Category Archives: USA

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Bruery, USA

The Bruery Share This: O.C.

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Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with orange zest, cacao nibs and vanilla beans. We donate $1 for each bottle we produce in our Share This series. This orange chocolate release supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies in Southern California, including Orange County.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This rich imperial stout is inspired by orange and chocolate flavors. It’s a profile we’re quite fond of, given the abundance of orange trees in our own backyard. Food Forward takes it one step further – reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had decent retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, with notes of vanilla and citrus zest.
Taste: Much like the aroma, roasted malts, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, vanilla, and orange notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: An excellent Imperial Stout with great roast and chocolate flavours. The orange citrus notes also complement the chocolate well. I do wonder whether due to the age of the bottle (three years), any of the adjuncts have toned down a bit, but the chocolate to citrus proportion is great right now.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, Stout - Milk / Sweet, USA

Against The Grain 70K

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. Angel’s Envy barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Double Down! Taking 35K to the next level and ratcheting up our disdain all in one shot! Imagine a silky smooth milk stout worth $35K. Imagine what it takes to double it. We did that. Bourbon barrel aged and big, this one is worth all the money.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml tightly foiled bottle, with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin half finger brown head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Dark roasty malt, chocolate, bourbon, molasses, oak, vanilla, boozy.
Taste: Sweet, light roast, bourbon, molasses, brown sugar, chocolate, oak, vanilla, marshmallow, with dried dark fruit and boozy notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very nice sipper with the sweetness balanced by good roast and chocolate notes.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Oskar Blues Brewery, Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy, USA

Oskar Blues Old Chub

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Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Other Notes: 30 IBUs. It’s Like Sputnik, a virtual planetoid

Brewer Description: (from website) Old Chub is a brobdingnagian celebration of aggressively shattering the status quo. This jaw-dropping Scottish strong ale (8% ABV, 30 IBUs) strays far from convention, as it’s brewed with a recklessly bodacious amount of malted barley and specialty grains, and a dash of beechwood-smoked malt. It features semi-sweet flavors of cocoa and coffee, and a wee bit of smoke. It’s a powerful, head-turning trip for malt heads and folks who think they don’t dig dark beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, canned on 10th May 2019 ‘eyes up here’. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark amber copper colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but left lots of nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, caramel malt, dark stone fruit, plum, cherry, cherry coke and pine.
Taste: Light sweetness, light roast, chocolate malt, caramel, coffee, with a hint of smoke and dark stone fruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I like the aroma, but flavour while not bad, didn’t quite match my expectation after that initial whiff.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Morada Cia Etílica, Beer Reviews, German Doppelbock, USA

Against The Grain x Morada Maple Bockin’ Pastries

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Morada Cia Etílica
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: German Doppelbock
Other Notes: Stave It For Later Barrel Series

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Pastry style Dopplebock brewed with West Virginia maple syrup.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A dark brown almost black colour with a nice two finger tanned head that had decent retention, eventually settling to a ring around that glass, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, chocolate fudge, roasty, coffee, toffee, oak, vanilla, brown sugar, and maple syrup.
Taste: Light to moderate sweetness, doughy, roasty, chocolate, coffee, oak, vanilla, maple syrup, bourbon, lightly boozy.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A really enjoyable Dopplebock. Based on the description and the aroma, I half expected it to be too sweet, but actually the sweetness is balanced with good roasty notes, and flavours that work well together.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Against The Grain Waking Up In Reno

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: All Funked Up Wild Series

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Wine barrel aged smoked salted Sour Brown Ale.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy amber orange brown colour with a thin beige head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Red grape, cherry, vinous, oak, herbal, caramel, toffee, nail polish, with light smoky notes.
Taste: Funky, lightly tart, red wine, vinous, oak, coconut, peppery, boozy, and only a hint of smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I think this was maybe a case of doing too much, as in the end it just seemed like a bit of a muddled and puzzling flavour profile. The wine barrel ageing was there front and centre which was fine. As far as smoked and salted goes, the smoke was barely there and I got maybe a whiff here and there, while the salt was nowhere to be found. I’m thinking that the smoke and salted part were there but rather than show up, it just affected the other flavours and just basically confused everything else. This just didn’t work for me.