of a hit or miss but this is a pretty good hit. Refreshing and crisp, a bit sugary. Definitely worth the sale price.
Thick, persistent, but foamy head. Hazy amber. Decent but nondescript floral. Initial sweetness, very clean tasting, well hopped, finishes with a clean hop bitter as well that lingers on the palate but not unpleasantly so. My first impression is that it's an analog to Goose Island. Where theirs leans more heavily on being floral, Rogue errs on the side of hoppiness. It's very well-balanced and not heavy or overdone the way Hoptical Illusion or Hop Wallop are. Pretty good brew. I'd like to try it side by side with a Goose Island.
This is kind of a weird brew. Half doppelbock, half Belgian-style dubbel with date concentrate. 7.8%ABV
Dark red, mahogany, almost opaque. But lighter bodied than the color might suggest. Nice fruity nose. It's a lot like a doppelbock but with more effervescence. As far as taste goes, nothing really stands out to me, so it's actually kind of boring. I think I can taste the date a bit with kind of an earthy finish. Though to be honest, if I had tasted this blind, I would have no clue about anything about it other than it tasted just a bit fruity.
The successor to the 12th anniversary (here), brewed this time with 13 hops and malts. If my memory serves me correctly, it's pretty similar to the 12th with a few subtle differences. This one tastes more chocolate-y up front, even moreso than ST Choklat. The nose is like buttery bread which is interesting. However, like its predecessor, it's mostly unamusing with similar body, carbonation, lacing, etc. Considering its potency, it's pretty good at its price point though it'd be a bit heavy for getting drunk.
