I hadn’t written about the beers I’ve tried recently. There’s a couple. I’ll go in chronological order.
First up is Old Leghumper from Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. It’s an American Porter (not a Barley Wine like the name would suggest). The beer pours a dark brown with a moderate tan head. Smells of chocolate, caramel, coffee, and roasted malts hit the nose. It smells pretty good. Unfortunately, the taste isn’t quite as good. The smells I mentioned are all present in the flavor, which is good, but there’s a pretty strong metallic aftertaste. This ruined it for me. The mouthfeel was a little on the thin side as well. While the beer isn’t bad, it’s nothing super special and not something I think I’d buy again as there are plenty other porters which I like much better… which leads me to the next one…
Next was Stovepipe Porter from Otter Creek. Also an American Porter, this one pours a similar dark brown with moderate tan head. In fact, just about everything about this beer was the same as the previous one minus the metallic aftertaste. The flavor was mostly roasted coffee with a bit of chocolate and caramel to it. Some light hops bitterness was detectable. This was a much more flavorful beer that finished nicely. The beer had a nice consistency and was very drinkable. This is a really good porter.
Finally, tonight’s beer was Oaked Aged Yeti from Great Divide. Susan and I sort of split it as it came from a 22 oz. bomber (sort of because she only drank about a third of hers, leaving the rest for me). This is a Russian Imperial Stout (though it’s from Colorado). The beer pours a thick black color with a nice tan head. Smells of vanilla, roasted malt, and chocolate dominate. The flavor is spectacular. Now I’m a big fan of Great Divide’s beers (one of my favorite breweries), but this one is just awesome. The vanilla character from the oak aging and some oaky flavors come through at first, followed by the roasted malts and some coffee and chocolate undertones, and a nice hops bitterness at the end. It’s a bit thick, though that’s the way a good stout should be. At 9.5% ABV, it’s a bit on the strong side, and it’s slightly noticeable in the taste, though the other flavors tend to dominate. I’m definitely feeling this one (having had about 5/6 of the bottle for myself). It lacks a bit in drinkability (mainly because of the alcohol content), but makes up for that in flavor. I give this beer two thumbs up and highly recommend it to any stout lover (or even a whiskey drinker looking to get into good beer).
Thus ends the beers I’ve forgotten to write about. Friday should bring along another tasting (and tomorrow should bring another beer, unless it’s a repeat, which is possible).
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