IPA Showdown: Stone vs. Goose Island, Round 1.

I've been having a bit of a stare-down with one of my colleagues about who has the superior IPA: Stone or Goose Island. So, to prove it to myself, I picked up a sixer of Stone to compare against my stockpile of Goose Island. Round one, tasted Stone first.

Stone: Sweet nose, less floral, full mouthfeel, more carbing

Goose Island: Strong hop bouquet, sweeter, milder on the palate, smoother mouthfeel.

Decision: I do have to say the Stone IPA is pretty good. I do wonder if I've even had it before actually since, during my IPA journey, I leaned towards the IBU behemoths, so I might have skipped over Stone's regular IPA entirely and went straight to Ruination (which is great, by the way). All in all, I do see that Stone IPA has its merits, but my pride thinks that my palette was too heavily blown out to properly appreciate Goose Island on the next taste.

Victory Prima Pils.

So this is interesting because I don't hardly ever drink pilsener, only ales. But I've a craving for pils lately and have even considering getting Peroni (the last time I had Peroni, I tried to shrug it off on my friend after describing it to him as "licking a sweaty Italian dude's armpits".) I had Sam Adams Noble Pils earlier this season and really enjoyed it.

Lake Placid Honey Rye.

Another rye beer. I've have a handful of rye beers. The first was a Terrapin rye, and I had no idea what to make of it. They've since grown on me (much like WT 101 Rye). I've had ryes from Custom Brewcrafters (two of them), Goose Island, Bear Republic, and Arcadia, and these days, if I see a rye, I'm probably going to try it.

Honey rye is a pretty apt name; it fills its title well. Other than being a rye, it's pretty average and unassuming. The honey doesn't show up as much as I'd like. I remember the nose being more honey-scented when I first tried it, but this last bottle is smelling a little pissy. It's a nice filler beer if you can get a good price on it, but it's not going to be in my regular rotation.

Goose Island Pepe Nero.

Saw it on tap, so I had to try it. I was really surprised to find out this was a saison. Very dark pour, but notably brown. The taste was actually somewhat bland. I'd have to liken it to how I feel about Guinness these days. It's not bad, not great, just not terribly interesting. I couldn't find much to focus on, but it was surprisingly light-bodied considering the color.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace.

Had this on tap at a local bar a while ago, so it was nice to try it out of the bottle.

The taste was pretty refreshing, lemon-y and sour. The nose was an intense, bitter hop smell, but not unpleasant. It drank a little too heavily for my taste though. Very airy and some headiness that didn't die out.

Dogfish Head Squall IPA.

New arrival at my local beer shop so I did pick it up (a while ago). Had to give a serious slosh to get even the slightest head. But Dogfish Head's heavier beers are like that. The nose is really good, really fruity and floral. But it's pretty much downhill from there. Not to say it's bad. But for a big shot IPA that's claims to be unfiltered and bottle-conditioned (no bottling date given, srsly?), it's pretty disappointing. Also, there's a tiny little yeast cake at the bottom. I've seen more sediment in a bottle of Blue Moon.

Matilda, 1 Year.

Opened up a bottle of Matilda from my case, one year from bottling. What a difference a year makes. It's mellowed a lot and the yeast has started to cake. It's started taking on more off an abbey profile, a solid ale already. At the moment, it makes me think of dim, fire-lit taverns full of cured and roasted meats, hunks of cheese and loaves of brown bread. A little more fruity now, malty, putting on some weight. Still waiting for that ash-y finish.

George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whiskey.

I picked this up in Nashville since I the availability up here was questionable. George Dickel seems to be about the only major competitor to Jack Daniel's for Tennessee whiskies. It's been a long time since I've had JD though so the only standard of comparison I have right now are various bourbons.

For me, both the nose and palate are intensely wood-y and supple leather. I think I got a little banana on the finish of one sip.

It definitely doesn't have the same sweet vanilla of Knob Creek nor its bite. All in all, George Dickel is exceptionally smooth and much thinner in body than harder bourbons. The overall mouthfeel is very round.

While it's supposed to be a good sipping whiskey, I don't see myself ever reaching for this with any frequency over a solid bourbon or even a rye. Sorry, bud.

Godiva Breakfast Blend.

I don't remember anything about it except that it wasn't bad. I had a coupon so I figured I'd give it a try. Still rather have DD at that price point though.

Shrimp, Feta, Roasted Garlic Pizza.

Got the idea from a pizza I had a while ago that had whole garlic cloves on their pizza. I think it might be better to try to caramelize them in the pan before putting them on the pizza where they'll inevitably get roasted.