Day 80 (10/12/2011): Either by Cigar City Brewing Company

I was sure what to think of this one before drinking it or after. I wasn't familiar with the "black ale" style and I'm still not sure what qualifies something as one. It seems almost a catch-all style like "strong ale". I suppose you should expect these sorts of wacky things from collaborations; this one between Cigar City and Hill Farmstead.

It smells like a slightly hopped mix of a Belgian quad and an imperial stout. It had the dark fruit of the quad and the malty sweetness and roast of the stout, both on top of a layer of wood. It was bizarre, but not terrible. The taste was the same: dark fruits, sweet milk chocolate, coffee, and caramel with a small bit of hop notes. The alcohol is moderately present, but not overwhelming. The body isn't as big as you would expect or hope for from a 10+% beer, but it is medium, at least. The carbonation is just a tad under medium, though the creaminess of it makes it seems lower.

I actually quite enjoyed this beer, despite how I make it sound in the review. The flavors actually work together quite well. I could have used a little more body on it, but that's not a huge deal. The problem is: I like imperial stouts and I like quads for what they are. Both have remarkable qualities that, when added together, seem to lose the best of each. This one is worth a try, though, and I would love to get ahold of the rest of the bottles from this series. I give Either by Cigar City Brewing Company a B+.

Style: American black ale
Beer Advocate: B+
Ratebeer: 99/100

Day 77 (10/9/2011): Super awesome beer tasting!

Thanks to a couple of awesome acquaintances, I got to try some amazing beers while watching the Packers keep their undefeated season going forward on Sunday night. Here's a quick roundup, relatively in chronological order, of what was opened that wonderful night.

Thank God this was opened early, because I did not want to forget a thing about it. Aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels for 24 months, this is an amazing beer. The smell is like you have your face right in some of the best bourbon barrels in the world. The barrel characteristics overwhelm almost everything, wiping out any sort of bitterness while imparting amazing sweet caramel and vanilla notes. Drink this slow, drink it with friends, and enjoy every minute of it. Remember, it's not being bottled again.

The next up was Deliverance, a strong ale from Lost Abbey. This suffered terribly from following Rare, which is amazing considering that Deliverance is a RateBeer Top 100 beer. It is a mix of a stout (Serpent's Stout) and a strong ale (Angel's Share), so it's somewhat all over the place. Not a stout, but with stout characteristics. I'm glad I got to try it, but knowing Lost Abbey's prices, I don't think I would buy a bottle.

Next, we popped a can of Heady Topper by the Alchemist Pub & Brewery. For as much hype as this has got recently, it is worth every little bit of it. Super hoppy, but perfectly balanced. I will be pursuing more of this for sure.

Cantillon! It's not often that I get to drink these, so this was a special treat. It is probably one of the top five best sours I've ever had. The cherries are there in abundance along with a good amount of oak and, of course, a great deal of funky sourness. Very, very delicious.

Rounding things up was the bottle I brought, Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's, a big imperial stout. This was like a chocolate milkshake: sweet, thick, and (of course) chocolate-y. I really, really enjoyed this one even though it was the nightcap. I'll be grabbing another bottle of this so I can taste it as the front of the lineup and not the end.

What a night! Luckily I had Columbus Day off of work, so everything worked out just fine. That would have been a rough day at work. I want to thank the friends who allowed me to tag along and open all of these bottles with my poor soul. I really appreciate them and all of their awesome beers. Great friends with great taste, for sure.