April 26, 2014 Show

This week we were joined by Rick and Robbie from Stone Brewing Co. as they discussed they new beer Spröcketbier which they made and entered into the Stone brewing Co. in hose brewing competition.  The guys won the competition, which had a total of 20 teams enterd, and with a beer this great it is a easy to see why!  We also discussed beer which puch the boundaries for what is typically included in the styles.

Stone Brewing Co.- Spröcketbier: Described as a Black Rye Kölsch, this is dark almost porter like in appearance beer that has a deep richness within the aroma giving off hints of the rye as well. This is certainly a session beer lovers dream coming in at 5.4% ABV as well and still manages to have a huge variant of flavor and incredibly smooth easy drinking mouthfeel, showing it's German roots.  This is certainly a welcome addition to the Stone Brewing Co. lineup and a must have for fans of porters, stouts, and German beers.

Brewery Ommegang- Game of Thrones Blood and Fire: The 3rd Game of Thrones collaboration beer released from Brewery Ommegang and with each release the brewery seems to top itself and get better and better.  Fire and Blood is a spicy Red Ale with very mild spicing throughout, certainly not as spicy as others but we are not complaining!  The Ommegang house yeast creates a very soothing effect and the malt and pepper combine to make a base beer that has a kick with a decadent flavor profile.  A must have for Game of Thrones fans and Belgian beers in general!

Dogfish Head Brewery- Birra Etrusca: This 8.5% ABV beer is far from being a simple herb/spiced beer with roots dating back 2,800 years to Etruscan tombs.  This is another from the Ancient Ales series from Dogfish Head that delivers on flavor, history, and provides a lot of talking points!  The spices are prevalent throughout the aroma and taste with strong notes of pomegranate and honey making an appearance as well.  If you are a fan of the Ancient Ales series from Dogfish Head this is one to seek out, there is a lot here to offer though both to beer geeks and casual beer drinkers!

Harpoon Brewery- Black Forest: This Imperial Porter pushes the boundaries between porters and stouts and treads very dangerously into the stout category while still maintaining a thinner porter mouthfeel.  Coming in at 9.2% ABV as well this is not a beer for the timid.  Strong notes of chocolate and cherry are dominant throughout.  The only knock is that a bit more chocolate characteristics would have made this beer a home-run, but still a solid beer!