Boston Brewing Company's Cream Stout

Well, it's early enough in the day to wash my mouth out thoroughly, so I figured I'd try this one from Sam Adams. This is where my compulsion to try every stout I see bites me in the ass.

Although it's fairly opaque in the glass, it pours kind of watery for a stout. Looks like a bock, almost, especially if any light shines on the glass. Thin tan head just kind of sits there.

Smells as much like a pale as it does a stout. Not roasted enough, and too hoppy. Also too lightly grainy.

Taste is much the same. The usual stout flavors are only in the aftertaste, and the feel is watery. Weak, all around.

If Budweiser made a stout, this is what it would taste like. No, Budweiser actually does a good job at what they do--they unabashedly make wimpy, light beers. Sam Adams pretends to be a craft brewer while making wimpy, light beers. The difference is huge.

Sure, I have a built-in bias against Sam Adams, so I'll be objective here: this beer sucks.

Sprecher Brewing Company's Dunkle Wewizen

I never know what to do with these. It came to me as a freebie, which tells me that someone else didn't like it. But, whatever. I'm bored.

Pours a deep coppery brown, with a thin tan head.

European yeasty smell. I'm not liking this.

Feels like a soft drink, tastes like a dark wit. In other words, the worst of just about everything.

Also, grouchy.

Twisted Pine Brewing Company's Northstar Imperial Porter

Tonight is the night for bigger beers, I guess. Plus, this is a new(ish) arrival at my Spec's, so I had to get it.

Nice inky black pour with a tan head that sticks at a sheet. No real highlights, even in my hefe glass. Just opaque.

Well, the imperial part has really added to the grain bill in a way that makes this one smell like a solid stout. I don't detect the vinous tannins that usually make a porter what it is. That's OK, stouts are my favorite, but it'll affect the rate to style ranking (not that anyone cares).

That's better. Nice and smooth, a bit more grainy than most porters, again due tot he imperial part, but the tannins are there. Oddly enough they're not more prevalent than in a regular porter, and if anything they are lower than some, but it's still very good. Imperial anythings are not really rateable to style, except as more bold than the regular of the style, and this is no exception. It's bigger in grain and roasted flavor, but the vinous taste is much lower than usual. Some get out of hand though, so that's a good thing in a way. Smooth body that is a little more raw than a porter usually is as well. It dries faster, somehow, and has less of an oily finish.

All in all a very interesting beer. And very good. Seems to be a bit more of a stout than a porter though.

I own part of a brew pub...

...and you can too.

Thanks to I Love Beer, I learned about Black Star Co-Op, and thought what the hell, so I bought a share. It was just $100.00 for the share, and we'll see what it gets me. Plus, my membership card will evidently say "Charter Member" on it, and if nothing else I'm more than happy to help out another group of Texas beer lovers.

Good luck. I'll be there to tell you how it should be run in a few days.

Laguinitas Brewing Company's Cappucino Stout

Another coffee stout. Must... buy...

Pours a deep back with a nice tan head that stays well. I'm pouring it in a hefe glass because everything else is dirty, so at its thinnest point in the glass you can see strong carbonation and brownish amber highlights.

Mild roasted grain smell and mild coffee as well. It has a lactose softness to it that makes it really seem like more of a cappucino than a coffee stout, one of the rare times the names really fits.

Nice, smooth feel that feels like lactose, and the sweetness is there underneath. The roasted grain flavor really picks up in the taste, with moderate coffee flavor as well. The 9.26% ABV is absolutely imperceptible, something most "extreme" beer makers can never get right.

By far this is the best Lagunitas beer I've ever had, and is an excellent one all around.

Boulevard Brewing Company's Unfiltered Wheat

Found this stray at the back of the cellar, in an aluminum bottle, of all things. I bought it out of state as a single just because I'd never had it, and I guess I may as well start out this pizza with a wheat.

Pours clear yellow, with a zippy white head that stays at a sheet with good carbonation. The label says it's unfiltered and that it has a distinctive cloudy appearance. Wait a minute, it pours out in chunks in the dregs. Not cloudy.

It has a mellow wheat smell. Not like a wit, although hints of the yeast peek through.

Nice enough taste. Mellow for a wheat, mildly zippy. Not bad, but not great, either.

Real Ale Brewing Company's Phoenix Double ESB

ESB's, or even their "double" variants, are generally not terribly exciting. But Real Ale has become a solid brewery (I heard rumblings of quality control and distribution issues two or three years ago), so I'm looking forward to trying just about anything they put out.

Pours a nice deep copper that's about 50% opaque, with a small light tan head that fades to a sheet.

Smells mild and malty. Almost no hops, and not terribly malty, it just smells like a mild beer.

Much bigger punch than I thought it would have based on the smell. The solid bitterness grabs you, and at first it's indistinct but it gets grassy in the aftertaste. The malt holds up as well, but it's not heavy.

Good beer. Still not sexy, but solid and drinkable.

Brooklyn Brewery's Winter Ale

Here's a winter warmer that didn't make my Winter Warmer Blitzkreig last month because it wasn't in Houston at the time. But, here it is. Hope it's better than their Monster Ale barleywine...

Pours nice and coppery. Light tan head disappears as quickly as it appears, despite decent carbonation.

Smells nice. Like a bock, almost, with the malt but a zippy slightly spicy smell that a warmer should have.

Nice. Bigger in the feel than I expected. A little more bitter than many warmers, but not overpowering and not very specific in the type of bitterness. It just grabs you a little without being piney, floral, or grassy. A little less malty than I thought it would be based on the smell. It's pretty zippy, but not peppery like many warmers.

This style is bland sometimes, but it's generally a good beer all-around. This is no exception. Good beer, nothing to write home about though.

Tallgrass Brewing Company's Kold

I'm a victim of my curiosity sometimes. And my compulsion to try at least one of everything I haven't had before. So even though I have been less than impressed with Tallgrass beers, I had to buy this one. (But only one.)

Pours fairly light yellow, although not as clear as a Budweiser, with strong carbonation and a bright white head that thins but stays.

The label says pilsner malt with notes of honey and citrus, so I labeled it as a pilsner. Smells like a good Czech variety, because it's less malty than a German, and more zippy.

Yep. There's a rough, cardboard bitterness in there somewhere, but it's right on type for a Czech pils. It has the funky bitterness that it needs, and a light body that goes down nicely. I don't know about the citrus, but the honey is there and makes it dry quickly. Kind of tastes like a funky honey wheat.

I like it. It's a decent twist on a pils, and in my opinion their best so far.

Snake River Brewing Company's Zonker Stout

I have no idea where I got this beer. But it's one of about 45 that are in the cellar that I've never tried, adn I thought it would be good to follow the barleywine I just had with a big beer like a stout.

Pours an opaque black with a nice light tan head. Looks right.

Nice roasted smell, with a tobacco undertone that I like every time I smell it in a stout. This is looking up.

Good feel to it. Not really heavy, and the carbonation keeps it light as it goes down. Roasted taste picks up and is prevalent. Fades to the tobacco taste a bit, but mostly it's still roasted grain. Mild hoppiness that gets you on the back of the tongue but never comes out in the taste.

Good stout. Nothing sexy in any category, but solid and drinkable.

Brooklyn Brewery's Monster Ale

Looking forward to a bigger beer from Brooklyn. They do lagers and lighter styles well, so this should be interesting.

Pours nice and heavy, with a great deep amber color and decent tan head that stays well.

Smells sweet. It will taste hoppy too, but in the smell it's primarily the huge sweet malt.

Nice. Big feel that goes down smoothly, with a good solid bitterness that's not really grassy or piney, it just is. It has a bit of a lager taste to it (whatever that means), mostly because the carbonation gives it an added zip after a second. Not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be from the smell. Moderate alcohol bite, which is nice for a beer with 10.1% ABV.

Not the best barleywine. But, not too bad, either. I'll stick to others if I want a beer this big.

Front Porch Pub

I was headed out of downtown today, and thought I'd stop in for a burger and to see what beers they have on tap. Sure, it's not a "real" beer bar, but what the hell.

First of all--hot bartender. 24-ish, former college soccer player with soccer player legs. Nice.

Food seemed to be the regular pub grub, no surprise there. They had a small tap-wall with a lot of the Budweiser/Heineken types, but they had a decent selection of St. Arnold and Real Ale that made it worth the visit.

St. Arnold Stout: This is the first time I've had it on draft except at a brew tour. For some reason, it's a little richer, little smoother, little heavier, little nuttier. All around it's better on draft. The nut-brown taste was a surprise, but didn't take it out of the type.

Real Ale's Rio Blanco Pale Ale: This was also better on draft. Still crisp and light, it's got a good zip to it. Nice pale, and I'll have to get it more regularly.

Real Ale's Fireman's #4: This one was not as good as I remember it being in the bottle. It seemed a bit flat, a bit hollow. Seemed like it was a bit old, probably because it's not a terribly fast mover.

Southern Star Brewing Company's Buried Hatchet Stout

Sweet, I've been looking forward to this one. I'm lame and never get out to good beer bars, so I was glad to see it in cans at Spec's. I've often bemoaned the lack of a year-round stout in Texas that was readily available, so this will give Southern Star a leg up over St. A's in Houston in this category. At least until St. A's decides to make theirs year-round, which I hope they do.

This one pours deep black with a hint of brown, with a nice small-celled head. It pours soft, smooth.

Smells very nice. Deeper and more substantial than a standard stout, it has a fairly heavy roasted coffee smell. Nice malt to it, but overall the coffee stands out.

The feel is a little lighter than the appearance would indicate, more in like with a standard stout. Moderate bitterness that still doesn't compete with the roasted coffee taste except in the aftertaste, where the roasted coffee and grain flavors fade off quickly.

Very good beer. I'll have to try it on draft, I bet it picks up even more.

Snake River Brewing Company's Pale Ale

This better be good. I can't remember the last beer I had, and I don't want to start it off with a bad one.

Pours a hazy yellowish amber, with an empty glow that I never like to see. Nice almost white head though, which stays well due to fairly string carbonation.

Nice hoppy smell to it. Some malt to it, but mostly a sort of grassy cleanness that seems right on type.

Good grassy punch up front. Malt is still less than an IPA, which keeps the body light like a pale should be. It has a bit of a cardboard harshness to it though, which is the only thing that takes points away. Overall a good beer.

Anchor Brewing Company's Our Special Ale 2009

I thought the in-laws would never leave.

Finally found the 2009 offering of Anchor's winter warmer. This is traditionally one of the smoothest, silkiest, most complex of the winter warmers. I know that sounds goofy, but this is always a great beer. Different every year, it's always somewhat similar, and always great.

This year appears to be no exception. It pours the usual deep coppery brown with a nice but smallish dark tan head. It looks like a dopplebock.

Smells like a warm, dark bread.

Nice and smooth, with probably the lowest bitterness of any warmer I've had. Slightly nutty, still mostly bready, and a great body that feels like a medium-sized stout. It keeps the bready smell and taste, but as the glass gets empty and it gets warmer it takes on a deep ripe fruit smell that is kind of indistinct but sweet and deep.

Very good beer. I have a sixer held back to see how it ages, and I bet it keeps getting better.