January 18, 2014 Show

We joined this week by 2 of Fast Freddie's friends who were also some craft beer newbies.  We decided to showcase stouts starting with the deliciously creamy Oatmeal Stout from Samuel Smith Brewery and finished with Dogfish Head's wonderful Bitches Brew, well and one other special brew!

We did our tasting from left to right increasing in both alcohol and flavor profile.

Samuel Smith Brewery- Oatmeal Stout: this is a true showcase beer for the oatmeal stout style. It is creamy, complex, but light bodied and still manages to impart very subtle chocolate and coffee tones. A perfect way to start off the stout show! Also a side note, Derek incorrectly stated during the show that the ABV is 4.7% when it is actually, 5% sorry for an confusion or disappointment!

Tröegs Brewing Company- Java Head: Building on the oatmeal stout style Java Head takes it a step further and adds fresh coffee beans to the beer. Side by side with the Sam Smith beer it allows drinkers to see the difference between many English and American brewers. The coffee bitterness is certainly present, but the chocolate and roasted malt smooths the body put for a pleasant finish.

Brewery Ommegang- Chocolate Indulgence: While the name be deceiving in that this is not a chocolate explosion of a beer when compared to some other chocolate stouts it is still extremely enjoyable and a nice take on the style. There is certainly more carbonation which leads to a lighter feeling body but the Belgian yeast strain gives a very pleasant finish to this wonderful beer.

Dogfish Head Brewery- Bitches Brew: Dogfish Head are certainly no strangers to experimenting with styles, and Bitches Brew is no exception.  This blended Imperial Stout takes three different stout strains and combines it with a wonderful honey beer with gesho root.  The result is a highly complex beer that has a lot of chocolate, coffee, and smooth honey melding together for an extremely porch and surprisingly easy drinking beer considering it is 9% ABV.

Our final "surprise" beer comes to us from Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. 

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company- Bourbon Barrel Aged Siberian Night: Siberian Night is a world class imperial stout and when you age it in bourbon barrels for 11 months it is jut too good for words. This beer certainly has a lot of complexities with heavy notes of coconut and vanilla from the barrels mixing with the heavy chocolate and coffee of the beer for a wonderful drinking experience and weighing it at 10.9% ABV this is definitely a sipper and perfect to end out the stout show.